On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (May 18 & 19) Hash House A Go Go Corporate Executive Chef, Anthony Vidal, will be making four of his favorite recipes featuring Safest Choice Eggs. His Lefty Scramble features corn beef, avocado and topped with chipotle pickles and spicy brown mustard. His Sun-Dried Tomato Scramble will feature Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs, goat cheese and basil. And you won’t want to miss Chef Anthony’s Chorizo Scramble Toast featuring Safest Choice Hard-Boiled Eggs or Hash House A Go Go’s signature Brown Sugar Banana flapjack in bite-sized portions.

Chef Anthony reinvents home-style cuisine for Hash House A Go Go on a daily basis. His presentations of safe fried chicken, served with fried leeks and hardwood bacon cooked into golden brown waffles, cause customers to take out their camera phones and snap photos as proof of these awe-inspiring dishes.

Vidal has lent his chef skills to assist in raising money for the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada, the Nevada Restaurant Association’s Pro Start mentor program and feeding those in need at the St. Therese Center and Children’s Heart Foundation. He has also been named as the 2013/2013 Face for the American Heart Association.

Watch our video below. Chef Anthony explains why he only uses Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs at Hash House A Go Go.

We’re also very excited to have Chef Michael Roddey, who serves on the ANFP Board of Directors, helping us keep the delicious food coming on Sunday and Monday  (May 19 & 20).  Chef Roddey will be preparing Eggs Benedict and Caesar Salad with an Alaskan twist. For dessert he will serve fresh fruit with a Zabaglione and Tiramisu. We hope to see you at the 2013 NRA Show!

It’s hard to top Mom’s strawberry shortcake, but I think I’ve done it here.  I’ve added a few gourmet twists, and some fun ingredients.

In my Milk Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake with Marshmallow-Creme Fraiche Ice Cream recipe the shortcake is scone-like; it’s buttery and crumbly, and made with a Safest Choice Egg, flour, leavening, sugar, cold butter, and buttermilk.  I topped the shortcake with chopped milk chocolate in the last few minutes of baking.  I’ve found that milk chocolate tends to dry out too much if baked for a long time.
The shortcakes are split open and topped with fresh sliced strawberries, and Marshmallow-Crème Fraîche Ice Cream.  I had no idea this ice cream was going to be so good when I made it.  I was just playing around in the kitchen one day, seeing if theses flavors would work well with each other.  They do indeed.

The Safest Choice Egg yolks are uncooked in this ice cream, and are simply whisked into a mixture of hot cream, sugar, melted marshmallow, crème fraîche and vanilla extract.  The custard is chilled down before processing in an ice cream machine.

I think combination of strawberries, milk chocolate, and marshmallow is amazing in this recipe. This is a great way to use strawberries this spring!

We actively recycle, reuse, and repurpose many different materials including our egg cartons and shipping materials. Our offices have been affixed with low energy light bulbs to reduce our energy consumption. An energy saving HVAC system has been installed. These efforts, in conjunction with increasing insulation in the buildings and curtain seals, have reduced company energy consumption by 20%. And in our production facilities a new hand washing system was recently put in resulting in 20% less water being used.

A major component of the Safest Choice technology involves water usage for the gentle, warm water bath used in the pasteurization process. Over the years, Safest Choice has changed the water system to reduce our water usage. An active analysis of water usage is in place to extend the life of the water used in pasteurization allowing us to save 8,000 gallons of water per day in our facilities. Our boilers have also been modified to become more efficient by implementing a system that controls the way they turn on and off, allowing them to use less energy than a traditional system.

Sustainability and green initiatives have also spread down to our distribution lines. We have worked very hard to optimize the distribution lines by prioritizing full truckloads that work to reduce diesel emissions. Our operations team is always looking for a way to reduce our carbon footprint and has a long-term goal of looking into how we can continue to reduce our diesel use. One major step our team has logistically taken to reach this goal is by moving our facilities as close to our farm partners as possible so we can process at the source of the eggs.

Here at Safest Choice, we are very proud to partner, both domestically and internationally with businesses that follow their own sustainability efforts. One of our farm partners serves as a leading example of reusing hen waste as fertilizer for not only their farm, but also the surrounding community. Internationally, we have worked with our Singapore partner to create a system that uses the waste from the hens as biogas to run the entire facility. Even our facility in South Dakota uses propane, reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

One of my favorite green initiatives is our retail cartons. The cartons are made from post-use recyclable materials, making them both reusable and decomposable. They are made out of the most compostable packaging available. By using cartons made from the most compostable packaging available, we are able to deliver this green initiative to our consumers who are able to repurpose the cartons for gardening, planting seeds and at home composts! We even have a Pinterest board, “For DIY Eggsperts”, which is dedicated to reusing and repurposing your egg cartons. Also, the eggs we pasteurize come from hens fed vegetarian diets with no animal fats and byproducts, helping us to reduce our carbon footprint.

While we have many great sustainable and green initiatives in place, we are always working towards doing more. The Safest Choice team works hard to make sure we operate as sustainably as possible to bring you a product that is not only a healthy choice for you, but also one that is a better choice for our planet.

The FoodSafety.gov website of the US government makes it easier. Let’s just find the common mistakes—and let clients know how to avoid them. Here’s their list of 10 food safety mistakes:

Food Safety Mistake #1: Tasting food to see if it’s still good.

This doesn’t work because foodborne pathogens are not detectable by the senses. And of course, someone who taste-tests contaminated food will get sick. Only following food-safe practices, like time and temperature control, will do the trick.

Food Safety Mistake #2: Putting cooked meat back on a plate that held raw meat.

Here’s the classic cross contamination pitfall. Another cross contamination risk is cracking an ordinary egg, which can contaminate work surfaces with Salmonella for an entire day. You have to know and manage the risks—because you can’t see contamination happening.

Food Safety Mistake #3: Thawing food on the counter.

The pathogens that cause foodborne illness multiply most rapidly at room temperature. Safe thawing happens in the refrigerator, or using another food-safe technique. See the USDA safe thawing fact sheet for more ideas.

Food Safety Mistake #4: Washing meat or poultry.

This just exacerbates the cross contamination problem. Some people think if you wash an egg you increase its safety. Not true. The Salmonella risk is inside the egg. Advice from FoodSafety.gov: “Don’t wash meat, poultry, or eggs.”

Food Safety Mistake #5: Letting food cool before putting it in the fridge.

This is a lot like #3. Time at room temperature allows foodborne pathogens to multiply. FoodSafety.gov advice is to refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours (or within 1 hour if the temperature is over 90˚F).

Food Safety Mistake #6: Eating raw cookie dough (or other foods with raw eggs).

That’s because the raw eggs could contain Salmonella. Solutions are to fully cook eggs—but that’s not always clear-cut. Or: Avoid foods that contain raw or undercooked eggs. Or: Use pasteurized eggs, which are safe, even raw.

Food Safety Mistake #7: Marinating meat or seafood on the counter.

As with food safety mistake #3 and #5, it’s all about time in the danger zone. Thus, it’s best to marinate meat or seafood in the refrigerator.

Food Safety Mistake #8: Using raw meat marinade on cooked food.

Explains the FoodSafety.gov website, “Germs from the raw meat (or seafood) can spread to the cooked food.” Did we say cross contamination yet? The best idea is to discard marinade, or, advises the government, boil it before adding to cooked food.

Food Safety Mistake #9: Undercooking meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.

Bringing potentially hazardous foods (PHF-TCS) to a safe endpoint temperature destroys harmful viruses and bacteria. The only way anyone can be sure is to use an accurate thermometer. (By the way, if you don’t like the idea of piercing egg yolks with a thermometer probe, try pasteurized eggs.)

Food Safety Mistake #10: Not washing your hands.

Hands are a prime vehicle of cross contamination. Effective handwashing goes a long way in protecting personal and public health. For handwashing education and inservice materials, visit the Safest Choice™ foodservice website.

One of my tried and true shortcuts is frozen puff pastry dough. It is an incredibly versatile product and can be used to create golden, flaky desserts and delectable savory dishes. The dough only needs about 30 minutes to thaw out on the counter before use which allows ample prep time to chop veggies, sauté proteins or to create an accompanying sauce.

A great way to implement puff pastry dough in a savory approach is in quiches. I adore quiches but often stray away from making them because I get a tad lazy and do not want to create my own crust. By using puff pastry, not only does it eliminate having to make the dough but it adds beautiful texture and flavor to the quiche. The buttery, flaky dough pairs perfectly with the rich, egg custard.

Bacon and Mushroom Quiche Tartlets

These Bacon Gruyère Quiche Tartlets are a fan favorite. The custard filling consists of tender crimini mushrooms, shallots, crispy bacon, and Gruyère cheese which adds a slightly nutty flavor. And although these individual tartlets are delightful, you can easily make them into one large quiche using an 8-9 inch tart pan.

And don’t worry, I won’t tell if you use kitchen shortcuts.

Bacon and Mushroom Quiche Tartlets

Hear for yourself why Chef Giuliano Hazan, cookbook author and Italian cooking teacher; Michele, a mom; Dr. Jim Painter, Professor of Nutrition and RD; Susan Burke March, RD; Anthony Vidal, Corporate Executive Chef; Brijette De Berardinis, renowned spirit and cocktail enthusiast; Marilyn, a grandmother; Ina Pinkney, chef & restaurant owner; and more now Make the Safest Choice™. Watch below!

Want to know more?

-       Learn about Safest Choice™ Eggs & You.

-       Discover your new favorite recipe at our recently redesigned Recipe Center!

-       Visit our Store Locator to find Safest Choice™ near you – you can even download a coupon!

Salmonella illness from scrambled eggs & omelets

Most people know that raw eggs present the risk of Salmonella and foodborne illness. As it turns out, some “cooked” egg recipes do, too. For example, risk assessments conducted by the Food Safety & Inspection Service of the USDA revealed that scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and omelets top the list for Salmonella enteritidis food vehicles in confirmed foodborne illness outbreaks.

So, just the fact that you cooked an egg doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Other proven, problematic egg recipes cited by the Food Safety & Inspection Service include Hollandaise sauce, eggs Benedict, raw egg-cheese dishes, homemade pasta dishes, eggnog, and Caesar Salad dressing.

The assessment notes that 80% or more of confirmed Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks trace back to recipes using (unpasteurized) shell eggs.

Eggs Benedict, with both poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, is a problematic egg recipe

Egg cooking: a scientific test

British researcher T. J. Humphrey and colleagues investigated survival of Salmonella bacteria through a variety of egg cookery techniques. Here’s what the team found:

With most egg cooking styles, Salmonella bacteria survive the cooking. The exceptions were: eggs scrambled quickly over high heat until no liquid remained, over-easy eggs cooked until the yolk was entirely solid, or eggs boiled a minimum of 9 minutes.

Ordinary scrambled eggs cooked over medium heat still contained Salmonella bacteria at the end of cooking. Researchers suggested that for scrambled eggs to be reasonably safe, endpoint cooking temperature would have to reach 80°C (176°F). Think rubbery eggs. However, even with this protocol, 1 in 15 servings was still Salmonella-positive.

Eggs: cross contamination

The researchers observed a real-life finding about cross contamination. They intercepted laboratory workers using the same fork to handle cooked eggs as raw egg mixtures. This means, of course, that cooked eggs were re-contaminated with Salmonella. A natural mistake—and a common error in food service and home kitchens alike.

This just underscores the ever-present risk of cross contamination. CDC researchers have observed the same egg-related cross contamination concerns in our nation’s restaurants.

Protecting against foodborne illness

Putting it all together: Pasteurized shell eggs, as recommended by the CDC and the FDA, protect people against foodborne illness by:

• Eliminating the Salmonella risk in eggs, and
• Eliminating the risk of cross contamination.

What’s your favorite egg cooking style? Are you safe?

Lately, I’ve been trying to pull back and make my recipes more simple.  What I’ve found is that the simpler recipes are usually the best.  These are good old fashioned chocolate brownies, but they are perfect as only brownies can be.

White Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

A really delicious brownie has good quality dark chocolate, a good amount of sugar, and a lot of butter.  I also added three Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized eggs to give the brownies flavor, and to bind all of the ingredients together.  I love using Safest Choice eggs in brownies, because there’s no harm in sneaking a little taste of the batter!  And hey, if your brownies are a little under baked, no big deal.  I personally love it when brownies are a little gooey!  Perfect for serving with vanilla ice cream.

I topped the brownies with chopped white chocolate and toasted macadamia nuts.  It’s a classic combination that goes amazingly with brownies, and I love the crunchy texture.  Give these white chocolate macadamia brownies a try and you won’t be disappointed!

National Nutrition Month® is the yearly celebration of our profession as well as our passion.  Each March our parent organization, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, chooses a theme that emphasizes the importance that food plays in our lives and our health.  Some of my favorite previous themes were 1991’s “Bite Into a Healthy Lifestyle”, 2007’s “100% Fad Free”, and 2011’s “Eat Right With Color”.  Now it’s 2013, and this year the theme is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day”.  I’m excited because this so eloquently reflects my own personal philosophy: weight management is a deliberate strategy practiced one day at a time, one choice at a time, throughout our busy lives.

Food Is Our Freedom

Food is more than fuel for most people…food is culture, and tradition, and celebration.  Food is art for many, we practice and learn techniques that allow us to explore new tastes and to imagine what it’s like being part of a distant culture.  Food is often a way of expressing love and gratitude.  Food grounds us in the past, and makes us excited about the future.  When we examine all of the reasons we enjoy food, we find that besides taste and nutrition, what we eat defines our lives and our values.

Every day we have choices made for us…when to show up at work or at school, when to eat lunch, what to wear, even how to communicate.  But no one can make us eat, or dictate how much…no one insists we must eat fast food frequently, or put butter on our vegetables if we do not so choose, or to drink a regular sugared soda if we don’t want to.  We have the freedom to choose.

Food is one of the few choices that we make almost 100% freely, and “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day” beautifully expresses this right, this freedom, enjoyed by most Americans.  We are free to choose fresh, whole foods, to prepare them healthfully, and to enjoy these foods both for their flavor and nutritional benefits.  We’re all busy people, but we’re lucky because there are timesaving tools and foods that make eating right manageable.

Eating Right, Your Way, Every Day

We can choose how much we eat, and how active we are.  We can go for a walk or sit on the couch.  We can take the stairs or the elevator.  We can choose our foods based on our personal food preferences, and do it every day. Here are five of my tips that will help you to eat right, your way, every day.

• Equip Your Kitchen: A nonstick skillet, pressure cooker (which can double as a pot) and food processor or blender makes fresh meals a snap. With these three essentials, you can eat right, without spending hours in the kitchen
• Keep it simple:  Eggs are a perfect solution to busy lives; they are a superior source of protein and important vitamins and minerals; they stay fresh in your refrigerator and are great for a quick frittata supper. Be creative and include vegetables, beans and fish.  Eggs are inexpensive, a crowd-pleaser, and versatile, and research shows that most people can enjoy eggs as often as they please.

Healthy Recipe Idea: Egg, Spinach, and Sweet Pepper Mini Frittatas

• Think whole: Choose unprocessed whole grains such as quinoa, barley, oats and wheat berries. The first ingredient to describe your sliced bread should be “whole wheat”, the same for cereal, choose whole grain.  Enjoy unprocessed fruit and veggies instead of juices to increase your healthy fiber intake and manage your weight successfully.
• Think Fresh: Plan a menu including casseroles, soups and stews. Create quick meals around broiled and grilled poultry, lean meats and fish.
• Stock up:  Staples like grains, beans (dried or canned), pasta and canned tomatoes, artichoke hearts and jarred red peppers are all good things to stuck up on. Frozen vegetables, often more nutritious than fresh, depending upon how long the ‘fresh’ veggies languish on the grocer’s shelves, may be added to soups and stews to boost flavor, texture and nutrition.

Keep things simple and fresh in your kitchen to make sure you can eat right, you way, every day, not just during March,  National Nutrition Month, but all year long.

Cuenca is high up in the Andes, approximately 8,200 feet above sea level.  The climate is outstanding and their growing season is year-round. It never gets too hot, or too cold and averages a comfortable 70 degrees year-round.  But enough about the weather…it’s all about the food!

Cuenca, Ecuador

Mother Nature’s largesse means that fresh food is inexpensive, plus there’s a huge variety of everything green, red, yellow, purple, and more; a virtual rainbow of colors in the markets in Cuenca. We spent our days perusing small and large markets in and around the city.  Just touring them was an adventure, keeping that Spanish-English dictionary close at hand, wandering the aisles, up and down, attempting to converse with the vendors, trying to guess: Hey, what was that leafy green?  Did you see that dried bean?  What do you think that is?  Can you believe that variety of fruit!  ¿Qué es esto?

Central Market in Ecuador

I did notice during the many visits to local markets that Ecuadorians love eggs!  And not just chicken egg. In the markets we spied eggs of many different shapes and sizes.  From tiny quail eggs, to goose eggs, pheasant eggs, even huge ostrich eggs, they were fresh, plentiful, and some were mysteriously speckled and colored.   As for chicken eggs, we didn’t see many white eggs in the local markets, but lots of brown eggs.  Eggs are inexpensive, and one of my favorite meals was a lunch of scrambled eggs with shrimp, served, as usual in Cuenca, with a side of rice and beans.

For the second week of our vacation we stayed in a small hotel near the center of the city.  The Casa San Rafael was very charming. The building is more 200 years old, but perfectly maintained and comfortable and reasonable!  Every morning we had breakfast in the main lobby/dining room, and each day was the same.  You might think that it would become boring, but no, each day the delicious food was prepared and served graciously.  Breakfast always began with a glass of fresh-squeezed juice: one day guava, another day a mix of orange and grapefruit, each day a different surprise.  Then followed a small fresh fruit cup, with some creamy yogurt and a sprinkle of granola.  And then our waitress would ask, “¿le gustaría huevos revueltos o huevos fritos?”  Would you like your eggs fried or scrambled?  And each day my husband and I smiled and said the same thing…scrambled for me, fried for mi marido.  Each day our huevos were served perfectly cooked, accompanied by a basket of toast and jam.  The jam was preserves one day, marmalade the next, but the eggs remained the same, fried or scrambled.  Perfectly prepared, and a perfect start to a busy day touring Cuenca’s marketplaces.

Now that I am back home I still find myself craving the breakfast I had in Ecuador and find myself having eggs every morning like those in Ecuador do. I make huevos revueltos with my favorite add-ins of fresh chopped parsley, chopped chives, diced tomatoes and diced black olives.  If the mood strikes me I will sprinkle on some crumbled goat cheese or feta, and serve with toasted whole grain bread.