CookingDiva

This recipe to prepare baked whole fish combines some of my favorite ingredients: corvina (seabass), bacon and garlic, flavored nicely with fresh basil and lime juice.

Get up early in the morning and visit the Fish Market, remember that only the freshest ingredients will make your cooking experience a total success! Chew on it a bit (no pun intended!) and let me know the goodies you found at the market

For more information on the “Mercado del Marisco” in Panama City, head over to Lee’s Boquete Guide and check out: Fresh Fish for Breakfast and Walking Panama City - Mercado de Mariscos

Do not miss our previous related post: Fat Does not Make you Fat - Best Fats and oils for Cooking, and if you are feeling adventurous just try our delicious Coconut Meringue Pie (EN)  / Pie de Coco al Merengue (ES)

I've got a copy of the Eat Fat Lose Fat book since it came out in 2005. It was written by Dr. Mary Enig (international expert on the biochemistry of food and fat) and Sally Fallon (President of the Weston A. Price Foundation). They are also the authors of Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats, which was quoted in our previous post.

Based on more than two decades of research by world-renowned biochemist and lipids expert Dr. Mary Enig, Eat Fat Lose Fat flouts conventional wisdom by showing how so-called healthy vegetable oils (such as soybean and corn) are in large part responsible for our national obesity and health crises, while the satured fats (such as those found in coconut oil and butter) long considered harmful are, in fact, essential to weight loss and good health.

Trying to get more opinions on the Best Fats and Oils for Cooking subject, we decided to contact Ms. Sally Fallon. She promptly and gracefully replied what follows:

Any polyunsaturated oil is bad for cooking. The worst would be those with a high omega-3 content, such as canola and soy bean oil (and flax oil, obviously)  But the high omega-6 oils are also bad--corn, saffllower, sunflower, etc.  The omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are very fragile and break down into dangerous free radicals when heated, especially in the presence of oxygen, as in cooking.

As for the mono unsaturated oils, the best for cooking is olive oil because of the very high levels of monounsaturates. Next would be peanut and cold-pressed sesame oils.  Sesame oil is better than peanut oil because it contains unique anti-oxidants that are activated by heat.  It needs to be cold pressed or the anti-oxidants will be ruined.

But best for cooking are the stable fats--tallow, suet, lard, butter, ghee, palm oil, etc.  Saturated fats are very stable and don't break down when heated. (Duck and goose fat are also good, these contain a lot of monounsaturated fatty acids.)

Hope that helps--if you look at Nourishing Traditions, the section in the Intro on fats, this is all enumerated there.

Now, hope you are ready for the simply delicious recipe to prepare Coconut-Shrimp Cakes! Just click on the "Read MORE" button to continue!

Coffee is an elixir of the tropics that reunites cultures and people all over the world.  Whether our beans are from Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Africa, Ecuador or Panamá, we all have our favorites. The inviting tradition of sharing conversation over a cup of coffee continues to prosper throughout the world: We drink it in the morning to wake up, when we are doing business, when needing a perfect excuse to meet a friend or a lover, or just an occasion to get a burst during the day.

The typical use of coffee beans in the kitchen involves a beverage infusion, where we can savor the rich aroma and flavor by itself or accented with creams, sweeteners, or liqueurs. However, what might be more unexpected is the introduction of coffee to spice rubs, marinades and salad dressings, whether as a liquid or finely ground beans.

When added to these savory recipes, coffee should be treated as a spice. Instant coffee is made from cheap robusta beans rather than superior arabica, that in addition to the manufacturing process, leaves a final product that lacks the subtle aromatic elements characteristic of the freshly ground beans. If you are creating something as such as a sauce or a vinaigrette, freshly ground coffee is better because the coffee flavour in all its complexity and aroma will dominate.

We will now share with you a marvelous and easy recipe to prepare a vinaigrette you could use for a salad (suggested ingredients: endives, watercress, romain and butter lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and anchovies), with a side of freshly baked garlic bread. It is also delicious served as an accompaniment for grilled beef, shrimp, fresh foie or pork.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon ground coffee (very fine)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 sherry wine vinegar (vinagre de jerez)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions: combine all the ingredients and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

2-3 Servings.