been busy

I've been busy studying for my qualifying exam, so i do not have time to post much on here. plus it's crunch time at school and i have a lot on my mind. here are some food pictures from my trip to taiwan. on the left is a picture of some of the drinks available in taiwan. in the middle is a sticky rice stuffed in bamboo. the last picture is one of a typical taiwanese "special" dinner.

Edamame Burgers

This looks kind of gross, but it's not bad. It's my attempt at creating a new culinary treat! I just modified the hamburger and increased its fiber content! I heart fiber! Seriously, I do. I was cleaning out my freezer and found 1)bread; 2) lean ground beef; 3)edamame (soybeans). I'm pretty sure this recipe will not make it into my "keeper" list.

frozen foods

I'm still on my quest of consuming the food in my freezer. So far I've made:
1) A Strawberry Smoothie (Frozen Strawberries)
2) Natto (just defrosted it and ate it with rice)
3) Edamame (Green Soybeans)

4) Kalua Pig and Laulau (Hawaiian version of pulled pork, will explain later)

5) Shrimp Stir-fry

This is a picture of my Dole frozen strawberries that have been in my freezer for the past six months. See all that ice crystal formation?
When you have an ancient freezer, freezer burn is likely to occur. This is due to the fluctuating temperature of the freezer, which means the temperature of the food also fluctuates . Moisture migration occurs and the water from inside the strawberries move to the surface. (This is a really simple explanation).
They are still edible, but have lost a decent amount of quality. So what exactly is going on? Strawberries (and most fruits and vegetables) contain a large amount of water. When water freezes, it expands about 9% in volume. If the food item is slowly frozen the water in the product slowly freezes. The expansion of the water ruptures the cell walls of the strawberries and the water leaks out of the cells and combines with the water from other cells. They combine and form large ice crystals.
To combat these ice crystals from forming, companies quickly flash freeze products to minimize the size of the ice crystal formation within the cells.

The Maillard Reaction

The Maillard Reaction is a non-enzymatic chemical reaction that results in a brown color change in a food product. This is the reaction responsible for the browning of crust, the color of cooked meat, and the brown color of chocolate chip cookies.

A simple explanation of the reaction is:
PROTEIN+REDUCING SUGAR--> BROWN PIGMENT


Of course, it is much more complex than that, but what you really need to know is:
*PROTEIN -a compound which contains an amine group (as in Amino Acid: the building blocks of protein)
*REDUCING SUGAR -a carbohydrate with an aldehyde group or ketone group. It can gain electrons from other molecules and reduce it.
reducing sugars are all monosaccharides (simple sugars-glucose, frutose, galactose) and some disaccharides (ex. lactose-sugar in milk)
This reaction will occur over time, but will occur more rapidly with the help of heat (as in the cookie case, baking)

Sensory Evaluation

I will post pictures of my freezer "adventures" in a little bit. But for the time being, this is a picture of the sensory booths in my lab. We conduct all kinds of sensory tests in our lab and use humans as our "instruments." So this is the view from the servers side of the booth. Behind the wall are the panelists. The servers present food to the panelists through doors (see the foil covered portion), and they fill in out surveys on the computer or use paper ballots.

If this was not entertaining enough, check out this card:

http://www.perfectgreetings.com/index.cfm?action=view&id=12555&scid=0

This is just a hint to what my group is working on for our Product Development class.

My "Adventure"

Welcome to my blog! My goal for this blog was to write about food, the science behind it, and at the same time study for my quals exam which is coming up.
This is a picture of my frost-filled freezer. My "adventure" for the week is to try to clear as much of my freezer as possible before my sister comes to visit me next week. When it comes to food, I've been refered to as a squirrel. I like to stock up on food and my eyes are bigger than my tummy. I'm pretty sure that all the food in my house could last me well over six months....one year is probably a better estimate. It's embarassing enough that I chose not to post pictures of my cabinets,