Chapter 6: Tips for Food Preparation and Cooking 101
✓ Stewing: Cooking small pieces of food submerged in liquid below
simmering temperature
Stewing is the key to ready prepared meals. Your recipe can be started
in the morning and during the day your food will cook and be ready just
in time for dinner. Stews are cooked at a low temperature with the lid
on, so most of the liquid is retained in the pot. With most cooking
methods, the water in meats and vegetables turns to steam and
evaporates, but with stewing, the steam collects on the lid and drips
down again, basting the food.
✓ Braising: Cooking in a closed container with liquid in the oven or on the
stove
Braising is very similar to stewing, but the food sits in a small amount of
liquid instead of being submerged in it. The food is cooked low and slow.
✓ Poaching: Cooking food in liquid at a temperature below boiling
Poaching is done on the stove and the liquid is just below a light
simmer. This technique works well with fish, seafood, and eggs. Cooking
times vary depending on thickness, but on average 5 to 10 minutes is all
it takes.
Poaching is usually done around 160 degrees.
✓ Boiling: Cooking in a liquid at 212 degrees
Boiling is done on the stove. Root vegetables, eggs, pasta, stews, and
soups are mostly boiled. Boiling is used to bring soup and stews to a
safe temperature when heated, and it cooks root vegetables and pasta
quickly.
Cooking and Consuming Meat after Weight Loss Surgery
after Weight Loss Surgery
Foods containing the highest quality protein are beef, chicken, turkey, lamb,
eggs, cheese, pork, seafood, fish, shellfish, veal, and liver. Every ounce of
these high-quality protein foods has 6 to 8 grams of protein. A 3-ounce piece
of chicken breast, for example, contains 21 grams of protein. Processed
meats, however, such as hot dogs, bologna, salami, liverwurst, deviled
ham, and others, are not high-quality protein foods. A 2-ounce hot dog, for
instance, contains only 5 to 7 grams of protein. In addition, processed meats
contain large amounts of fillers such as sugar and starches that may possibly
cause dumping syndrome, and they’re also high in fat and sodium. Some of
these foods have a rubbery texture that increases the chances of sticking.
You can eat deli meat, but only sparingly because of the high sodium con-
tent, and choose meats that are highest in protein, such as turkey breast,
ham, and top round roast beef.