WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: Where have we been? And a possible New Year's resolution!

New Year's resolutions. They're not easy to keep. Especially when it comes to food, which is so habitual, almost ritualized in our culture. How do you break the cycle?

We're Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough . . . except without Mark. He's a brief episode to explain why the podcast disappeared for a month and why it may disappear for a bit more before we can both be back at it.

But in the meantime, Bruce has a one-minute cooking tip for you, he's got a primer on ultra-processed foods, and he'll tell you what's making him (and Mark!) happy in food this week.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[01:49] Bruce's one-minute cooking tip: how to use your gas grill in the winter.

[02:47] Bruce's thoughts on ultra-processed foods . . . and maybe ways you can make an easy New Year's resolution.

[07:03] What's making Bruce happy in food this week: Zabar's appetizing!

Episode Transcript

Bruce (00:01):
Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein, and this is the podcast
Cooking with Bruce and Mark.
We've been away for a while,and we're back, sort of.
Well, I'm back alone, and a lotof people have been writing and
asking why there haven't been anynew episodes in the past few weeks.
Well, we went on hiatus at the end of theyear because Mark's mom went into hospice.
We were flying back and forth toMissouri, where she lived, and sadly,

(00:23):
we buried her on Christmas Eve.
I mean, she was 92, and shelived a long and happy life.
Mark and I spent some time there, cleaningout her home and donating as much as we
could to local charities, and we camehome for New Year's, hoping for better
things, and then Mark broke his leg.
I wish I could say it was doing somethingsexy, like skiing in Samaritz, or Even

(00:46):
skating in Central Park, but he was outwalking the dog and went up a gravel hill,
lost his footing, and snapped his fibula.
So, his leg is in a cast and he can't makeit into the studio, but I'm going to do
my best to create an episode without him.
I've got a one minute cooking tip, I'mgoing to talk about processed and ultra

(01:07):
processed foods, and I'm going to tell youwhat's making me happy in food this week.
And, in a few weeks, he'll be ina walking boot and we can record
our regular episodes as usual.
So here's one on my own untilMark is back up on both feet.
But before I get to my one minutecooking tip, I'm going to take over
Mark's job of thanking you for listeningto the podcast and asking you to

(01:29):
subscribe so you won't miss the nextepisode that Mark and I do together.
And, we would love it if you couldrate this podcast on whatever
platform you get your podcast from.
We're unsponsored and yourratings help us tremendously.
So let's get to it.

(01:49):
My one minute cooking tip.
If you're like me and you love touse your gas grill even in the dead
of winter, you have to adjust yourburners to accommodate the cold weather.
In the summer, yeah, I could turn ontwo of my five burners and the grill
will maintain 400 degrees no problem.
I can even turn one on on one end and cookon low indirect heat and it's beautiful.

(02:13):
But in the winter, like today when we wokeup and it was 10 degrees below Fahrenheit,
I have to turn all five burners onand the grill can barely maintain that
400 degrees, but I want to do steaks.
So directly under those burners it'shot enough to sear and char my steaks.
But I can't think of indirectcooking in the winter.

(02:33):
It's just not enough power.
So if you want to grill in the winter,think about just grilling a steak,
grilling a pork chop, grilling somechicken and crank those burners up high.
Years ago, Mark and I wrote abook called Real Food Has Curves.
It's a book that teaches you how to getrid of the processed food in your life

(02:54):
and actually enjoy eating even more.
But we live in a world nowof Ultra processed foods.
And they're linked to a bunchof serious health conditions.
And knowing what's ultra processed in yourgrocery store, well, that could be tough.
But to help, a research team atMass General Brigham in Boston, they
created a website called TrueFood.

(03:16):
com.
And they break down the most and leastprocessed foods in your grocery store.
They focused on three superfoodchains in the country.
Whole Foods.
Target and Walmart.
And they have four different categories.
They have unprocessed, foods that usea processed culinary ingredient, then

(03:37):
processed, and then ultra processed.
Now, while that does seemconfusing, let's just focus on
ultra processed for a minute.
Because some ultra processedfoods, like protein powders, Can
actually be part of a healthy diet.
See, not all ultra processedfoods are created equally.
So let's keep that in mind as wetalk about what's on their website.

(03:59):
It's really nice because they takecategories that we all look for, like
soups and pastas and meats and popcorn andyogurt, they tell you which is the least
processed and which is the most processed.
So it's not surprising.
If we look at something like pasta.
Going for a lentil rotini, Simply Legumesbrand, organic green lentil rotini, is

(04:22):
the least processed pasta in the store.
But if you go for a macaroni and cheesedinner, with dried powdered cheese, even
if it's organic, like Annie's, it's one ofthe most processed pastas you could buy.
And then if you look at seafood, you know,you get a can of chunk white albacore
tuna in water, not very processed.

(04:45):
But you get a spicy crab sushiroll, that is going to be seriously
processed because even though itsays crab, there's not really crab.
You know that fake crab meat thatyou can get in Japanese restaurants
that looks like a crab leg, but thatis one of the most processed foods.
If you go to YouTube, you can seevideos where Of how they make that.

(05:05):
And they grind up fish and let's sayit's not the best fish they start with.
And then they extrude it andthey paint it red on one side.
So like, that's something Idon't really want to be eating.
And even surprisinglypopcorn, you can get.
Orville Redenbacher'sgourmet yellow popcorn.
Not processed whatsoever.

(05:26):
Or you can get some Hawaiianstyle furikake popcorn puffs.
Man, those are so processed, don'tfool yourself into thinking that
you're having a healthy popcornsnack when you wanted chips.
Just go for the popcorn.
And even in yogurt, typically you thinkyogurt's not that processed, right?
It's just milk that's beeninoculated with some bacteria to

(05:49):
make it actually healthier for you.
And you can get organic, plain,low fat yogurt or kefir, and
it's really good for you.
You can go for the s'moresvanilla, low fat Greek yogurt
made by a couple of brands.
And let's face it, the yogurtpart of it is not very processed.

(06:10):
How are they getting thats'mores flavor in there?
That's highly processedartificial flavors.
But again, not all ultraprocessed foods are created equal.
So you don't necessarily need toavoid all of them to have a healthy
diet, but you want to limit them.
So when I go to the supermarket,I focus on produce, I focus on

(06:33):
the meat department, the bakery,and I love the freezer section.
Because the freezer section has a lotof great stuff, frozen vegetables, I'm
not going to live without my occasionalice cream, and I'm not going to live
without my occasional onion rings.
I mean, I'm not crazy.
But I read ingredient lists.
And if there are long words in theingredient list that I can't identify

(06:54):
or I can't pronounce, then the food islikely ultra processed and over processed.
I'm going to look for something else.
What's making me happy in food this week?
Well, it's gotta be smoked fishfrom Zabar's in New York City.
If you don't know Zabar's, it's thisamazing food store and kitchen supply

(07:15):
store on New York's Upper West Side.
It's an institution.
It has been there for, Ever.
And my aunt is one of the mostthoughtful people and super
generous with Mark and me.
And when Mark's mother died andthen he broke his leg, she sent us
a huge care package from Zabar's.
And it had smoked salmon, it had whitefish salad, two kinds of herring,

(07:37):
smoked sable, bagels and cream cheese.
And we've been eating that for days.
It's just so comforting.
It is the food of my childhood.
Now, Not Mark's childhood,mind you, but he loves it.
In fact, the first time he triedsmoked sable on a salt bagel
was at my grandmother's shivawhen she died 28 years ago.
And, yes, we have been together that long.

(07:58):
And, yes, it was myaunt's mother who died.
And so it's kind of nice thatshe sent us the same thing
right after Mark's mom died.
And we still have a lot left,and I'm going to keep enjoying
it for a few more days.
Well, That is the first and only shortepisode of Cooking with Bruce and Mark
that I've done without Mark, and wewill be back together in a few weeks.

(08:19):
And until then, please go to ourFacebook group, Cooking with Bruce
and Mark, and let us know what'smaking you happy in food this week.
And you can also see a picture ofMark in his gorgeous purple cast.
So thanks for listening, andmore episodes of Cooking with
Bruce and Mark are coming soon.