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

Bruce: 00:00:01

Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein, and this is the podcast

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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We've been away for a while,

and we're back, sort of.

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Well, I'm back alone, and a lot

of people have been writing and

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asking why there haven't been any

new episodes in the past few weeks.

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Well, we went on hiatus at the end of the

year because Mark's mom went into hospice.

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We were flying back and forth to

Missouri, where she lived, and sadly,

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we buried her on Christmas Eve.

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I mean, she was 92, and she

lived a long and happy life.

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Mark and I spent some time there, cleaning

out her home and donating as much as we

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could to local charities, and we came

home for New Year's, hoping for better

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things, and then Mark broke his leg.

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I wish I could say it was doing something

sexy, like skiing in Samaritz, or Even

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skating in Central Park, but he was out

walking the dog and went up a gravel hill,

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lost his footing, and snapped his fibula.

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So, his leg is in a cast and he can't make

it into the studio, but I'm going to do

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my best to create an episode without him.

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I've got a one minute cooking tip, I'm

going to talk about processed and ultra

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processed foods, and I'm going to tell you

what's making me happy in food this week.

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And, in a few weeks, he'll be in

a walking boot and we can record

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our regular episodes as usual.

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So here's one on my own until

Mark is back up on both feet.

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But before I get to my one minute

cooking tip, I'm going to take over

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Mark's job of thanking you for listening

to the podcast and asking you to

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subscribe so you won't miss the next

episode that Mark and I do together.

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And, we would love it if you could

rate this podcast on whatever

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platform you get your podcast from.

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We're unsponsored and your

ratings help us tremendously.

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So let's get to it.

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My one minute cooking tip.

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If you're like me and you love to

use your gas grill even in the dead

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of winter, you have to adjust your

burners to accommodate the cold weather.

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In the summer, yeah, I could turn on

two of my five burners and the grill

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will maintain 400 degrees no problem.

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I can even turn one on on one end and cook

on low indirect heat and it's beautiful.

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But in the winter, like today when we woke

up and it was 10 degrees below Fahrenheit,

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I have to turn all five burners on

and the grill can barely maintain that

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400 degrees, but I want to do steaks.

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So directly under those burners it's

hot enough to sear and char my steaks.

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But I can't think of indirect

cooking in the winter.

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It's just not enough power.

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So if you want to grill in the winter,

think about just grilling a steak,

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grilling a pork chop, grilling some

chicken and crank those burners up high.

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Years ago, Mark and I wrote a

book called Real Food Has Curves.

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It's a book that teaches you how to get

rid of the processed food in your life

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and actually enjoy eating even more.

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But we live in a world now

of Ultra processed foods.

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And they're linked to a bunch

of serious health conditions.

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And knowing what's ultra processed in your

grocery store, well, that could be tough.

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But to help, a research team at

Mass General Brigham in Boston, they

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created a website called TrueFood.

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com.

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And they break down the most and least

processed foods in your grocery store.

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They focused on three superfood

chains in the country.

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Whole Foods.

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Target and Walmart.

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And they have four different categories.

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They have unprocessed, foods that use

a processed culinary ingredient, then

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processed, and then ultra processed.

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Now, while that does seem

confusing, let's just focus on

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ultra processed for a minute.

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Because some ultra processed

foods, like protein powders, Can

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actually be part of a healthy diet.

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See, not all ultra processed

foods are created equally.

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So let's keep that in mind as we

talk about what's on their website.

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It's really nice because they take

categories that we all look for, like

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soups and pastas and meats and popcorn and

yogurt, they tell you which is the least

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processed and which is the most processed.

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So it's not surprising.

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If we look at something like pasta.

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Going for a lentil rotini, Simply Legumes

brand, organic green lentil rotini, is

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the least processed pasta in the store.

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But if you go for a macaroni and cheese

dinner, with dried powdered cheese, even

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if it's organic, like Annie's, it's one of

the most processed pastas you could buy.

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And then if you look at seafood, you know,

you get a can of chunk white albacore

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tuna in water, not very processed.

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But you get a spicy crab sushi

roll, that is going to be seriously

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processed because even though it

says crab, there's not really crab.

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You know that fake crab meat that

you can get in Japanese restaurants

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that looks like a crab leg, but that

is one of the most processed foods.

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If you go to YouTube, you can see

videos where Of how they make that.

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And they grind up fish and let's say

it's not the best fish they start with.

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And then they extrude it and

they paint it red on one side.

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So like, that's something I

don't really want to be eating.

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And even surprisingly

popcorn, you can get.

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Orville Redenbacher's

gourmet yellow popcorn.

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Not processed whatsoever.

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Or you can get some Hawaiian

style furikake popcorn puffs.

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Man, those are so processed, don't

fool yourself into thinking that

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you're having a healthy popcorn

snack when you wanted chips.

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Just go for the popcorn.

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And even in yogurt, typically you think

yogurt's not that processed, right?

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It's just milk that's been

inoculated with some bacteria to

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make it actually healthier for you.

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And you can get organic, plain,

low fat yogurt or kefir, and

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it's really good for you.

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You can go for the s'mores

vanilla, low fat Greek yogurt

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made by a couple of brands.

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And let's face it, the yogurt

part of it is not very processed.

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How are they getting that

s'mores flavor in there?

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That's highly processed

artificial flavors.

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But again, not all ultra

processed foods are created equal.

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So you don't necessarily need to

avoid all of them to have a healthy

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diet, but you want to limit them.

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So when I go to the supermarket,

I focus on produce, I focus on

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the meat department, the bakery,

and I love the freezer section.

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Because the freezer section has a lot

of great stuff, frozen vegetables, I'm

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not going to live without my occasional

ice cream, and I'm not going to live

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without my occasional onion rings.

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I mean, I'm not crazy.

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But I read ingredient lists.

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And if there are long words in the

ingredient list that I can't identify

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or I can't pronounce, then the food is

likely ultra processed and over processed.

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I'm going to look for something else.

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What's making me happy in food this week?

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Well, it's gotta be smoked fish

from Zabar's in New York City.

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If you don't know Zabar's, it's this

amazing food store and kitchen supply

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store on New York's Upper West Side.

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It's an institution.

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It has been there for, Ever.

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And my aunt is one of the most

thoughtful people and super

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generous with Mark and me.

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And when Mark's mother died and

then he broke his leg, she sent us

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a huge care package from Zabar's.

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And it had smoked salmon, it had white

fish salad, two kinds of herring,

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smoked sable, bagels and cream cheese.

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And we've been eating that for days.

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It's just so comforting.

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It is the food of my childhood.

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Now, Not Mark's childhood,

mind you, but he loves it.

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In fact, the first time he tried

smoked sable on a salt bagel

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was at my grandmother's shiva

when she died 28 years ago.

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And, yes, we have been together that long.

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And, yes, it was my

aunt's mother who died.

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And so it's kind of nice that

she sent us the same thing

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right after Mark's mom died.

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And we still have a lot left,

and I'm going to keep enjoying

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it for a few more days.

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Well, That is the first and only short

episode of Cooking with Bruce and Mark

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that I've done without Mark, and we

will be back together in a few weeks.

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And until then, please go to our

Facebook group, Cooking with Bruce

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and Mark, and let us know what's

making you happy in food this week.

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And you can also see a picture of

Mark in his gorgeous purple cast.

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So thanks for listening, and

more episodes of Cooking with

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Bruce and Mark are coming soon.