Hi. I hear the word "grilling" and I think of NYPD or Cagney & Lacey or Jack Webb as Lt. Friday. (I've unsuccessfully tried too many times to get a charcoal fire going!) Most normal people, on the other hand, hear the word and think "outdoor barbecuing." :-) These days when knowledge grows by leaps and bounds about causes of degenerative diseases, it's hard to take a deep breath anymore without feeling that even breathing (especially breathing) is hazardous to the health. So, in the spirit of freeing from fear those of you who <> still enjoy the now-hazardous-to-your-health art of grilling your food, here are a series of facts and recipes to make your summer more enjoyable. Jean Carper, in her new book, "Stop Aging Now," excerpted in USA WEEKEND (Sunday magazine section) 6/23-25/95, details some of the basics about HCAs, apparently the villains in grilled foods: "Frying, broiling and barbecuing meat at high temperatures, notably to the well-done stage, creates chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that can cause mutations (genetic damage) to cells, a first step in cancer.... "These HCAs are embedded; you cannot scrape them off. The higher and more prolonged the heat, the more HCAs are made. HCAs form in beef, pork, veal, poultry and fish.... "HCAs are the most potent mutation-causing agents ever discovered. They cause cancer and heart damage in lab animals and are linked to colon, breast and pancreatic cancers in humans. "Crisply fried bacon has the most carcinogens.... "The black char on grilled meat contains cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Scrape the char off the surface. And do not eat charred skin. "You can dramatically reduce HCAs by: microwaving, poaching, stewing or roasting; grilling partially cooked meat; or eating some meat on the rare side. 'There are not many HCAs in a piece of meat seared on the grill and eaten rare or medium rare,' says James S. Felton, biochemist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.... To kill E-coli bacteria: Cook burgers till the juices run yellow." "Adding textured vegetable protein (also called soybean protein) to ground meat blocks 95 percent of HCAs. John Weisburger at the American Health Foundation created a burger using 10 percent soy protein and 90 percent ground beef. Cooked, the burger had only 5 percent of the normal HCAs. (See Anti-Cancer Recipe, which follows.) Mix soy into ground beef, pork, veal, lamb or turkey; taste and texture don't change noticeably. "Studies show that HCAs are blocked by chemicals in tea and garlic. For it to work, you must consume the tea and garlic <> the meat. "To avoid cancer-causing HCAs, briefly microwave meat, poultry and fish, then pop the partially cooked food into a grill for final searing. "Why? Juices produced during precooking contain much of the creatinine, which forms HCAs. Drain off juices and don't use them in gravy or sauce. "Hamburger precooked 2 minutes in the microwave and then grilled has about 90 percent fewer HCAs than a raw burger cooked on the grill till well-done. "Chicken and ribs: Microwave 5 to 15 minutes, depending on size, before grilling. "Is fish safer? Tests are mixed. It's best to poach, bake or microwave. "Is it OK to grill vegetables? Yes. Vegetables cooked at high heat do not form HCAs. Organ meats, such as liver and kidneys, also are HCA-free, regardless of how they are cooked. "How about oven-roasted turkey? The usually low oven temperature of 350 degrees creates little hazard. "Burgers at McDonald's, Burger King and 5 other chains have nearly zero HCAs, a brand-new study says. Why? The very thin burgers apparently are not cooked long enough to form HCAs. Note: Many are high in saturated fat." MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.00 Title: Anti-Cancer, Anti-Aging Hamburger Categories: Beef Yield: 4 patties 1 lb Lean ground beef 1/2 c Textured vegetable protein -granules* 2 T Cold water x Salt and pepper, to taste * A soy protein sold in health food stores and some supermarkets. Put all in a large bowl. Knead until combined. Form into four patties, grill, broil or fry. Serve on whole-grain buns with sliced onion for extra antioxidant protection. Per patty: 241 calories, 24g protein, 2.5g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 14.9g fat (5.9g saturated), 63mg sodium. Recipe from: John Weisburger, as adapted from Jean Carper's new book, "Stop Aging Now." MMMMM -Begin Recipe Export- QBook version 1.00.14 Title: Orange Barbecue Sauce Keywords: Sauce, BBQ, barbecue, orange Servings: 12 6 oz Chili sauce 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 tbsp vinegar, chinese black 1/2 tsp ginger, grated 1/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup molasses 2 tbsp onion, grated 2 tsp sauce, hot pepper Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Stir to blend then bring to a boil and let it cool. Makes about 1 1/4 cups. Will keep for a brief period if refrigerated. Serve with Barbecued Ribs, roast chicken or beef. -End Recipe Export- Chipped from the bottom of Sharon's Igloo ^^oo^^ Path: recipes Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Distribution: world From: spieler@function.mps.ohio-state.edu (Barry S Spieler) Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1991 14:04:46 GMT Subject: VEGAN: Blackberry Sauce (for poultry) References: <288CFC1F.33BB@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> Keywords: recipe VEGAN Summary: orig. subject: Re: REQUEST: Blackberry Jam Followup-To: rec.food.veg Organization: Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University Approved: aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu Message-ID: <2895702C.309D@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> In article <288CFC1F.33BB@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> Spyros D. A. Antoniou writes: >Since blackberries season is here and I have collected some, does >anyone have a recipe for them. This past weekend I also picked more blackberries than a human can eat. I made up this concoction as a sauce for duck (or other poultry), and it came out great: Put a pint of blackberries in a saucepan, moisten with about 1/3 to 1/2 Cup of dry red wine. Add a mashed clove of garlic, a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary, some sugar (6-10 teaspoons, depending on how sour or sweet the berries are), and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, occasionally stirring and mashing berries against side of pan with a spoon. Important note: This experiment achieved very good marks from my guests, except for one problem: I didn't bother to remove the seeds, and a couple of people (myself included) grew tired of the hard seeds interrupting our enjoyment of the flavor. You will probably want to strain the sauce somehow when it's done. Maybe someone who has experience with berries and/or food mills and the like could e-mail me a note about how to best deal with blackberry seeds! -Barry Spieler