Overclocking.... lunch

Ok.... where do I begin?  For those of you that don't know what overclocking is here is a brief explanation (It's from Wikipedia so please forgive me if it is not correct):

Overclocking is the process of making a computer of component operate faster than the clock frequency specified by the manufacturer by modifying system parameters.  Operating voltages may also be changed (increased), which can increase the speed at which operation remains stable.  Most overclocking techniques increase power consumption, generating more heat, which must be dispersed is the chip is to remain operational. 

Now, with all that extra heat being generated systems need to be cooled... there are several techniques for doing this.... according to Wikipedia:

 Overclocked circuits can require more cooling, such as by powerful fans, larger heat sinks, heat pipes and water cooling...

I have had the privilege of witnessing many overclocking attempts at different editions of Campus Party, most memorably in Valencia and Mexico, and their use of liquid nitrogen for cooling - never "powerful fans", "larger heat sinks" or "water cooling".  But the wonderful and powerful LIQUID NITROGEN.

There is a fine line between nutrition and geekness in my life that quite often gets blurred.  So to honor my husband (a geek) and all those amazing Campuseros out there all over the globe, I decided this week, to erase that fine line between nutrition and geekness and bring to you the fun of overclocking your lunch... or cooking with liquid nitrogen.

Yes, you can cook with liquid nitrogen and even dry ice.  Extreme cold produces the same effects as heat on food.  Just one word of warning though... please be VERY careful.  If you are an overclocker you will know the dangers of working with liquid nitrogen.  However, if you decide to try this and you have never worked with liquid nitrogen before please follow all the safety regulations associated with the transportation and management of Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) and remember to wear gloves, eye protection such as goggles, and please, no bare feet or shorts or t-shirts - cover up, if it splatters any bare skin it lands on will be burnt.  Also please work in a well ventilated room.  Also remember that this is VERY COLD.  According to Jeff Potter, author of Cooking for Geeks he says:

"When it comes to working with liquid nitrogen, I find it easiest to work with a small quantity in a metal bowl placed on top of a wooden cutting board.  Keep your eyes on the container and avoid placing yourself in a situation where, if the container were to fall, you would find yourself getting splashed."

So how can you cook with LN2? 

With liquid nitrogen you get almost instant freezing for any product it comes into contact with.  The cold has a similar effect on food as heating removing the liquid content.  This means that it not only changes the original appearance of food, but also its texture, so you can obtain powdered oil or frozen foams.  For example you can freeze a flower and then smash it against something to shatter it to make flower dust.  It also enables you to play with temperature contrasts so you can serve a dish in which the inside ingredient is cooked and kept at its ideal eating temperature, while the outside is completely frozen.

Apart from its creative potential, the use of liquid nitrogen in cooking means you can also speed up cooking times by eliminating any bacterial growth or freeze fluids with minimum ice crystal formation.  It also freezes foods that cannot be frozen in a normal freezer such as products with a high alcohol content.

An obvious dish for cooking with liquid nitrogen is ice cream!  So here is a recipe for you to try... I would be really interested in hearing your experiences!

Cocoa-Goldschläger Ice Cream (Jeff Potter, Cooking for Geeks)

1 cup (256g) milk
1 cup (240g) heavy cream
3/4 cup (180g) Goldschläger (cinnamon liqueur)
1/4 cup (80g) chocolate syrup
1/2 cup (80g) bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (1g) salt
1/2 teaspoon (1g) cinnamon.

Mix all these ingredients together in a metal bowl and then taste to check the balance (try not to drink it
all), adjust accordingly.  Once frozen, the mixture will not taste as strong, so an overly strong mixture is desirable.  Turn your mixer on (preferably a stand mixer) and then (carefully! with goggles and gloves!) slowly pour in liquid nitrogen.  I find it takes about a 1:1 ratio of mixture to liquid nitrogen to set the ice cream.  If you don't have a stand mixer you can do this in a metal bowl and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon (my advice would be to get someone to help you).

I hope you try it and please let me know how it went!

Social Nutrition:

You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

If you're a geek... get in the kitchen!

I mean no disrespect to all those hackers, programmers, engineers, gamers, techies, and nerds collectively known as "geeks", for the sake of writing the word geek just makes things easier - I even married one!

I grew up in the kitchen helping my mother cook.  We were very close, and it was time I had to myself with her as neither of my siblings wanted to be involved in food preparation.  It also had the added benefit of not having to do the washing up afterwards!  In our house, if you helped cook the meal, your "compensation" was not having to wash up.  That time spent in the kitchen with my mother gave me a love and understanding of food which led me to become a Clinical Nutritionist, and dedicate my life to improving people's health through food.

To my husband's credit, he has recently begun to venture into the kitchen and not just to route out a Diet Coke or packet of biscuits.  He can now cook 2 recipes; paella and pasta with tomato sauce - we're getting somewhere!

Geeks are portrayed, in general, as fairly unhealthy beings.  They spend endless hours everyday (and most of the night) in front of a computer screen surviving on Red Bull, popcorn and pizza.  General opinion would have us mere mortals believe that a geek wouldn't know how to find the kitchen let alone cook in it.  But what if I told you cooking "has the same types of hard constraints that code, hardware, and most science disciplines do?" (Jeff Potter).

Geeks are extremely intelligent, creative people, so why not apply that creativity and intelligence to improving health through a balanced, healthy eating regime?

In 2010, Jeff Potter published his book "Cooking for Geeks".  Which leads any self-deserving geek into the kitchen to discover a whole new world which isn't as terrifying or boring as it may seem to someone who doesn't cook.

To the non geek (like me), this book is both surprising and interesting and looks a lot like a user manual for a piece of hardware!  Jeff Potter presents the art of cooking from a Geek mindset, with chapters such as; Hello Kitchen! (calibrating your instruments, kitchen organizing...), Choosing your Inputs: Flavors and Ingredients (different tastes and combinations), Time and Temperature, Cooking's Primary Variables, Playing with Chemicals and Fun with Hardware.

It is also packed full of interesting tasty recipes, practical tips on how to do things and different types of measurements (explained in geekspeak) and it even tells you how to cook a whole salmon in the dishwasher!  Yes, you heard me correctly, in the dishwasher!  It is all presented from a very scientific point of view, explaining different cooking methods and how to choose your ingredients, the different seasonal foods and lots of interesting interviews with fellow geeks such as Adam Savage.  It will teach you to cook for one or to cook for others and the different cuts of meat - absolutely everything someone who has never cooked before needs to know.  So there really is no excuse to not spice up your life and become healthier through Cooking for Geeks.

The Skillet-Fried Potatoes sound delicious not to mention the Mean Chocolate Chip Cookie!  I shall leave you to discover the rest!

So here is my challenge.  I challenge all of you geeks out there to get in the kitchen - then send me your favorite recipes.

You can find out more on:

www.cookingforgeeks.com

Or follow on Twitter @cookingforgeeks using #c4g for general discussion

One of the book's suggestions is @cookbook Maureen Evans posts recipes on Twitter.