Oh, mandoline!

I have a new toy! A mandoline. It slices. It juliennes. It doesn't do much else, but what is does is lovely. I have been playing with it endlessly and am constantly pleased with both form and function.

I bought it a couple of months ago at Walmart for $15 or $20. House brand. Pretty basic. The nicest feature is the rubber coating on the base. The base itself is wavy, so that it fits nicely over the edges of several different sizes of bowls. The rubber coating makes it more stable when slicing.

Watching (too much) Food Network taught me about the risks of losing knuckles and other precious hand parts, so I have been extra careful. Still, I've had nicks. Have to be more careful when picking the thing up (looking where my hand is going is a good trick). Must try to avoid talking to others when using the mandoline (or allowing them to talk to me). MUST use the safety guard on everything.

Otherwise, it's a honey. I find myself putting extra onions in dishes just because it's so nice to slice.

My newest recipe, using the mandoline:

• 1 or 2 onions
• olive oil
  
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1/2 cup (or more) dried mushrooms
• mess of fresh or frozen whole green beans

Slice onions with mandoline. (I use the thinnest setting.) Saute onion with dash of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. (I cook them until they are translucent.) Pour chicken stock, mushrooms, and onions in saucepan and simmer until onions are desired consistency. (A little al dente is good.) Cook green beans until hot but still al dente. Serve with sauce on the side or on the top.

This is my new substitute for green bean casserole. It's quite tasty. You can add garlic powder if you want to jazz it up a bit, but it's quite nice with just salt and pepper.

U. S. Senate passes food safety legislation

The U. S. Senate is now catching up with the House by getting a food safety bill out of committee. After many episodes of food-borne illness, even the food manufacturers are clamoring for more regulation (when there is a problem with one brand of peanuts, consumers tend to think "peanut"and not worry about which brand of peanuts is involved). The Senate bill (which still must be passed by the whole Senate and then make its way through a conference committee before final passage) increases inspections, requires traceability for fresh foods, but doesn't address cost.

To be sure, this legislation will cost. The FDA has been hamstrung in carrying out it much-restricted mission in recent years by the lack of funding. Food inspections have been low on the totem pole for either attention or funding. More funding will be needed to pay for those increased inspections.

The options for paying for the cost of this legislation include fees to producers or funds from general revenue (i.e., our tax dollars). My concern with fees is that they will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher food costs, just what we need to promote healthy eating. (Not.) Using tax dollars is appropriate since they will serve to protect the common good, i.e., public health. (My two cents!)