During a relaxing vacation camping near Crisfield, MD, we decided to treat ourselves to a night out to dinner. We selected a kitschy little place with a small menu but we had been there before and it had just what we wanted in a casual environment. I ordered a combo platter that included a good selection. My choices were fish sandwich, scallops, breaded oysters and steamed shrimp. After ordering at the front counter we selected our seat inside the air conditioned out building.

The waitress serves our food and I look at my platter….wait…is that? Do I see a raw shrimp on top of my steamed shrimp? Yes, I do. GASP. I call the waitress over and she doesn’t seem to concerned but takes my platter away. About 2 minutes later she reappears with what seems to be the same platter with the raw shrimp removed. She explains “The cook said the shrimp must have fallen on your platter when they were putting new shrimp in the steamer” The look on my face must have told the story, she asked quite curse, “Is there something else wrong?” I am going to end the story there and let you make your own conclusion.

I believe this type of disregard and lack of understanding of food safety can be corrected through proper training. They should have never been allowing raw food in the general area of cooked food and especially carry raw food over top of cooked food.. This is basic cross contamination. In addition to this error in food safety, they did not understand the risk associated with the error! This was confirmed when they didn’t even try to hide the fact that the brought out the same platter with the raw food removed.

Only 5 jurisdictions in Maryland require a certified food manager on duty at all times. If this restaurant had someone on duty trained they would not have lost a repeat customer. Required or not – TRAIN YOUR STAFF IN FOOD SAFETY!

It seems like everyday there is a new recall being issued.  Often the recall is a low risk and more precautionary than anything.  However, there have been many important recalls  in recent weeks that went unmentioned on my local news here in Baltimore, MD.

Whether you are in a commercial setting or you are a home cook you need to be informed of current recalls.  There are many sources for staying current with recalls.  The best is straight from the FDA http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm  .  I also like the recalls.gov app for my smart phone.   Of course, when I see a recall I think needs mentioning I will post it on my Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/MarylandFoodHandler and on twitter https://twitter.com/smf_foodsafety

Stay food safe and stay informed!

You order a sandwich the food handler prepares your sandwich in front of you.   Which scenario makes you feel better about what you are about to consume ?

1. Worker puts single use gloves on, then prepares your sandwich using gloved hands to touch bread and tongs to select meat and toppings.
2. Worker washes hands, selects your bread, meat and toppings using hands.
3. Worker selects your bread with hands then uses same tongs to select meat and toppings.

To make a good quiche you need to start with a good pie crust you can make your own or a good quality store bought is fine also.

Par-bake the crust or brush with egg white prior to filling.

Now about the quiche.  Once you learn the basics you can make any type you like.  I like a mix of vegetable and protein, the goal is to end up with about 4 cups of liquid if using a standard 9″ pie pan.

The basic list of ingredients are;

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups choice of  cheese; cheddar, feta, Monterey jack, Parmesan, mozzarella, even cottage cheese but if you choose a soft cheese cut down on the milk and simply increase cheese.
• 1/2 – 1  cup Choice of vegetable;  spinach, asparagus, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, par cooked broccoli, etc
• 1/2 – 1  cup Choice of protein; shrimp, crab meat, ham, cooked and crumbled bacon…
• 1/2  Milk, half and half or heavy cream.
• Seasonings to suit the combination.  Some of my favorites to use are dill, black or red pepper, hot sauce and parsley.
• 1 T Flour

First off I start mixing the milk,  eggs and seasonings  in a large 8 cup glass mixing bowl, if you do not have one with measurements consider getting one they are rather handy.  Sprinkle flour over shredded cheese and toss. Add cheese, vegetables and protein to mix.  I try to make sure that I am measuring about 4 cups.  So I will add a little more cheese, vegetable or protein to make up the difference.

Pour into par-baked pie crust (homemade or store bought) Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes.  Use a knife in center to see if it comes out clean.  Allow to set for a few minutes before cutting.  Serve with a garden salad, fresh cut fruits or with some croissants.

Some of my favorite combinations are:

Feta, spinach, mushroom  and bacon – dill and pepper are the only seasonings.

Crab, shrimp and cheddar / jack mix, onion, garlic,  a tsp of Old Bay® , dash of hot sauce and parsley in this one!

Asparagus spears arranged in bottom of pan then on top again are pretty and Monterey

Another asparagus version is to use cottage cheese or ricotta, delete milk and 1/2 cup of mozzarella

Enjoy!

Cooking food to proper minimum internal temperature helps to reduce certain harmful bacteria to acceptable levels.  The following temperatures for meats and seafood are those recommended by the FDA for restaurants but you can use the same temperatures at home for safe cooking.

145 ° – Whole pieces of meat including;  beef, pork, lamb.  *

145 ° – Seafood including; shellfish, fish and crustaceans.

155 ° – Ground Meat or  Ground Seafood.  Also meats that have been injected with flavor or tenderized.

165 ° – All poultry

Happy 2nd Anniversary to SMF Training Solutions. I can not believe that it has been two years since we started out. I have enjoyed teaching so many amazing students. Here is looking forward to many more years of ServSafe® Manager Trainings, writing HACCP Plans and sharing all that I know about the hospitality business with wonderful clients.