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By MARY A. KEITH

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 20, 2008

Updated: 05/20/2008 06:44 pm

I bought a carton of pasteurized egg whites and see on the label that I can't use them to make meringue. Why not?
Pasteurization means the egg whites were heated to kill any possible bacteria. These egg whites still make good omelets. But the high temperature used in pasteurization changed the proteins just enough to prevent them from sticking together to form the mesh that catches air bubbles in a meringue. Either the meringue won't form at all, or it will collapse quickly. However, fresh eggs pasteurized in the shell can be used for meringue.

A friend gave us some home-smoked pork. It was smoked for six to eight hours. How long will it keep in the refrigerator?

Because you don't know whether the internal temperature of the pork became hot enough while it was being smoked or whether your friend used a hot-smoke or cool-smoke process, treat the pork as if it were raw. It's the safest way of handling it and means you can store it in the refrigerator for no more than five days. You could freeze it, but that's not a good option because the flavor might change.

My doctors said I have hypoglycemia and recommended eating more complex carbohydrates. What are these, and how do they help low blood sugar?
Complex carbohydrates contain starches and fiber. They are broken down into sugar in the body, but these enter the bloodstream more slowly than the simple sugars found in foods such as baked goods. This slower release keeps your blood sugar level more stable and prevents it from going too low.

Where can I get low-salt cheese? Our friends love pizza but are on a very low-sodium diet.

I have seen reduced-sodium Swiss cheese in local stores but not mozzarella for pizza. You probably will have to find a mail-order company to buy low-sodium mozzarella. Expect it to be pricey, but I have no idea what the flavor or texture will be like. It's difficult to make cheese that is low in sodium and good tasting. Salt plays a big part in the process used to make cheese and also in how the cheese develops the right flavor.

I was given a large bag of "pancake flour" but never make pancakes. Can I use this in a bread machine?

You can use it to make quick bread in your machine but not for bread made from yeast dough. Pancake flour is basically a self-rising flour with added cornmeal. It can be used to batter fried fish or in recipes that call for self-rising flour or biscuit mix.

I have an old recipe for chicken and yellow rice that calls for one tablespoon of "egg shade." What is this?

Egg shade is a yellow food coloring. I found it being sold on the Internet but only in commercial quantities of a quart or more. You could skip this ingredient or substitute a small amount of turmeric. Or you could try using regular yellow food coloring, although I'm not sure how that will work in rice. Go easy if you use turmeric. Too much will change the flavor as well as the color.

Mary A. Keith, a nutrition and health agent at Hillsborough County Extension, can be reached at (813) 744-5519 or mkeith@ufl.edu.

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