What The Fruit?

I watch the show Chopped on the Food Network. I like to pride myself in how many of the strange and exotic foods that I can actually recognize. If you know me personally at all, you know that the fact that I'm familiar strange or weird things is no shocker.

I actually like to think a lot about the things we eat that are well known despite how strange they are or how odd their preparation processes are. I mean, some putz was moseying down the side of some shallow body of water thousands of years ago and saw what appeared to be a rock. Somehow Mr. Putz was able to wedge something through the center of the rock and pry it open.
::Side Note:: If Mr. Putz didn't ram a hole through his own hand while trying to pry the rock open, he got lucky. If he did impale his palm... Mr. Putz went back and tried again to open up the rock.
::End Side Note::
Mr. Putz pried the rock open and found sitting there before him nestled in its own little compartment...

A loogy.

We have the oyster.
And not only did this guy say to himself, "YUMMY! This looks like it's going to taste so good, I'm not even going to cook it. This is going to happen raw," but Mr. Putz's putz friends said, "HEY! Great idea, Putz! Let's dig in!"
Now, I've come to find a love for oysters when fully cooked, preferably fried... but that doesn't make getting into them in the first place bat crap crazy.

Today Mamma McMillen and I went to the grocery store and I stumbled upon something in the produce department that brought me to a screeching halt.

 

... the hell?--

This damn thing looks like it came from a coral reef on Mars. 

Granted, you never know when you're going to find your next favorite food by tasting something new... However, I think the way this monster is the most beneficial is by acting as an appetite suppressant. 

Speaking of monster, if you recall the movie Monsters Inc. there is a scene when Mike and Sully are walking to work and grab a couple of fruits from a friendly vendor. I have been under the impression until today that the fruit the vendor offered was "monster fruit," completely fictional and fantastical. 

 

I was wrong. 

I don't even know who to dedicate this one to... Mr. Putz?

-k

Apple to the Core

I've noticed that my past few posts have somewhat strayed away from one of the main focal points of the blog; health relation. Not that there hasn't been some semblance of health, note of bodily well-being or in my case diabetic diet friendliness in each post, but they have lacked a conscious effort to glorify the featured food/recipe/restaurant as beneficial to a healthy diet.

Allow me to remedy said situation as we move forward.

This installment of Eat Your Plate focuses on a very obviously healthy food.

The Apple.

 

What can I say about the apple that hasn't already been expressed in so many different forms of expression? Very little. But I'll try to throw my 2¢ in anyway. 

If you're anything like me, you like to eat. In fact simply calling it "eating" hardly does the act of digestion justice. Food is an experience. So who wouldn't want to experience and experience and experience until their belt was too tight?... 

Okay, maybe that doesn't apply to everyone. But I know I'm not alone when I've walked waddled away from a meal or munch fest feeling like I needed to be juiced like Violet Beauregarde way more often than I'd like to admit. 

The apple helps to curb that. Since it's really dense, it takes time and effort to chew, thus making the system slow down and realize that it's getting full. Unlike the Twinky, you can't cram an entire apple comfortably into your mouth... and repeat. Also, with around 20% of your daily value of fiber, your tummy will be happy, happy.

Take it in and let it out. The apple has been shown to really help lung function. It fights off cancer cells, asthma and other diseases. It even showed to have a healthy affect on the lungs and breathing development of children of women who ate apples while they were pregnant.

Apples <3 you back. Because they fight off bad cholesterol, apples are big friends with the cardiovascular system. 

The apple is in your corner. Besides lung cancer, apples help to fight off oral, esophageal, colon, breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.

Food for thought: apples are good for your brain. They can help you stay sharp, fight Alzheimer's and improve your general memory. Remember that. 

An apple a day may not keep the doctor entirely away, but it sure can make your visits a lot more pleasant for the both of you. 

Other than being good for you, the apple is just plain yummy. If you disagree, there's a good chance that you either haven't found your brand OR you haven't had it prepared in one of the many glorious ways to enjoy an apple. 

Here's a list of apples and their diverse qualities.  

Chances are, you'll recognize the Red Delicious apples from the complimentary fruit basket provided by the front desk of the lobby from your last hotel visit. If these are the only apples you've ever tried, there's no surprise that you weren't impressed. 

A good gateway apple is the green Granny Smith. It's guaranteed to provide a firm crunch and juicy tartness. But for my money, I hold out for the Honey Crisp Apple. It's not available year round, but it's totally worth waiting for, especially if you like to cook with apples. 

What you won't find on the list is my second favorite, the Jazz apple, which can be found in most grocers (at least in Tejas) year round. It's pretty comparable to the Honey Crisp, since it comes from a cross pollination of it.

As far as I'm concerned, the best way to enjoy an apple is chilled and sliced, but you can never go wrong with one of two go-withs. 

The next time you're at the grocery store, ask the produce department for fruit chili. It's a sprinkle-on condiment that adds a real kick to really any fruit, but it goes really well with apples and pears.

If you're in the mood for more of a dessert flavor, I have never enjoyed the enhancement of a snack more than when I tried an apple dipped in Biscoff spread. Developed from the ginger cookies, this stuff spreads and stores just like peanut butter, but is so much more. Like the chili powder, it goes well on plenty of other fruits (and breads, and pretzels and in baking and...) but Biscoff is easily one of the apple's best friend. 

Yes, even the complimentary hotel lobby apple. 

This post is dedicated to Sara Proffitt, who is very good about her apple-a-day.

-k

Ribs That Stick to Your Ribs

So I've mentioned Pappa McMillen's Oven Ribs in a previous post, but really the detail (or lack thereof) I provided for said post did the dish little to no justice. Upon Pop's return home to H-Town this summer, of course one of the things I'd been looking forward to was the meals I'd been doing painfully without while New Orleans was hogging all the glory (as if New Orleans needs anymore cooks in their kitchen).

Well, my memory of Oven Ribs is and will always be a fond one. How could they possibly be improved upon? They couldn't. So don't try.
Imagine mine and my sister's surprise when good ol' Pop was in town for his final job interview and offered was forced to bust out the Oven Ribs. The new and improved Oven Ribs.

HOLD UP. HOLD UP. WHY WE BE MESSIN' WITH THE FORMULA?!

He described the old recipe as crap compared to his new one. Now the improvement didn't really come in the form of ingredient alteration, but with the method of cooking. It's an age old rule of thumb for many bar-b-quers and these ribs are no exception to that rule.
Low and Slow.

It takes the event that is Oven Ribs and makes the process even more ceremonious. They get swaddled in a tin foil blanket and land in the oven for a six to seven hour nap. After their time in the oven, the ribs finish off on the grill for about an hour with a brush from some sweet, tangy sauce. I know as a Texan the very idea of cooking ribs with any kind of sauce is sacrilege, and the fact that these are pork ribs doesn't really help my case... but sometimes you just have to throw tradition out the window. Believe me... it's worth the time in Hell.

I was skeptical about change. But this day I learned that change... change is good. I went to pick up an un-carved rib by the bone and that's all I picked up; the bone. The meat stayed attached to the rest of the rack.

Needless to say, it was my step-sister's birthday, but all of us got to enjoy the gift.

This one goes out to you, Lauren. Happy Birthday!

-k

Cab-bitchin'

This weekend, Mamma McMillen and I found ourselves with a surplus of cabbage in our fridge. And at 50¢ a pop, who can blame us? One of my all time favorite recipes for cabbage is the one from the Luby's cookbook. It brings together some great flavors and plenty of leftovers, which is always a plus. Knowing how much I make this dish, Mamma snipped an article from this year's March edition of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine that suggested taking the leftover cabbage you have from St. Patrick's day and turning it into a lasagna casserole. The cabbage would replace the noodles. Well, in seeing what went into the casserole, I decided, "Why wait for leftovers?!"

Making a lasagna is semi time consuming. Which is understandable when most traditional Italian meals took all day for the woman of the house to create. Turns out they had little else to do...  I came to find, though, that it's actually pretty simple. There are quite a few ways to approach it and this time we decided to make it a combination of a few things.

When I was still attending the Art Institute of Houston, I took the advice from several professors and made friends with as many of the culinary students as I could. Among other things, I learned that a fresh red sauce (with or without meat) is not as hard as people make it out to be. Yes, the stuff in a jar is way easier, but give homemade a chance. This time there was enough room in this town for both.

We used both green and purple cabbage, which I think made a really pretty color contrast (no, Mamma. It didn't look like a bruise). Some of the cabbage-noodles were big leaves, some were in chopped chunks as the recipe suggested.

::Word to the Wise:: for anything acting as the noodles of a casserole, be it actual noodles or a substitute, make sure they have drained thoroughly, rested and dried before layering them into the pan. We didn't take the time to care for this step and it made for a pretty wet lasagna. That's not to say it wasn't absolutely delicious. It was just... y'know... wet.

As for the cheese, we figured we'd go all out with the traditional lasagna idea and made a ricotta mix with egg and nutmeg (the nutmeg makes a world of flavor difference),  but because the whole casserole came out at wet as it did, the ricotta didn't really stay creamy like it should have. Next time, we'll try leaving it out and upping our mozzarella percentage. Way up. 

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Let's face it; Houston, Texas has 2 basic seasons. Hot and Hotter. Yeah, we're allotted a couple of days out of the year that require a couple of extra pieces of clothing to keep the draft out, but one time I saw Satan sitting at a Houston bus stop sweating, waiting for the next ride out of town. So with our warm climate, seeing salad on the menu is pretty typical. With our southern cuisine grub, that salad is often times coleslaw.

Like I've said, re-purposing food has become a huge interest of mine. That's why instead of the usual dressing to my slaw, I chose to go Asian. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to create an Asian flavor profile, which could easily be used for either a hot or cold meal.

Once more, the recipe Mamma provided included using a package of chicken flavored Ramen.

Honestly, who do you know who does not have at least one package of Ramen in their pantry? 

Report them. They're not human. Only humans would be at least mildly prepared for the Apocalypse with a small stash of Ramen.

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Asian 'Slaw

• 1 head of cabbage or 1 bag of coleslaw mix
• 1 grated carrot
• 1 package of Ramen (pulverized in the bag first)
• 4-5 stalks chopped scallions
  

• Optional:
  
• Toasted seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, etc)
• Sliced almonds
  

Dressing 

• 3/4 C olive oil
• 1/4 C sugar
  
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• Season packet from the Ramen package
• Black pepper

Combine it all and serve. Know that over time the crunchy things will be broken down, so if you want the crunch eat it right away.

This entry is dedicated to Jenny Jacobi, who lives life gluten free and who understands the delicate nature of diet restrictions, options and alternatives.

Check out her blog.



-k

but it's a good fat

To anyone who follows EYP - sorry for the hiatus. Moving on...

This summer I've really come to embrace a food that Mamma McMillen has been raving about for years. A fruit that even she hadn't tasted until she moved to Tejas in the '70s. A berry whose color was way out of sight on major kitchen appliances across the country. The wonder food that is no stranger to tables in warm climates, which packs an overwhelming but underrated amount of versatility.

What is this unctuous, green-fleshed creature?
It's the one, the only - Avocado.

Now, I know that it seems like the biggest role the avocado can play in our culinary world is to be unceremoniously (and often times brutally) chopped, beaten then mushed into a bowl with some tomato, onion, cilantro and lime -- but who are we to put such limitations on a food with such potential? Though, I half to admit, my favorite way to eat an avocado is simply with a spoon... and don't get me wrong; I dig on some guacamole just as much as the next Texas native.

I highly recommend stopping into your closest Escalante's and dishing up some of their fabulous table side hand-mixed quac.

But there's so much more to the avocado that we take for granted. No, it's not a low fat snack, but as the title of this entry suggests, the fat that it does contain is actually very good for the body (and as far as I'm concerned, the soul). The fat within the avocado is a mono saturated fat, which taken in moderation is perfect for making other non-fat foods last longer in the system throughout the day. Hence, he who eats a little fat with his meal feels satisfied longer. 

A feeling that becomes somewhat precious when you're at work and you've accomplished all of your morning tasks, gone through a pot of coffee and the clock mocks you by displaying that it's only 10:45... and there sits the office fridge... ready and waiting to spill its contents and sabotage diets all over the office... 

I digress--

Avocados pack an amazing amount of vitamins like potassium. Not a big fan of bananas? (As sick as one might be for that fact alone...) Avocados actually have more potassium in a serving than the banana. I, like many, tend to question why we need so many vitamins and what they're good for in terms of their affects on the functionality of the body.
Ever been wrenched from an otherwise comfortable slumber by the arresting pains of a charlie horse? Eat more potassium. Along with potassium, we find vitamins B, E and K.

Vitamin B - boosts the immune system metabolism and cell growth, promotes healthy skin and hair

Vitamin E - promotes healthy skin hair and nails, serves as a mild anti-inflammatory

Vitamin K -promotes proper blood clotting and bone growth, fights against cancer cell growth

Studies have even shown that a diet rich in avocado displays decreases in bad cholesterol and increases in good cholesterol in the blood.

Where I've become most interested in the benefits of the magic fruit is in the beauty department. After a considerable amount of consumption of avocado this summer (hey, I had to research my subject, ok?) there were a few things that I took note of.
First of all was something that Mamma has been trying to explain for years; healthful food does not mean diet food. Think all vegetarians are skinny? Think again. Diet foods are considered as such because they are lean, low cal, low fat, low sugar, et cetera. When we choose to consume fat through a vegetable, fruit or legume, while yes, these simpler choices are much better for the body than a burger or fried cheese, there is still fat content nonetheless. So when I went 'cado crazy, my waistline paid the price.
Apart from this, though my skin sent me thank you letters (they were really tiny and porely written. Yuk yuk yuk!). As far as skin goes, my struggle has always been is with dryness. The avocado, with its richness in skin-friendly vitamins and minerals, created a glow from the inside out. I even got interested in the skin benefits enough that I looked up a few 'cado masks. They turned out to be really simple and kind of fun. The recipes varied from half of the flesh of an avocado to about a squirt of honey, to concoctions that sounded like full on salads. What was really interesting, too, was that even with a hefty oil content within the 'cado, there are some masks that treat oily or easily blemished skin. If you go searching for your own home remedy, remember that the stuff you find in the regular grocery market is truly meant for eating. Your best bet in finding these materials is to look for an organic and/or botanical grocer or pharmacy. Mamma even says to put your trust in the already processed facial products that contain the same remedial elements... "It's just more sanitary that way..."

While wearing your food is always fun, eating it is so much better. As with any food found on several different continents, we find that everyone has their own little twist on enjoying this little monster. In Asia, the "Butter Fruit" is eaten much the same way we eat cereal; diced with sugar and milk. It's also popular in milkshakes and smoothie drinks. Down Under, you'll find that instead of butter, toast is smeared with a smashed green coat. Of course in the warmer part of the U. S. of A., Mexico and the rest of South America, the "Alligator Pear"-turned-guac is a big deal on almost any Latin dish. Any meal can be transformed into a "California Style" recipe simply by adding avocado slices and alfalfa sprouts.

When shopping for avocados:  Know that they are shipped in varying degrees of ripeness, so if they're rock hard, they'll be ready by the end of the week. You can help the ripening process by keeping them together in a paper bag, but check them often. If you're looking for more of an instant gratification, look for avocados whose skin has a little bit of give to the touch. Bruises are common, so you want even tenderness all over. A cool tip I recently learned was that if you pick the nub of its stem from the head, the inside of the pit left behind should be bright green.

I think the coolest recipe I've found in my studies is the Beer Batter Fried Avocado Wedges. Sure, it's taking a fat and frying it, but hey, it's a good fat.

-k

This entry is dedicated to Leigh Ahern, whom I have not seen in quite some time, but whom I will always remember for expressing the need for 'cados to make guac at an SMG grill-out pool party many summers ago.

georgia's on my mind

As much as I'd like to have a lot of pride in my home town, I often times find it difficult, due to an extreme lull in culture throughout Houston and the surrounding areas. Our Farmers Markets are closed by noon, antiquing means draining your bank account to buy an armoire (or similar) simply because it's had the crap fashionably beaten out of it and outside of Montrose or the Heights, decent cafes are few and far between. Sometimes, though a ray of hope for dear H-town comes in the form of places like Georgia's Market.

Once christened Sandy's before being bought out, Georgia's is an organically based grocer and salad bar/buffet style cafe. They follow suit of farm to market with bushels of fresh produce, farm grown eggs and dairy and bulk nuts, spices, tea and coffee. You'll also find a hefty botanical section full of vitamins lotions and home remedy items. Since switching owners, they've grown the dry goods department somewhat as well, but everything has staid pretty much all organic.

While the shopping is fun, and always fresh (and probably safer than the produce you'll find throughout the city) for my money, the best part of the whole experience is the breakfast and lunch buffet. I like to show up on Sunday, where the church crowd does like to party, but not so much that you can't find a decent table (which are all antique dining room sets. Some of them are even for sale). Sundays also bring a very small jazz band that will play old standards (elevator music style). My last trip out there, I even saw an old couple dancing for a couple of numbers. Very sweet.

The salad bar and buffet cover pretty much every base. The salad provides choices that I've never seen at just any ol' salad bar; things like tabouli, hummus and gazpacho. Of course there are your standard recognizable foods like lettuce, sprouts, killer diller fresh fruits and 3 different kinds of tuna salad.

Right across the way are the hot entrees and sides. Start where you like, there's plenty to pick from. If you come early enough for breakfast/brunch you can catch the omelet flippers serving up healthy and very tasty veggie-filled eggs and egg whites. Next to that station is the carving board, which typically yields a baked chicken or ham. Round the corner and dome steam trays hold all sorts of different health foods that changes daily. The next corner brings you to the soup and breads station that is pretty much self explanatory. Soup. Bread.

The desserts seem to move around a lot. Last time they were landed square in the middle of the room. These, I'm actually glad to say are never changed out. Chocolate cake and Carrot cake. Both of which are rich enough satisfy even my sweet tooth in as little as a half a slice of each (honestly, that's really saying something...)

There are different choices of drinks to wash it all down- milk, water, O.J. and some great organic coffee. The experience isn't complete, though without sipping down a cup of loose leaf tea, complete with a slice of lemon and mint leaf. You'll see a couple of servers pushing tea carts up and down the aisles of tables for all who come to dine.

Look for Georgia's Market at 12171 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77079-1501. No need to make reservations, but if you have any questions, give 'em a call: (281) 940-0990.

 

This post is dedicated to Mama McMillen - Thanks for introducing me to a portal into the fads of your time.

-k

which came first?...

Today, in celebration of Easter, I will touch on a food that comes in a small package but packs a lot of powerful benefits. The Egg.

 The egg is one of the most diverse ingredients on the grocery list today. It provides a great protein, it can be served with any course at any meal and it can be mixed with pretty much any flavor profile.

This little guy has caught a lot of flack for being a bad additive to an otherwise healthy diet. A study done by the Physicians' Health Study I once tried to prove a link between the consumption of eggs and type 2 Diabetes. A later study proved that there was no link between them at all. As a matter of fact, cleanly prepared eggs are great for both types of Diabetics since they do have so much protein, which really helps insulin to do its thang.
Other studies have tried to prove that the yolk of the egg, the fattiest part, lead to heart risk with an increase of cholesterol. But the Greeks had it right when they lived by the rule of moderation. An egg a day isn't even enough to clog the arteries.  
Mama says: A diet that includes a small amount of cholesterol is actually very good for you. And she's right! Cholesterol can be dangerous in large doses, but it promotes brain functionality, provides fat to make other foods last longer in the system and gives substance to your diet.

I just don't like the taste of yolks, so I stick to the whites and get my fats from elsewhere.

Of course, when I speak of eggs, I'm talking mainly about chicken eggs. But there are a number of other types of embryos that are considered not only edible, but a delicacy all over the globe. I've actually tried the egg of quail (something about me and quails...). And hope to one day try other fowl such as goose, duck, pheasant,  emu or even ostrich, which provide people from coast to coast and across the pond with gourmet omelets. And if your pocketbook allows, you might even find yourself dining on the salty gel beads that is caviar. I'm not so sure if or when I'll ever be moved to try fish eggs.
For now, I'll stick to egg tacos.  
Chicken egg tacos.

I don't know many people who don't enjoy eggs in some form or fashion, but chances are if you don't like eggs, you haven't had them in all of the many ways they can be prepared. Besides being important ingredients in baking and as washes or batters, the great thing about eggs is that they can be the star of their own show...

Baked (Shirred) Eggs
 - In France, this basic methods of baked eggs is called oeufs en cocotte.

Boiling Eggs
 - A good tip to avoiding the Green Ring of Death (which really doesn't effect the taste of or harm the egg... it's just ugly) is to make sure not to over cook the eggs, and shock it in a cold water bath after boiling. Sometimes you can't avoid the green ring because it also has to do with the iron and sulfur content.

Coddled Eggs
 - Coddled eggs are made by very briefly immersing an egg in the shell in boiling water (to cook in water just below the boiling point) to slightly cook or coddle them.

Deviled Eggs
 - Deviled eggs have their roots in ancient Roman recipes with the first published recipes for stuffed, boiled eggs were from medieval Europe. In the 17th century, this was a common way to prepare eggs. they were not called "deviled" until the 18th Century, in England.

Fried Eggs - A French technique that very slowly cooks the eggs in butter.

Poached Eggs
 - The best eggs for poaching are the freshest eggs you can find. If eggs are more than a week old, the whites thin out. Whites of fresh eggs will gather compactly around the yolk, making a rounder, neater shape. A tip to keep the egg from freaking out in the pot is to add vinegar.

Scrambled Eggs/Omelets - Scrambled eggs make a delicious and quick meal, but there is a little science to getting them just right. The secret to successfully scrambling eggs is slow cooking (you need low, gentle heat).

These are pretty standard breakfast recipes; the most common of them all. I found not only these, but a bad ass list of different and very interesting recipes featuring the mighty egg at whatscookingamerica.net. They took eggs to a level that I knew was possible, but had never really taken a second look at. Poke around the site's recipes. there were way too many good ones to list them all here.

This entry is dedicated The Mud Egg - even though you get a lot of attention every year, you will always be the ugliest egg.

-k