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