Lori, Author at Fake Food Free

Feasting for Hours: Rijsttafel in Ubud-Bali

November 20, 2009

I will admit that when we were initially planning our month long trip through Southeast Asia, Indonesia was an afterthought. We had first looked at a package deal for airline tickets which included Bali and that was really the first thought I had given to going there.

When we ended up purchasing our tickets independently we decided to keep Bali on the list, but we still hadn’t decided exactly where we should stay on the island. The research was a bit overwhelming and after hours of thinking about it we finally chose to stick with Ubud, the artistic and cultural center of the island.

I knew nothing about it before I started my research, but the more I looked into the area the more excited I got. When we finally landed and made the drive from Denpasar I could barely sit still. What a beautiful place!

We stayed outside the center which actually consists of other villages and according to what I’ve read is not technically Ubud. Of course, it was still a bit of a tourist area, but more secluded and quieter than the very center of town where market and temple reside.

We ended up having some very delicious and unique meals. It is difficult to say what my favorite food location was the entire trip, but Ubud and the Balinese and Indonesian cuisine we had there ranked high and that was something I certainly wasn’t expecting. I say that because it was the place I researched the least regarding food.

The meals we enjoyed resembled Thai cuisine in some ways, but had a character all their own. There were plenty of flavorful spices, lots of veggies and we ate a fair amount of duck as well.
Let me take you on the food journey we experienced our first night there.

I had seen Warung Enak mentioned in a travel review before we left so I had jotted down some information about it. (Warung is the name for a casual, usually outdoor, restaurant in Indonesia, by the way.) When we arrived I was surprised to find that the restaurant was practically next door to the bungalows where we were staying.

The Rijsttafel was what had my attention. I had wanted to try it from the second I read about it. This meal included not only foods of Bali, but dishes representing all parts of Indonesia. Ours included 18 small dishes split into four courses. Traditionally this meal could include up to 40 dishes served over three to four hours!

As a starter before the starter, we were given a small bowl of fried spinach leaves. Who knew you could fry spinach leaves! They were delicious, like eating a chip with a surprise of dark green veggie in the middle. We also opted for a local beer brewed just outside of Ubud, Storm Beer. I had the Bronze Ale and it was excellent with a nutty, crisp flavor.

Each selection came out in a small dish with enough for a couple bites for each of us. This was such a great way to try to so many foods! We were full by the end, of course, but not disgustingly stuffed.

The starter included four dishes. We began with the Tum Ayam from Bali, a chicken terrine on fern tip salad. On a hike I will talk about in a later post we were able to see these fern tips in comparison to the ferns that wouldn’t be eaten.

Next was the Lumpia Semarang from central Java. This deep fried spring roll included shrimp, bamboo shoots and fermented soy bean sauce. In this same picture to the right you will see the Empek-Empek Palembang from south Sumatra, a deep fried fish dumpling filled with egg and served with on sour palm sugar sauce blended with dried shrimp.

Finally, Asinan Jakarta from Batavia. Yam bean, carrot, cucumber, bean sprouts tofu which were tossed in chili rice vinaigrette and served with fried egg noodles.

On to the soup course. The Soto Betawi was from Batavia as well. It was a beef soup with fragrant spices. I’m not exactly sure what spices, but I can tell you there was kaffir lime leaf that is so delicious in Thai curries. I’ve found some recipes online so I will have to give it a try myself.

Now, onto the main courses and, wow, there were a lot! It was all served in this lazy susan turntable with a candle lit underneath it to keep the foods warm. There was also a beautifully carved decoration on the top. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember if it was a squash or papaya, but looking at the photo again I’m pretty sure it was papaya.

The main courses were served with rice from a bamboo steamer. Half was white rice and half was saffron yellow rice.

We began with the Sate Kambing from central Java. This was grilled lamb with peanut-soy sauce. Call me boring, but sate was my favorite dish while there. I just love the flavor of the meat, the sweet glaze combined with the salty peanut sauce and the simplicity of the whole thing. It was so delicious straight from the source while in Indonesia.

Next up was Woku Blanga Cakal Putri from Manado. This consisted of trevally (fish) poached in a broth spiced up with lemongrass, ginger, chili and pandan-lime kaffir leaf. Given that I already stated that my overall favorite of this stop was sate, this fish came in second for the meal.

The meal also came with lots of traditionally prepared veggies. Sayur Urab from Bali which is blanched mixed veggies topped off with grated coconut. In addition there was Plecing Kangkung from all over Indonesia which was a spicy water spinach.

Semur Tahu from Batavia was a stewed bean curd in soy broth. The bean curd was a common dish throughout our entire trip. It is something I had never had before, but ended up enjoying. Think of it as a tough tofu that has been fried and is crispy on the outside.

My favorite dish of this meal was the Pangek Sapi from Sumatra. This spicy beef stew with sweet basil leaves had simple flavors, but it really stood out among the rest of the dishes. The beef was so tender.

There were a couple other dishes I didn’t get good pictures because we were enjoying our dinner as the sun was setting. The Ayam Madu Katulistiwa from Kalimantan was a pan fried chicken that was marinated in coriander, cumin, honey and palm sugar. In addition, we had Sambal Goreng Undang from central Java, prawn cooked in coconut broth with snow peas, baby potatoes and quail eggs.

Are you full yet? Well, we still have dessert. Dessert with five different dishes to be exact.

Tamarind and coconut cream ice cream. Then Kue Lumpur from Kalimantan, a sultanas (raisins) and young coconut pancake with vanilla and chocolate sauce followed by Dadar Gulung from all over Indonesia which was a banana crepe filled with coconut jam and pandan (tree leaf) sauce.

There was Bolu Tape from all over Indonesia which was a baked fermented cassava cake (shown below) with raisins. As I’ve mentioned before, cassava is mandioca in southern Brazil and in all our time there I never saw it used in a dessert. Perhaps they use it for this purpose in the north of Brazil. I should look that up.

I saved the most intriguing to me for the last, Bubur Injin also from all over Indonesia (shown above). This was a black rice sticky pudding with jack fruit and coconut cream. At first bite I immediately noticed how it lacked an overly sweet flavor. This was actually a very good thing. I got so used to the desserts in Brazil being so overwhelmingly sweet that this contrast was nice. I could be completely wrong is this assessment, but from what we tried, I got the impression that in Bali most of the desserts are only mildly sweet.

That was one long list of food and honestly there was nothing served that we didn’t like. I was going to continue with the rest of our good eats in Bali, but I think I’ll save it for a part 2. I need to tell you all about our visit to the Dirty Duck, a recommendation for Selba at Selby’s Food Corner.

There is a lot more to come on the foods of Southeast Asia! Hopefully after the first of the year I will begin making my own versions of some of our favorites.

Warung Enak Bali
Ubud Bali
Phone: 62 361 972911
Getting there

Pear, Toasted Walnut & Blue Cheese Stuffing

November 19, 2009

This stuffing recipe combines seasonal pears, crunchy walnuts and rich blue cheese!

I enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Every single year my family makes the same exact dishes, and they are all delicious. However, when I started getting into food and cooking I felt the need to rock the boat, or rather the Thanksgiving table.

Don’t get me wrong, I value tradition, but there is also nothing wrong with putting a new twist on things or adding a new dish each year. My first attempt at this was sweet potato casserole. We had never had this growing up. My grandma used to always make the sweet potatoes ones straight from the can, whole with marshmallows on top.

When I first introduced the casserole there was a lot of resistance. So much so that my mom told me only to make a small dish because it probably wouldn’t all get eaten. Well, the size of that dish has grown each year and she just asked me last night if I was planning on making it again this year.

Change is good.

I have similar rock-the-boat tendencies with stuffing. My mom still makes my grandmother’s and it is a coveted side around the table. Let’s just say that the stuffing meets much more resistance than the sweet potatoes ever experienced. Therefore each year I make a small Thanksgiving meal the week before for my husband and me, and one year we invited a small group of friends, a tradition I hope can continue now that we are back in Kentucky.

I happen to love the stuffing recipes from Rachael Ray. I go back and forth between her Apple and Onion Stuffing and her Cranberry-Pecan Stuffing each year. This year, I wanted to try to find a way to put my own twist on it and a familiar combination came to mind.

I really enjoy the pear, walnut and blue cheese flavor combination. I often take a pear slice, top it with cheese, a walnut half and drizzle it with honey for a snack. It is also my go-to salad topping.

So I thought – if apples, onions, cranberries and pecans work in a Thanksgiving stuffing, why not pear, walnut and blue cheese?

Guess what? It does!

Last night I made Pear, Toasted Walnut & Blue Cheese Stuffing and it turned out great. I used both 9-grain and whole wheat bread slices, dried them out in a 200 F oven, and then cut the slices into cubes. I mixed half the blue cheese in the stuffing and pressed the remaining onto the top of the stuffing once I transferred it to the baking dish.

It is officially on the Thanksgiving menu for years to come!

Pear, Toasted Walnut & Blue Cheese Dressing

½ tbsp olive oil
¼ cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large pear, chopped
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp rubbed sage
½ cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
8 cups dried bread cubes
2 – 3 cups chicken stock
1 egg, beaten
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled & divided

Preheat the oven to 400 F and butter a 2 quart baking dish. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and then add the butter. Once melted add the onion and garlic, cook on medium heat for about 3 to 4 minutes. Next add in the pear and cook until tender, about 7 minutes more. Add the salt, pepper and sage and stir to coat the mixture. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Add the bread cubes to a large mixing bowl. Add the onion-pear mixture and stir to incorporate. Stir in the toasted walnuts and add the chicken stock one cup at a time until the stuffing reaches your desired consistency. If you like it dry, add about 2 cups, wet, add all 3. Stir in the egg.

Finally stir in half of the blue cheese and transfer the stuffing to the baking dish, pressing it down gently. Sprinkle the remaining blue cheese onto the top of the stuffing and press the pieces into the top of the mixture. Bake covered for about 30 minutes, remove the top and bake about 15 minutes more, or until the top is browned and crispy.

Note: The baking time has a lot to do with how you like your stuffing. This was my method this time and it was a little wetter than I like it. Next time I would likely bake it uncovered to dry it out more.

Makes 6 to 8 servings depending on how many other sides you have.

For a Different Reason

November 18, 2009

I found myself standing in the supermarket checkout lane surrounded by candy of every kind. It felt strange at first considering these were varieties I haven’t regularly seen for the past two years. It is amazing how taking note of this tiny experience in my day sent my mind on a journey, evaluating how I’ve changed.

What surprised me about this situation above was that I didn’t want any of the candy. Not even a tiny craving emerged. Why? Well, because I automatically evaluated what it was made of – industrialized, processed ingredients.

Two years ago as when I began my journey to eat fewer processed foods I didn’t have those candies often, but it was for much different reasons. At that time they didn’t represent processed ingredients, they represented calories and fat which my brain automatically equated to weight gain.

This way of looking at these items, of course, didn’t make me want them any less. I just knew I couldn’t have them. I wasn’t giving them up willfully. They were considered off limits. That kind of thinking left me feeling deprived.

Last week in that checkout lane, I didn’t feel deprived at all. I simply didn’t want those processed, industrialized foods in my body.

Let’s be clear, though. I’m not saying I don’t ever, or won’t ever, eat candy (or some of the other foods I plan to mention later). I’m just experiencing a completely different healthy eating perspective which is leading to happier eating and fewer feelings of desiring something I can’t have.

I have new reasons not to want it and it has nothing to do with weight gain or outward appearances. It is almost overwhelming how freeing this perspective feels to me. I no longer feel like I’m denying myself.

And this isn’t just about candy. I feel the same way about almost every aisle in the center of the grocery store. My basket doesn’t turn down the cracker and cookie aisle and the only reason it finds its way to the cereal aisle is to get oatmeal. Is there even a soda aisle anymore? I tend to blow right by it.

The important part is that I’m not purposely doing this. It is happening naturally because of my goals to eat fewer industrialized foods and to know the source of what goes into our mouths. I don’t feel like I’m avoiding a temptation like I used to.

Even though I’m still eating for health, it is a much different force that is driving me. It is true health, not just avoidance of gaining weight, aspiring to lose it, or even reducing risk of a chronic disease. It also goes beyond health. Environment, animal welfare and economics all come into play in my choices these days.

I feel like we ate well in Brazil in terms of health, yet everything was completely new and meals always led to some sort of discovery. I was concerned how it would be when we returned to the US and I fell back into familiar patterns of shopping and cooking. My biggest fear was returning to bad habits that I’ve discovered and identified through all my personal research the past two years.

Part of me is in disbelief of just how easy shopping for food and making choices have been since we returned. When you eat simple, natural foods shopping is a lot less stressful experience. There is no internal struggle of I want this, but I shouldn’t have it. I don’t buy it because it doesn’t align with my beliefs and values, plain and simple. The choices I’m making are for a different reason and that seems to make all the difference.

Have you made any recent healthy changes which ended up being a lot easier than you were expecting?

Photos of rice grains and rice terraces (view from our bungalow) in Ubud-Bali, Indonesia.

This post has been submitted for Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

New Kitchen, Back to Cooking – Acorn Squash Soup with Cranberry Sauce

November 16, 2009

I am happy to say that I’m back in the kitchen! I even have enough boxes unpacked to cook an entire meal. I was so excited when I found my Kitchen Aid mixer that I had to announce it on Twitter. I got all kinds of friendly responses.

I tend to spend a good amount of time just staring at my stove with a big smile of contentment on my face. It is actually the exact same model as I had in our house before our move abroad, but now it is like a brand new toy.

I’m just so darn excited here is a picture for you.

Last week I spent some time shopping around for the ingredients that I know I want to cook and bake with. I haven’t been able to find mascavo sugar here, or the exact equivalent, but I did end up trying out demerara sugar, which is unrefined sugar made from evaporated cane juice. The sources I’ve found so far state that it is the same, or very similar to, turbinado sugar.

It is a different consistency than the mascavo sugar I used in Brazil as it has much larger crystals. I know I can order the mascavo online so we’ll see how the demerara does in baking to decide which I like better. For coffee, it works great. (I’m trying to wean myself off adding sugar to my coffee, but I do still like it a little bit sweet. )

Along with my sugar I picked up some fresh cranberries which just happen to be one of my favorite parts of this time of year. I’ll be buying more soon to freeze for later use. I also grabbed an acorn squash. My parents tell me that they have plenty of squash and pumpkin for me at home from the garden, but I just couldn’t wait.

Finally, I found a great deal on grapefruit. After paying about 1 USD each for imported ones which would show up in the Asian market where we lived in Brazil, I gladly handed over $2.50 for a whole bag.

I decided to make a soup with it all this weekend incorporating turkey day flavors, of course. When it comes to Thanksgiving flavors I tend to like them combined in any way possible. I’ll take cranberry sauce on just about anything, add in turkey to my squash side dishes and eat walnuts or pecans on my sweet potatoes.

I’ll admit that this recipe may not be too terribly exciting and is very similar to a butternut squash soup I make regularly. There seem to be a lot of similar recipes out there on the web this time of year as well.

However, it is the first official recipe and meal to come out of my new kitchen so that alone makes is special.

Acorn Squash & Apple Soup with Cranberry Grapefruit Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, chopped
¼ cup onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 medium apple, chopped
¼ tsp ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp demerara sugar (or any type of unrefined cane sugar)
2 cups chicken stock
Flesh of one acorn squash, roasted (about 1 ½ to 2 cups)
¼ cup milk or cream
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

In your soup pot, heat the olive oil, then add the carrot, onion, garlic and apple. Cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes, stirring often. Add in the ginger, cinnamon and sugar and stir to coat the veggies and fruit. Pour in the chicken stock, cover the pot and simmer until the veggies and fruit are tender, about 10 minutes. (This is a good time to make the cranberry sauce.)

Next, stir in the squash until it is smooth and well incorporated. Remove the pot from heat and blend all ingredients using an immersion blender. You can also transfer the soup and blend in a standard blender. I leave mine a little chunky, but you can make it as smooth as you like.

Return to low heat and slowly stir in the milk or cream. Add more or less to reach your desired soup consistency and heat through. Salt and pepper to your taste.

Cranberry Grapefruit Sauce

1 cup fresh cranberries
¼ cup grapefruit juice
2 tsp demerara sugar
Chopped, toasted walnuts for garnish

Combine the cranberries and juice in a small sauce pan and cook on medium heat. Add in the sugar and stir until the cranberries burst. Allow the sauce to thicken to your desired consistency. It gets thicker as it cools. You might also want to add more sugar if you don’t prefer your cranberry sauce tart.

Ladle your soup into bowls. The recipe makes 2 to 3 servings. Top with some cranberry sauce and sprinkle with toasted walnuts.

Searching for Mango Sticky Rice

November 13, 2009

“You have to try the mango sticky rice.”

We heard this numerous times before traveling to Thailand. I knew right away that I would like. Rice turned into a dessert with fresh mangoes. What’s not to like?

What I didn’t know was how different it would be than my expectations, nor just how much I would love it. Add to that just how much we would eat of it during our time in Thailand.

Our first night in Chiang Mai, Thailand we made our way to the Sunday Night Bazaar. It was an outdoor market filled with handmade goods from the people who traveled in from surrounding villages. Along with all the incredible arts and crafts were plenty of foods.

Here are a few shots of table after table filled with noodles, dumplings and other Asian creations. They all smelled amazing!

Despite how good all this looks we didn’t eat much that night. We ended up finding a restaurant a few hours earlier for our first Thai meal of Spicy Green Papaya Salad and Green Curry which I will talk about more when I tell you about my cooking course.

Yes, I know we should have waited for the street food, but we were still very much getting our bearings for Thailand and weren’t sure what to expect at this particular market.

As we walked through the rows of food vendors it took a while to spot the Mango Sticky Rice, Kao Niow Ma-muang (I’ve seen it spelled several ways), but finally all the fresh mangos on the front of one cart gave it away.

We ordered one and the flavor experience began.

It was nothing like what I expected. Firstly, I had never had sticky rice before. My goodness I have been missing out for the past 31 years! Secondly, because the dish is often described as sticky rice pudding, I was expecting something much more like a sweet rice pudding such as what I tasted and made in Brazil.

Well, the sticky rice is just that – sticky. Yet, it remains firm and is somewhat dry, meaning it isn’t wet or pudding-like. It has the most wonderful sweet and nutty flavor. Next to it is a ripe, sweet, fresh mango cut into slices.

These are a different variety than the Palmer and Tommy mangoes I was getting in Brazil. The mangoes in Thailand are all yellow and not the red blending into green colors I was familiar with. I also thought they were a lot less fibrous. I’ve learned they are called Naam Dok Maai which means flower nectar mango.

To top off an already delicious combination, coconut milk is drizzled over the top. Then there is a sprinkle with these sweet, crunchy bits that I have recently learned are stir-fried mung beans. I noticed in the cookbook we received from our cooking course that they substituted sesame seeds. They wouldn’t be quite the same. I’d probably just leave them off all together.

We ate A LOT of mango sticky rice!

We later learned that mangoes weren’t actually in season while we were there. This didn’t surprise me because they have a very distinct season in Brazil as well. In fact, there is a huge mango tree near where we lived there. I passed it just a few days before we left and the mangoes were all over it, but still very tiny and very green. Perhaps they have similar seasons with Thailand.

Some vendors and restaurants still managed to provide it though and the mangoes were still delicious. Much better than any mango you could get in the central U.S. any time of year.

I haven’t made it myself yet, but once I get my hands on some sticky rice I will be giving it a try. Maybe even withough mango until the summer. Did I mention I love sticky rice?

I searched around for a few recipes and found some that appeared more authentic. I like to put twists on things, but for this dish I want it in the original form.

Real Thai Recipes Mango with Sticky Rice
Thai Food & Travel Coconut-Flavored Sticky Rice with Mangoes
Zoe Bakes Mango with Sticky Rice

Foodbuzz Fest: New Friends and Fab Food

November 11, 2009

By now I’m sure you’ve read post after post about the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. I chose to save my posting until I got back mainly because once I hit the hotel room I was practically asleep both from a food and drink induced coma as well as from my travels beginning to catch up with me.

The event was excellent and exceeded my expectations. I was a little worried about how beneficial it would be going into it knowing it was a festival and not described as an educational conference. It turned out that the networking was fantastic with both vendors and fellow bloggers, and there was ample exposure to efforts going on out there regarding Farm to Table and sustainable foods.

I’m not sure how impressed those on the west coast were considering that all the great food, farmer’s markets and gorgeous atmosphere are common, but for me it was true blessing to be there. I was able to sample foods, wines and beers that I otherwise may have never had the chance. Let me assure you they did not skimp on offering us pure quality and luxury on the menu.

I know there have been a lot of posts highlighting each part of the event so I thought I’d go through some of my very favorites and then, regarding some of those free goodies we got, I may highlight them when I use them.

I must say kudos those who managed to get amazing photos of the event. It was incredibly difficult because we always had our hands full with food, drinks and giveaways. It was hard to balance it all and get a good photo in the process.

Friday night began with a cocktail reception at the Hotel Vitale. I think most attendees would agree that while the atmosphere was gorgeous the space was too tight to do much mingling. That’s something I’m sure will be corrected next year though.

SKYY spirits was a sponsor and I stuck with the Citrus Collins for the night considering I like my spirits with only a few flavors which really stand out. It was a combination of SKYY Infusions Citrus, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and club soda.

Food was served, but I wasn’t hungry enough to fight my way to it, so I didn’t try any of the appetizers. I did hear that I missed out not having the mac n’ cheese though.

Dinner was centered around a taste of SF street food and was located in an outdoor pavilion. A bit of a elbowing and bumping was necessary to make your way to each station, but that didn’t keep us from grabbing what we wanted though. Such as buttery, flaky veggie pies from the Pie Truck, the Mini Rotisserie Porchetta with curly cress & onion marmalade from Roli Roti, and my very favorite – the tacos from Tacolicious. The first was chorizo and potato and the second beef.

Thirsty Bear beer was on tap. I am now officially a huge fan of their beer. On Thursday my roomie and I, Andrea from Off Her Cork, met LouAnn from Oyster Food and Culture there for lunch. It was such a pleasure to meet and hang out with both these ladies. The beer was a close second to my company. The Valencia Wheat they served at the event was light, crisp and fruity.

The most unique award from me went to the raw lavender cheesecake from Alive. Now I’m not opposed to raw foods, I eat them all the time, but I can’t say I seek them out either nor would I be able to eat only raw foods. Or at least that is what I thought until I tried the cheesecake. It didn’t have that rich, tangy cheesy flavor, yet it was smooth, creamy and thick, and I loved the coconut crust.

At the moment I’m trying hard to remember all of Saturday. It was literally a fest of eating from morning until night. Not to mention the fact that of the 50 vendors we were able to taste from in the afternoon, a large majority were wine along with a few which were beer. I think everyone was feeling it by the end of that afternoon. Naps were certainly needed whether we got them or not.

Among the gourmet appetizers, snacks from vendors on foodzie, luxury chocolates and foods combinations created by fellow bloggers I did manage to pull out a few favorites. Among them included the tart and tender Peruvian ceviche. I’m embarrassed to say I can’t remember the specific chef and restaurant. I thought I could find it in our booklet, but it’s not jumping out at me now. Maybe someone can help.

The mini red velvet cupcakes from Mission Mini’s were delicious and I ran into several people who planned to sample each flavor they were offering. Okay, I’ll admit I had two. The other one was Lemonade, but the photo didn’t turn out well.

The Savory Pumpkin Bread Pudding created by Tri to Cook was excellent. It combined chipotle chicken sausage and Gruyere cheese. It was enough to get you excited about Thanksgiving.

Knowing I had a Merlot tasting that afternoon I tried more beers than wine. The Hell or High Watermelon Wheat from the 21st Amendment Brewery had a unique flavor that is hard to describe. It wasn’t your typical citrus-y wheat. That watermelon flavor really did come through.

I had to follow up with Rogue Chocolate Stout, in a wine glass I might add. The chocolate flavor is so prominent unlike some other beers I’ve had before which leave you really searching for the distinct flavors. It has quickly moved up on my list of favorites.

The Merlot tasting provided by Alder Yarrow of Vinography.com was excellent. We got full stories about the vineyards each bottle came from and we were tasting some darn good quality wine. We learned my favorite retails for $65 a bottle! We also got to keep our set of 4 Lenox Austrian Crystal wine glasses.

I’ll cover Saturday’s dinner a bit later because I want to do some more research about the organization that hosted it, but I do need to rave about Sunday’s brunch which was located at Restaurant LuLu. I have been brunch deprived while living in Brazil and I’ve missed it so much.

The buffet was full of wonderful choices including frittata, french toast, panzanella, pear and blue cheese salad and bacon. All the foods were made with products from Kerrygold, Frog Hollow Farm and Nature’s Pride.

I had two favorites. Firstly, the bacon. Yeah, I know. Why bacon? Well, I just finished Nina Planck’s book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why which I’ll recap later, but she manages to glorify real pork products in a way I’ve never heard before and I’ve been craving it ever since. This bacon was good too. Thick cut, cooked perfectly, not too crunchy not too chewy. I saw more than one person go back for seconds.

The other was the French Toast with Kerrygold butter mixed with cinnamon and a fruit compote from Frog Hollow Farms. The bread was from Nature’s Pride. I will say it was good, but it really doesn’t matter how healthy packaged bread is or claims to be I prefer to buy mine from a local bakery or make it myself. The Kerrygold is an entirely different story though. I love their products, and I have to say I was really turned on to Frog Hollow Farms as well.

I can’t forget to mention the build-your-own Bloody Mary Bar. It was stocked with SKYY vodka, juices, pickled veggies and all the spicy stuff necessary for the perfect mid-morning drink.

To sum up this particular post I wanted to mention a few people I had the opportunity to meet on this trip. I met A LOT of people, however, as with most professional get-togethers you tend to meet several people at the beginning and while you mingle you usually end up back with them at the end of the night or for the last meal.

I already mentioned Andrea of Off Her Cork. I’ve been a regular reader for a while and love her tips and reviews. We spent several days around San Francisco seeing the sights outside of the event. This was my first time meeting her and I couldn’t have had a better roomie. When you have a love for dogs, food and fitness in common you just can’t go wrong.

I was also very excited to meet Kathy of A Good Appetite. I love her blog and all the delicious recipes. With travel and food in common we hit it off right away and I really enjoyed spending some time with her and meeting Matt who is the 2nd half of their fabulous blogging effort.

Andrea introduced me to Amanda and Andy of Two Boos Who Eat. I wasn’t familiar with their blog before the event, but I will be a regular reader now. You simply can’t help laughing when you are around these two. They are so much fun.

Outside of the event, I also got to spend a meal with Amy of Delicious by Nature. We had great conversation about healthy eating and I was so happy that I had the opportunity to meet her. She just happens to be one of the most thoughtful people I know. She brought me a bag of Whole Food goodies because she wasn’t sure if I would have snacks having just come from our SE Asia trip.

Then Andrea and I got to hang out with LouAnn as I mentioned above. We had such a great time I think the waitress came up several times just to check on us since we were spending so much time at the restaurant talking. We chatted about food, culture, travel and running and I’m so glad I was able to meet her as well.

If you haven’t gathered as much yet, I highly encourage you to head out for next year’s event. After a few conversations I’m pretty sure it will be in San Francisco again and honestly while I would like to see some regional stuff too, you really couldn’t have it in a better place. All that sustainable food and access to great wine creates the perfect atmosphere for foodies to get together in their ultimate of comfort zones.

It’s Finally Here

November 6, 2009

After a very rainy day in San Fran the Foodbuzz Fest has finally arrived. I thought I would give you all a quick taste of what came in our goodie bags at registration this afternoon. Check out all this stuff!

To name a few items…a cappuccino frother, espresso, Brie, olives, chocolates, a kit of sauces, and lots of kitchen gadgets like spatulas and a whisk. I’d say that is a pretty good start to a foodie weekend!

Considering that I’m moving into a new kitchen in a couple days. I think my favorite item in the bag is this adjustable measuring spoon. I can’t wait to try it out with my holiday baking.

I’m not sure how much posting I’ll be doing during the actual weekend, but you can expect a full recap next week.

Travel Snacks

November 3, 2009

The trip seemed to pick up pace towards the end and left very little time for photo managing and post writing. Here I sit in San Francisco geared up for the Foodbuzz Fest and finding it hard to believe our Southeast Asia trip is behind us.

What an amazing trip it was. Honestly we could have not asked for anything better. We have no complaints and we had more good travel luck than I think any one person is entitled to. Flights were smooth, we have our luggage (hopefully I’m not speaking too soon as I do still have to get back to KY), and no missed reservations. Pretty incredible.

I still have so much to share with you so as I get back into a kitchen next week and return to recipes I will also be continuing recaps of our foodie adventures.

I’ve been struggling a bit with how to organize it all. I didn’t want to simply provide a number of breakdowns for each location so you’ll be finding some of our favorite meals from specific places as well as combinations of food favorites from our entire trip.

As you can imagine there was quite a bit of snacking going on. In fact, I’m so full I’m beginning to worry how much room I have for this upcoming fest. We find it very difficult not to pick up an item that looks intriguing while we are out and about. Good for interesting blog material and trying new flavors, but it felt like we didn’t stop eating the whole trip!

There were so many great snacks throughout the places we visited in Southeast Asia from breads, to desserts to drinks. Some flavors were familiar such coconut others were new to us such as red bean and black sesame.

Looking back there was only one flavor I didn’t like. Those of you that know that area of the world can probably guess what it was. Yep, Durian, but I’ll explain more about that in an upcoming post.

Here were a few of the snacks that got us through the day, as if our unbelievable meals wouldn’t have tide us over.

We loved the bread shops, especially in Hong Kong. You pick up your tray and tongs and choose until your hearts content. My favorite was the green tea bun with red bean paste, soft and sweet with only a mild beany texture. My husband’s was the peanut waffle. You just can’t go wrong with waffles regardless of what culture you are in.

I had my share of drinks that could be more accurately called meals. The ice fruit shakes in Thailand were so simple, yet so tasty. I absolutely loved the jackfruit shake – a cup full of jackfruit, ice and some sugar syrup.

A fresh mango juice with sagu, or tapioca pearls, in Hong Kong. Very similar to a bubble tea, but much thicker and more filling with chunks of mango.

A coffee drink with soy bean curds in the bottom from the weekend market/walking street in Krabi, Thailand. Again, like a bubble tea. I love those chewy bites.

Avocado Coffee at the Greenfield Bungalows in Ubud-Bail, Indonesia. Catch that? Avocado coffee. Yep, I was intrigued too. They told me it was a bit of avocado blended with coffee, slightly sweetened with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. It was served cool, not exactly cold. I could get hooked on them for sure.

An item that seemed very popular in the area was squid balls and we got these at the night market/walking street in Krabi, Thailand. Basically like a baked corn fritter with pieces of squid then garnished with some sweet soy sauce and another white sauce that was like mayonnaise. These were fun to try, but not something I’d go for often.

At that same market we also picked up some steamed buns filled with a savory mix of chicken.

A real highlight was the ice cream and I think we tried it all in Singapore. I find the way they serve them on the street to be pure genius. They use two wafer cookies and slice the ice cream off in a thick rectangle. So simple, but so much better than scooped in a cone.

The first is red bean and the second, yam. Both had a flavor that I would almost assimilate with the strawberry. Kind of odd, I know, but that is what it tasted like a first bite. As different as they are from our standard ice cream flavors in the US, I found them both to my liking. You just have to get over the pieces of bean in the red bean.

We found this Azabu Sabo Hokkaido ice cream several places around Singapore. It was smooth and creamy like gelato, but in lots of traditional Asian flavors. The first wasn’t so specific to Asia I guess, but had that wonderful balance of salty and sweet – sea salt and caramel. The next day we tried the black sesame. It was nutty and sweet with a slightly grainy texture. At first I didn’t think I liked it, but it is a flavor that grows on you.

Pad Thai from the street vendors in Thailand is a snack I could eat every day for a long time before tiring of it. The noodles, sprouts and egg, not to mention the peanuts and red chili are such a delicious combination. We got this one from a cart about half way down Khao San Road in Bangkok.

Not far from that, I spotted this Roti stand and watched as the hardworking lady behind the cart rolled it out then fried it up with a very generous amount of butter. We ordered the lemon sugar and it was fantastic. Sweet and tart, it wasn’t overpowering and allowed the flavor of the bread to come through.

Thailand might be one of the best places in the world for the after midnight snack. We had the awesome experience of being shown around by some friends – expats from Australia who live and work in Bangkok. After hanging out at a street bar on Halloween night and then making a stop at the Aussie expat hangout we took a short cab ride for food. Tucked in the corner of a side street was this little place, or cart rather.

He was incredibly busy and the area was packed with locals. We enjoyed fresh noodles with pork wontons floating in a savory broth and then topped with sliced pork and crab. It was delicious, the best pork of the trip in fact. Did I mention it was a whopping $2? The price of Thai food almost makes you feel guilty for enjoying such wonderful dishes at such a low cost.

See what I mean. I’m not sure we ever stopped eating. And you would think after all that I would no longer be hungry, but just looking at these photos makes we wish we were back there enjoying it all over again.

A Quest for Food – Cooking for Health

October 26, 2009

The third post in our Quest for Food series is from Amy at Delicious by Nature. As a Natural Food Chef, blogger, and food lover, her main goal is to show people that healthy food can be delicious and she strives to make nutritious eating fun and enjoyable. She’s here to share her tips for substituting healthier grains while maintaining textures and flavors.

My name is Amy Vig and I blog over at Delicious by Nature. I’m excited to join you all at Fake Food Free while Lori is out because I share many of her same philosophies and love hearing about all of her adventures while living abroad.

When Lori asked me to put together a post, we immediately agreed that whole grains would be an interesting topic to cover. I know that many of us are striving to fit more and more of these powerful little babies into our diets. And for those of you who aren’t…well why the heck aren’t you? Need some motivation?*

Removing the bran and germ of grains, which is what happens when they refine them, results in the loss of key nutrients such as thiamine

Whole grains are a great source of complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, minerals, and B vitamins

They have a higher protein content and quality than refined ones

Whole grain diets have been shown to help protect against the development of some chronic diseases including colon diseases, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer

I can appreciate that sometimes it’s difficult to incorporate whole grains. After all, white rice, white flour, and white pasta abound in the pre-packaged and restaurant foods that are available. Plus, many of the recipes that you’ll find online give the impression that you must use the processed stuff to get the right result. And while I will concede that sometimes brown rice just isn’t the same as white, by learning to successfully adjust recipes you can easily start substituting whole grains for refined grains in even the pickiest of eaters’ meals.

A few tips for replacement:

Parboiling brown rice for about 20 minutes will make it more similar in cooking time to white rice and allows for easier replacement. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add rice, and boil like pasta for 20 minutes. Drain when just starting to soften and set the rice aside. This can be done a couple days ahead of time and then used instead of white rice in recipes like my Paella for 30.

Use whole grain or brown rice pasta in place of regular pasta when cooking at home. My boyfriend swears that the brown rice pasta isn’t even noticeably different, just be sure not to overcook it or it will become quite sticky and gummy. I make a gluten free and cheese free Creamy Mushroom and Sausage Pasta using the brown rice penne from Trader Joe’s.

Replace your usual white products with other things entirely. Sometimes, changing your expectations entirely is easier than adjusting to something that just isn’t the same. In cases where imitation just won’t do, I use things like quinoa to give my dishes a new flavor and texture.

Quinoa is an ancient grain that’s a bit nutty and cooks up in 15 minutes – much shorter than your average brown rice! I love it in my Almond Quinoa Muffins (gluten free) or Quinoa Tabbouleh. I also love how Lori used the wheatberry, another underused whole grain, in this Tropical Wheatberry Salad.

One of my favorite whole grain recipes is for brown rice sushi wraps. By using short grain brown rice and a little rice vinegar wrapped in nori, you have a great base for all kinds of creative lunches. Fill it with just about anything you like!

Tempeh Sushi Rolls
Makes 3 rolls

1/2 block tempeh (about 4 oz)
1/4 cup tamari
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp wasabi powder
1 cup short grain brown rice
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp coconut oil, divided
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
8 leaves kale (preferably lacinato), removed from stem and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 sheets nori
Wasabi and tamari for dipping

1. Steam tempeh for 10-15 minutes until it has “puffed up”. Remove from steamer and slice into julienne strips (about 10 from the 1/2 block)

2. Combine tamari, mirin, and wasabi powder. Mix well. Add tempeh strips into bowl, stir gently to coat, and let marinate at least 30 minutes

3. Cook rice. Once done, pour onto a large baking sheet and season with rice vinegar. Spread evenly across sheet and allow to cool.

4. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp coconut oil, then add sliced kale. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender adding tempeh marinade as you go. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp coconut oil. Remove tempeh from the marinade and then add to the pan, allowing it to brown on each side before removing to a plate.

6. Lay nori on a sushi mat. Spread rice onto the nori (leaving 1/2 inch at closest end to you and 1 inch at the farthest end), then create a thin row of peppers, kale, at the end closest to you. Then use mat to roll away from you, pressing firmly to keep everything together, then sealing the nori with water at the end. Slice into about 6 rounds to serve.

*All whole grain nutrition information came from “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods” by Michael Murray. This book is a great source of information on the nutritional value of foods and how to use them.

P.S. In case you are just stopping by, I’m in the process of moving back to the US and am currently on an extended trip in SE Asia. I have weekly guest posts lined up this month and will be stopping by with foodie pictures from our travels as time permits.

Photo courtesy of the guest author.

A Quest for Food – Giving It Up for Health

October 20, 2009

Our second guest post in the Quest for Food Series is from Cathy at A Life Less Sweet. She is here to share some of her family’s journey to reduce their consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Her background in chemical engineering gives her a unique perspective on the topic. If you are confused at all about this ingredient she will clear it up for you as well as show you how reducing one ingredient common in packaged foods can change your diet completely; for the better, of course.

A little over a year and a half ago, my family had a diet not unlike much of America. Though we thought a bit about our food, our diet was loaded with processed foods. I’ve done some pretty extreme diets before for my kiddos who each had major food intolerances as infants, but everyone could finally eat what they wanted…and we did. Then the background noise about HFCS finally sunk into my brain, and I started looking into this ingredient. I didn’t like the information that I found, and we decided to give up foods containing HFCS cold turkey. We’ve been on a food journey ever since, and we aren’t looking back!

What is HFCS?

Do you know what this mysterious ingredient that shows up in everything from stewed tomatoes to soda is? High fructose corn syrup is a liquid mixture of two different sugars – glucose and fructose. High fructose corn syrup usually contains about a 50% mixture of the two, though it can have a little more or less fructose depending on the buyer’s needs. Regular corn syrup is only glucose – no fructose. To produce high fructose corn syrup, a corn kernel is manipulated and taken through a complicated series of reactions and processes until it has been transformed into the sugary goo.

How is HFCS different from sugar?

Table sugar – aka sucrose – is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. That’s a fancy way of saying that glucose and fructose are bound together to form a single molecule. Table sugar consists of a 50/50 mixture of glucose and fructose bound to each other. High fructose corn syrup, on the other hand, contains free glucose and fructose. So, while sucrose and HFCS both contain about 50/50 fructose and glucose, they are not the same.

Does this make a difference? It makes a big difference in taste. Fructose is sweeter than both glucose and sucrose, so HFCS is sweeter than sucrose because the exra-sweet fructose is free to tickle your taste buds. (There are a slew of other product quality reasons manufacturers might choose HFCS over sugar for their product. HFCS can extend product shelf life, help keep it moist, give baked goods a nice crumb, etc.)

There is great debate over whether HFCS is actually any worse for you than sugar. Many assert that they are the same in your body – that sucrose breaks down into free fructose and glucose in our stomachs so fast as to render sucrose and HFCS indistinguishable. There are others that are very concerned about the free fructose present in HFCS and the implications of our bodies struggling to break down this sugar. Our bodies aren’t designed to handle large quantities of fructose. Fructose is processed differently than glucose – too much stresses the body and can result a slew of health problems, including high triglycerides, diabetes, and obesity. (Other factors can also contribute to these health problems, of course.)

I’ll be honest – I don’t know where I stand on this issue at the moment. I must admit, I am skeptical of the assertion that sucrose quickly becomes the same as HFCS in our stomachs. I’m skeptical because of my limited knowledge of how hard it is to break down sucrose into its component sugars industrially. Conversion of sucrose to invert sugar (a mixture of fructose and glucose and often residual sucrose) industrial is low – even under harsh conditions of high temperatures (much higher than our body’s temperature) and very acidic conditions. Maybe sucrose is just like HFCS in our bodies, but I’m not convinced. In the end, it really doesn’t matter as far as I’m concerned.

Why are we giving it up?

Our journey was spurred by concern of over consuming fructose. Since then, I’ve found that the quality of our diet has improved upon giving up HFCS. Giving up HFCS made us give up a lot of junk and switch to higher quality foods. We think about what we’re consuming more. With two young kids to think of, eating higher quality foods (which usually translates to fresher and less processed) and teaching them to like those foods is really our biggest motivator. As new research has poured in causing people to question whether HFCS is any worse than sugar (see my opinion in the section above), I found that whether it does or doesn’t, I still don’t want my family to consume this stuff.

First, there are the health concerns. I don’t think that we know all there is to know about this ingredient and how our body processes it. Second, I’ve found that HFCS as an ingredient really is a good marker of poor quality food. It’s a cheap ingredient and used because of that. That doesn’t mean that foods without HFCS are automatically good, but seeing HFCS as an ingredient tells me – no matter how fancy the packaging – that the product is using cheap ingredients (and probably has a list of ingredients as long as your arm).

As we’re trying to eat better foods – higher quality foods – I’m happy to just avoid all foods with HFCS. There are other reasons – like not supporting the corn economy or eating fewer processed foods (because an ingredient doesn’t get any more processed than HFCS!) – for giving up HFCS as well.

How has this small change affected our lives?

Giving up HFCS has had kind of a snowball effect on our diet. The simple act of giving up HFCS has forced us to consider the foods that we’re buying more carefully. We’ve since given up trans fat and are eating fewer processed foods. We eat meatless at least one day a week. And amazingly, it’s been a fairly painless transition! I find homemade or at least more acceptable processed foods to replace the HFCS or trans fat laden treats that my son sees his friends eating. Our diet is still evolving, but it’s going in the right direction. My kids are learning to accept healthier food, and hopefully our choices now will stick with them for the rest of their lives.