Adventures in Food
Foodie News
Chef Q&A: The Jolly Pumpkin’s Maggie Long
Aug 20th
Photo credit: esthereggy
The concept for the Jolly Pumpkin Café & Brewery has literally been stewing for years. The eatery located in downtown Ann Arbor is the brainchild of chef, and managing partner, Maggie Long and brewer extraordinaire Ron Jeffries. Jeffries has been crafting his artisanal sour beers in Dexter, Michigan for years and now has a restaurant and brewery in Traverse City along with the café, which opened in September of 2009.
Long says the philosophy behind the food at the café is fresh, organic. For example, her oldest daughter volunteers at an area farm where some of the ingredients come from for the café. And the sourdough pizza is fashioned with a sourdough starter that Long received from a fellow foodie whose held onto it for 130 years. Beyond the fresh ingredients, Long says that the aim of the café is “welcoming.” “We want everyone to feel comfortable here, especially families,” explains Long. “I love to see families here and I’m honored to provide food for them that is both healthy and delicious.” She notes that the menu includes kid favorites like chicken strips, but that the strips are made from locally raised chickens and breaded in organic cornflakes.
For a taste of Long’s organic creations, you can try this recipe from the Jolly Pumpkin café’s appetizer menu; this edamame spread is served alongside fresh, grilled sourdough pizza.
What three ingredients do you always keep stocked in your pantry?
Quinoa, organic peanut butter—it’s gotta be crunchy, and honey from the farmer’s market. Those are the staples in my house. It doesn’t mean I put those all together!
Your favorite meal to make or serve?
That’s a hard one. I absolutely love Tamworth hogs. A braised pork shoulder is my favorite meal–slow cooked. Tamworth is a heritage breed of hog and it’s a flavor not to be missed. It’s a darker meat and it has a ton of flavor.
We all have a favorite indulgence, for a foodie like you it must be something spectacular?
Ron introduced me to Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, a small chocolate maker in Missouri. I’m not usually a fan of dark chocolate but the stuff this guy puts together is absolutely amazing. My favorite is the 70% Madagascar chocolate bar with little cocoa nibs in it. It’s addictive.
What’s one of your worst cooking mistakes?
Anything that I burn. Once, I burned the mac ‘n cheese sauce—totally toasted it. I tried to fix it, but you can’t. I use really good pasta and really good cheeses, but nothing can take that scorched flavor out.
There are so many great Michigan-made food products, what is your pick?
For me, anything seasonal. Rosewood Farms makes a phenomenal tofu.
What do you suggest for first-timers to Jolly Pumpkin? What menu item should they make sure to try?
I make a smoked tofu salad that’s really good. There’s spinach, cherry tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, shaved broccoli, a sesame vinaigrette and, of course, smoked tofu. The flavors meld really well. The sourdough pizza is always good too.
Giveaway–Revolution Foods Organic School Snack Sampler
Aug 17th
Apples are my idea of a perfect school snack–a medium-sized, crisp Empire apple. But I know that apples will only appeal (no pun intended:) to my kids so many days in a row and then I’ve got to get creative. I’ve been looking around for easy, healthy school snack options and Revolution Foods has some that may be just right. I haven’t sampled Revolution Foods’ line yet, instead I’m going to rely on one lucky MKES reader to do it for me.
The giveaway package will include samples of their kid-friendly
- Grammy Sammy–which pairs soft baked graham bars with creamy yogurt fillings. The cocoa graham with banana yogurt fillings sounds good to me.
- Jammy Sammy–for those of you with gluten allergies, this might be your answer to the standard PBJ. The bars come in several varieties including peanut butter and grape.
- Mashups–good-for-your-kids fruit snacks. Only organic fruits make it into these treats. Although there are several flavors, their newest creation, strawberry banana would be my pick.
Here’s how you enter–tell me your kids’ favorite school snack. Don’t have kids? You’re still eligible to enter–tell me one of your favorite snacks. The contest runs until next Wednesday, August 25th, when the winner will be chosen at random and announced on Thursday, August 26th. (Only participants in the continental U.S. will be eligible–sorry Kiwis.)
I’ll start–one of my kids’ favorite school snacks (beyond apples) is whole, black olives. I send in ten–one for each finger and let them know that playing with their food is just fine. How about you?
$50 Bison Giveaway Winner Announced–20% Off Discount Code
Aug 12th
MKES readers have been busy trying out new foods! Alligator and escargot seemed to be a common theme along with an occasional ostrich and some lentils thrown in.
Thanks for participating, the prize package winner was chosen at random, Jennifer M. will be receiving the sampler from High Plains Bison. I hope she’ll report in once she’s had a chance to try out a bison dog or two.
Don’t worry, even if you didn’t win, MKES readers can still receive a discount using this code, EATGOOD22. You’ll get 20% off your total order. Note that the discount won’t appear until you review your purchase on the billing page. This is the biggest discount that High Plains Bison offers.
And if you’re still itching to try out some new flavors stay tuned…next Tuesday I’ll be announcing another giveaway.
$50 Bison Sampler Giveaway!
Jul 29th
Squid, sure. Tripe, why not. Bison? You betcha. My kids love to try new flavors and foods (me too!) so I’m happy to announce that High Plains Bison will be offering a $50 meat sampler to one lucky MKES reader. If you’ve ever snacked on bison jerky or maybe even a bison burger, you know this would be fun to cook up bison dogs, indulge in a bison filet mignon. Okay, now I’m getting hungry and it’s only 9am!
But before you skip ahead to figure out how to enter, I’ve got to point out a few things I learned about bison when I was getting ready for this giveaway–I promise, you’ll be impressed it involves a certain Oscar-winning actor and a large, hairy beast. I’ve got your attention now, right? First, the good stuff–bison meat is packed with protein (okay, you probably figured that one out) but with less fat than beef, chicken, even salmon.
Now for a little trivia you can share with your kids–bison meat is completely different from buffalo. A whole species apart (not to mention an ocean). So you know that scene in Dances with Wolves where Kevin Costner has his fingers pointed to make little horns and he’s trying to learn Lakota? Yup, he should have been saying, “Tatanka? Bison?” I guess buffalo sounded a lot better and most folks still think of bison as buffalo (myself included until about a week ago!).
So here’s the deal, share with MKES a favorite food you’ve either been meaning to try or something you’ve tried out recently for the first time. My take–I sampled pork belly at a tasting event a couple weeks ago. I didn’t expect to like it with a name like pork belly–but I should have known that something with hints of bacony crispiness and a smoky vibe would be delicious.
What have you tried lately? The winner will be chosen at random August 12th.
*Note: the giveaway can only be sent to a U.S. locale. Sorry kiwis!
Eat More Flowers & other lessons from the Culinary Vegetable Institute
Jul 17th
Hand-crafted goat cheeses. Lavender lemonade. Braised beef potstickers. Pork tongue (it was delicious!). Tonight I sampled foods from a variety of noted restaurants and chefs at the 2010 Food & Wine Celebration at the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio. The event raises money to support Veggie U, a farm-centered, hands-on experience for children designed to teach them healthy living–and eating.
While I’ve been to tasting events before, what impressed me about this event was how fresh the ingredients were and how committed each chef was to using sustainable, local products. Take Chris and Veronica Laramie a husband-wife team who were showcasing their food–and philosophy–from their restaurant, eVe, in Berkley, California. “We make everything from scratch, in small batches, and we take classic flavor combinations and turn them on their head,” said Veronica in a recent interview with fellow foodie blogger, Sarah Henry of LettuceEatKale. Veronica pointed out eVe’s cantalope gazpacho as an example of classic meets fresh ingredients plus culinary creativity.
Reinvented classic combinations. I like that. Here’s just some of the lessons I took away from the event:
Veggies meet fruit. My favorite dish of the night (and this surprised me!)–a simple combination of watermelon, cucumber and feta. Fruit salad is getting a little boring around our house. Why not toss some veggies and strong cheese in the mix?
Flowers meet dessert. As a kid, my mom often used edible flowers with savory dishes and desert. There’s something decadent about eating flowers–and I’m not talking mint or herbs. Try adding a pansy on top of your next cupcake, a chive blossom served alongside rice, or bread and fry squash blossoms (note: you should make sure your flowers are edible and thoroughly washed before eating).
Meat meet vegetables. Sometimes I get in the habit of thinking of veggies as a side dish–not the entree. Juicy heirloom tomatoes, meaty squash and savory corn relish have left me reconsidering my dinner menu.
Supertasters Need for Salt
Jun 16th
Photo credit: Michael (mx5tx)
Supertaster too? If you tried the little paper test back in high school biology class–also know as phenylthiocarbamide (yeah, I can’t pronounce it either) or PTC–you either got a wallop of bitterness drenching your tongue or you tasted nothing. For me, I felt like I’d just licked the edge of a rancid, sour lime. Yet among a classroom of students, I still remember that supertasters weren’t in the majority. If you don’t happen to have PTC paper around, you can take a look at your tongue to give you some clues about your tasting ability–or lack of it. Not surprisingly, more tastebuds=more tasting. Your gender may also give you some clue as women tend to be supertasters more so than men. One in four people (among Caucasians anyway) are supertasters.
And what exactly is a supertaster? As the name implies, for supertasters flavors are stronger and more layered than for a non-taster. So when Penn State and the University of Connecticut researchers began looking in to who craves salt more, they expected that nontasters would be the obvious choice. Not quite. Turns out that supertasters reach for the salty foods with greater frequency than their nontaster friends, according to the research, but nontasters tend to salt their food at the table more. So, for example, a supertaster would indulge in a pile of Pringles and maybe skip salting her piece of pot roast. Whereas a nontaster might find the Pringles too salty, but generously salt her grilled chicken breast because it seemed bland without the extra sprinkle.
So why the need for salt? The researchers aren’t sure exactly, but their best guesses are that supertasters perceive flavor to the point that they need a little intensity to keep food appealing. They also point out that salt tends to cancel out the bitterness in foods so food manufacturers can easily up the salt to even out the flavor.
NPR, which recently interviewed one of the study’s authors, John E. Hayes, included revealing tidbits about salt in food–
“This all raises some interesting questions. First, since most people aren’t supertasters, why do food manufacturers add so much salt to their products? Hayes says it’s because salt is a really cheap way to add flavor.
‘It’s the third-cheapest ingredient, after air and water,’ Hayes says. ‘Chefs know that salt enhances sweetness and blocks bitterness. So if you want to push up your score in a consumer test, you just push up that salt content.’”
In the end, Hayes says it’s probably harder–but not impossible–for supertasters to suppress their genetic predisposition for salt and cut back the sodium in their diet. And there’s plenty of good reasons to limit salt intake as I’ve been learning from women’s health blogger, Sheryl Kraft. So what about the rest of you? Saltaholic supertaster or nontaster that can control your need to reach for the shaker?
Farmers Market Conundrum—Where are the farmers?
May 12th
Photo credit: Julia Manzerova
I’ve tried everything from peas to never-fail zucchini and so far that only thing I’ve been able to grow in abundance is mint—and I didn’t even plant that! Instead of pining over my lack of gardening skills, I’m investing my energy in finding the best farmers markets in my area. I’ve been surprised by what I’ve found.
The two closest farmers markets to my neighborhood include vendors that didn’t grow their products from seed—unless organic skincare products and gourmet popcorn have suddenly started sprouting up on trees somewhere in Colorado’s eastern plains. Fresh produce booths are outnumbered 2 to 1 at our nearby market, which also includes booths for pre-packaged steaks, bakeries, and more. The presence of non-farm goods has lead me to question whether the produce that is available is actually from local farms—and if so, whether the person selling them is affiliated with a farm at all.
I’m not the only one noticing that something doesn’t seem quite right at area farmers markets. Wall Street Journal writer Lauren Etter reported last week that some “real” farmers are being undersold at area markets by resellers. These resellers buy bulk produce at auctions for cut-rate prices and then pass them off as their own at markets. Farmers who are selling their own goods are feeling the pressure to drop their own prices to compete.
The national Farmers Market Coalition is now taking steps to define what can receive the “farmers market” label. Posting on the FMC website in January, Jeff Cole, chair of the Farmers Market Coalition ad hoc Definition Task Force and Executive Director of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets, wrote that “the definition of a Farmers Market must be simple and clear: that it must include the words ‘farmers selling directly to the public products they have produced;’ and that a farmers market must define, and make public, what it means by ‘local.’”
When I first started frequenting farmers markets that’s what I expected to find. By allowing other vendors, the whole notion of what a farmers market should be becomes a mixed message. I want to support locally grown produce, but I don’t want to stumble over the skincare booths and artisan bread vendors to get to them.
Have you noticed your local farmers market has become less about produce and more about products? And how do you decide where to shop for locally grown goods?
Chocolate = Depression? Maybe, maybe not.
May 4th
Photo credit: cacaobug
Chocolate causes depression? And here I thought it offered a cure!
So far researchers aren’t really sure what comes first—a chocolate fixation (and consumption), which then leads to depression or conversely, that depression comes first, followed by a big dose of self-prescribed chocolate cure. A recent study, which appeared in last week’s Archives of Internal Medicine, involved a group of 931 adults who were surveyed on their chocolate habits, along with their emotional state. Those who tended toward depression also consumed the most amounts of chocolate. When researchers tried to use other foods to mimic the emotional-food link they found with chocolate, none had quite the same effect (I could have told you that fish wouldn’t give you the heavenly high that comes with an ounce of dark chocolate).
The lead author of the study, Beatrice Golomb, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, seems to have put her findings in perspective: “It’s possible chocolate has an antidepressant effects and that’s why [people with depression] are eating chocolate,” she said, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. “I think many of us believe chocolate consumption, at least in the short term, makes us feel better.” (Amen!)
Dr. Golomb offers some other insights that I need to point out at my next physical when my PCP asks if I eat enough fruits and veggies. “I tell all my patients: Chocolate is a vegetable,” says Dr. Golomb. Ah, I think I need to start eating more veggies!
What do you think—can overindulging in Hershey bars lead to depression, or does a dark chocolate Lindt bar offer a pick-me-up no prescription can?
Recent comments