FIGures!

I am having a bit of an affair with figs. Lovin' them!

Used to love the ole Fig Newton! But have not had one of those in a long time. Actually have not eaten many figs at all.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I was at a party and someone made a goat cheese and fig spread. OH SO GOOD!

Then on Iron Chef America they had Battle Fig.

And the other night I took some inspiration and made a pork tenderloin stuffed with couscous, figs and apples. WOW!

Bought some dried figs and love em as a snack!

FYI! Figs are one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber. According to USDA data for the Mission variety, dried figs are richest in fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, relative to human needs. They have smaller amounts of many other nutrients. Figs have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants. They are good source of flavonoids and polyphenols. In one study, a 40-gram portion of dried figs (two medium size figs) produced a significant increase in plasma antioxidant capacity.

Mmm! Matzoh Toffee

Spring means Easter and Passover!

You canhave your hard boiled colored eggs that get reused into egg salad (yuck)! We, from the Jewish side of the fence, celebrate without leavening, Charlton Heston as Moses and Matzoh Toffee!

A classic Passover treat that's great anytime - and you don't even need to be Jewish to like it. But if this had fallen from heaven instead of manna - we'd still be in the desert!

Chocolate Toffee Matzoh

4-6 sheets of matzoh 
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
• Preheat oven to 350
• Line a cookie sheet with foil, and top that with wax paper - it gets really gooey and sticky
• Lay matzohs on baking sheets - break in half to fit gaps if you want
• Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat - stirring constantly
• Let mixture boil and continue cooking for 3 more minutes
• Remove butter/brown sugar mixture from heat and pour over matzoh
• Bake approximately 15 minutes - don't let it burn
• Remove from oven and quickly sprinkle chocolate chips over the top
• Let chips melt for a couple of minutes then spread melted chocolate with back of spoon
• Sprinkle nuts over top of chocolate and press down lightly to stick
• Refrigerate until set, then break into smaller pieces and look out - you can't eat just one piece.

Next Stop. . .TOP CHEF!

But first moto!

At a weekend benefit I attended for AIDSCare, I won a day in the kitchen at one of the top restaurants in Chicago. . .moto!

From their website:
"Inventive. Innovative. Artistic. Imaginiative. Thought provoking. Futuristic. Inspired. All words to describe (Chef) Homaro Cantu's moto, an internationally recognized leader in the world of molecular gastronomy. A term with many interpretations, at moto molecular gastronomy is the application of both scientific and artistic principles in cuisine. Equal parts chef and inventor, Cantu challenges culinary convention and diners, stretching the boundaries of the former and taking the latter on a post-modern, interactive and fantastical gastronomical ride."

I am going to get to spend a day in the kitchen of moto working side by side with their team doing preparation for a Saturday evening service! And then I get to eat too!

VICTORY!

I got Lisa hooked on Scrabble. Actually, up until a few years back she hardly played, well not very well, hee hee. So we played, A LOT! And the student over ran the teacher, SUBSTANTIALLY!

We were playing Scrabulous online until it was taken down. THEN Scrabble, the official game, created a Facebook version for our indulgence! And again, all I did was rack up some losses!

She challenged me to a game named Ketchup (Lisa) v. Mustard (me). We have this thinkg about the epicurean delight of hot dogs. It seems she and others over the age of 5 still find ketchup an appropriate condiment for tube steak! And being from Chicago, I find the practice deplorable!

Well, this morning, I defended the honor of Chicago's famed hot dog legacy and Mustard beat Ketchup.

I doubt this truly settles anything!

The Great Hot Dog Debate

I will apologize for the image quality. It is a scan from a newspaper.

The debate roars on about ketchup on a hot dog. And being from Chicago, KNOWN for this epicurean delight, ketchup is a huge NO!

They say the seasonings in ketchup are too close to those in the actual hot dog so it is neither needed or redundant. So here is a layer by layer dissection of a REAL hot dog. Consider this a Chicago food primer!

Hungry?

Well if you ever find yourself in Plano, IL, you may want to avoid this place!

Ruffles have ridges. . .and teeth!

Over the weekend, I found this in a bag of potato chips!

YIKES! Looks like a first or second molar!

Never fear though, it was only an oddly shaped chip.

Mmm. . .breakfast!

I aint a breakfast eater. It don't sit right in me. But maybe a month or so ago I started starting my day with something to eat.

It was typically an egg white omelette with veggies and some toast. But after a couple of weeks, THAT got a little repetitive and boring. So I started doing some smoothies with juices, not a fan of the milk! Pictured above is today's, Berry Smoothie, straw, ras and blue berries in cranberry juice. I need to add some protein powder for a little boost.

Funny thing, I do seem to have a bit more energy in the day starting the day with some breakfast!

More peas please!

China was full of all sorts of culinary oddities! Many would turn one's tummy, but some were just too damn good!

While strolling through the Summer Palace, my friend Dave stopped for an ice cream treat and came back with the ice cream bar shown above. . .a green pea ice cream bar. A bit odd I thought until I tasted it!

It kind of looked like frozen guacamole on a stick, but tasted like, well, frozen sweet green peas on a stick!

Mmm!

FOOD! Glorious Food?

Pictured above are just a few of the treats available in China.

First experience was the street food at the Night Market in Beijing where you could find nearly everything on a stick! Dog, snake, silkworm, millipede and centipede, scorpion, squid, octopus, aged tofu, testicles from an assortment of animals. Of course you can find chicken and pork too.

I have also never eaten so much food served on the bone. Even the stir fry/sweet and sours they just chop the chicken up boine and all! And lots of heads. I aint a fan of meeting what I am eating, but they often serve up the dishes with the dearly departed and soon to be eaten staring up at you. And dumplings! Delicious little pouches of tasty morsels that are formed in the shape of their fillings!

The live fish stores have everything from diving water beetles to soft shell snapping turtles. Aligator, shark, crab, sea cucumber, urchin, and anything with fins. It is amazing!

Bon Apetit!

Happy Passover!

At least to all my Jewish friends!

I made the pictured treat above to bring to dinner tomorrow. What do you think it is? A hint: It is a dessert, but what do you think it is made of?

Friday Feast

I love me a hot dog. And in my humble opinion, Chicago's are THE best! I have waged many a verbal war over this. From Heid's in Syracuse to street dogs in New York, Chicago does rule!

This past week in Grand Rapids, East Town to be exact, I was treated, or rather I treated everyone, to what seems to be a Grand Rapids legend and staple, hot dogs from Yesterdog!

Yeah, it was midnight or so, yeah we had a little drink on. But what a treat! I really like that on their basic yesterdog, they put chili on their dogs. On the negative side, they also put ketchup?! What? Yeah ketchup on a hot dog!

A few less points for the ketchup but bonus points for the chili and Yesterdog gets a thumbs up from me!

Pineapple

I loves me some pineapple! And for some reason, the grocery stores here have had them on sale for the past several weeks, $2.99/each! Not cheap but not too expensive either. I have been eating about a pineapple a week as a result!

Here are some pineapple facts:
• There were 31,000 acres of pineapples grown in Hawaii in 2004.
• One third of the world's pineapple comes from Hawaii.
• You can grow your own pineapple plant by twisting the crown off a store bought pineapple, letting it dry for 2-3 days, then planting it.
• The pineapple is not a single fruit as generally assumed, but a cluster of 100-200 tiny fruitlets.
• It takes two years for a pineapple plant to produce, and each plant typically produces at most two pineapples in its life.
• The pineapple is originally native to Brazil and Paraguay. Sailors brought them to the West Indies long before the arrival of Europeans, although it was White merchants who first introduced it to Hawaii.
• Pineapples are the only edible members of the bromeliad family of plants.
• Of the hundreds of varieties of pineapples, Smooth Cayenne is by far the most prevalent. Three other varieties are gaining in popularity: Red Spanish pineapples have a tougher skin that make shipping easier; Sugar Loaf pineapples are very large and heavy; Golden Supreme pineapples have lower acid and more sweetness.

Eating healthy

I like to think I eat pretty healthy. I cook a lot of my meals. I am known to do a whole bunch of cooking on the weekends so I have stuff to eat during the week. And thanks to mom, I aint afraid to freeze stuff!

I heard a while ago, one of the easiest ways to eat healthier is to just shop the outside perimeter of your grocery store. Why? THAT IS WHERE THE FRESH STUFF IS! And sure enough, the above is a basic layout of my grocery store. And sure enough, I do a lot of shopping in the perimeter. When I venture into the aisles I find lots of packaged stuff loaded with sodium! That does not mean I do not go there, but I try to as little as possible.

Take note next time you are in your favorite grocery!

Weekend in New York

Last weekend, I was in New York with my sister to see Cirque Du Soleil's winter show Wintuk. It is currently running until January 6, 2008, 10 weeks, and will run for 10 weeks for the next six years and then they say that is it. Or maybe it will move to a new city.

The show was all 100% Cirque fantasy, imagination, wonderment, whimsical, magical and awesome! They made it snw in the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden. I collected a bag of snow and brought it home. It does not show well in the image but it is light and airy and falls just like snow. It was magical!

If you get to New York, check it out.

Other weekend highlight:
• Lunch at Dumpling Man in the East Village
• Teaching my sister how to navigate Manhattan; uptown/downtown/crosstown, streets run east/west, avenues north/south
• Georges Suerat drawing at the MoMA ; studies for Sunday in the Grande Jate
• Staying in the smallest room I have ever stayed in New York at the Paramount
• New store Muji

Egg

Today I have just been thinking a lot about eggs. Perhaps it was the huge neighborhood debate about eggs and Halloween. Maybe I am hungry. I have no idea why for sure, but I think I am going to have an egg white omelette for breakfast tomorrow. I will let someone else figure that out anything more than that.