Free Healthy Recipes!

How would you like to receive 50 free "brain healthy" recipes? Food bloggers from around the world contributed to a special recipe collection called ThinkFood, put together by Posit Science, a leader in brain training interactive software programs, designed to help users think faster, focus better and remember more. Posit Science takes an integrated approach to brain health that includes brain training and now brain healthy eating.

Visit the website to sign up for a recipe of the week. After signing up you'll be able to see the recipe online as well. This week the recipe is for Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and includes brain healthy ingredients such as chocolate, banana, flax, and walnuts. It's from food blogger Tina Haupert of Carrots 'n Cake and it looks great! On the web site you'll get the recipe, cooking tips, meet the food blogger and learn about brain healthy ingredients.

You will also be able to purchase a copy of the hard cover book when it is available in July. I'll let you know when my recipe is available in August.

Here is the complete list of sites that contributed recipes:

Ambitious Deliciousness • Anne’s Food • Apples and Butter • The Arugula Files • Best Fruit Now • Brown Eyed Baker • Carrots ‘N’ Cake • Chocolate Shavings • Closet Cooking • Cooking with Amy • Daily Unadventures in Cooking • Dash and Bella • Dine & Dish • Dixie Caviar • Eclectic Recipes • eCurry • Fake Food Free • Food Blogga • Food Loves Writing • For the Love of Cooking • Gourmet Fury • Greedy Gourmet • Hangry Pants • Healthy Everythingtarian • Herbivoracious • Katiecakes • La Note Restaurant • Laurel On Health Food • The Leftover Queen • Lisa’s Kitchen • Local Appetite • The Lunchbox Bunch • Make Life Sweeter • My Cooking Hut • My Sweet Vegan • Napa Farm House 1885 • O-Cookies • Off the Broiler • Off the (Meat)Hook • Pink Bites • Project Foodie • Sassy Radish • Seriously Good • Shelteriffic • A Southern Fairytale • Stone Soup • Sugar Bar • Super Healthy Kids • Tastes Like Home • Wild Yeast

Day 19 - Benin - West African Kebabs (Kyinkyinga) - Up Next, Bhutan

What the Devil is she Doing????

Driving home from work today, authenticity was on my mind. Since I started this journey in April, my goal has been to prepare and cook meals from around the world as authentically as possible as a way to connect with each culture. That means looking for ingredients that replicate those of  each country as closely as possible, preparing the meal according to the recipe, deviating as little as possible, and serving the meal with with  appropriate utensils, and side dishes. 

So.......when I reached Benin, a beautiful West African country, I learned that even in urban areas, meals are prepared almost exclusively by women and girls (although that's changing somewhat), and for the most part, are cooked outside on stone cooking pits.You know what's next right??? Why couldn't I build my own stone cooking pit? Would it be over the top? Am I nuts? Then I got to thinking that if I really wanted to honor the culture, the food and the love that women all over the world, regardless of race, creed or culture put into cooking for their families, I could and should do this...A shout-out to my treasured friend, John for encouraging me to go for it and giving me technical advice on how to get it done!

I found field stone on our property (a farm at one time) to line the hole I dug, which was about 10" deep. The cobblestones (pudding stone) came from Mission Hill with us when we moved here 14 years ago!

 

I laid one grill on the base of stones about 4" off the ground to allow for air flow, then placed a larger grill about 5" above to avoid the food being to close to the fire and heat - Now I'm ready to hit the kitchen!

Thank you to EN-R-Gy Saver for hooking me up with two awesome Weber grill-tops (for about $20 total) and excellent advice! 

http://www.en-r-gysaver.com/

www.weber.com 

Benin (Porto-Novo) (AF): The beautiful country of Benin shares borders with Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Togo. There are 5 distinct geographic zones. The south is a narrow coastal strip, broken up by lagoons and creeks. In the north, a plateau of fertile iron clay soil and marshy areas support oil palms. The central area a wooded savana with some hilly areas. The Atacora mountian chain in the northwest has the highest elevation, while the northeast is part of the Niger River Basin.

 
Beninese recognize about twenty sociocultural groups.  The Fon (founders of the Dahomey kingdom) are the largest group. Their language is closely related to that of the Aja and Goun, and there are close ethnic ties with those groups as a result of shared precolonial history.The Afro-Brazilian community in the south is descended from European traders, Africans who lived near European trading establishments, and traders and returned slaves from Brazil.

The basic meal consists of a staple starch prepared as a sort of mush, eaten with a sauce that contains vegetables and meat or fish. Food is prepared at least twice a day: at midday and in the evening. The morning meal may consist of warmed-up leftovers from the previous evening's meal or food purchased from roadside vendors. Sorghum, yams, okra, tomatoes, peanuts, eggplant, peppers can all be found depending on the region.Smoked, dried, or fresh fish is likely to accompany a meal in the south, while beef is more common in the north. Goats, sheep, and poultry are found throughout the country, although in poorer regions, meals often do not contain meat.

I prepared the fire using a combination of kindling, wood and a little charcoal - no lighter fluid!

For this meal, I decided to make a traditional West African "street" food, called Kyingyinga or Kebabs.
  

Peanuts (ground nuts), grated ginger, onions, garlic and Tabasco sauce for a nice kick

 

Marinate beef in onion/ginger mixture then skewer with green peppers

 

I can't believe it actually works!!

Kyinkyinga, marinade sauce (cooked) and salad

West African Kebabs (Kyinkyinga): http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/westafrica/kebabs.html

• 1 kg (2 lb) medium lean steak or liver
• 3 medium green capsicums (sweet or bell peppers),halved, seeded
•       and cut into 2.5 cm (1-inch) squares
• 30 g (1 oz) unsalted, dry-roasted groundnuts (peanuts) ground to powder
•       in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle

Seasonings:

• 4 medium onions, diced
• 10 g (2 teaspoons) grated root ginger
• 30 g (1 oz) plain flour
• 60 g (2 oz) unsalted, dry-roasted groundnuts (peanuts) ground to powder
• 2 large overripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled and mashed
• 15 g (1 tablespoon) garlic salt
• 15 mL (1 tablespoon) fresh Chilli Sambal Tabasco sauce or chilli paste
•       (e.g. Sambal Oelek)

Remove excess fat from meat, wipe with a clean damp cloth or paper towel and cut into bite-sized cubes. Mix all ingredients for seasoning together in a bowl. Combine the meat and half the seasoning and mix thoroughly. Stand for a minimum of 1 hour before grilling. Skewer the seasoned meat alternately with the green capsicums (sweet or bell peppers) and grill until cooked and browned both sides. If liver is used, be careful not to overcook and dry it out.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the remaining 30 g (1 oz) of the groundnut (peanut) powder. Serve with salad, rice, bread or by itself. Leftover seasoning can be made into a sauce: add 60 mL (2 fl oz) wine (Moselle or ginger wine) and heat to thicken, then pour over the kebabs. You can make the sauce thinner by adding more wine.

Final Assessment: Delicious, spicy and loaded with the complex flavors of ginger, peanuts and the smokiness of being grilled on an open fire.

Music: Angelique Kidjo - Her music makes me think of my HonBun xox

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdl0fm_angelique-kidjo-move-on-up-feat-bon_music

Asparagus Hot Brown Recipe

When I was in Louisville Kentucky a couple of weeks ago I tried the famous Hot Brown sandwich at the Brown Hotel. It's a rich combination of dreamy Mornay sauce, hearty turkey, a couple of tomato wedges and crisp bacon on top. Broiling the sandwich makes the tomatoes and sauce even tastier. But it's a monster! I really don't know how anyone can finish it. If you go to Louisville, by all means do try it. If you don't have an enormous appetite, you can order a smaller portion of the Hot Brown. It's not on the menu but it is available upon request.

All over Kentucky you will find different versions of the Hot Brown. Some have ham instead of turkey or a combination of both, or seafood and no turkey or ham. When I got home I decided I would try my hand at making a slightly lighter version of this delectable sandwich. But I figured why not try it with asparagus? After all, asparagus and cheese sauce is already pretty tasty. While I love Mornay sauce, I rarely have heavy cream on hand so I made a simpler cheese sauce. I kept the bacon because I think the salty, smoky flavor and crunch really are important in this mostly soft fork-and-knife style sandwich. I also like the juicy tomatoes so I kept them in the mix.

The Hot Brown was created as a late night snack for dancing, partying Louisvillians who craved something other than a midnight breakfast. But actually I think it makes a great breakfast or lunch. I know my other half would it eat it for breakfast if I put a fried egg on it! Then again, he would eat just about anything with a fried egg on it. A sandwich smothered in cheese sauce is a yummy thing indeed and I think there are probably endless variations...

Asparagus Hot BrownServes 4

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt to taste

4 thick slices white bread, such as Pullman or Texas toast, crusts trimmed, bread lightly toasted

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and steamed
4 teaspoons grated Parmesan
1 -2 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 8 wedges

8 slices bacon, cooked

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Instructions

For the sauce:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and quickly whisk in milk and cheese. Return pan to heat. Cook sauce, whisking constantly, until smooth and creamy, 1–2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and season sauce with salt to taste.

Preheat broiler. Trim the asparagus spears in half, so they are no more than 4 inches long and cut the toast into triangles. Put 2 pieces of toast in each dish, and cover with 1/4 of the asparagus and spoon 1/2 cup of sauce over it. Sprinkle a teaspoon of cheese over each portion. Garnish each dish with two tomato wedges, tucked next to the sandwich. Broil sandwiches until sauce is browned, about 1-2 minutes. Put 2 pieces bacon on each sandwich and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Enjoy!

Day 18 - Belize! Papaya Glazed Chicken & More - up Next, Benin!

BELIZE (Belmopan) (NA): I hardly to where to begin! What started as preparing a meal from the beautiful country of Belize turned into to full on party with  7 wonderful friends (who'd never met before tonight), a huge meal, Belizean music, a magnificent slide show and more. The entire evening became a celebration of  Belize, it's people, culture, traditional food and new found friendships. Proof positive that sitting down to a good meal unifies people of all races, creeds and backgrounds.

Belize is at the southern end of the Yucatan peninsula, facing the Caribbean Sea. It covers 8,866 square miles (23,000 square kilometers) and has the second largest barrier reef in the world, which shelters scores of cays.

Previously called British Honduras, the country now known as Belize derives its name from one of two historical sources: Maya root words or the surname of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, who maintained a camp near present-day Belize City in the seventeenth century. Belizeans affectionately refer to their country as "the Jewel."

In the north and west there are the mestizos, people formed by the union of Spaniards and Maya. In the central part, there are the Creoles, formed by the intermarriage of the British and their African slaves. In the south, there are the Garifuna, also called Black Caribs, along the coast and the Maya farther inland. Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. However, numerous other languages and dialects are spoken including, but not limited to: Belizean Kriol (Creole), Spanish, Mayan Kekchi, Garifuana, Yucatee and Mopan.

Mayan Ruins

Imported bleached wheat flour, corn, beans, rice, and poultry are the daily staples. There are hardly any food taboos, but as in many ancient cultures, there are beliefs across ethnic groups that certain foods, notably soups and drinks, help restore health.

I set out to make a traditional Belizean meal. Rather than using the web as my sole resource, I was lucky enough to have my friend Barbara who spends a fair amount of time in Belize consult to me. She put me in touch with her friend Shelmadine who lives in Belize via Facebook. A huge thank you to Shelmadine for patiently answering my amateur questions. The meal I settled on was what Shelmadine reported being most traditional: Chicken, rice and beans, coleslaw and banana cake.

Shelmadine has her own cookbook!

And...I'm discovering that preparing these meals is a community effort - many shout-outs to the following Holliston businesses for their support of this particular meal:

www.fiskesgeneralstore.com : John gave me a pack of glow-in-the-dark monkey bamabandz (bracelets) www.bamabandz.com to give my guests in celebration of Belize's rich and tropical jungle wildlife (check 'em out if you want to be way cool!)
www.marketbasketfoods.com  : The Ashland branch that has every kind of tropical food imaginable!
www.thewinehouseinc.com: Joan who made wonderful suggestions for wine to compliment the meal

 

The Depot Package Store in Holliston: Andrea who helped me find just the right rum for the Tortuga Cake

 

PYRAT Rum XO Reserve -www.patronspirits.com - hand bottled in Anguilla, British West Indies - the cake is "soaked" in a rum, sugar and butter glaze

 

No place else I'd rather be

The Meal

• Plaintains and pineapple ginger sauce
• Gaucamole
• Mango Salsa
• Papaya glazed roasted chicken
• Rice and beans
• Coleslaw (Barbara brought this)
• Pineapple
• Sliced Tomatoes and Cucumbers
• Tortuga Cake (Rum soaked)
• Shelmadine's banana cake

Recipe links

Chicken: http://www.caribbeanchoice.com/recipes/recipe.asp?recipe=141
Rice and Beans: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Belizean-Traditional-Beans-and-Rice-155541
Tortuga Cake: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Almost-Tortuga-Rum-Cake-108524

Shelmadine's Banana Cake-which was DELICIOUS!

Preheat oven to 350
Grease 8x8 or 9x9 cake pan

• 6 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 cup flour

In a mixer, beat egg and sugar until light and fluffy.
In blender, blend bananas. Pour bananas into sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients and beat for 10 minutes. Cook until golden brown, about 45 min.

The Meal, Friends & Family
Mango Salsa, Plantains and Pineapple Ginger Sauce, Guacamole and Blue Corn Chips 

Rice and Beans - The Staff of Life

  Barbara - My Consultant for all things Belizean and Queen of Cole Slaw

 Papaya Glazed Roasted Chicken

Dinner with Friends and a beautiful slide show courtesy of Barbara and Steve

Final Assessment: The chicken was very good, but the glaze was a little heavy. Next time I'll just marinate and roast it and serve papaya and mango on the side. The rice was great - who doesn't love rice and beans? The cole slaw was beautiful and light - no soupy mayo and the Tortuga and banana cakes - Unbelievable!

Mi Pueblo Supermarket

Have I mentioned how much I truly enjoy grocery shopping? I might not even buy anything but no matter where I go, home or away, I am fascinated to see what is on offer. As my friend Joe Kowalke says, "Grocery shopping is my baseball." And I am an equal opportunity shopper. I like everything from fancy shops like Dean & Deluca that carry artisanal products, to Asian, Middle Eastern and Russian grocery stores and even supermarkets. I like discovering spices, produce, cheeses, sausages, prepared foods, baked goods, even packaged food I've never seen before and noticing what people are buying.

My latest shopping discovery comes courtesy of my dad, who shares my love of grocery shopping. It's Mi Pueblo, a supermarket that serves the local community in the Canal District of San Rafael. It's the first Latino supermarket I've ever visited and I loved it! There were so many interesting things to see like yards of chorizo, aisles of packaged flan, exotic spiky vegetables and piles of piioncillo sugar. There's even a taqueria and a panaderia right inside the store.

The prices for fresh produce were very reasonable and they carry many unusual things like fresh garbanzo beans and all types of crema that I can't easily find elsewhere, so I know I will be back again. The chickens roasting over mesquite smelled amazing and the guy out front selling oysters in shell was doing a bustling business. I probably won't be buying margaritas in a can or Peruvian soy sauce, but I now know where to find both under one roof!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

See the slide show of my visit to Mi Pueblo.

More posts and stories on Mi Pueblo:

Julie's Update
Silicon Valley Moms
Marin Retail Buzz
Marin Independent Journal

Day 17 Belgium! Mussels, Belgian Fries& Braised Belgian Endives- Up Next Belize

Here's something I've come to know - working on the write-up after cooking a meal from a specific country is as exciting as the cooking and dining experience itself. Something about the process...settling down after the meal, collecting my thoughts, pulling the research together and adding pictures truly completes the creative process. Alors mes amis,  bien venue!

Belgium, (Brussels) (EU): Sandwiched between France and Holland along the North Sea, Belgium covers a strip of land almost 200 miles long and 100 miles wide. Its people divide into two distinct cultures -- the Flemish in the Northern half, and the Walloons in the Southern half. The languages spoken include French, Flemish, and German, though in tourist centers people speak English as well. The capital, Brussels, stands in the center of the land and ranks as an expanding and expensive international city.

Today Belgians proudly say their food is cooked with French finesse and served with German generosity.  Belgian endive, or chicory, has a place of honor in dining and a unique style of cultivation. This vegetable was accidentally discovered by a Belgian farmer, Jan Lammers, in 1830, when he returned from war and found his chicory (used for coffee and stored in the barn) had sprouted white leaves. He was captivated by its tangy, distinctive flavor. It was another 30 years before endive, known as witloof, became a successful crop. In 1872 it was introduced in Paris, to rave reviews, so popular it was called white gold.

Belgians also love the combination of mussels and Pomme Frites, what we call French Fries, but which, it turns out, were invented in Belgium NOT France. Eaten in combination, they comprise what some consider to be the Belgian National Dish. They are called "Freitok" and are doubled fried, which is essential if one wants to achieve the perfect, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside texture. I actually found a website devoted exclusively to Belgian Fries that was incredibly informative and whose recipe is listed here: http://www.belgianfries.com/bfblog/

Tonight's menu

• Braised Belgian Endive
• Mussels 
• Belgian Fries
• Homemade mayonnaise and salt - never catsup and never vinegar!

I got the (farm raised) mussels at my local Market Basket, which had just come in this morning from Canadian Cove, www.canadiancove.com, and I've got to say, they were excellent!

Soak mussels in salted water

Slice Russet potatoes and soak in cold water to remove starch, core endives and slice in half

 

Get ur tongs

and work in multiple screens to view all recipes - dag, this kitchen is hot as Hell

Cook mussels in garlic, shallots, white wine and parsley till they open

 Double fry potatoes - let them sit to "sweat" between fryings

Braise the endives

The Judges loved the meal, but against my protestations, broke out the Heinz

 

 Recipes

Pomme Frites

• Peel about 4 Russet potatoes. Cut them in slices 1 cm (3/8″) thick and finally cut them into fries of 1 cm square .
• Dry the fries well in paper or a towel before putting them into the oil. put them in cold water for a few minutes.
• this washes out much of the starch and tends to make them less sticky after the first frying and more crispy after the second.

• Heat the oil in a hot frying pan or deep fryer to a temperature of 160°C (320°F). 
• Put in a handfull of fries: not more at once because the oil will cool down too much. 
• Fry for a few minutes (4-8 depending on the thickness and the kind of potatoes), stir regularly to prevent sticking. 
• Drain fries on papertowels and let them cool down and ’sweat’ for at least 1/2 hour.

Finally heat to 190°C (375°F) and fry for 2 minutes until crispy and golden brown. This way the fries will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the way they should be!

Serve with a little salt (no vinegar pleeeeease) and some mayonnaise.

Braised Belgian Endive
Makes 4 servings

8 whole heads of Belgian endive, cored
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Slowly sauté the endive in butter in a shallow pan over a medium hot heat. Turn to cook both sides. Add the
other ingredients, cover the pan, and simmer on low for 25 minutes, adding a few drops of water if necessary.

Steamed Mussels
Makes 3 to 4 entree servings or 12 first-course servings.

3 quarts mussels in the shell (about 4 pounds)
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 shallots or green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup minced parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Melted butter

Soak the mussels for 30 minutes in salted water. Scrub the mussels well under cold running water with a stiff brush. In a large soup kettle, sauté the garlic and shallots in oil until soft, stirring. Add wine, parsley, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover, and simmer gently until the shells open, about 8 minutes; discard any that do not open. Spoon the mussels into soup bowls and ladle the broth over them. Pass the butter, if desired, for dipping the mussels.

Food and Wine Pairing

Wine goes with food. I know this sounds obvious, but not that long ago I got into a disagreement with a wine blogger about this very subject. Her point was that not all wine needs to be paired with food, some people enjoy wine without food. Well not me. If I want something to sip after dinner on it's own, I might choose a luxurious and sweet dessert wine such as Sauternes, Tokaji, Port or Madeira. As an aperitif I prefer something crisp and sparkling, Champagne perhaps. Or a cocktail.

There is a segment of the wine drinking public that has taken to drinking wine as if it were a cocktail. They want their wine big, bold, with little acid, plenty of tannin, and don't seem to mind if it's tremendously alcoholic (I mean over 14.5% alcohol). Again, not me. In Old World wine-producing countries there is a culture of drinking wine with meals. But in the New World that isn't always the way everyone is introduced to the pleasures of wine. So some people end up favoring wines that compete with sherry in terms of alcohol. Don't even get me started on the astronomical prices of some of these wines. By the bottle or the glass, I want wine I can actually afford to buy.

I remember once being told that in ballet the ballerina is the picture and her partner is the frame. I'd say the same thing is true about food and wine. Food is the picture, wine is the frame. A good frame can compliment a picture, but on it's own, it's just a frame. I used to attend a lot of wine tastings but I found I was comparing one wine to another and the wines I liked the best in tastings rarely impressed me as much when I tried them with food. So I stopped going to so many wine tastings. You might say I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate wines on their own, but in my opinion, no wine can ever compete with the perfect pairing of food and wine.

While I don't entirely agree with experts and bloggers like Alder of Vinography who say that food and wine pairing is a scam, I do agree that "there are no right answers" and that ultimately you should drink what you like with whatever food you choose. I also believe there are pairings that are pure magic. Notice I said pairings, there is never just one good pair. The excellent guide book What to Drink with What You Eat shows many great pairs and is a constant source of inspiration for me, because finding those matches is something I strive for each and every time I open a bottle. For me the highest compliment I can pay a wine is that I find it "food friendly." But really, that is what every wine should be.