Shaved Ice Coconut Pineapple Sundae

We booked our honeymoon! Guess where we're going? I'll give you a few hints. 

It's a tropical paradise full of palm trees, coconuts, pineapples, shaved ice, ukelele music, waterfalls, beaches, coconuts, pineapples, and shaved ice. Did I mention coconuts, pineapples, and shaved ice?

Hawaii! Did you guess right? We're going to the island of Kauai, and I am stoooooookkkked. We went to Maui a hundred years ago (in 2008� ack!) and loved it a ton. For honeymoonin, we considered knocking out a bucket list destination like Vietnam or France, but in the end, we decided on good ol' Hawaii, for a few reasons. First off, for us west-coasters, that tropical palm-treed paradise is just a hop and skip away. A quick little flight. Which means less time in a plane/train/taxi-cab, and more time on a beach/hammock/surf board. 

Second, we aren't even tryiiin to get travel stress on our h-moon. Don't get me wrong, we love traveling to new, foreign places. But, you have to admit, there's always at least one currency/customs/language/map-reading stressor that comes up in a new country. And normally, I'm all about navigating those waters, but after 10 months of wedding planning, the last thing I want to do is run out of lempira and not have an ATM or credit card machine in site (like happened in Honduras), or get lost in the middle of the night in the pouring rain in Brugge because oh-my-god-i-thought-that-was-the-castle-by-our-hotel, but-every-mother-effing-corner-has-an-identical-castle. You know. Nothing major, but things I don't want to think about on my honeymoon. 

You know what I want to do on my honeymoon? Oh, and Evan's honeymoon? (Aside from that, perverts). I want to relax. I want to be holding a drink in my hand non-stop. I want to lay on the beach, with my husband (!) by my side. I want the option of doing absolutely nothing all day and not feeling guilty about. But. BUT! If we do want to adventure, Kauai is full of hikes and waterfalls and places where Elvis filmed movies. I think we're gonna have a really swell time. I think we're also going to consume a LOT of shaved ice. 

Which brings me to this dessert! I was inspired by a few recipes for this, and by Hawaii! Christina from Dessert for Two posted this coconut snow the other day, and I just couldn't get it outta my head. It's basically just semi-frozen coconut milk, granita style. She served hers with chocolate sauce, which looks so rich and good, but with Hawaii thoughts swirling in my mind, I wanted something tropical! Another recipe that been's in and out of my dreams is this roasted pineapple popsicle. So naturally, I decided to combine the coconut granita magic with roasted pineapple. And not just any roasted pineapple� roasted pineapple sauce! And then, since the coconut snow and roasted pineapple sauce was sort of reminiscent of classic ice cream sundaes (remember that pineapple sauce!?) I threw some cherries on top. And some black sesame seeds, for good measure.

Coconut shaved ice! Roasted pineapple sauce! Go ahead, you can pretend you're on my honeymoon. Oh wait, is that creepy?   

Coconut Shaved Ice Sundae with Roasted Pineapple Sauce

Makes 2 sundaes

This is a simple recipe, but you do need to scrape the coconut snow every half hour for 2-2.5 hours, so keep that in mind. You may have extra pineapple sauce, but it's delicious on ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, with a spoon, in a box with a fox, you name it. 

1 can coconut milk (full fat)

Juice from 1 lime

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 pineapple

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Pinch sea salt

Cherries, pitted

Black sesame seeds

First, get your coconut snow in the freezer:

In a bowl, whisk together coconut milk, lime juice, honey, and water until smooth and combined. Pour into a shallow, freezer-proof dish (I used an 8 inch cake pan), and pop into freezer. After 30 minutes, scrape it all over with a fork to stop from freezing solid. Repeat this every 30 minutes for around 2-2.5 hours.

While coconut snow is in the freezer, make pineapple sauce:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel one whole pineapple, and cut into bite-sized chunks (feel free to save out a few wedges for the sundaes). Add to a baking dish (smaller, not a full baking sheet, it's ok if the pieces overlap), and top with brown sugar and a pinch or two of sea salt. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Pineapple should be super soft, and there should be a bit of liquid in the pan. Let come to room temperature, then add pineapple and any extra liquid in pan to a blender, and blend until smooth. If it's too thick, you can add a splash of water.

Assemble the sundae:

In a glass or bowl, fill halfway with coconut snow, add a small layer of pineapple sauce, fill the rest of the way with coconut snow, then top with more pineapple sauce, cherries, and black sesame seeds. Dig in!

Coconut Snow from this recipe

Roasted Pineapple Sauce inspired by these pops

Catering lunches, a week around the world

I had the pleasure of presenting the following menus this week for a workshop on Engaging differences.  I've hyperlinked all of the recipes to previous recipes and any that are missing shall be added at the end of this post.
Enjoy!

Engage Difference Lunches

1. Turkish Mezze

Patli�anYog�rtl� (eggplant with yoghurt), White bean with pomegranate, K�fte (minimeatballs with vegetarian options), Black Sea endive with pomegranate walnut filling, Turkish salad all with flat breads. Callebaut Dark Chocolate Brownies

2. Moroccan Caravan

MoroccanBeet Salad, Rabat Eggplant, Marak (Tajine) of Swiss Chard with eggs, served with rice and flat breads.

3. Mediterranean Mix

Turkish Roasted Tomato salad with pomegranate, Squash and roasted red pepper Hummusplatter, Spanish Tapas Roasted potato wedges with dip, Imam Bayaldi (Turkisheggplant vegetarian entr�e), served with flat breads.  Biscotti.

4. Tour of India

Vegetarian Samosas with dip (North India), Cabbage Thoren (Kerala), BengaliZucchini, Chick pea curry, Dal with Spinach and Basmati Rice.

5. Korea and China

Bulgogi(Build your own grilled beef salad wraps with rice) and Grilled Tofu with dip for vegetarians, Vegetarian Sichuan Ma Po Dofu, Korean Mushrooms in Foil.

6. Around the World

GrilledPineapple and corn Salsa and local tortillas, Gado gado platter (Indonesian vegetable and rice platter with peanut sauce), Spanish Frittata, Lemon CurdTarts

Fat and Carbohydrate: Clarifications and Details

The last two posts on fat and carbohydrate were written to answer a few important, but relatively narrow, questions that I feel are particularly pertinent at the moment:

• Was the US obesity epidemic caused by an increase in calorie intake?
• Could it have been caused by an increase in carbohydrate intake, independent of the increase in calorie intake?
• Does an unrestricted high-carbohydrate diet lead to a higher calorie intake and body fatness than an unrestricted high-fat diet, or vice versa?
• Could the US government's advice to eat a low-fat diet have caused the obesity epidemic by causing a dietary shift toward carbohydrate?

However, those posts left a few loose ends that I'd like to tie up in this post. Here, I'll lay out my opinions on the relationship between macronutrient intake and obesity in more detail. I'll give my opinions on the following questions:

• What dietary macronutrient composition is the least likely to cause obesity over a lifetime?
• What dietary macronutrient composition is best for a person who is already overweight or obese?
• Is fat inherently fattening and/or unhealthy?

From the beginning

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Coconut Lemon Bar Popsicles

It's summer! And it's popsicle week! 

The always awesome Billy is hosting popsicle week, which is basically just a big, giant internet popsicle party, wherein 37 bloggers (including yours truly!) post a bunch of really fun frozen treat recipes all week long. I'm so excited for you guys to make these coconut lemon bar pops, and to try all the other cool creations (cool� get it? like� frozen. but also like�rad. oh. you did get it?). Head over to Wit and Vinegar, where Billy's updating the popsicle page with the latest recipes as they come in. 

So, about this popsicle. Remember that one time when I didn't care about lemon bars, and then my friend Genevieve begged and begged, so I finally made them? And I threw a whole bunch of shredded coconut into the shortbread crust? And then I discovered that lemon bars are amazing and I'm silly for not caring about them? Remember that? Well, these popsicles are the frozen summer version of those lemon bars! They're so creamy and coconutty and lemony! With little bits of buttery crumbled cookie chunks! 

I asked for some popsicle flavor ideas on the ol' FB, and I heard a whole lotta coconut. And a whole lotta lemon. And a few lemon-coconut. So you people who said lemon or coconut or lemon and coconut? These are for you. And all you other people, who said things like boozy pops and Thai iced tea-sicles? You just head on over and check out all the other popsicle week posts! There's something for everyone. Except for Biscuit� she asked for a Fancy Feast popsicle, but I said no. You have to draw a line somewhere, ya know?

These are easy breezy. I used store-bought cookies and crunched 'em up, because it's summa and i'm not trying to be in front of an oven all day. I tried three different variations on the mix-ins: coconut and cookies mixed evenly in the liquid, coconut and cookies at the top end, and coconut and cookies at the bottom end. I think mixed evenly throughout works best, because you get cookie flavor in every bite, but if you want to try the other options, go for it! 

Coconut Lemon Bar Popsicles

Makes about 10 big popsicles

1 can full fat coconut milk (for full creaminess)

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

1/3-1/2 cup desiccated coconut (depending on how textury and coconutty you like it)

1/2 cup shortbread cookie crumbles 

Whisk together coconut milk, lemon juice, and honey until smooth (or whiz up in a blender). Stir in coconut and cookie crumbles. Pour into popsicle molds, and freeze until solid. Release from molds (I like running warm water over the outside of the mold) and enjoy! 

Pickerel Cheeks and Wild Rice with Saskatoons on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

 This morning I presented the following recipes on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  The Pickerel cheeks, wild rice and saskatoons are all available at Gimli Fish.

Pickerel Cheeks (easy)
1 lb pickerel cheeks
2 tsp butter
1 bunch fresh sorrel (or other favourite fresh herbs)
salt and pepper, to taste
splash Mirin, to deglaze pan (can use Vermouth or for non-alcohol uses, apple or pear juice)

Saut� pickerel cheeks on both sides in melted butter with herbs over medium high heat. Deglaze and season with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately.

 Pickerel Cheeks (difficult)
Same as above but wrap each pickerel cheek as a package in the sorrel leaf and tie with a chive.

Enjoy!

Wild Rice with Saskatoons (serve hot or cold)

1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
4 cups water

1 onion, thinly sliced or fine dice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup Saskatoons
1/4 cup toasted nuts (pine nuts, almonds, pecans, etc.) optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 tbs favourite spice blend (Ras el Hanout, Baharat, Cajun, Herbes d�Provence)  Today I�m making it with Herbes d�Provence

Cook rice by bringing to a boil and then simmering for 45 minutes or until most of the rice has curled.  In a pan, saut� onion in olive oil over medium heat.  Add in all ingredients.  Mix rice and seasoning together in a bowl.  Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake with Whipped Coconut Cream

I was really busy over the weekend with wedding stuff, and didn�t have a chance to do a Father�s Day post.

We�re making our invites and DIY decorations (with the help of some friends, of course, plus floral by my lovely friend Brit), and taking care of all the business�banquet permits, flatware rentals, parking permits for the� oh, wait that�s a surprise. etc�all by ourselves. I�m kind of a control freak, so I can�t imagine not doing it all, but man� this is hard work!

Wedding, wedding, wedding. Sorry, it�s all I talk about and think about and do right now. If you�re my sister/mom/fianc�/friends: thank you for your help and for putting up with my constant wedding chatter! PS. 107 days!

So anyway, I had a full Father�s day post planned, with some of my favorite things he used to make us when we were kids, but I didn�t get around to it yet. I will soon though. Because my dad is amazing and hilarious and I love him so much. Everyone who meets him loves him so much.

And he LOVES fresh strawberry pies. Every spring and summer, he whips up a million fresh strawberry pies. You know, the kind with a graham cracker crust, strawberry filling with maybe a layer of vanilla pudding or whipped cream.

This icebox cake is sort of a retro remix of the fresh strawberry pie. But the fresh strawberry pie is kinda retro too. So I mean� Retro remix of a retro recipe?

If you aren�t familiar with icebox cakes, they�re basically layered wafer cookies and whipped cream, chilled or frozen�the ultimate no bake summer dessert. The cookies soften in the whipped cream, and the whole thing kind of melds together into a cool, refreshing, super simple treat.

I added strawbs to this, because duh, and instead of classic wafers, I used gingersnaps, because strawberries and ginger go really well together! And also, I swapped out regular whipped cream with whipped coconut cream, and tossed a whole bunch of toasted coconut on top. The final product is creamy, slightly sweet, gingery, strawberry filled perfection.

Strawberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake with Whipped Coconut Cream

This recipe is a breeze to throw together, but you do need to plan ahead. The coconut milk needs to chill overnight before whipping, and then the cake itself needs to chill at least 8 hours for maximum cookie softness. If you do happen to dig in early, the cookies will be crunchy and everything will be less melded together, but it will still taste great!

2 cans full fat coconut milk

� cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound of fresh strawberries, sliced

About 30-40 gingersnap cookies (I used store bought�the thinner the better)

�-1/3 cup toasted coconut flakes

First, chill the coconut milk (this helps the solids separate from the liquids). Place both cans in the fridge overnight. 

Flip them upside down, open, and drain the liquid into another dish (set aside for a different use). Scoop the thick cream into a chilled bowl or bowl of your stand mixer, and whip until fluffy stiff peaks begin to form. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, whip to combine/ until smooth.

Assemble: In a baking dish or pie plate (I used a standard pie plate), add a layer of cookies (not overlapping). Spread half of the whipped coconut cream on top, and top that with the sliced strawberries (these can overlap). Top with another layer of cookies, and then the remaining cream. 

Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Serve cold or room temp. 

Add the coconut just before serving. 

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... kettle corn!

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Shrimp BLTs with Basil Mayo

BLTs are pretty much the best sandwiches ever. Raise your hand if you agree. 

Obviously bacon is amazing, but when you combine it with crispy fresh lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and creamy cool mayonnaise� I seriously think it's bacon's best use. Well, aside from just chowing down slice after slice. When in doubt, I order BLTs. Unlike other sandwiches, they're just kind hard to screw up. I mean, there's for sure the perfect BLT, and you can probably make a sub-par BLT, but really...if you give me bread or toast, bacon, toms, and lettuce, I'm sure I'll manage.

This here BLT, loaded with grilled shrimp and garlicky basil mayo (SBLTBM?), is SO GOOD. I'm not going to say it's better than the original, because how can you improve upon something so classic and perfect? But, I will say that it's delicious and awesome in it's own right. It's perfect for dinner, since it's a little heartier than the classic, but really, I could eat it for every meal. Breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, mid-day snack, dinner�dessert? 

I also love the simplicity of a BLT, even this fancy one. Fry up the bacon, slicey slice the toms, give the shrimp a quick toss in some EVOO, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, then throw those suckers on the grill, and blend together your mayo, basil, and garlic. 

Sidenote: avocado would not be a terrible idea here. SBLTBMA? 

Shrimp BLTs with Basil Mayo

Makes 2 large sandwiches

8 thick slices bacon

1/2 cup mayonaise

8 large basil leaves

1 small clove garlic

12 large shrimp/prawns, peeled and deveined 

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper

1 tomato, sliced

Lettuce (I like a crunchy but leafy lettuce like Romaine for BLTs)

4 thick slices bread (I used a sour white from a local bakery)-toast if desired

Cook the bacon: Per your usual method, draining on paper towels when done. 

Make the mayo: In a blender or food processor, add mayo, basil leaves, and garlic. Blend until smooth, stopping and scraping down sides as necessary. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste.

Grill the shrimp: Toss shrimp with olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper. To grill outside, I like to put them on a double skewer so they don't fall through (for wooden skewers, be sure to soak in water prior to grilling so they don't burn). For indoor grilling on a grill pan, you can leave them loose. Cook shrimp for about 2 minutes per side, or until opaque.

Assemble the sandwiches: Slather 1 piece of bread with the mayo, top with tomato, bacon, shrimp, and lettuce, and top with bread slice. Repeat for second sandwich. 

Has Obesity Research Failed?

I frequently encounter the argument that obesity research has failed because it hasn't stopped the global increase in obesity rates. According to this argument, we need to re-think our approach to obesity research because the current approach just isn't working.

Grant funding for obesity research keeps increasing in the US, and the prevalence of obesity also keeps increasing*. What gives? Maybe if we just scrapped the whole endeavor we'd be better off.

Let's take a closer look at this argument and see how it holds up.

Why Do Research?

There are two fundamental reasons why we do research:

1. To gather accurate information about the natural world. This information is intrinsically valuable because we like knowing how the world works, and it may eventually have practical value that's not immediately obvious.
2. Practical applications. We want to solve problems and improve our lives.

If we want to determine whether or not obesity research has failed, we should evaluate it using those two metrics.

Has Obesity Research Gathered Accurate Information?

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Lamb K�fte and Beef Kabob on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

This morning I enjoyed presenting the following recipes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  So easy to prepare in advance and then pop on the grill.  

Wonderful Halal lamb and beef from Millad's Grocery at 396 Notre Dame.  Afghani Naan is also so versatile for appetizers, open-faced sandwiches, etc.

Lamb K�fte

1 lb ground meat (lamb, elk or bison) (Order fresh from Millad�s on Notre Dame)
2 tbs Baharat 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup bread crumbs or Panko
1 egg

1 small onion, grated

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients well together and form into small oblong shapes. Broil or grill for a few minutes on each side until done. Enjoy with pita, yoghurt tahini sauce or other dips.

The K�fte are often broiled in a large pan with hot peppers, onions, tomatoes and garlic.

Turkish Beef Kebab

1 lb thinly sliced beef or lamb (Today was halal inside round beef)*

1 onion, grated

1 medium tomato, grated

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp dry mint

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

� cup olive oil *

1 cup red wine

If meat is a tough cut, you may pound the thinly sliced beef.  Mix all ingredients together and let marinate overnight of for several hours.

Skewer the meat and grill over high heat, turning.  Let meat rest and serve with yoghurt tahini sauce, grilled vegetables and Afghani Naan. (available fresh at Millad�s on Notre Dame)

Yoghurt tahini sauce

1/2 cup good plain yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 heaping tbs tahini*
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. The tahini will cause the sauce to thicken quickly. Use on grilled Pide or Naan or as a crudit� dip.

Enjoy!

* Fresh Halal meats such as lamb, beef, goat, chicken can be purchased at Millad�s Grocery Mart on Notre Dame at the corner of Carlton and Notre Dame.  Excellent  tahini and Turkish olive oil can also be purchased at Millad�s.

Amber Lately

Ah! It�s already June! Sorry I've been MIA the last couple of weeks. I've been so busy! Between our trip to NYC, wedding planning (ah, 4 months away!), trying to up my running mileage to prepare for upcoming races, softball season starting, and my birthday, things have been crazy town. Don�t worry, I�ll be back soon with something tasty for you, but in the meantime, here�s a little look at what I've been up to! 

NYC! We visited one of my BFF/Bridesmaids and her husband for Memorial weekend, so fun! We did some sunning and wine drinking in Central Park, rode bikes all over Brooklyn, and of course, ate a ton of amazing food�the highlight was Roberta�s Pizza!

I�m an old lady! I turned 29 yesterday� last year of my twenties, folks, watch out! Actually, I�m really stoked to be 29. I think this is going to be a stellar year. It started off with the biggest and best Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake ever (made by Amanda)! Also, in the most magical twist of fate ever, my birthday also happens to be National Cheese Day, National Hug Your Cat Day, National Running Day, AND the Seahawks birthday! 

And I share a birthday with Angelina Jolie, Scott Wolf (um, Bailey for life, am I right?), Buddy Wakefield, and Evan�s grandma. Not to mention, yesterday my sweet tiny little bitty baby cousin Wyatt graduated from high school! Big day! 

Also, for my birthday week, all these fine folks decided to have DONUT WEEK on their blogs! Oh, that was for National Donut Day on Friday? Whatever. I�ll take it. Thanks guys, I love donuts!

• THE FAUX MARTHA: Mix and Match Donuts
• MY NAME IS YEH:  Naturally Colored Glazes on Biscuit Donuts
• HUMMINGBIRD HIGH:  Sour Cream Donuts
• WIT + VINEGAR: TBD (the D stands for delicious, obviously)
• STUDIO DIY: Donut Marshmallows  
• EDIBLE PERSPECTIVE: Gluten Free Samoa Baked Donuts, Savory Kale and Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Donuts, and Classic Buttermilk Donuts
• COCO CAKE LAND: Milk Tea Donuts
• A COZY KITCHEN: TBD
• I AM A FOOD BLOG: Waffle Donuts

And, of course, I'll go ahead and just invite myself to this donut party with some baked donut goodness of my own:

• Coconut Buttermilk Donuts with Ginger Glaze
• Chocolate Stout Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze
• Chocolate Cake Donuts with Fresh Raspberry Glaze

Calorie Intake and Body Fatness on Unrestricted High-fat vs. High-carbohydrate Diets

In recent posts, we've explored the association between calorie intake and the US obesity epidemic, and the reasons why this association almost certainly represents a cause-and-effect relationship. I also reviewed the evidence suggesting that carbohydrate and fat are equally fattening in humans, calorie for calorie.

One valid objection that came up in the comments is that calorie-controlled diets in a research setting may not reflect what happens in real life. For example, in a context where calorie intake isn't tightly controlled, diet composition can impact calorie intake, in turn affecting body fatness. This, of course, is true, and it forms one of the central pillars of our fat loss program the Ideal Weight Program.

Some low-carbohydrate diet advocates argue that the obesity epidemic was caused by US dietary guidelines that emphasize a carbohydrate-rich diet*. The idea here is that the increase in calorie intake was due to the diet shifting in a more carbohydrate-heavy direction. In other words, they're hypothesizing that a carbohydrate-rich eating style increases food intake, which increases body fatness**. According to this hypothesis, if we had received advice to eat a fat-rich diet instead, we wouldn't be in the midst of an obesity epidemic.

Fortunately for us, this hypothesis has been tested-- many times! Which eating style leads to higher calorie intake and body fatness when calories aren't controlled: a carbohydrate-rich diet, or a fat-rich diet?

Short-term Studies

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