Saturday, January 31, 2015

Burnaby Food First - Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

To celebrate our wonderful volunteers -- we couldn't do it without you! -- Burnaby Food First friends recently gathered to eat and be merry together. 






Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey



The yummy dinner was from B.C. sources as much as possible -- including salmon from Regent Fish Market (Burnaby, BC), produce from Klippers Organics (Similkameen Valley, BC) and Ice Cap Organics (Pemberton, BC), and bread made by Anne of Companion Bakehouse (Burnaby, BC) with flour from Urban Grains (Agassiz, BC).



We were also treated to a great workshop by the fabulous Andrea Potter of Rooted Nutrition, where we learned how to make kombucha. 






Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey



A HUGE thanks to Vancity Branch 43 (Brentwood Community Branch) for sponsoring the event! A great time was had by all. See you next year!

Superbowl snacks on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

 This morning I had the pleasure of presenting the following dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show, on the theme of tomorrow's Superbowl.  Host Terry MacLeod also makes chowder with mussels but PEI is not in the Superbowl.  :)


Seattle Seahawks Coffee wings
2 lbs chicken wings & drumettes, frenched*
1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled
1 cup of water
1 bay leaf
2 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon espresso grounds
1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
2� tsp spanish paprika
1� tsp garlic powder
1� tsp dried thyme
1� tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp ground sage
� tsp. cayenne
2 Tablespoon maple syrup*  Optional:  Trim chicken wings & drumettes of excess fat. I prefer them "Frenched" which just means removing the excess cartilage & skin from the 'handle' of the drumette. It is easy to do with a small sharp nice, but not necessary.
Optional:  Trim chicken wings & drumettes of excess fat. Frenched which just means removing the excess cartilage & skin from the 'handle' of the drumette. It is easy to do with a small sharp nice, but not necessary.
Place wings in a bowl and add brewed coffee, water, 2 tablespoons of salt and bay leaf. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 6 hours to overnight.
Mix remaining ingredients, except maple syrup, in a small bowl. Adjust seasonings as preferred (i.e. more or less heat)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain and rinse wings. Pat dry with paper towel. Toss lightly in spice mixture ensuring wings are evenly coated.
Arrange wings on baking rack (with lined drip pan underneath) and cook for 15 minutes.
Baste lightly with maple syrup and then cook an additional 10 minutes.
Baste a second time lightly with maple syrup and then broil for an additional 3 -5 minutes to caramelize sugars.

New England Clam Chowder (Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 2001)

Ingredients

8 pounds small quahogs or large cherrystone clams, scrubbed and rinsed, opened clams discarded
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
3 cups 1/2-inch cubed, peeled potatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 1/2-teaspoon pieces
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped chives or green onions

Directions

In a large stockpot bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add clams, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover, quickly stir clams with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer (this will depend on the type and size of clams you are using), or until most of the clams are opened.
OR
Use clam juice from bottles, your own stock (fish or chicken) and drain tins of whole clams for broth.

Transfer the clams to a large bowl or baking dish and strain the broth twice through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, being careful to strain out the sand. (You should have about 6 cups of clam broth. If not, add enough water to bring the volume up to 6 cups.) When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Set clams and broth aside.

In a large heavy pot cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered. Pour off all bacon fat except 2 tablespoons. Add the butter, onions and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves, and cook until the vegetables are thoroughly wilted, about 3 minutes, being careful not to brown. Add the potatoes and reserved clam broth, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broth thickens slightly and the potatoes are very tender. (If you like a thicker broth, mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.) Remove from the heat, stir in clams and heavy cream and season with pepper and salt, if necessary.

Set aside for 1 hour, covered, to allow the flavors to marry. Place the pot over low heat, and slowly reheat, being careful not to bring to the boil. Serve hot, garnished with 1 or 2 pats of butter, parsley and chives.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... the KFC Double Down Dog!!


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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up

Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up // Loves Food, Loves to EatEvery single thing that these guys do makes me love them even more! Sherm, being a straight up team player, and, let's face it, total boss. BeastMode, being so charming and adorable I just want to watch cat videos with him all day. You guys! I mean, they're awesome players and everything, but what I love is that they're are actually trying to make a statement and change some of the shittier things in the NFL (for the better), rather than just sitting back and accepting the status quo. LOVE. Also, they're Hawks, so I love that too. 

You know what else I love? Football snacks. 


Whether you�re one of the good guys (the Seahawks), a Patriot, or someone who watches only for the commercials, food, and drinks, I think these meaty (ahem, beasty) snacks and bites are perfect for your SB party! Or your snow-day party. Or your Wednesday night. 

Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up // Loves Food, Loves to Eat
Pigs 'n a Blanket with Grilled Onion Cream Cheese Dip: Just like a Seattle style street dog, these little bite-sized snacks combine dogs, cream cheese, and grill onions. Plus jalapenos, if you like to bring the heat. 
Beastmode Hawk-Wing Pizza AKA: Buffalo Chicken Pizza: My favorite pizza. Spicy, sweet, saucy buffalo chicken, with gooey melted cheese, a lil' blue cheese drizzle, and celery leaves to round it out.
Smoked Salmon Dip: This dip is creamy and smoky, with a little bite from the horseradish. Perfect for crackers, veggies, or a spoon!
Carnitas (for tacos or nachos!): No one says no to carnitas. Especially my recipe... just sayin, you won't regret bringing this to a gathering. You'll only regret not setting some aside at home for later. 
Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up // Loves Food, Loves to Eat
Hawaiian Sliders: With half the country buried under snow, this year's Super Bowl is the perfect excuse to make something tropical, to remind you of sunny days ahead! 

White Chicken Chili: Likewise, snowy weather is also a great opportunity to hunker down with a bowl of hot, comforting chili. A big pot of chili is a SB no-brainer.
BBQ pulled pork hand pies: These are a little more involved, but they're great make-ahead game day food. Also, you could make them football shaped!
Shredded beef (for tacos or nachos!): This spicy, tangy shredded beef is just begging to be on top of a pile of tortilla chips with black beans, melted cheese, and some fresh avocado. 

Other drool-worthy SB recipes from around the blogosphere:


And, in case you missed it, these ChampionChip Cookies are a must: pretzels, dark chocolate, butterscotch, M&Ms. BOOM. (Legion of Boom, obvi). 
Super Bowl FEASTMODE Recipe Round-up // Loves Food, Loves to Eat

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Is Meat Unhealthy? Part VII

Looking at individual diseases is informative, but it can cause us to become myopic, making broad health-related decisions based on narrow information. It can cause us to miss the forest for the trees. In this case, the "trees" are individual diseases and the "forest" is total mortality: the overall risk of dying from any cause. Does eating meat increase total mortality, shortening our lifespans?

Non-industrial cultures

Traditionally-living cultures such as hunter-gatherers and non-industrial agriculturalists are not the best way to answer this question, because their mean lifespans tend to be short regardless of diet. This is due to ~30 percent infant mortality, which drags down the average, as well as a high risk of death in adulthood from infectious disease, accidents, and homicide/warfare. It can also be difficult to accurately measure the age of such people, although there are reasonably good methods available.

However, there are semi-industrialized cultures that can help us answer this question, because they feature a somewhat traditional diet and lifestyle, combined with modern medicine and the rule of law. The so-called Blue Zones, areas of exceptional health and longevity, fall into this category. These include Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece.

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Sunday, January 25, 2015

BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies

BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies // Loves Food, Loves to EatSuper Bowl week! Let�s snack!
BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies // Loves Food, Loves to EatObviously I�m cheering hard for my Hawks, and packing these cookies full of blue and green M&Ms, but that doesn�t mean you can�t enjoy them even if you�re not a Seattle fan. I don�t like it, I don�t support it� but go ahead, put other colors of candies in them. I�ll look the other way. 

BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies // Loves Food, Loves to EatI�ve been making far too many cookies lately. Like, it�s becoming a problem. It�s all because of Ashley, and her insanely good recipe. I first made them exactly as written. Then I bought her mix, and made that (which I highly recommend!). Then I started using the base recipe, and adding other mix-ins. Seriously this chocolate chip cookie base is so solid. The cookies are chewy and have that perfect buttery brown sugar flavor that makes classic chocolate chippers so good. I made a riff of her Christmas cookie, with peppermint, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. I made a batch with dark chocolate and smoked sea salt. A batch with espresso chocolate and nuts. Then I made these: pretzels, dark chocolate, and butterscotch chips! WINNER. Then, because this batch was so good, I made them again for your Super Bowl feast, with mini M&Ms for team spirit. 
BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies // Loves Food, Loves to EatSweet, chewy, crunchy, salty, chocolatey, butterscotchy. BeastMode FeastMode time! 
BEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies // Loves Food, Loves to EatBEASTMODE ChampionChip Cookies
Makes about 24 cookies
Adapted from Not Without Salt (PS. she has a new cookbook out!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla paste, which I�ve been using for extra vanilla flavor and vanilla bean speckles!)
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup pretzels, broken up into smallish pieces
2 tablespoons mini M&Ms (Seahawks colors, obviously)

In bowl of stand mixer or with electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat to combine. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until combined. Stir in chocolate, butterscotch chips, and pretzels. 

Ashley recommends refrigerating the dough for up to 24 hours for best results. I tend to agree, but they�ll still work out if you don�t. I would recommend chilling a bit at least, to firm up the dough so that they don�t spread as much while baking. 

Preheat oven to 360 degrees, and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough into balls just over a tablespoon-sized, place evenly spaced on cookie sheet, and press 5-6 mini M&Ms on the top of each one. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, and let cool before eating. 

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Sneak Peek of the Apron Project

While we were out, we've been up to some cool things for Food First's Apron Project.



Earlier this month, community volunteers and Food First members got
together to photograph and model some of the aprons that our sewing
volunteers have been hard at work on. (Models and kitchen gadgetry not included with the actual aprons.)



Thank you to all the volunteers and Food First members who came out to help that day!






Credit: Christina Mak



Here are some behind-the-scenes photos from the apron photo shoot:






Credit: Christina Mak






Credit: Daniel Lane






Credit: Daniel Lane






Credit: Daniel Lane



If you would like to find out more about Burnaby Food First's Apron Project or volunteer, visit the project website for information on getting involved.