Flavor Tripping Contest Winners!

I held an old fashioned drawing. I printed out the numbers, put them in a baggie, and took the baggie of numbers to my office.



I had a friend draw three numbers. She drew these:

I came home and checked the comments. So.... congratulations to Chocolate Covered Katie, Amey of Vegan Eats & Treats, and Ricki of Diet, Desserts & Dogs!

Please email me at atxvegn AT yahoo DOT com and let me know where to send your pair of mberry tablets. Happy Tripping!

Fresh Foods and a Good Burger

We have some rain in the area and the temp has dropped 20 degrees! Although it hasn’t rained at my house yet, I did get to enjoy watching a nice shower from my office downtown. The heat and drought has taken its toll for sure. Here’s a portion of my last CSA box.

Two nice sized melons, and very puny onions, peppers, eggplant, and okra. Pretty slim pickin’s. You may remember that okra (eggplant too) has never been a favorite veggie of mine. I read recently about a cooking method that promised to take away the slime. I started with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, added some thinly sliced onions and okra, and basically cooked the crap out of it. It worked – there was not a bit of okra slime.

However, there was definitely oily slime and that didn’t appeal to me either. I’ve still got a bunch of okra and I’m going to try again with half the amount of oil and see if some broth will work just as well.

I’ve still been eating lots of fresh salads. One I’m particularly fond of is Tomato, Mango, and Avocado, and just a pinch of sea salt.

It’s heavenly, and something I almost always have on hand.

My usual salads are a combination of greens and beans.

There is still a bit of squash and zucchini at the farmers markets, but not near the usual squash overload typical of the summer season. I made the Salsa Verde Yellow Squash from VegTimes, and it was pretty good, with onions, garlic, black beans, and cilantro. It called for tomatillos, but I only had tomatoes.

Most of you know I’m not a fan of packaged foods, but I do buy them for Chase. I found the new Vegan Gardenburgers at Costco and bought him a big ol’ box. My mom even bought herself a box. The picture on the box looked really good.

I saved one for myself to try. I sautéed it and got all my toppings together, then wouldn’t you know I couldn’t find any bread in my house. Except some leftover gluten free cornbread I had frozen. I didn’t actually get to eat a burger, but I built myself quite a monster.

That’s about all the food porn I have for now. Are you watching Top Chef Masters? I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode and Rooting 4 Rick.

PS – Don’t forget to enter my Flavor Tripping Contest!

Flavor Tripping – a Giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Flavor Tripping Party hosted by The Berry Fairy. I had so much fun that I want to offer you the same experience.

Here’s the scoop (reposted from the Berry Fairy site).

What is a Flavor Tripping Party?

Flavor Tripping parties are the latest craze in NY and SF and offer willy wonka-esque taste-altering experiences for your tastebuds. Party-goers get a fresh miracle berry and then help themselves to a bacchanalian banquet of food and naughty beverages. The miracle berry affects everyone differently and the effects can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours. This is what some flavor-trippers are saying:

- citrus fruits like lemons and limes taste sweet
- oranges and grapefruits tasted dipped in sugar
- goat cheese tastes like frosting
- vinegar is smooth enough to drink
- cheap tequila tastes like top shelf
- bologna sandwiches taste like cheesecake
- stout beers taste like chocolate milkshakes

Miracle berries are only good for 2-3 days after they are picked and so they are very rare, expensive, and hard to obtain.

What is a Miracle Berry?


Miracle berries, also known as miracle fruit or Synsepalum dulcificum are fresh plants indigenous to West Africa. The fruit when consumed have an extraordinary affect on your tastebuds. Scientists say a protein in the fruit works by binding to taste buds and altering the tongue's so-called sweet receptors to activate when sour foods are eaten. The "miracle" is everything sour and bitter will taste sweet temporarily.

Lemons taste like lemonade, Guiness beer tastes like chocolate milk, rhubarb tastes like sugar cane!

Miracle Berry plants can only grow in parts of Africa, Asia, and Florida. They take four years from seed to bear fruit. The berries are also highly perishable and must be eaten within 2-3 days once picked. For diabetics, it could be turned into a sugar-free additive. For cancer patients, it could eliminate the post-chemotherapy metallic taste in their mouths and make food taste more palatable. All of these factors including recent press by the New York Times make this berry almost a "miracle" to obtain.

The party in Austin was very well attended and everyone had a blast, even though it was held outside and like a bazillion degrees.

So obviously I cannot provide you with a fresh Miracle Berry. However, at the Flavor Tripping Party there was a table set up selling mberry tablets. I bought a packet of 10.

What are mberries? (taken from the mberries site)

Our tablets contain ONLY freeze dried granules of Miracle Berry fruit and cornstarch (to maintain the tablet shape). In this form, the tablets can last over a year with little to no degradation (when not frozen or cooked!) and the price per miracle berry experience is much more affordable than with the fresh berries.

Who uses Miracle Berries?
· Dieters
· Diabetics
· Curious and Adventurous Eaters
· People at Parties!

Instructions:
First, gently rinse your mouth with water be sure you have a clean tongue.
Please Note: Smoking directly before or after, may negatively affect the sensitivity of your tongue.
The effect of Miracle fruit is made possible ONLY by contact with the tongue, not through digestion.
For this reason, tablets must be allowed to dissolve completely on the tongue.
The most pronounced effect can be achieved by coating the entire tongue in a paste of Miracle fruit for up to 30 seconds.

If you wish to end the experience early, simple drink some hot liquid (tea, etc.) and much of the miraculin should quickly wash off your tongue.

About my experience: While I was at the party, someone at my table said, Hey, what if they sweetened everything before we got here? She was really joking. We could tell the food had not been sugared and the taste was not really sugary. It’s difficult to describe, but I’ll try. Lemons and limes retain their flavor but you can actually take a big bite without puckering. Raw rhubarb, sundried tomatoes, and tomatillos were the most delicious flavor experience of the evening. Hot sauce, jalapenos, sriracha, and mustard were very flavorful and not the least bit hot. I heard later some folks overdid tasting the spicy stuff! And foods that are naturally sweet, and even the hummus I tried, well, their flavor is just enhanced. It really was a trip!
Here’s my plate of the vegan offerings provided.

Last night I finally tried the mberry tablet. With my mom! I needed a newbie to validate that the berry tablets really are miraculous. My mom will be 73 on Friday. She was a little nervous about flavor tripping, but what a cool mom, huh? I brought some samples and asked her to prep them for us.

We had not-so-ripe strawberries, lemons, key limes, tomatoes, and tomatillos. We tried lemons first – my mom loves lemons. Her eyes got big and she couldn’t believe what she was tasting – pure lemon flavor without the sour bite. I was so happy that my food at the party hadn’t been spiked with sugar and that the tablets I bought really work! All of our samples were so flavorful. And my mom had fun. I asked her how she was going to describe her flavor trip to her friends and she said she didn’t know if she could. Then we rinsed and ate our dinner. I realized after dinner that I forgot to test dark chocolate!

So are you feeling adventurous? Are you restricting your sugar intake and want a sweet treat without the sucrose? (Ricki?) Do you just want to have a flavor trippin’ good time? If so, leave me a comment. Maybe you could tell me what foods you would like to trip on. In two weeks, I will randomly select THREE commenters and you will win a PAIR of mberry tablets so you can share your flavor trip adventure. Good luck!

Daring Bakers Challenge – Chocolate Valentino and Ice Cream

February’s challenge is a Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia’s “most flamboyant food ambassador”, Chef Wan. Recipe comes from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan. Thanks to Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef for hosting this challenge.

This month’s challenge was certainly that for vegans as the recipe for this flourless cake was merely chocolate, butter, and 5 eggs! I had a difficult time deciding between a Fran Costigan nearly raw recipe or a recipe from the fabulous Gluten Free Goddess and many times vegan chef, Karina. She quite timely posted her recipe for Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake. I decided the real challenge was in the baking, so I chose Karina’s recipe.

The most important ingredient was the chocolate, of course. I happened to have on hand my favorite baking chocolate, Scharffenberger 99% Cacoa. This particular box was so incredibly delicious. It had a nice subtle spicy note to it.

I made a half recipe and filled three 4-inch tart pans. I wanted to use my 6-inch heart pan (the appropriate pan for a Valentino cake), but I couldn’t find it anywhere. There are two of those somewhere in my house….

I waited for them to bake. I waited and waited and waited. I checked them at 45 minutes, and then every 5 or 10 minutes until they had baked almost an hour and 10 minutes. It was so funny when I would stick a toothpick in and they would deflate, and when I pulled the toothpick back out, they would poof up again! They are supposed to collapse once they’re done, so I wasn’t concerned. Anyway, I lost patience at 70 minutes and pulled them out. The top seemed almost overdone, and I wasn’t real sure the middle was good. I let them cool, and they properly sunk.

After they completely cooled, I cut a piece out to see what I had. I set one tart on a heart plate.

It looks a little weird.

I stuck the cutout piece back in and hoped a few more hours in the fridge would help my Valentino set up properly. I went on to the next component of the challenge, homemade ice cream! Making ice cream in February – I think that’s a first for me.

I made a vanilla ice cream with silken tofu. Although I can’t eat it and I really don’t like the flavor even if I could eat it, I have 2 fabulous vanilla extracts and made Very Vanilla Ice Cream.

This was our dessert for last Sunday’s dinner. I served it to Chase and his girlfriend on the pretty heart plate.

And they shared Valentino Cake and Very Vanilla Ice Cream for Two.

I got no complaints, only yummy noises, especially for the ice cream. I guess ice cream in February is a good thing.

btw, Chocolate Covered Katie is giving away a case of Jocolat Larabars! Enter here.

A Winner, and Broccoli of course!

The winner of a free Lexen Healthy Juicer is ….

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 87
Result: 54

Congratulations to Mike @ TrialbyFood!!!

Mike, please email me at atxvegn AT yahoo DOT com and provide me with your name and delivery address. I will then notify Lexen and they will send you your FREE juicer!

For my contest, I asked you to proclaim your love of broccoli and you did! By the way, our winner, Mike, likes his broccoli raw or steamed. I am so pleased to know you share my broccoli passion, AND that most of you enjoy it just as I do, lightly steamed with a little salt and sometimes garlic and lemon. We also like it roasted, and with a nutty sauce or nooch. I am also very pleased to know that you enjoy your healthful side of broccoli at least once a week and many of you as often as I do – daily! I only got a couple of comments regarding broccoli stalk love. I actually enjoy the stalks as much as the trees. If you are trashing your stalks, try this: slice off the bottom and discard, then peel the tough outer layer with a paring knife. Now just chop it into small pieces and steam right along with the trees. The stalks are sweet and delicious and needn’t go to waste! I also buy packages of Mann’s Broccoli Slaw, made from the stalks, to use in salads and toss into stirfrys.

As I had hoped, I got some comments with new ideas for broccoli prep. Thankfully, we are all in agreement that broccoli has no place in baked goods, unless it’s baked into lasagna or pizza. However, I did get a sweet broccoli recipe from Chris, which I made and really enjoyed!

Broccoli with Walnuts and Maple Syrup

Thanks, Chris!

I recently added broccoli to hot cereal, but I must admit I’ve never eaten broccoli for breakfast. Okay, I never eat anything for breakfast. But one of Tofu Mom’s Sproutz does enjoy her broccoli for breakfast – on toast with peanut butter! She said *I love broccoli! One of my favorite breakfasts is steamed broccoli sprinkled with garlic powder and Braggs aminos piled high on toasted French Meadow Spelt or Kamut bread spread with a thin layer of organic peanut or almond butter. It's a recipe from Table for Two by Joanne Stepaniak.*

Thank you, Sprout! I bought a loaf of gluten free bread just so I can try this recipe next.

Thanks for playing along everyone, and congratulations again to Mike!