food411 blog

Over the past year we have noticed a trend: fun, creative food product websites that allow you to “design” your own. From Chocolate bars to tea – you create your own end product. Super idea for giving thoughtful one of a kind gifts, you can either design it yourself showing the recipient how well you know their preferences or give a gift certificate and allow them to have the fun of making their custom creation. Perfect to treat yourself to something that is uniquely yours. Whatever the reason, these sites are popping up with a variety of products. The list below are the ones we have discovered, tested and “handpicked” for the Food411 directory.

chocri – Design your own Chocolate Bar. Start with the type of chocolate and then add any of the 100 add-ins. You can even name the bar!

[me] & Goji -Point and click to your own custom organic cereal & granola – even name it…pick the base, add fruit/nuts/seeds. As you add ingredient the nutritional counter updates. Then they hand mix, put in a cool capsule & ship.

mix my granola – just the way you like it. Pick the granola base, then add whatever fruit, nuts, seeds, extras, and enhancers that you desire.

Adagio Tea – Select from hundreds of teas to create a formula that personifies you ( or a friend). Have fun naming your tea blend. It will also be put on the Adagio website for others to order ( you accumulate points if others order your blend)

ecreamery Create your own ice cream, gelato or sorbet flavor. Pick your base, add other flavors, select mix-ins and name/select your packing.

Mix My Nuts- Create your own custom blend of mixed nuts or trail mix! Choose from natural and organic nuts, fruit & goodies.

Element Bar Tired of sugary, processed “energy” bars full of junk . This company lets you build an energy bar the way you want it. Select the “type of bar” the core ( chewy, crunchy, oaty, datey) then add the ingredients you want: fruit, nuts, seeds, protein supplements.

If you know of others, please let us know! We would like to compile a complete list of “handpicked” “create your own” sites ( of course we have to test each new product first!)

Each month our Chef Silvia releases ” A Note from the Chef”. We love reading her insights into our relationship with food.

By now most of us are aware that everything has a vibration – even rocks. Naturally food does too, and the higher the frequency, the better it is for us. The highest vibration is emitted from ripe fruit, picked from its source and consumed immediately. No wonder Paradise is depicted as a garden – two innocent beings, strolling through lush bushes laden with berries, munching on their breakfast as they walk…and later a picnic amongst the fruit trees, branches beckoning them to sample a harvest of golden apples, succulent pears, red cherries and pink peaches. My, how far we’ve wandered.

In 1992, Bruce Taino of Taino Technology, an independent division of Eastern State University in Cherry, Washington, built the first frequency monitor in the world. He determined that the healthy human body vibrates between 60-80 Hz; ripe, fresh fruit, 80; raw green vegetables between 60 and 72; wild fish, 50-55; chicken and beef, 40-45; and cooked inorganic vegetables, 13-21. The further food travels from its source to our table and the more manipulated by technology it is, the lower on the frequency scale it falls, until we reach the lowest category – processed food. It has a frequency of zero. No wonder we think of it as empty food. Technically, even calling it food is misleading. Maybe this is why the more convenience-oriented we’ve become, the unhealthier we are. Considering the pace and habits of modern life, I’m surprised that everyone isn’t sick. Maybe we are and it just takes some time for it to show up. Most people assume disease is a natural part of the aging process. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything natural about it.

Given that so many of us strive to be healthier, look younger and live longer, it’s interesting that we still choose our food based on how it tastes. Considering what we now know about energy, shouldn’t we select what we choose to eat according to its vibration? If we did, would every meal taste the same, consisting of nothing but fruit and raw vegetables? If so I wouldn’t get too excited about trying new restaurants, they’d all have the same menu. There’d be no need for chefs or the Food Network, cookbooks, big grocery stores, fishermen or sushi. I might get bored.

Yet we can’t dismiss the impact of frequency and vibration. It’s an expression of energy – it’s everywhere and in everything. We’ve all experienced the let-down we feel around people with bad energy, so why would we willingly ingest (and pay for) food loaded with negativity? It’s no wonder our bodies rebel. Perhaps our minds should follow their lead.

Surely somewhere in this backward approach to doing what we all must do every day, must be a way to eat food that tastes great and arrives on our dinner table laden with good vibrations that truly nourishes us. We’ve heard it said, over and over again (and I’m one of these voices) that the intention (vibration) with which we prepare food has an effect on how it tastes. Now we know why. And the effects of energy don’t stop there because it’s never static. It moves and merges with everything in its path. Food created with friction and ingested in anger cannot possibly emit the same frequency as food lovingly prepared and consumed slowly, in a beautiful environment, shared with people we adore.

Most of us know from experience that eating when we’re upset leads to indigestion. In Italian slang, we have a great word for it…agita. Ironically it refers to both an upset stomach and people or situations that aggravate us.

Intuitively we know that food is far more than a way to satisfy hunger. Our relationship with food is a complicated one. What we eat, where it comes from, how we cook and share it speaks volumes about who we are as a culture and as humanity. It’s an interrelated process – an energy dance between all parties, a symphony of flavors and factors and colors. Each ingredient, each step in the process of farm-to-table, each handler along the way emits an energy contribution to the whole…One more example of the fact that nothing is really separate.

In celebration of this symphony of energy comes this month’s recipe, which practically waltzes on the plate… Crusted Wild Salmon Over a Salsa of Fruits and Vegetables.

This recipe is especially versatile and can be altered to fit any body. The fish can be any firm filet (or a grilled vegetable such as eggplant); the crust can be made from virtually any grain or nut. I’ve chosen to make the crust gluten-free by substituting bread crumbs with rice chips (Lundberg makes a bag that has a hint of lime that goes especially well with fish). It’s crunchy and flavorful. The salsa of course is always a changing melody of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Create your own version. You’ll never tire of this one.

Serves 4
4 filets of wild salmon
4 cups of salsa
1 cup of topping for crust
Salt and pepper to taste
• Place fish on a baking pan (sprayed with a cooking spray)
• Season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil
• Cover the top completely with the topping
Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish) or until the fish turns opaque with a pink (uncooked) line in the middle. This will assure that the fish is not overcooked. Remember, everything continues to cook even when it’s removed from the heat.
Serve on individual plates over the salsa.

Crust
½ bag of Lundberg rice chips (or 1 cup of bread crumbs, corn flakes, pine nuts, etc. or combination of nuts and grains)
1 sprig fresh flat leaf parsley (stems removed) – optional
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (enough to just moisten the crust)
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to a course grind
Salsa
1 cup of grape tomatoes (sliced vertically in half)
1 mango
1 orange
2 kiwi
1 red onion
1 green pepper
1 cup seedless grapes (sliced in half, vertically)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Except where otherwise noted, cut all the fruits and vegetables into a small dice. Place into a mixing bowl, season, add parsley and oil, toss and add to a platter or individual plates. Top with the fish and serve.

We are always looking to improve the Food411 directory and we get many request from readers to find various items that can be ordered online. Several readers requested a resource to purchase online cupcakes – while we had many bakeries included on Food411, none had tackled the task of shipping cupcakes. Cupcakes are fun and they make people smile, so they are perfect to send as a gift to someone, we knew that they must be included in the Food411 directory!! Our work was cut out for us – Food411 was challenged: we must meet the challenge! Mission: Find resources to include in Food411 that create and deliver nationwide (in beautiful condition) a quality cupcake. Finding sources that can bake a superior cupcake and also be able to have it delivered to your door is still a rare find.Many of the cupcakes arrived smashed, stale, etc!

We persevered and continue to research, and taste & taste! We are proud to have found a handful of resources that deliver to your door (that is the tricky part) a delicious cupcake (both cake and frosting). Our hunt is still on to find additional resources ( we just found out NYC’s Cupcake Stop – a mobil cupcake truck – will soon be shipping nationwide – we will be sure to track this!) , so if you are aware of a company that can deliver the goods – please share with us. There are a few “big name” catalogs that offer excellent cupcakes mail order but the prices with shipping caused them not to make the cut for our Food411 directory.

Visit the Baked Goods section of Food411 and see the cupcake resources we have uncovered! One of them will even customize a message on the cupcakes!

Our Chef Silvia writes about “cooking as a form of spiritual practice – the Zen of the kitchen – a perfect blend of the practical with the profound, and the gift of both.” Below is her most recent ” A Note From The Chef” along with a few recipes…one for gluten free dumplings!

I didn’t always know that the kitchen was a healing place. As a child, all I knew was that it felt good when I was there. The kitchen was where abundance always reigned, where tantalizing aromas from steaming pots on the cook top drew me in, and overflowing platters held any number of treasures ready to satisfy my hunger in an instant. It didn’t matter what the outside world looked like; the kitchen was neutral ground, a place of respite from life’s little annoyances – from scraped knees to aching hearts – a soothing balm that simply nourished.

We’ve all heard it said that it’s the journey, not the destination, where the true prize waits. Now, as an adult and professional chef, I often wonder if we’ve lost some of the kitchen’s inherent magic when our focus is on the finished dish rather than on the process of preparing it. Does the real soul of the kitchen evaporate when we approach cooking as a chore rather than a pleasure?

There are few things in life that offer multiple gifts as readily as the kitchen. Good food is the most obvious, but it’s the more subtle contributions that most surprised me, becoming clear only after years of observation. I didn’t realize that as I was stirring a sauce, chopping an onion, kneading the dough, or performing any number of tasks that cooking demands, that I was really practicing an ancient meditation. Cooking, by its very nature, requires one’s full attention. Any deviation produces almost instant consequences – burnt sauce, a cut finger, a forgotten ingredient…

Over the years, I began to recognize that cooking was a practice of presence my otherwise cluttered mind so desperately needed. When I cook, my mind is still, relaxed, focused only on the task before me – because it has to be. This is the true gift of the kitchen, comfort for a tattered spirit, a place to rest and regain strength, while it provides sustenance for the body.

The idea that I could be training my mind in the art of meditation and still end up with something wonderful to eat just never ceases to amaze me. What could be more loving, more nourishing, more healing than this? This is cooking as a form of spiritual practice – the Zen of the kitchen – a perfect blend of the practical with the profound, and the gift of both.

Chef Silvia

Chicken Soup With Bok Choy
What would healing be without a little chicken soup? This recipe is a step by step instruction on a basic soup but with a little eastern twist – in keeping with the Zen theme of this month’s cooking article – bokchoy. In addition, rather than boiling a whole chicken to make the broth, this recipe sautés chicken thighs and shallots for a richer, fully flavor. Follow this recipe as a starting point and then feel free to implement any of the suggested variations.Ingredients – Makes about 6-8 servings

6 bone-in chicken thighs
1 small shallot – finely minced
1 clove garlic – finely minced
1/4 cup flour for dredging the chicken
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons chicken base *
2 quarts water
1 large sprig fresh parsley (including stems)
1 teaspoon tomato paste or 2 – 3 tablespoons crushed tomatoes (optional – but great for added color and flavor)

* Chicken base is a concentrated paste that is wonderful for adding flavor to any broth. They come in small glass jars by the chicken broth in most supermarkets, available in beef, seafood and vegetable.Instructions

Instructions

• Place large stockpot over medium heat and heat until hot but not smoking and add olive oil.

• Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour (shake off excess) and brown on one side (about 2 minutes). Turn and add the garlic and onion and cook for an additional minute or so, or until the onion softens. • Add the water, bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer, add parsley and cook for about an hour until the meat begins to fall off the bone. Remove the meat and set aside.
• Add the base one teaspoon at a time, stir and check the broth. If too watery, add a bit more base until you reach the desired flavor. Add the tomato and stir.

• In the meantime, remove the meat from the bone and add to the stockpot.

• Chop the bokchoy horizontally in ¼ inch slices and add to the pot.

• Cook for an additional 5 minutes or just until the bokchoy is softened but still has a bite to it.
• Serve in individual bowls and finish with fresh chopped parsley

Variations
Add carrots, celery, leeks, escarole, or other favorite as a substitute for the bokchoy, or combine a number of vegetables for a chicken vegetable soup
Add rice, pasta or dumplings (or even gluten – free dumplings – see recipe below)

Gluten – Free Dumplings

1 cup gluten – free flour (You will need 1/4 tsp Xanthum Gum if not already in flour blend)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt + ½ tsp pepper
½ cup whole milk
1 egg (beaten)
4 tbs canola oil

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, milk, and canola oil. It should look like course. Add some fresh chopped parsley if you like or any additional seasoning you may want. Using a teaspoon scoop out small ball size portions of dough and add to the simmering broth. Don’t overcrowd the dumplings. Cover and cook for about 10. Dumplings should be light and fluffy.

“The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough of is love” Henry Miller

Enjoy Food411’s Valentine’s Day Gift Picks – we have a blast finding and selecting these picks for you!

A few months ago we posted about Jamie Oliver’s terrific new book, Jamie’s Food Revolution. We just became aware that Jamie is now following through with the theme of the book – helping people learn to cook/promoting healthy food for children, by creating a petition that he will present to the White House. You can help spread this mission by signing the petition : and please pass it along to your friends.

Keeping with Jamie’s initiative to help people create easy, fresh meals at home, we have included some of his basic “Jam Jar” salad dressings which will help make eating more salads and veggies a pleasure. It is surprising to learn just how easy it is to make salad dressing. There is no need to ever buy processed salad dressing again. Remember not only will you save money by making your own, the bottled dressings are filled with sugars, and all types of additives.

“Jam Jar Dressings”

French dressing
Peel and finely chop ¼ of a clove of garlic • Put the garlic, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of white or red wine vinegar, and 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • Put the lid on the jar and shake well

Yogurt dressing
Put 1/3 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons of white or red wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • Put the lid on the jar and shake well

Balsamic dressing
Put 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • Put the lid on the jar and shake well

Recipes from JAMIE’S FOOD REVOLUTION (Hyperion; October 2009)

Many readers write to us thinking that our Chef Silvia is not a real person – just a symbol like Betty Crocker! Well, she is as real a person as you can get! Full of life, and enthusiasm for preparing food to share with friends and family! To prove this to you, we are sharing a video of our Chef Silvia making marinara. Enjoy!! Remember if you have any cooking related questions, you can also use the “Ask Chef Silvia” feature on the Food411 website

Cooking Video

Below is a video of one of her cooking classes that she does for private parties or corporate events. Such fun!

Cooking Class

So now you know she is REAL–send her your questions! Use Food411 as your “go to” resource for the best online food directory and to get answers to any questions from a real live Chef!

Do not miss our annual holiday gift picks ” A gift that tastes good is always a gift in good taste!”

Our gift picks are completely editorial, as is the entire Food411 directory!

Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals’
by Jamie Oliver

This cookbook is different and exciting. Jamie’s mission is to get people to cook simple, wholesome meals at home to put an end to the processed food and fast food that has taken over our society! He asks us to pledge to learn a few recipes from the book and “pass them on”. Jamie believes that non-cooks can cook these meals and proves it by including some of these folks, in full-color, with their meals! He firmly believes that anyone can be taught a few simple dishes. If they learn to make a few recipes they will become hooked on real food and pass on the processed/fast foods. It is a admirable mission – and this cookbook is a great tool.

His message is, you can do this!! You can make healthy, delicious food, from scratch quickly and economically. Many of the recipes are not completely “healthy” — he loves butter & cream but they are real food – none of the additives found in processed foods/takeout. They are quick and simple to make, and will give just about anyone the confidence to continue in the kitchen. The recipes have pictures that make the process easy to follow. If you are familiar with Jamie, you will hear his “voice” through the book which is also fun.

The 20 minute meal section is terrific and is based on dishes that are usually ordered for takeout. He proves here that it is actually faster to cook the meals yourself – allowing you to use just a few simple ingredient to make quality meals.

We tested the Pan-fried Glazed Pork Chops. They came out absolutely delicious, and were very quick to throw together.

This is a perfect cookbook for anyone just staring to cook, anyone afraid to cook, even seasoned home cooks will find this cookbook inspiring.

To make the planning of the meal easy, here are a few numbers that will come in handy.

How big a bird to buy:
1.5 lbs/per person turkey (uncooked). You will have leftovers with this amount.

How long to cook:
Until the internal temperature is 165 degrees for a perfect bird. Range is 165-180. Measure this in the thigh with an instant read thermometer
Let rest for 25-30 minutes before carving. Bird will stay hot for 1 hour so don’t panic – let the juices set!

What temperature to set oven to for all the side dishes:
350-375

Amount of coffee to use per cup:
2 tablespoons per cup when making a pot with a auto-drip machine.

How much stuffing:
1.25 cup per person (this should also result in leftovers)

We found an actual turkey meal calculator online for you to use:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/turkeydinnercalc.html

And remember the important part of the holiday is being with people you care about and having gratitude in your life. Try not to get stressed out over the perfect meal…and ask for help! Any guest that offers to bring a dish, say yes!! If you only have to make the main dishes, it will be much easier. Ask others to bring appetizer and desserts, and even the sides!