Slow Money

I went to hear Woody Tasch speak tonight about this movement and his book. This movement is about bringing investments and entrepreneurship to the local, sustainable level. I went hoping to learn about how I can incorporate the local, sustainable, small, grassroots, environmental thought process into any future business I go into, however the actual speaking engagement was a bit chaotic and there was not a focused approach. I didn't buy the book tonight but will later on. It does bring up a great thought process to get away from this big world economy we live in and the mess we are going to through now. We do as a society need to weave in social aspects of how businesses are run and how success is identified. Tasch talked about many good things going on now with farming and the food industry. He is involved in an alliance for "slow money" that is trying to change how investments are made and how we need to donate and put capital in areas not for return on financial investment but business that are for profit that will change social aspects.

Theo's Chocolate Tour

Photo from Theo Chocolate website.
A couple of week's ago, I went on a chocolate tour in Fremont.  Yes!  There is a local chocolate "maker" in Seattle.  I was expecting Wally Wonka chocolate tour but it was better!

Theo, which is a kind of name for the tree that produces the chocolate pods. So clever!  

This is a local company that "makes" from scratch with roasting beans to final packaged product. I didn't realize that there is so few actual "makers".  Most are "melters" such as Sees and other big names bars.  This is only company that is fair trade and organic. I guess the chocolate bean harvesting industry uses a lot of child labor.  

They have amazing flavors.  One of my favorite was Bread and Chocolate which as the salty sweet flavors, along with a nice yeasty, butter touch.  Another one was their mint truffles. They actually infuse fresh mint with the cream and add it to the chocolate vs. adding just a flavoring.  Great idea!  There is Coconut curry, not one of my favorites, Fennel, Almond, and Fig, Coffee, Chai Tea, and so much more. They also have great caramels. I tried the chipotle salted one. MMMM....

The tour is a must!  I'll go again because you get to sample so much chocolate.  Tour is 5 bucks. I also bought home a ton!

Be warned...you do have to wear a hair net but a small price to pay to sample chocolate.  :)

Neighborhood Cooking-Feb 2009

I'm a bit behind on blogging due to busy work so these posts are late.  There was 3 homeless cooking events in Feb. I went to 2 of them.  The theme for Feb was "southern, soul food" since it's black history month and celebrate Obama in the the office.

First outings we cooked and delivered food to a tent city in Shoreline.  

Menu:  Chicken Stew with home made biscuits, Jambalaya, Red Velvet cupcakes, Greens.

Second event, we cooked and servered at Operation Sack lunch.  We had no theme for this one and cooked what ingrediants we got.  This was also on Valentines' day so we made sure to have chocolate!  Everyone needs a little something chocolate.

Menu:  Tuna pasta, Stuffed peppers, grilled asparagus, fruit salad, green salad, soup, chocolate cupcakes, crepes, plus more I can't remember.

Sitka and Spruce

Many of you know my love of Sitka and Spruce, as well as the chef god Matt Dillion.  I tried to get dinner last Friday to celebrate Joan's birthday but we got there like 7pm and couldn't get a table until 9:40pm so we decided to eat at Serafina's instead.  It was a great dinner and I actually ran into the chef/owner of Both Ways Cafe that I used to work at.  

I am going back on a week  night when it slows down.  Another blog to come!

Thrive

I went to my first raw food eatery yesterday. A place in Roosevelt called Thrive. It was good! I had Coconut Thai Soup which was very creamy and flavorful. It had shreds of carrots and cilantro. I also had some nut cheese spreads and flax crackers. The flax cracker are really good and I want to make these. Michele is the person who took me and introduced me to raw food. She also gave me some of her prepared raw food and there was this "bacon" made out dried young coconut. Wow! It was soo good! I think I can do more raw. More than anything, it makes me feel so light. However...I did eat some real chocolate chips too when I got home. :)

Anyway check out Thrive or any other raw foods.

Raw Food

I am not a healthy eater by choice. I LOVE LOVE my sweets. I am only a vegetarian because I can't eat meat after I did a book report on factory farming in high school.

Well, someone introduced me to raw food. It's suppose to be really healthy. I've been trying to eat just more veggies but haven't gotten into the whole raw food world just yet. The belief is that you don't kill the live enzymes by not cooking food or heating beyond 118 degrees.

There is one great chef, classicaly trained but switched to raw some time ago. I've got his 2 books and it's amazing. I just got "everyday raw". Eating raw does give you instant energy vs. the sluggishness. I still love my pastries and sweets and will never give them up but I think I will to eat more raw, may be 80% of the time.

I find that raw people age really well...who knew these celebs are raw...Woody Harrelson, Jason Marz, Demi Moore, Uma Thurman.

Check out Matthew Kenney site. He is hot too.

http://www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/

Here is his recipe for Raw Mochi

Mochi 
1 cup cashews 
¾ cup young Thai coconut meat 
¼ cup raw agave 
¼ cup extra virgin coconut oil 
Pinch sea salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract Few drops non-alcohol almond extract 
½ cup oat flour * 
¾ cup coconut flour**
* Oat flour is made by grinding whole raw oat groats in a high speed blender or coffee or spice grinder, until very fine flour is achieved. 
**Coconut flour is made by grinding dried coconut flakes in a high speed blender or a coffee or spice grinder, until fine flour is achieved. Do not over process or the oils in the coconut will cause the coconut to cake together. 


Process Blend first 7 ingredients in a Vita-Mix until very smooth and creamy. Transfer mixture to a medium-size bowl and stir in flours until it is very well combined and lumps are smoothed out. Line a 9X13 inch pan and spread very thin, approximately ½ inch thick. Place in freezer until firm. Goji Berry Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young thai coconut meat ¾ cup agave nectar 1 ½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 cup soaked goji berries, blended and strained through a fine sieve Goji Berry Ice Cream Process Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in a square pan, cut, and run through a masticating juicer (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Vanilla Lemongrass Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young thai coconut meat ¾ cup agave nectar 1 ½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract ¼ vanilla bean, flesh scraped ¼ cup lemongrass juice Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Vanilla Lemongrass Ice Cream Process Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in square pan, cut and run through masticating juicers (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Green Tea Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young Thai coconut meat ½ cup agave nectar 1½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 ½ tbs. green tea powder Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Green Tea Ice Cream Instructions Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in square pan, cut and run through masticating juicers (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Cacao Syrup 1½ cups agave nectar ½ cup raw cacao powder 2 tbs. raw carob powder ¼ tsp. vanilla extract Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Cacao Syrup Instructions Blend all ingredients until smooth. Keep in a warm area until ready to serve. Assembly Oat Flour Mint or Basil Sprigs Dust a dry cutting board with oat flour. Turn out frozen mochi onto a cutting board and peel off plastic. Cut six 4X4 pieces. With floured hands, flatten each piece until very thin. Place 1 scoop of ice cream in the center of each mochi sheet and mold mochi around ice cream until ice cream is completely covered; smooth ridges with fingers. Place mocha-covered ice cream in freezer immediately and freeze 8-10 hours until completely frozen. To serve, slice ends off each mocha ice cream ball and cut into 2 uniform pieces. Place a slice of each flavor on serving plates and garnish with mint or basil sprigs and cacao syrup. Serves 4

Salty Chocolate Cupcake

It was Marisella's 30th birthday celebration this weekend!  I made her mini cupcakes with chocolate espresso cake and chocolate butter cream frosting.  I bought 3 different salts:  Smoked, Hawaiian clay, and classic Fleur de Sel.  It was the latter that tasted the best...

Cafe Besalu!

A jewel find in Ballard!  They have the best french pastries in Seattle area.  You all know how much I know my pastries.  The lines are long on the weekends...I've waited 30 min one day to get my onion and guyere croissant.  You can see the owner rolling butter in to the dough. 

The thing is they have excellent coffee too.  Very artistic and looks perfect each time.

Carolyn and I used to go here every Thu during the summer.  We would order 2 pastries, one to eat in line and other while we went to our weekly meeting.  We are now both trying to get in shape so no more weekly Besalu.  :(

Rib Eye & Apple Pie

You know sometimes you have great ideas but the execution doesn't happen for one reason or another.  This was my Rib Eye and Apple Pie dinner.  

My bro's childhood friend Kyle came up from CA.  He is like a little brother to us as well and these boys are meat and potato kind of boys.  For this reason I had a great dinner with classic menu planned.

• Rib Eye with Homemade Steak Sauce
• Potato Gratin
• Arugula Salad with Blood Orange Vinnegrette
• Beet Salad
• Homemade Apple Pie

Well...the execution wasn't as I had hoped.  Requested were for med rare steaks but it was more rare, potato was too cold, apple pie was a bit mushy and tart.  Salads turned out well and they liked the steak sauce which is from Bobby Flay's Bar American recipe.

Oh well...I will try again sometime soon. 

Tamarind Tree

What can I say about Tamarind Tree! I've literally eaten here at least every other week or since discovering it last summer. Their food is so packed with flavor. I never Vietnamese food has so much option other than Pho. They have Pho but you won't eat that. Their summer rolls are so good! It has a fried spring twig in the center for crunch, coconut, and great dipping sauce. I always get the Lemongrass Chili Tofu. If you've not been here, you must! They are suppose to open a new location in downtown area. Right now they are on 12th and Jackson in Vietnam town. It's like a little oasis in a middle of strip mall. http://www.tamarindtreerestaurant.com/