Since it has been weeks...

I just thought I would post a pretty food picture. This is orange-glazed tempeh with quinoa and roasted asparagus.

Creative packaging

Just found this on my bag of chocolate chips. So cute! (and clever)

Vegan?

Nope. Definitely not.

Secret Diner

What's Up Ocala's newest "secret" diner column.

If momma ain't happy...

So, unfortunately I don't have pictures for this recipe, which I feel really bring the food alive, but this is a necessary post. Why? Because it is a recipe my mom asked for. You know, moms are always right and ALWAYS come first. Like they say, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

Even though this is a vegan recipe, I actually found it in a vegetarian cookbook my mom gave to me years ago when I dappled in a meatless diet. I think I was around 12-years-old. Sorry sis, just one more thing I beat you to. I have to say though, I definitely did not have the dedication she has, and I slowly moved towards eating meat again: first fish, then chicken, and well, you get the idea.

Anyways, this recipe is great and truly filling. Meat-eaters will definitely not be complaining about an empty stomach after you serve this one. Served as "burgers" in pita pockets with lettuce and tomato, this is truly comfort food.

I served the burgers with baked sweet-potato fries and a yogurt tahini dressing the cookbook paired with it (not vegan, but could easily be made vegan-friendly.) The sauce was especially yummy with the fries.

Falafel Burgers (From Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

1 cup diced onions
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup diced red bell peppers*
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne, or to taste
1 cake firm tofu (12 ounces), pressed* and crumbled
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (15-ounce can, drained)
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup tahini*
salt to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs, as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously oil a baking sheet.

In a 9-inch skillet, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, turmeric, coriander and cayenne and saute for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

While the vegetables cook, combine the tofu, chickpeas, lemon juice, soy sauce and sesame oil in the bowl of a food processor*. Process until well combined, but not a paste.

Transfer the tofu mixture to a large bowl and add the sauteed vegetables, parsley, tahini and salt. Mix everything together well with your hands. If the mixture is too sticky, add bread crumbs. Add salt to taste.

Shape the 1/2 cup portions of the burger mix into 8 patties and arrange on the prepared baking sheet with a bit of space between them. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden, juicy and firm.

Helpful hints***

Okay, first of all, I used a green bell pepper, because they are literally $2 less, and it turned out wonderfully.

Second, If you have never pressed tofu, it is super easy. Just put the cake in-between two plates and put something heavy on top of them, a can works, and leave for 15 minutes. Voila, your tofu is pressed. Just make sure you do it in a sink or somewhere where the liquid can drain.

Tahini can be found pretty much anywhere these days and is a sesame-paste used a lot in Mediterranean cuisine. I know for a fact they sell it in Publix; just look in the ethnic food section.

Lastly, if you don't have a food processor don't worry. You can achieve the same results with a potato masher or even a fork. Get rustic with it.

Yogurt Tahini Dressing

1 cup plain yogurt, or substitute vegan yogurt
2 Tbs tahini
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes for the flavors to marry. Serve cold.

A meat-loving girl in a vegan world

So now that I am living in a vegan household, much of my cooking has been sans meat and dairy, which means that many of my future posts will follow suit. Although I, myself, am not vegan, I don't mind eating like one, most of the time, until I get the occasional craving for a good piece of meat or seafood or some deliciously satisfying cheese. The plus side of cooking vegan dishes is that I get to show my diversity in the kitchen, which is always a good thing.

While I have concocted several meat and dairy-free meals since I moved in, I have been so busy getting adjusted to everything that I haven't found the time to write about it. But, that is all about to change. So, on with my first VEGAN post!

I was craving something sweet and glutinous tonight so after scouring recipes of dairy-free breads, cookies and cakes I decided on a Pumpkin Crumb Cake With Pecan Streusel from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon cookbook, which I am enjoying right now with a nice tall glass of Thai tea. Although I traded in the pecans for walnuts, because that's all I had, it turned out great. And you don't have to be vegan to think so.

The recipe follows.



Pecan streusel
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Cake
1 15 oz can pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup soy milk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 Tbs. light molasses
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Prepare the streusel
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and spices. Drizzle in the canola oil and mix with your fingertips until crumbs form. Add the pecans and mix.

Prepare the cake
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, soy, milk, oil, granulated sugar, molasses and vanilla. Mix well. Add roughly half the flour, the baking powder, salt and spices, and use a fork to fold everything together. Add the remaining flour and mix gently until combined. Don't use a hand blender for this, as pumpkin can get gummy if it's mixed too aggressively. Blending with a fork helps maintain the texture.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it out with a spatula. Scatter the streusel on top as evenly as possible. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into squares.

Moving out and on

So, I have been slacking on posting but for good reason. I have been moving and getting situated in my new life! And let me tell you, moving my stuff up two days before, and actually moving up the day I started my new job was not the best idea I have ever had.

However, I have been doing a lot of cooking from Mother's Day on, so I have a lot of writing to catch up on....starting tomorrow! I hope ;)

Dream or reality?

Dreams are funny.

I think because I fell asleep thinking about my time cooking in Germany, which seems so unreal to me now, I ended up dreaming about being in the kitchen.

I had this vivid dream of being involved in a cooking competition with teams of two partners. I was paired up with another female, and for some reason we were focusing on desserts. The dream wasn't necessarily a nightmare, or a bad dream, but it definitely had a stressful element.

Apparently, my work space had already been used by someone else, and it was a HUGE mess: flour everywhere, all kinds of dirty dishes piled up and used rags laying all over the counter. And no matter how I tried to straighten things up, it seemed like the mess just kept expanding.

I somehow came over my problems, however, and came up with a brilliant idea for a dessert. You know how sometimes in your dreams things sound great, but in real life they would be ridiculous? Well this was not one of those times, and I am excited to try-out at least part of my dreamed invention.

And then the dream ended.

It was strange, how when I woke up the dream seemed more real to me than what I fell asleep thinking about.

A tribute to the late Great Uncle John

My dad's tribute to his uncle of the same name, his "Perf" martini.

30 minute meal? I am WAY too hungry for that

Alright Rachael Ray, I had to one-up you. Tonight I made a healthy and delicious dinner in 20 minutes. Actually, it may have been even less than that. After working at a wine tasting tonight, I came home with my stomach growling, and not wanting to grab fast food or stuff a sandwich into my mouth I decided I would actually cook.

This is what I threw together, and it literally took me the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta, with about as much thought as it takes to make a salad. Unfortunately, I can't give you exact measurements because I only cooked enough for myself and didn't keep track of it, but it is straightforward enough that you can figure it out or alter it depending on your taste.

I chopped up some yellow onion and garlic, sauteed it in olive oil and added some pine nuts. Once the nuts were beginning to toast I added chopped tomato and canned tuna. A few pinches of salt and pepper, some dried basil from my garden, a handful of spinach and a splash of white wine later and my sauce was ready. I added the linguine I had boiled during all of this, shredded some Parmesan on top and my dinner was complete.

Sorry Rach.

German Dinner

My mom, for some reason, rarely cooks traditional German dinners anymore, so when she does I tend to get pretty excited. Just the other day she surprised us all with a dinner of Schweinebraten, Knödel and Süß-sauer Kraut. In other words, pork roast, dumplings and sweet and sour cabbage. It was so yummy! I have convinced her that we HAVE to turn this into a trend and start making German dinners much more often.

Can't forget the beer!

Labellas Italian Piatto and Pizzeria

So usually when a restaurant that thrives off of word-of-mouth is almost completely packed on a Wednesday night, it is a good sign. So when I walked into Labellas Italian Piatto and Pizzeria the other night, and there were only one or two open tables, I was pretty excited.

For those of you who are wondering, much like I was when I sat down in the Italian eatery, what Piatto means, it is Italian for plate. As I looked around, I discovered that the dinner "Piattos" were what most of the customers in the restaurant came to indulge in. However, my boyfriend and I love to sample and critique pizza so that is exactly what we did.

After starting off with an antipasto salad, which was pretty much what you would expect and not much more, we had a pizza with mushrooms and sausage, extra crispy.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that the pizza was spectacular. It was Okay. The sauce was actually pretty bland, like no salt or seasoning had been added. That means a lot coming from me, because I have a pretty low tolerance for salt. Also, I like the spicy Italian sausage and this sausage was nothing more than mild. The best part was probably the crust, which was slightly above average quality.

Maybe pizza isn't their specialty. Maybe, judging by what the other guests were eating, I should have tried one of their dinner dishes. I think the next time I visit I will try the lasagna. You can tell a lot about an Italian restaurant by the caliber of the lasagna.

Anyways, the night ended spectacularly, with some of the best Cannoli I have had in a LONG time. These crispy, pastry tubes filled with sweet, creamy, ricotta heaven were twice the size of your average Cannoli. Needless to say, this Sicilian treat made the night for me, and helped me make the decision that I will give the restaurant another shot.

If you don't like something the first time, I feel you should always try it at least one more time, especially when it is a local restaurant maintaining in a difficult economy. And that is exactly what I intend to do.

Nostalgia: Hidden Treasures Cereal

So, I don't really expect anyone to remember this, but this cereal is kind of what sparked my fascination with forgotten food items in the first place.

I probably only had this cereal one time, but I remember my older brother picking it out at the store and me lusting after it. I have thought about it often throughout the years, even though I can barely remember what it even tasted like. I can tell you though, that each little square-shaped piece of corn cereal held one of three flavors, cherry, orange or grape, and that was the "hidden treasure".

It is funny what things will stay in a person's memory, and this is a perfect example of it. Having only tried Hidden Treasures Cereal, at the most, a couple of times, the fact that it lingered in my mind for years to come is intriguing. It made me question whether it was the underlying psychology of it all, my brother having it and therefore me wanting it as well, or if it was really that damn good.

This is the box I remember, which is apparently from 1994

I did some research and found that, like with most long-lost foods, there is a petition out there to bring the cereal back. Whether or not this means it really was amazing, I don't know. All I know is that even though I, and apparently others, remember Hidden Treasures Cereal with longing, the cereal went off the market in a matter of two or three years.

Nostalgia: String Thing

Kids love fruit snacks, and sometimes adults do too. Well, at least I do.

One fruit snack that I remember from my childhood is String Thing. I can only remember one flavor, which I think was strawberry.

The snack looked like a red licorice rope but had a softer texture and fruitier taste. The "string" was all coiled up on a piece of white cardboard twisted into some kind of shape. While the presentation was enough to make it memorable, I recall the fruit string being really tasty. Mind you, it wasn't much of a snack.

Anyways, I have always wondered why other fruit snacks, like Shark Bites and Fruit Roll-Ups have persevered over the years but String Thing fell out of popularity and off the market. For instance, when I searched the internet for an image of String Thing only two pictures turned up, one small and barely visible and the pathetic picture you see here.

What happened to you String Thing?

Workin hard for the money

My restaurant review

Nostalgia: Doritos 3D

I remember eating these specialty Doritos in elementary school. I know there were at least three flavors: zesty ranch, nacho cheese and jalapeno.

These little air-filled corn chip puffs were like a cross between Dorito flavor and Bugles texture. The shape of the chip really changed the flavor, and I happened to like the taste better than the regular flat, triangular chips.

My favorite of the above-mentioned three varieties was definitely the zesty ranch.

Unfortunately, the chips were quickly discontinued. I'm not sure if they were meant to be a seasonal item, or a one-time item, but I know that many people really liked Doritos 3D. There is even a Facebook page petitioning Frito-Lay to start producing the snack again.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Doritos-3D/108929805018

Do you remember these chips as fondly as I do?

Nostalgia

When it comes to food, among other things, I can get very sentimental. I guess that sounds kind of ridiculous, but it's true. A lot of my fondest memories are tied into food and what I was eating at the time.

I guess it is not surprising, then, that I am often nostalgic about food, especially items that are no longer carried. I figured I would put this nostalgia into use and start a continuing column about foods that I once loved that now cease to exist, or are difficult to come by.


I decided to start this column with something I only had a handful of times but have never forgotten about: French Toast Crunch. The younger brother of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a cereal loved by many and still in production, French Toast Crunch only lasted a brief eleven years in the American market.

The whole grain cereal was shaped like little pieces of French toast and was flavored to taste like the breakfast favorite. Apparently, after a few years they changed the cereal to look like Cinnamon Toast Crunch's little squares, and I believe this was their downfall.

Even though I only had the cereal a few times, I to this day, find myself craving it. Fortunately, through a little research, I found out that the cereal is still sold in Canada. Québec: here I come.

Yum!

My next new food product to try

My rant

I was recently asked to write a food review for an up and coming magazine, however, I kind of regret agreeing to it now.

Going to the restaurant and writing about it was great. I felt like I was finally on the track to what I wanted to do with my life. I loved writing about my experience at the restaurant, and I didn't hold anything back. I wanted the readers to be able to imagine they experienced it with me.

While the review had its negative points, I felt that it was fair and balanced and extremely accurate. I had other writers and friends look over it as well, and they said the same. One friend even told me I had a gift for critiquing but being nice about it.

Apparently, someone at the magazine had a different perspective. I was sent back an "edited" copy and was immediately taken aback. I am fine with my stories being edited, some words being changed, etc. as long is it is purposeful and makes sense. This was not the case.

First of all, the story was completely changed to be totally nice and unrealistic. If I had something negative to say, it was because that part of my experience was negative. I know what I am talking about after 5 or so years in the industry, and I don't need some P.R. wanna-be to smooth over my words so they are more friendly.

Then, parts of the story were rewritten unnecessarily and illogically; the changes did not even make sense. If I said a piece of pie was "delicious" that is what I meant. I didn't mean it was "delightful".

This is why the city of Ocala is so ass backwards; no one is brave enough to say/write how they really feel in a respectful and intelligent way.

Amrit Palace

I have always liked Amrit Palace in Ocala, especially their $7.95 lunch special, but the location has always been a little sketchy. I guess the owners realized this too, because they have finally moved.

The new location, which is just a stretch farther west on Highway 200, is not exactly the picture of perfection with its orange stucco walls and faux-palace structure, but it is definitely an improvement.

Luckily, the move did not effect the quality of the food, as it sometimes does. The food is still delicious and authentic. In typical Indian style, the best way to experience Amrit Palace is to order a few different dishes and share amongst a group of people.

Chicken Tandoori sizzling hot from the kitchen

I think eating should be an experience rather than a chore, so this style of cuisine really suits me. I love nibbling on a bunch of different things, dipping into sauces and tearing into Nan and other Indian breads.

After a meal of chicken tandoori, curried chick peas, lamb, stewed lentils, samosas and a variety of breads and sauces, I was very satisfied. The only improvement that I believe could have been made is that the food could have been spicier. I ordered it medium, and I was expecting, by Indian standards, that it would be fairly spicy, but I was wrong. I guess next time I will have to order my food hot.

Nan, a traditional Indian flatbread

The food was amazing, and just for that I will definitely visit again, but if it wasn't so tasty I don't know if I would; the service that evening was less than desirable.

First of all, instead of having us wait 10 minutes for a bigger table to open up, they sat five people in a tiny booth designed for four at the very most. Then, once a table opened up, 10 minutes later, they had us move.

And it went downhill from there. The server brought out the wrong dish, couldn't seem to figure out the wine list, and which wines were white and even spilled water on the floor. I don't understand why, with all of the people unemployed right now, a restaurant would employ someone who obviously has no clue what they are doing.

Bhatura, a puffy Indian fry-bread that strangely reminds me of a Chinese donut with no powdered sugar on it

When it comes to food, Amrit Palace has it down, but they really do need to hire some new servers if they want people to enjoy the experience, which in my book is about half of the battle.