Farm Animals Globally are Talking: ' Ingest More Cauliflower! '

Not long ago I found myself being interviewed on a live television broadcast after winning a national chefs’ challenge. About 300 people participated in the process of elimination over a number of months. The final cook off with 12 of us was rough but worth it. When the media asked what was one of the biggest factors to help make the dish succeed? I said, ‘Vegetables, Herbs and Spices. I got to combine them in a way that rocked the dish.’

Next day the stories centered around me as winning, but as a vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian and more. Nothing wrong with any of that, but nothing to do with the win.

That morning at this studio I sat there in front of the camera. The show host suddenly asked……’So..... I heard you won this contest. Certainly you have a great reputation around the United States, but what made you so into vegetables?’ Not thinking there could be a developing plot in his line of interview I said….’Well, I like vegetables and with herbs and spice a great cook can do something with them that many cannot. I think vegetables need a much higher place in the food world.’ Well that seemed to be all it took to get him a sly smile, next asking me, unbelievably, if I thought people might think I was ‘soft, a tree hugger, light in the loafers, or against meat and poultry, fish and game?’ I was stunned….’a tree hugger, light in the loafers?’ What the hell. Did he actually just say that?

A sense of humor is paramount. But I realized that maybe I had said something or suggested something DISRUPTIVE! It might be almost as disruptive as the corporate challenge in the 'Eat More Kale' issue! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/us/eat-more-kale-t-shirts-challenged-by-chick-fil-a.html

Maybe he thinks of a burly image of a chef, male or female, as slaughtering and eating meats, butchering chickens, fishing or hunting game as center of plate. Maybe vegetables shattered it! lol! Maybe my thoughts on celery, onions and carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, grains, herbs, and spices were dismantling the rough and tough image of America! I had no reason to respond aggressively. His comments surprised me on live camera. I sat there looking at this guy in his snake tall cowboy boots and thought.... I think he is offended by the image of what someone who eats vegetables might suggest. Not vegetables only mind you, but just vegetables in general. After all, I am on his show and maybe he wants me to be some way as a chef he sees as acceptable. There could be a perception problem about people who like vegetables. Maybe part of that was the J. Edgar Hoover mentality that anything that challenged the status quo was done by subversives or freaks. What he probably was remembering were who he saw as hippies, animal rights activists, religious zealots and others, part of a changing culture and a good part.

Reality is, eating a balanced diet with smart food is just plain common sense that most people continue to reject. No matter who we are: omnivore, carnivore, herbivore or whatavore… taste and preparations kill good basic ingredients at home or in restaurants. It is not brain surgery to see the time has come to make vegetables and lots of other fantastic enriching foods part of mainstream menus. What you take in for your fuel makes a difference in how you look, how you feel and in your health. And it makes a difference for the planet. Research and common sense, no matter how uncommon it often seems to be, align veggies with better health for the smarter who get it.

Vegetables are truly maligned by just plain bad cooking. Americans are not exactly known for their reverence on the vegetable trail history. However, things are changing and you don't have to hug a tree to say thanks. Thank the Chinese, the Italians, Japanese and others who show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for dishes that sing of mainstream wonderfulness. So let the throwdown begin.....

Viva la Vegetable! Viva los herbs and spice! I share with you a recent pasta dish that rocks veggies big time. Enjoy it for four as a snack or generous two of your for lunch or dinner.

Pan Roasted Cauliflower with Orecchiette

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, broken into florets and cut in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3 cloves of garlic chopped fine

1 medium onion, chopped fine

12 ounces cooked whole wheat orecchitte, 1 cup of pasta water reserved

¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped coarsely

1 lemon, seeded and juiced

½ cup Pecorino Romano, grated or parmesan, grated

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Method

1. Head a 10 inch skillet or wok to medium and add olive oil and butter. When melted add the cauliflower, smooth sides down. Brown 4-5 minutes slowly on both sides. Add the garlic and onion. Continue to cook slowly about 3 minutes.

2. Toss in the pasta and stir. Add the pasta water, the lemon juice, parsley and seasonings. Mix.

3. Serve in deep bowls, sprinkling the grated cheese evenly on top.

Eco Minded, Body Smart

My life as a chef keeps taking me more and more to flavorful ways to eat with light ingredients. I want to not only taste combinations that are exciting, I want to cook them. If the world wants to head out for fast fake food or terrible eating, let them. Cooking is one of the best rewards you can find in the day. What is the sense of having great ingredients and a body that needs mental and physical nutrition if you don't take a minute to experience and appreciate how to make quick easy dishes.

It's definitely Winter. Fall passed a few days ago. The half hour run outdoors gets replaced by an early skate on Chicago's ice rinks just opened. Early morning stretching with floor mat pilates and an occasional swim at a club keeps my weight, skin and insides energized. No dry skin for this guy. Gotta keep that body motor purrring. This sexy hot pot recipe is part of what does it for me. Eco-minded with low cost to market for the simple fresh ingredients. Rewarding, body smart, Why? Well, if you want to know......you'll just have to make it! The answer is in each taste and the beauty of digestible lusciousness. A little extra jalapeno never hurt your senses. Grinding the black pepper at the last moment keeps the aroma. And, as you see it has a world of healthy notes.

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-black-pepper.html

Winter Vegetable Hot Pot
Ingredients
10 ounces (firm) tofu
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup broccoli, stems and fleurettes
½ cup red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch strips
¼ cup celery, stalks and leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
½ cup of peas (frozen are fine)
2 medium tomatoes, cored, quartered
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
¼ cup fresh cilantro
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
½ teas sea salt
½ teas fresh ground black pepper

Method
1) Cut tofu into one inch cubes. Place the cubes on a paper towel. Top with another sheet of paper towel, then a sheet pan or baking dish on top. This weight will work to remove some of the excess water from the tofu. Set aside.

2) Cut the broccoli stems in half lengthwise so they cook evenly. Heat a non-stick skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the olive oil. While shaking the pan, gently toss in the broccoli, red pepper, celery and garlic. Stir and cook 3-4 minutes. Add the peas and tomato quarters. Cook 2 minutes. Add the stock.

3) Bring vegetable liquid to slow simmer. Add the tofu, cilantro and basil leaves. Season with
salt and pepper. Continue cooking at a slow simmer 3-4 minutes occasionally shaking the pan so the tofu picks up the aromatic flavors of the vegetables, herbs and spice.

4) Ladel vegetable mixture into soup plates . Enjoy the YUM!

May We Suggest.......

Monday, 4:30 am. and the week starts as usual, updating myself on the last of weekend news while looking at upcoming events in finance, politics, health and wellness, food, beverage and sports. Having gotten through an hour of global posts my eye turns attention to 'sports' and the Tiger Woods win at the Chevron Tournament. Bravo, bravo, bravo and happiness to him all! In an interview Woods makes a clean statement that people do not see how hard it is to win, let alone stay in shape mentally and physically winning back to back tournaments. I play the video and watch that nine iron careen over the bunker and with the right spin drop six feet from the hole. Gutsy and great, that shot and the final putt makes him the Winner. Fitness comes to mind in that shot, fitness and fit food. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/golf/hes-back-tiger-woods-wins-again-20111205-1oe20.html

I keep watching that shot. I start to remember the feeling of the countless hours to learn to keep at it when you want to be competitive. As an amateur player, I use to work at it just like most athletes, until you cramp or just can't hit even another ball. Desire to be good, no, desire to be great was the only way. I was a lot younger, I had no coach. No one told me how to cross train, what to eat, how to improve my game. But I aspired to be a sportsman, particularly in golf. Early in the goal, by a freak accident I injured my right hand and spent three and a half years in casts with operations, pins and bone graphs. With aggrivating reluctance, and over a course of five years trying to reclaim what I had lost, golf became a different sport to me. I sideline my passion, making a self contract agreement to turn my already heady knowledge of restaurants into a full time career. After a time, you just have to say, 'Don't hang on, don't look back. Forward, forward, forward.' Can't head back to play that way now, but the love for fitness, and fitness through food remains.

Chefs are not known to be the fittest of people. We might think fit and want fit and try to respond to fit but long hours, consumer demands, classical recipes, tradition, an often weak discipline more prone to reward, and the ever demanding workday set a different course. One would think that food knowledgable chefs would be Top Fit@, not just Top Chefs. But another look says, Selling Food is the business, not fitness. Fitness seems to be the controlled business of sports. I differ! This is the time to change and blend both. If we leave it that way we deny in daily life what we really need to be healthy, smart food and a little fitness. There is a whole new world of food out there in combining the two at the everyday level. It is not about foam and smoking glass and mirrors or sensational networks from media. It is not about short term trends. It is about how you can interact with YOU, you and that body you live in every day. A recent look at TED's spells it all on health message. The information is out there. http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/29/teaching-science-by-bad-example-qa-with-ben-goldacre/

Ahead of me is a huge fit future. When you feel the difference in eating what makes the body flexible and the mind alert, you see the notion of what I see as fit food. Take a look at global cuisines and you will easily understand that when many recipes were created no one knew of what could be the impact of diet and disease or think the world would move to longevity issues let alone have a computer to assist with modern insights. Centuries of work can now be applied to food and I am not talking about GMO's but cell driven nutrition.

Not long ago I introduced Oscar, my way of representing a new world of eco minded, body smart foods. With his help, and a clean slate on Fit Food from Foley, a whole new look at how to eat and cook with applications of Vegetable Alchemy are defining a fresh road to what is truly 'Healthy' and why. Keep joining in and take a peak. Oscar's Kitchen is not far away. May We Suggest.......

May We Introduce......

Vegetable Alchemy meet Oscar! We welcome you to our mission of revamping traditional recipes to better balance through the addition of more vegetables, herbs and spice. It is this parrot alongside, Jovan Tryboyevic, proprietor of the famed Mobile 5 star restaurant Le Perroquet who helped me hone my skills in the art and lifestyle of food and beverage. Enriched already with an incredible base from my restaurant family background, this bird, the man and the place> Le Perroquet inspired me to focus on the ability of a recipe to produce colorful, flavorful, satisfying healthful results.

I am fascinated with the healthy integrity of vegetables, herbs and spice, and gave Vegetable Alchemy definition, ' the art and science of combining vegetables, herbs and spices with other ingredients for body smart food and a better ecological future.

The form and function of what was fine dining style now shifts to a casual approach for day to day eating. Body strategic recipes combine with a little fitness to offer a lifestyle of overall body balance, anti-aging, health and longevity. One would think that after the advent of nutrition, enriched body sciences and the scores of websites detailing the increase in diet related diseases such as diabetes ( 285 mil, 2011 to 440 mil 2030), gluten intolerance, heart disease, cancer and others, we would start to overhaul recipes for a modern way of eating. Proactive….....one day at a time with changes that show that the modern way of life needs a modern diet.

Vegetable Alchemy: vegetable based; but not vegetable only, body minded, ecologically smart.

A Chili in Every Pot!

Tis the season upon us. Hockey, football, skiing, ice skating. a brisk run and more.

The Vegetable Alchemist at your service.......

Mushroom Chili with Beans and Barley
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12
servings (1 ½ cup each)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 pounds cremini mushroom, quartered
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
3 cups cooked barley
1 (16ounce) can chili beans, undrained
1 (16ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cups vegetable broth
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a 1-gallon thick bottom saucepot over medium heat. Add onion and
garlic; cook 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to cook 4 - 5 minutes. Stir
in peppers; cook for an additional 3 - 4 minutes or until vegetables are
tender.

2. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer
for 20-25 minutes or until flavors are melded, stirring after 15 minutes to
prevent sticking.

3. YUMMMMMM!

May All Your Fish Come True !

Fish: Fabulous, Interesting, Sexy with a Halo to eat, this protein is the magic ingredient to some of the finest food I have ever appreciated to cook as Chef or consumer. Forgiving to all when understanding its needs; mercilessly bland, boring, and odiferous when not. Spend a quarter for a lemon, or fifty bucks for a sauce, fish can deliver on taste, whether investment or not. Fish, a protein with opportunity so clear that dollar per dollar on growing and yield, it outperforms poultry, pork, and meat. Lean for weight watching, rich for culinary expansion, fast for the home meal dilemma, fish favors those who want to learn its secrets. Pay attention to the market source of your fish purchases and the knowledge takes you on world tour envious of all including Marco Polo. Salty cold water, inland streams or mountain rivers, each source teaches an understanding of why ' fish are what they eat' from firm to soft texture, white or darker color, strong or subtle aroma. With each fish is a self contained statement of origin that cleanly defines a preference for preparations particular and rewarding. The adventure of learning is all yours for the fishing.

With that mini salute to fish and is shellfish brethren I hereby introduce my lifetime love and ventures with ' fish'. I have enthusiastically cooked and fantasticly enjoy while supporting in full form as a true a fishionado! I bring you my favorite thoughts in a blog you will love: May All Your Fish Come True! I will take away your agony and forward you the ecstacy to love my Fabously Intersting Sexy Halo of Fish.

The Cooking Dilemma

Is this you to the left in your perfect kitchen happily being your version of Julia Child, cooking meals for you, your family and friends on a daily basis in a neat organized high end kitchen? No?

Not exactly...I hate to cook....cooking is far too hard.....I have so much stress I cannot make time to cook....my kids are too demanding.....surviving is more important!

Ancient cultures have a saying: "when you go to war, dig two graves, one for your opponents and one for you।!" As I write I see a war going on between the inherited historic kitchen and its system and our present need to cook day to day. It looks like we are digging our own graves stressing over producing daily home meals. Time for some disruptive thinking on a more efficient productive space with support right down to groceries.

Early one Sunday when I was a six year old kid I accompanied my father to a restaurant we owned so he could review the previous night's receipts. With him in the office I stationed myself in the dark kitchen. Loving food, I just had to have something to eat. But what? It was so dark in the non window kitchen I could not even see a refrigerator door! Where there is that will, there is that way, and carefully I smelled my way to chilled wrapped deliciously cooked vegetables, meats and stews, true heaven on earth for a hungry kid. Mangia I did, and in those moments I found my own first fast food. Great food I could get fast! Fabulously tasty, classical food that came from the kitchen of true gourmet cooks well verse in traditional recipes of many cultures.

Where are we today? Is that great food our food today? Do we need it, want it, crave it? Do we cook for the same results in appearance, umami, satiation and price, with the time and lifestyle that came with the recipes or the system set up to support them? For the first time in hundreds of years, no matter how media stars and food writers, manufacturers and bloggers adjust a recipe in scale and scope, changing prep time, cook and eat- in time one can rarely deliver a plate that the consumer can actually execute that way. And even if they do, there are all those recipes that do not. Low fat, low salt, gluten free, altered foods, unreal timetables.... we are trying, but we need to succeed. Time to rethink the kitchen and system just as horse transportation took on a new norm that became the car. We are underdelivering to ourselves, by overdelivering on false reality. Something that use to be such a beautiful daily effort, to cook, has become a dilemma.

Seven years ago I was on a televised international committee ideation with designers, equipment manufacturers, chef's, growers, writers, marketers, family advocates and social media folk all throwing our ideas into a kitchen design pot of the future. As we continued we consistently queried the food savvy, varied age and experienced family audience for questions adding their imput to our emerging platforms. The end result was, that everyone got what THEY wanted and the kitchen is now an audio visual cooking center almost double in size with this endless stream of equipment, pots and pans that are used infrequently, a pantry with ready food prep, canned and frozen for convenience, a refrigerator with a list of take out or order in phone numbers or links to same and a the list goes on and on and on, close to being a family center.....but the evidence is clear....the cooking dilemma stills grows and I can solve it with your help!

Let's take a step back and think. Did consumers know they needed the car, the air conditioner, computer, itunes, iphones and ipads? No, but someone thought through a real not just temporary improvement and we moved forward. New goods improve our lifestyles and become integrated into our daily lives. Just as with other technologies we are hitting a new era in the kitchen It is time to talk and rebuild/build a more practical kitchen style. While no one including cooking sites, magazines, food companies and manufacturers want a change, it has to come.

Pretty kitchen above, nice tunic and hat. However, they may demonstrate a pazzazz that is costly to buy and questionable to execute. Some say a cooking dilemma. I say, The Cooking Conundrum!@, disruptive thinking, and with your help, coming to you soon.