Good Day Chocolate

One of the benefit of being a blogger in the Denver/Boulder area is that Sprouts Farmer's Markets hosts events with local businesses, mostly food-related.

Recently, I attended an event at Good Day Chocolate. I said yes, because ... well, chocolate. Even though I wasn't familiar with the company or its products.

Turns out, the chocolate has benefits. Not just the flavor of chocolate or the benefits of chocolate in general, but they add stuff to the chocolate to make it even better.

So ... there's chocolate with added caffeine for an energy boost, chocolate that helps you sleep, chocolate that has calming effects, and chocolate with turmeric.

A new addition to the Good Day roundup is a chocolate with probiotics. And, they pointed out that their probiotics are the ones that actually make it through your stomach acids, so they actually do some good in your gut. Plus, eating a chocolate or three is a lot more pleasant than chugging a weird-tasting grainy drink.

At the event, we had a chance to play with chocolates, like filling molds.

They warned us that this could be messy, but there were no major chocolate disasters. When the company first started, they filled molds like this by hand, and had a lot of rejected chocolates in each batch. But now, it's a lot more sophisticated.

And of course we got to do some sampling. Speaking of samples, we got to take some home, too.

Like this cute holiday gift box. Mmmm. Chocolate gift!

The chocolate comes in little tiny boxes, and they're roundish candy-coated treats that should be eaten sparingly. I mean, there's dosage information on the side of the box. Dosages are probably most important for the caffeine - or at least that's the one I'd be most careful of, since I've cut way back on my coffee intake.

While these have health benefits, they're also very tasty chocolate. But ... they shouldn't go into the candy bowl to be eaten by the handful.

This is one of the most interesting concepts I've seen in a long time. I've tried turmeric smoothies and other ways of ingesting it. While I love a good recipe that uses turmeric (mmm, pickled cauliflower), I'm not all that fond of it in my banana smoothie. In chocolate, however? I couldn't even tell it was in there. Sign me up!

Good Day Chocolate is available at Sprouts (obviously), and I've also seen it at other stores that have a lot of natural/healthy foods. You can also find it on Amazon. Keep in mind that the boxes are small and don't have a lot of chocolates in there, so if you want a week's worth of energy doses, buy enough boxes!

Thanks to Sprouts Farmers Market and Good Day Chocolate for the fun event and the goodies to take home. Mmmmm. Chocolate.

Hummus and Perqs

Did the word "perqs" confuse you?

How about "perks"?

Same thing. Perks is a friendlier spelling of perqs which is short for perquisite, which I think is an interesting word. It rhymes with requisite, but it's not something that's required. It's (according to Google's definition) "a thing regarded as a special right or privilege enjoyed as a result of one's position."

I also like the short version, perq, because it has a q that isn't followed by a u. So that makes it unique. I also like it because absolutely no one uses perq any more, and I'm quirky like that.

One of the perqs of being a blogger is getting free stuff. This is in addition to the work of being a blogger, which sometimes includes being paid to write stuff. The pay is not a perq, since it's earned. The free stuff thrown in, though, is very perqy.

Another perq is getting invited to events. Recently, the folks at Sprouts (a local grocery store chain, if they're not in your area) invited a bunch of bloggers to an event at Hope Foods, a local maker of hummus. And now guacamole. But mostly hummus.

(Note: Of course people who provide the perqs ((I love that spelling!)) hope that it will result in bloggers writing about their products. They're not being charitable; they're savvy marketers. But there's no contract. No one is obligated to write. So ... it's up to the blogger to decide whether something is of interest to their readers or whether it's worth a post on social media, or whether it's just another meh that goes in the pile of stuff that's donated to charity. I only write about stuff that amuses me and/or that I think my readers will be interested in.)

So, at the event we bloggers mingled, chatted, and sampled. Hope has a chocolate hummus that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. When I think of it as hummus, my brain says, no, hummus is tan colored and has lemon and garlic or herbs and spices and you eat it with pita chips or vegetables. But it's not chocolate.

But when I don't think of it as hummus, it reminds me of brownie batter. It has that sort of texture ... not smooth like Nutella. It tastes good. I licked the spoon. And then I wondered what I could do with it.

I could eat it with a Ritz cracker or graham cracker. But something about that chocolate hummus makes me want to cook with it. It has potential to be the secret ingredient in something.

I'm just not sure what, yet.

Another interesting sample was their guacamole. Let's be honest here. I don't buy guacamole, I buy avocados. That are never ripe enough, so I have to let them sit a while. It's always this balancing act between when I buy them and when I want to eat them, and I don't always win. Sigh.

I've tried a few store-bought guacamoles, and some are just plain horrible. They don't even resemble guacamole. They're weird and slimy and even if the flavor is acceptable the texture is all all alllll wrong.

But the Hope guacamole was pretty close to home made. Not exactly how I make mine, because we all have our special recipes. But the texture was right, and that's really important. The secret is how they sterilize all their foods. Instead of heat-processing, which changes the texture and flavor of foods (I mean, seriously, you're cooking it!) they use a cold water method that subjects the packaged food to super-high pressure so that the nasties are killed without cooking the food. Cooked guacamole is no bueno. Pressurized guacamole tastes like guacamole.

I'm not going to stop buying avocados, because they have so many uses beyond guac. And I'll still make my own guacamole. But if I'm ever in a guacamole emergency where I don't have a ripe avocado nearby, I'd be more than happy to pick up a container of the Hope guacamole. Or to keep one in the fridge for potential guacamole emergencies, since it lasts quite a while before it's opened.

We also took a tour of the facility, where we saw the mixing, packaging, and preserving process and learned a little about the company. They make everything they can on-site, including their own sriracha. They get dried chickpeas (grown in the US) and they cook them on-site. They don't use a co-packer to do any of their work. They started out making hummus by hand and selling it at the local farmer's market, and they want to stick as close to those roots as possible, even though they now have a factory instead of a blender in someone's kitchen. It's a young company, and they're all very hands-on and enthusiastic.

So anyway, besides mingling and tasting and taking a tour of the facility, we were also given two different guacamole bases for us to make our own hummus flavors.

I wasn't all that fond of the sweet base as-is, but I added almond butter, cherry preserves, ginger, lemon, a hint of cinnamon, and some red pepper flakes. And, hey! It was pretty good! Still a tad on the sweet side, but the ginger and red pepper added heat and the almond butter mellowed it out, so it wasn't all sweet. I might actually get on this sweet hummus bandwagon.

The savory one got lime, sesame seeds, roasted red peppers, and chili powder. Maybe something else. Oh! Garlic. I didn't write it down, I just added a bit here and there and mixed it all up. The roasted red peppers could have used a blender to break them up, but I was happy with the combo. And then we put our hummuseseses (hummi? Hummipotamuses?) into cute little jars that they had labeled just for us. Awwwwww. And we stole the spatulas. Yup, right into the goodie bags they went.

Okay, fine. They said we could take them.

It was an interesting couple hours, I saw some local bloggers I haven't seen in a while, and met some new friends. And I came home with a bag full of hummus, guacamole, and other goodies supplied by Hope Foods and Sprouts, who sponsored the event.

I don't know how far Hope Hummus is being distributed yet, but if you see it in your area and you're a hummus fan, give it a try. They have lot of creative flavors, and they're working on creating more. And be sure to check out the guacamole!

As for the chocolate hummus... look for that to appear here in a recipe. As soon as I figure out what the heck I'm going to do with it.

Thanks to Hope Foods and Sprouts for sponsoring a fun event! And stuff! I got stuff! 

100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die #GSOBFoodie

Photo courtesy of #GSOBFoodie

This is a little ... offbeat. So bear with me a sec, and it will come into focus.

This about an exhibit called The Art of Alabama Food Exhibit that is based on a list of 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.

The exhibit has been on display in New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Birmingham and is now in Orange Beach, Alabama. It features 36 photos of the foods listed.

Obviously, I'm not in Alabama - or any of those other places either - but I have friends participating. So I was asked to help promote the exhibit and participate in a Twitter party where YOU could win stuff from the exhibit and the restaurants. See how much I like you?

The prizes include goodies from restaurants on the 100 Dishes list. These could include things like special bottled sauces or Tervis tumblers, as well as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism swag. I'm not sure exactly what, but surprises are fun, right?

So, join me at the Twitter Party:

When: Friday, July 25, 2014
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., central time zone
Official Hashtag: #GSOBFoodie

If you're in the neighborhood, the exhibit is at The Compleat Studio, The Wharf in Orange Beach. Beside the photo exhibit, there are food tastings from local culinary festivals (including the National Shrimp Festival), cook book signing and ice sculpting.

Bloggers participating in the Twitter party (beside me) are:

Jay Ducote from Bite & Booze (He's at the event! Lucky him!)
Susan Benton, 30A Eats
Milisa Armstrong from Miss in the Kitchen
Heather Scholten from Farmgirl Gourmet

More about Gulf Shores and Orange Beach:

Website: http://www.gulfshores.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamabeaches
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GulfShoresOrangeBeach
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110589112165759770340/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/alabamabeaches/
Instagram: http://followgram.me/gulfshoresorangebeach

100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die:

LA Caviar and Cheeseburger in Paradise: Lulu’s @LuLusHomeport
WipeOut Burger: The Hangout @thehangoutGS
Royal Red Shrimp: King Neptune’s @KingNeptunes
Farmer’s Omelet and Mexican Garbage Nachos: Tacky Jack’s @TackyJacks1
Grouper Ponchartrain: Shipp’s Harbour Grill
Sea Bass Wrapped in Banana Leaves: Cosmo’s Restaurant
Shrimp & Grits: Ginny Lane Bar & Grill
Mango Salsa Grilled Chicken Salad: The Southern Grind @TheSouthrnGrind 

Smoked Mullet: Bimini Bob’s @Bimini_Bobs

This is not a sponsored post - I just thought you might be interested. I received swag for my participation the Twitter party, but mostly I'm doing it to help out some friends.

Cheese Fest - the recap - AND recipes from Hosea Rosenberg

I mentioned that I was going to a cheese fest here in Colorado, and said I'd give a recap.

So here it is: I ate waaaaay too much cheese. Is that even possible? Yes, maybe. Although I nibbled some cheese curds at dinner, so I guess I recovered quickly.

There was a huge room full of cheese companies at the fest, with a lot of cheese samples. Some of the vendors were selling cheeses at the fest, others were just displaying. And there were a few related companies, as well.

Mostly cheese, though.

There was a pretty big crowd, and it was orderly, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It seems that even when lines aren't required, people get in lines and follow along. So there was a bit of waiting to get to the cheese samples and the cheese people.

But here's the deal. And this is something I thought about after the event. Some people paid their money and simply wanted to sample the cheeses. Munch-munch-munch. And maybe find some new cheeses they might buy - now or later.

Other people wanted to chat with the cheese people, ask questions about where the cheese was made, how it was made, what sort of milk, how long it was aged. Which is great. But every time a chatty person asked a cheese question, it meant that other people waiting behind them in the line had to wait for the questions to be asked before they could grab their little sample of cheese and move along. It would be rude to bypass a chatter to grab a sample, so people patiently waited in line.

And for the most part, the lines moved quickly enough. But some folks were confused about where lines started and where you were supposed to go at turning points. It was actually announced that there were no actual lines, but still people waited behind whoever was in front of them. Because it would have seemed rude to crash ahead to grab a sample of cheese when someone else was talking, right?

Maybe. I don't know.

Would there be a more efficient way to do this? Maybe a buffet of cheese samples, and a separate section where people could chat with the cheese vendors? Possibly samples there as well, but funnel eaters to the right and chatters to the left? It would mean that the cheese vendors would have to watch their sample supply in one place and chat in another, but many of the vendors had 2 or more people in their booths, anyway. One person could check the cheese supply every half hour, and spend the rest of the time chatting. Or let a volunteer refill all the cheese samples. Or something.

Anyway, that's not a criticism of the event or the venue. This is the same thing that happens at every event like this I attend. It was just something I thought of after I got home.

But I digress. Let's talk cheese.

There was a lot of it. You can see the vendor list in my previous post. I sampled some cheeses I'd never heard of before, a lot of cheeses in the cheddar family, a range of very young to pretty aged varieties. Some were smoked or had herbs or peppers for flavoring. One had green and black olives. I wish I could tell you whose cheese that was, but at this point it's a blur. Or maybe a cheese coma.

There were also cheeses from companies I'm very familiar with that I didn't sample, because I wanted to try as many new ones as possible. And some goats in the parking lot. Yes, goats. Awwww. Goats.

And then there were the speakers.

Best, for me, was Hosea Rosenberg who prepared three quick recipes while he took questions from the audience. A lot of what he talked about was about his experiences on Top Chef, but he also talked about life before and after the show.

And of course he talked about food.

Back when Rosenberg was on the show, he was chef at Jax Fish House. Now, he's got his own catering company in Boulder, Blackbelly Catering. And he seems like he's having a heck of a lot of fun.

Getting Thirsty?

There were small cash bars scattered around for those who wanted to indulge, and one of the speakers at the event talked about beer and cheese pairings. That talk included a chance to sample 7 cheeses along with three beers, a gin, and a coffee liqueur.

The coffee liqueur, made by Spirit Hound Distillers was pretty awesome. I mean, I've made my own coffee liqueur, but I'd buy this stuff. I'm not a huge fan of the commercial gins - too much Christmas tree flavor for me - but I liked the Spirit Hound gin a lot.

I didn't sample the beers - it was early afternoon and the gin had gone straight to my braincase and I was overstuffed with cheese. So I headed home. Mission accomplished.

Would I go back next year? Yep, sure I would. And I'd go hungry.

Want Recipes? I've got 'em!

Chef Hosea Rosenberg kindly offered to let me post his recipes here, which is pretty awesome.

The grape truffles were really interesting - it's simple in terms of ingredients, but the flavors mingled in ways you might not expect. He said the key is to get a super-thin layer of the goat cheese because the flavor of goat cheese is so strong, it could easily overpower everything else.

I wish I had a photo of the finished product, but I didn't take one. But the goat cheese was indeed a tiny layer. Like, the thickness of ... uh... really thin. As thin as you can get it.

Grape, Pistachio  Goat Cheese “Truffles” 
Recipe courtesy of Hosea Rosenberg from Blackbelly Catering. 
Used with permission; all rights reserved.
serves 4-8

40 fresh, juicy green & red grapes
8 ounces plain goat cheese
8 ounces shelled pistachios, toasted
grey sea salt
truffle oil

1.  Pick grapes, wash gently in cold water and dry on paper towels.
2.  Roll a very small ball of goat cheese in your hands (roughly half the size of a grape) and flatten in the palm of one hand with your thumb.
3.  Place one grape in center of goat cheese and gently work cheese around until grape is entirely covered.  Chill.
4.  Crush toasted pistachios in food processor until very fine.  Place in bowl.
5.  Roll goat cheese grapes in pistachios, gently pressing, until covered in nuts.  Chill.
6.  To serve, slice grapes in half and set on platter with cut side facing up.  Garnish each cut grape with a couple grains of salt and one drop of truffle salt.  Serve immediately.

Beets me

Next up, we have a beet "tartare." But before you start questioning the idea of raw beets, that's not what's going on here. Hosea called it a tartare because it looks like one. The beets are fully cooked.

Beet “Tartare”
Recipe courtesy of Hosea Rosenberg from Blackbelly Catering. 
Used with permission; all rights reserved.
serves 10

2 pounds large red beets
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp  fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp  shallots, chopped fine
2 Tbsp capers, chopped
hot sauce, to taste (optional)
kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Boil beets in water until cooked through, but still al dente.  Remove from water and chill in ice water until cold.  Peel and dice very small.  Combine with remaining ingredients and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce if desired.

Serve on crackers with shaved hard cheese (queso de mano from Haystack is our recommended choice).

Grilled and Cheesy

The last recipe is a grilled cheese. Yeah, I know. We all know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Even our moms knew how to make them. But this one's got a twist, with apples two ways in the sandwich.

And some spices you might not think of.

As far as the cheese, since Hosea is a local, he chose a local cheese. You can find more info on Haystack Mountain's cheeses here.

Haystack Camembert Grilled Cheese with Apple

Recipe courtesy of Hosea Rosenberg from Blackbelly Catering. 
Used with permission; all rights reserved.

serves one!

bread of choice

Haystack Mountain camembert cheese, sliced

honeycrips apple, sliced

butter

apple jam (recipe below)

Spread butter on one side of two slices of bread and place in hot pan.  Spread jam on one side, top with cheese and apple.  Place other slice of bread on top and press with spatula.  Flip occasionally until both slices are golden brown and cheese is melted.

apple jam:

2 honeycrips apples diced very small

2 Tbps sugar

1 tsp dry mustard seeds

2 C apple cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise pod

Combine all ingredients in pot and bring to boil.  Turn heat to low and simmer until thick and jammy. Remove star anise and cinnamon stick. Cool and keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

Cheesefest! Cheesefest! Cheesefest!

Do you know what a turophile is?

Hint hint.

If you're a local, you need to know that the fifth annual Colorado Cheese Festival is coming very soon.

Very. The event will be held on Sunday, November 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Plaza Event Center, 1900 Ken Pratt Boulevard in Longmont, Colorado.

The fest focuses on dairy farmers and cheesemakers. Jackie Rebideau, the founder of the event, said, “The Colorado Cheese Festival has been an amazing venue to experience artisanal products. Guests should come hungry, and enjoy the flavors of American artisanal cheeses.”

Besides general cheesy goodness, there will be educational sessions with pairing expert Max McCalman of Artisanal in New York City and Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg of Boulder.

There will also be sessions on mozzarella-making, a fondue-making, and a chocolate and cheese pairing seminar.

The tentative schedule is:
11-noon: Cheese Recipes with Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg ($10)
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Beer is the New Wine. (21+ only) Max McCalman pairs cheese with Oskar Blues brews ($10)
2 to 3 p.m.: Mozzarella-making with Rich McGaughey. (Free)
3:30 to 4:30p.m.:  Fondue and other melted cheese ideas by Lori Baumann (Free)
All sessions are limited to 200 attendees.

Vendors include:
34 Degrees Crispbreads
Annabella Creamery
Avalanche Cheese Company
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese
Hacienda Maize
Blackbelly Catering
Broken Shovels Farm
Cabot Creamery Cooperative
Carr Valley Cheese
Cellars at Jasper Hill
Cozy Cow Dairy
Cypress Grove Chevre
Faribault Dairy
Fruition Farms
Gourmet Blends
Gourmet Foods International
Grafton Village Cheese Company
Beehive Cheese Company
Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy
James Ranch
Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy
Laz Ewe 2 Bar Goat Dairy
Mile High Organics
MouCo Cheese Company
Oskar Blues Brewery
Primo Specialty Foods
Robin Chocolates
Rogue Creamery
Sartori Cheese
Springside Cheese
Vermont Farmstead Cheese
Victory Hill Farm
Wine & Whey

General admission tickets are $35 and can be purchased at www.cocheesefest.com (where you'll find more info), or are available at the door.

I'll be there, and will be posting about it later. Can't wait ... mmmm... cheese...

Zesty Salsa for Can-it-Forward Day

Until recently, I didn't even know Can-it-Forward day existed. But I can get behind it. I mean, it's better than some of the other crazy holidays.

You know, like Dryer Lint Day. Okay, I made that up. But it could exist, right?

So, you'll never guess what company is celebrating this canning day, big time. Wait - you already guessed? Yeah, Ball - those people who make all the canning jars and stuff.

Me, I'm getting a jump on the day. I just made a bunch of salsa using a kit that Ball sent me. It was a pretty simple kit, and geared for folks who want to make small batches of stuff.

I mean, not everyone needs dozens and dozens of jars of cherry jam, right?

But if you've never canned anything before, I have to warn you. Canning is addictive. When you sit back and look at the pretty jars full of lovely products that you canned yourself, you'll probably be thinking about what you can make next. You start with a couple innocent jars of salsa, and the next thing you know, you've got three kinds of pickles, five kinds of jam, and a whole shelf full of tomato products.

But that's a good thing. Home-canned products are a great gift. And it's wonderful to be able to grab a jar of tomatoes in the middle of winter and know that you canned them in summer when produce was at its peak.

The salsa I made was from the booklet that came with the canning kit, and it's scaled to make less than a vat of salsa. I ended up with four pints of salsa plus another half-cup or so of sample salsa that didn't get canned. That went straight to the fridge. It's already gone

This salsa can be made more or less spicy based on the peppers you choose. It's a pretty basic recipe, but it's a good place to start.

If you're wondering why one jar in the photo looks a lot more green than the others, that's because the jar is one of the special edition blue jars that Ball started selling this year. I think it looks kind of cool.

Zesty Salsa
Adapted from the Beginner's Guide to Canning & Recipe Booklet

5 cups chopped, cored, peeled tomatoes
2 1/2 cups chopped, seeded green bell peppers
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/4 cups chopped, seeded chili peppers (hot banana, hungarian, etc.)
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

Get your stockpot and jars ready for action*.

Combine all the ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat - but keep it boiling gently - and stir frequently. You don't want it to stick and burn. Cook until the mixture thickens a bit - about 10 minutes. No one wants a watery salsa, but you don't want it completely dry.

Note: Sometimes when I want a thick sauce that's still chunky, I'll blend part of the mixture. I usually use a stick blender to blend just a little. Or put a half-cup or a cup into a blender and blend until smooth, then add this back to the salsa in the pot.

Ladle the salsa into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace*. Remove air bubbles, re-measure headspace. If needed, add more salsa to get to the right amount. Wipe the rim of the jar, center the lid on the jar, and screw the band on until it's fingertip-tight. You don't want to over-tighten, because air needs to leave the jar during the canning process.

Process the jars in a boiling water for 20 minutes (at sea level**). Remove the stockpot lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove the jars from the pot. Let them cool, then store them.

*If you're not sure about canning basics, I suggest checking out a canning book that explains all of it. Ball has a book - it's actually more of a thick magazine - with plenty of recipes along with complete instructions. I see it every year at stores that sell canning supplies. I also wrote a blog post about it here.

**If you live at higher altitude, you need to process longer. I had to let mine process for 30 minutes.

Can-it-Forward Day

So here's the scoop on Can-it-Forward Day. If you live in New York, you can experience the action, live. The rest of us get a webcast and social media stuff.

You want some salsa, don't you?

• On August 17 from 10am to 2pm (eastern), there will be a free, live webcast starring Ted Allen at FreshPreserving.com and Facebook.com/BallCanning with instructions on fresh preserving, along with crafting demonstrations. Viewers can questions and post comments in real time to be answered by canning experts. 
• The webcast will be broadcast live from the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. Those in the area are welcome to come attend in person. 
• Participants can share photos, videos, questions and comments on the Ball brand home canning Facebook page, Facebook.com/BallCanning, where fresh preservers from across the country will connect on Can-It-Forward Day.
• All recipes and craft ideas from the webcast segments will be available for inspiration on the Ball brand home canning Pinterest page, Pinterest.com/BallCanning. 
• Users can also Tweet along with the hashtag #canitforward. 
• Consumers across the country are invited to host their own home canning parties on National Can-It-Forward Day to teach friends and family the joys of fresh preserving. A Getting Started guide, home canning recipes and more information is at www.FreshPreserving.com. 

So there you go. Go can some stuff.

Next for me: Pickles.

Uh oh. It's started. I better clear a shelf.

So, have you ever canned anything? Are you going to tune into the webcast?

Ball sent me a canning kit. I was not required to write a post.