Sweet Heat from Tabasco

If you are looking for a unique and great tasting new condiment, check out “Sweet & Spicy” from Tabasco. The genius food engineers from Avery Island, LA….McIlhenny Co. have created a really tasty finishing sauce. It is great with chicken and fish. Try it as a dipping sauce for some homemade chicken fingers or drizzle it over some grilled shrimp. Use it instead of ketchup on a burger or dog. It also gives an extra sweet n-spicy kick to sauces and soups. Recently I made a homemade creamed corn concoction and I used it to give the plate a little color as well as some extra flavor.

In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic it is not available in many stores, so you have to order on-line and it is well worth the time and money! This is also a great site to do some shopping on for the person in your life that appreciates a little extra heat and to grab a new recipe. www.tabasco.com

The Back Porch Cafe’

Happy 34th birthday to my friends at The Back Porch Cafe’ in beautiful downtown Rehoboth Beach, DE. One of the most valuable work experiences I ever had was working as a Sous Chef at the Porch. So, I am way biased because I know the amount of care and dedication that goes into the preparation of the food. Each plate is planned and crafted with extreme passion for food combinations that deliver the best in taste and the whole dining experience. Eat their food and drink their drink and you will begin to understand and appreciate the value of scratch cooking.

The Porch has the best lunch and brunch in town, hands down. I was craving one of my favorites….the Grilled Turkey Burger, served with orzo salad, salsa, avacado and a delicious roasted red pepper coulis. I was also fortunate to try the Potato, Bacon, Leek and Gruyere Omelette….perfect and fluffy. Looking at the dinner menu which changes frequently and as each new seasonal ingredient is ready for the picking, I could see the efforts made for the Porch to continue to evolve and I would look forward to future samplings!

The Back Porch Cafe is authentic. You will receive the best service in town. It has always been true to itself as it has become its own entity, its own brand which still seems to be one of the towns best kept secrets. Do yourself a favor, eat there……….then let the secret out.

Applesauce Revisited

This is a great way to dress up a jar of applesauce and goes really well with a roast pork dinner! I was cooking for 18 and you can easily cut this in half.

2 Granny Smith Apples
1 48oz. jar of homestyle applesauce, your pick
1 bag of dried cherries and golden raisins
3T of Brandy
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
pinch of kosher salt
2 T honey
1 T butter
2 t. vanilla
cinnamon to taste

Peel and chop apple into small cubes. Melt butter in saute pan on med-high heat….saute apples for about a minute and slpash in brandy…watch for flame, simmer for another minute. Add the rest of ingredients except cinnamon and simmer another minute. Check apple, once fork tender, shut down heat. The whole process should be done in 3-4 minutes. Let the mixture cool, add the cinnamon to taste. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

SuperFoods, Now I Get It.

The good news is that SuperFoods are not just some great marketing buzzword. They are and have a bonafide health benefit. There are so many lists out there, …. the top 5, the top 7, the top 10, etc. My head spins trying to remember the latest and greatest new/old berry or the best nut to eat on any given day.

I delete more email than I read. I am so happy I did not delete this one from my friend Pam. We do not know where it came from and I hereby declare we don’t know if it is ALL true, but we don’t care because it is really cool stuff to think about. And, thank you Pam, for now I know how to visually remember why some SuperFoods are so damn super.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye…and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? …. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today’s research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes