Cochon Napa 2014 - Another Great Pork-fest

March 04, 2014 0 Comments

sigh. I forgot this somewhere.

If pork is your favorite meat, like it is for me, then there is no better event than Cochon 555. 

 "Cochon" is French for "pig" and the 555 means - 5 chefs, 5 pigs, 5 wineries. What could be better? 2014 is the sixth tour of Cochon. It was established as a way to support family farms that raise heritage breed pigs. The tour stops at 10 U.S. cities where the five chosen chefs compete to make the best dishes from their heritage pigs. The winners from each city then go on to compete in the Grand Finale at the Aspen Wine & Food Classic. If you like what you see in this post, then consider going to the final Cochon event in San Francisco scheduled for April 27th.


One of the competing chefs for the Napa event was someone we Sacramentans are familiar with - Kelly McCown, formerly the chef at Ella. Kelly is now the Executive Chef at Goose and Gander in St. Helena. He was assigned one of the most flavorful types of pigs - a Mangalitsa. This wooly pig is known for its abundance of fat. It's 50-percent fat content gives it a coveted marble and buttery flavor. The other breeds were Yorkshire, Red Wattle, Duroc, Mulefoot, and Old Spot.
 

There were actually seven pigs. Along with the five that the chefs used, a group of students under the guide of Larry Forgione of Conservatory for American Food Studies had one for making the late night Asian inspired bites and the last Red Wattle was butchered on site and then the meat sold.  All money raised from the sale was then donated to the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.

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I Can Eat Again!

I Can Eat Again!

March 03, 2014 0 Comments
So raw vegan is hard. At least for me with not the greatest willpower. Honestly, though, to have made it through the first two weeks pretty cleanly is a MAJOR accomplishment in my book. All of my friends agreed with that. To do vegan is one thing. To do raw vegan is something else.

 I wrote my experiences at week three and I basically feel the same.  My plan, at this time, is to try to be pescatarian for the most part and limit meat to once or twice a week.

 How about my blood work?  My cholesterol went down, but not as much as I hoped considering I had eliminated meat and dairy.  I did cheat a couple of times with hot chocolates for migraine relief.  Here are my results.

 BEFORE

Cholesterol<=239 mg/dL264
Triglyceride<=199 mg/dL59
HDL>=45 mg/dL83
Low density lipoprotein calculated<=129 mg/dL169
Glucose, fasting60 - 99 mg/dL91

 AFTER 

Cholesterol<=239 mg/dL              242
Triglyceride<=199 mg/dL              76
HDL>=45 mg/dL              76
Low density lipoprotein calculated<=129 mg/dL             151

Glucose, fasting                        60 - 99 mg/dL                90

Hardly a change at all for all that effort. Some are telling me it takes a few months of a new diet. I'm not that patient or interested. What does my doctor say? He says he wants my LDL to get below 130.  That's quite a ways to go.  

"What about your health?" you say? Honestly, I'd prefer to live happy and die young.  HORRIBLE, incapacitating strokes run in my family and I have a Do Not Resuscitate order in my file and my family and ex-husband know why. I would much rather go at 60 then linger to 100.

Keep in mind that I'm single and without kids. So I don't need to be sticking around unnecessarily anyway.

 So I guess you can call it laziness and apathy. My choice. 

 Meanwhile, I did have tilapia for lunch and ceviche waiting for dinner.








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Week 3 of Raw Vegan

Week 3 of Raw Vegan

February 19, 2014 0 Comments
Week 1 was easier than I thought.
Week 2 was tougher, but I only had minor slips.
Week 3 - I've lost interest.

 Now I certainly didn't do this raw vegan month to kickstart a raw vegan lifestyle. I did it (see first post) to kinda cleanse, watch my energy levels, and reduce my sugar intake. I also need to lower my cholesterol.

 As I said a few days in, the hardest part had been all the liquids in the morning and not eating until the afternoon. But the food was very good and I was happy. Many people experience some cleansing signs as their bodies detox. Such things as headaches, stomach growls, and feeling moody. At the same time, those with more chronic issues experience good things like the reduction of swelling and changes to their bodies. The ONLY thing I noticed during week one is the loss of 4 pounds. Definitely good. But I think that the reason I didn't experience anything else might be because I've always eaten well to begin with. I rarely eat processed foods and generally make my meals from whole ingredients or I eat at places that do. I don't eat at fast food joints.

The second week was still OK, but I was now craving hot food more than anything. Surprisingly it wasn't cravings for meat, sugar, or dairy - it was for hot.  So I cheated and got some French fries. I figured it was hot, but still vegan. My other cheats have been a couple of bites of seafood and hot chocolate when I got migraines - need the caffeine. In the scheme of things, I think I've done well avoiding meat and dairy and grains. Second week was harder, but I got through it.

 I always have trouble on weekends when I'm bored. That's when I would cook/bake.  During this diet, weekends are when the urge to cheat is the hardest.

 Entering week 3 is where I've run into problems and pretty much decided raw vegan is a very difficult lifestyle for me that I could never do.

 While the meals have been good, they've also gotten repetitive. What I mean is that while the meals are all different, the elements to make the meals are becoming repetitive. The same sort of "bread", "cheese", and meat substitute component are returning in different dishes. Now add the fact that the food is still raw and cold, I've gone into rebellion. Yesterday (day 14) I looked at the meal that was packed and I just couldn't do it. Again, I didn't want to go running out for a burger, so I ran to Mother and got a vegan meal there - a salad and the fried okra.  Actually, I did that last week too. I ran to Thai Canteen and got a green mango salad to change things up.

 Week 3 is when you are supposed to see the more dramatic changes to energy level, sleep, mood, etc.  I don't know if I will experience those because of my cheating or because I didn't experience those things in week 1 either. I don't want to bail on this diet completely. I paid for a month's worth of meals after all. I will probably continue as best I can, but with the occasional hot food item or bit of seafood. That much I'm determined to do - stay away from meat for the whole month. After all, I still need to lower my cholesterol.

 Meanwhile, what do I think about my overall diet at this point?  Well I've learned that I can survive without meat, dairy, and grains pretty well. If I can continue that from now on, that's a win. After all, I had to have meat every day before and RARELY ever did a meatless day. I can also try to keep this willpower up enough to do less or lower sugar desserts.  The test will be to see if I can convert from sweets and meat every day to sweets and meats only one or two days a week - as treats. 

 Less than 10 days to go.
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Cochon Napa has a Sacramento Alumnus Contestant

February 10, 2014 0 Comments
 
pic courtesy of Cochon555

This year it's round 6 of the annual Cochon 555 tour. "Cochon" is French for "pig" and the 555 means - 5 chefs, 5 pigs, 5 wineries. What could be better than that?

Cochon 555 was established as a way to support family farms that raise heritage breed pigs. Since the start it has focused on supporting local agriculture as well. There are tour stops in 10 U.S. cities where the five chosen local chefs compete to make the best dishes from their assigned heritage pigs. The winners from each city then go on to compete in the Grand Cochon finale at the Aspen Wine & Food Classic. We are lucky in Northern California to have two stops on their tour: Napa (March 2) and San Francisco (April 27). 
 


Napa tickets are currently on sale for the March 2nd event and Sacramentans should take note. This year one of the competing chefs is Kelly McCown, formally of Ella and now at Goose & Gander in Napa. Kelly has worked at numerous restaurants throughout the West Coast such as La Folie, Fleur de Lys, Lampreia, Flying Fish, and the Michelin rated Martini House in St. Helena. He's also been spotted foraging ingredients in the Napa Valley area. I'm sure all of us familiar with his cooking know that he is a strong contender to win Cochon Napa. Let's show him some Sacramento support by showing up!
2012
In 2012 another local favorite competed, Michael Tuohy. Recently returned to Sacramento, at the time he was Executive Chef at Dean & DeLuca. One of his assistants that day was James Beard winner, Hank Shaw.

Tickets for Cochon 555 are $125 (general admission) and $200 (VIP). Both ticket prices includes endless drink and tons of food. GA starts at 5pm. VIP starts at 4pm, and includes one-hour early access to all the food (premium access to limited experiences like Punch Kings, wines and spirits), a chance to hang with the celebrity chefs, judges and media. Everyone is invited to the After Party.  

The event is held at the Culinary Institute in St. Helena at the glorious stone structure of Greystone.
 
2555 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574
When: Sunday March 2nd, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
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First Days of Raw Vegan Month

First Days of Raw Vegan Month

February 05, 2014 0 Comments
I am on Day 4, one of the most difficult days.

 Due to a visiting guest and my not picking up my Green Boheme meals until Sunday, I started a day late, on February 2, Sunday. Now I'm on Day 4 at the peak of the initial cleansing phase. Your first 2-4 days are when your body is getting used to a different diet and purging itself of toxins. It's also when you feel hunger pangs the most intensely.  After all, this raw food has a lot less density and so my stomach says, "Put something in here! I'm empty!" 

 So far I'm finding the hardest parts to be the daily eating schedule and the amount of liquids. I have juice and smoothie for the first half of my day. I don't get around to actual solid food until around 3:00.  Thing is, I've been waking up at 4:30 or 5 and so I've got a huge break between things. 

 5 am  - probiotic drink
5:30 or 6 - green juice
11 am - green smoothie 32 ounces

 That's a huge break between 6 and 11! Your mind begins to crave things.

 Now add the fact that liquids run right through me and my workplace bathroom is a BLOCK away!  They are remodeling the bathrooms near my office and so we have to trek all the way to the other set, a block away (inside). TMI, but that means with a 32 ounce smoothie I'm running to the bathroom every 15 minutes for the hour after I drink it. Not fun.

Once I get actual food in me later in the afternoon, I'm ok. In fact, there is enough in the meal and snack to fill you up until bed time. It's all that fiber.  And the food is good! Which I knew it would be. I have yet to have anything from Green Boheme that I didn't care for.  One thing I'll say for sure, the food is SOOOO flavorful. I can't get over how good it is and, as I'm eating my savory crepe, thinking about how easy and rather enjoyable this month might be because I took that step to buy the full meal plan.  I don't have to think about what I'm eating each day, or about preparing it. 

In fact, with the opening of Mother showcasing fabulous vegetarian dishes as well, it makes me think about "maybe it wouldn't be too difficult to change my eating habits long-term". But we are only on Day 4 and I love dairy and pork. I guess we'll see.

Here are some examples of my first few meals:

  • fajita filled w/ veggies, Mexican 'rice' and 'beans' and a mango pudding
  • mock 'chicken' salad wraps and a chocolate creme cake
  • shepherd's pie w/ spinach salad
  • savory crepe w/ side salad
I've eaten everything but the shepherd's pie and chocolate cake so far. The fajita and and crepe dishes came with wraps to put the fillings into. Both were surprisingly pliable. They are made by making a puree, spreading thin, and then dehydrating. Rather good. 

 I'll try to remember to take some pictures next installment.












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Raw Vegan February

Raw Vegan February

January 31, 2014 0 Comments
Since last year when I tried the Green Boheme I've been interested in giving their 30 Day Raw Food Challenge a try. But every month I've had food events going on. August was my Offal Day, September was Farm to Fork, October - December were holidays, January was Dine Downtown and Baconfest. Then I realized that I had no food events scheduled for February. Now was the time. Especially since I've been very badly eating a lot of sweets since the holidays.

 My reasons for trying the challenge are two-fold. First, I need to get a handle on my sugar intake and cravings. It is possible to eat sweets in a less dangerous way, after all.  You just need to go for lower sugar and better alternatives that have less effect on your blood glucose levels. With natural alternatives like stevia, yacon, and agave, it is possible to satisfy a sweet tooth in a healthier way. Something I also learned when I was testing the cookbook Naturally Sweet and Gluten-Free. (blog post)

 Sugar is evil.  It's addictive and cancer cells feed on sugar. A convincing case of this for me was my mother-in-law. She's dealt with two bouts of breast cancer and is cancer free today. Her last bout she tried an alternative treatment that required her to go to Mexico every couple of months to filter the sugar out of her blood. Hey, it worked. 

 The second reason is for my energy levels. I have to take a nap EVERY day. Around 2 p.m. I am dragging so that I either go out on the balcony or find an empty cubicle to hide in and take a 20-30 minute nap. I am curious to see if this has anything to do with my diet. 

 It makes sense that I do a health assessment as well. So, I currently weigh 126, which is the heaviest I've been in over ten years.  I know people look at me and think I'm great as is, but my optimal, make-me-happy weight would be around 115-117.

 I then got a Before blood panel done. My cholesterol is scary high. Probably didn't help that we were coming off Baconfest.  I did wait from Sunday to Wednesday before going in with the hopes that some of the bacon grease would have cleared out of my system. Oh well.
Cholesterol<=239 mg/dL264
Triglyceride<=199 mg/dL59
HDL>=45 mg/dL83
Low density lipoprotein calculated<=129 mg/dL169
Glucose, fasting60 - 99 mg/dL91

What to expect

 The daily regimen for the Challenge is this:
  • Upon waking - 4 ounces of a probiotic drink (luckily I make kombucha)
  • 30 minutes later - 8 ounces of green juice
  • Midday - 32 ounces of green smoothie
  • Late afternoon - raw, vegan meal
  • Snack
I've opted to pay Green Boheme to make my meals and snack and I'll take care of my liquids. I already juice daily anyway and have the kombucha on hand. I'm paying for the meals because I don't want to be stuck eating 30 days of salads. How boring would that be after day 3? Brooke at GB makes fabulous meals and so I'll just have her make them for me so I don't have to think about anything. 

 I've been told that the first three days are the detox phase when your body starts adjusting to the new diet. That's when you get the hunger pangs where you have the urge to eat something more solid to settle your stomach. I've experience that before and it's not fun. But after you get through that, it's easier.

 I'm also told that the big change in your body doesn't become fully realized until weeks 3 and 4.  So I need to be diligent and patient. 

 My biggest challenges? Poor will power is number one.  Therefore, I am skipping the Superbowl parties this weekend and probably going to a movie. Second is the desire for a hot meal. Raw means no cooking and that means nothing but cold or room temperature food. It will be interesting to see if there is a craving just for heated food.

 So....wish me luck. I'll be blogging every few days about how it's going.


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2014 Fancy Food Finds

January 26, 2014 0 Comments
Another year has gone by and it's January, the month for the west coast's edition of the Fancy Food Show. Put on by the Specialty Food Association, the FFS takes over Moscone Center in San Francisco for three days. Purveyors from around the world come to show their newest and best products, hoping for new grocery, restaurant, and catering customers. 

 Each year a panel of judges determine the top five food trends from the FFS. This year's list included: Sriracha in everything, crunchy snacks, low sugar drinks, fancy condiments, and mint everywhere.

 The biggest, obvious, trend for me was ridiculous amounts of flavored popcorn, followed by the Sriracha flood. But I also look out for things that peak my own interest that I, as a home consumer, would be interested in - especially if they are healthy. As I filled myself with a diet of cheese, charcuterie, and chocolate, I did find a few things. I'm hopefully going to receive some samples so I can write more about some of them in the future, but here's what I especially liked.
SweetLeaf's water drops

 There's been some debate lately about the fact that Coca-Cola, through it's Dasani brand, is marketing drink drops to flavor water.  Should water, healthy and free, be replaced with water with additives?  Certainly not, but as a person who grew up finding water to be boring and not tasting good (because I grew up overseas), I am the perfect customer for water flavoring drops.

 The key is to pick good ones, or, at least, better ones. Instead of one with artificial flavors and colors like those produced by Dasani and Aquafina, I'd rather have SweetLeaf's version with natural, organic stevia. Plus, there are no artificial colors, additives, or sweeteners. I was given a sample of their strawberry lemonade flavor, which I really like. It takes fewer drops than those other brands to flavor your glass of water or, as I use it, in sparkling water. 

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Oil Pulling- the latest in dental hygeine

January 22, 2014 0 Comments
any organic, extra virgin oil is good
Have you heard of oil pulling?  It has been used by Indians and the Far East for centuries and is the process of swishing oil around in your mouth to remove toxins.

 I'll talk about how it's done first, then why it's done.

 Oil pulling can work with any oil, but virgin, organic coconut oil is a good choice. More on why later.  First thing when you get up, before even a sip of water, get a tablespoon of coconut oil. In winter it is usually in solid form, so you might want to heat it up a bit if you prefer liquid state. Take the oil and swish it around your mouth, through your teeth, for 10-20 minutes. I know, that's a long time. So far I'm only getting around 5-10 minutes myself. When you are done, spit out into the trash. The plumbing is not such a good idea because it's an oil that could stick to your pipes. Just spit it into the trash or a wad of tissue.  When you spit it out, it should be creamy white in color, which indicates you accomplished your goal.  Rinse your mouth out and then you can eat or brush your teeth.

 The goal of oil pulling is to detoxify. When you sleep your body purges itself of toxins. A lot of this happens in your mouth and why you wake up with that awful morning breath, even if you brushed your teeth before bed. You also have that nasty film on your tongue.  If you were to drink some water first thing, you'd be swallowing back some of that nastiness. 

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Braised Bear

January 10, 2014 0 Comments


Yes. You read it correctly. Bear.  I cooked bear meat. It came from a female bear that my BFF's husband shot, as he is a hunter. BFF refuses to eat anything besides pork, chicken, turkey, and beef. That means hubby has to cook and eat his game himself or he gives some to me.  On my last visit to their house he handed over a bag of bear, venison, and duck. Score!

 I did some internet research and discovered that bear meat is often riddled with parasites. So if you are eating it at your campsite the night after you've shot it, you need to cook it to well done to ensure you kill the parasites. But in general, freezing kills parasites. That's why you actually want your fish to be previously frozen, especially if you are a sushi eater. Luckily the fishing boats pretty much throw fresh catch directly to be flash frozen.

 My gift of bear steak was frozen and so I didn't need to worry. I thawed it out and debated what to do with it. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a tough meat or not. In the end I decided to braise it. Being lazy, I braised it the quick way - in a pressure cooker. Less than an hour versus all day. I'm just learning to use my pressure cooker and so I was thrilled when this experiment came out so successful.

 How did it taste? This recipe was a combination of a couple that I found on the internet. In the end it was delicious and I venture to say that if I served it to someone, they would think it was braised beef short ribs. Only the slightest of gamey flavor. The sauce was think and packed with concentrated flavor. I would definitely eat bear again.

 Braised Bear in a pressure cooker

 - ¼ cup flour
- salt and pepper
- 2 tbs. vegetable oil 
- 1 pound of bear meat (I had steaks)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup red wine
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds

 In a bowl mix flour with some salt and pepper for seasoning. Coat the bear meat with the flour mixture.  In a pressure cooker over high heat, add the vegetable oil. When it is hot, sear the meat on all sides until nicely browned. Turn temperature down to medium. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add in the wine, stock, thyme and celery seeds. Put on pressure cooker lid and secure per instructions.  Follow pressure cooker instructions to get it pressurized.  Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool or carefully release pressure per instructions. 

 I served mine with sauteed kale.


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Fat City for Dine Downtown

January 06, 2014 0 Comments
Nationwide January is known as National Restaurant Month. I guess they figure that after the holidays, January is the slowest month for eating out. Throughout the country cities and restaurants try to alleviate that with special restaurant weeks. Here in Sacramento our Dine Downtown week runs from January 8 - 17. 

This year there are 28 restaurants participating with $31 prix fixe menus. You get three courses with choices of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership, which promotes the event, was kind enough to ask to do a preview again. As usual, I reviewed the menus looking for creativity and something other than steak, chicken, and pasta. This year I chose Fat City in Old Sacramento after their duck breast caught my eye. I love duck.

By the way, the reason for that extra dollar...it's going to California Food Literacy, an organization close to my heart. They educate low income children on healthy food choices. So eat out and give them that extra dollar!

As my guest I took Debbie Cunningham, who has been photographing most of the best restaurants in Sacramento. That's why her pictures look so good compared to mine.

We arrived to find that Old Sacramento was still bustling with tourists or visiting families. The Christmas lights were still up and made me wish I had come down to see the light show they had during the season. Maybe next year. Fat City was busy as well. 

 We were seated near the entrance and I was happy that there was no issue with lighting as FC is brightly illuminated. Our server was Jennifer, who was very friendly and impressed us with her drink carting skills. She's got some dextrous fingers for holding multiple glasses in one hand without spilling! As we discussed the menu she explained that their latest chef is Steve Gonsalves and that he's been the most creative chef they've had. That was apparent by reading the DD menu.

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