Food Minia

My church held their second annual Highrocktoberfest last week and asked me if I could provide some snacks again.  Last year there was a competition for best cornbread, which I won with my Elote-Style Cornbread Waffles .  This year there was no such competition; I was just told to make something that would go well with beer.  Since I'm not a big beer drinker I wasn't really sure what that would be, but then I took inspiration from the fact that this was a riff on the German Oktoberfest. What could be more German than sausage and pretzel? I pretty much followed Alton Brown's soft pretzel recipe but decided to skip the salt in the pretzel dough since the sausage would provide enough salt.  I also threw in some diastatic malt powder since I had a lot left over from making croissants .  You can use cocktail weiners for this, but I was able to find mini kielbasa sausages at my grocery store so I went with those.  And instead of buying pretzel salt, I just used a flaky sea salt.

This meatloaf isn't a typical meatloaf but it has become my favorite.  Made with turkey meat, stuffed with cheese, basil and marinara sauce.  It's loaded with flavor.   I like to serve with roasted vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, onion and mushrooms).   Ingredients: 1.25 lbs. ground turkey (I use Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey)  2  garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup chopped onion, finely chopped 2 eggs 1/2 cup panko crumbs 1/2 cup marinara sauce  4 oz. asiago cheese, diced 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/4 cup basil, chopped  1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper After cooked 1 hour add: 3/4 cup marinara sauce 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced (I like Bel Gioioso Brand) Mix everything together and form into a loaf on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for around 1 hour.  Remove from oven and spoon marinara over top and place fresh mozzarella slices over it bake additional 15 minutes.  Garnish with fresh basil. Recipe adapted from Proud Italian Cook 

Noodles and Company, The Broomfield, Colorado based fast casual chain,  has pledged that artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and sweeteners have been removed from its core menu, including noodles, sauces, soups, condiments, breads and dressings. The platform is supported by a marketing campaign centered around the phrase “Made. Different — Real Food, Real Cooking, Real Flavors.” Additionally, the company said that by 2017, all meat and poultry served will come from animals that have never been given antibiotics or hormones. That’s already true of Noodles & Company’s pork. This month, bacon will also be antibiotic free, with steak and meatballs to make that claim by mid to late 2016. Last will be antibiotic free chicken, already in test in Colorado units, which will roll out by early 2017, said Mark Mears, Noodles & Company executive vice president and chief marketing officer. By November, all restaurants will use a hormone free Cheddar Jack cheese, and Noodles & Compa

I like to buy unripe green avocados and let them ripen at home before the've been handled, squeezed and bruised by shoppers but, there are those times I need an avocado right away.  Here is how I find a perfect ripened avocado every time. First, I like to get my avocados at Brennan's Market or a smaller market where the avocados are handled with care instead of the mega grocery stores where they are piled in a large bin, squeezed and bruised.  Second, I look for a purple/black colored skin with no signs of being squeezed.  Then I flick the dry stem off.   If I see a brown patch under the stem it's going to be brown inside but if I see a nice yellow-green patch you have a perfectly ripe avocado. Now that's a perfect avocado! I'm using two of these right away in my Black Bean Avocado Dip  and the other two I'll refrigerate and use them throughout the week.