Quaker True Delights: Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut

Great!.... Here we are with the last flavor in the Tastemaker Program sample bars. Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut. One of three bar flavors in Quaker True Delight's new product line featuring premium delicious ingredients. Last time, I wasn't looking forward to this flavor and saved it for last. However, once I tried it. I changed my mind. It was by far my favorite. There was zero coconut flavor, and it ended up tasting like a Banana Nut Bread bar, I'm not sure how they did it, or if it was on purpose, but it worked. A great surprise ending to my first food sample from Foodbuzz. I am looking forward to the next item that arrives.
$3.49/box (5 bars)
140 calories
0 trans fat
Cholesterol-free
3g of fiber

Photo Essay: Sweet Fr î tes! Part 2

You can find Sweet Fr î tes! Part 1 here.
This will be a photo essay of photos John David took on a beautiful afternoon when flowers were in bloom outside, making the famous Sweet Potato Fries. Enjoy his food photography skills.

Homemade pickles

Pickles are easy to make. At least, they were once my girlfriend had taught me. You just need some sort of vinegary solution and some cucumbers. For added flavor, slice a few onions and throw them in too.


Ingredients:
Cucumbers, sliced
Onion slices
Apple Cider Vinegar (although, I didn't have any and used 90% rice vinegar and 10% balsamic)
Water (equal parts to vinegar)
Salt and Pepper

Put them all in a tupperware or a bowl with a seal, and throw in the fridge overnight. The serve as a side to anything from burgers to brauts.

Guacamole

One night, I decided to use up the rest of pizza ingredients that I had lying around, so I made Mushroom, Basil, and Goat Cheese Pizza, which I will hopefully blog about soon, meanwhile Yo Soy! came over and made some Vegan Guacamole.

It was basically, my Avocado Salsa recipe, mashed up with a Mortar (Large Bowl), and Pestle (Fork), to a smoother consistency. One of the best things in the world, is the combination of lime juice, cilantro and ripe avocados.

3 Avocado
1 Small ripe tomato
1 small handful of fresh Cilantro, Washed/Chopped
Juice of 2 Limes
a little Salt and Pepper (I prefer Sea Salt or Kosher Salt) to taste

So grab some chips and ripe avocadoes and enjoy this mashed up version of Avocado Salsa!

Guest Blog: Momma Fran, Green Tomato Sauce

To start off the week, I have a story and recipe from one of my favorite guest bloggers, my Mother. Last time, she left you with a recipe for simple Fried Green Tomatoes. She continues to give you something to do with the unripe tomatoes as she recalled this story and recipe one night.

If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Food Monster, email me at TheFoodMonsterBlog@gmail.com

Enjoy!

-The Food MonsterPhoto: Courtesy of ExploreAsheville.com


While eating my fried green tomatoes last night, another memory came to mind and since it involves green tomatoes, I thought it might be timely to share. My husband was definitely born a hundred years too late as he was of a pioneering persuasion. To fulfill a dream of his,
off we went to Alaska for one year, and ended up staying six. His ski patrol leader was a real estate agent who described the merits of owning a duplex in a less-than-booming town 13 miles outside of Anchorage.
Attached to one end of this one-story, three-bedroom, concrete block long rectangle, was a two-bedroom, mother-in-law apt; on the other end, a green house.

Since only one day that summer beckoned to us to swim, it was easy to understand why the tomatoes did not ripen. There they sat in the green house, a zillion little green tomatoes hanging on the vines.

Never wasteful with food, I picked them all, the night before the first frost, sometime in the first week in Sept., washed them, quartered them, then froze them. A short time later,
I put them in a very large soup pot and cooked them to make spaghetti sauce, with lots of chopped onions and garlic. I was flabbergasted!! It was the BEST tasting spaghetti sauce I had ever had! So good, that thirty years later I still remember it.

Recipe:
Quarter Green Tomatoes

In a cast iron skillet as the iron is added to one's diet, or non-stick pan if that
is what one uses, Saute:
Several large onions
Many cloves of garlic

Add sauteed onions and garlic to soup kettle along with quartered green tomatoes
and a small can of tomato paste and or tomato sauce

Cook until tomatoes are the consistency of a sauce

Add whatever spices you like in terms of chili powder or fresh chilies
1 TBS Old Bay Seasoning (always kicks any recipe up a notch, especially, turkey soup)

This is the basis of a basic tomato sauce to which one may add whatever
ingredients, protein-wise, one may like for spaghetti recipies, lasagne, chili, buritoes,
chicken, beef or seafood.



There you have it, another great recipe for Green Tomatoes. Thanks again Momma Fran!

Guest Blog: Momma Fran, Fried Green Tomatoes

I am going to interrupt my series on Asian night, to bring you a guest blog post by none other than my mother. Momma Fran as she is known to my peers, could always be heard at athletic events as the one concerned mother yelling, don't you push him Number #22, I have my eyes on you... Also, she has an infectious laugh that can be heard anywhere around Hendersonville. Theater productions seek her out for Dress Rehearsals to give the actors confidence before opening night. More importantly though, she has been a huge inspiration and supporter in my culinary exploits. I think it started with my blueberry muffin stand on the side of the road that my brother and I had, she of course made sure we never burned ourselves or the muffins. So, without further ado, I present to you, Momma Fran in her food blog debut.It is that time of year again--the end of the harvest season is fast approaching and what to do with those tomatoes that keep ripening and ripening?
Of course, pick them before they ripen! I visited a friend last night who has a very healthy garden because she is a worm farmer...but that is another story.
She sent me home with some beautiful green tomatoes when I exclaimed that I had all of the ripe tomatoes I could use without them spoiling.

Everytime I think of fixing fried green tomatoes, the movie version automatically comes to mind. So you might want to fix this recipie for dinner tonight, and watch the movie: FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!!

(The Food Monster: read as Fried Green Tomatoes!!! Mom, loves typing in all caps)

Recipe:
Quantity: one big tomato for each person or several medium-sized ones, having just the faintest blush of pink coloring, cut into 1/4" slices.

(The Food Monster requires several big tomatoes)

Add just enough Olive Oil to cover the bottom of a non-stick or cast iron frying pan. One does not need to use the most expensive Olive Oil for frying.

Plastic sandwich bag with flour --my first choice is whole wheat.

Coat the tomato slice in the flour bag.

Add the oil just prior to placing the flour-coated tomato slices into the pan
(If you prefer butter or a combination of the two, use just enough to keep the tomatoes from sticking, and to get the flavor from the butter, oil, or butter/oil)

(The Food Monster: As an aside, I use the butter/oil, combination when frying an egg, as I think the 100% oil is too overpowering of a flavor for a fried egg)

Gently fry for 3 mins. on each side, turning. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Oh, summer tastes to savor!!



So, there you have it, one of the simpler ways to make Fried Green Tomatoes. I hope you enjoyed this guest blog and are beginning to appreciate where I get my personality from.
Here is a photo taken from my HS graduation, 6 years ago, the resemblance is striking I know. I guess I need to take a more recent photo of Mom and me.

Enjoy the Fried Green Tomatoes and let me know how they turned out!!!

Open Faced, Mango, Salami, Cheddar, and Dill Snack Sandwices

Continuing on with our Scandinavian Pumpernickel Wheat bread, we arrive at a creation of leftover ingredients. To the bread, Dasha, and I added Wasabi Mayo, Sliced Mango, Sliced Salami, and Aged English Cheddar. We then broiled them until the cheese had melted. Fresh Dill, completed the snacks. After we sliced them into smaller pieces, they were a hit at our poker night.
Try it sometime, leftover open faced sandwiches.

Ingredients:
Carb
Fruit
Protein
Dairy
Herb

Enjoy!

Sashimi Snacks

We had a subletter who lives in NY, and occasionally comes to LA for jobs. She was in town for the fourth and was still here for a few days when I returned from the beach. The next day, I was greeted with Dasha's (Dah - Shh - a), Sashimi Snacks. Dasha, picked up a pound of Sashimi Grade Tuna from a farmer's Market, earlier in the week, and had just thawed it. The day before she had gone to a wonderful Scandinavian Market, where she picked up liver pate, Finnish Cheese, and a loaf of whole wheat Scandinavian Pumpernickel. These simple Sashimi Snacks, are made with Toasted pieces of that pumpernickel, a healthy cut of Tuna, a dollop of Wasabi Mayonaisse, I believe from Trader Joe's, and Fresh Dill on top. In case you haven't used it yet, fresh Dill, is leaps and bounds tastier than dried dill. What a difference fresh herbs make. The Wasabi Mayo, helped to fuse this Asian-Scandinavian-American Snack into one. I hope you can get some Sashimi Grade Tuna soon and experiment with it's rich flavor.

Dark Chocolate Almonds

When you get an urge for a snack, and you aren't looking for a whole meal, what do you reach for? Chips, cookies, whip cream? Why not try some delicious nuts. As the new york street carts call them, Nuts 4 Nuts. They usually have some type of sugary spiced glaze, with cinnamon, nutmeg or both. I am here to tell you about a different sort of snack nut. A recent find at your local Trader Joe's.
My house mate has been eating these for months, and is always more than willing to share.

The item: Dark Chocolate Almonds
The description: "Made with Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt and turbinado sugar"
The size: 10 oz. (248 g) of goodness

Now, if you knew me, genetically speaking, I come from a long line of Chocolate Monsters or Chocoholics. However, I was born with the milk chocolate gene. My mother is a big fan of the Dark, and would absolutely love these (too bad there isn't a Trader Joe's near her).
At first, I was skeptical of trying these, as a) Almonds aren't my favorite nut, and b) Dark isn't my favorite chocolate. With the urging of both John David, and Joe (house mates), I gave in anyway.

(cropped photo)

The first thing you taste is a relaxing chocolaty flavor. Nothing overpowering. Then as the chocolate starts to melt, you get a more intense chocolate blast along with the sweetness of the turbinado sugar and the saltiness of the sea salt granules. Wow! What a flavor explosion in my mouth!
The crunchiness of the almond finishes off the quick snack, and leaves you begging for more. My suggestion, is to never try one of these, cause if you do, you will be buying them for life.

What are your favorite snacks? Comment, or email me at thefoodmonsterblog@gmail.com

Photography provided by John David Devirgilis Food Photography.

Marinated Greek Tomatoes

Ah tomatoes, what a delicious sounding fruit, vegetable or whatever it is. Or it would be if it weren't for all this hoopla about Salmonella and that sort of thing. I heard somewhere that tomatoes from California were safe as well as those off the vine. So, I don't mind using the ones I got from the Farmer's Market on Sunday. Anyway, the recipe calls for vinegar which helps cure, or cook the tomatoes like the citrus acids do in Ceviche. This recipe is a staple in quite a few other recipes that I come up with. It also gives you something to do with those almost too ripe tomatoes.
That was the case here. I had 2 tomatoes left, and about 15 grape tomatoes and needed to use them. So, here is a recipe passed down from my step-mom who used to work in a restaurant in the Greek Isles. So, I give you Marinated Greek Tomatoes.

1-3 Tomatoes Sliced of medium Thickness
1 TBS of Olive Oil per Tomato
3/4 TBS of Balsamic Vinegar (or other Vinegar) per Tomato
Salt to tatse
Pepper to taste
1 tsp of Garlic (minced) per Tomato
2 tsp of chopped (fresh) Basil per Tomato
Assemble sliced tomatoes on a plate, drizzle with Oil and Vinegar, sprinkle S & P, garlic and Basil. Cover and refrigerate overnight (keep level).

It is important that you use fresh Basil as it will give you a better taste. Now, while the Tomatoes are great on Fried Egg Sandwiches, or on a Burger, or Bagel Sandwich, the oil/vinegar residue is what I really love. I crisp up any bread I have lying around and you have the best appetizer in the world. Fresh Tomatoes, with bread, and Tomato Au Jus. Yum-o!

Take a break from Eating/Cooking

Everybody needs a break now and then, one of my hobbies is snowboarding. I found this video of me, my first time on a half pipe. I was in West Virginia at Snowshoe, on an icy half pipe during night skiing. Needless to say, not every trip of mine down the half pipe was as good as the first one. Check out my insane tricks.



Ok, so back to food. When I go snowboarding, I always marvel at how good even simple foods taste after a long day on the slopes. My favorite snack is a good gouda and crackers or bread, right after getting those boots off. Even more incredible is the hot chocolate I frequently drink to "warm-up". Peppermint Schnapps anyone?

As you probably have guessed by now, my sweet tricks involved not falling down, with the occasional 2 inches of air. What you can't see in the video is my backpack that I took off at the top of the trick section. It is filled with granola bars, water, and other goodies to snack on the chair lift. I especially like the Nature's Own Oat's and Honey for an extra energy boost, which it's dryness couples well with water on the lift.
If you would like more tips on how to keep from going hungry on the slopes, email me at reviewsandrecipes@gmail.com

Black Bean Artichoke Hummus

Welcome, I am glad to see you made it to the new blog. Well the newly named blog. I changed the web address for two reasons.
#1 I renamed the blog The Food Monster. It became The Food Monster Blog as both thefoodmonster and foodmonster were taken. The name food monster comes from playing with my girlfriend's nieces. I would always be some kind of monster depending on the situation. It started out as the tickling monster, then I helped somebody move and I became the moving monster...

#2 The other reason, was I had trouble spelling both reviews and recipes the first time I set it up. Not sure why, but if I misspell two words in the title of my own blog, it probably isn't a very good title. Hence the Change.

Now on to a delicious recipe.

Black Bean Artichoke hummus is a combination of the spicy Wilmington Hummus and a delicous Artichoke hummus my girlfriend makes, with some black beans to change it up.


This makes a large batch, about two blenders full. I made it in two batches and mixed them together.

Ingredients:
2 Cans of Chick Peas (save half a can of water per blender full)
1 Can of Artichoke Hearts
1 Can of Black Beans (All cans drained)
4 tsp Lemon Juice
6 TBS Garlic
4 TBS Ginger
small handful of pine nuts
1 TSB Paprika
1 TSB Kosher Salt
1 TSB Black Pepper
1 tsp Old Bay
2 TSB Olive Oil
Water to consistency

Blend ingredients, garnish with some extra pine nuts and paprika, chill and serve.
You can really get creative on the spices, feel free to substitute your own and add some.

My only recommendation is to add more artichoke hearts. There was not a presence in every bite. I would think about 1 can of artichoke hearts to every 1.5 cans of beans would be sufficient.

Enjoy!!!

-The Food Monster

Avocado Salsa

For those of you out there wondering. Avocado Salsa is not Guacamole. Or Whack-a-mole as I was first introduced to it. There are a few subtle differences. First of all, Guacamole, is usually mashed, smashed, reduced, squished, or otherwise pulverized from its original state. Leaving a nice creamy concoction that can be scooped up with chips. It also contains onion and lemon juice, with the rare exception.
Enter me, I wanted to freshen things up a bit, so I borrowed a recipe for Mango Salsa from Supreme Chef Roz Taubman and began changing it around so the main ingredient was Avocado. This dish is best served chilled, with Chips, Tacos, Burritos, Steak, or any other food with it. You can even eat it by itself.

For 1-2 Servings you will need:

1 Avocado
1 Small ripe tomato
1 small handful of fresh Cilantro, Washed/Chopped
1/4 of a Jalapeno Pepper, minced (add more if you want some hotness)
the juice of 1 Lime
a little Salt and Pepper (I prefer Sea Salt or Kosher Salt) to taste

That's it, pretty simple. Just cube up the avocado and tomato, mix, and chill

Then Enjoy.

*As a note: You can keep an avocado pit or two in the bowl when storing it. Also make sure to press plastic into the mixture when covering to help keep it from turning brown.

Homos (Hummus) Wilmington Style

2 cans of organic chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained, save water
6 TBS Tahini
1 TBS Pine Nuts

6 TBS Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup of Water
1/2 Cup of Water from Beans
10 Pitted Large Black Olives


6 TBS Minced Garlic
1 TBS Ginger Powder (or 1/4 TBS of Minced Ginger or Ginger Paste)

3 Tsp Kosher Salt
2 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Ground White Pepper
1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Tsp Curry Powder

Blend on Low until Beans are to a mince, then blend on high until well blended, don't overblend. Stir after 10 seconds if not mixing well. Re Blend.

Pour into Several Bowls, Garnish with Paprika, a sliced Olive and Pine Nuts.



Yields: 1 Blender full of delicious tasting, healthy, yummy Homos (Wilmington Style, kicked up a knotch, perfectly paired with previous post Mangoritos)