FOOD A Food
Drink focus issue.
Saturday, January 16, 2016 • Page 1B
Healthy, organic food truck makes debut on North Main By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Julia Hogan-McNeil of Julia Cooks Organic & More featuring 7Star Juice Bar is a true believer in the healing power of food. Three years ago, she says she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “I lost my eyesight and was paralyzed,” Hogan-McNeil said. When the doctors told her that medicine couldn’t control it, she and husband Robin decided to go another way. Hogan-McNeil went to a holistic clinic in Spring Branch and began a detox program, a part of which was drinking all her food in the form of organic juices since she couldn’t chew. When she could eat again, she cut out anything with gluten or soy. After 30 days, Hogan-McNeil said there was a remarkable improvement. “I was a brand new person,” she said. “I came out of there running.” Hogan-McNeil said that follow up scans couldn’t find the previous lesions on her brain and spine and that her blood pressure was nowhere near the dangerous levels that it had been. “[The doctors] couldn’t believe it,” said Hogan-McNeil. To celebrate, she and her husband, whom she calls her “right-hand man”, posted a photo of a gourmet salad she had made to social media and friends and acquaintances
started to take notice – asking her to make them salads, too. Hogan-McNeil had a background in special education and marketing, not cooking, but she did have family in the food and catering business and had picked up skills over the years. In February 2014, Hogan-McNeil debuted her salad in a jar and a business was born. She concentrated on doing things healthy and gluten free, but since “people like to eat”, she said her food needed to be tasty, too. “People like meat,” said Hogan-McNeil, so she added fresh ground turkey burgers and turkey chili to her repertoire. Those items along with her black bean patties proved popular. In May 2014, she was asked to open up a restaurant at Ellington Field. After cooking for customers on the base, Hogan-McNeil then worked on items for delivery. After a year, when things had gotten slow on the base and once they had developed a good following, the McNeils decided to divert the restaurant to one on wheels. For the most part, Julia Cooks Organic & More Food Truck is stationed at 6521 N Main St., in the parking lot of Haute Dimensions Boutique. The opening of the truck was bittersweet since it was partially funded by an inheritance from McNeil’s father James, who passed away in 2015. See Food Truck P. 3B
Pucker up
Meyer Lemons a sweet deal for neighbors wanting fresh, local produce By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
What’s yellow, oval and grows like crazy in The Leader area? If you answered Meyer lemons, then perhaps you are one of the people who has a tree in their yard. The citrus season is late October, through the beginning of April. In January, Meyer lemons are at full ripeness. “I have a very ugly one in my yard,” said Carolina Leigh. “But it makes the best fruit. Last year I got 145 lemons off it, best year yet.” Dr. Bob Randall has certainly earned the title citrus guru. He was a founder of Urban Harvest in 1994 and then served as its Executive Director for 21 years. Randall says that all citrus originated from East Asia and that there are well over 1,000 varieties of citrus in the United States, with about 150 varieties in the Houston area. Because citrus is semi-tropical and grows well from seed, he said Houston has a good climate for it. He has a quarter acre where he grows 35 kinds of citrus himself. Meyer lemons are different than what you see at the grocery store. Randall says that those are Mediterranean lemons which come from climates where the summers are cooler than Houston. The Mediterranean lemons freeze at about 27 or 28 degrees. The Meyer lemons can go down to almost 21 degrees without protection. They are very fragrant bloomers, too. Randall says that the Meyer lemon tree comes out of the ground in one stem, but then branches out in a bush like fashion, often attaining eight or nine feet. “[Meyer] are not as sour and they are juicer,” said Randall. “Often people prefer a less tart lemon.” A 1998 New York Times article talks about the new love affair – at the time – between New York chefs and the Meyer lemon. Chefs and restaurants in Houston are pretty fond of lemons too, Meyer and other-
Photo by Christina Martinez Max Zierau, 9, son of Shannon and Andreas Sr., picks a Meyer Lemon from his backyard tree.
wise. Matthew Zoch at Prego does a Lemon meringue tart in a coconut. Trevisio Executive chef Jon Buchanan has an award winning Lemon Risotto with Jumbo Lump Crab. Sean Beck, sommelier and beverage director for Caracol, Hugo’s and Backstreet Café has a drink called Taming the Sun that uses them. Berryhill Baja Grill is known for its freshsqueezed mint lemonade. “I have 11 lemon trees,” said Donnette Hansen of Rainbow Lodge. “I use the lemons, the juice, the zest and preserve some of the Meyers. On New Year’s we did seared sea scallops with a pistachio gremolata using our citrus zest and the sauce using the reduced juice from the sweet lemons. This year I harvested over 500 lemons, a few key limes, over 100 tangerines and gobs of kumquats.” Home cooks make good use of the lemons, too. Carolina Leigh makes candy and marmalade with her Meyers. Emily Zihlman makes a lemon and vanilla bean and/or ginger jam with them and also freezes the juice for cooking. Pamela Buenker makes lemon cakes and bars, while Sue Amash and Jane Schiffer make Lemoncello. Sarah Shah has a producing tree and makes preserved lemons to use in chicken and fish dishes all year. She also has a great recipe for a Sweet and Sour Lemon Pickle. Kim Fee says she “makes my move with empty bags when friends and family are over-run with Meyer lemons.” She’ll put her frozen lemon cubes in soup for an extra zip. Of course, not every tree can be like reader Liana Lew-
is’ tree which has been in her yard for 30 plus years and is prolific. Alisa Tackett says she has a tree that has never produced. “It was potted for the first few years and we moved it around with us a few times,” said Tackett. “I planted it in the backyard last year because I thought that may help but it hasn’t. Clearly, I’m doing something wrong. I’d love to know where to get good advice.” That advice can be had from Urban Harvest who offers classes for frustrated gardeners. Dr. Randall said that a non-producing tree can be a result of too much rainfall or too little sun, among other factors. He also said that the trees are living things that develop at their own pace and sometimes a tree can take a few years to get going. On the other hand, if you have more lemons than you know what to do with, Fruit Share Houston can come pick up your extra citrus and donate it to food pantries. “If anyone wants us to harvest their lemons we are happy to do so,” said Kent Keith. “All the collected fruit goes to one of two different food pantries. Last year we harvested a total of 18,350 pounds of fruit. About 5,000 of that were lemons. This year we are projecting 21,000 pounds.” E-mail them at fruitsharehouston@ gmail.com or call 281-7283623. Ready to get your own tree started? Consider the 16th Annual Fruit Tree Sale put on by Urban Harvest, which is the largest single-day fruit tree See Lemons P. 3B
Photo by Christina Martinez Julia Hogan-McNeil pours juice for one of her organic juices from her food truck, Julia Cooks Organic & More Food Truck.
Expert opinion
Q&A with Elite F’ing Meals owner, Barbara Zuluaga
who want to eat healthier to 1. Do you have a culilose weight or just feel better. nary background? How We even feed kids! Surprisingand when did you decide ly, kids love our food and we to start this business? are working on healthy boxed I have no culinary backlunches for kids next. ground, but I’ve always been an avid home cook. Growing 5. Where do your source up, my mother cooked all of your ingredients? Why is our meals daily and I spent a organic important to you? lot of time learning her tradiThe word organic can be a tional family recipes, and then misnomer. I find more value in some. My parents are Filipino local, grass-fed meat when I and Spanish, so we grew up know the farmer who grew it, eating foods from both cul- Barbara Zuluaga versus following a USDA label tures. They are also avid travelers and they always wanted 4. Who are your typical that says organic and comes us to experience different cul- clients and why do you from a giant warehouse. You tures and cuisines. I credit my think your food appeals to have to think about it from the fact that the USDA is also a parents for my adventurous them? palate and my love for learnOur clients vary greatly business and organic certifiing about other cultures and across the board. At first, we cation is very expensive. Not foods. only had CrossFit clientele, that I am discrediting organic but now we have a plethora of (we use organic produce when 2. Your business name folks who eat our food. From we can’t get it locally), it is just is certainly eye-catching. high performing athletes, to that small, local farms that are How did you come up with people with auto-immune dis- owned by families can’t always it? eases like Crohn’s, Rheuma- afford the organic certification When we opened in 2013, toid Arthritis, celiac or HashiSee Elite P. 2B our focus was mainly to pro- moto’s, to just average folks vide food to CrossFit gyms. The name Elite F’ing Meals was thought up by my brother, who is a Marine and Purple Heart recipient, in response to the question - what would a crossfitter eat? When I told him my plans for opening a business, his answer was - “They would eat elite. No, they’d eat Elite F’ing Meals.” The name was definitely risky, but once I branded it with an ultra-punchy, patriotic logo in red, white and blue, people either really loved it, or they just didn’t get it. Believe it or not, I’ve only received a handful of truly negative comments about it. If anything, it makes Fresh Healthy Gourmet Meals people want to know more about who we are and what Gluten Free Meals we are doing.
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3. Why do you think the Paleo diet is important? Is it something you follow? Everyone has a different version of Paleo. For me, Paleo is a template for eating healthier. Whole foods such as meat, vegetables, nuts, fruits and seeds that are unprocessed. Dairy, chemicals, processed foods and sugar are eliminated. We take it one step further and focus on where our foods come from and utilize the best ingredients like grass-fed beef, pastured pork, organic chicken and eggs, as well as local or organic produce. Nobody is perfect! I follow the template as closely as possible, but at times have occasional cheats and I use grassfed dairy at home (a variation of Paleo called Primal).
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Page 2B • Saturday, January 16, 2016
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Directory
Berryhill 702 E. 11th St. 713-225-2252 1 Berryhill 1201 W. 43rd St. 281-822-6111 2 MytiBurger 2211 W. 43rd 713-686-7078 3 Baskin robbins 1354 W. 43rd 713-290-0877 4 Don Jose Mexican restaurant 5305 Antoine 713-682-3853 5 Andy’s tex Mex 1115 E. 11th St. 713-861-9423 6 Kojak’s cafe 1912 W. 18th St. 713-426-1800 7 Barbecue inn 116 W. Crosstimbers 713-695-8112 8 Fuego’s Saloon 817 Durham Dr. 713-384-4541 9 Landa cafe 302 W. Crosstimbers 281-888-4876 10 thai Lanna 1714 West Loop N 713-869-8889
Visit some of your local neighborhood restaurants 4
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Elite from P. 1b when they’re feeding grass fed and chemical free, because it takes longer for them to produce and they just don’t have the kind of volume to justify it. That’s why I buy local as often as possible. 6. From your website it looks like you make a set number of things each week, true? And can people buy à la carte? In other words, do they have to buy a week’s worth of food? Our menu changes every week and we have nine different items. We have two packages, three days’ worth of meals or five days’ worth of meals. We also sell all of our meals individually on our a la carte menu. We also make paleo granola that is amazingly delicious and bone broth, which is our top seller. 7. Do you deliver? Yes, we do home deliveries on Sundays and gym/office deliveries on Mondays. 8. Any plans for expanding your business? We just signed on for our very own storefront on Airline. We’ll be using this space for wholesale products as well as producing our meals and growing the business. Our plan is to have a small retail front there and eventually expand to the Heights proper, when and if we find something suitable. Until then, we will expand our current focus and start creating athlete meal plans, as well as special diet plans such as allergy-focused and ketosis plans, with a dietitian’s guidance. We are also excited to continue our relationship with University of Houston’s Dietitics Internship Program. We are a food service preceptor for students working for credit towards their Registered Dietitian credentials. We now sell our bone broth at Urban Harvest farmers market every Wednesday at City Hall, and will start producing our broth wholesale for distribution in other cities.
Photo by Jayne Maltbie Elite F’ing Meal’s signature breakfast, complete with sweet potato, apple and pastured pork sausage hash with a fried pastured farm egg.
Where to?
Saturday, January 16, 2016 • Page 3B
Health conscious options for lunch in the neighborhood By Christina Martinez christina@theleadernews.com
With the New Year here, many of us are implementing New Year’s resolutions, learning what works and what doesn’t when it comes to eating healthy and starting that dreaded diet. Personally, I’ve struggled with implementing consistent healthy/clean eating around work deadlines and day to day responsibilities. I’ve done it before, so I know the healthy task at hand is achievable. The question is, how am I going to accomplish the task? One meal that I struggle the most with is lunch. For my work day, about an hour lunch is what I can allow myself and more often than not, I won’t pack a lunch. When the clock hits 11 a.m., I’m usually asking myself the age old question – what’s for lunch or where am I going? With the New Year here, and goals in hand, the new question has been – where can I grab a quick, yet healthy lunch? This past week, I did some research for my fellow readers who work in the neighborhood and ask this question regularly. One key consideration for this research has been quantity. Too often I find myself overeating for lunch, so these considerations don’t come on a caloric count, but health conscious and small in portion. Here’s my five healthy lunches in the neighborhood to add to your lunch lineup. Enjoy. 1. Revival Market Soup of the Day and Side The soup of the day I enjoyed from Revival Market was their black bean stew. The soup is sized in a cup portion, just enough to be paired with a side. The side I chose was their couscous salad. 2. Urban Eats Ratatouille & Baked Goat Cheese The Ratatouille and Baked Goat Cheese is served in, roughly, a 16 oz serving dish. The dish is filled with roasted tomato ragout, with eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper and carrot, baked until browned. The dish comes with three small sourdough rolls; I opted out of the bread.
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Photos by Christina Martinez Revival Market’s soup of the day, the black bean stew and a side of the couscous salad.
4. Kojak’s The Cobb Salad The Cobb Salad at Kojak’s is served with avocado, bacon, blue cheese, egg, ham, tomato and dressing. I opted for only a third of the provided dressing and took out half of the bacon.
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5. A 2nd Cup Southwestern Veggie Wrap The Southwestern Veggie Wrap is served on a flour tortilla and filled with lettuce, tomato, black bean, corn, avocado, cilantro and has lime dressing. The wrap is served with kettle chips or a fruit salad. The portion is somewhat large with the side, so normally I’ll opt to eat half of the wrap and save the rest for dinner.
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3. Cyclone Anaya Seafood Ceviche This ceviche is lime and herb cured seafood served with avocado and crispy plantains. The portion size is just enough for a quick lunch. You can add on lobster for a bolder lunch.
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Photo by Christina Martinez The turkey tacos on corn tortilla, topped with cabbage and fresh cilantro.
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5. “It’s expensive to get started,” said Hogan-McNeil. “He wanted to see us make it.” Their first event was for the American Heart Association in October 2015. Subsequent success has made the food truck a full time business now. Hogan-McNeil’s latest innovation is that the wraps and burgers now come inside a collard green wrap. “People love it with the turkey burger or chicken wrap,” said McNeil. “They can’t believe they ate collard greens and tell me how light and healthy they feel after.” A variety of juices, including carrot, beet and strawberry, are also on the menu. Hogan-McNeil says they still do some delivery in the Heights area since the truck is near the freeway, both for weekly dinners and one time meals. It’s been three years since Hogan-McNeil changed her life, and her business. While food is indeed a big part of that, she believes in the mercy and grace of a higher power, too. “I thank God, prayer and food, in that order,” Hogan-McNeil said. Visit Julia Cooks Organic & More Food Truck on Facebook to make sure they are on N. Main during the lunch hour, as sometimes the truck is on a special delivery. For more information, visit http://www.julia-cooks.com/.
Lemons from P. 1b sale in the country. The event, which will be held at Rice University this Saturday, January 16 will offer one hundred varieties and thousands of fruit trees acclimated to Houston’s climate. See urbanharvest.org for more information.
Recipes
Meyer Lemon Marmalade - Shannon Zierau Ingredients 12 medium organic Meyer lemons (3 pounds) 3 cups sugar Instructions • Rinse the lemons and pat dry. Halve the lemons crosswise and juice them, reserving the juice. Using a spoon, scrape the pulp and seeds from the halves. Using a sharp knife, slice the peels 1/8 inch thick. • In a large, heavy saucepan, cover the strips with 8 cups of cold water and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Drain the strips and rinse under cold running water. • Blanch two more times; the final time, drain the strips but do not rinse them. • Return the strips to the saucepan. Add the reserved juice and the sugar. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then skimming any foam, until the marmalade sets, about 30 minutes. • Spoon the marmalade into 5 hot 1/2-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top, and close with the lids and rings. To process, boil the jars for 15 minutes in water to cover. Let stand at room temperature for 2 days before serving. • The processed marmalade can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Refrigerate after opening. Taming the Sun - Sean Beck, sommelier and beverage director for Caracol, Hugo’s and Backstreet Café This is a version of a drink we do here on the menu called the “Hard Sun” that uses a house made Jalapeno and Toasted Coriander Ice Cube, Sotol, Passion Fruit Syrup and Cava. The ice cube is a little labor intensive for home drinkers, so I came up with this more accessible (both in flavor and ease to make) version. The wild floral notes of the Sotol is stunning with the spicy herbal characters of the gin. The combination of the passion fruit, lemon and lightly sweet and low alcohol Moscato give the drink just enough sweetness to offset the jalapeno heat. This is our modernized and Mexico-inspired answer to the French 75. Ingredients 1/2 oz Hacienda de Chihuahua Sotol Blanco 3/4 oz Sacred Gin Coriander Gin 1/4 oz St Germaine
1/2 oz Passion fruit nectar (use 2 teaspoons fresh passion fruit if you can find) 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 3 oz moscato d’asti Fresh sliced jalapeno Instructions 1. Prepare a large rocks/double old-fashioned glass by filling with ice and one lemon wheel and two slices of jalapeno. 2. In a mixing glass combine the Gin, Sotol, St Germaine, 3 thin slices of jalapeno and lemon juice. 3. Add ice and shake well. 4. Strain into prepared glass. 5. Gently stir Moscato d’Asit into glass. Note: This is great for parties because you can easily convert this to a large punch drink by making a whole batch. Even better if you can float some edible white rose petals in the bowl.
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Page 4B • Saturday, January 16, 2016
Art Valet
DANCE YOUR WAY TO A HEALTHIER YOU IN 2016!
By Mitch Cohen
Arts Columnist
Coming full circle in the art realm
Featured artist Sharon Hendry.
other friend at his art space at the National Hotel Artist Lofts, Hendry signed on to the waiting list and got in. In order to live there, you must sell your work, too; a challenge Hendry was ready to take on now. The irony about that painting, she tells me, was that the painting prophesied her life now. Living near the beach, creating artwork in a loft apartment. Her current work involves acrylic on canvas paintings from collages made from the “Reflection and Sparks” series. Follow Hendry on Facebook and my favorite, her Instagram account as @artl8dy, especially on Tuesdays when she publishes a new teacup. Hendry moved to National Hotel Artist Lofts in June. Her work has been exhibited in numerous faculty shows, at the Charles Burchfield Gallery in Buffalo and at the Blaffer Gallery and Jung Center in Houston. Before we end, let me tell you how I know Sharon Hendry. Early in my own art career, I took one of Hendry’s graphic
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through art journaling to create her own ideas, and started a blog that focused on them. When an invitation to teach a workshop on her art journaling process arose, she realized she didn’t have a process! That invitation led to “Reflections and Sparks”, a 20 page digest filled with her art journal pages. “My written words reflected thoughts, ideas and experiences, while images, colors and visual symbols were sparks,” she said in her introduction. In Volume II, Hendry put a call for submissions out on social media for collaborators to put words to her visual creations. Now her journey to reignite her own creative process has inspired others. After several years of journaling and focusing on her own creative inspiration, Hendry reconnected with a friend on Facebook who had a Hendry original from her college years. After the reconnection, she was ready to return to her passion for painting. The timing couldn’t have been better when visiting an-
design courses at HCC, the year before they got computers, as a matter of fact. A few years later, she and her husband commissioned a painting from me, now I’m writing about her return to the fine arts; talk about a full circle. As I said, the event this Saturday is private, so if you decide to go, mention you read about it in The Leader, or better yet, bring a copy! Located at 2221 Market St., Galveston, TX 77550. Check-in is at 7:008:30 p.m. and doors will be closed at 8:30. The loft tour of nine spaces is 7-8 p.m. At 10 p.m. is an after party at the Proletariat. The Proletariat is a gallery, bar and event space in the National Hotel Artist Lofts building. They feature a great craft beer selection as well as wine, local kombucha and other beverages.
I-4
Before this past Saturday, I had no idea I would be writing about Heights artist Sharon Hendry. She, however, had plans to surprise me at Galveston Art Walk, and when we did run into each other, it was not where she expected. Nothing in Hendry’s life has been as expected lately. In fact, you could say that all of her actions have led her to this weekend, albeit, unknowingly. Hendry will be taking part in the National Hotel Artist Lofts LoftWalk Saturday evening, as an artist resident. Listed as a private event, this first ever open studio tour can be likened to an art crawl, all in one place. The building, built in 1870 as an opera house, has 27 lofts and commercial spaces on the first floor. It is located at 2221 Market St., Galveston, and is part of a growing nationwide trend of affordable live/work space for artists. Hendry didn’t wake up one day and decide to become a painter again. She credits a series of seemingly unconnected events as to what gradually brought her to where she is now. A Heights resident since 1987, Hendry earned a BFA from the University of New York at Buffalo and an MA from University of Houston at Clearlake. She maintained a studio on E. 14th St., while continuing as a Professor of Digital Communication at Houston Community College. As an educator, Hendry says she was always focused on the needs of her students. Her ideas always came in second; even her sketchbook ideas were focused on her students. Hendry challenged herself
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First piece of White Oak Music Hall set to open, Raven Tower One of the biggest stories to follow this year will be the development of White Oak Music Hall off of North Main. The music venue has been designed from the ground up and is currently plugging away on construction. Located in Houston’s historic Near Northside, WOMH will span over five acres at the intersection of N. Main St. and North St., just a mile north of downtown Houston and directly adjacent to Little White Oak Bayou. The venue will feature three live music performance spaces; the Music Hall with a 1,000+ capacity, the Stage at White Oak with a 200+ capacity and the Lawn at White Oak with a 2,000+ capacity, according to White Oak Music Hall’s website. One new feature has developed in the last month, with the music group acquiring the Raven Tower, located at 310 North St. The tower was formerly private owned and known for its bachelor pad-ish vive and features. The music group plans to turn the pad into an additional music space, patio and bar. The grand re-opening for the Raven Tower is set for 6:30 p.m., Jan. 19, at 310 North St. The grand opening will be the first opening of the WOMH and will feature live music from Matthew Logan Vasquez (lead singer of Delta Spirit), Kelly Doyle, Grand Old Grizzly, DJ Fredster and a secret, special guest. Show starts at 6 p.m. and is free for 21+, $5 for minors. Moji at The Nightingale Room Free music this weekend, with a great headliner, Moji, at The Nightingale Room this weekend. Doors open at 4 p.m., with the show set for 6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 15. Nightingale Room is located at 308 Main St.
Photo by Christina Martinez Moji performing last year during White Linen night at Town In City Brewing.
of Little York
www.whitneyoakshall.com
Rendering by Schaum/Shieh architects The Raven Tower set to open as a part of The White Oak Music Hall on Jan. 19. The venue will feature a 1,000 square-foot bar and 1,800 square-feet of patio space.
Homebrew 101 Class The Oak Forest homebrew shop, Farmboy Brew Shop, will be hosting their homebrew class at 9 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 16. The demonstration will cover brewing an extract and partial grain batch often used by beginning (and even longtime!) homebrewers. The class will last about 23 hours. RSVP on the shop’s Facebook and bring a chair/ blanket if you have one. Farmer’s Market at Town In City Brewing The Heights microbrewery will be hosting a bi-monthly farmer’s market and craft fair. A list of vendors are set to be there, with produce on the lineup. Tied House Kitchen, the on-site food truck will have a special brunch line-up. If the brunch menu is anything like the NYE Hangover brunch Shipley’s doughnut breakfast sandwich, chorizo tacos and more - this is a brunch you don’t want to miss. Bang Bangz at Walter’s Downtown A Saturday night show for the lineup, Bang Bangz, will be headlining this weekend with Squincy Jones, JERK, Trippy Cholo & Gio Chamba and FLCON FCKER. Doors open at 8 p.m., show set for 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16. Bang Bangz is a dreampop, synth influenced meets transcendent. Catch them at Walter’s this Saturday at 1120 Naylor.
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