Edible Orange County Spring 2015

A Member of Edible Communities

Spring 2015 No. 16

Pigs, Asparagus andRice

Slow Life

The Fit Foodie The Top 8 Food Trends

Raves

Aged balsamics Gourmet condiments Kitchen linens&aprons Bird’s-eye maple cutting boards Slate cheese serving boards Original paintings Cookbooks

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Contents Spring 2015

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24

Features

In Each Issue

10

The Slow Life

6

14

The Skinny on Asparagus

By Ann Nguyen of The Ecology Center

By Eugenia Bone

22

The Pig Next Door

24

Rice: A Meditation

By Barry Estabrook

By Michele Jacobsen

Raves 28

Tamarind of London

30

Five Crowns

Pastry Fit for a King

by Ruth Wheeler

Editor’s Note

By Gina Mullins Cohen

8 Contributors

12

In Season

32

Fit Foodie®

38

Our Advertisers

By Gina Mullins Cohen

By Mareya Ibrahim

28

Make Room for New Favorites

by Ruth Wheeler

4 Spring 2015

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Recipe Box

16

Shaved Asparagus, Pea and Pea Shoot Salad

19

Asparagus Pesto

20

Asparagus Stock

21

Spaghettini with Asparagus Pesto

By Eugenia Bone

By Eugenia Bone

By Eugenia Bone

By Eugenia Bone

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Editor’s Note edible Communities 2011 James Beard Foundation Publication of the Year

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

This year is seems as if I went to sleep in late December and woke up in July. I admit it. Temperatures topping 85 degrees in January, February and even March are welcome to someone like me with one foot in Orange County, California and one foot in Loudoun County, Virginia, but nonetheless, such high temperatures are strange even in Southern California.

My first spring in California over 25 years ago – was a rainy one. It rained, or at least it seemed to have rained the entire month of February and well in to March. It wasn’t just the bleak, gray days and rain I remember. It was cold – really, really cold. The heat in my tiny Santa Barbara apartment was turned on around Christmas of that year and stayed on for three full months.

We can’t deny it. Things are changing. Fewer and fewer reject the facts that this fragile, yet violent earth is in danger and it is our fault. Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, published

by Houghton-Mifflin in 1962, addressed the powerful, but often adverse effects humans have on the earth. Carson argued that pesticides damage the environment. She called them “biocides” because their effects are rarely limited to the target pests.

Silent Spring was met with brutal opposition by chemical companies, but it prompted a reversal in national pesticide policy, led to a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural uses and motivated an environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It was a revolution and for one moment, we were present, we were outraged and we cared.

We made a difference.

If you need a book to motivate you or a compelling story, I suggest you read the following: • Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence, by Christian Parenti • This Changes Everything, by Naomi Klein • Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, by Bill McKibben • The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert • Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientist Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, by Naomi Oreskes • Six Degrees, by Mark Lynas • Countdown: Our Last Best Hope for Future on Earth, by Alan Weisman It is my belief that we can still stand up for all that is right and we can still make a difference, but I urge you to do this soon. Time is no longer on our side.

–Gina Mullins Cohen 6 Spring 2015

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Orange County® Published by Eclipse Media Partners, LLC 1001 Avenida Pico, Ste. C622 San Clemente, CA 92673 Editorial Staff Gina Mullins-Cohen Editor gina@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445 Bill Cohen Editor: Arts and Culture 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445 info@edibleoc.com Robert D. Mullins Investigative Reporter Editor info@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445 Vi Paynich Editor: Fashion and Design Vi@edibleoc.com 714-504-1825 Kim Allen Editor: Culinary Arts Kim@edibleoc.com 949-315-6445 Kim Lewis Creative By Design Creative Director klewis@creativebydesign.net 951-226-5617 Moe Goode Web Master info@edibleoc.com Ben Marchbanks Alcemy, Inc. Digital Magazine Producer Ben@magazooms.com Advertising Gina Mullins-Cohen Publisher gina@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445 Jennifer Sakurai jennifer@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher ©2014. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

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Contributors Eugenia Bone is a cook and author whose stories and recipes have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country including The New York Times Magazine to Saveur, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Fine Cooking, The Wine Enthusiast, Martha Stewart Living, and The Wall Street Journal, among many others. She is the author of 5 books, among them Italian Family Dining, and Well Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Food (nominated for a James Beard award); Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms, and The Kitchen Ecosystem: Integrating Recipes to Create Delicious Meals. Visit Eugenia’s blog, TheKitchenEcosystem.com .

Bill Cohen is a writer, musician, cartoonist and humorist. He has a graduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Bill has worked for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Getty Museum in Los Angeles and Universal Music Group. Bill spends his free time playing classical guitar, bicycling and studying Turkish.

Bill learned to eat under the direction of his mom.

Gina Mullins-Cohen became fascinated with nutrition, as a teenager, when she discovered the benefits of organic food. Throughout her 20-year career in publishing she has successfully co-launched several domestic and international magazines, as well as two media companies. Gina is the owner of Edible Orange County and spends her time between Orange County, California and Loudoun County, Virginia where she is Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publications at National Recreation and Park Association. NRPA is dedicated to Conservation, Health & Wellness and Social Equity.

Barry Estabrook is the author of the recently released Pig Tales: An Omnivore’s Quest for Sustainable Meat, as well as Tomatoland, a book speaking to industrialized agriculture in relation to the tomato. He is a former contributing editor at Gourmet magazine and his current work can also be found at www.politicsoftheplate. com. Estabrook lives on 30-acres in Vermont, gardens and tends to several hens. He is a three- time James Beard Foundation Award winner.

Mareya Ibrahim – The Fit Foodie – began her career in the natural products industry as the national marketing director for Wild Oats Market before it became Whole Foods. She experienced the natural products industry from all angles including food and marketing, retail, and all avenues including being a consumer of whole foods.

Michele Jacobson is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, author and food writer.

She lectures on GMOs, nutrition, how to eat and shop for healthier food in the American marketplace, and on health benefits derived from traditional diets of the world. In addition to her books, Michele writes two blogs: her Nutrition blog and her GMO blog.

A member of the NOFA-New Jersey Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, her articles on GMOs have been widely published and distributed.

8 Spring 2015

Kim Lewis is the owner and creative director of Creative By Design, a fullservice creative agency located in Corona, California. Kim has over 50 Maggie awards for magazine design, as well as an Eddie and a Communicator award during her 24-year tenure as a creative professional. www.seekthecreative.com.

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Robert (Bob) David Mullins is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He is the only journalist ever awarded the esteemed Amicus Curiae Award, presented by the state Judicial Council. The prestigious Robert D. Mullins Excellence in Reporting Award, named in his honor, is bestowed annually to journalists considered outstanding in their ethical efforts to report the news. Mullins was also awarded the Bronze Star for his courageous, life-saving efforts during WWII. Ann Nguyen is the Communications/ Marketing Manager at The Ecology Center located in San Juan Capistrano, California. She also owns her own business, Lost and Found Photography. Ann has worked for Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. and Niche Tank, Inc. and she is a graduate of University of Southern California.

Tune In, Turn On, Eat Up

Vitisia Paynich grew up in Orange County. She has been an editor and writer for more than 20 years. Vitisia co-launched both international and domestic business publications. She has interviewed celebrities, as well as several other high-profile figures throughout her career.

Ruth Wheeler, a native Californian (gasp), loves Orange County!

She enjoys the beach alongside her surfer husband, Craig. You can often spot her with her furry kids, Molly and Barkley. Ruth is an event management expert and owns Envision Events Now, an event management firm, specializing in the production of exceptional events for business-to-business organizations. www.envisioneventsnow.com.

Dan Barber

John Besh

Gary Nabhan

Joel Salatin

Eliot Coleman

Wendell Berry

Anne Willan Diana Kennedy Sherri Brooks Vinton

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Hosts: Kurt & Christine Friese, Chris Seigel, radio Mary Reilly, and Wes Jackson Gibson Thomas Edible Stories Fresh from Local Communities

Ari Derfel

Marion Nestle

Joan Gussow

Listen: EdibleRadio.com / iTunes podcast www.edibleorangecounty.com

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THE SLOW LIFE

BY ANN NGUYEN OF THE ECOLOGY CENTER PHOTOS BY SCOTT SPORLEDER

T

he fast life is all around us – fast food, fast farming, fast cars, fast money. But where are we all heading in such a hurry? If we take a moment to really look at our quality of life – the constant schedules, deadlines, and traffic jams, we would see that fast doesn’t necessarily mean better. On the contrary, fast living has negative impacts on the health of our bodies, our environment, and our communities.

What do we do about this unsustainable momentum? Can we simply slow down? For us, “slow” encompasses several layers of meaning that go beyond simply “sustainable.” These include not only sustainable agriculture, community building, renewable energy, reforestation, social justice, new economic models and resource conservation, but also the small and simple things we do. Whether it’s going for a bike ride, tending to a garden, or sitting down to a meal with family and friends, we can all do something to slow down.

At The Ecology Center, slowing down is also about realigning with the natural rhythm and getting back to an agrarian lifestyle that deepens the bond of community. Through hands-on workshops, such as edible gardening, break baking, cheese making, plant-based dyes, and more, we teach the community about how to live in connection to nature.

This spring, we are bringing the spirit of slow living to local restaurants. Eat, drink, and learn with us at our Slow Ride Sessions, where you’ll enjoy complimentary beer samplings courtesy of New Belgium and learn about ways we can live slow, give back, and become more strongly connected to the earth, to our communities, and to ourselves.

A complete schedule of workshops and community events is available on our website, TheEcologyCenter.org. www.edibleorangecounty.com

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In Season

Spring

By Gina Mullins-Cohen

Apricots Avocados Cherries Asparagus Basil Beans, Green Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chard Collards Corn Cucumber

Eggplant Figs Grapefruits Grapes Kale Kohlrabi Kumquats Lemons Lettuce Melons Mushroom Mustard Navel and Valencia Oranges Nectarines Okra

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Passion Fruit Peaches Pears Pears, Asian Peas, Black-eyed Peppers Plums Potatoes Raspberries Spinach Squash, Summer Strawberries Tomatoes Turni

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THE

SK

By Eugenia Bone, Author of The Kitchen Ecosystem

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NNY ON ASPARAGUS W

hen my son was very young he was a binge eater.

One fall he ate tomatoes and apples - just tomatoes and apples. The following winter it was ground beef, but after a full Spring of his eating pretty much nothing but baked asparagus, which he nibbled from top to bottom, I became exasperated and asked his doctor if these eating habits were going to cause malnutrition or‌or what?

But Dr. Heiss put my worries aside. He said the whole idea of a daily food requirement was bogus (and some say a governmentsupported fiction perpetrated by the food industry lobby), and that

a good diet only makes sense from an annual perspective. Over the course of a year, at the rate my son was going, his diet was perfectly fine. I started to think about this, and how much sense it makes in terms of eating seasonally. What nature wants us to do is binge on fresh, regional foods at their nutritional peak. How much nutrition are you getting from asparagus picked in Chile in December and shipped thousands of miles? Better to eat and preserve them now, while the wild (well, not exactly wild, as Asparagus officinalis are feral: they’re escaped domestic asparagus) and cultivated asparagus are in their glory.

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Wild asparagus grow pretty much all over the country. You’ll find them along fence lines, ditches, and roads; though avoid roadsides where you suspect there may have been weed spraying. Once you locate a patch you’ll be able to harvest these perennials every year. (It’s easy to locate a patch before everything starts greening up as they stand out from other weeds. For guidance, check out http://hungerandthirstforlife.blogspot. com/2014/03/identifying-year-old-wild-asparagus.html) The tender shoots or spears come up in the spring, and as the temperature warms, the plant become ferny and bushy, eventually producing little red berries (which are inedible). Wild asparagus can be anywhere from a foot high to as tall as you, and the spears can be stringy and tough, but the flavor! It was wild asparagus that opened my mind to the byproducts that could be made with asparagus.

Cultivated asparagus are sold thick and thin, and vary in color

from white to green to purple. White asparagus are blanched by mounding earth around the plant to protect it from the sun. Interestingly, people either seem to love them or hate them. (I love them poached in stock, with sautéed morels on top.) Thick asparagus come from older plants or early harvests, and thin asparagus come from younger plants or later harvests, as the new asparagus shoots become thinner as the season progresses. (By the way, the distinct smell of your pee after eating asparagus is a result of metabolizing certain compounds in the asparagus. The younger the asparagus you eat, the stronger the smell.)

I prefer thick asparagus as the texture holds up better under cooking and canning, and I like the purple cultivars the most, as they are especially sweet and tender, though if you pickle them they stain the vinegar purple. It’s okay – weird, but okay. Look for firm stalks with tight tips. Once the buds start to open the spear quickly

RECIPE Shaved Asparagus, Pea, and Pea Shoot Salad I have served this surprisingly rich salad as a second course after a pasta dish, on top of a piece of broiled fish, and garnished with croutons: they’re all good! When choosing pea shoots, look for small pale leaves with plenty of thin, curling tendrils.

Avoid large stemmy pea shoots, which are tougher. But if you do find them in the market with very long stems you can cut the stems off and throw them in the stockpot. Save the asparagus ends or peels for Asparagus Stock (below).

Ingredients 1½ cups shelled fresh peas (about 1 pound in the shell) 12 thick spears asparagus, trimmed (as de-

scribed in text above) 1 large garlic clove, smashed and peeled ½ teaspoon mustard powder 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1 whole anchovy (see Note), chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil ¼ pound pea shoots Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese Directions 1. In a pot of boiling water, cook the peas until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Using a very sharp knife (or a mandolin if you have one) cut the asparagus into very thin slivers on an angle. Raw asparagus must be very thinly sliced to

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SERVES 4 be palatable.

2. Rub the garlic clove around the inside of a wooden bowl. Add the mustard powder and lemon juice. Mix until the mustard powder dissolves. Add the anchovy and combine well.

3. Add the oil, mixing all the while. Add the peas, asparagus, and pea shoots and toss in the dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss with the Parmesan cheese.

Note: I prefer whole anchovies cured in salt, which you can find in Italian markets. Soak them for 10 minutes to remove the salt, then rinse and fillet them. You don’t have to get all the bones, just the spine. www.edibleorangecounty.com

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GENERAL ASAPRAGUS PRESERVATION Asparagus are a low acid vegetable with a pH of 6.00 to 6.70, so they must be pickled to safely water bath process. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickled_asparagus. html Otherwise, they must be pressure canned. http:// nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/asparagus_spears.html You can dry asparagus, though only the top 3 inches are recommended. Blanch them for 5 minutes first, and then dry in a dehydrator at 135°F until brittle, 6 to 10 hours. To freeze, blanch cut or whole asparagus for 4 minutes (thin spears for 2), chill in the fridge, then freeze in freezer baggies. They hold for 8 to 12 months before the flavor starts to degenerate.

becomes woody. Store asparagus in a jar of water in the fridge as you would store cut flowers. If you ask me, they’re just as beautiful.

You don’t need to peel asparagus unless the stems are tough, and then, only the lower half of the asparagus. How much of the spear should you use? You can use it all. To trim asparagus, either peel the tough end, and cut off the dry tip, or snap the spears. Hold the ends of the asparagus and gently bend. It will break at the point where the tender part of the asparagus ends. The tougher end of the spear has plenty of flavor and can be used to make an aromatic stock. You can use the stock many ways: as a soup base (it’s a fabulous base for fish soup), as a poaching liquid for fish, to make risotto, and to cook spaghettini.

The tougher end of the spear has plenty of flavor and can be used to make an aromatic stock.

Cooked with fish or eggs, pickled and used in place of capers in dishes like Chicken Piccata, poached and dressed with homemade mayonnaise, or simply baked and drizzled with oil and Parmesan cheese, asparagus are a real seasonal treat. I pig out on them when they are in, especially in conjunction with other spring foods, like lamb, morel mushrooms, and soft shell crabs, and vegetable plates with artichokes, peas, and ramps. Not only are they delicious, but I know binging is the best way to access their great nutritional profile. At least, that’s what the Dr. told me.

ASPARAGUS STEAMERS: ARE THEY WORTH IT? Upright asparagus steamers are not so great for steaming asparagus. I find my asparagus often overcook, and get beat up as they collapse in the container. Better to lay the asparagus in a pan, add a little water or stock, cover, and steam. But the upright steamer is perfect for processing a single half pint or pint jar of canned stuff. As far as I am concerned, asparagus steamers could be advertised as a one-jar water bath canner.

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RECIPE Asparagus Pesto This puree is great to have on hand. It makes an excellent sauce for broiled fish or for pasta or ravioli, or a poached egg on an English muffin. With added cream and seasoning, it’s also perfect as a warm soup. It is not thick, but loose and light.

To make this pesto more robust, add 1/3 cup pine nuts to the food processor. Save the asparagus cooking water and ends or peels for Asparagus Stock (recipe below).

Ingredients 1 pound asparagus, trimmed (as described in text above) 1/3 cup pine nuts (optional)

MAKES 1 PINT 2 garlic cloves, sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice Salt Directions 1. Cut the asparagus in large pieces and place them in a large pot. Add just enough water to barely cover and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and boil the asparagus gently until they are fork-tender, about 10 minutes for slender asparagus, longer for thick ones.

Reserving the cooking water, drain the

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asparagus.

3. Place the asparagus in a food processor along with 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water and the garlic. Add the pine nuts, if using, the oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste and pulse to combine. If necessary, add a bit more cooking water to get a smooth pesto.

4. The asparagus pesto holds in the freezer for 8 to 12 months. Add salt and pepper as you use the pesto (seasoning loses its oomph when frozen).

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RECIPE Asparagus Stock I make asparagus stock with the trimmed off ends of asparagus spears. You can hold the stock in the fridge, but it tends to ferment in a few days; so it is best to freeze or pressure can it. There is no USDA data for asparagus stock. I have based my pressure canning time on the recommendation for whole raw asparagus tightly packed into a pint jar. This is the same timing as the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving uses for pints of vegetable stock.

Ingredients 1 pound asparagus trimmings cut into 2-inch pieces Directions 1. Place the asparagus in a deep pot and cover with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover, and gently boil until the asparagus are very, very soft, about 45 minutes or longer.

Add more water to be sure the asparagus stems stayed covered if necessary.

2. Let cool in the water.

3. Grind the asparagus in a food processor with a little of the cooking water. (You

may not be able to grind up the woodiest parts. It’s okay.) Pass the ground asparagus plus the rest of the cooking water through a food mill. You will get about 1 quart of stock, mostly green water with about one-third the volume in pulp.

4. To store stock in the refrigerator, have ready the appropriate size jars. I like to use 1 quart jar, mainly to save space.

Sterilize the jar, band, and lid. (To sterilize, boil the jar, band and lid for 10 minutes at sea level, adding 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level.) Pour the stock into the jar; wipe the rims, place on the lid, and screw on the band.

You can store the stock in the refrigerator indefinitely, as long as you sterilize the stock every fourth day or so (you don’t need to re-sterilize the jar). The stock will reduce in volume every time you do this.

5. To store stock in the freezer, be sure to use freezer safe jars or plastic containers. You don’t have to sterilize the jars but they need to be very clean. Pour the stock into the jars leaving 2 inches of headroom. You can freeze asparagus

How to Cook Pasta in Stock Cooking pasta in stock is a fabulous alternative to using your stock for soup. The pasta absorbs the flavors from the stock and leaches out starch, which thickens the stock to create a savory sauce. You can cook the pasta up saucy and soupy with more stock, or tight and dry with less stock. Both versions are delicious and versatile. It is best to use thin spaghetti (spaghettini) or thin linguini (linguini fini). They will absorb the stock be wheaty. Very thin pasta like fidelini is good, but it absorbs fast, and tends to get knotted and overcooked. If I use stock to cook fidelini, I prefer to serve it as a soup.

You will need about 1 pint of stock for every ¼ pound

stock for about a year, after which the flavor may begin to degenerate.

6. For shelf-stable stock, you can pressure can it. Have ready 2 clean pint jars and bands, and new lids that have been simmered in hot water to soften the rubberized flange. Pour the stock into the jars leaving 1 ¼ inches of headroom. Wipe the rims, place on the lids, and screw on the bands fingertip tight. Process the jars in a pressure canner at 10 psi for weighted gauge canners and 11 psi for dial gauge canners for 30 minutes.

Be sure to make altitude adjustments: For weighted gauge pressure canners increase the pressure to 15 pounds between 1,000 and 10,000 feet. For dial gauge pressure canners add 1/2 pound of pressure for every 1,000 feet above 2,000 feet altitude. You don’t need to change the processing time. Process this according to the directions on your particular canner.

7. You may notice some separation of the pulp and water in the jar. It’s okay. Store in a cool dark place. Season the stock as needed and refrigerate after opening.

of pasta. You can use any kind of stock: asparagus stock (though it may need to be thinned some), mushroom stock (made from mushroom stems or dried mushrooms), poultry, beef, or fish stock. Bring the stock to a boil in your pasta pot over a medium high heat. Season the stock to taste. Add the pasta. It will be stiff and stick out of the stock. Be patient.

Gently push down the pasta, and after about 5 minutes it will soften and collapse into the stock. Stir often, as the pasta tends to stick together. Cook the pasta in the stock until it is al dente. You will notice the starch from the pasta thickens the stock to create a sauce. Add a little more stock or water if the sauce gets sticky. Do not overcook the pasta. It is best to serve this pasta loose.

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RECIPE Spaghettini with Asparagus Pesto If you have asparagus pesto on hand you always have a quick dinner. This pasta dish is elegant, beautiful as a first course or a light dinner. For an extra savory dish, cook the pasta in chicken broth (see side bar). You can also jazz up the garnishes: try sautĂŠed shrimp, a dollop of homemade ricotta, or chopped fresh chives, or a combination.

Ingredients ž pound spaghettini 1 heaping cup asparagus pesto (recipe above), warmed Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese for garnish 4 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs

SERVES 4 Directions 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over a high heat. Add the spaghettini and cook until al dente. Drain. In a large serving bowl toss the pasta with the asparagus pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with the grated cheese and breadcrumbs.

All recipes are from The Kitchen Ecosystem by Eugenia Bone (Clarkson Potter, 2014) www.edibleorangecounty.com

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PIG

The

Next Door

By Barry Estabrook

S

everal years ago, I bit into a chop that caused me to all but eliminate pork from my diet.

It wasn’t that the chop was bad. On the contrary, it was transcendental: rich, juicy, fatty, and sublimely piggy. Compared to the commodity meat at the supermarket, it was like an August heirloom tomato picked from the garden versus a pale, imported January facsimile. I lost my taste for the factory-raised “other white meat. ”I also became determined to find out how meat from pigs could be so different—and how I could secure a dependable supply of great pork for my own table.

A little sleuthing revealed that the pig that produced the chop responsible for my epiphany was an old-fashioned heritage animal bred for flavor, not cookie-cutter leanness. It had spent its life with about 300 fellow hogs on the rolling pastures and woodlots of a small farm about an hour from my Vermont home. It had cavorted, rooted, wallowed in mud baths, snoozed in the summer sun, and dined on a plant-based diet. Its manure made the vegetation richer for future pigs.

As I got deeper into my quest, which by then had become a book project, I spent a memorable day with a pig farmer in Iowa. He raised 150,000 hogs a year that produced meat of the sort that makes up 95 percent of the pork Americans consume. To prevent my bringing in diseases, I had to strip naked, shower, and put on special clothing, as did the owner and everyone else who entered the facility. In one dimly lit barn,

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more than 1,000 sows spent their entire lives in metal cages too small for them to turn around in or even contain their swelling, pregnant bellies.

Piglets were raised indoors in groups of twenty or so in enclosures too small to allow them to take more than a step or two in any direction. The floor was slatted concrete that allowed the feces and urine to dribble into a basement-like pit directly below, where it accumulated, creating an eye-watering stench and emitting gaseous ammonia and hydrogen sulfide that would have killed every pig in the barn were it not for jet-engine-sized ventilation fans that blew the fumes outside, causing the air to reek for miles around. The hogs’ commercial feed included “animal protein” rendered from dead pigs, chicken litter (feces contain protein), and “feather meal” from poultry packing houses. Their feed also contained antibiotics, a practice that breeds resistant bacteria that kill 23,000 Americans a year.

My taste buds were obviously trying to tell me something.

At first, finding pork that met my new standards involved effort.

I could order it online from a few suppliers such as Niman Ranch, which entailed shipping costs and more advance planning than I typically give to weeknight dinners.

Then one Saturday morning, I noticed that a cheese maker at the farmers’ market I frequent had a cooler full of frozen pork. She told me her animals were free range and fed a vegetarian diet mixed with whey left over from her cheese operation. I became a customer.

Around the same time, a few conscientious chefs in the area made deals with farmers to produce hogs,

which they would buy whole and break down into an array of tasty, often imaginative dishes.

After listening to the stories of these chefs and farmers and visiting a few swineherds , I settled on a simple principle: By any criterion—environmental, ethical, and gastronomic—factory-raised pork is the worst meat you can eat. By the same token, pork raised by small farmers near home is the very best.

A year or so ago, the long-time meat manager at a nearby supermarket saw that an increasing number of his customers came in looking for the same sort of meat that I sought. He left his job, purchased a USDA-compliant mobile slaughter truck, and opened a meat market a about ten miles down the highway. Demand was so brisk that he soon opened a second store not much farther away up the road. For me today, getting great, local pork requires no extra effort, regardless of which direction I drive.

You may not be as fortunate—yet. But in my travels, I have noticed that pork and other meats are on offer at more and more farmers’ markets. Websites such as Eat Wild (eatwild.com/products/index.html), Food Alliance (foodalliance.org/client-search), and Slow Food USA (www.slowfoodusa.org/local-chapters) have national listings of small, sustainable pork producers that can guide you to well-raised pigs living near you.

Get to know them, but be warned, you may never visit the supermarket meat counter again.

Barry Estabrook is the author of Pig Tales: An Omnivore’s Guide to Sustainable Meat.

The hogs’ commercial feed included “animal protein” rendered from dead pigs, chicken litter (feces contain protein), and “feather meal” from poultry packing houses.

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THE 1-MINUTE

MEDITATION: AN ESSENTIAL EXERCISE

By Michele Jacobson

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ooking rice has become a small, but satisfying ritual for me. Standing at my kitchen sink, I run tepid water into the pot, covering the rice completely. I swish my hand through the grains languidly, back and forth, back and forth, before I drain and repeat. It’s a meditative process that takes less than a minute; a peaceful way to begin the dinner hour, a previously frenetic time. I learned this procedure, which I now use on all grains, from a multitude of Asian and Indian acquaintances who told me “of course they rinse their rice, they learned it from their mothers.”

It’s a far cry from the various methods my American mother used in our kitchen. She boiled rice, sautéed and simmered it, and egad! - sometimes submerged an entire plastic bag of the artificially flavor-filled stuff in a pot of boiling water.

Why the difference in cultural cooking methods between Asian and American? The answer lies mainly in Americans’ choice of processed rice. Par-cooked and polished, enriched white rice became the product of choice for American consumers starting in the 1950s. Unfortunately the milling process, which strips rice of its bran and germ, also robs it of most of its nutrients. To compensate for this lack, white rice became required by law to be enriched

with both B-vitamins and iron. The way vitamins are added to rice is via a spray-on method, enabling them to be absorbed into the grains from the cooking water; therefore if you rinse enriched white rice prior to cooking, these added nutrients would actually go right down the drain! In addition to supplementing with vitamins and iron, food manufacturers figured out how to add various flavors and seasonings to the rice mix which could also be absorbed during the cooking process. Often artificially flavored and colored, and high in unhealthy levels of sodium, these highly processed rice products are not the healthful, fiber-rich whole food rice is meant to be.

Whole grain brown rice, on the other hand, needs no enrichment or fortification as the highly nutritious germ and bran are left intact. These provide a grain that is naturally rich in fiber, B vitamins, and iron. Brown rice also contains magnesium, a nutrient that is not added back to white rice during the enrichment process.

The rice bran oil inherent in brown rice also contains vitamin E and antioxidants, which studies show to be beneficial both in lowering cholesterol and battling menopausal hot flashes. This oil is also being explored as an anti-cancer agent.

White rice grown in Asian countries is not generally enriched to supplement the nutrients lost during the milling process, nor

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do Asians traditionally eat brown rice. Common varietals include jasmine, basmati and japonica, but always white. Bagged rice is often coated with a starchy substance such as powdered glucose, talc or rice powder, which would make for a gluey or gummy end product if it were not rinsed off prior to cooking. Other reasons for rinsing rice include quicker cooking and sometimes germination (an exception to the white rice rule is the highly nutritious Japanese genome, a dish that entails soaking brown rice kernels prior to cooking).

However, if Americans didn’t learn to rinse their rice before cooking, now is the right time for us to adopt this practice.

I started to rinse - or wash - my rice, not for cultural reasons but because of reports that rice contained arsenic. And although this information turned out to be true, being informed on the topic can help you reduce the amount you are exposed to in your diet, while

I started to rinse - or wash - my rice, not for cultural reasons but because of reports that rice contained arsenic.

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Unfortunately this includes rice growing states in the south-central region of our country, including Arkansas (the number one rice producing state in the U.S.), Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. As the rice is grown where cotton once grew, the crop absorbs elevated levels of inorganic arsenic.

The lucky exception is California; since its soil was too claylike to support a cotton crop, arsenic-laden pesticides were never sprayed there. As a result, California rice contains far less inorganic arsenic than rice grown in the south-central states. In fact, research shows that California white rice contains 38% less inorganic arsenic than rice grown in the south-central region of the U.S.!

White Rice vs. Brown Rice It makes sense that there are lower levels of arsenic in white rice since the outer portion of the grain is removed during the milling process. This reduces the area that most effectively holds the arsenic. However, since white rice is lacking in vitamins, minerals and fiber, it still makes sense to eat highly nutritious brown rice; simply take the basic steps necessary to reduce the amount of arsenic. The first step is to buy rice that contains the lowest levels. According to Consumer Reports, brown basmati rice from California, India, or Pakistan contains approximately one-third less inorganic arsenic than other brown rices.

Should You Buy Organic Rice?

still enjoying this nutrient-rich grain. What are the facts?

Rice can contain two different types of arsenic, organic and inorganic. Organic arsenic (note: this organic is a chemistry term and not to be confused with food) occurs naturally in soil and water, and all plants take some in. This is especially true for rice because it grows in water-flooded conditions, and absorbs the arsenic through its roots, then stores it in its grains. More dangerous, though, is inorganic arsenic due to its carcinogenic properties. The presence of inorganic arsenic in rice is like history coming back to haunt us. Arsenic-containing pesticides were widely used on cotton plants and, though officially banned in the U.S. in 1988, the residue still lingers in soil where cotton was grown.

While the organic label generally offers security against exposure to harmful toxins in your food, unfortunately you cannot rely on it to safeguard you from arsenic in rice. Environmental arsenic affects both conventional and organic crops the same way. Even a product as innocuous sounding as ‘organic baby rice cereal’ can contain five times the amount of inorganic arsenic than a good alternative, such as oatmeal. The recommendation is that children’s exposure to rice products - organic or conventional - should be limited. (Concerned parents should read the Consumer Reports article “How much arsenic is in your rice?” Nov, 2014. http://consumerreports.org/cro/ magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm).

Smart Practices Rice is not only the most popular grain, in fact it is the most widely consumed food in the world! There are simple ways to reduce the amount of arsenic it holds, so it serves us well to adopt

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the following practices to ensure we are eating the healthiest product in the safest way.

Start with a nutritious rice that has the lowest arsenic content, such as rice grown in California. Remember that the centralsouthern regions of the United States have the highest levels of arsenic in their rice. Forty-nine percent of U.S. rice is from Arkansas, and rice from Texas has the highest arsenic content, so read labels! Though white rice has less inorganic arsenic, its nutritional value is negligible, so I always recommend brown rice for its nutrients and fiber.

Always rinse any type of rice, as well as any other grain you cook. Rinsing, an exercise that takes under a minute, can reduce arsenic levels by about 30%. Here’s how to do it: Pour the desired amount of rice into a pot that allows for a generous amount of water, and fill. Swish the water around the rice, then pour it off.

Repeat this process 3 - 4 times. Be sure to use clear water to cook.

Try exotic varieties of rice from countries such as India or Thailand, as these can contain much lower levels of inorganic arsenic. Varieties such as basmati or japonica from these countries can contain ½ to ⅓ the amount of inherent inorganic arsenic.

(Good news: sushi rice is japonica.)

Take advantage of the wide array of whole grains that are now widely available. Varying your selection will not only reduce your exposure to arsenic, it will also jazz up your menu!

Although other grains do not absorb arsenic to the extent rice does, it’s still a good idea to rinse them.

1

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time, I would propose you do. Call it “The One-Minute Rice Meditation”: it’s essential for healthful rice preparation, in any case.

The calm with which I prepare my rice has now spilled over to other kitchen chores; peeling carrots, chopping onions, even washing dishes (sometimes!). It’s a rhythmic and meditative process, as simple as that. One which needs to be completed, no matter your cultural orientation. Why not do it mindfully? Teach it to your children, so they, too, can say “my mother (or father) taught me.”

Note: Since 2012, Consumer Reports has urged the FDA to establish standards for safe rice consumption, based on the danger arsenic poses.

They have tested over 60 rices and 200 sample foods that are made from rice, including cereals, pasta, baby foods and rice drinks, as well as both brown and white rices from every category. They revisited their research in 2014.

The U.S. Rice Federation, as well as the FDA, is predictably blasé about the issue of rice and arsenic. I urge anyone more concerned to review the Consumer Reports article: http://www.consumerreports.org/ cro/magazine/2015/01/how-much-arsenic-is-in-your-rice/index.htm

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Meditative Cooking Rinsing rice has taught me there’s a soulful, thoughtful manner to which I can approach an otherwise harried dinner hour - and hush - if just for a moment. For anyone who says they don’t have www.edibleorangecounty.com

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TAMARIND OF LONDON Pastry Fit for a King!

By Ruth Wheeler

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like dessert, served warm over carrot cake bread ocated right across the Pacific with Godiva White chocolate cream sauce and Ocean’s Crystal Cove in beautiful topped off with a quenelle of frozen vanilla Newport Beach is Tamarind of Lonsabayon. Chef Mark places a waver on top to don. Tamarind of London known control the temperatures. The temperatures of for its exceptional Indian savory cuisine but the warm cake along with the cool cream are a to make it a truly exceptional food establishperfect combination. ment it is making sure there is still room for Chef Mark has taken me to a tropical island dessert. Enter Pastry Chef Mark Medina who off the coast of India as a try his version of the has taken traditional Indian desserts and has traditional Tandoor Pineapple - Financier cake added his creative culinary passion to more (a rich butter cake) topped with pineapple fired than satisfy the discerning sweet tooth. in Tamarind’s tandoori ovens. This is accompaYou can see the exceptional passion and nied by chilled coconut cream, pineapple espucare Chef Medina gives in his presentations of ma and mango sorbet. The denseness of the traditional Indian desserts, but what makes it cake, the lightness of the pineapple frost and oh so sensational is his creative and personal Chef Mark Medina with his the coldness of the mango sorbet along with twist he provides in his dessert offerings. My creation Rasmalai the intensity of the two sauces are a definite for guest of honor and super star shows up, and anyone visiting the Tamarind of London. it’s called Rasmalai.

Everyone always says, be sure to leave room for dessert. This must Rasmalai has a supporting cast with that entails a few layers. It’s be part of your dining experience when you visit Chef Mark’s Tamstarts with a foundation of rose petal cream, it is topped with a rich arind of London’s dessert menu. Your sweet tooth will thank you. deep blush of gelee halwa (exceptional), then the rose infused paneer cheese (think dumplings) topped with a white chocolate shaved bar and toasted pistachios. It is sprinkled with Pomegrante seeds.

Tamarind of London Its distinguished texture of the paneer cheese dumplings is compli7862 East Pacific Coast Highway mented by the smooth texture of the gelee halwa, it flows together Newport Beach, CA 92657 nicely and my mouth does a happy dance. The ponmengrantes are Ph: 949-715-8338 a nice touch along with the chocolate.

Reservations: www.opentable.com Next comes the Carrot Halwa - a traditional carrot puddingWebsite: www.tamarindoflondon.com 28 Spring 2015

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FIVE CROWNS

Prime Rib Still the Star, But Make Room For New Favorites

By Ruth Wheeler

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ew menu items enter the Five Crowns in Corona del Mar and will soon be favorites of Poppy Lane residents not to mention anyone who decides to treat themselves to this landmark restaurant located right off beautiful PCH in South Orange County.

Five Crowns, a member of the Lawry’s family of fine dining restaurants, celebrates 50 years in the restaurant business. Corporate Executive Chef and Vice President Ryan O’ Melveny Wilson, fondly nicknamed “Dave’s grandson”, has been working hard with his amazing staff to accomplish great things in honor of this landmark year. “As we come into our 50th year, we wanted to present a menu that offers guests a flexible dining experience… this new menu pays homage to the classics while offering a much broader selection of starters, main dishes and family style options. It breaks guests out of the expected course structure of fine dining at Five Crowns and lets you create your own dining experience.”

To keep things fresh and seasonal specific to South Orange County, the Five Crowns has planted their own fresh organic garden just steps away from the restaurant. This gives them ability to enhance daily dishes with fresh seasonal herbs and produce.

It was an exceptional night of trying delicious new selections such

as the smoked trout drip with crostini and from their Farm, Field and Sea section, the Seared Scottish Salmon. If you have a sweet tooth, you must have the Meyer Lemon Steamcake. It’s an absolute requirement if you like slight sweet with a twist of lemon, light cream, moist with fresh berries, oh my! I love that Five Crowns is embracing new but tempering their choices by remaining firm in quality food selections.

By Summer of 2015, the Five Crowns will have an updated and expanded bar area to accommodate their growing wine selection from Napa Valley, cult wines by Bryant family, and Screaming Eagle including wines inspired by their own patrons of Five Crowns. If you get a chance, ask to speak with their room manager, Rob Vermeeren, who is passionate about his selections. Be sure to take a look at their spirits as well with strong list of featured Absinthes.

And there is a wonderful and fun secret to the Five Crowns, but you need to whisper and ask…where can I find the…?

Five Crowns 3801 East Coast Highway Corona Del Mar, CA 92625 Ph: 949-760-0331 Website: www.lawrysonline.com/five-crowns

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The Fit Foodie®

THE TOP 8 FOOD & BEVERAGE TRENDS RIGHT NOW

BY CELEBRITY CHEF AND INDUSTRY EXPERT Mareya Ibrahim is The Fit Foodie. She is the creator of EAT CLEANER® and the Cleaner Plate Club, teaching families how to enjoy cleaner, safer, longer lasting fresh food. She is also a featured chef on “Everyday Health’s Recipe Rehab” and hosts “Fit Foodie” Fridays on Channel 6 San Diego. This time of year, she can’t get enough of golden beets, butternut squash and Branzino.

MAREYA IBRAHIM, THE FIT FOODIE

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rom meals to snacks, veggies to bevvies, the outlook for the 2015 looks cold and colorful, fungus-filled and crawling with crickets This year brought most of Mareya Ibrahim, aka The Fit Foodie’s 2014 food and beverage trend predictions to life, including the popularity of Brussels sprouts and their kale sprout babies; allergen-free labeling featured front and center, proving gluten-free and dairy-free are here to stay; ‘smart’ snacks and drinks made with flax, chia, hemp like Way Better Snacks and seaweed with companies like Sea Snax, who have experienced 1,000+% sales growth recently; and zero calorie, natural sweeteners going mainstream, especially stevia – which made its debut in Coke’s ‘Life’ and Pepsi’s ‘True’ this year.

What does she see in her crystal ball for 2015? The 20-year natural products industry veteran, chef, author and founder of eatcleaner.com anticipates steep growth in functional nutrition, organics and process-driven

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products with some surprising, bizarre ingredients getting a foothold that read right out of a Survivor episode.

1) MAGICAL MUSHROOM BLENDS This isn’t a scene out of a 60’s hallucination.

Mushrooms are getting unearthed for their powerhouse composition, richness in B vitamins, minerals, digestibility and low calories but they are getting more and more popular www.edibleorangecounty.com

for their ability to mimic meat texture and possibly help with lower glycemic responses, according to a 2014 study by the University of Buffalo. In 2015, expect to see more mushroom blends on menus and in products, and even in school lunches where pilot programs, like one in Cincinnati, helped prove the case that kids are happy to dig into a ‘shroom burger. Mushroom blend consumption will increase for its deft ability to blend into meat mixtures seamlessly to boost nutrient density while lowering calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium and cost. You’ll also see more varieties take the limelight, including shiitake and oyster mushrooms for their culinary contributions and a magical substance called Beta-glucans, which is said to boost immunity and help with allergy resistance.

Sandra Carter, Ph.D, MPH, CEO of Mushroom Matrix, a mushroom powder brand with blends for everything that ails you, says it’s the ‘next new kale’ and sales are skyrocketing. “We have experienced a growth of over 200% this year in sales and have projections for another 300% growth next year. We see so many companies adding our mushroom powders to their products, from sports bars to smoothie mixes to capsules and other foods.”

2) ORGANIC ADULT BEVERAGES With the ongoing double-digit growth in organics, the trend is also spilling into your cocktail and wine glass, too. Cultivated without the use of chemical pesticides, preservatives or flavors, consumers are becoming just as conscientious about what they imbibe as what they eat. Organic wine is getting better, beer and cider companies are getting on board, and organic spirits are now available in most categories, including vodka, gin, liqueurs, whiskey, tequila and rum.

Brian Smith, Chief Wine Officer at Club W, says expect to see the biggest growth ever in quality, organic wines over the next 12 months. “We have seen a lot more conversation happening about biodynamics and organics in the US than ever before. What used to be viewed as hippie and cuckoo is now taken very seriously.

Small to medium sized producers will push the trends from labels like Hobo Wine Company and Horse and Plow. “After tasting everything my favorite producers have in barrel over this past weekend, I’m even more excited for what’s in the hopper from the 2014 harvest,” notes Smith.

Hard Cider is also one of the biggest beverage trends in the adult bevvy arena with the category posting 100 percent gains each year for the past three years, making it the fastest growing beverage sec-

tor in the US. Newcomer Sonoma Hard Cider, which launched in 2013, has already exceeded goals in its first year with 75,000 cases and landed in 23 markets. In 2015, they are on deck to triple their sales according to CEO and Cidermaster, David Cordtz. On making his product organic, he adds “I believe going organic in alcoholic beverages is the same reason it’s getting popular for all categories – whether its non-alcoholic beverages or food. The millennial demographic cares what they consume. They care if they are organic have quality ingredients. People who are drinking hard cider are part of that demographic and want to know that they are consuming a product with quality ingredients.”

Square One Organic Vodka, a pioneer in the organic vodka category, blends its spirits with its 100% organic rye and different infusions, like basil, herbal and their new release, bergamot, adding their own herbal benefits. “When creating new spirits, I look at the spirit and what it can bring to creative cocktail development and I’ve found that choosing organic ingredients takes in the bigger picture of things -- caring for the earth, ingredient integrity and creating a luscious new cocktail experience,” notes Allison Evanow, Founder of Square One Organic Vodka, “and the number of organic spirits has grown 10-fold since we launched 8 years ago.”

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The Fit Foodie

4) BEYOND SOY MEAT-LESS MEAT

3) COLD AND PRESSED The trend in bevvies has gone cold, proving that it’s not just about the product. it’s the process, too. Cold-pressed juices and coffee are hot – no pun intended – where flavor and nutrient density rein king. When it comes to juices, cold-pressed varieties claim to keep more of the enzymes and vitamins intact that usually get eradicated with traditional heat packaged varieties. Suja, named #3 in Forbes Most Promising Companies in 2014, is driving a surge in the category with its line of organic & coldpressured juices, smoothies & teas sprouting up at Whole Foods across the country. Juice Press, which markets its line of cold-pressed juices, smoothies and coffee ships everyone in the US from their website, sprang from the 21+ popular café locations in NYC. According to Brian Lee, Director of Business Development for Circle Up, a leader in equity-based crowd funding, the rise in coldbrewed coffee, which keeps the acidity lower and flavor smoother than heat brewing, is particularly exciting. “The trend, which has gained a lot of popularity in boutique coffee shops in the San Francisco Bay Area will likely translate into more crafted grab-n-go varieties, which is exciting for the category,” notes Lee. Look for trendsetters like Blue Bottle with their New Orleans blend in an old fashioned milk carton popping up coast to coast. Califia Farms, bottling up an old fashioned look with unique packaging, has a full line of cold brewed coffees ranging in flavor and size including single serving coffee-for-dessert varieties like salted caramel and cocoa noir. The question is, will anyone give Starbucks Frappuccino a run for it’s over $1.1 billion in annual RTD sales?

Flesh-free alternatives will continue to show up on menus and in school cafeterias everywhere, but there will be a shift in what those substitutes are made from as the industry seeks ways to satiate the more than 100 million Americans turning to more vegetarian and vegan meals, according to a Harris Interactive Study.

Brands like Beyond Meat make their soy-free “Beyond Beef ” crumbles from non-GMO pea protein isolate, among other ingredients. The company has an impressive investor backing, including the one and only Bill Gates, so you know they’re onto something big. “I tasted the “Beyond Beef ” crumbles at the California School Nutrition Association Convention this past week and couldn’t help but thinking how all those unsuspecting kids would have no idea that their sloppy joes were made mostly from pea protein. More veggies on their plates!” adds Ibrahim.

Neat, which launched in late 2013, makes meat-free ‘mixes’ using whole foods like nuts, beans and gluten-free oats and cornmeal.

Just add eggs and water to the pre-seasoned blends, like Mexican Mix, and voila, meat-free meat-like filling for your tacos, burritos and other carnivorous cooking endeavors. As allergen-sensitive consumers seek out new options, 2015 will find manufacturers stepping up to soy-free sources that provide protein and still keep the consistency of the ‘real deal,’ while reducing cholesterol and saturated fat content.

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5) CRICKET CUISINE The FDA allows a certain amount of insect parts in your packaged goods, but some manufacturers are featuring them as their star ingredient. The industry is literally hopping with cricket powder, getting popular for their nutrient density, inexpensive nature and low-on-the-food-chain environmentally conscious status. You’ll find this in brands like Chapul bars, made popular on the show “The Shark Tank,” with the selling points that cricket powder has 15% more iron than spinach, 2 times more protein than beef and as much vitamin B12 as salmon.

Exo protein bars, created by two Ivy leaguers who received over $1 million in start up funding just recently, say the bars are just the start of their insect cuisine. The bars are paleo friendly, gluten, soy, dairy and grain-free with 10 grams of protein per serving. Don’t be surprised if cricket burgers start showing up at your local retailer, too.

Six Foods is taking pre-orders for their Chirps Chips, touted as being high protein, baked not fried, made with rice, beans and chock full of crickets, set to release in February 2015 - gluten-free and GMO-free, of course. Is that a bug leg in your teeth?

pushing on better-for-you convenience foods using higher protein content to balance out carbs and sugar.

Boasting sales of 400% increase year over year, Krave Jerky takes interesting culinary flavor profiles like Basil Citrus Turkey and Black Cherry Barbecue Pork and makes the jerky foodies have always hoped for, without the nitrates, nitrites and shoe-leather like consistency. Expect to see new offerings in different formats as the line has exploded to 20,000+ locations around the country.

Epic Bar puts meat in the forefront with their blend of grass fed beef, turkey, lamb and bison with nuts and dried fruit for an epicurean jerky-like bar, and about 13 grams of protein. “I discovered Epic Bars at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim when they first showcased their products and knew they were onto something special with their tasty flavor profiles and pleasing texture. The saturated bar category needs something new like this,” notes Ibrahim.

Their newest release, the Hunter & Gatherer combos are jerky and sides of nuts and berries are merchandised in a cool little picnic-like package and marketed as a ‘modern whole food snack’.

Chomps are packaged like your gas station variety of meat sticks, but they’re made from 100% grass fed beef, without any artificial preservatives, flavors or colors. As jerky sales rose 46 percent from 2009 through 2013, to $1.24 billion, according to IRI market data, expect to see more clean meat snack products catch onto the trend and pay attention to bacon. Its popularity is not subsiding, and will very likely show up in shelf stable, jerky form – from smoked to chocolate dipped - at a market near you.

6) GOURMET MEAT SNACKS The paleo push has given way to a lot of new products that are protein rich, especially snacks. The fact is, with 2/3rds of the US population deemed overweight or obese, manufacturers will keep www.edibleorangecounty.com

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The Fit Foodie

Today, it’s available in everything from powders to supplements, making it easy to include in baked goods, added to smoothies and oatmeal and chewed like healthy candy. Over the next 12 months, look for it in ready-to-drink beverages, as an addition to protein powders and in prepared baked goods and cereals as the ‘it’ superfruit.

8) THE ‘IT’ VEGGIE

7) THE NEXT NEW SUPERFRUIT We’ve seen the industry fall in love with one superfruit after another – from pomegranates to acai, goji to mangosteen, boasting their ORAC levels like sports team statistics. In 2015, look for the next superhero fruit – baobab – pronounced ‘bowbab’, which outperformed all of the other tested superfruits in recent ORAC rankings performed by Brunswick Laboratories.

Baobab is also an excellent source of fiber and is said to have the highest plant source of calcium as stated on baobabfoods.com, who also make a baobab drink mix powder.

According to Tina Chan, Founder and CEO of Powbab, the makers of baobab powder, chews and cold-pressed oils, they source their baobab superfruit from Africa. The company claims their products boost energy and immunity, with more antioxidants than acai berry on a per gram basis and 12 different minerals and vitamins including potassium, calcium, thiamin and other trace minerals and vitamins.

Kale has been the darling of the veggie world for the last few years, graduating from homely garnish to the star of Michelin ranked plates. Now, for 2015, which green will hail queen? Melissa’s Produce in Los Angeles is predicting a rainbow based on recent yearover-year growth, including mini sweet peppers, Sunflowerchokes, Kalettes (aka kale sprouts) and Romanesco. “Colorful veggies, including chard, carrots and cauliflower in vibrant pink, green, purple and peach hues, will also get very popular as they elevate the appearance of finished dishes. We eat with our eyes first, so its no wonder these colorful characters are getting more attention,” comments produce guru, Robert Schueller, Director of PR for Melissa’s Produce.

Schueller also suggests that the popularity of Latin-inspired flavors will give way to veggies like jicama, tomatillo and chile peppers getting more of a featured place in the limelight, with Shishito, Padron and Habaneros taking center stage.

For True Foods restaurants founder and acclaimed naturopath, Dr. Andrew Weil, his bet is on sweet potatoes. “It’s showing up on a lot more menus as a featured ingredient instead of just a side dish.

It’s relatively low in glycemic index and very filling. We make a sweet potato pie here at the restaurant and it’s one of my favorite dishes,” adds Dr. Weil.

We can only hope for more veggies becoming the hero of plates nationwide in 2015.

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SLOW RIDE SESSIONS

E A T, D R I N K , & L E A R N W I T H T H E E C O LO G Y C E N T E R + N E W B E LG I U M B R E W I N G Join The Ecology Center and New Belgium Brewing at OC’s favorite local eateries for free education and complimentary beer samplings! Gain knowledge and skills to live sustainably then toast to the slow life with New Belgium’s Slow Ride session IPA.

S E S S I O N DAT E S & LO C AT I O N S THU • March 5 • Five Crowns, Corona Del Mar THU • March 26 • Haven Gastropub, Orange WED • April 22 • Five Crowns, Corona Del Mar THU • May 4 • The Cellar, San Clemente THU • May 28 • Five Crowns, Corona Del Mar

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N V I S I T T H E E C O LO G Y C E N T E R . O R G

OUR ADVERTISERS CELLAR,THE (P. 5) 156 Avenida Del Mar San Clemente, CA 92672 949.492.3663 www.thecellarsite.com Visit our original shop and restaurant in San Clemente or try our newest locations in Costa Mesa and Anaheim. The Cellar is a wine bar, a restaurant and cheese shop that features live music, nightly.

The goal, at The Cellar, is to offer customers a wide selection of perfectly ripe cheeses in a friendly environment that will entice both a novice and veteran cheese lover.

EAT CLEANER (P. 13) Info@eatcleaner.com www.eatcleaner.com Protect and preserve your family’s food with EAT CLEANER, the award-winning line of all natural food wash a + wipes that remove wax, pesticide, residue and bacteria that can cause food borne illness. EAT CLEANER is an Orange County-based company.

THE ECOLOGY CENTER (P. 37) 32701 Alipaz Street San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 949.443.4223 www.theecologycenter.org Located in San Juan Capistrano, California, The Ecology Center provides the community with solution-based education to inspire ecologically sound solutions at the household and community level.

EDIBLE COMMUNITIES, INC. (INSIDE BACK COVER) www.ediblecommunities.com The mission of Edible Communities, Inc. (ECI) is to transform the way consumers shop for, cook, eat and relate to local food. Through its printed publications, websites and events, ECI strives to connect consumers with local growers, retailers, chefs and food artisans, enabling those relationships to grow and thrive in a mutually beneficial, healthful and economically viable way. Each Edible publication creates content rich, community-based, local-food stories in distinct culinary regions throughout the United States and Canada.

KELLOGG GARDEN PRODUCTS (P. 7) www.kellogggarden.com Natural and organic premium garden soil, potting soil, mulch and fertilizer helping your garden project reach its best potential.

NOVICA (Inside Front Cover & P. 1) with National Geographic cdukes@novica.com www.novica.com NOVICA LIVE provides a unique cultural shopping experience, where you can travel the world through entertaining home shows and see multimedia presentations of artisans creating the very items you will hold in your hands.

PASOLIVO OIL (BACK COVER) 8530 Vineyard Drive, Paso Robles, CA 93446 805.227.0186 Fax 805.226.8809 info@pasolivo.com www.Pasolivo.com As producers and purveyors of the finest specialty food, kitchen, bath, and body products available, Pasolivo is passionate about their offerings of all-natural, organic and seasonal products. Beginning as a producer of award-winning olive oil, they have built a business based on hand crafting and discovering exceptional products that delight the senses. Their products are completely unique. Whether you are looking for great flavors, luxurious textures, or awardwinning quality, Pasolivo’s products use the finest and healthiest ingredients and materials. From their ranch to you - experience the magic of Pasolivo.

WEST COAST FLAVOR (P. 2 & 3) 714-744-9844 www.wcflavor.com If you eat, cook, entertain and enjoy making your home functional and beautiful, you should be shopping with West Coast Flavor. Bringing you the best artisan foods, accessories and art that celebrate the countries and cultures making up the West Coast of The Americas, West Coast Flavor offers an incredible variety of new products to make your summer cookouts, picnics and entertaining outstanding.

No matter the time of year, or the event at hand, West Coast Flavor provides unique, artisan foods and condiments to spice up the menu of any occasion.

38 Spring 2015

www.edibleorangecounty.com

edible DC

Celebrating the Local Food Culture of the Capitol Region, Season by Season

Mick Klug on Peaches

Refresh: Cold Summer Soups T H E H E I R LO O M TO M ATO

SUMMER 2014

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A MEMBER OF EDIBLE COMMUNITIES

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ISSUE 24

Support Local Community, Food & Drink Member of Edible Communtiies

Good food. Good drink. Good read. • No. 25 • Summer 2014

Javier Plascencia | Organic Beer | Smit Farms | No-dirt Gardening Tulloch Farms | Crime in the Fields | Native Plant Gardening

edible Toronto Member of Edible Communities

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AND THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE

No. 15 • Spring 2011

edible TULSA

Inspired | Informative | Influential

Spring’s Bean Sprung!

Overindulge in Asparagus while the Local Pickings are Good Romance the Palate, Latin American Style Taste Prince Edward County Resurrect Tradition

Support Local Community, Food & Drink Member of Edible Communities