Ani Phyo deserves a high five for her Black and Blueberry cobbler recipe. She posted a great video clip on her blog that illustrates how easy it is to make this yummy dessert. Ani’s video came at a great time because I recently stumbled across a Blackberry patch and the berries are delicious. Ani’s cobbler was the perfect way to use those berries.
Deborah Fabricant is the author of a book called ‘Stacks: The Art of Vertical Food’. She also sells a line of kitchen tools for making your own stacking treats, this is what I used for the cobbler. If you don’t have the proper tools for making a stack, a tin can with both ends removed works just as well. Center the can on your serving plate and place 2-3Tbs of crust in the bottom, packing it firmly. Now add the berry filling and another layer of crust, again be sure to firmly pack the crust. To remove your cobbler from the can, use the bottom of a drinking glass and gently push down on the cobbler while you lift up on your can. Be sure to go slowly as the crust is sticky from the dates and will tear easily.
I added a few additions to Ani’s recipe, lemon zest for tartness and coconut oil to stiffen the crust so it would work as a stacking dessert. This is an excellent recipie to impress dinner guests, it’s easy to make, it looks awesome and tastes great.
A Black and Blue Stack With a Twist
Crust
~3/4 Cup Pecans
~1/4 Cup Pitted Dates
~ 1 Vanilla bean (only use the inner scrapings of the pod) or 2TBS of Vanilla Extract
~2 Tbs Coconut oil
~1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
Filling
1 Cup Blackberries
1 Cup Blueberries
1/4 Cup of Agave Nectar
1/2 Tsp Lemon Zest
Garnish
~2 Tbs Lemon zest
~1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
~1/8 Tsp Cloves
~1tsp Agave Nectar
~ Fresh Mint
Combine the lemon zest, nutmeg, cloves and agave in a small bowl and mix until the zest is fully coated. Place a dime sized pinch of the zest on top of your cobbler and garnish with mint.
This is one of the wild Blackberries that ended up as dessert;)
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August 19th, 2008
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Not that long ago I got pulled over for making an improper right hand turn. I was confident that if I explained myself the officer wouldn’t give me a ticket. This approach didn’t work at all! I’ve never, ever gotten a ticket in all the years I’ve been driving. In the past I’ve been able to bat my lashes and get out if it. Not this time, so off I went to the Bronx traffic court, fought the ticket and lost. The silver lining in my disappointing day was that I’d spotted an impressive fruit truck and knew no matter what the verdict there was tasty fruit waiting for me in the end. It was my own version of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I wouldn’t argue with a pot of gold either;)
The entire time I was sitting in the court room the fruit truck was calling me. I could hear the coconuts taunting me like the addict I am, “Lesley, we are tasty and fresh, come take us home!” Yes, I have a coconut problem and I’m dealing with it:)
If you look closely you’ll notice three different types of mangoes, they were delish. Wouldn’t it be cool if fruit trucks were as common as a coke machines and this was considered fast food? If only I were Queen. 
These were the biggest papayas I’d ever seen, they were the size of new born babies, just huge!
Coconuts on ice? Anything like Disney on Ice? No? Way off? I thought for sure there would be a connection here.
Ahh, a nice sharp machete in the Bronx, how comforting.
Ooh, the machete works nicely, much better than my kitchen knife. You should see me open a coconut, it looks as if I’m practicing for a horror film. I can already hear the slogan, “The Coconut Butcher, coming to a theater near you.”
I got sited for not just one ticket that fateful day but two and will fight the other one just the same. If I loose again, se la vie, there is always my love affair with the fruit truck:)
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August 8th, 2008
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Ron Shnaper has the right idea when it comes to function and design, this plant loving student at Holon Institute of Technology in Israel has made a dish drainer thats ideal for those who lack a green thumb.
Rons design capitalizes on water drain off to grow fresh herbs, without watering them the old fashioned way. Talk about a handy symbiotic relationship. I love designs that serve more than one purpose don’t you?
For those of us who live without a dishwasher you know how ugly and gross some dish drainers can be. Ron’s design is like having a dual functioning piece of modern art in your kitchen. I get a kick out of the cartoonish looking tree/herb separators! Life should be fun and so should your dish drainer! Thats my new motto.
As a raw foodie having fresh herbs in your kitchen will add some spice to your cuisine. As much as I like this design I wish the herb section was bigger. If I had fresh herbs in my kitchen, this is tasty recipe I would make. It’s courtesy of Gone Raw. It sounds delicious!
Take a peek at these Flicker photos for more designs from Ron and other H.I.T students. This towel and dryer is another Ron Schnaper design, I think he has a love hate relationship with drying dishes:)
Article Inspired by: Yanko Design
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August 3rd, 2008
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There was an interesting article in the New York Times a few days ago talking about “locavores,” a term I’d never heard of before. Locavores have a pretty sweet system of getting local organic produce with out the work of growing it themselves. This article was written for those of you who are afraid of worms, spiders and don’t like to get dirty;) It’s appropriately titled, “A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but no Muss” I love it already!
I get excited and boarderline giddy when I see more and more options for purchasing better, real, true foods. For example, I was eating lunch in a cafeteria and they had a daily list of which foods were grown locally, organic and exactly where they came from. That simple list on a dry erase board made happy, it told me people as a whole want to re-establish the relationship between the food on their plate and the farmer that grew the food. Don’t you want to know where your food comes from? Did it come from China, Chile or New Jersey? Our produce buying, voting dollars are hard at work and they’re doing a great job. Thanks greenbacks, we support you. This goes to show our choices to by local organic foods really do make a personal impact, we are trend setting-whooohoo!
As for worms and dirt, things in the community garden are going swimmingly. I’ve got a thriving bunch of tomatoes, a great selection of lettuces, herbs, peppers, corn, squash and cantaloupe-yum. It’s amazing to see how quickly things grow and come to fruition. I’m no gardener so I’m really, really amazed:) Here is a photo of my latest and greatest harvest:)
Things in the garden haven’t been all peachy, pun intended. There was the ‘Mosquito Massacre of 08,’ I survived but not without a total of 26 bites, ugg, can we say itchy!?! There was also the ‘Green House’ incident, I came across two young and foolish East Village hipsters rolling in the so called hay, a.k.a my green house! It was a scarring blur, crazy New Yorkers! Gardening in the city has been a colorful and fun experience. It gives this concrete maze I call home a community. There are all walks of people who put in a lot of time and effort into this community garden so that it may be a functional and beautiful space for everyone to enjoy, that’s a great community.
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July 29th, 2008
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I got a Vitamixer and I’m uber, uber, uber excited! I’ve been coveting these lean mean blending machines for almost a year now. I’m a hard core bargain huntress and hate paying full price for things, it’s just not in my nature. All my expensive raw kitchen tools have been acquired via Craig’s List for a significant discount. Most major raw tools are helpful and pricey, Craig’s List has really helped me live like a true rawkstar with out paying the hefty price.
The Craig’s List purchase that spurred my addiction to the ‘house wares’ section was a four tray Excalibur dehydrator with teraflex sheets and a copy of Sarma’s book ‘Raw Food Real World’ for 50.00$-BONUS! The dehydrator sells new for 119.95$ and the book is 37.50$ this is without tax and shipping!
My second Craig’s List find was a Cuisinart food processor bought for 15.00$ this same processor sells new for 149.00$ on Cuisinart’s website. I love this machine, it was in great shape when I bought it and it’s been well used ever since.
My best deal so for is the purchase of my Vitamixer 5000, a.k.a my new best friend. The seller was asking 399.00$, I offered 275.00$ and it was a done deal. I’ve been giddy all day:) The cool part about all of this is my Vitamix was brand new, unopened, in the box so I can get the 3 year warranty! It’s Crazy how this world works sometimes:) I wasn’t really looking for a Vitamixer because I wanted to wait till my blender died but this fell into my lap and I jumped on it like a tiger-rarrrr.
A shiny new box for my cat to sit in when it’s empty, he loves boxes.
The recipe and care book for the Vitamixer is full of neat tips and tricks. Did you know you don’t ever have to physically wash a Vitamix? I didn’t, all you have to do is fill it up with water add a drop of soap, turn it on high and it cleans it’s self. Yes, I’m in love:)
My very first Vitamix recipe is creamy sesame seed milk. I’ve been anxious to make this and hadn’t attempted with my standard blender because it couldn’t chop all the sesame seeds. The Vitamix did an awesome job.
Creamy Sesame Milk
~ 1Cup Sesame seeds soaked
~ 3 Tbs Coconut oil
~3 Brazil nuts
~ 2 Dates, pitted
~ 2 inch piece of vanilla bean
Place all ingredients in a Vitamix and blend till uniform. Pour the milk through a nut milk bag and squeeze out the milk. Store in the fridge and enjoy. I used the left over pulp to make cookies but crackers would be good too.
Sesame Snackers
~ Sesame pulp from making milk
~ 5 chopped dates
~1Tbs Mesquite Powder
~ 2 Tbs Agave nectar
Mix all ingredients by hand and shape into balls. Place on a dehydrator tray, use a fork to flatten. dehydrate to desired consistency.
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July 15th, 2008
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Whats the difference between a tangerine and a Clementine? They’re both small orange and tasty but i feel like they are kind of the same thing? According to Websters dictionary tangarines originated from Tangier, Moroco and a Clementine is a hybrid of a tangarine and an orange. Hmmmm interesting!!!
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July 2nd, 2008
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Ahhh another bento box, a cute one to boot. The “happy egg in the nest” is a cherry tomato with a face cut from a nori sheet. The egg sits in a bed of “angel hair pasta” made with zucchini and is surrounded by green bean spears and radish slices.
The pink pig is a reusable cup that holds the marinara sauce. The sauce sits on top a bed of ribboned spinach, cubbed yellow bell peppers and parsley. The little bird in the nest holds the dressing for the salad.
There are many, many types of bento boxes but I prefer the “Leaf Tight” brand because they have snapping side hinges and a rubber seal to prevent leaking, a major plus when packing a lunch. I use a bento strap as insurance to make sure things stay put together and there are no accidental openings in my bag.
The best resources I’ve found for bento boxes and supplies have been Japanese grocery stores, Ebay and the dollar store-yes the dollar store! If your interested in bento making start at the dollar store, this is by far the most affordable way of getting your bento collection rolling:) My words of wisdom when bento box shopping are to look for boxes that are dishwasher safe, big enough to hold a meal and have a tight sealing lid. This cartoonish carrying bag is courtesy of Ebay.
For the angel hair pasta I use a lemon zester to make fine zucchini noodles. It sounds tedious but you can whip up a batch of pasta in no time with a sharp tool like this zyliss zester, this baby cuts like a knife in hot coconut butter;) Happy bento making!
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June 26th, 2008
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I love, love, love kimchi! I may actually be an addict and could possibly start a support group “Kimchi Addicts Anonymous.” I have been on an Asian food kick and here is my latest and greatest raw recipe. These rolls make great appetizer for a party or two rolls make for a filling dinner.
You may be looking at those four petite rolls thinking how artsy the presentation is but let me fill you in on a little secret. There are only four rolls on the plate because they are the four that survived my dull kitchen knife. The rest got squished and I ate them:) They were delicious! I am in serious need of a knife sharpener:)
Hot ‘n’ Spicy Kimchi Rolls
~1 Cup of kimchi
~6 Untoasted Nori Sheets
~6 Sliced Shitake Mushrooms
~4 bunches of baby Bok Choy
~2 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced length wise
~2 Tbs Mirin Sauce
~2 Tbs Sesame oil
~1 Tbs Mellow white miso
~1Tsp sesame seeds
~1 Tsp grated ginger
Slice your baby bok choy into 1/4″ thick ribbons. In a bowl combine the bok choy, sesame seeds, mellow white miso, ginger and sesame oil. In a separate bowl combine the shitake mushrooms, mirin sauce and let it marinate.
Place a nori sheet on a bamboo mat and make a two inch wide path of bok choy at one end of the nori sheet, the bok choy will take the place of rice. Then stack on the sliced cucumbers, marinated shitake mushrooms and as much or as little kimchi as you want. Using a bamboo mat roll the nori tightly using water to seal the edges if they won’t stick. Using a SHARP knife:) slice your roll into bite size pieces and artfully display. I used the kimchi juice as a decorative yet tasty sauce on my plate.
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June 21st, 2008
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The Renegade craft fair was in Brooklyn this weekend and it was AWESOME!! I was pleasantly surprised when I found The Brooklyn Community Juice truck a.k.a “The Green Pirate” parked outside serving fresh raw and organic juice to the masses. I bought one of their young coconuts with the logic that I would need the electrolytes to shop my heart our in this muggy NYC weather.
I love the idea of a Juice truck, they have every other kind of trucks and vendors at big events so why not a juice truck? I’m sure there are lots of people who would opt for a fresh juice over a soda, I would!! The neat thing about a juice truck is that where there is one there will soon be need for more! Expand Green Pirate expand, the world needs you! VIVA LA GREEN PIRATE REVOLUTION!!
While at the fair I found some really neat and interesting items. Although not raw;) Still cool….
These bobby pins are made from recycled watch faces, I like that there are no hands on them. Thats the part of a watch I like to ignore anyways:)
The crafty crafter who makes these note books was a hot item at the fair, his booth was packed! He takes the old books that the thrift store can’t sell and reincarnates them into one of a kind note books and journals. He mixes the book pages in with seventy five pages of blank paper to make a unique and original note book. The shipping is included in the price, a book will run you thirteen dollars. www.bookjournals.com
Now I have a fun note book to keep track of all the blogging ideas I have floating around in my head. I have used up several pages already, ahhh organization awaits!
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June 16th, 2008
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Believe it or not, there was a time not that long ago where I had no interest in kitchen gadgets, appliances, cute bowls, dishes ect. I didn’t like spending money on these things and purposely kept my kitchen wares to a minimum. Now all that has changed, the more time I spend making raw dishes the more and more I want fun dishes to serve them in and fun tools to make them with.
These are two of my latest kitchen editions. The bright, punchy bowls are from Zak designs, they’re made of recycled melamine. At first sight I knew these babies had to be mine. You can find this set of four nesting bowls at Urban outfitters for 28.00.
I fell in love with this heart shaped bamboo spoon and I needed that too:) It’s a little hard to read but it says “Made With Love” on the handle. I thought that was pretty appropriate for a raw foodie like myself-awwwww. Unfortunately the spoon is only sold in an Urban Outfitters store but you can pick it up for 8.00$.
Aliens have clearly taken over my body. I had a gift card to spend in Urban Outfitters and the normal me would have never set foot in the kitchen department, I would have purchased clothes with that card. Instead, the aliens that invaded my life convinced me that I needed these cute housewares, I never knew aliens had such a good eye for design:)
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June 14th, 2008
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