Late Night Junk Food? It’s Not Just the U.S

Experts on TV told us not to eat late at night because we tend to eat junk foods. Here in the U.S, we didn’t listen. If it makes you feel better though, apparently no one else listened either. Check out this story via NPR’s the Salt via Massive Health (who put out apps to help conquer healh.

It turns out that all over the world, people tend to eat healthy at the beginning of the day and gradually eat less and less healthy as the day goes on. By the evening we’re all eating the local equivalent of Hostess Pies or freaky looking crunchies. It’s not schadenfreude. It’s just nice to know that everyone from Paris to Tokyo is susceptible to junk food too.  I’m guilty certainly of eating lots of potato and veggie chips late night.

The story doesn’t explain why we’re drawn to junk. Maybe there are few common sense answers we can infer. At the end of the night willpower is low. You put up a valiant effort through the day and deserve a treat. Who wants to cook late at night? Why is everything sold in a multi-pack?

I’ve been a little better lately. If I have to snack, foods like nuts aren’t a bad option to have on hand since they provide good fat and protein and you don’t need to eat a lot of them. Here are some other suggested late night snacks from Men’s Fitness. So cheers Sao Paulo, Toronto, Mumbai and points in between. At least we’re all in this together.

Kohr’s Frozen Custard

If you’re on the Jersey shore you’ll find many fun foods including extra large slices of pizza, lemonade, funnel cake, fudge, pork roll and of course boardwalk fries. Those are all great American foods to have later, but the first priority is to stop by Kohr’s Frozen custard stand. I love frozen custard because I only have it a handful of times a year. While it’s available in other places, it’s more special because I associate having it ocean side at the Jersey shore. I first saw it was in Seaside Heights, NJ. The most recent time was at Point Pleasant.

According to Wikipedia frozen custard is: “….a cold dessert similar to ice cream, but made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration requires products marketed as frozen custard to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. If it has fewer egg yolk solids, it is considered ice cream.

The Kohr’s I’m referring to is here. There are actually multiple companies with similar names all run by descendants of the original brothers. From what I read, they’re all good. Parsing together the history seems to beg how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. I wouldn’t bother with that. You’re on the shore. Now go relax.

Kohr’s has been making frozen custard since 1919, so maintaining the same recipe over nearly 100 years is pretty impressive. The woman behind the counter told me that the most popular is chocolate mint. That was a clear winner. I have to say, with the sun at its highest, there is nothing more refreshing.

RoodonFood Discovers the Google Recipes Tool

I recently discovered the super smart Google Recipes tool while searching for a recipe. Wired has some further information on it as well here. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose a recipe out of the often dizzying number of search results, this tool is for you.

Normally a user searches for terms like “chicken paprikash recipe” and google displays the, in this case 19,300 results. The recipe tool allows the user to drill down further by providing a list of common ingredients to check off in the left sidebar thereby refining results. For example, the Chicken Paprikash recipe search displays sour cream, caraway, dill, canola, cayenne pepper and white wine as check boxes in the sidebar. I check off sour cream and cayenne pepper, so it revises the search down to 22 recipe results. Additionally, the sidebar allows you to choose recipes based on cook times and calories. It’s not necessary to check off ingredients if you simply want to search by calories or cook times. Here by the way is a great Chicken Paprikash recipe I’ve used.

This function debuted more than a year ago but it’s new and helpful to me and hopefully helpful to you as well. You can access it simply by typing in your search in google and look at the left sidebar. Google itself also has some instruction to make the most of the tool. See screenshot below.

Beyond Meat’s foray into fake chicken

This story from NPR’s blog, the Salt caught my ear: Link

Beyond Meat, a new company based in Maryland, has come up with an alternative to chicken meat that it claims is a dead ringer for the real thing. And unlike other meat alternatives on the market, this one aims to be cheap as well as tasty.

Full disclosure: I’m only vegetarian once a week. I do however enjoy the faux meat products I’ve tried, including  Morningstar Farms Chik’n Nuggets. Vegetarians I know though fall into two camps: those that never liked meat to begin with and those that miss the texture and flavor of certain meats.

The chicken is made from: A dry mix of soy and pea powder, carrot fiber and gluten-free flour is heated, cooled and extruded through a machine, producing a fake meat that mimics chicken.

The main appeal to me is the potential lower price point. In my area the faux frozen meats are $4-$6 and rarely go on sale. My grocery store has sales on chicken every single week for cheaper.  I’ve definitely been fooled before that a chili was made with beef rather than tofu, so I’m curious if they’ll fool me with their faux chicken product. It’s also smart of them to make this product Gluten Free opening up it’s appeal further.The test role out will begin at Whole Foods stores in Northern California.

Glutino Dream Cookies: Chocolate Vanilla Creme Review

The latest snack I tried from Glutino is the Chocolate Vanilla Creme cookies. (10.6 ounces, 300g). These cookies are the GF equivalent of the Oreo cookie. The serving size is two cookies and there are around 20 in the package which is decent compared with other GF products.

They have a neat lattice sort of design which is a nice touch. The crunch is less than the regular Oreo but very pleasant. I actually prefer this level of crunchiness. The cookie is very chocolate-y despite cocoa powder not being the first ingredient. The smell is a mix of the rice flour and chocolate but not in a bad way. The crème is actually very spreadable. My girlfriend suggests eating each half with the crème evenly divided so you have two open faced cookies.

Snack of the Day Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies

So far Glutino Gluten Free products are 3 for 3. The other two products I tried are the Nutrigrain-style GF breakfast bars which aren’t bad (though some disagree), and the pretzels. The Glutino cookies are $4.99 which is more than you want to pay, but a better value than other cookie brands which can be as expensive as $7.

If you’re interested in finding a Glutino product, they have the locator below. It tells you stores in your area with their items, though not which specific products.

Locator: http://www.glutino.com/locate-a-retailer/

Serving for 2?

Strange Foods Confession: Swiss Cheese Quesadilla

One of my favorite snacks is the quesadilla. It’s simple and makes for a wonderful snack. I make it a point to have some tortillas on hand for this purpose. During the week I’ll often make sandwiches using a ratio of 3 cold cuts to every 1 slice of cheese. The result is always leftover cheese, my favorite of which is Swiss. It’s not the typical cheese found in Mexican (Oaxaca) or American quesadillas (Cheddar, Monterrey Jack, Colby).  Out of necessity, I came up with the Swiss quesadilla, which as it turns out is very tasty, and done in 5 minutes.

The recipe is simple:

-Two Corn Tortillas

-3 slices of Swiss cheese (or more, depending on how cheesy you like it)

Heat a small frying pan to medium. Add a little oil. Once the pan is heated, place one tortilla down on the pan. On top, add your cheese. Top it with the other tortilla. Cook each side for around 2-3 minutes until browned a tiny bit (you cook longer to crisp). The less oil you use, the more browned it will get. Quarter the Swiss quesadilla with a knife. Eat with ketchup. I know it’s strange to eat with ketchup but the contrast works nicely.

RoodonFood and the Most Interesting Man in the World Recommend: Curry Express

Here in New York, locals refer to the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan as Curry Hill because of the large number of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants concentrated around Lexington between 25^th and 29^th street, just north of Gramercy Park. The most famous is probably Curry in a Hurry because it has been around since 1976. Under current ownership it’s not very good. The food is oily and I strongly suggest having Pepto Bismol at the ready. My recommendation for casual steam table Indian food is called Curry Express. Located not quite on the corner of 29^th St and Lexington, this unassuming place has been a favorite of mine for years.

I’ve gone to this place after job interviews, after seeing Helmet at the nearby Gramercy theater and after events at nearby Madison Square Park. Basically anytime I’m in the area, I make it a point to eat there or bring some back to Brooklyn. You can get custom entrees and snacks such as samosa chaat or get combo meals. I opt for the combos generally which are $7-$8 (1 meat, 2 veg or 3 veg items). I recommend pretty much everything. My favorites though are the chicken curry, the melt in your mouth cauliflower, and spinach. The counter people are always really nice. If in a particularly good mood, they’ll sometimes give me a free naan or a sweet. Ignore most of the fancy places, check out Curry Express. Other notable spots in the neighborhood: Saravan Bhavan (amazing Dosas) and Tiffinwallah (all vegetarian, North and South Indian but stick to the South).

Non-vegetarian combo meal: Chicken Curry, Begun (eggplant), gobi (cabbage)

Veg Combo: Chole (chickpea curry), Gobi (cabbage), and Dal (Lentils)

 

Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA Beer

I picked up this bottle of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA at one of Park Slope’s best stores for selection, Bierkraft. The brand based out of Paso Robles, CA is new to me. Incidently, this fine beer allowed me to get through  an hour of the disappointing movie Rum Diary (Johnny Depp is usually in good movies) without noticing. By the way, I didn’t have rum because it usually gives me a headache.

The color is a nice shade located somewhere between amber and golden. The pour provides a slight head.  I like the honey and floral notes in taste and smell. For an IPA the hopiness is mild as is the carbonation making this beer very drinkable. No real negatives to this beer. I’d definitely check it out a second time. 10/10. If you check out the beer, let me know what you think. They have a handy beer finder here.

Evil Clowns + Pie?

If you’re looking for an opportunity to scar your children on their birthday, there is a great option available for hire. An evil clown played by one, Dominic Deville will stalk your child for 7 days attempting to scare him all week. Apparently it’s thrilling for kids. Those that aren’t horrified in the best possible sense can have the stalking stopped at any time. Eventually the stalking culminates into a pie in the face.

The clown’s one and only aim is to smash a cake into the face of his victim, when they least expect it, during the course of seven days. If the boy or girl manages to avoid the ‘hit’, they are given the cake as a birthday present.

Your kid needs therapy for life, but with if he or she has deft reflexes he gets a free pie! No word from Mr. Deville on if you can choose what type of pie.

Article: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/821591-evil-clown-hired-for-stalking-threats-and-a-pie-in-the-face#ixzz1uE02hAE2

Bolst Curry Powder (Mild)

Bolst Curry Powder Mild (100g, 3.53 oz)

I’m loyal to Bolst curry powder because honestly it was one of first spice mixes I bought as my interest in cooking grew. I’ve tried several other brands which are all collecting dust. The initial appeal was the packaging. I love that it’s a canister which you get to open as if it’s coffee. Of course there is a plastic lid to use after it’s open so doesn’t all have to be used in one go.

Bolst is a great introductory blend to buy for those unsure if they’ll enjoy cooking anything curry related.  It’s mild even compared with other mild curry powders. It’s also sold in a practically non-commital 3.5 oz size for only around $3.

It has a really nice burnt orange color to it. If you take a whiff the smoky turmeric and chili comes through. It provides a pleasant sweetness, and mild spice. Two ways I like to use it are in massaman curry and tofu scramble (reciple below). For those who like a little more heat, they make a hot version. It can also provide a little variety if you’re making breakfast home fries. If you’re making anything Indian I strongly suggest over  time getting the individual spices so you can understand what, for example cumin seed add. The ingredients of Bolst Curry Powder mild are: coriander, turmeric, mustard, chillies (6%), ginger, cumin seeds, fenugreek. One place to buy it is at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Tofu Scramble

Ingredients:

6 ounces tofu (crumbled)

2 ounces frozen peas

1/3 red onion (diced)

2 tablespoons Bolst Curry Powder

Garlic (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Cilantro (optional)

Add a little oil to a pan. Heat pan to medium-low. Throw in the chopped onions. Let them cook for a minute or two. Now add in the tofu, peas, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic and salt to taste. Allow to cook covered for 6-8 minutes, periodically stirring. Garnish with cilantro.