Food Bloggers Los Angeles volunteers

The Jolly Tomato took a break from writing yesterday to meet up with other bloggers from Food Bloggers Los Angeles for a volunteer project at Project Angel Food in Los Angeles. Project Angel Food is an organization that provides free, nutritious meals to people throughout Los Angeles who suffer from HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other illnesses. Project Angel Food volunteers help cook, assemble, and deliver more than 13,000 meals every week to people in need.

A few of the 1,200 meals we packed

When we arrived in the morning, our group got a comprehensive orientation on hygiene and kitchen protocol – and then we were put right to work. We chopped vegetables, scooped beans and lasagna, packed, sealed, and labeled food trays – and the operation was so efficient that before we knew it there were hundreds of meals stacked up and ready to be delivered.

Meals stacked and ready to go

Our fearless leader, Chef Tyson, told us that our kitchen crew had produced 1,200 meals that morning. A good day’s work for sure! Special thanks to Patti Londre of Worth the Whisk for coordinating the group effort.

To learn more about Project Angel Food, including how to volunteer or contribute, visit their web site.

Meyer lemons are the hipsters of the lemon family. They are not quite as tart as a regular lemon, they have a bright citrus flavor, and they’re incredibly popular throughout what people refer to as “California Cuisine.” Apparently Meyer lemons came about as a cross between a true lemon and some variety of orange; this could explain their mild flavor and versatility. They’re  mostly harvested in winter, which is great news for all of us who need a little lemon-y boost to get through January.

While admiring our Meyer lemons, the first recipe we came up with was a kale and lemon salad.We learned about making shockingly delicious raw kale salads from – who else – Dorothy of Shockingly Delicious. The key when using raw kale in a salad is to either massage the dressing into the kale, or just toss it together and let it sit for a few hours so the kale softens up a bit.

We are fully in support of the “lazy” method. So we took a beautiful bunch of Russian kale (it has flat, spindly leaves and purple stems), tore the leaves from the stems, and tossed the leaves in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of one Meyer lemon. Then we let it sit for a few hours, and by dinnertime we had a beautiful lemon-y treat for the table.

Next we decided to go crazy with some winter colors and make a blue corn/Meyer lemon cornbread. We adapted this from a plain blue cornbread recipe from an Allrecipes.com; the result is nice and cake-y with a mild lemon flavor.

Blue Corn/Meyer Lemon Cornbread

1 cup blue cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

Grated rind of one Meyer lemon

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup butter

1 Meyer lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch circular baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cornmeal, flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Combine the eggs, milk, and oil in a separate bowl and mix well. Combine the egg mixture and lemon rind with the dry ingredients. Meanwhile, place the butter inside the baking dish in the oven until it melts. Then mix the hot butter into the cornmeal mixture. Transfer cornmeal mixture into the baking dish. Carefully arrange lemon slices in a circular pattern on top of the batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the edges of the cornbread pull away from the side of the dish and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve  warm; drizzle with honey to taste.

Tasty, right? Next up for lemon week: Fish grilled with lemon, and another amazing lemon dessert.

One of the best vacations we ever had was a trip to Sorrento. Of course the scenery was beautiful and the food was amazing, but one of the best parts of the trip was the ever-present fragrance of lemons, from the lemon groves that dot the hillsides to the trees that flourish in nearly every backyard. They take their lemons seriously on the Amalfi Coast, serving it alongside fresh-caught fish, grilled vegetables, citrus-y sponge cakes, and best of all, in limoncello, the traditional liqueur of the region.

When we’re feeling the winter blues – or thinking longingly of Sorrento – we like to cheer everyone up with a quick batch of lemon bars. These little bars have a tangy lemon custard inside a crumbly sweet crust.

To make these lemon bars, we tried out the new seedless lemons from Frieda’s – The Specialty Produce Company. Frieda’s was kind enough to send us some samples, which brightened up our weekend considerably. These oval-shaped cuties are easy to squeeze, and there are no pesky seeds to filter out. Perfect for a dark winter day.

Lemon Bars

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, chilled

1 cup sugar

2 T additional flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup lemon juice

Powdered sugar for dusting

Combine flour and powdered sugar; cut butter into the mixture with a pastry blender. Press mixture firmly into baking pan (9 x 9 inch or 7 x 11 inch). Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, 2 T flour, and baking powder. Add eggs and lemon juice, stir well to combine. Pour mixture over baked crust and return to oven. Bake for another 25 minutes or until custard is set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into squares when cool. Optional: Dust each square with powdered sugar.

Coming up next: Meyer lemons.

There’s plenty of debate about how to solve the childhood obesity epidemic, and no consensus on solutions (Eat fewer calories? Get more exercise? Both? Something else entirely?). But no matter how the problem gets addressed, it has to start at home. Therefore we humbly submit this list of things to do in your home to make sure your kids stay healthy without adding on pounds of fat. Let’s call these the “Top 5 Tips to Prevent Childhood Obesity.”

Shop with them: Take them with you to the store or the farmer’s market or the co-op (yes, we know, it’s a pain. Bring distractions if necessary). Let them see you evaluate options and make healthy choices. Help them make choices of their own (The Fuji apples or the Granny Smith apples? The red potatoes or the yellow potatoes?).

Cook with them: Yes, it’s messier this way, but it’s worth it if they have an investment in the food they are making and they have an incentive to eat it. There are countless jobs for kids to do in the kitchen. They can make granola. They can tear lettuce for salad and put it in the salad spinner. They can shake chicken with breadcrumbs in a bag to bread it. They can chop vegetables, within reason and with good guidance. Parents – this is your free labor force – why don’t you use it? The more they get excited about cooking, the more likely they are to choose healthier (not processed) food and to think carefully about the ingredients that are in each food.

Don’t punish or reward with food: You choose what foods they eat; they choose how much they are hungry for. Whether they eat a huge meal or a tiny meal, let it go. Kids have a strong sense of how hungry they are at any given time; we shouldn’t ruin that sense by insisting that they eat a certain amount at a certain time. We know some kids who are big breakfast eaters and just eat a tiny dinner; we know others who are breakfast pickers but will wolf down any and all dinner options. Know your kid. Respect his or her eating patterns. Don’t reward them with food, and don’t punish them for not eating as much as you think they should.

Skip the kids’ packaging: Sure, it’s tempting and easy to buy those small packs of yogurt or kiddie crackers. But what you’re getting with the kids’ version of any given product is probably more sugar and/or refined or processed ingredients. Do they like yogurt? Buy a big tub of plain yogurt and flavor it yourself. Do they love crackers? They can eat grownup crackers. Do they love sandwiches? You don’t have to buy special squishy white bread for them.

Skip the juice: This is a tough one, especially considering that most of us grew up drinking juice ourselves. But food is different now, as are activity levels and serving sizes. Juice manufacturers will try to sell you on all of the vitamins your kids are getting. But what they’re primarily getting is all of the sugar from fruit and none of the fiber. Want them to get those vitamins? Serve fruit. And pass out water or milk for drinking with meals.

We have one last pointer that doesn’t have to do with food specifically: Turn off the TV. Yes, we know kids love TV and it’s a big help to Mom and Dad sometimes.  But when the TV stays on and on for hours it gets destructive. First, your kids are exposed to countless crummy commercials. And second, it puts them in couch potato mode, where it becomes impossible to get up. So pick out a show that they want to watch, and then turn it off when it’s over (the DVR is a big help with this). Or pick a movie that everyone wants to watch and watch it together. It’s the same theory that dieters talk about with “intentional eating” only this is “intentional TV watching.” Decide what you’re going to watch, watch it, and then move on to the next thing – preferably something outside.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2011!

Want to see a few of my boards? Check out:

Cool Snack Ideas for Kids

Weird and Wacky Salads

Food That Makes Me Smile – Maybe Even Laugh

and my newest project, Power Cookies

Got some suggestions for my boards? Want me to follow you? Need an invite to Pinterest? Let me know and we can…er…pin together. Or something like that.

Now you don’t have to get as fancy as Jim’s Pancakes, but you can try something a little different to get a new look for your breakfast goodies. We have had great luck with this pancake pen that lets you squeeze the batter in a precise line. If you don’t have a pancake pen, you can improvise with a ketchup or mustard dispenser or squeeze bottle.

When you’re making letter or number pancakes, the first rule is to keep the griddle well-oiled or greased. A too-sticky surface is a recipe for pancake disaster. Next, you want to have a batter that is just fluid enough to be squirted in a clean line, not too lumpy or drippy. And last, as you create the figures, move swiftly and evenly across the griddle. Backtracking or staying too long on one spot will ruin your creation.

This simple pancake recipe is quick to mix together and it’s is just the right consistency for numbers and letters. It also came in handy on a recent birthday, for which we made a whole pile of “8″s.

Basic Pancakes (adapted from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook)

3/4 cup regular unbleached flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 T. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup milk

3 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 large egg

Oil for griddle

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk. In a separate small bowl or glass measuring cup, measure out the milk, then whisk in the butter and the egg. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently whisk until flour is moistened (batter may be a little bit lumpy). Carefully pour the batter into a pancake pen or squirt bottle.

Heat a well-oiled griddle until it is hot enough so that a drop of water sizzles immediately. Squirt the design on the griddle. Flip when the pancake is bubbly and golden brown, about two minutes. Cook for an additional minute, then transfer to a warmed plate. Makes 12 to 16 letter or number pancakes, to serve 4.

Happy New Year!

Stromboli (strom-BOH-lee) – a type of turnover made from Italian bread or pizza dough, filled with cheese, Italian meats such as salami, and/or vegetables. A stromboli is made with a square shaped pizza dough that is topped with any pizza toppings and is then rolled into a log and baked.

If you haven’t heard of stromboli (maybe you’re not from the Northeast and/or not Italian, and/or didn’t read last year’s stromboli story), that’s OK. What you need to know about our Christmas Eve stromboli competition is that anything goes, as long as it can be sprinkled over a square piece of pizza dough and rolled into a log, and as long as it is delicious.

We had a total of four kids and five adults creating stromboli; another three adults volunteered themselves as tasting judges. The ground rules were this: Come up with an idea for a stromboli filling. Prep your filling, lay it out on a square piece of dough, wrap it up like a jelly roll, line it up with the rest of the stromboli in the oven, and prepare to be judged.

The stromboli, prepared by competitors ranging in age from 4 to…er…let’s just say seniors, covered a wide range of styles. The entrants included:

1) Onion, potatoes, salami, and tomato (Chef Joe)

2) Spaghetti, bacon, and mozzarella (Sam, age

3) Spaghetti, tomato sauce, and mozzarella (Lily, age 6)

4) Reuben (corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing) (Dave)

5) Hawaiian (ham, pineapple, and tomato sauce) (Zach, age 4)

6) Mediterranean (olives, onions, peppers, and oregano) (Luke, age 7)

7) Ricotta cheese, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts (Jeanne)

8 ) Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers, cheese, and tomato sauce (Larry)

9) Cubano-boli (thinly sliced roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard) (Sara)

Now here’s where things got a little sticky. The judges ranked each one on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. But some judges had hinted ahead of time that they could be bought. And there was some heavy lobbying going on. So we can’t be too sure how pure the judging process was. But anyway, the winner was…The Cubano-boli. The honors for most creative went to the Reuben-boli.

The prizes? These two incredible trophies. Who wouldn’t want one of these? Fortunately, there’s room on the big one to engrave the name of the winner on it year after year. So it looks like the challengers will be back for Stromboli Bowl 2012.

Basic Stromboli Recipe

(based on Kitchenaid pizza dough recipe)

1 small package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Stromboli fillings such as thinly sliced meats, cheese, tomato sauce, or other fillings of your choice

In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Attach dough hook to mixer and mix on low speed for one minute. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans the side of the bowl. Continue mixing on low speed for two minutes. Remove dough and place in greased bowl, cover with a towel, and put the bowl in a warm, dry place. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

Remove dough from bulk, punch it down, and cut it into four pieces. On a large floured surface, gently press out each piece of dough into rectangles about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Place stromboli fillings in the center of the piece of dough, leaving about 2 inches of space at the top and bottom, and about 1 inch on each side. Carefully roll the dough like a jelly roll, from bottom to top, until the dough forms a log. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 4 stromboli; serves 8.

This year, we decided to do it again – but we made it easier on ourselves with an easy-to-use tamale kit, a gift from Melissa’s.

Image via Melissa's

This kit is pretty cool – Inside, you have 12 corn husks, already soaked and bend-able, and a masa mix to which you just add water. Within seconds you have a perfect masa paste to spread on your corn husks. After that you just add your favorite fillings, wrap the whole thing up, and steam.

For dinner, we started with a simple shredded beef filling. We simmered 2 pounds of top round steak for three hours in beef broth, until it was falling-apart tender. Then we shredded it and simmered it for another hour with tomato sauce, chili powder, adobo powder, salt and pepper. This made enough filling for approximately two dozen tamales – just enough to feed our crowd of nine for one dinner.

After we polished off the beef tamales, we decided to follow a recipe we found inside the Melissa’s kit for cherry/chocolate dessert tamales. Do you think we had trouble recruiting volunteers to help with this one? Not a chance. Sure, we sacrificed a few extra chocolate chips but it all worked out well in the end.

These choco-cherry tamales are extremely tasty and they will probably be the perfect treat for anyone who is tired of overly sweet Christmas desserts. Plus, they’re chocolate – and no kid we know has ever had a problem with that.

From our family to yours, we wish you a wonderful Christmas. The next post you’ll see will be a round-up of our first annual Christmas Eve stromboli competition. Rumor has it that some family members are taking this so seriously there are going to be actual trophies involved. Will the best stromboli win, or will some desperate stromboli chef attempt to stuff the ballot box? Stay tuned.

Actually, I love endive. These perky little heads have a nice crisp texture and a very mild flavor. They are incredibly versatile, whether you eat them raw or cook them. And the word is fun to say: on-DEEV. Yes, the vegetable we’re talking about is also known as Belgian endive and it’s pronounced en-DEEV. It is a member of the chicory family and it has whitish leaves, due to the fact that its final growth takes place in the dark. The other endive, the one that’s pronounced EN-dive, is also a member of the chicory family  but it has curly green leaves (and is sometimes called curly endive).

We’ve eaten a lot of endive in the Jolly Tomato household so far, so I thought I’d share some of our favorite ways to eat it.

1. Stuff it! Even the kids like to munch on these stuffed endive leaves. It makes a great brunch appetizer:

Date-Stuffed Endive

2 heads Belgian endive

6 ounces whipped cream cheese

4 large dates, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Wash the endive heads and pat them dry. Gently remove the leaves, one at a time, taking care not to break them. Arrange the leaves on a platter. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, dates, and cardamom. Carefully spoon about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture onto each leaf. Garnish each leaf with a few crumbles of bacon. Serve immediately, or chill until serving. Serves 6 to 10.

2. Braise it! This is the time of year for comfort food, and braised endive is a great way to warm your spirits. Discover Endive has a very simple recipe for braised endive, and it is easy to adapt to your personal tastes. We braised our in chicken stock and then topped it with pine nuts and grated Swiss.

3. Chop it! Winter foods can get so drab; sometimes you need something bright and crispy as a pick-me-up. This salad is tasty and is a nice break from the ordinary:

Endive, Orange, and Red Onion Salad

2 heads purple endive

2 large navel oranges

1/2 red onion, diced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 T fresh-squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. rice vinegar

Chop the endive crosswise (into discs) and divide. Peel and slice the oranges, and separate the segments into triangle-shaped pieces. Distribute the endive, oranges, and red onions among four salad plates. Meanwhile, whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, and rice vinegar until well-mixed. Drizzle the dressing over each salad. Serve immediately, or chill until serving. Serve 4.

4. Make it into pirate ships! OK, this probably isn’t on the growers’ association’s approved list of recipes, but it’s a kid favorite in our house nonetheless. These pirate “ships” are filled with tuna salad and trimmed with pretzel sticks. Depending on your kids’ tastes, you can change the endive into Cinderella carriages, Santa sleighs, or bunny ears. Because let’s face it, after a while you start seeing uses for endive everywhere you look.

Green Eggs and Ham: The definitive book on what happens when you give something a “try.”Ages 2-6.

Bread and Jam for Frances: What would happen if you just ate bread and jam forever? A classic. Ages 3-8.

D. W. The Picky Eater: A special dinner gives a picky eater incentive to try something new. Ages 4-7.

I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat a Tomato: Can you be really sure on that? A Charlie and Lola book. Ages 3-8.

The Seven Silly Eaters: Seven kids, each with a special food demand. Ages 4-8.

Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating. Could oatmeal thrown overboard a ship cause a creature to grow into the Loch Ness Monster? Ages 6-10.

Horrid Henry’s Underpants: Henry makes a deal with his parents in return for eating his veggies. Ages 6-10.

R.L. Stine’s The Boy Who Ate Fear Street: A former picky eater eats a strange spice that makes him start to eat everything in sight. Ages 9-13.

So give a few of these a try. At the end of the holiday season, even if they’re not eating, at least they’ll be … reading.