Posted by theo at 9:50 pm
Jan 072011
Organic coffee. Some feel that since the coffee bean is noting more than the pit of the fruit that it is fairly shielded from pesticides to begin with and that the processing (if wet processed) and roasting can take care of whatever residual that could be left. Well, to quote thedailygreen.com: Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don’t regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the USDA Organic label to ensure you’re not buying beans that have been grown or processed with the use of potentially harmful chemicals. Go [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 7:53 pm
Aug 112010
If your repertoire for cantaloupe is limited to slicing and eating on a plate consider the following: Cantaloupe Based Organic Fruit Salad (made with Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Pineapple, Blueberries and Banana) Cantaloupe Ice Pops (made with Cantaloupe, water, sugar and mint leaves) Cantaloupe Martini (made with pureed cantaloupe, water, sugar & lime mixed with Vodka & Midori) Not only are there many foods we haven’t tried but many different ways to serve the foods we now love. Go ahead, be fearless. Laugh at your mistakes and delight in your successes.
Posted by theo at 3:44 pm
Aug 102010
If you’re not using fresh roasted organic coffee beans then your coffee is unnecessarily sub-par. .. How do I know this? Simple chemistry and the nature of the beans. Here’s the skinny: Roasted Coffee Looses Most Of It’s Aromatics About 1 Week After Roasting: One of the largest contributing factors to the complexity and fullness of freshly roasted coffee comes about due to the presence of volatile aromatic compounds. After about one week these will deteriorate to an unacceptable level. This is one of the reasons instant is so bad, it virtually has no aromatic compounds [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 6:50 pm
Jun 182010
A look inside an organic coffee roasting business from a flavor, process and social responsibility perspective as well as my non-organic father’s take on the whole thing.
Posted by theo at 3:51 pm
Dec 152009
Target stores were busted for advertising Silk Soymilk as Organic even through Dean Foods which makes the stuff switched from Organic to Non-Organic Soybeans in 2009. Now a lot of consumers who want to go chemical free just kept purchasing their Silk without knowing what they were doing because they simply don’t check the labels every time (and nowadays you have to check them every time). And apparently Target has the same problem. They were advertising this Silk stuff as organic because they used an old photo in their ads. Sheesh! The complete AP Story is linked [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 10:09 am
Oct 212009
I had previously posted about tips for brewing an awesome cup of organic coffee. Now something new has come to my kitchen that has brought brewing gourmet coffee to the next level. This is a thing with a name that you’ve probably heard but has made you wince when you heard it. The Chemex coffee maker.
Posted by theo at 12:51 pm
Jul 062008
Was doing some smoothie experimentation yesterday and came up with one that tastes like this creamy, evil, delicious milk shake kind of thing. Anyway the key is that it’s non-dairy, no gluten, high protein, high vitamins and very low cholesterol. Here goes: Shopping List: 1 Cup of No-Fat or Low Fat Vanilla Flavored Yogurt 1 1/2 Cups of Mixed Fresh Strawberries, Blueberries and Pineapple (make sure you get a real pineapple and not open a can of something that was grown over 2 years ago) 1 Cup of Soy Milk Note that all ingredients as well as the glass jar of your [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 10:55 am
Jun 242008
As with all cooking (and as in relationships for that matter) what ingredients you bring in determines what you get out. Or said another way GIGO – Garbage in / Garbage Out. … As we said before one of the biggest favors a cook can do for himself and his guests is to use the finest ingredients possible. And you know what, they really don’t cost that much more, especially if you consider it from an added cost per meal. .. With all the prep, cooking, clean-up time and effort use the best to get [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 9:02 pm
Jun 132008
Well, back from the no-blog vacation (like blogging about food is something I needed a vacation from). Anyway goofed off for a number of weeks, met some incredible people and just up’d everything by two levels. .. It’s been a very, very nice couple of weeks. Anyway, back to Soy Milk. This is West Soy’s brand. One of those beverage products that comes in a box that needs no refrigeration.. And this is nice especially if you’re roughing it with a backpack in the middle of nowhere. It has this plastic tab kind of thing with a [...click to contimue reading...]
Posted by theo at 12:39 pm
May 232008
I could go into all the facts about how coffee once out of the roaster starts it’s slide down the slippery slope towards staleness and un-drinkability.. A horror show for the taste buds actually. … We have oxidation going on, flavor compounds degrading to the point where they’ve become extinct in your beans, flatness.. etc. etc. So like everything in cooking .. Fresh is Truely Best. But that being said, it all depends upon your logistics as well. For instance, you have a problem if you’re driving an hour every day to get fresh coffee right from your favorite [...click to contimue reading...]
