"I feel like a bear"

These beauties were dinner last night:

Two-inch-thick, wild-caught US salmon steaks. Delicious! Halfway through dinner, John says, "I feel like a bear." Agreed.

With all this media about genetically modified salmon, I figured I would give props to the real thing. The real thing doesn't have strains of viruses like E. coli making up its cells. I hope you will educate yourself about genetically modified foods before you consume them. It is your choice, but it really needs to be an educated choice. I, for one, don't want to purposefully introduce E. coli, in however minuscule a dosage, into my body intentionally. Enviropig and commodity crops that are "Round-up Ready" pose the same risk.

In order for a live thing or donor animal to accept genetically modified cells and not reject them, the live thing has to allow the GM cells to invade its healthy cells. What invades cells? Viruses. Bacteria. Little gold pellets with GM cells inside injected by force into the healthy cells.

Fish, corn and pigs procreate all on their own. Let's let them keep doing what they've always done.

Holy Shiitake!

Last night, we had burgers... and not just any burgers. We had organic, grass-fed, hormone-free beef burgers from Proffitt Farms, topped with smooshed homemade blue cheese croquettes and a giant Shiitake mushroom we picked up at Harmony Gardens' booth at Atherton Market on Saturday morning, served on an onion bun. Here are some pictures of the giant mushroom:

in all its raw glory

size compared to regular avocado

cooked

SO GOOD!

Dragon fruit

I picked up a red pitaya/dragon fruit yesterday for a snack.

Aside from the striking contrast between the leathery pink rind and the white fruit with black seeds waiting inside, these little gems are a good source of antioxidants, Vitamin C, phosphorous and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

They are largely composed of water, so the flavor is very mild and their texture is very similar to kiwi, due to the abundant and tiny black seeds. They taste a little like pear and a little like watered-down lychee. If you're feeling adventurous, these are harmless and have a very mild flavor, so unless you really hate the "taste" of water, I suggest you try one sometime. Be sure to WASH your fruit and veggies before consuming, since citrus fruits and produce with thick skins or rinds hold pesticides better and longer than smooth-skinned items.

Wine tasting this weekend

Great Grapes! Wine, Art & Food Festival. Twenty NC wineries... wine pairing and cooking demos... discount for your designated driver. Color me there!

Before prohibition, North Carolina was the nation's top wine producer. During prohibition, many wineries across the country stayed open making grape juice for Holy Communion and stopped fermenting and aging the juice into wine. After prohibition, California fortunately had a handful of wealthy families that were able to jump-start the wine industry in Northern Cali.

North Carolina is now ranked 7th in wine production in the nation, and I would love to see us take back the title. The two vineyards we've visited have been in beautiful settings, and several NC wineries are within weekending, if not day tripping, distance. For $20, you can get to know your NC vineyards and you'll likely find a few diamonds in the rough. Most are available at Total Wine (multiple locations in Charlotte and the surrounding area) for Trader Joe's prices.

Vineyards we've visited:
Shelton Vineyards - stone-fruity Cabernet Franc, balanced sweet/tangy Merlot, sweet but not cloying Port, and red table wine that is not bad for the price
Elkin Creek Vineyard - the soft white is sweet and crisp, but we weren't big fans of the reds

NC wines we've tried:
Old North State Winery - Afternoon Delight
Raffaldini - Cabernet Sauvignon
Duplin Winery - Muscadine (the best I've had in these parts)

Buddy Blogs

Shout out to two of my weekly lunch date buddies and the great blogs they both have:

Carmen (http://goodbyegorda.com/) is a fellow foodie mentioned in my previous posting, who is doing a much better job at staying healthy and accountable for her health than I am. Kudos, Carmen, and keep up the great work!

Vivian (http://datinginqc.blogspot.com/) currently has 16 first dates under her belt and couldn't have a better attitude about it. Her experiences provide daily entertainment, and while I would love for her to find her soul mate, we both agree that now that she's started her blog, she can never be in a relationship.

I <3 them both and hope you'll take a minute to check out their blogs.

Smartphones love farmers markets

Atherton Market at Atherton Mill on South Blvd. is offering a free reusable grocery bag to Facebook users who check in to the market's location using their Smartphones four times. Friend them on fb and start going!

Also, CNN and Foursquare have teamed up to help you be healthy. Check out the Eatocracy blog post about it.

Keep in mind you don't have to have the latest gadget to reap the benefits of locally produced food found at farmers markets. Knowing where and how your food is grown, harvested, shipped and stored is smart, and farmers markets are way more fun than the grocery store.

Brats and Beer

Last night, we went to Growlers for some beer and brats. The place is small, but we managed to snag the last booth at the back. The place has concrete floors and exposed brick walls, so it gets a bit noisy. It's small enough that it doesn't matter too much, though. We started out with some beer cheese and local brews. I had Orange Blossom Pilsner, brewed by Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville, SC, and John had King Don's Pumpkin Ale, from Catawba Valley Brewing Company in Morganton, NC.

We decided to do the sausage plate, where you get to pick two sausages and two sides for $10. Ten bucks! Dinner was the same price as our beers! We got the Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and the beer brat with kraut. They make the sausages in-house, using choice cuts rather than leftover scraps, and I was really impressed with the amount of flavor and texture these things packed. John's brat was a bit watery, but still had a lot of flavor. We both ordered house-made chips, since we're not big slaw/potato salad fans. We also tried the cask-aged Flying Dog brew they had from the beer engine, but we didn't catch what flavor. They serve the cask-aged beer at cask temperature, and the brew we had wasn't as carbonated as we would have liked to have to finish off the meal.

So here's the deal: your appetizer is $4, your dinner is $5 and your craft beer is $4-4.50 (unless, like Vivian, you prefer PBR, which is $1 on weeknights and $2 on weekends). For a night out, you can't beat that. Plus it's delicious, made with quality ingredients, and incredibly filling.

Growlers Pourhouse

Growlers Pourhouse is brand-new to NoDa, and I want to go. Get a growler full of craft beer for the table, poured straight from the beer engine. I hear their brats and hot dogs are made in-house and are delicious, and they have house-made chips for $2 a plate. I'm going there asap because it sounds like my kind of place.

Foodie Call

In the mood for lunch or dinner from a restaurant you love, but they don't deliver and you're not in the mood to drag yourself out of the house? Make a Foodie Call. It's perfect for nights when waiting for a table or, shoot, even going out in public doesn't seem that thrilling but you're sick and tired of frozen pizza and your only other option is a condiment sandwich. This weekend is Greek Fest, but you can avoid the crowd and still get dinner delivered from Greek Isles.

They also offer a rewards program (who doesn't these days?) so you can get free delivery on future orders. As an extra bonus, when you order for the first time and let them know I told you about them, we'll both get $3 off our next order. Sweet.

Blue Cheese Croquettes

A few months back, during Queen's Feast, we had dinner at M5. One of the sides served was blue cheese croquettes, and John challenged me to make these from scratch. The following is the recipe I used. It tastes identical to what we had at M5, and since I am currently obsessed with cheese, I had to share it. The recipe can span two days if you don't have a few hours to spare. Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Croquettes

Ingredients
1/2 stick unsalted butter
olive oil
5 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plus more for breading croquettes)
1 1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. crumbled blue cheese (I used Roquefort and would recommend one that isn't smokey)
pinch of nutmeg
freshly ground sea salt
white pepper
2 large eggs
2 c. fine bread crumbs


Directions
Melt butter and 3 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring, until a smooth paste forms. Increase heat to medium-high and add milk while whisking constantly until smooth. Add cheese and stir until smooth.

Reduce heat to low and stir slowly until the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Grate in nutmeg and season with sea salt and white pepper to taste. Scrape mixture into lightly oiled brownie pan and let cool to room temperature. Place plastic wrap directly on top of mixture to cover it, and refrigerate at least three hours to overnight.

Prepare three bowls: 1. flour, 2. whisked eggs, 3. bread crumbs

Lightly flour your hands and use a spoon to scoop rounded ovals of cheese mixture out of pan. Roll lightly between your hands to form chestnut-sized ovals. Once you have formed the cheese mixture into ovals, dip each one into the bowls, in order (flour, eggs, bread crumbs) and place on a baking sheet.

Pour 1 inch of olive oil into an 8-inch skillet and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Fry croquettes, 6-7 at a time, until golden brown on all sides, turning once during heating and adjusting the heat to ensure the oil doesn't burn. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the croquettes to a wire rack with two layers of paper towels underneath to catch drips. Allow to drain, then serve while hot. Croquettes will keep overnight once fried and can be reheated in the oven.