10 Fun Food Facts of the Day

It's that time again. Yes, fun food facts. Enjoy!!!


1- On average, each of us consumes: 290 pounds of dairy, 150 pounds of meat, 125 pounds of potatoes, 80 pounds of fruit, 68 pounds of bread, 48 pounds of poultry, and 35 pounds of eggs per year.

2- Pearls melt in vinegar.

3- Instant coffee has been in existence since the middle of the 18th century.

4- During a lifetime the average person eats about 35 tons of food

5- Frankfurter sausages were first created in China

6- Bakers used to be fined if their loaves were under weight, so they used to add an extra loaf to every dozen, just in case -- hence, the expression "baker's dozen"

7- There are over 15,000 varieties of rice.

8- Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second.

9- Hushpuppies are pieces of fried cornmeal batter which are a great southern tradition. Years ago, pieces of the fried batter were fed to hungry dogs that begged for food. After the scraps were given to the dogs, the owner would say "Now hush, puppy."

10- Pasta made its way to the New World through the English who found it while traveling through Italy. The English made pasta by cooking it for about a half an hour and then smothering it with cream sauce and cheese. This was the beginning of Macaroni and Cheese



sources:
http://www.cookwithjohn.com/FUN_FOOD_FACTS.html
http://learnsomethingnewtoday.us/2008/01/09/fun-food-facts/
http://www.nms.on.ca/Elementary/fun_food_facts.htm
http://www.foodfunandfacts.com/foodtrivia.htm
http://www.vvsd.org/districtdept/food/foodfacts.htm

Chocolate Espresso Cookie Rounds with PB Chips

Need a tiny caffeine kick without the extremely hot brewed coffee that could potentially burn your mouth and/or hand? How about a little Chocolate Espresso Cookie with Peanut Butter Chips?

I had the urge to bake something the other day. I needed to feed that urge. I had some peanut butter chips left from the white choco brownies. I didn't want to make brownies again. I had 3/4 of a canister of Illy espresso grounds left from I made some tiramisu early this year. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I do have a cup or two every once in awhile.

One of my favorite desserts was the Starbucks espresso brownies. I thought I'd make something similar probably in a cookie form. Or just take the peanut butter cookie and add some espresso. Also, making them round. Cookies don't necessarily have to be flat. I like the round ball shapes these cookies take. Reminds me of the cinnamon almond biscookies I had made a few weeks ago. These have a soft, slightly moist chewy center. You can taste the espresso blend with the cocoa powder with a slight hint of peanut butter. It's oh-so-good!

Make sure you have a cold glass of moo juice (milk) on hand.

Make 18 cookies.



Chocolate Espresso Cookie Rounds with PB Chips

1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter or margarine (softened)
2 eggs
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 c cake flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c peanut butter chips (plus extra)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp espresso

Preheat oven to 375˚F

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, espresso. Set aside

In antoerh bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Then add the eggs, beating throughly after each one. The mix in the vanilla extract.

Once the wet ingredients a mixed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Throughly mix to combine.

Mix in the peanut butter chips. Add in more, if needed.

Divide into 18 balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake to 8-10 min.

Watermelon Vinaigrette

What else can you make a vinaigrette out of? So far, I've done pineapple and honey-mustard. Now I've move on to watermelon. Since summer is right around the corner, it's the perfect time to start eating some summer foods. Fruity and deliciously good. A nice little tang from the vinegar melding with the mellow flavor of the watermelon.

I served it with some of the Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders over a bed of butter lettuce salad. Showing the butter alone looked a little boring and too green. Plus the vinaigrette tasted really good with the chicken.

I'm submitting this to this week's BSI: Watermelon hosted by Kim at The Ungourmet.

Makes 1 cup.



Watermelon Vinaigrette

1 c watermelon pieces (deseeded)
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp sugar
pepper
Salt

Pureé the watermelon pieces in a blender, food processor, with an emulsifier or you can mash it by hand. (Feel free to strain the blend after to remove the watermelon bits, but I like the bits in there.)

Combine the watermelon with the vinegar, oil and sugar. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Adjust ingredients according to taste.


The pic below is the color of the finished vinaigrette since it's not as noticeable on the salad. It's like the color of the sun. Perfect for summer!!

Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

Yes!! Another excuse to bust out the George Foreman Grill. Even though the weather was telling me otherwise. I went behind Mother Nature's back and grilled up some chicken tenders. Take that June gloom!!!! I still had that big bag of chicken tenders from Costco. Amazingly enough, I've almost gone through the whole bag. There's probably a few pieces left.

I decided on a slightly Mediterranean flavor to my tenders. Added some herbs and spices to some plain yogurt and marinated the chicken for an hour.

I made a simple dijon-mayo dip to go along. I was planning on a peanut sauce, but I didn't have enough ingredients to pull it off. Still a nice meal.

Serves 2.



Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

6 large chicken tenders
3 oz plain greek yogurt.
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry rosemary
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 garlic clove (minced)
salt
pepper

Combine the yogurt, oregano, rosemary, thyme, paprika and garlic.

Season both sides the chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then pour over the marinade onto each pieces. Coating each one with the mixture. Set aside for at least 30min to 1 hour. This may be done in advance.

Preheat your grill.

When the grill is ready, cook the tenders 3-5 min per side. Get a nice browning on the crust.

Remove from grill and let it rest for 5 min.

Serve with some Dijon-May Dip.


Dijon-Mayo Dip

1Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Lite Mayo
Juice of half a lemon

Combine all three ingredients.

Fish Tacos

Does that first pic scream dream sequence or what?

Right now my fridge and cupboards are looking like slim pickings. I wasn't able to go to the farmer's market this past weekend, so I have to make due with what I've got left. Yet, I've noticed that sometimes the best recipes come out when I've got little to nothing in the kitchen. But when I do have the kitchen stocked up, I draw a complete and utter blank. I know I'm not alone on this.

Anyway, on that list of slim pickings are some leftover sun-dried tomato pesto, a couple whole wheat tortillas, a cup of plain Greek yogurt, and a couple cans of sardines in soybean oil. I only used one can. I don't get why sardines and anchovies get such a bad rap. It's good stuff. It's fish except one is slightly saltier. Oh well, that means more for me and whoever wants to partake in the fishy fun. So what did I make with those ingredients? I settled for some soft tacos. Did a quick pan-fry of the sardines, assembled the tacos and it was chow time.

A new version of the fish taco? Sure, why not? There's not a real fishy taste because of the pesto and yogurt. I gotta say I really liked it.

This makes 2 tacos.



Sardine Soft Tacos

2 taco-sized tortillas
1 4oz can sardines in oil
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Plain Yogurt
Paprika
Pieces of Butter Lettuce


Make sure to remove any bones or spine from the sardines.

In a small pan or skillet, pan-fry the sardines in its own oil. Season each side with paprika and cook until you get a slightly crisp crust. Roughly 2-3 min per side on medium to low heat.

When fully cooked, place on a paper towel to drain off the excess oil.

Spread some sun-tried tomato pesto in the middle of the tortillas. Then place some of the pieces of the butter lettuce.

Divide the sardines evenly between the two and dollop some of the yogurt on top.

Wrap it up and enjoy.

Tuna Pestodillas

I had a little avocado pesto leftover. I still have cans of tuna left in the cupboard. I wondered what I can make with the two. Field trip to Whole Foods. Looking up and down the aisle. I spot the torillas. Whole wheat goes into my basket. Check. Head to the produce section. Spot me some bell peppers and tomatoes. Take one of each. Check. Pay for items and head for the car.

Get home. Roast bell pepper and tomato. Remove provolone cheese and avocado pesto from the fridge and tuna from the cupboard. I finally get my "Ah-Ha" moment. A tuna-pesto quesadilla. A little itty-bitty twist to the classic cheese quesadilla.

You can also use the ready roasted bell peppers and tomatoes that are preserved in oil, if you're short on time.

It's really tasty. I've never had tuna quesadillas until this. It's always chicken or the regular cheese mix and until recently mushrooms. All that gooey deliciousness!




Tuna Pestodillas

4 taco-sized torillas
Avocado Pesto
1 Tbsp Lite mayo
1 5oz can tuna in oil
6 slices provolone cheese
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry parsley
1 bell pepper (deseeded and sliced)
1 large tomato (deseeded and quartered)
Olive Oil

Optional
Roasted Bell Peppers in oil
Roasted Tomatoes in oil


Preheat oven 400˚F

In a bowl, coat the bell pepper and tomato in a little olive oil, place on a baking sheet and roast for 30min. (You can also use the ready made roasted peppers and tomatoes if you don't have the time.)

Cool after roasting and cut into chunks.

Preheat your broiler.

Remove most, but not all the oil from tuna and put into a bowl. Add in the mayo, thyme, parsley, bell pepper and tomatoes pieces. Mix well.

Lay out a tortilla. On one side, place some cheese and fold over. Do the same for the other three tortillas and place on a baking sheet.

Place the quesdillas in the broiler for 3-5 min or until the cheese it melted.

Remove from the broiler and carefully open the quesadillas. Spread some avocado pesto followed by the tuna mixture and fold it closed.

Cut in half or enjoy it whole.

BSI: Winner Prize

Oy vey!! I totally feel awful. I really do. I'm new to this whole challenge stuff and I left out the real prize for the BSI (Blogger Secret Ingredient) winner. I'm terribly sorry. So I am making amends for my mistake. Along with me remaking the winning recipe, the winner (Parita of Parita's World) will be receiving these really cool items.


The one the right are lovely crochet coasters and glass cup covers handmade from the Philippines as well as a neat sushi bamboo mat. I have one myself and it's really neat.

So Parita, please email your address and I'll get these to you. Anyway...head on over to The Ungourmet for this week's ingredient. Again, I apologize. I feel really awful for leaving out the real prize.