Set the Table 2017 | Week 24

Happy Father's Day Sunday! 

Here's what we set the table with last night, a perfect plate for the perfect Dad in your life!

Porked Out Waffles 

(in layered order):

1-2 Waffles (depending on size)

Pork tenderloin (2-3 slices or a mound of pulled pork)

Organic Strawberry and blueberry compote

Organic green apples (match-sticked)

Maple syrup or honey drizzle

Rosemary and mint sea salt

Lindsey’s Famous Sunday Morning Waffles (gluten free)

3 c Pamela's all-purpose flour mix (or any gluten free flour blend)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 organic, pasture raised egg yolks (whites separated into another bowl)
4 c organic rice milk 
1 c melted organic butter (avocado or coconut oil works well to make it completely dairy-free)
Optional - 1 package cooked and roughly chopped antibiotic free bacon (I only add real bacon bits when making this dish. It's delicious made without!)

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Whisk in vanilla, egg yolks and rice milk. Whisk in melted butter (My Grandma Dorothy's top waffle tip: Make sure to mix in the warm butter last as it will clump if you mix it in before the cold milk!). Let batter sit and thicken up for at least 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, whip up the egg yolks into stiff peaks. Fold in egg whites, then bacon bits. (Tip: You should have little clumps of egg whites throughout your batter.) Pour into waffle maker and make as many waffles as you possibly can!

12 hour Honey Marinated Pork Tenderloin

For every two pork tenderloins, marinate them in a plastic gallon bag with the following ingredients:
1/2 c local honey
1/2 c organic gluten free soy sauce
1.5 lemons juiced & zested
4 small cloves of garlic

1 T freshly grated or minced ginger
Optional: 2-3 Tbsp Gochujang (Korean Chili Sauce) or sriracha for some heat 

Grill to perfection and slice over freshly made or leftover waffles (toasted up of course). 

OR 

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker for 6 hours on low. Shred and place over warm waffles.

Strawberry and blueberry compote

1 package organic strawberries sliced

1 package organic blueberries

2 T coconut sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and place in the refrigerator to macerate.

Rosemary Mint Sea Salt

Mince 2-3 T sea salt and 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves + 1 Tbsp mint leaves together. You'll have extra salt leftover and it keeps beautifully to use again and again.

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• Each #SettheTable2017 post begins with a featured recipe(s) + upcoming week's game plan followed by a picture diary of last week's chaos. I sign off every post with a handy reference list of my favorite foodie articles (some new, some repeated). 
• #CatchmyGrit on my Instagram throughout the week to capture the fun, the food and the family table reactions (good and bad). C'est la vie, I selfy-ishly light it UP in pics and videos to keep truckin! 
• New to this series? Here's the STORY behind my #SettheTable2017 food adventures with Pure Barre Kildeer.
• My two go to's for meal planning organization (the grocery list app features are rad): 1. Jamie's Ultimate Recipes App 2. Sarah's My New Roots Recipe App 

Week 24's Game plan (I only cooked ONE meal from last week's plan, so we're in REPEAT!):

• Taco Tuesday 

• Cook out

• Multi-Veggie Slaw with Herby Yogurt Dressing (Jamie app) or this Sweetheart Slaw with Passion Fruit dressing

• Red Lentil Carrot Bisque (Sarah's app - Sorry, couldn't find anything close to link online.)

Wrap it UP with last week's action:

How about a floating table?

It's Summer so we'll cookout every week. And yes, Tommy finished his salad first:) #welovechips

Christina's tomato and goat cheese galette.

Banh Mi toppings.

A big arse salad.

What I put in the vegan tapenade. I subbed in the fresh VeganMozz for the firm tofu. It was AWESOME.

Organic, grass fed beef tenderloin.

Crazy eyes = crazy good.

A killer first recipe go at Banh Mi - And I'm thrilled with how the "vegetarian tapenade" went (A much better description than vegan liverwurst if you want to avoid the "What did you just say weirdo?" comment.)

Yesterday, I started the Fresh Start Business Incubator dinner auction food shopping with Allison and Alex at their Radical Root Farm Stand. Gawd I love this place. It's one of my favorite organic and local food destinations where I can get all the eggs, meat and produce I want. Allison is on the Slow Food Chicago Board of Directors - I am so proud she lives here in the Northern Suburbs!

Pickled kohlrabi & daikon radish, sliced Japanese turnips and radishes, raw cheddar cheese and goat cheese from Radical Root Farms, Salami (some pickled!), assorted olives and some gorgeous Italian imported "sandwiched" dates and olive oil crustini twists from Sunset Foods in Libertyville - Thanks Cosimo, it was so fun talking food with you!

Inspired by my Slow Food Canandian Summit adventure in Shediac, New Brusnwick, I recreated this incredibly delicious and creative seafood macaroon! Chef Claude's (Taste of Paris Bakery) vanilla macaroon on the bottom, topped with salted & herbed mayo and steamed lobster or crab with fresh chives. It stole the show.

Christina put together this beautiful corn and asparagus salad. Find the recipe inspiration here.

I love local meat!

 My homemade vanilla ice cream was the perfect topping! A little lemon zest and fresh mint sealed Christina's gorgeous strawberry galette with a kiss.

I love cooking with you Christina! Cheers to cooking, setting the table, gathering with friends and spreading fun food education together! 

To the Mullies we go...

xoxoL


ps

My Top 10 #SettheTable2017 Topics:

1. Come to the table - Join Slow Food USA!
2. Stay on TOP of the global Food Revolution.
3. How to Cook With Oils.
4. Buy Antibiotic Free and Know the Source of Your Family's Meat.
5. The EWG "Clean Fifteen + Dirty Dozen produce guidelines helps you save money + reduce the pesticides and herbicides = Antibiotics harmful to our gut microbiome + mycobiome at home. 
6. Avoid artificial colors and preservatives to keep your gut, your "second brain" happy + healthy.
7. Why, When and How to Eat Wheat.
8. 50 Years Ago, the Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists to Point Blame at Fat.
9. Kimbal Musk Says Food is the New Internet. 
10. Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Starts With Ignoring the Guidelines (Video)

Fresh Start Grill off Champions | A Porked out Waffle + Chutney

More Guts More Glory.

I almost said no. I had never competed in a cooking contest before. Could I pull it off? Would I embarrass myself? Who am I -Just a passionate Food Ambassador and home chef... not professional- to do something like this?

And then, of course, I started thinking about athletic competition... the challenge, the unknown, the thrill, getting to meet new people... and I thought about how I coach my pitchers, how I want them to mentally and physically show up on the mound amidst fear & unknown outcomes...  I thought about how much I love talking to people about food, how many successful market demonstrations I have been a part of (thank you Melissa!!) and my love for spreading awareness of Jamie Oliver's global Food Revolution Campaign.

Well, hell YES I'll do it.

I didn't want to cook alone (It's so much more fun pitching to a catcher!). Enter in Christina Erickson, amazing girlfriend, Lake County Food Revolution teammate and Stevenson High School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher. Thank you for saying YES and for teaching me how to start a grill with charcoal!

Throw like a girl.
Grill like a girl.

We planned (Christina's husband Kurt was a fellow brainstormer), we tested (Chris and Kurt both about passed out from the gloriousness of our dish), we conquered. 

So without further ado, here she is in her full paper plated glory.

Introducing the Fresh Start Business Incubator's 3rd annual Grill Off Champion Dish! 

A Porked-out Waffle + Chutney 
I try and cook with as many organic ingredients as possible to protect gut health. Veggies are best but sometimes, you need a little comfort food.
Recipe is listed in layered order. 

• A gluten free waffle + bacon

3.5 c Pamela's Gluten free flour pancake mix (Pamela's all-purpose flour mix is awesome too (batter will be much thicker FYI. Just increase baking powder to 2 T.)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 organic, pasture raised egg yolks (whites separated into another bowl)
3.5 c organic rice milk (regular dairy milk works fine too)
1 c organic butter (avocado or coconut oil works well to make it completely dairy free)
1 package cooked and rough chopped Applegate's Organic Sunday Bacon

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Whisk in vanilla, egg yolks and rice milk. Whisk in melted butter (My Grandma Dorothy's top waffle tip: If using hot butter, do this last as it will clump if you do it before the cold milk!). Let batter sit and thicken up for at least 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, whip up the egg yolks into stiff peaks. Fold in egg whites + bacon bits. (Tip: You should have little clumps of egg whites throughout your batter.)

• 12 hour honey marinated pork tenderloin
(I could only find hormone + nitrate free within my budget. I sure wish I could have found antibiotic free!)

For every two pork tenderloins, marinate them in a plastic gallon bag with the following ingredients:
1/2 c local honey
1/2 c organic gluten free soy sauce
1.5 lemons juiced
4-5 small cloves of garlic

• An organic nectarine, peach and plum chutney (Inspired from this recipe.)

1 cup organic goji berries
1.5 c organic diced onions
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sea salt
6 organic nectarines pitted and diced
6 organic peaches pitted and diced
4 organic plums pitted and diced
1/2 c organic maple syrup
1 c organic lemon juice
1 c organic apple vinegar
4 cloves garlic rough chopped

Dump everything a big stock pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to your desired "chutney" thickness. Christina and I decided to puree this, however you can certainly leave it chunky for your dish!

• Organic apples (sliced into matchsticks)

• Sage salt (Christina and I chopped up my fresh kitchen garden sage!)

• Organic maple syrup (just a drizzle)

Big thanks to Mariano's Market (Thank you Manager Gary at the Meat Counter!) for making my shopping so easy, ONE STOP and under budget!

To Rebekka, John, Bruce, Zach, Phillip and David - on behalf of Christina and myself, it was a pleasure to meet + cook + eat with you all!

We'll see you next year, for Christina and I now have a trophy to defend!!!!

To the mullies we go,
xoxoL


ps

Have a dream of starting your own business but need a little help? The Fresh Start Business Incubator program is out.of.this.world and here for YOU (Link to their incredible wealth of FREE services here). 

pps

It was the biggest batch of waffles I have ever made;)