Happy Halloween... Monster Fingers...

It's that spooky time of year again... and this year Halloween lands on a friday! How convenient? After a night of trick o' treating with the kiddies, and probably mouths full of candy and chocolate triggering a long hyper night, at least we don't have to drag ourselves out of bed to face the morning rush the next day!

I am late with a post on Halloween ideas but in case you are extending the fun into the weekend here are some fun things I gathered for your viewing pleasure. To start, a neat cookie recipe... Monster fingers was something I toted to a kid's Halloween party last year! It was a huge hit! Not only did they look good, they tasted great with a tender texture that was not too delicate to handle! And the adults loved them too!

Monster Fingers

Makes 30 cookies

2 Tbsp. red food colouring

30 blanched almonds 

2 large eggs 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature 

1/2 cup icing sugar 

5 Tbsp. granulated sugar 

1 pinch salt 

7 to 8 drops green food colouring

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place red food colouring in a bowl. Toss with almonds and stir until the colour is evenly distributed. Allow the colour to sit until it is as dark as you like, stirring a few times.

Separate one egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside. Beat butter, both sugars, and salt on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about two minutes. Stir in green food colouring. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm about 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into fifteen pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.

When all fingers are formed, brush lightly with reserved egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to secure. Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.

Cook's NOTE: To make the knuckles more creepy, shape them unevenly. Roll the fingers thinner than you would want it to look as it puffs out when it bakes. 

Halloween doesn't have to mean junk food! Other fun but nutritious treats and food ideas featured by my fellow Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Ambassadors... we have been sharing Halloween and "scary" food ideas on our community forum and I thought wouldn't it be cool to showcase them here on Susan's Savour-It! Here are some of my favourites...

Jenny Giles Blakeney from California shared her lazy mom's halloween snack. She says seriously, minimal effort and the kids loved it! She ran out of face ideas! Perfect and cute! She also shared her Green Goblin Smoothies and says let's give our kids something good for their bodies before they turn into scary, sugar monsters! I'm with you on that sister!

Real Foods Scout

Margaret Moneys from North Lincolnshire, UK did a post with a slew of fish delights as a theme for "scary" food. She's on a mission to get more families to eat more fish, and wants to educate children that fish doesn't have to be scary! I think these food ideas are yummy as they are creative! Making food fun can definitely help take out the hesitancy of trying something new! Great job!! Check out her blog at Feeding Blue and Pink. 

Salmon and Veggie Pumpkin Tarts

Mackerel Monster Hands

Fish and Sweet Corn Eye Balls

Salmon and Pesto Phyllo Mummies

And of course Halloween wouldn't be complete without some spooky decorations and jack o' lanterns!

My artist brother's train carving.

Anpanman Japanese cartoon carving by my brother. 

And my quick before kids-go-to-bed carving tonight...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

#52New Foods... Sweet and Sour Glazed & Pickled Rainbow Carrots

Your kids eat a few bites of broccoli every day or nibble on a couple of carrot sticks... isn't that getting them to eat their vegetables? No, it's simply not enough. Colour is important, but not just one colour... it's eating all the colours in a variety of fruits and vegetables! Brightly coloured food contain plant chemicals called phytochemicals with many containing powerful antioxidants that protect us from everyday damaging free radicals. In The 52 New Foods Challenge book, Lee speaks to leading health experts about the role colour plays in our health, especially the health of our children. The key to nutrition is variety- not too much of one colour or lacking in others but diversity on our plates! What I learned immensely is, to make healthy food appealing, we should use the word "colour" to our marketing advantage. Colour is a treasured part of a child's vocabulary. It brings feelings of fun, playful adventures at preschool. Ask them to eat purple, and they get it... ask them to eat the vegetable and they turn up their noses. We need to speak their language!

Here are some awesome tips from Lee's book to make it easy to eat your colours:

Be A Good Facilitator. Your role as a parent is to make the colours available and encourage everyone to keep trying. Challenge them in a game on how many colours they can eat at dinner. And model good behaviour by loading up your plate full of colours and trying something new!

Stock Up: Take your kids shopping and have them fill the carts with colours. Aim for at least one of the five colour groups: green, red, yellow/orange, blue/purple and white/brown. Give new colours a try with old favourites- purple beans instead of green, orange peppers instead of red. The deeper the colours the better it is for you- deep green in kale over light green butter lettuce. Having a range of colours in your fridge allows you to easily combine a few in one night.

Plan Your Meals: Plan your menu in advance to feature two or three colours during dinner. If you don't have time, cut vegetables up and offer them with a dip. After a while, you'll get the hang of it and your family will expect to see those colours on the table!

Simple Formula: Use a simple formula for building a balanced meal that is easy for the family to remember: 3 colours + 1 protein + 1 healthy grain = a winning plate. Lee also has a fun points systems outlined in her book, to tracks points according to the colours you eat! 

Keep Colour Within Reach: Keep low shelves and drawers in your fridge stocked with pre-washed, precut veggies and fruit in containers they can easily pull out. A bowl of seasonal fruit on the table makes it accessible too!

Be Flexible: Think about all the colours over the course of the week rather than focus on each meal which gives you the chance to gage your family's eating habits and adjust what and how you cook. And be realistic. One "bad" meal is not going to erase a week of good ones. In fact, I think eating well most of the time, buys you the right to eat bad some of the time without the guilt!

It's challenging to get just one vegetable onto the table sometimes, but with rainbow carrots you get three! At the height of fall, coloured carrots are readily available at health food grocers such as Whole Foods and at farmer's markets.  Of course you can simply serve these cut into sticks with a nice dip, or as I will share with you today, do it one of two ways... a side dish with sweet and sour glaze or pickled... 

Orange for vitamin A, purple for anthocyanins and yellow for carotenoids and vitamin C

Have your kids help you with tasks in the kitchen depending on their age such as washing and peeling. When kids get involved with meal preparations they are more likely to eat it and its a bonding time! If they can't help with the actual cooking, let them watch you, tell them what you're doing and encourage questions!

The healthy nutrients in rainbow carrots are close to the surface 

so instead of peeling all the goodness way, either get organic

and scrub them well without peeling or peel lightly.

The first recipe is a cinch to prepare and super delicious with a sweet and sour profile that resonates with the pickiest kids! Cook carrots to your family's taste preference and add nuts for some crunch. Mine likes carrots crisp-tender. If your kids like soft carrots then cook it for five minutes more.

Sweet and Sour Glazed Rainbow Carrots

8 rainbow carrots, cut on a bias (an angle)
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. ketchup
2 Tbsp. water
1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1-2 Tbsp. chopped toasted almonds, walnuts or pine nuts (optional)

Look at the beautiful contrasting yellow centres in purple carrots!

Heat skillet on medium-high and add maple syrup and ketchup and bring it to a simmer. Add carrots and stir to coat; add water and cover. Turn down to medium heat and cook for ten minutes stirring halfway until crisp-tender. Remove from heat. Stir in parsley and nuts.

Served with quinoa tossed with tomato, sweet potato and
parsley, and chicken chorizo sausage. Nice and colourful!

Preserving and pickling is huge in the fall and these coloured carrots make a fabulous homemade pickle alternative as a side or in sandwiches with eye popping vibrancy. These have sweet and sour notes with crunch, inspired by the trendy daikon and carrot pickles in Vietnamese cuisine especially banh mi sandwiches.

Pickled Rainbow Carrots
(Half the recipe to make half the amount)

8 rainbow or regular carrots, cut into 2-inch sticks

1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup warm water
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup white vinegar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (optional)

Dissolve salt and sugar in warm water placed into a clean 3-cup jar. Fill with remaining ingredients, and carrots. Liquid should cover the top. Best eaten after 24 hours and can keep refrigerated for one month.

    

Thanks to the 52 New Foods Challenge we got inspired to eat the rainbow tonight!

If you are looking for ways to get your kids engaged in food and with meal preparations read Handy Helpers for some things I've done with mine. Stay tuned for more recipes and tips in the upcoming weeks to get you inspired in the kitchen with new foods! Don't forget to enter here for my book giveaway. Cheers!

Rendez-vous Gourmet Québec Product Show...

It was a real pleasure to attend the 5th edition of Rendez-vous Gourmet Québec's private specialty product show today at Roy Thompson Hall. The products exhibited are thriving in la belle province, with some already in our market, but many of these food businesses especially family-run are looking to launch in Ontario. Québec has a special place in my heart... my husband is from Montréal and I've worked extensively with the Québec food market back in my heyday... creating meat pâtés and seafood dips in R&D for a Québec division of McCain Foods and then developing recipes, content and directing on-camera talent for Kraft's French cooking show alongside working on their magazine.

Québec has a global reputation as a supplier of healthy, high quality products infused with a mix of European and North American influences. Their products range from maple products, chocolate and confectioneries, pasta and bakery goods, game meat and fowl, European-inspired charcuterie such as pâtés, cured meats and duck foie gras, fine cheeses and more. I have always been into food trends and I want to attend more of these kinds of invite-only specialty food shows to bring you what I experienced, so you are in the know of new products coming into our retail market with an emphasis on health and innovation. You can say you saw it on Susan's Savour-It! first! Here are some of my highlights from the show.

With Chef Fred Oh from Richmond Hill Culinary Arts Centre.

Rise Kombucha is a sparkling tea-based beverage with neat flavours such as ginger, lemongrass, rose hips and hibiscus and blueberry maple. Raw, organic, fair-trade, GMO- and gluten-free. The ancient Chinese called kombucha an “immortal health elixir”. Over 2,000 years old, it has a rich narrative history of health benefits such as preventing and fighting cancer, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases. It is made from sweetened tea that’s been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast- a probiotic beverage that improves digestion- nice to have a refreshing sparkling beverage alternative without the heaviness of yogurt-based drinks! And the bottle looks chic too! We are definitely going see a "rise" in this healthy market trend- mark my word! They can be found in Whole Foods Market.

Rise Kombucha

Bio Sphère curates organic raw food such as sprouted cereals, crackers, cookies and ready-to-eat burgers and falafel. Their products are gluten-free, sugar-free, oil-free , salt-free, dairy and additive-free. I tried their sample falafel and kale sprouted trail mix. Truly remarkable tasting products without all the junk. You wonder how natural can taste so good! Well done!!

Koukla Delights is a model blend of taste and nutrition. Their cookies, granolas are raw, vegan, organic, gluten-free and have no cholesterols or refined sugars. Evelyn, the company President is absolutely lovely and is looking to get her products on our shelves... I hope we see her in Whole Foods soon! I tried her pure vitality cookie, which is called vitality bomb. It contains hemp, chia and sesame seeds, goji berries, cocoa nibs, almonds and sweetened with maple syrup, coconut, dates with a touch of Himalayan salt. If that's not an ultimate energy treat I don't know what is.. Her cacao macaroons also taste awesome using organic ingredients and zero chemicals!

Bio Sphère

Koukla Delights

The premium-quality sorbets at Bilboquet comes in 25 different flavours. All natural with no additives or colouring made with fruit puree or 100% pure juice. I tried lychee, mango coconut, apple and blood orange. Exquisite with each bite full of delicious real fruit flavour! You can taste the difference quality makes. Hands-down the apple was my favourite- it tasted like homemade apple crisp! Perfect for fall...who says icy desserts are just for summer! It is at the moment only listed at Summerhill Market at 446 Summerhill Avenue in Rosedale, Toronto.

Sorbet flavours at Bilboquet 

At Béland Organic Foods, they sell organic maple syrup, but what struck me was their jar of organic kimchi. Karthein's Organic Kimchi is unpasteurized and contain naturally occurring digestive enzymes and beneficial probiotic bacteria instead of shrimp paste, heavy chili sauce and fish sauce to preserve and ferment. They use green cabbage instead of napa with the addition of daikon radish, carrot, onion, ginger, sea salt, garlic and Thai red chilies for heat. It has the texture and look of sauerkraut which is also in their line-up, but the taste is very unique! Unlike Korean kimchi, it tastes refreshingly light and full of gingery flavour with kick! Very original! I still prefer traditional kimchi, but I would definitely pick up a jar for a twist on it! They are sold in some of our health food stores. 

 Béland Organic Foods

Other notable new products in the show included Bec Cola, (bec meaning kiss) a soft drink sweetened with organic maple syrup- the world's first! It is a new alternative to generic colas! 

Imperial Caviar & Seafood is launching a new line of specialty salmon products sold frozen such as salmon tartare in traditional and Asian flavours. Just thaw and serve. On top of that, they offer kelp caviar- 100% vegetarian, 100% natural with 0 calories and cholesterol.It can be baked, fried, cooked or whisked into pasta dishes, pizzas, omelettes or in a dip! YUM! 

And I saved my favourite in innovative products until the end... chocolate! Chocostyle's got chocolate shoes, lipstick, even iphone and mini-tabs... As artisan chocolate designers, they create novelty and everyday delicious treats. All-handmade and all premium, they are a fresh, fun and glamourously fashionable alternative to classic chocolate offerings.  And they taste as good as they look.

If you are looking to purchase any of these products, just comment on this blog and I will get the distribution of the retail stores around your area. I look forward to continue to share with you new news in the fantastic world of food products with a focus on health and innovation!

#52New Foods... Sweet Potato and Persimmon Dessert Soup & Book Giveaway

I couldn't be more thrilled to collaborate with Jennifer Tyler Lee, founder of the award winning Crunch a Color game, on the launching of her inspiring new book The 52 Foods Challenge! When I received my copy of the book, I was eager to dig into it, flipping through the pages like a kid at the candy store, nodding at the simple delicious family-friendly recipes and getting truly inspired for future meals in my home. I instantly became a fan... Lee not only challenged herself a step at a time to get her kids to eat healthy, nutritious food but she turned it into a game and the fun was the start of their new healthier relationship with food: 52 weeks, 52 new foods! Trying one new food a week is such a smart, feasible idea! I will be giving away one copy of this incredible book... scroll down to the end to learn more.

As a mom of three young boys five and under, I know how incredibly hard it can be to get them to eat a balanced meal, especially their vegetables! It’s one of the most crazy and frustrating undertakings you'll ever go through as a parent. In spite of cooking being my profession, getting mine to eat the rainbow has been met with death stares, full-on tantrums and hostile battles. But I've come to realize that it's about more than just food, but the steps in the journey our family takes to celebrate our positive milestones with food. Like an old Chinese proverb goes, "it is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward."

So as the The 52 New Foods Challenge book suggests... make it a GAME! When my kids won't eat Chinese stir-fried celery, I asked them to let me hear how loud they could crunch it; when my kids won't touch their green beans, I dared them to eat it whole from one end to the other without breaking it; when my kids turned their nose up to kale and potato soup, I challenged them to who could finish first and win a treat at the meal's end. This could be a small sweet treat or an extra book to be read to before bed. And it's been working! Otherwise, find out what specifically it is about the food or ingredient that turns your kids away and find another format to cook/serve it. Don't give up...

Case in point, I would like to share with you an easy four ingredient healthy Chinese dessert soup using sweet potatoes and persimmons, fall ingredients that are featured in Lee's book. Sweet potatoes and ginger soup is a traditional Chinese favourite found in most dessert houses in Hong Kong. Sweet potatoes are nutritious and high in Vitamin A. Fuyu persimmons with sources of Vitamins A and C are crisp and sweet, but they can taste slightly astringent and can smell funny when cut. The ah-ha! moment came when my kids couldn't get pass their smell to eat it... and I thought what a unique twist it would be in this dessert instead of adding the usual dried red dates. The astringency and smell of persimmon disappear when cooked and it adds a nice crispy sweet texture alongside soft starchy potatoes! Traditionally ginger is used but you can omit it. My kids love ginger so the soup's combination works for us! A light, easy and healthy dessert revered for its heart warming and revitalizing properties, especially when you are down with a cold and soothing to eat any time.

Chinese Sweet Potato and Persimmon Dessert Soup

Makes 6 servings

1 to 2 inches fresh gingerroot, skinned and thinly sliced (adjust to your level of zestiness or omit)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
4 cups water
1 fuyu persimmon, peeled and cut into eights, then halved (choose firm slightly underripe fruit)
1 (60 g) piece raw brown sugar (if not available, can substitute with 2-3 Tbsp. brown sugar)

Bring water to a boil; add ginger and sweet potatoes, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes, adding persimmon and sugar during the last five minutes. Serve hot or cold!

Vibrant orange is the colour of our food adventure today!

I hope you join me in this series over the next few weeks as my family and I eat our way to adventures with new foods and sharing my success tips along the way. By teaching our kids at an early stage food smarts, good eating habits and making food fun, engaging and inspiring to prepare and eat, it will last their lifetimes! Start with small steps, but we can get there...

TO ENTER THE 52 NEW FOODS CHALLENGE BOOK GIVEAWAY:

Simply comment to this post or Susan's Savour-It! on Facebook with what your mealtime challenges are at home or what you do to win over your picky eater? I’d love to hear from YOU!

All comments will be considered an entry to win a copy of THE 52 NEW FOODS CHALLENGE BOOK! All comments must be entered by midnight of NOVEMBER 8TH. On November 9th I will announce the winner under the comments section of this post and Susan's Savour-It! The winner will have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. Good luck!

North American residents only.

Vietnamese Curry Chicken Wings...

I've been waiting for Jennifer Tyler Lee's book 52 New Foods Challenge to arrive at my door so I could begin my contributions to the #52new foods blogger challenge of creating recipes using ingredients inspired in her book. In the meantime, I will be posting as usual with our family favourites. 

Curry seems to be a reoccurring theme on my recent blogs, and if you're familiar with my Vietnamese Curry Chicken dish, then you may want to also try this delicious and fragrant wing recipe using the same home made curry paste. Seeing that I had leftovers stored in a jar in the fridge and a bag of chicken wings in hand, it was an easy formula for dinner. Everyone likes wings, so it's a nice recipe to introduce your kids to more exotic tastes. So full on flavour with aromatics and spices, the results are oven-baked wings that are slightly sticky, moist and boldly complex in its layers of Southeast Asian flavours! 

Vietnamese Curry Chicken Wings
Makes 4 to 6 servings

1-1/2 to 2 lb. chicken wings, split

2 to 3 Tbsp. curry paste (see below)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. sugar

Curry Paste (Makes one cup)- a lot of ingredients and may seem time-consuming but trust me it's worth making!
2/3 cup oil
1 onion, chopped
5 Tbsp. frozen thawed or fresh lemongrass, finely chopped, tender inner part of bottom third only
2 Tbsp. chopped ginger
2 Tbsp. chopped galangal
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. turmeric
3 tsp. salt
10 dried chilies, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes, drained and chopped (optional)
1 cup cilantro stems and root, well cleaned and chopped (about two bunches)

Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, lemongrass, ginger, galangal and garlic and stir constantly for one minute. Reduce the heat to medium and add water, a Tbsp. at a time until all the water is used. Remove from heat and add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt. Transfer to a food processor along with the remaining oil, chilies (if using) and cilantro roots and process to form a coarse paste.

TIP: Leftover paste keeps well in the fridge in an airtight container covered with a thin layer of oil for up to two months.

Mix the wings with 2 to 3 Tbsp. curry paste, fish sauce and sugar and refrigerate for at least one hour to marinate before cooking.

Place wings on slightly greased foil on baking tray; discard marinade. I like to use the convection toaster oven if there isn't a whole lot of wings to bake to save energy.

Bake at 425 F for about 20 minutes until top skin is crispy golden and wings are cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped green onion, chives or cilantro and serve with lime wedges and sriracha hot sauce if desired! Serve nice and hot!

Try Japanese-style curry in Curry in a Hurry or Indian-style in Smita's Home-Style Butter Chicken. Whatever style of curry you like, we can all agree, curry rocks!

#52New Foods Blogger Challenge... Oven-Roasted Tahini Cauliflower

My posts have been meat-heavy recently and I honestly want to turn the attention to in-season vegetables and fruits, which is perfectly timely... because in the next few weeks I will be taking part in Jennifer Tyler Lee's #52New Foods Blogger Challenge through her affiliation with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. 

Jennifer, who lives in San Francisco with her family is the creator of Crunch a Color® and author of her new book The 52 New Foods Challenge to be launched in early November. Like many parents, Jennifer Tyler Lee struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals. The answer, she discovered, was making it a game. “We’ll try one new food each week,” she told her kids. “You pick!” She called it the 52 New Foods Challenge. This cookbook is resourceful in helping busy parents stop stressing over mealtime and find a creative, playful solution to make this family ritual relaxing and fun.

In this weekly guide, Lee gives parents practical tips to dramatically change the way families eat and to inspire a child's creativity and confidence in the kitchen. Her helpful advice and the simple rules that her family followed will show parents how to start eating healthy every week of the year. Each week offers a healthy new food to try, from artichokes to zucchini, and includes easy recipes and fun activities to work on as a family—from learning to cook together to enjoying the farmers’ market to even experimenting with growing your own food.  Reserve your copy! Ships November 4, 2014.

http://www.52newfoods.com/52-new-foods-challenge/

In this challenge along with my fellow JOFR Ambassadors, we will be creating our own recipes using the fall and winter ingredients featured in her book and sharing them across all our channels. When her book launches, the recipes she loves the most will be further featured on JOFR and Huffington Post in which she freelances as a columnist. A beautiful thing!

To kick start a series of posts in the next few weeks ode to Jennifer's recipe inspirations, I will share with you my easy peasy delicious Oven-Roasted Tahini Cauliflower that my kids will knock me down for. I can't get the dish to the table fast enough without them side-lining me, reaching in with their small fingers to dig out a few to nosh on the spot! The plate is often left with remnants from the ambush!

So simple, there's no need for a recipe. Just cut the amount of cauliflower you want to use from the core; then cut into small florets, drizzle tahini sesame paste along with a little extra virgin olive oil to thinly coat the cauliflower. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Tahini sesame paste can be found in Middle Eastern supermarkets and in most major supermarkets. Cook's NOTE: Make sure you give the jar a nice stir to soften the paste before scooping out to use, or spoon out the amount you need and thin out with a tiny bit of water to a smooth consistency if required.

Place the roasting pan in a preheated 425F oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes or until roasted, stirring every ten minutes to ensure even roasting. Remove from the oven and finish with a sprinkle of coarse salt and a splash of lemon juice if you wish.

Slightly caramelized, sesame-savoury and salty- Oh so-O good! 

If you're looking for ways to have your family eating more healthily and to try new vegetables and food, join me in the next few weeks on this challenge series. I'll also be giving away a copy of The 52 New Foods Challenge... so check back often and stay tuned!