Tell the Government -- Don't Cut SNAP Benefits!

I recently wrote a post on hunger awareness and the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, i.e. food stamps) program. Now the federal government is considering deep budget cuts to these, putting thousands of children (and adults) at risk for poor nutrition. The local Fox news affiliate, KTBC, ran a story yesterday on the proposed cuts.

Please contact your state senators and tell them NOT to cut the budget. Click on each of their names, and it will take you to their website. Here's a sample (or, just cut and paste it) letter asking them not to cut SNAP; in Texas, contact Senator John Cornyn and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson

Please do not cut SNAP benefits.

The House Agriculture Committee recently promoted a proposal to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program instead of farm subsidies.

With Texas having the second highest rate of children in serious danger of hunger, this is not the time to make it more difficult for struggling families to feed their kids. Cutting SNAP will have only have a marginal impact on the deficit, yet send millions back into poverty, further delaying the economic recovery.

I believe that no child in America should go hungry, and I urge you to continue funding SNAP at its current levels and do all you can to protect programs that fight childhood poverty and hunger in the budget proposals for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011.

Uchiko

Yes, I wrote about Uchiko last September, but this is certainly a place that warrants more raves! Tuesday, late afternoon, one of my best girlfriends texted me and asked if I was free for dinner that night. Yes, I was free after 7pm. She was feeling fishy and fancy, how did I feel about either Uchi or Uchiko. I said I felt great about either one. She looked online for a reservation, and Uchiko could take us at 8pm. We both got there about 7:30, hung at the bar for a few, and the hostess seated us at the sushi bar. We were introduced to our sushi chef, Angela, who told us just to call out whenever we were ready to order. 

We studied the menu (and started with a very drinkable bottle of the Loosen Bros. Dr. L Riesling,) debating over personal favorites and the new, daily selections; picking five items to at least start with, we told Angela what we wanted. We got through the list, and she shook her head, and suggested we should do the omakase menu (chef's choice tasting menu) for the evening, because three of our five were on there. We easily agreed, and figured we could still add on some items as needed.

Our waitress started us off with the amuse bouche of the evening: sweet potato chips on what I believe was a pumpkin (or squash?) puree, that was silky smooth, but not strong in flavor.

Golden beets with Icelandic yogurt, honey and  greens was next; the beets came both roasted and in chip form.

Next the Uchi salad (not part of the omakase) -- baby romaine leaves served upright; it's a fun little thing to eat with your fingers! Followed by the hama chili -- yellowtail sashimi, thai chile peppers, and orange segments. The combo of all components together is amazing. The yellowtail is so mild and smooth, it will make a believer out of those who don't care that much for raw fish, namely, me. Though after also having yellowtail at The Slanted Door in San Francisco, I am now diggin' it!

Then there was yokai berry -- Atlantic salmon with dinosaur kale chips, Asian pear, yuzu, and candied quinoa. Loved the crunch and light sweetness the quinoa provided; I must figure out how to make it!

Needing a little extra protein (!), we asked for the tiger cry roll -- wagyu beef with yuzu koshu (citrus wine), with toasted rice. The beef gets a great grilled flavor, but is still medium rare, and it's a wonderful combo of texture and flavor. 

We added the tempura nasu, or Japanese eggplant, which has no typical eggplant bitterness or sliminess. Rather delightful little rounds, battered and fried, with sweet chile dipping sauce.

The ninjin bacon was up next; this was the dish I was anxiously awaiting. The pork belly I had previously at Uchiko is some of the best I have ever had. This one was prepared differently, but equally as fine. The pork is grilled, sliced and served with roast baby carrots and "pecan dirt"; the pork is so perfectly cooked, and not overly fatty. It has a great taste -- somewhat bacon-y, some just succulent goodness, the streaky meat that's seared getting a bit crispy, and the layers of fat melting with flavor. If you like pork belly, do not pass up whatever version they are serving.

Finally, the omakase dessert, sweet corn milk ice cream with polenta and corn crispies. I have to admit, I just didn't get this one, neither of us did. I didn't get enough sweetness or corniness in the ice cream, and the molded block of polenta had the texture of undercooked dough; there were dots of a gelee around the plate, which were lemony, but too astringent in a household cleaner sort of way. Angela asked what we thought of it, and I said honestly, it wasn't my favorite, but everything else was truly fantastic.

She offered to get us the ginger ice cream dessert of the day, and we declined, but when she offered to make us a half-portion, how could we say no? She described it as like an Arnold Palmer -- the half ice tea, half lemonade drink. This was a ginger sorbet, with an ice tea mousse, with a lemon ribbon, presumably made with agar agar, a gelatin made from seaweed. This was much more to our liking, though the texture of the mousse was a bit different.

Sitting at the sushi bar is a lot of fun, even if you are in semi-close contact with your neighbors, and you hear them asking questions to the sushi chef like "what's the nutritional content of the uni (sea urchin)?"  Really?? Anyway, the bar gives you a great view of the orderly chaos (only because there were so many bodies moving through there) that is the main kitchen, and of course a front row seat in watching the sushi chefs do their thing. I have to commend Angela, because apart from being the only female on the line, she was chatty, efficient, and appeared to be multitasking really well.

Uchiko is probably not a destination for those who aren't willing to be a bit adventurous in their eating habits. Great, more for the rest of us! But if you can appreciate some creativity in both ingredient combination and presentation, save your pennies, make a reservation, and head on over for a meal you won't forget for a long time.

Cazamance

A friend and I went to the Senegalese trailer, Cazamance, last week. Raise your hand if you've eaten food from Senegal before? Uh huh. Thought so. Well, this charming trailer and it's equally personable owner Iba, will make you venture over to Rainey Street and attempt to find parking just so you can eat there. 

Cazamance has a nice corner lot, a stone's throw east of the Gara'j Mahal Indian food compound. They're got ample seating, some of which is under a shade awning, all of it under some twinkle lights. We started with the hummus, olive and cheese plate; perhaps not authentically Senegalese, but a good vegetarian beginning. (The picture was saved landscape-style, and I've reposted it like 5 times now, and I can't figure out why it's posting portrait-style. So just turn your head to the right....)

For our main dishes, we got the roast curried vegetables in a coconut milk reduction (on the left), the lamb sausage with tomatoes and harissa, served "bunny chow" (in a bread pocket), and a side of plantains.

 

The curried vegetables were fantastic; the sauce had great coconut flavor, but wasn't predominantly so. The lamb sausage was a little dry, and it comes with a lot of bread, but it's an interesting concept. For items on the entree menu, diners actually have their choice of how they would like the dish served -- over rice, in a wrap or bunny chow-ed.  It is nice that you can pick how you'd like it. The plantains appeared to have been cooked on a flat-top griddle, and had nice flavor; they are one of a few side dish choices.
It was a nice night out, and it was pleasant to sit outside with a bit of a breeze. It was also nice to see the place fill up with customers of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. Rainey Street may have enough of that funk to keep things interesting over there, and not get too homogeneous. Iba and his crew made it welcoming and comfortable -- reason enough to return!

Second + Congress

Got invited to a tasting at Second Bar + Kitchen by the Google Places last week. It was a fun time, and great to meet some new blogger friends!  Google Places is a personalized local recommendation engine, that can also help you to find local businesses based on the ones you already know. It's similar to Yelp, but from what I can tell thus far (and not being a regular Yelp user), GP has the ability to do much more. They were a wonderful host for the evening, as we enjoyed the semi-cooling breezes up on the second floor private balcony.

It began with cocktails, which is always a good start. The bar made three different cocktails that aren't on the current menu, and over the course of the evening, we tried them, and rated them; the winner will be included in the summer menu. First up was Forever My Queen, with chartreuse, reposado tequila, and orange juice. Sort of like a tequila sunrise.

There were some cheese plates, which I wish I had gotten the names of all the cheeses, because they were delicious! The dish on the right is the avocado fundido, which was layered guacamole with chorizo, and queso fresca on top.

The waitstaff began with some passed appetizer dishes; my compliments to them, because they were extremely patient and gracious about us (most of us!) taking pictures and asking what things were. This little bite was a sensational combo of flavors -- beet and watermelon with arugula, blue cheese, and Maldon sea salt.

Next we had veal meatballs arrabiata with a fennel gremolata, and grana padana cheese. Loved the little whiteware serving dishes.

Buffalo fried pickles with a gorgonzola sauce arrived next; the pickles were marinated in a house-made hot wing sauce, battered, and fried, with the sauce at the bottom of the cup. 

Another delicious bite was the beef short rib sitting on truffled grits. 

Various pizzas started arriving, these were the pulled pork shoulder with green chiles, asadero cheese, and tobacco onion rings, and the pomodoro with fresh mozzarella and basil. Nice crust, with generous amount of cornmeal sprinkled on the pan before baking. 

Then the bianca with gruyere, grana padana, and arugula. There was also French fries with black truffle aioli.

Midway through the food, the Dickel Daisy was -- Dickel whiskey, powdered sugar, lemon juice, marachino liquor. Tasty, but I am just not a huge whiskey person. 

The last drink however, the Gin and Jam, has made a gin drinker out of me! It was Citadelle Gin on the rocks, with a spoonful of homemade raspberry jam in it. Fantastic! And this was hands-down the best of the drinks! Too bad this was the last drink served, because I could have had multiples of these!

As the sun was beginning to set, there was a huge storm cloud that had formed to the south east. I got a few pictures of it, and then thought it would be best to beat it home, in case it started to storm. I really thought we might be in for tornadic activity, but fortunately it dissipated, though we could use the rain!

I would really like to go back to Second and have a full meal; I enjoyed all of the items that were served, but nothing absolutely knocked my socks off. I hope that David Bull and his team's efforts did not all go into the pricey Congress restaurant, so a return trip is needed!

Hunger Awareness

Last year, a group of food bloggers were invited to the Capital Area Food Bank for a tour and an education. We learned what types of foods a food bank recipient would actually receive, and we were challenged to shop and prepare meals as if we were recipients ourselves. (My posts from last year are here and here.) It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

That group of food bloggers are now part of a non-profit organization, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance; one of the missions is that of philanthropy, and this was the kick-off event. We met at the CAFB on April 20, with presentations from Lisa Goddard, their Online Marketing Director, a discussion of SNAP benefits, a mock nutrition class (more on these in a moment) and a tour of the facility. Some of the things I learned and was reminded of:

-- The face of hunger is everywhere, and can be anyone. 

-- One of every two people will have been on food stamps, even if just on an emergency basis, at some point in their lives.

-- Food stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is administered via the Lone Star Card here in Texas; it is federal dollars, not city or state funding. (You may hear someone say: "I am on food stamps/SNAP/Lone Star card" -- it's all the same thing.)

-- Only half of the eligible people are actually on SNAP in our area.

-- The food bank encourages people to fill out the application for SNAP (and has trained counselors to educate people about it and assist with the applications; they work the 21 counties that comprise Central Texas). The use of food stamps creates more economic activity, otherwise federal dollars designated for the SNAP programs are left on the table, which could lead to under-funding in future budget cycles.

-- The application process is NOT user friendly. The state of Texas has a 10 page application, that generally has to be re-submitted every 6 months; the average family of four receives $306 per month in SNAP benefits. (SNAP applications for other states were passed around at the meeting; they were all much, much simpler apps. Pathetic that the state of Texas allows this to continue, but clearly they are trying to limit access to the funds. That's a whole different soapbox that we could get into....but I'll just say, I am really disappointed with our state government and legislators. As Lisa so passionately put it: "There are barriers in place to prevent people from applying.")

-- If there is ANYBODY who you know in Texas who you think would be eligible for SNAP benefits, please encourage them to apply. You can start with the Health and Human Services website to see if you/they are eligible. Then complete the application, and then wait for an interview with HHS. If you're eligible, why NOT apply? It's "free" money.

-- You can't buy just anything from the grocery store with SNAP funds; no prepared foods, such as rotisserie chickens, but raw chicken is fine.

We also had a presentation from Angela Henry, who, as a registered dietitian, conducts classes in the community on how to make healthy meals. She goes into the community to teach basic nutrition, meal planning, kids classes and more. And these are all free classes to SNAP recipients.  Angela and Lisa challenged us as food enthusiasts to come up with healthy, nutritious meals made from items that a SNAP client would be able to buy. We also need to consider that some clients will only have a stove top available to them, no oven or other equipment beyond the basics. CAFB's goal will be to take our recipes and incorporate them into the classes that Angela teaches.

What I've decided to do is to look at some dishes that regularly cook, and see how they can be stretched with a few basic additions. I started with polenta (or you could use grits; they are practically the same, but there are some technical differences). I like to prepare my polenta with half water, half milk, because they come out creamier, and they can easily be made on the stove top in a saucepan. Follow the instructions on the package; I buy the instant ones, that take about 5 minutes; all you need to add are water (and milk if you wish) and salt. By themselves, they're a great filling dish, and organic ones run about $2/lb, and that makes a lot of polenta.  

You can add things like cheese (a nice sharp cheddar, shredded) and herbs (chives, especially) to your polenta to give it more flavor.You can also add protein; this requires an additional skillet or other pan. I've chosen turkey sausage, because it's lower fat than pork sausage.  I removed the turkey sausage from it's casing, and browned it in the skillet with about a teaspoon of oil. Frozen (or fresh) shrimp would be a great one too -- shrimp and grits! 


Add your protein to your polenta/grits, and you've got a good meal. Or, you can keep going. Do you have tomatoes, either fresh or canned (canned are easier for this)? Once you've browned your sausage, add some chopped tomatoes to the skillet as well, and let them heat through.

But wait! Do you have any kind of leafy green? Whether it's a bunch of kale, or loose leaf greens, you can add them in. If you're at the grocery store and you have the choice between romaine lettuce and spinach, get the spinach! Lots of nutrients in the spinach, not so much in the lettuces. Try spinach, arugula, kale, collards, chard -- all good leafy greens. Chop some up, and add it to the sausage and tomato mix; put the lid on the pan for a few minutes to let the greens wilt down. 

When you add this to your polenta, you get a hearty, filling, nutritious meal, with lean protein, vegetables, and grains/carbohydrates. You'll notice I haven't given any measurements for these meal suggestions. Again, follow the package directions for making the polenta/grits, based on the number of people you are feeding. For the protein, a serving is about 4 oz, or the size of a deck of cards. Then add as much tomatoes and greens as you wish. Baking is a science, but cooking is much easier!

Back to the protein for a minute. If you can't find turkey sausage, you could easily use ground chicken or turkey, even ground beef, if you get a leaner one. These meats also freeze well; you can portion them out, wrap in plastic wrap, and put into a freezer bag (label it so you know what it is!)


When shopping, go check out the Bulk section of your grocery store. Stores buy these items in bulk, so you can buy as much or as little of the item as you need. This is a GREAT place to get spices and dried herbs. Say you are using ground chicken, which on it's own is fairly bland; you can get a couple tablespoons of Cajun spice for about 50 cents, and use maybe a teaspoon to season the chicken. Or buy a bottle of Mrs. Dash; there are tons of flavor options, and they don't have sodium. Things like dried beans are usually cheaper in the bulk section than the prepackaged ones, same with rices. Can you plant an herb garden, or pick up some potted ones at the local garden center? This is a great way to get kids involved -- have them care for the plants. Then you've got easy access to great flavor enhancers! Think fresh and think flavor -- those will take you a long way in making a nutritious meal.