As a conscientious foodie I try to participate in a Share Our Strength fundraising event every year because access to good foods should be a right, and not a privilege based on accessibility and level of income. Last year's Food Blogger National Bake Sale was a huge success in terms of funds raised for hungry children in the US, and for me personally as a former hungry child. This year Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida reached out to Orlando food bloggers to cover the biggest and best Taste of the Nation Orlando to date, and I luckily got to count myself among this esteemed crowd of fellow foodies. I couldn't be more thrilled to make my Share Our Strength contribution this year by eating my weight in small plates of what Orlando's best chef's have to offer. However, after checking out Tasty Chomps Taste Post, I see that I was out eaten by a land slide.
Today we were informed of the monumental $167,500.00 raised at this year's Taste of the Nation Orlando which will be distributed to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, and other anti-hunger initiatives statewide! Truthfully, I could not be more proud of my community than I am reflecting on that six-figure number. (Post Main Image: Italian Sandwich by Cusano's Bakery prepared dutifully by Le Cordon Bleu students for me to munch on.)
Clearly my role in raising awareness against childhood hunger is first to eat, second to ask questions, and third to blog. I did my very best to capture all the morsels I was blessed to savor and hope this post stands not only as a photographic chronicle of Orlando's latest food achievements, but also as my own triumph over a journey where I left church food donations of bare cupboard essentials behind for a life of an expert and indulged diner. As we Foodie & Foodettes gleefully know, good food brings good happiness and great food brings great happiness. The great food prepared for Taste of the Nation participants is a metaphor of giving great food to those whom need it most. Thank you to everyone whom made it possible for my taste buds to stand-up and applaud throughout my entire night at The 2011 Taste of the Nation Orlando.
Crave's Citrus Ceviche was my first dance at the ball, and it properly set the tone with a bright lime flavor, terrific shellfish tenderness, and fresh, crisp veg.
Quickly crossing the massive ballroom floor toward the cluster of Orlando's independent-and most popular-restaurants with menus clearly focusing on local, organic, and/or sustainable cuisine, I bumped into Maria Diestro of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida rewarding herself with Chef Jean Louis' Famous Banana Foster.
Cheers to you Maria for coordinating with the food bloggers, and oh so much more!
Apparently, the notoriety of this dessert is magnetic as it drew both bloggers Pearleen Buchala of
MegaYummo.com and Kity Widrick of
KatyWidrick.com to the Famous Bananas Foster table at the very same time. Katy and Maria both are vegetarians and this dish was the star of Taste of the Nation's vegetarian spread.Vegetarian, yes. Vegan, um no. Chef Jean Louis's dish is definitely not vegan signaled mostly by his proud display of the pounds of butter he plans on using throughout the course of the night.
The proud chef and his even prouder bowl o' butter.
Pearleen and Katy sprang into action with an impromptu interview discussing the decadent bananas foster. Everyone was abuzz with excitement regarding this serendipitous food blogger encounter, and resulting stellar blog content, so Katy brilliantly declares,
"That's so meta!" And I told her I would forever steal this phrase because its just so damn clever. Ready
Katy's Taste Recap and check out
Pearleen's Mega Awesome Video.
Smile for ze camera!
I unfortunately had to stay on the sidelines for the Famous Bananas Foster affair due to my kidneys' aversion to all that darn potassium bananas contain. Having missed out on all the banana fun, I turned to-well, I turned to whatever dish I could that did not include the slender yellow fruit.
What follows ceviche? An Artisan Cheese and Charcuterie Cone by Ravenous Pig. The cone? Brilliant. I pulled out this sumptuous bite and devoured it with ease.
With two non-cooked starters down, it was time for some yummy-and-warm-in-my tummy nosh. I'm a sucker for risotto and while I cleaned my cube cup of Cala Bella's Rock Shrimp Mozambique with Herb Risotto, it was a tish too salted for me. Having said that {thank you, Jerry Seinfeld}, the shrimp and risotto were cooked to perfection.
Marinated Olives by K Restaurant were simply dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and chili peppers and was simply delish. I sampled all of Chef Kevin Fanzo's garden of plates including Cape Canaveral Shrimp & Squid Pico de Gallo and the Braised Curried Goat with Cucumber & Tzatiki Pita.
Props 3x to The Capital Grille for: 1.) Feeding me the most succulent meat at the event in their Porcini Crust Filet Mignon with 12-Year Aged Balsamic and Sam's Mashed Potatoes dish, 2.) Serving me the most succulent meat via this hostess who I mistook for a model, and 3.) for giving out $25 gift certificates to their restaurant.
Scoping which booths have the longest lines signals tast-tacular plates, so hovering with my camera I was able to score Renaissance Orlando at Sea World's Tripleta Sandwich of Palmetto Creek Pork, Organic Chicken and Shaved Ribeye accompanied by Adobo-marinated Gulf Shrimp in a breezy five minutes. Oh, and this plate came with a beer. God bless this dish.
As a sandwich connoisseur and believing good stuff happens karmically when experienced in threes, I bee-lined to JW Marriott Grande Lakes' Chicken BLT on a house made bun with a house made pickle slice and potato sticks.
Saying I was stuffed after my feast of tiny meals is an understatement but still I soldiered on for the heavenly land of desserts lain ahead of me. Cleaving through cakes and cream puffs immediately was my instinct but I instead went for Cuisiniers' Kimchi Sorbet and what an event of flavor it was! Sweet, salty, cold, spicy, and savory rolled out in one resounding succession after another during one petite bite. I. Was. Impressed.
Clearly the most daring and creative dish of the evening belonged to Cuisiniers' Kimchi Sorbet.
Truthfully the very first booth I stopped at upon entering the ballroom is Empress Sissies because sweets strewn decoratively for a display takes my breath away. Don't be misled, I most certainly went back for a piece of their Berry Brulee Cheesecake.
I wanted to gorge myself on Beard Papa's oozing Tower O' Cream Puffs.
If the Renaissance Hotel's dessert bar can be likened to that of an extensive mini-bar, than I drank myself foolish on mini macaroons and panna cottas.
As the last orange crumbs of the nectarine macaroon clung to my lower lip, I raised my white flag of defeat. All I could possibly stomach at this point was water and an antacid. Even with my astonishing photo recall of my night's eats, I probably only hit half of the stands! Leafing through the program to ensure the accuracy of this post I poured over many dish descriptions wishing I could have defied the capacity of stomach to continue eating all the gems I missed! But I ate enough and can't hardly wait for next year's Share Our Strength Taste of the Nation. And next year, Marilyn and I are having a drink!
Foodies have more fun.
Summer Lovin, My Ode to Produce
Summer is quickly drawing to a close but it obviously doesn't want to go gently into that good night. This summer was loud, hot, and wet. This summer was boisterous. This summer said, "You thought Spring was uproarious? You ain't seen nothing yet! How'd ya like if I scare the willies out of everybody with a national debt crisis, earthquakes, and hurricanes?" We'd prefer sunny days, fire flies, and canoe trips down the Wekiva River since you asked, summer.
But this summer was tumultuous and did I say hot? The weather this season is ablaze with fire from the sun and sopping from humid air closer to soup than a gaseous element. Even though this summer was all of these annoying and wack things, it was also bountiful in all produce foods. A wave of appreciation came over me this summer as I combed my organic and farmer's markets for best US grown produce I could find. Recently I've been on a mission to make produce the main staple of my diet for all the reasons why everyone else has already said you should. This means weekly produce jaunts and intimately getting to know my produce purveyors. Its reassuring to see most markets in my neighborhood label the geographic origin of their produce showing a true conscience about what foods they are providing to the community. For regular shopping I do my best to buy local, and then products from the US. That is my compromise in the desire to be as creative as I wish as a cook as well as being a mindful conservationist and food purist.
Agenda aside, this season's yields were not only succulent they are beyond the pale beautiful. So alluring in fact that I was utterly compelled-nay, propelled to photograph the gems and jewels of fruits and veg which graced my table. {Lest we forget my obsession over local eggs purchased for the Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies.} These photos have no recipe companion or event anecdote. This post, because this summer basically demanded it, is dedicated only to the photographic splendor of my summer love, produce.
Main Post Image: Easter Egg Radishes
Um, do I really need to say more than Easter. Egg. Radishes? No, but I will-just a bit. This beauteous bushel of singular jewels are an excellent example of heirloom vegetables. I adored them so much, I got up close and personal with them from two angles. And they packed quite a bit of unexpected biting spice.
Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
It was the early summer when I fell for produce. My family is known for two pasta salads for summer picnics and BBQs, the vegetable variety pictured here and the macaroni tuna salad. After whipping this one up for Father's Day in June I was awestruck by how composed this salad seemed to be with no effort put into the presentation. So my love raged on...Cauliflower Cross-Section, Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
Cross-sections of large fruit or veg is a naturally beautiful composition. This one happened on accident, but the next one won't.
Golden Delicious Organic Apples
To be truthful, I can't recall what these apples became dish-wise but I remember being impressed by their uniformity. Sometimes we love the truly unique produce which is often referred to as 'heirloom', and other times its the reproduction of a perfect model which stuns of sense of aesthetics. Enter, my apples.
Farmer's Market Summer Basket
Saturday is Winter Park, FL farmers market day. This market has been going strong for years offering fresh produce, local goods, and flora and fauna. Its a feast for the eyes and ears as well as the mouth. On a recent trip I was finding it next to impossible to hold in my hands all of my produce choices as I shopped. As I struggled to not juggle my selections, one of the vendors asked me if I wanted a basket. Not just for now at this moment of awkwardness, but forever. Forever? Forever, ever? Touched by this generosity and bawled over by my composed basket of fruits and veg, I photographed the whole lot as soon as I got home. While each item in this basket was divine, two items are of special note. Moscato grapes and yes, purple bell peppers! The Moscatos were a flavor and texture adventure; one I couldn't appreciate as a child when they and I were first acquainted. And purple peppers, well, the very informed gentlemen vendor told they came from Tennessee and they only come up but once a year and every year he goes there and gets them. Bravo my good man, bravo.
And with the purple bell peppers, my photographic ode to summer produce comes to a close much more quietly and sweetly than summer itself.
Thanks summer, you made your point. You rule. Now can we get to fall already?