Consider... the medlar.

I've been meaning to mention the medlar for some time now. i got to try one and i am not sure i had ever heard of one before. It is a tree-grown fruit. Temperate zone, well at least not tropical. I think it was more popular long ago, like a 100 years ago or more. before we could have apples delivered everywhere all year round.




i can sorta see why this fruit fell out of fashion. like persimmons, it is meant to be eaten it is pretty overripe and mushy. there is a special word for this term...ah, "bletting" decaying and fermenting.
anyway, despite its possible decaying or fermenting, i didn't think the medlar was particularly sweet or sour. I described it as bland applesauce. so it was a leather outside, mushy inside with a few large flat seeds (kind like curved wooden dimes).

so i don't know what people used this fruit for traditionally? just plain? in a pie? it would be a pain to prepare a bunch as an ingredient, unless you just smashed a bunch in a bucket and put it through a sieve to get the mush away from the seeds and skins.

so that is the medlar, plucked from history.

raw? hidden out in the open?

this week at my store, Larabars are on sale. i'd never tried one before and decided to get a few after a customer bought ten of the coconut cream pie flavor and told me that it tastes like macaroon cookes, only good for you. so i got one of those, peanut butter chocolate chip, and something like chocolate coconut cream. i noticed that ingredients were very simple. just things like cocoa, nuts, and dates. i thought, that sounds like raw cookies recipes! the the PBchoclate chip had only dates, chocolate, and peanuts, and it tasted great! the bars are soft and chewy, (if a little on the petite side.) coconut cream pie bar contains dates, coconut, almonds, cashews, and coconut oil and was very good! i applaud this company for their whole food simplicity. in fact, there website says that none of the flavors has more than 8 ingredients.

i also found the answer to my suspicions that these were in fact raw:

"You may have noticed we removed "raw" from our packaging. This is because we have found no universal definition or guidelines for raw food products."
"Lärabar is made by what we consider to be a simple process: by which fruit, nuts, and spices are mixed and pressed together. They are not cooked, baked, or otherwise ‘processed’ and we use whole ingredients, as close to their natural state as possible. "
"LÄRABAR firmly believes that the foundation of a sound mind, body and spirit is derived from what you eat. And what you eat is healthiest and most satisfying when it's in a whole, natural state. "


i was going to come on this blog and say, "these are good and natural, too bad they aren't raw, but i think they in fact are! i also didn't realize they are gluten free and vegan. what a pleasant surprise. right now i can get the bars for 80 cents each, about a third of the price of other raw brand food bars. i'm sure i could make my own for cheaper, but they can make a lot more flavors than me. (19!)

sounds like their Jocalot bars are more like a candy bar, or at least have more chocolate. they say they don't use raw cocoa for that one, but i'd still like to try it.



in other news, i bought about a half pound of coconut flakes on tuesday and i've almost eaten the whole bag already! somebody keep this stuff away from me! at least it was cheap, so i can get some more :D

Amen, Jack!

Jack knew what's what! Rest in Peace.

condiments and beverage

I visited my parents house and was surprised to see a few items that i am used to seeing at work. and there was even raw sunflower butter in the fridge. http://www.rejuvenative.com/catalog_sb.htm i hadn't tried it before so i had a taste. I think it was a little bitter. sunflower seeds can get that way, especially if they are over-sprouted. I'm finding out that sunflower seeds aren't my favorite thing, and i think I'll used them in moderation from now on, rather than making them the base of things like crackers. (just tonight I've been dreaming up an oatmeal cracker with flax and almond. like Scottish oatcakes)
anyway, i don't think I'll be buying a jar of the sunflower butter. My dad said he usually has it with jam or something to sweeten it up.
I'd definitely like to try their hazelnut or Brazil nut butter.

I also tried Inka (a coffee substitute made from roasted and ground barely and rye.) now this isn't raw, but it is very naturala nd simple and i thought i'd give it a try since we sell it at my work and it is good to be knowledgeable about the products on peddles. www.inkacoffee.com
you just take a spoonful of the brown grounds and top off the cup with boiling water. as i stirred it, i was reminded of crispy bacon! there was a definite roasty smell. the taste was similar, very roasted. it wasn't a "full bodied taste though. it wasn't quite like coffee, but if for some reason a person had to quit drinking coffee, they might wants to switch to this. adding milk turned it a grayish brown. :?
but it went fine with breakfast.

The last taste test was something i scored free from work. A raw milk horseradish cheese spread made by Brunkow of Wisconsin. http://www.pcmli.com/cw_bk.htm.




it is uncolored, so it's white and the look of it is alike a tub of the Laughing Cow cheese. But it is very spreadable, almost like very thick mayonnaise when the cheese gets warmed up a tad. the first taste is a little surprising because of the horseradish taste, but it is very tasty and creamy. i'm sure it'll be great as a dip for vegetables to add a punch of flavor. because it is a raw product, the cheese must be aged for at least three months. at least i am fairly sure that's the time frame. I suppose that is long enough to be sure that the "good bacteria" in the cheese has conquered any bad nasties that shouldn't be in there.

oatmeal with real oats!

I don't know why i hadn't thought of this before. for some reason i thought you wren't supposed to eat raw oats, or i thought that oats weren't really raw, like they'd been steamed or something. which could be the case for rolled oats, but i guess steel cut oats are just cut and dried. and then of course you can get oat groatts which are intact except with the seed coat removed.

anyway, i'd been having "raw oatmeal", which i talked about here. now it is good in it's own way, but it is an approximation of oatmeal made with apple, banana, and flax.
while browsing my new cookbook, the "Complete Book of Raw food" i found this recipe:



It was so good that i made it again the next day. i add in a banana just for some added creaminess and more nutrients, and i don't bother grinding up the flax ( and maybe i cheat and add a dash of soymilk). i don't have any berries, but if you like the idea, go ahead. but this oatmeal is very good! it's delicious! just like normal oatmeal, but room temperature.

The Merliton a.k.a. chayote a.k.a "frowny fruit"

this is the Merliton, also known as chayote, and about a dozen other names. it's eaten both fresh and cooked. i looked for a few minutes for some recipes, and glanced over some phrase like "peeling a whole chayote is hard on the hands." but i took that to mean it was a hard skin to peel off.
but when i took my peel to it, i discovered what they meant. after you take off a piece of the skin, the flesh exudes some droplets of liquid like a carved pumpkin might. a little slimy, but i just washed it off in the sink. anyway, by the time i was done making the salad, my fingers that had touched the liquid were very dry, peely even.so there must be some skin irritating compounds as a defense against predators.




tastes like a cucumber without the bitterness, center seed thing seemed edible, like a big flat almond.
I made a salad with with carrot, chayote, and golden delicious apples (half of each). then dressed with a little olive oil, grind of seasalt and a squeeze of lemon for brightness.
it was very fresh and light. :D

mock tuna salad

Loosely inspired by recipes like this( see links), but basically my own version of imitation tuna salad.

http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/raw-mock-tuna-salad/
http://goneraw.com/recipe/amazing-tuna-sushi
http://therawtarian.com/raw-tuna-salad-recipe/
http://www.adventuresinrawfood.com/raw-recipe-for-vegan-raw-fake-tuna-fish-salad-yum-its-so-good


1/2 cup soaked sunflower seeds
1/5 cup soaked almonds
1/2 a green onion stalk
teaspoon or so of minced garlic
cup of cauliflower (1/4 head?)
i used wakame since i already packed up my dulse, a pinch bloomed in warm water
a little salt or soy sauce.
i added some curly parsley since i discovered i like it. (they make a raw tabouleh at work that is basic just curly parsley with hemp seeds.)
a tablespoon of oil
a squirt of mustard.
black pepper would be good.
and a small pickle.
a squeeze or two of lemon.


eat with avocado it you like it






when i close my eyes and think about it, it really does taste like restaurant tuna salad with parsley and that little hint of pickle. yum!

Chips and dip

this is very chunk guaamole with dried sweet potato chips. i just used my mandolin slicer to cut the sweet potato into a bowl of saltwater and then laid them out in the dehydrator for about a day.

Tabouleh

I made my first recipe from The Raw Truth cookbook i received for christmas. I made the sprouted quinoa tabouleh aka, Tabouli (which is a middle easterned dish that is usually made with Bulgur wheat) i was surprised at how quickly the quinoa sprouted. i followed the recipe and soaked it overnight and then left it sprouting until dinner times. it was soft enough to eat by then. i didn't have all the items for the recipe but i put in carrot, cherry tomato, olive oil, salt, parsely and a little yellow onion.


it was pretty good. although i don't think i ought to have raw onion in the future. the flavor just sticks in the back of my throat too long, even the next day. i seem to be safe with green onions though.

but this recipe was easy enough and i might do it again sometime. but when i tried the little bit of left overs the next day, i didn't like it so much, so maybe just make enough to eat for one meal.