Foodie Stamp Tour

The Ins and Outs of Stretching Your LoneStar Dollars

Description:  Ever wonder..."Do my stamps cover hot meals?"  Yes and no.  Let me explain.  Not every store that provides LoneStar swiping privileges is created equal.  Some let you get a ready-made, hot meal, or DIY meal from the bar, but some do not.  In this article, I am going to walk you through some things you may want to know about the LoneStar card.

Foodie Exposé: "Qui" Bono?

An Inside Look at Paul Qui's Culinary Progeny

Description:  Who benefits?  Well, if there is a crime involved, it's getting too much of a good thing.  But, Austin, TX benefits.  Foodies all over are gravitating towards the food trucks in Austin, many of which are housed in the "backyards" of popular bars.  But, those food trucks, though more easily accessible, are not Qui's only epicurean establishments that have be blessed by his influence.  Qui had risen in the ranks of Uchi and Uchiko (Tyson Cole's famous restaurants), where he honed his specialization in Japanese cuisine.  Though, his modernist approach ensures a creative liberty with his own cooking that melds his roots in Filipino cooking, his other specialization in French cuisine, European, and Southeast Asian influences that get people hooked.  Since then, he has launched an eponymous flagship restaurant, Qui, cooking local foods grown with sustainable agriculture methods.  He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southwest 2012, won StarChefs.com Rising Stars Award in 2012, and of course has the recent Top Chef acclaim notch on his belt.

Guaco de Gallo

A Delectable Marriage of Tex-Mex Favorites

'Za Mon! (A story about a love for pizza)

Cilantro Pesto - Roasted Red Pepper - Belgium Goat Cheese - Pizza

Some would call me a pizza connoisseur. Pizza is so simple to make and the options for creativity are endless. Not to mention, in 2011 Congress passed a bill that would allow a slice of pizza to be considered a full serving of vegetables, dispelling any grief I could have for consuming my favorite food.

Austin is a fantastic place for pizza lovers. Establishments like East Side Pies and The Parlor immediately come to mind as being top-notch in terms of creative, quality 'za. Unfortunately, as you may have learned from reviewing your monthly bank statements, being a VISTA makes regularly patronizing these types of places a bit difficult. However, I highly encourage you to save $20 and indulge yourself to gather ideas and inspiration to bring back to the kitchen.

Ok, now on to the details. This pizza begins with a garlic and butter base and ends with the most succulent combination of roasted sweet red peppers and artisan goat cheese. In the middle of this goodness lies a homemade cilantro pesto that is as versatile as a six armed monkey. 

Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers

Well hello there!

It has been quite some time since our last posts, and for that we are truly apologetic. Between holiday travel, and getting settled into the New Year, our aspirations to regularly post our recipes have been neglected.

However, this does not mean we have not been busy creating new, inspiring, and delicious treats.

In order to get "up to speed", I will post a recipe for our Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers. This dish received many accolades at the D.D.C.E. culinary exchange in December.

Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers

Description:

Celebrate the season with four of your closest friends: sweet potato, nutmeg, sage and cinnamon! This deliciously diverse treat will be sure to please your senses and your guests at your next potluck.

Ingredients:

1 (1-pound) sweet potato
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
24 wonton wrappers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
6 quarts water
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sage sprigs (optional)

Categorization:

Type: Appetizer, Side
Dietary Orientation: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes - 1 hour
Eating Time: Mere seconds

Relative Itemized Cost:

I have long since lost the receipt for these ingredients, but this is dish certainly embodies the saying, "ballin' on a budget". Since most of the ingredients are spices, which are available in the bulk food section of most grocery stores, the total cost of this dish per serving is almost negligible.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories: 159
Calories from fat: 17%
Fat: 5.1g
Saturated fat: 3g
Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g
Protein: 4.1g
Carbohydrate: 24.3g
Fiber: 1.9g
Cholesterol: 15mg
Iron: 1.3mg
Sodium: 356mg
Calcium: 45mg


Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Pierce potato several times with your sharpest fork; place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until tender. Cool. Peel potato; mash potato, DO NOT toss potato. Combine potato, cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl.

3. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover re-maining wrappers with a damp towel to keep them from drying), spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture into center of each wrapper. Brush edges of dough with egg white; bring 2 opposite corners to center. Press edges togeth-er to seal, forming a triangle. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers, potato filling, and egg white.

4. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil. Add 8 ravioli; cook 2 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli from pan with a slotted spoon. Lightly coat cooked wontons with cook-ing spray; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remain-ing ravioli.

5. Melt butter in a small skillet over high heat. Add chopped sage to pan; cook 1 minute or until butter is lightly browned. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, juice, and pepper. Drizzle butter mixture over ravioli. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.

6. Share and Enjoy!

The MBC³

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie


Description: 

This recipe was supposed to be entered in the Decidedly Delicious Culinary Exchange competition, but evidently punctuality precedes prowess. As a DDCE-funded VISTA at UT, this is the description I wrote for the competition, "In the DDCE, as well as in cooking, we champion the value of diversity--The MBC³ is the confectionary representation of those values. A mixture of texture, flavor, smell, and post-consumption joy, this cookie has the multi-dimensional notes of maple syrup, salty bacon, and semi-sweet and white chocolate coupled with the crunch of the bacon, soft and chewy body, and melty collapse of the chocolate chips. The combined ingredients differ in size, shape, consistency, and taste that when mixed together with the dough, shaped, and baked, one will not know exactly what marriage of elements will come out, making not only each bite impossible to predict, but also impossible to experience again." Not an ounce of deception was added to this recipe; it is all true. An evolution of another cookie from New York's Schmackary's dessert shop on 9th Ave. that skimped on the bacon and maple syrup elements, I brought my own flavor, my own game.


Ingredients needed:

2 cups+2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
11.4 (just under a half) tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup packed-in brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 large egg+1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup (scant) white chocolate chips
1 lb package of bacon strips
½ cup powdered sugar
Legitimate maple syrup (do not get "maple flavored")


Categorization:
Type: Snack
Dietary Orientation: Carnivore
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Cool Time: 15 min
Eating Time: 5 s
Servings: 12 (2 per person)


Relative Itemized Cost: 

$0.50 - eggs
$2.00 - maple syrup
$1.00 - whole wheat flour
$1.00 - brown sugar
$0.25 - granulated sugar
$0.15 - powdered sugar
$1.00 - butter
$4.50 - bacon
$1.75 - white chocolate chips
$1.55 - semi-sweet chocolate chips
$1.50 - vanilla extract
$0.05 - baking soda
$0.05 - salt                                     

$15.30 - Total

$1.28 - Cost Per Serving



Cooking Instructions:
1. Slide around oven racks to upper and low-mid slots. Preheat oven 325°.



2. Cook the bacon until sufficiently crispy (for the crunch in the post-bake consumption). Using the bacon grease, apply thin layer of bacon grease to the metal cookie sheets (using paper towel, dab in grease and wipe onto sheets). Also, break apart all of the bacon to get it out of the way. For the cookies (1 cup worth), you want slightly bigger pieces, and the rest (goes on top of glaze) you want to be in even smaller pieces.













3. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in a mixing bowl and lay to rest (only to awaken later for the dough).



4. With an electric mixer, combine butter and sugars thoroughly. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until it looks assimilated. Then, awaken dry ingredients and add them to the mix. Stir at low-speed until it starts to look like cookie dough. It will seem somewhat firm, but that is the consistency you want. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate chips and 1 cup of the bacon.







5. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet. The dough will spread out at least another half-inch, so accommodate.













6. Reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking and switching the position on the racks (upper to low-mid and vice versa), bake until the perimeter of the cookie looks to have been cooked and outer edges start to harden, yet the centers are still soft and oily (approximately 10-12 minutes). This happens a lot, but do not be afraid to take them out if you feel they have met these guidelines.







7. Take them out and leave them on the cookie tray (they are still cooking) until they are ready to be lifted off in one piece. Do not try to take them off early, you could compromise the shape of the cookie.









8. After they are ready to be taken off the baking sheets, transfer to cooling racks for at least 10 minutes before moving to glaze phase.











9. To make the glaze, add a tablespoon of maple syrup to a ½ cup of powdered sugar. Mix well. For the glaze, place a Ziploc bag in a cup and fold edges around the outside. Spoon in the glaze and cut a very small hole off the corner of the bag (I mean small), and then apply in criss-cross pattern. Immediately after, drop on the bacon bits sparingly (and reuse the ones that fall off).







10. Serve and consume!

D.D.C.E.

Decidedly Delicious Culinary Exchange

Yesterday, Cameron and I decided to enter into an appetizer and dessert competition hosted by The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at UT Austin. We had a remarkable plan, a couple of dishes that would showcase our culinary skills and create a buzz around our Foodie*VISTA blog.

Well, we almost pulled it off. The dishes came out superb, but our timing could not have been worse. We missed the competition by 10 minutes and our chance at becoming Foodie*Superstars fell to the wayside, at least momentarily. "Better luck next year", were the consoling words we were left with.

Although we were late to the party, many words of praise were also awarded. In fact, the Vice President of the DDCE, Dr. Gregory Vincent, assured us that we would have absolutely won in our respective categories. Another good sign was that within seconds of displaying our dishes, swarms of people "oohing and ahhing" surrounded and subsequently engulfed our platters of potsickers, and cookies.

To all that enjoyed our Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers and Maple, Bacon, Chocolate Chip Cookies (MBC^3); THANK YOU! We will be posting our recipes on the blog within the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

Quin-what?

Spring Quinoa Salad

Description:  

In an effort to open up our blog to a wide variety of viewers, I included a trusty favorite for those whose dietary needs are specific, while also following the vein of the Superfood Series from the previous post about sweet potato soup.  In this installment, the South American superfood, quinoa, is the keynote speaker.  Packed with fiber, this ambiguously categorized grain (is it a cereal, grain, or seed?) yields the highest values of protein over any other grain (28 grams in one cup, which is fittingly our recipe amount).  It has a pleasantly crunchy texture and a translucent cherubic roundness enclosed by an opaque white thread.  The whole dish comes together in a fresh tasting blast of flavors perfect for the spring.

Ingredients needed:

1.5 large cucumbers

5 plum tomatoes OR 3 regular tomatoes

2 jalapeños

1 avocado

1 lime

1 bushel of cilantro

1 cup quinoa

1.5 tablespoons lime

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar OR garlic infused red wine vinegar

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon black pepper

2.5 tablespoons sea salt

Categorization:

Type: Side, Main Dish, Between-meal Snack

Dietary Orientation: Vegan

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Cool Time: 10 min

Eating Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 6 

Relative Itemized Cost: 

$1.10 - cucumbers

$1.29 - tomatoes

$0.68 - jalapeños

$0.50 - avocado

$0.15 - lime

$0.23 - cilantro

$1.99 - quinoa

$0.15 - red wine vinegar

$0.25 - olive oil

$0.05 - sugar

$0.05 - black pepper

$0.05 - sea salt

___________________________________

$6.49 - Total

$1.08 - Cost Per Serving

Nutritional information per serving: 

236 calories

14 grams fat

2 grams saturated fat

0 milligrams cholesterol

25 grams carbs

5 grams fiber

12 milligrams sodium

5 grams protein

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the quinoa by tossing it into a pot, stirring it several times and straining out the water.  I like to let it sit in the water for a few minutes before doing that, but it is just a preference.  After that, set the quinoa aside.

2.  After preparing the quinoa, bring a pot of three cups of water to boil.  Toss in the quinoa and three to four pinches of salt.  Keep an eye on it.  It should take around 15 minutes, which is ample time to finish the cutting of these rest of your items.

2. Dice the cucumbers and tomatoes into small cubes and toss a scosche of salt on those, mix, and set aside (separately).  Try to drain out excess liquid if your tomatoes are mushy.

3. Slice finely the cilantro (about 7-8 stalks).

4. Slice in half the jalapeños, remove seeds (if desired, though I personally keep them in considering 2  jalapeños does not really impart that much heat on the entirety of the dish), and mince.  Set aside.

5. Get the lime cut up, you should need two to three slivers.  Set those next to the olive oil and red wine vinegar for deployment.

6. By now, your quinoa should be getting there.  Keep stirring and tasting for desired consistency.  I prefer al dente, so I stop the boiling a little earlier.  After its done, drain out the water and set aside.

7. Cut open the avocado and slice some nice slivers to fan out on the top.  At the same time, set out a few stalks of cilantro for garnish.  Also, on a side note, I learned a technique from a Kenyan bodybuilder for getting my avocado pit out.  Take a look.

8. Mix the cucumbers, tomato, jalapeños, lime juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.  Throw in the cilantro and quinoa (after it has cooled for about 10 minutes and is relatively dry).

9. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste.  Also, add more of any of the lime, olive oil, or red wine vinegar to your taste buds' liking.  I like a little less of all of them, and a touch more salt to keep the dish nice and crispy.  After placing a pretty heap of the salad mixture onto a dish, throw a dash of sugar over the top and garnish with the avocado and cilantro.

Super-soup!

Sweet Potato Soup

Description:

The sweet potato is commonly referred to as a "super-food", and in this dish we will use the super-powers of this root vegetable to unlock the glories of a classic, simple, and cheap soup. This recipe was adapted from a Meatless Mondays article and will begin our attempt to showcase vegetarian and vegan cuisine on the blog. This recipe does call for a blender, so if you do not have one, you may need to improvise or borrow one from a friend. In the end, this soup compliments a cool, fall day by offering your palate a sweet and creamy escape from the toils and troubles of day to day life. Enjoy!

Categorization:

Type: Main Dish
Dietary Orientation: Herbivore
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Eating Time: 1 min 14 sec
Servings: 8

Relative Itemized Cost:

$2.00 - Sweet Potatoes
$1.65 - Texas Leeks
$0.50 - Garlic
$2.32 - Vegetable Broth (w/ coupon)
$0.98 - Evaporated Milk
$2.00 - Parmesan Cheese
$0.00 - Fresh Basil (homegrown)
$9.45 - $1.18 per serving


Ingredients needed:

1 1/4 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 leeks, white ends rinsed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sugar (I used brown sugar, but you could use whatever is on hand)
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
12 ounce can of evaporated milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup basil, fresh or dried

Cooking Instructions:

1. COOK IT! Place chopped sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and cook potatoes uncovered for 8-9 minutes. You will know they are done when they are easily pierced with a fork.

2. While the sweet potatoes are boiling away, prepare the leeks by warming the olive oil in a skillet over medium/high heat. Once the oil is hot add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute (stirring occasionally). Once the garlic is fragrant, add the chopped leeks and sugar. This fragrant concoction will need to cook for about 5 minutes or until the leeks are nice and tender, stir occasionally. 

3. Back to the sweet potatoes: drain the water from the potatoes and let sit while the leeks are cooking in the skillet. Once the leeks are done, add the leek mixture to the potatoes as well as the vegetable broth. Let soup mixture simmer for about 5 minutes.

4. BLEND IT! Here comes the fun part. Now that your soup has had time to heat up and the flavors are beginning to mesh, pour the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. My blender only has a 20 ounce capacity, so I had to blend and transfer until the entire soup was silky smooth. However, this was not as painful as I had anticipated as the cooked potatoes blended quite quickly and easily.

5. Once the soup has been blended, add the can of evaporated milk. Let the soup simmer for about 1 minute or until the mixture has been heated through. By this time the color should be consistent and your soup should have a nice creamy texture. 

6. TASTE IT! One of the most important aspects of cooking is tasting your dish. Now is the perfect time to grab a spoon, take a dip, and contemplate on any missing ingredients. My dish needed some salt and pepper, but I did not have salt on hand (ahhhh!) so I used garlic salt instead. 

7. SERVE IT! Now that you are happy with the end result, serve it! A dollop of Parmesan cheese and fresh or dried basil compliment this soup in so many ways. Fortunately, I had some dried basil on hand from a recent harvest, and some Parmesan left over from pizza night.

For Starters

The PBJ (Peanut Butter, Bacon, Jalapeños)

Description:

This is an easy one--and perfect for bringing to parties or supplementing a meal.  The peanut butter oil seeps into the jalapeño, creating a softer inside, while remaining crispy on the outside, certainly a textural adventure.  For flavor, a sweet and savory mix is true throughout, as is becoming popular with common fridge squatters, like peanut butter or bacon, thrown into unconventional pairing scenarios, not unlike in our PBJ.  Beyond the fact that standalones like peanut butter and bacon are tasty and yield great flavor, you might also ask, "Why not put them together?"  

      

Categorization:

Type: Appetizer

Dietary Orientation: Omnivore

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Cool Time: 5 min

Eating Time: 37 seconds

Servings: 8 (2 jalapeños/person)

Relative Itemized Cost: $1.91 - Jalapeños

                                      $2.00 - Peanut Butter

                                      $2.46 - Bacon

___________________________________

                                      $6.37 - Total

Ingredients needed:

1/2 jar of peanut butter

8 jalapeños

8 slices of bacon (2/3 package)

16 toothpicks

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Halve the jalapeños, remove the seeds, give them a quick rinse, and lay them out on your oven tray

3. Sear both sides of the 8 slices of bacon lightly (it shouldn't take more than a minute on each side 

while the pan is hot)

4. Spread peanut butter into jalapeño halves until flat

5. Cutting the bacon slices in half, wrap the jalapeño and peanut butter concoction in the bacon and skewer with a toothpick so it holds shape

6. Pop them into the oven (it should be pre-heated by then) for 30 minutes

7. After 30 minutes is up, take them out and let them cool for 5 minutes, then they should be ready to consume 

The Sky is the Limit

Hi everyone.

It is an honor to be the first post on Foodies in Service to America (FISTA).  I want to thank the readers out there who have chosen to hear our story.  Most of you will be AmeriCorps members, VISTA, NCCC, State/National, serving somewhere in the United States.  For that reason, our mission will resonate with you more than others, but there will be something to take away from our posts for everyone.  FISTA is a new idea, and being as such, there will be a lot of exploration and learning on our end, but we have high aspirations for our blog, including several posts a week, local food specialist exposes, economics of SNAP, business advice, social entrepreneurship, and much more.

We, Tim and I, conceived of the FISTA blog amidst a collision of strong interests in frugality and gastronomy, and the former is admittedly a necessity of AmeriCorps service.  Though, we do believe that this practice is not and should not be limited to those on a budget, for remaining cognizant of your finances and shopping to save are both contributors to a more sustainable and less wasteful society.  We want to provide a fun and interesting space for AmeriCorps members to access easy, creative, delicious and cheap recipes, communicating with the readership that we are just like you.  We are discovering the best practices day to day like you will.  More on our mission later, but for starters…

Welcome!

Hello Friends,

Welcome to our new blog. I have been encouraged by friends and enemies alike to create a safe place for discussion centered upon the art of eating well on a budget. The primary goal of this blog will be to demonstrate how to create classic, contemporary, and avant-garde dishes whilst enrolled in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP.

Who is a Foodie in Service to America?

An individual who is currently committed to a year of national service through the AmeriCorps*VISTA program and demonstrates particular interest in homemade culinary delights. An individual who gains extreme satisfaction when faced with the challenge of creating tasteful, healthy, and inexpensive meals.

Although the Foodie in Service to America blog will have many contributors, the primary bloggers will be myself, Tim Williams, and my fellow VISTA, Cameron Reed.