Redhound Grille...

I was recently enlightened about a new nearby restaurant when a friend mentioned how great her dinner was the other night at Redhound Grille. She said it would be up my alley considering its attention to detail and quality ingredients. I knew I would have to give it a try when she talked about the head chef’s efforts to cater to a member of my friend’s dining party who lives with Celiac disease. The chef came out and spoke to this person one-on-one about expectations and preparation of the meal. That is what I call some superior customer service and evidence of the chef’s from-scratch approach to cooking. Additionally, the house selects and grinds all of its own meat for burgers (a menu staple) so if I were to pig out on some beef, this would be the place. I didn’t during this visit, but it’s still a highlight for me.

Art had a turkey sandwich of some sort which was ok, nothing to brag about. We both had a healthy portion of sweet potato fries, and they were outstanding. My entrée was the house-made veggie burger, and the kicker that made me order it was goat cheese and mango salsa for toppings. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think it was the best veggie burger I have had, and I've had quite a few!

The grille posts its specials DAILY for dinner on its web site so make sure to check it out. It uses local, organic ingredients whenever possible and has an “off-the-beaten-path” location in residential Paoli. I hope to get back there sometime soon.

Farm-to-Fork and Fork-to-Mouth…

“Harvest” is a great word. I remember having an annual “Harvest Celebration” in elementary school where we’d bob for apples, get lost in corn mazes, and make candy apples. While this word evokes cooler weather and pumpkin’s infiltration of every food group, it is also the name of an excellent “farm-to-fork” restaurant in Glen Mills, PA.

On my way back from a business trip in Dover, DE, I began getting hungry for dinner and was contemplating whether or not to stop somewhere for instant gratification or continue on for another hour to get home. As I pondered the issue at a stop light, I looked to my right to see that wonderful word affixed above the front doors of a restaurant. Jackpot! I completely forgot I’d be driving by Dave Magrogan’s place even though it had been on my “To Eat” list for close to two years. I was happy to discover my destination and be done with my contemplation about whether or not to stop.

I was quickly seated and placed an order for the PeakOrganic Simcoe Spring Ale. I sipped on its deliciousness as I decided on vittles. I went with the Fresh Ratatouille sandwich. It was made with local, organic veggies, a zesty red sauce, and some awesome fresh mozz. I also had to give the mac and cheese a try and it was excellent.

Overall, a complete home run thanks to Harvest!

Antioxidants vs. Free Radicals - Let the Battle Continue.

Everyone has heard about antioxidants, but what are they?  Most people have heard about free radicals, but what are they?

The truth is, the two terms I just mentioned have been diametrically opposed since the beginning of time.  It's a battle of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, the empire vs. the republic.  I've known about these two separate things for years, but I just had this epic clash-of-the-titans concept introduced to me.  They are remarkably interrelated and it has opened my eyes to another reason why choosing organic foods is so important.

As Dr. Colbert states in Eat This and Live!, "Antioxidants are to free radicals what water is to a fire."  

Free radicals are introduced into the body every second of every day.  Eating, working, and even breathing bring in and create free radicals.  In a nutshell, free radicals are molecular-level disruptions, mutations, or deficiencies in cells.  Antioxidants are the force that is needed to combat the bad guys and neutralize the negative effects of free radicals.  Guess which foods introduce the most free radicals: hormone-packed red meats, pesticide-laced produce, and "dead" foods.  Guess which foods augment antioxidant power: fresh, organic veggies, raw nuts, and organic chocolate.

Here's where choosing organic proves itself once again as the best option for optimum nutrition and health.  

When choosing antioxidant-rich foods, insisting on the organic version is crucial.  I've heard too many people talk about having a glass of wine or OJ "for the antioxidants."  The trouble with that is the fruits used to make these beverages are covered in pesticides, so anyone who has passed grade school math can understand the problem.  It's not that the antioxidants aren't there, but the positive impact of the antioxidants is negated by the free radicals taken in due to pesticides and chemicals on the foods used to make the product.

That's just a nugget of new info I learned today, and I thought I'd share.  Again I say when possible, choose organic.  When trying to boost antioxidant intake, the best result will only be attained when beginning the battle with the best army of antioxidants possible: one that is not already crippled before it even starts to fight.  

Legible Foodie Review: Part 1.

Food is alive. 

Well, not all food.  In fact most of what many of us eat is very dead... (insert Dickens' simile).  Therefore, I propose an amendment to my initial phrase:

Food should be alive. 

I recently went to the Barnes in search of a book that would assist me in choosing foods that will improve my health instead of maim it.  I found what I was looking for in Dr. Don Colbert’s Eat This and Live!

Here’s the deal – I eat a lot of food in one week, and I want that food to mean something.  I want it to aide my body and provide it with needed nutrients instead of pummeling it with wasted, harmful calories.  What I eat matters to me, and my body will react when it doesn’t get what it needs.  Most of the time when I’m hungry at 8 or 9 at night, looking for pretzels, crackers or my ultimate downfall – ice cream; it’s because I had a lousy dinner of “dead” food, as Colbert would say.  My body is not hungry just for food, it’s hungry for the certain nutrients and vitamins it never got at 6 o’clock. 

That’s the big difference between food that is dead and alive.  Food that is alive is raw, whole, fresh, and in or close to its natural state.  Dead food is processed, preserved, and void of nutritional value.  Before I began to read, I thought I was already doing pretty well at eating food that is alive, because I strive to be a locavore as much as possible and eat a very well-balanced diet.  Surprisingly, I found I didn’t fully understand the concept of living food, and I still have much room to improve.

Here’s what Colbert has to say on the subject:

“Living foods – fruits, vegetables, grains seeds and nuts – exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels.  Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive.  They have not been bleached, refined, or chemically enhanced and preserved.  Living foods are plucked, harvested, and squeezed – not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf.  Living foods are recognizable as food. 

Dead foods are the opposite.  They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible.  That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and manmade fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to dangerously high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as something completely different – a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.”

Most of the above makes sense and is not ground breaking to me.  It’s just a necessary reminder and kick in the pants to start or continue to eat better, living food.  The part that was very interesting to me deals with the excessive heating of oils and the toxic products that result in these all-too-common practices – and that topic deserves its own post at a later date.

In order to make my favorite high school English teacher wince as I write my last paragraph:

In summation, make your food count.  This is one of the reasons for the recent shift toward whole grain everything, and “natural” this or that.  Eat a colorful salad, forego the drive-thru and bypass that morning doughnut.  Incorporate a high-fiber breakfast into your routine, switch to whole grain, unbleached, unbromated flour for baking, and for cryin’ out loud, eat an apple!  Foods should be alive, and they are the foods that should dominate our food lives, fridge, cupboards, and stomachs.  Eat them, and live!