Food Revolution December Challenge - BBQ Sauce

 Food Revolution Ambassador December Challenge

Make your own Condiment

Starving Foodie Smokey Sweet BBQ Sauce

As a Food Revolution Ambassador we receive monthly newsletters from the Jamie Oliver organization with monthly challenges and things they would like us to do as Ambassadors.  For December one of the Super Ambassadors Alex had a suggestion for us to make our own condiment.  I suppose it could be a dressing, a cranberry sauce, ketchup or whatever.   I decided to make a BBQ sauce because I had loads of hardened brown sugar I needed to do something with.  I have a pretty full pantry of things so I just used whatever I actually had on hand.  I would have liked to add cumin but I just sorted out old spices and have to do an inventory of what's missing now.

I like smokey BBQ sauces and one of my favourite spices are chipotle and smoked paprika so that's what I used to give it a BBQ smoke flavour.  You can control what you like and don't like and the amount of sugars, salts and preservatives and chemicals that would go into making these sauces.  I like to reduce the salts but like it full of flavour and slightly sweeter.  I added a few other things to the sauce besides the ones in the photo above.   Recipe below.

STARVING FOODIE SMOKEY BBQ SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola oil or other vegetable oil

½ chopped medium onion

1 cup brown sugar

1 ½ tbsp. maple syrup

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp honey

5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup ketchup

1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 oz. Jack Daniels whisky or similar

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp ground chipotle pepper

3 tsp dry mustard or regular mustard

1 tbsp smoked paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

In a saucepan on medium heat add the Canola oil and when it’s hot add the diced onions.  Cook until translucent.  Add the salt and spices and mix until you smell the spices.   Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on medium low for about 20 to 30 minutes until it thickens up and flavours are released.

Let cool and store in a Mason Jar or squeeze bottle in the fridge.  If you leave the onions out you can store for a longer time.

Recipe:

I used it on cubes of chicken that I sautéed.  Cut up chicken breast in cubes and add salt and pepper.  Saute in a frying pan until there is a golden brown color.  Lower the heat and add a tablespoon or 2 of the BBQ sauce and then just heat until it coats the chicken and is thoroughly cooked through and hot.

Super easy and quick.  I had it with a quick boiled peas and some coleslaw but you can get more creative with rice, mashed potatoes, polenta or other vegetables.

Kids in the Kitchen

Carol Harrison teaching kids to cook at Sobeys test kitchen

The Food Revolution Team in Toronto has grown a bit this year with some new Ambassadors.  As a group we decided to try and do some events in advance of Food Revolution Day and not just the week of Food Revolution Day as we have done in the past 3 years.   Last night our new team member Monika Strzalkowska who works for Sobeys and Carol Harrison a dietician, in her second year as an Ambassador both joined forces to host a Free Kids Cooking class at the Sobeys test kitchen in Mississauga.   Myself and fellow Ambassador Mardi Michels joined in to help out with the class.   Carol started losing her voice so Mardi, myself and Carol's student assistant Samantha all pitched in to do a demo each to save Carol's voice and keep things moving along so that we could show the kids as many things as possible in the 3 hour class.

Monika, Mardi, Linda, Carol

New Ambassador Susan Ng came to support and brought her 3 kids with her and a friend with his kids as well.

Surprisingly it was a group of boys who were eager to learn how to cook some really healthy but tasty Jamie Oliver recipes of simple things they can make at home.

We taught them how to make:

Herb yoghurt dip with veggies (Carol)
Baked Chicken fingers (Mardi)
Granola (me) with a Strawberry Raspberry compote and Vanilla yoghurt
Smoothies (Samantha)

The kids loved watching us do the demos and then they got their chance to get hands on literally with the food and make some themselves.  They loved the chicken and loved the smell of the granola and the color of the smoothies.

Mardi helps the kids at Sobeys

I could tell it was a successful night when one of the kids said "can we come back again tomorrow".  That confirmed that we were getting them interested in being in the kitchen and learning an important skill for life.

Samantha teaching the kids smoothies

We hope to do some more cooking classes in the New Year so hopefully more to come along with Food Revolution Day events in May.   Susan and I are teaming up to do an Event in North York since we live in the same area.  So I hope it will be bigger and better than all of my events in previous years.

Linda and Susan at Sobeys test kitchen with Jamie Oliver looking over us.

I am looking forward to inspiring more kids to love cooking in the kitchen.

Food Revolution Day Toronto Ambassadors:

Carol Harrison on Twitter @GreatMealIdeas
Monika Strzalkowska at Sobeys
Mardi Michels Twitter @eatlivewrite Blog http://www.eatlivewrite.com
Susan Ng Twitter @susanssavourit  Blog http://www.susanssavourit.blogspot.ca/
Linda Matarasso (me) Twitter @integrityfilms and you obviously know my blog since you are reading it right now. :)

Follow the Toronto Team on Twitter @FoodRevToronto
Join our Facebook Group  Food Revolution Day Toronto

Not at event:
Christine Barisheff  Twitter@typeaconsult
Cerys McLellan  Twitter @cerysattable  Blog http://www.thetabletoday.com/

For More info about Sobeys and Jamie Oliver Food Programs:
Sobeys Better Food For All
Jamie Oliver Foundation

Find Food Revolution Ambassadors in your area http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/ambassadors/

Food Revolution Ambassador October Monthly Challenge - Chowder & Grilled Cheese

As a Food Revolution Ambassador we are given monthly challenges by the Jamie Oliver Team but I haven't been very good at keeping up with them as there were a few that didn't really fit into what I do but  am going to try get better at keeping up with the monthly Food Revolution Ambassador monthly Challenges and for October I was able to do 2 of them and this is the result of them.

The Challenges were to make Jamie's Corn Chowder and to make something from leftovers so I made a Grilled Cheese with all the little bits of leftover stuff I had in the fridge.

First off the Corn Chowder, I used Jamie's Comfort Food Cookbook Recipe to start with, You can find it here: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/corn-chowder/.


I then added a few of my own things to it like a bit of Smoked Paprika, some Garlic Croutons I had on hand and some chives and green onion for garnish.   I probably would have added a bit of bacon if I had some on hand.



Today I tackled the leftover challenge by accident I was watching someone make grilled cheese on television and I thought I should use up the dried bread I had on hand and I knew I had lots of cheese in the fridge and a few other things so it seemed like a good way to make breakfast and use up what I had before it got wasted... so the leftover challenge and no waste challenge in one.

I sliced up a very stale loaf of Sourdough bread and used the rest of the loaf to make bread crumbs so that I didn't have to waste the rest of it.

I went to an event the other night where there were two full tables of cheese.  I couldn't finish all the cheese I had on my plate so I took the rest home.  It was an assortment of little bits of very high quality cheeses.   I also had some red onion that I had finely sliced on a mandolin that was left over in the fridge and a bit of leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving.  I put it all together in a sandwich and even added a bit of fig jam to cut the cranberry tartness.   I did the typical thing of buttering the outside of the bread and fried it up.  I got a beautiful melding of a bunch of great cheeses like goat cheese, Morbier, and hard cheese.  It turned out to be a great combination that worked with the sweetness of the jam and cranberry sauce and the sweet red onion.   Voila,  kicked up gourmet leftover GRILLED CHEESE.   It's not a fancy dish but it does taste gourmet.

These two recipes together would probably make the perfect Fall/Winter lunch.   You might not be able to see the cheese oozing but it was melty in there and all you need to know is that the combination of a mix of cheeses plus leftover jam and onion mixed up makes a great grilled cheese sandwich.  

So GO FOR IT...  make some Grilled Cheese and Chowder and "Tuck In" as Jamie Oliver says.

The importance of Food Revolution Day.

I became involved in Food Revolution Day just over 3 years ago after I watched Jamie Oliver's Television series Food Revolution where he went to a town in the U.S. and tried to set up a pass it on movement to teach people where there food comes from and how to cook it to try and tackle their massive childhood obesity problem.   Jamie began his journey into this Food Revolution movement by trying to change the school lunches in the U.K. and found that there was a lot of resistance from the government, the schools and the kids in the schools at the beginning.  He managed to change a lot of things and the kids adjusted to the changes and their behaviour and learning in the schools improved.   This was just through the power of making some changes to the food that was being served to kids.  Jamie was on a mission.  What if he could spread this out all over the world to change what kids are eating and have people take control of what they are eating instead of relying on fast food nation.

The Food Revolution Global Day of Action began 3 years ago where Jamie and his Foundation's team recruited people like me to be Ambassadors to try and spread the word and try and get people involved.   This year Jamie wants to break a Guinness World Record to get schools around the Globe participating in making a Rainbow Wrap.  http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/rainbow-salad-wrap/
and he wants to get more people to spread the word and join in and attend an event or become an Ambassador or participate in some way in your area.

This overall mission is to "Get kids excited about food" so they will be inspired to learn all about it and learn how to cook and having cooking skills that will set them up for life.

This is my 3rd year participating as I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

The first year I held a dinner party at my home where I made a mostly vegetable dinner with very vegetable Lasagna, a huge mixed vegetable salad and meringues and strawberries for dessert.   Everyone loved the food and I was told by a few people that the lasagna was the best one they ever had.

Last year I wanted to expand it to be open to the public so I hosted a Mexican Fiesta at Aphrodite Cooks on Weston Rd.  It was a small group of people but we all had our hands on deck and created some great tacos/tostadas and non alcoholic margaritas and guacamole etc.   I set up a photo wall so we could all have a little fun with Sombrero's and props.

This year I am going to be teaching an Italian Cooking from Scratch Workshop on May 12th at The Depanneur on College Street in downtown Toronto.  I will teach adults and kids how to make a simple but delicious meal of handmade gnocchi, fresh tomato sauce, grilled asparagus side dish and a delicious cherry amaretto parfait for dessert.   Harper Collins Canada has generously donated some Jamie Oliver cookbooks as prizes and Sobeys has also generously provided the event with assistance and have donated some special kids packs to set up kids for future cooking skills.  Bernardin canning have provided Mason jars for guests to be able to take home a jar filled with some fresh tomato sauce and the dessert they create for themselves.

You can take part and join the Revolution by attending an event like mine or seeing how else you can Join in on the Food Revolution Website:  www.foodrevolutionday.com

It is my hope that I can teach someone that has never cooked before how easy it can be too cook a meal using simple ingredients that even kids can understand and manage in the hope that they will be inspired to learn the value of cooking and sharing food and eating healthy food.   Many kids don't know what they are eating or where it comes from.  Hopefully they will be inspired to find out more and try new things and change their future health.

Supporting Jamie Oliver

This beautiful photo of Chef Jamie Oliver, his wife Jools and daughter Petal started a firestorm of Instagram comments on Jamie Oliver's feed after he posted this photo this morning.   When I looked at this photo I remembered it from one of Jamie's Christmas Special's where he is making Gravy using chicken wings and other things.  His wife Jool's holding their daughter Petal who is looking on intently.  There is nothing negative about this photo or what was going on when it was taken but there is always 1 internet TROLL (Hater) who can turn it into bashing Jamie Oliver for being aligned with a Commercial Brand.   This photo has nothing to do with that and I found myself getting angry that 1 person could post a negative comment on this feed of what was supposed to be a family inspiring photo of family during the Holidays.  This Troll who will be nameless as to not giving him further attention although I am sure you can figure it out,  was then jumped on by the rest of Jamie's supporters including me.

Why this issue got me angry...   I became a Food Revolution Day Ambassador a couple of years ago after having watched a number of Jamie's shows including the ONE that motivated me to join Jamie in his mission.  That show was Jamie's School Lunches and then subsequently Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution in the US.   You need to know what Jamie has done over the past few years to understand what motivates him to do what he does.   Let's start at the beginning.   Jamie has 4 children now but started his career as the Naked Chef cooking dinner for friends and family.  Once he got married and had his children he was exposed to the schools that his children were going to.  I am not a parent but I know that once you become a parent you will fight for the rest of your life to take care of your children.   As a chef Jamie saw what was being passed off as food in the School Lunch system of the schools in the UK.  and as a Chef who prides himself on making real food he was disgusted and tried to find a way to change the school lunches to healthier foods.  I am sure when Jamie stepped into this bucket of worms he didn't know how this would direct his future.  I can bet he just wanted to see kids eating proper food in the UK and in turn have his kids and their friends get a better start in life.   This project turned into something a lot bigger than Jamie could have imagined.   He had to fight the government system of subsidies and the stubborness of the school employees to make changes.  If you watched the series you would have seen Jamie break down in frustration.  You would think he would just give up but not Jamie, he moved onto the US where he teamed up with Ryan Seacrest for Food Revolution, a series of how he could affect change in families struggling with diseases like diabetes and suffering other health effects from the food they were eating.  So many of the stories made me cry and I felt like I wanted to do something to join his cause because I come from a family who didn't have a lot of money but my parents worked their butts off to provide a roof over our head and proper food on the table every night.  I come from a home where we didn't have annual vacations or fancy things but we had a fully packed refrigerator and meals that were generally mostly made from scratch every day.

Now families rely on drive throughs to get their daily meals and have lost the ability to cook for themselves and pass down recipes and memories from spending family meals together.   I have helped my mother in the kitchen as long as I can remember, starting with stirring the pot or getting things from the fridge to adding spices to taking over cooking a lot of new things.  

Jamie is trying to bring this back to families who are struggling with their children getting diabetes as a child from the dependency on cheap fast food that has no nutrients to them having learning and behavioural difficulties in school.  Cooking real food at home has a direct impact on things like poverty, health, education and crime.   Crime... yes this takes me back to Jamie's Fifteen a project Jamie created to get troubled youth off the streets and away from drugs and crime and into commercial kitchens instead.   Jamie's first incarnation was the restaurant Fifteen named after the 15 youths that started in a program he created to teach them how to work in a restaurant kitchen.  While it was a struggle and not all of the participants were 100% willing to change some were and some are still working with Jamie and his team to this day.  What if he didn't create such a program?  What would those that have succeeded with Jamie have done?  Who knows but I bet it wouldn't be feeding people and paying it forward.  

Jamie has now moved on to thinking bigger which means trying to get more money to do bigger things.  He has aligned himself as a spokesman for Woolworth's in the UK and Sobey's in Canada and other things to try and spread his message and reach.   While Jamie may be making a profit from his restaurants and books and products he isn't greedily stashing the cash into a mansion in the UK and fancy cars and clothes and lavish wasteful things.   He is trying to expand his brand for YOU and everyone else in the World.  

His new book is called SAVE WITH JAMIE and it's mission is to help YOU waste less food and make food that costs less and tastes better.   I have the book and have made this Gangnam style chicken wings
which turned out fabulous.  A little kick to the humble chicken wings.

Over the past couple of years I have tried to host events for Food Revolution Day in Toronto and have found it very difficult to get any attention and interest about the event because I was trying to direct my focus on the adults instead of the kids because there are already other local Ambassadors focusing on the kids programmes.   There is a lot of apathy and general why bother with this type of attitude.  I understand from a financial point of view sometimes it costs me more money to make food at home for certain things.  For example Chinese Food.  I am not going to make deep fried Chicken Balls or Tempura for myself or make a stir fry with a dozen ingredients because it will make up a stir fry that can feed a sports team and it isn't something that I would be able to store or freeze in a small one bedroom apartment kitchen.   But at the same time there are things I can make at home and freeze that I can cook once and store in the freezer for times I don't want to cook or don't have the time or am just plain sick of take out food.   I like to make Pulled Pork in a crock pot.  It basically cooks itself and I can store it in ziplock bags for all sorts of meals at any time.  I love to make Chili in the winter as well,  it's easy to cook and freezing doesn't hurt the flavour at all.
My fastest go to comfort and satisfying and easy meal is always pasta and tomato sauce.  I love Gnocchi and like to keep some in the freezer for a quick boil and douse with a bottle of Tomato Passata with added herbs and spices and sometimes vegetables. Easy "peesy" as Jamie says sometimes.

Back to the point of this post.  One guy on Instagram started bashing Jamie for his alignment with Woolworths for their support of Australian famers not making enough money.   Really.. what does this "loverly" as Jamie calls it, picture of his family got to do with Woolworth's and their policy.   Go talk to Woolworths if you have an issue about their policies.   While I agree that Farmer's should make a lot more money and should get subsidies from the government to grow and raise Organic Foods it's a case of a big picture of economics and who's running the food distribution system.   The farmer is a small cog in a big wheel and unfortunately they should be the big cog and the rest should be the small cogs but it just doesn't work that way right now.   Maybe you can join me and other Food Revolutioner's and help voice your opinion to make that change.  I always support farmer's because they are the people that provide food for us to live on.  I doubt everyone in the world is going to own a cow, chicken, etc and grow all their vegetables in their backyard and be self sufficient, it just can't happen anymore so we need to support the farmers and give them incentives to going back to the old farming techniques of cultivating the land and developing nutrient high quality foods with Organic standards.

This is why I support Jamie and his mission because I see the BIG PICTURE on how it contributes to the World and the future of people's health in the world.  

Please support one of these things to make a positive change:

1.  Support Jamie and all of the projects he is trying to do.
2. Join a Food Revolution Day event or become an Ambassador
3. Support local farmers
4. Shop at your local farmer's market
5. Buy Organic foods when you can.
6. Learn how to cook by watching Jamie's Youtube channel or from one of his cookbooks or TV shows.
7. Experiment with food and try and make new things.
8. Teach the kids around you about food and how to appreciate where it comes from.
9. Know what's in your food and where it comes from and how you can find out.
10. Write letters to your local politicians to voice your opinion.   They won't have a job if you don't vote for them so they work for you.

Follow Jamie on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook etc.  @JamieOliver