Archive for April, 2012

We’re losing the war against obesity in the US. It’s sad, but true. Our kids are growing up overweight and malnourished from a diet of processed foods, and today’s children will be the first generation ever to live shorter lives than their parents. It’s time for change. It’s time for a Food Revolution. Pop the 19th May in your diary for ‘Food Revolution Day’; a chance for people who love food to come together to share information, talents and resources; to pass on their knowledge and highlight the world’s food issues. All around the globe, people will work together to make a difference. Food Revolution Day is about connecting with your community through events at schools, restaurants, local businesses, dinner parties and farmers’ markets.

Join your host, Chef Jennifer Booker, and her guests!

Call in and join in the fun! 714.242.6215

Dublin, California Welcomes BJ’s Restaurants

The new BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is located at the intersection of Fallon Road and I-580 as the latest addition to the 380,000 square foot Fallon Gateway shopping center in the heart of the Tri-Valley trade area serving Dublin, Pleasanton & Livermore. The restaurant is approximately 8,500 square feet, contains seating for approximately 280 guests, and features BJ’s extensive menu including BJ’s signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie(R) dessert. BJ’s highly detailed, contemporary decor and unique video statement, including BJ’s 103″ plasma display as well as several high-definition flat panel televisions, creates a high energy, fun and family-friendly dining environment for everyone to enjoy. Hours of operation are from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

“We are excited to bring the BJ’s concept to Dublin, California,”

commented Jerry Deitchle, Chairman and CEO. “Our new Dublin restaurant is our third restaurant opening so far this year, and is also our 10th restaurant in the San Francisco Bay market where we enjoy some of our highest sales volumes. We continue to remain solidly on track to open as many as 16 new restaurants during fiscal 2012, including the relocation of an older, smaller-format ‘pizza and grill’ restaurant to a site that can support a larger-format BJ’s restaurant. All of our remaining new restaurants for the current year are either in the permitting stage or are under construction.” Investors are reminded that the actual number and timing of new restaurant openings is subject to a number of factors outside of the Company’s control including, but not limited to, weather conditions and factors under the control of landlords, contractors and regulatory/licensing authorities.

BJ’s restaurants offer an innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees and desserts. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ’s experience. The Company operates several microbreweries in addition to using qualified contract brewers to produce and distribute BJ’s critically acclaimed proprietary handcrafted beers throughout the chain. For more information, log onto: http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.

The new Truvia® ’Behind the Bar’ product creates great-tasting, zero-calorie simple syrups to help operators meet the growing demand for reduced-calorie cocktails.

The Truvia® brand announced the nationwide launch of the Truvia® ’Behind the Bar’ product, specially designed for use at bars, restaurants and other foodservice establishments.  Now available through local foodservice distributors, the latest Truvia® brand innovation provides a solution to creating natural, great-tasting, zero-calorie simple syrups for cocktails.

As consumers pay greater attention to the sugar content of beverages, bars and restaurants are looking to provide lighter alternatives to the classic, sugar-based cocktail while maintaining great taste.  Research shows that “skinny” menu item claims have grown significantly over the past year. The Truvia® Behind the Bar product will help the food and beverage service industry meet this growing trend naturally and create great-tasting, reduced-calorie cocktails, teas, and lemonades.

Truvia® Simple Syrup is created by adding one package of Truvia® Behind the Bar product to ½ gallon of water and mixing until it dissolves.  This Truvia® Simple Syrup contains zero calories, compared to an equivalent amount of sugar-sweetened simple syrup with about 6400 calories.

“As the #1 natural sugar substitute in the United States, Truvia® natural sweetener has become a pantry staple for U.S. households,” said Mark Brooks, Truvia® global consumer products director.  “With its ability to deliver new revenue to the food and beverage industry, the Truvia® Behind the Bar product is a foodservice essential, as consumers expect a greater variety of reduced-calorie beverage options.”

Truvia® natural sweetener is a great-tasting, natural, zero-calorie sweetener born from the leaves of the stevia plant.  When used in cocktails, Truvia® natural sweetener enhances the intensity of fruit flavors such as citrus and berry, and smoothes out the overall taste while maintaining its flavor.

“This new product is a perfect tool for bars and restaurants to expand their menu offerings and give customers more of what they want – natural, great-tasting drinks at a fraction of the calories,” said Anthony Caporale, mixologist, host and producer of Art of the Drink.  “The Truvia® Behind the Bar product is the first natural, high-quality product with nationwide availability that is tailor-made for the food and beverage industry to deliver reduced-calorie cocktails.”

Discover reduced-calorie cocktails using Truvia® Simple Syrups and related product tips at www.truviacocktails.com.

Welcome to Basil Magazine Radio. With an incredibly strong sense of style and a discerning palette, the Basil MAGAZINE reader is a sophisticate and affluent consumer.  Our readers are a mix of global readers interested in food and wine; living green and healthy, lifestyle, and philanthropy leaders.  All of whom have a dynamic mix of culture and entrepreneurism

Join your host, Chef Jennifer Booker, and her guests Founder and CEO of Alive!Expo, Patrycja Towns and our very own ! Patrycja will tell us why the Alive!Expo is the premier health and wellness expo while Dr. Mike helps to dispel medical misinformation in the media.

Call in and join in the fun! 714.242.6215

Have you tried the Waffle Cut Lemon Parmesan Fries by Alexia?  If not, you MUST!  They are fabulous!

They are crispy waffle-cut potatoes with parmesan and lemon. Cut to enhance the texture and seasoned with zesty lemon and delicious parmesan cheese, these all-new Waffle Fries deliver a soft warm crunch of flavor that will make your taste buds dance.

Blogger Farihah Ali of Spice’s Bites combined basil, oregano and garlic to evoke the tastes of the Italian countryside. This is a simple yet unique twist on the waffle fry and is a fan favorite!

Try them today.  They are the perfect compliment to any meal or even as a snack.  Be sure to click on the link to get your coupon for $1 off of any Alexia product below.

Best!

Maureen

Welcome to Basil Magazine Radio. With an incredibly strong sense of style and a discerning palette, the Basil MAGAZINE reader is a sophisticate and affluent consumer.  Our readers are a mix of global readers interested in food and wine; living green and healthy, lifestyle, and philanthropy leaders.  All of whom have a dynamic mix of culture and entrepreneurism

Join your host, Chef Jennifer Booker, and her guest chef and cookbook author, Chef Michael Moore! Chef Moore will discuss his most recent cookbook, Blood Sugar, and how his own health problems prompted him to write a cookbook with great tasting recipes that are good for you too!

Call in and join in the fun! 714.242.6215

POM Velvet Cupcakes with POM Cream Cheese Frosting

Time to Table: 35 Minutes Prep / 20 – 25 Minutes Baking / 20 Minutes Cooling

Servings: 30 regular cupcakes

Ingredients:
POM Cream Cheese Frosting
Juice from 3-4 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates*, or 1-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
1 cup arils from 1-2 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates or POM POMS fresh pomegranate arils
4 oz. soft unsalted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
14 oz. powdered sugar

POM Velvet Cupcakes
Juice from 6-9 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates*, or 2-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
16 oz. granulated sugar
12 oz. soft unsalted butter (3 sticks
4 ea large eggs
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
15 oz. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 oz. cocoa powder
3/4 oz. baking soda
pinch salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Directions for POM Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Prepare fresh pomegranate juice*, score 1-2 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water
• Break open the pomegranates under water to free the arils (seed sacs), the arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top, sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl.
• Reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside, (refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use)
• Reduce the pomegranate juice, over low heat, down to 3 fl. oz.
• Allow to cool, place butter into electric mixer bowl with paddle attachment and cream on medium-high speed for 1 minute
• Add the cream cheese and continue to mix for 2 more minutes, turn the speed down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and the pomegranate juice reduction
• Mix until the sugar is fully combined, remove icing from the mixer and place into a piping bag with a round or star tip.

Directions for POM Velvet Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF,
• Reduce the pomegranate juice, over low heat, down to 1/2 cup, place sugar and soft butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream on medium-high speed, until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy
• Turn the speed down to low and add the eggs in one at a time
• In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, pomegranate juice reduction, white vinegar and vanilla extract, and then slowly add half of this to the mixer
• Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, and then sift at least two times until well mixed
• Add half of this to the mixer, add the remaining half of the liquids to the mixer, and then the remaining dry ingredients
• Finish off with the heavy cream, beat just until combined
• Place cupcake liners into cupcake pan, and using a spoon, fill with cake batter until it is just about 3/4 full
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
• Allow the pan to cool slightly, and then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool fully
• Once the cupcakes are cooled completely, they can be iced with the pomegranate cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh pomegranate arils.

POMojito

Ingredients:
1 oz. POM Cherry 100% juice
1 1/2 oz. light rum
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (equal parts sugar and cold water dissolved together)
Soda
4 mint leaves
Mint sprig for garnish

Directions:

• In the bottom of a double old-fashioned glass bruise the 4 mint leaves with the fresh lime juice and simple syrup.
• Add crushed ice then the POM Cherry and rum.
• Top with a splash of soda and stir.
• Garnish with the mint sprig.

Pomegranate, Gouda and Pear Quesadilla with POM Salsa

Ingredients:
Quesadilla
1 cup arils from 1-2 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates or POM POMS fresh pomegranate arils
6 8-inch flour tortillas
4 oz. smoked Gouda cheese, thinly sliced
2 large firm pears, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

POM Salsa
Ingredients:

Juice from 1 large POM Wonderful Pomegranate*, or 1/4 cup POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
2 cups arils from 2-3 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates or POM POMS fresh pomegranate arils
3-4 teaspoons chopped jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper
4 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Directions:
Quesadilla:

• Score 1-2 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water.
• Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs).
• The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.)
• Place 2 strips of cheese on each tortilla
• Using fingers, press 1 teaspoon of arils into cheese.
• Add 2 slices of pear, sprinkle with sugar. Fold tortilla in half.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon oil to a nonstick skillet and heat.
• Place folded tortillas in the pan and brown lightly; turn over and cook until crisp.
• Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oil if needed.
• Cut each tortilla into halves and serve with POM Salsa

POM Salsa:

• Score 2-3 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water.
• Break open the pomegranate under water to free the arils (seed sacs).
• The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top.
• Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl.
• Reserve 2 cups of the arils from the fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.)
• Prepare fresh pomegranate juice.*
• Thoroughly mix to combine all ingredients. (Salsa will keep covered, in the refrigerator, for 2 to 3 days.)

POM Spinach Dip

Ingredients:
1 cup arils from 1-2 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates or POM POMS fresh pomegranate arils
1 8-oz. package cream cheese or 1 cup cottage cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

POM Salsa
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 6.5-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
fresh vegetables for dipping

Directions:
• Score 1-2 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water.
• Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs).
• The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl.
• Reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.).
• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Mix together cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, Swiss cheese, chopped spinach, mayonnaise, artichokes and arils.
• Spread into a 1-quart baking dish or 9-inch glass pie pan.
• Bake until bubbly around the edges and cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.
Serve with fresh vegetables to dip.