Hearts of Palm (aka palm heart or palmito)

palm hearts on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

What are they?

These delicious cylindrical “hearts” come from the inside of palm trees. With the look of a chestnut, texture and flavor of an artichoke – they add a lovely touch to a salad (and can also be used to make dips). Since the harvesting of palm hearts originally killed the trees they come from, they were expensive and salads that included them were deemed “millionaire’s salads”. However, what you find now comes from trees with multiple palms, so that when one section is chopped off, the tree continues to live.

Why eat them?

It’s simple. They’re tasty and healthy, a rare combination. The amount of nutrients packed into one cup, which is 41 calories worth, is incredible: iron (25% of your daily value), protein (7%), vitamin C (19%), folate (14%), magnesium (14%), potassium (9%), and zinc (11%)! The only downside is the amount of sodium – 622mg (26%), which is mostly due to preservation needs and is comparable to the amount of sodium found in other canned vegetables.

Ready to try?

These scrumptious treats are available at Fresh Grocers or Whole Foods (for $2 to 5 per can/jar). So if you are bored of lettuce, tomato, and onion salads, then add some hearts of palm!

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Guacamole

If you can chop, dice, and mix - you're capable of making guacamole.

Here's what you'll need to do it:
2 ripe avocados
1 medium tomato diced
1/3 cup of chopped onion
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro chopped
1/4 of chopped jalapenos OR 1/8 cup of serrano peppers
Lime juice
Salt

Directions:
Mash the avocado separately. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Add the lime juice and salt to taste. I recommend 1-2 teaspoons of lime juice, it brings all the flavors together.

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Answers to Our Quiz

Answers: 1. c) 2. b) 3. d) 4. c) 5. a)

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Splenda: Only Artificially Sweet

"Just what's good. Splenda. It's made from sugar. It tastes like sugar. But it's not sugar."

The bright yellow website explains that this artificial sweetener is 600 times as sweet as sugar, but doesn't add the extra calories or affect diabetics because the body can't digest it.

Still, it seems a bit contradictory that it's simultaneously "made from sugar" and "not sugar."

So I decided to investigate.

What exactly is Splenda? It's an artificial sweetener that contains sucralose. The Splenda manufacturers know how to market to their consumers: sucrose is regular table sugar, so adding "al" in the middle makes sucralose seem like a natural ingredient.

It's not.

Splenda is a chemically-altered chlorocarbon; every molecule contains one sucrose atom and three chlorine atoms. Yes, chlorine. There are some natural foods, like lettuce, mushrooms, and table salt, which also contain chlorine. But Splenda is not a natural food. The FDA apparently determined that the body can absorb as much as 27% of sucralose. That can add up to a significant amount of chlorine filtering into your system. The FDA also admits that there are a few possible side effects, including enlarged liver and kidneys, reduced growth rates, and decreased fetal body weight.

Here's another scary fact: there has never been a long-term human study on the effects of Splenda. All tests have been relatively short term, and most of them were done on animals like rats and rabbits. And who were the ones conducting these experiments? You guess it- the manufacturers themselves. The FDA approved sucralose without thoroughly investigating the product.

After doing this research, I'm a bit wary of this artificial sweetener. This isn't to say I'm going to completely avoid all Splenda products, but the next time I cook a dish, I think I'll leave out the "al" from my sucrose and use some good, old fashioned sugar instead.

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Test Your Culinary Clout!

1. Where is the guava a native of?
a) Africa
b) India
c) America
d) Thailand

2. A "buckling" is a smoked form of what fish?
a) Trout
b) Herring
c) Pike
d) Salmon

3. Milanese style dishes are always prepared with what type of cheese?
a) Feta
b) Swiss
c) Mozzarella
d) Parmesan

4. Masago is what?
a) Yellowtail
b) Salmon roe
c) Smelt eggs
d) Tuna

5. Dim sum is the name for a popular Chinese cuisine that includes a variety of dumplings and bite-sized dishes. In English, "dim sum" literally means:
a) Little hearts
b) Breakfast bits
c) Tasty treats
d) Small plates

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Upcoming Food Events

Remember, if you have an event you'd like us to list next Sunday, just email the details to pennappetit.blog@gmail.com.

IKEA's Swedish Holiday Food Sampling

Reading Terminal Market

Thursday, November 13th

12:00 Noon

Free Demonstration

Come see and taste classic Swedish holiday foods that will make entertaining yummy and easy!

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JRA Jewish Food and Community Expo

Valley Forge Convention Center

Sunday, December 7th

11 AM - 6 PM

The JRA Jewish Food & Community Expo is an unprecedented celebration of Jewish food, culture and community in the Philadelphia Tri-State Area.

The Expo will showcase the best of local, regional and international kosher fare and introduce culinary innovations in the kosher marketplace.

This spectacular one-day event will provide vital funding for the Jewish Relief Agency - Philadelphia's leading provider of the hunger relief in the Jewish community.

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Fresh Pasta Making Class

Reading Terminal Market

Thursday, November 13th

5:45pm to 7:45pm

Fee: $50, includes materials

Fee for entire series: $135, includes materials (a 10-percent discount)

Part of Cibo Italiano: Three-part Italian Cooking Series

Taught by Anna Maria Florio

Learn how to make your own fresh pasta, including ravioli,

tagliatelle and papardelle. Find out how to turn this
tricky art into a simple process. We will then prepare a
few recipes such as roasted red pepper ravioli and tagliatelle
al prosciutto.

Register Online www.temple.edu/tucc or
Call to register at 215-204-6946 or 215-204-433

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A Taste of India

Presented by Wharton Indian Students' Association

Wednesday, November 12, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Rodin Underground (Basement of Rodin College House)

Admission: $3

Come by to sample Indian food from all over the sub-continent! Taste the sweetness of Gujarati farsaan, the butter-soaked dosas of Bangalore, the firebrand street chaat of Bombay, the aromatic spices of Punjab and the melt-in-your-mouth desserts of Bengal.

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Corn

A fresh ear of sweet, white corn. Photo by Kendall Haupt.

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Friday Blog Lovin' - Buttermilk Sweet Potato Pie

Blog: Baking Bites

With Thanksgiving only a few weeks away, it's the perfect time to try out recipes. This Buttermilk Sweet Potato Pie is both delightfully unexpected and perfectly appropriate. Make sure to check out the blog's other appetizing Thanksgiving treats!


Note: Click here to see the original post.

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Vietnam, Chinatown, Philly, PA, USA

Click photo for Vietnam Restaurant's official website

How's that for an identity crisis? In the unlikely midst of the hustle and bustle of Philly's Chinatown lies the Zagat-rated Vietnam Restaurant at 11th and Spring St. Armed with a dozen other independent rave reviews on various food sites, it was time to sink my teeth into the restaurant's offerings and decide for myself.

First up, the decor was totally fancy, much like stepping into a time-space warp from the streets of Chinatown. Love the hardwood panels, cozy low ceilings, dim lights, and ethnic pictures. Apparently there's also a bar on the 3rd floor for pre-dinner drinks.

Our party of four had the BBQ appetizer platter which included crispy spring rolls, beef-stuffed grape leaves, char-grilled chicken, grilled meat balls, and rice vermicelli, lettuce and rice paper for your DIY rolls. The BBQ was tasty and crispy, but what blew me away was the yummy dips with copious sprinklings of diced peanuts. We also had the Goi Cuon or shrimp and pork rolls which were as fresh as you can get in any decent Vietnamese dining. Once again, the dip was pretty amazing.

The entrees were somewhat of an anti-climax after our wonderful appetizers. I had the Pho Tai (Beef flank steak noodle soup) and was wondering about the $5.75 price tag at such a fancy restaurant. What could possibly go wrong for this all-time favorite staple dish? Alas, a puny bowl with a few slices of beef arrived with lukewarm soup literally overflowing once I attempted to dip the accompanying bean sprouts and herbs. It felt more like an appetizer and I've had much better Pho in Philly.

One of my companions ordered the Com Tam Dac Biet (House special broken rice) which was a hearty dish of char-grilled chicken, pork, beef and crab meat egg, and according to him was pretty tasty much like the BBQ platter we had earlier. The others had variations of the pan-fried crispy noodles, one of which was the Mi Xao Que Huong (Saigon noodle). They took about 7 minutes to demolish their entrees which was good serving of noodles, shrimp and chicken, so I'm assuming that they were reasonably impressed with those.

Dessert was a super-potent wonderfully creamy Vietnamese drip coffee served in a normal coffee cup (which is not too authentic) rather than the typical aluminium drip pot. Not for folks used to single-shot lattes, the coffee will guarantee hours of hyper-alertness. . . . Another gripe is the lack of free refills for hot tea which is kind of a given in most Asian restaurants.

Overall, Vietnam is a lovely restaurant with great ambience for special occasions, excellent appetizers, good variety, and reasonable pricing. For staples though, if you're not fussy with the decor, there are plenty of other good Vietnamese outlets over in South Philly.

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Top Chef Season 5 Preview

Click photo for official Top Chef website

Ok, it’s that time of the year again; Top Chef returns next Wednesday at 10. Actually, Top Chef just premieres at some random point every nine months or so, usually after Project Runway finishes, so this is a friendly reminder that the best reality cooking show is back for a fifth installment.

I know I’m excited, and not just for one thing. First, following tradition, the series moves to a new city this season, traveling from Chicago to New York. I seriously can’t believe that it has taken them five seasons to get there, but there should be no shortage of celebrity chefs and super exciting challenges in the Big Apple. Second, I can’t wait to see what kind of wacky contestants Bravo rolls out this time. I don’t know if they’ll be able to top last season’s foul-mouthed pessimist Lisa or Spike and Andrew’s bathtub antics, but I’m sure they’ll try. Sadly, there doesn’t look to be, at least on paper, a contestant who will flame out wildly in the first challenge, as all but two of the contestants have culinary degrees, most from some of the best schools in the country.

Finally, the most entertaining judging panel on TV returns. Between perpetually grouchy head judge Tom Colicchio (can someone get him some happy pills?) and Gail Simmons, who is pretty much useless, sits Padma Lakshmi, who pulls double duty as both host and judge. Though I’m not sure of her qualifications for the position, or if she has any at all, her bizarre pronunciations and her vast array of facial expressions cement her position as my favorite reality host, quite an honor considering the laundry list of trash television that I regularly indulge in.

It seems like this season has all the ingredients necessary for another fantastic run of quickfire challenges and judges’ tables, so get your knives ready, because Top Chef is coming back next week!

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