Palatable Jazz will be hosting its second annual Food Drive at HarryOs on Saturday, November 17, 2012 from 11:00am-3:00pm located at 1425 Lynnhaven Parkway Virginia Beach, VA 23453. We will have performances by SoulStice Reb’L, The Rubber Peeple and two guest host. We will have face painting and Arts & Crafts for the kids. We also will have raffles and contest. All donations go to the FoodBank of Southeastern Virginia.

We want to do the best that we can to help feed families for the holidays and we can not do it without your help. Our goal is to collect 200 pounds of food. We need help from the community, families, friends and co-workers to accomplish this goal. We’re asking if you can donate non-perishable food in non-breakable containers. Please no expired food. Please check the cans and boxes for expiration date. We’re looking to collect for the holidays instant potatoes, canned yams/sweet potatoes, canned gravy, boxed/packaged dry macaroni pasta/boxed macaroni & cheese, canned greens, boxed stuffing, pie filling, boxed/pre-made pie crust, instant drink mixes and 100% fruit juices. We are also accepting monetary donations that can help the food bank supply baby products such as, powdered formula, baby food, diapers, wipes, etc.

Join us for a great time of fun and giving! See you there!

If you are interested in volunteering for or sponsoring this event contact us at 202-681-jazz or email us at info@palatablejazz.com.

Picture this, to your right a sectioned off intimate room that can be use for a small private party.  An L shape bar that seemed to stretch across the full extent of the room. Marble topped tables with vino bottles filled with lavender flowers. This is just a few touches of detail that made this room oh so impressive.

Now that I have painted a visual picture of the Press 626 Cafe and Wine Bar. Let’s move on to the money shot. There is no eloquent way to perfectly describe the quality of food taste, food presentation, portion sizes and service of Press 626. I will attempt to try anyway. Excellent, bravo, great and perfect execution!

If you are into eating red meat, I recommend trying the monster steak. Wonderful blend of flavors where the sweet meets savory through the blending of tomatoes, caramelized red onions, and cilantro with a climactic spicy heat from chipotle aioli that resolves on the tongue smoothly as if you consumed sorbet (palate cleansing). However, this pulled beef does come vegetarian with a portabella version.

If you are into eating poultry, try The Italian Bird. This was the softest buttery tasting sour dough panini ever. Roasted red peppers and portabello mushrooms were tender, topped on chicken dressed in a pesto vingerette with mozzarella melted over it all.

These sandwiches come with a choice of cup of soup, fresh organic mesclun greens, sub-seasonal fruit or french fries (french fries are an extra $1.75).

After all I experienced at this establishment, I am glad that I was adventurous enough to stop into the Press 626 for lunch.

If you enjoyed this Assemble Reflection (Restaurant Review), then you might enjoy Burton’s Grill review as well.

I used an old faithful chocolate chip cookie recipe. I augmented the amount and size of the chocolate chips I normally use, to make room for the M&M’s®.

What you’ll need

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup of melted unsalted butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 cup of mini milk chocolate chocolate chips

1 cup of mini M&M’s®

mixer (hand held or electric mixer like a Kitchen Aid)

Spatula

Sorbet or tablespoon size scooper

Parchment Paper or Silpat Baking Sheet (I use parchment paper)

Cookie Sheet

What to do

Pre-heat oven on 325°F

1. Sift together Flour, baking soda, & salt together.

2. Cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until mixture is light and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla extract and blend into mixture

4. Add egg until completely blended into mixture, then add yolk until completely blended.

5. Add sifted ingredients until well incorporated.

6. With the Spatula mix in mini morsels and M&M’s to the cookie dough

7. Use scooper to add cookie dough to sheet lined with parchment or silpat

8. Place into oven and bake for 15-17 (13 minutes if you want gooey cookies)

9. Once cookies are done, let cool for about 2-5 minutes. Eat while warm (if you desire) with a tall glass of milk.

Challenge: I am thinking about making cookies with peanut butter as a part of the dough. What candy or other type of addition would you suggest I add to the dough? Please let me know your suggestions in the comment section below.

For one week …this week to be exact…from September 16-22, Share our Strength has made it easier for you to find that lunch spot for you and co-workers to dine out at. Join them and the rest of us, with your co-workers (even your boss…you may get a longer lunch if you invite him/her) to eat good food while helping kids across America to not be hungry. It’s not just for lunch, it’s for dinner too. Had a long day at work and couldn’t corral your workers for the out to lunch experience?  Well the “Dine out for No Kid Hungry” is all day long (well until the participating restaurants open and close for the day).  Take your family, spouse or/and yourself out to eat dinner to help “No Kid Hungry”.

I think it is a win win situation…Food and Charity…you going to pay for the food anyway…why not help a kid beat hunger while your at it!

For a List of Participating Restaurants, click here and spread the word!

Just a FYI

If you didn’t know, we (Palatable Jazz) will be having a charity bake sale soon to support No Kid Hungry and Share Our Strength campaign through the Great American Bake Sale. Let us know if you are interested in participating or supporting us support No Kid Hungry.

Here are some great supporters of the “No Kid Hungry”

Say what?!?!? I have been nominated for an award! *Blush*

I give all the thanks to Eating Dinner with my Family for nominating me for this award. I truly appreciate it. By the way, check out Eating Dinner with my Family’s Five-Spice-Glazed Salmon With Sesame Green Beans…three words to express it…NOM, NOM, NOM!

This dessert right here…all I can say is…Destination Greatness! I have to tell you all the truth about this dessert. I dreamed about the ingredients a week before I attempted to make it. I honestly didn’t think it would come out well, but I gave it a try anyway. I am glad that I did. The best description I can give you about this dessert is…imagine a sinful version of a parfait. Relate this dessert to Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away“! The graham crackers is the guitar blaring in the intro, the whipped cream is the melody and strawberry sauce is Lenny singing “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”.

What you’ll need

2 Cups of Quartered Strawberries

1/4 cup & 2 tbsps of Sugar

1 1/2 cup of crushed graham crackers (about 3 sheets of crackers)

2 tbsp of butter (measure as a solid then melt)

3 tbsps of brown sugar

1 cup of Heavy Cream

1/3 cup of Powdered Sugar

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

What to Do

Strawberry Sauce

Place strawberries in a medium sauce pan on medium-low heat, add 1/4 cup of sugar, mix together and let stew. Stir often. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and strawberries soften. Add the 2 tbsps of sugar to increase sweetness (optional). Remove from heat, let cool. Place strawberries and sauce in container with lid or plastic wrap, refrigerate for approximately 30-60 minutes.

Whipped Cream

Place heavy cream into a bowl. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Use a hand held whisk or mixer to whisk cream until it form stiff peaks. If you desire a thicker, firmer whipped cream continue to whisk until it looks similar to icing.

Graham Cracker Crumble

Preheat oven to 350 F. I use a food processors to crush the crackers. If you don’t own a food processor, another method that works place crackers into ziploc bag and roll over the bag with a rolling pin. Don’t crush the crackers to much, you need it to stay into crumbles for the consistency needed for this recipe. Place crushed crackers in a bowl, add brown sugar, and then stir together until well blended. Add melted butter and stir into graham cracker mix until well incorporated. Place mixture into bake safe dish (preferably glass) ungreased. Place into oven for only 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.

Layer the Dessert

Now onto the fun part. Building the dessert.

1. Graham Cracker Crumble

2. Whipped cream

3. Strawberry Sauce

4. Graham Cracker Crumble

5. Strawberry Sauce

6. Whipped Cream

7. Top with Strawberry Garnish

Challenge: What other dessert can I concoct with the ingredients of this dessert? Please list your replies in the comment section. Thank you.

The power of strawberries is one that should not be taken lightly. Even with it’s fragility, strawberries has the strength to lower blood sugar, fight certain cancer-causing agents, increase immunity, and decrease inflammation. The delicate fruit’s strength comes from Vitamin C, D, E, K, Potassium, Folate, Fisetin, Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. Did you know that Strawberries are known as pineapple strawberries and ananas strawberries? The commercially produced strawberry is called a woodland strawberry which is eaten by most US consumers. I guess with that said…I LOOOOVVVVEEE me some woodland strawberries.

We will cover all month for our food series, Strawberries, other known as “Strawberry Fields Forever“. Please enjoy our first recipe dedicated to our “Strawberry Fields Forever” food series.

Simple Strawberry Power Topping 

Cut Strawberries into quarter cuts

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar onto strawberries

Place in Refrigerator for an hour or more (This helps get the juices flowing)

Recommendation: Enjoy on the top of Ice Cream, Frozen yogurt or on top of slice of pound cake. Yummy and refreshing all at the same time.

Challenge: What is your favorite Strawberry recipe? Please share it in the comment section below. If there is a blog where the recipe came from, please share the blog’s url along with the recipe.

Palatable Jazz Popular Post to Read:

Your Banana Does What Exactly?

“Going Bananas”

Have you seen our “All That Jazz” Segments? Well…feel free to look around!

Who is SoulStice Reb’L? What is SoulStice Reb’L? My answer is definitive.

SoulStice Reb’L is a fusion sound as if Linkin Park meets Red Hot Chili Peppers meets Radio Head meets Jill Scott and John Legend encompassed into one band. The sound projected from them creates imagery so profound that you fully feel, see, and hear what they are conveying through their music. They are rebels in their own right, being unorthodox to the core in their art form creating the abstractness from their musical souls. Now that you have a sense of “who” and “what” is SoulStice Reb’L, let me introduce the abstract band.

Palatable Jazz proudly presents to you the five member SoulStice Reb’L band.

Lead Vocalist and Songwriter, Maria Rosado (front right)

Background Vocalist, Quionna Tynes (front left)

Guitarist and Drummer, Justin Reed (back left)

Bass Guitarist, Kyle Waters (back middle )

Emcee, Guitarist, Drummer, Songwriter and Vocalist, Richard “Testimony” Love (back right)

Plus one more, Manager, Janet Reed (not in picture)

I had the honor of sitting in on a practice recently, where the band prepared for a up coming diabetes awareness event to be hosted at a local supermarket. They were in a garage rehearsing with plugged in equipment and instruments with the humidity being about 80%. Even though they had fans blowing, it was so stifling that everyone was flushed in the face. That didn’t distract them or cause them to alter the energy they put into their rehearsal. They rehearsed full spirited and just flowed off of one another. They even had another artist by the name of Greg Gutty join them in their rehearsal to support him in his portion of the event. I realized while watching and listening, that this band was so musically inclined and in-tuned that their sound with even the outsider artist they created a harmonious musical chemistry. Through all of this, I could see the great pride and musicianship applied to get the music down correctly. It was genuinely all about the music. After getting the songs to where they wanted them to be, the artist with deep gratitude and graciousness departed with a huge smile on his face. SoulStice at that time defaulted back to their own music keeping the flow going.

As they continued to rehearse their songs for perfection, I was able to spend that time conversing with their manager, Janet Reed, who has a gift of her own. We talked about SoulStice Reb’l's future endeavors as she prepared a wonderful dish to get her through the long haul of the rehearsal. Being the culinary artist that I am, I was very fond of her dish and its presentation. I was so fond of it I had to get a picture of what she prepared. The dish consisted of rice layered with black beans, chicken breast seasoned with crushed red pepper, black pepper, herbs and topped with Pico de Gallo. Simply Amazing color and protein rich dish. Janet never finished eating her food because she was so eager to hear what the band had accomplished in her absence.

So we went back to attending the rehearsal attentively giving them praises in between takes. As they wrapped up, Janet yells out “That was Hot!”. The band in turn smiled at her approval. As they packed up their instruments and equipment, I thought to myself “what a humble group of talented individuals”. I am glad to have had this opportunity to meet and hear this humble musical family whom are united through their love and dedication to their craft. They are truly inspiring. I look forward to seeing great things from them in the near future.

SoulStice Reb’L 100% Palatable Jazz approved! Follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Wanna hear a sample of their sound? Click here.

FYI:  SoulStice Reb’L will be performing for Palatable Jazz’s “The Great Bake For Children Sake” bake sale for a cause. We hope to see you there!

Want to become a featured artist on Palatable Jazz? Click here for more information.

Making food is a skill, but feeding people is my passion. I cook with love and counsel with food. I appreciate the fact that we as a culinary society have come up with the name “Comfort Food”. I’ve come to realize that the meaning of comfort food differs from person to person. For instance, anything made of chocolate with a gooey texture will help me escape a stressful day. For someone else, it maybe a cup of tea with shortbread cookies that may help them unwind a bit. So, in essence the “Comfort Food” has aided in the counsel of ones emotion from time to time no matter what food it is. Could you imagine if you weren’t able to get that type of counsel I just mentioned because you are impoverished? Priority calling for you to try to receive just basic nourishment, so now “Comfort Food” takes on a whole new meaning. I’ve seen a mother putting together loose change to buy food just to keep her children fed. In other cases, there have been parents or a parent who would make sure their kids went to school even sick just so they could eat. Unfortunately, that would be the only time the child ate. It hurts my heart to know that there are children in America going to bed hungry. My passion for feeding people will not allow me to stand by to do nothing, knowing there are kids in America that are going to bed hungry. This is a real situation, that needs attention with a real solution. So, I am calling out to all my food bloggers, chefs, cooks, professional bakers, amateur bakers and restaurateurs to help in this “No Kid Hungry” movement in the form of a bake sale.

If you are interested in joining forces with Palatable Jazz in our “The Great Bake for Children’s Sake” Bake Sale, then please send us an email at info@palatablejazz.com. Also, feel free to sign up or make a donation by clicking here. If you are interested in starting your own bake sale in your area, go to The Great American Bake Sale of No Kid Hungry.

Pass this blog post along to every friend, family member, co-worker or anyone that can help.

-Palatable Jazz