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3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pint fresh strawberries, stems removed and quartered
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
1 cup crème fraîche

Directions
1 Combine vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally.  Remove from heat and cool completely.

2 Toss the berries with the basil and balsamic syrup in a medium bowl.

3 Divide the crème fraîche among 4 dessert bowls, top with berry mixture, and serve.

3 large, ripe heirloom tomatoes
2 small, ripe heirloom tomatoes
2 cups loosely packed watercress, pea shoots, or arugula
½ to ¾ cup crumbled blue cheese
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions
Slice large tomatoes and quarter small ones. Arrange on a large platter. Scatter with greens, and top with blue cheese to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Just before serving, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus additional for serving
2¼ cups pearl couscous
2¾ cups vegetable broth
4 spring onions, dark green tops removed, bulbs thinly sliced
2 bunches radishes, tops removed, quartered
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ lemon, juiced
Torn fresh basil, to taste

Directions
1 Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add couscous and toast, stirring constantly, until golden brown. Add broth, cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook until couscous absorbs all liquid.

2 Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large sauté pan. Add onion and radishes; sprinkle with salt. Cook just until onions soften and radishes begin to turn translucent, about 2 minutes.

3 Combine cooked couscous and onion-radish mixture in a large bowl. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and basil. Drizzle with olive oil, if needed. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

8 cloves fresh garlic, shaved or minced
3 tablespoons Turkish Urfa pepper*
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel pollen*
¼ cup coarse salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

48 hours prior to cooking:
Season meat well, covering evenly.  After 24 hours, flip or mix meat to coat meat evenly.

*Available through Big Wheel Provisions or at www.formaggiokitchen.com

Weaver and Gaines are registered dietitians and founders of Hebni Nutrition Consultants Inc. of Orlando, and their goal with SoulFood Plate is to help the culturally diverse communities in the downtown Orlando Parramore neighborhood make informed decisions about good nutrition. They created a SoulFood Plate placemat that takes the guesswork out of choosing healthy foods.

The placemat features a color wheel similar to MyPlate, but shows foods that are sorted by categories and color groups. It also offers an eat more-eat less segment, calorie requirements and “know your food portions” information. On the back there’s room for writing goals, tips on how to read labels and nutrition facts and advice on what’s good to eat (and what’s not).

Weaver and Gaines say that the best way to change someone’s eating habits is to create an environment in which they can learn healthy cooking skills firsthand. The two offer community nutrition classes and demos in a state-of-the-art kitchen.

“We feature a different veggie every week, and [participants] go home with all the ingredients they need to make that dish for their family,” says Gaines.

“You don’t know if people are ready for change until you meet someone like Patrick from the hip-hop generation,” says Weaver. “These young people think they’re invincible and can eat anything.”

Weaver and Gaines fixed his favorite collard greens, swapping out the traditional ham hock with baked chicken. And Patrick was a believer. “He ate it and his eyes lit up,” Weaver says.

—Theresa Durrant

To sign up for nutrition classes or to get general information about Hebni Nutrition Consultants, Inc., visit www.soulfoodpyramid.com or call (407) 872-1333.

Chocolate Dreams

Festival of Chocolate visitors immerse themselves in chocolate lore, learning and lusciousness.

“Research tells us 14 out of any 10 individuals like chocolate,” says children’s author Sandra Boynton. Show up at the Festival of Chocolate and you’ll start to believe that statistic is true.

The Festival of Chocolate is a weekend-long event centered around products made from the coveted cacao bean. It’s held in a handful of Florida cities each year; in 2012, Orlando’s will be at the UCF arena April 27-29.

The festival comprises several events in one. At its core is a collection of vendors selling chocolate-related items. Wines, coffees, candies, crepes, cupcakes and cookies are offered. On the premises, you’ll see a chocolate “museum” detailing the history, production and pop culture behind chocolate. Learn about how the bean becomes an almond-studded bar or a steaming cup of cocoa by watching a small-batch machinery in action and talking to a gentleman who roams around  sharing roasted beans.

Free demonstrations, such as how to properly ice a cake, and fee-based hands-on classes such as how to temper chocolate take place throughout the weekend. Brownie bingo, Food Network-style competitions, a Cocoa Couture fashion show down the “yum-way” (the apparel is made of wrappers) and make-your-own lip balm also draw participants’ attention.

In its fourth year, the Festival of Chocolate is the creation of  husband-and-wife team Edgar Schaked and Aileen Mand of Dr. Phillips. Edgar, a third-generation chocolatier, is the franchisor of the Schakolad Chocolate Factory retail chain. Aileen is an event producer specializing in large-scale events. For more information, visit www.festivalofchocolate.com.

— Rona Gindin

Rebuilding our waterways: Oyster bed revitalization going strong

With help from the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with private donations, Volusia County began a massive volunteer effort in 2011 to restore a vital 5-acre section of the Halifax River—an area once plentiful with thriving oyster beds. An eroding coastline and pollution from recreational boats had taken its toll on the coastline, burying the oyster beds in an estimated 20 years of muck and silt.

For an entire year, volunteers led by the Halifax Oyster Reef Restoration Society painstakingly crafted more than 1,600 oyster shell mats that, together with newly planted native sea grass, provided a revitalized habitat for new oyster growth. Mats are produced by attaching 36 (old) oyster shells to a square section of plastic netting; the sections are then woven together, much like a quilt, to form larger sections. Mats are submerged and anchored where healthy beds previously existed, providing a clean and stable structure for new oysters.

Although the project is still in its infancy, water quality is already beginning to improve, according to restoration project coordinator Thad Nicholls. Nicholls, who expects oyster growth in the revitalized area to be at its peak in a little over a year, is looking forward to other benefits the oyster beds will have on the estuary. “Oysters can filter up to 60 gallons of water in 24 hours, improving the quality of water in a short amount of time. This helps the sea grass to thrive, provides habitats and breeding grounds for numerous fish and marine life, including the oysters themselves, crabs and finfish, to name a few.”

With the newly established oyster beds settling into their own and native grasses taking root, the community has much to celebrate this year during the third annual Halifax Oyster Festival April 28. The one-day festival on Manatee Island in downtown Daytona Beach will feature live music, refreshments and, of course, oysters any way you like them.

—Dawn Viola

For more information about the Halifax Oyster Festival, visit www.halifaxoysterfestival.com. For more information regarding the Halifax oyster revitalization project, contact the Marine Discovery Center at (386) 428-4828 or visit www.marinediscoverycenter.org.

All of this year’s awards were chosen by our readers through an online survey. We’re naming just the top three vote-getters in each category, but the editors weigh in with their favorites, too. You’ll spot some familiar places plus discover others that are new to you. For a full list, visit our Web site, edibleorlando.com. It’s gratifying to see the local food movement take root.

Best Local Food Menu

The Ravenous Pig
1234 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park
(407) 628-2333

K Restaurant
1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
(407) 872-2332

The Rusty Spoon
55 W. Church St., Orlando
(407) 401-8811

Best Hotel Restaurant for Local Food 

Primo
JW Marriott, Orlando
(407) 393-4444

Napa
The Peabody
9801 International Drive, Orlando
(407) 352-4000

La Luce
Hilton Orlando
14100 Bonnet Creek Resort Lane
(407) 597-3600

Best Ongoing Chef Event

Seasonal Roast at The Ravenous Pig
1234 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park
(407) 628-2333

Kevin’s Day Off at K Restaurant
1710 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
(407) 872-2332

Aloha Friday at Loews Royal Pacific Resort Universal Orlando
6300 Hollywood Way , Orlando
(407) 503-3000

Best Food Gifts

The Spice & Tea Exchange
309 Park Ave. N., Winter Park
(407) 647-7423

Antonio’s Café and Deli
611 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland
(407) 645-1039

Cavallari Gourmet
1954 W. State Road 426, Oviedo
(407) 865-8000

Best Community Food Event

Winter Park Harvest Festival
(407) 628-1230

The Daily City’s Food Truck Bazaar

Slow Food Orlando’s Eat Local Week

Best Frozen Dessert

Jeramiah's Italian Ice

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice
Various locations

Mama Loca’s Ice Cream
107 S. Oak Ave., Sanford
(407) 321-1838

Muse Gelato

Best Chocolate

Peterbrooke Chocolatier
300 S. Park Ave., Winter Park
(407) 644-3200

Schakolad Chocolate Factory
Various locations

Chocolate Provocateur
1600 Edgewater Drive (Infusion Tea), Orlando
(407) 927-1148

Best Cookies

Jane’s Short & Sweet
(407) 470-0765

Heartsong Cookies

Cookie Cousins
2322 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
(407) 420-7940

Best Locally Brewed Beer

Orlando Brewing
1301 Atlanta Ave., Orlando
(407) 872-1117

Shipyard Emporium
200 W. Fairbanks Ave. , Winter Park
(321) 274-4045

Cigar City Brewing
3924 W. Spruce St., Suite A, Tampa
(813) 348-6363 ext. 206

Tim Varan and Steve Butler at Tim’s Wine Market

Best Independent Wine Store

Tim’s Wine Market
1223 N. Orange Ave., Orlando
(407) 895-9463

Eola Wine Company
Various locations

The Wine Barn
1711 33^rd St., Orlando
(407) 704-8816

Best “Edible” Health/Beauty Treatment

Chocolate Cake Massage / Pia Esthetics
407 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
(407) 767-7100

Halotherapy / The Salt Room
1804 N. Mills Ave., Orlando
(407) 965-3065

Coconut and Pineapple Scalp Treatment / The Spa at Riverview
103 Flagler Ave., New Smyrna Beach
(386) 424-6262

Best Locally Roasted Coffee

Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar
444 N. Bumby Ave., Orlando
(407) 893-4994

Barnie’s Coffee Kitchen
Various locations

Austin’s Coffee
929 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
(407) 975-3364

Best Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurant

Dandelion Communitea Cafe
618 N. Thornton Ave., Orlando
(407) 362-1864

Ethos Vegan Kitchen
1235 N. Orange Ave. #101, Orlando
(407) 228-3898

Infusion Tea
1600 Edgewater Dr., Orlando
(407) 999-5255

Best Conscious Cuisine for Carnivores

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill 
8031 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando
(407) 370-3810

Sunflower Café at Hoover’s Market
1035 Academy Drive, Altamonte Springs
(407) 869-0000

Vida Latin Restaurant
921 Beresford Way, Lake Mary
(407) 878-2108

Best Grower-Only Farmers’ Market

Brevard County Farmers Market

Audubon Park Community Market

“The Original” New Smyrna Beach Farmers Market

Best Garden Center

Palmer’s Garden and Goods
2611 Corrine Drive, Orlando
(407) 896-5951

Blodgett Gardens
3821 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
(407) 295-2363

South Seminole Farm and Nursery 
2010 Lake Drive, Casselberry
(407) 695-3247

Best Small-Batch Local Food Producer

Winter Park Dairy cheese

Fat Cat hot sauces

Sunchowder’s Emporia preserves

Best Large-Scale Local Food Producer

Olde Hearth Bread Co.

Lake Meadow Naturals

Q-Line cream-on-top milk

Best Food Truck

Big Wheel Provisions

The Crooked Spoon Café

The Travelling Gourmet

Best Homemade Pet Treats

Woof Gang Bakery
Various locations

Pookie’s Pet Nutrition and Bow Wow Bakery
1980 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
(407) 622-7387

Chews Naturally

Best Foodie T-Shirt

Best Foodie T-Shirt, Shipyard Emporium

Shipyard Emporium
200 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
(321) 274-4045

Olde Hearth Bread Co.

Big Wheel Provisions

Best Caterer

Puff’ N Stuff
(407) 629-7833

Arthur’s Creative Events and Catering
(407) 331-1993

Cuisiniers Catered Cuisine and Events
(407) 975-8763

Best Local Food Blog

Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide

Watch Me Eat

Tie: Droolius and Tastychomps

Joggers and drivers stop to admire his bounty. When Gary and his wife of 40 years, Joanne, first planted the garden four years ago, neighbors weren’t sure what to think of the front-yard phenomenon.

“Since then, it’s been fairly well accepted,” says Ehrlich, a design and construction project manager who lives a vegan lifestyle. “I have great sun here, so why put down grass when you can have a garden?”

At about 3,000 square feet, Ehrlich’s garden overflows with dozens of herbs and veggies including red potatoes, onions, rutabagas, eggplant, kohlrabi, spinach, parsley, basil, kale and asparagus. Blueberry bushes line the curb, and avocados flourish.  Ehrlich grinds his favorite peppers—habaneros, Datil, Caribbean red and Thai peppers—to make hot sauce.

Each year Ehrlich works at rotating crops, “and I try to be fairly organic.” The rewards are many, he says. Joanne goes straight to the garden for dinner, and last year the couple reaped 60 pounds of sweet potatoes and 35 pounds of beans. One of the greatest benefits, he says, is this: “When I garden, I don’t think about anything else—it’s great relaxation.”

Winter Park Native Grows Organic Community

In 2007, the Oxford American Dictionary selected “locavore” as its Word of the Year and John Rife, working on his master’s degree in digital media, produced a film documentary about the term. When his daughter, Keltin, was born two years later, the Winter Park native chose to become a locavore for the sake of his family. Then he took the concept one step further and planted a garden.

“I became very concerned about where our food came from,” says Rife, who works with his father in commercial real estate development and who is known for establishing the Winter Park Harvest Festival to support healthful local produce. “It was a good opportunity to put my money where my ethos is.”

Rife’s organic garden in a lot next to his home is a picturesque plot teeming with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, watermelon, collards, onions, bok choy and more. During the garden’s first season in spring 2010, Rife planted seedlings to grow the most commonly purchased vegetables and fruits.  Since then, he has increased the garden’s size and grown crops from seed. But he’s quick to point out that anyone can start a garden. “You don’t have to have 40 acres—you can have 200 square feet or a grow box to be a part of what’s happening.”

After reading about “yard sharing,” Rife invited budding gardeners to join him on weekends for “work and learn” sessions involving topics such as earthworm composting and the best time to harvest. The sessions will start up again this spring. For details, contact Rife at john@wpharvest.com.

Small Chicken Brood an ‘Eggs’ellent Venture

Larry Lott can tell you that the chickens come before the eggs. After a recent investment in five Rhode Island Reds and one White Leghorn chicken, the eggs have followed, and they’re worth clucking over.

“The yolks are yellower, and they have a lot more flavor,” says Lott, who grew up in Williston and spent his youth around extended family’s farm critters. Lott, who runs a tire business with his brother, Roger, is enjoying egg farming on a small scale. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ It takes 10 minutes of my time every day and that’s about it.”

During daily visits to his makeshift chicken coops, Lott collects eggs, replenishes water and sets out feed and fresh straw for nests. The chickens have space inside a 6-foot-high fence to roam, preen and peck. In exchange, his birds produce about two-and-a-half dozen eggs each week, enough to feed Larry and his wife plus his adult daughter, Kendra (Edible Orlando publisher), and her family. “It’s easier than I thought,” Lott says. “Now I’m planning a garden.”

Winter Park Backyard a Study in Green Living

Winter Park holistic chiropractor Dominic D’Anna first learned about gardening from his father and grandfather, who emigrated from Italy. Today, the backyard of the home he shares with his wife, Allison, and infant son, Nicholas, is an edible organic paradise that feeds the family well.

More than 100 banana, papaya and grapefruit trees flourish, and D’Anna grows plenty of herbs, fruits and vegetables including pineapples, blueberries, spinach, broccoli, beans, romaine and red-leaf lettuces and plantains. Lemongrass, onions and marigolds serve as natural pesticides in strategic spots among four large raised-bed gardens. The D’Annas blend green smoothies daily with kale, parsley, celery, blueberries and other ingredients that benefit Nicholas through Allison’s breast milk.

“Everybody says how alert he is—I think it’s because of the green smoothies,” says Allison, who’s planning to make baby food from their produce when Nicholas is old enough to eat it.

Time spent caring for the garden is well worth the benefit to his family, Dominic D’Anna says. “It’s about keeping your body in balance. Provide what the body needs to flourish, and it will.”

Salatin’s books include how-to farming instruction, a memoir and food-focused social analysis. His latest book, Folks, This Ain’t Normal (Center Street Publishers, 2011) focuses on the history of the industrialized food system and steps we all can take to restore normalcy.

What is the number one thing urban Americans can do to increase food sustainability and security in their communities?

Get in the kitchen. Domestic culinary apathy has led to cultural faith in mega-corporate food entities to grow, process, package and deliver ready-to-eat material that won’t even rot. The ultimate food integrity priority is to break this stranglehold of food dependency by doing the acquisition, packaging, preparation and preserving in our own kitchens. When you start from scratch, you deny the food adulterators their agenda of opaqueness and dependency.

What is the number one thing urban Americans can do to reduce packaging waste in their communities? How about food waste?

Buying raw and eliminating the packaging is the best way [to reduce packaging waste]. This includes buying bulk in season and dehydrating or canning in reusable jars.

The best thing [to reduce food waste is] to acquire enough chickens to eat all your kitchen scraps. Historically, poultry filled the role of homestead garbage disposal, including blemished produce. A city in Belgium offered a program of giving three laying chickens per household to as many as wanted them and received 2,000 takers. In the first month of the program, the 6,000 hens reduced landfill waste by 100 tons. Imagine what that could do in New York City.

Explain why eating pastured beef, pork and poultry is actually beneficial to the environment.

Tillage [a process used in growing grain] destroys soil; perennials [such as grass] build soil. All soils have been built by perennials with periodic animal disturbance and then periods of rest. Animals on pasture move fertility from low areas to high areas. Fertility follows the gravitational pull downhill, and animals are nature’s only way to defy this fertility movement and spread it around. No ecosystem exists, anywhere, devoid of animals. If we mimic nature, the animals will exhibit a movement, disturbance, rest cycle that is both healing and hygienic.

Your farm, Polyface (the farm of many faces), is a multi-species farm. Why is it important to have multiple species on a single farm?

No mono-speciated ecological system exists. Multi-speciation captures the symbiosis and synergy that makes nature thrive. From a pathogen standpoint alone, multi-speciation provides a control mechanism. Almost all pathogens are species-specific, so rotating among species and creating complex proximities across species lines creates confused pathogens. And that’s a good thing.

You advocate eating from within one’s own “bioregion.” How would you define Central Florida’s bioregion?

Different people draw various-size circles around bioregions. We’ve defined ours as within four hours one way from the farm. That is close enough that people can drive out and get home in a day, which ensures transparency. I’m a big advocate of personal check-outs, and if you’re too far away to visit, not only do you deny yourself the satisfaction of knowing the farm and farmer, but you allow the farmer to exist in a hidden world where shortcuts are more tempting. While we certainly can’t all visit every food vendor we patronize, we should do far more than we are currently.

The average person will inevitably have to supplement locally sourced food with supermarket food at some point. What is the best strategy for making responsible choices in the supermarket?

Fair trade, organic, Weston A. Price Shopper’s Guide, numerous Web sites with rating systems. Find one that agrees with your values, and then patronize it.

That said, I do think most people give up too easily on the local food scene. Local food producers and marketers are all over and desperate for customers. Find them and patronize them. It’s time to realize that our collective eating and buying decisions create, every day, exactly the kind of food system and farmscapes we have. If we want to change it, we can’t all sit around and assume it’s someone else’s responsibility, or some government agency, or some politician’s agenda. We are what we are because we buy what we buy and do what we do. It’s that simple. Until that changes on a massive scale, we’ll continue to have what we have.

Where are we in the fight against the industrialized food system? Where do you see us 10 years from now?

The one thing I refuse to do is prophecy. I have no clue where we’ll be in 10 years. I can assure you that the entrenched environmentally destructive, animal-abusive, nutrient-deficient mechanical food system will not go down without a fight. While my side says the answer is carbon cycling, compost, multi-speciation, immuno-enhancement, localization and pasture-based systems, the current government-agri-industrial complex is dedicated to globalization, confinement animal factories, pharmaceuticals, transgenic modification, artificials, irradiation and petroleum.

From food safety laws to veggie-liability laws to criminalizing undercover photography, the government-corporate fraternity is fighting back. SWAT teams raiding food co-ops and food police harassing raw milk dairies and direct farm marketers, high regulated label requirements including nutritional information—all of these are proliferating in America, a type of domestic terrorism on the antidote to everything that is wrong in our food system. That is why it is paramount that every food-choice-loving American join the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund so that the right to eat will enjoy the same protection as the right to carry. The way the government-industrial system has demonized and criminalized heritage-based food systems, I shudder to think what will still be legal in 10 years. But they haven’t won … yet. And a vocal minority intends to make sure righteousness wins.