FRESH DIRECT IS ON A FOOD KICK

We all know about Fresh Direct’s food delivery.  You basically go online, shop and set up a delivery date with a time slot. It’s great, but you may not be able to get that time slot or you are looking to make a decision for the day.  Here comes their new idea called Food Kick, a Fresh Direct “sister” that is mainly an “app” thing. 

Go to the app and see what’s special for the day, much of which has prepped products so that you have the accompaniments as well and not having to cook anything from scratch.  Each day gives a different feature.  For instance you have Margarita Monday where you get the liqueur, mixer and recipe.  Add in a taco dinner kit which includes: yellow corn tortillas, rosemary grilled chicken breast, homemade salsa verde, avocados, lime and cilantro. 

There is a $20 minimum. Delivery by their SideKicks are from 6 am to 12 midnight, Monday through Sunday.  At present the delivery zones are in Brooklyn and Long Island City.  Hey, if you’re not in the area being serviced you can go visit a friend in the area that is and set up dinner!

To give you a better idea, I did a “shopping” for the day beginning with breakfast.  Stumptown Cold Brew coffee (goes great with Ronnybrook Farms half and half).  Coleman Natural Hickory Smoked Bacon. Handsome Brook Farms Organic Eggs.  Having ordered avocados as part of my dinner meal, I used half a Haas for breakfast.

Lunchtime! Dry Sea Scallops. Garlic.  Brussel sprouts. Salad of: the other half a Haas, Gotham Greens local Butter head lettuce, cilantro (meant for dinner), Greenhouse cucumber.  Used some mayo to combine with the avocado as a dressing.

Dinner with a few friends as I went for the makings of tacos and guacamole.   Smart Chicken Organic Boneless Chicken Breast processed using purified cold air instead of water…hmmm.  Hot Bread Corn Tortillas.  For the guac: another Haas avocado, white onion, tomatoes, limes, cilantro (again), Salsa Verde which had tomatillos, onion, garlic, and jalepeno peppers.   Might as well have white wine.  Three Thieves Bandit Pinot Grigio  1 liter comes in a heavy carton.  Perfect.   Check it out on www.FoodKick.com

FRESH DIRECT IS GETTING STALE

Due to a disabling situation I have been getting my groceries delivered. It puts me in the situation that I am depending upon the store or company to do my shopping.  I had high hopes for Fresh Direct until lately. Yes, they do take off the cost if you have issues with the items.   However, what’s the point if most of the items have issues and I still need my groceries.

The first time I ordered artichokes, they came out perfect.  Totally closed, no brown spots, no pointy leaves to stab you, meaty stem, and when cooked, the “hair” on the top of the heart didn’t even have to be removed.  Not so now.  They are already brown, bitter near the stem which you can’t even use.  I don’t know if all artichokes that you buy everywhere are coming from this same company out in California.  Perhaps they need to change the company or they just don’t care.   Then again, is the person “shopping” choosing the best there is?

My last order had a bunch of bananas…Dole.  It came not just in the plastic bag, but was engulfed in some kind of rubbery paper.  As usual, I put the whole thing on my counter to ripen.  A few days later, I tested to see if they were ripe.  Opening the cushy thing I noticed one loose banana.  I thought that perhaps an extra banana was added due to there not being enough in the bunch.  I put that one in the fridge to eat.  Later, I took the rest and threw it in the fridge vegetable bin.  The next day, wanting another banana, I was about to open the plastic bag but there was a hole already in it.  Inside, one the bananas was separated from the bunch.  I tasted it and it was mushy, not like soft due to being overripe.

I thought I’d save a bit on fish by getting the small chunks of fresh fish.  “Whatever is in the catch” as they say.  It’s supposed to be mixed according to the website and photo.  I did it a few times and concluded that I’m getting the sort of leftovers from when the fish are trimmed, like the part of the salmon closest to the skin.   I can taste this when I cook it up. 

I tried an avocado that wasn’t a Hass.  It didn’t ripen until 6 days later, was already brown on the outside and tasted awful.  

Ready- made food. Oy!  They have a kitchen and access to fresh foods.  Yet, it is obvious that they use canned or jarred vegetables.   One salad had a hard- boiled egg.  They used eggs that are pre-hard boiled and containing some solution.  Deli meats.  Pre-cooked bacon.  Enough with the additives!!  What’s “fresh” about that?

I did a comparison on dates with Ronnybrook Farms milk.  Sell by date was less than two weeks whereas getting it at the Green Market in Forest Hills had a longer date.   Hmm…they are coming today to replace pork chops that had a “best if used date” 3 days away from the evening it was delivered.  Package is weighing 1.37 lbs. vs the package being picked up weighing 1.78 lbs.  Not getting charged for the switch but price is higher due to their raising the price. Not my fault.  Customer service must be getting tired of my voice.   

I had been ordering ground beef with the Pat LaFrieda name on it.  Now I find out that the meat you find in your supermarket that is sealed is injected was gases to make it look fresh.  No law saying that it has to be labeled.  I think it’s time to go to the butcher and do my own cooking.   More problems with store bought beef. Tune in next week.

DAYS OF OUR LEAVES WITH FRESH DIRECT

Tales of my stay at and leave of Fairview Nursing and Care Center continues as a soap opera. I will get to that in the next issue.  For now, I would like to focus on what I needed to be waiting for me when I got home…food.  Having already gotten more than a little help from my friends, I decided to place an order via Fresh Direct. 

As in Pea Pod, you have to rely on the food store to choose the best of what you want as well as noting how it arrives.  Not that it was the most important, but I found that both Pea Pod and Fresh Direct not to deliver my ice cream in a frozen state.

I chose each item for a different purpose.  Let’s begin with one of a huge variety of 4-minute meals.  

They are pre-cooked and all you have to do is microwave.  I decided to sample the Ginger Teriyaki Chicken.  I did not heat it up.  I think I got used to the temperature of the food at Fairview.  Chicken breast was a decent size and came with a nutty sprouted grain hijiki pilaf, and steamed veggies of broccoli, snow peas, carrots and so tender enoki mushrooms.  Sauce enhanced the entrée and well worth the price of about $9.  You would certainly pay a lot more at a restaurant.  Great idea for when company is coming and each person desires a different cuisine. 

Meat test.  Pork without antibiotics.  Opted for a rib-in pork loin chop.  Beef – Loin t-bone steak, high quality to compare to eating at a steak house.  I have to keep in mind that I am the one cooking it!  Oops, did cook it to first find that just about the entire tenderloin portion had been removed prior to it being vacuum packed.  Big disappointment!!

Another meat…organic ground beef patties was $9.99 lb. May not be organic but a company called Pat LaFrieda has a less expensive variety including a blend of short rib, chuck, shoulder and brisket for $6.99 lb and on sale you can get two or more pounds for $5.99 lb. 

Fish.  I went for a whole snapper and asked to have them filet it and include the parts cut off.  Got four portions out of it and froze the bones for a soup stock.  Quite fresh and a good choice for a meaty and tender fish.  Fried it with ginger and a bit of olive oil. 

Had to have a half-gallon of milk and Fresh Direct has a variety of Ronnybrook dairy.  Pasteurized but not homogenized. Mmmmm.  Went well with the blondies from their bakery department.  Okay, but I would still rather have Fairytale Brownies.

Fruits and vegetables are a must.  Blueberries are in season.  Would they be sweet and tasty?  Family Tree Farms Jumbo Ultra Premium were ultra good.  I need a bit of citrus so I went for a couple of Farm Fresh Pixie seedless tangerines and eating half at a time as a snack.  Variety of avocados to choose from. I opted for Shanley Farms Gator Eggs. These small size avocados come in an egg carton.  Perfect portion. 

I was looking for a package of dried fruit and really hit a homer on their brand of dried mangoes that come in a resealable bag.  Rather than simple chew on them, I soak a few pieces in water, chop in up and combine with an avocado or just chew a much softer piece as a snack.  The leftover water makes for an excellent juice. 

Onto vegetables.  I wanted to test an artichoke to see if I would be given one that is totally green and closed.  Yes, it was.  Would you pay $5 for one artichoke?  It was so totally worth it! Fully closed, no brown spots and all I needed to do was place in a pot, water about 1/3 up from choke and drizzle with olive oil.  This was by far the best artichoke I ever had!  Next time I will stuff it with ground pork and Panko with Italian seasonings.

There is this new product from a company called Organic Girl.  Mache Rosettes.  Very delicious greens!  If I’m going to have potatoes I want ones that I don’t need to add salt, butter or anything else.  Ruby Micro Potatoes.  Bake in my NuWave oven and pop them in my mouth.  Great side to the steak that I also cooked along with it. 

Being a chocoholic I noticed a brand that I haven’t tried called Antica Dolceria Bonojuto Dark Chocolate.  I opted for the bar that also contained cardamom.  Wow was that good.  Savored it by eating two small squares at a time and only once per day. 

Here is the sum of it.  Fresh Direct has their own brands of food as well as many that are most likely not available at your nearby supermarket.  They get new products quite often and items do go on sale.  You can expect the best in most cases and if you are not satisfied, you can call them, explain and get credit.  Delivery has a minimum order of $30 in most of the Tri-State area.  However, you are welcome to place an order and pick it up at their facility in Long Island City.  www.freshdirect.com

FOOD FINDS FOR FLAVOR AND FUN

Man CAN live by bread alone when you buy Dave’s Killer Bread.   First let me say that I never buy bread as I thought it waste of calories and its use is so that you don’t slap the cream cheese and jelly on the palm of your hand and lick it off.  The problem is now that I have sampled Dave’s Killer Bread I keep seeking out whatever I can make a sandwich of.  Why?

It’s bread with boom! Dave, a former rock star introduced what is now the best-selling organic bread in the US.  No kidding.  Most breads are pretty boring when it comes to both taste and texture.  Then there are the artificial preservatives, fructose corn syrup and dough fillers. 

What have they got? Let’s start with the 21 whole grains and seeds.  Here are the ingredients. Organic whole wheat (organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked whole wheat), water, 21 Whole Grains and Seeds Mix (organic whole flax seeds, organic sunflower seeds, organic ground whole flax seeds, organic un-hulled brown sesame seeds, organic rolled oats, organic triticale, organic pumpkin seeds, organic un-hulled black sesame seeds, organic rolled spelt, organic millet, organic rolled barley, organic rolled rye, organic blue cornmeal, organic brown rice flour, organic yellow cornmeal, organic quinoa, organic rolled KAMUT® Khorasan wheat, organic amaranth flour, organic rolled whole wheat, organic buckwheat flour, organic sorghum flour, organic poppy seeds), organic dried cane syrup (sugar), organic wheat gluten, organic oat fiber, organic molasses, sea salt, organic cultured whole wheat, yeast.  

Now you have an idea of what to expect and NOT expect.  I have found that the breads with seeds are not annoying to my mouth or my tummy.  Here are those: Good Seed; Blues Bread (that uses blue cornmeal); Power Seed (using fruit juices instead of sugar); Seeded Honey Wheat; Rockin Rye (with caraway seeds, of course); Sprouted Wheat; and Spelt.  This is a loaf that you would not want to toss the ends, especially with all of the seeds and grains that they contain. I, who never eats “ends” did so and go glad I did! 

You can always opt for Whole Wheat or even a plain old White Bread called White Done Right with 10 g of whole grains.  Now that would be perfect for a Grilled Cheese, French Toast or a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich (I prefer cream cheese and jelly and a fried egg).  I’m also thinking a corned beef sandwich on the rye with cole slaw. 

There are so many sandwich ideas that you can come up with just to be healthy.  Think sushi rolls using the white bread totally flattened and filled…smoked salmon, cream cheese and scallions.  How about shrimp, avocado, cucumber and mayo?  Add the crunch using breads with the seeds. 

It just so happens that Fairway Market has their line of bread. Maybe not all of them.  I hear that the store in Douglaston has some. 

If you have been following articles and blog, you know how passionate I am about Fairytale Brownies.  I have even “carved” and decorated them for the upcoming Easter Holiday.  I then realized how soft they were and molded pieces into an egg shape as if you were having a chocolate Easter egg.  The absolute joy of having these brownies came to be even more joyous when I came across the perfect milk. 

The company is called Ronnybrook Farms, where the milk is not homogenized.  If you recall getting a bottle of milk delivered with the cream at the top, this is even better.  You really have to shake it up as there is more than just a thin layer of cream.  That’s the whole milk.  They have with less fat and a whole line of other products, like ice cream with 18% butter fat (just don’t eat a lot at one time if you’re concerned), butter (one is called  Cinnamon Toast), crème fraiche, and yogurt….both the kind you spoon out and ones that you drink down (I loved the strawberry one….real strawberries).  

I was checking out Fresh Direct and saw that they had their products.  I will write about Fresh Direct at another time to compare them with Peapod.  One plus for Fresh Direct is that you can go to their plant in Long Island City and pick up your order although in neither case can you pick out what you want relying on whoever does the picking and packaging.