In the last few years, we have developed about 700 recipes, like this. Up until recently, we held the photoshoots at my house. My lucky neighbors would come over in the afternoon and help us make sure that no food went to waste.

When we moved into an office with a kitchen, photoshoots moved there … and a lightbulb went off. Instead of a monthly smorgasbord for my neighbors, why not spread the love around and pick a person or two to invite as our eater of honor. What a great way to thank those that have helped us and also a great opportunity to get to know people better.

So, we started a tradition of having eaters of honor. At each shoot, we cook and photograph 10-15 dishes. We prep all morning and then around midday the dishes start coming out fast and furious. Our eaters of honor are invited to come park themselves in our lounge usually from 1-5 PM, just when the parade of dishes come off the stove. We stuff them full of amazing food, keep their glass full of whatever drinks they fancy and they just hang out with us for the afternoon. Good times.

Eaters of Honor Alumni:

Tom Gagne & Rick | October 2011 | Beef, Beef, Beef & Alba Truffles
Tom & Rick worked tirelessly to build out our amazing new office. They were the first eaters of honor because our office would no way be as cool as it is, if they hadn’t done such an amazing job.  Thanks guys!

Jenny & Jenny | December 2011 | Dungeness, Halibut, Lobster & Geoduck
I invited the Jennys as a thanks for the good work that they do in our community by organizing the Will Bake For Food bake sale. Plus, it was a great opportunity to get better acquainted with these two lovely ladies.

Hsiao-Ching Chou & her guest, Marc | January 2012 | Grass-fed Beef & Pantry Panoply
Hsiao-Ching was our PR consultant for a very short period before she stopped working with clients to pursue another great opportunity, but from the first moment she taught me so much about how to develop long-term relationships with journalists and editors.  Grateful, I am.

The easiest analogy to describe what it is like in a meat slaughter and processing facility is to imagine a car factory.   Imagine a car production line where a car chassis is suspended by a hook from the ceiling and it moves from station to station as this part and that part are added and attached and ultimately the car is assembled.

Now imagine the opposite of that.  Rather than assembling a car, a meat plant is disassembling an animal.  After it is slaughtered, the animal hangs from a hook by its leg and moves along the disassembly line.  Each butcher along the way has a specific job.   The blood is drained, the feet are cut off, the head is removed, the hide is mechanically pulled off, the belly is opened and the guts are released, the side of beef is split with a giant handheld bandsaw/chainsaw, and a few dozen other various things happen that I can’t explain because I don’t know the names of the parts.  And, that’s just on the kill floor.

The sides of beef then move on rails to the chiller to chill down.  When it comes out of there, it is separated to hind and fore, both of which move down separate disassembly lines.  A progression of butchers separate the bones and the larger cuts and put them in various chutes.  From there, the meat gets cut up into smaller and smaller pieces by other butchers until it is in a more familiar form to us.  Nothing is wasted.  The aorta goes here.  The jowl goes there.  In addition to the whole muscle cuts, the blood gets used by the medical/pharma industry, bones get made into pet food and the trimmings which are a mix of fat and meat get graded by percentage of fat content and ultimately become ground beef.

In the New Zealand Grass-fed Beef plant that I just toured, there must have been 300 workers each with their own very specific job.

I have a lot to share, but wanted to get this post out today.  More to follow tomorrow hopefully…

I had dinner last night with a dairy farmer at a breathtaking vineyard in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.  I’m here primarily to learn about our new grass-fed beef, but there’s always unexpected lessons.  In this case, I gained unexpected clarity from facts I already knew.  #LessonsFromNewZealand

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Veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry.

In order to produce milk continuously, the dairy cow needs to be impregnated annually.  Most dairy cows are Holsteins or Jersey cows because those breeds produce the highest volumes of milk.  But those breeds are not suitable for beef production.   The result is that every dairy cow on the planet births one calf per year.

So the farmer has a choice of killing the calves upon birth or raising them for veal.   Depending on economic factors exclusively, the dairy farmer makes that choice.  Since the main objection to veal over the past few decades has been on grounds of animal rights and humanity, the question is: What is more humane?   When it comes to “milk-fed” veal, that is a good question and I don’t know the answer.   I do think that rose veal production in general is more humane than immediate slaughter.  And, it is certainly a better use of agricultural and environmental resources given all the inputs required to gestate that calf.

The bottom line is that there literally would be no veal if it were not for the dairy industry.  I am marinating in irony as I think about this.

I have this picture in my head of conscious consumers discussing the animal welfare implications of veal, while sitting down for a spread of cheese and crackers.   I am imagining the caricature of an animal rights advocate: an urban liberal pontificating over an elegant spread of something hard, something soft and something blue.

I can’t help but think that all of the animal rights advocates have missed the point.  The symptom is veal husbandry.  But the real cause of the problem is our demand for milk and milk products.

I am also imagining pro-lifers voraciously consuming milk and not even knowing that a consequence of their milk production is that some of gods creations are being unceremoniously slaughtered and buried after birth.  I presume that they value human life over animal life, but how is it not a contradiction to argue against aborting a human fetus while supporting an industry that routinely terminates live creatures.

There’s just too much irony.

My wife is a naturopath and she often reminds me that we are literally the only species on the planet that not only consumes milk as adults, but that drinks the milk of another species.

How is it that our species has come to drink so much milk?  My guess is that the milk industry’s success is one of marketing’s great triumphs.   But, maybe it also sells itself.  After all, who can’t resist a great cheese plate or indulgent dairylicious dessert.

DB Infusion Chocolates is a Marx Foods customer who were gracious enough to send us a 27-piece box of their chocolates to try.  It came in on Tuesday morning and since the holiday season has us all working so hard I invited the entire team to take a break and taste some chocolates.  We cut up each truffle into quarters and went to town.  We all thought that the chocolate truffles were excellent!

I asked Matthew to write up a review since he is unquestionably the most authoritative chocolate truffle taster in the office.  Here are his thoughts:

Before even discussing their chocolates’ flavor, one must first cover the packaging and presentation.  They are simply too impressive to be ignored.

The Box
The chocolates arrived in a long embossed chocolate-brown gift box with gold trim.  It screamed luxury so effectively that I’m having a hard time using the word “box” instead of “case” (as in display case) and was an elegant showpiece for the jewel-like bonbons inside.

The box was sealed with a magnetic clasp that unobtrusively held it closed while offering little resistance to impulses to have “just one more piece.”  Inside, a cardboard matrix separated each piece from its compatriots, preventing damage to their glossy finish.

The Presentation
The chocolate work on display in a DB Infusion showcase is impressive.  Most of the chocolates we received were molded rather than dipped or enrobed, giving them a sleek elegance and clean lines.  Of these, almost all were brushed with tinted cocoa butter, adding shine and blends of vibrant colors well paired with the fillings’ themes.

A few pieces were slightly more rustic (dipped or enrobed), each garnished delicately with a few bits of sea salt, pistachio, candied zest or a crystallized flower petal.  Like the molded chocolates, these were well tempered & executed cleanly with thin shells.

The Flavor
DB Infusion’s flavors are almost universally about pushing boundaries.  If you order one of the 27-piece boxes, you’ll likely find a few expected favorites, like a salted caramel (with cashews), a raspberry-dark chocolate ganache (with Framboise), and possibly an espresso ganache.  That said, the majority of the pieces are more groundbreaking pairings like mango-passion fruit caramel, lemongrass-kaffir lime ganache, and bleu cheese ganache.

Fine chocolates should showcase intense flavors, with each offering a distinct experience from the last.  In this respect DB Infusion certainly delivers.

While some flavors were more subtle (the bleu cheese ganache is delightful – milk chocolate followed by a mild-yet-complex bleu cheese-chocolate finish) most were very powerful, demanding the tasters’ full attention even when we’d quartered the pieces to share.   The fold-out flavor guide was useful in determining which piece to try next, but nobody needed it to describe what they’d eaten after tasting.

To sum up, the experience of tasting from a box of DB Infusion Chocolates is more akin to a tasting menu at a “molecular gastronomy” restaurant than a visit to a classical French fine dining establishment.  If you’re looking to have your expectations challenged and your taste buds thrown to the four corners of the earth in 27 bites, you’ve discovered the right chocolate company.

This dog has no inhibitions!  Always a source of laughter for us around the office, he keeps outdoing himself. Wow, I can’t wait until he gets up from his nap so I can show him what he’s done … AGAIN … This time on the Scanner!

I know that dogs like to sniff your cute butt, Nyoki, but come on … this is TOO MUCH!

Well, we didn’t want to let the holidays pass without having some fun with the pack.  Our dogs are great.  So obedient and loving.  Nyoki especially will do ANYTHING for a treat, but the other dogs were also very eager to work for some treats.  Here’s the behind the scenes:

Guests in my office often ask me: Why do you have the far back corner of your office draped off in sheets? Any guesses?

It’s a breast pumping station!  Katy recently came back from maternity leave and needs to pump.  The choice was to either carve out a little private space for Katy or let her go make her baby food in the same space where people drop bombs.   The latter was not an option.  So, Katie & I built her a little private place, a milking parlor, hehe.

The bonus is that through those windows is a view of Puget Sound.  Not a bad place to take a break.

It’s that time of year!

Not the time you are thinking of … It’s the time of year to clear out of our sample supplies so we can start fresh for next year.  We’ve got some great Dried chilies, Dried ‘shrooms, some vanilla beans for a lucky few and a whole host of random delicious pantry ingredients.  Want to experiment with some on your blog?

If so, email Katie: kwallace at marxfoods dot com.   Include in your email your address, full name and blog URL.

Supplies are limited, so first come first served.  And, you don’t really have to be a blogger … if you promise to put the ingredients to good use and take your culinary game to the next level, then we’ll send some to you anyway.

What a tough competition. This contest business can be really hard to judge. Case in point, our Fregola Dessert recipe challenge. We have to give a big nod to all of the bloggers, they put up some really delicious recipes. The internal poll for this challenge even resulted in a three-way tie that I had to break. I’ll get to the results of that in just a bit.

First, let’s get to the winner of the reader poll. Congrats to ZestyBeanDog! Your Bacon and Vanilla Fregola Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting were a huge hit. Your spoils are $100 worth of baking ingredients from MarxFoods.com. We know you’ll bake up something delicious again soon…we just wish we could eat the goods.

We also have to give honorable mention to Cook Eat Delicious, who came in a very close second in the reader poll with Creamy Fregola Pudding with Saffron Vanilla Bean Syrup. It’s clear the people love their sweets.

To finish the three-way tie, I called Matthew and Katie up to my office to help me decide. After talking about the three recipes for a while, I realized I couldn’t pick a clear winner. So, the rare occurrence of a tie has happened. The two winners of the internal poll are Adesina’s Kitchen and Okay, Check it Out. Congrats to you both! The Sweet Fregola Arancini with Spiced Blackberry Coulis from Adesina’s Kitchen and the Fregola Doughnuts with Saffron-Grapefruit Caramel from Okay, Check it Out were both delicious and really different. Each of you also win $100 credit to use on MarxFoods.com towards any baking goodies you want.

These competitions just keep getting more fiercely delicious and we couldn’t be happier about it. Thank you so much to all of the bloggers, we loved reading your recipes and we hope you keep ‘em coming.

It’s an exciting day at the Marx Foods office when somebody sends us samples.  Today is particularly exciting because they’re samples of goodies made with our products!

Wild Poppy is a California organic juice company that’s looking to take your Snapple-weary taste buds on exciting culinary journeys they’ve never experienced before.  Their flavors include Plum Licorice, Peppermint Lemonade, Grapefruit Ginger, and the flavor they were kind enough to send us: Blood Orange Chili (made with our dried Organic Habaneros).

In typical Marx Foods review fashion, we’ve decided to do a dual review of the product, so you get two distinct points of view.  Today our reviewers are Katie W. (Contest Queen, Social Media Maven & She Who Gets Things Done) and our food writer, Matthew.

Katie’s Review

The Wild Poppy Blood Orange Chili juice is sweet upon the first taste, but the heat from the habanero peppers kicks in to give your mouth a warm heat that lingers a while. The heat is not at all overwhelming, it’s actually a pleasant sensation to go along with the blood orange flavor. This juice has a great unexpected kick that sets it apart from the rest of the bottled juice crowd.

Matthew’s Review

Blood oranges rank up there with vanilla, yuzu & elderflower as one of my all-time favorite flavors.  I’m less wild about dishes with a lot of heat.  I like my food to have kick, but it needs to be part of a harmonious flavor profile, not just hot for the sake of being hot.  When Justin handed me a bottle of blood orange chili juice, I was skeptical…was pairing the two in juice a good new direction or a gimmick?

Your first sip of Blood Orange Chili starts out sweet and citrusy.  By itself, this first note would probably be too sweet, but following right behind it is a wave of spicy habanero that keeps it from getting cloying.  That heat is warming & invigorating.  It’s quite strong, but it won’t have you panting.  Take another sip, and you’ll find that sweet-citrus start blends brilliantly into the residual heat, smoothing it out nicely before delivering another installment of your chile fix.

It’s a well-crafted, nicely balanced juice that takes two very bold flavors and makes them meet in the middle with delicious results.  It makes me very interested to try their other flavors, and I’d particularly recommend this one if you’re in to spicy food.

Update: Additional Juices

The folks at Wild Poppy sent us their other flavors to check out, here are Matthew’s thoughts:

Plum Licorice
After tasting the blood orange chili, I was expecting the plum licorice flavor to have a pretty hefty licorice/anise aspect to its flavor.  This juice actually tastes most strongly of plum, with the licorice blending into the plum flavor.  I think it’s adding depth, giving the plum more character, but you’d have a hard time picking it out as a separate layer of flavor.

In short, if you hate licorice, you have nothing to fear here…but if you’re a big licorice fan and are hoping for strong anise with your plums, you may be disappointed.

Regardless, it’s still delicious plum juice – sweet, musky, and a little tart.  The color is beautiful and the sweetness is well balanced.

Note: at this time the plum licorice flavor is not organic.

Peach Vanilla
The aroma of this juice is worth the price of admission alone – smooth, creamy, peachy-vanilla.  The juice’s actual flavor is a blend of tangy peach and creamy vanilla.  Unlike the Plum Licorice juice both elements are quite strong.  It’s good, but was a tad too sweet for my tastes (probably due to the vanilla accentuating the agave nectar).

Grapefruit Ginger
This juice would be better named Ginger Grapefruit.  The ginger is really the star of the show, with the grapefruit playing tart backup.  This juice is quite spicy (though not as spicy as the Blood Orange juice).  At first I thought it was rather harsh, but the more sips I take, the more I like it.  If you like spicy ginger beer, you’ll probably like this juice.

Peppermint Lemonade
This juice tastes like a star mint/candy cane dipped in lemon juice – mostly peppermint, bitter, a little tart, and sweet at the end.  Honestly, I didn’t care for it. I like the idea of pairing mint & lemonade, but perhaps a more mild spearmint would be better.  Some tweak that made it lemonade with mint, not peppermint-ade with lemon.

Editors Note:  To each his own.  I (Justin) thought that the peppermint lemonade was on point.  I loved the minty note to the lemonade.

The Virtual Potluck bloggers blew us away with their Thanksgiving-themed recipes from our first recipe adventure together. Remember the deliciousness? Check it out here if you need a refresher.

These bloggers threw down the gauntlet in terms of tastiness, so we upped the stakes after the recipes were submitted by surprising the bloggers with one last twist…we announced we’d be sending another round of special ingredients to one of the bloggers. We asked for feedback to help us pick, and after hearing from readers, fans, and a few of the bloggers’ mothers we realized we couldn’t just pick one…

So congrats to Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine and Farmgirl Gourmet, you’re both just too delicious! And you’re both getting a surprise in the mail for your pantry.  Please email us your address again.

Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine created an original recipe for arancini stuffed with a spicy mushroom ragu. Arancini is no easy task in the kitchen, so kudos to you! Farmgirl Gourmet’s Arborio veggie burger with vanilla barbecue sauce sounded uniquely delicious, and she managed to use all of the ingredients we sent her.

We want to give a big thank you to all of the bloggers – it’s so great to read your creative recipes and it is always a fabulous experience to interact with you.

We are officially smitten with the Virtual Potluck…we can’t wait to see what’s next.