Gone Bananas

After a few days of holiday entertaining, guests and any over indulgences - get through the midweek hurdle with my Banana Smoothy Recipe. 

Banana Smoothie 
recipe by George Hirsch | From George Hirsch Living it UP! TV series companion cookbook

Makes 2 servings, so share

1 cup frozen sliced bananas
1 Tablespoon low fat peanut butter
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
1/2 cup crushed ice

Place the bananas in a blender and puree. And the peanut butter, fat free milk, yogurt, and ice. Blend until smooth. 

enjoy!

image, firOOO2

Authentically Greek

Opa! Great way to start your morning. Great quality ingredient. Chobani Greek Yogurt, it's the real deal. And the list of benefits are as long as the ingredients not added. 

All natural. No preservatives. No artificial flavors, synthetic growth hormones: No rBST-treated milk, includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics. Made with real fruit. Twice the protein of regular yogurts. A good source of bone-building calcium. Gluten-Free and Kosher-Certified. Safe for people with corn, nut and soy allergies.

Chobani's story begins with its owner, Hamdi, who was born and raised in Turkey; and is a third-generation maker of Mediterranean foods. He started AgroFarma with the vision of bringing high quality, all-natural products to the U.S.. After reaching quick success with Euphrates; authentic feta cheese, Hamdi launched Chobani and formed an expert team. Chobani's Master Yogurt Maker, Mustafa Dogan, custom blends special yogurt cultures just for Chobani.

"Mustafa's custom blends special yogurt cultures; we add these to the milk that we receive daily from local farms to make yogurt. We then strain this yogurt to make it outrageously creamy and ridiculously high in protein.

Did you know it takes three pounds of milk to make one pound of Chobani?"

Next the yogurt is strained to remove excess liquid. This magical step is what puts the ”Greek” in Chobani Greek Yogurt and makes the yogurt so outrageously creamy and rich.

It's made in the authentic Greek tradition, in New York State and available throughout the U.S.



Available at Whole Foods.

iChop

There are a couple of events that have forever advanced the way mankind handles food. First, fire - and you know what that did for us. Next, refrigeration, followed by TV and yes - Julie Child. More recently; like Saturday's release of the iPad - has already impacted how we can spend our time in-and-out of the kitchen. Stephen Colbert has introduced us to just one of the many new apps, iChop - reaching a whole new level in kitchen gadgets.

Cato Cured

Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 B.C.) wrote about making prosciutto over two thousand years ago and much hasn't changed with the preparation of Prosciutto di Parma. A dry cured ham has only the addition of salt massaged and rubbed into the flesh while dry aging for 10-12 months until the meat is both a flavor of perfect velvet sweet and salt.

Sliced paper thin and eaten with a slight cap of fat is the perfect starter to any meal or just by itself with an accompainment of really crusty ciabatta bread, nuggets of Parmegian Reggiano and definitely a glass of ‘big red’.

Can you imagine that over the past two thousand years the custom of a simple plate of ham, cheese, bread and wine has graced many tables, bringing reason to get together for just simple conversation and good quality food.

So wherever you are in the world, this tradition still holds true today, and it can be as simple as this.

 

Witbier

With the arrival of warmer weather it's timely for a refreshing ale to pair with that freshly grilled piece of locally caught fish. Here's my pick; Southampton Double White, my locally brewed boutique Belgian-style white ale. Frankly - any pick from Southampton Publick House gets my thumbs-up. You just have to try it. Have a look at the Living it UP! TV segment with Southampton's Brewmaster Phil Markowski.


Southampton Publick House

One of the most award-winning breweries in America— ranked in the top 20 for GABF medals won by a brewery in the last 10 years.

Living it UP! TV Segment