HB Sweets: Jelly Belly Fun in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin

I recently found myself back in Chicago with high hopes for some culinary adventures. I revisited the delicious GT Oyster and Fish, which did not disappoint, ate some tasty Asian buns at Wow Boa, and had my first highly satisfying taste of deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s.  

One of the highlights of my visit was a day trip that I scheduled, specifically for my sweeter side, to the Jelly Belly Visitor Center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. It's located about an hour's drive north of Chicago, just over the Illinois border. It is also one of the many factory tours listed on my U.S. candy factory tour map that I mentioned in my last blog post. 

I have been very fond of Jelly Belly jelly beans ever since I first learned about them in high school.  These beans are extra fun to snack on thanks to an endless variety of flavors and colors.  My personal Jelly Belly favorites are watermelon and toasted marshmallow.

The visitor center in Pleasant Prairie includes a kid-friendly train ride around the Jelly Belly warehouse and a series of digital movie shorts explaining the company history and the jelly bean creation process.  There are plenty of  yummy beans to go around and visitors can take a trip to the Jelly Belly sample bar after the tour.   It is important to note however that this is not a working factory where the beans are produced like at the Fairfield, CA location.  Instead it’s more of a fun learning and tasting center, which was perfect for me!  

I learned some little known and interesting Jelly Belly facts from my tour.  
Here are few: 
1) The real Jelly Belly factory creates 35,000 beans per minute;  
2) The beans that cannot live up to the perfect Jelly Belly shape standards are sorted out and nicknamed Belly Flops!  You can buy these irregular shaped beans by the bag online or at the retail store; and 
3) While many people would love to have a flavor created especially for them, this actually did happen in 1981 when the Blueberry flavored bean was invented. It was created in honor of President Ronald Reagan so that a patriotic combination of red, white, and blue beans could be served at his inauguration.

So, if you ever find yourself in the Chicago area and looking for something sweet eat, head to the Jelly Belly visitor center!    

HB Sweets: I love candy! - Announcing my U.S. Candy Factory Tour Map!

It's true, I have a great love for candy and candy factory tours.  Just the thought of watching large amounts of sugary goodness being formed in front of my eyes and then  packaged perfectly for all the world to enjoy makes me giddy.  So giddy in fact, that I have compiled a Google map of all of the candy factory tours in America.  I have also tried to include a link to the company websites whenever available.  

To request a link to the map, please leave a comment on this post, email me at HB@thehungrybee.com, or contact me on Twitter @hungrybeeny! Thanks!  

HB Learns: Signature Dishes From NYC Restaurants!

This month I attended yet another wonderful class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Chelsea.  I have to thank Rachel and Jeremy for the awesome gift certificate!  I always love going to the ICE but the hardest part of taking classes there is choosing which one to take from the gigantic recreational course list.  I knew this time that I wanted something totally different than the Fundamentals of Chocolate and Vietnamese classes that I had already taken.  Then I spotted the “Great New York Restaurants’ Signature Dishes” class taught by Chef Loren Banco.  I jumped at the chance to recreate popular dishes from Balthazar, Babbo, Craft, Le Bernadin, and Gotham Bar and Grill. 

So far I’ve only had the chance to dine at Gotham, but after experiencing what it takes to put together each complicated dish I have a lot of respect for the chefs that work at these culinary meccas.   Even dishes that I thought wouldn’t be intricate were, like the salad from Balthazar which required extra special prep thanks to the long list of ingredients, one for every letter in the Balthazar name (B-Beets, A-asparagus, L- lettuce, T-truffle oil, and so on..).  Pretty inventive!

Our class was divided into three groups and my group was in charge of the cooking the monkfish from Le Bernadin, the filling for the Babbo Mint Love Letters (aka ravioli), and baking the warm chocolate cake from Gotham (so good!).  

Throughout the night Chef Loren also gave a host of interesting demos and cooking tips including how to properly roll out pasta dough, fill ravioli, trim and slice hanger steak just like at Craft, and dice an onion (it always looks so easy until you try it yourself, right?!).  Overall the class was very enjoyable, a lot of hard work, and every course of the meal was delicious.   It will definitely be hard figuring out which dish to try at home first now that I have the recipes, and which restaurant to go to first to taste the professional versions!  Thanks to Chef Loren and his assistant Richard for a great time! 

HB Media: Pastry and Sushi Perfection!

During the cold winter months I try to do my best to get out as much as possible and not become a total hermit.  However, for those times when I just can't get out of the apartment (or off the couch), I like to catch up on my movie watching.  I recently checked out two food documentaries that I have wanted to see for ages.  They are definitely worthy of purchase, a place on your Netflix cue, or in my case a free library rental (remember those?!).

Kings of Pastry follows several French pastry chefs in their quest to earn one of France's highest technical titles, the MOF.  MOF is short for Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (One of the Best Craftsmen in France).  Not only is the marathon three-day MOF a grueling competition, it also serves as a skills exam resulting in lifelong recognition and honor.  The documentary provides an inside look at the sacrifices and passion that it takes to achieve such a prestigious award in the area of confection making.  The film also marks the first time cameras were allowed at the MOF.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi follows a different kind of competition, mainly a master sushi chef against himself.  Jiro Ono is owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo, a ten-seat restaurant where reservations are highly sought-after and draws visitors from across the globe.  Jiro’s lifetime journey to create sushi perfection involves a great deal of food history and an intimate look at Jiro’s family, friends, vendors, restaurant staff, and patrons.  The intensity of his dedication and the level of craftsmanship are truly amazing.

These two movies are enough to spark any foodie's travel bug and make many of our daily grinds seem like a breeze. Enjoy!