First Lady Michelle Obama breaks ground on the White House vegetable garden

The Daily Meal website has released its 2012 list of the most powerful people in food in the nation.

The list is all-encompassing – doctors, CEOs, chefs, TV personalities, farmers, the First Lady, lawyers, authors – all here.

These are the people who influence us as diners, cooks, shoppers, growers, voters and entertainment and health care consumers. In other words, they shape many of our everyday decisions and choices where food is concerned. It’s wise to learn who they are.

Here are the top 10:

Patricia Woertz, CEO Archer Daniels Midland

10. Patricia Woertz, Chairman, President, and CEO,  Archer Daniels Midland

9. Hugh Grant, Chairman, President, and CEO, The Monsanto Company

8. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States and Dietary Activist

7. Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

6. Jim Skinner, Vice Chairman and CEO, McDonald’s

5. Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo.

Mike Duke, Walmart CEO

4. Mike Duke, President and CEO, Walmart

3. Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO, Yelp

2. Thomas Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture

1. Brooke Johnson, President, Food Network

This year, I’ve already wowed some recipients with gifts of the traditional “Magic 7-layer cookie bars” – versions of which are known as Congo bars.

They’re too easy (recipe below). I’m making more tomorrow early morning -they’re so fast. They’ve been around for a while – the magic is that they’re more or less just layered in a pan – no mixing bowls needed. Bake and they all come together into this wonderous bar. Yum!

Calories don’t count at Christmas

Wishing you and yours a merry day, and much good food.

Remember: Calories don’t count on this one special day of the year!

Magic 7-Layer Cookie Bars

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or stick margarine
• 1-1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs (1 cellophane package from a box)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter or butterscotch chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I like pecans)
• 1 12-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Put butter into a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and put pan in oven till butter is completely melted.

Swirl pan to completely coat bottom and sides with butter. Spread crumbs over bottom of pan; shake pan to distribute crumbs evenly. Add chocolate chips; add peanut butter chips – distributing them evenly over the crumbs. Add nuts and distribute.

Pour sweetened milk over all; top with coconut sprinkled evenly.

Put pan into center of oven and bake for 25 minutes or until coconut is light brown and toasted.

Let cool on a rack. Place pan in refrigerator to cool completely. Slice into 2-inch squares and keep in a cookie tin separated by waxed paper. These freeze very well.

Makes 15-18 bars.

A number of Palm Beach Gardens area restaurants and others will provide tastings, while spirits companies and breweries will have drinks available for sampling. Some of the restaurants participating include III Forks Prime Steakhouse, Cantina Laredo, Cafe Chardonnay, Guanabanas, Nordstrom Cafe Bistro, Pita Grille, Russell’s Blue Water Grill, Spoto’s Oyster Bar , the Tabica Grill and others.

The American Society of Interior Designers have created a showcase of designs to stroll through at the venue.

State legislators on schedule to attend include senators Ellyn Bogdanoff and Lizbeth Benaquisto, and representatives Joe Abruzzo, Jeff Clemens, Mark Pafford, Steve Perman, Lori Berman, Pat Rooney, along with Bobby Powell, aide to Representative Mack Bernard and Cheri Vancura, aide to Senator Joe Negron.

• Wine and Design
• When: Tuesday, Oct. 11, 5:30-8 p.m.
• Where: Store Self Storage and Wine Storage, 11010 N. Military Trail (behind Walgreens), Palm Beach Gardens; 561-627-8444
• Tickets: $30 advance, $40 at the door; tickets at www.asidwinedesign.eventbrite.com
• Benefits: A Place of Hope for families and children in Palm Beach Gardens

Dennis Max

Check back here all week at JanNorris.com to see how the restaurant scene shapes up for the season in Palm Beach County – openings from longtime restaurateurs like Dennis Max, and some new ones as well – serving up Italian “Rat Pack” food and atmosphere, farm-to-fork cuisine, burgers and fries. I’ve got the scoop on a new Delray eatery, too.

Sorry to lose: Bahama Mama’s, a Caribbean restaurant in downtown West Palm – they shuttered last week.

The 2012 Zagat Survey for Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach goes to press this week; expect it out later this month.

Learn about upcoming classes on growing your own veggies – time to get planting, South Florida.

Charity and food and wine events are shaping up to be big deals, too – I’ll have all the details for you – so bookmark  JanNorris.com, or sign up for my daily Appeteaser email alert.

John Swinford

A Delray Beach blogger, John Swinford, found my site and thought his story about his college town food (he’s a U of Cincinnati grad) might interest my readers.

Swinford wrote about Cincinnati chili - a peculiar combo of pasta and chili that I know as Skyline Chili. There’s a Skyline Chili outlet in Fort Lauderdale, where I grew up – and where I first learned about the peculiar dish.

Swinford covers it in fuller detail, though he doesn’t go into the making of the actual chili much.

What I can tell you from what I know is that Midwesterners like their chili sweet – and without much fire. It tastes to me more like a Sloppy Joe mixture than actual chili. But then, it’s served on pasta and coated in cheese – so why not throw all tradition to the wind?

I can see where Texans probably dismiss it as something that “ain’t fit.”

A unique combination

Still, it’s unique – a pile of chili on a plate of spaghetti – with or without beans. It’s covered in long thin strands of cheddar cheese, and contains oyster crackers and chopped onion.

Swinford serves his chili with a Cincinnati-brewed beer – Little King’s Cream Ale. It’s notable first for the 7-ounce bottles it comes in – smart marketing: you have to drink two to get close to the amount in most other bottles. It’s an American-style beer – top fermented, but more like a lager.

Read all about the brew here.

Chef Joel Huff, Azul, Miami

MIAMI – Chef Joel Huff is new at Azul, the still stunning restaurant on the bay in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Brickell Key. A friend and I took advantage of Miami Spice (which runs through Sept. 30) for a $35 three-course dinner there last night.

Even in this restricted format, the chef’s talent was evident. A cuttlefish with watermelon amuse bouche was the most flavorful inch-cubed of food I’ve eaten in many months. The lovely Jonah crab salad with corn and beans was full of summery flavor, while my hamachi crudo with cherries was melt-in-your-mouth perfect.

The kicker came with the risotto with mushrooms and lamb chopper cheese – one I’d never tried. I want this risotto every time I order it, for the rest of my life. Perfection – not something I say often. Creamy, yet each rice grain distinctive; the mushrooms so fresh-tasting, I could swear they were picked two minutes before cooking. The cheese, slightly salty and tangy, made me forget all about Parmigiano reggiano.

More than one dish right

My friend’s corvina was lovely – she wanted to share. I was more reluctant, though I gave her a spoonful of the risotto in trade. The tender fish was cooked with crunchy rings of hearts of palm which stood out, along with baby broccolini. I can recommend this chef’s fish acumen – certainly.

We mustn’t forget breads and desserts – my friend, just back from France, declared the petite baguettes reminiscent of the finest European samples. Other selections included sun-dried tomato buns and jalapeno cornbread.

A coconut-lime panna cotta was paired with an ultra rich chocolate gelato and set atop a shortbread I liked best of all.

The entire meal was presented by terrific service – we wanted for nothing – not even a light for the menus or in the case of a neighboring diner, a wrap for chilly bare shoulders. The sommelier is to be commended – the wines he suggested we taste and his descriptions were spot on.

There were other choices on the menu – and it’s apt to change slightly throughout the month as foods become available. Get there, though, before Sept. 30 – prices average $45 per entree here otherwise.

Note: Parking is $11 with validation.

For Miami Spice info, go to: ilovemiamispice.com

Azul

• 500 Brickell Key Dr., Miami (in the Mandarin Oriental)

• 305- 913-8254; mandarinoriental.com/miami/azul/

Garden outside the dining room at DIG in Delray

You can’t tell there’s a recession by the restaurants opening in and around Palm Beach County – there have been several new restaurants and more on the way.

Check out these you may have missed or not known about.

South County:

Moquila is reopening with a new owner and new chef – look for this Mexican behind Royal Palm Place in Boca Raton next week or so. 99 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton.

Ovenella Pizza, Pasta e Vino is a new Italian spot I’ve tried and liked. It’s on Federal Highway and SE 5th Street – it’s been a number of restaurants, and I hope this one sticks. Great atmosphere, good staff. Don’t miss their fabulous cocktails – or the delish dish of escarole and beans. 499 S. Federal Highway, Boca Raton; (561) 395-1455.

DIG is a restaurant I’ve written a lot about – and also love for its green-clean approach to dining. You’ve got to love a restaurant that has an organic vegetable garden right outside the windows – in a very urban setting. The double-cut pork chop is amazing, but they have a soup and salad bar with great deals early evening. Their cocktails are swell, too – made with organic liquor. 5199 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach

Max’s Harvest is the newest from Dennis Max in Delray’s Pineapple Grove, serving “farm to fork” cuisine. What we tasted was quite good – and diners have agreed, filling the patio and sidewalk dining rooms, too. So much NOT to miss – hard to choose. I loved their chicken, and salads were terrific. Good wine list. 169 NE SEcond Ave., Delray Beach; 561-381-9770; maxsharvest.com

The Pop-Up restaurant, on Delray’s Atlantic Avenue, is a hoot. Chef Glen Manfra does Italian as he did once at Amici, when that landmark restaurant opened in Palm Beach. Some powerful pasta dishes here; look for a closing in late summer, though – so go now if you’re interested.  217 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 561-450-7557; closed Sundays.

Central county:

Longboards just opened in downtown West Palm Beach – with a fun, tiki-surf culture themed menu and bar. It joins a growing list of eateries on Clematis Street in downtown West Palm. Bring your best surf tales. 519 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561-833-4660.

China Beach Bistro in Northwood Village serves up sushi, dim sum and other favs in this quaint neighborhood setting. Fun gathering spot for happy houring. 2505 N. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach; 561-0633-0038.

North County:

3800 Ocean is chef Dean Max’s ode to seafood – directly on the ocean in the old Solu spot in the Marriott on Singer Island. Don’t miss the ceviche! 3800 N. Ocean Blvd., Singer Island. 561-340-1795

Russell’s Blue Water Grill is a seafooder in Palm Beach Gardens – in the old Texarado steakhouse spot on PGA and Prosperity Farms Road. Great wine list, fresh fish, happening scene. Terrific happy hour; fun chef. 2450 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens; 561-381-6344.

Grimaldi’s Pizza – a New York transplant, just opened at Downtown at the Gardens. Diners next to us loved their white pizza – their signature. Downtown at the Gardens on 11701 Lake Victoria Ave., Palm Beach Gardens.

Paris in Town is the bigger bistro sibling to Paris in Town, the Frenchie on PGA and US 1. Going back to get a croque monsieur next time. Enjoyed this meal that overlooks carousel if you sit outside. In Downtown at the Gardens, 11701 Lake Victoria Ave., Palm Beach Gardens.

All other posts pertaining to Leo Balestrieri and restaurants Apicius, Bar Italia and Harry’s Bar in Palm Beach County have been removed from this site, because of the overwhelming number of personal attacks from and to the restaurateur.

Federally funded lunches (and breakfasts) are targeted by the USDA. Last year, the Institute of Medicine recommended that most people already eat enough potatoes and that pregnant women and their children using the USDA program for low-income meals shouldn’t use the feds money for white potatoes.

Now several movements have started to keep potatoes in schools – parents, kids and the potato councils of several states are pushing for the spuds.

What do you think about potatoes in schools – should the schools limit any one food or teach kids moderation in all things?

Malka Espinel, instructor of pastry at the Art Institutes of Fort Lauderdale, prepared this fruit tart for a Mother's Day dessert /photo by Carline Jean, Sun Sentinel

A French pastry chef once said that you might have an incredible experience at dinner, but “it’s the dessert that you’ll go to your dreams on.”

Pastry chefs are much revered in France, the capital of all things culinary. In America, they’re just now getting the exposure other chefs have seen for some time.

I talked with several local pastry chefs, including Cafe L’Europe’s Stephanie Steglia, and got their recipes for Mom for today’s cover story in the Sun Sentinel. Read the interviews and recipes here.