By Rebekah Monson

BOCA RATON — Palm Beach County got its first taste of the food-truck craze that has swept South Florida, and organizers of this week’s event say there’s an appetite for more.

“I am very excited,” said Jochen Esser, organizer of the Gourmet Food Truck Expo that packed 20 of South Florida’s mobile kitchens into the parking lot of Boomers in Boca Raton on Wednesday. “It’s even more successful than I hoped. I’m pretty sure we’re going to have more of these events soon.”

More than 2,000 South Florida gourmands waited in line as long as 45 minutes to sample upmarket eats ranging from Korean barbeque sliders, fried truffled macaroni and cheese and pork belly bahn mi to Michoacan-style carnitas tacos and street food favorites such as wings, hot dogs and burgers.

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Wisconsin 6 Cheese will have mozzarella, feta, provolone, cheddar, parmesan and asiago cheeses.

The company’s Wisconsin 6 Cheese pizza marks its first new specialty pizza of the year, the first since the company’s debut last December of a total revamp of its basic pizza recipe, including giving it a new sauce, new cheese combination and flavored curst.

Now Domino’s is building off that with its first new specialty pizza. Wisconsin 6 Cheese will have mozzarella, feta, provolone, cheddar, parmesan and asiago cheeses. Some — but not all — of the cheese will come from Wisconsin. Domino’s usual cheese already comes from Wisconsin, California and other states.

CEO Patrick Doyle said first Domino’s answered concerns about taste and quality and now it’s responding to concerns about ingredients.

A marketing campaign premiering Wednesday night will highlight the ingredients by showing customers in a focus group in what they think is an office. Its walls come down and they realize they’re on a dairy farm, complete with cow and a farmer in Blanchardville, Wis.

The original campaign was designed as an honest, in-your-face effort by Domino’s to concede to customers that yes, it knew its pizza could be improved (it said its sauce was like ketchup, its crust like cardboard), and then told them how it would do it. “Oh Yes We Did” is its tagline.

“It’s a continuation of the campaign, it’s a new take on it, talking about the ingredients, and in this case, talking really about something that is very high quality that we weren’t getting credit for,” Doyle said.

The ad premieres during prime-time shows including “Survivor,” “Law & Order SVU” and “The Whole Truth” across the major networks. The pizzas will be available starting Wednesday night. They’ll be eligible for an ongoing deal of two medium pizzas with two toppings for $5.99 each, but will cost an extra $2 per pizza.

Profits for the company, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., have been rising since the new pizza debuted. Domino’s spent years building its reputation on quick delivery but decided to focus on taste to compete for customers.

The company is also launching an interactive website called “Behind the Pizza” to show people the farms where its ingredients come from, through videos and short stories.

Domino’s reports its third-quarter results next Tuesday.

Shares of Domino’s rose 24 cents to $14.72 in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Today Wendy’s launches a lines of four new salads that replace their current $4 lineup.

The new apple pecan chicken salad.

The previous Garden Sensations line launched in 2002.

The company also is testing breakfast again across the country. Chief Marketing Officer Ken Calwell says he expects to know more about moving into that growing restaurant segment as early as later this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chick-fil-A® restaurants nationwide will celebrate the chain’s annual Cow Appreciation Day “holiday” on Friday, July 9, by offering a free meal to any customer who visits one of their restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

Customers dressed “head to hoof” in cow attire will be rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A Meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner), which includes an entrée of choice, a side dish and a beverage. For those “too chicken” to wear the full cow costume, Chick-fil-A will award a free entrée to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory.

The Chick-fil-A at The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, 10300 W Forest Hill Blvd., will host nearly 400 children dressed as cows from the Wellington Boys and Girls Club and Planet Kid’s preschool from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There’s plenty of time to line up a costume. So get a moo-ve on.

The idea behind this pork version of the sloppy Joe sandwich wasn’t just to come up with an alternative to ground beef.
I wanted something with a totally different — dare I say, meaty — texture. Because face it, sloppy Joes may be tasty, but the flavor and texture of whatever meat goes into them usually gets lost beneath a heavy sauce.
So rather than use ground meat, I opted for chopped. About 10 seconds in the food processor was all it took to get meaty chunks perfect for piling onto a bun.
I opted for pork because, well, that’s what I had handy. But I did test the approach later with beef.
It was good, but it was a little too steak-like, as though it should have cheese on it instead of sauce.
Pork loin cutlets and boneless country-style pork ribs produced the best results.
To keep things easy, I used bottled barbecue sauce, which produced incredibly savory, sweet, tangy Joes. You also could substitute your own by blending tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, brown sugar, cumin and a bit of cider vinegar.

Barbecue Porky Joes
Servings: 4

1 pound pork loin cutlets (or other lean cut of pork)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced

1 cup prepared barbecue sauce
4 hamburger buns

Place the pork in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the pork in short bursts until well chopped, but not finely ground.
In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the oil. Add the onion and pepper and saute for 6 minutes.
Add the pork and saute until lightly browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the barbecue sauce, then serve on the buns.

Per serving: 440 calories; 124 calories from fat; 14 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 56 mg cholesterol; 52 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 2 g fiber; 1,398 mg sodium

Meat lovers, relax. But chickens, beware.

KFC says Americans are gobbling down so many Double Down sandwiches that the fast-food chain will offer the bunless, meaty sandwich longer than it had planned.

Originally the sandwich — bacon and cheese surrounded by chicken filets — was to have been available through Sunday.

But KFC said Wednesday that the sandwich will be available now for as long as customer demand remains high.

The Double Down came onto the market on April 12 and was supposed to have lasted about six weeks. But it tapped into Americans’ fascination with quirky food and became a viral-marketing sensation. People posted videos of themselves eating the sandwich on sites like YouTube, and celebrities like Stephen Colbert gobbled it up.

KFC said it has been one of its most successful sandwich launches ever. Later this month, KFC expects to sell its 10 millionth Double Down.

Some have questioned the sandwiches’ nutritional value. The original version has 540 calories and 32 grams of fat, and 1,380 milligrams of salt. A grilled version cuts calories to 460 and fat to 23 grams, but sodium rises to 1,430 milligrams. By comparison, the Big Mac from McDonald’s has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat and 1,040 grams of sodium.

The American Heart Association says people should aim to eat less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day.

KFC’s corporate parent is Yum Brands Inc.

Relish's meats for burgers include shrimp. (Photo courtesy Relish)

Openings

Relish, 401 Northwood Road, West Palm Beach. Desiree and Daniel Tobin have opened a promising new burger joint in historic Northwood Village, offering more than 1,000 — yes, 1,000 -— burger combinations. You can choose from 12 different burger meats — from beef to buffalo to lobster to wild mushroom (prices range from $5.99 to $15.99) — and top your burger with your choice of 20 eclectic sauces that elevates the restaurant’s namesake to distinguished levels.

There’s citrus remoulade, Scotch bonnet mango, Thai peanut satay, caponata and creamy salsa, to name a few. Side munchies include hand-cut fries ($2.49), grilled polenta fingers and shoestring onion loaf (both $2.99). Those come with a choice of six specialty salts.

Add a repertoire of hand-crafted shakes ($4.69) and warm mini cookies with choice of dip ($3.49) and you’ve got quite an alluring comfort menu.

Relish, which celebrated its launch last week, is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. For information call (561) 629-5377 or visit relishburger.com.
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In the spirit of Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary, Pizza Fusion (a ground-breaker in the natural and organic restaurant movement) has launched a nationwide search for the greenest, most eco-friendly pizza recipe in the country with the Pizza Fusion Earth Day Video Contest. Get involved!

This isn’t your typical contest. This contest is an online, 100% paperless competition with earth-friendly prizes, and judged by a panel including Chef Aaron McCargo Jr., star of Food Network’s Big Daddy’s House and Michael Singer of Bon Appétit Magazine. Read the full story

Jay Leno has just a few days left to avoid an all out burger war.

Jaws Jumbo Burgers of Farmington Hills, MI, has been waiting to hear from Leno since March of 2009 to come to try The Thank You Jay Leno Burger, honoring him for doing free shows for the Michigan unemployed.

They offered him an all expenses paid trip to try the burger, took out a $1,500 quarter-page ad in a Los Angeles newspaper, sent emails, letters, hand-delivered packages, started a blog, Facebook page, customer email campaign, and even offered Leno his very own franchise. But they are tiring of chasing him.

Now they say enough is enough! If Leno doesn’t respond by April 15th, Jaws Jumbo Burgers plans to to introduce a We Miss You Conan O’Brien Burger, and invite Conan O/Brien to Michigan to try it, all expenses paid.

Oscar and Grammy award-winner Jennifer Hudson chose a candle to light up the side of the second celebrity-designed “7-Eleven® Coffee Cup With A Cause.” Her cup goes on sale today at participating 7-Eleven stores across the U.S. and will be available through May 31 or while supplies last.
Proceeds from the cup featuring Hudson’s personal design will benefit her designated charity, Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
The cup is inscribed with the words “Light of Peace” in Hudson’s handwriting. Read the full story