  | About a week ago I went up to Baltimore to meet some friends for dinner. We ate in the Fells Point area at Meli. Upon looking at their menu I noticed that they have lobster mac & cheese as an appetizer. Now I love mac & cheese and when I see it on a menu I am always tempted to get it. However as of late the mac & cheeses that I've ordered have been a disappointment. I decided that I would give this one a chance and so I ordered two appetizers (the second being seared diver scallops which was delicious) as my meal. The dishes came out and the mac & cheese looked like it had potential with fried onions on top and knowing there was lobster in it. However upon first bite I was disappointed again. Although the fried onions added a nice crunchy texture this mac & cheese lacked proper cheesiness. Does anyone have any good mac & cheese suggestions? The closest I've come across is the mac & cheese at Ray's Hell Burger. Although good, I prefer my mac & cheeses cheesy versus creamy which is how Ray's Hell Burger serves it (think Boston Market mac & cheese) so it's still not ideal for me. Funnily enough currently my favorite mac & cheese is one from a box. Kraft's Deluxe Mac & Cheese with Four Cheese Sauce. So the search continues... |
Friday, February 18, 2011
Mac and Cheese search continues...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Banana Bread and Stand Mixers
Last year for my cousin K's wedding one of the gifts my cousins and I gave them was a KitchenAid Stand Mixer
. Little did I know that instead of adding a stand mixer to K's life, I was just upgrading her. With the acquisition of the new stand mixer, K was left with an extra stand mixer which she passed along to me! While I do enjoy baking, I also find that a hand mixer can be a little bit difficult to maneuver sometimes. However it had never occurred to me to buy a stand mixer because I thought that the only stand mixers that existed were expensive KitchenAid Stand Mixers. Well I'm here to tell you that there are affordable, other branded stand mixers out there, so if you like to bake I highly recommend looking into getting one. It makes baking so much easier and therefore even more enjoyable. Unfortunately I cannot recommend the one I have because it is so not a name brand that I couldn't find any sort of brand label on it. However from some Amazon browsing it appears you can buy a stand mixer for as cheap as $40 (Sunbeam Hand and Stand Mixer) or even go a bit more expensive and still stay below $100 with the Cuisinart 7-Speed Hand and Stand Mixer
priced around $70.
Now why has the topic of stand mixers come up? Last Wednesday, I discovered that the two bananas that were part of the produce box from Arganica Farms were in quite ripe condition, so I figured the best thing to do with them would be to make banana bread. Making banana bread means mixing things which means pulling out my stand mixer. The awesomeness of having a stand mixer still hasn't worn off. Each time I use it I am pleasantly surprised as to how much easier it makes the process so I wanted you to know that a stand mixer can be in your life without having to shell out a lot of money.
So back to the banana bread. After looking over a few recipes I decided to use this one courtesy of Emeril Lagasse. I choose this recipe because it called for shortening which I have left over from some other recipe, and because it did not call for sour cream (which I didn't have), but is apparently a common ingredient in banana bread. The banana bread was quick and easy to make (with the help of my stand mixer :) ) and although it was good, it wasn't quite banana bread as I didn't have enough bananas. Next time I'll make sure to use more bananas.
. Little did I know that instead of adding a stand mixer to K's life, I was just upgrading her. With the acquisition of the new stand mixer, K was left with an extra stand mixer which she passed along to me! While I do enjoy baking, I also find that a hand mixer can be a little bit difficult to maneuver sometimes. However it had never occurred to me to buy a stand mixer because I thought that the only stand mixers that existed were expensive KitchenAid Stand Mixers. Well I'm here to tell you that there are affordable, other branded stand mixers out there, so if you like to bake I highly recommend looking into getting one. It makes baking so much easier and therefore even more enjoyable. Unfortunately I cannot recommend the one I have because it is so not a name brand that I couldn't find any sort of brand label on it. However from some Amazon browsing it appears you can buy a stand mixer for as cheap as $40 (Sunbeam Hand and Stand Mixer) or even go a bit more expensive and still stay below $100 with the Cuisinart 7-Speed Hand and Stand Mixer priced around $70.Now why has the topic of stand mixers come up? Last Wednesday, I discovered that the two bananas that were part of the produce box from Arganica Farms were in quite ripe condition, so I figured the best thing to do with them would be to make banana bread. Making banana bread means mixing things which means pulling out my stand mixer. The awesomeness of having a stand mixer still hasn't worn off. Each time I use it I am pleasantly surprised as to how much easier it makes the process so I wanted you to know that a stand mixer can be in your life without having to shell out a lot of money.
So back to the banana bread. After looking over a few recipes I decided to use this one courtesy of Emeril Lagasse. I choose this recipe because it called for shortening which I have left over from some other recipe, and because it did not call for sour cream (which I didn't have), but is apparently a common ingredient in banana bread. The banana bread was quick and easy to make (with the help of my stand mixer :) ) and although it was good, it wasn't quite banana bread as I didn't have enough bananas. Next time I'll make sure to use more bananas.
Recipe Link: Banana Bread
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Eventide
After a glowing recommendation a few months ago from A, and after it being one of the deals of the day at LivingSocial, Eventide was put towards the top of my list of restaurants to go to. Even so, I still somehow managed to let the weeks pass by before finally with the threat of a soon to expire deal over my head, I made reservations to go (using the incredibly useful online reservations site OpenTable).
Upon arriving at Eventide we were told by the downstairs host to head away from what I thought would be where we were dining and up some stairs at the end of a hallway. I found this odd at first but upon arriving in the upstairs dining room and being seated by the upstairs host, I found myself liking Eventide even before I got to the menu. The ambiance of the place is great. The high ceilings, the chandeliers, the large tables, the plush seats, the couch-like booths, this all gave the place a very elegant, relaxing, and spacious feel. It also didn't hurt that the color scheme of the place was blue which most of my friends know is a plus in my book :).
After sinking into the comfortable chairs I finally took a look at the menu. As I was struggling to decide which of the many tasty looking items to get our waitress came over and told us the special of the day: beef short ribs slow cooked to falling-off-the-bone-tenderness served over Parmesan grits with smoked cipollini onions and broccoli rabe sauteed with chili to give it a bit of spiciness. The waitress made the dish sound so mouthwatering that 4 of the 5 of us were compelled to order it. (One of us stuck to their usual whatever on the menu has chicken in it will be the dish I order). While waiting for our main dishes to come out we got served some very delicious biscuits and I ordered a tea with some honey.
Then our dishes came. After my first bite I was immediately glad that I stuck with ordering the dish even though there were 3 other orders of it at our table.
The dish was amazing. Even though there are other dishes on the menu that I would like to try, if I go back and I have the option to order the beef short ribs, I just might have to order them again...
Upon arriving at Eventide we were told by the downstairs host to head away from what I thought would be where we were dining and up some stairs at the end of a hallway. I found this odd at first but upon arriving in the upstairs dining room and being seated by the upstairs host, I found myself liking Eventide even before I got to the menu. The ambiance of the place is great. The high ceilings, the chandeliers, the large tables, the plush seats, the couch-like booths, this all gave the place a very elegant, relaxing, and spacious feel. It also didn't hurt that the color scheme of the place was blue which most of my friends know is a plus in my book :).
After sinking into the comfortable chairs I finally took a look at the menu. As I was struggling to decide which of the many tasty looking items to get our waitress came over and told us the special of the day: beef short ribs slow cooked to falling-off-the-bone-tenderness served over Parmesan grits with smoked cipollini onions and broccoli rabe sauteed with chili to give it a bit of spiciness. The waitress made the dish sound so mouthwatering that 4 of the 5 of us were compelled to order it. (One of us stuck to their usual whatever on the menu has chicken in it will be the dish I order). While waiting for our main dishes to come out we got served some very delicious biscuits and I ordered a tea with some honey.
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Then our dishes came. After my first bite I was immediately glad that I stuck with ordering the dish even though there were 3 other orders of it at our table.
The dish was amazing. Even though there are other dishes on the menu that I would like to try, if I go back and I have the option to order the beef short ribs, I just might have to order them again...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The usual awesomeness served at N's
Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday which meant the usual... watching the game on N's nice 56" TV and eating some awesome food hot off the Weber and smoker. Once or twice a year N treats us to his delicious marinating, grilling, and smoking skills. It's always an event we look forward to. Yesterday fare was no exception. It included two pork loins marinated in Stubb's Pork Marinade:
one sliced up to eat, the other of which turned into delicious cheese, pork and grilled vegetable quesadillas.
Chicken Wings - some with Dreamland Barbeque Sauce, some with a spicy sauce N brought back from Puerto Rico, and the rest with Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning
Chicken Wings - some with Dreamland Barbeque Sauce, some with a spicy sauce N brought back from Puerto Rico, and the rest with Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning
and juicy sliders served on biscuits:
Can't wait to see what N comes up with the next time!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Pizza
Dinner number two inspired from the Arganica order... Pizza!
This one was kinda a cheat since I didn't make the pizza dough, it was ordered through Arganica. Though making pizza dough actually isn't that hard, it does take some time as you have to let the dough sit and rise. If you do have some time I would recommend trying it out because it is pretty satisfying making the dough from scratch. I did it once with D using a recipe from American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza
. It was delicious.
This one was kinda a cheat since I didn't make the pizza dough, it was ordered through Arganica. Though making pizza dough actually isn't that hard, it does take some time as you have to let the dough sit and rise. If you do have some time I would recommend trying it out because it is pretty satisfying making the dough from scratch. I did it once with D using a recipe from American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza
. It was delicious.
Friday, February 4, 2011
First delivery from Arganica
So J and I decided this year to stay in and cook dinner for Chinese New Year partially because I realized that my first delivery from Arganica arrives today. I had always wanted to try out one of those local produce deliveries so when the deal of the day for LivingSocial was for a membership to Arganica Farm Club I decided to take the plunge. Here is the result of my first order:
One of the items I ordered was a produce box which is whatever produce they have available for the week. This made the delivery even more exciting as I wasn't sure what I would receive. In fact even when we did open up the crate we still weren't sure of some of the things we got. But with a little help from the good ol' internet we think we identified the mystery produce to be swiss chard, purple potato, and rutabaga.
So it being Chinese New Years I decided to try to make a somewhat asian dish with what arrived. What I came up with was a noodle stir fry (the noodles not being part of the crate) with sausage, onion, and tomato, a side of swiss chard, and peach wine to drink.
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