Product Review: Campbell's Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas

As you know from my Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives test, I love Moroccan-inspired recipes.  I cannot wait to visit Morocco someday!  I was excited when my mom found this product--Campbell's Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas.  It's a soup in a convenient pouch.  You tear the top to vent the pouch, microwave it, and pour into a bowl to serve.  It would be difficult to eat it from the bag.  Even if you open it all the way, you hand will brush the sides and get dirty.

The scent of the soup was reminiscent of the exotic Moroccan spices I enjoy.  The consistency was a slightly thick soup.  The pureed butternut squash gave it more substance than a broth-based soup.  The taste was oddly sweet, much like a pureed carrot soup.  I wanted more chickpeas and less sweetness.

The bottom line: would I eat it again?  Maybe.  It's better than the microwaveable bowls of beef vegetable soup made by Campbell's.  That may be the grossest canned soup available.  I'd pair it with a very savory bread though--like garlic naan--to cut the sweet.

Campbell's Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas.

Romanian Mititei (Mici)

Lately I've been on an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations kick.  I've been DVRing every episode that comes on and watching them in spare time.  Recently I watched him travel to Romania.  It didn't go exactly as planned...they couldn't film at a Dracula site and Tony clearly wasn't loving the Dracula Halloween party he attended.  He did love the mititei (mici) though.  If you're having trouble with the pronunciation, it's like "meet-e-tay" or "meach."

No Reservations: Romania

What's mititei?  It's Romanian sausage, sans casing.  Evidently it's street food--best with mustard, pickles, and beer.  Snacks for everyone by day.  Meatballs for drunk Romanians by night.  A mix of meats and spices.  Everyone does it a little differently--some use more traditional seasonings like garlic and thyme, others get more adventurous with caraway and anise.  I'm not a big fan of anise, so we'll keep it simple.

I decided to make my own mititei.  I made mine a bit bigger than the traditional Romanian ones, but with the same flavors.  They turned out deliciously fatty and flavorful.

Ready to try some Romanian food?  While not the perfectly authentic ingredients, these are things you can find readily available and will evoke everything you need to hit that Eastern European note.  The hardest thing to find will be the ground lamb.  I called ahead to the Marsh closest to my house on Mass Ave. in Indy and they didn't have any.  I also tried the downtown Marsh, who said they have it from time to time, but not that day.  Claus' German Sausage and Meat Market in Indy also didn't have any--you have to call one to two days in advance because they thaw a piece of lamb shoulder for you and grind it to order.  But, Goose the Market to the rescue on Delaware Street!  I was able to pick up half a pound within thirty minutes of calling.

You'll need:
1 lb. ground beef (I used 80% chuck)
1 lb. ground pork Italian sausage (I use Bob Evans brand--has fennel seed in it)
1/2 lb. ground lamb
1 packet of beefy onion soup mix
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 c. club soda
skewers

Ingredients assembled.

Mix everything but the baking soda and the club soda in a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.  Don't press too hard or compress the mixed ingredients--just loosely form a ball.  While refrigerating, soak wooden skewers so they don't burn.  No need to soak if you're using metal skewers.

Mixed and ready to be covered and refrigerated.

When you're ready to cook them, preheat your oven to broil or heat your grill.  Add the baking soda and club soda.  Separate the meat into balls for however many skewers you're preparing (no fewer than six--six will make entree size mititei).  About twelve will make more expected snack sized size mititei.  Don't pack the meat down into the balls hard or you'll get what evidently they call "pucks" on the street.  The balls are just so the skewers are uniform size.

Take each of the balls and smooth the meat over the skewer into more of an oval or traditional sausage shape and size.  Again, don't push the meat down too hard or it will be too dense--a puck.

After the skewers are prepared, place them across a foil lined pan (not in the pan where they will sit in the fat that renders) or directly on the grill.  Don't move them until you have a nice char on the side.  Then rotate.

Once all sides have a nice char, remove and serve with homemade chips, mustard, pickles, and if you're included, a beer or three.

The final product--when six skewers are made--an entree-sized mititei (mici) skewer.

Poftă bună!

Full Coverage BLT Sandwich Solutions

Things I love about summer: longer days, warm weather, and BLT sandwiches made with garden fresh tomatoes.

The garden tomatoes aren't rolling in yet, but the sweet corn is, so I'm ready for BLT season!  The ultimate high is biting into a BLT and having the perfect amount of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.  The worst: getting to the end of the sandwich and only having lettuce and bread left.

Here's how to get every bite of your BLT full of bacon and tomato.  It's so simple--you'll be surprised you didn't think of it yourself!

The full coverage BLT sandwich.

To make your full coverage BLT, you'll need three large strips of butcher bacon, sliced in half to yield six smaller pieces.  Use the thick cut butcher kind--you'll never go back to the standard strips!  Place the three strips side by side.  Then weave the remaining three strips to create a lattice work. 

 Bacon lattice work, ready to be cooked.

To cook the bacon square, I baked in the oven on a foil lined pan for about twenty minutes at 425.  Adjust based on the thickness of your bacon.  Thin bacon will cook much faster.  The thickest of butcher slices may take more time.

While your bacon is baking, slice your tomato, toast the bread, and wash and dry the lettuce.  Assemble your sandwich so all you need is the bacon.  If you really love tomato, cut your tomato into smaller pieces and stick them in place in the mayo.  This will guarantee tomato in every bite.

Tomato lover's BLT: use the mayo to glue tomato pieces in place.  This will ensure tomato in every bite in a way that sliced tomato does not.

The finished product: a full coverage BLT sandwich.

Easy Tilapia or Cod Fresca

This recipe was the result of fatigue.  I wanted something healthy but fast.  This recipe generates a full dinner in less than twenty minutes!  I've used both tilapia and cod, and the tilapia is preferable.  The cod is less firm, which I find less satisfying.

You'll need:

butter
Cajun seasoning blend (such as Tony Chachere's)
two tilapia or cod fillets
pico de gallo
avocado
non-stick spray
haricot verts

Yield: two servings


Pre-heat your oven to broil.  Melt two tablespoons of butter in microwave.  Stir in one teaspoon of Cajun seasoning blend.  Coat pan with non-stick spray then put fish fillets in pan.  Spoon the melted butter and seasoning blend over the fish, reserving about one to two teaspoons of the mix.

Place haricot verts in microwave safe dish and cover with water.  Microwave for four minutes.  Drain in colander.

Peel avocado and slice thinly.  Season with salt and pepper.

Broil the fish for about five minutes, adjusting for the thickness of the fillet.  Remove from oven.

Return haricot verts to dish they cooked in.  Top with the remaining butter and Cajun seasonings and stir (or cover and shake to coat).

Add fish to plate, top with avocado slices and spoon pico de gallo over the top liberally.  Add the haricot verts and serve.

I added a fast dessert, too.  While the fish was cooking, I washed a few handfuls of raspberries, blueberries, and a few mint leaves.  I layered the berries in a glass with Lite Cool Whip (I'm still minimizing my dairy consumption, and while not 100% non-dairy, Lite Cool Whip is very close!)  I chiffonaded the mint and added a touch of mint throughout, then garnished the top with two whole leaves and berries.

The final product...less than 20 minutes later!  Easy tilapia fresca--tilapia topped with cajun seasoning, avocado, and pico de gallo.

Allrecipes Recipe Test: Mick's Thai Beef Salad

Recently, I posted about how much I dislike most of the recipes on Allrecipes.com.  The recipes that people there rate five stars baffle me.  It's a culinary wasteland of Velveeta and bland, overcooked food.  This recipe is one in a million on that site...it's actually amazing.  This recipe was absolutely fantastic with only one change to the ingredients and one change to the preparation.

Here's the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Thai-Beef-Salad/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=thai%20beef%20salad&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe&soid=sr_results_p1i1

I followed the recipe exactly, except I omitted the added sugar.  I didn't think it was necessary because the sweet chili sauce gave enough sweetness.  And anywhere you can reduce your refined sugar consumption is healthful.

In the preparation, Mick suggests cooking the steak 4-6 minutes on each side.  My steak was not thick enough to cook it this long and expect a juicy, tender medium-rare result.

You can follow along with Mick's recipe above, or here's how to make it:

You'll need:

2 green onions, chopped
1 lemon grass stalk, chopped
1c fresh cilantro
1c fresh mint (I used slightly less)
1c lime juice
1/3c fish sauce
1T sweet chili sauce (such as Mae Ploy)
Steak (I prepared one large strip steak)
1 head of leaf lettuce (I used petite Romaine), torn to bite sized pieces
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved
Optional: thinly slices of jalapeno or Serrano peppers


Prepare the dressing by combining the green onion, lemongrass, cilantro, mint, lime juice, fish sauce, and chili sauce in a medium bowl.  Not a small bowl--you'll be adding the steak after you cook it.

Season steak with salt and pepper and broil or grill to your desired doneness.  Allow to rest to reabsorb juices, then slice into thin strips against the grain.  Add meat to the dressing and chill for about three hours.

When ready to serve, tear the lettuce and place in bottom of bowl.  Top with cucumber slices, tomato halves, and steak and sauce.  The recipe calls for the tomato to be on top of the steak, but I actually prefer the steak and sauce on top of the tomatoes so the dressing flavors the tomatoes.  Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, and if desired, thin slices of jalapeno or Serrano peppers.  I love peppers, so I added these to give some extra heat.

The recipe did not yield 4-6 servings as Mick suggests.  This made three large entree salads.

This Thai beef salad is such a winner!

This recipe has lots of freshness, sweet heat, and juicy steak.  All winning components for me!  The lemongrass really adds a delightfully aromatic component.

This one will definitely be a favorite, just in time for summer!

Product Review: Daiya Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread

Now that I'm consuming as little dairy as possible, there are certain foods I miss.  A bagel with cream cheese is at the top of the list.  While at the Marsh near Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis, I was considering buying soft tofu, stirring it to break it down, and using it as cream cheese.  Then I noticed the Daiya Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread on the shelf near the vegan cheese.  It was worth a try.

I bought a single everything bagel in case the spread didn't work out, lox, capers, and a tomato.  The next morning, I eagerly awaited my non-dairy breakfast.  The first thing I noticed is that it was satisfyingly creamy and smooth as I spread it over the bagel.  The smell was not like cream cheese though--it smelled like paper.  I know that's hard to explain, but if you've been eating a sandwich wrapped in paper and grabbed a bite, it's kind of like that.  Not bad, just papery.

I assembled my smoked salmon bagel, topped it with two tomato slices, and spooned on some capers.  The presentation looked just like a bagel with ordinary cream cheese.

Lox bagel made with Daiya non-dairy cream cheese.

The taste...I had mixed feelings.  It was way too sweet.  One of the ingredients is agave nectar, and I'm not so sure it needs it.  I disassembled my bagel and sprinkled the spread liberally with salt and pepper.  At that point, it was edible but the underlying sweetness was still noticeable.

The bottom line is that this spread will work on a breakfast bagel where some sweetness will be welcome.  A Panera cinnamon crunch bagel?  That would be great.  A lox bagel or something similarly savory?  Not so much.

It's still in my fridge, but I haven't used it again. 

Home to Remove Silk from Corn...It's Never Been Easier!

Tired of picking silk out of your corn on the cob?  No toothbrush to use the supposed kitchen hack of scrubbing the silk away?  Do it the easy way.

Step 1: Cut the end (without the silk) off the cob.  You'll want to see the cob on the end, not husk.  If you see husk, cut off a little more.

Step 2: Microwave the corn for 2 minutes and 30 seconds on full power.

Step 3: Grasp corn with a towel (it'll be hot!)  Squeeze from the silk end and the corn will slide out.  All of the silk will stick to the inside of the husk!

Your summer just got a lot easier!

Easy Asian-Inspired Lettuce Wraps

With the weather warming, it's a great time to start lightening up your menu selections.  The hotter it is outside, the more I crave fresh dishes that don't weigh heavily on my stomach.  I want to eat dinner then be able to ride my bike or go for a walk.

This recipe is a great way to lighten things up.  It isn't a fussy recipe, either.  You can prep all the ingredients ahead of time so all you have to do is cook them.

You'll need:

3 skinless chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 package of mushrooms
1/3 c. peanuts
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Thai sweet chili sauce (such as Mae Ploy)
1 head of baby Romaine lettuce
2 scallions
optional: thinly sliced jalapeno peppers or cilantro

Yield: four to five servings


To prep ahead of time, use kitchen shears to quickly cut the chicken into small pieces.  To expedite the process, I cut the chicken into long strips, then cut the strips across to make small, chopped pieces.  Dice the red pepper and mushrooms.  Place the peanuts in a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin or heavy serving spoon.  Cut the scallions crosswise on the diagonal into diamond-shaped slices.

Prepped ingredients ready to cook.

Be sure to wash each leaf of baby Romaine lettuce.  My favorite is the Costco baby Romaine.  It is always very fresh and keeps a long time.  Each petite leaf is perfect.  Pat dry.

If everything is washed and chopped ahead of time, you can have this dinner ready in less than 20 minutes.  To prepare the wraps, place a wok or heavy skillet on the stove and heat to medium high.  Wait for the pan to be hot before adding the chicken.  When you add a hot droplet of water to the pan, it should sizzle.  Once pan is hot, spray pan with non-stick spray and add the chicken.  Keep the chicken moving in the pan so it doesn't stick.  Once the chicken is no longer translucent, reduce the heat to medium and add the soy sauce, pepper, and mushrooms.  Cook for two minutes before adding the Thai sweet chili sauce and peanuts. Cook an additional minute and taste to adjust seasonings and moisture level.  For more sauce, add more Thai sweet chili.  If you prefer less crunch to your vegetables (I like mine lively!), cook to desired softness.

If someone in your household isn't a fan of soy sauce or has a reduced sodium diet, mix the soy sauce and sweet chili sauce in a small bowl and reserve.  Serve on the side of the wraps so sauce can be added to individual wraps.

To serve, spoon chicken mixture into a bowl and top with sliced scallions.  Place bowl on a larger plate and arrange lettuce leaves around the bowl.  Be sure to include a spoon for adding the chicken to the lettuce.  I like to make a plate for each person, but you can also make a large serving platter size presentation to share.

If you like more heat, add thinly sliced jalapeno or Serrano peppers before serving.  If you like more herbaceous freshness, include fresh cilantro leaves for garnishing.

The finished Asian-inspired Lettuce Wraps.

How to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs...It's Never Been Easier!

Right before Easter, I saw a post on Huffington Post about how to perfectly peel a hard boiled egg.  The video showed the egg being shaken in a glass of water.

Anytime I see a kitchen hack, I'm skeptical.  So many of them simply don't work.  Is your spaghetti water foaming too much and boiling over?  Don't put a wooden spoon on top of the pot.  It doesn't work.  Do your hands smell of onion after slicing one?  Don't touch them to a stainless sink.  They'll still be smelly.  You get the idea.

I did try this shortcut though because with Easter coming, I knew I'd need to peel eggs for deviling.  I wanted my job to be as easy as possible.  To start, I hard boiled the oldest eggs in my refrigerator.  Fresh eggs are harder to peel.

After the eggs were hard boiled and cooled enough to handle, I put one in a lidded container with about an inch of water.  Sure enough, I shook it vigorously and the shell popped right off in the water.

Peeling hard boiled eggs has never been easier!  Here's my egg popping right out of its shell.

I repeated the process with three eggs in the container.  The shells cracked and came off in one piece when I peeled at them.  They were not floating loosely in the water.  Of all the eggs I peeled using this method, I only found any shell on one egg.  A shard of shell had stuck into the egg white.  If I had not inspected each egg, I would not have noticed but it would've been an unpleasant surprise to whoever ate the deviled egg later.

Bottom line: this technique works!  Don't crowd the eggs in a container.  They need to be able to shift freely.  Inspect the eggs after to make sure no shards stick into the eggs.  Biting into egg shell is the worst.

Food.com Recipe Test: Sliced Baked Potatoes

I keep calling these "Pinterest Potatoes" because I keep seeing them pinned.  They're not difficult to make--just baked potatoes with thin slices about three-quarters of the way through.  But they're so good.

I had a few extra Yukon gold potatoes that I wanted to use up, so I decided to take the Pinterest plunge.  The last time I made something from Pinterest, I hated it.  Cheeseburger Soup is never a good idea.

I Googled a quick sliced baked potato recipe and the top one was written by Karen Anne Newton and posted to Food.com.  I followed it relatively closely--slicing the potatoes, drizzling with butter, and baking at 425 degrees.  Here is Karen's recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/sliced-baked-potatoes-286965

The two differences--before I sliced the potatoes, I sprayed them on all sides with non-stick canola oil spray then sprinkled them with salt and pepper on all sides.  This really gives the skin extra flavor.  Next change: I really like crispy potato skin.  So I broiled for the final 10 minutes.  I also omitted the cheese from my potato (still minimizing the amount of dairy I consume, so the butter was enough!)

Fresh out of the oven, the potatoes had that perfectly crispy skin.

The final product--bacon on both, and sour cream and cheese added to my husband's potato.

Insider tips: 
-Definitely sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper beforehand.  I prefer sprinkling it to rolling the potato so it isn't too salty.

-Use an old pan.  The non-stick spray in the bottom of the pan, as well as the salt-pepper blend that falls off the potato tend to burn and blacken.  I keep a few old pans for tasks like this that I know won't be pretty.

-Don't sweat when you slice the potato and there isn't noticeable space between the cuts.  As the potato bakes, it will open up a little bit.

-And definitely broil the potatoes at the end.

This technique just upgraded the boring baked potato to something fun looking and better tasting!

Restaurant Review: Blaze Pizza

"It's the Chipotle of pizza, right?"  That's what one of my friends asked me when I mentioned I'd been to Blaze over the weekend.  He was absolutely correct.  Blaze is a chain that prides itself on "fast-fire'd custom built artisanal pizzas."  In Indy, it's located near IUPUI and has a blend of hipster-approved Radiohead and Hinds (formerly Deers) playing.  It's loud and looks like a Chipotle or Qdoba, but with pizza.  You walk down the line and select the things you want.

Why Blaze?  I miss pizza.  I'm trying very hard to eat as close to a dairy-free diet as possible.  I Googled vegan pizza and Blaze and WB appeared to be my options in Indy.  WB was about 30 minutes away.  Blaze was a walk, bike ride, or quick car trip away.

We arrived at Blaze at around noon on Saturday and the place was packed.  The wait was short though to move down the line.  They're very efficient.  The first choice is a standard or gluten-free pizza crust.  Next, a choice of pizza sauces--standard red, spicy, or white.  Then the cheese--a variety of really nice options ranging including mozzarella, goat cheese, and vegan cheese (for an upcharge).  I'd love to have gone for the goat cheese.  But I selected the vegan cheese.  I noticed that they've thought this through--as a person who worked at Domino's in high school, I know that the toppings and cheese get mixed in the little wells during a busy shift.  Little bits of cheese are in the pepperoni.  Little bits of green pepper get in the onions.  The vegan cheese was neatly covered with a lid, protected from its animal-ingredient neighbors.  It was a nice touch.  Well done.

After selecting a cheese, the staff either prepares your pie by some of their suggested combinations, such as "Art Lover" with artichokes, ricotta, garlic, and mozzarella cheese or "Simple Pie" (it's just cheeses).  Prices vary based on whether you want a Simple Pie ($5.00), one topping ($5.95), house menu pie ($7.25), or to build your own ($7.25 plus any upcharges).  The upcharges I noticed were gluten-free crust (+$2.00) and vegan cheese (+$1.00).  When they say build your own, they mean it.  There are seven cheese options, six meats, and eighteen veggies (technically seventeen since one is pineapple).  Papa John's gets weird when you start adding seven or more toppings.  They talk you out of it since they say the pizza will be soggy.  No one at Blaze tries to talk you out of indulging.  I was particularly happy when no one batted an eye when I ordered a vegan cheese pizza then promptly added bacon and pepperoni.  Props.  I then added green peppers, green olives, black olives, and mushrooms.

After you select your veggies, they ask if you'd like oregano or sea salt.  I opted for oregano.  If you get the vegan cheese, get salt.  Or both.  The vegan cheese left me wanting just a pinch.

Next up, they pop it in an oven with a big fire inside and shuffle it around.  My husband was a little jealous--my pizza had more charred edges than his pepperoni pizza.  After 180 seconds in the oven, they take it out, chop it into six slices, and top it with arugula, olive oil, BBQ sauce, or pesto if you ask.

Our pizzas in this oven baking for just three minutes.

We sat at a hi-top table with metal stools.  The pizza wasn't bad.  A little thin and greasy for my taste, but I was so happy to have pizza that I was pleased.  My husband's pepperoni needed some blotting with napkins.  After this, and meals in the last year at Pizzology and Napolese, I've decided that I'm over the thin artisan style pizzas.  I want some doughy crust to sink my teeth into at this point instead of all these thin, trendy pizzas with charred edges.

My vegan cheese pizza.  All the toppings were tasty.  The vegan cheese needed a little salt.

Bottom line: great options.  You can get all the pricey stuff--goat cheese, pesto, bacon, arugula--for the low price of $7.25.  You can't leave McDonalds for that price anymore or have something nearly as fresh or with as many fantastic options.  But if you want some crust to hold up all those ingredients, this isn't it.  This is like a Neapolitan style crust, but less puffy.  You can't fold it or hold it with one hand because it's too floppy.

If they had a thicker crust option, I'd be here every day.  Until then, I'll probably be back when I'm too lazy to drive up to WB to try their pizza with vegan cheese.

Restaurant Review: Verdict is still out on China Bistro in Greenwood

Every once and awhile, I leave the I-465 loop in Indianapolis.  Granted, it's not often.  Pretty much everything in my life is inside this circle around the city, so there's no need.  Today, I found myself on a work-related trip to Greenwood.  On my way back towards the city, I decided to try China Bistro.  Right now, the link to their website appears to be broken, but maybe they'll fix it soon.  Why China Bistro?  Recently, I was craving squid.  Not the typical Italian restaurant, fresh from the freezer bag of calamari rings.  The kind of calamari that is chewy, grilled or fried, and where you actually taste the squid.  I'm particularly fond of Asian preparations.  I searched Google for it, and found just a handful of restaurants with it.  China Bistro was one of them.

I drove past China Bistro at first, looking for a stand alone restaurant or something in a nice, mixed use space.  Instead, it's smack upside Walmart in a really generic strip mall.  It's kind of sad since inside, you find something much nicer than "Walmart" and "strip mall."

The China Bistro space is expansive.  There's a huge chandelier in the entry.  The main dining room has many booths and tables and decorative vases on shelves with lights.  The space is relaxing and comfortable.  It was much more than I expected from strip mall Chinese.  One Yelp reviewer named Joseph nailed it when he wrote that China Bistro "is much too nice of establishment to be located where it sits."  My favorite spot in SoBro to grab a Chinese lunch, Bamboo House, is the kind of place where you'd rather eat in the car.  The dining room is dirty and usually stacked with boxes.  The restrooms are downright scary.  It's definitely a take out kind of place.  But the food makes it all worth it.  China Bistro puts that interior to shame.

Entry at China Bistro.  You weren't expecting this in a strip mall by Walmart, were you?

But anyway.  The China Bistro menu is expansive and varied, with Thai entrees like Tom Yum soup and Japanese fare like seaweed salad.  I ordered tea, seaweed salad, and the salt and pepper calamari.  The server came by after I was seated, and without asking for a drink order or any pleasantries, just looked at me and said "you know what you want?"  So perhaps they sacrifice some of the chit chat for efficiency.

The tea was loose leaf tea in a large pot.  The seaweed salad was a generous portion, fresh, glistening with sesame oil, and icy cold.  All as expected.  Served quickly.

Seaweed salad and tea.

The salt and pepper calamari didn't hit the spot I needed today though.  The little nuggets, with the occasional piece of tentacle chopped up and mixed in, were soggy and heavy.  Also dark, like perhaps it was time to change the frying oil.  While not as light and crispy as a great preparation, it tasted authentic.  It wasn't anything that came from a bag in the freezer.  So I do give credit where credit is due for that.  And it was on a pretty paper doily.  Usually I expect a lighter coating, with visible black pepper.  There was no discernible pepper.  And no photo of it on my phone when I got home.  Oops.

Recently, I gave Formosa Buffet a shot on the northside.  While the food wasn't anything amazing, their salt and pepper calamari was spot on.  It was light and crispy, with the visible pepper.

And an on point fortune.

The total for my one-person lunch of tea, seaweed salad, and appetizer portion of salt and pepper calamari was $14.05 before a sufficient tip exceeding 15 percent (but not overly generous given the shortness.)

The bottom line: gorgeous spot to eat Chinese.  But curt service and soggy calamari left me wanting more on this visit.  I'd give it a second chance though, just not for the calamari.  It's not often I eat Chinese in a spot so aesthetically appealing.  This is a Chinese place you could take a date.  There aren't a lot of those in Indy.  Verdict is still out on the food though.

Cooking Light recipe test: Pork Chops with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables and Gorgonzola

I'll save you the suspense: this recipe is definitely a keeper.

I love pork chop recipes, but after the Chef John Smothered Pork Chops, I was a little gun shy.  I have my own way of making pork chops learned while working at Gourmet Grazing for a summer in Prospect, Kentucky.  They're impossible to beat.  Interestingly enough, the Chef John chops were just named the top pork chop recipe by Allrecipies.  For this reason, I feel compelled to unsubscribe from Allrecipes.com emails.  Allrecipes is for people with really basic palates and poor cooking skills.  Their top recipes are basic recipes that lack interesting ingredients, a deft hand, and artistic presentation.  I picture them as nursing home food.  I'm routinely disappointed by the recipes I find there.

Anyway, so I saw this recipe on Cooking Light.  After a lot of winter hibernation, I could use some lightening up.  It didn't disappoint.  The veggies came out delightfully sweet in that balsamic way with just a little of the tasty char from modification of the cooking instructions.  The Gorgonzola was the perfect amount of tangy creaminess.

Here's the original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-chops-balsamic-roasted-vegetables

I followed the original recipe for all the ingredients and quantities.  To marinate the veggies, after all the slicing I put them in plasticware, drizzled with the balsamic mixture, then shook the container vigorously.  The veggies were evenly coated quickly and efficiently.  Then I left them in the fridge for a few hours this way to let the flavors meld.

Place veggies in plasticware.  Drizzle with balsamic mixture.

Now seal.  Check for a tight seal twice.  Then shake vigorously.  You'll end up with evenly coated veggies like this.

Potatoes browned, veggies in.  I recommend hitting broil instead of baking at 425.  After about 10 minutes, the veggies had perfectly charred edges.  I think those are the key to tasty roasted veggies.

After the 10 minutes on broil, I added the pork chops and left the oven at broil.  This gave the pork chops some nice charred edges, too.  I watched the chops and removed them once the golden broiling marks appeared.

The final product was a hit at my house.  I went light on the Gorgonzola for my portion since I try to minimize the dairy I consume.  You can sprinkle more generously like my husband's portion if you crave cheesy creaminess.

Pork Chops with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables and Gorgonzola

Bottom line: make this recipe as soon as possible.  You won't regret it.

Insider tip: broil to yield more crispy edge, charred veggies.  That's the good stuff.

Allrecipes Recipe Test: Andy's Spicy Green Chile Pork

Everyone loves tacos.  What everyone doesn't love is working a full day, working out, then trying to cook a perfect dinner at 9:00 p.m.  Enter tacos from your Crockpot.  When my Allrecipes daily email included Andy's Spicy Green Chile Pork, touted as a quick and easy way to make tasty pork tacos, I knew I had to try this one out.

Here's the original recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/andys-spicy-green-chile-pork/

While at Walmart, I picked up the simple ingredient list: pork shoulder roast, tortillas, green salsa, two serrano peppers, cilantro, and an onion.  The recipe called for a white onion, but I used a red onion.  I like red onions better.  I also picked up some cumin since I was out, even though it wasn't on the ingredient list, and some pico de gallo to top the tacos before serving.  Some of the comments to the recipe suggested adding some cumin.  The total cost was just under $12.00.  Thankfully it was inexpensive because (spoiler alert) it wasn't good.

How easy is this?  You probably have garlic salt and pepper, so you'll just need five ingredients, then your choice of how to serve--tortillas, rice, or something else--and toppings if you choose to serve as tacos.

The recipe was insanely easy:

1) Line Crockpot (I added this step).  Makes for easier clean up.

2) Chop the onion.  I also chopped the serrano pepper into thin rounds but removed the seeds.  Per the recipe, it may have called for the peppers to be dropped in whole to infuse.  I couldn't tell.  I like it hot though, so I thinly sliced both peppers.

3) Remove cilantro leaves from the stems.  I find the stems really unappealing.  See this blog entry.

4) At this point, I put the onion, serrano peppers, and cilantro in a tupperware and stored in the refrigerator overnight so I could literally dump everything in the Crockpot in the morning.

Ingredients all chopped and ready to go in the refrigerator.

5) In the morning, I poured the onion-pepper-cilantro mix into my lined Crockpot.  Then I added the pork shoulder roast (I left the strings holding it together on to hold in moisture as it cooks), seasoned with garlic salt and cracked black pepper on both sides.

Line the bottom of the Crockpot with the veggies.

Place the shoulder roast on top.  Season with garlic salt and black pepper.  Flip and season the other side.

6) Last, I added the can of green salsa and dusted the whole thing with cumin.

I purchased the smallest jar of green salsa.  If you're going to use the sauce, or want lots of salsa verde flavor, consider using a larger container.

7) I set the timer on the Crockpot for 8.5 hours and let it cook on the low heat setting.

When I came home from work, I could smell subtle flavors of pork cooking but nothing too spicy.  I opened the Crockpot and cut away the butcher twine.  I also regretted leaving it on since some of the salsa and spices stuck to it.  The pork instantly melted.  When I went to separate it with forks, it pretty much disintegrated.  At first, I thought it was the most tender pork I'd ever seen.  Then I reconsidered...it was too soft!  Even with the two serranos chopped up in the mix, it was not spicy.  Just minimum hints of the salsa verde.

Cutting the butcher's twine off the roast.

Finished product in the Crockpot.  A lot of soft, mush pork.

I warmed the tortillas, chopped a third serrano pepper into thin rings, plucked more cilantro from its stems, and assembled the tacos.  Mine were tortilla, pork, cilantro, and pico de gallo.  Greg's included tortilla, pork, cilantro, cheese, pico, and sour cream.

It almost looks pretty dressed up with the pico, serrano peppers, and cilantro.

I tried to be open minded, but it just wasn't good.  The pork might as well have been ground pork because it was so mushy.  Or old person food.  Or cat food.  The flavor was fine--subtle pork with a little zip from the pico and serrano peppers.  Without the pico or peppers, I wouldn't have been able to eat it.

It's gross--absolute mush!  Kind of the texture of canned tuna.

It was slightly more tolerable without the tortilla--just a few bites of meat on a plate with pico, cilantro, and serrano peppers.

A little better without the tortilla.  But still mushy.

Admittedly, I'm confused.  The Allrecipes reviews are almost completely good.  Either everyone likes mushy food or something went wrong with this.  I'd consider making it again, but roasting it to try to get some firm edges and soft pork in the middle.  The flavor was pleasant enough--subtle--but nothing to warrant all the four and five star reviews.  That or I've developed a really discerning palate!

Insider tip: don't make this.  Or make it in the oven so you can keep an eye on it after browning the outside and getting some really roasted edges.  Or make it if you lost your dentures.

Cooking Light Recipe Test: Nor-Cal Veggie Sandwich with Hazelnut Butter

Here's another food I saw on Instagram and instantly wanted.  It's a vegetarian sandwich.  While I'm not vegetarian, I appreciate a meatless meal.  I usually feel less weighed down and in need of a nap without the meat.

How amazingly fresh does this look?  I was suckered in by the pretty picture.

As it turns out, this should be called the $30.00 PITA sandwich.  Whether it was worth it is certainly debatable for me.  The ingredients sent me on a scavenger hunt around Indianapolis.  The sandwich was a considerable amount of work and it was very expensive to make.  I may be a foodie at heart, but by the time I finished all this, I think I just wanted a meatball sandwich from Subway.

Nevertheless, here's the original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/nor-cal-veggie-sandwich

And here's the journey it took to get to the finished sandwich.

It all started with finding hazelnut butter.  While I was in the grocery section at Target, I checked just in case.  They had almond and peanut butter, but no hazelnut butter.  I wasn't surprised though, so I called Fresh Market (no, and was hung up on in the process) and Whole Foods (also no).  I could order it on Amazon for about $14.00, but then I'd have to pay that much and wait for it to be shipped.  I decided to follow the instructions in the recipe to make my own.

The next time I was at Marsh, I tried to buy hazelnuts.  They didn't have them.  So off to Fresh Market.  I purchased .7 lbs of pre-packed hazelnuts and artichokes for about $14.00.  But Fresh Market didn't have sprouts.  So off to Whole Foods for the rest of the ingredients--another $15.00.  And a fun adventure through pillaged aisles since there was snow coming that night.

Evidently the first thing they run out of at Whole Foods before a blizzard isn't milk, bread, or eggs...it's bagged salad!

I also ended up swapping sweet pea shoots for the radish sprouts since my husband isn't a big fan of sprouts--he thinks they feel like hair in his food.  The stems are slightly wider than radish sprouts.

Four stores later, I had the ingredients (finally), it was time to begin.  A little online reading turned up a useful nugget of info: if you're not used to natural nut butters, leaving the skins on hazelnuts can make the final butter too bitter for your palate.  And toasting the hazelnuts imparts a nice flavor.  With that info, I started to peel the hazelnuts.  It was impossible.  The skins refused to move.  More online reading turned up this tip: boil the hazelnuts for a few minutes with a few tablespoons of baking soda.  This worked well.  The skins released easily afterwards.

If you use the boiling water with baking soda method to remove your hazelnut skins, don't be concerned when the water, your pot, and your utensils turn black.  It left ashy residue on everything.  Here are some of my hazelnuts taking a bath in boiling baking soda water so I could peel them.

After peeling the hazelnuts, I toasted them for about 15 minutes at 350.  They had a nice golden color.

After they cooled, I added them to my blender and proceeded.  The final product using a blender was not as smooth of a butter as I prefer.  It wasn't a terrible texture, but it wasn't creamy.  It definitely tasted more "natural."  The flavor itself was fine.  If I do this again, I'll use less mayo,  I'll either use a tiny bit, or perhaps just a drizzle of oil.  I noticed the mayo too much for my taste.  Definitely don't forget to salt the butter.  I tasted before and after, and liked it much better after some salt.

The final product using .7 lbs. of hazelnuts was a softball-sized glob of hazelnut butter.

I let the hazelnut butter sit overnight--at that point I'd done enough work!  I also used the artichokes for double duty--made Moroccan chicken with charmoula that night and served the artichoke as the vegetable.  My husband had never eaten artichoke petals before, so it was an adventure for him.  I kept the hearts for the next day.

Double duty artichokes: dinner the night before included the petals.

The next day was sandwich day.  I began by pan frying slices of the artichoke hearts in the olive oil as instructed.  I ate one slice and really liked it--I never realized how yummy artichoke hearts become with some crispy, golden brown edges!  Then I assembled the sandwiches--the hazelnut butter, golden artichoke heart, dressed arugula, avocado, and pea shoots subbed for the sprouts--on Silver Farms Squirrelly sprouted bread.  I served with a side of veggie chips since sandwiches and chips just go together.

My sandwich, served with veggie chips.

Close up of the side of the sandwich.

The final product was alright.  I would've liked this sandwich a lot more open faced.  The delicate veggies got a little lost with that much bread.  I figured this out halfway in.  Beyond this too much bread issue, the sandwich was nutty and fresh but nothing special.  I think I probably enjoy a sandwich or wrap with cucumbers, sprouts, some bell peppers, olives, and some pesto or chipotle mayo more because there's more crunch and moisture.  I'm glad I tried this...and now I have leftover hazelnut butter for breakfast, sprouted bread for toast, arugula for salad, and pea shoots for something yet to be determined.  But overall, it was a lot of work for a sandwich that was just okay.

If I make it again and do some modifications, I'll update this review.  But for now, I think my next sandwich will be something more straightforward.

Insider tip: buy the hazelnut butter.  And call your grocery to make sure it has all the ingredients, or you'll be on a grocery scavenger hunt for awhile.

Fountain Square Area Donut Throwdown: Rocket 88 Doughnuts versus General American Donuts

If you recall, last July I went to the first day General American Donuts opened.  I wasn't exactly thrilled.  I waited in line over 25 minutes, didn't get a donut (but did get a parking ticket), and felt lukewarm about the place.  Yet I keep going back.  I've found what I like there--the coconut donut is fantastic (crack-level addictive quality!) and the lattes aren't bad; and what I don't--I've gotten two under cooked donuts now.  Even with my mixed feelings, I find myself craving the coconut or the hippie donut (chai tea-flavored with granola on top).  And the people are genuinely nice--they offered me a dozen free donuts as an apology for the donut that was runny inside.  I went back and changed my urbanspoon from "doesn't like" to "likes" because General American Donuts has steadily grown on me, and I like having them in the neighborhood.

Coconut donut from General American Donut Co.  This is my kryptonite.

Recently, when Rocket 88 Doughnuts opened, I was ready to try something new.  For months, I'd been aware of their Kickstarter campaign that raised over $10,000, and there was a steady buzz about them coming to Fountain Square.  I was excited and ready.  I walked up with my husband one Saturday shortly after they opened.  There was a short line--we were served in less than 10 minutes.  The place has much more furniture than General American and magazines, and is somewhere I'd actually want to hang out for awhile.  General American's furniture is more sparse, and in the summer, it's really hot inside.  There's a big fan inside General American to try to cool things down, but it generates gale-force winds.  I usually grab my donuts and go because it's not very comfy.  And my house is close enough that I can walk or drive in a flash.

Donuts in rows at Rocket 88 Doughnuts.

Plenty of places to sit inside the cozy Rocket 88 Doughnuts.

We picked four donuts and an order of lemon ricotta fritters, and walked home to dig in.

The standout was the vanilla chai donut ($1.50).  It was sweet and pleasant in both its scent and taste.  This was the only donut I'd want to eat again.  It's also the only donut we finished.

The lemon ricotta fritters (2 for $1.00) were okay, if you're expecting really moist.  They seemed wet to me.  I have an aversion to soggy food, so it was a miss.  My husband was pretty ambivalent--he didn't really like, but he didn't dislike.

Lemon ricotta fritters from Rocket 88 Doughtnuts.

The Old Fashioned ($1.50) was pretty standard--slightly crumbly vanilla donut.

The Maple Pecan ($2.50) had that bourbon-scent to the icing that's enticing.  But the donut itself was dense and not memorable.

The Orange Sprinkled ($1.50) was the biggest disappointment.  I love orange anything, so I was really excited.  It smelled nice and orangey, but the outside skin was tough.  It was not a tender donut.  And compared to General American, I felt like I had been cheated on sprinkles.  General American coats their donut in sprinkles.  This donut looked sprinkle-anemic by comparison.

 

Left: General American sprinkle donut (from http://bigcity.littleindiana.com/food-trucks-of-indianapolis-general-american-donut-co/); Right: Rocket 88 orange sprinkle donut.

My soy latte was very nice--the espresso was smoother than the espresso at General American.

Bottom line: I'll probably go back since I'm all for second chances and the coffee is good.  It makes me happy to support local business, and most new places need to get the kinks out early on.  General American is a prime example of this--I think they've worked out many of the issues I saw in the beginning.  But I hope Rocket 88 makes the donut skin more tender, the inside lighter, and don't skimp on the fun part of the donuts--the frosting and toppings.  The clear winner of this throwdown is General American Donut Co.  While the donuts are about $1.00 more each at General American, the flavors are more creative and they never skimp on the quality ingredients that make their donuts special.  

Our sad box of butchered donuts from Rocket 88.  The only memorable one was the vanilla chai.