Hot Temps Mean Refreshing Dinners

Posted on July 16, 2013 by melsmosaic

Washington, DC (All Summer) — It’s mid-July, I’m in the DC-area. What does that mean? HOT temps. And, it’s only going to get worse. This Thursday is going to be high 90s without factoring in the humidity. So, easy-to-make, refreshing dinners are the best way to go.

My brother told me about an Alton Brown Grilled Mahi Ceviche recipe that was top-notch, and it sounded great. Since it’s grilled you don’t have to remember to throw the fish in the lemon and/or lime juice many, many hours ahead of time. Just two and then you throw it on the grill. Decided to pair that with some easy oil-based coleslaw, chips, salsa and guacamole.

For the Mahi, you just put some basic ingredients together and let them sit for a couple hours. I bought the Mahi chunks from Trader Joe’s because they were half the price of the steaks!

After a couple hours, pat the fish dry and throw it on the grill.

You keep the ‘marinade’ from the fish, heat in on the stove, and eventually use it again on the fish.

For the ‘slaw, I grabbed a great bag of broccoli slaw mix from Trader Joe’s — super easy! No cutting or chopping required for the base. I did chop some cilantro and garlic and for the dressing, just did a quick vinaigrette of:

-lemon juice

-lime juice

-cumin

-coriander

-olive oil

-hint of chili powder

-S&P

Next step was prepping the pre-made guacamole (because the avocado would have required electrical equipment to mash). I always add some spice to the packaged stuff:

Now, it’s dinner time!!!! Mahi, coleslaw, tortilla chips, salsa, guac, red wine. All to wrap up a great weekend.

As I enjoyed this dinner, I kept thinking the guac was off. Well, I was house sitting and used what appeared to be salt for the guac. Yes, I was right when it tasted sweet the first time and added some more of the fine crystals. It finally occurred to me to taste the stuff. Oh, I was adding sugar not salt. Note: Sweet guacamole IS NOT good.

Chocolat et moutarde

Posted on June 30, 2013 by melsmosaic

I’m in this French kick for some reason. I spoke the language all through elementary school and it has correlated to my posts, so it’s not totally out of left field.

Anyway, a couple friends were recently in Paris and brought me back some treats from the well-known city in France. They know me quite well and are fully aware of my lactose intolerance. They did some good, deep digging over there to find some non-dairy-containing chocolate (considering the dairy loving area), along with some mustard. The latter was not one I would expect.

The chocolate was super dark and had sesame seeds. Wow — what a finishing taste. For the mustard(s) — I received a pack of four Dijons, all with different flavors. Talk about potency (in a good way)! Absolutely amazing. It’s great when people you know go away and bring edible souvenirs.

Kale Mary!

Posted on June 26, 2013 by melsmosaic

Summer is here, temps are high, so cooking extreme meals isn’t really the most appealing thing to do. I love kale chips but right now don’t feel like turning on the oven so was looking for something else to do with that health-benefit-bearing kale. Though I don’t really enjoy it raw when it’s in large pieces, I learned a couple years ago to take it to the food processor!

Was trying to clear out some stuff from my kitchen and came up with the following combo based on my mood:

-kale
-frozen mangoes (chunks — love the ones from Trader Joe’s)
-peanuts
-basic seasoning of garlic, onion powder, lemon juice, S&P, olive oil

So, I just put the kale (stems removed) in the food processor bit by bit to get it to the texture I like. Then I threw the frozen mango chunk in there and just pulsed a couple times and it got them into smaller, yet still good size pieces. Threw the spices in and perfect. Removed it from the food processor and stirred the peanuts in. Then tossed in some canned tuna. So good, very filling and healthy.

What’s great about this quick recipe is that there are so many options. You just need the base of kale and can change the rest around:

-Any fruit, fresh or dried (have used apricots and cherries before)
-Any nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc)
-So many spices!
-So many meats, if you even want them. How about a nice grilled chicken breast or seared tuna steak to serve on the side?

Voulez-vous dîner avec moi ce soir?

Posted on June 23, 2013 by melsmosaic

Etes-vous intéressé? Il y a un nouveau restaurant français à DC.

And now to English we go. Was getting together with some long-lost friends the other day and they did the searching for where to meet. There was rumor of a new French place that just opened its doors a few months back in the 14th street/Logan Circle area of DC so we wanted to check it out. The name, Le Diplomate.

Tough to get reservations so we took the risk of walking in and got there early enough to not have to wait too long. Two of us got there before the other tw0 and grabbed a drink at the bar. My friend had a glass of wine and I had a house cocktail that can be served either straight up or on the rocks. The Romarin – Absolut, St. Germain, rosemary, and grapefruit. Very nice and refreshing!

Once we were seated, there were many options on the menu, traditional for French fare. I will say, while looking it over, I had a great time talking to the waiter in French. When I can, I’ll do it. Have to practice. While looking over the menu, they bring you AMAZING bread. Baguette, wheat, cranberry-walnut stuff…waiter…another basket. Dang, so so so good! Two of my friends opted for raw oysters for appetizers and another for some (french) fries. I waited for the main course.

Main course-wise, two at the table went for Steak Frites, another went for Lamb Shanks. For me, because so much french food has dairy, not having had it for so long, and the lack of ingredients in it, had to go for Steak Tartare. Also ordered some grilled asparagus.

Overall recap of the evening. Great place, highly recommend trying it. I would also recommend aiming for a reservation or getting there early. It was packed 20 minutes after we arrived (6:15pm). Also give yourself tons of time. It took us 15 minutes to get a bottle of wine and water. Raw oysters took 30 minutes. Raw… Main courses took awhile too. We were so busy talking we didn’t really notice. On the wine note, we had the Kim Crawford Pinot Noir. We opted for a well priced option.

But, after dinner we were meeting some others and went across the street. That’s where we found some wine I’d never tried or heard of. It’s the Prima from Spain. Check out their site — I can’t decide the exact name of the bottler/vintner because the names change a bit on the site so I don’t want to say the wrong one. I just know this is where to visit — bodegasanroman.com.

Japan #3: Korean BBQ

Posted on June 13, 2013 by melsmosaic

As we progressed through Japan we had to expand our cuisine beyond just local fare. One night we opted to go for Korean BBQ. My uncle asked his colleagues for recommendations and they gave him ‘the best place to go.’ So, off we went. It was of course one of those hard-to-find, hole-in-wall restaurants – perfect!

So at the Korean BBQ, you have a grill in front of you, order raw food and grill to your liking. So much fun. We ordered basic food that we were used to — chicken, shrimp, pork, veggies, versus some options on the menu that we were either unfamiliar with or had heard of but didn’t want to take the risk of eating, especially on vacation.

The marinade and seasoning on the meat were delicious and the mushrooms were just – WOW! It was a meal that you take slowly and you can just kick back and relax.

From Cake to Castle

Posted on May 7, 2013 by melsmosaic

Weekend=great wine. I met once again with my great friends who last time hosted the epitome of wine tasting. This time it was at my place so I had to work my wine rack magic to attempt to match what they offered.

Though none of us seek out whites, sometimes you just have to go off the beaten path. To attempt to match reds, I opted for the well-known name of Cakebread and the nice varietal of Sauvignon Blanc. A refreshing way to start the evening.

After the white, we moved onto the more important stuff (RED!) with Chateau St. Jean. The most important thing to remember is not to get fancy with the name. Yes, the first one is french for castle. But, for the last word, think of denim, don’t go french, make it simple! The red we enjoyed first was the 2010 Pinot Noir…nice and smooth!

I was initially going to serve another Pinot Noir but opted instead to stick with Chateau St. Jean and one of their blends. It’s Cinq Cepages. It brings together five of their varietals for an amazing taste. Can’t do it justice in writing!

And to pair with the wine, cheese it always nice. The other day at Trader Joe’s I found a lactose intolerant’s dream — a package of 3 cheeses that we can eat — the Tapas Sampler! Non-cow milk delights. One of them did have a part of cow milk (with two others — so it had to be minimal), and at least for me, I didn’t have a problem.

So, come the end of the night, had another great time of friends, wine and food.

Manchego Madness!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was debating what to do for dinner last night and had a craving for the one cheese I can eat — Manchego! Then, what to do with it? My creativity got going on my way to the store, yes Trader Joe’s, I came up with two ideas:

-Manchego Nachos, aka Manche-chos

-Manchego Popcorn

When discussing these options with the as-eager-food-lovers at TJ’s, all of decided both had to be tested.

For the ‘chos, I wanted to start out simple – nothing but cheese! I used the blue corn tortilla chips as they nicely contrast the color of the Manchego and used the microplane grater/zester to finely grate the cheese to adorn the chips with the lactose-free treasure. Since I was making a small bit, I just threw the chips in the toaster oven — perfect for small bits of nachos!

For the popcorn, I used my microwave popper and when done, tossed the popcorn with more finely grated cheese, S&P.

To complement these, I served them with some prosciutto and grape tomatoes.

Ok, a picture doesn’t do it that much justice. They were pretty good. The cheese doesn’t look as pretty as expected, but it was a unique taste. The prosciutto would taste very nice under the melted cheese!!

For the popcorn, the cheese melted just a bit and it was a nice addition.

I would give this 7.5 out of 10 stars, especially for a first try. With 2.5 to go until perfection, that definitely means more testing is in order! Darn.

From Green Peas to Red Wine

Posted on May 2, 2013 by melsmosaic

I am the type of kitchen person who does not like to waste anything/throw it away. I won’t keep and keep, then keep and keep things forever in an attempt to use them, past their pull dates or until they’ve grown various levels of fuzz, etc. just to attempt to use them — that would qualify me for Hoarders (SO not going there) — but aim to make the most of my money.

So, from Supper Club on Sunday, I had leftover fresh mint. As I’m typing this, I realize I could have saved cooking and just made Mojitos, darn…next time. Anyway, one of my favorite quick, and beyond simple, recipes that I found years ago to use mint in is Mint Bruschetta. What do you need?

-Food Processor
-Frozen Peas (thawed — I defrost them quickly in the microwave)
-Fresh Mint leaves
-A bit of olive oil — maybe 1-3 tsp
-Sometimes, to taste, I add garlic and lemon juice

Just throw all of it in the food processor and blend to desired consistency. Season to taste. How much easier could it get???

End result? Green mush, right? But GOOD green mush.

Then, after making this delicious mush, had to enjoy some wine. Went to my wine rack and found a bottle. I saw my scribble of $8 on the back of the bottle. That works. OH MY GOD, what am I drinking? Smokey, deep, heavenly bliss. Do peas merit this, does this merit peas? Well, the only thing that matters is that I deserve both. What am I enjoying? Calina Carménère. For only eight bucks, AMAZING. Check it out!

Testing…7,8,9…Fail

Posted on April 21, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was at a horse race yesterday that required tailgating which means bringing/cooking great food. I wanted to make something creative, so during the week starting thinking about some new dish I could make. Out of nowhere I thought of combining these ingredients:

-cauliflower
-prosciutto
-caraway seeds
-shallots
-garlic

I opted to blanch the cauliflower then toast the caraway seeds. Next step was making a mouth-watering aroma spread around my apartment by sauteing the shallots and garlic. After that I added the caraway seeds and the prosciutto that I’d cut into 1/2″ pieces to the pan. Sauteed everything for a few minutes then added the cauliflower and some S&P.

End result, hmmm, not what I was hoping for or expecting. It wasn’t bad, but absolutely nothing to write home about. After tasting and tasting it more, I kept trying to figure out what I was truly hoping for.

I still took it to the tailgate and nobody complained about it, but did not rave about it. And there was more than enough left. There was a large amount of other better stuff to eat (that I also leaned towards).

I was hoping it would taste better today. Not so much. I’m just picking the prosciutto out and enjoying that. If anybody has suggestions, would love them. But, I think this was just a good attempt and trial and error.

Masters of Golf = Mistress of the Kitchen

Posted on April 15, 2013 by melsmosaic

What a game, what a game! Overall the Masters was phenomenal once again, but those last few holes were absolutely amazing. Both Scott and Cabrera deserved the Green Jacket but in the end only one can wear it. Congrats to the first Australian to win the Masters.

Backing up a bit, one must have good food to watch such a game. So yesterday, I prepared (and bought) a nice mix of treats to stay entertained for several hours while enjoying the amazing golfers. Last week, Whole Foods’ Friday special was halibut, so I found a Halibut Ceviche/Ceviche Verde recipe. Unreal! From the fish to avocados, tomatillos and green olives (do we sense the greens here…equating to the jacket…), it was delicious. I highly recommend it!

With this, we nibbled on some great BBQ chicken from Rockland’s, chips, salsa, veggies, crackers, peanuts and dark chocolate covered pretzel slims. The wine for the evening was Ferrari-Carrano’s Viognier from Sonoma (oh, had some New Belgium Dig while prepping). A nice pairing to everything and a great evening all around.