The Ides of March/Shrimp & Radicchio Salad

Posted on April 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

I have been part of a Supper Club for over a decade and we have slowed down the past couple years. But, we are coming back to life! So last month we were able to catch up with a very fun theme – the Ides of March. How did this come about? Somebody RSVP’d on this day, so why not make that the theme, even though the event didn’t take place on that day. So, anything you brought had to have an ‘I’ in it – black bean dip, skirt steak, pizza. You get the drift.

It was funny, because I thought awhile on this, because so many things I was thinking about didn’t have the letter ‘I’ in them. I was out running on the Sunday morning of the dinner with a friend who cooks a lot and we were talking about this and I was bouncing ideas off of her. I’m making this sound like I’m making a major life decision! She told me come the end of this 12 mile run – ok, worst case scenario, it’s ‘Mel’s Recipe’. Thanks, score!

Well, I ended finding a great one – Shrimp and Radicchio Salad. I think I was pretty covered there. It was so simple. I also happened to have all the ingredients already, too, except for the radicchio. I had both raw and precooked shrimp and I opted for the precooked, which made it so much easier. Made it a no-cook meal. The tang in the dressing/marinade was awesome. And that’s what was great. You just marinade the shrimp and then toss them all together with the salad.

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1⁄2 lb small shrimp, cooked and drained
1 head leaves lettuce, shredded (used a big of mixed greens)
1 head radicchio, shredded
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Directions

Combine first five ingredients (olive oil – mustard) in a bowl. Stir in shrimp ***I just put all those ingredients in a ziploc and then added the shrimp. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. In a large salad bowl combine lettuce and radicchio, pour shrimp and dressing on top. Toss add tomatoes and toss again.

Also, at the dinner, we had pizza, dips (both appetizers and desserts) and quinoa. And of course some wine.

Smokin’ It

Posted on April 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

I love seafood, I love smoked seafood. So on my weekly or bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s I of course swung by the demo station. Had a bite of what they were serving (I think it was a egg salad). And at the station, they had a stack of Smoked Trout. While I have had their (and others’) vacuum packed/sealed stuff, this one was canned. Think of a sardine can, with a pull-top lid. It’s farm raised (not my favorite), skinless and in canola oil.

So I grabbed some and used it on a salad. Simple arugula, tomatoes, kalamatas, hearts of palm and baby Brussels sprouts. Just delicious blend of flavors. So as long as you’re not totally against the farm-raised, this is great stuff to have on hand. Stack it in the cupboard with the tuna and the other stuff and you’re good to go.

Getting Nuttier

Posted on April 5, 2017 by melsmosaic

Pretty much my favorite place to do grocery shopping is Trader Joe’s. Well, that is because there isn’t a Wegmans close by (DC residents, have you heard the latest rumor about the Fannie Mae building on Wisconsin Ave and them looking at the space??).

Anyway, there is of course point-of-purchase stuff at TJ’s and one I opted to grab recently was their Mixed Nut Butter. It’s a blend of Dry Roasted & Salted Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts, Hazelnuts & Pecans. Sounds great. I’m just not a huge fan of the Brazil nuts, but I’ll eat them. It doesn’t say smooth anywhere, which is cool, too.

The flavor was ok, but it was almost too many flavors fighting with each other. When you buy mixed nuts you can taste each one on its own. I also love chunky nut butter and it was a bit too smooth, for me. Not much salt in it, though salt was an ingredient. Not something I’ll buy again, but glad I tried it. Price was $5.99, I think. Not cheap, especially for the size. Totally worth the test.

Beer, basil & bread

Posted on March 13, 2017 by melsmosaic

Beer, basil & bread…sounds like some kind of heaven to me.

So when I was making a dinner menu for the other night I decided that I really wanted to bake some bread to pair with the pork tenderloin I was craving. A recipe I had used a long time ago popped into my mind and then it was a matter of finding it…Basil Beer Bread. It’s from an issue of Real Simple in 2006! What’s great about this recipe is that you don’t have to think too far ahead because the stuff doesn’t have to rise.

Ingredients

Olive oil for the baking sheet
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan — I used Manchego
1 12-ounce bottle beer, preferably ale — ok, total side note, somebody brought non alcoholic beer to a party at my place once. It’s been sitting around for awhile. Finally got to get rid of some of it here!
flour for the work surface
1 cup chopped or torn fresh basil

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Oil a baking sheet. In the bowl of a standing mixer on low, or in a large bowl using a spoon, combine the flour, yeast, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.

Add the beer and mix just until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with the basil and knead gently just until incorporated. Shape the dough into a round loaf and transfer to the prepared sheet.
Bake until the loaf is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Turn the loaf onto a wire rack. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

The loaf is heavy! Definitely not light and fluffy but totally delicious! Paired perfectly with the tenderloin and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Cheapskate Roasting?

Posted on March 12, 2017 by melsmosaic

So I really wanted a roasted bell pepper recently. And ok, I don’t have a gas stove (grrr) and I didn’t feel like throwing the pepper in the oven for awhile. So I decided to have fun in the kitchen. I love to cook, so why not play more. The pictures explain it all. I had every single fan on in my kitchen and brought in two others and had them on at top speed. Also had several windows open. I did not want the fire alarm to go off or any neighbors to wonder. In the end, the pepper was perfect!

Avocado Tool

Posted on January 27, 2017 by melsmosaic

There are way too many kitchen tools out there, some of which you never use. But, sometimes you do find some that are great. Got this avocado one in my stocking a couple years back that I love. There are 3 sets of ‘teeth’ to help with cutting — long, a bit wide on the bottom, then small at the top.

You can use the small one to puncture the skin and start cutting the avocado in half. Then you can use the long side to continue the cutting process.

I will then usually slice the avocado crossways (both ways to make cubes) while it’s in the skin. I’ll make this happen with both the small end with the 3 teeth, then go onto the long side (I seriously just have fun with this thing — sometimes I’ll use the wide bottom). I’ll chop with the wide bottom if I don’t want a clean cut.

Then you can use the wide bottom to scoop the avocado/good stuff from the skin to start making guac. Or, to remove it for whatever other purpose you have for the avocado.

The tool then works well to mix the avocado if you’re making guac — as a spoon or masher-like thing.

(yes, the teeth are facing away from what I was cutting, but it was all for photographic effects)

Mark’s Kitchen

Posted on January 27, 2017 by melsmosaic

A new (to me), local place I visited recently is Mark’s Kitchen in Takoma Park, MD (right near the Metro). They are a great neighborhood place with a menu that contains every type of food you could want. As they say —

Welcome to Mark’s Kitchen, a small neighborhood restaurant with an amazingly big menu full of so many choices that everyone can easily find something that will make them happy. Mark’s Kitchen is a very friendly place—it’s vegetarian-friendly, vegan-friendly, carnivore-friendly, kid-friendly, traditional family-friendly, alternative family-friendly and everyone else-friendly. A full meal or a light meal, a complete breakfast—most of which is available all day long—fresh juices, craft beers, wines, wonderful milkshakes, great ice cream desserts. That’s Mark’s Kitchen, a Takoma Park institution since 1990.

It took me a long time to read through the menu and decide on what I wanted. Do I go for a basic sandwich, do I get some breakfast for lunch or do I go crazy? Well, I decided to go for a unique salad, because they had some great sounding Asian cuisine. And, my friend went pretty basic.

My choice was the Seaweed Salad — wakame, hijiki & kombu seaweed, avocado, cucumber & sliced lemon on a bed of mixed seaweed w/ our own no-fat, no-oil lemon ginger salad dressing or our spicy sweet & sour chojang sauce.

My friend opted for the Smoked Salmon Club Sandwich — smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill havarti cheese, veggie bacon, red onion, capers, lettuce, & tomato.

That salad was amazing! I had never had so many different seaweeds. What’s funny is that I don’t really care for seaweed when it’s the crisp stuff that wraps sushi (rolls), but when it’s finer/chopped/in salad form, it’s so good! There was some great dressing or marinade to it and the avocados, bring ’em on!

My friend said the sandwich was quite good, just what a club should be.

We were there at lunch time — service was a bit slow. It was tough to get our water filled and the glasses at the table weren’t huge, so that was the one downside.

Will definitely check Mark’s Kitchen out again.

Non-Chickpea Hummus

Posted on January 22, 2017 by melsmosaic

I try a lot to vary hummus when I make it, as in different spices, and then different beans — black, cannellini, kidney, etc.

Then I had some edamame that I wanted to use so checked out some recipes for that to see if there was anything different about it. I finally ended up with one from FoodTV that did not use chickpeas, which was perfect.

Ingredients

1/2 pound frozen shelled edamame (green soy beans), about 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons), juiced
1 clove garlic, smashed
3/4 teaspooon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Boil the beans in salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, or microwave, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes.

In a food processor, puree the edamame, tahini, water, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt, cumin, and coriander until smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix until absorbed.

Transfer to a small bowl, stir in the parsley and drizzle with remaining oil. Serve with the suggested vegetables, or refrigerate, covered, up to 1 day.

When I was making this, I was at this great place where I dogsit that has a beautiful, amazing kitchen but lack of ‘stuff.’ As in, no food processor. There is a mini prep and antiquated blender. It was quite a process to make this, or shall I say — entertaining.

The end result was ok. It was just missing something — I added more salt and lemon juice, then some garlic, thinking maybe that would do it. Nothing great. Now, it did get a better after sitting for a bit. But, nothing overly fancy or exciting, but a decent alternative to ‘normal’ hummus.

NY Wine

Posted on January 22, 2017 by melsmosaic

We have wineries across across the country and New York is ranked #3 in the country size-wise in grape production per Wikipedia (where is Oregon?? — CA and WA are 1 & 2). Commercial production started in the state the 19th century. Also, some fun tidbits from Wikipedia — New York is home to the first bonded winery in the US, Pleasant Valley Wine Company. It is also home to America’s oldest continuously operating winery, Brotherhood Winery in the Hudson Valley, which has been making wine for almost 175 years.

I visit the Finger Lakes area annually and last year, after not having gone for a decade (at least), stopped by the New York Wine & Culinary Institute in Canandaigua. In addition to the cooking school and restaurant, they have a tasting room.

There were 3 of us there so we opted to each get different flights so we could get a good feel for the current stance of NY wines. Out of the 15 wines we tasted, I would say maybe 4-5 were decent/good. And the downside is they aren’t wallet-friendly ones for what they offer — $20+. New York wines are still generally very sweet, both reds and whites. Two of us were more red people and one was an oaky chard lover so there was a bit of a difference in tastes, but overall, same thought on NY wines.

We did, however, try some of the their of sparkling wines, and left with 2 bottles. That was quite good and was enjoyed later in the evening.

Overall for the day, very fun location to visit and worth the time.

Dairy-Free Cheesecake

Posted on January 21, 2017 by melsmosaic

I haven’t eaten cheesecake for ages because of my lactose intolerance. I have just found other things to gorge on post-dinner. I have a few lactard friends who are in the same boat but are on the lookout for options.

When a friend came over for dinner she picked up something that caught her attention at Wegmans (sigh, why can’t one be closer to me, it’s down the street from her). She found a Strawberry Cheezecake (no that’s not a typo) from Daiya, who’s tagline is ‘deliciously dairy-free.’

The ingredients in this, that make it diary free are:

Cheezecake filling (Filtered water, creamed coconut, cane sugar, coconut oil, tapioca starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, strawberries, potato starch, vegan natural flavors, pea protein, sea salt, vegetable glycerin, sodium alginate, xanthan gum, lactic acid (vegan), tricalcium phosphate, cultured sugar, agave syrup, fruit and/or vegetable juice (color), vegan enzyme)

Gluten-free crust (tapioca starch, cane sugar, coconut oil, brown rice flour, white whole grain sorghum flour, filtered water, potato starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, blackstrap molasses, vanilla extract, milled flax seed, psyllium, baking powder, sea salt, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum.)

There are a lot of ingredients but all things considered, not too bad. And, considering there was no diary, that was a pretty darn good cake. They have some other flavors, too — New York, Key Lime and Chocolate.

I happened to be at the Washington Health & Fitness Expo a couple weeks ago and Daiya had a booth. They were making some quesadillas so I grabbed a bite. Hadn’t tried their cheese yet. It was a bit chewy. But, if you are craving and wanting some cheese and can’t eat ‘normal cheese,’ you could go this route. Or if you need it for a recipe that you can’t really make alterations in, it should work. Overall, I think I’d rather stick with goat or sheep. I might, however, have to check out their mac & cheese at some point because I don’t know the last time I had that. It might not be perfect, but hey, it I had it with some wine or beer, it could make a very classy meal.