Show Me Those (Dim Sum) Buns

Posted on May 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

And another fun adventure in Trader Joe’s. I’m a kid in a candy store there. Two Fearless Flyers ago there was mention of some goodies that made you feel like you were having Dim Sum. Had to go find those. Well, come to find out I grabbed the wrong thing (after reading the flyer again when I got home). The flyer item was Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings. But, these are one of my favorite items at Dim Sum — Cha Siu Boa, a Chinese Style Pork Bun.

You just pop these things in the microwave for about 45 seconds, let them cool and they’re ready to enjoy. I learned that you really do need to let them cool — yikes! The bread part is so soft, and the pork just has a nice sweetness. They also come on that paper that makes you feel like you’re at a restaurant, truly enjoying dim sum. Simple pleasures.

Shaved Fennel Salad with Croutons and Walnuts

Posted on May 18, 2018 by melsmosaic

More cooking magazine flipping for recipes. This one from a few months ago in the April issue of Bon Appetit. Just sounded too good. Love fennel, love bread, throw in some nuts and cheese. Bring it on! This is another one where I find ways to make substitutes if I can enjoy the majority of the ingredients. So I used Manchego for the parm. The sharp taste was perfect!

Ingredients

2 cups coarsely torn sourdough bread
½ cup walnuts
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt
3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely grated
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 fennel bulbs with fronds
¾ cup torn mint leaves
½ lemon
2 oz. Parmesan, shaved (used Manchego)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Place bread on one side of a rimmed baking sheet and walnuts on the other side (they cook at different rates). Drizzle bread with 3 Tbsp. oil; season with salt. Toss, squeezing bread with your hands to help it absorb as much oil as possible, until evenly coated. Bake until walnuts are golden brown and croutons are deeply browned and very crisp, 8–10 minutes for walnuts, 12–15 minutes for croutons. Let cool, then coarsely chop walnuts. **I usually just toast my walnuts (or any nut) on the stove in a pan, CAREFULLY watching them, tossing them occasionally. Because they go from not done, not done, close to done, BURNT if you’re not paying attention.**

Meanwhile, combine vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Let sit 10 minutes to let garlic mellow and flavor the vinegar.

Whisk 3 Tbsp. oil into vinegar mixture, then add croutons and chopped walnuts. Season crouton mixture with some salt and toss to coat and let croutons soften slightly; set aside.

Remove stalks and fronds from fennel bulbs. Remove fronds from stalks and coarsely chop; thinly slice stalks. Place in a large bowl. Cut fennel bulbs in half and thinly slice on a mandoline (if you have one; if not, practice your knife skills). Add to same bowl along with mint. Zest lemon half over salad, then squeeze in juice. Season with salt and toss to combine.

Divide reserved crouton mixture among plates and top with half of the Parmesan. Arrange fennel salad over; top with remaining Parmesan and drizzle with oil.

I tossed all of it together as a salad; I didn’t get fancy with the presentation as it mentions. This salad was delicious. With the fennel and lemon, you get so much tang. Then the crunch from the fennel and walnuts. And with the cheese that extra tang. This one is staying high on my list.

Climb Hard Cider

Posted on May 18, 2018 by melsmosaic

Colorado has plenty of breweries, but luckily I am finding cideries, too. A local one Wilbur’s (ahhh…) told me about was Climb Hard Cider. They are just down the street in Loveland, which means I need to go check them out in person soon.

Picked up a 6-pack of their ‘Apple’ cider. I say that because they have quite a few options available, one being vanilla, which sounds quite interesting. Now, based on their website they have both a dry and semi-dry apple cider. No where on the can does it say which one this is and nobody at Wilbur’s was sure.

Based on the taste, I’m guessing it’s the semi. Regardless, it was 6.1% ABV, 100% real fruit and tasted great. Crisp, refreshing and was too easy to drink.

Check it out if you can grab it at your liquor store. If you’re in the area and want to visit the cidery, let me know.

Cheers!

Big B’s

Posted on May 14, 2018 by melsmosaic

Awhile back when I was in Steamboat (Springs), CO, I checked out one of the local liquor stores and came across a hard cider I had never seen or heard of before — Big B’s. They are located in Hotchkiss, CO and have a variety of apple-related products.

The cider I found is the Harvest Apple from their Orchard Series. This one is “created by using a perfect blend of fresh pressed apples. This is a semi-sweet hard cider and has a bold and refreshing apple taste.”

It was great because it hit semi-sweet perfectly. Nice and crisp, giving a bit of dryness, but not too much based on its category, and also no overkill on sugar. Comes in convenient cans, too.

I’ve only found it in one place in the Ft. Collins area, so far, which is Supermarket Liquors, so glad that’s easy accessible.

Cheers!

Marinated Beans with Celery and Ricotta Salata*

Posted on May 13, 2018 by melsmosaic

Recent cooking magazines have had so many great spring salad recipes in them.

Even if the title doesn’t sound like something I can totally eat or the quick glance of ingredients doesn’t seem right because of my lactose intolerance, I always see how I can alter it. So many times olive oil can be substituted for butter, or there is only a splash of cream that can be nixed.

This one sounded so good, and was so quick and easy! And in this one, for instance, it calls for Ricotta Salata. I thought of ways to change that content. I have, in less than a week, made this recipe twice. Once with no cheese, and once with goat (or Chevre) cheese. Both were awesome!

So, this recipe is Marinated Beans with Celery and Ricotta Salata from the May issue for Bon Appetit.

Note: the recipe is for 8 servings, and it’s a hefty 8

Ingredients

4 15-oz. cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, navy beans, and/or black-eyed peas, rinsed
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped thyme, plus more for serving
Kosher salt
4 oz. ricotta salata (salted dry ricotta), crumbled (used Chevre from
Trader Joe’s)
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Toss beans, celery, oil, vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. thyme in a large bowl to combine; season generously with salt.
Just before serving, transfer beans to a shallow bowl and top with ricotta salata, pepper, and more thyme.
Do Ahead: Bean salad (without celery and ricotta salata) can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Non-Cheese:

Cheese:

Definitely keeping this recipe around and will make it several times this summer. Just so delicious. I also nearly doubled the amount of celery to add more veggie content.

Horsetooth Bloody Mary’s

Posted on May 13, 2018 by melsmosaic

Love supporting local businesses. Also love Bloody Mary’s. A new mix for such concoctions I have stumbled upon since moving to CO is Horsetooth Hot Sauce‘s. They have two levels of it.

I aim towards the milder side of things, so go for their ‘Dog That Bit You’ — You woke up licking your wounds from a night of excess imbibement. Perhaps you need a little hair of the dog that bit you? That’s where our The Dog That Bit You Bloody Mary Mix comes in, with just enough of our Rubin’s Red hot sauce to help you forget the pain from the night before.

They have a hotter level, the ‘Wake Up Call‘ — The Wake-up Call balances delectable spices with our infamous Rubin’s XXX hot sauce to give you a fiery flavor that will get your engines revving.

The mix has great tastes and all you have to do is add that vodka! I picked some up at the local farmers market, but it’s also available in some retail locations.

They also have some other drink mixes, as well as BBQ and hot sauces. Check them out and support the local Ft. Collins guys.

Mama Roni’s Pizza, Ft. Collins, CO

Posted on May 7, 2018 by melsmosaic

A benefit of moving to a new place is that you get coupons for a bunch of discounts and FREE stuff. And I’m not talking BOGO, but just plain and simple free. One of them that I recently took advantage of was the Mama Roni’s Pizza coupon. It was for a medium pizza of any kind.

Pizza is always interesting for me since I’m the lactard (more commonly known as lactose intolerant). One of my favorite pizzas is one with BBQ sauce and chicken. And, they happened to have it on the menu!

BBQ Chicken — Hand-tossed crust with our own tangy BBQ sauce, chicken, red onions & chopped bacon

What I had to inquire about is whether it had cheese (since it’s not in the description). It did and I was also sharing this pizza with a non-lactard. So, they were awesome and made half the pizza with cheese and half without. I’m also not a huge bacon fan. I love ham, prosciutto, pork tenderloin, just not bacon. So they nixed that.

So, I had the free coupon and it was for pickup. This was not initially a problem. The problem started when I put the pizza in my car and had to drive 2+ miles homes. The smell, the smell, the smell…that was tough. I’m glad I put the box in the back of the car.

Got home, opened it up and off to the eating. Such perfect crust. Not too thick, not too thin and not greasy AT ALL! The ingredients were in perfect balance, too. The cheese side was apparently great, as well. Will have to check this place out, again.

Laundry

Posted on April 20, 2018 by melsmosaic

Laundry doesn’t normally sound like a good thing. But in Steamboat Springs, CO it’s something that is not so bad. Visited Laundry Kitchen & Cocktails one evening to check out the latter part of their name.

We arrived not long after they opened and (nonetheless) had to wait awhile for a couple seats at the bar. Fortunately that gave us some time to pour over the menu. So, when we were able to snag some seats, we were ready to place our orders.

We opted for:

Fresh & 43 — Berry infused vodka, licor 43, fresh lemon juice, orange bitters, soda water, fresh fruit garnish

Smoke & thyme — Finlandia vodka, pear/apple puree, St. Germaine, mezcal, fresh lemon juice with a raspberry, thyme sprig garnish

Both were amazing. So fresh, so much flavor. Definitely unique. One of the best parts was watching the bartender make them. One of those seasoned guys who can make any and everything and has a great time doing it. We would have loved to stick around for longer and even order some food, but had to get back to the house for dinner. Will definitely head back there for another round and to check out the dinner menu. Cheers!

Bloody Relaxation

Posted on April 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

You know, skiing can be so hard. So, when 2pm or so comes, it’s time to refuel. And what does that mean? A Bloody Mary, of course! The first time I went to Steamboat, I was told about the best of these drinks. They were served at Four Points Lodge (which can be a bit of work to get to if you’re at the wrong spot on the mountain). This place is ‘located atop the Four Points chairlift on Storm Peak, the Four Points Lodge is a unique mountain retreat restaurant nestled 9,716 feet above sea level.’

(photo source: steamboat.com)

In this 2 o’clock hour, it can take some time to get the bartender’s attention. Then after what seems like forever, you get to place your order. You are asked how spicy you want your concoction. I tend to go for the milder end, one of the others with me did as well, then another wanted kick. Then the drinks arrive. The adornments are priceless. You normally get an olive, celery and/or piece or citrus at bars. Oh, not here…olive, lime, pickled green bean, pepperoncini, pepper jack cheese, slice of bacon and celery. And, yes, there really is drink there, too.

Then for the enjoyment. Walk outside, shining sun, and plop down in an Adirondack chair. Have some Bloody Relaxation with adult tomato juice. Can’t get much better than that. Then, just have to get motivated to ski down the hill…

Beef and Shallot Stew

Posted on April 13, 2018 by melsmosaic

Winter months just call for a good stew. This is a recipe that I’ve had for a long time from Real Simple that I just think of every so often – Beef and Shallot Stew. I don’t/can’t eat beef, so I replace it with wild game. I’ve normally had venison but this time I found Wild Boar at Sprouts. It’s generally easier to have whole pieces of meat vs. ground, but sometimes you have to work with what you have.

Ingredients

4 pounds chuck meat, cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces, or 4 pounds pre-cut stew meat
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bottle dry red wine
1 1/2 pounds shallots, peeled
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
8 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions

1) Heat oven to 300° F. Season the beef with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add some of the beef to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining beef.

2) Spoon off and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings. Add the wine and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom, for 3 minutes.

3) Return the beef to the pot along with the shallots and broth. Bring to a boil. Skim any foam. Add the thyme. Cover and transfer to oven until the beef is tender, about 2 hours. Spoon into individual bowls.

Since I used ground meat, I didn’t need to cook the stew for nearly as long (can be a fraction of the time until the meat is cooked and onion are to the ‘softness’ you want). I serve it with some great French bread and green salad. Perfect for a cold day. Also pairs well with red wine. Cheers!