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Back to the blog with a review!

After a long weekend relaxing and exploring some new (and some repeat) places, I have lots to write about from the past few days while my parents were in town.  I’m holding off because my dad took lots of pictures and I want him to send them my way so I can include them in that post.

In the meantime, a review of a new restaurant!

Tangerine

Across the street from our apartment, we’ve got a 7-Eleven, Santa Fe Cafe (decent New Mexican cuisine), Zeek’s pizza (a local, OK chain),Chef Liao (yum yum yum Asian food, with award-winning pot stickers) and a few off-the-wall type places. When we first moved in, there was Phinney Market and a Pottery Store in the same building  as Santa Fe Cafe, but both closed.  We were especially sad about Phinney Market, as it was a great place to pick up small things, shop locally and grab a delicious sandwich once in a while.  BUT, Phinney Market opened back up, under new ownership, and it seems better than ever…excitement all around!

So, that is not the point of this post, so enough about Phinney Market. 

Soon after the pottery shop closed, there was a sign announcing a Thai restaurant coming soon…soon meant several months, and I spent the entire time dreaming about having Thai across the street.  I envisioned mountains of pad thai and kee mao noodles piled on our kitchen table.  Fried tofu dancing around our apartment.  Thai iced tea running through the streets.  Let’s just say, I love Thai food and I was excited about the prospect of having it so close…that makes me seem less crazy.

Well, just a couple weeks ago, on a gorgeously warm and sunny Sunday Matt noticed Tangerine open! It was crowded and people were sitting inside and outside at cute little tables.  The interior blended into the outdoor seating with the help of a mechanical garage door-style store-front.  We had plans that night, but we vowed to go later in the week….during the week it didn’t seem to be open!  My guess was that as a new business, they were taking it slowly and opening up on days when there would be some guaranteed traffic.  So we held off.

My parents were going to be in town the following weekend, so I figured we wouldn’t get a chance to try it out then.  I underestimated just how sleepy my parents would be coming from East coast time, and we ended up having Friday night free for dinner.  We trotted over to Tangerine like good little local diners…they only take cash right now!  I should have predicted this, but I didn’t, so we failed to have cash on us. We went with something else.

Tonight, our normal “Thai Tuesday”-turned-“International Tuesday” with a regular group of friends was cancelled due to travel plans, illnesses, job-related interferences and other interruptions.  Rather than being healthy, abstemious and smart (ie. eating leftovers from our fridge), we decided to indulge and try Tangerine since Matt had noticed they are open during the week!

It was rainy all day and pretty chilly this evening, so needless to say there was no outdoor seating.  We started with Thai Iced Tea (my favorite!) and admired the cute interior of a space that used to be a tiny, cramped pottery studio and storefront.  So adorable in there…pretty minimal decorations, mirrors on several walls, deep colors, cozy and very inviting.  The server was friendly and even though he was juggling a few tables at once, did a great job of keeping tabs on us throughout the meal.

We decided to split an appetizer of fried tofu and a red curry with chicken.  The menu at Tangerine does not have the vast array of dishes you’ll find at a lot of Thai restaurants, but everything they did have sounds great!  The server also told us about a special curry they make with red curry and duck that they roast right there in the restaurant.  We’ll definitely be trying that one out! So many things on the menu looked amazing…I’m surprised we held back and only ordered one entree.

The fried tofu appetizer was decently sized, with 10-12 small pieces, a few fried veggies (carrots and broccoli) and a light and spicy sauce.  I enjoyed it, though I wasn’t blown away…I’m still learning to love tofu, and our “regular” Thai place has this AMAZING fried tofu in their dishes that I just can’t figure out how to replicate.  Apparently, neither can any other restaurant, because I have yet to find a tofu that challenges it.  Maybe I’ll have to ask them for their secret! I did like the snacky-ness of the tofu dish…little bite size pieces with a zingy sauce…I could definitely see myself craving this at certain times.

Our curry came out with a big bowl of jasmine rice shortly after we finished our appetizer.  Curry is always dangerous, because most places will keep refilling your rice bowl, and the curry will keep getting soaked up by that rice.  I’m definitely glad we split this…I’m still feeling full a couple hours later! Next time, we’ll just go with a dish…no appetizer.  We ordered medium spice (2 stars on a scale of None-Five), and I’m glad we didn’t go any higher…it was definitely hot! The only thing I would have changed with the curry is to add some veggies (onions and maybe a few more red peppers).  It was primarily chicken and bamboo shoots, both of which there was a generous amount of, but only a couple pieces of red pepper that we found, and no onions (which I am crazy about).  But the taste was GREAT!  Red curry is so flavorful, and this particular one did not disappoint.  I’m pretty sure we were both contemplating licking the bowl clean 🙂

The price was also pretty reasonable…not crazy cheap, but way within range for a quick takeout curry or pad thai.  I’m crossing my fingers that they can get some frequent customers and take advantage of summer zoo-goers so they can stay in business!  I know we’ll be going back! 

Hooray for supporting new, local small businesses!

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Hooray also for fun blog contests!  Jenn at Prior Fat Girl is giving away Holey Donuts! I am dying to try these, so hopefully I get lucky…but I’m also contemplating splurging and ordering some for when my old roommate is in town in August.  They look amazing!

Super Easy Homemade Pizza

I love homemade pizza crust…it makes me really really happy. The problem is, I usually am not in the mood to make dough. So I have a ridiculously easy pizza method I use when we want that quick dinner bite of pizza. Just as easy and fast as heating up a frozen pizza in the oven (or toaster oven), and you have more control over the ingredients, which is always a good thing!

I use a homemade, Crockpot marinara that I usually make in giant batches when canned tomatoes are on sale, or when we have herbs at the end of the summer to use up. I freeze the sauce in small freezer bags in two-serving portions. Perfect for heating up and throwing on top of pasta for a quick dinner for Matt and I. Also perfect for defrosting the day before and using for pizza! Since we only made two small pizzas, there was still lots of sauce left, but that’s something that you can easily heat up and throw on some pasta or veggies or whatever you like for marinara (dipping sauce for breadsticks??).

Here it is:

 Top 2 whole wheat pitas with about 2 Tb of marinara, spaghetti or pizza sauce. Sprinkle on a little Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese. Add toppings of your choice (we used what we had leftover in the fridge…pepperoni, bacon and some sautéed onions). Top with shredded Italian Cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, asiago, whatever you like). Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and just starting to brown.

 That’s it!! Let it cool for a few minutes, slice and enjoy! So easy! Pitas make amazing mini pizza crusts because they have a doughy chewiness, but also get nice and crisp when you bake them in the oven. If you’re just doing one pita, you can also just throw it in the toaster oven, which makes it even easier.

We’re crazy about pizza and are always looking for new ways to fit it into our meal plans! Since we had falafel on Monday night, we had leftover pitas, and this worked perfectly. It’s not NY style pizza, but it will definitely hold us over.

I am looking forward to the next chance we get to go to Queens together (I have NO idea when this will be) so we can share some Napoli pizza, right across the street from where Matt grew up. Look how happy it makes us! (Please note our awesome fake smiles.  We have perfected this artform.  Also, who thought it was a good idea to eat a giant pizza before we went to Herhey Park that day?? It seems like poor planning, but it was delicious!)

My parents are flying into Seattle this afternoon, so it will be a busy weekend of eating out rather than much cooking at home, so we’ll probably be a little sparse on the blog side of things, but maybe some new places will pop up to review!

Have a wonderful sunny weekend!

Baked Falafel!

To make up for our super-heavy comfort food dinner last night, we went a bit healthier after work on Monday! (We also followed it up with some Cherry Garcia ice cream…so it wasn’t completely healthy)

Falafel Pita Sandwiches

(adapted from this recipe)

What You Need

3/4  cup  water

1/4  cup  uncooked bulgur

3  cups  cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1/2  cup  chopped green onions

1/3  to 1/2 cup water

2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour

1  tablespoon  ground cumin

1  teaspoon  baking powder

3/4  teaspoon  salt

1/4  to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

3  garlic cloves

Cooking spray

Pitas

Tzatziki or Tahini sauces (I made a quick tzatziki with plain greek yogurt, a ton of diced cucumber, a splash of lemon juice, ground black pepper and a tiny bit of garlic powder)

Sandwich toppings (we used more cucumber, the gorgeous heirloom tomato pictured above, thin sliced onion and parmesan cheese)

What You Do

• Bring 3/4 cup water to a boil, add bulgur, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 30 minutes.  Drain.
• Blend chickpeas through garlic until mostly smooth. Stir in bulgar.
• Form into 1/4 inch patties (makes about 12) and place on baking sheet lined with cooking spray.  Give them a little space, as they’ll puff up just a bit.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking time. 
• They’ll get nice and brown and crispy on each side. Yum!
• Fill pitas and enjoy! (sorry for some of the fuzzy pictures…I was too tired and hungry)

 

This was really easy to make.  I’ve done fried falafel from a mix before, which is even easier (and frying gives you the most amazing flavor, of course), but this was SO good and so much healthier than frying.  They were a little dry, so I might add a little more water to the mix next time.  I also think it would be good with some red pepper blended into the mix as well.  Matt and I are crazy about falafel, so i’m sure I’ll have some opportunities to udpate this recipe!

We were missing our loveable friend, bacon (which got two minor roles in yesterday’s meals)…

Home!

HEY HEY HEY! First things first….get over to Missy’s blog and vote for your favorite salsa recipe in her contest!! I’m #8, in case you have trouble choosing a winner from all the yummy choices! 🙂

One more fair this morning and with a lucky traffic day, I was home around 3:30!! I am EXCITED!  I love being on the road and travelling to new places, but I get so homesick…I wish I could take Matt and Santana along with me whenever I travel! That would be the best!

Green Foodie Arguments

Here is a link to an interesting post that is probably of interest to some of the other foodie bloggers out there.  Anyone into the organic, slow food movement should be familiar with Alice Waters and her restaurant in Berkeley, CA, Chez Panisse. When the roommate and I went to California on a grad school visit/research trip the summer before our senior year, and we made it a point to have lunch at Chez Panisse (dinner was WAY out of our price range). Super delicious and fun to be eating at Alice Waters’ place.  I met her and listened to her speak at The Bale Boone Symposium put on by The Gaines Center at the University of Kentucky in 2005 (I think?).  It was really amazing and wonderful for me at a time when I was still sort of defining who I was as a cook. 

The Jezebel post by Sadie, points to a recent backlash against Waters and her push for organics.  One of the most vociferous, unsurprisingly, is Anthony Bourdain (who I have a bit of a crush on, fyi).  Sadie quotes Bourdain:

Alice Waters annoys the living s%#* out of me. We’re all in the middle of a recession, like we’re all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There’s something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I’m not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I’m a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits.

First of all, he loves to talk about the Khmer Rouge…I have zero statistics or citations to back this up, but I have heard that name come out of his mouth so many times that when I read about Khmer Rouge (even unrelated to Bourdain at all), I hear it in his voice and I picture him ranting. This kind of random association is wonderful…maybe I should choose something to be obscurely connected to.  Whenever you think of Mussolini, you will think of me! Maybe not…

Second, I love Alice Waters, but I have no problem with Bourdain’s ranting…he often goes off on a lot of topics that I don’t agree with, but that is basically his job.  He’s a complainer and a grumper and I think this is why I love him oh so much.  He openly hates on cultures, women, men, children, other chefs, things I would normally be very against  ranting about…but from him, it’s pretty enjoyable.  So I am not bothered by him particularly saying this.  And I don’t think his overall culinary stance eschews the organic, local side of things.  In the essay “The Evildoers,” Bourdain says that you should “try to eat food that comes from somewhere, from somebody,” and I think this applies not only to his signature “Chef’s Tour” mantra of eating the cultural food of wherever you are, but also to the roots of where you get your food…if your veggies, your meat, your dairy comes from somewhere, someone in particular, you are more likely to connect to it and more likely to appreciate and understand its importance.

About the post itself, I have to agree with Sadie…Waters can handle the criticism as someone behind the Green movement and any kind of revolutionary progress needs to be questioned and pulled in different directions as it develops.  Yes, we’re in an economic crisis and a lot of people are having trouble affording the bare basics for their families.  Yes, the cost of organics is often high and going fully green is not necessarily feasible for every family out there.  But I know an increasing amount of people who are not typical of the “elitist” perception that has been tied to organics, especially as I’ve discovered more and more food bloggers who are in super green mode in so many ways.  And I think if more and more people fit local, sustainable, green, organic ways into their lives on a daily basis, at a level that fits their lifestyle and economic means, then it pushes for more and more change towards the positive. 

While the individual families have to make these changes on the small scale, on the larger, more vocal scale, revolutionaries like Waters and critics like Bourdain are necessary to keep pushing ideas forward and honing and refining the ideas that have made it to the mainstream mindset. 

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Ok, that was more rambling than I predicted, but I thought some of the bloggers out there would find this discussion interesting! What are your thoughts on Alice Waters? Anthony Bourdain? Feel free to despise either one, despite my love of them! 🙂

Contest news:

Don’t forget to enter Dori’s Doormat Giveaway, and she has a second one this week for an Always Infinity Gift Pack!

Missy is also having a giveaway for the Always gift bag!

Jackson’s World is not only featuring an adorable pup, but is also having a Spring has Sprung Giveaway! Bring on the spring!

Lucky Taste Buds has a Big S Farms Salsa giveaway! Yum yum yum for Salsa!

Celebration and a New Meal!

Hey hey hey! Look up! A Bacon-Wrapped Life is now located at it’s very own domain name baconwrappedlife.com!!! EXCITEMENT! Also exciting, Dori’s Shiny Blog is now located at dorishinyblog.com, check it out and keep your eyes peeled for some fun on her end to celebrate the change!!

I’ve been absent from the blog for a few days because we were switching servers, updating names, and just generally being busy with chores, errands and some nice weather  But I have a yummy new recipe to show for the missing weekend!

This is a conglomeration of this cooking light recipe and a pumpkin ravioli recipe I tried about 4 years ago and turned into an AMAZING pumpkin lasagna recipe that I’ll probably share at some point. 

Spicy Sweet Butternut Squash Ravioli with Prosciutto and Parmesan 

I roasted the heck out of a butternut squash at 400 degrees for about an hour or so, then scooped it out of the peel (after it cooled) and mashed it.  In a pan with a bit of olive oil, I sautéed 4oz diced prosciutto until it was a little crispy on the edges.  Half of the meat went into the squash along with breadcrumbs, 1 egg, salt, and parmesan cheese.  

 

I bought a package of wonton wrappers, and these made the ravioli! I filled a wonton wrapper with about 1Tb of the squash mixture, wet the edges with water, topped with another wrapper and sealed all around, making sure to get out all of the air bubbles.  I used a biscuit cutter to cut into rounds and set them aside on a parchment-lined tray. 

I made 20 ravioli like this and still hade some wrappers and squash mixture left, but knew we wouldn’t eat them, so I just stuck with the 20 (good thing, because I was stuffed by the end of the meal!).  Brought a big, wide pan full of water to a simmer and cooked about half of the ravioli at a time, for about 5 minutes with each batch.  I pulled them out with a slotted spoon and let them wait on the parchment-lined baking sheet while I cooked the second batch. 

As the second batch of ravioli cooked, I heated the remaining prosciutto and olive oil back up and added a little over a tablespoon of brown sugar, a few chopped sage leaves, a pat of butter and a dash of cayenne pepper for a little kick.

After this got all melty, I sort of just wanted to eat it with a spoon!

I melted this over medium-low heat and then tossed it with the ravioli and served, topped with a little more fresh sage and some parmesan!  Pretty easy (a little time-consuming because you have to fill the ravioli) and SUPER delicious!  You could also buy ravioli and just make this prosciutto brown sugar sauce to coat them, and it would be really really easy. 

We served it with a bagged Pacific salad with a bunch of different greens, soy nuts, carrots and a poppy seed dressing.  Plus we added a bunch of diced tomatoes from our CSA!  It was a nice accompaniment to the ravioli, which had a wonderful balance of the nutty squash, sweet brown sugar, salty prosciutto & parmesan, and a tiny bit of spice from the cayenne!