Category Archive for ‘tasty treats’

Pan seared jumbo scallops served with baby arugula and tossed with a champagne-truffle vinaigrette? Any takers?  Umm, yes please, sign me up!  Last night, Melissa Lamkin invited  my friends and I to sample 15 different dishes at the new Roadside  Kitchen on Montford Drive in Charlotte, NC…15 North.   Chef Brett McKee and Steve Palmer (the masterminds behind 17 North Roadside Kitchen & Mckee’s poplular Oak Steakhouse & Ok-U restaurant in Charleston) decided to spread the goodness to Charlotte and open a new hotspot.  The ingredients are exciting, tasty & fresh from local farmers.  Opening night is tonight, so cap off the evening with a Brooklyn Style Soda Shop Float & a red velvet cupcake.

I’m heading to Virginia this morning…a weekend full of meetings, designing 2 wedding bands, and selling jewelry at the Charlottesville Farmers Market on Saturday morning (come  visit me in space 5 if you’re in town.)

Hopefully, I’ll be coming home with oodles of fresh vegetables from the Farmer’s Market to make gazpacho soup on Monday.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 purple onion, finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1 sweet red bell pepper (or green) seeded and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 6 or more drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (omit for vegetarian option)
• 4 cups tomato juice

I try to get as many recommendations as possible when I travel. More than anything, when I  have a good recommendation, I have a goal & and mystery…the fun part isn’t getting to the actual destination but running into the unexpected on your way. While I was selling jewelry at the Charlottesville Farmer’s market last summer, I mentioned to one of my friends, Courtney Newman (the sweetest little vegan & world-traveler you’ll ever meet) that I was on my way to NYC for a buying trip the following morning. Courtney told me that I had to check out the bakery, Babycakes. Loving the name & (of course) anything that has to do with bakeries, I figured I’d stroll by on my & pick up a warm yummy fresh out of the oven. Little did I know that on my way to Babycakes, I’d pick up a paper lantern in Chinatown & a small cactus with hot pink flowers from a street vendor on the Lower East Side (ahhh, the unexpected). Finally, I arrived at this little hole-in-the-wall (honestly, hole-in-the-wall bakeries are always the best…simply put, They. Have. Heart.) I didn’t even realize it, but this bakery is completely vegan, organic & mostly, gluten free. I ordered a few brownie bites & then and there, my mission was complete.

A few nights ago, we had friends over for dinner & was of them was vegan…I’d say this brownie bite recipe from Babycakes was a hit.

Vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free, all-purpose baking flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dairy-free mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray 2 mini muffin pans with vegetable oil spray. In a bowl, whisk the baking flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. In another bowl, whisk the applesauce, oil and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, filling them three-quarters full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until set. Let the brownies cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

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One of my favorite foods to eat on hot days are Vietamese summer rolls….paired with a peanut sauce or a spicy hoisin dipping sauce, they are simply divine.  Although, they take a bit of time preparation,  the result is a refreshing summer dish & a good mix of textures and flavors.  The other night, I decided to pair up the summer rolls with a fresh seafood stir fry.

To make summer rolls:

1. Use “spring roll skin” (usually found on the international isle in the grocery store).  I’ve included a photograph of the skin…it looks translucent & is made with rice paper.  When you’re about to use the skin, soak each piece in water for about 20 seconds…it becomes soft and easy to work with.

2. Boil vermicelli rice noodles in water for about 10 minutes – drain & rinse.

3. Place fillings (I usually use rice noodles, steamed shrimp, carrots, basil, cucumber & avacado) in soft spring roll skin & wrap up like a burrito.

Hands down…this recipe is just yummy-in-my- tummy goodness.  Yesterday,  my  (soon-to-be) sister in law hosted a jewelry trunk show for me in Athens, Ga at UGA & I just knew I had to bring a fabulous taste-bud awakening treat to share.

Have you ever been in this situation?  Major problem #1: going to the bakery and choosing between a cookie or a brownie.  Major problem #2:  choosing a cookie, eating the cookie, and wishing you were eating the chocolate brownie instead.  Final result:  you end up going back to the bakery,  eat the brownie (after you’ve already finished the unfulfilling cookie), and happily top off the brownie  with a cold glass of milk.

So, this recipe eliminates those two problems and allows you to have both at once (including the heavenly chocolate ganache on top).  Plus, it’s a big messy and gooey  dessert and you end up licking your fingers for about an hour…savoring each flavor.  Plus, the recipe is super easy!  I’ve taken photos throughout the process just so you can see if you’re on the right path.

Not gonna lie…this recipe is straight from Betty Crocker and can be found here.  The ganache is straight from (one of my faves) bakerella and can be found here.   The photos and the promise that this dessert is “just. one. more. brownie. and. then. i’ll. stop….” that good is from me.

scooping the cookie dough in the brownie mixture

pushing down each cookie dough ball into the brownie mixure

hot out of the oven….this is a point that requires patience.

making the ganache…watching the morsels slowly melt into the butter and cream.

perfection

get in my tummy now.

I’d like to say that I enjoy baking, but it’s not really my speciality.  A little too precise orderly for me.  You actually have to take exact measurements of flour, sugar, eggs, salt, baking soda, and vanilla & if you’re off by even a teaspoon, the entire recipe can fall apart.  Cooking, on the other hand, I love.  I think it’s because I’ve never really followed a recipe when I cook.  I love to add my own spices and concoctions to meats, fish, vegetables, and stews.  I taste as I go (which can be a problem because i’m usually full by the time I sit down to eat), but I love inventing my own recipes and altering others.  A pinch of this and splash of that and viola, you’ve got the perfect meal.  I actually took a month long culinary course in NYC one summer and fell in love with the creative process of cooking.   Each day, we’d work with a different type of food…one day we’d work with eggs and another day we’d switch to figs.  I learned that cooking (like jewelry design) has no rules or boudaries.  My mother is the sort of person that travels to other countries with a separate suitcase and fills the suitcase up with exotic spices and salts.  She’ll come home with a variety of fabulous dried herbs, curries, and cultural delicacies to be used for rubs on fish and magic flavors to be brought out in dishes.  Many months ago, I started my own recipe book.  Everytime I cook something new, I’ll write down the recipe and take a photo of the food and the company we shared during the meal.  In a way, it’s a sort of like a cooking journal…a photo album and personal journey in the kitchen.

Love at first taste = granola from Baked Bakery in Brooklyn, NY.  This granola is awesome & I finally made it last night.  The granola is baked (and let me tell you, the smells that come out of the oven while it is baking are  heavenly).  I  made a few twists to the recipe and added pine nuts, pecans, wheat germ, a pinch of cinnamon and a handful of coconut.  It turned out really well & pairs perfectly with yogurt and fruit.  Idea: wrap it up in cute packaging and give it away as a Happy New Year  treat.

I love great packaging.  It’s not uncommon for me to be roaming the isles of Dean & Deluca just to look at the way the food is packaged.  It’s also not rare if I come home with some random food item I purchased just because I like the packaging.  Bryan will look at me and say, “Erin, I never new you liked artichoke & chili flavored crackers?”  I’ll typically respond, “I don’t, but aren’t you just crazy about the packaging?” Packaging my jewelry in some unique way is definitely something I’d like to work on in the new year.

I love the hand-written tags and packaging of Jamie Oliver’s food.  Something yummy to try: Mix the rosemary sea salt with a little mustard, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, brush it on salmon & bake.

I love stopping by Chelsea Market in NYC and checking out the latest cookie design from Elenis’ cookies.  The cookies are always intricately designed and make the perfect gift.  I wanted to share a few of my favorite collections with you…

Fifteen preschoolers held on to the 20 ft. red rope as we walked from school to Whole Foods this morning.   We finally arrived and Sandy gave us the grand tour.  We had a blast indulging in the samples “du jour” – a combination of blood oranges, cantaloupe, cheeses, turkey, dried bananas, freshly ground peanut butter, bison, cookies, pineapple, and blueberries.  Great day!

Without a doubt, I’m ready for spring.   In fact, I have transformed part of my preschool classroom into a farmer’s market.  The kids have been filling up their crates with plastic strawberries, green peppers, eggs, blueberries, tomatoes, apples (and every now and then a lego).   They love to create beautiful flower arrangements for each other and tie them up with pipe cleaners and brown paper bags.     

In my opinion, teaching preschool just might be one of the best jobs in the world. I came home from work on Friday, emptied my pockets, and found an assortment of treasures including a purple Crayola marker cap, a tootsie roll wrapper, an acorn, a red heart cut out of construction paper, a miniature bottle of hand sanitizer and and a fortune which read, “A vacation by the sea is in store for you.”After studying Japan in our classroom and making origami, sushi, a bonsai tree, paper puppets and Japanese fans, I thought it would be a great idea to take all fourteen students to Teppanyaki, a traditional style of Japanese cooking where the food is cooked on a large grill in front of you. The kids had a blast and the chefs put on quite a show by making an onion volcano, catching eggs in their hats, and lighting vegetables on fire. Here is a picture from the day!