Savory Spice Shop

When we were up in Denver last summer, we were on Platte St. enjoying all the shops there. No franchises-just small businesses. A welcome sight, really. My husband caught up to me (I was exploring on my own and was focusing on clothing stores) to ask me if I had gone in the spice store named Savory Spice Shop yet. I hadn't and wasn't planning on it (don't know why).  He insisted that I go. For him to be impressed by spices (he doesn't cook) must mean that this store was off the charts.
I went in and was surprised at how extensive their spice selection is. They are very helpful in explaining the unique aspects of their ware and they let you taste the spices. Once you start to taste the spices, that really closes the sale. They order the spices fresh from around the world and also create their own blends. They use quality ingredients and everything is ground there on the premises. Everything is so flavorful and fresh.
I understood why my husband was so excited. Their spices are nothing like you've ever had before. Even ordinary spices like cinnamon have a lot more flavor and 'robustness' to them. One of our favorites is the Pimient d' Espelette which is like a really, really good paprika-it is made from a blend. My son puts it on everything! Even their green chile was impressive (those of us who live in new Mexico are very critical of green chiles beyond our borders).
If you plan to be in the Denver area, stop by the Savory Spice Store on Platte St. Or, just visit their website and do your shopping there!

The Perfect Pot Luck Dish for a Summer Party

Psst.....want to know of a great dish to bring to any summer potluck party that is easy, beautiful and always a hit?

A berry fruit salad. Just take market fresh strawberries and market fresh blueberries wash them and dry them. Trim the  strawberries and slice them in half the long way and half again-quartering them. Toss them in a pretty, food safe bowl along with the cleaned blueberries. Cover and set in your refrigerator  until it's time to head out the door to the party. It is best to make it up the same day you plan to attend the party-if you make it too far ahead of time, you could end up with some mushy fruit.

 

Super simple. Beautiful to look at. Always a hit. And, it disappears quickly! The best part is, you didn't have to heat up your kitchen or dirty any pots and pans to make this 'dish'! A perfect dish for a 4th of July potluck party.

Blueberry Lavendar Muffins

There's no reason why making blueberry muffins at home has to be so complicated. You can use a box mix such as Krusteaz (my favorite box mix) and jazz it up with just a few tweaks.

Fresh lemon zest. Some food grade lavender ground up fine (about half a teaspoon). I like to add a small container (snack size) of pears-you can puree them if you don't want the pear 'chunks' in your muffins. Personally, I love those chunks. A bit of safflower oil (I am not an advocate of Canola oil), coconut milk formulated as a milk substitute (two of us in our home are lactose intolerant) and about 1/4 cup of buttermilk (we can tolerate about that much dairy). The milks here are used in place of the water that is called for on the box recipe. I always use milk or a milk substitute instead of water on all box cake mixes. And, I always add a fruit puree of some sort, be it applesauce in the snack size container or the pears. This is also a good chance to use up whatever yogurt you have unfinished in your 'fridge. All this makes for a very, soft and moist crumb. Follow the package directions (I tend to view package directions as mere guidelines).

Vuela! You have muffins with a homemade touch!

Goes really well with a latte...or a nice cuppa brewed black tea.

BON APETIT!

Lee's Gourmet Asian Restaurant

It seems like we hardly go out to dinner in the past several months as we are trying to watch our expenditures carefully.


However, several of our friends had RAVED about this new Asian restaurant that opened up here in Rio Rancho. I'm Asian and I love Asian food. For me, it is soul food. My husband, however, has the all-American, meat-and-potatoes palette. Reluctantly, he agreed to give it a try. In fact, he had me pick something out for him. He loves shrimp. He loves fried food. He loves sweet things. I ordered the Lace Shrimp for him under the Southeast Asia style section of the menu. It read as: jumbo crispy shrimp in a delicious fruit sauce.

My camera did not do the food justice! Note to self: next time use the 'close up' setting instead of the 'food' setting.


This dish was a home run with my husband. He barely let me take a bite to taste test it! The shrimp was indeed crispy and not saturated with oil. What really impressed me was the FLAVOR of the shrimp. It actually tasted like shrimp. The sauce was incredible. Some sort of tropical mix: I did detect mango, but the flavors melded nicely with the shrimp. And, of course, as you can see, the presentation was artfully done. My husband ate every single bite!

I ordered the Asian Grilled Chicken-again from the South East Asia section of the menu. It read: grilled chicken breast marinated with lemongrass sauce over market fresh vegetables.
OMG-this was so flavorful! The sauce had seasonings in it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I usually can identify off the list of spices in a dish. I detected what I thought was anise or liquorice kind of flavor as an undertone in the sauce. Quite nice...I loved all the veggies that came with it and next time I order this dish, I will do without the rice and ask for perhaps a little more of the veggies. There was onions, mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus and I think some carrots (recalling from memory now).


Check out their website-you can download their entire menu as a PDF file to see what they have to offer. It is a very extensive menu complete with all the familiar Asian dishes and many dishes that you do not see at other Asian restaurants. I see too that they also do catering, so next time you have a party, surprise your guests with something different!

Lee's is located at 7820 Enchanted Hills Blvd. Suite B in Rio Rancho. Phone: 505 867-8887. And, they do NOT use MSG in their food. If you are planning on going to an event at the Santa Ana Star Center, this would be a great place to have dinner as it is easy to get to the Center from Lee's (head west on 550 and take Paseo de Volcan to get to the Center).