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).

How To Fire Roast Chiles in 3 minutes

Safety FIRST! If you have never used a propane torch before, make sure you learn how before trying this! Otherwise, is makes for a very handy dandy method to quickly fire roast your chiles.



To get the full screen HD version, just go to the You Tube link for this.

The Outlook Cafe

Looking for somewhere good to eat in Rio Rancho that has the most awesome views?

Try the Outlook Cafe

Fabulous food. Fabulous Views. What's there not to like?

The BEST Home Made Choclate Cake Ever!

Hmmmm....the TM acronym would be: BHMCCE, right?

For many, chocolate cake is an all time favorite. Over the years, I have tired of store bought cakes with all their chemicals and additives and 'short cuts'. To put it bluntly, it is full of unnecessary ingredients (dare I say, crap?). With the exception of Pepperidge Farms. I usually recognize the list of ingredients on their labels and often have those ingredients them in my pantry!

I thought I would share with you my favorite, no fail always a hit chocolate cake recipe. I will give you the straight out recipe and then let you know what my tweaks are as I am always about variation on a theme.

It is from one of my favorite go-to cookbooks based on a PBS Cooking series back in the '90's (Southwest Tastes). This winning recipe was the formulation of Curtis Young. Thanks, Curtis!

Here are my tweaks: I don't usually don't make the middle cream cheese filling recipe. That makes the cake waaaay too rich and it is already rich! Instead, I make more of the frosting recipe and use all of that. Or, cheat and put a store bought creamy canned vanilla frosting with the home made chocolate frosting on the outside. Or, if you want to go all out on the chocolate aspect, you can use the hazel nut chocolate spread found in the peanut butter section of the grocery store.

I don't use the bananas that Curtis calls for. I'll use other fruit purees that I have on hand such as applesauce. I substitute anywhere from a half cup to 2/3rds of a cup of puree. Prune puree is also a good choice, believe it or not! Better still, puree some canned pears along with their juice. I also do not use the dates. Personal preferences. You might want to try his recipe as is first and then make your tweaks the next time you make it (and you will be motivated to as this cake is that good). And, I do not do the nut topping as called for in this recipe. But, you might want to.

OK, so here is my pictorial of the cake making process; the frosting and decorating portion anyway. You can click on any of the images to view a larger version of it:

This is the middle layer. I do use a professional grade turntable. You can get these at Michael's with your 40% off coupon like I did. Get a spatula for frosting cakes with too. A long flat one is what I use (some folks like the off set version).

Hint: I freeze my cakes before I frost them (I bake them the day before I need to frost it). Logic dictates that you let your cakes down down completely before wrapping them up. Wrap them carefully in waxed paper and then put them in plastic bags. Make sure nothing heavy sits on them! By freezing the cakes, they will not fall apart on you when you frost it. I learned this trick when I did cake decorating for a bakery in a former life.

I think it makes a difference to frost the top layer of the cake before you do the sides.

I double up on the frosting recipe to make sure that I have enough. It is very frustrating to have to go back and make more frosting when you are halfway through with frosting  your cake!! You can always use the leftover forsting for a batch of cupcakes if you don't devour it all.

Use the right tool for the job. This spatula make s ALL the difference in the world!! So does the turntable.

Yes, buy the cardboard cakes circles. I've tried to avoid it, have cut out my own in the past and wrapped it with foil. Having done all the variations out there, this is the best way to do the job! Note too, how I have my spatula going all the way under the cake to release it and transfer it to the cardboard circle.

Let me emphasize again to make sure you slide the spatula all the way under the cake before lift off!

I found these wonderful chocolate star cookies at Trader Joe's. They were most likely a seasonal thing (the Holidays), but look for something similar to make the finishing touches easy and elegant. The patterns made in the frosting are from that long, flat spatula.

And there you have it. The best home made chocolate cake ever. It never lasts at our home for more than 2 whole days!

Zengo Restaurant

A few weeks ago, we went on a great adventure up to Denver, CO. We took our son who had just graduated from high school and his best buddy as a 'graduation' present. Instead of spending the money on a party, we spent it on a trip. We took them to Waterworld and to Six Flags Elitch Gardens AND the Denver Skateboard Park. The boys were in hog heaven...we even took them to a skate board park in Boulder!

While the boys were at the Denver Skateboard park, we decided to go and explore what is known as Lo Do (lower downtown Denver)...I told Mark that I felt some good food and a glass of wine in our future!

We arrived upon a restaurant located on 1610 Little Raven St. on the Riverfront Park. It is called, Zengo. The menu is a fusion of Asian and Latin cuisine. For me, that would be a perfect food fusion! The menu is fabulous-not intimidating or 'full of itself' and very inventive. The fusion works well. We opted for our favorite way of dining: appetizers and dessert.

Marquis Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia)

I ordered a Cabernet from Australia that met and exceeded my expectations. A rich bodied, silky, jammy kind of Cab that made a great first impression and had a beautiful finish to it. A lot of wonderful things going on with each sip. Mmm, mmm, mmm...

(Beef Rib Eye steak grilled, sliced thin and topped with a Vietnamese salad)

They were offerering a special appetizer that wasn't on the menu which is the steak pictured above. That's what Mark got. I took a bite and with each and every bite of this dish, you could taste every single component. Not one flavor competed with the other. The cilantro, the mint, the lime, the cucumber that was in the 'salad'; it was absolutely amazing  how all these flavor components came together. That, paired with a tender, full flavored beef. My, oh, my! Talk about balance.

In Hawaii, we have a saying when the food is really good and flavorful. We say that it was so good that it "broke da mouth" (you need to say this in a Pigeon English accent and with gusto).

This is one of those dishes, for sure! Broke da mouth...

(Empanadas: Thai Chicken, poblano rojas, Oaxaca cheese, mango-curry salsa)

I choose these lovely Empanadas. Once again, you could taste every single ingredient without one overpowering the other. That sauce is what really took me down though! It is a Thai curry sauce and the ratio of the coconut milk to curry to lemon grass and ginger were perfection. I'm not sure if I ever could achieve making dishes like these; I think not. But the flavor of these two dishes were out of the park and off the hook!

Broke da mouth times two.

We also had dessert, but, by the time I realized that I had not photographed the food, we were almost done eating! It was as wonderful as everything else was. I had some sort of berry cobbler with ginger  /ginger ice cream and an oat crumble topping. As I sit here and write this, I realize that I now have no idea what Mark ordered! I even had a bite of it and recalled it being good enough for me to consider stealing it from him. 

Oh yes... he had Banana 3 Ways:

warm banana cake / banana ice cream/bruleed banana/chocolate ganache /cajeta.

We had a marvelous meal and a marvelous time which makes for an amazing memory.

Carmelized Rosemary Red Potatoes

My rendition of caramelized red potatoes

Boil a bunch of red potatoes-be sure to select them to be fairly consistent in size to one another to ensure that they all get done at the same time. They are ready when you can pierce them easily (I use a two pronged fork). Let them cool down and then place them in the refrigerator to get cold. This will help when you go to cut them up into quarters as the starches will have settled down and they won't be sticky to cut.

Have your herbs ready to go. I was lucky enough to get these from my garden: sage, rosemary and parsley. You don't have to have all of these herbs but the one you should have does need to be the rosemary. If you don't have it fresh (although it is easy to grow and grows just about anywhere with much neglect), the dried version is fine.

This is the approximate portions I used in this batch of potatoes. Those are whole pepercorns about to be crushed in my mini mortar/pestle thingie. This little 'gadget' is perfect for crushing seeds and dried herbs. I prefer this over the pepper mill in this case since it gives me the abilbity to give them a very coarse grind. But, use what you have! If all you have is ground pepper in a jar, that will work just fine, really!

Next step is to heat up your skillet pan along with an oil that can take a high temperature such as peanut oil. Allergic to peanuts? Safflower oil is a good choice too. You skillet needs to be big enough to accommodate all the potatoes without them getting crowded or stacked up on each other.  I used the burner on my BBQ grill  when I did this as I didn't want to add extra heat to my kitchen. Besides, it was summer and outdoor cooking goes with summer!

Now's the time to add your salt (to your taste). I only use coarse Hawaiian salt when I cook because I love the flavor that it imparts (Aloha brand is the absolute best) . It doesn't have a sharp,off, taste to it and is 'bright' to the palette with a nice 'finish'. The kind of salt you use does make a difference in the outcome. And, it should be about personal preference.  To help you decide what salts you like, go to a gourmet cook store and ask to sample their salts. You will see what a difference there is and may never go back to those round blue boxes with the girl and the yellow umbrella again!

Be patient and try not to turn the potatoes as they cook. Leave them be so that they can caramelize (nice word for burnt).The goal here is to almost burn them! You are looking for crisp, brown sides to the potatoes. If you are using dried rosemary, go ahead and add that half way through the process. If using the fresh herbs, add those in the last 5 minutes of the process. How long does it take to cook these? As long as it does! Depends on your skillet, how good it is at conducting heat and the BTU's on your burner. I used an 18" Caphalon skillet.

Here is the finished product. I always make a huge batch of these as they keep well in the refrigerator as 'leftovers'. But, with an 18 year old son in the house, they never last more than 24 hours!

These potatoes are a great side dish to dinner, or as a snack, or as  your breakfast 'hash browns'! I'm also thinking that it would make an incredible potatoe salad if I can hang onto them long enough to make a batch. They disappear all too soon.