The Best Thing I Ever Ate

The best thing I ever ate was a bowl of sweet potato soup at Red Fish on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  It was so good I wanted to lick the bowl... but I decided not to, being out in public and all.  I still attempted to scrape every drop out with my spoon.  This soup was so good, I can't even describe it, I can only describe how I felt when I was eating it: I never wanted to stop!  I have tried a few times to make sweet potato soup, but mine may never be as good as the soup at Red Fish.  I'm ok with that, it sounds to me like a good reason to go back to New Orleans some day!

So I've kind of been addicted to making soup lately; carrot soup (not bad), cauliflower soup (nuff said), sweet potato soup (mmmmm).  Last night I made some vegetable soup that actually turned out to be very delicious.  When I sat down to eat it, I added a little bit of chicken, which I guess made it no longer vegetable soup, but it was still good.  Chunky soup is all about the broth.  The broth has to be delicious.  Having been absorbed by the Mexican culture, of course I squeezed some lime juice over the top before eating it, and added some condiments, this time queso fresco.

VEGETABLE SOUP

1 medium onion
4 cloves of garlc
10 baby carrots
1 zucchini
1/2 of a large sweet potato (about 1 cup diced)
2 roma tomatoes
1 can of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of butter
Boiling water
Seasonings: salt, pepper, chile powder, granulated garlic, cumin, curry powder, chile con limon
Queso Fresco (crumbled or chopped) and lime for garnish

Chop all the veggies to a similar size: about 1/2 inch cubes.  Then melt the butter in a pan and add the onions and garlic.  Sprinkle the seasonings and saute for a few minutes until the onions almost start to brown.  You can tell by the way it smells, since the chile powder makes everything red.  Before it burns, add some water to the pan, about an inch.  Then you can add the chicken broth and the rest of the veggies.  Add more water so the veggies are covered, and add more of the seasonings.

Now let the veggies cook until they are soft, stir it once in a while.  You might have to add water sometimes so the veggies stay in the water.  When the veggies are soft, taste the soup, and add more seasonings!  You want this soup to have a lot of flavor!  The curry powder added a really special flavor!

Now it's ready to eat.  Garnish the soup with queso fresco and squeeze a little bit of lime juice into the soup.  Yummy!!!!  You'll be very pleased with yourself for making such a delicious soup!

Texas BBQ at Houston International

Back in the day, the airlines used to include a meal when you flew from one city to another.  If it was a really long flight, you might get a meal and a snack.  Those days are long gone!*  Now you have to pack your own lunch if you don't want to go hungry.  I usually bring a large ziplock bag filled with snacks like gummy bears, apples, mixed nuts or pistachios, energy bars, maybe some fried chicken, and a bottle of water.  You can usually buy a snack box on board, but those don't look too appetizing to me, and they're pretty over priced.

So imagine my delight when I saw a Texas BBQ stand during a layover in Houston last week on my way back from Miami!  It wasn't much of a layover, I had about 20 minutes to get from one gate to the other before they started boarding my next flight.  I was determined to find my gate, so I didn't stop at the BBQ stand when I first saw it, I just kept looking for the gate I needed to be at.  When I got there, I saw that I still had 7 minutes before they started boarding.  So, I quickly made my way back to the Texas BBQ so I could get some food to eat on the plane.  They were fast, I got some ribs and made it back to the gate just as they started boarding my flight!

I waited until we were in the air before I broke out the ribs.  Wow, what flavor!  They tasted like they had been coated in a dry rub before being cooked, and they were drenched in yummy BBQ sauce... truly finger-licking good!  The rest of the passengers just melted away as I enjoyed one rib after another, licking my fingers, sucking the bones, and everything!  Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm!!!  I would have offered my neighbors some, but they were asleep.  That's more for me!!

So don't worry!  You don't have to go hungry while you're traveling!  Pack your snacks, grab a bottle of water after going through security, and if you're passing through Houston, by all means get some BBQ ribs; you'll be more than satisfied with your lunch!


* I believe they still include a couple meals on the 12-hour overseas flights, like to Japan.  :-)

ULTIMATE!!!!!!! (and carne asada tacos...)

So, yesterday my Phoenix Spitfire ladies and I descended to The Old Pueblo (a.k.a. Tucson) to play in the Desert Sectionals Tournament, which is the first step on the road to Nationals.  Since the ladies' tournament didn't start until 4:00 p.m., Ranger and I decided to go down early and watch some of the men's tournament, since they had an earlier start time.  After watching the Phoenix men steamroll Tucson, Ranger and I made our way over to the Mexican American neighborhood of Menlo Park, where the ladies were scheduled to play.

Menlo Park itself is located adjacent to Menlo Park Elementary School and surrounded by apartments.  Our team arrived to the park and staked out a shady spot under some big trees so we could get ready to warm up for the tournament.  The Spitfire ladies were VERY excited to play!!!  Our roster was filled from top to bottom with athleticism and experience, and included a returning Joanne A., a savvy veteran with quick footspeed and solid, solid throws.

As always, our regular warmup routine was to run a lap together, and then proceed through a series of 25-yard plyometric exercises.  Only this day, we were joined by 3 neighborhood girls: 7-year-old Princess and her 9-year-old sister Jasmine, and their cousin Yesenia who turns 8 today.  They were there in the park with their family, and decided to join us for some high knees, butt kicks, lunges, skips, shuffles, and sprints.  These girls were muy adorable.  Little did we know that they would stay on our sideline for the entire tournament, cheering us on, keeping score, high-fiving the other team after each game, and playing frisbee with the Phoenix boys, who came to watch us play after their games were done.  The girls even ran home to get Erin some band-aids after she made a spectacular diving catch in the endzone for a touchdown, and scraped her knees (actually her entire front side) in the process.

When the tournament was over and it was time to go home, they hugged us and hugged us, and told us they didn't want us to leave.  Yesenia told me she was so sad she was about to cry.  I was sad to leave them too, they were really special and sweet.  I'll never forget Jasmine, Yesenia, and Princess.  They really added something special to our tournament experience!  Oh yeah, we almost won the tournament... so close!!!

Before heading back to Phoenix, we decided to have dinner at Viva Burrito around the corner at 1372 W. St. Mary's Road (http://www.vivaburritoco.net/).  This place was awesome, and very affordable.  They have a full menu of burritos, tacos, tortas, etc.  I ate 3 carne asada tacos and they were delicious!  My teammates enjoyed a variety of burritos, fish tacos, horchata, and everything was muy delicioso!  I highly recommend Viva Burrito the next time you visit The Old Pueblo.

Yesterday was a great day.

(Thank you for the pic, Lisa!)

Oh wow! Raspberries in my salad!

I didn't grow up with raspberries.  We don't have raspberry bushes in Miami, we have things like mangoes, oranges, grapefruits, bananas, stuff like that.  So it's not something that I look for when I go food shopping every week.  But it's berry season now, so you can get them for pretty cheap.  Last week they were $1 a box at Fry's, so I bought a few boxes of raspberries.  And guess what!  They're really good!  They're sweet and juicy!  I made some smoothies and ate some of them, then after a few days I decided to try some raspberries in my salad.  Oh wow, that was SO GOOD!!!  I just added them to the everyday salad that we eat here, and it was really special.

SALAD WITH RASPBERRIES


Salad - spring mix, spinach, baby lettuce, or a combination thereof, chopped slightly
Pepper jack cheese - shredded
Raspberries - about a handful per person (around 10 fat juicy berries)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Chop your salad greens up a little so they're not big pieces.  Put them in your salad bowl, or in individual salad bowls or plates.  Now place the raspberries on top of the salad greens.  Cover them with a layer of shredded pepper jack cheese.  Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Voila!  You'll really like this tasty salad.  The raspberries are like delicious little surprises!

Life and Pie

Americans are busy.  So busy.  Everyone works so hard, then we have to make sure our people are straight, cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, getting ready for the next day.  If we want to go to the gym, play sports, take a class, walk the dog, learn a language, or just meditate, good luck finding the time to squeeze these activities in!

So, what about keeping in touch with our friends?  If someone is not in our everyday life, it's hard to keep in touch with them.  I don't have the answer to this dilemma.  Facebook is great, but it's not the same as having lunch together, or meeting for drinks once in a while.  And what about those dear friends that move away.  Given our everyday demands, and the high cost of maintaining a household, not many of us have the time or the money to travel long distances to visit each other, especially when we have family far away that we must also keep in touch with.  Thank God I recently had the chance to attend my dear friend Jessica's wedding in Oregon.  The trip was sublime, the wedding was so full of love, Jessica was beautiful and so happy!

Taking turns hosting regular get-togethers is a good idea, although it still requires preparation, time and money (and may still be difficult to include our dear friends who live out of town).  A couple months ago, we had pie day at my house.  Everybody loves pie!  Alexx's key lime pie was king, so delicious!  And we did get to see some long time friends that we don't often get to talk to!  Here is the original Key Lime Pie recipe from a kitchen magnet:

KEY LIME PIE


Blend 3 egg yolks & 1 can sweetened condensed milk.  Slowly add 1/2 cup lime juice.  Pour into prepared pie shell.  Beat egg whites until stiff.  Add 4 T. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar, & 1/2 t. vanilla.  Bake at 375 degrees until brown.  Serve chilled.

Alexx opted for the whipped cream topping instead of the meringue, so he cooked the pie without the topping, then spread the cool whip over the top later.  Very yummy.

Jennifer's chocolate silk and peach raspberry pies were also amazing!

I decided to try a recipe out of Essence Magazine, Butternut Cheesecake (from Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Miami, Florida, Chef Anthony Stewart).  This pie was really smooth!  If I make it again, I would do the pie crust a little differently because it was kind of chewy, although tasty.  I would maybe try a regular graham cracker crust, or just add butter instead of the apple juice to make the corn chip crust little more crispier.  Anyways, here is another yummy pie recipe:

BUTTERNUT CHEESECAKE


2 cups corn flakes
1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 pound cream cheese*
4 ounces cottage cheese
1 package silken tofu or 1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup egg whites
1/2 cup sugar*
1/2 cup roasted butternut squash, pureed
2 tablespoons vanilla

*(the original recipe says fat-free cream cheese and Splenda)

To roast butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and membranes, and halve again.  Place wedges cut sides up in a large baking dish.  Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees until tender, about 45 minutes.  Peel and puree.

To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind corn flakes in a food processor until fine.  Combine flakes with apple juice concentrate.  Layer in bottom of 8-inch round cake pan and bake for 3 minutes to set crust.  Let cool.

To make the filling, mix cream cheese, cottage cheese and tofu in a food processor until smooth.  In a large bowl, use a spoon to combine egg whites, sugar, butternut squash and vanilla.  Combine egg white and cream cheese mixtures until smooth and pour onto crust.  Put cake pan in a larger pan.  Add enough boiling hot water to the larger pan to reach halfway up the side of the cake pan.  Bake in water bath for 30 minutes, then remove from water bath and let it cool for a little while.  Decorate with the kiwi and blackberries!

Now is a great time to make pies!  Berries are in season and very affordable right now.  Lisa M. recently shared a pie with us that she made out of blackberries she picked herself!!!  In Oregon the berry bushes were full of fruit you could just go pick and eat!  Wow!  And remember, it's not just dessert, it's also a serving of fruit.   :-)

Oregon and the best omelet ever!

So, we just got back from spending a few days in Oregon, and it was spectacular!  If you ever get a chance to go to Mt. Hood and Hood River, you should go, it is incredibly beautiful.  It's breathtaking.

We stayed in Hood River at the Vineyard View Bed and Breakfast on Post Canyon Road.  Hanging out in Hood River is like working out.  Everywhere you go, you have to hike up a hill to get to the next block!  Going to the bar was like a warmup for the next day when we hiked on Mt. Hood.

There are quite a few wineries in the Hood River area, including right next door to the bed and breakfast.  Our host and owner, Dave, grows grapes for the winery next door.  So there really is a view of the vineyards right outside your window!

And let me tell you, this guy can cook!  He definitely takes the "breakfast" part of bed and breakfast seriously.  Actually, everything about Vineyard View Bed and Breakfast was on point.  It is beautiful and well-maintained.  The home is set in the middle of the vineyards, with gardens and beautiful flowers surrounding the house.  They also have a large vegetable garden right next to the grape vines.

Dave has the hook up for fresh fish.  One of his buddies had gone fishing near a snow glacier and caught several VERY LARGE rainbow trout.  They were packed in snow from the glacier!  Dave cooked them on the grill with just butter and onions and little lemon and WOW!!!

He also has a connection with some of the local Native Americans who have fishing rights on the Columbia River.  They catch salmon and smoke them the traditional way, then they come around and sell the smoked salmon to Dave.  It was delicious!!

Dave makes a smoked salmon omelet that is probably one of the greatest omelets I've ever had.  He sauteed some zucchini, yellow squash, and onion in butter.  Then he diced up the salmon into little cubes.  The sauteed veggies and salmon go inside the omelet along with some cream cheese and a little bit of cheddar cheese.  The egg was cooked perfectly, not brown at all!  This omelet was awesome!

This is also the season for fresh berries to grow in Oregon.  It's a good time to visit if you like fruit!

So, wine, food, spectacular scenery, hiking, and really freindly people... Oregon is pretty amazing!  I've heard that in another part of the year it gets pretty cold.  So you should probably go visit Oregon NOW!!!

For Chocolate Lovers Only

Ganache is the super smooth, super chocolaty glaze that is sometimes used to cover cakes, ice brownies, or even as the filling for chocolate truffles. Chocolate eclairs are also generally topped with ganache.  A staple of the pastry world, ganache is actually really easy to make.

Ganache is made by boiling heavy cream and adding it to semisweet chocolate.  The cream melts the chocolate into creamy chocolaty goodness.  It will be warm when you first make it, because the cream was boiling hot.  It will also be pourable and spreadable.  As the ganache cools, it also thickens up, so that you can't pour it or spread it on a cake (but you can, however, form it into truffles when it's cool).  Simple warm it up again like in a double boiler or even the microwave briefly, it will regain it's pourable quality.

GANACHE

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 bag)
12 oz. heavy cream (1 and 1/2 cups)
honey - optional

Put the chocolate chips in a bowl.  Boil the heavy cream and add it to the chocolate chips.  Slowly stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes very smooth.  That's basically it.  You can probably make a thicker ganache by using a little less of the cream, like 1 or 1 and 1/4 cup, but this recipe will make it very pourable.  You can add a little bit of honey to make it shiny, that is optional.

TO FROST A CAKE:

Get the cake ready for the frosting.  Make sure the top layer is smooth and flat.  Pour the ganache over the cake, then use an offset spatula to spread the ganache towards the edges of the cake.  It will drip over the sides, and that's how the sides get frosted.  Don't overwork the ganache.  If it is still warm when you stop spreading it, it will smooth itself out.

TO MAKE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES:

Wait until the ganache is fully cooled.  If you know you want to make truffles, maybe you can use the lesser of the heavy cream to make it thicker.  Use a little scoop or a small spoon to scoop the ganache, and form round balls of ganache about 3/4 inch in size.  Make sure they stay cool after they are formed.  (We made truffles last summer in Miami, and it was so warm that day, the truffles started to lose their round shape... they were still delicious).  Now melt some chocolate in a double boiler, either milk chocolate or semi-sweet.  When the chocolate is melted, dip the round balls of ganache into the chocolate to coat them, and set them on a parchment or wax paper to cool.  You can decorate the truffles with cocoa powder, melted white chocolate that you drip across to form white lines, or you can decorate the dark chocolate with milk chocolate stripes, and the milk chocolate with dark chocolate stripes.  Use your imagination!

To make the chocolate lines, put the melted white or brown chocolate in a plastic baggie, then make a tiny hole in the corner of the bag.  Squeeze the melted chocolate out through that little hole, and you can either use the tip of the baggie like a pen to draw chocolaty designs, or you can hold the baggie up higher, and squeeze lines of chocolate across the truffles.   Enjoy!!!!!