Zest!

I've driven past Zest many times on my way to Locally Grown Gardens, which I blogged about in March. Today my husband Brian actually suggested we go there. The shocking part is not that he suggested going to Zest, but that he actually suggested a restaurant.

Zest is located at 1134 E 54th Street. They have a large outdoor seating area, and a surprisingly large indoor seating area. The decor is warm with original art on the walls. The inside tables were clothed in paper and crayons were at each table. The little kid in me adores being entertained by drawing on my table while I wait for my food. The menu was pretty normal sized and you could get breakfast all day, which is very exciting to me. I was there around 11:00am on a Sunday, so while I didn't get any alcohol, I did look at the menu. The beer list looked great, and featured many local brews, which you know I love. Zest seems to embrace a community partnership, what with serving local beers and having local artist's creations on the wall. It just shows why eating local and independent is so important- you aren't just supporting the restaurant, but also every local business that restaurant utilizes. Oops! Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now!

I looked over the menu and I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat, everything sounds so good. I finally decided on a half order of biscuits and gravy and coffee to drink. I ordered it because in the menu, it said that many people claim that these biscuits and gravy were the best they'd ever tried. I'm a sucker for the idea that this might be The Best, the culmination of everything that is good about biscuits and gravy, so I had to try it. My husband decided on the creme brulee french toast and a side of eggs. I realize this is a matter of preference, but my coffee was entirely too dark. I think it was called El Dorado or something equally earthy and black, but gah, it tasted like sucking on coffee grounds. I know plenty of people who prefer a rich Black Thunder or some such pornographic sounding nonsense, but I like light roast coffee. Something with the description of 'sparkling' or 'bright'. I used two whole little cream pitchers to get it to a nice cafe au lait color and it STILL tasted bitter to me. I mean, I drank it, but yi yi yi, I thought my tongue would grow fur.

I had a mental imagine of what our food would look like, as I'm sure you do. I thought my biscuits and gravy would look like an opened halved biscuit with some white gravy poured over it with brown crumbles of sausage. I thought my husband's french toast would be a couple slices of bread soaked in an egg mixture and cooked with some syrup over top. WRONG! Zest's full name is Zest! Exciting Food Creations, and they live up to the name. My biscuits and gravy were in a bowl and the gravy was orange. I thought they might have melted cheddar in it, but once I tasted it I realized it must be orange from the seasoning in the sausage. My husband's french toast was more like a bread pudding or a french toast casserole; squares of custard with chunks of bread suspended in it. Both were very good. I could tell that my gravy was freshly made, and the sausage was high quality-not scary hot dog meat reject meat. It was savory and filling and comforting. But I've got to tell you, it wasn't the best I've ever had. The best I've ever had is at Ollie's, which is a bar located at St. Clair and Illinois. Now, granted, I only get these when I've been drinking so perhaps their ridiculously strong drinks add to the otherworldly amazingness of those sublime biscuits and gravy, but people, they are the shit, the shiznit, boss, and the cat's pajama's all in one. I could go on and on, but this entry is about Zest. My husband's french toast was amazing. It was beyond rich. It tasted like it was probably around 1000 calories per square, and he got two with his full order, creamy, silky, pillowy, sweet but not too sweet, with hits of vanilla and carmel. The only problem was that it was a lot like a very rich dessert. Now kids, I am not against dessert for breakfast. Is there anything better than pie before 10:00am? No, I think not. And what are toaster strudels or pop tarts if not desserts for breakfast? It was just a tad rich as a main course, that's all I'm saying. It is also featured on their dessert menu, which I think is the perfect place for it.

I plan on returning to Zest. They have many very creative sounding meals that I'm interested in trying. Get to Zest for food that thinks outside of the box.

Roast Bird

A few weeks ago I wrote about making your own chicken stock. Well, an integral part of making your own chicken stock is having the chicken bones to begin with. That brings me to roast chicken. I do so love roast chicken. I admit, I used to be a boneless-skinless chicken breast girl until I got a taste of crispy, salty, yummy chicken skin. Yoza that's good stuff. The best way to get quality chicken skin is to roast up a whole chicken. It's pretty darn easy as long as you have one very special piece of equipment...a thermometer. You can't do it without one. Sorry. Oh, I realize in the olden days they used to roast up chickens and they didn't have thermometers, but let me remind me that the average age of death was 42, and that was probably due to salmonella. They also used to use leaches to suck the poison from the blood, how crazy were those...oh wait, we still sometimes use leaches? Never mind... ANYWHO, if you have the thermometer, you are set! You don't even need a roasting pan. Crazy? No! I'll show you how.

1 roaster chicken

1 stick of butter at room temperature

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 small handful of fresh herbs chopped OR a couple teaspoons of dried herbs-I really like thyme and rosemary, but sage, parsley, or many others would be good too.

a roasting pan OR an 8X11 cake pan-if you are using a cake pan, you will also need a couple carrots, some onions, apples or other random hard veggies to line the bottom of the pan

First, dethaw your chicken fully. I use roaster chickens because they are the exact right size for roasting, hence the name. This process of dethawing takes FOREVER. Either stick the bird in the refrigerator DAYS before you want to cook it, or put the bird in a bowl and stick under a trickle of water for a couple hours. Then allow the bird to dry on some towels. (Remember to wash the towels. You don't want to be patting your hair dry and realize you have chicken hair. Nobody likes chicken hair.) Make sure there are no random chicken parts still inside the chicken. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Next make your butters. Yes, butters, as in plural. I know, right?! Anything with two types of butters has got to be good! Cut the stick 'o butter in half, and put each half into a small bowl. In one bowl add your garlic and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. In the other bowl add the chopped up herbs and no salt and pepper.

If you are using your roasting pan, stick the bird on the rack in the pan. The whole point of a roasting pan is to keep the bird out of it's own juices so the skin can get crispy and golden. So if you are using a cake pan, your job is to arrange the veggies in a kind of bed so the bird will stay pretty dry on the veggies and the juices will flow down to the bottom of the pan.

Next, use your fingers to get in between the skin and the meat of the bird and loosen it up. Do this all over the bird and then grab your garlic butter and start cramming great wads of it into those pockets that you made. How ingenious is that? Butter UNDER the skin?! The skin will keep the butter on the meat, making sure all of the goodness is absorbed as much as possible. It won't matter if this is pretty or not, just cram in it in and smoosh it around until the butter is even. Then take your herb butter and give the outside of the bird a nice little massage. Oh yeeeaaaaah, rub it down, both sides, top and bottom. If your bird isn't dry, the butter won't stick. After the bird is evenly coated, give it a hit of salt and pepper all over.

Place the bird in the middle of the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip the bird over and cook for 15 minutes for. After the next 15 minutes, drop the oven temperature down to 375 degrees, and set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, flip the bird back over and cook until the internal temperature of the meat is at least 170 degrees. This will take at least 30 minutes more, if not 50 minutes or more. Make sure you take the temp. of the bird in both the breast and the thigh in the middle of the meat. The skin should be dark golden brown and delicious. Let the bird rest for 10 minutes or so before serving.

I usually serve this with the homestyle basics, mashed 'taters and boiled carrots, and an apple pie for dessert. When you cut into the chicken, you will find little islands of garlic from the garlic butter, it's like finding the prize in the bottom of the Cracker Jacks again and again! So yummy.

Save those bones for stock by sticking them in a freezer bag and freezing until you are ready to make it.

Oh MAMA! Carolla's, that is.

I have no idea why it took so long for me to get to Mama Carolla's. I've heard good things, smelled good things, and thought about it dozens of times, but last Saturday it finally came to be. This will not be the last time that Mama and I make a night of it. First, I love the building. It's all stucco, ivy, and cast iron. The inside is lovely with exposed wooden beams and wooden floors. There is a large patio on the outside, but my husband and I sat inside.

My husband and I arrived around 7:30pm on a Saturday and were seated immediately. You get bread and olive oil on your table. I always think bread and olive oil makes appetizers arbitrary. Besides, is there anything better in this world than fresh bread dipped into olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper? I have to be careful not to eat the entire loaf and ruin my appetite for dinner. To drink we ordered a bottle of wine: Principessa Gavia Gavi. The Gavi grape is super fragrant, full of flowers and fruits and the flavor is fruity and crisp. It's a really nice alternative to pinot grigio. My husband ordered the chicken rigatoni and I ordered the pasta carbonara. I got a bowl of the soup de jour- Italian wedding soup, and my husband ordered the Caesar salad.

The bread was good-a crusty white bread. I guess I would have liked a bread with a twist-maybe a nice rustic wheat or rosemary or something- a little better, but it was darn good. My soup was savory and comforting but the real star of the first course was the Caesar salad. Oh. My. God. So creamy, decedent, perfect. It might have been the best Caesar salad I have ever gotten a few bites of. Brian was hovering over his salad like our dog Honey with her bone. Grrrrrrr, snarl! I'm lucky I didn't get a fork in the back of my hand as I reached across the table to snag a bit while he was checking out our waitress. No wonder women are evolutionarily superior. I'm sure back when we were developing our brains some woman got a couple extra bites of the protein because the guy was checking out the brow ridges of the neanderthal next door.

Then the main courses came out. You know it's good when both of us take a bite, close our eyes, and moan. My carbonara was super thick, creamy, and decedent. It's an egg-cream sauce made with prosciutto, peas, and mushrooms. Basically it's a savory custard. I'm salivating right now as I write, it was so good. Brian's pasta was big thick rigatoni with lightly battered chicken chunks in a thin spicy white wine prosciutto sauce. He was in heaven. I was in heaven. The wine went very well with both of our meals as well. You'd think we planned it instead of just ordering whatever wine sounded good on the menu. There was very little talking during the meal, just chewing and sighing. I took half of my pasta home, but my husband finished his. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when my coworkers ask what I have for lunch. "Oh, just a little pasta carbonara from Mama Carolla's...". HA! IN YOUR FACE!

The waitress asked The Big Question, "Did you save room for dessert?". No, but we want some anyway. We split the tiramisu, and I felt like it was everything tiramisu is supposed to be. There is the creamy mascarpone cheese, and the bite of the alcohol soaked lady-fingers. From beginning to end, this was a wonderful meal. The prices are pretty reasonable. This isn't a cheap night out, but the prices are only a buck or two more than Olive Garden, but comparing the difference in taste and overall experience is like comparing Dollywood to the Steppenwolf theatre. The wine was only $27 for the bottle, which is pretty darn reasonable for a bottle you would pay $14.00 for in a store.

This is a super versatile restaurant. This would be a fantastic romantic dinner for two, but the food is accesible enough to take the in-laws when they are in town. Who doesn't love pasta? I mean, really.

Check out Mama's, you'll be so glad you did. It's located at 1031 E. 54th Street (it's between Keystone and College).

You can pull my pork any day...

Ah, summer. When summer hits suddenly I stop making soups and start tossing salads, but the way you really know if it's summer is if I start making pulled pork. I realize this may be a perfectly acceptable winter meal, but to me it hints at being outdoors, OFF bug spray, and Corona Light. I only drink Corona Light in the summer. Pulled pork, how do I love thee, let me count the ways. Way one, I use the crockpot. Crockpot cooking is the best kind of cheating...feeling like you cheated but didn't actually cheat. It's like in 7th grade Mrs. Phipps class during spelling tests. I would write the words really lightly on my desk in pencil but in my cheating anxiety I forever imprinted the way to spell these words in my mind and I never had to reference my desk. Crockpot cooking feels like getting food delivered because it's all ready when you get home from work, but really it was working while you worked. Like RonCo. says "set it and forget it!".

2.5-3 pounds Boston butt pork

2 bottles Corona Light

2 jalapenos

1 large onion

1 18 oz. bottle Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce

Slice the onions and halve the jalapenos and discard the seeds. Add all of the ingredients except the BBQ sauce into the crockpot. If you are cooking it for 5-6 hours, set the pot on high. If you are cooking it for 7+ hours, set it on low. My crockpot only has high or low. After the cooking time, and if the pork is cooked all of the way through and is falling off the bone, then comes the only real work associated with this meal. You have to fork your pork. No, that wasn't a typo. You have to chunk up the pork and then shred it, and the easiest way to do this is by pulling the pork in two different directions with two forks until it's in little shreds. This is the 'pulled' part of 'pulled pork'. Combine the shredded pork and the onions from the crockpot in a bowl and douse liberally with your favorite BBQ sauce and mix to combine. Discard the cooking liquid and the jalapenos.

"But Linda, you proclaim to be a kitchen diva, with a proclivity in all things culinary! Why aren't you making your own BBQ sauce?"

Um. Because I don't wanna. I like the texture of bottled BBQ, which I am sure is some sort of processed corn product like xathan gum, which goes against my entire food philosophy, but sometimes a girl just has to open a bottle of BBQ if you know what I mean. Anyway, I haven't found a homemade recipe for BBQ that satisfies that finger-lickin' backyard cookout taste that I want from a sauce. Plus, this sauce is the boss! The label doesn't lie! This is delicious stuff and entirely worthy of a place in my pantry.

How do I like my BBQed pulled pork? I like it on a good wheat kaiser roll, topped with cold slaw and dill pickle potato chips. Oh yeahhhhhhhh.

Oh, and if you are wondering why I don't have a picture of my pulled pork, it's because everyone ATE it before I could get my camera out. I can assure you that my pulled pork looks exactly like everyone else's: brownish-red shredded pieces of meat. Here's a picture, and it looks pretty much like mine. Only mine's better.

The wisdom of strawberries

You cannot fool a strawberry. You can try to grow strawberries in greenhouses, or ship them in from Argentina with special chemical or fume baths in order to make them look red, but they are never fooled and don't taste very good. You can fool me. I broke down a few weeks ago and purchased a plastic clam shell full of bright red and perfectly formed strawberries, but the insides were pale and hard and they tasted like...duh...an unripe strawberry.

It's like girl scout cookies. You can only get them at a certain time of the year. In my opinion, it makes the cookies taste all the better. Mmmm...thin mints... Sorry, I got a little preoccupied, but I'm back now. Where was I? Oh yeah, and because you can only get them at a certain time of year, it makes it all the more special.

I also think this is why many people claim to dislike vegetables and/or fruits. Most people are now used to getting the sad, out of season, sterile version of oranges, tomatoes, and grapes and have no idea how good these things can be. When is the last time you ate a pear that was so juicy you had to stand over the kitchen sink? Because my friends, lest ye forget, pears are supposed to be juicy. That's why the Jelly Belly pear jelly bean is called 'juicy pear' not 'rock hard dry mealy pear'. Have you ever stopped to think how weird it is that the produce section in grocery stores doesn't have a scent? All of those fresh fruits and veggies packed in one location and you can't smell anything. WEIRD! You practically have to shove a pineapple up against your nose to get the tiniest wiff of it. Why? Because unripe foods don't smell strongly.

So what to do? I'm so glad you asked! First, resign yourself to food seasons. Eat strawberries during strawberry season (which incidentally is late spring-early summer in the Midwest). If you must have strawberries during the off season, think ahead and freeze them. No, they won't be perfect, but still much more flavorful than your January grocery store strawberries. Second, shop for produce at farmer's markets. Why? Because some grocery stores will still get strawberries from South God-Knows-Where even when it's strawberry season in their region because it's easier to get the product from one place year around rather than switch it up. So even though it's June, you can still get crappity crap strawberries from your local Megamart, but you will get the sweetest, juiciest, most luscious little red gems of pure sunshiney strawberry goodness from the farmer's market. I'm talking little fruits so fantastic that they will stain your fingertips red and you will have to make slurping noises while you eat to keep the juice in your mouth.

Did you know that ripe strawberries don't need to be dipped in sugar to be good? It's true! Even if you have a raging hard-on for sweets, they are so naturally sweet that sugar is unnecessary. Studies show that 8 out of 10 people prefer ripe strawberries to Dairy Queen softserve icecream. Okay. I just made that up, but I bet it's true!

"But Liiiiiiiiiiinnnnnda!" You whine, "I want to have strawberries year around! I don't want to have to waaaaiiiiiiiit". Well, says I, you can have strawberries year around but they will suck. And you can't have good strawberries year around. You just can't. Why? Because you can't fool a strawberry. You can't make it believe it's June when it's January. You can't make it believe it's ripe when it was picked when it was green. You can't. Sorry. Alton Brown has some ideas on how to best freeze our berry friends that I will try this year. I'll let you know how it goes. Here is the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/frozen-strawberries-recipe2/index.html if you want to try it yourself. I say instead of lamenting our lack of power over Mother Nature, let's celebrate it! Let's get excited about our food instead of taking it for granted! Let's look forward to garden-fresh-never-been-refrigerated tomatoes and let's savor blueberries that were picked yesterday! Have a blueberry party in July and serve blueberry martinis, BBQ ribs with blueberry BBQ sauce (so FREAKIN' good people! A hint of blueberry in the BBQ...mmmmmm) and have cheesecake with blueberry compote topping!

YES! I raise my blueberry martini to anticipation instead of instant gratification that's not really even gratifying. Oh sure, it seems like a good idea at the time. It's like going to the Vogue and having a disappointing one night stand. Oh, maybe it was okay at the time, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as you thought it would be and it leaves you feeling vaguely uneasy. Don't waste your time, money, and culinary effort of the substandard I say. In the bedroom and the kitchen, only have the good stuff.

A 2 Z Cafe

Today was one of those days. You know what I'm talking about, one of those days with the dreaded conversation. It goes a little something like this:

Me: "What do you want to do for lunch?"

Him: "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Me: "Um. Not sure. You craving anything?"

Him: "No. You?"

Me: "No. Any ideas?"

Him: "Not really. You?"

Me: "Not really."

I swear I lose at least 20 minutes off my life every time we have one of those conversations. So we get into the car and drive. This time I'm driving, so of course it kind of comes down to me to make the decision because I'm steering the large metal box on wheels. So I randomly drive and I'm thinking to myself, 'I'd like somewhere with comfortable chairs. I'd kind of like coffee. Brian wants lunch and I kind of want breakfast. I like independent restaurants, not chains, but not too busy. I DON'T KNOW....OH GOD WE ARE NEVER GOING TO EAT AND I'M GOING TO DIE OF STARVATION BECAUSE ALL WE SAY TO EACH OTHER IS "I DON'T KNOW, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" AHHHHHH!' My mental breakdown was interrupted because I saw a man standing on the side of the road saying 'A2Z cafe is open for breakfast'. Huh. I've never been to A2Z Cafe, but God has spoken in those mysterious ways she has.

God is wise, my friends. This is a little place located at 4705 E. 96th Street Indianapolis. It's between Keystone and Allisonville on 96th street. It fit every single desire in my little heart. Comfortable seats, coffee, lunch or breakfast, independent, and not too busy. We waited for a table for about 5 minutes. YAY! I had french toast, eggs, and fruit. My husband had the steak and eggs skillet (he changed his mind about wanting lunch). The french toast was wonderful, made from Cinnamon swirl bread, but my favorite part was the fruit. It had mango, (yes mango!) pineapple, strawberries, grapes, and peaches. I love it! Why should something so lovely as a side of fruit be degraded into that sad, too-cold-and-kinda-slimy melon mess? The steak and eggs skillet was also really good, with rich savory flavors; a very manly meal. I am sure he will use this man fuel to do manly things, such as cleaning the gutters or stand around and stare at an engine of a car and make thoughtful noises in the back of his throat. The prices were reasonable. We got out of there for $25.00, including tip!

The decor is bright and cheerful with wooden accents. The place is small and the staff was fine. Our server didn't shine, but the food was there and she checked on us frequently.

I am very interested in returning for lunch or dinner. They have a hazelnut goat cheese salad that sounds fantastic. All and all, A2Z Cafe saved the day...literally. No, you pick the restaurant. NO, you pick the restaurant. No, YOU pick the restaurant...Until I'm texting one of my friends to ask if she can be my alibi for today and if she knows how deep a hole needs to be in order to keep the wild dogs from digging it up. But then I realize, duh, I sent the text message and any CSI worth their salt will certainly check the phone records and find the evidence of my plot! Note to self: have a standing arrangement with a friend on alibi. Thanks A2Z for keeping me out of jail.

Great(er) Tuna

Is there anything more ego boosting than creating your own recipe? My ego is filling the kitchen right now. Today I cooked Asian Spiced Tuna with lime-cilantro rice and browned butter cauliflower. Okay, I’ll admit it; the brown butter cauliflower came from Chef Regina Mehallick at R Bistro. The rest is mine! The recipe (this is for 2-3 people) is as follows:

Tuna:
1.5 lbs tuna steak(s)
1/3 cup soy sauce
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch red pepper flake
½ teaspoon ground ginger (fresh grated ginger would probably be better, but I didn’t have it on hand. Use about a ½ inch if you’ve got it.)
A splash of sesame seed oil
3 cloves garlic minced

Lime-Cilantro Rice
1 cup rice (I use sushi or sweet rice)
½ cup chopped cilantro
Juice of a lime
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown Butter Cauliflower
1/3 of one of those packaged heads of Cauliflower
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper

Throw all of tuna ingredients into a plastic baggie so tuna can marinate at least 30 minutes and up to an hour and a half. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Separate the cauliflower into fork sized pieces. Put the butter into a small sauce pan and cook until takes on a light brown color and/or smells nutty. Toss the butter with the cauliflower, salt and pepper and spread over a sheet pan. Bake 30 minutes or until tips are golden brown. Cook rice according to directions. When rice is cooked, add cilantro, lime, garlic, salt and pepper and stir to distribute evenly. Heat grill pan or skillet to medium high and when hot, cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until dark brown. The goal is for the tuna to be medium rare to medium. Simmer the marinade for a few minutes just to make sure it is safe to use as a dipping sauce.
So delish! Fish is intimidating to many a cook, but I’ve got to tell you, tuna steak is easier to cook than chicken. It cooks fast though, and the sugars in the marinade will burn if you heat the pan too hot, so no wandering off to watch a Scrubs rerun while cooking. It seems like a fancy meal, but while the cauliflower is baking and the rice is cooking, you park your tush on the couch and laugh as Dr. Cox serves up yet another example of how a 2 syllable word can be made into a 7 syllable word. Then when you serve the meal, you can recount how you spent hours in the kitchen slaving over dinner, and you can make someone else clean the kitchen because, gosh, you’re just exhausted.
Serve this is a glass of pinot grigio…so perfect!