Another day, another Pimm’s Cup

The summer heat has kicked in, which means it’s time for summer cocktails and lighter libations.

Lately I’ve been all about Pimm’s Cups, a tasty summery drink from across the pond made with Pimm’s #1 – an herbal spirit that balances the notes of the citrus, cucumber, gin, and ginger ale mixed in it.  I think it’s the perfect use for those cool, crispy cucumbers from the farmer’s market (or a generous neighbor!).  It’s also a natural fit for the small batch gin heyday we’re having right now.  When I was in New Orleans this past March, even the diviest of bars had the fresh ingredients on hand to make that perfect cocktail (oh NOLA, how you are missed).

Like most cocktails, there are a variety of ways you can make it.  I think the most traditional one includes muddled cucumber and Beefeater’s Gin, and bitter lemon or ginger beer.  I love a little extra cucumber, Hendrick’s Gin, and Seagram’s ginger ale.

Cheers!

The Trader Joe’s Whore

I can’t tell you how dangerous it is for me to go into Trader Joe’s. I know it’s definitely a love/hate place for folks, but I have found some sinfully yummy things that just can’t be beaten in taste and price from other places. Plus, it’s really my only splurge in the pre-packaged food area. We do eat pretty healthily, but it’s nice to indulge in laziness every once in a while.

0% Fat Greek Yogurt: tastes just like Fage, comes in yummy pomegranate and blueberry, and 1/2 the price.

Chicken Tikka Masala: It’s kind of hard to believe this is frozen. The only Indian that I’ve have (pre-made) that resembles… um, Indian.

Blueberry & Peach Panna Cotta: I kind of wish I never found this because it’s so damn dangerous. I’ve had plenty of panna cotta from high-falutin’ restaurants in my day, and this one certainly beats some of the best. And all you have to do is defrost. I know. Go get like 12 now.

Highbrow Chocolate Chip Cookies: Finally a cookie in a box that makes it pointless for me to bake. Seriously buttery, salty, sweet yumminess.

RCTJWF (varies) & Reggiano Lambrusco wines (+ the infamous Two-Buck Chuck in Shiraz).

Hello, Summer

It got hot.  Fast.  The city is sweltering, the smog hovers above, and we’re all gross and sticky.  Luckily we have a few sweet treats around intown to cool ourselves off with:

First is the King of Pops.  Steven Carse’s mobile popsicle unit at N. Highland and North Ave. (in the Buddy’s lot) is a lifesaver on sweltering days (and often a pit-stop for me and the girl on our way home from daycare).  With exotic flavors like Blueberry Lemongrass or Honeydew Lime Zest, it’s a sure pick-me-up when you’re sticking to your leather interior.

Another popular spot is Orleagian Snowballs at Moreland & Ponce.   Who doesn’t love sweet, fluffy shaved ice on a hot summer day?  Yummy flavors like Blackberry and Raspberry combine for a sweet treat (even sweeter is the surprise gummy bear!).

Last is something that you don’t need to leave home for (well, at least you can pick it up in the grocery aisle) – a good ol’ pint of ice cream.  But thankfully this isn’t any old ice cream – Haagen-Dazs Five ice creams are all natural with only five ingredients.  My personal favorite is Passion Fruit.  It’s tangy and creamy at the same time, with the fresh taste of tart passion fruit shining through.  With new flavors like lemon and strawberry coming out, I’ll be happy to cool off with a spoon inside where the AC is kicking.

Oh hai

I know, I know, it’s been too long.  But life with a 4 month old doesn’t particularly lend itself to blogging quite often, you know?

I do have a bunch of things to share, but let me show you a little slice of heaven that was had last night:

Mmm hmmm….

A bunch of us went to Anis for the lovely Hakeber’s birthday celebration, and in turn I was introduced to the best moules frites I’ve ever tasted.  Kudos to knowing the chef, too, as we were treated with sinfully yummy desserts and even more champagne that I had already indulged in.  Hey, mommies need nights out, too!

Feast of the Seven Five Fishes

For Christmas eve this year, we made the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.  Well, we had at least 5 types of seafood, but there was no way we could have 7 courses of food for just the 2.5 of us!  We braved the craziness at YDFM for our seafood goodies today (holy moly, it was like the freaking apocalypse there).

To start, we made Rao’s famous Seafood Salad. Gorgeous, light, and delicious!

Next, some delicious clams in broth to be sopped up with crusty bread.  Super easy and oh so yum…

In addition, I made my easy-peasy version of shrimp scampi over angel hair.  We eat it pretty regularly, but it’s too good not to include.

A shot of my not-boozy cocktail.  It’s a sparkling pear juice, and it’s surprisingly good and available at your local IKEA.  Yeah, yeah, but it’s all I’ve got until this baby shows up!

And tomorrow, we get to indulge in even more Italian goodies over at the in-laws.  Mangia and Merry Christmas!

Broccoli Soup

I had been craving a good broccoli soup ever since having a divine bowl at Olive Bistro last weekend.  It was just perfect, honest to goodness vegetable soup without heavy cream and the perfect amount of garlic and lemon.

I aimed to make it this weekend, but still couldn’t find the right recipe.  After countless searches, it seems the general public likes their broccoli with a shit ton of dairy and cheese… ugh.  After all that added in, how can you even taste the broccoli?

I ended up trying a super simple recipe from Food Network (I figured the more simple, the less gunk).  There’s only a half-cup of cream and no cheese, plus I tweaked it a little with some garlic and lemon.  It turned out great, but not perfect, so I’m still on the search for the right one (and another excuse to use my immersion blender!).

Broccoli Soup (adapted from The Neelys)

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Dash garlic powder (to taste)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup cream
Juice of 1 lemon

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.

Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Pour in cream. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and then replace the lid back on the pot. Serve hot with bread or croutons.

Cravings

Cravings

People keep asking me if I’m having any weird cravings. No, just fruit. All the time, any kind, nonstop. The lunatic roaming all the fruit aisles at YDFM? Me.

This kid is a total fruit whore.

Delicious Dal

I used to really dislike Indian foods, but it was only because I hadn’t really had anything good to start with. Moving to Atlanta changed that, as there’s a pretty good sized population here and a plethora of choices in nearby Decatur. After having a version of this at a local Bangladeshi restaurant, I knew I wanted to make my own.

There are a lot of masoor dal (red lentil) soup recipes out there, but I’ve adapted this one to use the Turkish brown lentils that I buy in bulk from the farmer’s market, along with subs for fresh ingredients in case I haven’t made it to the store. With this recipe, I always have the ingredients on hand to make a delicious hearty meal in a pinch.

Dal Soup
(recipe adjusted from Renjna’s Masoor Dal soup recipe)

• 2 cups dried whole Masoor dal or other lentils (I use whole brown Turkish lentils instead of masoor)
• water to cover
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (you can remove seeds if too spicy, or sub 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalepenos)
• 3 tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 cups vegetable stock (I use Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Vegetable base)
• juice of 1/2 fresh lime (or 1 tbsp. of lazy lime)
• additional salt to taste



Sort and wash the dal until the water runs clear. Place the dal in a soup pot and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Add the turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, until the dal is soft and beginning to fall apart. Once dal gets very thick, add the vegetable stock and lime juice.



Heat the oil in a frying pan. Mince the garlic, coarsely chop the jalapenos (remove the seeds if you don’t want the dal to be very hot). Add the garlic and jalapenos to the oil, along with the cumin, garam masala and salt. Saute for a few minutes, until the garlic begins to brown. Add this mixture to the dal. Mix well (you may need to add a little dal to the frying pan and pour this back into the pot to get all the spices out of the pan). Simmer for another 20 minutes or so to blend all the flavors well. Adjust salt, if desired.

Serve hot with toasted nan on the side.

Magnets rule

I have purchased about 3 of these easy magnetic strips (from Paper Source) for the office, work, and home. They have short and longer versions, and they basically have double-sided tape and stick to any surface, anywhere. So much nicer than a bunch of post-it notes!

This week I finally realized that I needed one for the kitchen. We have a very nice fancy cookbook stand that folds up for storage, but this is the perfect solution for holding up recipes that I’ve clipped or printed out. And no more food splatters on my recipes!

Denied. Again.

The moons must be aligned just.so. because in 2 days, I’ve managed to be denied.

Yesterday Mr. and Mrs. P’body, the Mr., Dave, and myself were going to do a Junior’s reunion of sorts after work. There we were, getting ready to grab our baskets and wave chicken tenders in the air, until we found out that Junior’s closes after lunch because of summer hours. Yeah, the Tech grads and Tech employee didn’t remember that. Doh! It was fine, though, and we continued our fest over at (where else) Rocky Mountain, where we had buffalo pizza and electric blue colored shots before throngs of undergrads swarmed the place. We had grand plans of hitting the Highlander afterward, but grease + beers + colored shots in plastic cups did me in, and I was the sensible adult who went home and packed for her flight. Whose old?!

Today we wanted to have our last cuban with Kool Korner, only to realize that the previous sign saying that it was staying open until July 31st no longer applied. SIGH. We then had a memorial lunch of fried chicken and cornbread at Bobby & June’s.

I hope they don’t plan on going anywhere, either.