Posts filed under 'Travel Food'
Brian Yarvin set out on a quest to compile 100 dumpling recipes from around the globe. I wish I had this book during Chinese New Year. From reading his book and making the Turkish manti, I have discovered that it really pays off to make the dough fresh. You can use the wrappers from the store, but if you are going to take the time to fill them, which is where the time is really taken up, then you might as well make the dough.
A wonderful book, A World of Dumplings offers many different ways to make them. I chose to make the manti because my husband and I traveled in Turkey on our honeymoon. Eating manti was a whole new thing for us. Essentially a Turkish ravioli served with a creamy yogurt sauce, manti was unlike anything I had ever had before and I was instantly in love! It is important to use a very high quality yogurt, like the Traders Point Creamery yogurt I wrote about in for the panna cotta a few weeks ago.
These dumplings were incredibly easy to make and so tasty. I took a few liberties with Yarvin’s recipe. In Turkey, our Manti were made with ground lamb and had some dried mint. I liked Yarvin’s yogurt sauce much better than the sauce we had in Turkey, but changed the procedure a bit. His addition of aleppo pepper which originates from Syria and has a fruity taste with mild heat, and the sumac (one of my favorites) provides a nice lemony flavor and turns the sauce a great color. I will use the sauce on lamb kabobs in the future, it is that good. I don’t have a pasta machine so my manti were a little thick but still yummy. You can assemble the manti a day ahead and keep refrigerated.
Turkish Manti with Brocoli Rabe, adapted from A World of Dumplings
For the Sauce
2 cups plain yogurt (I used Traders Point Creamery)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground aleppo pepper (paprika will also work but the aleppo is really a nice touch)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. ground sumac
Place the yogurt in a glass bowl, add the garlic and salt and stir to combine. Allow to sit while making the manti. Once manti are cooking, finish the sauce by heating the olive oil in a small skillet. Add the aleppo and sumac and allow to cook for a minute or two, Remove from heat. Once it is slightly cool, whisk it into the yogurt (which should be at room temperature). The sauce will take on a nice pinkish color.
For the Dough
2 cups of flour, plus a little more for rolling
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup water
Place the flour in a bowl and add the salt and egg. Pour in the water and with a wooden spoon, bring the dough together. With your hands, knead the dough lightly and then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the Filling
1/2 cup grated onion (about 1 small onion)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 lb ground lamb
large pinch of dried mint
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp, freshly ground black pepper
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place a large pot of water on to boil. Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out to 1/8 inch thick adding a little flour to your rolling surface as needed to prevent sticking. Cut into 1 inch squares. Place about 1/4 tsp of the meat mixture into the center and bring the sides up to form a mini envelope. Press the seams together to seal. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place finished manti into the water. Once the water comes to a boil, lower heat and cook them for 6 minutes. Remove from water with a large slotted spoon.
For the Rabe
1 lb. brocolli rabe, tough stems chopped off and discarded
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Olive Oil
salt and pepper
I boiled my rabe in the pot that the manti were going to be boiled in, took them out with a large slotted spoon and let them cool on a plate. I heated my cast iron skillet, added enough olive oil to cover the bottom, add the garlic and the rabe and stir it well until the rabe was hot. I placed the rabe in a bowl, placed 5 manti on top then added the yogurt sauce.
PS from Kimberly: I am so going to make these!
May 12th, 2009
We have a new eatery in SoPo called Verbena; it is located right next to Smaha’s (aka Legion Square Market) at 103 Ocean Street. The owner, Melissa Coriarty, is the former sous chef of Hugo’s in Portland. The space is lovely and lofty, with a high ceiling and bright colors. The breakfast and lunch menu can be eaten in or or taken "to go." They serve fantastic coffee and yummy teas, but the real story here is the brownie and the fact that I have found brownie nirvana.
Lollie and I have always aspired to find the ultimate brownie. I do believe we have got it! Verbena’s brownies are moist, dense, rich and uber-chocolatey. Bliss, I tell you, sheer, total, chocolate bliss. FYI – Melissa rotates her bakery offerings and her cookies are quite notable, but if you are in search of a brownie, you might want to call first to make sure they are available.
Flavorista Julie loves the sandwich wraps at Verbena and the meatloaf looks really delicious, but seriously meatloaf cannot, does not compete with brownies. Stay tuned for more on Verbena, if I ever get past the brownies.
May 5th, 2009
On a recent buisness trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, I got to stop into one of my favorite delis – Zingerman’s. I was delighted by almost everything I bought.
The homemade graham crackers and freshly made chocolate marshmallows were appreciated by the kids and will make excellent gourmet s’mores later this week. I also really enjoyed their rugelach. Instead of being cakey and overly sweet, these were light and fluffly, with a delicate crunch and the perfect size.
Their online site is great for sending food baskets, although not everything I ‘ve had from these baskets is superb. I don’t care for their chocolate cherry bread and their brownies and cookies are just a tad too sweet for me. I do love their candy bars, Zzangs, while very sweet, they were extremely fresh tasting and clearly made from quality ingredients.
I also stumbled upon one of the founder’s books, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating, by Ari Weinzweig. This is a great resource for understanding the differences between olive oils, cheeses, vinegar, spices, condiments and more. With a few recipes mixed in, this book makes a great gift to the emerging foodie wannabe.
If you ever get a chance to go to Ann Arbor, (and it’s a great University town with gourmet beers, great book stores and some decent eateries) make sure to stop into Zingerman’s. They make wonderful sandwiches and have tastings of all sorts of things scattered around the store. It is certainly a Flavorista must see!
May 1st, 2009
These Nutter Butters from the Midland Baking Company in Basalt, Colorado are perfection! They have just the right amount of creamy peanut butter sandwiched between deliciously crispy peanut butter cookies. They also make homemade donuts (to order), artisanal breads, and the best whole wheat scone I’ve ever had. I’ll be going back for more! Yum! 
April 28th, 2009
Last night, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a special event at The Kitchen restaurant in Boulder (a place deserving of its own blog post, but I’ll save that for another day) to try some amazing food from Rajastan, India. Peggy Markel has been leading culinary tours with Asia Transpacific Journeys since 1991 to Italy, Elba, Silcily, Morrocco and Thailand. This Fall, she adds Rajastan. Her reconnaissance trip to India is featured in the February issue of Food & Wine magazine. The recipes for the meal we had last night are featured in the article as well.
The food was fantastic and of particular interest were the cilantro-corn fritters (even made with out of season corn these had an amazing fresh corn taste), spinach simmered in yogurt, 3 lentil dahl, and spiced millet stew with onions (which was close to my favorite dish, as it had a polenta-like consistency, but oh so much more interesting). The meal was closed with an amazing yogurt panna cotta, perfectly scented with honey, created by the chefs of The Kitchen for this special event. This was one of the more inspired Indian meals I’ve had in a long time.
My dream is to one day take a trip with Peggy. She is passionate about travel and educating foodies as to the wonders of culinary traditions. She brings you into the kitchens of people wherever you go to learn the soul of the region’s cooking.
It’s lucky for me that she lives in Boulder and I have the opportunity to travel vicariously through events like last night. Peggy’s contribution to the world of food through her zest for travel and connecting with people and their culture are numerous and should be a part of any aspiring flavorista’s quest.
February 11th, 2009
My amazing sister-in-law and true flavorista, Tracey, just returned from a trip to Beijing where she was visiting her youngest son, who is living with a Chinese family for the school year. She happened upon a wonderful restaurant where she helped make dumplings, a staple for the weekong festivities surrounding the lunar new year. These pictures are hers, as is the text that follows.
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"I ventured into a small neighborhood restaurant for a last meal, attracted primarily by the trays of dumplings on the sidewalk outside. The place was crowded, so I squeezed into a table next to the cooks who were preparing dumplings in the middle of the small dining room. There were brightly colored greens with garlic and minced onions being filled into some. Other were receiving a dose of minced pork with onions, veggies and herbs.
The cooks decided that I should give it a try. So after watching them go through the routine over and over, they handed me a pair of chopsticks and a stack of dumpling wrappers. What fun! I devoured a plate and a half as they exited their steaming bamboo baskets. Next time I come to Beijing for a month, I think I will apprentice myself out to a kitchen for a week! If you look closely at the neat rows above, I think my contribution to the effort is the slightly flattened one in the back row with the filling ooozing out the edge."
January 30th, 2009
I wish I loved coffee as much as some people (like Kimberly) because I would have fully appreciated the mecca that is the Blue Bottle Cafe in San Francisco. This is not Dunkin’ Donuts by any stretch of the imagination. You have to wait 4 to 5 minutes just for your coffee to drip into your personal cup!
The founder is adament that brewing water be at the right temperature, so that the beans are not scorched. He also advises that you pour hot water over the paper filter before adding the beans to get the paper "taste" out. He believes in agitating the ground beans while you are pouring the water over them so that there is as much extraction of flavor from the beans while it is dripping. The Chemex coffee maker is one of thier preferred ways to prepare at home. As a child, I remember my grandparents using a Chemex.
At Blue Bottle, they roast and bag the green coffee beans within a 4 hour time frame, so that there is minimum oxidation. You can order the beans online; they are even specific about when they ship, so as to assure the freshest roasted beans possible. Be prepared to have a fragrant package arrive; my suitcase was permeated with the intoxicating essence of coffee.
While my coffee was really exceptional, I was more impressed by how many ways I could get coffee: regular drip through cone filter, espresso style with your classic espresso machine or with what looks like a chemistry experiment, the Kyoto Iced Coffee Maker (cold brew process). I love iced coffee. Next time, that is what I will order.
Blue Bottle is stylish and also offers a nice small breakfast menu. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked delicious and elegant. Blue Bottle Coffee Company exudes the passion that is the founder’s exuberance for the perfect cup of joe.
PS from Kimberly: Wowie, Zowie! Barr shipped me some of the coffee beans from Blue Bottle. I had to borrow a grinder (mine has been used for too many spices) and a French press, but the effort was rewarded. This java exceeded the smell test and the taste test. This is some serious coffee, perfect for those coffee-obsessed.
January 28th, 2009
Vik’s Chat House in Berkeley, CA is a real gem. They started out as a small storefront and distribution company for all ingredients needed to cook authentic Indian food. They grew into a warehouse like restaurant that offers some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had. Their mango lassi (a thick yogurt smoothie made with mangoes, yogurt water and ice) is delectable and necessary to cool off from some of their hot dishes.
Chaat means "to lick". In India, chaat is street food so it is traditionally served in small portions, on banana leaves, with no utensils. There are no banana leaves at Vik’s Chaat House, there are only spoons. They are about to move to a new location which means they may even update their website to include online access to many of the incredible ingredients they sell.
If you have never had a mango lassi, they are worth trying. You can find more traditional recipes on the web but here is a less traditional one that I developed while working for Odwalla. My wonderful friend, Thangam told me that her family adds a dash of asafoetida, the resin of a fennel bulb into their mango lassi, which does lend an interesting flavor and also helps with digestion.
Barr’s Mango Lassi – Rich and Thick
3/4 cup Orange Juice
Fresh or frozen mango pieces, about 1 cup
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup Apple Juice
(Optional – just makes it a bit sweeter, as the plain yogurt is a little sour)
Mix everything together in a blender or with your hand blender. Serve immediately.
Another, even faster version of Mango Lassi can be made with Simply Orange with Mango. It is a new favorite with my kids. You can make a quick and not as thick Lassi using it. Simply whisk 3/4 cup of mango orange juice with 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (make sure it has live active cultures). Serve over ice. This is a thinner version, but is very refreshing and a great way to get your morning dose of probiotics.
January 15th, 2009
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Last weekend, while visiting the Flavoristas Quinn, we made a visit to Boston’s North End (Italian section of town). Right on Hanover Street, we stumbled upon Lulu’s Bake Shoppe.
A belle of the Boston food press since its opening, Lulu’s is not to be missed, even amongst all the cannoli and biscotti. The cupcakes are sensational. The cake is moist and the buttercream is real. In addition to cupcakes, Lulu’s offers cookies, cheesecakes and brownies. These extra sweets give us a good reason to go back (as if we needed one).
Marverick and Vincenzo went for the classic vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles of course. Lollie sampled the signature "Lulu" chocolate cupcake filled with marshmallow cream and glazed with chocolate ganache. Other cupcake varieties included: Red Velvet, Gingerbread and Boston Cream Pie. Everybody say YUM!
Individual Chocolate Cakes
January 4th, 2009
OK, I’ve found my Christmas morning toast. Admittedly, I have a thing for toast. Good bread makes the world a better place and When Pigs Fly Bakery is one of my most loved local bakeries.
Pigs Fly (as we locals call it) started small and just keeps growing. Their loaves are a bit on the pricey sides, but every toothsome bite is worth it. Their basic flavors (100% whole wheat, sourdough, six grain and pumpkin seed) are available at certain grocery stores. Their specialty flavors like (Sicilian Green Olive with Cherry Peppers, Banana Pecan, Maple and Brown Sugar) can be found at their company stores.
Last Saturday, we made a mad holiday run to Freeport, Maine (home of LL Bean). The best part of a trip to Freeport is the bread at Pigs Fly. The newest flavor, Gingerbread "bread" with Pears, is going to be my Christmas morning toast. If I can wait three days for the rich, ginger kissed dough spiked with thick slices of sweet pears.
Did you know that the best way to store bread for future toasting is in the freezer, either in a freezer bag or doubled-bagged? Toast frozen slices for bread that tastes like it was just bought.
December 22nd, 2008
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