Mmm...fresh artichoke

I read this post over at the Nashville Scene's Bites blog with quite a bit of interest. Back when the SO and I visited Seattle, we ordered an artichoke appetizer for dinner one night. It was my first ever whole artichoke and I didn't have the faintest idea of what to do with it. I know I ate as much of the leaves as I could, but I don't recall ever making it to the heart. What a tragedy.

So when I saw some fresh artichokes at Trader Joe's (like another reader did), I picked them up and brought them home. After a little research, I settled on this method of cooking and popped two of them in for a simmered bath in water, lemon juice, sea salt and a touch of olive oil. They stayed in for about 40 minutes--to the point where a leaf came off easily with tongs.

The link describes how to eat the artichoke as well as how to cook one, which is extremely helpful. Though my bottom teeth look like a busted piano due to an aversion to wearing my retainers as a teenager, so I had to tear each leaf in half to get all the "meat" off it.

The flavor of lemon and salt (and olive oil) was really good on its own, but I made a couple of dips to accompany the artichoke. The first was a little mayonnaise (note to self: get some Vegenaise) mixed with a bit of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. The second--which I really, really liked--was a bit of mayonnaise mixed with lemon juice and pesto. I've got some concentrated pesto in a tube and it was perfect for this dip.

The raves for the fresh artichoke are certainly deserved. Delicious! Though next time, I'll just prepare one artichoke for the two of us. One per person is a bit much; not in that too much of a good thing way, but in that up at 3am with intestinal distress way. Though I think I may have consumed a little too much of the woody bits, which would have exaggerated this effect. So if you see some fresh artichokes for sale, don't be intimidated. They're extremely easy to prepare and a lot of fun to eat.

A tale of two fake meats

Last night, the SO and I were catching up on Tuesday night's Colbert Report that included a segment on lab-created meat ("shmeat"--a combination of two unappetizing words created to describe this...substance). The SO asked me if I'd eat shmeat. Er, no. There's still a fair dose of animal cruelty involved and, frankly, it sounds more disgusting than Quorn (which I do eat). Shmeat? Do they really think people will eat this? People do eat some rather objectionable shtuff.

That said, I'm generally not a fan of fake meat. I do eat the occasional Quorn item (since I live with an omnivore and I try to keep him happy), but I generally get by on vegetables and grains and such. But the other day, I picked up some Gardenburger Riblets. Last night, it was time to try them out (this was before we watched the bit on "shmeat"). The package recommends 3:45-4:00 for cooking in the microwave, but 3:45 proved to be a bit too long. Even with slightly dried out ends, the Riblets were really good. The sauce is tasty with just a bit of tang and the ribs themselves had a nice taste. I served them with some tater tots (really, what goes with Riblets?) and some steamed broccoli and it turned out to be a quick, easy and yummy meal. It was also cheap (about $4 worth of food), low calorie (less than 700 calories for a very filling meal) and vegan!

Chachah

For the Significant Omnivore's birthday, I decided to surprise him by going to a new restaurant. Chachah hadn't been open very long, but was already getting a lot of good comments. And since I'm a fan of its sister restaurant, PM, I knew it would be good.

The menu is tapas style, which isn't new around here, but the eclectic collection of options is very different from what other restaurants are serving. Certainly, some of the dishes have an Asian influence, but there's Moroccan, South American and many other influences as well.

We started out with a combination of three dips--the white bean and fennel (good but not great), artichoke and parmesan tapenade (very good), and Spanish olive pimiento and cheese (my favorite). The dips come with a selection of breads (you'll run out, but they will graciously bring more).


The tapas and raciones menu is huge, though there's only one vegetarian option in the "raciones." But one could make a meal off the dips and tapas only (or a salad, which was tempting). But I knew the SO would order a large plate and I'd be on my own with the tapas, so I tried out the Perserved Lemon-Artichoke Barigoule. It's a mixture of vegetables and wild mushrooms over a black- lentil rice cake. It's similar to a tagine (and is served in a dish reminiscent of a tagine) and the addition of the cake makes it very hearty. I'd forgotten the exact name of the dish and was pleasantly surprised by the lemon flavor that seemed to punctuate every second or third bite. Surprised in a good way--the flavor of this barigoule is delicious. And though the portion looks small, it's very filling.


Forgoing tapas and just having dips and raciones meant we had room for dessert. It was his birthday, so we ordered three desserts! Unfortunately, desserts aren't listed on the website, so I will try my best to remember what they were.

First up was a poached pear dish. I believe it was poached in a red wine or sherry. It had a great flavor, but I think the crumble crust was unnecessary. Kind of Cracker-Barelly. Not that I don't love Cracker Barrell (I do), but I expected something a little more demure, I think.


Next up was an orange cardamom cake, I think? I liked it a lot, but the SO did not care for the candied orange bits. They do get stuck in your teeth and sort of create a not-so-great last impression. The flavor was excellent, though.


The third dessert was a coconut flan...and some other flavor that I'm kicking myself for not remembering because this dessert was far and away our favorite. Our favorite taste of the night, really. It's an excellent way to end a meal at Chachah, so I definitely recommend saving room for it if you go.


There have been some criticisms of Chachah for its expense. For some of us, it's not going to be an everyday place. But for those of us who don't go out very often and enjoy fine food when we do, it's nice to know it's an option. Frankly, I don't have an "everyday" place. Unless you count my kitchen. It's always a special occasion when we go out to eat.

Chachah's proximity to Music Row and trendy neighborhoods means that, well, there are going to be Music Row and trendy types eating there. Even though it was a Thursday night when we visited, the place was packed by the time we left around 8pm and it was full of people who were dressed by and/or inspired by stylists (did they notice my Gap pants? I hope not). And there were lots of people who knew each other well enough to great one another with double cheek kisses. We sat on the patio but it was too cold to have the doors open, so with all that metal, glass and concrete (and trendy Music Row types well lubricated with specialty libations), it can get pretty loud. This is not the place for a romantic or intimate meal.

The other thing to say is that the service was really good. The server knew the menu very well, though I'm not sure he was the best person to recommend a seafood dish. He didn't seem to be a fan and I think the SO would have been happier with the salmon instead of the scallops. But he was very knowledgeable and attentive and we never waited long for anything we needed. I'll definitely be back this spring and summer when they open up the doors on the patio. I love dining al fresco.

Chachah
2013 Belmont Blvd
Closed Tuesdays!

Loquatious

No, that's not a typo or a misspelling.

Last week, the coworkers and I headed to the Japanese restaurant in Smyrna to celebrate the addition of a new coworker. As far as I know, none of us had been there since my first day at work last April. My impression wasn't that great last year, but some things have changed (including their lunch boxes and much of the menu, it appears...or maybe my memory is bad).

Anyhoo, it's one of those hibachi restaurants. I don't really care for hibachi. For one thing, I don't love plain ol' vegetable stirfry but the main reason is that it's not a great set-up for conversation. So we chose a table and four of us got the lunch specials and two of us ordered from the menu. Guess what I did...yeah, you know it. I got miso (of course), an avocado salad and tempura sweet potatoes.

The salad? Was like the typical salad but covered in sliced avocado after a decent helping of ginger dressing. Avocado and ginger dressing. Yum. And the tempura...usually when I order tempura, I suffer through the broccoli and completely ignore the onion and savor as much of the sweet potato as I can. But this serving had just what I love...and enough to share. A++++ would buy again.

After we were finished eating and just chatting, I noticed that the people who ordered the lunch special all had these three yellow-orange orbs on their trays. None of them had ventured to try the dessert. So I stabbed my fork into the closest one and sucked it in. Hmm. What was this? An apricot? Noooo. It looked like an apricot--it was the right size and the middle was hollow where a stone should be. So the boss tried one and being a woman of the world said she thought it was akin to what they call in Spain a nispero. Unfortunately, all the propietor could tell us was that it was a Japanese fruit he bought canned because you could not buy it fresh here and he did not know an English word for it.

I could think of an English word for it...tasty. The boss and I proceeded to slurp down (between the two of us, but it was mostly me) upwards of ten of these fruits. She has an excuse (she's pregnant). Me, not so much. It didn't hurt until I tried to get up. That's a lot of fruit.

So back at the office, I whip out the Google and type in Japanese canned fruit yellow and within a minute or so, I discover that we were eating loquats. Which are, indeed, the same as nisperos. The boss, she is smart. And my new favorite word? Loquat.

Friday night, the SO and I went to the newly-remodled Miss Saigon on Charlotte Pike (very nice, though the vegetarian food is no longer segregated on the menu, which is a wee annoying and they also haven't replaced the vermicelli dish that had tofu that went away when they no longer got the shredded tofu). So you know I had to go into the K&S International Market to see if I could find loquats. And, dear readers, I braved the smell of dying-but-not-yet-dead sea critters and came out victorious. One can of loquats in syrup and one can of fruit salad made with other exotic fruits as well. Yummers. They await the appropriate occasion to serve them.

And while I'm being loquacious here, let me point out two new blogs I've added to the blogroll in the last week:
--Cooking School Confidential: The Almost Vegetarian goes to culinary school and gives us all the gory details!
--Tofu and Cupcakes: Even better than it sounds and photography that makes me ashamed to own a camera.

Check them out.

Cancun

I'm way overdue for a post here. The end of January was a bit crazy and February has just been busy. The short story is that we ended postponing the wedding but went on the honeymoon anyway. That's one less thing we have to worry about when we actually do get married.

We spent the first week of January in Cancun at an all-inclusive resort called Sun Palace. It's in the southernmost section of the hotel zone, which is quieter than other parts and the hotel itself is smaller than some of the mega resorts. It's also couples- and adults-only. All that combined makes for the perfect honeymoon spot.

One might think that an all-inclusive resort might not have the best quality food, but this one is on the upper end of the scale and they really try hard to provide a good variety. But the authentic Mexican food is some of my favorite. Though I was pleasantly surprised by a noodle dish and spring rolls in their Asian restaurant.

So, what did I enjoy? Mmmm...empanadas and torrejas* and fresh guava and mango and mounds of the best and freshest guacamole** ever and fresh tortillas and goat's milk yogurt and soy milk smoothies and Pepsi with actual sugar and watermelon goat cheese salad and spring rolls and avocado and banana sushi rolls and quesadillas and squash blossom soup and flan made from a fruit I can't remember and sangria. Lots and lots of sangria. And red wine. Lots and lots of red wine.

As you can imagine, we ate ourselves silly. Here's a little proof:









I want to go back. Right now. Coming back home after a week there was a shock. Having to actually prepare and wait for food to prepare when you're hungry is a real bummer when you've had it at your fingertips 24 hours a day. And I'm pretty sure the SO misses having bacon for breakfast every morning. And fresh paella for lunch. Hrm, maybe we should wait to get married long enough to earn another honeymoon...

*Holy cow, torrejas are slices of bread (a baguette), dipped in batter that is milk, eggs, and honey and then deep fried. Oh wow. Deep fried French toast. Yes, please. Recipe here.

**I ate guacamole on French fries every day and I miss it terribly. Don't knock it till you try it.