Mango & Tomato

5/17/13

Eating out with Instagram: #Philadelphia4ADay. Where to Eat Brunch & Dinner in Philadelphia

I love traveling. If I'm in the same place for too long, I get antsy. Although I just got back from a trip to San Francisco and Alameda, and am going to Seattle in June, I have no other travel plans on my calendar. Oy.

That's why I was so happy when my friend Pankti suggested a day trip to Philadelphia. I've been to Philadelphia three times already: once on a solo trip, once on a trip with my twin {Philadelphia can also be a City of Sisterly Love :)}, and once for a flower show.

Our friend Samantha also joined us for a day of eating and walking around the city. It was really nice not to have any specific plans and just enjoy each other's company and Philadelphia.

For brunch, we went to Garces Trading Co (thank you, K for the recommendation!!). Garces has a gorgeous open space, big windows, communal tables and a fun $28 brunch special menu. I started with a mimosa, and had a house mozzarella as my appetizer. It was creamy and just slightly salty. The olive oil drizzled over the mozzarella was so delicious, I bought a bottle of it to take home with me.

For my main course I had Steak & Eggs: it was a flavorful and filling dish. Somehow I managed to eat the whole thing :) The steak was cooked as I asked for it: medium rare, and was tender and a bit bloody. The poached eggs were perfect.

Unfortunately there was no room for dessert.

And just so that you know, I took some "people photos" and not just food photos. Below is Pankti, Samantha and I by the gorgeous Magic Garden.

And this is me kissing a frog. I'm still waiting for it to turn into my Prince!

After brunch we did quite a bit of walking around. Philadelphia really lends itself for that and provides fun things to look at. Loved these murals.

And of course I'm still obsessed with red doors:

For a quick snack we stopped by at Fork. Check out their website for fun interior shots. I had hibiscus iced tea (yes, still obsessed with hibiscus flavor) and a grapefruit pastry.

And then it was time for dinner. I was disappointed we could not get reservations at Zahav, so we just decided to walk around and see what looked good. By that point we were a bit tired and it was raining and a few of the restaurants we went to have more than an hour wait. No good.

And then, we discovered a lovely neighborhood wine bar called Tria.

The restaurant was somewhat dark, so no photos other than a dessert, but I LOVED the Housemade Lamb Sausage served with white beans, piuillo pepper and min-feta sauce. I also ordered Warm Poached Black Mission Figs with gorgonzola and prosciutto.

For dessert I had Lemon Panna Cotta with blood orange sauce. Divine.

This was such a fun day trip!

5/15/13

Lemony French Lentils with Shitake Mushrooms & Pan Seared Salmon

This Lemony French Lentils with Shitake Mushrooms & Pan Seared Salmon recipe is inspired by a dish I had at Pappo while visiting friends in Alameda, CA.

I guess this is more of a how to put different things together post than a true recipe, but I have faith in your cooking abilities!

The French lentils are not only beautiful, but they retain their shape after being cooked unlike other lentils. Of course you know that salmon is good for you, and so is garlic. With a bit of earthy flavor from the shitake mushrooms and some brightness from the lemon, this dish really has a lot to offer.

Lemony French Lentils with Shitake Mushrooms & Pan Seared Salmon

Ingredients
olive oil
sliced shitake mushrooms
sliced garlic cloves
salt & pepper
cooked French lentils
lemon juice
salmon fillet
cilantro leaves

Directions
1. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add mushrooms and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Saute until the mushrooms are slightly crispy.
2. Add cooked French lentils and lemon juice to taste.
3. Meanwhile, pan sear salmon on both sides in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve the salmon on a bed of mushrooms and French lentils and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and a bit more of lemon juice.

Easy, right?

Have you tried to recreate a dish you liked in a restaurant in your own kitchen? Were you successful?

5/12/13

Chilled Spicy Carrot Soup with Yogurt Sauce Recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy

My friend Amy gave me Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy for my birthday a few months ago. Although the book is filled with an incredible amount of information, so far I've just looked at its pretty photos and made one recipe: Chilled Spicy Carrot Soup with Yogurt Sauce.

Chilled Spicy Carrot Soup with Yogurt Sauce
from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy

Ingredients for 6
2 tablespoons ghee, olive oil, or light sesame oil
1 onion, sliced
1 heaping tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped fresh ginger
3 cups sliced carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons cilantro stems, finely minced
5 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock or light chicken stock
sea salt
juice of 1 lime, plus more if needed

for the sauce
3 tablespoons creamy yogurt
1/2 jalapeno chile, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoons slivered Thai basil
pinch of sumac powder

Directions

1. Warm the oil in a wide soup pot and add the onion, ginger, carrots, spices and cilantro stems. Give a stir to coat with the oil and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are quite soft, about 20 minutes. {Note: I don't know if I did not slice my carrots thin enough, but this took at least 40 minutes.}

3. Puree in a blender until very smooth. Cover and chill well. The flavors dull with the cold, so season with the lime juice and with more salt, if needed, just before serving.

4. To make the sauce, stir together the yogurt, chile, cilantro and basil. Swirl a spoonful of the sauce into each serving of soup and add a pinch of sumac to each bowl.

My thoughts: the soup was really easy to make. The color was beautiful, especially paired with blue.

However, I thought it was too thin. If you are going to make this recipe, definitely reduce the amount of water by at least 1 cup, if not more. 5 1/2 cups of liquid was way too much. In fact, it was impossible to "swirl a spoonful of the sauce into each serving of soup" because the yogurt sauce just fell to the bottom of the bowl. Bummers.

Have you made anything from Vegetable Literacy? Any recommendations?

5/10/13

Mango, Tomato & Black Bean Salad (or Salsa)

Happy almost weekend! Are you doing anything exciting? I'm going to Philadelphia for a day tomorrow with a few friends and spending Sunday cooking and photographing and hopefully cleaning my condo. {Don't forget to call your mom for Mother's Day!!!}

This Mango, Tomato & Black Bean Salad recipe came about after I saw Bonnie Benwick's tweet last week:

But of course I had to add my own spin to that black bean, cilantro and lime salad idea. Since May is 5th Bloggiversary of Mango & Tomato, I decided to add mangoes and tomatoes ;)

Mango, Tomato & Black Bean Salad

Ingredients for 1-2 portions {depending on how hungry you are}

1 cup peeled and chopped mango
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup rinsed black beans
1/2 seeded jalapeno, minced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
salt to taste

Directions
1. Combine mango, tomatoes, black beans, jalapeno and cilantro in a bowl.
2. In a small jar fitted with a lid shake lime juice, olive oil, mustard and salt until well incorporated.
3. Dress the salad with just enough dressing {you will have some left over}.
4. Refrigerate the salad for at least 30 minutes.

This is such a colorful salad. You can eat it on its own, or with chips, or as a side served with grilled fish or chicken or steak. It's super versatile.

Have a great weekend!!!

5/8/13

What to do with Carrots: Whole Roasted Carrots with Fresh Fig Balsamic Vinegar

Over the weekend I did a TON of cooking for the blog. You've already seen the beautiful (if I say so myself) Mango Tart with Crystallized Ginger and Pistachios. Another recipe I made was Chilled Carrot Soup from Deborah Madison's latest cookbook: I will publish it either this Friday or next week.

The Chilled Carrot Soup called for 3 cups of sliced carrots, but I wasn't sure how many pounds of carrots it would take and bought extras just in case. Turns out, 3 cups of sliced carrots is about one pound. I had a pound of beautiful carrots left over and decided to make Whole Roasted Carrots with Fresh Fig Balsamic Vinegar. This recipe is inspired by a recipe my friend Cindy made for Tavern on the Green Blog.

Just for fun, I decided to roast my carrots in a cast iron grill pan to give the final product some grill marks, but you can use a cookie sheet.

Roasted Carrots with Fresh Fig Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients

1 pound young carrots, scrubbed
drizzle of olive oil
drizzle of fresh fig balsamic vinegar (or any other vinegar you like)
salt to taste

for the glaze
1/2 cup fresh fig balsamic vinegar

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the cast iron grill pan inside.
2. Drizzle the carrots with olive oil and season with salt.
3. CAREFULLY remove the cast iron grill pan from the oven. Add the carrots to the pan and roast for 40-60 minutes depending on how thick your carrots are and how crunchy you will want them to remain. You might want to check on the carrots a few times and roll them around the pan.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring the 1/2 cup fresh fig balsamic vinegar to a boil, then reduce the heat and continue to cook until the vinegar thickens and reduces in volume.
5. Drizzle the roasted carrots with the balsamic reduction before serving.

before:

after:

This is a relatively easy dish to make and can be served hot, at room temperature or even cold. You can use these carrots as a side dish or chop them to add to salads or pasta. You could also puree them with other roasted vegetables and turn them into a sauce or a soup.

What is your favorite thing to do with whole carrots?

5/6/13

Mango Tart with Crystallized Ginger & Pistachios: Mango & Tomato Turns 5!!!

This May, Mango & Tomato turns 5!!! I can't believe I've been blogging for the last 5 years and honestly can't imagine my life without it. To celebrate, I decided to make Mango Tart with Crystallized Ginger & Pistachios.

Although I tried to get a few sponsors for my celebration and to host a few giveaways, nothing came of it. Instead, I'll share a few special recipes with you and treat myself to some new kitchen toys, cookbooks, etc. Hopefully those things will inspire me, keep me motivated and in turn help me to develop recipes that YOU my readers will like.

Thank you for sticking with me for the last 5 years, and I hope you'll continue to follow along.

And now about the tart. My recipe is inspired by the Mango Tart with Lime from Zen Can Cook, but of course I made some changes. I've always loved the combination of mangoes and pistachios and crystallized ginger, and decided to do just that. I also eliminated some of the extra butter and sugar, and am very happy with the result.

Mango Tart with Crystallized Ginger & Pistachios
Adapted from Zen Can Cook
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
8" square puff pastry
4 ripe mangoes
2-3 tablespoons of water
sprinkle of sugar
1-2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar in the raw
1/3 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
optional: coconut or vanilla ice cream

Directions
1. Peel your mangoes and cut off the "cheeks" and reserve those for later.
2. Chop the remaining mango "meat" and add to a small saucepan with 2-3 tablespoons of water, a sprinkle of sugar and the crystallized ginger.
3. Cook on low heat until the water almost disappears and the mango and crystallized ginger pieces have become soft. Puree the mixture in a food processor and allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 375F.
5. Meanwhile, roll out the puff pastry onto a silpat lined cookie sheet and carefully score a border about 1/4". Using a fork, make holes inside the border: this will prevent the main body of the tart from puffing.
6. Spread a thin layer of the mango and crystallized ginger puree inside the border.
7. Slice the mango "cheeks" and layer on top of the puree slightly overlapping {you might have extra puree and mango slices: don't worry!}.
8. Brush the mango slices with melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar in the raw. Bake the tart for 30 minutes.
9. Take the tart out of the oven, top with chopped pistachios and bake for 5 more minutes.
10. Take the tart out of the oven, allow to cool slightly, cut and served topped with ice cream.

And now for step-by-step photographs!

The tart is messy to eat, but who cares? :) Just have a few extra napkins on hand.

If you are not a fan of mangoes (is that even possible?), you could use peaches or nectarines once they are available.

Once again, thank you to everyone for reading, commenting and making my recipes. Here's to another 5 years!!!

5/3/13

Eating out with Instagram: Eating in Alameda, CA

A week ago I was in Alameda, CA visiting my friends Laura and Carlos and their two boys after my stay in San Francisco.

Laura and I started work within a week of each other ELEVEN years ago, and together with our friend Jenny have remained good friends despite the fact that Laura and Jenny moved from DC.

It's been over two years since the last time I saw Laura and her family (in Puerto Rico!!!) and I was eager to catch up with them and also check out their new location: Alameda, CA.

But there was also something else I wanted to check out: In-N-Out!!! Yes, I know it's fast food, but I've never tried it before, and I was so happy when Laura took me there. We did not know about the secret menu, so just ordered regular cheeseburgers and fries and soda, and I LOVED it. Seriously, I wish In-N-Out came to DC.

But don't worry, it's not like we ate junk food daily. We did not. In fact, we made a few great meals at home. One of my favorites was the one pictured below: chicken fajitas. This dinner was healthy, fast to make, and everyone could get whatever they wanted: chicken, peppers & onions, guacamole, salsa, pink beans, cheese, sour cream, and pickled onions!

The last night I was in Alameda, Laura and Carlos got a babysitter and we all went out to dinner at Pappo. Not only did we get dressed up, but Laura also straightened my hair!!! How cute do we look? :) {Photo credit goes to Carlos.}

Pappo is one of the many restaurants in the Alameda's downtown. Although the downtown is only a few blocks in size, you'll find several Thai restaurants, as well as Japanese, Mexican, American and Mediterranean.

For the appetizer Carlos and I shared Ahi Tuna Tartar with avocado and pickled jalapenos. SOOO good, and I loved that it was served with potato chips. For my main course I had Pan Seared Salmon with green French lentils, roasted mushrooms and herb vinaigrette. I loved the combination of salmon and lentils. The dish felt well rounded and not heavy.

The menu at Pappo is only one page, which I prefer. They concentrate on a few dishes and do those dishes well.

Laura loved her Pan Seared Chicken Breast with chard, bacon, polenta and salsa verde. And Carlos had Prather Ranch Grilled Pork Chop with asparagus, farro and shitake mushrooms. I ended up eating all the mushrooms because I was the only one who liked them: winning!

For dessert we split Double Chocolate Terrine with vanilla creme Anglaise and Maldon sea salt and Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. The chocolate dessert was my favorite. Although creme brulee was smooth and creamy, it has a slightly flowery taste to each. Turns out it was Meyer lemons!

And then it was time to say good bye and fly back to DC.

Next time I'm going to have to plan my trip so I can eat the figs Laura and Carlos have growing in the yard, but at least I had a few of their lemons.

Also, if you have a family or want to retire in a gorgeous place, Alameda should be on your list!!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back next week with recipes!!!

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