Mango & Tomato

6/27/12

Let Asheville Sweep You Off Your Feet: Asheville NC Part 1. First Date.

When I don't travel, I get restless. I need something exciting and fun and new to look forward to.

That's just how I am.

Last October I booked a flight and room at a fancy Hotel Indigo and headed to Asheville, North Carolina. I knew little about the city, but was able to build an itinerary of eating out, checking out the local art scene and just walking around. I loved the quaint downtown, the friendly people, incredibly fresh food and the art of Jonas Gerard. I knew I'd want to be back.

Then earlier this month I received an email from Del of the Explore Asheville inviting me to join three other bloggers on a fun weekend trip to Asheville. I could not believe my luck, and happily said yes. Now for the disclaimer: the trip was completely paid for by the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau including my flights, stay at The Grove Park Inn and all the eating out and sightseeing adventures. I was under no obligation to write about any of it, but how could I not? I had an amazing weekend of very little sleep but experiences that stretched my sense of adventure, let me revisit a few of my favorite places in Asheville, have Jonas Gerard paint my body (!!!), and meet people who are passionate about what they do and want to share it with their community.

I took over 600 photos, but don't want to overwhelm you with them all. As I was trying to fall asleep a few nights ago, I came up with an idea for how to summarize my trip: I'll write about it as a progression of a romantic relationship. The first date, the thrill, infatuation and romance, and finally the deep love and companionship.

Ready? Let's go!

It's important to set the right tone/mood on the first date. You want to be relaxed, yet slightly nervous and full of anticipation. Coffee dates are boring, so why not meet up for a drink and some snacks?

Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar is the perfect place for that. You can walk around and browse stacks of books, discuss your favorite authors and genres, pet a friendly dog next to a couple sipping champagne and then sit on incredibly comfortable couches and order some bubbly!

This place has over 60,000 books and 80 wines: rest assured you will not be bored or thirsty!

I don't know about you, but I need snacks when there is alcohol involved. If you are having a good time with your date and his/her hands are clean, order a few dishes to share!

The cheese plate featured at least four varieties of cheese, marinated olives and jam. It was served with a bowl of various crackers and I swooned over the pretty board with metal accents. We also ordered a smoked trout dip: I had to stop myself from licking the bowl.

If after sharing the cheese board and finishing up the champagne you are still interested in spending some time with your date, head over to Curate! I had brunch at Curate on my first visit to Asheville, and was looking forward to checking out their dinner menu.

While you get comfortable and start scanning the menu, make sure to look around and notice how calm everyone is in the open kitchen. No one is yelling, running around or panicking. Also, check out the beautiful light fixtures, a big planter on the wall and the exposed ceiling. It's definitely the type of place where romance can bloom.

You can order charcuterie & cheese, something from the fryer, soups & salads, sautes, and finish off with desserts and coffee. The menu, as well as the knowledgeable servers, will guide you.

We sampled at least fifteen dishes, but I will highlight my favorites.

Alcachofas fritas: Jerusalem artichoke chips with sherry reduction and savory yogurt dip.

White sangria

pan con tomate: toasted bread with fresh tomato & olive oil and manchego cheese. We were warned not to fill up on this, but how could I not?

tabla de embutidos: traditional Spanish charcuterie with lomo and cabecero iberico de bellota, fuet and chorizo palacios

brandada de bacalao: traditional cod & potato puree served hot with crisp bread

Of course we also had dessert! My favorite was espuma de chocolate: chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet and hazelnut praline.

It was a sweet way to end the night.

If this was a date, I'd say it was a major success! Stay tuned for part two of my Asheville experience: thrill, infatuation and romance.

6/25/12

Where to have Brunch in Seattle: The Fat Hen

Earlier this month I had to take an impromptu trip to Seattle. It was a sad occasion, but I managed to have a little bit of fun nonetheless. One such fun occurrence was meeting Anna and Lera for brunch at The Fat Hen.

The Fat Hen is a perfect example of the type of place you want in your neighborhood: kind service, solid food with an inventive spin, and beautiful decor. On a Sunday we visited this little restaurant, we saw couples having brunch, young parents with their kids in a stroller and a three-generational family sharing a communal table with us.

We ate, sipped on our drinks and enjoyed the Seattle sunshine.

{all photos taken with my smart phone}

To start, I ordered a grapefruit mimosa, while Anna and Lera chose rhubarb fizz (it had sparkling wine, rhubarb liquor and a crystallized piece of rhubarb). Being a copy cat, I ordered that drink as my second beverage.

The menu had everything from eggs and potatoes to pork loin and veal cutlets. I had a hard time deciding what to order.

Luckily, all of us ♥ olives, so we ordered a bowl of the bright green fatty olives marinated with some orange zest as we made our main course decisions.

In the end, Lera got a pork brasato: pork shoulder with red peppers, vinegar and garlic served with roasted potatoes. I loved how symmetrical and arranged the plate looked. The pork was incredibly juicy and tender.

Anna ordered the classic Benedict and added some spinach to the dish. You can read what she thought of it on her blog ;)

I chose quattro formaggi baked eggs: two eggs baked in a combination of bechamel, mozzarella, gorgonzola, emmenthal and fontina cheese. I'm slightly salivating as I type this. The dish came with crusty bread and being a lover of carbs, I ordered a side of potatoes.

What can I say? I would have happily swam in the cheesy baked goodness!

We had no room for dessert. Immediately that is. We bought a few pastries from a bakery across the street and had those hours later.

Do you have a favorite neighborhood brunch place? What do you usually order?

6/22/12

A Visit to Columbia Pike Farmers Market in Arlington, VA. What's in Season?

This past Sunday I checked out the new-to-me Columbia Pike Farmers Market with Mary and her super cute daughter Josie. Since I'm actually in Asheville, NC for the weekend (holler!), I just took photos of the pretty flowers and produce and helped Mary carry her purchases ;) I'm a great mommy helper.

The market had a good amount of produce, some hand made soap and even a live band. I liked that it wasn't crowded. The prices seemed pretty reasonable compared to Dupont Farmers Market.

Below are some of my favorite photos! Enjoy!

Squash blossoms

Yellow and green beans

Beautiful okra (again, two different colors) and tomatoes

Cherries

Peaches {I tried one, but did not think it was fully ripe}

Spring onions

Fresh garlic: it smelled unbelievably amazing {I never said I was a food writer}

Guess what this is:

Did you think dill? Nope, fennel!

These mini carrots and beets were adorable! They'd be perfect eaten raw with dips or pickled.

More tomatoes, okra and peppers

Purple and yellow cauliflower, which sadly tastes exactly the same as the regular one.

Have you been to a farmers market lately? What did you buy? What produce are you most looking forward to buying in the summer?

{If you want to follow my adventures in Asheville, follow me on Twitter and look for #ExploreAVL!}

6/20/12

What to do with Sour Cherries: Sour Cherry Country Crisp and a Visit to Butler's Orchards

Last year I went to Butler's Orchards with Cecilia and Laetitia to pick sour cherries. We had an incredible time and I picked ten pounds!

This year, Cecilia planned another trip to Butler's Orchards and we were joined by Stacey and K.

Unfortunately, this year's crop was crappy. The cherries that were low enough to pick were damaged. I managed to pick only 5 cups of sour cherries and then gave up. Cecilia and Stacey, however, got ladders! Oh the determination some people have ;)

K and I went across the "street" and picked blueberries instead. I got an entire bucket full of them: they were gorgeous, large and sweet.

As far as the blueberries, I'm just eating them as is and will also freeze some.

But what to do with the sour cherries?

Last year I made Sour Cherry & Sweet Cherry Frozen Yogurt and Sour Cherry Compote. But then last year I had 10 pounds. This time, I decided to use one of the recipes available from Butler's Orchards and made a Cherry Country Crisp.

{That's Cecilia on the right climbing the tree ;) Below are the photos of the gorgeous blueberries.}

Cherry Country Crisp
Recipe from Butler's Orchard {I followed it to a t, but left out the cinnamon.}

Ingredients
4 cups sour cherries, pitted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick butter

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Spread cherries evenly in a 9-inch pie pan or baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

2. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Spread the mixture evenly over the cherries. Bake 30 minutes.

3. Serve warm.

OMG, this was one of the easiest and most satisfying desserts I've made. I also made a mini crisp in a cast iron skillet and served it with home made peach frozen yogurt.

Magically, I just happened to have a place mat with cherries on it: perfection.

Have you ever had sour cherries? Do you love them? Can you eat them directly from the tree? {I can!} What have you made with your sour cherries?

6/17/12

What to do with Lamb Rib Roast? Recipe for Lamb Rib Roast with Zucchini and Potatoes

Lamb. What can I say? In the last year, lamb and I have come to know each other pretty well.

When I received an email from Superior Farms letting me know that they've launched its Facebook Supper Club and inviting me to enter the Supper Club Photo Contest for a chance to win a $500 gift card, I said YES!

Last week, I received three cuts of lamb: rib roast, boneless leg of lamb and ground lamb. I decided to use the rib roast and to come up with a quick and simple recipe that will let the flavors of the lamb shine.

I found a template for my recipe at Food & Wine, but made enough changes to make it my own.

What follows is a zillion photographs, a recipe, and a suggestion for how to serve this cut of lamb.

And no worries, the winner of this Supper Club gets chosen randomly, so there is no need for me to beg you to vote for me ;)

Note: lucky for me, the lamb rib roast already came Frenched, but I still had to trim quite a bit of fat. I ended up throwing the fat away...although I received a suggestion to render the fat and use it to fry potatoes. My thighs don't need that, thank you very much.

Ingredients for the rub
\
1 head of garlic, peeled

1/4 cup thyme

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons bourbon paprika

You'll also need

1 lamb rib roast

salt

zucchini, sliced and sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper

potatoes, peeled, chopped in bite-size pieces and boiled

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450F. Set the rack in the upper third of the oven.

2. In a food processor, puree all the ingredients for the rub.

3. Season the lamb with salt and cover with the rub on both sides. Let marinate for at least an hour.

4. Roast the lamb fat side down for 15 minutes. Turn the rack and roast for another 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven, stand it on its side and let it rest for 10 minutes.

5. Slice the lamb. It's perfectly medium rare! If you like less blood, roast it for a longer amount of time.

I decided to serve the lamb with sauteed zucchini and boiled potatoes. SOOO good!

And that's all folks ;)

INSTAGRAM

Looking for something?

Jewelry

Stats