We Made Sushi!

I have been dying to start rolling my own sushi for months.  I've watched videos, read articles, studied recipes.  Even Vivian has watched a tutorial on the Food Network.  Today I decided was the day, quite by accident.

As I was passing by the sushi department at Publix, I just happened to glance over at the rack of products there and nori caught my eye. As I was looking at the package, the sushi lady approached me to ask if I was going to make my own.  I said "yes" but I wish Publix sold sushi rice. She began to explain that they do, but the container on the shelf is pretty pricey, but she can sell the rice she uses to me by the pound from the sushi dept.  Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis? 

So, I bought rice from her, got some pickled ginger, wasabi powder and the nori, of course.  Viv is a big fan of California roll, so I knew that would be my first endeavor.  I prefer the sushi rolls with the rice on the outside, so that's what I was creating. Honestly, my first attempt was a flop.Too much rice, not enough filling.  So, I tried again and this time the proportions were better but I discovered that despite the awesome Global knife collection I have, they aren't currently sharp enough.  Time for a sharpening. I took this first batch with me as I picked Viv up from golf camp.  She snacked in the car and gave me not just a thumbs up, but told me this was the best California roll she'd ever tasted.  I'm 100% sure she was flattering me.

Patting the rice out onto the plastic wrap and sushi mat

 

The roll

 

Viv's After-Golf Snack

 

My favorite sign

 When we returned home, we got back to work together this time.  First, we put together a roll with avocado, cucumber (from our garden) and Alaskan snow crab.  We included a smear of cream cheese and a bit of wasabi.  Again, I rolled the rice on the outside and did a much better job this time on the tightness and on the slicing.  Vivian assembled, rolled and sliced a California roll with nori outside ALL BY HERSELF.  I was extremely impressed and very proud!

Patting out the rice like a boss!

She added carrot, cucumber & avocado

My baby's first California roll; proud Mama!

I did this one...crab, cream cheese, avocado and cucumber roll

Our results

 We had all of this ready and in the fridge before Neil came home for dinner.  So, we surprised him with a dinner of sushi, Teriyaki salmon, the Ina Garten corn salad (thanks to my friend Heather for introducing me to this recipe!) and some steamed pea pods. 

Teriyaki salmon, corn salad, sushi and steamed pea pods

As for rolling one's own sushi, let me say:  it's harder than it looks, but it's really not that hard.  Just today, I made 3 attempts and got better each time.  Like anything, practice makes perfect.  The fact that Viv watched one tutorial and rolled like a pro was remarkable.  She's got one heck of a future as a pro-golfer, architect, sushi-rolling, piano playing model. But, all kidding aside, I've been interested in tackling this task for a while and I'm so glad that I just jumped in today and did it.  More attempts and it will become like 2nd nature!  If you want homemade sushi, you're welcome to come here...just bring the sake.  Lots and lots of sake.

Speedy Gonpastez

Tonight was National Night Out.  After karate, the little gourmand begged me to go to the park for the festivities.  It was a great time; saw lots of kids and parents we know, Vivi had a hot dog and there was a Baskin Robbins cart...all gratis, btw! Then, as I spent some time chatting with friends, it dawned on me that the park had the splash pad turned on.  And, since I have an amphibious child, I realized, yep she's all wet by now.  Sure enough, fully clothed and wet to the core.  It was then that we took our leave.

So, by the time we got home it was piano practice time, shower time, get ready for bed time.  As all that was going on, I decided to whip up something for myself since on my first day back to "real food" I passed on the free hot dogs.  I turned to what I had hanging around in the kitchen and made a easy, fast and pretty darn tasty pasta.

I had some cute little orange cherry tomatoes that Vivi picked out at the Farmers Market the other day.  

I also had some "chicken tips" left over from Zorba's.  I use quotation marks because we all know there really isn't any such thing as a chicken "tip."  It's merely bite sized pieces of chicken. But, being from Zorba's, they were nicely marinated Greek chicken pieces and packed with some fla-vah. Here's what I did:


1.  Mince some garlic (how ever much is right for you)
2.  Grate some parm or romano (again, your amount)
3.  Halve about 2 oz. of cherry tomatoes
4.  Chop up some parsley
5.  Cook about 4oz of spaghetti

So, then heat some olive oil and the tomatoes.  Cook until they start letting off some of their juices.  

This picture cracks me up...looks like eggs...no pun intended!

Add the garlic (and in my case, leftover chicken).  Toss around over medium heat.  Meanwhile, drain your pasta, saving some pasta water.  Add the spaghetti to the saute pan and add some pasta water and shake it all around to emulsify the water and olive oil.  Adorn with parsley and cheese and mangia!

So incredibly easy and it was delicious.  The cherry tomatoes that I used were orange and very naturally sweet. Red ones or grape tomatoes may change the flavor slightly but I can't think it would be a bad thing!  

As an aside:  I stopped by the Chef'Store today because I was out of olive oil.  Right now, Bi-Lo has 16oz Pompeian Olive Oil at $8.99.  That's roughly 1/2 liter for $8.99.  At the Chef'Store, I bought 3 liters for $18.58.  Let's break this down:  3L of Pompeian would be $53.94. Uhhhhh, I think I got the better deal. non è questo?

Surviving the "cleanse"

My sister called a couple of weeks ago to tell me she was doing the "Dr. Oz 3 Day Cleanse."  Having worked in health care for many years (many years ago), my family still regards me as the unlicensed, untrained family physician.  She called to ask me what I thought she should expect from this "cleanse."  As she started telling me all the ingredients, my first reaction was *Wow* that's not gonna be pretty.  The funniest thing of all is that the lunch drink contains 4 (count 'em FOUR) stalks of celery.  Katherine and I are lifelong HATERS of celery.  And I mean hate, seething loathing, vile contempt.  As she recounted her struggles with drinking celery, all I could do was wipe away the hysterical tears.

Not so funny now.  After this conversation, I realized I'd put on a couple lbs over the summer.  I started thinking about it, getting myself back on my regular diet and then it hit me: maybe I should do the "cleanse" to jumpstart things and get my motivation going?  So, I went online and found it.  Now, let me say that generally speaking, I don't give Dr. Oz much credence at all.  I guess he practiced medicine once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, but since he became an inhabitant of Planet Oprah, I think much of that practical knowledge has gotten lost in the backseat of his Bentley. But, I read the plan and it made sense to me, so here I am...doing it. 

As you can see from the plan, it's a series of smoothies, or drinks, whatever you want to call them.  The breakfast one is pretty darn good.  It's hard to go wrong with raspberry, banana and almond. However, lunch and dinner are different stories...

Lunch is when we have to tackle the celery issue.  But, I committed, and I remain committed.  Let me tell you this, a blender full of celery, cucumber, apple, pineapple and kale can make one THICK smoothie.  On Day 1, I really would have been better off using a spoon. On Day 2, I was really disheartened but I recommitted and hit the puree button and let her fly.  Better.  The flavor, I must admit it pretty good but it still is a thick drink o' water and you end of kind of slurping and chewing your way through it.  

That's a lot of stuff in there!

        (How you give it a spin and turn it into a "drink")

This cup is 6" high and 4" across y'all

Dinner is certainly interesting.  Mango, blueberry, kale, cayenne.  I know the cayenne is important in combination with some of the other vitamins/nutrients involved in this equation.  On Day 1, I made it exactly as written.  Now I am a spice girl, but this 1/4 tsp of cayenne almost blew my head off.  I think it took me about 45 minutes to get all of this drink down. Therefore, on Day 2, I reduced it to 1/8 tsp and it was still hot as hell.  

The main thing about these drinks is that they are HUGE. Seriously, think about it.  You're consuming an entire cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, a cup of kale, half an apple, almond milk and a cup of pineapple all in one very, very large cup.  That's a lot of food.  And, when you finally make your way to the bottom of that cup, you feel full.  Really full, almost fat. But, once it's all gone, you feel like you've accomplished something. I will also disclose that I did not make additional drinks for snacks, because I simply couldn't have "eaten" that much.

So, here I am on Day 3.  I admit upon waking this morning, I was questioning whether I could make it to the end.  But, I just struggled through my last Dr. Oz lunch drink (at least for quite a while) and I feel good knowing I have just one more cayenne caliente dinner to go and then I can actually chew something up!  Of course whenever you mention the word "cleanse" people automatically either think or even ask about what goes on in the bathroom.  Yeah, that's not me.  I'm not a bathroom talker, but I will say that in the last 2 days, I've dropped 6lbs.  I'm sure that's water weight, which always happens anytime you start any dietary change.  But, hey, I don't care.  I'm pumped, motivated to get my butt back in gear and my pants are fitting better!  

Southern Belly

Barbeque is to the South as big hair is to New Jersey. Of course I realize we Southerners haven't cornered the market on barbeque.  All regions have their own style: Texas is all about beef and red sauce, here in the Carolinas we're all about mustard based sauce and black pepper & vinegar, and (apparently) in 'Bama, they are into white sauce.  As a born and bred Southerner, I know good bbq when I taste it, and when I do, I appreciate it.  But, I don't really seek it out.  I can't remember ever saying "hey, let's go out for barbeque."  When the 4th rolls around, it's only natural to go get barbeque, but again, I can't remember ever contemplating going out for a bbq dinner.

(fascinating aside) You know, I once worked for a doctor who was a barbeque fanatic.  You could name any town in SC and he'd tell you where to get barbeque in that town.

Well, this past July 4th, my daughter and I decided to get bbq by the lb at The Southern Belly on Rosewood Drive.  I'd driven by this place daily since it opened and started hearing really good things about it.  We were all most pleased with our J4Q so when the subject came up tonight of getting takeout, I suggested we try some of their sandwiches.  You see, this isn't your typical barbeque joint...there's no macaroni & cheese, nor fried chicken, nor green beans, no banana pudding.  They serve inventive bbq sandwiches with a variety of homemade sauces.  The sandwiches are simply served with cole slaw and chips. Click here to check out the menu.

I chose the Southern Belly Dipper because I was curious about this white bbq sauce.  This sauce really just came onto my radar in the last few years. I'd never even heard of it before but have been interested in trying it ever since I first read about it.  

This sandwich is composed of smoky, lean pulled pork with swiss cheese, bacon and the Alabama white sauce.  Since we ordered takeout, the meat and cheese was packaged in foil so I could put the sandwich together myself.  This eliminated the possibility of soggy bun. And what an awesome bun it was!  Not a regular ol' hamburger bun like most bbq sandwiches, but instead, a fresh, crusty bun. Such is a detail that can make or break a sandwich. 

The sauce was quite a surprise.  I guess I was expecting it to be thick and mayo-y but instead discovered a pourable, slightly sweet yet creamy sauce. Combined with the bbq and swiss, it was a really delicious sandwich.  And while I love bacon as much as the next guy, I really found it unnecesary on this sandwich.  I didn't feel like it added much depth or flavor because the meat, cheese and sauce were working so well together.

Here's the zinger...the coleslaw.  As a kid, making me eat coleslaw would have been like a punishment. I'm mellowing in my tolerance of it as I age and I've actually even sampled a few preparations that I've liked.  For instance, the slaw I had on a hot dog at Dupre's at the Market and the coleslaw at Tony's over on Knox Abbott Drive are both really tasty.  But I have to tell you, the slaw from the Southern Belly is amazingly good.  I mean, I could see me actually buying a big container of the stuff to serve at a picnic or take to a potluck.  It was so good, I wished the side that came with my sandwich was twice the size.  

In case you have yet to try the Southern Belly, let me also tell you that the place itself is adorable!  It's like a rustic little cabin.  They have smokers outside in the parking lot, porch seating and a couple long picnic tables out front.  They serve some cool craft beers and have some bbq awards adorning the walls.  I think I found a place that will now make me seek out barbeque.  In fact, I've already decided that next time, I'm ordering the "traditional" (just pulled pork with your choice of sauce) which for me will be the white sauce and that coleslaw is going on the sandwich!  When you go, turn onto Rosewood at the fairgrounds and you'll see the Belly on your right as soon as you pass under the RR trestle.  Get your pork on!

Homemade and Homegrown

I've often said that one day when (not if, WHEN) I win the Powerball that I'm having a salad bar installed in my house.  Having won the Powerball, I'll also be able to employ a full time salad bar attendant to keep it all nice and fresh & pretty.  But in the meantime, I have to either seek out a good salad at a restaurant or make one myself.  As we all know, anything homemade is better every time.  But, salads can be like sandwiches...they always seem to taste a bit better when somebody else makes it for you.

Today was a salad day, but I had no one around to make one for me and alas, I still haven't gotten my salad bar and attendant.  So, I whipped up what I'd say turned out to be a beautiful and delicious, super-fresh veggie delight.  And crazy simple.  I tore some romaine, sprinkled a little cheddar, a few croutons, sliced some olives, my homegrown cucumber, my dad's homegrown tomato and my homemade bleu cheese dressing.  

Usually, I'm not a big cucumber fan.  But, I have noticed a homegrown cuke always tastes better than a grocery store one.  I slice them thinly and sprinkle with salt and boom, I'm a cucumber eater.  My dad's tomato was perfectly sweet and a beautiful blood red.  Again, a little bit of salt and some pepper and it was divine.  Cheddar I don't  know how to make, but I assure you, if I did, I'd make it myself.  Same thing with olives.  Trust me; if we could grow olives in South Carolina, my backyard would be a veritable grove.  

Now, salad dressing, I've told you about before. With a couple of exceptions, I don't buy dressing.  It's just too damn easy to make yourself and (you know what I'm going to say...) it's so much better when you make it yourself.  I love this guy's recipe, but I do thin mine with milk.  This recipe makes a super thick and chunky dressing.  It you want/need it to be more liquidy, the milk does the trick. If you're a bleu cheese lover, try this dressing.  Like, now.

We're lucky here in the South because we can grow practically everything  (ok, except olives, artichokes, oranges, but pretty much everything else). And we still have a couple months in our growing season so take advantage of all that our markets and your own gardens have to offer!

Black Bean Co. Comes to Columbia

The Black Bean Co. from Charleston has joined the Capital City ranks.  Before I even knew they were coming here, or were already here for that matter, I noticed their Folly Road location as we were headed for Folly Beach a few weeks ago.  And lo and behold, they are here and I got to check them out yesterday with my mom and dad.

If you haven't ever been to a Black Bean Co. or checked out their website, their concept (as I saw on the back of aT-shirt) is "Diet Food is Out, Energy Food is in."  The menu consists of breakfast and lunch offerings, mainly in the form of wraps and salads featuring local and/or organic and natural foods. You choose your protein to add to their creative and vast assortment of choices.  And, that's what really hit me today.  There are times that when lunch rolls around I just think about having some kind of a good sandwich.  But if you really think about it, there aren't many places anymore that offer any sandwiches of any interest. It's all the same:  turkey with some bacon, buffalo chicken, the same-ol-same-ol chicken salad, turkey with blah, blah, blah.  You won't have that problem at the Black Bean Co.

I ordered one of the "Pure Energy Wraps" entitled the Black and Blue. It is a gigantic wrap of white meat chicken, blue cheese, avocado, mixed greens, black beans, rice and the best condiment: fig balsamic vinaigrette.  All of the components were wonderful but that vinaigrette is fantastic and just ties it all together.  I do wish the avocado were a bit more plentiful however.

The Black and Blue

The Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette rock this wrap!

 My mom ordered the Thanksgiving Joy.  As many of you know from this post, my mom is the Thanksgiving turkey & dressing-a-holic to end all holics. This one is packed full of turkey, cranberry, sprouts, mixed greens and fresh mozz.  Dad opted for the Beach Burrito.  This wrap consists of chicken, mango salsa, mixed greens, black beans, rice, sprouts and guacamole.  Both mom and dad liked their choices very much. However, once my dad got a couple bites into the 2nd half of his wrap, the ingredients dwindled down to nothing but salsa, greens and rice.  Lots and lots of rice.  Mom and I encouraged him to take it to the counter and let the staff know, but my dad isn't a wave maker.

The Thanksgiving Joy

The Beach Burrito

 We all ordered our sandwiches as a combo (wrap, side, drink) because we learned from the lady taking our order that it is more economically sensible to order it that way, as a sandwich and drink are only a few cents less.  So, it's like getting a free side.  This makes me wonder why not just feature all the wraps with a side and drink for one price?  

Potato salad is kind of like pizza...there are 5.17M+ ways to make it.  The salad at Black Bean is a pretty classic preparation with hard boiled egg, chopped red onion and chopped celery.  I really thought my mom would reject it because she's not a raw onion fan at all.  But, she ate all of hers without complaint, so that says something.  I loved the flavor, but I'm not a hard boiled egg fan which means I'm constantly teasing through mine looking for the egg slivers.  Plus, you guys know how I feel about celery, right?  I forced myself to just plow through the celery, but I truly think celery is the vegetable from hell. Somehow someone managed to convince the rest of the population that EVERYBODY just loves that foul stalk of ickiness. Not so much.

So, here's the deal.  I really like this place. The choices (choose your protein) and all the fresh veggies are more than abundant.  The combinations they've come up with make for a vastly interesting array of sandwich and salad choices.  And, they have a kids menu that makes me smile.  One thing I'd offer to the management, if they wanted my opinion, is to offer the wrap in a half size.  They are enormous.  I  couldn't even think about eating my whole wrap.  

Yea!  No styrofoam!

I do love the fact the the Black Bean Co. is using paper to-go boxes, but consider this.  If I could just order a half-size wrap, no to-go container of any sort is necessary.  Just sayin'...