Cheese and Dough

Russ and I tried a date night in January. But it didn't really work out beyond eating at Red Lobster.

So- Take 2: Valentine's Day!

Russ and I went to the San Antonio temple and it was wonderful.

Then, off to pump at the Babies 'R Us.

Finally! Dinner at a little place called Dough! 

We heard about Dough on Diner's, Drive In's, and Dives about a year ago. We've planned to go and eat there and it never worked out. But it was worth the wait- and we're not the only ones willing to wait.

The restaurant was packed. We could have waited 30 minutes to eat inside, or we could eat outside right away. We chose to eat outside- even though there was a chill in the air.

Here's what we ordered:

Mozzarella cheese, stuffed with 2 other cheeses (Ricotta and Fountaine)

One of the 90-second oven pizzas. Yum.

It was oh so good. Each dish was about $15-20. Not cheap- but you get what you pay for. 

The thing that makes this restaurant unique is the giant- imported from Italy- brick oven. The oven is so hot, the pizza only goes in the oven for 90 seconds. 

If you're in San Antonio- check this place out. But beware- it will be busy!

Food I Made

This was a while ago, when I was in the middle of taking Heidi's maternity pictures.

Menu:

• Savory Peach Salad
• Bacon, Avocado, Pepperjack Cheese, and Apple
• Grilled Corn

Yum. I should make this again.

Chicken Tikki Masala

Last night I took on my own kitchen stadium to make Chicken Tikki Masala. This came at the request of a sister missionary when we fed her in July. She, Sister P, was in culinary school prior to serving her mission. I asked what her favorite dish was and she said it was Chicken Masala.

I had never heard of it. In fact, I thought it was Italian when she said it (it's an Indian dish). But I was not daunted. I googled it.

Now, I am not a cook. So pictures with recipes are a must. And if the picture looks gross, I don't preview the recipe. Luckily, I found a good looking picture and a good looking recipe, here.

But I changed it a bit. Here's what I did:

chicken tikka masala

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons good paprika

2 teaspoon chicken curry masala  regular curry powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala cumin, 1/4  teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 crumbled bay leaf, and a dash of cloves

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 4 ounce can tomato paste
3  4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
1/2 serrano pepper, thinly sliced, with ribs and seeds removed
1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves maple syrup and a whole bay leaf
1 tablespoon sugar

In a skillet set over medium-heigh heat, cook onions in the oil until just beginning to brown on the edges.  Stir in spices and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.  Add in tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir to deglaze the pan and transfer to a crockpot.  Stir in garlic, ginger, hot pepper, maple syrup, bay leaf, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cover, and cook on low for 4 

hours.  While it cooks, prepare the chicken.

1 pound chicken tenders, cut in 1 inch pieces (I used 5 chicken breasts)
1/2 teaspoon good paprika
1/2 teaspoon chicken curry masala regular curry powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Toss chicken and spices together and let marinate in fridge for 2 hours.  Stir 1/2 cup plain yogurt in and allow to marinate for another hour.

*I probably mixed 3 or 4 batches of the spices to make sure I covered all my chicken pieces. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Stir chicken, 1 cup of yogurt, cream, and cilantro into the crockpot.  Allow to cook for about 30 minutes more.  Served with brown basmati rice.

Here is the result:

Looks tasty, eh? Well it turned out delicious. Just spicy enough but not too spicy. I'm going to eat some more for lunch today.

The sisters were sure excited for it. Can I just say that I love feeding people who appreciate good food? 

We also made peach stacks, again. Here's the results: (And here is the recipe)

The only casualty from the evening was I got a steam burn from my thumb while making the bastami rice. But I prevented a blister, it's just sore today. Well! Until the next adventure in the kitchen....

Trattoria Lisina

Russell is a master of Groupons. He finds the best deals and then takes me to these fancy restaurants that are delicious. Before we saw the Arcade Fire, we used a Groupon and we went to Trattoria Lisina.

This restaurant is owned by Damian Mandola, who co-founded the Carrabba's restaurant chain. Mr. Mandola has a few shops in Austin as well. Trattoria Lisina is in Driftwood, Texas- sort of by the Salt Lick. The food at Trattoria Lisina is A-MAZING! I can still taste the white truffle oil from my risotto. Check it out:

My Risotto.
I forgot to take a picture of it before I delved into it, and so this is the picture of it after I was stuffed.
So Good.
Can I go back right now please?

This is the only picture I got of Russ's dish. He got the linguine and it was also perfect.
He ordered some polenta, pictured on the side.

 Sadly, we were too full for dessert. But if we had space, we would've had some gelato and biscotti. Instead, we headed to the Backyard, the concert venue for Arcade Fire. Much to our joy, the venue offered trailer food including food from Mandola's! This is the food trailer owned by none other than Damian Mandola! So we had some dessert after all from Mr. Mandola! Although they didn't have gelato, so we had a cannolis (cannolies?) instead:

Here are a few more photos of the grounds around Trattoria Lisina. If I shoot bridals,  I'm choosing this place as the shoot venue. So beautiful. I felt like I was in a foreign country.

And Another Thing About Food...

I promise I will blog about our trip to Orange as soon as I can upload the pictures from my camera.

But for now... Here's a look at what I've eaten lately (I realize I blog a lot about food. But it's so tasty!)

Isn't this the cutest Dr. Pepper you've ever seen?
Sigh. So cute.

Remember how I eat awful at law school?
Well this is how I eat when I go to law school
but I'm sleeping in San Marcos. Tasty food.

That right there is a Hippo breakfast taco from Bucc-ee's
It is soo tasty, I recommend you go get one.
I think I may have to do a run out there this weekend for one...

Nothing says Texas like a Texas waffle.
This is from the hotel we stayed at in Orange.
It reminded me of a waffle maker Hilary, Jamie, and I gave to our friend
Laura when she moved back to Utah.
Remember that?
I miss her.

Blueberry Cheesewhich

I go through food phases quite often.

Examples:

• I was a vegetarian for a while in Junior High.
• In High School, I hated salad.
• In 2007 I needed an ice cream cone once a week.
• In 2008 I had mozzarella sticks every chance I got (burned out of this in 2009)
• In 2010 it was sweet potato fries (I'm still on this food phase).

I think last week started a new one for me: Cheese & Fruit plates. Hence, I made this while at dinner one night:

This is on the dinner menu for tomorrow night again. And I can't wait. I love a new food phase!

Wasabi Almonds

This is a recipe from my mother-in law, Bonnie (she's the best, in case you didn't know). I made these last week, but I think I used more than 1 pound of almonds. The result of this is that the wasabi taste was very subtle. Some people loved it (Hilary, missionaries) and some people wanted more wasabi (Russ, Craig, myself). Either way they are a great snack, really good for your skin! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Roasted Wasabi Almonds

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 pound raw almonds

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons wasabi powder (in the oriental section of the grocery store)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Use a 2-quart slow cooker (you can use a big one, but stay close by and stir often to ward off possible burning). 

In a bowl, whisk together the egg white, water, and soy sauce until it's foamy. 

Toss the almonds in this mixture until they are wet. Set aside.

In a zippered plastic bag, combine the wasabi powder, kosher salt, and cornstarch. 

Drain any additional liquid from the almonds, and then dump the wet almonds into your zippered bag. Close well and shake until the almonds are nicely coated.

Pour these coated almonds into your slow cooker and cover. Cook on low for 2 to 4 hours, or until toasty (the almonds will brown a  bit and you'll definitely smell them. They will NOT be crunchy, but don't worry, they will be later!) 

Spread out a layer of foil or parchment paper onto the countertop and dump out the nuts. Let the almonds dry completely before munching. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Baris- The Best Italian Restaurant I've Ever Been To...

Waco, TX. Most people have never been here. Or if they have, they think there's not much to it.

I would have thought the same thing, if I didn't live here for part of my life. Waco is actually very beautiful, very fun, and has a lot of GREAT restaurants.

The one that strikes my fancy recently is Bari's. Or Baris.

Now, I grew up on Italian food. My mom served her mission in Italy and so she often made variations of Italian food into casseroles (Turkey Tetrazzini was a favorite). Because of this... I don't like italian. 

I think I can count on one hand the times I've been to that celebrated restaurant "The Olive Garden".

And If my husband ever says, "How about Italian food?" I gag immediately.

Well folks, NO MORE! Bari's has brought me to LOVE Italian food. And I'll show you why:

Pink Sauce.... YUM!

No. 3 Burger in Texas

It appeared on the cover of Texas Monthly, like this:

After sitting on a hay bale in Fredricksburg (see previous post) we headed to the hills to Alamo Springs Cafe and ordered food from her:

We asked for the burger on the cover of the magazine and she brought us this:

This was my reaction:

That is my favorite picture.

But Russ wanted to take more pictures. So I pulled this face:

I downed this sweet burger in about 3 seconds. Texas Monthly was right- it is a great burger. I was so into it that this happened:

Some of the green chilies and cheese grease escaped to my skirt.

It was worth it.

Tapenade

The other day Russ made tapenade for some veggie roll-ups. It was delicious. We ate it for days around home on bread, in our quesadillas, etc.

I thought you might be interested to try it, so here's the recipe! It is a great way to top off any good sandwich, soup, or roll-up!

Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• 1 (6 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup drained capers
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the red peppers, artichoke hearts, cilantro, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, capers, garlic, and lemon juice. Pulse until finely chopped and the mixture is blended. Transfer to a serving bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to blend the flavors.

The Rueben

My favorite sandwhich. The NeWorlDeli in Austin is supposed to be the
best in town. I think the build up was a bit much but I wasn't
disappointed.