Wednesday, January 17, 2007

I've got my Chai, who could ask for anything more?


In the battle of Chai Royale, one cup of liquid yummy stands above the rest...

The challengers: Starbucks, Caribou Coffee and Beaners.

I was on a quest to find the best cup of Chai Tea in the Great Lakes state. My first thought was that Starbucks would walk away with the mucho yummy medal, but like a good Rocky movie, the underdog rose to the top.

Starbucks Chai came off flat. It was watery and didn't have enough spices. I've tried their chai tea several times and in several different locations and it never gets any better. But at least this chain gets an 'A' for consistency.

Caribou Coffee Chai comes in second place. Its chai tea is smooth and full of flavor. Plus, this unique Michigan chain has the most comfy atmosphere including a fireplace in the middle of the room. It's hard to beat a place where you feel like you're snugly in a log cabin in New Hampshire. Caribou get the best atmosphere award by a long shot.

Drum rolls please--and the winner of the Chai Battle Royale goes to...Beaners. Their chai tea is dreamy! It's like your sipping on something Heaven-sent, my tongue felt so delighted it wanted to do backflips. I ordered mine with soy milk and the fresh aroma of chai spices made my nose feel like it could fly or do something fantastic.

Who needs coffee when you can chai it?

*Hat tip to my brother for taking me to Beaners and treating me a Caribou.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Potato Cheese Stuff

I have to say Rachael Ray inspired me on this dish. Her easy and friendly style encourages me to get my butt in the kitchen and make something. I call this dish the Potato Cheese Stuff. Now let me tell you how it all came to be...

I was watching an episode of 30 Minute Meals just before Christmas and Rachael Ray was making this yummy pastry dish with loads of cheese and meat. I'm not a fan of the meat part but the oodles of cheese and golden crust really got me. So I decided to make my own version of the dish - vegetarian style. I've been having this urge to stuff something into a pastry crust for a while now so this was like the final push to move me to action. And the results for this dish were astonishing, my little brothers kept asking for more and called me a good cook (this doesn't happen in my corner of the world because most of the time my "cooking" is considered making a bowl of cereal - so those compliments are big news).

So here's the recipe for the simple yet satisfying meal...

Ingredients:

*About 5-6 potatos (depending on how big you get them)
*A small box of store brand frozen spinach (you can use fresh if you want)
*A bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or your fav cheese...it's your dish)
*One package of pie crust (the kind that rolls out and has two rolls)
*Fresh crushed pepper
*A fresh tomato
*Butter (or I used some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread)
*A fresh onion (1/2)
*Sour cream

Directions:

Set your pie crust out so it will be a room tempature. Pre-heat oven to time mentioned on pie crust package. Peal your potatoes and cut them into medium sizes pieces. Boil some water and drop your potatoes in. Put your spinach package into a skillet and cover under medium heat. Chop up your onions and put them to the side. Once your pototoes are done, drain the water and put some butter in (up to a half of a stick depending on your tastebuds). Take a big spoon and mush the pototoes up, you want to leave some chunks. Once your spinach is done drain as much liquid from it that you can (I used a paper towel to get some of the excess liquid off). Put spinach to the side. Now, put your onions in the same pan the spinach was in and add a couple teaspoons of butter. You want to caramelize the onions. Once onions are caramelized then dump them into the potatoes and fold them in.

Unfold your pie crusts and put them on a baking sheet. Put a layer of thick shredded sharp cheddar cheese at the bottom (you want to center this in the middle so the crust will fold over it easily). Then a layer of potatoes. Then a layer of spinach. And finally another thick layer of cheese. Close up the pastry, make sure its nicely sealed and cut about four or five splits on the top for ventilation like such:



Now put your gorgeous dish into the oven (bottom rack) for the time the pie crust package says it takes and walaa...you've got yourself a super YUMMY mucho CHEESY meal!! As far a plating goes you can follow the design below (diced tomatos, fresh crushed pepper on top and soar cream with cheese on the side) or bring your own creativeness to the dish...the bottom line is to enjoy making and eating the food.


A hat tip goes to my little sister for plating this fabulous dish and the photos. I cooked it and she made it look pretty, which is a BIG part of the eating experience. Our eyes tell our brains how good the food is going to be before the food has a chance to touch our mouths.

Happy Eating!!

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Salsa Ranch


Tucked away in the aisles of the superstore giant lies the ranch of all ranch dressings. Wal-Mart's Salsa Ranch is like a good dancer: a little bold, a little zesty and smooth from beginning to end. Like a good dance partner, it makes you look good. And that's exactly what salsa ranch does, it makes your dishes taste yummy with little effort involved.

Here's a list of things that salsa ranch can spice up:

*Salads
*Sandwiches
*Pretzels
*Moringstar Farms Buffalo Wings
*Fish dishes (for pescatarians)
*Quesadillas
*Wraps
*Rice
*Veggie Burgers
*Pita Bread

And many more things!!

I use this all the time on my salad and veggie wraps and I'm constantly finding new dishes to try this on. It's hard to go back to using regular ranch dressing once you've tried this. Salsa ranch is mucho yummy!!!