Posh restaurant

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I have been fairly busy with a new beau and a new job. Finally, life is looking up and I'm feeling more positive. So, back to business!

Did you know or take advantage of restaurant week a couple weeks ago? I almost missed it. (What?....I know).  But my friend and I were able to go to Posh for her birthday celebration. Yes, Posh was actually on the list of participating restaurants. They offered four, five and six course meals at a highly discounted price.  We were stoked! We went with the four course meal for $40 per person.  Not sure what the cost would be without the discount, but I have heard it's fairly pricey... but worth it.

Now, if you have never been there, it's quite unique how you order. Ya see, you kind of don't.  They bring out a menu with a list of items that you can cross off. In other words, you tell the chef what you don't want to eat, or can't have due to allergies, or you just don't like the taste.  Then, the chef cooks up four courses of whatever he wants minus your crossed out requests.  Pretty cool, huh?  Each meal is a surprise. And let me tell you, each was phenomenal.

We each were served something different, so we, of course, shared with each other, which meant, we got to taste 8 different creations that evening.  We started with  a very rustic salad and tomato soup. Next came a Walleye filet atop some black bean rice, and a halibut filet atop a mushroom risotto. Following that was duck atop mashed potatoes with asparagus, and braised ribs atop a creamy polenta. And finally, some delectable fudge squares with lavender ice cream, and a creamy cheesecake with fresh berries.  Take that all down with a couple glasses of a lovely red, and you've got yourself the perfect dinner date.

Not to mention, our seats were up at the food service bar, overlooking the kitchen directly.  From any seat in the house, you can see the kitchen and watch the chefs prepare the food. Very exciting all in all.

Cinnamon Apple dessert

This apple and cinnamon dessert is the best and quickest way to throw together a yummy dessert, which I shared with my beau and his roommate on my last day in North Dakota. Simple and delicious! What was the last thing you ate for dessert?

What you need:
4 gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tsp cinnamon
vanilla ice cream

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon and stir to blend. Cover and let cook for about 5-8 minutes, stirring once or twice (until the liquid is mostly absorbed). The sugar should start to caramelize on the apple slices. Remove from heat, dish some into a bowl, and top with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm, mmmmm!!   

For an added bonus, add walnuts or golden raisins.

3 types of mayonnaise

I threw a ping-pong and cornhole tourney last weekend, and BBQ'd some grub as well.  I made slider burgers and guava glazed pork loin sliders as well.  I wanted to add something interesting for sauce instead of just plain ole boring ketchup and mayo. So I mixed up three different types of mayonnaise's. They were a hit! It was fun to spread one mayo on the top bun and another on the bottom.  Talk about great flavor.

Herb Mayo - 1/2 cup mayo, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp each of freshly chopped herbs (oregano, basil, chives, parsley, thyme), dash of salt and pepper

Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Mayo - 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup roasted red peppers finely chopped, 2 tsp minced garlic (3-4 cloves), 1 tsp lemon juice

Horseradish Mayo - 1/2 cup mayo, 1 tbsp horseradish sauce, 1/4 tsp chili powder

Grimaldi's pizza - no bueno

I went to lunch, reluctantly, at Grimaldi's Pizzeria today.  My first visit about eight years ago was "no bueno", so I never went back. But I keep hearing from a lot of people that they love Grimaldi's, so I decided to give it a second chance.  I shouldn't have.  My feelings are still the same..."no bueno!"

The menu only consists of thin crust pizza that you create, salads, and desserts.  Sure, it's fun to create your own pizza, but the prices are ridiculous. When you are all said and done adding your toppings, you could end up with a 12 inch pizza for $30. That's just ridiculous, especially when they are not that great in flavor.  I ordered the 12 inch pesto pizza ($12) and added grilled chicken (an additional $4). The pizza lacked flavor. I think if the pesto had more garlic flavor, as it should, or if the chicken had some flavor and had chunks larger than a dime, then maybe. Either way, completely unimpressed. I also ordered a small Mediterranean salad ($7). That was just okay, nothing special about it, but it definitely had more flavor than the pizza. I actually tried to dip my pizza in the vinaigrette dressing to add some flavor.

I went there with two friends, one who ordered just a large salad and added a couple ingredients, the other ordered just a 12 inch pizza with pepperoni. I had water, and they each had ice tea. Our bill came to a total of $58.45, not including tip. That is ridiculous for a mid-week lunch that consisted of pizza and salad. They didn't even offer any lunch specials. No wonder the place was practically empty.

I will always remember that first impressions do count when it comes to food. Everyone has their favorite pizza place, and mine is NOT Grimaldi's. If you want to try an amazing thin crust pizza, try Spinato's Pizzeria and order the Mamma Spinato's "Signature" Fresh Spinach pizza. It is to die for! And their prices are MUCH more reasonable.

Lush Burger in North Scottsdale

I went to Lush Burger in North Scottsdale for lunch today. It's located just north of the 101 freeway on Pima road in the AJ's shopping center. It was delicious!

The inviting large patio has tables with comfy/loungy chairs mixed in, large red umbrellas to shade you from the sun and any falling debris, and lights and misters strewn through-out for ambiance at night. Their lunch crowd seemed scarce, which was also nice because that meant faster service. Unfortunately, the service was a bit slow for how uncrowded they were. Maybe we had a bad waitress, but only a second visit will reveal the truth.

The menu is very intriguing and mouth-watering. First and foremost, we HAD to order a burger since we were at a burger joint. So we each chose something different, along with a side order of onion rings (of course). The rings were very tasty, some were a bit too oily, but others had the perfect crunch.

My burger was the Inside Out Veggie Burger. It consisted of quinoa and grilled squash made into patties, with roasted red peppers, avocado and arugula. I added some grilled onions and goat cheese as well.  It was absolutely delicious.

My friends ordered the Turkey Cobb Burger and the Baby Lush Burger Trio. The Turkey Cobb, standing about three to four inches high, was stacked with a turkey burger, blue cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato on a whole wheat bun. She couldn't quite finish the monster stack, but she fully enjoyed it's flavor.  The trio was three over sized sliders of Angus beef with cheese and the usual fixing's.

During lunch, they offer a special that includes the burger, a side of fries, slaw or veggie sticks, and a drink, which ends up being a pretty good deal. For our first visit to Lush Burger, we rate it a 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.

Searing Scallops

Have you ever tried to pan-sear scallops? Or are they one of those foods you just leave to the professionals? I am here to show you that it's possible to pan-sear the perfect scallop at home.

Start with approximately 6 fresh scallops that are a decent size. Rinse and dry the scallops - this helps to eliminate any water draining from the scallop into the pan when cooking.
Preheat a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Add butter (2 tbsp), olive oil (2 tbsp) or broth (1/4 cup). Add scallops, lightly sprinkle with garlic salt, and let cook for about 2 minutes on each side.  Remove scallops and place on a plate. Then, gently wipe out the pan and return to the heat. Add the scallops back into the pan and sear on each side for about 15-30 seconds.  This gives the scallop a nicely browned and slightly crisp top and bottom.

Serve scallops on a bed of rice, in a pasta, or with a simple sauce of your choosing.  Last night I went with a blueberry sauce which added a slight sweet flavor.  Another time, I made a mango puree sauce with a little cinnamon and butter.  For this sauce, just cut up some mango, saute in a little butter, add a little cinnamon, and cook until mango's are tender. You can serve as a chunky sauce, or choose to mash them up (or puree) for a smoother sauce.

Now you too can pan-sear your own scallops at home. Practice makes perfect!

Chicken and salad night

Do you have kids? I don't, but my 11 year old niece lives with me and sometimes, it's really hard to get her to eat healthy meals. I don't pack her lunch because she eats at school everyday (and not sure how I feel about the lunches they are serving up either). But eating at school does help limit the chaos in the morning in the kitchen. Either way, I still try to make healthy dinners to make sure she is getting her needed vegetables, fruits and protein each day. This is how I came up with chicken and salad night. I figure, once a week (at least), we have salad with chicken to start her down the path of actually liking salads.

When I was younger, my salad consisted of iceberg lettuce with mayonnaise as the dressing. Gross, I know. But it worked for me. My niece, thank goodness, likes ranch - not that it's a far cry from mayonnaise, but I'll take it. So I buy the ready-packs of mixed green salad you can buy at the store because it has more crunch like iceberg, which she prefers, but also includes some other more nutritious lettuce varieties. She douses it in ranch, but eats the whole bowl. Then, I either grill up some chicken thighs, or pan fry them for a few minutes on each side, then finish them off in the oven until cooked through. My niece and brother love it. I love this type of chicken versus a boneless breast because I can shred the chicken from the bone, and add it to my salad. This works great for packing a salad for the office the next day too.

If you want to spruce up the salad a bit, try slowly adding additional ingredients such as tortilla strips for more crunch and flavor, or dried cranberries for a sweet touch, or even some shredded cheese.  Slowly offering and getting kids to try new added ingredients will only help to expand their palate.

For more salad recipes, check out Keep it in the Kitchen.

Magical Meatloaf

I thawed out some ground beef the other day and told my brother to figure out what he wants to do with it. He replied, "Let's make meatloaf." To which I shockingly replied, "Meatloaf?! Seriously? OK."  But I wasn't going to make it myself, so instead I taught him how to make it.

We started with 1 pound of ground beef in a large mixing bowl. We added some seasoning salt, garlic powder, ground pepper, Worcestershire sauce, 2 eggs, about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, and a small can of V8 juice. Next, the fun part - mashing it all together with your hands (or a wooden spoon). He then lightly sprayed a glass baking dish with olive oil and formed a large loaf in the middle of the dish, sprinkled it up with a little salt and threw it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes, he topped it off with some spaghetti sauce (a simple tomato and basil blend), and some mozzarella cheese until heated and melted.

We must admit, it was the best tasting meatloaf we have ever had...hence the name Magical Meatloaf. Cooking with whatever ingredients you have in the house isn't always as hard as it seems.  This loaf was enough to feed a family of 5, but now we have left-overs for a few days.  Easy-peezy! 

Shrimp with a sweet touch

Last night, I had some shrimp that was thawed and needed to be cooked up. I always by the uncooked kind so I can prepare it as I see fit. Focusing on trying to stay healthy (to a point), I sauteed the shrimp in a tablespoon of butter, a couple teaspoons of minced garlic, and then, added about a tablespoon of honey. Two minutes later, at the perfect pinkness, I added a little lemon juice, then set aside while keeping warm.

Meanwhile, I sauteed up about 2 cups of spinach leaves, added chopped tomato and onion, sauteing until the spinach was wilted. I then topped that off with some crumbled feta cheese, removed from the heat and let the cheese melt slightly, then dished it up on a plate, topping it off with the shrimp.
The salty flavor of the spinach saute and the slight sweetness of the shrimp was a perfect combination meal.  There is nothing better that a satisfying light and healthy meal.

My spinach saute recipe pictured can be found on my Phoenix Cooking Examiner website.

Loving food and losing weight

I constantly struggle with the fact that I LOVE preparing and eating good food, yet want to lose weight and tone up my body. And I love trying new restaurants as well.  But it is so hard to actually have this passion for food, and still remain in-shape.  At my age (nearing the title of a cougar), it becomes much harder to keep a perfect body....yes, I said perfect, cuz I am a perfectionist (I can't help it).  I am my worst critic, of course.  But, as I was saying, to love food and keep a great body, I have to work out almost three times harder than the other youngin's out there.  It's so frustrating.  There are days I just want to eat everything that sounds good, and there are those that I prefer to keep it minimal and healthy, but those are more rare.  So it has been my quest now to finish the P90X workout challenge (I have 2 month left to go), and eat as healthy as I can for that time, with one day a week to splurge a little.

My girlfriend and I have decided to make a pact - at the end of April, 2011, we have to post a picture of ourselves in a bikini on Facebook.  Scary!!  But it's definitely a motivator.  So if you too are having trouble keeping motivated to either lose weight, tone up or just maintain, then find a friend you can make a pact or create a challenge with for a designated period of time, and I guarantee you will hit your goal.

Stay posted to hear about and see the results.  You can also follow me on Twitter or find me on Facebook.

Vegan vs Vegetarian....what's the difference?

Recently I found an interest in finding some vegan restaurants around town.  But then I started thinking, what the heck is the difference between vegan and vegetarian. Well, here it is for those who pondered this as much as I did....

Vegetarian - This is a blanket term that describes those that do not consume meat, poultry or seafood. There are several sub-catergories to this as well. But a Vegetarian typically has less dietary restrictions (i.e. they will eat eggs, cheese, dairy). Some of the sub-catergories refer to a vegetarian who might just consume eggs, but nothing else, or those that might consume milk, but nothing else, etc.  I think you get the picture without me throwing out a bunch of crazy terms you probably won't remember.

Vegan - describes those that do not consume ANY animal-products or by-products. This is the strictest of all the categories.

Some great restaurants to check out in Arizona include Pita Jungle, Fresh Mint, and Nourish.

El Chorro Lodge Wine Tasting

The winemakers of Paso Robles wine country are coming to the Greater Phoenix/Scottsdale area on February 7-11, 2011.  You will have the opportunity to meet the winemakers, enjoy dinner/wine pairings, and other wine tasting events throughout the valley. More than 30 winemakers are joining us from Paso Robles, bringing with them approximately 150 premium wines for tasting.There will be a Grand Tasting Event on February 9th, open to the public. Tickets cost $55 and can be purchased at http://www.pasowine.com/. This event will be held at El Chorro Lodge, located at 5550 E. Lincoln, Paradise Valley, AZ, from 6pm-8pm.  Get your tickets now because space is limited.

Other special dinner events that will be paired with Paso Roble wine tastings will also be located throughout the valley.  Call any of these locations to find out the details:

Monday, February 7
5th & Wine - 480-699-8001
Petite Maison - 480-991-6887
Rancho Pinot - 480-367-8030

Tuesday, February 8
Big Daddy's BBQ - 480-609-0100
Cowboy Ciao - 480-946-3111
Kazimierz World Wine Bar - 480-WINE 004