Fiesta Fiesta Rice

I just want you to know when I wrote Fiesta Fiesta I immediately heard R Kelly and Jay Z in my head- 

After the show it's the after party, then after the party it's the hotel lobby and after the Belve then it's probably Cris and after the original it's probably this! 

And because I answer your hard hitting questions- no I have never tasted Cristal- but I have tried each kind of Andre and I can report you should skip the strawberry and go for the classic Brut. (You're welcome.)

So we're eating more brown rice in our household and this can get pretty boring pretty fast just as my tomatoes are rotting pretty fast- so let's combo the two!

If you're in a pinch (like I was) use a pre-cooked Seeds of Change or you can go ahead with dry rice and cook as specified on the package directions.

Add some lime and cilantro for zip and freshness.

Slice some ripe tomato- yum!

This corn is left over from when I had roasted some earlier this week. (To roast preheat your oven to 350 and roast in husk for 30-40 minutes- easy as that!) Cut straight off the hull and into the bowl.

Season liberally with salt and pepper. I tasted and thought it was missing a little something. So I made it pop with a little smoky cumin and a little spicy chili powder.

Mix and serve with your favorite protein! 

Stacks on Deck

Patron on ice....

Truth time. Saturday night I dreamed about mozzarella cheese. No joke. Straight up cheese dream. Anytime I see a diet where there is even a mention or thought of having to give up cheese I look away. Moderation my friend, no elimination. On a side note- extremes suck! Black or white- nope not me I am a diplomat through and through- gray areas are much more comfortable.

So I present to you the result of my cheese dream: eggplant tomato mozzarella stacks.

Gather your supplies: eggplants, ripe tomato, mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Slice your eggplants and arrange on a baking sheet. Salt and pepper each side. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are soft (mine took 15 minutes).

While you're waiting go ahead and slice your tomatoes. Can we talk about how ripe these are?

One the eggplants are done cooking- create your stacks. Eggplant- tomato- eggplant- tomato.

Adorn each stack with a circle of mozzarella cheese- if you don't have fresh you could use shredded if in a pinch.

Bake for 20 additional minutes.

Look how melty and good!

I ate like 4 stacks for lunch. So good!

NOFO @ the PIG

Sunday funday, a day for relaxing. Not so much in our household. Sunday is our day for OMG we have so much to accomplish before tomorrow. But before we succumb to a full freak out we usually indulge in some Sunday N&O reading- and this past Sunday our fridge was empty and on our to-do list was grocery shopping. So what is a young couple to do? Why Sunday brunch that is! We hopped over to 5 points where we decided on NOFO. 

As the website notes this used to be a Piggly Wiggly grocery store! In fact there used to be 6 all located in downtown- even one on Bloodworth! It being no secret that downtown lacks a grocery store- we spent a good chunk of our brunch deciding on the logistics of bringing one to our area.

The inside has both the restaurant downstairs and a gift store upstairs. I love this place because there are pigs everywhere! Above you can see the blown glass chandelier with pigs that are literally LINKED together with sausage.

The gift store upstairs has a random mix of items- most of which have a southern flare.

Mason jar wine glasses anyone? I can't help but automatically hear Toby Keith's lyrics from I Love this Bar: "And we like to drink our beer from a mason jar..." Well my American gun toting compadre- now you can drink your pinot grigio as well-keeping it classy! (or maybe he's more of a merlot guy?)

Upstairs also has a rather extensive selection of chocolates- rather tempting because the few times we've been here there is always a wait. So maybe we tried a few?

WTC is enjoying a red velvet truffle- if I enjoyed red velvet cake I may be able to say this looks delicious. But sadly this is where I am a failure of a southerner- I do not enjoy red velvet cake- At. All. WTC loves it. Oh well. I tried this salted caramel chocolate and a dark chocolate truffle- they were indeed delicious. I ate them before I could snap a photo- you'll just have to go see for yourself!

So what did we have for brunch? It was traitor Sunday so we both had Benedict's.

WTC had the Coastal Benedict- crab cakes with poached eggs, Edwards country ham and hollandaise with fruit and biscuits. If you read the reviews online- this dish is mentioned specifically- WTC noted that while the crab cakes weren't quite as lump as you'll find in say Maryland- they were definitely not all filler either. And make no mistake about the it hollandaise is amazing- do not order this on the side- you want it on top!

I opted for the Florentine Benedict- spinach patty with tomato slices, 2 poached eggs and topped with hollandaise, fruit and biscuits. This was so good!

And the fruit was fresh! I asked how they make their spinach patties because from first glance they just look like molded spinach rounds. Upon closer inspection- they were indeed seared on the grilled. The tomato was ripe and thinly sliced so that it didn't over power the rest of the dish. And both WTC and I can confirm that the biscuits are fluffy and buttery and you WILL eat both.

 I asked our waitress who noted they make theirs with spinach, egg, bread crumbs, a little mayo and onion. I want the make these pronto. Check out their dinner menu where they feature sandwiches with these patties - for your own inspiration.

Pig Crossing!

So verdict? Loved it. Reasonably priced and delicious and I was full all day (bonus).  We would definitively eat here again for brunch and are hoping to come here for other meals as well.

Of course it's healthy! It has vegetables in it...

And a crap load of of sugar... and oh well there are veggies- let's focus on that. I have zucchini... a lot of zucchini. There are two random zucchini saying's that may help solve the mystery as to why I have SO many of the green gems.

Zucchinis terrific!

Like Bunnies... prolific!

The trouble is, you cannot grow just one zucchini.  Minutes after you plant a single seed, 
hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden, 
menacing the other vegetables.  At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake
as more and more zucchinis erupt.-   Dave Barry

Now that you are all impressed by my vast garden saying knowledge- onward to the recipe! I wanted to make bread- but I only have one bread pan. So I opted for 12 muffins and one bread pan and the addition to another bread pan to my birthday list (August 30th- right around the corner!)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour your pans.

Beat together 3 eggs with 1 c oil and 1 3/4 c sugar. Add in 2 c zucchini and 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Combine in another bowl 3 c flour, 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 3 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. If you are a smart baker and didn't forget to purchase baking soda then in stead of 3 tsp baking powder, use 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp baking power.

Whoopsies!

Mix your wet and dry ingredients together. Your done! If you're feeling funky you can add in dried and nuts at your discretion.

Pour into your pans. Bake your muffins for 20 minutes and your bread for 60 minutes.

So pretty! And so yummy! Love the pumpkin pie spice as opposed to the regular cinnamon most recipes call for.

There are those veggies!

This more or less goes without saying but these do not taste like the zucchini AT ALL. It just serves to make them so moist and delicious. If i were to make these again I would not make the bread- just the muffins. These were tastier and the bread was really crumbly. The muffins were gone in about 2 days but the bread lingered and was begrudgingly eaten over the next week and a half. 

BUKU BUKU BUKU BUKU

As promised Todderton and I have been exploring our neighborhood and as we were driving home one day the sign "GLOBAL STREET FOOD" caught our eyes. Immediately Todd said I don't know what that is but I want to go. Turns out it was none other than Buku. Self described as "Inspired by the pushcarts of street vendors in cities across the globe, our chefs harvest an array of unique and distinct flavors and present them authentically, in a virtual kaleidoscope of plates." You tell me this doesn't sound amazing. Located at E Davie and Wilmington-Buku is great for drinks on the weekend and with great outdoor seating is an excellent option when it's not 98 degrees with 110% humidity (heatapocalypse say what? Im dying!). 


Todd and I went with my sister (Lo), her roommate (Allison) and her future roommate (Lexi). We chose to eat outside because it was a random day in July that wasn't miserable. Lo and her Allison opted for one of their bottles of wine- they have several that are reasonably priced. Todd and Lexi opted for mixed drinks- Todd with the guava-lime caipirinha (Leblon cachaca, muddled lime, guava, organic agave nectar) and Lexi with the passion exchange Sauza reposado, passion-fruit, Patrón citronge, organic agave nectar, fresh citrus). YUM. I was lame with a glass of Cab Sav.

We started with their world breads- an assortment of chef's breads baked daily. We also did the choose three option for sauces- getting the Raita, the habanero-mango salsa and the avocado salsa to dip in. The breads were 5 and the sauces were 6.5- not bad for 5 people to share. For our breads we had a mixture of naan, onion focaccia and some plain flatbread.

For main dishes Todd got the Korean BBQ which was shaved prime sirloin, kim chi, sesame-spinach, wasabi soy for 15 dollars.

Pretty! Todd said the BBQ was tender likely due to the thin slices. He noted that the kim chi was vinegary and spicy, The spinach had subtle hints of ginger- and was surprisingly tasty. Overall he said that he would probably get it again- but would most likely get something else. He did note he would eat here again- but on a scale of 1-10 he would give the restaurant a 7.

Lo and I got the Moules Frites: P.E.I. mussels, in a tomato garlic white wine cream sauce, served with toasted bread to soak up the sauce and fries.

Over all I was pleased with the portion for 15 dollars. The mussels were perfectly cooked and tasted salty and not much like the sauce they were cooked in. But hey as you can see that's not an issue because who can deny grilled bread for sauce soak up? The fries were a nice touch and cooked well. Overall I also give my meal a 7. It wasn't anything to write home about but the atmosphere made up for the food short comings. Our waiter was patient and knowledgeable.

This place really gets crowded at night and as we were finishing our meals the bar area was already starting to fill with overly dressed ladies in sky high heels and men in linen pants and blazers- if that is any indication of the crowd that can be seen there at night. This is definitely a place to be seen at and one should dress appropriately.

Take home message- chose wisely on your meal. It can be the difference of leaving full (like we did) or wanting more- Allison who ordered the pierogis (4 came on a small plate). If weather appropriate- sit outside, however the waterfall near the bar does add to the ambiance you meal indoors. I am not itching to go back- but I wouldn't not go again. And that my friends is Buku!

I'm BACK!!!!!!!

Well hello there strangers! 

It's been well over a year! I kind of fell off the blogging bandwagon when my produce box stopped arriving... the FDA showed up at work ... oh and when the weather went from sweltering to freezing in a matter of days (oh North Carolina! - you and your "four seasons.) So yup! I'm back with a vengeance. My box has been coming for about a month and y'all know I've been a cooking up a storm!  Mistersister hubs and I have been perusing the local cuisine as well which I will be happy to report on! I also kicked my outdated crackberry to the curb and upgraded to the LG revolution- 4G say what!? With this awesome speed also comes higher quality photos- I hope they are truly drool worthy. So to kick off my re-debut I have for you a peach blueberry clobber you will DIE over.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and get ready for greatness.

Melt 1/2 c butter in an 8x8x2 in pan.

In a bowl mix 1/2 c sugar, 1 c flour with 2 tsp. baking powder. To this add 1/2 c milk.

Pour this into the pan with the melted butter- don't mix it will spread on its own.

Next add to a bowl 1 pint blueberries with 3 medium peaches that have been cut into slices. Add 1/2 c sugar, 2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon. Gently mix to coat the fruit. (OMG this smells so good).

Add fruit on top of the goupy mix in the pan. 

Put into the oven to bake for 45 minutes. 

The top should be golden brown and bubbly! MMM- serve warm with vanilla ice cream and thank me later!