food addiction: avocado

please excuse the blurry photo.

Pictured above is one of my favorite snacks and it just so happens to include avocados. It's a garlic rubbed multigrain crostini topped with sliced avocado, arugula, tomato, sometimes bacon, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

I toast sliced up baguette in the oven, drizzle with olive oil and rub raw garlic all over both sides. I top it with whatever ingredients I decide to use and dress it with more olive oil and balsamic. Salt and pepper to taste. Perfection!

Anyhoo, I LOVE AVOCADO. I could eat this buttery tasting goodness every single day. It's a "good fat" so that justifies me wanting to eat it 24/7. I grew up with my mom preparing it as a dessert snack of some sorts. Just a bowl of chopped avocado, sugar and milk. Later in life I'd find these similar flavor components in one of my favorite drinks: avocado bubble tea (boba). Unfortunately I haven't come across a place in Raleigh that makes it quite as good as spots in Canada but that's a whole 'nother story.

When I want a savory preparation with this delectible fruit I make crostini, toss it in salad, use it in sandwiches and another fav: GUACAMOLE! I made some today to top some fajitas matter of fact. I hate that I can't get my laptop online cause I can't post a pictures. Today I prepared my guac with a mortar and pestle. Super cool and I'm pretty sure one of the most authentic ways to make it. No recipe here. I do everything to taste. But I will tell you I put avocados (obviously), garlic, jalapeno, lime and cilantro in it. So simple! So yummy!!

Restaurant Review: The Pit. Raleigh, NC

I haven't been able to connect my laptop to the internet and that means I haven't been able to update pics to the internet and that means the things I've been cooking up here can't be blogged about yet. Instead I've taken some pics from my fb page and decided to catch up on some restaurant reviews.
I first learned about The Pit from a good friend of ours. It wasn't until Chris and I saw pit master Ed Mitchell win against Bobby Flay on a Throwdown episode that we actually decided to check it out.
We stood in a long lunch line up inside the more upscale bbq restaurant just a couple days after the show aired and it was so worth it.
The Carolina ribs were fall off the bone tender. They were exactly as described on the show - the flavor of the meat shines through with the hints of smoke and touch of sauce to make it the perfect mouthwatering bite. I never thought "quickly" cooked ribs could ever taste so good. Maybe the fact that Ed has his own farm supplying the pigs makes The Pit's meat taste all the more better. Best ribs I've ever had. Hands down. We've frequented the restaurant a few times so we've been able to try a couple other dishes and a lot of the sides. I do like the Carolina ribs vs their Baby Backs (and they're cheaper which is always a plus). I've enjoyed all of their sides - from mac & cheese, the awesome baked beans, sweet potato fries, etc.
As far as the negatives:
The hushpuppies aren't as good as ones I've tried at Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill and the biscuits were a bit dry. Also unfortunate was during my last visit, my sweet potato fries DEFINITELY tasted as if they were from the night before and stuck back in the fryer. They looked and tasted like shoe leather. Such a let down. Another negative I did find goes back to the first time we visited. With the long line up extending out the door, I didn't understand why the hostess wouldn't inform the crowd that you should put your name down with her on the waiting list. I'd say 80% of the people standing there waiting had no idea that you could do that. There was also a time we visited where I used the vinegar based sauce in the bottle to dress some of my rib meat. It's a delicious sauce except for when the vinegar erodes the top of the bottle that's painted silver or something and a green tinted, absolutely foul, poisonous tasting liquid dripped out with the vinegar. We informed the waiter in hopes he would toss the bottle but instead just put it aside, I really hope it didn't just get placed back on the table later.

All in all, The Pit has left us satisfied more than disappointed. It's not a perfect restaurant but the Carolina ribs are.

another change. . .

Since I've been bored back in Canada impatiently awaiting my return to NC, I've decided I want to attempt to keep this blog even more simple.

I changed the name to "wine and steez" from "kimtendo". I just didn't feel like havin my name as part of the url. I laughed when I thought of it. It's a nice 'n cornbally play on the phrase "wine and cheese" - two of my favs. ha. I kept the apple tree part cause that was Chris' genius behind that. (:

I don't wanna put too much personal biz up here and want to keep it more food related (with recipes, pics, restaurant reviews) and maybe throw in some other cool stuff when I feel like it.

I'd like to figure out how to personalize the look of my blog more..like have a cool background...but im not as internet savvy as I thought. Oh well. It'll come!

But allow me to reintroduce myself. . . .

It seems like lately, food has become a trend. More people have all of a sudden taken up new hobbies from cooking, baking and being foodies. That's great. What's wrong with taking up new interests? Nothing. But food for me has been a true passion since I was a kid. When people were watching cartoons and playing outside, I was watching The Frugal Gourmet, Julia Child, Yan Can Cook and The Galloping Gourmet. I was in the kitchen watching my mom and my grandmothers cook and bake filipino food. As I got older and got my hands on my own ingredients, my own kitchen, tools, money to go out to new restaurants, etc..I really started to appreciate this art, this culture even more.
Food is so universal. Nothing goes better with good conversation and great company than a good glass of wine paired with an amazing meal. What soothes the soul and brings a smile to your face after you've had a bad day? A comforting dessert. Duh!
Little beats the great satisfaction I feel when I've prepared a dish to share with people I love!

When it comes to my "steez", my style..well, I've been blessed to have people in my life who have really shown me so much of what the world has to offer. I've learned to appreciate life and love...love. From travelling, to food, to fashion, kicks, music, relationships and everything else in between, it's my AMAZING family and friends that have helped shape who I am and what I'm about. Their influences encouraged me to really explore life and all things around me. I'm a fucking lucky girl so when I go on and on about my family, sister, friends, cousins, boyfriend, boyfriend's family, etc, etc, etc...it's cause they all make me absolutely proud. FOR REAL. I know without a doubt in my mind I have THE dopest people in my life. It's true. Please believe!

If I can't get to NY to try Magnolia cupcakes . . .

I'll make a Magnolia inspired version of their cupcakes myself!
I came across this recipe a while ago and was hesitant to try it cause I've never attempted to make cupcakes from scratch before.

I have to admit, the process can be a bit involved and messy (to avoid splatter, I put the mixing bowl in the clean side of the sink while beating with the hand mixer) but the end product was SO WORTH IT! These cupcakes were THE TITS! Seriously. Soooo moist, fluffy and delicious. I don't like things toooo sweet and found the icing seemed a bit sweet for me (Chris disagreed) BUT..the combo of the cake and icing made for a perfect balance.

I found these cupcake liners that required no tins. Just place em on a cookie sheet and fill. I was pleasantly surprised that they worked! A couple turned out not so round shaped but rather heart shaped and I wasn't mad at that.

Anyhoo...the batch made over 2 dozen, probably cause the liners were smaller. I also had a fair amount of icing left over. I had 6 taste testers I think and they were an absolute hit!

Here's a link to the recipe I followed. This site seems pretty awesome so I'm gonna try my hand at more of their recipes!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Butter Cream!!!!!!!

A lovely Easter...and then some.

Spent my first Easter in NC and LOVED it!
We spent the afternoon at Chris' mom's place. She cooked a spiral ham, potato salad, beets, some sorta cheese ball thing that wasn't really cheese (but still good), beans, deviled eggs, kielbasa, BANANA PUDDING (mmm). Needless to say, we had some leftovers to take home.

I was doing some "freebie" searching earlier and came across 24 hours free access to the cook's illustrated site. I was thinking about what we could do to use up the ham and somehow thought, "pizza". Weird.

Anyhow, I found a recipe on that site, hit the store and for $10 got all the stuff I'd need. Mind you, $10 bought enough flour to make a whooooooole bunch of pizzas so I estimate a homemade pizza costs no more than a couple bucks vs ordering.

I also got to use my food processor..bonus!

The recipe I'm gonna post is just the dough. It makes an AWESOME dough if you like thin crust. I was really impressed with it. Our toppings tonight was just ham/pineapple and I'm already thinking about what to do next time!

Pizza Dough

1 1/4	teaspoons instant yeast
1	cup water (8 ounces), room temperature
1 3/4	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface and peel
1	cup cake flour (4 ounces)
1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
2	teaspoons sugar

• Whisk together the yeast & water in a measuring cup
• In a food processor, pulse the flours, salt & sugar a few times to mix through
• Slowly add the yeast/water mixture through the feed tube while the processor is running
• Let it mix for 2 minutes. If after 1 minute, it's sticking to everything, add a tbs or 2 of flour. If it looks dry/crumbly, add a tsp or so of water.
• Mix until the dough forms a satiny ball and comes away from the sides of the processor.
• Divide dough into 2 and place on a floured surface or baking sheet 3 inches apart
  
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap that's been oiled
• Let stand until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour
• Roll it, stretch it, do whatever to make a pizza...
• At this point, I didn't follow the recipe much anymore cause I don't have a pizza stone or any of that. I oiled a cookie sheet and stretched the pizza out as thin as I could
• Add toppings (ie. pizza sauce, ham, pineapple, mozzarella)
• Bake in preheated 500 degree oven with rack on lower level for 10 mins.

No pics cause we ate it and it was DEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!

toys and treats

For Easter at Chris' mom's I made a couple treats...english toffee & "millionaire's shortbread". Got the recipe from Food Network..I guess it was featured on that new show that only uses 5 ingredients per dish. I dig that. Makes my life easier and helps with the wallet, too.

Anyhoots..I'm too lazy to do anything right now so just follow the link for the recipe. It tastes kinda like Twix! Mmmmmmmmm. i LOOOOOOOOVE using dulce de leche when I make desserts. It's the best flavor everrrr.

OH YEAH...Macy's had some major sales and they had a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor for $79.99 (regular $140 or somethin). I had to have it and it's AWESOME.
I've used it to make red pepper hummus (recipe will follow soon), chop nuts, grate a block of cheese in seconds, bangin scalloped potatoes (lost the recipe i used) and the shortbread. HEELLLLLL YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

git in mah belleeehhhh

ok so working out has been paying off. instead of being WAY off my 2 lb/week weight loss, im 1 lb off. booooo but not as bad as i thought considering the weekend. hopefully i dont run into any problems in the next few days. actually wait..i already have. i dont feel like goin to the gym today. there goes my shopping treat. this could change in the next few hours but im not countin on it.

***EDIT***
I dragged my ass to the gym..in the rain! That means shopping is still a possibility this weekend!
I procrastinated my ass off but I MADE IT. i did all elliptical today for an hour. Even as I worked out part of me was like "just get off after 15 minutes...okay get off at 30 minutes.." BUT I DIDN'T! I stayed on that bad boy for an hour, burned at least 800 calories and did 3.8 miles.
HOLLERRRRRRR. I'm real proud of myself cause I really was bein a lazy bugger.
Tomorrow, I gotta force myself to get up with Chris and hit the gym one mo time.

ON TO BETTER NEWS..........
ive surprisingly been keeping to my calorie goals. this is gettin hard cause last night i made ENGLISH TOFFEE!!!!!!!!!! tasted just like skor bars....but better! and so easy to make.
Today I saw some cream cheese in the fridge. Figured I should use it so I randomly went on a search for recipes using cream cheese. I came across a cheese puff recipe. (think cream puff but savory).

Realizing I had all of the ingredients to make the puff I got to it. SUPER EASY to make. The cream cheese part came in making the "filling". I didn't follow what the recipe said, instead I looked in the fridge, found a few slices of bacon, saw the garlic.....thought, "bacon & roasted garlic cream cheese". Fantastic.

Neither the toffee or puffs are calorie friendly so MODERATION is key.

And since I'm feelin like a complete lazy ass, here's the recipes.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Couple handfuls of chocolate chips
• Crushed nuts. I woulda used almonds but only had peanuts on hand. Still worked.
  

1. Combine butter/sugar/water in a medium sauce pan over low-med heat, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula.
2. You've got to keep stirring for like...10-20 minutes. Crazy, I know. The recipes I referenced said you need to have a candy thermometer but I don't.
3. When the colour started turning into what I know toffee to look like, I dropped a bit of the hot mixture into ice water. It solidified instantly. This is the "hard crack" stage & it's done.
   
4. Mix in the vanilla.
   
5. Spread the mixture into a pan lined with parchment paper & let it cool for 10 minutes.
6. I then slid the parchment paper/toffee out of the pan onto the table top and sprinkled it with the chocolate, waited a few minutes, spread the chocolate out then sprinked on the nuts.
7. Let it cool completely. After 30 minutes, the chocolate was still soft so I stuck the candy in the fridge for another half hour or so.
8. Break the pieces up and enjoy.

CHEESE PUFFS WITH ROASTED GARLIC BACON CREAM CHEESE FILLING

For the puffs:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup flour
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of Cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
  

1. Bring the butter and water to a boil in a sauce pan.
2. In a bowl mix flour, salt, cayenne & cheese
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the melted butter/water mixture off the heat
4. Beat it up until it's well mixed and kinda forms a ball, let it cool slightly
5. Gradually beat in the beaten eggs and mix it hard til it's smooth and glossy.
6. I don't have a pastry bag so I scooped the mixture into a ziplock bag & let it cool more.
7. Preheat oven to 425F
   
8. Line a big baking sheet with parchment
9. Snip a small corner off of the ziplock bag
10. Squeeze out the pastry mixture making 16-20 "puffs"
11. I wet my finger 'n smoothed out the tops of the puffs/formed them better cause I saw this on a cooking show once.
12. Stick em in the oven for 15 minutes then lower heat to 375F and cook for another 10-15 or until golden brown.
13. Remove from oven and let cool.
14. Use a serated knife to cut each puff in half horizontally.

For the filling

• 4 oz softened cream cheese
• A few strips of cooked then crumbled bacon
• 3-4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed up
  
• Salt/pepper to taste with a pinch of paprika, cayenne, onion powder
• quick squeeze of lemon

1. Mix up all of the above ingredients
2. Spoon a small amount of mixture onto half of a cheese puff then top it with the other half
3. Do it to all the puffs and try and resist the temptation to eat each one as you finish it.
   

This blog is making me laugh. I feel like I contradict myself cause one minute I'm posting about health/weightloss then the next it's restaurants and recipes. Oh well!