Month: December 2010 (Page 3 of 4)

Heidi’s Pho Shooters

December 7, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Inspired by her time in Southeast Asia, Heidi and a friend worked on this soup for a recent event in Phoenix. She enjoys it almost weekly at one of her favorite restaurants, Pho Avina. You’re gonna LOVE it!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 gallon beef broth
  • 1/2 ea onion
  • 1/2 cup wood ear mushrooms
  • 1 pod star anise
  • 1 ea cinnamon stick
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/2” piece ginger, sliced
  • 1” piece lemongrass, crushed
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • Rice noodles
  • Scallions

In a large pot, place the broth and the mushrooms. Place over medium heat and bring to a low simmer

Halve and char the onion in a hot –nonstick pan – let cool. In a large piece of cheesecloth, place the onion, star anise, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. Tie into a sachet and place in the pot of broth. Add the black pepper and simmer for 1 hour.

Add the fish sauce and simmer another 15 minutes. Remove the sachet, check for seasoning and add salt if necessary.

Once the broth is complete, pour over rice noodles and garnish with chopped scallion. YUM!

 

About Savory Choice Broths

The Soup of the Week is brought to you by Savory Creations and their Savory Choice products. When you don’t have time to make your own stock, Into the Soup recommends Savory Choice. It’s our broth of choice. Find it in your local grocery store or buy online by CLICKING HERE

Cruisin’ Together: Successfully Budgeting Your Cruise

December 7, 2010 / / 0 Comments

by Chris Owen

At some point, most of us have made the ultimate faux pas of accidentally leaving the wallet at home. There is nothing quite like the sinking feeling that you get as you reach into your back-pocket (or purse) and realize that all those groceries in your cart will have to be returned to their shelves by the miserable-looking teen-aged bag-boy.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but you will have that same “sinking feeling” if you don’t properly budget for a cruise. Although cruise packages are a great deal, people tend to forget about all the things that go along with vacationing like cocktails, souvenirs, tours, etc. This is why I’m going to help you evaluate your vacation-spending habits and figure out just how fat your wallet should be when you board the ship.

While your cruise vacation is semi-all-inclusive (about 70% is covered in your cruise fare), off-the-ship activities, souvenirs, spa treatments, cocktails, and gambling are expenses you’ll want to plan for. You can go on a cruise and spend absolutely nothing extra on yourself; however, I strongly encourage you to have few bucks handy to tip the crew at the end.

So let’s begin the break-down:

An adult who drinks moderately, will want to go on a shore excursion, gambles a little bit, and wants to take advantage of some of the other premium services onboard should budget about $100 per day. Heavy drinkers, spa fanatics, obsessive internet users, and compulsive shoppers should budget a bit (or quite a bit) more.

Non-drinkers who like to spend the day relaxing on deck or on a beach within walking distance of the ship while it is in port and don’t have a lot of need for commemorative refrigerator magnets could get away with about $50 per day.

How did I figure this out? Let’s take a look at a typical day at sea/no port of call:

Begin by assuming $10 per day for gratuities. These will automatically be added to your account. You decide to have a beer while sun-bathing on deck ($5.00/drink). Before you know it, that one beer has turned into three and you’re out $15 (plus those gratuity charges, so $25). You check your email and make your Facebook friends jealous for a few minutes, and 20 minutes later, you’ve spent $7 more (35 cents/minute). A spa treatment seems like the logical next step on a lazy day! You decide to get your nails done–$20. On the way back to your room to change for dinner, you nab a  souvenir from the gift shop for the neighbor who’s watering your plants– $10. Gambling seems like a good night-cap, so you play some slots before turning in for the night–$20. But wait–all that gambling made you hungry again! You give room service a call and tip your attendant $2 for the delivery of your midnight snack. This fun-filled day leaves an $84 dent in your cash-supply. 

To be safe, it’s a good idea to leave “wiggle-room” for an extra souvenir or a pedicure to go with that manicure, so I think it’s fair to say $100 per person per day is a good estimate if your vacation routine is anything like the one I have depicted.

My point is that your on-board wad is really going to depend on what you do. If you’re content with a very low-key vacation, you could get away with just paying the tips at the end of the cruise. I wouldn’t though; it’s your vacation! It’s the small indulgences that make it memorable.

For some (me included), it’s easy to accrue a large shipboard account bill. I forget that the “all-inclusive” idea of a cruise package does not in fact include everything I desire on a vacation—and it’s a good thing! This focuses the cost-burden of the extra services only on those who use them, keeping packages reasonably priced for everyone.

If you’re still having a difficult time determining your personal budget, enlist the help of a travel agent or professional like myself. I can help you make a better estimate just by asking a few questions. It’s fun to find out how close (or not) I was when people return from their vacations.

Finally, I’ll leave you with one quick tip regarding onboard souvenir purchases: Go to the gift shop on the first day of your cruise and buy anything and everything you intend to purchase while on the ship. This will ensure that you get what you want in the correct sizes and colors. There are no FedEx deliveries via Coast Guard after that ship sets sail. When it’s out of an item, it’s out for the rest of the trip.

About Chris Owen

Chris Owen is a travel writer, blogger and agent from Orlando Florida charged with sharing frank, inside information on cruise vacations with travelers.  A graduate of Washburn University in Topeka Kansas, Chris moved to Florida after successful careers in the restaurant and newspaper business to focus singly on travel with a concentration on cruise vacations.  Certified a Master Cruise Counselor by the Cruise Lines International Association, Chris can be found via his popular cruise vacations column on Examiner.com, through his blog, ChrisCruises.net and on his long-running cruise information website, YourCruiseDream.com. 

Email Chris: Chris@YourCruiseDream.com

 

 

 

Who’s Cookin’ Now: Lisa Stroud of Village Coffee Roastery Scottsdale, AZ

December 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

by Heidi Lee

I’m not sure if it was the slightly confused look on my face as I read the menu at Village Coffee Roastery for the first time, or my outright admission that I am a bit of a coffee novice (my money’s on the latter), but Lisa Stroud took one look at me and explained the science of picking the perfect coffee in terms I could understand. It’s as if she looked into my soul, thought “Geez, you look really dehydrated,” and decided that a wine-analogy would be most appropriate in my case.

Seriously though–Lisa poured me a cup of Hara, and with my first sip, I realized that the perfect cup of coffee truly is as complex as good wine, perhaps even more. This cup, full of buttery undertones and just the right amount of smoky oak was my “coffee-Chardonnay,” and Lisa was my coffee-savior.

Village Coffee Roastery is one of those places where everyone that walks through the door is “Norm” from Cheers and she’s “Coach” behind the bar, except instead of dolling out beer and sarcasm, she’s serving up gorgeous coffee-drinks and lively conversation. Lisa Stroud is quite the charmer. Her great, positive energy probably stems from the fact that she’s absolutely passionate about what she does for a living, and that passion and excellence certainly translates to her superior product. Lisa and her team use a scientifically developed, very specific roasting process that is performed in only 12 coffee roasteries in the world. This ain’t no second-rate coffee shop.

I could sit and talk with Lisa for hours, and in fact, I did just that. I planted myself on a barstool (how perfect) next to a very good friend of hers, and the topic of conversation naturally turned to coffee and food.  As we laughed, sipped our drinks, and ate some soup, I asked her friend how they’d met.  Her reply didn’t surprise me at all: “Oh, I was just a customer sitting here at the bar and we got to talking and now we’re the best of friends.”  See?  I told you she was charming.

From the time I arrived until my departure, a steady stream of customers came through the door itching for their daily caffeine fix and a little bit of Lisa. She danced through her tasks with grace, a bar towel, and a smile. Conversation never ceased and folks were happy. Even the creepy, Dementor-like scream of the Espresso machine didn’t disrupt the cheerful ebb and flow of conversation; however, it may disrupt my dreams tonight (Haaaaaaaaarrrrryyyyyyyyy).

Finally, I broached the subject of coffee snobbery. I figured that if they existed in the wine-world, they probably existed in the coffee-world. You could almost see the hairs on the back of Lisa’s neck come to attention. Apparently the issue isn’t necessarily with those who drink the coffee, it’s with those who make it, and Lisa finds this snobbery outrageous. How many of us pay attention to the fact that a vanilla latte topped with caramel syrup is technically called a caramel macchiato, and why should we? Trust me when I tell you that at Village Coffee Roastery, the staff loves the customers whether they know their ‘macchiatos’ or not.

Lisa attributes her success to loving her job and keeping a good sense of humor. Whether she’s tooling around town on her motorcycle, playing with her dogs, seeking out some funky new joint for dinner, or making you the best darn drink you’ve ever had, Lisa is passionate about it all–Oh, and she’s a whole latte fun!

Man, I have to lay-off the caffeine.

Sharon Levinson’s Seafood Chowder

December 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Sharon Levinson is a big supporter of C-CAP and a world traveler so it’s not hard to see why we’re featuring her killer recipe for Seafood Chowder this week! She and her husband, Larry were inspired by the Chowder they shared at the Boat Shed Cafe in Nelson, New Zealand and they hope that this recipe will inspire you to go there, too! Rock lobster makes a nice addition to this dish.

Larry’s Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:

Seafood Stock

  • 30    Mussels [optional] well cleaned and bearded
  • 1-2 lb    Prawns and shells
  • 1 1/2 lb     Fish and fish scraps [tilapia]
  • Vegetable scraps – onion, celery, carrot
  • 2 1/2 Qt    Water

1. Combine ingredients, except mussels, in a large pan, simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.  
2. Add mussels and cook until shells open, discarding those that don’t.  Strain and reserve.

Tomato Provençal

  • 1/2    White onion, finely diced
  • 3    Garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 1 1/2 oz    Olive oil
  • 1 1/2 oz    White wine
  • 26+oz    Tomatoes, pureed or can of pureed tomatoes    
  • 1 tsp    Rosemary, Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp    Marjoram
  • 1 oz    Honey
  • Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.  Add the white wine and reduce.
2. Add the pureed tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the herbs and honey; continue to simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Check the flavor; season with salt and pepper but keep the Provençal slightly sweet.  Set aside.

Chowder Base

  • 4 oz    Butter
  • 3 oz    Carrots, finely chopped
  • 3 oz    Onion, finely chopped
  • 3 oz    Celery, finely chopped
  • 4 oz    Flour
  • 1 Qt    Reserved Seafood Stock
Fish to add in step 3:
  • 12 oz    White fish – sole, tilapia
  • 4 oz    Mussels, chopped
  • 12 oz    Shrimp, chopped if large
  • Calamari tubes, finely sliced [optional]

1. In a large pot, sauté onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender.  Add the flour and cook gently for 2-3 minutes until you get a somewhat sandy texture.
2. Slowly add the seafood stock until you have a smooth sauce, stirring frequently.
3. Bring to a boil and add the seafood; cook for 3-4 minutes or until the fish is cooked.  Stir in the mussels.
4. Check the seasoning.  Add dill, if desired.

Assembly

  • 3 C     Chowder base
  • 1 1/2 C    Provençal sauce
  • 1/2 C    Cream

1. To serve the chowder, put 3 C of chowder base and 1 1/2 C of Provençal in a medium saucepan.  Add 1/2 C of cream.
2. Stir together and simmer two minutes.
3. Meanwhile, sear 12 scallops in butter until golden.
4. Ladle chowder into bowls; add 3 scallops each and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with crusty bread!

 

Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) works with public schools across the country to prepare underserved high school students for college and career opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality industry. A national nonprofit, C-CAP manages the largest independent culinary scholarship program in the United States. Since 1990, C-CAP has awarded students $31 million in scholarships and donated $2.5 million worth of supplies and equipment to classrooms. C-CAP operates in seven locations: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; Hampton Roads, VA; Prince George’s County, Maryland; and statewide in Arizona.

 

About Savory Choice Broths

The Soup of the Week is brought to you by Savory Creations and their Savory Choice products. When you don’t have time to make your own stock, Into the Soup recommends Savory Choice. It’s our broth of choice. Find it in your local grocery store or buy online by CLICKING HERE

Eww Du Partie

December 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

The holiday season is rife with nostalgia. It’s a time to remember loved ones who have moved on to greener pastures, holidays-past, and, in my case, “partying”-past. I remember one of the many times my folks came to pick me up from college for some sort of break. If you went to college, you certainly recall those “hurray-finals-are-over/pre-home-for-the-holidays” soirees that occurred throughout the dorms, frats, and dilapidated student-houses for about 3 weeks prior to departure. Ah, youth!

I’m not sure whether to blame it on weak laundry detergent or our temporarily elevated BACs from weeks of celebration, but on one of those parent pick-ups, we loaded our gear in the trunk and jumped in the car only to be greeted with “Wow, you two smell like old party.” What does this have to do with the price of eggs? Well, this morning I jumped in my car and smelled “old party”. Intrigued? I thought so.

What might be the source of this aroma you ask? Well, intern entourage-member, Abbie, and I went to Skye Wednesday night, and although my bar-tab featured just 1 Grey Goose and a few glasses of wine, apparently my lymphatic system felt it necessary to…well, do whatever it is that a lymphatic system does…via my pores. Needless to say, it brought college-memories of antics and inebriation flooding back.

I have no intention of regaling you with stories of my youth, but I must tell you that I felt pretty special sipping my martini (from a real glass—not a plastic cup) as Chef Scottie Tompkins of Skye regaled me with stories of his youth. College, keggers and frat parties don’t hold a candle to full-blown culinary apprenticeships and the ‘situations’ these boys and girls got into. The years they’ve spent building skill, knowledge, and memories could fill several volumes – pictures not included.

Scottie is one of those big, kind-of-scary Chefs, who isn’t really scary at all—that is, unless you’re a rattle snake (or Len Rueben) and he’s got a cleaver. (apparently there are pictures of this). His favorite food is pizza and when asked about the highlights of his career, Scottie says it’s the “Thank You”(s) from former interns and employees that make it all worthwhile.

Chef Tompkins has been at this business for a long time and most certainly knows his stuff. Skye is a little star in Peoria and has a vibe that is in short supply in the food and club scene: Think big band-era hits a really cool, hip Parisian bar. Supper club with added zip comes to mind, as well. Who doesn’t love a joint with great cocktails, an awesome Happy Hour and a piano bar?

We were having so much fun talking that the only thing we ate were a few macaroni bites and a shrimp or two. While tasty, it apparently wasn’t quite enough to soak up the vodka/wine combo, but I’ll tell you what – I’ll endure “odeur du old partie” anytime as long as I get to sit and swap tales with the likes of Scottie Tompkins. Thanks, Chef!!

The Weekly Whet: The After-Dinner Winner

December 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Nothing says “closing time” like the smell of coffee brewing and the return of harsh lighting. Generally, this sudden return to reality yields a mixture of terror and discontent–terror from the people who see what they were about to go home with, and discontent from those who just want to finish their brews and shots in the cave-like atmosphere of the dive-bar.

I think it’s high-time that we stop associating coffee with negative things like hang-overs and “closing time” and include it in the festivities! Coffee doesn’t have to be the geeky, hall-monitor of the drink-world. Add some liquor to him, and I’m sure he’ll drop the clipboard and whistle. Try this one on for size, but please walk–don’t run–to the liquor cabinet:

Ingredients

  • 1/4 oz coffee liqueur
  • 1/4 oz orange liqueur (like Grand Marnier)
  • 1/2 oz Brandy
  • ~6 oz Coffee (more or less to taste)
  • Whipped Cream

Add liqueurs and brandy to coffee. Mix well, and top with whipped cream.

For a fancier look, serve this mixture in a Brandy Glass rimmed with sugar.

As always, enjoy responsibly. Cheers!

Find more great cocktails like this one at www.thatsthespirit.com

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