June 30, 2008A mountain of cake
Well, I didn't make it out to Ukrop's big one-year anniversary celebration on Saturday because I was preparing for the hubby's birthday party. But from the looks of the parking lot, it was a big success. I promised Jonathan Rhudy, my PR contact at Ukrop's, that if he sent me a picture of their Mill Mountain cake, I'd post it on the blog. So here it is, before it was demolished and eaten by a crowd of Ukrop's shoppers. The fellows standing behind the cake are Jeff Ukrop, zone manager for Ukrop’s, Jim Goodman, Ukrop’s executive pastry chef, and Jason Woodcock, Ukrop’s Roanoke store manager. I think it's kind of fitting that this picture came in the week after I wrote about brightly colored wedding cakes. If anyone wants a kelly green wedding cake, this is what it might look like. Minus the little tractor trailer (or not -- whatever you're into). A few fun facts about the cake: June 23, 2008...And the livin's easy
I spent the first official day of summer enveloped in hickory smoke. This Saturday, my dad and his friend, Bob, smoked three huge racks of pork ribs up at our Bath County river house. I made some zucchini and summer squash on the grill, but other than that, I had absolutely nothing to do with these beauties. Well, I did have SOMETHING to do with them: I ate some. Wouldn't you? According to Dad, he used a dry rub on all three racks. Then, for the sake of experimentation, they smoked one rack with just the dry rub and used sauce on the other two racks. One got Stubb's and the other got Kraft barbecue sauce, which had been doctored up a bit by Bob. 
We all decided that the dry rub finished off with sauce is the way to go. But all three racks were absolutely delicious. I believe I may have to invest in a smoker one of these days. I can't seem to get the thought of smoked trout out of my mind now. Anyone out there like to smoke meat? I'd love to hear some of your tips. May 19, 2008Thai hot Sunday
It must've been the tantalizing selection of ethnic foods at the Local Colors festival in Elmwood Park on Saturday that did it. Whatever it was, I was in the mood to whip up something completely different for dinner last night -- something with exotic flavors and a few ingredients I don't normally break out at dinnertime. In my house, Sundays are always reserved for the most time-consuming recipes; things like pot roasts or stuffed pastas or homemade casseroles. The Thai peanut chicken I made last night may have tasted like it took all afternoon, but it was surprisingly fast and easy. I (almost) followed the recipe I found online. The only changes I made concerned the sauce, since I tend to be a really saucy gal, especially when the dish is going to be served over rice. The original called for 3/4 cup each of peanut butter and coconut milk, but I went ahead and rounded it up to a full cup of each and adjusted the other sauce ingredients accordingly. The unplanned addition was a green mango salad that I decided to stir together just before I started dinner. I had seen a delicious green mango salad at Local Colors and didn't get a chance to try it. I'm sure theirs was more authentic, but mine didn't turn out too shabby. Instead of following any one recipe, I studied about 4 different recipes and threw in every ingredient I had on hand from them all. The only key ingredient I was missing was fish sauce, but I don't think the salad suffered too much from that omission. In the end, the spicy, creamy peanut chicken dish was complimented well by the cool, tangy zip of the mango salad. Try this combination some time-- you won't even have to reserve it for a Sunday night! May 15, 2008A reader-submitted recipe
Take a gander at that lovely white chocolate cheesecake with strawberry swirl. It was prepared by none other than faithful Fridge Magnet reader Deb. And unlike the rest of us, Deb actually thought to take a picture of the cake before digging into it. I probably would've sent in a picture of a half-gnawed piece! Not only did Deb send the pic, she also snail mailed the recipe to me so I could share it with the rest of you! If you happen to have any fresh strawberries left over, this might be the perfect use for them. Update: I just got four gorgeous food pics from blog reader Mandy. To see her swan eclairs, lemon-raspberry tartlets and more, head to the Fridge Magnet Flickr group. May 14, 2008Grouper cheeks and Key lime pie
I've returned from the Sunshine State with two oddly-shaped splotches of sunburn on my back and plenty of calories under my belt. It's a good thing we did a lot of swimming and walking while we were away; I needed the exercise to burn off all the fish and Key lime pie I consumed while I was away. Before I left, I consulted the chat boards at Chowhound.com, and I was extremely happy with the recommendations. One of the restaurants that was mentioned several times on Chow was Guppy's, where we enjoyed a spectacular meal on our last night. If you've never tried posting a question on Chow, you might want to consider it the next time you plan to visit a city for the first time. Most of the responses you'll get are from locals who know the food scene pretty well. Before we got to Guppy's, I enjoyed one of the Clearwater Beach area's signature dishes: a grouper sandwich (pictured above). Just about every restaurant in the Clearwater-St. Pete area has some version of this treat on the menu. I ordered mine at Sea Sea Riders Restaurant, a casual little place just off the bay. For a market price of $11.95, the fat, juicy grouper filet came blackened on a bun with a thick slice of ruby red tomato, lettuce and creole tartar sauce. May 2, 2008Garde manger classes show their stuff
They were kind enough to invite me, and I was duly impressed. Garde manger is a French term for the cool storage area in many restaurants where cold dishes like salads, pates, cold hors d'oevres and other foods are prepared. The class also includes the study of garnishings. Some of the students also completed projects involving salt dough. One student created the school's logo entirely out of salt dough. Please enjoy these pictures and look for more information about the culinary school in the next few months! Note: The above picture shows edible tortilla spoons with shrimp ceviche. April 28, 2008Weekend eats
Deb promised to make something this weekend and send me a picture of it for my Fridge Magnet Flickr page, which has lately been neglected. If you've got any great food pics, e-mail them to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com or join my Flickr group. This is rigatoni with chicken sausage and Parmesan cheese, served with a salad of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, fresh basil and a lemon vinaigrette. That salad makes me drool. I passed up the barbecued chicken this weekend in favor of barbecued country-style pork ribs. I've lately been working on perfecting my country-style rib recipe and I think I'm there. One of my favorite things about this dish is the affordability. I fed about 10 friends on Saturday night with $15 worth of ribs, and nobody went hungry. I'll attach my recipe below. Someone asked for my red-skinned potato salad recipe, but I need to work on the ratios of ingredients. I'll pin that down and post that recipe later. February 21, 2008More beautiful food...It's picture day on the Fridge Magnet blog!
Beautiful foodSometimes you just have to feast your eyes on a tantalizing piece of food porn. This is a Smoked Paprika Chicken prepared by one of my dad's co-workers. He has joined the ranks of the Smoked Paprika Chicken fan club. In case you've missed this recipe, check it out here.
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