2008.09.16
Chile pepper zen
You are getting veeery sleepy..... you are forgetting that Lindsey screwed up the last blog entry because this picture she took at the ethnic market is so mesmerizing......
Harvest Tuesday... one day late
Aaaaaaaaaaaack!! I have misled my beloved blog readers into thinking the free harvest dinner is tonight! It actually happened last night... I guess since I took a vacation day yesterday, I came in feeling one day behind today.
Sorry 'bout that, guys. If anyone made it out to the event, I'd still love to hear how it was. Thanks to Deb for pointing out my error. This is one circumstance when I did owe you guys an apology.
2008.09.12
Sneak peek at Spanish menu
Cafe Madrid has been open for business since Aug. 26 in the former Michele's on Main location in Salem. It is, as far as I know, the only restaurant in the valley that exclusively serves Spanish food. For some background on the owners, check out this entry in our So Salem blog.
For that reason, I've been pretty excited to see the menu and how it differs from our other options around town. My hubby was over that way yesterday, so he snagged me copies of the lunch and dinner menus.
I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Cafe Madrid's dinner prices are exceptionally reasonable. We are talking in the $17-$18 range for several dishes. Of course, they do have two $26 dishes, but those are both paellas that serve TWO people! In fact, I would say that dinner at the cafe is probably a better deal than lunch, although I have yet to see the portion sizes.
For lunch, they offer up a selection of salads and sandwiches that range from $4.99 for the house salad to $10.99 for a grilled Spanish sausage served with smoked cheese and roasted red pepper aioli on sourdough bread. My tummy is growling just thinking about it.
In the middle range, they have a manchego cheese and tomato salad, a grilled vegetable sandwich and a pork loin sandwich with caramelized onions on rosemary sourdough bread. Lunch entrees are $10.99 to $12.99 and include a mixed tapas platter with assorted chorizo, cheese, roasted vegetables and the like. Then there are the pork ribs with sweet paprika sauce, chicken or pork skewers and a shrimp in spicy tomato sauce.
2008.09.11
Random recipe: Hot peppermint mocha shots
Some of you may know Nona Nelson, the author of the Happy Wag pet blog here on Roanoke.com. What you don't know is she is the glue that holds the newsroom together.
You need batteries? Nona's got 'em. Fighting with a testy printer? Nona can tame it. Need hot cocoa? It has magically appeared beside the coffee machine.
That's what happened this morning, the third dark, dreary morning of the week. Beside the coffee machine and its indispensable hot water tap were two boxes of Swiss Miss, one with extra marshmallows and one with French vanilla, thanks to Nona.
If I have now got you craving a cozy, creamy, chocolaty treat, maybe you'd like to kick it up a notch and try this Nestle recipe I got in the mail. Nestle always seems to send some of the best recipes. Maybe because many of them involve chocolate.....
Photo and recipe: Nestle USA
2008.09.10
New feature on the FM
Here at the Fridge Magnet desk, I receive a great deal of information about happenings in the foodie world in Southwest Virginia. Not all of these rise to the level of a blog entry or a column, so I have created a list of tidbits that will from this point forward appear at the right of your screen.
See it there? How do you like that?
Please note that this feature is by no means the end-all-be-all of food events listings at The Roanoke Times. For all of your cooking classes, wine tastings and other wonderful happenings, please be sure to keep reading every Thursday's issue of Inside Out.
This is just my way of highlighting a few events each month and making sure that some things don't completely fall between the cracks. You may very well see an event listed on my blog and elsewhere in The Roanoke Times or on Roanoke.com. But that's okay -- duplications are far better than leaving something out entirely.
Feel free to offer me any feedback on this feature as it progresses. And thanks, as always, for taking a look at this blog!
2008.09.09
How can you top chicken?
The good ole boneless, skinless chicken breast.
In millions of households across America, this versatile ingredient is eternally present in the refrigerator or freezer. I would venture to guess that there are more recipes involving chicken than any other meat on Earth.
Why, then, do we sometimes find ourselves coming home from work, changing our clothes and heading for the kitchen, where we stare in uninspired boredom at a package of chicken breasts? "Well," we think, "I could marinate this and grill it. But I always do that."
Despite its great popularity, I have always found chicken to be in need of some jazzing up. Which shouldn't always mean slicing it and tossing it in a stir-fry, a fajita or a pasta dish. Or breading and frying, or stuffing, or crock-potting.
I want ideas for a quick dish involving whole boneless, skinless chicken dishes. That's why I was excited to see a recipe for chicken breasts with mushroom-sage sauce on Simply Recipes (see below). That sounds like a topping with enough flavor to overcome the taste of plain chicken.
When you're staring at a package of chicken breasts and you don't want to spend an hour on prep and cooking, what is your go-to topper?
