Dayton Restaraunt Week. July 26-31, 2009. Meadowlark review.

Here is what I ate tonight for dinner (this was all $20.09 for restaraunt week):

1. Spicy Shrimp and Watermelon with Basil, Mint and Nuoc Cham.

2. Harissa-brushed Swordfish with Sicilian Couscous (couscous, kalamata, sultanas, onion, tomato, parsley).

3. Roasted Peach with Blue Cheese, Sweet Balsamic Syrup and Dolcessa Gelato (nixed the bleu cheese).

I was at the Meadowlark here in Dayton. Let me review for you. First course was good. Light and refreshing, though I feel the shrimp was not that good, but I always feel like that about shrimp. Seconds... the swordish was amazing! The couscous, was couscous. Well done, but not special. The fish was special though. Dessert was great. The peach was warm and I either got a balsamic reduction (probable) or a high quality balsamic. The flavor of it said to me that it was a reduction, and sweetened at that. The gelato tasted cream cheesy. I dont know what flavor it was supposed to be but it was def buttermilk or cream cheese or something of that nature.

I have never been to Meadowlark before, and I fear I did not experience the height of what the restaurant can offer. They were busy (on a one hour wait if you didnt call ahead... I did). The host who I spoke to on the phone and when I arrived was very kind and personable, probably the best part of the experience. I felt sort of rushed through the whole experience. I suppose for the onslaught of people they were experiencing, the restaurant fared very well. No overt mistakes were made, save one. They delivered my check to me before I had even received dessert. Way to P*** me off. Are you kidding me? I would consider this place somewhere in the upper band of Dayton dining, and you are acting like a Perkins or a Waffle House and not waiting until I am through with my meal? I mean really. THAT was why I felt rushed. You should let a diner FINISH their meal before you make them pay. Maybe the rules are different considering the time. I dont know. One piece of advice: wait until the end of the meal until bill is delivered please.

I might return to Meadowlark again. On a muchmuch slower night.

Where should I go next? Restaraunt week menus.

Vegetarian soft rolls with peanut sauce.

Fillings:

Napa, red pepper, scallions, basil, mint, cilantro, cucumber, wakame, avocado.

Sauce:

Peanuts, shoyu, fish sauce, sesame oil, water, onion.

Rolling tutorial here!

Date and tamarind squares. Sweet corny milk :)

So this is definetly a 20% post. For those of you wh o have no oide what that means, it is basically "Ill do really well with my diet 80% of the time, and have some sweet snacks 20% of the time."

Date/tamarind/hazelnut/coconut squares
Add into a food processor:
about 15 dates
2 handfuls of hazelnuts
about 2 T tamarind paste (available at indian or latin markets)
I added a pinch of cardamom, but you could leave that out or do anther spice.

1. Blitz in food processor until pastey.
2. Sprinkle shredded, unsweetened coconut into a pie plate. Dump paste in there and flatten out to about 1 cm thickness. Sprinkle with more coconut.
3. Place in fridge overnight (or just until hardened).
4. Remove flattened and coconutted disk. Using a sharp chefs knife, slice into small squares (about 3/4 in square).
5. Use more coconut and toss the squares in the coconut, so it sticks to the cut sides.
6. Done! Store in fridge, lasts for a while.

Sweet corn and milk drink! It was so intriguing I HAD to try it! It was VERY VERY yummy. In fact, Im thinking there may be a 20% in this drinks future... we shall see.

Beets? Yes, beets.

Beet bottoms, post roast!

Cold beet soup. So pretty.

Beet and cabbage slaw.

Cold beet soup for summertime. I used tarragon instead of dill.

Beet and cabbage slaw.

CSA catch up. Post computer virus shuffle.

Week 6: candy onions, scallions, collards, broccoli, lettuce, yellow squash, patty pan squash, cucumber.

Week 7: zucchini, carrots, lettuce, onions, candy onions, cucumbers, broccoli, yellow tomato (1st of the season).

Week 8: kale, basil, purple potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, patty pans, carrots, candy onions, cucumber, green beans, yellow tomatoes and GARLIC. I also included some bells of ireland in the pic (flowers in the right corner) because I lovelovelove them and Ben and Emily (the CSA farmers) provided them for me after an email I sent. Thanks guys!

I have a ton of recipes coming, so Im going to get started on that. I must say though, that the cukes Ive gotten from the CSA are super yummy! They are really crunchy and awesome. The garlic... ohmagod it was good!!! Well, everything is good but I have never had garlic that wasn't from meijer or something.

Berry picking at my dads house.

Me being special.

Sunset.

Little sis and I picking berries!

Blackberries or black raspberries. I say black raspberries.

We ended up with about a pint of berries. I need more. They are so good!

News.

My computer has picked up a virus. SO I dont have access to any pics, or files, or anything. Im at school right now, bringing the updates. Hopefully itll be settled by next week.

<3

Chia seed pudding

Chia seed pudding
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup almond milk
a pinch of dried hibiscus flowers
small handful non-sweetened dried cherries

1. Place everything in a food processor.
2. Process.
3. Eat!

Stevia how I love thee...

This is how not to grow stevia: This is how to grow stevia:

Lesson: Stevia apparently does NOT like bright sun. It withered away like me from my workouts. I hope the second go works! Emily and Ben- sorry I killed the plant you grew. Hopefully I learned my lesson!

Herbs de CSA. Basil (CSA), Sage (CSA), Tarragon (Amish people @ 2nd street market).

CSA: Week 5!

Week 5: Green onions, Chard, napa, lettuces, turnips, zucchini, patty pan and thyme.

Week 5 Recipes (so far)...

Peach compote

2 peaches, chopped

a little lemon juice

thyme leave, roughly chopped

few chopped stevia leaves

---Simmer peaches, juice and thyme until peaches a slightly soft (just a couple mins). Add stevia and remove from heat. Serve over greek yogurt (or if you're not primal... ice cream!).

Quick and messy zucchini "curry"?

3 zucchini, sliced

1 shallot, sliced

garlic, ginger, lemongrass, thyme... all diced.

coconut milk

--Sautee everything but coco milk in a little coco oil. After slightly cooked, add coconut milk, enough to cover. Simmer for 2 min. DONE!

And here is the full meal... wild salmon, cooked perfectly! YUMMY!!! Maybe I should also mention that I got this fish for ***$8.99/lb*** at an annual sidewalk sale here in yuppieville! Awesome!

Herb roasted chicken...

I made a roast chicken using some herbs from the old CSA. Butter+thyme+sage+tarragon=

Rub on chicken. Put a chopped lemon inside the cavity. Roast breast side down until temp is 165F internal and the skin is golden and crisp. Like so:

The whole chicken, shes about 4 lbs. I let her cool, then removed the meat and skin and pulled it apart into bite size pieces. Saved the bones for stock!

Now what to do with the herb roasted chicken? MAKE SALAD! It is summer time after all.

Summer Chicken Salad

english cucumber, sliced on the bias

celery, sliced

Aforementioned roast chicken

green onions

"dressing": lemon zest, lemon juice, LOTS of chopped dill, cream, salt.

Its really that easy. That dressing was awesome too! I LOVE dill!

CSA: Week 4!

Well, here I give you week 4 and 5 of the CSA experience.

Week 4: dill, lettuce, salad mix, zucchini, green onions, patty pan squash, peas, buckwheat sprouts and braising mix (red kale, tat soi, mustard greens, mizzuna and arugula).

The peas!

What to do with the peas? Pea soup sounds nice eh?

Also a Japanese-inspired pea salad. Really from the peas I got in week 3.

From week 3 (which I forgot to photograph): Sauteed kale and turnips with lemon and dill.

WEEK 3 Recipes

Kale and turnips

Kale, washed and torn

Turnips, sliced thin
Lemons, zested and juiced

Dill

Green onions

--Just sautee everything with a little oil (I used avocado oil) and add in the green onions, lemon juice and zest, and dill. EAT!

Pea salad

2 cups loosely packed fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced.

1 bag snow peas (2 cups?)

2 T wakame, soaked

Green onions

Sesame seeds

"dressing": red pepper flake, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little mirin.

1. Slice on the bias the peas and onions.

2. Sautee shiitakes until crisp.

3. Remove shitakes and add peas and green onions. Sautee briefly, just to get the color to pop... you still want a crunch.

4. Remove peas and onions. Sautee sesame seeds until juuuust golden. Add pepper flakes, sesame oils, soy sauce and mirin.

5. Put everything in a big bowl and mix. Chill. I served this as a cold salad.

WEEK 4 Recipes

Pea soup

2 cups Chicken stock (from the freeeezer)

2 bags peas (maybe 4 cups?), cleaned... pods and all! I saved some peas for garnish.

a 1in x 1in chunk of onion

a few mint leaves

cream

1. Boil peas (in the pod) until cooked. Let cool.

2. Add cooked pods, onion and stock to blender and blend until smooth. Add mint and give one more blend.

3. Strain the mix through a wire sieve (I used my chinois).

4. Chill in fridge. I served it cold as a summer soup with a little cream and peas. It was a nice little lunch while the weather was 90F here!

Summer chicken salad! Click it!

Quick veggie enchiladas (a far cry from these)

3 zucchini, diced

1 patty pan, diced

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 chopped tomato

1 chopped onion

couple cloves of garlic, chopped

salt free taco seasoning (Health food store bulk section)

shredded cheese

garnish: pico de gallo, green onion and avocado.

1. Sautee onion and garlic until translucent.

2. Add squashes, cook until soft.

3. Add tomato paste and seasoning.

4. Wrap filling in soft taco shells (I found some awesome low carb ones in keeping with the PB) and place in a 9x13 pan.

5. Sprinkle with cheese! Bake at 350 until cheese melts.

6. Serve with avocado, pico and chopped green onion.

Pesto turkey and braising mix: I just used a some pesto ground turkey and sauteed the braising mix with it. Simple but tasty!