Tea (Rishi) and Anaba Tea Room

Anaba Tea Room

I really wasn’t planning on writing a review about this tea tasting. When I got there, I was greeted at the door by two lovely women who offered me ice tea. I’m not a huge fan of cold drinks, especially tea, and seeing just the one table with two varieties, I was rather disappointed that I wouldn’t get to try more teas. But was also confident in my decision not to blog about it.
But then I tried the tea. Amazing. Even for a cold tea. Good thing I try to carry my camera with me at all times.  Never know when it might be useful.  They also told me that there are tea demonstrations on the rooftop as well as in the tea room. (When you first walk into the building, it looks like a garden shop and the tea room is on the level below.) So I went downstairs and found the place to be rather charming. The skylight lets light into the tea room even though it’s in the basement and you feel like you’re outside, with the fountain adding to the feeling.

Tea Tasting

Walking around, I realized there were two areas where representatives from Rishi were offering teas for tasting as well as a plethora of information. I found both representatives to be incredibly knowledgeable and approachable.
Then I started tasting the teas. I tried the Jade Oolong in both cold brew and hot and liked it enough to purchase a sample. I also tried a few other varieties and ended up settling on Silver Needle as another sample purchase. These teas are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re so good and so worth it. The different profiles of the teas are evident depending on how it’s brewed.
For this event, the appetizers/finger food was provided by the Anaba Tea Room. When I looked at the menu, nothing looked like something I would want to order. I was actually surprised at how good the food was and how well it went with the different teas. One of the representatives talked about tea in terms of wine, and I think that metaphor worked well not only for the food pairings, but also for our general comprehension.

After spending ample time in the tea room, I decided to make my way up to the roof garden.

Rooftop Garden at Anaba Tea Room

Rooftop Garden at Anaba Tea Room

It’s a wonderful urban oasis. You sit on the top of the roof, in this gorgeous garden, drinking the most delectable tea, enjoying life. It’s perfectly chic and urban without being a cliche. The teas served on the roof were interesting. One of them had a very strong citrus flavor and I could pick out grapefruit. This is the only tea I didn’t like, but I didn’t like it because I don’t like grapefruit. I’m sure if there was no grapefruit, I’d have a different reaction. The other tea served on the roof was with a hint of peach. It was so refreshing. As a cold brew, it would be wonderful, almost like a peach bellini but better, in my opinion.

I also didn’t know that Rishi is a local company and was glad to find out that it is.  The representatives also told us that Rishi just won first place for one of their teas at the World Tea Championships.

A few hours later when I was doing grocery shopping, I did pick up another canister of Rishi tea to try.  Sendik’s stores have a really wide selection, so why not try something new.   As a side note, I’ve been drinking Jade Oolong all day today and I love it.  What a wonderful find.  I wish Rishi would do these tastings every weekend so I can try all their teas.  😉  But for now, here is their events schedule.

Tomato and Spinach Soup

Tomato-Spinach Soup

This was a completely unexpected and impromptu soup. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m not much into soup since I have so few soup recipes. But this just came together suddenly, since I didn’t even get into to the kitchen until about 8 in the evening. What can I say, I was bored so I started cooking. 😉 I had some things I wanted to use up before they go bad and wanted something easy, light, healthy, and packed with nutrients. And since I’m fond of throwing a bunch of stuff in one pot and seeing what develops, I got a really yummy soup that is perfect for this cold and rainy weather. I hope, one of these days we’ll have spring.

Ingredients:
1 (1lb) jar of tomato sauce
2 bell peppers (red and yellow, or whatever you want)
1 large onion
1/2 lb carrots
1/2 cup of brown rice (optional)
1 lb spinach
Water (at least as much as the tomato sauce; I used two times the tomato sauce)
basil
bay leaves (optional; I used a few small ones)
Spices (salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, corriander, paprika, Pensey’s Chile Con Carne, Pensey’s Sweet Curry)

Steps:
1. Saute the onion and bell peppers. Season a little bit.
2. Heat the tomato sauce in a pan (I used a 3.5 QT pan). Add water (as much as you used for the tomato sauce. I just used the empty jar of sauce).
3. Add the sauted vegetables and cook a few minutes.
4. Add brown rice, if using and carrots.
5. Add spinach.
6. Add the rest of the water and bay leaves.
7. Add the spices, whichever you are using, and basil.

Tomato Soup ingredients

Tomato soup and veggies

Tomato soup and spinach

Shashlik (shish-kabob/ шашлык) – authentic Uzbek dish

I have to admit something.  I am a bit of a purist when it comes to certain things and Uzbek food happens to be one of them.  See, some of my friends try to tell me that they make great kabobs and then they go into great detail telling me how they marinate it in vinegar (eek!) and that they use pork (oy!).  I grit my teeth and smile and since “sounds nice”.  But to me, that’s just meat on a stick.  Actually, anything that deviates from the shashlik I grew up with is just meat on a stick.  The recipe that follows is a little unusual, but trust me, if you make it this way, you’ll never call anything else “shish-kabob”. Actually, my friends who have tasted this divine food, are still talking about it longingly, nine years later. We don’t do this often because as you can see, it’s very labor intensive. But it’s SO GOOD AND SO WORTH IT!

But first things first.  The ingredients.  Shish-kabob (shashlik) is made mostly from lamb and sometimes from calf liver.  I can’t remember ever eating chicken shish-kabobs, but I’m sure there are some varieties.  Also, meat can be ground and then shaped around the skewer, but it has a different name then (I forgot what it is).  Then you need spices (salt, cumin, coriander) and seltzer water.

1. You start with a leg of lamb in a quantity that depends on how many people you’ll feed (I’d recommend at least a pound per person).  Cut up the meat and the fat into bite-sized pieces.  Don’t forget the fat.  It’s delicious.  Trust me.

2. Marinate the meat and the fat with the spices and a bottle of seltzer water.  Never use anything sour like vinegar or wine when marinating lamb (at lest for shish-kabobs) since it will make the meat tough.  Be sure to turn the meat all around to make sure it’s evenly marinated.  It’s best to marinate at least 8 hours, but a full 24 hours is better.

3. You need a special grill called mangal (mahn-gahl).  You can use your regular charcoal grill, but it will take longer because a regular grill isn’t as large.  Cook till it’s done.

4. Serve with a tomato salad or with vinegared onions (soak onions in vinegar for a few hours and sprinkle with some paprika).

Skewers

Close-up of shashlik. See that fat? YUM!

Mangal emty

Shish-kabobs on Mangal

Served with onions

So, unless your shish-kabobs are like these, though tasty it might be, it’s just meat on a stick to me. 😉

Steak and Potatoes

I love steak.  And potatoes.  But I’m trying to take a healthier approach to these foods and I know that cooking this at home would not only be healthier, but also much more cost effective.  Even in these economic times a steak and potatoes dinner is affordable, if you make it yourself.  And honestly, why pay $30 per meal and spend hours in a restaurant where you don’t know what you’ll get if this costs about $7 or $8, takes no time at all to prepare,  is really easy to prepare, and you know exactly what you’re eating.  So, without further ado, here is what I did.

Ingredients:
Steak
Sweet potatoes (I used 2)
Worcestershire sauce
Tamari or Soy sauce
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

Marinating steak

Grilling Steak

Steps:
For the steak:
1. Marinate the steak in olive oil, tamari/soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, and some freshly ground pepper, in a ziplock baggie. Let the steak marinate for at least an hour.
2. Grill the steak. I don’t have that option, so I used a grill pan. Oil the pan slightly and place the steak. You can flip it for grill marks on both sides. Grill until it reaches the desired level of “done”.
3. After the steak is done, transfer it to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Let stand for about 5-10 minutes so the juices redistribute back and don’t leak out when you cut into it.

Sweet Potato in Oven

Sweet Potato

For the potatoes:
1. Clean thoroughly with a brush, or peel the skin.
2. Cut into wedges.
3. Place the potatoes into a baggie and pour oil. This helps keep clean-up to a minimum.
4. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet. Salt, pepper.
5. Place into a preheated oven (375 degrees) and bake for about 25 minutes or until done.

Steak and Potatoes

Restaurant Review: Shiraz

I know it looks like I haven’t cooked for months, but that’s not entirely true.  I have cooked things I already blogged about, eaten home-cooked food at other family members’ houses,  and have also visited a few restaurants.  I have also managed to snag a few recipes I’m waiting to try out, so stay tuned for those.  But for now, here is a review of Shiraz.

Shiraz Persian Grill

I’m sure you have noticed my penchant for Central Asian cuisine.  Middle-eastern food is a close approximation, though it’s not exactly the same thing, but I like it nonetheless.  So this time, a friend and I tried out Shiraz Persian Grill.  The atmosphere was perfectly “college town” and it fits well on the East Side of Milwaukee.  I was pleasantly surprised by the selection available, though I do wish they’d have lamb kabobs.  The long case you see in the picture carries several kinds of meat, rice, salads, toppings, and other things I can’t even remember.

I had the Beef Koobideh with raisin rice, hummus, and baba ganoush.  My friend had Spicy Chicken with rice as well as hummus and baba ganoush.  What can I say, we both like eggplant and chickpea dishes.

Beef Koobideh

The Beef Koobideh wasn’t as tasty as I would have hoped.  I didn’t have any preconcieved notions about what it’s supposed to be, but it was a little cold and a little tough.  The rice was really good and I think I’ll try to make something similar at home, but the rice seemed to have been a tad overcooked (the rice grains were split down the middle).  The pita bread you see in the corner seemed a touch stale/tough.

Spicy Chicken

I did take a piece of the Spicy Chicken to try and have to admit that it was really good.  I think this would be the dish I order the next time I go there.

The hummus was a hit, but the baba ganoush tasted a bit too sour to both of us.  Little garnishes of pickles and olives did little to mask the taste of the baba ganoush but worked really well with the hummus.  Maybe we were there just at the wrong time.  Maybe the food is better (hot and yummy all around) when there are more people.  I will certainly give this place another try, but will probably stay away from the beef koobideh.

Restaurant Review: La Dolce Vita

Interior of La Dolce Vita

On our last “Girls Day Out” we were short one girl. It was her husband’s birthday and a good enough reason not to hang out with the girls. But she was definitely missed. We went to the Museum After Dark event, but before that, we checked out a restaurant.

The restaurant we tried out is La Dolce Vita. This is a small, cute, charming restaurant that served us delicious food.  The service was prompt, the server was courteous, and the bathroom was clean.  When added to yummy food, you have a winning combination.  I am definitely looking forward to returning and trying other things on the menu.

Appetizer - Zaalo

We shared an appetizer of Zaalo which is an eggplant dish. We both happen to love eggplant, and I detected a hint of cumin.
Then for dinner, my friend had Salad Nicoise and I had the Merguez Panini. The french fries threw me off since I don’t think of them as Mediterranean, but the sandwich was lip-smackingly delicious. It was great even the next day. C’mon, you don’t really think I could eat the whole sandwich in one sitting? It was definitely tempting, but way too much food. Which makes it a great bargain.

**UPDATE:  I forgot to mention in my original post that the first time I ate the sandwich, I ended up looking for the restroom the rest of the evening.  I don’t know if it had anything to do with the food itself, since the other half of the sandwich didn’t give me any trouble the next day, unlike the first half of the sandwich.  Just thought I’d mention it, in case you will not have the opportunity to be near a bathroom or have a weak stomach for new things.

Merguez

Salad Nicose

Someday it will be spring here

Winter seems to have a death grip on Spring here. One day it’s 75 degrees, the next it’s 45. Yet, those rare warm and sunny days are an indication of a Spring to come. Hopefully, that will happen soon. And that will mean that farmers’ markets. I can hardly wait. Meanwhile, here is a list of resources to find the market closest to you:

• Milwaukee Area Farmers Markets — Mapped
• Find a Farmers’ Market by Zip Code

It seems that there are some markets already open, but they’re mostly open during the weekdays and during business hours. Which means I can’t go. Grrr. But not like there’s a whole lot going on there now. And I’m hoping that the local farms actually have more than what the markets do. I think a trip to the farm is in order. I heard asparagus is available. Yay!

And the winner is…

Drum roll please……  The winner of the first ever give-away is Entry #2.  Congratulations Yulinka of Yulinka Cooks.  I’m hoping to see some recipes posted on your blog that you’ll make with these tomatoes.

First Ever Giveaway

To celebrate the mention of this blog in a major publication, I’m celebrating in my true fashion: doing something for others.  So I’m giving away two gift-packs and other goodies from Red Gold.  I’ve used these tomatoes in my recipes and have found them quite good.

What do you need to do to win?  Send me your favorite easy/quick tomato recipe.  I will randomly pick one.  The giveaway ends on May 9, 2009 and I will pick a winner on May 10th.

Looking forward to seeing your favorite tomato recipes!

** Update.  You can’t win the tomatoes if you don’t submit (via comments) your favorite easy/quick tomato recipe.  C’mon people, I know you want the yummy goodies.

Woohoo!

It’s so completely cool when another blogger links to you.  What’s also cool is if that blogger is blogging for the local paper and links to you.  Today I noticed that my blog was part of Alison Sherwood’s blogroll on Post-College Kitchen. Yay!  Thanks Alison!

Checking out the other local blogs that she listed, I found a few that I really liked.  So, I added them to My Favorite Links section of the blog.  See for yourself how much awesomeness happens in this cold little state.