Mallorca

Where: Mallorca in Pittsburgh's famous South Side

Website: mallorcarestaurant.com/

Cuisine: Spanish

When: Wed. Jan 13, 2010

Who: Rishi and Mike

Review by: Rishi

Mike and I have a wonderful tradition of picking nice places to eat and going all out. So far, we have not had a bad meal together, and Mallorca was no different.

With our meal, we decided to go with a Spanish red wine. Picking a wine was difficult not only because of our unfamiliarity with Spanish wine, but also because of the size of the wine list. To call it extensive does not do it justice. The sommelier picked our wine for us, of which there is a picture to be added. The wine was really nice, full bodied but not overbearing in any way. It went well with our food selections.

We started off with the Garlic Soup and Steamed Octopus special. Both were delicious. The soup had a poached egg inside, and the octopus was not chewy at all, but instead, very soft. Quite an impressive start. The appetizers were served with a simple salad and French dressing.

For our main courses, Mike had the special seafood casserole, which he will describe in more detail. From what I tasted of it, and judging from his reactions, it was amazingly flavorful and well prepared. I had a Spanish take on the famous French dish Duck a l'Orange. It was perfectly crip on the outside, but tender and fatty on the inside. It was amazing. The orange sauce really added to it and it was served with mashed potatoes.

We decided to share two deserts to satisfy our sweet tooth(s). The tiramisu was the clear winner, with the Marquis Cake coming in close second. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that particular cake, it is comprised of three different kinds of chocolate, so if you don't like chocolate avoid it.

I capped off my meal with a 94' Cockburn Port. At $19, Mike was astounded by my selection, but upon tasting it he immediately understood. It was extremely smooth, not overly sweet, but still tasted like desert. Worth every penny.

I strongly recommend a visit to Mallorca.

Going Green: Edamame & Chickpea Hummus

:: Japanese Edamame Hummus ::

I'm not gonna lie. I left some Edamame cooking in the steamer and completely forgot about it. Obviously, the beans were over-cooked, resulting in soggy and tasteless edamame. Usually they would need to be thrown away, instead we decided to 'go green' and experiment with an edamame hummus. It turned out to be a totally worth while experiment--it was delicious.

We ended up with a Japanese take on hummus and pita, using the following ingredients:

• Soy Beans (Over-steamed)
• Chickpeas
  
• Garlic (Minced)
• Sea Salt
  
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Tahini Paste
  
• Lemon Juice
• Sriracha Sauce
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Cracked Black Pepper
• Soy Sauce (Garnish)

Herby Derby Frittata

This recipe is great for when you've got some eggs to spare, but you can't fathom eating an 8-egg omelette. And frittata is like a low-maintenance quiche--you skip the crust.

There are 2 parts, the vegetables/herbs and the egg mass.

For the vegetable/herb part I recommend:

Broccoli (or cauliflower)

Sweet onions

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sage leaves

Basil leaves

And for egg mass I recommend:

8 eggs

Black pepper

Salt

Asiago Cheese (or an aged hard cheese)

Vermont White Cheddar (or a softer white/yellow cheese)

And for a REALLY good time I recommend:

Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Grillers Recipe Crumbles - meatless

So then you whisk the eggs and cheese (and you can never have too much cheese) in a bowl.

Sautée the onions, soften the sun-dried tomatoes in a large oven-safe frying pan.

Blanche the cauliflower or steam the broccoli in another pot.

This is where it gets crunk. Pour the egg mass in the pan with the onions and tomatoes, then add the broccoli and sprinkle in the herbs. Take that pan and stick the whole thing in the oven at 375 degrees for 20-30 until eggs are set.

Take that beauty out, sprinkle with parmesan and get crunk!

(Pictured with couscous, thanks Mike.)

Arroz com Feijão (aka Rice and Beans)

A Brasilian Staple

For Beans:

-3 cups dry beans (pinto or black beans)

-water (as needed)

-2 bay leaves

-3-5 cloves of garlic, depending how much garlic you like (minced)

-1 medium onion (chopped)

-optional 1 smoked sausage, such as smoked turkey or kielbasa (chopped) or 3-4 slices thick bacon (chopped)

-salt

-3 tablespoons olive oil

For Rice:

-3 cups white rice (you can substitute brown rice but, the cooking time is longer at 40-45 minutes)

-6 cups water ( 9 cups water is needed for brown rice)

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-optional 2 cloves garlic (minced)

-optional 1/2 medium onion (chopped) optional

Sort through the beans for pebbles and other foreign materials and rinse them. Soak the beans overnight(cover them with water) in a pot.

Cook them the next day with the same water, bay leaf and an additional couple of inches of water(add more water if the beans have absorbed all the water). Bring to a boil then cook on medium heat for about an hour, until beans are tender) with a covered lid for most of the cooking. Remove the lid for the last 15-20 minutes but make sure it doesn't dry out by covering them if you think there might not be enough liquid.

Read more....

Hanukkah Dinner Party!

Last Monday I hosted a Hanukkah dinner party at my house. We had a great time, but I think we all ate way too much. It was a night of complete over-indulgance! We ate some much, it was completely ridiculous, although it was probably my fault. I made a complete 4 course meal, not including the bagels and lox Carolina brought over. Todd was also kind enough to bring me a nice menorah and candles.

Latkes, candles, and eating too much...very Jewish indeed.

I completely forgot to take pictures (I am new at this blogging stuff) but I wanted to at least share my menu:

Fresh Hummus with toasted pita

-
Potato Latkes 

-
Baked panko-breaded Tilapia fillets with maple-soy glaze

-
Dark Chocolate Mousse

Sakura Teppanyaki N Sushi

Varun at his Farewell dinner:

Sakura :: Best Maki Rolls in Pittsburgh! -  Sakura's Website

Sakura is definitely one of our favorite places to go eat. They have really incredible Specialty rolls you can order. When you go, they have 3 different menus to choose from, each with different Maki rolls, that change all the time. If you are going to eat here, you must order these specialty rolls. They are all delicious. Their sushi chefs are true artists. Not only is the food great, but the plates are always really beautiful.

The prices are pretty much exactly the same as all of the decent sushi restaurants in Pittsburgh, but the Specialty Rolls are all from $9.99 to $14.99.  We always go to celebrate or to really enjoy a dinner out. This time, we were having a farewell dinner for Varun, and we all left completely stuffed!

I highly recommend this restaurant. Incredible food. Fresh sushi. Great service. Decent prices.

Vegetarian Stir Fry - Dinner with Jess

Dinner with Jess: Vegetarian Stir Fry, Cumin Steamed Rice, Salad with my homemade Ginger Dressing. 

Last night I made Jess dinner. Since I am going out of town, I wanted to use up all of my produce. I figured I could put a lot of different vegetables together to make a stir fry. I steamed white rice and added whole garlic cloves and cumin to the pot while it cooked, to really give the rice flavor. And I used the ginger dressing (that I made a couple nights ago) for the salad.

Its a really simple recipe, but the entire meal took me under 30 minutes to cook. Its really simple, fun to make, and easily pleases a crowd.

Read more for the ingredients and directions.

Creme Brulee

My famous Creme Brulee:

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tb. of good Vanilla Extract)
  
• 1 cup vanilla sugar
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 quarts hot water
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Whisk in the cinnamon.

Japanese Ginger Dressing

Fresh Ginger Dressing:

• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups soybean oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup sliced carrots (penny sized)
• 2 cups chipped white onion
• 1/2 cup sliced peeled fresh ginger
• Fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• Sesame Oil (to taste)

This recipe is really easy. Makes a great salad dressing or dipping sauce. I added a touch of Sriracha Sauce as well to give it some spice. I poured it into an empty olive oil bottle, and put it in my fridge to use over and over.