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Friday, February 19, 2010
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai Plaza Midwood's newest restaurant: Loco Lime
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Tucked in behind Common House restaurant on Central Avenue, Loco Lime opened quietly in Plaza Midwood three weeks ago.
The Mexican-inspired grill is the second location for Loco Lime — they have another restaurant in Highland Creek. On the menu you can find an assortment of appetizers ranging from fried jalapeños and Mexi-style wings to queso dip; four varieties of salads; enchiladas made of crab, chicken, beef, cheese, and even shrimp and potato; tortas (Mexican sandwiches); and specialty entrees such as flautas (Honduran style tacos), ancho-crusted pork chop, chile relleno, and camarones ala diablo.
When you sit down, you are greeted with a complimentary bowl of warm tortilla chips and salsa. Last night I tried the queso dip, vegetarian burrito, and the Tres Leches cake.
Despite the many tempting meat entrees on the menu, I decided to go with the veggie burrito because the description sounded amazing: "rice, vegetarian refried beans, portobello mushrooms, roasted corn relish, sweet plantains, and grills zucchini. Served with honey citrus cilantro slaw, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo." I wasn't disappointed.
Loco Lime might be a great place to grab an inexpensive lunch too — from 11 a.m. to 3 pm, Monday through Friday, they serve a "Rapido Lunch Menu" with items $6.50 and under.
Take a look at Plaza Midwood's newest Mexican grill.
Loco Lime
1101 Central Ave
Charlotte, NC 28204
704-333-7837
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Recipe / Priscilla Tsai Mocha Silk Pie
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:19 AM
Death by pie. That's what will happen to me if I don't pawn off the rest of this pie to my co-workers.
This Mocha Silk Pie from the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond is luxurious and rich. It's chocolately and thick, yet deceptively light in texture at the same time. The crust is slightly sandy with chopped pecans, brown sugar, grated chocolate and Kahlua.
To achieve the silky, pudding-like texture of the filling, four eggs are individually whipped into a mixture of butter, chocolate, sugar, vanilla, and Kahlua, with 5 minutes of beating after the addition of each egg. As you mix, the filling magically doubles in volume. It was hard to refrain from eating globs of the fluffy filling mid-beating.
A little elbow grease, well, maybe a lot, was needed to grate the chocolate for the crust, but the results were well worth it. This no-bake pie needs a few good hours to chill in the fridge before serving, so make sure to plan accordingly.
Mocha Silk Pie
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 ounces, weight semi-sweet chocolate, grated
dash of salt
1 Tablespoon Kahlua
Filling:
2 sticks butter (salted)
1-½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon Kahlua
3 ounces, weight semi-sweet (or bittersweet) chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 whole large eggs
Preparation Instructions:
To make the crust, combine chopped pecans, brown sugar, grated chocolate, and salt. Stir with a fork to combine, then drizzle in Kahlua, stirring until combined. Press mixture into a pie pan, bringing it up the sides a bit. *Do not bake* Set aside or refrigerate until needed.
For the filling, in small microwave safe bowl, melt 3 ounces chocolate until stirrable (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter, sugar, 2 teaspoons instant coffee, and 1 teaspoon Kahlua until fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. When melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it into the butter/sugar mixture as it beats on medium speed; use a rubber spatula to get it all out. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined, scraping the sides if necessary.
On medium speed, add the four eggs, one at a time, over a period of 20 minutes; leave about 5 minutes between each egg addition. Scrape sides of bowl halfway through this process. Pour filling into the pie crust.
Smooth out the pie filling and place pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least 5 hours (preferably longer).
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Food News Paula Deen shows postponed
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Sorry butter fans, both Paula Deen’s performances for Saturday, February 20 at Ovens Auditorium are being postponed. (Read more about her originally scheduled shows here.)
The rescheduled date will be announced soon. Ticket holders can either return tickets at the point of purchase or retain tickets for the rescheduled show date.
Performances for Tyler Florence, March 27 and The Neely’s, May 1 will happen as planned.
Recipe / Smorgasbord Black Eyed Peas' official cocktail
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:31 PM
The Black Eyed Peas swing into Charlotte Saturday night to perform at Time Warner Cable Arena. Gear up to see the concert by sipping on the official Black Eyed Peas cocktail for the tour – The Bacardi V.I.Pea.
2 parts Bacardi Superior
1 part Freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp Black Sugar (Fortnum & Mason)
1 dash egg white
Garnish:
4 dried black eyed peas
Preparation:
Put all ingredients into a shaker, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Fill ½ cubed ice and ½ crushed ice and shake vigorously until chilled. Double strain into a chilled or frozen coupette or cocktail glass.
Food News / Priscilla Tsai Perdue wants you!
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:11 PM
How do you do your chicken? That's what Perdue, the chicken company, want to know.
Perdue is running a contest in North Carolina looking for the best recipes or techniques for cooking up Perdue chicken. Submit a video of yourself showing off your poultry culinary skills and you could win cold, hard cash!
See the press release below for more info:
In case you haven’t heard, our PERDUE® Fresh All Natural Chicken just received the USDA Process Verified seal. In short, this means Perdue has third-party reviewed processes for poultry. Now, we want to see what your processes are for preparing chicken. So grab your supplies, your video camera and of course, the new PERDUE® USDA Process Verified Chicken, and get ready to let your culinary skills shine in this virtual cookoff.We’re looking for your best recipes or techniques for preparing or serving PERDUE® chicken. And just so you can taste the PERDUE® difference, you must use – and show us that you’re using – Perdue’s new USDA Process Verified Chicken. Upload your video to our site, and the winner will be stamped “Verifiably Good” and receive a year’s supply of PERDUE® chicken plus $500 in cash! Each First Prize winner will receive $50 worth of coupons for PERDUE® chicken!
Submissions begin: 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time on February 15, 2010
Submissions end: 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 19, 2010.
To submit a video, visit this site.
p.s. I'm one of the judges.
Mouthful Another deli closes
Posted By Tricia Childress on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Izzy's Cafe & Catering, 5668 International Drive, has closed.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Smorgasbord Happy Mardi Gras!
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 10:27 AM
Our staff at Creative Loafing celebrated Fat Tuesday with a cake with a baby baked inside. No, not a real baby – we're crazy, but not that crazy.
Yep ... it was a king cake for Mardi Gras, which is today, February 16. The traditional yeasted cake decorated with green, yellow, and purple icing and sugar is known for containing a little trinket somewhere inside (it's usually a baby). Custom says whoever gets the slice of cake with the baby in it must buy the next king cake or throw the next party.
Here's our baby:
Kinda creepy, eh?
Monday, February 15, 2010
Best I've Had All Week Best I’ve Had All Week: Bánh Mì at Zen Market
Posted By Tricia Childress on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Be mine, bánh mì: salty, crunchy, and hot. In my family, this classic street-vendor Vietnamese-French sandwich is experiencing something close to an addiction. Although bánh mìs are available at several places around town, I like the taste, inexpensive price ($3.50), and close proximity (to me) of the ones at Zen International Market & Tea, 10225 Park Road. My favorite is the Vietnamese barbecue pork with pickled daikon radishes, fretfully hot julienned strips of jalapeño, and a sprig of cilantro. But there are six choices on the menu including a very good densely-packed French cold cut, and a lemongrass pork sandwich.
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai In pictures: The Wooden Vine
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 9:30 AM
I popped my head into The Wooden Vine on Tryon Street Uptown (next to Zink) the other night. What I discovered was a dimly-lit nook decorated with scrolled iron and beautiful woodwork that includes wooden tables, bars, walls, and chairs – all made by the owner's brother. Even the bathroom vanity is a unique wood piece. The pièce de résistance though is the long banquet table in the backroom.
The Wooden Vine, which opened in December, offers wines by the glass and by the bottle. In addition, they offer small plates such as cheeses and spreads and a few other items.
Take a look:
The Wooden Vine
231 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28202-2136
Friday, February 12, 2010
Food News / free food Free flapjacks on National Pancake Day
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 1:20 PM
IHOP is celebrating National Pancake Day, Tuesday, Feb. 23, by giving everyone one free short stack (three) of their famous buttermilk pancakes from 7 am to 10 pm.
In return, support local children's hospitals through Children's Miracle Network by making a donation.
Local IHOP locations:
IHOP #4431
134 W Woodlawn Road
CHARLOTTE, NC 28217-2110
704-523 6388
IHOP #4500
230 E Wt Harris Blvd
CHARLOTTE, NC 28262-3470
704-717 9600
IHOP #4506
8146 S Tryon Street
CHARLOTTE, NC 28273-3325
704-588 5252
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Recipe: Rose Water Tea Cookies 1
Cookies, tea and shouting. In that order. Ascending order.
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Photos: Mint Museum's Allure of Flowers After Hours
A peek into a fancy foodie fundraising event that incorporated flowers into, well, everything.
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Dish on this: Charlotte-based chefs join ACF Culinary Team USA 2016
As fall approaches, local chefs prepare for a culinary battle in Germany.
