scone after a trip through the toaster oven

While I wasn't going to get myself out of bed at 5am to watch the coronation of King Charles III, I did think it would be nice to recognize the occasion with a batch of scones. Scones, like biscuits, can be made with butter and cream, or with cream alone. Being lactose intolerant and somewhat lazy, not wanting to get my hands all buttery, I opted to make cream scones using only coconut milk. And because a large bag of gluten-free flour had been staring at me from the pantry for a few months, I thought I'd use that, too. 

I have always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with granola. I love the concept of it--nuggets of seasoned oats and dried fruits held together with a bit of sweetness and fat--but have found that commercial granolas were usually too sweet, processed-tasting, or just boring. So once in a while I make a pan of it at home, adding just the right amount of maple syrup or brown sugar and coconut oil and seasoning it to my liking (which usually involves cardamom).

When Bob's Red Mill contacted me with an offer to send me flavors of their new Pan-Baked Granola, I agreed. In general, I really like their products and when given the choice between brands of this or that, I tend to choose Bob's Red Mill. I figured the granola was probably quite good, but still perhaps not what I was looking for in a breakfast cereal.

Damn, I was wrong. This pan-baked granola is GREAT. At least to my palate; as with everything, YMMV. It comes in four flavors: Maple Sea Salt; Coconut Spice; Lemon Blueberry; and Cranberry Almond. It's made just the way I would make it, in small batches, using maple syrup, brown sugar, and coconut oil, and the flavor combos are right up my alley. My favorites are the Lemon Blueberry (lemon flavor granola! It works!) and the Coconut Spice (I love all things coconut). I enjoyed eating the granola the traditional way, as a breakfast cereal with milk, but also sprinkled on yogurt and eaten straight from the bag. Ok, which is maybe the most "traditional" way of consuming granola.

Though we ate it before I could experiment further, I'm thinking this pan-baked granola would make a nice streusel-style topping for muffins or as an addition to an apple crisp. I'm going to re-stock my pantry and do some granola-based winter baking pretty soon. 

Thanks, Bob, for hooking me up with my new favorite cereal! 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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According to a story in USA Today, Americans eat 1.35 BILLION chicken wings on Super Bowl weekend. And that insane number of hot chicken parts needs an insane amount of hot sauce to flavor them. If you're like me and prefer to make your wings at home rather than consume them at whatever purveyor of alcoholic beverages you plan to visit in order to watch the Big Game, you might be interested in a few of the hot sauces I've encountered recently. Unless of course you're a wimp and like your wings sans sauce. :)

First up is the Harissa Hot Sauce from Moore's Marinades & Sauces. While the sauce is hot and garlicky with a North African flair from harissa spices, it's not a radical change from a classic Buffalo wing flavor once you mix some up with a good dose of melted butter. In other words, celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing are still a perfect match for wings made with this sauce. But if you wanted to switch things up, you could make your dressing with feta cheese instead of bleu. And if you want to go a different direction entirely, swap out the chicken wings for lamb sliders and top them with a dose of Moore's Harissa hot sauce (and the feta cheese sauce, too). Yum.

Moore's also makes a Spicy Mustard hot sauce, and both Jalapeno and Habanero sauces, plus a whole line of ready-to-eat wing sauces and marinades. Find them at various supermarkets including Giant and Weis.

Then we have Marion's Kitchen Coconut Sriracha and Coconut Sweet Chili Sauces. The Coconut Sriracha is fiery, like regular sriracha, but with the added creaminess of coconut. Never fear, the coconut doesn't do anything to ease the heat--the sauce is still pretty damn spicy. The Coconut Sweet Chili is like the chili sauce dip that comes with spring rolls in a Thai restaurant, again with the addition of coconut. It's not nearly as hot as the sriracha, but it does have a kick. If you don't want to set your mouth on fire, you can blend the two. I want to say that the coconut gives it a sweet heat, but that's like saying a summer day in Arizona is more pleasant than a summer day in Baltimore. It may be a dry heat, but it's still HOT.

Marion's Kitchen also has a line of marinades, stir fry sauces, meal kits, and coconut milk, all starring Asian flavors like ginger, lemongrass, lime, and of course, chiles. I have the marinades at home, too, and will be experimenting with them in the future. I'll be sure to post the happy results here.

In Maryland, you can buy Marion's Kitchen products at Sprouts, Wegman's, and select Walmart stores. Check the store locator for details.

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This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on October 17, 2012.
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I love lemon curd. And lime curd. Especially if it's homemade. And it's so easy to make, there's really no excuse to buy ready made curd from the store (plus, the jarred stuff just isn't creamy/custardy enough). Basically, any fruit juice can be made into a curd (but I wouldn't try pineapple or papaya, in case their special enzymes do weird things to eggs), so why not coconut milk?

Turns out, it works beautifully. The result is like a jam version of coconut custard pie, terrific on everything from toast to oatmeal, but perfect eaten directly from a spoon.

Coconut Curd

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup coconut milk (or one 5.5oz can)
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until combined. Place in a saucepan and stir in the coconut milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, about eight minutes. Remove pan from the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until each piece is completely absorbed.

Store in a covered jar. Eat within 2 weeks.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 25, 2009.
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When I posted my pineapple upside-down cake photos on Facebook, a friend responded with a recipe for a cake that contained crushed pineapple. I decided to make the cake for Father's Day, so added a rum glaze and flaked coconut. Dad loves a good pina colada.


Pina Colada Cake


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More and more people are going meatless these days--a fine thing for our planet. The less we rely on meat products, the less we'll need factory farming, and that means fewer pollutants in our air and water supply and fewer greenhouse gases. But those of us who have trouble giving up animal products entirely need good substitutes. I'm not talking meat substitutes, per se. I'm fine with tofu and tempeh and other proteins that are really nothing like animal products. But I think turning vegan would be easier if there were more good vegan butters and cheeses. I've tried several over the years and have been pretty unimpressed. Most vegan cheeses are even more plastic-like than pasteurized processed cheese "foods," and their flavor is...let's just say they don't taste very good. I stumbled upon Miyoko's creamery last year and tried a sample of their French Style Winter Truffle soft cheese, thinking it was dairy cheese. (I didn't have my glasses on.) I thought it was mighty tasty stuff--lighter than cream cheese or boursin or brie, yet still cheesy-tasting, with a nice truffle aroma and flavor.

When I took a closer look, I was astonished to see it was completely animal-free. When I complimented one of the ladies who was preparing more snacks, she suggested that I try the butter. So I did. Vegan butter has been around forever--think margarine--but the closest it has ever gotten to tasting like butter is...never. I think that Earth Balance is pretty good, but Melt tastes too much like coconut to pass. Miyoko's Creamery butter, however, is pretty damn buttery. I tried one of the little squares of rye bread schmeared with their European Style Cultured VeganButter and was impressed at how close to cow's milk butter it tasted. I'm not saying it tastes like cultured dairy butter (like Kerrygold, for example) which has its own special funk, but more like conventional butter. Still--it's a vegan product that tastes like butter. Hallelujah!

Miyoko's secret is that they use proprietary bacteria cultures in their products, like in dairy cheese- and yogurt-making. Some of their cheese products also use miso, a fermented product that helps with the flavor.

I also sampled a bit of panini made with their VeganMozz, and can say that yes, the cheese does melt. It browns, as well, making it great for vegan pizzas. Better than dollops of mostly flavorless vegan "ricotta," IMHO. Miyoko products are available in Maryland at Whole Foods, MOM's Organic Markets, and a few other places. Check out their web site for more locations.

Another vegan product that struck my fancy was Amella caramels. Most vegan caramels I've encountered are made with coconut oil, and they taste like coconut. That's fine if you like coconut, but if you don't....then what? Amella caramels use cocoa butter as the fat, which is super clever if you ask me. Of course that means their product tastes like chocolate, but as they dip all of their flavors in chocolate, you know you're getting that flavor from the start. (Personally, I've always thought people who don't like chocolate are weird.)

Amella's caramels are fragrant and have a lovely chew, like a butter caramel. They come in flavors like coconut almond, habanero pink salt, and gray sea salt. I've tried them all, and want more.... Buy them online at Amella's Caramels.

Finally, another product that struck my fancy recently was Maprao Coconut Jerky. I don't like meat jerky. I don't like the texture or the smell or anything about it. But coconut jerky is lovely and smooth, yet somewhat chewy. There's no fibrous weirdness like there is with meat jerky. Coconut jerky of course has a coconut flavor, but the spices gave it a savory kick. I liked it. I have no idea where to buy it, but there's another company called Cocoburg that also makes coconut jerky; their products are available at Amazon.

There are even more interesting vegan products available these days, and I hope to talk about them more in the coming months.



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This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on October 17, 2012.

I love lemon curd. And lime curd. Especially if it's homemade. And it's so easy to make, there's really no excuse to buy ready made curd from the store (plus, the jarred stuff just isn't creamy/custardy enough). Basically, any fruit juice can be made into a curd (but I wouldn't try pineapple or papaya, in case their special enzymes do weird things to eggs), so why not coconut milk?

Turns out, it works beautifully. The result is like a jam version of coconut custard pie, terrific on everything from toast to oatmeal, but perfect eaten directly from a spoon.

Coconut Curd

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup coconut milk (or one 5.5oz can)
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until combined. Place in a saucepan and stir in the coconut milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, about eight minutes. Remove pan from the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until each piece is completely absorbed.

Store in a covered jar. Eat within 2 weeks.


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It's Fancy Food Show season again and food samples have been showing up on our doorstep. A box of popcorn products was eagerly anticipated particularly because it contained three bags of Masala Pop. I had tasted Masala Pop's Rose Caramel flavor at the show last year and was excited that not only did it taste delightfully (yet subtly) of rose, but it was also a kettle corn-style product that wasn't overly sweet. The package we received from the company also included Chai Caramel, with true sweet-spice chai flavors in a light caramel glaze, and Savory Coconut, which has a lovely turmeric/coconut thing going on.

I decided that the Savory Coconut would be smashing on ceviche. What? You've never had popcorn on your ceviche? It's a popular accompaniment to the dish in Ecuador. It gives the ceviche a nice crunch.

If you can get impeccably fresh shrimp, then you can probably make this dish the traditional way, by "cooking" the protein with the citrus juice alone. However, as most shrimp available are IQF (individually quick frozen) and who knows how many times they may have thawed and refrozen by the time they get to your house, I recommend lightly cooking the shrimp first with heat. I poached mine in salted water just until they were pink, iced them down immediately, and popped them in the fridge until I was ready to assemble the dish.

Because the popcorn had Indian flavors, I decided to do the same with the ceviche by adding pinches of cumin, garam masala, and ginger. Not a lot, just enough to be noticed. Coconut milk might have been a nice addition, but I didn't want to detract from the coconut flavor in the popcorn. Feel free to add a few dribbles if you are so inclined.

This makes a lovely appetizer, lunch, or even a light summer supper with a green salad and some bread.

Shrimp Ceviche with Indian Flavors

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
Juice of 2 limes (divided use)
Salt
1/2 lb 31-40 shrimp
3 tablespoons finely chopped bell pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped tomato
1 tablespoon finely minced tender cilantro stems
Pinch ground cumin
Pinch garam masala
Pinch ground ginger
Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
Cilantro leaves
Masala Pop popcorn

Combine the red onion and the juice of half a lime in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. Cover and set aside for at least an hour.

Poach shrimp until just pink in simmering salted water. Chill shrimp in an ice bath and refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove shells and chop shrimp into dime-sized pieces. Combine with the peppers, tomatoes, cilantro stems, and spices. Drain the onion and add to the shrimp, along with the juice from the remaining 1 and 1/2 limes. Taste for seasoning and add salt, a few shakes of hot sauce, and additional pinches of the spices if you feel it needs them. Refrigerate until cold, about an hour.

Serve garnished with cilantro and Masala Pop popcorn.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Country singer Kenny Chesney has a brand spankin' new line of rums inspired by his island life. Yeah, the man's got it hard! Barbados-made Blue Chair Bay Rum comes in five flavors, including coconut spiced rum, which is the one we've tried so far. It's gooood. Mr Minx isn't even a fan of rum and he finds it to be a quite tasty sipping spirit. Me, I'm a sucker for coconut rum, so this was right up my alley.

Chesney will be at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 27th for his Big Revival tour, so in honor of his visit to Maryland, we've concocted a special drink in his honor.

Presenting the Blue Chair Bay Coconut Chai.

Blue Chair Bay coconut spice rum has the flavors of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg in addition to coconut, and it put us in mind of a cup of chai tea. So we blended it with some strong black tea and a wee bit of creamy horchata-flavored rum and a dash of cardamom to make this easy-drinking creamy beverage.

Blue Chair Bay Coconut Chai

2 parts Blue Chair Coconut Spiced Rum
1 part horchata-flavored rum
3 parts cold strong black tea
1/2 part agave nectar
Dash ground cardamom

Combine both rums, black tea, and agave nectar in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a low-ball glass, then spoon over some of the foam from the shaker. Dust with ground cardamom.

Now I want to make a rhum baba with the stuff. Or maybe with the banana rum, which also has a whiff of coconut to it.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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As for the rest of the year, going through all that difficulty doesn't seem quite as worthwhile. Thankfully, Annie B's sells a line of tasty caramels that can be had with just a few clicks of the keyboard. Annie B’s is a small family-owned caramel and popcorn company based in Kellogg, Minnesota. 

They take pride in using natural ingredients, free of gluten and high fructose corn syrup. Each individually wrapped caramel is made using local products including brown sugar, water, corn starch, butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and inverted sugar. Annie B’s caramel is slow cooked in copper pots using a small-batch method. Each piece is hand crafted with the exception of cutting and wrapping of the caramels.

There's over a dozen flavors from your traditional caramel to exotic concoctions like amaretto, huckleberry, black licorice, and coconut. The pieces are quite large, so one caramel can satisfy a quick sugar pang, and they are creamy and soft.

As I mentioned, Annie B's caramels can be purchased from their web site, but they are sold at hundreds of locations throughout the US. Take a gander at the retailer locator on their  web site to find a location near you.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Since the Fancy Food Show, we've been getting lots of tasty products to review. One of my favorites is Munk Pack Oatmeal Fruit Squeeze. Part cereal, part smoothie, completely delicious, Munk Pack is a great snack to throw in your bag and take with you to eat at work or on the road.

There are three flavors: raspberry coconut, blueberry acai flax, and apple quinoa cinnamon. My favorite is the raspberry coconut, which definitely tastes of raspberry, but also has banana and apple in it. (All three flavors have apple, the Blueberry Acai Flax has banana, too.) It's hard to describe the texture of the stuff....it's not thick and gloppy like oatmeal, nor is it runny like applesauce, but perhaps somewhere in between. Mostly smooth, with bits of grain. And bits of coconut in the raspberry flavor. It's really quite tasty, and at 100 calories or less, a lot better for you than a candy bar (but, I understand, not chocolate).

Munk Pack products hit all the right buzzwords du jour: gluten-free, non-gmo, kosher, vegan. The products have no added sugar, 3-4g of fiber, and are packed in a BPA-free pouch that lets you squeeze every drop of goodness right into your gullet.

You can purchase Munk Pack Oatmeal Fruit Squeezes at Eddies on Charles Street and on Roland Ave and at Wegman's. Or at Amazon, which of course has everything.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Hooked on Tuesday is Bonefish Grill's new promo featuring three course meals starting at $14.90. Diners have a choice of house or Caesar salad, one of nine entrees (each with a side and veg), and a dessert. Depending on the entree chosen, dinner can cost as little as $14.90 or as much as $20.90, which is still super inexpensive, especially considering all of the choices are either steak or seafood.

Bonefish Grill in Towson invited us to try a Hooked on Tuesday dinner for ourselves. How could we refuse?

We started with a couple of cocktails, including a "Fresh Watermelon Icicle Aphrodisiac Martini" (hand-muddled watermelon, fresh sour, house-made cucumber infused vodka, and frozen watermelon cubes), and a Summer Kiwi Smash (Olmeca Altos silver tequila, freshly muddled kiwi, mint, lemon juice, and an edible summer orchid.) Over the years, I've had several drinks that didn't taste particularly watermelon-y, but this one had a nice fresh melon flavor. The kiwi drink was basically a light-flavored margarita.

There are only two options for appetizers with the Hooked on Tuesday dinner, a house salad with hearts of palm, kalamata olives, and a citrus herb vinaigrette, or a Caesar salad. We tried both. The former was pleasant and light. The Caesar was enormous, with a super garlicky dressing that was quite good.

Next came dessert. Mr Minx's cheesecake, served with chocolate and caramel sauces, was extremely light and creamy, almost like a no-bake cheesecake. My "Jen's Jamaican coconut pie," was quite homey, with a heavy coconut to custard ratio, a boozy Myers's rum sauce, and toasted coconut on top. Honestly, it was one of the best restaurant desserts I've had in a long time. And, according to the manager, it's only available on Tuesdays during the Hooked on Tuesday promotion, so if you want to try it for yourself, that's the time to get it.

Our verdict: Bonefish Grill's Hooked on Tuesday promotion is a great deal. The portions are generous, the food is good, and when else can you get that fab coconut pie? With rum sauce. Seriously the pie is worth the trip. Go. Eat pie. And some salad and fish, too.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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I get ideas for desserts all the time, but they're usually random things I put together on a weekend and mostly for the blog. Blogging requires attention, you see, and I'm always thinking about it. When I have to come up with a dessert for an occasion of some sort, usually a holiday, I panic a little. It's all well and good to dream up something that only Mr Minx and I are going to eat, but there's more pressure when guests are involved, even if it's family and they're (mostly) non-judgmental about what we put in front of them. But there are always diets and dietary restrictions to think of and what sort of thing will go well with the entree we've just eaten.

I liked the idea of coconut cake for a party dessert. A big ol' yellow layer cake slathered in white icing and mounds of coconut, like the lovely versions at Clementine and the Peppermill. Unfortunately, not everyone likes the texture of coconut shavings. (I'm looking at Mr Minx here.) He doesn't mind the flavor of coconut though, and had in the past suggested that I make Martha Stewart's coconut crunch cake without the macaroon layer. While I agreed that it was a good idea, I still made the cake as written three times. (He did eat it all three times, coconut shavings and all). This time, I decided to do as the poor dear said, because I wanted a flavored cake to use as layers in a mini trifle of sorts, with chocolate pudding and almonds. Sometimes you feel like a nut and all that.

Chocolate Coconut Parfaits

For coconut cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cream of coconut
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs

For pudding:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 cups whole milk
1 large egg
4 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped

To assemble:
Coconut shavings
Sliced almonds

To make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a jelly roll pan with a single piece of parchment cut to size. If you are like me, you don't have a jelly roll pan, so just use a smaller baking sheet with sides. Mine is about 9" x 11" but it's very old--YMMV. Cut parchment to size. If you're using a small sheet pan, cut two pieces.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, stir cream of coconut and vanilla.

Beat butter and coconut oil on medium-high until smooth. Slowly add sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each and scraping down bowl as needed. Add the cream of coconut mixture and beat until completely mixed. Stir in the flour until just combined.

If you're using a jelly roll pan, you can probably add all of the batter. You don't want it to overflow though, so if there's excess batter, put it in a muffin tin and bake it later. If you're using a smaller pan, put in about 1/3 of the batter and spread smooth. Bake a larger sheet for 20-25 minutes and a smaller sheet 13-17 minutes, until cake springs back when pressed lightly with a finger. Cool on a rack. If you're using a smaller sheet, once cool enough to handle, remove the cake from the pan with the parchment attached. Place a fresh parchment in the pan. Add 1/3 of the batter, spread smooth, and bake 13-17 minutes. You can bake a third cake, if you want, or put the remaining batter in a muffin tin, or a mini loaf cake pan.

When cakes are cool, place them face down on a cutting board large enough to hold them, or, barring that, a clean countertop. Peel off the parchment. If there's cake clinging to the parchment, just scrape it off and eat it - cook's treat.

Using the top of the glass you plan on layering the cake in, cut out at least three rounds per glass. Save the cake scraps for snacking on. Place cake circles between layers of waxed paper and store in a covered container up to overnight, until ready to use.

To make pudding: Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil, whisking, until pudding is thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Immediately beat egg lightly in a medium heatproof bowl, then very gradually add hot pudding to the egg, whisking constantly. Whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth.

Pour pudding into a bowl with a lid or cover surface with wax paper to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate, covered, until cool, at least 2 hours.

To assemble parfaits: Place a cake round at the bottom of each of six serving glasses. Add two tablespoons of cooled pudding, a big pinch of coconut and another of almonds, then another cake round. Repeat layers, ending with a cake round. Garnish with coconut and almonds.

Serves 8.



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In a three day period, Mr Minx and I dined at Bobby Flay's new restaurant, Gato, had a 7-course lunch at Le Bernardin, another multi-course lunch at Ma Peche, and dinner at Harold Dieterle's Kin Shop. With all of that good food behind us, it was hard to come home to a fridge full of nothing. Right away we went to the grocery store to stock up on fresh veggies and dinner fixins. I figured a spicy Asian-style meal would be a good segue from fancy NY food to home cooking, and the first night home whipped up a pasta sauce that was part laab, part Bolognese.

I wanted to use ground pork, but the store we visited had none. Instead, I used ground turkey and made sure to season it well to get rid of, well, the turkey flavor. There's always an assortment of Asian condiments in the fridge (miso, gochujang, hoisin, chili bean paste) so I combined my favorite Thai chilli with basil paste and red curry paste, plus lots of fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk powder to make a richly flavored yet light sauce. You could use liquid coconut milk, but I find it doesn't keep well if you don't use the whole can right away. Instead, I always have packets of dried coconut milk so I can use a little or a lot and then store the rest in a zip-top bag in the cupboard.

While the dish wasn't Kin Shop-worthy, it was still pretty darn delicious.

Thai "Bolognese" Sauce

1/2 large onion, chopped
Vegetable oil
The innermost leaves of 1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with the side of a knife and minced
1 lb ground turkey or pork
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon Thai chilli basil paste (Maesri brand)
1 tablespoon red curry paste (Thai Kitchen)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons coconut powder
1/4 cup water
Juice of half a lime
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Chopped cilantro
Thai basil
Chopped scallions
Fresh mint

Cook onion in vegetable oil over medium high heat until translucent. Add lemongrass and ground meat, breaking up meat with wooden spoon. Cook, stirring constantly, until meat is mostly cooked through and beginning to brown. Stir in garlic, chilli basil and red curry pastes, and 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce.

Combine the coconut powder, water, and lime juice in a bowl. Pour over meat mixture in pan and stir well. Add sugar and remaining fish sauce. Turn heat to low. Cook mixture until ground meat doesn't taste strongly of turkey or pork but has taken on the flavors of the pastes and fish sauce, 5-10 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice, garnished with plenty of fresh herbs and scallions. Alternately, you can chill the mixture and eat it like laab (Thai ground meat salad), rolled in fresh lettuce leaves.

Serves 4-6.



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Sometimes the best antidote for a completely crappy day is a good, stiff drink. So we were incredibly happy that after a particularly bad afternoon, Bahama Breeze invited us to celebrate International Pineapple Day (April 2) at their Towson location, complete with complimentary cocktails and a sampling of happy hour appetizers.

Mr Minx and I had eaten at Bahama Breeze not long after they opened, and I must admit, we were not impressed. The atmosphere seemed chaotic, and the food was not memorable. But ten or so years can change things.

The restaurant, though tropically themed, was cozy and dark, particularly where we were seated in the bar area. And the place was hopping, yet everything seemed under control. Not long after we reached our table, we were brought the first of two pineapple-based cocktails we would receive that evening, the Painkiller. Made with Pusser's Dark Rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juices, and a fragrant grating of fresh nutmeg, the drink was big and strong (like I like my...drinks). Often tropical drinks are uber sweet, but this one was just right.

Our second drink, which came about halfway through the meal, was a Goombay Smash, comprising Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum and Myers's Original Dark Rum mixed with fresh orange and pineapple juices. Again, not overly sweet and nice and strong. The orange was a bit more prominent in this drink.

With our drinks, we enjoyed a plate of Bahama Breeze's fried coconut shrimp (because fried foods are as essential to lifting one's mood as alcohol) with a spicy citrus mustard sauce. They were pretty good, but maybe a bit bread-y.

We also received a plate of their Jamaican chicken wings. Culinary manager Kevin Morton says they are marinated in authentic spices, then baked with additional seasoning, and finally served with a dip that has more of that jerk flavor. We thought these were dynamite. The wings were large and meaty, perfectly cooked, and super crispy. And while jerk seasoning can be intensely hot with the fire of scotch bonnet peppers, the wings at Bahama Breeze were tailored to fit a palate more accustomed to milder foods.

Kevin then suggested we order whatever else we wanted off the menu. He had just finished talking up their burger, so we decided to split one. To keep with the International Pineapple Day theme, we ordered our Wood-grilled Cheddar Burger with some pineapple chutney on the side.

The burger was a thin patty, which we prefer, cooked to just a shade past medium. The bun was somewhere between a typical squishy fast food bun and a brioche bun in that it was nice and soft, but had a pretty glazed appearance. The chutney added a bit of sweetness, a la ketchup, but wasn't quite as sweet. Overall, we enjoyed the burger for its simplicity. Bahama Breeze might not be the first place one would think of to order a burger, but if nothing else on the menu tempts, the burger can satisfy.

We also opted to try the conch fritters, which came with more of the citrus mustard dipping sauce. They were nicely meaty, crisp, and piping hot.

Bahama Breeze was really a nice surprise. We don't eat at chain restaurants often, not because we are snobs, but because there are so many other options these days. Bahama Breeze is owned by Darden, which also operates Red Lobster and Olive Garden. They also own The Capital Grille, which routinely makes "best of" lists in Baltimore, so don't judge. Bahama Breeze only has 30 or so outlets, so they don't have as much of the corporate control as some of Darden's other restaurants. Kevin Morton says that while some menu elements come from corporate (the onion rings, for example, which Kevin said were breaded in-house until recently), he can cater other menu items to the tastes of his patrons. He seemed to have real passion for his job, and runs the restaurant as if it were his own. That attitude, coupled with the sunny dispositions of the staff we came in contact with, makes a big difference in a customer's dining experience. I can think of some locally owned-and-operated, non-chain restaurants that could use that approach.

Bahama Breeze
100 E Joppa Rd
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 821-7090
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/







Posted on Minxeats.com.

Last week, I wrote about some of the many many (many!) savory products on display at the 2013 Summer Fancy Food Show at New York's Javits Center. This week, I want to mention some of the sweets.

There were many producers catering to special diets, and gluten-free and vegan products abounded. One of my favorites was Cocomels, a caramel using coconut milk in place of the usual dairy. They're both vegan and gluten-free, also corn syrup- and soy-free, and non-GMO. Most importantly, they're delicious, chewy, creamy caramels with a hint of coconut flavor.

Another vegan coconut product is Coconut Bliss, a frozen dessert made with coconut milk. It's not exactly ice cream, but it's very good, and it comes in more than a dozen flavors that can be purchased at your local Whole Foods.

CookiNuts, by Maryland-based Sweet Nuttings, are dairy- and gluten-free treats that are reminiscent of soft, chewy, Italian almond cookies, only with a much-higher nut content. I suspect that they contain egg whites, so they are not vegan. Nonetheless, they are delicious, more nutritious, and more filling than your garden variety commercial cookie.

Then there were the chocolates. Among the many brands I sampled, one of my favorites was Chuao Chocolatier, mostly because they put bacon and potato chips in their chocolate bars. I know! The milk maple bacon bar has little nubbins of bacony goodness and a hint of smoked sea salt, and the potato chip bar has kettle chip bits mingled in milk chocolate. I also liked their dark chocolate Firecracker bar, which has chipotle pepper and popping candy mixed in.

Another chocolatier that caught my eye...my tastebuds, actually...was Hagensborg. Part of me was attracted to the company's pig motif, but another part wanted to taste all of the sustainable exotic single origin chocolate from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Santo Domingo. The 39% cocoa Ecuador milk bar was my favorite, because I like to buck the trend: I'm not all that into super dark chocolate.

Local favorite Fisher's Popcorn also had a presence at the Fancy Food Show. Now Baltimoreans don't have to make the drive all the way to Ocean City to enjoy a couple handfuls of Fisher's delicious caramel corn. It's available in bags at the Harbor East branch of Whole Foods, plus assorted other locations all over the state. (Check out this page for more information.) In addition to the regular caramel corn and white cheddar flavors, there's a new chipotle caramel popcorn flavor. My taste of this variety was only slightly spicy, so don't worry about it being too hot to enjoy.

These are but a mere sampling of the many many sweet items I tried at the show. I hope it gives you some idea of the new food items that are hitting the stores now and in the near future, and encourages you try something new and different on occasion.



Posted on Minxeats.com.