Carma's Cafe

When I'm not fulfilling my duties as Mr. Minx, one half of the Dining Duo, I toil as a fiction writer of modest repute. Since writing is a solitary vocation, it's nice to get out once in awhile and meet with fellow writers to share stories, commiserate about the dismal state of publishing, and generally talk about the craft of writing. That's why I enjoy getting together with friend and poet, Shirley Brewer, from time to time to have a cathartic chat. We usually meet at Belvedere Square, but they were doing some remodeling recently, so we decided to meet somewhere in her neighborhood of Charles Village. We ended up at Carma's Cafe.

Located on the corner of St. Paul and 32nd Streets, this tiny cafe has limited seating inside and some outdoor tables. Fortunately for us, the Johns Hopkins students were on summer break and it was not raining, so we got to enjoy our lunch outside. Carma's Cafe offers a wide selection of soups, salads, and breakfast items served all day. In addition to the regular menu, specials featuring seasonal ingredients are listed on plates hanging from the wall. Since it is tomato season, many of the specials featured that savory fruit. I opted for the Sourdough Grilled Cheese (apparently a perennial favorite) with a cup of their creamy tomato basil soup, while Shirley chose the BLT with a side salad.

After paying for our order, we were given our drinks and we went outside to scout for a table. We both ordered ginger beer and I believe this is exactly what ginger beer is supposed to taste like. I've had commercial products in the past that were disappointing because they tasted like ginger ale. Carma's ginger beer had the sharp ginger flavor I was expecting, like biting into a ginger snap. It also had just a hint of sweetness and the right amount of lemon to make it refreshing.

BLT with side salad

A few minutes after sitting down, our food arrived. Shirley's BLT held crispy bacon, ripe tomatoes, and mesclun greens between two slices of lightly toasted sourdough bread. The side salad provided another dose of mesclun. I thought it rude to ask for a bite, but Shirley seemed to enjoy it greatly.

Sourdough Grilled Cheese with Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

My sandwich was also on lightly grilled sourdough bread. The bread itself was hearty and held together well with the extremely gooey cheddar and Swiss cheeses. The soup had a rustic chunkiness to it and a good balance between the acidity of the tomatoes and the richness of the cream. The addition of basil gave it that fresh-from-the-garden quality that's perfect for a warm summer day.

If you're not in the mood for a meal, Carma's also offers coffee, frozen drinks, and cookies. It's a great place to spend some time relaxing, chatting, and watching the bustling activity along St. Paul Street.

Carma's Cafe
3120 Saint Paul St
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 243-5200
www.carmascafe.com





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Salmon BLT

A couple of weeks ago, Baltimore Snacker John mentioned that he wanted to experiment with tapioca maltodextrin and that he had ordered free samples from National Starch. I'm kinda fascinated by "molecular gastronomy" or whatever the kids are calling it today, so I decided to order some samples as well.

Tapioca maltodextrin is a modified food starch that can be used to turn liquified fat into a powder. While that might not seem like a useful trick, I think it's pretty nifty. My first attempt was powdered peanut butter - a half teaspoon of Jif creamy mixed into a couple of tablespoons of N ZORBIT M made a pale peanut butter-flavored powder...a powder that once in contact with liquid became itself liquid again. In other words, a spoonful of this stuff placed in the mouth changed from its powdered state back into peanut butter.

A foodie parlor trick.

Because I had a package of bacon in the fridge that needed to be cooked, I decided to mix bacon fat and tapioca maltodextrin. I was making salmon for dinner, so my first idea was to make a kind of deconstructed bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. The bacon part was easy - bacon fat + N ZORBIT = bacon powder. But what about the lettuce and tomato?

We had a couple of yellow tomatoes, but that seemed boring. I blanched, peeled, and chopped two of them and put them aside. Then I remembered the bag of sundried tomatoes I had recently acquired from Nuts Online. I figured I could use them to make a sauce, using a bit of acid to cut the richness of both the salmon and the bacon fat powder. The lettuce component was simple - a bit of salad, also dressed with acid.

Since BLTs also have mayo, I thought this might be a good opportunity to make the delicious yogurt sauce we enjoyed at Phillips a few weeks ago; their technique was also used to cook the salmon.

The end result wasn't pretty, but it was quite delicious. While I wanted the bacon powder (which tasted a whole lot like fried pork rinds) to be the star, the real showstopper was the sundried tomato vinaigrette which was rich and tangy and very tomatoe-y. Could make a delicious pasta sauce for the summer.

Recipes for most of the components follow.

Baked salmon - red quinoa - tomato vinaigrette - yogurt sauce
chopped yellow tomato - herb salad  - bacon fat powder

Salmon
10 oz salmon fillet
salt and pepper
2 oz butter
2 oz water

Preheat oven to 400F. Salt and pepper one side of salmon fillet. Lay in the bottom of a baking dish with sides that will fit the salmon and contain the liquid. Add the butter and water. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until desired doneness.

Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette

1/2 cup roughly chopped sundried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes and drained
1 teaspoon roughly chopped shallot
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch aleppo pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Put first 8 ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree. Strain mixture into a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Bacon Powder

1 cup N-ZORBIT M tapioca maltodextrin
3 tablespoons bacon fat
salt and pepper to taste

Place N-ZORBIT into a large bowl. Drizzle over bacon fat. With a fork, stir well to combine - the starch should absorb all of the fat, if it doesn't, add more N-ZORBIT a teaspoonful at a time. Push through a sieve to achieve a fine powder. Cover and set aside.

Herbed Yogurt

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped mint
1 teaspoon chopped basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Salad

1 cup torn mixed greens (lettuce, arugula, mint, basil, spinach, your choice)
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

Toss greens with a squeeze of lemon and a light drizzle of oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Minxeats in Baltimore Magazine

One page from the article, featuring photos
of my empanadas and bruschetta.

I'm excited to announce that Minxeats is in the November issue of Baltimore Magazine, as one of three local bloggers (along with Kit of Mango & Ginger and Dara of Dining Dish) who contributed dishes for a feature on Potluck Dinners.

In the article, which starts on page 226, you can find photos of my Chocolate Linzer Tart, BLT Bruschetta with Bacon Jam, arugula, and cherry tomatoes, and Sweet Potato Empanadas, which are based on a casserole recipe I concocted last Thanksgiving. The tart and bacon jam recipes are linked above, and here's the recipe for my sweet potato empanadas, which I thought were nice and Fall-ish. To make them even more appropriate for the coming season, one could add some chopped cooked turkey meat and perhaps a cranberry-based dipping sauce.

Sweet Potato Empanadas

2 large sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons diced onion*

olive oil

1/4 heavy cream
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon chopped scallion
2 slices of bacon, crumbled*
2 packages Goya empanada shells "discos"
1 egg

Scrub sweet potatoes and prick all over with a knife or fork. Place on microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 15 minutes until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from microwave and set aside to cool.

Sauté onion in olive oil until softened.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop flesh into a bowl. Add cream, chipotle, brown sugar, and cinnamon, stirring well to combine. Stir in scallions, cooked onion, and bacon. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350F. Remove discos from packaging. Place a scant tablespoon of sweet potato filling in the center of each. Fold ends over to form a half-moon, and crimp closed with the tines of a fork. Place empanadas on a nonstick cookie sheet.

Beat egg with a teaspoon of water and brush onto tops of pastries.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 20.

* 2 tablespoons of bacon jam may be substituted for the onion and bacon