Toss

For several weeks I kept my eye on a "coming soon" sign on the building at 5716 York Road, just north of the junction of York and Bellona, and right next door to the establishment bearing bold black on yellow signage emblazoned with, "Chicken, Steak, and Chocolate Cake." What was coming soon was Toss, the umpty-umpth pizza joint on the short stretch of road between Bellona and Belvedere. Unlike most of them, however, Toss offers "gourmet" pizzas, on your choice of regular, thin, or wheat crusts. Additionally, they offer sandwiches, salads, and chicken wings baked with olive oil and herbs.

The day after Thanksgiving, I wasn't ready to face turkey leftovers (still not) and it seemed like the perfect time to order a pizza. To be delivered, because Mr Minx was attempting to crank out the remainder of the 50,000 words required to win NaNoWriMo and didn't want to leave the house merely to refuel. We used Toss' nifty online ordering system to try the Pizza Prosciutto topped with caramelized onions, proscuitto, and mixed greens on a "regular" crust.

Toss is smart. Rather than pile the greens on the pizza and have them go soggy on the way to our house, they put a pile of mesclun in a separate container.

DIY pizza topped with greens

The crust was the perfect thickness for us, on the thin side, but not crackery. It had a generous amount of fresh mozzarella melted over sautéed onions and bits of proscuitto. I would have liked the onions to have been really caramelized to a nice dark brown, to add a bit of sweetness to the pie, but otherwise the pizza was pretty good. Definitely one of the better delivered pizzas in the area.

We like fries with our pizza, but Toss' menu indicates that "Mediterranean" fries are only included with any of fourteen sandwiches they have available. I decided that we needed to try the roasted eggplant sandwich with mozzarella, feta, roasted peppers, red onions, olives, and pesto - just to get the fries.

The fries were unevenly cut strips and blobs of potato, flavored with garlic and herbs and fried until crisp. Definitely something that should be offered separately. The sandwich was just short of outstanding. Its roll (probably made from the same dough as the pizza) was lightly crisp on the outside, fluffy inside, and still warm. The filling tasted mostly of pungent kalamata olives and could have used more pesto, but otherwise was a nice melange of soft, melty, and salty bits. Mr Minx, who is not a fan of eggplant at all, happily scarfed up an entire half.

So...so far so good. We enjoyed both the pizza and sandwich and look forward to an occasion to order from Toss again. I'm thinking wings, a meatball sandwich, and a mushroom pizza are in our near future.

Toss
5716 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 433-8677
http://tossthepizza.com


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Treasured Amish & Mennonite Recipes

I recently obtained a review copy of the book, Treasured Amish & Mennonite Recipes. Having spent many happy childhood summers vacationing in Amish country, I was eager to flip through the book and find a couple of recipes to try. Perhaps I might attempt to make shoo fly pie, or maybe whoopie pies? I mean...that's the kind of recipes one expects to find in a book with that title, right? Especially with this blurb from the publisher:

"The new edition of this cook book includes 600 delicious recipes from the kitchens of real Amish and Mennonite families, with 50 new to this version. Dishes include country kitchen favorites, like chicken pot pie, apple butter, ham loaf, classic mashed potatoes and much more. There's endless appetizers, dips, soups, salads and dressings, casseroles, pickles, relishes, sauces, pies, tarts among other items that reflect the German heritage and agricultural roots of these notably peaceful people.

"The recipes are easy to make and require no special ingredients. In fact, many of the items might be growing in your garden or on backyard trees. Readers will also be delighted by interesting facts, and fun stories about the recipes. Using this cook book in your kitchen will provide delicious meals and plenty of fun, family time at the table."

Color me surprised when I found recipes for calzone, chalupas, Chinese chow mein dinner, Mexican wedding cakes, samosas, Taco salad, and Vietnamese spring rolls! Perhaps these recipes are treasured by a handful of Amish or Mennonite families, but they are certainly not Amish or Mennonite recipes. Yes, yes, semantics, I know, but I'm a big fan of meaning what you say and saying what you mean.

Much like a Junior League cookbook, the recipes seem unaltered from their original submitted state. Some recipes call for precise measurements, and some do not. Some make a family-sized amount of food - serving 4 - 8 - but others produce enough for a barn raising.

The book itself is printed in full-color, including some lovely photos from Amish country. Unfortunately, none are of the dishes themselves. It really befuddles me that so much money was spent on printing the pages with colored type on colored backgrounds, yet nothing seemed to go toward proofreading or recipe testing. At least one cookie recipe consists of a list of ingredients and vague directions, but no oven temperature.

The majority of recipes included are for starchy items like cookies, pies, and breads, or salad-type items and pickles. There are also a handful of main dish and casserole recipes, but those clearly are not the focus of the book. Honestly, I'm not sure what the focus is. But...if you're looking for a recipe for Lebanon bologna, or for roast pig to serve 200, this might be the book for you.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Roast Chicken with Fried Dirty Rice

A couple weekends ago, even though we had just eaten roast turkey, I decided to roast a chicken. (When I told this to my dad, he asked if I was in a "fowl mood.") Not that I had a hankering for poultry, mind you, I was just annoyed by the 7-lb behemoth that was taking up precious space in my freezer. Space that could be better used to accommodate half gallons of ice cream and leftover pizza.

Some weeks ago, I had planned to make Judy Rogers' roast chicken recipe from the Zuni Café cookbook, but didn't remember to prep the chicken until it was too late. Plus I could only find humongous oven-stuffer roasters at Safeway, and the chicken I purchased was nearly twice as large as the recipe called for. So I put it in the freezer for a future use.

Or until it annoyed me.

That day came the day after Thanksgiving, when I took the beast out to thaw. It was still frozen on Sunday morning, so I gave it a few minutes in the microwave on "defrost" and then a few more in an ice bath in the sink. I wanted a non-traditional roast chicken flavoring, despite having both fresh thyme and tarragon at hand, so I mixed up some spicy Sriracha-flavored butter. Seemed like a good idea to inject the bird with this mixture, but the injector that I have has a hole so far up the shaft (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) it's nearly impossible to draw liquids into it from a shallow container. After a few futile attempts, I used my fingers to separate the skin from the breast and tucked spoonfuls of the spicy goop between the two.

Worked like a charm. The skin was nice and spicy, and the breast was moist. I gotta tell you - it was delicious. I served it with some fried rice that I whipped up using the bird's innards. Kinda like dirty rice, but Chinese-esque.

Roast Sriracha Chicken

1 whole chicken, patted dry, giblets removed and reserved for another use
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir together butter, Sriracha, ginger, and salt and allow to cool. Loosen skin on chicken breast and stuff mixture under skin. Refrigerate chicken, uncovered, until ready to cook.

Preheat oven to 450F. Roast chicken for 30 minutes, uncovered, then lower temperature to 350F and cover the breast with foil. Cook for 1 hour for a 4 lb chicken and about 8 minutes per pound over 4 lbs, or until thigh temperature reaches 175F. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes, then carve and enjoy.

Fried Dirty Rice

Neck and giblets from one chicken
8 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt
2 Chinese sausages, sliced into coins
10 radishes, cut into quarters if small, sixths or eighths if larger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon honey (optional, but it brings out the sweetness in the sausage and works well with the five spice)
2 cups cooled, cooked rice
salt to taste
peanuts for garnish

In a large sauté pan, place neck and giblets and 3/4 cup water. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, removing the liver after 8 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Remove giblets and neck, let cool. Chop giblets and shred meat from neck; discard skin.

Place about 3/4 of the scallions and onion into the same sauté pan, which should have some fat in it from the cooked giblets. Add a dribble of olive oil if it doesn't seem like enough to cook the onions, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown. Turn heat down to medium and add sausage, radishes, and reserved giblet and neck meat. Season with garlic, five spice, and honey (if using). Cook for about 10 minutes, until radishes are tender. Add rice, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon. Stir well to combine rice and other ingredients. Rice should look a bit "dirty" at the end.

Heat through, taste for seasoning, and add more salt, if needed. Serve garnished with peanuts.

I served the chicken and rice with some lightly marinated cucumbers (splash of rice wine vinegar, pinches of salt and sugar) and steamed haricot verts (frozen - Trader Joe's sells some nice ones). I didn't serve a sauce, because the meat was moist and didn't need one, but I did reserve the juices left in the roasting pan for a later use. However, if you want a sauce, just skim off the fat and use the jus as is - it's plenty flavorful, needing maybe only a pinch of salt.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday 12.2.11

This post was originally published on August 26, 2007.
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Gumbo

Then-fiancé-now-Mr.Minx and I had an opportunity to visit New Orleans with a group of Emeril Lagasse fans in the hot summer of 2000. We had reservations at Commander's Palace and the original Emeril's, and were going to wing the rest of our meals. The Mister and I, being fairly avid fans of the big E at the time, and recalling my very positive experience at his restaurant in Orlando, wanted to try another of his places, NOLA. Lynne, the brassy and bossy self-appointed leader of our motley group of travelers advised us that NOLA had gone downhill and it was not worth visiting. We decided to actively disobey her and made lunch reservations, abandoning the group one sultry afternoon for our own adventure.

It was a very very good idea. Not only was it the best meal of the trip, it was also the occasion of my trying the very best version of gumbo I have ever had the pleasure to eat. It was full of seafood, dark, rich, spicy, and as sultry as the air outside the front doors. I wanted to take home a suitcase-full of it.

I like to make gumbo, as does Mr. Minx. We've together and individually created many a good batch, but nothing like the now-legendary stuff from NOLA. And then I got very lucky.

My friend Kate moved to Delaware a year ago. Since living there, she discovered a little Cajun food stand in the Booth's Corner Farmer's Market in Boothwyn, PA, a short distance from Wilmington. Raving about the gumbo, she brought me a pint to try. It was dark, rich, authentic, and wonderfully delicious. Turns out, its creator, Don Applebaum worked for Emeril at NOLA for several years, one of those being the year 2000.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet Don and eat at Cajun Kate's. I sampled more of the gumbo, his jambalaya, popcorn shrimp, a muffaletta, bananas foster bread pudding, beignets, and the completely outrageous deep fried macaroni and cheese made with crabmeat, tasso, four kinds of cheese, and topped with a tangy sweet tomato glaze. While stuffing my face with his fare, I told him about the seafood gumbo we experienced in New Orleans. He admitted, admirably un-modestly, that it was his.

I felt like I had discovered the Holy Grail.

Don doesn't make the seafood gumbo regularly, so if you're in the Booth's Corners Farmer's Market and happen to see it on the menu, do yourself a favor and grab yourself a bowl. It sells out fast, so go early. And hell, if that's not the flavor of the week, try the pork, or the brisket, or the smoked duck or the...deep fried mac and cheese!

Cajun Kate's
Booth's Corners Farmer's Market
Open Friday and Saturday only!

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.