Festival of Nations

I knew it was going to be miserably hot on the weekend of Festival of Nations. An annual festival set in Tower Grove Park every year on the second to last weekend of August. This was my first year attending Festival of Nations and this time I had someone to share with me the experience. The festival is a culmination of culture. From the food to the atmosphere to the marketplace. Each booth whether in the marketplace bizarre or the food, is set up to represent a country. All throughout the day are various events such as Irish dancers, African drum music, are brought upon the various stages in the park to share that aspect of the culture. The Festival always draws hundreds of people from all over and the atmosphere buzzes with energy and spices and a variety of different tastes to breathe in and sate your wonder. And for a short while you can pretend your globe trotting and tasting the kind of foods you only read and hear on discovery shows, written in cookbooks with ingredients that are difficult to come by. As a foodie, being able to explore an international palette is the sole reason I venture to this festival every year.

I want to try something new each time I go. I stay away from the things I know all too well such as German, Mexican, Chinese. And become drawn toward more exotic fare such as the Israeli grape leaves with pine nuts, rice, and raisins; to the Malaysian stir fry with noodles, carrots, beans with a healthy squirt of sriracha sauce; to the bubble-gum flavor of Inca Cola from Peru. 

This year I was ready for more and the first booth I visited was Ethiopian. It was early in the morning, thirty minutes into the start of the festival, and it was the gentlemen who lured me in. I was invited to try doro wat, a signature dish made with marinated chicken in berbere sauce, which is a traditional Ethiopian spice (and it is spicy!) resting on a injera, a flatbread made from teff flour and typically found in most Ethiopian cuisine. The injera, itself, resembles mattress memory foam but the taste is sour. The marinated chicken, homemade curdled cheese, and lentils are placed upon the injera. By itself the injera, while pleasant to eat, goes much nicer with the blend of the berbere spice and soft, creamy texture of the cheese, and tender bit of chicken. 

Ethiopian - Doro Wat

Instantly this became my favorite, so much in fact, I went back the next day for more.

Stopping by Thailand, I purchased an actual coconut that was heaved and stuffed with a straw, before trying a curry chicken puff, and a dish known as kaow yum nham. Resting on a bed of rice was fried tofu mixed with shavings of carrots and whole peanuts and drizzled with a sweet-sour sauce that left an impression that has kept me searching for weeks in finding a restaurant that served something similar. The afghan booth kept me buzzing and I visited the only Afghan restaurant in Missouri (Sameem) for a repeat of Afghan muntoo; a helping of steamed dumpings with seasoned beef and onions tucked inside and dressed with a garlic-yogurt sauce with mint, with the additional of lentils in a mild orange sauce. From the Kurdish stand, we shared baba ganoush, a hummus-like dip made of eggplant with pita bread for dipping. 

Iranian - Saffron Chicken and Rice

(Left): Thailand - Curry Chicken Puff and Coconut
(Right): Kurdish - Baba Ganoush

Thailand - Kaow Yum Nham

Turkey - Kotfe (Beef/Lamb meatballs)

Afghanistan - Afghan Muntoo and Vegetable Fritter

And lastly, for something sweet, genuine Jamaican pineapple rum cake simply crumbling in your hand as you tore it apart and melded with sweet cake and the tang of pineapple. We visited others but the stand outs were the ones you wanted more of, and I ended up sharing the Ethiopian doro wat with my grandfather as he never had Ethiopian cuisine before. 

International and exotic cuisine is an adventure everyone should partake in, exploring the world a little closer to home. It is the best learning experience as it opens your mind to new things.

Wonton Fish Tacos

Sometimes my ideas come at a whim. I see something and I want to replicate it, or I think about it for an extended period of time before diving right into it. That or the suggestions of others were loud enough that they couldn’t be ignored. And I’m not even joking when I say that everyone has been demanding my fish tacos for months now. I finally relented and went through with it but this time I wanted them to be different than the usual amber-ale battered Tilapia stuffed side a soft tortilla shell and layered with mango salsa and homemade chipotle dressing. I wanted something different this time and that is when I decided to use wonton shells.

I chose to make that Monday night: Wonton Fish Tacos with Mango Coleslaw and Chili-Lime Dressing

Wonton shells are a healthier choice than soft tortillas. Found in the tofu section, to my surprise, were then folded triangular-wise onto the edges of a baking pan and left to harden in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes at a time to fully take on that somewhat crispy exterior. They were more than a little frail and some of them tended to have trouble stuffing anything inside of them without breaking them. Nonetheless they worked efficiently enough. 

The fish I left alone, baked in the  oven with a little seasoning of salt and pepper for seven minutes then I crumbled the soft white Tilapia. For the contents I mixed mango together with fresh coleslaw and seasoned it with a either a Sesame or Ginger-Sesame dressing. The chili-lime dressing was only to be a minor thing made with sour cream, mayonnaise, squirt of lime juice, pinch of chili powder and drizzled along the top of the tacos. Everything together created a very nice blend of an Asian fusion dinner that went over very well with everyone. 

I especially enjoyed the coleslaw with mango and the dressing and the chili-lime dressing. There was satisfaction in the crunch the taco presented when taking that very first bite.

Wonton Fish Tacos w/Mango Coleslaw and Chili-Lime Dressing

Microwavable Brownies - Video Blog

This recipe is short and sweet. A simple way of making brownies by using the microwave that only takes up to seven minutes to make. The videos below show what to use in making the brownies, how to make the brownies, and the final result.

Taking these videos and uploading them did not work as intended, as the files were too big. But the conclusion is that the brownies turned somewhat moist and with just the right amount of sweet. 

Pepperoni Casserole

We’re in the midst of trying to sell our house. Our realtor has expressed that it’s not a good idea to make anything with strong smells as that can often be a deterrent for prospective buyers. With this in mind, my grandmother and I wonder about buying out more than making anything out of fear that some kind of lingering smell might hang around like a buzzing insect.

Yesterday, Monday, the day my cousin comes over so that we can watch Teen Wolf together, I was prepared to order pizza. At the moment, I am unable to stomach the stuff anymore. We’ve ordered so much of it I’d be happy to never see a cheese-and-pepperoni-saturated pie again. Yet, while I was getting an oil change earlier in the day, and the only thing worthwhile to watch and engage my interest in (aside from my phone) was cooking shows on Food Network.

One show in particular struck me, I suppose, at the right time, at the right place, when I was in the right mood. I was not planning on making anything for dinner that night and had even texted my cousin to let her know we were ordering pizza (the bane of my existence) instead. She was fine with it. I was planning on getting extra cheese and pepperoni, and one of those pasta bread bowls from Dominos, and be done with it. But then, as I watched Sandra Lee, she was making pepperoni casserole and garlic bread. Looked easy enough, not overly complicated, only a few ingredients to keep it under about five dollars, making it about $1.50 per serving. I quickly jotted down the instructions on my phone’s notepad, saving it for a rainy day.

I milled around at home, imagining that humble pizza pie, and annoyed as hell by it. I really did not want pizza, but I also did not feel like cooking and stinking up the house – by an hour or so before she arrived I was standing at the crossroads of whether to charge forward and declare pizza as the main soul food for the night! Or take the less traveled path and make the casserole. Inwardly, hating pizza, felt that almighty pull toward the casserole. A few simple ingredients, no time spent prepping at all except to dice up onions and zucchini, and chose casserole as our poison for the evening with fresh garlic bread to tie it all together. We were having pizza without the dough and the mess of tomato sauce – but thrown together as a neat pasta dish.

Sauteed onion and zucchini, chopped up pepperoni, bit of basil, salt and pepper to taste, and let that soften up on the stove while the rotini pasta turned al dente. The rustic nature of the pepperoni against the zucchini really made it pop, turning it from dark red to a bright orange. It culminated all these little ingredients together, cutting the sweetness of the caramelized onion and zucchini with the hint of spice pepperoni is signature for. Rotini added and shredded mozzarella cheese (I added more than the cup requested – I’m a cheese fan, after all.)  Adding a layer of bread crumbs for an extra crunchy texture, the casserole went into the oven for 20.

I opened the oven once and motioned my cousin to come over and we breathed in the aroma. Such an easy dish to make with no time spent prepping an extreme amount of ingredients. No time at all and the garlic bread was a hit – my aunt demanded I sent some home to her, so unfortunately, I get a little bowl of leftovers for the next night.

In all, the whole thing cost less than ten dollars! Ordering pizza would’ve been double that! 

Pepperoni Casserole

Sushi Bistro

Sushi Bistro was an accidental adventure.

If anyone should know, I am a sushi connoisseur. Having dined on sushi for the past five-six years, I feel I know good sushi when I’ve tried it, and bad sushi when I’ve experienced it. Sushi is one of those trends that is up and coming. There are dozens of sushi restaurants across the region in St. Louis and the trick is knowing which ones to frequent and which ones to absolutely avoid altogether. You learn to read reviews, you learn to scour the websites, you learn which restaurants are the stars of the neighborhood and must be experienced, you learn which restaurants are like any other standard sushi place with all the ordinary offerings without glory.

At the time when I first encountered Sushi Bistro, I was working at my first real job at Scholastic Book Fairs. I was starting to make a little extra cash and decided that I was going to head across town to Target to purchase a few odds and ends to make my little cubicle feel like home away from home. I had several hours to kill before my class started that evening and chose afterward to find a place to eat. Having downloaded the Yelp app and getting used to its features, decided to see what kind of restaurants were currently nearby to grab a bite before heading to school.

I do have my favorite sushi restaurants – a little place known as Blue Ocean. They offer a rather in-expensive all you can eat sushi which practically offers you the entire menu to sample. Blue Ocean was clear in the other direction, a good twenty to thirty minutes from where I needed to be. I was needing something closer. Sushi was not on my agenda but an option. And as I scoured through the list of nearby places, checking times and reviews, gliding through pictures and salivating, I came across such a sushi place called Sushi Bistro. From where I was parked at the Target parking lot found it was only a five minute drive. The ratings were high, the reviews were extreme positive, the pictures were worth more than a thousand words: sushi was it.

Apprehensive, as usual, I made the brief journey and found the place nestled inside a plaza. The place looked small and intimate with not much to show for on the outside. It was in a heavy trafficked area with a Taco Bell sitting on its own upon its own lot, across the street from a McDonalds, and a post office next door, it was the prime place for a sushi place to be.

As I walked in I was greeted with a warm interior. Gleaming hardwood floors resonated the dimly lit intimate room—not very big but just right, it seemed. Tables were spaced evenly and were made of a heavy dark wood. Not only was the atmosphere humbly inviting but as I was quickly made welcome by the staff. I sat by the window to watch the traffic go by and peered through the various menu options and the descriptions were clear and the ingredients modest, the price a bit steep than what I was hoping for. I was not going to let the idea of cost deter me from enjoying a little time out and pampering you sometimes need.

Wanting the full experience I ordered the mango salad and several of the signature rolls. When the mango salad came out, it was far too pretty to eat. All the colors busting with bright orange from the julienned mango and a hint of green and pink from the cucumber and imitation crab. On top was a smattering of sesame seeds and lightly touched with a light sweet yet tangy dressing that was cold and refreshing and complimented the mango, cucumber, crab well.

mango salad

Instantly this became one of my favorite items on the menu. It was, might I say, delicious. More than delicious but an ideal first impression of what I was in store for when the rolls were brought out. The plate was neat and tidy. The rolls were sitting in a row at the perfect size. None of the ingredients were spilling out of it (like at some places) but tightly packed. A purple-pink-white hibiscus flower was placed delicately on the corner to provide flare. I was not expecting the kind of finesse shown but was quickly realizing this was not your average sushi restaurant, but an excellent destination that felt like a secret only I knew.

Sushi Bistro is warm and inviting and an exceptional restaurant to visit. I have to say the people who work there are friendly and kind and eager to make your stay even more welcoming. These are the kind of people you want to be friends with, the kind of people you want to learn more about, the kind of people you would love to see again. Sushi Bistro is a place I wanted to bring people knowing that even if the prices are a little higher than other area restaurants, by the time you sit down and take that first bite, you aren’t worried about the cost, but the quality and the patience and the time they spent on preparing something wonderful for you to enjoy.

Ice Cream Bread + Video

I am an avid user of Tumblr. I actually enjoy it more than Facebook (who even likes Facebook anymore?) A bit more anonymous, a lot more content to filter through, somewhat private if family members are unaware it even exists, not to mention, you have no idea what you’re going to find. Tumblr is as infinite as Facebook and not as personal. Some people use Tumblr as a place to blog, to collect various things that go along with the theme of what you like to follow, and you can follow other people. I go on Tumblr mostly to see new things and what’s out in the world, what is the latest craze that has everyone going nuts. You never know what you’ll find.

One such beauty I stumbled across recently is a video someone posted on how to make ice cream bread. That’s right, you heard me correctly. Ice. Cream. Bread.

Now you’re probably as curious as I am. How does one make ice cream bread? Is it actual ice bread made into loaves? Is it bread layered with ice cream in between? What in the world is it?

You can see the video for yourself here: 

A three minute video is all it took for me to hop onto this extraordinary find. It made me thinking that we no longer have to buy bread. We can make it ourselves out of ice cream! Not to mention there are only two ingredients in which to make it with? I’m sold!

All you need for ice cream bread:

-         -  Flavor of ice cream. Whatever your heart desires. I started with vanilla.

-          - Self-rising flour.

That is it. Two ingredients.

You mix everything together in a decent sized bowl until it comes together in a consistency of dough. Spread it evenly into a small bread pan lined with grease and you toss it in the oven at 350 degrees for a good 35-50 minutes depending on the type of oven and how it heats. It took me a good hour for the mixture to come together and rise, and when it did rise, formed a healthy looking brown crust across the top—reminiscent of a nice loaf of bread. Kitchen smelled as fresh as a bakery, too. Nothing beats the smell of freshly made bread.

Interesting part about it is that there is no taste of ice cream. The crust around the bread tastes just like any crust on bread, but bread part itself, almost tasted like cake. It was not as sweet as I thought it was going to be, and a little too dry to eat on its own. I added preserves with mine and it really made the taste of the bread burst. Next time I plan to use a different flavor of ice cream and add a little more ice cream than the recipe calls for to make it a little more moist.

Who needs to buy bread anymore when a gallon of ice cream and self-rising flour is all you need? 

Vanilla Ice Cream Bread

Final Cut Steakhouse - Hollywood Casino

I wouldn’t call myself an addicted gambler. I do, oftentimes nonetheless, attempt to exploit a little luck. Though, if I had to be perfectly honest, nothing has been the same since Harrah’s was bought out by Hollywood Casino and the entire interior of the casino took nearly a year to be transformed. Harrah’s was the place my grandmother and I would often go and spend our time and our precious money. Get out of the house for a few hours and indulge in the possibility of Lady Luck sending fortune our way.

Something about Harrah’s made it spellbinding when you walked into its front main entrance, greeted by cobblestone walkways and the layout reminiscent of a city scape, and craning back your head, gave the depiction of blue skies and white puffy clouds painted on the ceiling. It felt open and inviting; made you want to come in and forget the outside world existed while you gambled away hard earned money. Now, the magic of that is gone. Walking in, you are greeted with an epileptic flashes of moving light, enormous screens broadcasting movie trailers, current casino promotions, and sports programs. The floors are no longer cobblestone but concrete or marble. What used to be the depiction of building exteriors reminds you of an enormous movie theatre screen, or standing in a miniaturized version of Times Square—attempting to be something it is not. Black and white photographs of some of Hollywood’s legends adorn the walls as you enter into the mainstay of the casino. Everything is themed around movies (and as a movie buff, you would think I’d appreciate it) but it feels cheap and gaudy.

Sammy Hagar’s delicious restaurant sits dark over in its corner, waiting for its own malicious and uninviting transformation. At one time, the restaurant dished out some creative beach-themed dishes in a bar/pub like setting. The fare was fantastic in the few times I have eaten there. And now, Sammy’s familiar face is nowhere to be seen and a lone individual stands desolate behind an empty bar counter. Even the gift shop that used to have its rotation of different things, has now become a jewelry store, further grounding the Hollywood reality by warping every single thing to embellish this new dimension.

Tables are tight, slot machines tighter. I spent and lost twenty five dollars and decided it was enough. The real promising adventure for me that night was visiting what used to be Kelly English’s restaurant, now a place called Final Cut Steakhouse. The prices were steep, but reviews promised delicious food. Without the $20 off coupon the casino sent me in the mail, I probably wouldn’t have indulged like I did. I was planning on trying all I could beginning with an appetizer, an entree, and finishing off with a dessert.

The dark gray padded doors were opened, greeting all of us standing in line for the restaurants opening, and I was greeted to an elegant foyer that seemed like I was standing in the entrance of a haunted house, about to enter into an unknown dimension. It appeared cut off from the restaurant with circular walls, black and white fissured marble floors, two sets of crème-colored chairs positioned on either side, and a single square black box for the host stand. The gentlemen standing behind it gave off an air of someone energetic and happy to serve the line waiting to get in.

There were two entrances leading into the restaurant. On one side, tables for four, were scattered near the bar area, but I knew exactly where I wanted to sit and was led to the opposite side of the restaurant, where more tables for four and longer booths aligned the walls and clear glass windows overlooking the main area of the casino, the perfect place to eat, watch movie trailers, and above all else, the people. You walk by the restaurant from the outside and gaze in on clean white table cloths, single candle bouncing in an opaque candleholder, and even then, all you want to do is sit down and have a nice meal.

I should probably mention before anything else, how impressed I was at how knowledgeable my waitress, Lisa, was. You could ask her anything (and I did) and she explained what it was. I had never encountered a waitress or server who knew the menu incredibly well as she did. Already I could tell this was going to be worth the wait – after months of constant deliberation of whether or not I should really sit in at an upscale steakhouse – I was certainly glad I chose that night to do it. I wanted to indulge.

The ambience was elegant, classic music heard quietly over the speakers, gave a sense of calming. You weren’t in any rush to leave; it was welcoming.

I started with the jumbo lump crab cake with fraiche. Neatly rotund and delectable charred in all the right ways, sat on top of a pool of crème fraiche, topped with homemade potato crisps and garnished with sprouts and surrounded with a bright green chive oil. Easily the best crab cake I’ve had. It was soft, moist, seasoned impeccably well with just a hint of heat. I liked the texture the potato crisps offered it. I was pleased it appeared like the picture on the website – that was the moment I was inspired to try it. 

Lump Crab Cake w/creme fraiche

For the entrée, originally wanted to engage in Chilean Sea Bass, I chose the pork medallions over a bed of sage spaetzle and apple-mustard beurre blanc. Pork was cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth. The addition of the apples for sweetness and crunch, with the small dumplings added another element. 

Pork Tenderloin Medallions w/sage spaetzle and apple mustard

Lastly, I went with dessert, and chose the wonton cookies stuffed with chocolate chip cookie dough sitting in a broth of chilled anglaise. It was not too sweet and I loved bathing the crisp wonton wrappers before sliding into it, granting that dark brown rich chocolate and overriding sweetness of the cookie.

Cookie Dough Wonton Wrappers w/creme anglaise

Sometimes you need a night to have a dinner like this. Final Cut Steakhouse was a surprise. A hidden gem inside an otherwise dramatically altered environment. Even if the casino no longer holds an interest, and continues to take and take without a sense of reprieve, at least try Final Cut. Knowledgeable staff, comfortable ambience, and the food was remarkably good (even for the price), definitely worth the visit even if you go for the starters and desserts – which is what I plan next time.