Frost Me Sweet

Frost Me Sweet

This is a lovely Bakery/restaurant in downtown Richland, Washington. It mainly feels like a cupcake place but they serve delicious food as well. I have never been disappointed by any of their cupcakes and the Molten Chocolate ($5) dessert is rich and melty with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Caprese Salad ($6): Wonderful tomato, mozzarella and basil. Always fresh and delicious. Ask for some balsamic vinegar with it and it is even better.

Avocado Butterflies ($7): These are crispy fried wontons with an avocado cream cheese filling and a lovely dipping sauce. There is almost enough here to make a meal out of just these. They are creamy and delicious without being too heavy and the chef’s sauce really enhances the flavor.

Sourdough Bread Loaf ($9): They take a sourdough loaf and slice it almost all the way through then fill the holes with butter and cheese and melt it all and serve it with a pesto balsamic dipping sauce and green onion. This is definitely something to share with the table. It is a little much for one but has great flavors.

Little Mama ($8): This is a sandwich of chicken in a fennel and tomato sauce on a toasted bun topped with melty-gooey mozzarella cheese served with their garlic parmesan fries. The fennel really enhances the sauce and there is just enough mozzarella on the sandwich they you taste it in every bite. This is not a sandwich you eat with your hands. You need a knife and fork.

Lavender Lemonade: This is what we come for. The lemonade is sweet and tangy at the same time. Very refreshing and you get the overtone of lavender flavor throughout it. It tastes like lavender smells. Yumm.

They serve burgers, pizza, salads, soups and sandwiches and lots of other delicious sounding foods that I haven’t had time to try yet.

Look for recipes for my versions of the lavender lemonade and avocado butterflies coming soon. 

Pasta With Peppers

This pasta and peppers dish creates a Mediterranean inspired dish with a complex flavor. Though it does take some time,  there is nothing difficult about making it. This dish evolved from the original recipe found in the first Top Chef cookbook, though it has gone through a few changes. It is a favorite in out family.

1 large onion, diced

3-5 large cloves (not heads) of garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

2 large or 3 medium red peppers sliced into inch long thin strips

1 lb of diced chicken, raw

1 Tbs. Butter

1 jar Sundried tomatoes in oil- sliced into strips

1 Tbs. minced Rosemary

Half a regular size bottle of white wine-Riesling is best

2 regular boxes of Penne Pasta

1 jar of sliced Kalamata Olives -drained

Grated parmesan cheese to top final dish.

Put a pan with a Tablespoon of olive oil on the stove on medium heat and reheat it. Add the onion, garlic and shallots. Stir often.  Cook until the onions are just getting translucent.

During this time, set a large pot of water to boil with a teaspoon of salt in the water.

Add in the peppers to the onion mixture.

In another pan melt the butter and cook the chicken until it just starts to brown and is almost cooked through. Then add the chicken mixture to the onions and peppers. Also add in the sundried tomatoes in oil and the rosemary. Slowly start pouring in some wine and letting it reduce until at least half the liquid is gone then add more.

When you first add the wine, start cooking the pasta in boiling water. When you have used about half the wine, add in the olives. When the pasta is done and the wine has reduced down to just a little sauce in the bottom of the pan, toss the pasta and sauce mixture together and top with parmesan cheese and serve.

Optional:

You can add toasted pine nuts to a variation.

To make it vegetarian-you can take out the chicken. To make it vegan, take out the cheese as well or replace with vegan cheese. This is a great opportunity to add in the pine nuts for protein.

Mongolian Grills

Mongolian Grills

I love eating at Mongolian grills. I have been going to one since I was about 4 years old. These awesome places allow you to go to a salad bar filled with pasta, fruits and veggies and protein and choose what you want, then top it off with your own sauce creation. Then you’ll take it over to the grill where the chef will cook it all together right in front of you. It is great for families with picky eaters. When I was a kid, I only ever got noodles with pineapple and soy sauce. Now I get a combination of whatever meats are available, pineapple, onions, veggies and a lovely complex sauce with soy, ginger and garlic. Each time I go my creations are slightly different but still have that flavor I love. I have been to a few different Mongolian grills in my time, but here I will share my top three restaurants.

Number 3

 Mongo’s

150 W Bulldog

Provo, UT 84604

One thing I appreciate about Mongos is that they offer the all you can eat option (for the same price as their large) or a by the bowl price where you can take leftovers home. Either way, each meal comes with a free choice of white or brown rice. They have a nice selection of veggies and meats but it isn’t quite as extensive as the other two places. They do have a rice noodle option as well as the traditional soba style noodle. Their sauces include a few premade kinds like a soy teriyaki, curry, and peanut, but they also offer some basics to add in like ginger, garlic and hot sauce. The cook on your dish is good but often ends up never quite caramelizing any of the meats with is a part I really enjoy at other restaurants. They also often offer deals on Facebook for a free bowl or $5 off if you share a picture or like a status. I’ve gotten a few free meals from this so far. They also often have a Yelp deal for pay $5 for $10 of food.

Number 2

 Hu Hot

130 Hutton Ranch Road

Kalispell, MT

This is a chain restaurant but the one I have visited is located in Kalispell, Montana. They make some great appetizers and desserts. Their ginger soda is delicious as well. Think ginger ale with real pieces of ginger floating in it. I have tried the crab rangoon appetizer and the cheesecake rangoon dessert and both were great. With dinner there is the option of getting a soup or salad with your meal and both were also good. They have a very extensive selection of proteins, veggies, pastas and sauces. Generally they have a great selection of seafood as well. In the restaurant there is only the all you can eat option. The sauce section once again has mainly premade sauces that you can combine in different ways for your meal. They give a pretty good cook on the food and I was always happy when I ate there.

And my Number 1

 Chang’s Mongolian Grill

1935 NW 167^th Place

Beaverton, Oregon

Chang’s will always be my favorite Mongolian Grill. As a family we have been visiting their Beaverton location  since they opened many years ago. The other locations in Oregon and Washington are great as well, but there is something about how this location cooks the food that makes it perfect for me. Each dinner comes with an option of egg drop or hot and sour soup. You can also get rice and these awesome rice paper wrappers. They generally have beef, pork, lamb, chicken and a few seafood options but if you go at lunch, one or two of these might be missing. Their veggie selection is not quite as extensive as Hu Hot’s but they always have the basic stuff I like. One thing I really like about here is that their sauces are more simple so you can be a little more creative. The sauces include soy sauce, ginger, garlic, hot sauce, sesame oil, sugar and salt water, lemon juices and others. I’m fairly certain that the same men have been cooking at this grill since I started going there as a child. The meat gets just a little bit of caramelization without the noodles getting crispy. I love eating some of it right off the plate and making little wraps with the rice paper wrappers with some too. You can finish off your meal with a complimentary small bowl of soft serve ice cream and a fortune cookie. 

Lobster Bisque

Lobster Bisque

This recipe was inspired by the soup from Montana Coffee Trader’s which I reviewed in my post Kalispell Trip. Like theirs, this bisque does not have any tomato paste. This version turned out a little thinner and it doesn’t quite have as much lobster meat in it but the flavor is very rich. If you want more lobster meat, it will only take more lobster tails. 4 would give the soup a lot of meat but 2 gives it plenty of flavor and is a little better on the budget. This soup makes about 6 servings.

2 rock lobster tails

1 onions

1 carrot

2 sticks celery

2 green onions

1 can veggie broth

½ lemon sliced

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup sherry

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 Tablespoons Butter

6 tablespoons flour

1.5 cups cream

Half onion

Dice half the veggies (onion, carrot, celery and white part of green onion) and place to the side.

Slice the green part of the green onion and place in a separate dish to top the bisque at the end.

Chunk up the other half and put in a large stockpot with the water, salt, and veggie broth and sliced lemon. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat till it just simmers. In a steamer pot, place the lobster shell side down and steam for 3 minutes.

Then remove the meat and dice the tail meat and keep it in the fridge till later. The easiest way to remove the meat is to crack top of the tail and peel the shell off. That way you can get the tail out intact. If it falls apart for this, no big deal. Place the shells in the stock pot and simmer this all together with the lid off for about ½ an hour. Then strain all the veggies and shells out and reserve the stock. 

Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the now empty pot on medium heat. When the oil is heated, add the diced veggies from before. Cook until they have started to brown and soften, stirring occasionally. Then add in the butter, once it is melted, add in the flour and whisk until it is all incorporated and the flour starts to cook (about 3 minutes).Then slowly add in 3 cups of the stock from before whisking as you pour it in. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, whisking often. This is where the bisque will reduce and thicken.  Add in the lobster tail meat, juice from the half lemon, and the cream then heat through. If you like a thicker soup, add less cream or simmer longer before adding in the cream and meat. Top with the sliced green onions. Serve with rolls or toast.

 

Bitterroot Pizza

Bitterroot Pizza

This pizza is inspired by one I’ve eaten at Bullman’s in Kalispell, Montana. You can read my review of Bullman’s in my post from 7/7/13 titled Kalispell Trip. It has a thin crust, olive oil base (no tomato sauce) and is topped with mozzarella, pistachio, red onion and rosemary. This recipe is enough for two large pizzas.

Pizza Crust:

4 cups bread flour (regular will do)

1.5 tsp sugar

1 envelope dry yeast

2.5 tsp salt

1.5 cups water

2 tbs olive oil

Combine dry ingredients in a stand mixer and slowly add water and oil while mixer is running. Beat until the dough forms a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it comes together in one ball. If it is too dry, add more water. Then scrape the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes. Grease a large bowl and let the dough sit covered until it doubles in size (about 1 hour). Then turn it out onto a floured surface and split into 2 equal pieces.

Toppings: (half for each pizza)

4 Tbs. Olive Oil

2 tsp sea salt-coarse grind

8-10 oz fresh grated mozzarella (pre-grated will do)

¾ cup of crushed/chopped pistachios

2 Tbs. chopped rosemary

¾ cup of diced red onion

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with the pizza stone inside. While the stone is preheating, roll one of the dough balls out into a large circle. Make sure to get the crust nice and thin. Once the stone is preheated, take it out and quickly place the rolled out dough on the stone. Drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle the salt over the rolled out crust evenly. Then top with the grated cheese and sprinkle the 3 toppings evenly over the crust. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly (about 10 minutes).

Tips:

Don’t try to move an already topped dough onto the stone, put toppings on while on the stone. If you top it then try to move, it is a hassle and the crust starts to mush together while moving it.The dough gets too thick and then the pizza ends up a bit dry.

Don’t put too much oil on or it will start to drip off the sides and burn in the oven causing a lot of smoke. Just put enough oil to moisten the top of the crust. If stuff starts to drip off the sides, put a cookie pan underneath to catch the drips.

Variations:

Obviously, you can make any kind of pizza you want with this process, but some alternatives for this type include using a pesto sauce base instead of the olive oil base. Adding prosciutto or bacon also takes this up a notch.

Kalispell Trip

I recently went back to where I attended high school for an awesome week of fun and food. Hello again to the beautiful Kalispell Montana. Here are a few of the food highlights from my trip.

Montana Coffee Traders

328 W Center Street

Kalispell, MT 59901

$5 Bowl Lobster Bisque: This item is a special that is not always available, but it is well worth checking in for. It has a lovely flavor with large chunks of lobster throughout. I would definitely order this again. Look forward to a coming post with my version of lobster bisque.

$8 Trader’s Traditional Breakfast with Bacon: The traditional breakfast comes with two eggs cooked any style, hash browns, two triangles of buttered toast, a small section of fruit and the optional meat. In my case I chose bacon but ham and sausage were other options. The eggs were cooked exactly the way I ordered (over easy) and the hash browns were nice if a little underwhelming. The bacon was cooked perfectly though. It was a good thick sliced bacon that was crispy and delicious. Overall, a filling breakfast that was a better choice than many national chains for both flavor and price, but nothing incredibly special.

Midori

2835 Hwy 93 N

Kalispell, MT 59901

$10 Teriyaki Beef lunch special: It was a nice dish that included a cup of miso soup, a small salad, and the main dish with teriyaki beef, white sticky rice, and tempura veggies. The veggies were good and I liked the batter but they tasted a little oily. They didn’t feel oily but there was an oil flavor to them. The miso was a touch bland but still good. The salad had a great strong flavor but was slightly overdressed so it ended up a little overpowering. The rice and meat were cooked well and the sauce was just right, not too sweet.

Alley Connection

22 1st St W,

Kalispell, Mt 59901

$3 Wonton Soup: This soup comes with pork, and fried and boiled wontons in a nice broth. The broth was just a touch bland but with a tiny bit of soy sauce added it was really good. The bowl is actually quite filling for the size.

I have eaten other dishes at Alley Connection in the past and enjoyed them as well.

Bullman’s

175 Hutton Ranch Road # 107

Kalispell, MT 59901

$19 Large Bitterroot Pizza with Prosciutto: This is a thin crust pizza cooked in a wood fire oven. It has an olive oil and sea salt base with mozzarella cheese, pistachios, red onions and rosemary. On its own it is delicious, but adding prosciutto takes it to another level. This is a pizza that I crave and I have yet to find a similar one elsewhere. Look forward to my version of this pizza coming up in a future post.

$7 Cheese Sticks: The cheese sticks are a simple pizza crust with tons of seasoned cheese cooked in the wood-fire oven. Delicious, I order it every time.

Chocoflan AKA Impossible Cake

This cake is a favorite in our house. It has a dense chocolate cake and a lovely flan (egg creme custard with caramel). After many attempts, this recipe has come with the most success. 

Cake Recipe:

10 Tbs. Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1¾ Cup flour

¾ tsp each baking powder and baking soda

1/3 cup plus 1 TBS of cocoa powder

9 oz Buttermilk (about 1 1/8 cup)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Flan recipe:

1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup evaporated milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Also needed:

 ¼ cup flour for Bundt pan

1/3 – ½ cup Caramel sauce

Bundt pan

Large roasting pan that will fit the Bundt pan inside it for a water bath.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a regular size Bundt pan by lightly greasing it then coating it with flour and dumping out the excess flour. Then pour the caramel sauce into the bottom of the pan all around the ring. Use more caramel if you really enjoy caramel sauce.

In a mixer, prepare the cake mix by beating the butter and sugar together until it lightens in color. Then beat in the eggs. Alternate adding the remaining wet and dry ingredients and then when all ingredients have been added, mix for 1 minute on medium speed and pour mixture into the Bundt pan.

Finally, mix all the flan ingredients together until the eggs are well mixed into the cream mixture. Carefully and slowly pour this over the top of the cake mixture. If you really like flan, half again the recipe and it should just fit into a standard size Bundt pan.

Pull the rack partly out of the oven and set the roasting pan on it. Then place the Bundt pan in the roasting pan and carefully pour water around it until the water reaches about 1-2 inches.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. During baking, the cake and flan will change places so the flan ends up on the bottom of the pan. The cake should start cracking slightly and a knife inserted should come out mostly clean. Take the cake out of the water bath  and let it cool to room temp. This is important, if you try to take the cake out early it falls apart and becomes a big mess. Once the cake is cool, place a plate or platter over the top of the pan and quickly invert it and remove the Bundt pan. You should now have a beautiful dense chocolate cake with a layer of flan custard baked right on top. Serve with a freshly whipped cream and extra caramel sauce.

Hello and welcome.

My name is Sara Hyde and I love food. I love eating and I love cooking it. My first experience cooking for someone else came when I was quite young; maybe 4 or 5. Both my parents were sick and I managed to open up a can of soup, pour it into a bowl and microwave it and bring it to them. It was a little strong (I didn't add any water) but they were grateful anyway. I was also the kid who, when I saw someone fall and skin their knee, would run home and grab some cookies. Someone else can take care of the band aid, I bring the real medicine.

I started into the real world of cooking when my mom told me that if I didn't like what was for dinner I would have to cook something for myself. She made the family a meal and I could eat it or provide for myself. It worked out well for me. See, I was picky. Very picky. At our favorite local restaurant (Chang's, a Mongolian Grill out in Hillsboro, OR) I would get noodles and pineapple with some soy sauce. That was it. I didn't like mushrooms, tomatoes, fish, most meats, most veggies. I did like pasta, fruit, and cheese. So, needless to say, most of what Mom made just didn't appeal. So I learned to cook for myself. Luckily, as I have grown up, my tastes have broadened. Now my dislikes pretty much have shrunk to fish and spicy foods.

Growing up in a suburb of Portland, Oregon was a major part of this. There are so many amazing restaurants  and food carts in the city. I loved trying cuisine from all over the world without ever really having to leave home.

While I enjoy baking, my real passion is cooking. I rarely follow a recipe any more. They are really more of guidelines. I love finding three or four recipes and combing them while changing a few ingredients here or there to customize it to what I really like. I love watching the Food Network and TV cooking competitions. They give me ideas. The other place I get ideas from is restaurants. As a poor college grad student on a budget I just can't afford to eat out as often as I would like. So, when I find something I absolutely love, I have to learn how to make it at home.

This leads me to the purpose of this Blog. I will share my opinions of restaurants and the dishes I eat there as well as share my own recipes on how I have imitated my favorite dished. I may even share a few of my favorite recipes from home as well. I hope this helps someone out there find a new favorite or encourages them to try one of my favorite restaurants.

Feel free to message me with suggestions of dishes to try or places to visit. Just remember, I'm on a budget. I'm mainly based out of Provo, Utah where I go to school but I make it to the Tri-Cities in Washington and Portland, Oregon. There may be a few posts here and there about the Kalispell, Montana area as well.