Product review: Shree Samarth Foods & Spices/Kadhaai

On our recent vacation, I picked up a few things at an Indian grocery store, one of them being a packet of Chicken Kadhai, from Kadhaai. Normally I'm not an advocate of box mixes and such, but I try to keep some on hand for those times you absolutely MUST have your favorite foods, even if you don't have the time to do the prep work. Today was one of those days. I'm glad it was.

I knew today was going to be a hectic one, in and out due to doctor appointments and such, so last night when I went to my Indian section in my pantry, I spied this mix. I knew I'd have to try it! The ingredients sounded tasty and since I didn't have time to mix mine all together, this would do.

The packet is simple. Open, mix in a cup of water. It advises you to brown your chicken, and then simmer for 10 minutes. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of raw chicken. When 10 minutes was over, it was still pink. Blech.

With pink chicken out of the question, I decided to let it simmer while the basmati rice was steaming.
To say this dish was superb is an understatement. Not only was it quick and easy, very little clean up, and YUMMY, I wish I would have purchased more when we were in Pennsylvania. It was labeled "medium" but I would put it more in the "mild" category. The spices were surprisingly fresh tasting, and nothing was over powered.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who either can't cook, has no time to cook, etc. You can have great tasting home made food in a fraction of the time it would take to put together all of the spices (12 of them!). Reasonably priced and tasty. A great combonation.

www.shreesamarthfoods.com

Dim sum...yum!

On our food tour vacation this summer, my son and I were aiming to try dim sum in every location we were visiting, that had a Chinatown. There are so many of them, that there was no possible way to do so. I never realized NYC had so many Chinatown's!

We were lucky, however, to have Yelp installed on my Droid. It found us the most delectable restaurant, Nom Wah Tea Parlor. After meeting up with some friends that I had gone to high school with, we wandered into this historic restaurant. They claim to be Chinatown's "first dim sum parlor, since 1920".

 I had read that everything was made fresh, so this was the place I wanted to be at. While we normally like the push carts, I wanted to try something outside of our "comfort zone".  My son was hesitant...he had his favorite places in Manhattan already, and he was dismayed that I couldn't find it again. But this place looked so inviting...so different. And definitely off the beaten path.

Hidden down an alleyway, I was surprised Mr.T didn't run for the hills. He's not much for dim sum. His palate isn't as refined as ours are, evidently! He's definitely a work in progress! My friends and their kids seemed to be quite into it, so we decided to see what treasures it held. I'm glad we did. There were signed pictures adorning the wall from famous clientele who also frequent the place.

The waitstaff was quick, ready to get us drinks and take our orders before we even got comfy. My son and I decided to try several dishes, since they all sounded so delicious.

Things came out as they were being made, and we had no idea what order they would be in. All we knew is they were going to be hot and fresh...did I say hot? Definitely hot.

Mr. T's eggrolls came out before any of our orders came out. They were tremendous! He could barely eat the 2nd one, but seemed to be enjoying it. (2 for $3.95) I'm not an eggroll fan, I prefer spring rolls, since they are more authentic. But he's not picky (oh, the humor in that statement!) nor does he care for authenticity.

My son and I ordered steamed pork buns, steamed spare ribs (yum!) beef rice roll, turnip cake, stuffed bean curd skin, sticky rice in bamboo leaf, pork sui mai and shrimp & snow pea leaf dumplings. The latter being my favorite of all of the dishes. They were delicate, tasty and very addictive. I could have ordered and eaten 3 orders on my own! Thankfully my son and Mr. T aren't shrimp fans. More for me! The turnip cake was a bit oily, something that I'm not accustomed to in other tea houses, but they were still extremely tasty.

The steamed pork buns came last. By this time we were full, but obviously, as one of my son's favorite, we both had to try it. They were so big and fluffy, with lots of filling inside, that we were able to share them whoever wanted to try some at the table. ($1.25 an order).

I was very impressed with this place. The service was great, the prices very reasonable, and the food was hot and delicious. The dinner for 3 of us was under $40, as their dim sum dishes range from $1.25 to $4.95. Their chef specials are slightly more, but don't go over $9.95.

Thankfully we no longer live in NY or I have a feeling we would be visiting this place often.

Finally got my crabcake!

After wandering for far too long today, we finally settled for lunch at Shuckers in Baltimore. The food was good, but wouldn't say excellent. My son ordered an angus burger which was cooked exactly like he wanted.

You can't go to Maryland and not order a crabcake. Mine was done perfectly, the roll was very fresh, but the tartar sauce was bland, so I stole my sons creole sauce. Much better!

Vacationing and Food

I'm sure we are not the only family who bases their vacation around food. Maybe not as obsessively as we do, but still. Before we left I spent hours upon hours researching various available private food tours, looked to see if there were any companies giving public tours of their facilities (a la Ben and Jerry's), what cool restaurants we would come across...and most importantly, WHEN would we find our first Sheetz or Wawa!

Both Sheetz and Wawa are an addiction. The former is something we tried more recently and found it perfect for the traveler who didn't want to take time out from driving, yet didn't want greasy, heavy fast food from the super chains. Sheetz' dark roast coffee is sublime, especially at 1am and you're about to re-take your "turn" driving. The more knowledgeable patrons realized you could order your meal right from the kiosk by the gas pump, but since we hadn't ever ordered anything before, we were a little wary of this. After all, we didn't want to look like we didn't know how to pump gas, nor did we want to hold up the fast forming gas line in order for us to figure out what we wanted to try.

 It's a simple concept of chosing which meats, cheeses, breads, and toppings you want, but for the novice like me, it was perfect. Soon we were on our way again, trekking to Maryland from South Carolina.

 I'm not sure how many people look for the flying goose logo when they are driving, but if you do, you know you are a Wawa addict. I'm sorry, but there is no cure. Moving south doesn't help, I assure you. Once you strike up a conversation with someone who is also from the north, the conversation inevitably turns to Wawa. Funny how many people miss a store chain! I could live without 7-11, but without Wawa? I prefer not.

There were no Wawa's where I grew up, so my love was fostered over time, mostly thru travel with my family as a youngster. I remembered the geese, that was it. Until I met Jason, my love for Wawa hadn't been developed fully, but one simple trip back up North where we both grew up and lived until well into adulthood, cemented it. Not only was I addicted, but he addicted both of my kids AND my mom!

Our first day in Maryland brought us not much on the way of culinary cuisine, unless you count the food cart by the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art (west wing) that we visited. The prices weren't terribly outrageous, $2.50 for a hot dog with your choice of meager toppings. When I lifted up the covers to the condiments, I spied a spicy sauce made up of peppers and other various things. It reminded me of a kicked up relish, minus the pickles. I'm sure it wasn't intended for hot dogs, more for the giant greasy eggroll she also offered, however this was the perfect topping for me. One hot dog later and we were once again strolling in the sun bathed warmth of Washington DC.

One thing DC has done right, besides laying out their city in a totally understandable way, was the subway. It was clean! What a concept! Other cities should try and take a page from their Metrotrain book. Did I mention it was clean? I remember that from my college days, as I had written about that fact for our college paper. I had compared Boston, NYC, and DC's subways, and for once I could say Washington was doing something right. I still stand by this today!