India Mart - now open

India Mart is now open in Bentonville - just off Rainbow Curve, in the same building with Dink's Barbeque, Rubaie's Cafe, and WellQuest.

They carry Halal chicken and goat - they even post the name of the person who butchered them so you can call to verify. They have fresh Paneer Cheese and Yogurt (Yogurt milk, Yogurt drinks, and plain Yogurt). They also have some interesting vegetables - like Indian eggplant and snake gourd. You can find a plethora of samosas in the freezer section and also lamb kebabs. And, there are several types and grades of Basmati Rice to be had.

INDIA MART

3400 SE MACY ROAD

SUITE #12

BENTONVILLE, AR

Pecan Pie Cheesecake - This is not diet food.

A few years ago, I combined my brother's favorite two desserts into one fantastic creation. This is beyond decadent, but the cheesecake cuts through the sweetness of the pecan pie and mellows everything out. Basically, you make a New York style cheesecake and once it is cool, top with a crust less pecan pie.

Modified Philadelphia New York Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/4 cup butter, melted

5 (250 g) packages PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream (preferably Breakstone)

4 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F if using a silver 9 inch springform pan (or to 300 degrees F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
3. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until centre is almost set. Turn off oven and let sit for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and cool. Cool before removing rim of pan or adding topping. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

 

Pecan Pie topping

Ingredients:

1 cup Karo® Light Corn Syrup

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

2 - 2 ¼ cup pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into an empty pie pan.
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes (see tips for doneness, below). Cool for 1 hour.
4. Carefully pour onto top of cheesecake and refrigerate.
5. RECIPE TIPS: Pie is done when center reaches 200°F. Tap center surface of pie lightly - it should spring back when done. For easy clean up, spray pie pan with cooking spray beforehand. High Altitude Adjustments: Reduce sugar to 2/3 cup and increase butter to 3 tablespoons. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Italian Truffle Cheese and Osso Buco

Went to Kansas City on Friday and discovered a great place to buy cheese and not spend lots of money on shipping. Here in Northwest Arkansas, there is not a really good cheese selection to be had - there are some supermarkets that try to carry some gourmet cheeses, but you have to watch out for expiration dates because not enough people purchase them. But, Kansas City has two locations for Better Cheddar. What peaked my interest from their website was the Sottocenere Truffle Cheese, a semi-soft cow's milk cheese that has shavings of black truffle running through it. The cheese is very rich, earthy, and unique.

So, on Saturday, I made a batch of risotto and finished it off with a pat of butter and some shavings of the cheese. The flavor was very subtle in the dish.

As a main course, I decided to do Mario Batali's Osso Buco. Ivan's Old Time Meat Shop had the four veal shanks in the very back of their freezer - I bought them out, and they were very happy to sell them to me - cost was around $70.00 for them.



As sides, we had the aforementioned risotto, fresh green beans, homemade french bread, and slices of the Italian truffle cheese. And, as a desert, Arkansas is going to the Sugar Bowl - Go Hogs!

Duck Fat Musings

With all the rage in using duck fat to cook, one would think you could find it rather easily. Stuttgart, Arkansas, is supposed to be a duck hunting mecca, with all the flooded rice fields. Unfortunately, the only way to get it in this area is to either order off of Amazon.com, have someone kill a duck for you (or do it yourself), or purchase a whole duck at the butcher shop - I know Ivan's and Richard's both carry it.

If you order it off Amazon.com, you can get a nice 7 lb. container of the stuff for under 10 dollars. BUT, you have to spend over 40 dollars for it to be shipped overnight.

If you have a freshly killed duck, you have to deal with those lovely down feathers and plucking is not my forte.

So, the least painful way to get duck fat in Northwest Arkansas is to purchase a whole frozen duck (for around $20.00), let it thaw, remove the skin and cook the skin over low heat for a long time to render the fat. Whew!

The reward - you only will make about 1 to 1.5 cups of fat in this method, but pan frying potatoes in the fat makes them taste somewhat earthy, and almost as rich as if you were eating meat. And, you can keep it in the refrigerator for at least 6 months.

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Ideas

Chinese Turkey Dinner

Cut up leftover Turkey into bite size pieces. Add some fresh blanched green beans and some chopped green onions. Heat wok oil in a wok or a large saute pan. Add turkey and vegetables. Pour in some Ponzu sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken, and Szechuan Spicy Stir-Fry Sauce and saute until heated through.

I served this with a version of the following recipe and store bought egg rolls. If you haven't tried Pho soup before, you are in for something tasty, especially on a cold winter day or if you have a cold.

Vegetarian Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)  You can find Pho noodles at the local Asian Markets or the WalMart Supercenter in Bentonville.

Tonight, we will be having Barbeque Turkey with red kidney beans and fingerling potatoes topped with Breakstone Sour Cream - which just made it's appearance in the WalMart Supercenter in Fayetteville by the Mall. This is the best sour cream I have ever tasted - not runny at all, and great on a tortilla.

Smoky Chili Crackers

These crackers were adapted from the Smoky Chili Crackers in the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.

They are really good as a snack with guacamole and salsa while watching a football game. To get them truly crispy you have to roll them out really thin - the ones abover were a little too thick - but the texture and flavor gets better with age.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons tomato powder or 1 tablespoon tomato paste*
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Splenda
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/4 cup shortening (I was out, so I used lard, politically incorrect, but in stock)
scant 1/2 cup water - I needed quite a bit more

*Do not know where in Northwest Arkansas you can find tomato powder, but you can find tomato paste in a squeeze tube at the WalMart Supercenter in Bentonville. If you can find the powder just add it to the dry ingredients below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, dry milk, cumin, baking soda, salt, Splenda, and chipotle powder. Cut in the shortening and tomato paste, then add enough water to make a workable dough. Gather the dough into a ball and divide into two pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness - remember to roll as thin as possible. Cut it into whatever shape you like and bake the crackers for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool before storing in an airtight container.

Since we are trying to eliminate refined sugar from our house, finding recipes that can be adapted by using Splenda are great.

Yield - 6 dozen - I got less, closer to 4 dozen

Best Source of Sugar Free Products in NWA

For my sugar free cheesecake, I went on a search for brown sugar substitute and sugar free chocolate wafers. I found them at the Harps at 265/45, along with a lot more sugar free items than I anticipated. They have sugar free devil foods cake mix and also chocolate fudge icing in a sugar free form - who would have thought.

Gearing up for Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Dinner starting to come together

Salt roast turkey with herbs and shallot-dijon gravy - This will be the third consecutive year I have made this for Thanksgiving. The turkey is coming from Richard's County Meat - they bring in fresh turkeys this time of the year. You just need to place an order with them around the 1st of November - and if you are feeling lazy, they will cook it for you. The true star of this dish, aside from the turkey, is the gravy, especially if you take the time to make the roasted turkey stock from scratch.

Southern cornbread dressing - sticking with tradition

Cranberry balsamic sauce - this will be with fresh cranberries and I think I will make up a recipe for this one as I go - if it is as tasty as I hope it will be, then I will post the recipe later.

Roasted carrot parsnip and potato coins - this is a great fall/winter side dish that should balance out the rest of the meal with its combination of cardamom and coriander.

Bobby Flay's "Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter" from the Thanksgiving Throwdown the other night - will have to make the Pomegranate Molasses from scratch, don't think you can get it around here, but the recipe is very interesting and according to some of the reviews on Food Network from people who were actually at the Throwdown in Oklahoma should be a standout.

Refrigerator rolls - Mom's recipe (Gotta love smelling yeast in the refrigerator for a few days to get you ready for this treat)

Tiramisu Cheesecake and Sugar-Free Cafe Mocha Cheesecake, both found on the following website.
http://www.best-cheesecake-recipes-ever.com/

Hint Water Review

At the Pinnacle Station Local Market - the one inside the gas station, they carry Hint Water - has no calories, no sugar, nothing but natural flavors. I tried the Lime Hint Water - the smell was of lime, but the water tasted like stale club soda with no other flavor. Even though it is probably crazy, I have to try the Cucumber water to see what it is all about - supposed to be unique, but not in a good way. Looking at reviews on the web, there are a lot of people who swear by this drink. I had to dig deep to find people who thought the same as I. To each his own.

Eureka Springs Winery

Keels Creek Winery in Eureka Springs offers a wine tasting of 6 of their wines for $5.00 and you get to keep the wine glass (the glass is somewhat small). The winery prides itself on being local, with the grapes being grown within 30 miles of the winery. It is more in the French style of wine than what is usual around these parts - most of the other wineries are in the German, sweet vein.

Some of the more interesting wines are the Chardonell - which has a very distinct smoky flavor, and the Vignoles - which tastes like banana.

What was interesting in the tasting was 2 of their wines were arrived at by mistakes - like realizing that they misplaced a wine cask and letting it age longer than intended and the other accidentally had 2 different grapes mixed when it came to the vinery. Gotta love a winery that is only 4 years old and can admit when they had an oops.

They are known for their Chambourcin Reserve 2006 but it is not available in the tasting because they only have a few bottles left.

The price range for the bottles of wine are $13.95 through $25.95.

Naan Breadstick Recipe

One of the biggest mistakes I have made while using a recipe found online has turned into a true winner - Naan breadsticks were born.

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1 beaten egg

Mix dry ingredients (except for cumin). Heat oil over low temperature. Add milk, yogurt, and egg to the oil and heat until luke warm. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until it forms a ball. Add cumin seeds. Put a towel over it and place in a warm spot and let sit for 1/2 hour.

Turn oven onto high broil. Pull some of the dough off, dusting with flour if sticky, and roll into a snake/breadstick. Place on pan and broil until brown spots appear on top. Turn over and broil until brown spots appear. Remove and serve with cucumber yogurt.

New India Supermarket Coming to Northwest Arkansas

There is a new India Supermarket opening soon in Bentonville. It appears to be 3 times as large as the one in the gas station on Hudson. It is located in the same shopping center as Dink's Barbeque and WellQuest. Can't wait to check it out - so far the shelves are stocked, but the coolers have yet to be turned on and filled.

Great Easy Pickles

The simplest pickle recipe I have stumbled upon - just slice some cucumbers and place in the juice left in a jar of hamburger dill pickles. Let sit for about a week and they taste better than what you can get at the store - if you like yours with some texture to them.

White Pizza Recipe

1 jar Artichoke Hearts
5-6 Chicken Breast Tenderloins
1/4 cup onion, chopped
Spinach leaves
2 cups Mozzarella shredded
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Balsalmic Vinegar
Equal parts basil and oregano chopped
1 pizza crust

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pour out the oil in the artichoke jar and add balsalmic to the jar to marinate the artichokes.

Heat 1.5 Tbsp. Olive Oil in a saute pan. Tenderize chicken breast tenderloins and season with Kosher salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until cooked, turning once, approximately 2-3 minutes per side. Add onions to pan after about 4 minutes and saute with the chicken.

Coat pizza crust with olive oil, approximately 1 Tbsp. and top with the basil and oregano. Sprinkle a little of the cheese on top.

Drain the artichokes and add to the  pizza - cutting to bite size pieces if needed. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the pizza. Add the onions and top with spinach. Finally, add the remaining cheese.

If using a pizza stone, let it warm up with the oven.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 1 pizza.

Search for Black Vinegar Yields Interesting Results

I have been searching the local Oriental Markets for Black Vinegar for a recipe I have. I finally found it at T's Oriental Market in north Springdale. Besides the Black Vinegar, they also carry an amazing variety of vinegars - fruit vinegar, red vinegar, etc. Also, I found preserved duck eggs and cooked salted duck eggs sold in 6 packs. May need to do some research before purchasing these.

The greatest discovery I found was Kikkoman Ponzu Sauce - it is a citrus soy sauce. Wow! Talk about great flavor. We tried it as a dipping sauce for fried Yellow Croaker fish and it has become an instant favorite.

Tripe - Revisited

Finally, someone explains how to prepare Tripe.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20010919/ai_n9991983/

Stir Fried Pork

Made a new recipe up tonight. You can find the Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken at Hon Son Oriental Market in Rogers.

1 lb pork cut into strips and pounded/tenderized
1 red bell pepper - cut into large chunks
1 head broccoli cut into pieces
1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts
1/4 cup onion cut into chunks
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. Wok Oil - can find at Price Cutter
2 Tbsp. Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken
2 Tbsp. Szechuan Spicy Stir-Fry Sauce
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

Place corn starch and flour into a Ziploc bag. Sprinkle the pork with the salt and pepper and add to the bag and shake.

Heat wok oil in large saute pan or wok over high heat. When hot, add the pork and saute for 1-2 minutes. Flip and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Add vegetables to the pan and continue to saute for 1 minute. Add in Chili Sauce, Szechuan Sauce and Soy Sauce. Cover and let steam 3 minutes, being careful to not overcook the vegetables. Serve with rice.

Tripe - A Unique Experience

Okay. I am going to have to research this one more carefully. I blindly picked up and cooked some Tripe from the Neighborhood Market in Rogers. First mistake was I did not read up on this before purchasing. Did you know that Tripe can come from 3 different areas of the cow. Honeycomb is considered the best by some and smooth is considered best by others. Pocket tripe - don't know much about. What I got, I think, was smooth tripe.

Second mistake, I did not research on how long or how to properly prepare the Tripe before cooking - the package said it was Scalded Tripe. I really need to figure this part out to avoid the following.

Upon opening the package, you could discern a hint of cow, which was not as bad as the fresh Sweetbreads I have tried. But, upon cooking, the hint of cow never went away. Do not know if Mistake #2 if corrected would fix this problem.

Tripe is supposed to be tasteless, picking up the flavors of what it is cooked in. What you want is the textural chewy bite that the tripe has when tender.

Will do more research and try this again after a while - hopefully with better results.

I think this is the first entree I have ever made that did not make it past the first taste - it went into the compost. But, at least part of it went to the dogs and they like the taste of cow.

German vs. Polish

I needed sausages for tonights dinner. So, I went to Richard's Country Meat Market and picked up a couple of fresh German sausages and a couple of fresh Polish Sausages. On first bite, Polish was off to a good start - a lot more spice. The German was kind of boring. But, by the time they were both finished - the German won. Go figure.

It is like the Polish was the Pepsi in the Pepsi Challenge - better than Coke at just one sip. But, if you have a whole can, Coke is better - less overpowering.

There you go.

Top 100 Foods to Eat Before You Die

This is not my list - it is one that people have been talking about for a while. As I finish each one, I am going to change the color to blue to give me a sense of progress.


1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O shot
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Single malt whisky
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake  

Sweetbreads - found in Northwest Arkansas

I did not think I would find this in Northwest Arkansas, much less in a WalMart Neighborhood Market - but I did. The Rogers Neighborhood Market across from NWACC on Hudson carries this fresh. I also found it at Ivan's in Rogers frozen. So, I had to pick it up from both places to try.
Very interesting. I do not know if sweetbreads are supposed to have a smell to them, but the fresh ones had a very unusual aroma to them. The frozen did not have a smell.

Also, be aware that sweetbreads is more than just one thing - what I got at the Neighborhood Market resembled something more like mystery meat. The one from Ivan's seemed to have more form to it and less filament. Next time, I think I will call ahead and see if I can get specifics on exactly they carry instead of just "sweetbreads".

How To Reheat Meat Without Making It Too Dry

This method works with just about any meat - seafood I have not tried.

But if you are wanting to reheat the rotisserie chicken from last night, it is best to reheat in a skillet on the stove with a little bit of chicken broth and a lid to steam it. The same works for Lamb, Beef, Pork - just use beef broth instead and by doing it in this method it stays moist and doesn't overcook.

Searching the area for Rennet

I really want to try to make my own cheese - it gets too expensive to order cheeses on line. I have called around to the local stores and cannot find anyone who carries Rennet. One of these days I will find it and then I can purchase the one item I do not own for my kitchen - a cheese press.

Newest Fad - Beef Cheeks

So far there is only one place I have found in Northwest Arkansas where you can get beef cheeks - WalMart supercenter in Rogers. You can get them from Richard's if you order them - but you have to purchase a 60 pound box of them.

At $2.25/lb at WalMart this is a steal. But, when purchasing for a recipe, you want to get at least 2 packages because you will be cutting off a lot of fat and since the cooking time is long and they do better as leftovers anyway, might as well get a couple of meals out of them.

Lesson #1 - learned the hard way. You must cut off the fat before cooking them. I was running low on time and just browned them without cutting the fat off and threw them in the pan with the wine. Big mistake - not only does the fat stay shall we say gelatinous, it also permeates the sauce. So we had a lot of fat with our meat and a fatty sauce.

Lesson #2 - it really does take 3-4 hours of braising before it becomes truly fall off your fork tender. Even if you raise the temperature of the oven, doesn't speed it up.

We have tried several recipes for the beef cheeks and so far the best one is on Epicurious.com. The best part of the recipe is the reducing of the wine which intensifies the flavor and makes it really good.

Now - trying to find a recipe for Beef Cheeks to make burritos!

Review - Rogue's Manor

Rogue's Manor in Eureka Springs

If you have never been here before, it is well worth a trip to Eureka Springs. The Montrachet appetizer is to die for. The main courses we had were a tad bit over flavored but the meat was cooked correctly and the portions are large. The main reason to go here is for the atmosphere. You have to sit in the bar area which is the smoking section - I think one of the last places in Arkansas that has a smoking section and serves food.

The music is early 20th century jazz and on the TV screen in the corner the movie that was playing was "The Mummy". Gotta love that.

The entertainment is the other patrons - while we were there, a gentleman from South Africa was sitting at the bar talking to a blind lady that was drinking white zinfandel and smoking before being escorted back to her nonsmoking seat when her salad was served!