Dish and Sip

Beef and mint stir fry, served with jasmine rice and asparagus. Photo by Chad Morgan Mint Beef Stir Fry It’s been over 1 month since my last blog post. And, frankly, that is far too long.  Forgive me, please.  I must admit that I probably cooked twice the whole month of September. Most due to laziness, but mainly because my mother came to visit and there is truly nothing like food from home! She cooked every day for 2 weeks, multiple times a day. I had so much food in my house. I felt rich.  Normally, I would not let a guest come to my home and cook for me, but my mother is a busy body. She needs something to do constantly. So she cooked and cleaned.   Back to reality now!  I began to notice that I cook a lot for fish, chicken and pasta. Those are my go to items, but I’m much more than that. So this month, I plan to get away from those items and work with some flavors that I don’t normally use at home.  In DC, we call our Chinese food spots, carry outs.  And since

This weekend, I decided to give up on fast foods. Not because of any bad experiences, but because of the amount of money that I’m spending on food that makes me say, “meh!”  And, although I do realize that meh! is not a work, it is used to describe something that does not evoke any pleasure. Honestly speaking, five dollars here and there really adds up. By the end of the month, I’ve spent 50 dollars at these neighborhood fast food spots. I could have gotten a pedicure and a leg massage, with 20 -30 dollars left over for something else. Back to my fugal, thrifty self.  When I went to buy the food for this weekend’s posting, I was in awe of how much money I spent. Nine dollars and some change. This nine dollars will make 4 servings of food, for a single person such as myself, but can feed a family of four. Seriously, think about how this could help you... With most spaghetti, you get a full serving of veggies. And who doesn’t like their veggies…  I know this post is going t

Baked Catfish This month, I decided to take a spin on the healthy side. And in doing so, I’ve realized that I’m not a healthy eater, which has been a tough pill to swallow. I do eat salads often, only when I’m lazy and do not want to slave over a stove. I sauté mostly in olive oil. However, eating healthy is about much more than that.  As I started to think about what kind of dish I would prepare this week, I realized that my eating habits were pretty much atrocious. I love bacon on everything and in everything.  Like bacon cheese dogs, chicken salad sandwich with bacon, bacon cheese burgers, bacon deviled eggs… You get the picture.  Then my next addiction, cheese.  My love for cheese is kind of crazy. I have at least 8 different kinds of cheese in my fridge. I can’t even being to justify why. I just do! Why do I have Feta cheese, Parmesan, cheddar, Mexican blend, Cijota, queso, pimento? What am I using them for? So, this week, I was determined, no bacon and no cheese

Photo by: Chad Morgan Corn Salad Last week I was challenged to become the food coordinator for a 9 person Bible study group. The reason I say challenged is because I have never cooked for 9 people, and these are 9 people that I don’t know well yet. So my first thought was to find out if anyone in the group had food allergies? Or food restrictions? Those are all very important questions to address when cooking for a large group. I do not want anyone's throat to close or worse.  After I found the answers that I was looking for, I then had to tackle another obstacle. The Bible study teacher said to make sure all the snacks were healthy. And she meant business!  However, I live with the mantra that everything is good in moderation. So this is the bigger challenge. Normally I do not cook with the idea of being healthy. I also think, for many people, the term healthy is scary. I mean, I would not serve anyone a stick of fried butter. But is being healthy boring? On the con

Photo by: Chad Morgan Chocolate Molten Lava Cake Recently I had a 30 minute conversation with a friend about an episode of Chef Roble and Co.  It’s the episode in which Roble and company catered 2 parties for NY Knicks center, Tyson Chandler. Needless to say, this is the inspiration behind this weeks’ blog posting.  A level 1 pastry. I’m not sure exactly what falls under Level 1 pasty, but apparently molten lava cakes do. I was upset by this news, because I have eaten at a number of restaurants that serve lava cakes. And this was never a dessert or pastry that I enjoyed. It was always hard and somewhat stale on the outside. Like the cake had been in the fridge for too long before serving. No! I am not a chef, nor do I pretend to be. I will never dress up in my kitchen with a chef jacket and hat. Instead, with the advice of Kevin Hart, I stay in my “cooking” lane. However, when Roble ripped his pastry chef a new one, I had to try to cook this pasty.  And I kicked its

Cherry Rum Cake When I lived in New Orleans, I sampled everything. The creole food, the parades, the atmosphere, and, of course the alcohol. One of my favorite things to partake in was the drive through daiquiri shops. The music was always loud, the daiquiris were always good and that was the place to be. Looking back, I realize how dumb it was to get an alcoholic beverage and drive off with it. However, those were the younger years. As I scroll drown memory lane, I am reminded of all the crazy drinks that I had in New Orleans. From the hand grenades to the Hurricanes: Category 5. And extra shots of ever clear in everything.  This was also the first time I was exposed to vodka soaked cherries. Within minutes of eating one, I was intoxicated. Who knew a cherry could hold that much alcohol yet be so smooth and still sweet. That was the inspiration behind this cherry rum cake. Soaked cherries in rum with cake batter. The idea swirled around my mind, and I had t

Peanut butter granola pie topped with icecream. Photo by: Chad Morgan  Have you ever seen that commercial for Sandra's homemade yummy scrumptious bars? In case you have not, here it is :   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdTIfI9KeuM   Sandra’s bars were award winning and gained her recognition from her neighbors. She felt really good about that. However, she was a fraud only because she did nothing but open a packet of Fiber One Granola bars.   I must say there is joy in finding something great to eat. And when you find that thing, you want to share it with everyone. Now, I am not suggesting that you do as Sandra did. That may be copy write infringement. And, I’m sure you can go to jail for that. However, when I taste something that I thoroughly enjoy, I have no problem asking for the recipe so that I can try it. This weekend, I made a peanut butter and chocolate chip granola pie that I want to share with you all. This recipe is borrowed from my best friend, but I have

Recently, I’ve been pigging out on all the wrong snacks. A box of Gushers a day, a box of Salty Nuts, ooey gooey chocolate toffee cake, peach cobbler. The list goes on. And I haven’t been excising as much because of a pinched meniscus. So this week, I wanted a more refreshing snack to enjoy in this summer heat. Something that would not make me feel like pig. Salsa!  The great thing about salsa is that it can be made in thousands of combinations all freshly put together. I am normally a big fan of eating fruit and veggies. But my sweet tooth has been in over drive, and I have to put it to rest now. Especially since all of the blog posts next month will be desserts. I’m guaranteed to gain 5 pounds, and if you follow my blog, be careful.  I’m not responsible for your weight gain! Chunky Mango Salsa Ingredients : 2 mangoes 1 large tomato 1 lime 1/3 cup diced red onion 1/3 cup of red pepper with seeds Diced cilantro Directions : Peel mangoes and c

Photo taken by: Chad Morgan For years I stood in the kitchen beside my mother and watched her become so flustered with the tedious duties of peeling eggs. Yes, peeling eggs are tedious especially when making deviled eggs. You never want the egg white to be broken or disfigured because that is an egg white that you will have to get rid of. I’ll provide you some tips to make this portion of your life a bit easier. Over the past 28 years, I have ate hundreds of these bite sized appetizers. Some with a strong mustard flavor, some topped with shrimp, bacon and paprika and some with sugar. But one thing remains the same, they could never top the deviled egg that my mother makes for every family event. It’s a given, that if there is any family event, my mother is bringing the deviled eggs. And they normally don’t last in the fridge longer than an hour. That is a true story. One year an aunt decided that she wanted to help make the deviled eggs. *dun, dun, dun. * She reall

Chili cheese hot dog with mustard and diced onions.  The sound greets you from a block away and the aroma of the food intoxicates you. This is going to be a good day, that was my thought.  And it was. This weekend boasted a festival which featured great bands and a barrage of food trucks with varying cuisines. There was crawfish and jambalaya. Oven bricked pizza, pulled pork, Vietnamese food and Jamaican jerk. With my love for food, I could have gone broke. But the responsible adult that I am grabbed a Bacardi Peach beverage and set a budget. Many of the bands, I had never heard. But that did not s top me from enjoying the music or atmosphere. I picked up a hula hoop laying in the back of the park, and with 2 other people, we went at it. I was almost stuck by a freebie. And had to protect myself from kids running blindly around the park. Right before a New Orleans brass band went on to play, I went back to the food trucks. Yes, I ate twice. Once when I got there and right

Summer pasta salad This week I attended an Atlanta blog meet up group because I’m committed to bringing you the best content in food and drinks. But also committed to becoming a better blogger.   When I first started this blog, I envisioned it to become a social media frenzy. I figured, with all my Facebook friends and Twitter followers this should be easy.   However having a weekly blog is much more than a popularity test. Over the next few weeks and months, I plan to bring you more focused content. A schedule of food of sorts. That way as the reader you will know what’s coming and can be on the lookout for dishes will spark your interest. So let’s get to it. This week, I have highlighted a nice summer seafood pasta salad.   I chose the tri color pasta because it’s 3 colors will really make the dish stand out amongst the other summer goodies. Ingredients: Tri-color Rotini pasta ¼ cup of pasta water 2 cups of sandwich spread 3 tablespoons of sweet relish 1 can

Eat with your eyes     I am such a visual eater and I should probably seek help for my food addiction.   I try not to watch commercials because the food presentation on some commercials will cause me to leave my home and drive miles for food. So it’s no wonder that when I saw Elote, Mexican style corn on the cob, on the Food network, I had to try it. Elote is corn on the cob grilled and topped with mayonnaise, cotija cheese, cayenne pepper and freshly squeezed lime juice. So very yummy. When I found out that my boyfriend was planning to grill this weekend, I knew this would be one of the few opportunities for me to try this dish. I mean, I’m not a griller. I can bake my tail off and cook a good meal, but, me, outdoors with lighter fluid is just dangerous.   I had to set a plan in motion. The idea of mayo on corn is fairly odd, so I could not let him know what I was up to, but I quickly volunteered to bring the corn to this bbq. As the summer season fast approaches, I