ingredient: couscous ... regular couscous

I only tried one recipe this week as I wasn't sure how versatile this ingredient would be, meaning sweet vs. savory. This is my first time cooking with couscous (regular couscous), and I got this recipe from For The Love Of Cooking. It is a Parmesan Couscous with Roasted Garlic, Toasted Pine Nuts and Caramelized Onions ... all items I absolutely adore. Please visit the site for the recipe.

Here is the pic of my finished product:

So first, let me say, the only difference I made was to omit the parsley, simply because I didn't have any on hand. Second, it was an absolutely wonderful flavor combination. I'm a huge fan of roasted garlic; the smell of it is one of the best in the kitchen in my book. The pine nuts and caramelized onions made a great sweet and crunchy balance, and I'm sure the parsley would be a nice addition as well. 

But, I do not like the texture of this couscous ... at all. It's extremely fine and grainy, and I just could not get used to it. It's one of the few leftovers that I threw out but only for this reason. If you're curious as to the couscous I used, it was the whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's. 

So, I will definitely be making this again in the near future but will try with israeli couscous the next time around as it is larger in size and, I feel, a much better texture. I would highly recommend this!

destination: alon's bakery

One of the main reasons we moved into the apartment we are in is ....

Alon's Bakery is right across the street. Like walking distance.

I knew of Alon's before moving to Atlanta. I knew of their wonderful smelling breads and yummy pastries and cookies. We would occasionally stop in and get a sweet treat when we were in town as it's just a fun place to walk around in.

But, Alon's is not just a bakery. Not even close. Of course, if you're going low carb, just don't even walk in there. The smell of fresh bread will hit you in the face as soon as you walk in. But, please know there are so many other fabulous things to find in Alon's. It's a restaurant, wine bar, bakery, grill and overall market for fine and unique foods. You will find all sorts of fresh cheeses, different types of pastas from around the world, spreads and jams ... anything you would want to try and impress your guests with, Alon's will have you covered.

On top of that, they have several areas of the store where they grill, prepare fresh brick-oven pizzas and showcase an entire arrangement of pre-made salads, meats and sides. Some of our favs have been the veal meatloaf, crab cakes, risotto crusted goat cheese, kale salad with lemon vinaigrette, duck fat potatoes (yes!), chicken salad with fennel and the margherita pizza, which I envision tastes just like you would have in Italy. I'm not sure if it's true, but I like to believe so as it's that fresh with excellent ingredients.

Although I do not have any pics to post with this one, we have had many fabulous experiences at Alon's throughout the past year. I'll try and remember to take some before I indulge the next time around, which is likely, tomorrow.

favorite product: sun-bird general tso's chicken

This General Tso's mix (pictured below) is somewhat hard to find, but it is one of our favorite quick and go-to Chinese meals to make at home. You will find it in the international/Asian aisle at your grocery store along with several other mixes by the same company, depending on what your store carries. Just a warning though ... we tried a couple of other mixes by this company and didn't really care for them. So, this is the only one, at this time, that I would recommend, and I usually buy about 10 packs at a time. I obviously love this stuff, and since we had it for dinner tonight, I felt I needed to share it with the world. 

It is one of those dry mixes that you will need to add a couple of items to - sugar, soy sauce (or liquid aminos), water and obviously, chicken. It's a bit spicy, makes a nice amount of sauce and only takes 15 or so minutes to make. The instructions say to bread/fry the chicken before mixing in the sauce, but I usually omit this step, making it a bit healthier. We typically cook a brown or jasmine rice and stir fry veggies of some kind with this.

If you can't find it, you can talk with the store manager about ordering it for you, especially if they have other mixes by the same company. I've done this before, and I just buy out their stock when it comes in. Yes, a little obsessed, but it's totally worth it. Enjoy!

ingredient: rhubarb

I recently discovered another fabulous farmer's market here in Atlanta. It's the Buford Highway Farmer's Market, which is much closer to my apartment than DeKalb and still has a great selection of produce. And, there places are open year-round, everyday - so fantastic! My aunt Gail and I went for the first time and found so many crazy ingredients that I can add to my list to cook with. Here is a jackfruit:

I had way too much fun there. I will eventually buy one of those and cook with it, but we will save that for a later date.

This week's ingredient is rhubarb.

Rhubarb is a bit more common than most items on my list although I haven't cooked with it before. I'm sure somewhere along the way I've tried someone's pie with rhubarb but thought it was time to try it myself. It is, after all, a very pretty color.

I went with a savory and sweet option. First, I tried a Pork Tenderloin with a Spiced Rhubarb Chutney from BeingABear.com. I'm usually a big fan of a sweet sauce, especially with a pork dish. I made this recipe 'as is' except substituted cranberries for cherries as that is what I had on hand. I really enjoyed this dish although it is super sweet. I would do a bit more spice with it to balance it out. In terms of flavor though, it was really good. It would have been amazing on a biscuit! So, yes, I really liked it, but be prepared for the sweetness. Here is how it turned out:

Second, I tried Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins from A Pretty Life (www.aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com) which were so, so yummy. I will say that this is a bit "unhealthy" from the way I usually cook. Don't get me wrong - they were/are so delightful. But, even with a whole wheat flour substitution, I still think you could do add a few more substitutes and make this a bit healthier. I left off the pecan streusel topping, and I would even add more rhubarb and strawberry as the combination was great. Here is a pic for you ... although it doesn't quite do them justice:

I really liked the rhubarb in both places although I do think it's better fitting for a sweet treat. I will definitely cook with it again and hope you try it too!