Saturday, June 28, 2014

Datz – Tampa, FL



Last night we had dinner with my cousin, Jenn, at Datz.  If you live in Tampa, I’m sure you’ve been there.  If you haven’t been, you’re seriously missing out. 

We were seating in kind of a dark area of the restaurant so unfortunately my cell phone photos didn’t do my food justice.  Jenn & I split some “Mac Bites” – fried balls of jalapeƱo mac n’ cheese with a spicy sriracha aioli.  For my meal, I got the “Waffles n’ Tweet” – fried chicken with honey pecan butter served on a rosemary waffle with smoked Buffalo Trace (bourbon) maple syrup

Jenn always gets the same thing because she really loves the Havana Hottie sandwich – which has pulled pork, ham & swiss.  Lance got the Short Rib Sloppy Joe.  All the sandwiches are served with homemade sweet & salty chips with a blue cheese drizzle and green onions.  These are the best chips you’ll ever have – and I’m not normally a big fan of chips.   

I’ll write more about Datz another time since I’m sure we’ll be back soon, but I wanted to just write a quick blurb.    

Datz is located at 2616 S MacDill Ave, Tampa, FL 33629 and is open Monday –Thursday 7am – 10pm, Friday 7am – 11pm, Saturday 8:30am – 11pm, and Sunday 8:30am – 3pm.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Raisin Rosemary Crisps with Fig Butter



I’ve been a big fan of Trader Joe’s for a while now – so of course I was very excited when they finally opened in Tampa in March!  I love all the fancy gourmet cheeses and inexpensive wine (as you can see in the photo below after one of our Trader Joe’s shopping sprees):
One of my favorite things they carry are Raisin Rosemary Crisps.  These crackers are addicting and you’ll want to eat the whole box – they are perfect for eating on their own, but they go really well with cheese too.  Today I’m snacking on them with fig butter (also from Trader Joe’s).  It tastes like such a gourmet snack but it takes no effort at all to make!  
I did find a recipe for the Raisin Rosemary Crisps on the blog Flour Arrangements, but by the time I purchase all the ingredients I don’t think it would be worth the money or effort.  But if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby you, give this a try!  I haven’t actually tried this recipe out, but from the photo they look very similar to the ones I’m eating.
http://flourarrangements.org/2013/01/going-crackers/
Raisin Rosemary Crisps

Ingredients:
·        1 cup flour
·        1 teaspoon baking soda
·        1/2 teaspoon salt
·        1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
·        2 tablespoons brown sugar
·        1 cup buttermilk
·        2 tablespoons maple syrup
·        1/2 cup raisins
·        1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
·        2 tablespoons millet
·        2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
·        2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Generously butter four 2 1/2-by-5 inch loaf pans.

2. In a small bowl, combine raisins with very hot water.  Let sit for five minutes and then drain well.

3. Meanwhile, stir pumpkin seeds over medium-high heat in a small skillet until they start to crackle and turn just barely brown.  Set aside to cool.  Add millet to the skillet and stir until they begin to make popping sounds.  Add millet to the pumpkin seeds.  Add sesame seeds to the bowl and mix to combine.

4. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, pepper, and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl.  Add cooled seeds, along with the rosemary, and stir to combine.   Add the buttermilk, maple syrup, and raisins; stir until just blended.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch.  Immediately turn out the small loaves and cool on a wire rack.

6. After the loaves cool completely, wrap them in plastic and freeze them for about an hour (the frozen loaves are easier to slice thinly).  Slice loaves as thinly as possible and place the slices in a single layer on parchment-lined baking sheets.

7. Bake at 300° F for 15 minutes.  Flip the slices and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes more, until crisp and golden.  Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets.  Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Crock Pot Pork with Peaches



Peaches were on sale this week at Trader Joe’s, so we bought a 4 pound box.  Since we have so many peaches, I looked up recipes to incorporate them into our dinner. 
This one was inspired by the Williams-Sonoma recipe for Grilled Pork Loin with Peaches.  Unfortunately we don’t have a grill (besides our little George Foreman) so we adapted the recipe for the crock pot instead.  I’ve had peaches with pork before (I tried out this Summer Peachy Pork from my friend Leslie’s blog and it was great!)
The original recipe called for fresh thyme & oregano, but since I already had rosemary and mint growing on my patio, I swapped for those herbs instead.  I ran out of plain balsamic vinegar, so in my recipe I used Cinnamon Pear Balsamic that I had purchased from Joe & Son’s Olive Oils.  If you haven’t been there, it’s worth a trip to check it out.  They have a huge selection of olive oils and vinegars, and they let you taste as many as you want.  I actually had a Creative Loafing deal, so I got $40 worth of fancy oils and vinegars for only $20. 

I still want to try out the grilled version of this recipe at some point, but the crock pot version was super easy to make and tasted amazing!  It was very juicy and shredded like pulled pork.  We ate it by itself in a bowl, but I’m sure it would taste great on a sandwich as well. 

Crock Pot Pork with Peaches

Ingredients:
  • 1 boneless pork loin roast, about 3 1/2 lb
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (mine was cinnamon pear balsamic)
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 Tbs. fresh rosemary
  • 1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
  • 1/2 Tbs. dried thyme (or fresh if you have it)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 2 1/2 lb. small peaches, pitted and quartered (we used 8 peaches)
Directions:
1. Cut your peaches in quarters and arrange about half of them in a layer along the bottom of the crock pot


2. Rub the pork with the balsamic, mustard, brown sugar, herbs, salt & pepper. 
3. Place the pork in the crock pot and top with the remaining peaches.  

4. Turn your crock pot to low setting and come back to enjoy 8 hours later! 
There will be a lot of juices from the peaches in the crock pot, so when serving you may need to use a slotted spoon to dish out the meat & peaches.  

Enjoy!