I like a good pen and some nice paper.  I also like writing people thank you notes when they get me things, even if it’s something little.  However, people lately have been telling me to just skip the thank you note, that saying thanks in person is enough.  One such person is my FSIL.

For Christmas she got me a bunch of different spices, one of which I’ve never had before: grains of paradise.  So, hopefully she’ll consider my new found love of this spice described in this post as my thank you to her.

Grains of Paradise

Many of you have probably never seen grains of paradise before, I know I never had, not in person at least.  These little guys remind me a lot of peppercorns in appearance and flavor.  Back when the spice trade was at its height, unscrupulous spice traders would sell these grains of paradise as black peppercorns because they were much less expensive and people were easily fooled. 

Grains of paradise are hard little seeds that are generally cracked or crushed before use.  I would describe as having two distinct lives the first is aromatic and lemony but that soon fades as a slight burn warms the back of the mouth.  It is a very unique taste and quite frankly I think it is much better than that of regular peppercorns.  While not as powerful in the mouth a regular pepper, their unique flavor nuances will have people asking you for your secret.

How to Use Grains of Paradise

As I mentioned, like black peppercorns grains of paradise require that you crack or crush them in order release their flavor.  This can be done with the back of a spoon, a mortar and pestle, as I prefer in a pepper mill.  I even picked one up just for these guys. 

While there are tons of recipes out there that call specifically for grains of paradise, I suggest replacing black pepper with them in any dish.  I even added some crushed grains of paradise to my now famous cheese crackers and they turned out great, much better than without them. 

Now I can’t guarantee that they will work everywhere, but give grains of paradise a try and I’m sure you’ll like them.

Since I’m gonna run out soon, anyone know where you can get grains of paradise in the Cleveland area?

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While we were in Boston a few weeks ago for our honeymoon we went to the most insane “food court” in the entire country. It also just so happens to be inside the historical Quincy Market. I swear to God that every type of food you could possible imagine was available: Chinese, Italian, Greek, Southern Barbecue, New England Fish Market, and on and on. It was amazing. Kind of disappointing they have a food court in a national landmark, but I’ll save that for another day.

Jessie, of course, wanted Italian (she’s very adventurous). While she was picking out her calzone I saw this fried ball behind the counter labeled Arancini. I’d never seen one before, so we ordered one up with her calzone. Arancini are a stuffed rice balls, almost like an Italian empinada, so they can be filled with all kinds of vegetables and meats. The one we got was filled with ground beef, peas, corn and a rich tomato sauce. It was very good, crispy on the outside, moist and creamy on the inside. The peas and corn in it were kind of weird, but they are traditional from what I’ve read.

I haven’t ever seen one before, not even in the Italian shops around Cleveland, so if anyone knows where I can get another one please leave it in the comments.

For more information:
Wikipedia Article on Arancini
Arancini Recipe and How-to

Photo By: marmalade mel (one awesome food photographer on Flickr)

If you are heading north to Canada for vacation then visit an online Canadian Food Guide for tips on local restaurants and get an idea of how The French Culture has influenced traditional Canadian cuisine. From Quebec to Alberta Canada has a world of food to experience.

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Pluot?  What on earth, might you ask, is a pluot?  I was wondering the same thing myself when I saw the pile of these guys at Giant Eagle, so I decided to pick a few up.  Of course, the brain trust working the produce department had a sign up that said, "Plouts", so I walked around all day saying plout.  It wasn’t until I got home later that I found it is actually spelled pluot.  While I do think plout would have been a better name, it is what it is. 

A pluot is actually a magic super hybrid fruit that was created by crossing a plum and an apricot.  Based on the Wikipedia entry for pluots, the group I purchased appears to be of the flavor jewel variety with red blushing on yellow skin with yellow flesh. 

My pluots tasted exactly like a plum with a touch more sweetness.  There was none of this fancy "super sweetness" that is talked about so much with these, but not knowing what they were may have caused me to grab a few that weren’t to the peak of ripeness.  These pluots were certainly nothing special, but some of the varieties with the red flesh look interesting.

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I came across these little guys last week in Giant Eagle ($1.99) so I thought I would give them a try.  The first thing I noticed was that these little bastards were sticky as hell and no matter how many times you wash them the stickyness never goes away.  In that way they reminded me of tomatillos.  As a matter of fact, On Food and Cooking, says that Cape Gooseberries are relatives to the tomatillo. The book also says that Gooseberries are very sweet, but the batch I got certainly wasn’t.  I know it sounds weird, but the taste was almost that of a unripe grape tomato.  The first thing I said when I ate one was, "Ehh, grape tomato cross with a cranberry".  It did have a slightly tart taste, but certainly not to the extent of a cranberry.

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The drink selection is limited to bottled pop and some really weird rice milk stuff, but we weren't adventurous enough to try that crap.

Well we went back last weekend and I learned two things, I am a judgemental asshole and rice water is pretty damn good. I've also further entrenched my belief that El Lobo is the greatest restaurant on the planet.Â

Just like last time we were there everyone eating lunch was ordering this rice water to drink. It looked rather unappealing, but I took my own advice and left my comfort zone. I'm glad I did. To give you an idea of how much I liked the stuff; I went home and scoured Google for rice water recipes.Â

Rice water is the greatest thing since regular water. And I'm 75% regular water. The best way to describe the taste is to imagine the flavor of a non-alcoholic Pina Colada. It tastes just like that. That's pretty hot damn impressive to get there from rice soaked in water. They soak rice in water, add sugar, vanilla and maybe some cinnamon, let it sit overnight, puree and strain. I've even seen some recipes where its not strained, but rather put into a large container where the chunks can settle to the bottom.

Further reading:Â List of various rice water recipes

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Apparently, you make mazamorra just like Jello, out of a box.  At least my friend did.  You can apparently make it from scratch with blue corn, but I really don't know if it would be worth the time.  I've looked for it at Giant Eagle and I have not been able to find it, not even in the Painesville Giant Eagle.  If you are interested in trying it for yourself, I would visit one of the Mexican grocery stores in Painesville.  I know there is one on Washington Street and I think there may be one down in North Painesville on State Street.

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Tried Johnny Rockets for the first time in my life at Underground Atlanta.  I will never make that mistake again.  I thought it was over-priced fast food at best.  The city of Atlanta should be ashamed at the condition of Underground Atlanta which is supposed to be a tourist mecca.  It was filthy and a real disappointment.

We had dinner at La Parroquia, a very nice Mexican restaurant in Kennesa, Georgia.  It was very good authentic Mexican food.  We started the meal out with fresh homemade tortilla chips and cheese dip.  I'm not quite sure what exactly what type of cheese they used or if anything was added to the cheese, but it was the best cheese dip I had ever had.  It was thin and creamy, more like a cheese sauce than a dip.  Because of this experience I spent the whole week visiting grocery store after grocery store hoping to find the queso fresco I had so enjoyed at the restaurant.  No such luck. 

For my main course at La Parroquia I ordered the carnitas platter which came with sides of beans and mexican rice. I'm pretty sure they killed two pigs for all of the pork that they gave me, what an unbelievable portion. The carnitas was very good, a little crispy on the outside, but nice an moist on the inside.  It was cooked with a mixture of peppers and onions that gave the meat a rich flavor.  All and al it was an excellent meal.  The service was fantastic and the prices were very economical, especially considering the portions.  Definitely visit La Parroquia if you are in the Kennesaw, Georgia area.

The next day we spent in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina with my friend.  That is truly a gorgeous part of the Old South.  After walking the street markets and avoiding the kids selling sweet grass roses we took a quick elevator trip to the top of the Market Pavilion Hotel.  My friend wanted to give us a nice view of the city from the Market Pavilion's rooftop bar while we enjoyed a few adult beverages.  Since we had some time to blow we ordered the duck confit nachos appetizer.  This got me excited because I was a duck confit food virgin.  Too bad we didn't just order duck confit.  The nachos were slathered in what can only be referred to as a gritty and salty cheese sauce.  I was really disappointed because not only did it ruin my first duck confit experience, but it was $20 worth of gritty cheese sauce.  The lesson of this visit was that if you ever go to the Market Pavilion Hotel's rooftop bar in Charleston, don't order the duck confit nachos.  Well, you can order them, just skip the cheese.

Since we spent most of the next week driving around visiting cities in South Carolina and Georgia, most of our money was taken by the gas man.  We went pretty low class from Charleston on, visiting mostly fast food restaurants.  The good people of the South do not know how lucky they are to have drive through Chik-Fila's.  They have the greatest chicken sandwiches known to mankind and any way they can provide to obtain them easier is a real blessing.  Up here in the North, you are lucky to find a Chik-Fila, let alone a drive-thru Chik-Fila.  I also enjoyed the Krystal's restaurants, based in Chatanooga.  The burgers aren't the best, more like a poor man's White Castle, but they are edible.  What I really enjoyed were the Krystals' Chicks which are these little friend chicken sandwidches.  Two bites and you are done.  Those were excellent.  Too bad there isn't a Krystals within 200 miles of my house.

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