Jersey Exploration: Sweet Waters Steak House

In the spirit of blogging honesty, we will admit that we are catching up on a few entries this week to make sure that our food adventures of the year are still marked "2018" even if the exact date was embarrassingly long ago.  As you can tell from our clothes, it was still warm out when we visited Sweet Waters Steak House in Westfield for the first time.  This post has been sitting in the "edit" queue for a while!  But we did have a lovely afternoon lunch there, and it was worth noting before the year closes.

The atmosphere in this place strikes a nice balance: homey and welcoming, but a step above super casual dining.  Just right for a special meal that doesn't feel too stuffy.

We decided to split two appetizers and one main course so we could sample a few different flavors.

NUESKE'S SLAB BACON

Pan Seared, Maple Glaze

CRAB CAKE

Colossal Crab Meat, Bell Pepper, Scallion, Lemon Zest, Honey Dijon, Arugula,

Goat Cheese, Toasted Almonds, Champagne Vinaigrette

FILET MIGNON

Served with One Side (we chose creamed spinach)

All the dishes were delightful!  Exactly what you'd hope for in a local steakhouse.  We would certainly recommend it!

Thanksgiving: Turkey a la Grill Master

This year's Thanksgiving meal was pretty epic because... ROTISSERIE TURKEY HAPPENED!  Yes, you read that right.  Grill Master DJ cooked the turkey with our grill's rotisserie and it was AMAZING.

We did the usual brining process the night before, and then carefully secured the turkey to the rotisserie pole to make sure the wings weren't flapping down with each turn.

 

DJ gets a lot of credit for his determination because the weather that day was a bit dreadful.  No snow or rain, but the windchill factor made it feel like sub-zero at times.  He equipped himself with a good puffy vest and a nip of whiskey in his groomsman flask from Josh.

 

All was going according to plan until DJ looked out the window and noticed smoke was no longer streaming out from the wood chips.  

 

When he went to investigate, he discovered that the wind had actually blown out the fire.  Ummmm... yeah.... we hadn't accounted for that in any of the planning.  After a moment of panic and wondering whether we'd have to stick the turkey in the oven after all, we recruited some creative help from Toto and the two of them created a MacGyver hack to save the day: 

A random piece of plywood, some cinder blocks, and the grill cover created a tent to block the wind from the flames and we were back in business.  Though it took a bit longer than anticipated, it was definitely worth the wait!  The turkey was juicy and had a wonderfully smoky grilled flavor.  

 

We hope that we'll always be able to use this method to prepare our turkey, but now also learned the lesson that if it's a windy day we'll have to stick to the oven to minimize stress.

And as for the rest of the meal, we went with traditional sides.  We tried to use recipes that were simple to prepare the day before so on the actual Thanksgiving Day we just had to reheat everything so we could focus on the turkey.  These all wound up being a hit!

• Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Crazy Good Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese
• Slow Roasted Green Beans with Sage 
• "Simple is Best" Dressing (Thanksgiving stuffing)

After a few years of hit-or-miss Thanksgiving meals, we were really pleased with how everything came together this time around.  Holiday victory!

Crockpot Turkey Pumpkin Chili

One of our go-to food blogs is Table for Two.  When we're bored of everything we normally make, it's one of the first places we check for some fresh ideas.  During a recent cold spell, Mel was searching for some great slow cooker soups and this one caught her eye:  Crockpot Turkey Pumpkin Chili.

This recipe hit all the marks for a good crock pot recipe for us: minimal prep work, maximum flavor.  It even looks yummy before it's cooked! 

We wound up sharing some with DJ's parents, and they enjoyed it as well.  Definitely will keep this recipe in our collection for cold weather comfort food.

Slow-Scrambling Eggs from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings 2

Though Mel has been taking a step back from social media lately, one of her favorite celebrities to follow has always been Chrissy Teigen.  We tried a few recipes from her first cookbook, Cravings, and enjoyed them.  So when Cravings 2 was released, Mel treated herself to the purchase to enjoy some fun new recipe ideas alongside Teigen's trademark witty write-ups.

Cravings 2 has tons of great savory dishes to try, but interestingly enough the first thing we wound up trying was a side-bar tip for Slow Scrambling Eggs.

It's a simple, straight-forward technique that just requires a bit of patience.

On a morning when one has the extra time, it is quite fun to watch the eggs slowly come together.

And the end result is indeed delicious.  The eggs are fluffy and flavorful.  Definitely a technique we will continue to use when we're enjoying a leisurely breakfast.

Bakin' Bacon

We rarely splurge on eating bacon at home.  It's usually a treat we reserve for restaurant brunches or when we make breakfast for overnight guests.  But Mel saw this cool suggestion in Rachael Ray Every Day and thought it was definitely worth trying.

So simple, yet so genius.  Why didn't we think of this sooner?

In the end, we left our bacon in a bit longer than the recommended time.  We just kept an eye on it until it was the level of crisp we prefer.  But the whole process was so easy and the bacon came out perfect!  Our favorite part: no flying pops of grease from the pan or messy clean-up afterward.  This will be our only way to prepare bacon from now on!

Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb

Fun fact about DJ: he does not like American lamb.  He says he enjoyed the lamb he ate growing up in Ethiopia, but the lamb here is "too lamby."  When asked to define "lamby":  smelling and tasting like wet wool.  ::insert shrug emoji here::  Mel really enjoys lamb, so the times we've made it at home DJ just had to deal.  Until we tried THIS lamb from Fresh Direct: 

Mel ordered it on a whim because it was on sale, and lamb is usually pretty pricey.  And now, we are OBSESSED because DJ has declared it is "not lamby" and Mel concurs!  We're pretty sure it has to do with how the lamb is raised on this particular farm:




We looked into the option of buying directly from Brother's Ridge, but it looks like Fresh Direct made an exclusive deal with them so we'll have to stick with ordering from the middle man.  Our favorite way to prepare it is in the slow cooker.  We've found it comes out the most tender and flavorful that way.  The first time we made it, we used this recipe and it turned out fantastic:  Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb.





Served with a bit of spinach and cauliflower rice: delectable!


One day Mel was in a bit of a rush for mixing all the spices.  She realized that this Organic Berbere Seasoning (a gag gift from Sara one Christmas) is actually a blend of a lot of similar spices. 


Turns out that it works just as well for seasoning the lamb.  Sprinkle it over the lamb liberally, place the meat in the slow cooker on top of some onions and broth, cook on low for 6-8 hours, and you're all set!   Gotta love when a perfect meat meets a perfectly simple preparation.

Jersey Exploration: Basilico

For a long while after we moved to Jersey, our go-to option when we didn't feel like cooking was the hot buffet at Whole Foods.  But now thanks to the flurry of restaurants joining Door Dash, we are slowly getting back in the habit of treating ourselves to take-out meals on the weekend like we did when living in the city.  Our most recent take-out splurge: a bit of Italian flavors from Basilico in Millburn.

We're still doing our best to avoid processed foods and sugars, so we were pleased to find lots of delicious options that don't include pasta.  We wound up sharing three dishes, and the servings were so plentiful we had leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day.

Calamari Fra'diavolo

We love a good calamari dish, and this one hit all the right notes.  Spicy, as promised by the name, and not too chewy.  Definitely a win.

St. Tropez Salad

A nice dish featuring crab meat and shrimp.  Refreshing and light, and the grapefruit added a nice touch of acid to balance the seafood.

Chicken Liguria

We requested mixed vegetables instead of the pasta the dish usually comes with.  The chicken  was a bit tough, but the sauce and vegetables were tasty. 

We had heard great things about Basilico before, so we're glad we finally had a chance to try it.  We'll definitely remember them next time we're in the mood for Italian.

Jersey Exploration: The Salad House

One of the things Mel missed most when we first moved to NJ was all the places where you can get a fresh "make your own" salad.  Sometimes all you want is a nice leafy bowl of spinach topped with all your favorite items and tossed with a great dressing.  And sometimes buying all of those individual ingredients and making it yourself is much more expensive and annoying than going to a great "make your own" bar.  Unfortunately, a lot of those salad chains are not to be found in the Jersey mini-malls, and the ones that we did find were too far to be convenient. 

Finally, with the big boom of restaurants using Door Dash, we can now order from The Salad House in Westfield and get a delicious salad delivered!  Mel definitely did a food-happy-dance when we placed our first order.  The salads arrived super fast, and all the ingredients were super fresh.  We appreciate that they come in environmentally-friendly cardboard bowls, and the dressing is packed neatly on the side so you can drizzle or drench the greens to your liking.

Create Your Own Salad

(a whole smorgasbord of all our favorite ingredients; so easy to click and add from the Door Dash menu!)

The Grateful Gobbler

(spinach, oven roasted turkey, craisins, applewood bacon, cheddar cheese, seasoned croutons, and apple cider vinaigrette)

It's a no-brainer: we'll be ordering from here whenever those salad cravings hit!

Noble Made: Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce for the Win!

Wanted to dedicate a brief post to this fantabulous line of sugar-free sauces:  Noble Made by The New Primal.  (We find it at our Whole Foods.)

One of Mel's favorite slow cooker recipes of all time is 3-step pork ribs:  

1. Put ribs in slow cooker.
2. Douse ribs with one bottle of BBQ sauce.  
3. Cook on low for 7.5 hours.  

Really doesn't get simpler than that, and they always turn out great.  Then we decided to cut sugars and jarred BBQ sauce has a LOT of sugar.  Womp womp.  We thought we had to say goodbye to the easiest ribs ever - until now!  (Their Mustard BBQ sauce, not pictured here, is also amazing.)  Hooray to Noble Made for bringing this recipe back into our lives and tummies.  We now keep at least one jar of it in the pantry at all times. 

Rotisserie at Home?! Best.Grill.Ever.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, DJ was super pumped to invest in a grill of his choosing this year.  Two of the awesome features that really sold him on it are the built-in rotisserie and smoker box (insert soaked wood chips and let the smoky goodness commence - makes the whole yard smell like an awesome campfire).

For most of the summer, we focused on making steaks and burgers because the rotisserie requires a bit more effort.  Finally on a quiet day off from work, DJ decided to give it a spin (pun intended).  First, he turned on the grill to get the wood chips smoking.

  

Meanwhile, we seasoned a whole chicken with our favorite Jake's Grillin Poultry Rub and then skewered it with the main rotisserie pole and support prongs.

Ready for action!

Gently placed the rod onto the grill and prepared to be amazed.

 Once we turned it on, however, we realized a slight technical difficulty.

Mr. B, intrigued by all the excitement, came out to check the whole scene and used some of his PBS cooking show knowledge to help us readjust the prongs and tie the legs.  Now we're cookin'!

 

The end result:  truly the best chicken we've ever had.  Anywhere.  Ever.  Every bite so juicy and flavorful - even without the skin.  Mel couldn't stop marveling at how it tasted like we had doused it in sugar-laden BBQ sauce when we really only used dry spices.  We are never preparing whole chickens another way again.  We will go out there in snow if we must.

In fact, the chicken was so out of this world that a week later when we had family over DJ got adventurous and made two chickens simultaneously.  Everyone couldn't stop raving about them and asking for more.  This grill has truly been one of our best home improvements yet.

Green Goddess Dressing

We were lucky enough to have a visit from Alex and Shannon on the weekend we celebrated Toots's 80th birthday!  In the moments we weren't partying with the whole family, we had some quiet time in the house and Alex offered to make us his famous Green Goddess dressing.  He said it's a recipe that's healthy, tasty and comes in handy when you have a lot of basil on hand (which we do now thanks to our veggie garden - the basil is thriving!).

This is the original Green Goddess Dressing recipe Alex found and has tweaked over time to his personal flavor preferences.  Just in case the website should ever disappear, here's the direct text from TheKitchn.com:

 

Alex and Shannon suggested enjoying the dressing with a total vegetarian stir fry of extra firm tofu, zucchini, carrots, kale, spinach, and cauliflower rice.  The end result: pure veggie heaven! 

The Green Goddess is so flavorful and has the most refreshing aftertaste.  Such a satisfying way to enjoy greens.  We can't thank the Oakland crew enough for introducing it to us!

It's also worth noting that the dressing can last a few days in the fridge.  Mel and DJ wound up enjoying the leftovers for lunch for a few days, which led to this slight moral dilemma:

 There may have been a few tears shed when the last bit was finished.  But we'll certainly try to make it again on our own (or ask Alex to ship it to us weekly... whichever makes more sense).

July 4th LOBSTAH FEST: Fresh Salt at Saybrook Inn

For the July 4th holiday week, we wanted to take a mini road trip to enjoy a quiet New England beach town.  Using his excellent travel research skills, DJ found the quaint Saybrook Point Inn in Old Saybrook, CT.  Located right on a marina, this super kid-friendly place boasts lovely views of the ocean, a spa, and both an outdoor and indoor pool (in case of a rainy day).  It wasn't quite as close to the beach as we expected (driving distance rather than walking), but we loved hanging out at the pool and enjoying the serene view from our window.

An unexpected bonus: during the days we were there, it was Lobster Fest at Fresh Salt - the fabulous restaurant connected to the inn!  AND, you could get anything from the menu through room service.  AND, you could add lobster as a topping to any of their salads.  A total win: we could just relax in our bummy clothes and let the toddler run free in our room while enjoying some awesome meals.  Over the course of our stay, we ate so much lobster we agreed we probably would not crave it for the rest of the year.  Totally a splurge, totally worth it.  

TREAT YO SELF: Lobstah Edition

Quintessential Lobster Roll

Lobster Mango Salad

Lobster over Heirloom Tomato Salad

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

Fried Seafood Platter and Sriracha Calamari

Scallops with Caesar Salad

Berry Burrata Salad with Steak

Berry Burrata Salad with Lobster