First off, what classifies EVOO from regular olive oil?  Traditionally, it means it is the oil from the first pressing of the olive fruit, which results in oil that has a low percentage of free oleic acid or less oxidation.  In general, the lower the level, the better.  Oils that are made from lesser quality olives or the remains of the first pressing olives are less flavorful and have higher levels of free acidity.

Manufacturers have the technology to take lesser quality olive oil and chemically lower the free oleic level so that the oil technically qualifies as “extra virgin.”  How do you know what you’re really buying?  It comes down to knowing how the olive oil was produced – from how the olives were grown, picked, and processed.  To a certain extent, this translates to trusting the producer, since most of us are not able to personally visit the production locations of where these oils are coming from.  It doesn’t have anything to do with the color of the oil, as some producers will add olive leaves to fruit during the extraction process for greener oil.  Taste is absolutely a part of it, so if you’re able to taste the oil before purchasing, all the better!  Be careful of flavorings and additions to the olive oil though, they are sometimes added to mask lower quality.

Here are a couple brands that we enjoy, great and affordable enough for everyday use:

• Colavita
• Unio

For the more special occasions, don’t be afraid to splurge a little!  Amazing olive oil does makes a big difference, drizzled across warm, hearty bread or a fresh salad.  Here are some that we have tried and love – we will continue adding to the list as we come across them!

• Storm Olive Ranch
• Renzo Baldaccini’s in Lucca

We’ve tried out some of the other dishes, the pork belly ramen, quail egg wrapped in bacon, and shrimp tempura sliders in an Asian style bun.  While not bad, the other dishes pale in comparison to the Ton Katsu Curry Ramen – in our humble opinion.    The plus side is the kitchen is open pretty late (until at least midnight, later on weekend nights), so that you can get your ramen fix on those late nights.

Overall the burrito was pretty decent and although lacking in a particular area, it had a solid size to it and I found it to be very filling.  At my local Taco Bell in downtown Minneapolis, the Cantina Bell Steak Burrito was $4.99 plus tax which is fairly comprable if not slightly cheaper than something similar purchased at a competitor.  Upon first opening the wrapper you notice the flat grill marks on the top and bottom, which lets off a nice warm baked goods type aroma.  The first few bites were appetizing and the rice, meat, lettuce, and salsa blend were well disbursed throughout the burrito. 

Everything both tasted and looked very fresh, except for one thing: the guacamole, which was completely disgusting.    I’ve read reviews about the Subway guacamole sandwiches being terrible, but I can’t fathom the idea that it might be worse than this.  With each bite that I took, the watery green liquid that they’re calling “guacamole” leaked out of the top of the burrito.  As someone who loves to eat avocado straight out of the shell this was absolutely terrifying -  though, not quite enough to deter me from eating the rest of the burrito.

It’s definitely worth a try, but I think that the offerings of Chipotle are still much better when it comes to fresh ingredients.  Thus, I give it an overall rating of 6 out of 10.

What you need:
-Knob Creek Bourbon (They use a special edition 120 proof)
-Simple Syrup (Sugar Water)
-Angostura Bitters
-Orange Peel (1 x 2-3 inch section)
-Ice
-Grenadine (optional)

Tools:
-Muddler
-Strainer
-Spoon/Stirrer
-Straws (for sampling)

Step 1a - Put 3-4 small ice cubes or 1-2 large ice cubes into a tall glass.
Step 1b - Break apart ice into smaller pieces using muddler.
Step 1c - Add 2-3 small or 1-2 large ice cubes into the glass.
Step 2 - Pour one ‘shake’ of Angostura Bitters into glass over ice, don’t over do it.
Step 3 - Pour 1 oz (one shot glass worth) of Simple Syrup over the ice.
Step 4 - Add a slow 4 second pour (about 2.0-2.5oz) of Bourbon into the glass.
Step 5 - Slowly roll the orange peel between your fingers while pressing together, pointing the crease downward into the glass to ‘shoot’ the orange oils into the mixture.
Step 6 - If you wish, you may add a TINY bit of Grenadine at this point.
Step 7a - With your spoon/stirrer stir the drink at a moderate pace to slowly melt down the ice. It will take approximately 30-40 seconds but this is where it gets tricky.
Step 7b - With the straw, dip one end into the drink and hold your finger over the other end, and release into your mouth to sample. What you’re looking for is in step 7c.
Step 7c - The key is to catch the mixture right as the burn from the bourbon fades, and the sweetness of the simple syrup takes over. You’re looking for a dilution of about 20% from the melting ice in the glass while stirring. The sample should not burn, but be smooth, slightly sweet with a rich bourbon taste.
Step 8 - Put few large, or several small ice cubes into a new drinking glass, and with a strainer pour the mixture into it.

Enjoy your awesome Old Fashion.

For the sushi rice, there are only a few ingredients you need: a Japanese short-grain sushi rice, rice vinegar, salt, sugar.  Add to that the seaweed sheets (nori), and you’re halfway there.  For the sauces to accompany the sushi, we had soy sauce, wasabi, and spicy mayo (we just mixed together Japanese kewpie mayo and srichacha sauce to taste).

All of the above were fairly easy to find at a local Asian grocery store.  For our fish, we decided to get fresh salmon, ahi tuna, and hamachi (yellowtail).  All three (and more) were available in sashimi-grade from Coastal Seafoods in Minneapolis.  Along with very reasonable prices, they had a very large selection of sushi grade fish; the fish guy at the counter was also knowledgeable and friendly.

After picking up our seafood and supplies, we tackled the rice making process.  There is a very specific way to make the sushi rice – it involves thoroughly rinsing the rice through a strainer until the water runs clear, soaking the rice for 30 minutes and cooking the rice on low heat to just the right consistency – takes about 20 to 30 minutes.  While the rice is cooking, you simmer rice vinegar with sugar and salt (watch the heat so that the mixture doesn’t boil!).  That’s what gives the rice it’s sweet, sticky quality.  To mix the rice with the rice vinegar, you’re supposed to use a large wooden dish or bowl, but we only had a glass bowl on hand.  It is highly recommended that you do not use a metal bowl for this, as the acidity in the vinegar will create undesirable effects when brought into contact with the metal bowl.  Another tip is to make sure that you gently fold the rice onto itself when mixing in the vinegar solution; mixing too aggressively will cause the rice to crush.  Overall, making the rice wasn’t too difficult, although it did take some experimentation to get the rice to the correct consistency.

You’ll see the pictures of the cut fish below.  The cuts that we had to work with were not exactly the best for cutting long pieces for rolls, but it ended up going okay.  The main points that we followed were simply to cut in 1/4 – 1/2 inch slices, while cutting against the grain of the fish.  Some more experience would get your sashimi looking much better than this, but we weren’t too worried about it.

The most hilarious part of the entire process was attempting to make the sushi rolls.  Sashimi is easy: cut fish, dip in soy sauce, eat.  Rolls as we found, are a different story.  We were taken back to our primary school days of play-doh sculpting as we attempted to stick the rice down to the nori and instead ended up with the rice completely covering our hands.  It was a disaster.  Rice everywhere!  Once we managed to get the rice covering the nori, we realized that we had put far too much rice, which caused the fish and avocado to explode out of it when attempting to roll.  So here is our advice: wet your hands before grabbing the rice, use a thinner layer of rice on the nori than you think you need.  We also found it easier to form the sushi rolls with the rice on the outside, and you can get more ingredients in the middle.

Our end product was not exactly picture perfect, but it tasted great all the same.  We can’t wait to try our homemade sushi adventure again in the near future.  Overall it was fairly straight forward process, and a lot of fun.  We’d definitely recommend giving this a try!

About an hour before it was done, we cooked up some rice in a separate pot to add a little more filling to the stew.  For those of you who noticed we didn’t mention adding the peas to the slow cooker yet, you get a point for being observant.  To avoid overcooking the peas, you want to add them 30 minutes before turning off the slow cooker.  It’s also a good idea to taste and adjust seasonings as necessary before the cooking is done.  Remember, the longer the spices mix together (even after the cooking process), the more robust the flavor.  As we let the stew cool, we sprinkled a bit of parsley some more color, all before spooning into our tupperware containers already layered with rice on the bottom.

Sounds good, right?  It tasted amazing and best thing, it was extremely inexpensive.  We opportunistically look out for coupons/deals on items commonly used in slow cooking such as canned beans and proteins (chicken, beef, sausage, etc).  We bought the sausage as part of a BOGO (buy one get one) free deal and the canned beans and tomatoes at a discount using coupons, saving us some cash.  The cost came out to be a little over $12 in total, and made about 8 servings at roughly $1.50 each.  Now that’s some good, cheap eating!

• Getting food costs to $2 or less per serving
• Spending quality time with each other while preparing a large batch of food
• Minimizing cooking and food preparation during the work week
• Decreasing intake of processed foods by having prepared meal options

Since that day, slow cooking on Sunday has been a regular activity for us.  We eat our already prepared great-tasting, homemade meals during the week, saving at least $3+ each per day on what it would’ve likely cost to buy lunch at the workplace cafeteria or restaurant joint down the street.

We look forward to sharing our weekly recipes and hope they will inspire you to start slow cooking as well!