King of Pops

Clearly, this is my “hit up every single eatery I’ve yet to visit in Atlanta” week on YAWYEOR.  My apologies to those of you who aren’t within driving distance…but it does give you an idea of how much food is at my disposal at any given second. 
It also gives you an idea of how much exercise I should be doing.

On one of my most recent jaunts around town (in search of food, of course), my friend and I ended up at the corner of North Ave. and North Highland.  To those of you not familiar with this little corner, this is the official home of  King of Pops.  

King of Pops might seem like merely a popsicle stand, but trust me, it’s so much more.  On this corner, Steven Carse, the owner, mastermind, and all around cool guy (see- cute), is quickly turning an everyday treat into a full on institution.

He’s using fresh, local ingredients all the while creating some incredibly tasty and innovative treats….(and an insane amount of buzz along the way.)
Just look to his trusty chalkboard for that day’s selection to see exactly how creative he can be.
(Fresh GA Peach, Chocolate Sea Salt, Honeydew Basil, Strawberry Rhubarb, Hibiscus Margarita and the list goes on…)

Unfortunately, I’ve only visited Steven’s cart once…had the chocolate sea salt.
Loved it.
Loved it so much I got it all over myself.

Guess I’ll just have to remember to use a napkin (or 40) next time.

So if you’re in the area, he’ll be tending his cart Tue-Fri/3p-730p and Sat-Sun/12n-730p. Oh and while you’re at it, get a t-shirt. Just sayin’.

*Thanks to King of Pops for letting me shove my camera in his face.

**Now go follow him at http://twitter.com/thekingofpops

Stumble It!

can someone please make these immediately?

I just finished perusing my latest issue of Southern Living and came across a recipe that just made my mouth water.  The odds of me making this anytime in the near future is pretty slim to none.  Ash is not a fan of crab cakes…this is still a complete mystery to me as the fella will take down some crab and artichoke dip from Clydes. And if you’re not familiar with that dip, I’ll put the recipe up soon so you can become very well aquainted and soon fall in love.

What was I saying…oh yes crab cakes from Southern Living.

Tell me you’re not starving after reading this:

“MINI CRAB CAKES WITH GARLIC-CHIVE SAUCE”

1 (8oz) package fresh lump crabmeat, drained

3 whole grain white bread slices (no this is not an oxymoron)

1/3 cup light mayo

3 green onions, thinly sliced(or for those of us who don’t work at Taco Bell, we call them scallions..sister knows this!)

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

vegetable cooking spray

salt to taste

(garlic-chive sauce…to follow in a future post.  wipe your mouth, you’re starting to drool…)

1. pick crabmeat, removing any bits of shell. get out your handy dandy food processor and pulse 5x or until finely (or finally) crumbled.  this should be about 1 1/2 cups.

2. stir together mayo and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.  “gently” stir in the breadcrumbs and crabmeat.  now it’s time to shape these bad boys into 16 (2 in.) cakes (about 2 tbsp each).

3. cook cakes in batches on a hot large griddle/nonstick skillet.  coat the skillet with cooking spray. cook them over medium-low heat for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  season with salt to taste.  then transfer the cakes to a baking sheet and keep them warm in a 200 degree oven for up to 30 minutes.

 

Oh save me…I’m about to grab my purse and drive straight to Fresh Market for a case of lump crab meat….yikes this was a bad idea!

so…i made this the other night

Chicken fried rice, that is…and although it wasn’t anywhere nearly as delectable as chicken fried rice from any Chinese restaurant, namely, the Golden Buddha,  or as Ash affectionately refers to it, the Golden Kitty, I will say that in its reheated form, it was actually pretty darn tasty. So, with that said, here is what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cups cooked white rice, cold- if you’re in a hurry, go cheap….buy the boil in a bag kind and when it’s ready, run it under ice cold water.

2 tablespoons soy sauce (more to taste)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup cooked, chopped chicken meat (or if you’re lazy like me, you can buy ground chicken)

1 can of bean sprouts

DIRECTIONS:

 

1. Brown the chicken until no longer pink, set aside.
2. In a small bowl, beat egg with water. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add egg and leave flat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and cut into shreds.
3. Heat oil in the same skillet…be ocd and wipe it out clean since you’ve now cooked chicken and eggs in it..dirty; add onion and saute until soft. Then add rice, soy sauce, pepper and chicken. Stir fry together for about 5 minutes, then stir in egg. Serve hot.

 Now, again, this wasn’t the best first run meal.  So after careful consideration here are a few thoughts on how to improve it:

1. cook the rice the day before / way ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight.  (There’s just something a little more authentic about “sticky” rice.)  It works much, much better than my above instructions of running it under ice cold water.

2. Use sesame oil instead of vegetable oil. Heck, you can even substitute sesame oil for butter.

3. Add more veggies.  Ash isn’t a huge veggie lover, but if you love ‘em, add snow peas, carrots, whatever your heart desires…

 

And then reheat until the rice can’t take being nuked anymore….

ps. I have officially tried to upload these pictures (you know for my visual presentation) 4 times.  As you can tell, there are no pictures on this post.  WordPress and I are currently fighting.  If wordpress keeps it up, I may have to introduce you are what you eat… to my other close friend, blogspot.com.  I’m just sayin…