This week is the start of U of M's fabulous winter break and as such Wolverine Cuizine's staff is headed all over the continent! Some of us are lucky enough to migrate to warmer climates while others brave the snow and hold down the fort! 

In any case, The Blogazine will take a break until Monday March 8th. with new and fun foods, some clumsy encounters with new cuisines and savory and sumptuous recipes

I haven’t had much experience cooking with lentils but I love eating them! I decided to try out the lentil soup the cookbook had to offer because not only did it sound good, but it seemed like a quick way to make a good meal.

The directions were clear for the most part. The only thing that caught my attention was that the recipe called for chopped onions but it didn’t specify which type of onion to use. I ended up using what I already had, which was a part of a white onion and a bit of red onion. I halved the recipe since it makes enough soup for 6 and I didn’t need that much and I found that I needed to add about 2 more cups of water while it was simmering in order to keep enough water in it. All in all, the directions were clear and easy to follow and the recipe was super easy to make and delicious!

Imagine you’re driving to dinner with your family.  The seven seat SUV is comfortably filled, with ages ranging from three (for your baby sister) to 85 (for your grandmother).  The silence in the car becomes thicker as everyone begins to realize how little they have in common, so Dad clicks on the radio and turns it to the Oldies Station.  Muscles relax and minds wander as the safe, bubble-wrapped sounds of The Monkees emanate from the speakers.  Tracks from Smokey Robinson, Barry Manilow, and the mystifyingly popular Swedish rock quartet ABBA follow as the car ride concludes at Olive Garden.

The similarities shared between Oldies radio stations and The Olive Garden are not insignificant.  The popularity of both institutions represents a culture that revolves around caution and predictability.  Every time a person steps foot into an Olive Garden, they resign themselves to entrees filled with mediocrity.  Linguine with Marinara, spaghetti with bolognese, three-cheese lasagna—every dish on the menu merely regurgitates recipes that have long ago been refined and perfected in order to fit within a profit margin.  You are guaranteed to receive an unspectacular meal, neither good nor bad.  So why come?

The comfort that one gains from falling into a predictable routine can be soothing because it removes the risk from everyday life.  Going to a new Italian restaurant represents a leap of faith many in our era of pervading social conservatism are unwilling to take.  The food could be delicious, but it could also be subpar, and the risk-averse will not accept that tradeoff.  This is the same reason that oldies stations survive.  They simply take the same product (The Monkees, Motown) and broadcast it over and over in differing combinations and orders.  It is the musical equivalent of mixing and matching your pastas and sauces.  There is no new product, and consequently, no risk.  Fans of Norman Rockwell art and novels sold on shelves in grocery stores can sympathize with this society because they are often part of it.  The food or music or art is simply a vehicle that delivers comfort while diluting the vibrancy in our culture.

As youth, it would be easy to follow the trends established by the previous generation.  However, when those trends lead toward a culture devoid of personality, we must unlearn ingrained lessons.  We must utilize the lack of inhibition inherent in our growing minds and delve into other, more obscure restaurants. We must brave a Paesano’s or Mediterrano.  The thrill of the unknown will titillate the adventurous sectors of the brain left untouched by the Olive Garden, and guide us down the path to cultural salvation.    

Midterms are beginning to roll around and everyone’s stress levels are higher than normal. It’s that time of the semester when everyone is tired, cranky, and looking for quickly-prepared meals and snacks to hold them over while they study. One easy trick to your daily nutritional intake is sure to take care of this issue.

There are an innumerable amount of benefits to eating a well-balanced meal first thing in the morning. According to nutrition.about.com, breakfast is the single most important meal of the day and is guaranteed to get you going on the right track for the rest of the day.

Eating a healthy breakfast will jumpstart your metabolism which will help you focus more intently on what the professor is saying, and your brain will respond better and retain more information. Coffee is great if you need to be alert for an early class, but if you don’t have any substance in your stomach to go along with that cup o’ joe, you’ll be doomed in class when you’re too jittery to focus on what the professor is saying. Drink a full glass of orange juice instead with your quick morning meal and take a daily vitamin. The orange juice will help absorb all those nutrients more efficiently. You will be more likely to eat healthily the rest of the day and will be less tempted to get the munchies or eat sugary and fatty snacks in between classes. 

When it comes to working out and trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is skip breakfast or eat something unhealthy when you first wake up.  If you want to get in an workout before a busy day, eat something small but substantial beforehand, like a banana or fiber-filled granola bar, that way you don’t pass out and the energy you gain from working out won’t go to waste. Your body expects to be refueled throughout the day, and does not function properly without it. Depriving your body will only make losing weight more difficult and slow down the process of reaching your goal. Statistics even prove that those who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.

So then what should you eat for breakfast?  As explained by nutrition.about.com, a healthy breakfast should include 2 key elements: protein and fiber. Perfect healthy breakfast foods include fruits, vegetables, eggs, yogurt with whole grain granola, whole grain cereal, oatmeal, and even peanut butter spread on whole grain toast. If you get bored with the taste of fiber-rich whole grain foods like cereal or oatmeal, simply cut up strawberries, banana, kiwi, or any other kind of tasty fruit to add some colorful flavor to your breakfast.

Both the body and the brain need fuel to get you through the day, so feed it right from the beginning and you’ll be guaranteed to get through your daily routine with ease.

Resources:
1. Nutrition.about.com-Breakfast
2.Orange Juice Picture
3.Oatmeal Picture

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Coffee is nearly a number one necessity for college students. This is probably pretty obvious from the numerous Expresso Royale and Starbucks cafes on campus. But did you ever think of not drinking it, but eating it?

As strange as it sounds, coffee goes very well with spare ribs. And (if you need any more pros), it’s a super easy recipe to boot.

When deciding which recipes to review for the cookbook, Freshman in the Kitchen, the “Toasted Coconut and Lime Biscotti” recipe immediately appealed to me. Spending a summer in Italy among avid biscotti connoisseurs left me impressed with this sidekick to espresso. I was hungry for more, so to speak, and grabbed hold of this recipe review as the perfect way to learn the art of creating uno biscotto. 

At first, I was apprehensive at the thought of working with biscotti dough because I had always assumed it to be totally different from American cookie dough. In reality, biscotti and cookie dough basically look and work the same. The only trouble I had when forming the dough was using the little moisture provided by the eggs and vanilla extract to meld all of the dry ingredients together. Eventually, I learned that working with a spoon was a bad idea so I tossed it into the sink and set about working the dough into two logs with my hands. The results were tremendously better. After that minor dough issue, the baking times were right on and the biscotti themselves turned out with the perfect consistency and texture. I was incredibly impressed with my results!

Even more exciting than getting the right results from my biscotti dough was being able to taste the treats! After bullying the irksome dough into looking like two logs, the nontraditional flavor combination of lime zest and toasted coconut proved worth the effort. The recipe calls for unsweetened coconut but if you are like me, and can only find the sweetened version on your campus store shelves, then go ahead and use it. Even when I used the sweetened coconut, the result was a subtle, not-too-sweet blend of island flavors. 

I highly recommend this recipe for the novelty of the ingredients and the ease of preparing the dough. The touch of sweet in the biscotti pairs perfectly with a cup of bitter espresso. Delicious! When a recipe yields few mistakes on my part, I consider it a keeper. 

I decided to try out the “Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon Cream Sauce and Peas” for my Freshman in the Kitchen cookbook review based on the high amount of cream and bacon involved in this dish. I figured this pasta-concoction would be perfect for my boyfriend, as guys tend to love meals with a high fat content.  I soon discovered why dudes crave fat-laden cuisine. 

The salty, rich, and cheesy quality of the pasta combined with an aftertaste of sweetness from the peas made this dish the perfect answer to a frigid winter Ann Arbor day. When I set about preparing this dish, I had been away all weekend and spent a considerable amount of time enduring freezing weather conditions. When I returned home, I wanted nothing more than to cook a no-fuss and cozy meal to thaw me out.

I was apprehensive when I noticed that heavy cream was a key component of the sauce. In my experience, using cream usually involves spending upwards of 30 minutes tirelessly stirring to thicken the sauce. Thankfully, this was not the case in this recipe!  Frying bacon is quite a simple kitchen task and turned out to be the most labor-intensive job I would have during the cooking-session. My only issue occurred when I set a plastic spatula on a burner that I’d accidentally turned on and had to deal with the terrible smell of hot, melting plastic. Not one of my finer moments.

Other than my spatula mishap, the preparation and result of my cooking turned out wonderfully. My only suggestion would be to add another ½ cup of peas or perhaps throw some spinach on top. The steam from the sauce would have immediately wilted the spinach and not caused any more work. Adding some more green to the dish would have made it more visually appealing as well (not that it needed it though)! It always makes me feel virtuous when I am able to toss extra vegetables in with my meals. 

At long last the picture's from our Roos Roast excursion are up for your viewing pleasure. Roo's is a local coffee company that specializes in excellent coffee. 

Trip couldn't have been better. Organized by our Ann Arbor Flavor editor, Zak King, several of us headed out one cold morning to indulge in my personal drug of choice: coffee. As if sampling countless blends wasn't enough of a treat, John, the head of this brilliant roasting operation, made us quiche. Yes a quiche, muffins, cookies and...salmon? were all present. If you'd like to here more about our coffee filled morning, check out Zak's article describing his coffee high and hangover!

For restaurant week, my roommate Caitlin and I decided to visit The Earle. For $25 it was a great deal and the portions of food were very decent for the discounted price. Portions are something that restaurants love to skimp on, especially when we are paying a lesser price. Last spring when we went to The Chop House I only received a 6oz filet and the tiniest sliver of cheesecake for dessert. Not the same case with The Earle! The restaurant had a great ambiance, and the dining room feels like a cozy cellar although the stairway down to get into the restaurant can only be described as "creepy". I had the bean soup, and Caitlin had the potato leek. Neither was outstanding, but was decently tasty. We ordered an extra calamari appetizer from the main menu, and this was delicious. The rings were tender, delicately breaded and fried to a golden crisp with a balanced dipping sauce. For the entree I had the duck breasts with potato puree which were amazing. They were perfectly cooked, and I received 2 breasts! My friend had the filo-wrapped salmon and this too was delicious...especially the sauce! Chocolate mousse for dessert was great. Overall, service was very slow but forgivable since it was packed for restaurant week. They had a great wine list with many very reasonably priced options in the $20-$30 range. (The cheapest one was only $16!) The sommelier was also very help in that selection, and we enjoyed a lovely red for $28. Overall, it was a good experience, and we left happy, full and wanting to return for another meal some time when it is not as busy. 

A few weeks ago (01.17-01.22) was "Restaurant Week” where we are. Basically, a lot of the restaurants downtown (which are normally priced higher than a student's budget) offer meals for a little cheaper than normal.

A lot of places offer lunch for $12, and some places had a "2 for 1" deal.  My friends and I went to "Blue Nile”, an Ethiopian restaurant that had the "2 for 1" deal. It was a competition between Seva's, a vegetarian/vegan place, and Blue Nile, and honestly, I'm glad Blue Nile won out.

The staff were very friendly. Being the camera foodie that I am, I asked if we could move to a seat by the window so I could get better shots of the food. The host immediately said, "Sure, sure! That's no problem at all!"

On the 2-for-1 $12 menu, there were four items. My roommates, friend, and I ended up getting two different dishes, the ZilZil Wat and Yedoro Tibs, with different vegetable sides as well as a cup of spiced Ethiopian tea. Our tea arrived first.

We were intrigued by the tea because of its very complicated description. The menu described it as "a unique drinking experience: in the Ethiopian diet, there is no cane sugar.  However, the tea is both sweet and light!  The reason is because of its natural ingredients, including rose hips, cinnamon, orange and lemon peels, cloves, and chamomile.  Spiced Ethiopian Tea is all-natural, tasty, refreshing, and good for you!"

Of course, my friends and I couldn't help but be tempted by the sheer amount of spices in the tea. When it arrived, we were rather surprised by how spicy it actually was. However, it wasn't the type of spiciness that sets your mouth on fire but the type that actually warms your body. I was initially a bit worried because after a waft of the tea, I was rather put off by the amount of sweetness I smelled in it. But after a few sips, I (literally) warmed up to it. To offset its sweetness, I copied my roommate and added some ice cubes from our water. Because the flavor was so concentrated to begin with, there was no flavor lost and the tea seemed to actually taste better as a cool drink than a warm one.

Our food arrived rather quickly after our waitress brought us hot towels to wipe our hands with. I suppose I shouldn't complain since we arrived right before the end of the lunch period at around 14:30, but the food was rather lukewarm instead of hot. Even if I know that restaurants tend to cook in bulk and just ladle the portions on, I might wish that it was heated up a bit more.

First off, two of our group ordered the Yedoro Tibs, described as "Chicken breasts marinated overnight in fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, shallots and cilantro. Grilled to perfection and served with choice of rice and vegetables."

It was certainly grilled very well. I'm always hesitant to eat chicken breasts at restaurants out of the worry that it's been dried out/overcooked, but that wasn't the case with Yedoro Tibs. Even after grilling, the chicken was still nice and moist. Since I've never eaten this before, I was wondering if I was supposed to be tasting more of the herbs that it was marinated in. I could definitely taste that it had been marinated in something, but it might have been nice to taste more of the spices as well since they seemed to be a bit lacking in this particular plate. Overall, a relatively positive first impression of Ethiopian food.

And moving on to the ZilZil Wat, a dish consisting of "choice lean beef is gradually simmered in tangy berbere, onions and purified herbed butter served with two vegetables of the day and injera, bread".

This was also a fairly nice dish, however, it's also one of those dishes where I felt that it would have been so much more amazing if it had just been hotter. We (the ones who officially ordered ZilZil Wat) were given sides of more injera bread. Unfortunately, injera bread is the type of food that loses its heat easily, so it made the lukewarm food even cooler.

This was made up for by the flavor of the food though. The ZilZil Wat is definitely a much more flavorful dish that complements the simplicity of the injera bread very well. It was just slightly spicy enough to make up for the simpler taste of the injera bread.

I also enjoyed the vegetable sides, one of which was gomen, "chopped collard greens cooked with onions, garlic, jalapeno peppers, and spices" and the other, which was defen yemisir alecha, "Lentils harmoniously blended with onions, spices, and herbs." I'm the type that could go without lentils, but I tried it and thought it was rather enjoyable. The collard greens side was wonderful though. Because the ZilZil Wat is intense in flavor, the slight bitterness from the collard greens also offset the spices a bit to give the person eating a bit of a "break".

Overall, Blue Nile was a fairly positive dining experience. The only thing I might be miffed about was the cost of about $2 for a small cup of tea...will avoid that in the future, but the dishes themselves were relatively satisfying and the nice service also provided a nice atmosphere for casual diners.