I am thrilled to have so many readers!  I am sorry I have let you down, with fewer recipes and restaurant reviews per week than I normally have.  Personal problems have really slowed down my passion for cooking and eating.  Some would say that's a good thing... Anyway, I had no idea my readership had grown to over 4000! So, I will get back on that horse again soon!

Jiamen Innovative Asian

Jiamen Website
5400 Edgewood Road Northeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52411-4746
(319) 294-5889



I found myself with no dinner companion on a Saturday night and thought I would go try out Jiamen.  I have never heard anything good about this new Cedar Rapids Restaurant, but I am always searching for high end local eateries.  I arrived around 6:30pm, and the restaurant was...too quiet.  I decided to eat at the bar, something I never do, but the place looked fancy and I was in a t-shirt, so I guess I just didn't want to lower the class of the joint.  Anyway, the hostess handed me a menu and pointed to the bar.  I sat down and ordered a Chimay Red from the young Asian man behind the bar.  He couldn't find it in the case, I told him Chimay 3 times and pointed at it.  He pointed to Abt 12, no...Prior 8, no...finally he found it.  Just then, a female server popped the cap and brought me a frosted pint glass which I sent away immedietly. Never chill your glassware, and decline if served a frosted glass. Why? As the beer hits the frosted glass condensation will occur and dilute your beer, while at the same time alter the serving temperature. And Chimay should be served in a clean goblet or chalice, which they didn't have, so I had it in a snifter.  I was surprised the bar back did not pour my beer for me.  I ordered the Beef Tenderloin, Sea Scallops and Shrimp in a Red Wine sauce with the Hot and Sour Soup to start. I got my soup quickly in a darling little ceramic lidded pot.  The soup looked marvelous, but upon further investigation, I found it inedible.  It was so hot (not the temperature) that I must officially label this dish a palate killer.  I ate the little shrimp won ton out of it and pushed it aside.  My mouth was on fire, I wished I had ordered water.  The soup was also missing the sour element and needed more salt.  At this point, the only thing keeping my ass in my seat was the Beer.  The Lawrence Welk Show playing on the main TV over the bar did not leave me with the impression I was at a hip & modern restaurant.  My main course arrived and looked and smelled wonderful.  It came with one of those cute little lidded pots of steamed rice.  The dish was very good, the beef was tender, the broccoli was perfectly Al dente, and the shrimp and scallops were tasty.  I would have liked to have had a sear on the scallops.  The manager taak a few moments to chat with me as he heard I was unhappy with the soup.  He has since been to the kitchen and adjustments were being made to the recipe.  I was told that the chef was trying something different tonight.  Hmmmmm....

Now, I feel kinda like a jerk for the giving Jiamen the rating I must give them.  The wait staff was nice and the Manager, a real sweetie.  They didn't even charge me for the Chimay!  But, I must be honest, otherwise I am no better than the Hoople restaurant reviewer who NEVER finds fault in the restaurants she reviews.  Maybe because they are advertisers? (hehehe) I procrastinated long enough, I am awarding Jiamen .  Educate the bar staff, buy some proper glass wear, stop serving frosted glasses, keep the Chef from getting so bored he decides to melt off a few faces with his soup, and lower the prices.  You can ask those prices when the dining experience is high end.  (See Zins or Daniel Arthurs)

Tonight, make Nachos for dinner!


Tortilla Chips
Nacho Cheese Sauce
Diced Jalapeno
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Avocado
Lime
Salsa(try making my Best Cooked Salsa !)
1lb ground Beef
Salt
Texas Chili Seasoning:
2tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoons coriander
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder

Heat the Nacho Cheese Sauce on the stove top, add the finely diced jalapeno to the sauce.  Brown the ground beef and sprinkle the crumbled beef with 1 tablespoon of my Texas chili seasoning and salt to taste. Smash the avocado flesh with a fork and sprinkle with lime juice, salt to taste.
Assemble Nachos and eat!

(Note: I didn't eat the Nachos with this cheese sauce.  This was for my Son and Husband.  I made a similar dish for myself with vegan nacho cheese)

I made this for Randy's Birthday yesterday per his request. Oh My,
it was so good that nearly everyone at the party had seconds!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by rubbing with butter, sprinkling with flour and tapping out extra. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon then set aside. In small bowl combine eggs, milk, butter and vanilla. Beat well with hand mixer. Slowly add hot coffee and mix. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and fold and stir until smooth. Pour batter into pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove cake from pans and cool on racks.

Buttercream Recipe

10 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
8 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 cup egg whites (at room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 package Starbucks Via instant coffee dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

Chop the chocolates and melt until smooth in the microwave or in a double boiler. Allow to cool. Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tarter, and salt in the mixing bowl. Heat the egg white mixture in the bowl over simmering water until they are warm to the touch. Whisk on high speed until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak.  Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl and add the chocolate, vanilla and coffee until ingredients are completely blended.  If the buttercream seems too soft to spread, chill a bit and beat it again.

I used 7 different varieties of tomatoes from my garden!

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained (I also squeeze the seeds out)
2  cups chopped sweet yellow onion
1  cup chopped green pepper
3 – 5 chopped jalapenos (seeded)
6 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons  sugar
1/4 cup vinegar  
12 oz tomato paste
Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, simmer for 60 minutes. I chose to run mine salsa through the food processor so I didn't have to chop the veggies to small.  But you can leave it chunky and it is great!

If you are not grilling BBQ chicken this summer, you are just silly. We did chicken breasts on the ribs with the skin on it. The BBQ Sauce we used is Dad's BBQ Sauce from an earlier blog post.



The red potatoes I used in this tasty side dish were from my Dad's garden.  The green peppers and herbs are from my garden. Just chop 1/2 a red onion, a red, green or yellow pepper and 2 lbs of red potatoes with the skin on. Saute in a fry pan with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste and toss herbs in at the last few minutes.  I used parsley, but rosemary is wonderful in this dish and thyme is great in here too!

My garden has given me a bounty of fresh veggies, so much so, that I have had to freeze some of the produce.  This sweet corn is actually from my dads garden.  He has generously given us dozens of ears of corn.  We ate some on the cob with just butter and salt.  The rest of the ears I blanched for 5 minutes in boiling salted water and cut it off the cob.  I then placed the kernels in freezer bags, weighing them with a food scale.  I dated the bags with a Sharpie so we can eat the oldest ones first.  It will be a burst of summer sweetness to be able to eat this home grown sweet corn.

Ingredients

4 cups diced tomatoes
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together. Toss thoroughly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

(hint: I like to squeeze the seeds and jelly like stuff out of the tomatoes before I dice)
 

You may have ordered Carpaccio in a restaurant, and you probably paid from $10-$15.  It is so simple to make this elegant appetizer at home for a few bucks and very little effort. 

Thinly slice the beef tenderloin into approximately into 1/8" slices. Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic with the edges touching. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin. I put a pie tin on top of it and pounded that so the beef was flat and even. Drizzle lightly with a high quality extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and a teaspoon of capers with a little bit of the brine.  Shave Parmesan over the top and serve with crackers or toast points.