Dale & Thomas Popcorn – Purple Spoon Ice Cream

Aug 6th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 4 Comments

Last Royal Oak visit, we decided to get some Popcorn at Dale & Thomas. Purple spoon has opened in the same space and I guess its a knock off of pinkberry. I’ve never had the latter so I can’t compare the two. 

I really loved the signs, design and feel for the place. There was a huge image of a corn field that was lit and it set a light and happy tone for the location. 

Many popcorn flavors like you see below, from BBQ to cheddar-chipotle. We tend to be sweet salty luvin kinda ppl so we went for… 

…The chocolate Chunk Caramel. We ate it for 2 days, and it was divine. The cookies n creme would be interesting to try next time. 

Very cute decor, very bad acting on my part. 

I loved how they presented the popcorn, in the farmers wood buckets. 

In the back the popcorn was popping away, the smell wafting beautifully thru the room. 

They had a turning urn thing that you add the flavor to and it keeps rotating to cover all the popcorn. 

They made the chocolate caramel by drizzling it all over a pan of popcorn, and letting set. 

It was crunchy, fresh, sweet, salty and perfect. I loved that there were big chunks of chocolate here and there. It was a really good treat. 

As for the Purple Spoon part of it, the decor is a bit more modern and minimalistic. It’s theme doesn’t mesh 100% with the farmers theme of the popcorn part, but it’s not too bad. Also, if you buy the popcorn first, they will give you a coupon (1$ off) of the icecream. 

Positives is the low calorie. Negatives are that flavors are limited, but they cycle them. I had the original tart. It was good. Not great, but good.  

You can add toppings for 75 cents each. I’m not a toppings fan in general, but if I were going to try something it would be the fruit or candy. I would skip the cereal. 

The frozen yogurt was good, but I don’t see myself ever craving it. I’m a bit of an ice cream snob i guess.

As for the popcorn, I loved it, and my glass ball says there is more salty sweet popcorniness in my future.

always uncut.

Mexican Banana Icecream

Jun 22nd, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 7 Comments

If any of you watch Jeff Dunham, you know of Jose, the Jalapenjo on a stick. His voice is stuck in my head as I make these. “kh-ellloo…I am kh-0se, kh-alapenjo…on a stick” If you don’t, you HAVE to click here to watch. You just have to see it. I said you have to.

 If you don’t I will find you and tickle you with a feather till you pee, or die, whichever comes first.

So…basically… when your mother in-law comes over and launches a bunch of bananas on your counter do u make A) smoothies B) bananas foster C) Banana Icecream (please pretend you didn’t read the title of this post…haha). If you know me, you know I love any frozen yummy wummy thing. This is easy peezy breezy, fast, very healthy and yummy alternative to  icecream. It’s lactose free, gluten free (if u dont include the tortilla chips), and very low in calories. Totally guilt free(but I never feel guilty about eating.lol).

Use some bamboo skewers and run it carefully thru the banana.

Now at this step, you can either  freeze the bananas first (at least an hour, but not too long because they become really hard), and then move on to the next step (chocolate), or, you can do the next step and then freeze. I like to freeze first then dip in chocolate (so you can actually taste the chocolate).

This is a case where double dipping is not only allowed, but encouraged!

Melt and temper some chocolate and add some chilipowder, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some black pepper and some smoked paprika. Sweet and spicy!

I LOVE eating these straight off the stick, but that day, i had company coming, and wanted to serve in a plate, so I improvised a way to keep the chocolate from going everywhere before I slipped the banana off into a plate.

The final touch, some cruched tortilla chips. Perfect touch of salt and crunch!

They were gobbled up too fast for me to take a final pic, but believe me, this is a crowd pleaser, and totally kid friendly, and easy for them to make.

Bananas freeze amazingly well and end up having a texture like icecream. You HAVE to try this!

Molecular: Peanut Butter powder & jelly noodles

Jun 12th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 10 Comments

 Before I go into my latest molecular gastronomy shinanigans I want to take a moment to explain some of the properties of Tapioca Maltodextrin and Agar Agar, the 2 main components I worked with for this recipe.

Tapioca Maltodextrin:

1. makes powders
2. hates water (becomes gooey with any trace)
3. only works with fatty products, low water content
4. must never be left uncovered
5. must be 40% of final prouct. Meaning if you use 200g for eg of peanut butter, you must use 40% of 200g, which is 80g maltodextrin
6. works by absorbing fat and holding it in the powder, to be released on water contact ie. your tongue

Agar Agar:

1. red algae extract
2. forms gels
3. sugar is a promoter
4. sets 35-45 degrees celcius
5. melts 80- 90 degrees celcius
6. dries out if left uncovered. can rehydrate if left in water
7. must make up at least 0.2% of final product, depending on how firm you want it to be

You can find out alot more (where i got most of this info) via this great primer of hydrocolloids on Khymos.org.

So, on to my fooling around

I wanted to have a play on the traditional peanut butter and jelly, by making it taste exactly like that but look completely different. I figured a noodle inspired dish was the way to go, so strawberry noodles with peanut butter ‘parmesan’ powder on top. It also plays with the noodles being red like they had marinara in them or something. Maybe i’m stretching.

Here we go!

Started off with 6 tablespoons strawberry spread, and 200 ml water. 

Let the strawberry jelly melt in the simmering water, then strain. 

Measure out around 1.5 g Agar and bring the mixture back up to a boil.

I used a squeezy bottle to inject the strawberry jelly liquid into a tube. Make sure to do all this while the liquid is warm/hot so it doesnt start setting on you. 

Place the tube in some icewater and let it cool for a few minutes till it all sets. 

Grab a food processor, add 20 g peanut butter, and 8 g tapioca maltodextrin, and let it rip, scraping off any peanut butter on the sides. 

You should be left with a powder. If its still not as powdery as you like you can add a little more maltodextrin.

 I used a syringe to push out the noodles from the tube.  

Loosely plated them with the peanut butter sprinkled on top. 

Decided to try out some bread with it. 

So, i just added some to the plate. Now in this first preperation, my noodles didn’t come out as chewy as i wanted so it was easy to mop them up with the bread spheres.  

This is what a mini bread with the jelly and peanut butter powder looked like. It tasted absolutely like a PBJ sandwich! 

Next, I added a bit more agar, so it was maybe like 2g total, and the strawberry jelled harder and was more noodle like. I think next time I would add a bit less so its a bit softer to maybe loop around in the middle of a bowl to make it really look like noodles. 

Decided against the random display and wanted a cleaner look. So, I lined them up. 

Sprinkled some peanut butter crack on top! 

Was very happy with the final product. This is a really straightforward recipe for a beginner. I think the agar amount still needs a little tweaking, but the powder was spot on! Please rate this so I get an idea if people like it

Astoria – Royal Oak

May 29th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 5 Comments

Whenever we’re in Royal Oak, Michigan, we love to walk up and down the streets and just take everything in. Its a nice walk, especially in the summer. We always pass by Astoria, a sweet/dessert shop. The stuff in there always looks amazing, (we’ve had it on many occasions) and everyone raves about it, so we gave it a try AGAIN.

That strawberry shortcake looked good, but, i’m a chocolate mousse kinda gal

Like I said, I’m a chocolate mousse kinda gal. I was really excited to have this, but I was dissappointed

I LOVE chocolate mousse, especially when done right. Unfortunately, It was too rich, not airy and light, and half the cup I had was filled with whipped cream that was gloopy and as stiff as Anthony Bourdains’ drinks. So, I scooped it all out. Even then the mousse on the bottom was dissapointing. Not as chocolate-y as I had hoped for, but the real kicker was the texture. It was not at all pleasant.

Now, don’t think I’m hating on the place. I was just unhappy because when you walk in, you really want to get one of everything! The stuff looks amazing. But each time the flavor lets me down, and each time I try something else and hope it won’t because I really want to love the place. I do. But even something as simple as peanuts covered in chocolate I make better at home. We had to throw them out. And, in a place where you are paying 3-7 $ a dessert, you don’t want to throw anything out. Sorry Astoria, but you remind me of Mariah Carey. Beautiful on the outside, all fucked up on the inside.

Giulio & Sons – Hyatt Regency Dearborn

May 9th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 2 Comments

My last visit to Giulio’s was 3 days ago. To say it was my first time would be an understatement (the pictures are from a visit back in december). I’ve been there many times and thanks to Restaurant.com I NEVER pay full price. Especially since they also email you coupon codes to use on your coupon codes, so alot of times we pay less than $10 for a $25 coupon!

The restaurant is tucked away on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. The decor theme starts from the outside and depicts an Italian village in the country. The hand painted murals are on the walls through out the restaurant.

Giulio's entrance

Mural at Giulio's entrance

Inside Giulio's

I have heard they have a great brunch on Sunday, but I haven’t been to anything but their dinners. At dinner, their Market Stand/glorified salad bar buffet comes free with the entree. To be honest, that is the main reason why I continue to go there. It has everything from your choice of greens, to shrimp, smoked salmon, cold cuts, grilled veggies, soup, pasta salad, couscous, hummus, cheese, fresh garlic bread and other daily delights. It has a great variety for veggie lovers to meat lovers and is always fresh and different.

The Market Stand

Shrimp, Artichoke salad, Mushrooms, Pasta salad

Cold cuts, Smoked salmon and more

My hubbies choice at the Bar- good ol' green salad

My choice: shrimp, couscous, salmon, veggies

For main course, I ordered the chicken marsala ($24). Thick piece of breast, on bed of angel hair pasta, smothered in mushrooms. My chicken was cooked well, and moist and the marsala sauce was very good, I just wish I had more of it. I’m not huge on the peeled baby carrots and beans, it just seems like such a throwback.

By the time I got to the main course I was pretty full from the Market Stand (which I love). What can I say, I love variety.

Chicken Marsala

After dinner, our very attentive waiter asked if we would enjoy dessert on the house! Now, I’m not sure if this is a common thing, because we have paid for dessert there before ($10 without dinner, $5 with dinner). My theory is that they are providing it as a courtesy to keep customers because of the bad economy.

I did notice that their dessert bar has much more “less” than it used to. They used to have a softserve with help yourself topping station, that was gone, but you could get icecream from the kitchen. I recall there being much more, however, there was still alot to choose from.

They had everything from mini eclairs, to cheesecake, carrot cake, bread pudding etc…The chocolate mousse cups were divine! I was too full to enjoy much, but what girl ever passes up free chocolate?

Desert Bar

Yummy minis

Cheesecake

Chocolate mousse cups

Overall, dinner was good, nothing earth shattering, but straightforward and good. What I like about Giulio’s is that the quality is consistent, even though there  a few corners are being cut on dessert. The service is amazing. The waiter was very nice.

When I have been there, the restaurant is never full, never even what I consider busy. It’s no surprise since it is smack dab in the middle of the auto meca, and we all know how buisness is going in that arena. So, if you are looking for a hip busy joint this is not the place for you. It’s more for a quiet dinner, maybe even anniversary or something to celebrate.

Now, on to the secret to making this place more affordable! We were able to purchase a coupon on Restaurant.com. It really brings down the price, and combined with the all you can eat salad bar, and the complimentary desert they seem to be providing, its really affordable and well worth it.

Overall,  the decor is nice but a tad dated, the food simple and to the point, the service is great, and like I said the salad and dessert bars make it worth it. Frankly speaking, if it wasn’t for the Market Stand I don’t think I would pay that much for chicken marsala, and the discounts help alot. I don’t consider it gourmet food, it’s just simple food done well and there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Click here for a list of their menu’s, prices and hours.

Alice in Wonderland + giveaway

Mar 6th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 50 Comments

I have really been looking forward to the movie, and in honor of that I decided to throw a little tea party of my own. I made fondant faces for some cupcakes.So, here we go!

For the Red Queen, start with molding a face.

Make a heart shape, and attach the face.

I added little swirls for texture and curles.

Mad Hatter was next!

I know it look like bozo the clown lol! be patient…

I colored some fondant green and brown to get this hue. I made a hat shape and wrapped the color fondant around it.

Next, I rolled out a thin brown piece and draped it to finish off the hat.

With scissors I snipped the hair on the hatter for his wacky style.

then added brows and tah dah!

Next, came Alice. Some simple blod hair, and I added strands for interest.

The cat and its famous grin.

Also snipped the edges with scissors to seem like fur.

Rabbit was pretty straightforward. Looks a bit like playboy rabbit. The details will make it pop.

The White Queen, oh, sooo….white.

I used Gourmet Writer Food Decorator Pens for all the details on the face. They are amazing and i use them for lots of things.  This is what I ended up with:

Made some wee pertinent nicknaks also decorated with Food Decorator Pens

Then I was on to bake a cake. But not just any cake. I wanted to Bake the Wilton Giant Cupcake! For the cake, I used this recipe from Wilton.

Filled the pan and off into the oven it went, at 350 F for 70 min. Yes, 70 min.lol

Once done, this is what they looked like

I attached the two parts with buttercream

Made some mini confetti cupcakes to go along with it in some Bake it Pretty pink wrappers.

Added the final details:

“You’re invited to a tea party…” attached to a key

This was my hubby’s fav lol. sorry, couldn’t help it

Actually this was his fav, and mine too. The Mad Hatter was mad as hell and divine!

I used some candle holders I had to hold the cupcakes. I loved em, do you?

Also, I got the idea from Bake it Pretty to add sugar flowers to the tea. loved it.

This was delish, and fun. I can’t wait to see the movie.

I love Bake it Pretty, and above I used the confetti hearts, pink wrappers and Wilton’s Fondant that I had purchased from them a while ago. So, continuing my giveaways….enter to win a

$25 Bake it Pretty giftcard!

Each one of the following you do, you get more chances to win! So here is what you can do to enter:

1. Answer the following in the comments: If you saw the movie, did you like this new version, or did Burton go off the deep end?
2. Tweet this contest “@Mirauncut is giving away @Bakeitpretty giftcard, enter at www.mirauncut.com”
3. Become a facebook fan
4. Follow me on twitter so u can keep up to date on my giveaways
5. Follow me with google friend connect

Please include in your comment which of the above you did. Contest ends Friday, March 12, 5 p.m.ET.

 This contest has ended. the winner is SARA G! yay! congrats. It was number 51 via random.org