Giada's Baked Orzo

After watching the 'A Cut Above the Rest 'episode I could not resist attempting to cook Orzo with Marsela wine. I paired it with a nice rib eye steak.

I am very happy with the results of the Orzo. It is a very rich dish.

The recipe is below.

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis Show: Everyday Italian A Cut Above the Rest

4 cups chicken broth 1 pound orzo pasta 3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish 1 onion, chopped 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced 1 cup Marsala wine 1/2 cup heavy cream 4 ounces shredded fontina cheese (about 1 cup) 4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup) 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan 1 teaspoon dried thyme Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

William B Umstead State Park

One of the greatest things about living here is the scenery. Sometimes I feel like we are on vacation because it is so beautiful. William B. Umstead State Park is less than 15 minuets away. We can go fishing any time we want.

So on a weekday, we went fishing! Adym has been trying to catch crappie for sometime now. I found that the best place to catch these fish is right under this bridge at Big Lake.

The other two times I went fishing with Adym, I was pretty disappointed because he didn't catch anything.

But this time was a success!

Adym caught 8 crappie!! I admit some of them were way too small to keep. This was our first experience filleting fish so we went to youtube.com to see how it's done. It took us a good two hours to fillet and clean all the fish.

We had a cucumber salad with herbed butter rice and I came up with a recipe for fried crappie.

Le's Fried Crappie:

In a deep pan, heat up a some vegetable oil to around 300 F (about two inches deep).

Put two sheets of paper towel on a large plate.

I prepared a bowl with two whisked eggs, a plate with flour, salt, pepper and dried basil.

Dipped the fish meat in the eggs and lightly dust with flour mixture. Add to hot pan.

Repeat until all fish is in the pan.

Let the fish cook until golden brown on each side. When a piece of fish has reached it's doneness place on top of the plate with paper towel.

Tips: flip the fish with metal tongs. Do not let water touch hot oil

I have to say that making this meal is very labor intensive. The crappie is very flaky and white. Adym and I really enjoyed preparing and cooking this meal together.

My dad loves to fish and I can't wait till my parents come to visit. I really enjoy fishing now and would like for them to experience a successful fishing excursion.

La Farm Bakery

From their website:

La Farm Bakery is a realization of that lifelong dream a modern bakery that continues the centuries-old baking traditions and techniques, honoring the ordinary yet extraordinary boulangeries that once flourished in every little town in France. The La Farm Family welcomes you into our shop and into our kitchen, where we take pleasure in sharing our recipes and our secrets. Watch us in forming dough, toasting granola, decorating tarte aux fraises. Then taste our artisan breads, tarts, pastries, sandwiches and specialty products and experience the taste hundreds of years of French cuisine.

Bienvenue a La Farm

When you walk into the store, you will be pleased to see all the newspaper clippings tapped to the windows. I was drawn to this store. It reminded me of a place I went to in Kansas City.

Everything is so fresh and delicious.

The best time to be here is at 7am in the morning. But I am on my last week of "Freedom" before I start my new job so I opt to sleep in these days.

I am really pleased with this place, they offer cooking classes to kids and adults. You can also order their fair online.

With Serendipity in the back of my mind, I bought two croissants

to make sandwiches. I bought a Rasberry, Blueberry Creme Tart to share with Adym for dessert.

I made two versions of these sandwiches:

Tuna Cranberry Spinach Dill Croissant Sandwich

Miracle Whip, tuna, bread and butter pickles (chopped), dill, cranberries, few drops of lemon, salt, pepper and spinach.

Spinach Tuna Salad Croissant Sandwich

Miracle Whip, tuna, bread and butter pickles (chopped), dill, dash of olive oil, mustard, few drops of lemon, salt, pepper and spinach.

Everything turned out really well. Of course, the star of the meal is the Croissants. I love how perfectly flaky each bite is.

The inside was soft and perfectly baked.

The Creme Tarte tastes like a cheese cake with berries inside. I love it. So tasty.

LaFarm has so much to offer with the feel of a quality french bakery, lots of free tastings, and super friendly service, I rate La Farm a 5 out of 5.

I like LaFarm so much, I went back the next day for some Cinnamon rolls. They were out so I bought a yummy apple tarte.

Cafe Carolina and Bakery

We were out of coffee so Adym and I decided to go to Starbucks and then cafe carolina. They are located in the same shopping center so we figured it would be a good plan.

My favorite thing to drink at Starbucks is a White Chocolate Mocha with extra whip. But my barista mis-understood me and gave me a White Chocolate Mocha with extra mocha. I have never had it this way before. It was soo good, my thighs yelled, "Trouble in a cup!!"

I answered, "wait till we go to Cafe Carolina!"

Cafe Carolina is actually a chain of restaurants. The one we go to is in a nice shopping center. It's interior is fresh and vibes of a chain fast food restaurant with a touch of upscale country.

If you ever go eat at Cafe Carolina, you must have the Spinach and Bacon Quiche served with a complimentary fruit bowl. To me, that is the best thing on the menu. And at this juncture, I wish I had ordered it.

Instead, I ordered (descriptions from online menu):

French Toast Sandwiches with Ham & Cheddar

a deliciously unique approach to a classic favorite! french toast made with slices of our freshly baked parisian baguette, then filled with thinly sliced ham and sliced cheddar and served with maple syrup

Three sandwhiches in one order. Wow. That's alot of food. I love french toast. I love cheese. I do not like the two together. It was too cheesy! I scared Adym because in his wildest dreams I would never say something is too cheesy, but it was. And dipping this all in maple syrup was too much for my senses! I needed to come up for air.

Next time I'll have the Quiche.

Adym had:

Mexican Flatbread

inspired by huevos rancheros, featuring a blend of cheddar, monterey jack and mozzarella cheeses, with eggs, sausage, green peppers and onions, topped with salsa on our crispy thin flatbread crust

It was good. After having a piece of this, I realized they just cannot go wrong with Flatbread here.

I just want to tell the world that I really like Carolina Cafe. I have had a lot of items on their menu. It was just this one time where I actually had something I did not like. I really like their pastries, fresh bread, flat breads, and sandwiches. This is a 4 out of 5.

Serendipity Gourmet Deli

Serendipity is a deli located in the heart of old downtown Cary, NC. This building has been in Cary for sevral decades. Our waitress informed us that the city has plans to dimolish their store and many others due to rennovation plans for downtown Cary.

It is sad to see the building go. I would like for the businesses to stay and have the city give some businesses funding to rennovate to keep the old world charm.

Serendipity's interior is very old and smallish. The walls are covered with old green viney wall paper. I derive that their interior is an attempt at old and stale country charm. The decor has been there since the 70's and needs an update. The kitchen is uncomforably far away from the prep area.

There are few establishments that could care less about their interior dressing and more about the food. Here, I found good food that brings me back memories of mom's croissant sandwiches, and desserts that make me forget my woes.

Please forgive me for I can not recall the names of the sandwiches.

I had Mexican Croissant sandwich. From what I can recall, it consists of sour cream, turkey, monterrey jack cheese, and lettuce.

Adym had a beef sandwich.

For dessert we both shared this warm and delicious carrot cake.

Adym watched a staff member make the icing fresh.

I have to say that this is the best carrot cake I have ever had. The raisins they added to the cake is an excellent touch.

I would come back for the super friendly service and good food. My overall rating is 3.5 out of 5.