Elephant & Castle

Hi guys.

Alright, I've been a pretty awful blogger this month. I think this is the longest I've ever gone without making a post. But rest assured - this certainly doesn't mean I've given up stuffing my face with delicious things and cooking up a storm in my kitchen. It just means that sometimes your responsibilities overshadow your hobbies (unfortunately).

The good news is, I'm now back at school and ready for another year of kitchen experiments and favorite restaurants. But before I do, I have a few Chicago posts on my hard drive that I'd like to get out here.

One of them is this post about a fantastic gem of a restaurant I found near my place in the city called Elephant & Castle. It's a British/Indian fusion restaurant with everything from traditional fish and chips to butter chicken and naan. It's also a great little place to grab some beers with your friends after work.

My guest started off with some Ale & Onion soup.

For a long time, French onion soup has been one of my favorite foods. If the broth is well-made and the cheese is melty, we're in good shape. This soup (which I've had on several occasions) has a touch of beer in the broth for added flavor, and the bread on top is chopped into little cubes so that you don't have to struggle to cut it into manageable pieces. 

Next came the appetizer of 'mini yorkies.' This is a delightful little bowl of mini yorkshire puddings filled with roast beef and gravy.

I'm not gonna lie - I ate about half of this and dipped some of my fries in the gravy. It was just SO GOOD. If you visit an Elephant & Castle, you HAVE to try this dish.

I went with the classic fish and chips...

One huge piece of haddock, a pile of fries, delicious tartar sauce, fresh lemon, and malt vinegar. An oldie and a goodie - definitely a dish that won't let you down.

Of course, the next time I'm in town I might have to try this little beauty I found on the menu after we ordered....

^This just brings hot dogs to a whole new level. For real.

I highly recommend visiting an Elephant & Castle if you live near one. You can find your city here.

All in all, a delicious dinner, followed by....

The funniest and best musical I've ever seen. This is another thing that I cannot recommend enough. If the show comes to your town GO SEE IT.

Your abs will hurt from laughing, but you won't regret it.

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Indian Spinach & Tofu

I've always considered myself someone who couldn't really cook convincing Indian food. I always found the spices to be a tad too unfamiliar for my taste buds, and I never trusted myself to re-create something that would taste as good or better than what I could buy at a nearby takeout joint.
Fortunately for me and my budget, this recipe happened.

Introducing deliciously tasty and ridiculously easy Indian Tofu & Spinach. I developed this recipe quickly when I needed to use up some leftover spinach and tofu, and it's become one of my new favorites.
To make enough for one, you will need:

Vegetable oil

1 small block of tofu (about 1x4'), sliced into 1-inch by ½-inch blocks

1 teaspoon cumin

¼ cup red onion, chopped

1-inch piece of ginger

1 teaspoon white pepper

salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

3 big handfuls of spinach

¼ cup greek yogurt, plain

garlic salt

Heat the oil in a pan until it's good and hot. Add your tofu and fry until brown on both sides.

While it's cooking, use a food processor or blender to blend red onion and ginger together until finely minced.

When the tofu is done, remove it from the pan and set it aside. Add the cumin to the pan (and add additional oil if needed). Fry for several seconds. Next, add the ginger and red onion mixture and heat for 2 minutes. Add white pepper, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir. Add the spinach in batches, letting each round wilt. Next, place the tofu back in the pan and sprinkle in the smoked paprika, heating for 1-2 minutes. Finally, add the greek yogurt and mix until combined. Heat for 1 minute, then scoop onto a plate and serve. Top with garlic salt to taste.

Simple, healthy, and low-cal. Not to mention quick. Can you say go-to dinner recipe?

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Mark's Carts, Part 1

I took my lunch break at Mark's Carts today, a fun collection of gourmet food carts in downtown Ann Arbor. The carts are enclosed in a little courtyard down Washington St. right past Main. My friend Katie was the one who first told me about it, and I kept finding new reasons to not make the trek downtown every time I was tempted to try the food. But today I was determined to try it, and boy am I glad I did. 


Each cart specializes in some type of gourmet food. As soon as you walk in, you're greeted by The Lunch Box, which specializes in good-tasting vegan dishes. 

Right across from it is San Street, a cart that serves up Asian street food.

Right next door sat Debajo Del Sol (Spanish for "under the sun." Good to see 4 years of Spanish has gotten me so far in my translations....) This cart has a lot of interesting stuff on the list, including paella! They also make different Spanish tapas, or small plates, like churros and chorizo corn dogs.

A2 pizza π comes next on the list. They make authentic wood-fired pizzas.

I was skeptical of how wood-fired their pizzas could actually be, considering they're being cooked in a cart. But they actually had a real wood-firing grill right outside the cart that employees kept popping pizzas in and out of.

They had their margherita pizza out for sampling. Don't they look delicious? And just $8 per pizza!

Across the way were two other specialty carts: Cheese Dream, which focuses on gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, and The Beet Box, a creative cart using local natural ingredients.

At the end of the courtyard sits Darcy's Cart, which changes its menu weekly to reflect the harvests of locally-grown food. Today, I saw a lot of people getting the whitefish tacos.

For my lunch, I selected the last cart in the courtyard, Hut-K Chaats (I'm very happy that I don't have to pronounce that, because I'm sure I'd butcher it.) Specializing in "nutrilicious Indian food," their style incorporates fresh, light, and filling indian dishes, most of which are vegan. Why did I select this cart, you might ask? Because it won last year's Le Creuset cook-off!

I ordered the award-winning dish, Shanu Chaat, and, needless to say, it was certainly worthy of its title. I've eaten plenty of Indian food in my lifetime, and this was like nothing I'd ever had before! 

Since most of my Indian food experiences have occurred in local Americanized buffets, my idea of Indian food was rich, filling, and often high in fat (what can I say, I just love butter chicken!). This chickpea dish was fresh, light, filling, and crunchy. I even got to taste a sample of it ahead of time so I knew what I was buying. Needless to say, one bite and I was sold! For $6, this is some of the cheapest and best Indian food I've ever had. Kudos to its creators!

Tragically, I didn't have a stomach large enough to sample food from every cart today. However, I'm sure to be back soon for more!

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