Eat My Charlotte

It’s scone crazy in my house. After last week’s Pumpkin Scones, I wanted more.

I found this recipe for Cinnamon Bun Scones floating around the food blogosphere recently. The scones looked pretty tasty, so I decided to give them a test run.

These scones are formed by dropping 1/4-cups of dough on a cookie sheet, which beats patting the dough down and using a cutter to form each scone. Cinnamon, sugar, and chopped toasted pecans are swirled into the dough, which makes them similar to cinnamon buns.

So, how were they? High-five fellow bloggers! These were good. I like how the oats in the recipe gave the scones some heft, and the crunchy bits of toasted pecans were amazing.

These babies are best straight out of the oven and freshly drizzled with glaze.

Cinnamon Bun Scones

Scone ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour
1 C oats
1/4 C plus 2Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbs butter chilled and cut into pieces
3/4 C milk
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C toasted pecans
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Glaze ingredients:

3/4 C powdered sugar
3 to 4 tsp milk

Heat oven to 425°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray or use a silicone mat.

In large bowl, combine flour, oats, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In small bowl, combine milk, egg and vanilla; blend well. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir with fork or rubber spatula until dry ingredients are moistened. In small bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar with the pecans and cinnamon; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over dough in bowl; gently stir batter to swirl in cinnamon mixture (Do not blend completely.) Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack; cool 5 minutes. In small bowl, combine powdered sugar and enough milk for desired consistency; mix until smooth. Drizzle over top of warm scones. Serve warm.

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Saucy-smelling fingers and spicy lips. That’s what we all came away with after Creative Loafing’s Eat My Charlotte Wing Tour on Saturday, March 6.

Our readers and staff hit the road in a big ol’ party bus to taste 10 flavors of the best wings in town. We ate (and drank) our way through Charlotte, hitting up Lebowski’s, Wing King, D.D. Peckers, and Moosehead Grill.

Thanks to all who joined us for our tour! I hope you had fun. If you weren’t on the Wing Tour, check out all the fun you missed:

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Like many people in Charlotte, I had a nasty cold and cough last week. To counteract the effects, I made the chicken noodle soup which my kids – and some friends – believe to have magical properties. However chicken noodle soup (not the canned version) has been thought to be curative by such diverse cultures as Chinese and Jewish. Even with a head cold and hacking cough, anyone can make this soup:

Into a large stockpot pot filled with cold water add one organic chicken; several parsnips, peeled and cut into three inch sections; a handful of peeled organic carrots; an onion studded with at least ten cloves; a handful of parsley – stems and all; a generous dose of sea salt; and freshly ground pepper. Boil this for several hours; then strain, saving the broth in one large bowl.

I cut up any chicken and vegetables that are somewhat whole and add this to the broth. In a separate pot, boil the egg noodles (any shape, wide or regular), and drain. To serve, place some noodles into the bottom of a bowl and then ladle the soup. In many languages, like Arabic, the toast before eating is saha, which means to your continued good health.

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I stopped by Savor Cafe and Catering on Morehead Street (across from Open Kitchen) for lunch today. The tiny restaurant was bustling with a big lunch crowd even past 1 pm. Artsy designer types along with quite a few older folks dined on BBQ Chicken, casseroles, and sandwiches.

With the desserts of the day winking at me from the big blackboard on which they were written in chalk, I spent my lunch trying to decide what dessert to order. Next time I just might skip lunch altogether and just go for dessert.

If you go, be sure to save room for dessert. Of the five desserts listed, I tried three – and they were all lick-the-plate delicious. Compared with desserts on the menu like “Kicked Up Key Lime Pie” and “Mile High Peanut Butter Pie” the banana pudding seemed like the humble dessert without a fancy name.  Well, it was anything but. Assembled in a ramekin, it was chilled creamy goodness with a layer of caramelized meringue on top. Best banana pudding of my life, hands down.

Read Creative Loafing’s Food Critic Tricia Childress’ review of Savor Cafe here.

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Savor Cafe and Catering
1404 W Morehead Street
Charlotte, NC 28208
(704) 334-0098

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Save-A-Lot grocery store opened their third location in Charlotte yesterday, March. 4. The grand opening of the store located at 3033 Freedom Drive included a “Dollar Cutting Ceremony” with Mayor Anthony Foxx participating by running his grocery cart through a big banner.

“As a value-minded company, Save-A-Lot is committed to offering fresh produce, dairy and USDA-inspected meat to shoppers who not only need access to these food items, but also want them at an affordable price – typically up to 40 percent less than traditional grocers,” said Bill Shaner, president and CEO. “We are looking forward to welcoming our shoppers into our stores and hope for continued growth throughout the state in the future.”

And just like Wendy’s, they have a $1 menu. Check it out in this circular.

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For the month of March, Outback Steakhouse is offering a special limited time Red, White and Bloomin’ menu to help with Operation Homefront. When you order off the menu, you will help to raise the $1 million donation Outback will be giving to Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization supporting the families of deployed service members following 9/11.

Today I got to take a look (and taste) of the Red, White and Bloomin’ menu. (p.s. I recommend the Baby Back Ribs.)

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Also, all active military with ID and veterans will receive a free Bloomin’ Onion appetizer when they order off the Red, White and Bloomin’ menu.

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If you like your mac ‘n’ cheese baked, here’s a recipe for you. If you don’t, then you can stop reading.

I’m of the crowd that likes their macaroni and cheese creamy, with each piece of elbow-shaped pasta discernible – not a baked-together chunk that gets served casserole-style … which is what you get with this recipe.

Though I can’t say this recipe is amazing, it’s easy and makes a decent side dish. It’s called Macaroni and Double Cheese because it contains two types of cheeses – Velveeta and cheddar. (By the way, does Velveeta even count as cheese?) I’ll post the recipe below anyway if you decide you like what you see. If you can tweak it a bit and make it tastier, let me know.

Macaroni and Double Cheese

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni
2 eggs
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces process cheese (Velveeta), melted
4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions
Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, butter, mustard, seasoned salt and pepper until combined. Stir in the process cheese and 3 cups of cheddar cheese.

Drain macaroni; stir into cheese mixture. Pour into a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly.

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The Blue Taj, which opened recently in Ballantyne Village, features Indian, Thai, Chinese and Latin cuisine. Calling it eclectic would be an understatement. Take a look at these photos of the restaurant and food:

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Photos courtesy of The Blue Taj.

The Blue Taj
14815 Ballantyne Village Way, Suite 170
www.TheBlueTaj.com
704-369-5777
Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11:30 AM-2:00 PM
Dinner: Monday-Thursday, 5-10 PM, Friday and Saturday 5:00-10:30 PM; and Sunday 5:00-9:30 PM

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With the snow falling fast and hard, and after many minutes of deliberation as to whether to leave the house or not, I decided to just hunker in for the night and make scones instead.

These cheerful pumpkin scones warmed up the house with scents of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar as they baked up in the oven. The sugar glaze on top is spiced, too, for double the flavor.

Sprinkled with some chopped pecans over the glaze, these scones look and taste good enough to be cafe-worthy. Take that, Starbucks!

Pumpkin Scones

Yield: 12 scones

Ingredients for scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
5 Tablespoons cold butter
½ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half or milk
1 large egg

Ingredients for glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 – 3 Tablespoons milk
dash of cinnamon
dash of pumpkin spice
dash of ginger
handful of pecans, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in a large bowl. Use a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut each of the portions in an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

4. To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix the powdered sugar, spices and milk together until smooth. Add enough milk until you achieve desired consistency. While scones are still warm, use a brush to spread plain glaze over the top of each scone. Sprinkle on chopped pecans before the glaze sets.

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I had been enchanted by Aussie styled Shiraz long before I spent a month there tasting wines a few years ago.

On that trip tasting 60 coat-the-glass wines by noon had become the norm (and, yes, spitting was de rigueur): My tongue had become tinted plum. The taste of shiraz, especially a big fruit bomb shiraz like The Boxer, an every-day drinking wine, brings back those crisp pristine nights.

Mollydooker (which is Aussie slang for left handed) The Boxer 2007 is a mouthful of spice and blackberries, a wine seductive and exotic enough to stand alone on cold Charlotte nights, and equal to the task of being paired with a braised lamb shank or a New York strip steak grilled on the barbie.

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