TooSso

TooSso is a small Pakistani restaurant in my neighborhood. It hasn't been open that long but it is always packed, especially on the weekends. And usually when I go there, I'm the only white girl in the place. In fact, I'm the only non-Pakistani.  So you know it has to be good when the natives are packing the joint out! And it is...

  Its a small cafe style place; its certainly not a fancy sit-down place but I wouldn't say its fast-food.  They make everything from scratch, and while I'll admit I don't know much about Pakistani food or culture, it seems pretty traditional as far as the flavors they offer.  Its a limited menu but sometimes those are the best...do a few things very well instead of many things mediocre. The atmosphere is colorful and fun with one wall covered with bottlecaps of all different kinds and another wall with a bar area that has milk cans for stools. And the aromas...I love the aromas of Middle Eastern cuisines with all the unique combination of spices!!

Their main menu consists of rolls, bowls, and specials.  The rolls have your choice of filling (potatoes, beef, chicken, or chickpeas) wrapped in a hand-made roti, which is like an Indian tortilla, along with a variety of spices and herbs and onions and chutney. I think my favorite is the Zeera Aloo which has the potato filling.

The bowls have a lot of the same fillings but its, obviously, in a bowl with basmati rice and a yogurt sauce. The specials are things like Chicken Tikka which is chicken marinated in a yogurt sauce and on the weekends they even serve a breakfast dish called Halwa Puri. I'm not 100% sure what that is exactly but I think puri is a deep fried Indian flatbread and halwa is something sweet and its served with potatoes. Um, potatoes...sweet...bread...yes please, I'm in!

The Pakistani cuisine is deceptively spicy hot to me. You think, beans, potatoes, rice...how spicy could it be? Well, be ready to call the fire squad! Especially if you're like me and don't tolerate a lot of heat well.  I love all the flavors but sometimes the heat is so intense I have to take a break from eating for a minute. The heat from this cuisine starts off slow. The first bite or two, you think, ok its not too bad. But the more bites you take, the hotter it gets! The only thing that helps is a big gulp of a delicious Mango Lassi!

I love Mango Lassi's! If you're not familiar with what a lassi is, its a sweet yogurt smoothie drink. The dairy helps curb the heat a bit. So you'll need to get one of these if you don't want your tongue on fire! And they happen to be super yummy!

Toasted Coconut Almond Pops

The final flavor of the Popsicle Series. Have I mentioned before I love coconut? It always makes me think of being at the beach, which is a sore subject right now since I'm not going to the beach this year.  Boo! Hiss! Oh well, we must save our pennies somehow, I guess.

Anyway, I digress.  Popsicles. Coconut. Here are your ingredients...

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp almond extract
2 Tbsp coconut rum

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Spread the coconut out onto a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven just until it starts to turn brown on the edges.  Be careful and watch it closely because it can brown quickly.  If you get too distracted with something else, you will have burnt coconut in no time!  Put the toasted coconut in the food processor and pulse a couple times just to make it a little finer.

Add coconut, yogurt, almond extract, and coconut rum to cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the coconut mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Allow pops to freeze for about 4 hours before serving.

Watermelon Mint Pops

The third flavor in my Popsicle Series.  What's more refreshing during the summer than watermelon and mint? This was definitely the most involved of all the popsicle flavors simply because there were more ingredients and a little more prep for those ingredients. But still pretty simple to make just like the others.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 of a mini seedless watermelon
1 Tbsp lime juice
8-10 fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp club soda (optional; this gives it a little bit of a Mojito feel)
3 Tbsp creme de menthe ( a mint liqueur)

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Dice the watermelon into bite-size pieces.  Finely mince mint leaves.  Put watermelon and mint together in the food processor and chop/pulse just a few times.

I wish we had smell-o-vision for this one! The watermelon and mint smelled so wonderful together!

Add watermelon and mint, along with yogurt, lime juice, club soda, and creme de menthe.  Stir until well blended.

pretty green color!

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the watermelon mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. This mixture is a little more liquidy than the others. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Mixed Berry Pops

The second flavor of my Popsicle Series is Mixed Berry.  Again the same basic recipe as the Orange Cream Pops but with strawberries, raspberries, and dark cherries.  And of course another special secret adult ingredient to enhance the flavor and keep them from getting rock hard frozen.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup berries (you can use fresh or frozen and any kind of berries you like. I used frozen strawberries, raspberries and dark cherries. And I probably used a little more than just 1 cup.)
2 Tbsp Chambord

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.


Thaw the berries according to the package instructions. (Obviously if you have fresh berries you can skip that step.) Put the berries in the food processor and chop until desired consistency (do you like big chunks of fruit in your ice cream or would you prefer more pureed liquid fruit or something in between? I went for the something in between, mostly pureed but with tiny chunks.)

Add fruit, yogurt, and Chambord to the cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

This combination of berries gives such a beautiful color!

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the berry mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.

I think I forgot to mention this for the Orange Cream Pops, but all these popsicles will be ready to eat after being in the freezer for about 4 hours.

Orange Cream Popsicles

Ok, so I've been on a popsicle kick recently. Popsicles are great for the summer and they are so easy to make at home. Ever since I found that one recipe from Eat Good 4 Life blog where she made Strawberry Lime Pops (check out my previous post about the ones I made here) and Raspberry Cream pops, I've been dying to try out other flavors. So recently made a series of four different flavors and tested them out on some friends at church.

All of these flavors have the same basic recipe as the ones mentioned above.  The first one I'm going to share is Orange Cream.  As a kid, I always LOVED those orange Dreamsicles (and still do)!  This is my version of a kids classic.

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 can frozen orange juice partially thawed (I prefer pulp free)
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

You want to make sure your frozen orange juice is partially thawed.  If its completely thawed it will be too liquidy, if its completely frozen, it will be too hard to work with.  You may not need the whole can either.  You'll need at least 1 cup of it but you may add a little extra to suit your own orangey tastes. At this point, you can add the orange juice to the whipped cream mixture.

Also add the yogurt, vanilla, and Grand Marnier and stir until well blended.  The Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur.  You can omit this is you like but it does enhance the orange flavor a little and helps keep the pop from getting too solid frozen so that its too hard to eat or remove from its cup.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the orange cream mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. This mixture is a little more liquidy than the others. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Because this mixture is more liquidy than some of the others, you may have to recenter the sticks once they start to freeze or just wait about 10-15 minutes before inserting stick.

Fourth of July Pops!

Happy Independence Day, America!!  I found this recipe a few weeks ago and thought they would be perfect for the summer holiday. While perusing my favorite blog list, I came across a recipe for popsicles on Eat Good 4 Life.  She actually posted a couple different versions of these popsicles and they seemed so easy I had to give them a try.

The ones I made were the Strawberry and Lime Popsicles. She also did a Raspberries and Cream version too that I'm going to try next week for a church meeting. I swear these are so simple and very yummy, you will want to make these every week during the summer. And they are quite pretty too. And the possibilities are endless! The Eat Good 4 Life lady also mentioned a coconut version...and seeing as how i LOVE coconut, I will have to experiment with that flavor too.

Here's the original recipe (with my personal notes in blue)...

Ingredients:
Yields 9 3oz Popsicles (using 3oz Dixie cups, I actually ended up with 10)

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use organic)...(I did too, Stonyfield is great in plain or vanilla)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped (I actually used the food processor and chopped them almost to a slightly chunky puree. I'm not a fan of huge chunks of fruit in dessert.)
2-3 limes, juice (If you like, you can also add in about 1-2TBsp of liqueur for an extra layer of flavor and to keep it from freezing too hard. I used Chambord, a raspberry liqueur.)

  In a bowl whip heavy cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in yogurt, juice, (and liqueur if desired) and strawberries.(For this part, I followed a little bit what she did in the Rasberries and cream version, where she layered the ingredients in the cup...yogurt, fruit, more yogurt. But I still mixed in a little of the fruit with the yogurt as well so there were strawberries throughout but still had a pretty red stripe across the middle of the pop.)

Snip the top edge of the Dixie cups with scissors for easy peeling. Fill Dixie cups all the the way with the whipped mixture.

Place a pop stick in the middle of each Popsicle and freeze 4-5 hours before serving.

Note: I find that I don't have to freeze Popsicles before inserting Popsicle stick. The whipped cream is strong enough to hold the stick in place :-).

  

 

The yogurt makes them super creamy and the combination of strawberries and lime provide a refreshing sweet-tartness making them the perfect treat for summer.  These pops are also the perfect size for a small sweet snack and not too large for the kids to enjoy too!

the paper cup peeled off nicely too!

Food Trucks in Farragut Square

To continue our food truck adventure from yesterday...after we left the Lobster Pound, we metroed over to Farragut Square.  When we arrived, the entire square was packed with people and there were about 6 different food trucks all lined up already with lines some 20-30 people deep.

The food trucks we saw there were these...
CapMac  (specialty-mac n cheese)

Sauca (specialty-global cuisine)

Sweetbites (specialty-cupcakes, cookies, muffins, etc.)

Meathead Mobile Eatery (specialty-meat...see more below)

El Floridano (specialty-global sandwiches...see more below)

SweetGreen  (specialty-salads and frozen yogurt, all organic...see more below)

Hubby and I decided to split up to maximize our food truck tastings, especially since the lines were kinda long and most trucks only serve til about 2, unless they run out of food beforehand.  Hubby stood in line at El Floridano and ordered the Chicken Chiang Mai sandwich.  Kaffir lime chicken on an Italian style hoagie roll topped with charred tomato salsa, avocado spread, pickled onions, and baby arugula. The taste was so light and fresh. The chicken was perfectly grilled and juicy.  The freshness of the lime and the veggies made the perfect compliment to the chicken. Their whole menu only consisted of 3 sandwiches and 2 soups.  All very unique. I guess you don't need a large menu when those few items are the best you got. And our chicken sandwich was great.

I stood in line at the Meathead Mobile Eatery.  It was kinda funny because I kept seeing this huge group of people near this truck and I thought they were in line. But they were just standing around.  And then I was told, there wasn't really  a line for ordering.  You just walk up to the truck and order! But then you wait, with a ticket and listen for your number to be called. So thats what all these people are standing around for! When I finally figured this out, the guy at the window called out number 124.  I looked down at my ticket...157. Ugh.

However, the numbers were being called fairly quickly and before long, he was calling out 150...151...152...as he got closer to my number the excitement and anticipation grew. Soon it was going to be me! It was like playing the lottery! Finally...155...156...157!!! Yay!!

Their menu is a little funny too. They offer 4 different meat sandwiches with names like Moo Moo (rib-eye steak), the Oink Oink (BBQ pork), the Cluck Cluck (you guessed it...chicken), and the Meathead (a combination of all meats).  I ordered the Oink Oink...juicy pork chunks, covered with a creamy cole slaw and a tangy BBQ sauce.  It was awesome! The meat was so tender and juicy.  The cole slaw, which neither hubby or I are huge fans, was minimal yet added just enough creaminess to bring out the tanginess of the sauce and the smokiness of the meat.  Defnitely a favorite.

After enjoying a sit on a park bench under a tree and horking down both the sandwiches between us, we decided there was just enough room left for dessert. So we headed to the other side of the square where the sweet trucks were. We chose SweetGreen for their frozen yogurt. Now when we say frozen yogurt, we're not just talking about some fake ice cream/ice milk substitute like you see in a lot of places.  They take actual Stonyfield plain organic yogurt and freeze it.  One flavor, fat free.  Which to some may not sound very appetizing.  But then you add the toppings.  Their list of toppings includes nuts, coconut, blackberries, strawberries, baked apples, graham cracker...just to name a few. And the fruit is actual fresh cut fruit...no syrups or fillers or added sugars. Real fruit.  And the yogurt itself has a mild creamy tang to it that blends perfectly with the strawberries and blackberries we got on ours. 

And what's also really cool about SweetGreen is that everything they offer is organic and local whenever possible.  Even the actual truck and the spoons and bowls are all environmentally friendly! In addition to yogurt they also offer a whole list of fresh yummy salads too. Aside from their food trucks they have actual brick-and-mortar restaurants as well all over the DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia area. Yay for local and organic! The frozen yogurt we had there was the perfect sweet end to a perfect sweet day!

There were so many more trucks we would've liked to see if there was more time and more room in our tummys.  So we definitely have plans to go back another day for more food truck adventures! Can't wait!