Balans

Today is a zilla day and for breakfast we went to Balans, on Lincoln Rd. It was pretty good. I ordered an omelette with pepper jack cheese and mushrooms. It came with a side of potatoes and two pieces of toast. It was good and a nice portion. The meal came with a side of juice, tiny juice. Here are the photos.

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Here Comes the Sun

Every Thursday is a zilla day- bridal/wedding planning day. I venture through the tri-county are in search of wedding stuff. I haven't been consistent with the food postings. Last week I did post Carmela's and that was after picking up my engagement ring. We usually have breakfast and maybe lunch. Sometimes we get snacks too. Today we started the day off late but we got lunch after picking out David's suit and the wedding party suitable. We went to one store and found exactly what we were looking for. Well atleast what I was looking for.
We ate at an old place in North Miami called Here Comes the Sun. It's an old health food store and natural/vegetarian restaurant. They are well known for their Colombo frozen yogurt. I love that there are baskets of saltine crackers in every table, so you can munching while to peruse the menu.

I used to frequent the place as a child with my mom (she was a hippie back in the day, and used to work at a health food store). So I grew up eating tofu, sesame honey snacks and tiger's milk. We always used to stop in and get some frozen yogurt. I was excited to pay a visit to this nostalgic place. I ordered a sun burger:

I was relieved to know that it is a homemade veggie patty and its cooked rather than sun-baked. Phew. It was prey delicious and much thicker than I had imagined. It was served on a pita cut in half with salad in the middle. It comes plain but you can always put some sprouts and veggies from the salad in it, that's what I did. Next time I will order if with cheese (for the vegans, soy cheese is on the menu. I also poured some here comes the sun sauce, located on every table in a mustard bottle. It's a musk paste based sauce that was pretty tasty yet very simple. I couldn't finish the burger but I'm actually eating the other half in the car right now. For dessert I had to get some frozen yogurt. One thing about this place is that I have this childhood memory of the frozen yogurt being very tart, the way it SHOULD be. The last time I ordered frozen yogurt from there was when I was in high school. That was prob about 10 years post childhood visits. When I got the yogurt, my memory was tarnished because the yogurt wasnt the same. It wasn't tart the way I remember it. I decided to try the yogurt again and see if I could relive my childhood once again. Failure! It still isn't the same. It was just regular sweet vanilla frozen yogurt. Ugh, what a let down. Another let down in the size and price. You can see in the picture that its like a sample size of yogurt. That's on the menu as a 2oz I believe. I actually paid $2.50 for that thing! Davids mom is telling me that it was free but I'm pretty sure it wasn't.
Ok let me add some photos.

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Stuffed French Toast Goodness

ok well I finally decided to make stuffed French toast. I've been wanting to make it for a while and today was the day. My inspiration? holla! (as in challah) So here's what I did with half-ass measurements.
1/2 loaf challah bread, cut into slices.
2 eggs
about 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
you can also add a little whipping cream to thicken the egg. I didn't have any.
Some cinnamon ( I used ceylon from Costa Rica)
some nutmeg

for cream cheese filling:
1/2 a block cream cheese. (I Think they come in 8oz packages, so about 4ozs)
some Orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
if you want to make the cream cheese sweeter, you can add some powdered sugar.
Chopped pecans or walnuts optional. (I Didn't use nuts)

Fruity Sauce:
1/2 a 12oz or so jar of seedless raspberry or apricot jam/preserves
juice from 2 oranges.

Powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk the egg, vanilla, (cream), nutmeg and cinnamon together in a large shallow bowl.

Mix the cream cheese, (powdered sugar), Orange zest and vanilla together until well blended. (Stir In nuts).

Spread some cream cheese mixture onto a slice of challah, then cover it with another slice to make a sandwich. Dip the sandwich in the egg mixture and coat both sides evenly. Cook each side on a greased pan/griddle. Cook until just a little brown or however crisp you like. Make the remaining sandwiches and repeat until the cream cheese mixture is gone.

While you make the sauce, you can put the sandwiches on an oven safe dish and keep in a warm oven until sauce is ready. I put my oven to the lowest temp setting of 170.

In a small saucepan, on LOW heat, cook the orange juice and jam until a thick sauce forms. I capitalize LOW so that you don't make the same mistake I made and overflow purple sticky sauce all over the stove. My setting was originally set just above the lowest setting on my stove. Be careful and watch it like a hawk. Stirring with a whisk constantly. It doesn't have to be that thick, just do it to your liking.
Once the sauce is made, take the sandwiches out of the oven and serve warm with warm raspberry sauce on top. Make it as saucy as you want. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and you can even add a dollop of whipped cream, mmmmm.

Enjoy

now the food porn, except that all the pictures are going to be at the top :/

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Carmela's Italian Market

Wonderful! The place is small, very cozy, like you're sitting on your patio. The walls are adorned with photos of Italian dishes and memories of Italy. Above the cold cases were photos of Carmela herself, making fresh mozzarella.
We walk in and there's a little old lady sitting at a table with her walker. She looks like she comes her on a regular basis. Her nurse, whose name I later learned was Vera, sat at a table beside her. The old lady eventually scoots her way with her walker, up to the display case to order a pasta dish to go. She asks us how we like it, "isn't it great? I'd eat all this stuff if I could" as she points to her teeth. Dentures.

Carmela, the matron of the house, with her full on Italian accent, comes from behind the display cases to greet us. She gives us options for sandwiches and asks what we like. She goes down the list of things she can make for us. Very friendly and accommodating. She says "I can makea vegetarian, or the chicken parmagiana, whatever you want."

I enjoyed hearing her tell us about how she went to Subway to finally try a sub and see why everyone eats there. When she opened the sub, she said: "I trow ita away, I could nota eat it. Itsa so gross. Da bread was no good. I tella people, if you wanna a $5 sub, you go to subway" Amazing, EVERYTHING is homemade. Lasagna with homemade bechamel, fresh grilled eggplant with garlic and mint. Homemade FRESH mozzarella. OMG I can go on and on.
The place is located in a shopping plaza called Emporium Shoppes on Okeechobee just east of Haverhill Rd. Maybe a couple miles east of the turnpike. If you're on a road trip and need a bite of good fresh Italian food, stop off at Okeechobee. Right next door to her place is a Jewish bakery and a farmers market.

I had the Sicilian: grilled eggplant, baby spinach, roasted red peppers and fresha mozzarella! It was gigantic and delicious. And it's not on my diet, but I skipped breakfast :/ so...

He place is unexpectedly great for a small plaza deli. I loved it. Thank you Carmela. :)

Again sorry for pictures all being at top. My phone is strange.

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