Saffron: New Indy Restaurant Review

This past weekend I was finally able to go to a new Indy restaurant that I’ve been dying to try – Saffron Cafe, located at 621 Fort Wayne Ave. The Moroccan joint was recently featured in Indianapolis Monthly as one of the city’s Best New Restaurants – and they weren’t kiddin’.

The ambiance was absolutely perfect – Moroccan-inspired, but not over-the-top like some similar restaurants. It was very tasteful, but colorful and appropriate. Soon the restaurant will be opening their outdoor dining area, which looks incredibly charming. Surrounded by the same colorful tiles found inside the restaurant and enclosed by clean, white lilies, it’s sure to be a feast for all of your senses.

My mom and I ordered the mussels to start and a lamb Tajine for our entrée. The mussels, which were smothered in a creamy, saffron sauce, were a bit small and paled in comparison to the rich sauce, but it was still a very enjoyable dish that we happily sopped up with generous helpings of bread. According to the staff, Tajines are traditional Moroccan stews, slow cooked in decorative ceramic pots for which they are named. You’ll have to forgive my simple, country tastes, but the dish reminded me of my mother’s pot roast – but I say this with the greatest affection. The tender meat just fell apart in the broth, which was flavored with eggplant, saffron and pickled lemon. The comforting familiarity of the dish was like coming home, but in a slightly different way, with hints of exotic, unknown flavors.

But the best part of our Saffron experience was the Chef. Moroccan-born Anass Sentissi made a point to visit every table, reveling in discussion over his creations. He openly shared recipes, including ingredients and his preparation techniques. He held nothing back. As my mom put it, “when he speaks about the food you can see how passionate he is – I can tell he really loves it and I like that.” I like that too, Mom.

30k Profiles: Matthew

This week we feature our good old 30k buddy Matthew Connolly! You can find this 'Ripple dweller out, about, and ALWAYS having a good time!

My motto is: Go big or go home!

Childhood ambition: To be in Weird Al Yankovic's Band

Favortie cocktail: Seven & Seven

Favorite place to grab a cocktail: The patio at Plumps

Cheap eats: Breakfast Burrito from Qudoba

Cheap thrill: Getting unknown Nexflix movies in the mail

Favorite thing about Indy in the summer: Indians baseball games and outside concerts

Fav type of music: Rock N' Roll - The Hives, Eagles of Death Metal, The Black Keys, and Minus the Bear

Looking forward to this summer: The fourth of July and a healthy B.Y.P. on a regular basis

On my days off you’ll find me: grilling out and drinking some serious Mexican beer

You might be surprised to know: I played the trumpet in 5th grade

Favorite websites:

fark.com

pandora.com

hulu.com

Best advice anyone has given me: "Don't put that in your mouth!"

Favorite party memory: The last thing I remember is walking downstairs into The Casba.....

Favorite way to be green: Using Ben's backyard as my toilet instead of his house

Favorite weekend morning spot after a night of parties: Waking up on someone's couch with my pants off wondering why Ryan is always sleeping on the floor

Thirtythousanddollarmillionaire is: the reason why I get up in the morning

DPs make me feel: like I should be writing this all down for that TV show

Favorite recipe: Grilled Marinated Kabobs full of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, peppers, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, and some onion

shrockalicious

Introducingggg- Elise Shrock! Our featured 30k Millionaire of the week; Elise is known for her love for Spanish Cuisine, going green and thinking outside the box. She loves to garden and use her own herbs when cooking. Elise is one talented hot tamale! Her love for cooking and gathering of friends runs deep. So let's get after it and get to know how she rocks her 30k lifestyle.

My motto is: All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
Childhood ambition: To be a Marine Biologist. Until my parents took me snorkeling and I figured out that I get viciously sea-sick. Bummer.
Favorite cocktail: Dirty Martini. Classic with a hint of briney goodness. Plus, it is like a drink and a snack with those olives. Which is also why Bloody Marys are a close second.
Favorite place to grab a cocktail: The Wellington. Although they are generally known for their beer collection, they make a mean cocktail!
Cheap eats: Indian Buffets. Take Shalimar in Broadripple for instance. There you can get an all-you-can-eat taste of the staples in Indian cuisine that make you koo-koo for curry. Apps, entree's, side dishes, breads, and desserts are all included for around 8 bucks!
Cheap thrill:Sitting on our porch balcony with a beer, smoking our hookah with everyone at sunset.
Favorite thing about Indy in the summer: Dining al fresco with friends. Plus, everything is so green and walkable/ride-able! Gotta love it.
Fav type of music: Crooners like Tony Bennett always be my favorite. And there is something about Reggae that will always make my heart stir. And l really love bluegrass....This question is too hard, I quit.
Looking forward to this summer:Festivals! The Middle-Eastern festival is by far my favorite. St. Joan's French Market is great too!
On my days off you’ll find me: In our yard. I've recently planted an herb garden and some annuals. Next, I'll be working on a small kitchen garden...artichokes, cherry tomatoes, and more!
You might be surprised to know: I hate compound words using "meat".
Favorite websites: greenissexy.org, cakewrecks.blogspot.com, naturalhealthmag.com
Best advice anyone has given me: Be kind to everyone, no matter who, no matter what. (A life lesson inspired by my dad, who I still really do think moonlights as Superman)
Favorite party memory: The creation of the Gin and Tonic Ninja.
Favorite way to be green: Kitchen garden= No grocery store needed= less emissions to drive there= free and sustainable
Thirtythousanddollarmillionaire is: the bees knees. And what we all kept saying we should do, then we did it. And I love that.
DPs make me feel: Like a million dollars. And lucky to have so many great friends to share them with!Favorite recipe: Tortilla España ( ultimate comfort food)

Map My Run

So for all of you avid runners out there...here is a free tool to make running ...cooler. At Map My Run, you can see how far you're running, log your time when you're done and the calculator will estimate the number should have burned. There is even a tool to log and store all of your runs. Set up challenges and goals for yourself as well!

This site is definitely worth checking out. The best part is- the site is free!

Procrastination pretzels: For all your "Oh, hey, I think I'll just bake something instead" moments.

Hello, my name is Cas, and I am a classic procrastinator.

I currently have several things I need to do, but instead, I'm going to take you through my 12-step process...

I figure, if some people are willing to go through 12 whole steps for alcohol or drug treatment, other people should be perfectly willing to go through 12 steps to make homemade soft pretzel rolls. And these 12 steps won't have you confessing your transgressions to a room full of strangers. The coffee's better, too.

You can use this recipe to make a classic soft pretzel, but I like pretzel rolls so I can dunk them in hot cheese or some spicy German mustard or use them as sandwich material.

Procrastination Pretzels.

Step one: Gather your ingredients
For the dough:

• 1 1/2 c. warm water
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 package of dry yeast
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 1/3 c. of flour (roughly. The recipe I based this off of used weights. I happen to have a scale around the house from Joey's beer brewing, so that was easy enough, but since it's not exactly the most normal thing to have sitting around the house...I measured it, too, to post here.)
  
• Olive oil, to coat surfaces

For boiling the pretzels:

• 10 c. water
• 2/3 c. baking soda

You'll also need:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp. water
  
• more kosher salt to sprinkle on top, if desired
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet

Optional:

• Stand mixer. Easily replaced by a lot of patience
• Pastry brush. Replaced by fingers, etc.
  

Step 2: Get your foam on
Mix the 1 1/2 c. of warm water, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and wait about 4 minutes for everything to get foamy. Then add the melted butter and flour.

Step 3: Want it, knead it, have to have it
Mix everything until well combined. If you're using a stand mixer, the dough hook is clutch. A few minutes on low will combine everything. Then, once it's combined, knead another 9 minutes or so, or, if you're using the stand mixer, mix it on medium for about 5 minutes. You should have a dough ball that doesn't stick to the sides of the mixing bowl (if you're using it), but does stick to the bottom of the bowl a bit.

Step 4: Transition
Pop the dough ball out of the mixing bowl, and/or leave it where you were kneading it for a hot second. Clean out the bowl and oil it down with just enough olive oil--you want the surfaces to be slippery, but not a total grease pit. You can also use Pam or some other cooking spray if you prefer. Pop the dough back in the oiled bowl.

Step 5: Let the yeast have a few private moments
Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let it rise for about an hour.

Step 6: Get a rolling boil
When about 50 minutes had past, I started prepping the water to boil the pretzels in. Just combine 10 c. water and 2/3 c. baking soda and wait for it to boil. Stir occasionally. I did this under a lower heat, so it wouldn't go boiling all over the place.

I also used this time to start my oven. Pre-heat to 450 degrees.

Step 7: Fetch your dough. Shape it.
By the time an hour has passed, your dough should have doubled in size. Glorious! Pop it out of the bowl and onto a non-stick work surface (I used wax paper that I'd drizzled with olive oil and smeared around with a paper towel).

If you're making classic pretzels, divide the dough into 8 little dough balls, (Heh. Balls.) and roll each one out (using your hands. Olive oil on hands works wonders to avoid sticking.) to about 2 feet. Then do that snazzy pretzel twist.

If you're making rolls, divide the dough into about 10 little balls, (Heh. Balls) and roll them into shorter, fatter ropes (aim for, oh, the thickness of a bagel) and make a loop (like, oh, a bagel). Keep them on an oiled surface for the time being.

Step 8: Drop it into boiling water. Make a small mess.
Okay, I have no pictures from this step. I blame this on my lack of a giant slotted spoon. I used a common plastic spatula to transport my dough balls into the boiling water and back out. It was kind of a mess, what with all the draining of water from between the spatula and the pretzel and whatnot.

All you need to do is drop each pretzel into the boiling water, leave it for about 30-40 seconds, and fetch it out. Put it back on your well-oiled surface. When all the pretzels/pretzel rolls have had a good bath, transfer them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper that's been (yet again) well-oiled (or Pammed). (I used foil instead of parchment paper. Mistake. It's not as easy to pop them off the foil once they've baked.)

Step 9: Get golden, girls
Beat the egg yolk with the 1 1/2 tsp. of water. Use a pastry brush to glaze each pretzel. Then sprinkle more kosher salt on top, if you're feeling sassy.

Step 10: Into the wild oven
Your oven should be a rockin' 450 by now, so pop your pretzels in. Set a timer for 13 minutes (give or take a minute or 2) and let the good times roll. I had my entire kitchen cleaned up by the time these were out of the oven--definitly not a messy treat to make.

Note: I made 8 rolls in different sizes. Next time I'll make 10 smaller ones. Better overall texture.

Step 11: Chill
Remove the pretzels from the oven. Let 'em rest for a minute, then get them off the baking sheet and onto a towel/cooling rack/whatever.

Step 12: Get your glutton on!
As soon as they're at an edible/non-tongue burning temperature, eat! Best kind of end to 12 steps.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network, duh