Ledo's White Crab Caprese Pizza

Without a doubt, Maryland is known for crabs.  For a lot of us in Maryland, especially those who attended the University of Maryland College Park campus, the best place to grab a pizza is Ledo's Pizza.  So big a favorite is Ledo's that last summer when I got together with two old high school/college friends, we met at Ledo's for dinner. 

As fond as I am for Ledo's pizza, and crab, I don't believe that I ever thought about combining the two of them into one dish.  Well, last week I received an email from Ledo's and to kick off spring, they were running a special "Spring for Crab" promotion featuring Crab Ravioli, Crab and Artichoke Dip, and yes, Crab Pizza.  To be precise, the crab pizza is Ledo's Whte Crab Caprese Pizza featuring Ledo's four cheese white pizza, crab, fresh basil, sliced tomatoes and Old Bay seasoning.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I was curious.  Mrs. Dickster thought it sounded interesting as well, so we decided to take the plunge and order one for dinner.  The pizza itself had a bit of a fishy smell, so I was a little concerned that the crab might overpower the taste of the pizza.  Fortunately, it did not.  In fact, all of the flavors blended well and none overpowered the other.  About the only complaint that Mrs. Dickster had was that it could have used a bit more Old Bay Seasoning.  Since she doesn't usually care for a lot of seasoning, I guess that says something. 

All in all, it was a pleasant experience, one that I would be willing to have again.  I think I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had a nice Pinot Grigio or other light white wine to go with it.  Then again, you can never go wrong with a cold beer since both pizza and crabs go well with a frosty brew.  I am not sure how long Ledo's will be running this special pizza, but I hope to be able to take advantage of it again in the near future.

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Homemade Jerky

I received a very special birthday treat this weekend from my wife.  No, not that.  Get your minds out of the gutter.  She made me a batch of homemade beef jerky.

She tells me that it was pretty simple to make, though it is a bit time consuming.  Let me tell you, it is so much better than anything you can get in the grocery store.

It all starts off with some flank steak.  You slice it at an angle in very thin slices.  You then marinate the beef slices in some soy sauce.  Take some cooking racks and place them on a baking sheet.

After marinating the beef, place the strips on the rack so that any drippings from the beef will land on the baking sheet.  Then season the beef with some lemon pepper and garlic salt.  Place the meat in the oven at about 170 degrees.

It usually takes about 6-10 hours in the oven for the jerky to be done.  My wife recommends checking the beef after about 6 hours.  To check the beef to see if it is done, take a slice and bend.  If it breaks, it is ready.  Enjoy.

Stride Shift Chewing Gum

In my job as a candy and snack buyer, I sometimes get to see new items before they hit the stores.  Every now and then, I get to see something that is pretty cool, at least in my humble opinion.  The makers of Stride chewing gum are coming out with an item that I think is pretty different.

OK, you may be asking what could be different about a chewing gum.  These new varieties of Stride gum are unique because they start out with one flavor but then shift to another flavor the longer you chew it.  Hence their name, Stride Shift.

Stride Shift comes in two flavors, Stride Shift Citrus and Stride Shift Berry.  They each start with a citrus or berry flavor, but the longer you chew on it, the flavor becomes a mint flavor.  The product is expected to hit stores sometime in May.

Asian Hamburger Helper-Mongolian Beef

I was out at my local grocery store this morning to pick up a few items for meals for the week.  My initial goal was to just go in and get the proteins for the week.  I had no real intention of looking for anything new to try, especially since the store is undergoing a major remodel and reset.  I had a difficult time finding a lot of my regular groceries, but I digress.

As I was walking down one of the aisles, something new caught my eye.  We don't usually go for Hamburger Helper very often, but last week during one of the blizzards we had Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Helper and it was pretty good.  Well, my local grocer had a new line of helpers from the good folks at Betty Crocker, Asian Helper.  There were three varieties that I remember seeing, Beef and Chicken Fried Rice, and the item that I decided to pick up and give a try, Mongolian-Style Beef.

The Mongolian-Style Beef Asian Hamburger Helper is pretty simple to make.  In addition to the boxed ingredients, all you need is a pound of hamburger and some hot water.  First step, is to brown the ground beef in a skillet.  After browning the beef, you are supposed to drain the fat drippings from the pan, but I failed to follow that step.  Next you add 2.75 cups of hot water and the ingredients in the box.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for 11 minutes, stirring every now and then.  When the noodles are tender, remove from the heat, uncover, and let sit so the sauce can thicken.

The aroma of the Mongolian Style Beef Asian Hamburger Helper was very appetizing while it was cooking.  The flavor upon eating was pleasant as well.  The sauce did not thicken as much as we would have liked, but it was probably due to the fact that failed to drain the fat from the pan after browning the beef.  It won't make you forget the Mongolian Beef you can get in a restaurant, but for a mix and an inexpensive meal, it is a pretty good deal.  The mix and the ground beef came to just over $5, which is a pretty good price to pay for dinner. 

Cut Calories: Chew Gum

Image by Lboogiepeace via Flickr

New Year's Day is fast approaching, so it is time to make those New Year's Resolutions.  For a lot of us, one of the more popular resolutions is to try to lose weight.  If you are trying to lose weight, any helpful tips are worth looking at.

A nutrition professor at the University of Rhode Island has just completed a study that suggests that chewing sugar free gum can help you reduce your calorie intake and increase your energy expenditures.  A winning combination to be sure in the battle of the bulge.

Participants in the study who chewed gum for three 20-minute sessions in the morning consumed about 67 less calories at lunch, and did not "make up" those calories later in the day.  Those same participants also expended about 5% more energy when chewing gum than when not chewing.

From personal experience, I feel like chewing gum helps me to curb my appetite somewhat.  Though, I have to admit that I do look at the results of the study with a bit of healthy skepticism.  The study was supported by a grant from the Wrigley Science Institute, part of the Wm Wrigley Gum Company.

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Rosetto Steam & Eat Cheese Ravioli

In my never ending quest to find high quality, easy to prepare frozen meals, I came across another new item for my wife and I to try.  I took a rare day off from the day job to attend a meeting at my son's school.  After the meeting my wife and I decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up something for lunch when we found Rosetto Steam and Eat Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Basil Sauce.  We have been very happy with the steam and eat vegetables we have tried, so we decided to give the ravioli a try.

The concept is pretty simple.  You put the whole bag in the microwave, nuke it for about seven minutes, and serve.  Preparation just doesn't get much easier than that.  So the easy to prepare part of my quest was met, but what about the quality?

To be honest, it was a bit of a mixed bag, no pun intended.  The flavor of the sauce was good, but there just wasn't enough of it.  The ravioli itself tasted like most store bought frozen ravioli, so it was OK.  Some of the ravioli got stuck together, and some of them were very hard.  To be honest, I don't know if that is a case of microwaving it a bit too long, or just a characteristic of the product.

We have another variety in the freezer, so we will have to give it a try before passing our final judgement on the product.  If I were to find the item on sale, I would probably buy it again if I had a hankering for ravioli and wanted it quickly instead of boiling the pasta and heating up a jar of sauce.

Wanchai Ferry-Sweet & Spicy Shrimp

Have you seen this commercial for Wanchai Ferry frozen Chinese dinners?

That panda is so cute. I love Chinese food, but I have not found too many Chinese entrees in my local frozen food department that actually taste good. So while I do rave about the breadth and quality of items available in the freezer these days, I was a bit skeptical. But, they were on sale and figured it was worth giving them a try.  My local grocer had four varieties available.  I opted for the sweet & spicy shrimp.

Similar to the Stouffer's Anytime Gourmet item that I reviewed earlier, the Wanchai Ferry product come with each component individually packaged in the bag.  The first step was to heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet and stir fry the shrimp for 3-6 minutes until brown.  You remove the shrimp from the pan and set it aside.  Next you add a little water, the sauce packet, and the vegetable packet and bring it to a boil for three minutes.  Next you add the shrimp back to the mix and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.  The rice comes in a small steam pack that you nuke in the microwave for 2 minutes. 

The shrimp are pretty good sized shrimp; not little baby shrimp.  Likewise, the vegetables (baby corn, sugar snap peas, red bell peppers, and carrots) are substantial.  The sauce is sweet with a little bit of spice, but not overpowering.  The rice cooks up perfectly.  Their tagline at the end of the commercial is "Restaurant quality Chinese in your grocer's freezer."  Not quite, but very close.  It is by far the best quality Chinese meal that I have found to date in the grocery store.

If you want to give Wanchai Ferry a try, you can go their website and print a coupon good for $1.50 off a package.  There are five varieties available, Orange Chicken, Shrimp Lo Mein, Spicy Garlic Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, and the variety I tried, Sweet & Spicy Shrimp. 

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