Odd Times at Ayaka

South University is lined with restaurants to suit all college budgets. When it comes to sushi, my first choice is usually Sadako, but since it was my last night in AA before break, I decided to make tonight different.

Ayaka is located at 1205 South University, near the intersection of Church and South U. The food was great, and for non-sushi eaters, there was a large selection of dinner entrees to choose from, however, it was our odd dining experience that made this dinner so memorable.

As a party of 7, we figured that it would take longer to be seated in the main area, but instead, we were immediately brought down to the basement where there was one large booth. None of us could figure out why we were being seated down there when there were many tables upstairs open, but we shrugged off the interesting seating arrangement.

Our waiter immediately came to ask us about drinks and appetizers. We enjoyed having such attentive service, until he continued to come back every three minutes to joke about our names, our choice of entrees or to ask us what we wanted. His constant presence soon became an annoyance to our table, and after being asked for the 7^th time in 10 minutes if there was anything else we need or wanted, we realized something bizarre was going on. Was it his first day and he was nervous or trying to impress? Was it the lack of traffic in the restaurant that caused him to linger by our table? And…what was up with this single table in the basement?

After our plates were cleared (some voluntarily, some taken away before we finished our meals) our waiter came by, cell phone in hand, to inform us that we could “take our time” because the restaurant would be open for thirty more minutes. We proceeded to take our time, feeling more uncomfortable and unwanted as the minutes passed. When we ultimately decided to go, our waiter stood by our table, keeping himself involved in our conversation. Overall, the experience was unexpected at a restaurant that, from the outside, looked really good.

Best dishes? Udon noodles and sushi rolls. The udon noodle soup was filled with tons of flavor and large enough to be a satisfying dinner. The sushi fish was extremely fresh and inexpensive, I’d highly recommend the spicy salmon roll if you’re on a budget and want something good.

Atmosphere? If our dining experience was typical to any dining experience at Ayaka, I’d advise ordering in. While the food was good, and came out extremely fast, the overall dining experience was uncomfortable, though I am not sure if it would have been different if we were seated upstairs. The upstairs atmosphere is much more intimate and reminiscent of a typical sushi restaurant.

Treat Yourself to an Afternoon Delight.

Walk down E. Liberty on any given Sunday morning and you’ll find yourself peeking through glass windows, wondering why so many people are standing in line just to get breakfast. Afternoon Delight’s breakfast is truly worth the wait. I finally made the trip last Sunday with some friends while my Dad was still in town. Although the group of us normally eats healthy, we threw aside our weekly “diets” and ordered up, leaving no scraps behind.

Eggs:

Egg dishes were all spectacular. Between the table, we ordered…

-an egg white vegetable omelet (on the lighter side, but perfect balance of sauteed vegetables and egg)

-a smoked Nova salmon omelet (on the weekends they serve with it with fresh poached salmon!)

-a veggie boule (imagine…a mixture of vegetables, eggs and cheese served in a hollowed out French bread bowl or “boule”, béarnaise sauce on the side)

-and finally, smoked Nova salmon eggs benedict (the richest of the dishes, but by far the tastiest. Salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onions and poached eggs atop a toasted whole wheat English muffin, smothered in béarnaise sauce. What more could you want?)

Pancakes and Muffins:

-Blueberry pancakes. The size of a dinner plate, this pancake was griddled and flipped to perfection. At the first bite, you were greeted by warm and buttery yet fluffy goodness with the right balance of fresh blueberries. We shared one for the table and it was gone almost instantly. Ironically, nobody wanted to be the one to take the last bite.

-Blueberry and peach muffins. I’m not sure if the muffin is a signature of Afternoon Delight or not, but it was hands down the best thing we ordered. Order it cut in half and toasted or if you’re feeling adventurous (or a bit indulgent), order it split and filled with frozen yogurt.

Although it is a few blocks from campus, Afternoon Delight is worth the walk AND the wait. For under $10, you can fill up on your favorite breakfast foods…and if you’re still not satisfied, they serve lunch too.

Location:

251 East Liberty Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2120
(734) 665-7513

**they don't take reservations and there's usually a wait on the weekends, but you'll be seated very quickly.

Quick and Easy Meals That Won't Hurt Your Wallet.

I stumbled upon this blog post from onlinecollege.org earlier today and thought it would be a perfect fit for UMFD. Entitled “100 Delicious, Dirt Cheap Recipes for the Starving Student”, this website is perfect for those looking to make quick, cheap and easy meals on a low budget.

Enjoy!

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dirt-cheap-recipes-for-the-starving-student/

When Dad Comes to Town...

Dad came to visit this weekend and that meant one thing: it was time to eat well. As avid foodies, we decided to turn our trip for lunch into three-hour food adventure in Kerrytown.

First stop: Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market. I’ve been dying to go for months and finally got the chance to check it out. The selection of fresh fruits and vegetables was sparse, which didn’t surprise me because of the weather. However, the market did have a variety of fresh breads, fish, meats and yogurts to choose from. We headed to the fresh breads stand, where we were greeted by a variety of ryes, sourdoughs and pretzel rolls. Each of the breads was freshly baked in a nearby bakery and after contemplating over which looked best, we settled on an iron-skillet baked rye and a pretzel roll. The owner of the stand directed us to a nearby fish shop, where we were told to pick up some smoked fish to pair with the rye.

Second Stop: Tracklements Smokery. The store was lined with whitefish and smoked salmon, any smoked fish you could imagine, Tracklements had it. I grew up around Jews who used any excuse to eat bagels and lox,I had never personally tried lox until I tried Tracklements’. It’s a bit of a hike from campus, but these lox are worth it. Save up, at $10 for ¼ pound,it’s a bit pricey, but I promise you’ll savor every bite.

Third and final stop: Zingerman’s Deli. As if we hadn’t sampled enough already, we decided to wait out the 30-minute line in the cold, knowing the end result would make it worthwhile. Thirty minutes truly doesn’t feel that long when you are constantly being fed samples of homemade graham crackers, house cheddarcheese and curried turkey salad. When it was time to finally make our decision onwhat we wanted to order, we were overwhelmed by theenormous variety of options. Dad settled on “Who’s Greenberg Anyway?”, asandwich stuffed with Zingerman's corned beef, chopped liver, leaf lettuce, Zingerman's own Russian dressing and hand-slice Jewish rye bread from their bakery. I selected “J.V.W.’s Detroit St. BBQ”, consisting of Zingerman's BBQ Amish chicken, Nueske's applewood-smoked bacon and coleslaw on grilled sourdough bread. We shared a cup of homemade split pea soup on the side. When the food arrived we were convinced there was no way we’d be able to finish it all,especially after all that we had sampled earlier. But not to worry, despite our fears, we braved the huge portions and finished each sandwich, pickle and drop of soup to the last bite.

Little bites of heaven.

When making baked goods in your dorm becomes the norm on a weekday night, you know you’ve reached procrastination at its finest. What sets this recipe apart from others is that it requires no baking and only three, easy to find ingredients.

Jessie, Susie and I made a dorm-friendly version of this recipe earlier this week using cream cheese from the dining hall and Hershey kisses as a substitute for milk chocolate chips. Hershey kisses are great on their own, but their distinct flavor overpowered the rest of the dessert. While the end product was still delicious, I would advise sticking to the original recipe for best results. Feel free to any variations of milk, semisweet and white chocolate to dip the truffles. I’ve tried many different combinations and the most popular have been milk and white chocolate.

Either way these treats are quick to make and will impress anyone whose lucky enough to get a bite.

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

Yields 3 dozen truffles

1 (16 ounce) package of Oreo sandwich cookies

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

16 ounces of baking chocolate (milk, semisweet or white), melted

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate completely. This can either be done with a double-boiler on the stove-top or in a microwave.

2. Remove 9 Oreos from package and crush finely in food processor. (Cookies can also be finely crushed by placing them in a plastic bag and using a rolling pin)

3. Crush remaining 36 cookies into fine crumbs, place in medium bowl and add cream cheese until well blended. Mixture will be moist when done.

4. Roll cookie mixture into balls approximately 1-inch in diameter.

5. Dip balls into melted chocolate, place on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle on reserved crushed cookies or drizzle extra chocolate over the top for decoration.

6. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Then, eat up!

Trick:

How to easily dip the truffles: place truffle in melted chocolate and roll, if necessary. Lift truffle from chocolate using 2 forks (allowing excess chocolate to run off) before placing them on wax paper.

Cost:

About $12 for entire recipe

Challah in the house.

Nothing gets a group of Jewish girls more excited than the idea of making fresh challah. The sisters of Sigma Delta Tau were graced with the presence of Chanchi from the University of Michigan Chabad House, who taught us how to knead, braid and bake the most unbelievable homemade challahs.

I have had my fair share of bakery challahs over the years, but trust me this homemade challah cannot be rivaled. This recipe requires a little bit more time and yields a lot of challah, but it’s worth it.

Enjoy!

Homemade Challah Recipe

Courtesy of the University of Michigan Chabad House

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water

2 pkgs dry yeast

1 Tbsp salt

½ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

½ cup oil

7 cups flour

Glaze:

1 egg beaten

Cinnamon sugar blend

Sesame seeds

Poppy Seeds

Raisins

Cooking:

1. Dissolve yeast in water with a sprinkle of sugar. (If water is too hot, the yeast will die. If water is not warm enough, yeast will not be activated). Wait about 5 minutes. Yeast mixture should start to bubble. If not, start over.

2. Add the sugar, salt and ½ the flour. Mix well.

3. Add the egg and oil and mix until thoroughly combined.

4. Slowly stir in the flour while mixing the dough. The easiest way to do this is by kneading the dough with your hands. Dough should become thick, but smooth and elastic.

5. When finished kneading dough, coat with a thin layer of oil. Place dough in a large bowl and cover with a clean hand towel.

6. Let dough rise 2 to 3 hours until it doubles in size.

7. Separate dough into smaller portions, braid, and place on floured bake pans. (You can braid or fold the dough into any shape. We tried the traditional way of 4 braids, as well as folding it into a cinnabun shape. Both tasted great.)

8. Brush top with beaten egg. Top with cinnamon sugar blend, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or raisins. (Our favorite was cinnamon sugar)

9. Bake at 375° for approximately 30 minutes or until nicely brown.

Healthier option: For whole wheat Challah, replace 5 cups of flour for 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Then add 2 cups white flour.

Most of the challah disappeared within minutes of coming out of the oven, so I highly suggest trying it while it’s warm. For added flavor, spread cream cheese, margarine or hummus on top.

Saturdays with an added spice

University meets food diversity has been a long time in the making and I thought, what better way to start off this adventure than by documenting my first real college cooking experience?

Spicy Mexican Chicken Stir fry was not the original plan for Saturday night’s dinner. My friend Jorge and I bought the ingredients intending to have an Asian themed dinner, but when you’re cooking in a Latino household and spices and chilies are easier to find than soy sauce, sometimes it’s necessary to have a Plan B. Using ingredients found around his house, we were able to put together a cheap, quick and absolutely delicious dinner that anyone can make.

Enjoy!

Spicy Mexican Chicken Stir fry

When Mexican meets American.

Feeds 4-5 hungry students

Ingredients:

-2 lbs boneless white meat chicken breasts

-2 large bell peppers (red, orange, green or yellow work)

-8 scallions (approx. 2 heads)

-1/2 dry roasted peanuts

-1 7oz can of El Pato Tomato Sauce (Mexican hot style)

-2 tbsp olive oil

-2 tsp garlic salt (optional)

-Salt and pepper to taste

Prep:

1. Cut chicken breast width side into ½ inch thick strips, set aside. After, thoroughly wash hands and do not reuse cutting board.

2. Slice peppers into ½ inch thick strips (approximately same size as chicken strips). Set aside in bowl.

3. Chop scallions into small pieces, using the entire length of the scallion. Set aside in bowl with peppers and peanuts.

4. Halve and chop dry roasted peanuts. Set aside in bowl.

Cooking:

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Once oil is heated, add chicken to pan and stir often.

2. Once chicken starts to brown, add peppers, peanuts and scallions. Sautees for 1 minute or until peppers begin to soften.

3. Stir in 1 can of El Pato Tomato Sauce and garlic salt (optional) and reduce heat to low.

4. Cover and allow pan to sit over low heat for 5-7 minutes, this allows the chicken and vegetables to absorb the sauce and become more tender.

5. Remove pan from heat, uncover and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Serve over rice, pasta or plain and eat up!

Calories per serving:

292 calories per serving

Cost per serving:

About $4

Money saving tip:

Items such as white meat chicken are usually cheaper to buy in bulk, so if you buy more than two pounds, wrap each individual breast in saran wrap, bag it and freeze for later.

Day 1.

university meets food diversity is the byproduct of my love of food. before coming to college, i spent every night in the kitchen with my mom, trying new recipes and sharing the news of the day. once i left, i had to quickly learn how to adjust my cooking obsessed and explorative lifestyle to a dorm environment. it wasn't long before dining hall food became old and my friends and i were forced to start exploring ann arbor's diverse cuisine. from cheap, fast thai-food to local eats such as "chipatis", ann arbor caters to the palates of all college students and its waiting for you to explore.

my passion for food is rivaled by my interest in health and fitness. i came to college a healthy eater and continue to live that way (aside from the too-frequent late night milkshakes and cheesy breads) however, i've found that many college students like myself, struggle to eat a healthy but varied diet on a low budget. dining halls and cooking for yourself alike, it's hard to mix up your diet. the purpose of university meets food diversity is to provide college students with cheap and easy recipes that are absolutely delicious, reviews of good eats in the U of M area and quick health tips to help promote a healthier college experience.

enjoy! -amy