Next Door–A Neighborhood Bistro

Have you been to Next Door in Mt. Pleasant yet? I hope you say yes, and if not, you should say you’re going very soon! Last week I connected with the social media reps behind Next Door who graciously invited me in for a dinner review. I had been to Next Door twice for pizza and wine – their fig and and goat cheese pizza is amazing – but never for an actual dinner. On Friday, Amanda and I started our weekend with a phenomenal meal.

In the space that Samos once was, Ben Berryhill and his partner from Red Drum opened up Next Door late last Summer. The restaurant is very open and inviting, but with low lighting that gives it somewhat romantic vibe. Our waitress epitomized what I look for in a perfect server. She was friendly, attentive, very patient, and offered her opinion of the menu items with emotion. When asking her thoughts on specific items, she spoke of them as if recalling fond memories, and not just repeating what we had read on the menu. 

While glancing over the menu, Amanda and I each ordered a glass of wine – Malbec for her and a Cabernet/Merlot blend for me. I’ve had several different wines here and they are all fabulous. Each glass is only $6, which I love; you don’t consider the price when choosing and your decision is more focused on a varietal you’ll enjoy. 

Chef Ben Berryhill suggested we start with a summery appetizer: Chilled Cucumber Melon Soup with Dill Cream and Radish. This cool soup was refreshing and silky smooth from the dill cream. Amanda and I thought the baby spoons were the cutest thing!

I immediately knew I wanted to try the Arancini with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce, and Braised Beef. I first discovered arancini in Rome and fell in love with the fried balls of rice, cheese, and meat. Next Door’s version is just as delicious – they were warm, crispy, and cheese poured out with each bite. The tomato sauce on the side was sweet and rich – a nice addition to the salty arancini.

The chef also suggested we try a new menu item that was very similar to the only entrée I tried at Samos: Shrimp Saganaki, Heirloom Tomatoes, Feta, Lemon. We loved this!

Next, we moved onto pasta. The Raviolo with House Ricotta, Prosciutto, Farm egg, and Sage is the largest piece of pasta I’ve ever seen. It took up the entire plate! The very delicate raviolo was filled with the perfect amount of ricotta and prosciutto and sat in a rich, buttery sauce.

Finally, it was time to try some main courses. First was the Wild Sockeye Salmon with Corn, Bacon, Charred Okra, Mushrooms, and Heirloom Tomatoes. The salmon was extremely moist and the corn and okra it sat upon gave the entrée a nice crunch.

Amanda had the Scamp Grouper with Jasmine Rice Pilaf, Peas, Asparagus, and a Fine Herb Vin. Her grouper, cooked perfectly, was buttery and sweet.

Don’t ask me how we made room for dessert and coffee, but we did. See, we’re still smiling.

Smiling about this! Dessert was an Almond Tart with Blueberry Compote and candied Almonds.

We were just as excited when our server brought out French press coffee. Silly excited.

Cheers! It was so good, we both drank our entire press full of coffee . No wonder why we were so bouncy the rest of the evening. French press coffee from Next Door + Trio could make for a very interesting evening.

Next time you’re in Mt. Pleasant, be sure to check out Next Door! It’s a fabulous place with incredible food. Don’t forget to check out their dinner menu beforehand!

Connect with them on:

• facebook
• twitter
• open table
• instagram – @nextdoormp

**Thank you to Jennifer, Chef Ben, Chef Nathan, Lauren, and the rest of the team! It was a pleasure meeting you all and we can’t wait to see you soon!**

Balsamic Fig Salad with Goat Cheese, Pecans, and Prosciutto

Before I left for North Carolina, my grandfather asked if I’d bring some fresh figs. There was a recipe he wanted us to make but he couldn’t find fresh figs in his area. Whole Foods to the rescue! I picked up a pint and hopped onto I-26.

Saturday evening, we decided to make salmon and vegetables to have with the salad. Although the salad was just an accompaniment to the main entrée, it ended up being my favorite part of the meal.

Balsamic Grilled Fig Salad with Goat Cheese, Pecans, and Prosciutto

(adapted from The Fresh Market)

Ingredients:

• 12 large fresh figs, halved
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing, divided
• 6 oz. baby spinach leaves
• 2 oz. crumbled goat cheese
• 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
• 2 oz. torn prosciutto

Preparation:

Toss figs with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in medium bowl; set aside. Broil figs on rack, turning once, until figs are caramelized, about 4 minutes; keep warm. Arrange spinach on serving platter. Top with figs, goat cheese, pecans, and prosciutto. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup dressing.

Not just pretty. Delicious and pretty.

For the salmon we had also picked up at The Fresh Market, we used Ina Garten recipe for  Asian Grilled Salmon.
I love Ina because her recipes aren’t difficult. A simple marinade of Dijon mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic was all the salmon needed.

All weekend, we introduced my teenage brother to new vegetables. He claimed he only likes raw spinach. Weird, I know. For this dinner, we sautéed zucchini and cherry tomatoes in olive oil and oregano.

And what would dinner be without a bottle of wine? A dry dinner. Of course the teenager wasn’t allowed any.

All together, it was a great Summer meal. Though the heat tells me otherwise, Summer is winding down and the opportunities to enjoy grilled food are coming to a halt. Sad!

 What are your favorite salad toppings?

What’s your favorite grilled fish? Vegetable?

My Turkey Day Duties

For this year’s Thanksgiving, I was in charge of making an appetizer and a dessert. I love showing my family that healthy can equal delicious, so I chose two recipes that would do just that. On Thanksgiving Eve I made the dessert: Pumpkin Chiffon Cake by Rachael Ray. I’m not usually a fan of RR or her recipes, but this one caught my eye bc a)the name sounds fancy and b)it was lightened up.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, separated, plus 5 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks and pumpkin puree. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.

3. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the remaining 9 egg whites at medium speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. With the machine on, gradually whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar; increase the speed to high and beat until stiff but still moist, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Add one-quarter of the egg white mixture to the pumpkin batter, folding with a rubber spatula just until no streaks remain. Fold in the remaining egg white mixture in the same manner. Pour the batter into a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom and bake until springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 minutes.

5. Let cool in the cake pan for 5 minutes, then invert the pan onto a narrow-necked bottle and let hang upside down until completely cool, about 1 1/2 hours.  (I REFUSED to put a hole in my cake, so I let it cool on top of cans.)Place the cake right side up and remove the pan. To serve, dust the cake with the confectioners’ sugar.

For a beautiful cake, this was quite easy! While it baked, Lucy and I did some Christmas decorating and arts & crafts. I picked up these mugs for our nightly tea seshes. So adorbs!! I am the penguin and she is the snow(w0)man.I also found place mats. Target has the best seasonal crap. Omggggg I’m obsessed.

And for $2, I found crafts! This kept me busy and away from the oven window.

Here’s the finished product hanging on our front door – inside and outside. I’m sure the neighbors think we’re 5-year-olds.So back to the cake. The pumpkin cake made the twenty-six mile drive safely!

This was one of the best desserts I have ever made. My family is full of chocolate fanatics, but every single one of us loved this. Even the baby ate two slices! At only 122 calories per slice, this is the perfect indulgence. We could not get over how light and moist it was. Move over pumpkin loaves and cookies, the pumpkin chiffon cake is the best yet!As if you could even focus on a vegetable right now, I do want to show the app too. I simply took a bunch of fresh asparagus, snapped off their tails, and parboiled them for a few minutes. I wrapped them in prosciutto while drinking a mimosa…and then roasted them in balsamic and honey with pistachios. Easy and delicious!

Hope everyone had a fatttttttttttttttt Thanksgiving!

Carbs, Carbs Everywhere

Last night while Santypants was on the phone with T-Mobile for a hundred hours, I prepped my morning breakfast: oats! It's been a while since I've had anything besides oat bran or Fiber One original, and oats were on my mind. I took an empty Oikos container and filled it with the following to soak overnight:

• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 tsp brown sugar

When I got to work, I added 1/2 of a banana, sliced. Then I stirred it all up and popped it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. I stirred after 1 1/2 minutes. It was soooo creamy. I've read about "overnight oats" plenty of times on Kath's blog, but have been sticking with my usual breakfasts. This is a great idea!

After it cooked, I topped the oats with a few dried cranberries, raisins, and a couple of milk chocolate chips! The melted chips make me soooo happy in the morning. I washed it all down with my usual 8 oz of skim milk! 

Later for lunch, I finished up the rest of the chicken salad with more spinach. I snacked on more grapes and an apple.

After work, I zoomed over to Target because I saw in their weekly sale ad that LUNA BARS are on sale! After tasting the peppermint cookie flavor yesterday, I needed MORE! I would much rather eat a Luna bar than a cookie, especially knowing it has actual health benefits. A box of six bars is on sale for $5.79 each, plus you  get an additional single bar FREE! The single bars are also on sale for $1.02. I got 2 boxes, 2 free single bars, and then I bought another one just because I couldn't resist. $12.60 for 15 bars = $.84 each! What a steal!

Dinner was soooooooo good: homemade pizza! This one came pretty close to beating the Prosciutto & Parrano pizza I made in September. Of couuuurse I sweetly asked the pizza man at Whole Foods to roll out the whole wheat dough for me. He looked at me funny this time, as if I hadn't asked him twice before. Maybe he just hates me. Anyway, I brushed the dough with a little bit of olive oil and added sliced mozzarella and Saint Agur gorgonzola.

Then I added a sliced D'Anjou pear...

A few slices of Prosciutto di Parma...

and stuck it in the oven for 15 minutes at 450*. When it was done baking, I topped it with toasted walnuts and drizzled it with honey! AHH!

With all that carb energy I had a dance party in my room with my two friends Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj!

Stop judging.

Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Prosciutto , Couscous, and Veggies

This dinner was inspired by a bunch of random things I found in the fridge -- a bit of goat cheese, spinach, and leftover prosciutto from last week's pizza. So why not stuff chicken breasts with cheese and spinach then wrap them with prosciutto! Very simple and delicious. I split the chicken breasts in half and loaded them up with the herbed goat cheese:

Then lots of fresh spinach:

Then I wrapped each with 3-4 pieces of very thinly sliced prosciutto.

I baked them at 350* for about 22 minutes. Weird time, I know. I took them out at 20 and B tried to convince me they were done, but I wasn't so sure. We compromised by putting them for an additional 2 minutes. Perfect. On the side I made some Near East wheat couscous in the roasted garlic & olive oil flavor. That couscous is soooooo delicious and soft! We also had some steamed vegetables.

This was very simple to make and a great way to to incorporate the random ingredients I found. Happy Monday!