Rudy's

I know you're wondering when I had time to go to Belgium (which I would love, love, love to do), but this is actually a picture from the other night at Rudy's bar in New Haven. They serve frites with all kinds of sauces (too bad they one let you pick one for free). We did the curry ketchup, which was nice, but I could have done quite an extensive sampling!

I'm also super-psyched because I got this Belgian trappist monk beer-- Westmalle. It's from only one of seven trappist monastery breweries in the world. And it was delightful with the frites-- soft and creamy with a little fruity-hoppiness. Proof that beer can really be better at food pairings than wine.

Rudy's is a fantastic dive bar (despite the fact that they only have one ladies' room) so it's not limited to just Belgian-wish-fulfillment.

New England Night

It was a very Red Lobster-esque New England Seafood Feast at our house last night. Littleneck clams steamed in white wine broth, Atlantic salmon, purple asparagus, and roasted potatoes and onions with rosemary.

While obviously Southern food is clearly my absolute favorite type of regional cuisine, I must admit those Yankees in New England have some really great food. Especially of the maritime variety. Last weekend's visit to the Connecticut coast was like a never-ending all-you-can-eat seafood buffet -- but with delicious (and fresh) offerings. I had lobster, clams, scallops, shrimp, and scrod. And it was still not enough. So we tried to take care of that last night.

The littleneck clams, like all mollusks, are super-easy to fix. Start with garlic and butter in a large pot (there may have been onion thrown in there too). Add in some chopped parsley and sage, but save some to add in later. Then some
white wine, the rinsed-off clams, and top off with more white wine. Let it cook for about 10 minutes on high heat until the clams just begin to open up. Once most of the clams are open, discard the ones that aren't, and scoop up as much broth as possible with the good ones. Some bread may also be required to maximize garlicy-wine-butter-broth absorption.

As for the salmon, I marinated them in a glass baking pan with some soy sauce, orange juice, ginger paste, cracked black pepper, brown sugar, and a teensy bit of orange marmalade. I love how improvisational marinades can be, yet they always turn out pretty fantastic. Left it to marinate in the fridge about an hour, but up to 4 hours is better. Wrapped them in foil packets and threw them on the grill on low heat. Took about 12 minutes to cook. It normally salmon takes more like 8 minutes or less, but we were cooking slow and they turned out so....creamy? In a good way. Just watch until the middle is opaque and it starts to flake off when poked with a fork.

Oven roasted the asparagus and the potatoes and Vidalia onions on 450 for about 15 minutes. The potatoes will take longer than the asparagus. Also, the purple asparagus just turns green when cooked unless you use lemon juice (same for purple peppers). By the way, purple asparagus is a little sweeter than the regular green, and can even be eaten raw. White asparagus, on the other hand, is made by a process that seems like plant-cruelty-- forced albinism. Basically they are covered with soil so they never get light, hence never produce chlorophyll. It makes them milder and more tender than their colored bretheren. Shudder. Too many comparisons to veal for me... I'll stick with green and purple, thanks.

History of Beer Cans

Found this interesting post about the history of beer cans on Weburbanist. Key points: PBR was the first (of course), a bar in Virginia was the first place to sell cans (the South hearts beer cans), and in the 70s there were briefly push-button opened cans (ah, the kooky seventies).

Since no glass is allowed at Bonnaroo (which is less than 2 weeks away!!), I am glad to see that craft beers have started to make the move to cans. There will definitely be some Dale's Pale Ale in our cooler!

Frank Pepe's

Hey kids, the only thing I really have time for on this catch-up post-holiday very-Monday Tuesday is a quick post about Frank Pepe's in New Haven.

It is the best pizza ever. It can make you fly, open the doors of perception, make you invisible, transport you through space and time, basically make you shovel giant delicious mouthfuls of it into your mouth without noticing your immediate surroundings. Until you are so contendedly distended that you roll down Wooster Street in semi-comatose glee. The end.

We didn't wait as long as most do, mainly because this was Yale's commencement weekend and the only upside of that is that no one wants a table for two on such occasions. I've included the menu for Pepe's so you can get an idea of the scene -- pretty much unchanged non-ergonomic restaurant interior, and as the menu indicates, just pizza. You get pizza and soda or beer. Because that's all you need. Ever.

We got a large, half white with clam and the other half red with bacon and onions. I have trouble committing to a favorite topping combination, but not anymore so long as clam pizzas are available. That garlicy cheese bliss is all you really need. I won't bore you with a description of my eyes-rolled-in-the-back-of-my-head reaction. Though after taking down about 6 slices of the clam, I must say the bacon and onion made an impression as well. The fact that I could eat any of it all means it was far superior to all other pizzas previously consumed.

So why so great? I think mostly it has to be the crust- thin but with chewiness that allows you to savor it longer. But of course doing one thing really well means attention to quality and being able to replicate that. So the fact that the bacon was almost whole slices, not just bacos, and that the onion was chopped very finely and cooked beforehand shows you that Pepe's isn't just sliding by on reputation alone.

I must admit that after my no-holds-barred take-down of this pizza (a large with only two slices left to take home) I did go into a bit of a shame spiral. Moments of decadence can unfortunately have that side-effect. And thus I did not make it back over to Little Italy to try out Sally's. So the feud must continue without my weighing in. But we'll be back in New Haven soon. And I'm already training for another pizza.

More Like Whoopsie Pies

Making Whoopie Pies is all the rage in the blogosphere. And since Whoopie Pies originated in Maine, the birthplace of the Boy's dad, I wanted to try to make some when the parents came for a visit. When they came around Easter I tried, but with disasterous results. I blamed it on not having a good mixer, on refusing to use shortening, on my general imprecision in baking.

Well, now that we're visiting them this weekend, I thought I would renew my efforts-- with this recipe. All I can say is that it wasn't the mixer, and I used shortening. I really have no idea. They look so perfect here.

Last time they spread into one blob-- so I spaced them even further apart. Still a blob (see below). So I made the tiniest drops of batter. They came out nicely rounded, but completely flattened and a little bitter-burnt tasting. Which caused quite a consternation because the batter tastes great. I am still consternated.

All advice from skilled bakers is welcome. I may try again tonight before we leave-- I have a suspicion that maybe I put too much baking soda in because it kind of tasted like that.

You may have won the first two battles, WPs, but the war has only just begun. Best out of 5? Better make it best out of 7, because I haven't even tried to make the filling yet.

In the News

Charley Brown's has opened up in the former KC Tea and Noodles on Park Ave. (Not Charlie Brown's across from the Public Market. I see no evidence of this opening online, but I witnessed it with my own two eyes)

Also on Park, Dorado is now serving Sunday brunch

Chipotle will be in Henrietta in August

NY Times celebrates our favorite condiment

They also give props to 2006 Hermann J. Wiemer dry Reisling from the Finger Lakes

Good Luck has updated their seasonal menu (guess that means the third trip this month!)

Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

Another weeknight, another excuse to grill. Jay and Kate came over again with teriyaki marinated pork tenderloin. As the purveyor of the sides, we tried to keep in tune with the flavor profile. But I shot down fried rice as just too blase and not in keeping with the exuberance we were feeling about the wonderful weather. We did end up keeping the same idea, but with more seasonal elements-- jasmine rice and a mango salsa.

For the mango salsa, the Boy chopped one mango, a tomato, a small onion, a half-can of black beans, some fresh cilantro, and some jicama (left over from the last grilling post). He threw in ginger paste, Sriracha, lime juice, fresh ground pepper and a pinch of salt.

Just threw that over the rice and it paired perfectly with the tenderloin, which was super-moist. Jay's ability to cook meats to the appropriate amount of doneness continues to amaze and delight. Especially when my meat thermometer was giving crazy 300 degree readings...

Oh and that brown blob is leftover peanut sauce (how leftover, you don't want to know).

Sally's v. Pepe's

We're going to New Haven for the holiday weekend, home of the first hamburger in America, the Boy, and a world-class pizza face-off. In corner #1: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. Corner #2: Sally's Apizza. Down-the-street rivals that have both been in business for over 70 years (1925 and 1938 respectively).

Like Donny, I know I'm out of my element. So I'm trusting a local and we're going to Pepe's (expect a review next week). But I would be remiss in my attempt at pseudo-journalism if I did not mention that for the June issue of GQ, Alan Richman rated the top 25 pizzas in the US-- and Sally's came in 6 while Pepe's came in 12. Pretty impressive for a town of that size (San Francisco and Manhattan got 3 apiece). I've had Totonno's in Brooklyn, and seen Pizzeria Bianco on the Food Network, but never heard of the rest.

In his blog post ranking the top 10 pizza cities (New Haven is 7th) Richman also called out Bar, a stop on our itinerary, for serving mashed potato pizza, which is clearly an abomination.

Maybe we'll have the Great New Haven Pizza-Off this weekend and see if Richman's rankings stand.

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome?

Cauliflower and Raspberry Cheesecake?

Durian Update

An update on my earlier post about durian:

Went to SEA for a late-night take-out order for the Boy's Fourth Meal. In penance for making me drive him during an Anthony Bourdain episode in my PJs, I made him get me a durian smoothie. And penance was paid a thousand-fold back upon me.

I only managed about 4 sips before I dumped it into the trashcan (the giant outdoor one for collection, so it couldn't emanate its putrid nuclear-waste glow on us anymore). My best attempt at describing the taste: rotten pineapple and running shoes in a men's locker room. It definitely starts with kind of a tropical-fruit-gone-bad kind of taste, which is like heaven compared to the sharp urinal smell that follows. Something is definitely pee-like in that flavor profile.

Probably not (the Boy's) money well spent, but it's nice to have broadened one's horizons.

Maple Syrup

So even though NY borders both Canada and Vermont, I purchased real maple syrup this weekend from none other than Pennsylvania. There was an old farm near our campsite advertising maple syrup (advertising meaning homemade signs on cardboard at the entrance to their ramshackle farmhouse). Unfortunately, being a Sunday, these maple harvesters were closed for business (meaning they weren't at home, probably at church). But as luck would have it, we heathens were on our way to a local winery (another thing PA surprisingly offers) where they just so happened to sell the local stuff.

Now I am finally a real maple syrup owner (although still an owner of that totally unnatural imitation stuff we bought from the neighborhood gas station). I feel like this is a major step in my Yankee-ness (Southerners prefer cane syrup like Karo, which is why maple syrup got big anyway-- the Rebels cut them off). But I have to figure out more stuff to make with it. Since we're visiting the Boy's parents over the weekend, I think I will try to make some kind of maple-flavored baked good. But I'm a bit at a loss.

I implore you to leave suggestions! Implore!

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome?

Filipino Meatloaf?

This looks like one of those molded recipes in our old-school Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks we were making fun of last night.

Traditionally, it's supposed to have a whole hard-boiled egg and Vienna sausages and raisins in it. To each her own, but for my own, I say: Ralph!

Dinner on the Grill

In the past few weeks (now that it's officially Spring) we have attempted to use the grill to make every last dinner. I'm close to being on cholesterol overload, but we managed to rally again last night after Jay and Kate came bearing gifts of marinated steaks! We're doing this in the name of warm weather!

I also played my now-nightly game of going to Wegmans to figure out what else to make, usually following the Boy's vision, gleaned from watching 8 straight hours of Food Network. This time he came up with jicama slaw and curry potatoes cooking in foil packets on the grill.

For the slaw, I peeled and julienned (well, I cut them much chunkier, but that's because I'm lazy and take little pride in my work) one jicama. Jicama is a "Mexican potato" that tastes like a cross between raw potato and red cabbage, but with the texture of an apple. I added in about a cup and a half of grated red cabbage (which I bought prepackaged-- see above), one diced Granny Smith apple, one diced jalapeno (you'll probably want to take some or all of the seeds out), and some chopped fresh cilantro. Dress with mustard, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. I threw in some cumin and nutmeg for good measure. The slaw was super hot when you hit on the jalapeno seeds, but otherwise just very fresh. I still kind of want to try it with a more tropical fruit, or some orange zest or honey. I like a hot afterburn, but with a sweet finish.

The curry potatoes were your standard potatoes and onions grilled in a foil packet, but kicked up about seventeen notches. The Boy mixed the dry curry spices (turmeric, coriander, red pepper, and curry), then added in olive oil and coated quartered red potatoes and sliced onions. This was all dumped into a very sizable foil packet, and put on the grill on medium heat. I had my doubts about the cooking time since this shoebox-sized packet was full of potatoes, which take forever. But I should have had faith in the culinary genius of the Boy, because the cooked quicker than I thought and came out wonderfully soft, with perfectly charred onion bits, and intense curry flavor.

As for the steak, I have no idea what it was marinated in, but Jay used my Gordon Ramsey test for doneness, and they tasted fantastic, even if he had to rescue one from death-by-grease-fire. We finished all this deliciousness off with basil lime iced tea and brownies with ice cream. Here's Jay with his O-face of Approval.

Free Cookbooks

The Boy found a set of late 60s Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks by the side of the road yesterday. They pretty much look like this picture, with each book devoted to some culinary category. We have both "Meat" and "Ground Beef" which is exciting.

Now that our cookbook collection is entirely made up of old, used BH&Gs (and one Southern cookbook from my hometown), I think the time has come for us to have a Sixties Cocktail Party, complete with kitschy-weird food like this (it's a photo gallery -- so hours of entertainment there). Something submerged in gelatin, for sure. And old-school cocktails. And we'll probably wait until the new season of Mad Men starts back up in July. And pretend like we're not actually stealing ideas from Stuff White People Like now.

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome?

Michael Jackson?

Well, obviously MJ is both crazy and crazy-awesome. But I think this is decidedly crazy-awesomely bad branding! It's black jello bits and soy milk-- get it?

I've never been a fan of the Asian love for blending creamy with gelatinous. (See bubble tea). But they do have these type of drinks at Chen Garden, and KC Tea and Noodle if that's your thing.

Homemade Sriracha

If ever there was a condiment that deserved to be homemade, it's Sriracha. (Mustard would come a distant second, so as to make honey mustard. Mayo? Ick, never! Ketchup? Boring!)

This is the reason I blog, people. Cult Sriracha.

Someday I Want to Try...

Miracle Fruit

It makes everything, even really sour things, taste sweet. It lasts for about 2 hours per berry. Reading about it online is like reading about dropping acid, if acid was $3 a tab. People even have "flavor tripping" parties with characters like this guy, aka Supreme Commander.

Hurry before there's a law against it!

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome?

Curry Carrot Ice Cream?

Rachael Ray Ranks Hot Sauces

Frank's Red Hot won Best Overall. Don't know if we should be proud of the Buffalo-based shout-out or scream that it's fixed (Rachael is an Upstate NYer). My brother has always preferred Frank's, despite being in the South, where surviving fiery hot sauces are a badge of honor and the brands practically copulate, they're so pervasive. (See Tabasco, Louisiana Gold, Texas Pete, and every one that has the word "ass" in the name).

My personal favorite is Tapatio, but I tend to use it on only on Mexican dishes. Or I'm also a fan of Tabasco or Goya's chipotle hot sauces. I think Frank's would be a complete abomination on a burrito, so I have to dissent with RR regarding overall best-ness.

Thankfully she picked Sriracha (our household staple, as has been duly noted in previous posts) for best medium. I can attest to Sriracha's universality (marinades, pizza, omelettes, pasta, pho) and it's deliciousness. And I haven't even heard of the rest of them, so I can't weigh in there (Blair's must be famous because they make a $379 reserve bottle). And I am intrigued by the habanero chocolate sauce that swept the Best Dessert category...

Grilled Steak -- Carne Asada

I wanted to grill something different this past Sunday. I was inclined to steak strips, but the Boy suggested that we just buy a thin steak and cut it up ourselves. Alrighty then.

I bought a sirloin steak, which ended up being a little thicker than we intended. But it worked beautifully. We marinated it like all day in a blend of soy sauce, Worchestershire, Sriracha, and brown sugar. Then I threw it on the hot grill, letting it sear on both sides, then cooked it on medium heat for about 7 or 8 minutes a side.

I used my little test for doneness that Gordon Ramsey showed me -- rare feels the same as poking your cheek, medium is like your chin, and well done is like your forehead. Poke away in the center, thickest part of your steaks, people. It really works! I didn't even bring out the meat thermometer and this steak was pretty much perfection.

We sliced this puppy up, put it on Wegmans fresh pane (made from whole grains), topped it with some carmelized onions and green bell peppers, threw some Monterrey Jack on top of that (purists should go with provelone) and toasted away in the toaster oven. This was one of the fastest dinners I've ever made. And so deliciously filling! I barely had room for the brownie sundae I had made to for dessert. Barely!

Lasagna

Whenever we have a lazy weekend day, the Boy always wants to make something that has to cook all day. This is usually some kind of old-fashioned comfort food like roast chicken or ribs. This Saturday was just such a day, and the request from on high was for lasagna.

Even though I am in full summertime grill mode, lasagna is probably my favorite nostagic meal, so I relented. Plus the Boy was in paper-writing hell, so I needed something to entertain myself -- like battling the crowd at Wegmans in the rain!

I went with the recipe from our 60s era Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (which will one day be used to concoct some really crazy old school dishes like congealed salads).

Recipe

1 lb of ground beef (or sausage if you'd like)

1 medium onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tomatoes on the vine, chopped (I added these in just because)

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste (the little can -- 6 oz)

2 c. mozzarella

1 small container of ricotta (I used skim)

1/2 c. parmesan

2 eggs

basil

parsley

1 box lasagna noodles (I found whole wheat but it was hard)

Cook the noodles per the box's directions. Brown the beef with the onions and garlic, then drain. Add in next four ingredients -- all things tomato. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for as long as possible. This makes a really nice Bolognese, but the longer the better. Mix the ricotta with the egg, parmesan, basil, and parsley. Layer noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, meat sauce. Repeate 3 times or until you're out of something. Top with more mozzarella. Bake at 375 for 30 to 45 minutes, until cheese is browned.

As a kid, I loved nothing more than attempting to be mature by making myself Stouffer's lasagna, with a wine glass full of Diet Coke, and watching Days of Our Lives while home alone in the summer. So sitting down in front of the TV with this, my first homemade lasagna, and a glass of Diet Coke, was about as nostalgic as it gets. And it didn't even take the whole day (though attempting to make parmesan breadsticks from scratch pretty much did).

Dijongate

I love all "-gate" suffixed political scandals. This one may soon become my favorite, though. You probably heard earlier in the week that Obama and Biden went out for lunch at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, VA. At the time the reports stuck mostly to the basics: they both ordered burgers, with salad and tater tots (they don't have fries) as sides. Obama got a bottled water. Well apparently there are clips of Obama requesting spicy mustard on his burger.

So somehow this caused Sean Hannity et. al to pop a major conservative blood vessel in their collective forehead. Because spicy = dijon = French, elitist, and un-American (nevermind the yellow Uhmurrikun stuff is called French's). Furthermore, they have indicted the liberal media (MSNBC) because Andrea Mitchell was talking over the spicy mustard request. Vast liberal conspiracy (that happens live)!

And now a Cornell law professor has charted the history of Obama's relationship with dijon mustard, chiefly embodied in Grey Poupon. But kiddies, you seem to be missing a step. Grey Poupon, despite those silly commercials, is not elitist or French. It's Kraft.

Don't know how I missed this on last night's O'Reilly... C'mon people, don't we have better things to sqwauk about? Yellow American Mustard v. Slightly Browner American Mustard?? Seriously?

Side-note: mini political turmoils have also popped up because the burgers were medium-well (overcooked), topped with ketchup (sneer) and of course were beef (PETA).

Big Deal Pizza

Big Deal Pizza just opened up this week on Monroe Ave, near Meigs. Their number is 697-2491.

The crust was medium-thin and chewy, which I like (the Boy is strictly Team Crispy). The sauce was a little too sweet for both of us, particularly when it was in clumps at the top of the crust with nothing else to even it out. Maybe a bit too cheesy. But the toppings were phenomenal -- really fresh veggies and perfectly cooked bacon for ours. Sidenote: we were told we were the first to order broccoli, red pepper and bacon. Score!

The service was excellent -- very friendly and ready right on time. All the young guys running the place seem very interested in making return customers.

I've forgotten to bring the menu with me to give you guys the scoop, but they have a pretty extensive menu. They make subs in house, have calzones and pasta, serve Big Slices, and even have a bakery section. The bakery has mini cannoli (so hard to resist!), cupcakes, cream puffs, and cookies. Our large pizza was around $20, so maybe the prices are a bit high, but we did get three toppings.

BD is currently cash only (with an ATM across the street at Nick's Market), but they are setting up the line for credit card transactions ASAP.

Using the Freezer

Our freezer currently has four empty ice cube trays, a 1/2 of a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, three ice packs, and a mess left from when somebody left an open beer in there last weekend.

Mark Bittman, a NY Times food columnist, has some other dollar-stretching suggestions for the space above the over-crowded fridge. In the latest post on his blog, The Minimalist, Bittman explains how to freeze vegetables, beans, grains, fruits, dough, herbs, stock, even wine. While some of Bittman's advice seems like it should be obvious, I don't really try to save much beyond chicken breasts by freezing. And some of the tips should prove useful, especially if all the tomatoes and herbs I planted last week manage to prosper.

Sorry food storage couldn't be a little sexier for you. Pretty soon, I could be posting a very special canning post. Or one about that Ronco dehydrator...

Lilac Festival

The Lilac Festival starts in Highland Park tomorrow. Although the weather will be lousy and the lilacs have yet to bloom, there will at least be lots of free events over the next 10 days. Plus the Highland Bowl concert series: Rickie Lee Jones, Dr. John, Southside Johnny, and Joan Osborne ($15 a day, purchase at Wegmans, Record Archive or Bop Shop).

And in a food-related vein, the map indicates 80 international food vendors, plus a Nick Tahou's trailer! Since I have yet to eat at Nick Tahou's, I'll have to walk over sometime this week and see what the fuss is about.

Burger of the Month Club

Some New Yorkers have formed a Burger of the Month Club, which strikes me as a particularly masculine way to distract oneself from the particularly masculine economic downturn in NYC.

Love the NYTimes write-up (with pictures) and their rankings. And love the counterpart to monthly baking competitions I've been seeing in the blogosphere.

If Rochester had a BOTM club, which place do you think would consistently rank highest? Being as I just had the Diablo Burger from there last night, I'm going to pick Dino (with Don's Original coming in a close second). Feel free to post your dissent.

This picture is courtesy of the BOTM website and is of a Primehouse burger.

Tastings Value Dinner

Tastings is now offering a selection of "Value Dinners" for $17.99:

Slow Cooked Porter Beef Short Ribs
Sauté of summer vegetables, warmed miso-potato salad and natural jus
or
Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon
Braised romaine hearts, corn-basil emulsion and red wine gastrique
or
Black Mussels and Shrimp Linguini
Tomato confit, asparagus and arugula in a crushed tomato-oregano nage

Not sure what the "nage" stuff is, but I'm down for mussels anytime.

Value dinner offer starts May 1st. For limited time only.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only. Not valid with Restaurant.com certificates or other discounts.

Cinco de Mayo

Hope everybody had a good Cinco de Mayo. Ours was pretty tame, but we did make some fresh, healthy Tex-Mex for dinner. In this picture it kind of looks like Fancy Feast, but I promise, it tasted much much better (not that I know what cat food tastes like, of course).

We're working on plating our little culinary creations, so the Boy made a mound of rice mixed with onions, corn, and black beans. Then we topped that with slices of grilled chicken which had been basted with a cilantro pesto (I put a ton of cilantro in the food processor with garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and balsamic-- voila). Then we took some more of the cilantro pesto and mixed it with the leftover roasted red pepper dip to make some kind of weird salsa. I feel guilty for saying this contains absolutely no tomatoes whatsoever. How can that be? Well, Sriracha has tomatoes in it, and I used it to make those smeary little 5s on the plate. 5/5 -- get it?

Can you tell we've been watching a lot of Bourdain and Zimmern? Better practice more on our presentation-- but flavor gets a 5!

Indian Curry Love Feast

The Boy made some tremendously good shrimp curry Sunday night to be used for our kooky pizza night. Since there was some hesitation about using a rather thin curry sauce as the base of a pizza, we had plenty leftover. So last night, he used that as the jumping off point for a totally spectacular Indian dinner. The curry was served over Texmati brown rice, then paired with Progresso lentil soup with more spices thrown in, and a saag type of dish (spinach, garlic, spices, olive oil, and a hint of cream of mushroom soup-- don't ask). When you look at this picture, doesn't it just look like dinner at a nice Indian restaurant? But it ain't from India House, folks. It's from our house.

Curries are my culinary secret weapon. They are super-easy once you have the spices (which incidentally, can be purchased along with other cool Indiania at the India House grocery store). There appears to be no real need to measure out anything. (But if you have to have recipes, go here. Epicurious also has a fancy version of what he did). I'd say it's fool proof, but then I'll concoct something horrific the next time I make it.

I start by frying the chicken in a large saucepan, then removing it and cooking onions and garlic and ginger paste in the same olive oil. Then you want to add in the classic Indian spices: turmeric, coriander, cumin, and cayenne. You can also add in curry powder itself (which is only a blend). Garam Masala is an Indian spice blend that goes well in pretty much everything. It's great in curries, but I recommend adding it in towards the end. Add liquid in quickly to keep from burning the spices. I usually throw in canned tomatoes, but the Boy did not do that here. Add in chicken (or shrimp) and assorted veggies. Then you let it really start to simmer, adding in a can of coconut milk to get the color and mellow out all the spices. (You can substitute unflavored yogurt, which I like to do to save cals, but be forewarned that it will likely have a yogurt-y aftertaste). Insert Garam Masala here.

For the purposes of full disclosure: the Boy used cream of coconut because we had it, so he only used a little bit, because that stuff is rich. He also added in peanut sauce, again because we had it, which worked in the same way to mellow out the heat and also added a nice nutty flavor. Let this serve as your license to do pretty much whatever you want to it. Cover and let simmer, tasting often, and tweaking as necessary.

Beard Award

James Beard Award winners were named last night.

No, nothing for Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses. It's not that kind of beard award. It's the so-called Oscars of the food industry. And unsurprisingly, most of the awards went to restaurants in NYC. None of the winners seemed too shocking: Jean-Georges, Daniel, Momofuku Ko, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Drew Nieporent, etc.

Dr. Pepper's Secret Recipe Found?

Tulsa Man May Have Found Early Version of Dr. Pepper Recipe at Texas Antique Store.

News from Serious Eats. Dr. Pepper denies it, calls it a digestive. Of course they would! Oh hecks yeah!

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome?

Hashbrown sandwich?

Pizza Night

Pizza Night was a classic occasion at our house growing up: a time to get outrageous with some toppings and get to create something entirely on your own (and also eat the whole thing yourself!) However, family pizza nights started to dwindle once our palates started developing and the average costs of toppings started to skyrocket. That was still a problem (no doubt moreso) when the Boy and I traveled over to Jay and Kate's for a foodie-version of Pizza Night. And we're giving you this step-by-step guide complete with pictures!

The first major change from PNs of old was to make our own pizza dough. Since I am thoroughly unskilled as a baker, we left this to Jay's very capable flour-covered hands.

Step One: four cups of flour to make four pizzas (seems pretty easy to increase or decrease to your own specs). Add salt.

Step Two: Add vital wheat gluten. This is the binding agent. Then add 1 1/2 cups of warm water to active yeast in a separate bowl, stirring until brown and bubbly. Add into flour mixture.

Step Three: Tons of olive oil (techinical term as usual). Mix by hand, then roll out onto flour-dusted clean, flat surface and start to knead.

Step Four: Knead for 15 minutes, activating the gluten. (Jay's Tip: rinse out bowl with water while kneading, then dry bowl well so dough can be placed back into bowl without a hardened mess later).

Step Five: Let rise in bowl, covered and in a warm place, 1 hour, then punch down a bit, and return for another 15 minutes to proof.

Step Six: Begin to punch dough again, still on flour-covered surface (adding more flour as needed). Divide into 4 balls for each pizza. Work by hand, or use rolling pin or hand-tossing. Stretch dough until it begins to windowpane (stretch thin without forming holes).


Step Seven: Form round(ish) shape, rolling up edges for a crust, directly onto a wooden peel.

Step Eight: Prepare toppings, placing thicker ones between pizza sauce and cheese and ones that should get crispy on top.

Step Nine: Place on pizza stone (which has been preheating) in oven, 500 degrees for 13 minutes. (Checking on bubbly-cheese status periodically).

Step Ten: Remove from oven when cheese is golden brown. Let cool on peel. Transfer, cut, and serve!
To make up for our neophyte baker status, the Boy and I went wild over the toppings. Our ingredient list was so intensive that we had to write it up on a white board to keep track of every possible permutation of pizza available. Here are the final four:

Pizza #1: Roasted red pepper sauce base (remember the Backwoods Birthday party recipe?), roasted poblano pepper strips, Monterey Jack cheese, fresh cilantro, and thinly sliced tomatillos. A little Mexican flavor.
Pizza #2: Marinara base, roasted grape tomatoes, chorizo, pepperoni, black olives, and fresh mozzarella. The Meat Lovers.


Pizza #3: The palate cleanser. Pizza Margherita. Tiny bit of marinara, fresh and smoked mozzarella, fresh basil.


Pizza #4: Thai peanut sauce, chorizo, shrimp in Thai curry sauce, fresh mozzarella, tomatillos, fresh cilantro. The "get crazy with the Cheez Wiz" mystery pizza. Fantastico!


Many thanks to Jay and Kate for breaking down the fine art of pizza-making for us and allowing us to dirty up the place! Next time, we should probably skip the Steve-o True Hollywood Story.

Good Luck

My central argument for this post will be that Good Luck is the best restaurant in Rochester (that I've ever been to). So if you get too overwhelmed with the giddy superlatives or doubtful of my ecclesiastical endorsement, feel free to skip a paragraph, cleanse the palate with some acerbic wit (maybe Oscar Wilde or Christopher Hitchens) and just remember the thesis I'm positing here: Greatest. Restaurant. Ever.

Ok, probably not "ever." Probably in Rochester, of the places I've been to, in my current state of mind. And still, just probably. But if I had a restaurant (let's call this "the restaurant in my mind") it would be sort of French countryside-inspired. It would have high ceilings with exposed beams. It would have speciality cocktails with crazy seasonal ingredients. It would have a wild fusion menu. And a laid-back vibe. It would have a lot of those funny little idiosyncracies that made Good Luck so charming. At this point, the RIMM would be straight ripping off Good Luck. Because I loved the dish cloth napkins, the fresh herbs, the antique industrial mixer, and the little hand mirrors in the ladies' room. I loved the precious library check-out cards for the wine list. And the (real silver?) antique-y mismatched silverware. And I really loved the "food to share" concept-- though they need to really spread the word on how that works. ["Food to share" isn't family-style or tapas, it's like each dish is enough to feed one person, but they bring them to the center of the table at varying intervals so all can be shared. And there are sides like salads and fries mixed into the menu as well].

So let's get down to it: the food. I have to admit I went here on the premise of doing the Restaurant Week prix-fixe. But that option (pizza) wasn't all that appealing after our fabulous calzone night (see below). I didn't see anything I was immediately entraced by. I loved the idea of ramps and nettle pesto (two very in-season green things that aren't really farmed, but just plucked from the ground, and thus adored by foodies right now). But I didn't really want pasta. None of the meat dishes really grabbed me: the hamburger seemed too pedestrian (although it looked like the vast majority of their business) and the black cod seemed too heavy. The Boy went with bone-in pork loin and I got two vegetarian dishes: chickpea and eggplant fritters and butternut squash curry. The pork came with basmati rice and a red lentil sauce, so our meal turned out to be very Indian, though totally unintentionally. And it was also better Indian than I've had anywhere, including the stuff I've made at home and been quite impressed with. (You'll note in the picture that my plate has been scraped clean).

You can really taste the freshness, the quality ingredients, the multiple layers of flavor. These dishes are thought-out and show a certain amount of inspiration (well, for Rochester anyway). I am totally going to put cashew butter in my next curry, that's for sure.

Now, I'm cynical enough to know nothing is perfect; restaurants are never all that consistent, so all other experiences (including more of my own) will likely differ. The service was a bit rickety, so it could be more of a problem on other occasions. We didn't have the best seat in the house, so I could see when being squeezed so close to another table would be maddening. And there have got to be times when the prices seem extravagant. They teetered over to the reasonable-high side last night. But we left relaxed (and not a little jubilant), with that wonderful not-too-full feeling. And even the rain didn't ruin it. I think we had Great Luck.

Good Luck is at 50 Anderson Avenue, which is a tiny hidden street just before Village Gate off Goodman (coming from University). There is parking just past the restaurant, which has a black awning with no obvious signage. It is open 5-2am Wed-Sat. They have a huge bar, and a late-night menu.