Roman Holiday Gelato

Post #150 goes to my all-time favorite: gelato. Prior to seeing Inglorious Basterds Friday night at the Little, we headed over to Roman Holiday Gelato for a treat. They have about 6 gelato flavors and another 6 sorbet flavors.

Now for the uneducated, gelato is denser than ice cream and usually doesn't have eggs (the French style of ice cream contains eggs). Gelato is supposed to have less butterfat than ice cream, but also less air. Conversely, frozen custard (like Abbott's) has less air than ice cream, but a higher percentage of butterfat. Sorbet is dairy-free and usually fruit flavored. Enough with the science...

I got the coconut gelato and the Boy got profiterole (which I believe actually had a profiterole inside the scoop). The coconut tasted very fresh and had a natural coconut flavor. I give Roman Holiday some enthusiastic thumbs up. And I once had one of those punch your visit cards to a gelateria in Florence, Italy and I went through the whole thing in just a few weeks. They were making different flavors daily depending on what was fresh, so it IS tooootalllly reasonable that I walked there nearly every day. No really! Anyway, thus I know "real Italian" gelato enough to know that Roman Holiday fits the bill (and has such cute decorations from the Audrey Hepburn/Gregory Peck movie of the same name). I wonder how often they change their flavors?

Sorry for the shaded picture but sometimes I feel a little creepy taking pictures of food inside the restaurant.

Because I like Marxism with my Special Sauce

The Economist has been doing a series creating a Big Mac Index over the years. Basically it converts the burger into currency and depicts its worth on a global scale. Pretty interesting stuff, that strangely speaks more loudly than that regular old metal and paper stuff.


The newest one, from yesterday, shows how many minutes of work the average person must do in various cities to earn enough to purchase a Big Mac.

Hard to believe someone could work for two hours for the very limited reward that a Big Mac provides. Just doesn't sit right in my stomach.

See also: the Starbucks latte index and the Coca Cola map of the world.

Jambalaya

I've been trying to figure out something new to make lately. All week long we've been living off of Chinese leftovers and one trip out to Aladdin's for pasta. And since I should have a quiet weekend at home for a change, I'm looking forward to making a big trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and getting the kitchen clean and ready for a nice big dinner.

Luckily I encountered this jambalaya recipe. I think of jambalaya as a great fall or winter dish, but for reasons contrary to modern physiology, the Boy prefers heavy, hot meals even during the summer. He's always suggesting pot roast or alfredo sauce or anything that requires 3 hours baking time. So I'm guessing this will do the trick for him. And hopefully I'll just go lay outside while it's on the stove for an hour. Just need to pick up the tomato sauce and shrimp and I'm good to go (unless chorizo goes bad...can that happen?) Hmm, and hopefully I can get some fresh tomatoes that are actually ripe so I can make my first tomato sandwich of the season too. That can be lunch!

Ice Cream

Summertime has officially, finally come to Rochester in the past week. Mid-August seems appropriate, right? Also appropriate, a post about ice cream- everyone's favorite hot weather treat.

Since I still haven't had that Williams-Sonoma shopping spree (as I haven't won, or played, the lottery), so still no fancy ice cream maker. Instead I've been looking for easy ways to make ice cream at home instead of Abbott's or Ben and Jerry's. Something with just a few ingredients, that doesn't require cooking the eggs (French style) and a whole lot of waiting. David Lebovitz, author of The Perfect Scoop, is a great ice cream resource for anyone looking to make their own. I've been meaning to try his Easy Chocolate Ice Cream (picture here) since it doesn't require the maker.

But the "easiest" ice cream according to Dave still requires 5 ingredients (suspiciously, two are alcoholic). In the a/c free confines of our kitchen, even the simple tasks of boiling the milk and melting the chocolate prove to be too daunting.

And then today, the perfect solution appeared on The Kitchn: 1 Ingredient Ice Cream. Surprisingly, the ingredient is neither ice nor cream. Discuss. Ok, I won't make a big deal about the mystery ingredient: it's bananas. And so is the concept: B-A-N-A-N-A-S. You just freeze some ba -nah,nah,nahs until it's solid and pop it in the blender until it's creamy. More like cold baby food I guess, but it's worth a shot. The work to reward ratio here seems pretty favorable, especially if you amp it up with some peanut butter or chocolate chips or something.

And if you've found yourself to be to sweaty to even deal with having to wash the blender out (one of my least favorite activities) then maybe you should try out Icecreamists boutique ice cream. The British company is churning out (pun so intended) adventuous and somewhat shocking flavors like the Sex Pistol, which contains traces of Viagra. Eh, I think I'll try the Champagne Ice instead. Plans to come to NY are in the works, so...errr...get excited.

Hattie's

Hattie's is a classic Southern style restaurant in Saratoga Springs. It is probably the Boy's favorite place in the world, and in the top 10 for me as well. For upstate NY, they make untouchable fried chicken.

So of course it's unsurprising that Hattie's head chef Jasper caught the eye of Food Network's resident rooster: Bobby Flay. Flay has a show, Throwdown, where he attempts to use his trademark arrogance to his advantage: he claims he can make your signature dish better than you. I guess he's okay profiting from marketing himself as the cocky villain. Of course he occasionally wins (they pull in local "experts" to choose the better version) but mostly he loses. Squared off against Hattie's fried chicken, he never had a shot.

The show will air January 24th on the Food Network. But I don't have to wait that long -- we'll be at Hattie's this weekend!

Crazy or Crazy-Awesome

Nutella Mint Ravioli? From Handle the Heat.

I think I've just found the best way to use those leftover wonton wrappers!

Pork Dumplings

We are continually in search of weekend munchies now that every weekend has included a road trip and usually some form of tailgate snacking or picnic-ing. The Boy became entranced with this ground pork dumplings recipe on Use Real Butter. Ideal for snacking in the Phish lot this weekend in Saratoga!

Our amended version used 1 pound of ground pork (from the wonderfully friendly butcher at the Monroe Ave Farmers Market), 3 stalks of green onion, 1/4 cup ginger, 1/4 cup crimini mushrooms, and 1/4 cup cabbage, all minced. All this chopping was thankfully done in front of the TV as we watched more Mad Men. It feels less torturous that way. And just mix the veggies and the meat in with some sesame oil and soy sauce.

We cheated and used Amy's wonton wrappers instead of fresh dough. Now there are at least 30 wrappers left to be used some way or another. (My preference is probably to eat them raw -- they're pretty good). We also didn't try to manage the recipe's artful folding style and just folded them diagonally and sealed the ends with water and pinching.

We fried half per the recipe -- in a little bit of oil, then pouring 1/2 cup water over to steam. We baked the other half. I think we both liked the baked version better as they came out less oily. That being said, the Boy helped himself to enough of them last night that I have serious doubts that there will be enough for anybody tomorrow!

Mad Men

In yet another attempt to make my non-food interests relevant to the blog, I am posting this NY Times article on the copious cocktail consumption on Mad Men, which premieres Sunday on AMC. It is my desperate hope that we can set up the TiVo in time to catch the first episode of Season Three, as we'll be in Saratoga to see Phish. Certainly a worthwhile excuse, and there's always the next week.

For those of you that will be glued to your television to witness 1963, there's a drinking game! Just don't try to match Freddy Rumsen.

And that Mad Men themed dinner is in the works, people. Don't think I've forgotten about the cherry ham balls. Now that retro cocktails are back, will the food return too? (Especially with Julia and Julie drawing attention on old school French cooking styles). Any way we can bring back the three martini lunch?

Frank Bruni

Frank Bruni is the anonymous food critic for the NY Times. This month he is slated to give up his post and move over to do some more food writing at NY Times Magazine. No word yet on who will be replacing him. However, he has been taking this transitional time to promote his new book Born Round which among other things, deals with his battle with bulimia.

However, the really super cool part is that he allowed a current photograph of himself to be released with an interview with Publishers Weekly. In the 5 years he has served as senior food critic, there have been absolutely no known photos of Bruni. Not even on Wikipedia. Until now. Now anytime he walks into a new restaurant he will likely be instantly recognized and of course, catered to. Or every chef who ever got a bad review will now know his face. And can start sharpening their knives.

Pictorial Representation of My Weekend

Good Luck

New menu at Good Luck!

We'll be there to try it out tonight. I like the sound of the black spaghetti and carrot salad with candied hazelnuts (despite my aforementioned overdose on hazelnuts -- it's time to get back in the saddle). And something tells me The Boy will want the house-made hot dogs. I'm also digging the amount of mint that's floating around the new menu. Especially in the patty pan squash whole-wheat pizza. Mmmm. I'm in a fresh herb mood after making shrimp pesto for dinner, followed by The Boy's chilled mint pea soup. Gotta catch up on the freshness while it's still around.

Cioppino

Just had the best summer weekend in Newport, Rhode Island and Westport, Mass. Reunited with our foodie pals Jay and Kate and took in a little folk music, a little sunshine, and a little 'Gansett beer (which it turns out is made right here in Rochester!). Of course there was much in the way of goodies to eat. At the Newport Folk Festival we brought The Boy's infamous curry chicken salad and the no-bake cookies, of course. Jay and Kate braised some short ribs and whipped up a quick salsa to make tacos with. Delish!

We returned to the Massachusetts shoreline in that perfect sun-baked, salty, tired, relaxed state of mind. And what was waiting for us but some local seafood!

So we got crackin' on a cioppino.

First we sauteed some celery and onions and a monster clove of organic garlic that was out of this world.

Add in some local chardonnay (pretty much the whole bottle actually). Then our good friend the Lobster, who died for a noble cause (and in the ideal way: sauna + white wine and garlic = how I hope to go).

After 8 or 9 minutes of steaming, she came out and the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes went in. The shrimp took a dip, then also came out. Next were the littleneck clams and the haddock, which had been sauteed with that same garlic beforehand. Shrimp and lobster bites came back to the party. Total perfection!

So I got to see my first lobster murder, we saw the roe, and I ate the "brains." A bit brutal but so very New England!