Put Maura in her bouncy chair before we started and Danny thought she needed some toys.
Danny watching Aaron pour the mixture into the machine.
Waiting for the popsicles to freeze.
Seven minutes later.
Showing posts with label Food and Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food and Wine. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Strawberry Banana Popsicles
We actually made these strawberry banana popsicles last week, but I am behind on blogging. Has been a crazy couple of weeks. Aaron accepted a new job, I started back up at work, Maura turned 3 months old and Danny started potty training. The popsicles turned out really well for our first try with the Zoku. Loved the look on Danny's face as we were waiting for the popcicles to freeze.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
52 Weeks of Frozen Treats
During my pregnancy with Maura, I was craving all things frozen and sweet (ice cream, milkshakes, popsicles, etc.). So what do I get for Christmas presents, a Zoku popsicle maker and a ice cream attachment for the Kitchenaid. In order to put these presents to good use, I'm going to try to make something new every week. It's also a good excuse to post pictures of the kids.
For the first week, we made Chocolate Chip Ice Cream using Ben and Jerry's standard base and adding mini chocolate chips. Added a little too much to the ice cream maker, but tasted great.
Enjoying the 60 degree weather in January. What?!?
Monday, February 14, 2011
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Where Megan Roles Her Eyes Uncountable Times
Anyone who follows my Reader shares has seen multiple items related to sous vide cooking lately. I've known about using a water bath at a low temperature to cook and hold food at an exact temperature for a long time, but the closest I thing I had tried to it was poaching chicken in our electric skillet.
Several posts on Serious Eats about sous vide (which is actually the vacuum sealing bit rather than the water bath bit) techniques got piqued my interest, especially when they investigated using coolers and Ziploc bags instead of the $450 Sous Vide Supreme. It worked for them so I figured I'd give it a shot (this is where the eye rolling begins).
My first target food was chicken. I really like grilled chicken, but it seems like I have the easiest time messing it up. I normally end up with charred skin by the time the meat is cooked even when I use indirect heat. If the chicken is already cooked before it goes on the grill it should just be a matter of browning the skin.
For this experiment I placed four seasoned chicken thighs in individual zip top sandwich bags along with a little olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. Using the electric kettle and my invaluable probe thermometer I filled a cooler with water that was slightly above 140 degrees
Yes, yes, I know, salmonella. There's a chart somewhere from the USDA that shows the safe level of harmful bacteria left after a certain amount of time at different temperatures. Chicken is safe if held at 140 for 30 minutes or more. My target was 40 minutes so we were good.Back to the action. Leaving each bag partially open I lowered them slowly into the cooler. This pushed the air out and was a good enough replacement for the vacuum seal.
Unfortunately I got worried about flare ups charring the skin instead of browning it so I pulled the chicken a little early. I was looking for a better browning, but the chicken overall was great. Extremely juicy and tender.
Attempt number two involved rib eye steaks. Rib eyes are my favorite steak, especially the bit around the side that is really marbled and incredibly flavorful. For the steaks my target temperature was 130 (medium-rare, the only real way to eat steak). Given the mass of the steaks (three this time) I employed a second cooler for one of the hunks o' meat. Starting the water at about 135 to allow for a slight drop I seasoned the steaks with salt and pepper (nothing else needed) and put them in the bags.
After about an hour they were ready to go on a rocket hot griddle for a quick browning. The fat had just started to render and the proteins were starting to set. I rubbed the steaks with a little canola oil and put them on the griddle. Instant sizzle was music to my ears. What wasn't so pleasant was when I flipped the first one after a minute some fat splashed back on my hand. The fat rendered so fast since it was already warm that there was quite a bit on the griddle by the time it came to flip. The scars are forming nicely as I type this.
Once the steaks had gotten browned on the second side (took about a minute each side) I pulled them off and we were ready to go. No resting necessary since the steaks hadn't been assaulted by high heat for more than a minute or two. The results were about as good as I could have wanted:
In the end I definitely would use this technique again, especially if I'm planning a multi-course dinner where timing gets tricky. Being able to start the main course protein ahead and then quickly finish it would eliminate a lot of obstacles to more complex preparations. This probably isn't an everyday thing, but definitely worth having in my culinary bag of tricks.
Monday, November 16, 2009
It's cold and rainy
That's perfect weather for hamburger stew. Luckily we had everything on hand tonight.
Hamburger Stew
1 T. vegetable oil
1 lb. ground beef (I like 85%)
1 onion, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch dice
3 carrots, cut into thick rounds
3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 leak, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices (optional)
1 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 qt. beef stock*
4 medium red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup Guinness (that's half a can)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 T. fresh thyme, chopped
1 T. fresh rosemary, chopped
In a large dutch oven heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the ground beef and brown (not gray, get it brown so there are brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan). Remove the beef from the pan. Return the meat to the pan. Add the butter and melt. Saute the onion, celery, carrots, and leak until the onion begins to brown. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the beef stock, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes, Guinness, tomatoes, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are cooked how you like them.
* There are more rants on the internet about stock than pretty much any food topic. Yes, I agree, homemade is best, but there's also reality. I do recommend using Kitchen Basics Unsalted stocks from the store. They cost a bit more, but you can control the seasoning and it has really good flavor.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Cooking up a storm
Megan and I have been trying to make more of an effort to eat healthier over the past couple of months, which means we've been cooking a lot more. We've been trying some new things and eating some of our old favorites as well. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really do justice to the food. For some reason food is hard to shoot. Anyway, here's what we've been up to in the kitchen:
Cannelini dip, arancini, marinated butternut squash, olives and assorted cheeses. Mmmm...lots of antipasti.
Potato and peas with cumin (our first attempt at Indian cuisine). This ended up pretty well, though it was missing something that you normally get from eating at an Indian restaurant.
This can was the start of a big batch of basic tomato sauce. It was the first time I'd cooked with San Marzano tomatoes, but I had heard a lot about how they're the best Roma tomatoes. After tasting the sauce I'd have to agree. Just a little onion, olive oil, thyme, and these tomatoes and now I've got a base for all kinds of dishes. The first use was spaghetti with basil tomato sauce.
Ragu Bolgnese simmering. There's a reason Megan and I call this stuff Italian crack. About a cup of this with a half pound of spaghetti (don't use Barilla, I'm begging you) is some of the best pasta you'll ever have. I like Mario Batali's recipe, but there are as many recipes for ragu as there are Italian grandmothers.
Some other stuff that we've been having is pan seared ribeye with polenta and pancetta sauteed mustard greens, leek and potato soup, and leftovers.
There'll be more to come because we're getting into my favorite time of year to cook: fall is for braising!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Antipasti night
With the threat of thunderstorms making lawn work a tenuous proposition last night I took the opportunity to do some shopping on the way home for an antipasti dinner. One of our favorite dinners is nibbling on small portions of a variety of dishes. The assortment last night included some of our favorites.
Caprese salad, country bread, roasted fennel w/ Parmesan, Danish blue and Trugole cheeses, prosciutto and melon, and olives
My feeble attempt at artistic photography
Danny sent a couple of his animal friends with his regards and apologies for not being able to join us at the table. I guess he had a prior engagement playing in his swing.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Sufferin' Succotash!
For the past week or so I'd been wanting to make salmon with some kind of sweet corn and red bell pepper side dish, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what the side dish should be. Last night I got the chance to make the salmon so I had a look at the "Joy of Cooking" to see if there were any recipes for corn that could provide inspiration.
I was a little surprised that what I had been wanting to make was pretty much succotash. The surprise came from the fact that my exposure to succotash up to that point had been Yosemite Sam saying the above phrase in cartoons.
After a couple of modifications I came up with a really good dish that Megan and I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's the recipe.
Succotash (sufferin' if you must)
1/2 T. butter
1 t. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sweet corn (frozen is fine)
1 1/2 c. lima beans (frozen is fine)
1/2 large red bell pepper diced
1 t. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
If the beans are not cooked, boil them for a few minutes until they are slightly underdone. Drain and set aside. Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over medium high. Add the diced pepper and sautee until the pepper starts to brown slightly around the edges. Add the corn and sautee for 4-5 minutes or until the corn starts to brown. Add the lima beans and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Add the paprika and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Note: If the paprika starts to stick to the skillet deglaze the pan with about 1/8 c. water. Let the water cook off until the liquid has almost completely evaporated before seasoning and serving.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Bits and Pieces
Wife's blog showed the sites of Paris so I have to talk about the food. I know, you can't believe I'm going to talk about the food. Take a moment to get over the shock and then continue reading.
Before we get to the Parisian food, though, I have good news. I had an excellent hamburger in London on the night before we left for Paris. We had dinner at Hard Rock Café before we saw Spam-a-lot and I couldn't resist a burger. I was in heaven. It wasn't quite as good as a J. Alexander's burger, but definitely up there with Chili's or 810 Zone. But at that moment it was the most perfect burger on earth. It's surprising to me that something as simple as a really good burger is one of the things I miss most. But now I know where to go to get one!
So having sated my desire for some American food it was time to check out what the French had to offer. I'd been to Paris before, but the eating was definitely a mixed result. I was hoping for better results this time.
Things started off well. After getting to Paris from London via the Eurostar (highly recommended mode of travel) we checked into our hotel between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Dropping our bags as quickly as possible we headed out for a walk. Starting toward the Arc we hung a right on the Champs Elysee. We walked for a while before my stomach got jealous that my eyes were seeing all these great sites but it didn't have anything to chew on.
Having a penchant for the excellent baguettes in Paris it was fitting that our first meal was from a sandwich shop. Wife had a baguette with chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mayo and I had ham and butter. The fillings didn't really matter, though. The baguettes made the sandwich. Crispy crust, chewy interior. Heaven in bread form. For something sweet I had a raspberry tart that was the perfect end to a light lunch. Off to a good start in the eating for sure.
We pause here for an observation: Have you ever looked at a map of Paris and thought: "It really doesn't look that far from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre"? If you have you were wrong! We got to the western edge of the Jardin des Tuileries after walking for at least a half an hour and we were only half way to the Louvre. That's the problem with straight streets. When you can see your destination it doesn't seem nearly as far as it really is. Especially when there's a minor slope involved so you can see even farther than you normally would.
Back to the original culinary discussion: Of course after that long of a walk I was famished. Okay, so I wasn't famished but the crepes looked good and we were on vacation. Now get off my back.
Crepes + Nutella = Ultimate sweet snack! I could have eaten two but Wife talked some sense into me, though after what I ate later I think she would have been happy for me to fill up on crepes. I'm getting ahead of myself though.
We sat in the park for a while for a rest and digestion and then soldiered on. Walking almost to the Louvre we hung another right toward the river. After walking along the river for a short distance we crossed the Pont Neuf bridge to the Ile de la Cite (yes, that's the bridge in the Bourne Identity after Jason contacts Treadstone). By this point I was getting kind of tired so I don't remember the island as well, though it was a very nice neighborhood.
For those with sensitive dispositions please skip this paragraph: Okay, I was sparing the sensitive in that last paragraph. I wasn't that tired. What I really needed was a restroom. I swear the French do not urinate. Even at the busiest tourist attractions the restrooms are hidden or non-existent. And they're not as friendly to McDonald's so you can't rely on that either. This must be why so many people died when it got so hot last year. They're programmed to stay slightly dehydrated because you can't find a public restroom to save your life.
Now that the readers who were silly enough to read the last paragraph have either gone to another web page or are finished we'll continue.
Despite any tiredness I was feeling we kept going. Notre Dame was close and we were tourists on a mission. From the outside Notre Dame is not really that imposing. Impressive, yes, but looking at it does not give one a sense of size. The city is so close around it that it is difficult to grasp the size of it. Also, I didn't get the sense of age from it that I've gotten from other churches. I'm not quite sure why this was. Even walking around inside of it I never got the sense of history that I've gotten from other places.
Maybe that was because of the number of tourists in the church. It's very different from other old churches that I've visited in that there isn't the reverence for being in a holy place that you get when you're in Italy or England. In the end I just didn't feel as impressed as I thought it would.
On that somewhat anticlimactic note we headed back to our hotel to relax for a bit before dinner. Unfortunately that wasn't as simple as we thought it would be. After getting on two different trains going the wrong direction we finally got turned around the right way and made it back. Ahhh, the adventures of travel in a non-English speaking country.
Our second foray into the city that evening was much more relaxed. We got as far as the corner café just down from our hotel on the Trocadero for a beer and then went to a brasserie one corner over for dinner. That's where the real adventure began.
We'd walked around for a bit looking for a place to eat, looking at menus, trying to catch a hint of the smells emanating from the kitchens to see if they picqued our appetites. The place we chose had just what we were looking for: good smelling steak frites, outdoor seating, and reasonable prices (at least for Paris). We sat down and a waiter brought us menus.
The great thing about countries like France and Italy is that you can walk into almost any restaurant and order the house wine with fair confidence that you're going to get some good wine. Nothing that will blow your socks off but that will go with food very well. This brasserie was no exception. The Cotes du Rhone Villages was excellent and also two Euros cheaper, for a half liter, than the beer I had earlier.
While we sipped our wine and perused the menu the sounds of Paris in the evening played in the background. The silent clatter of cutlery against dishes, conversations in a language we couldn't understand, people walking home from work or to a night out. It was picturesque. If only it had stayed that way.
Wife decided to have the steak frites, which I was going to have, but I felt the need for us to have different meals for more taste choices so I picked something different. Oh, the choices one makes in life. The good ones (marrying Wife), the neither here nor there ones (sausage or mushrooms on the pizza?), the regretted ones (Andouillette sausage). "Andouillette sausage?" you ask. "I've had that in jambalaya. It's good." No, that would be Andouille. Subtle difference, but subtlety in name does not imply subtlety in form. Wikipedia can explain much better than me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette.
Yes, my friends, I ate some of this sausage. Wife couldn't even stand to look at it. Me, wanting to be sure that I didn't like it and wasn't missing something incredible, ate almost half of it. The texture I encountered was more soft than rubbery, but the cross section looked truly disgusting. Do you remember in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they cut into the big snake at dinner and all the little snakes come slithering out? Cutting into this sausage made me think a little bit of that. Not to mention that there was definitely a slight fecal matter bouquet.
After getting about half way through it I gave up. Wife gave me a bit of her steak so I wouldn’t leave hungry and continued ignoring the disgusting lump on my plate. When we were finished she said she would have given me her whole steak when she saw the cross section after I cut into the sausage. I think she was more disappointed for me about the whole ordeal than I really was. She knows how much I enjoy food and felt bad that I had lost one of my chances for a good meal while in Paris.
Wow, this got a little longer than I was planning. I'll write more about the Saturday when I get a chance.
Cheers,
Frog
Before we get to the Parisian food, though, I have good news. I had an excellent hamburger in London on the night before we left for Paris. We had dinner at Hard Rock Café before we saw Spam-a-lot and I couldn't resist a burger. I was in heaven. It wasn't quite as good as a J. Alexander's burger, but definitely up there with Chili's or 810 Zone. But at that moment it was the most perfect burger on earth. It's surprising to me that something as simple as a really good burger is one of the things I miss most. But now I know where to go to get one!
So having sated my desire for some American food it was time to check out what the French had to offer. I'd been to Paris before, but the eating was definitely a mixed result. I was hoping for better results this time.
Things started off well. After getting to Paris from London via the Eurostar (highly recommended mode of travel) we checked into our hotel between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Dropping our bags as quickly as possible we headed out for a walk. Starting toward the Arc we hung a right on the Champs Elysee. We walked for a while before my stomach got jealous that my eyes were seeing all these great sites but it didn't have anything to chew on.
Having a penchant for the excellent baguettes in Paris it was fitting that our first meal was from a sandwich shop. Wife had a baguette with chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mayo and I had ham and butter. The fillings didn't really matter, though. The baguettes made the sandwich. Crispy crust, chewy interior. Heaven in bread form. For something sweet I had a raspberry tart that was the perfect end to a light lunch. Off to a good start in the eating for sure.
We pause here for an observation: Have you ever looked at a map of Paris and thought: "It really doesn't look that far from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre"? If you have you were wrong! We got to the western edge of the Jardin des Tuileries after walking for at least a half an hour and we were only half way to the Louvre. That's the problem with straight streets. When you can see your destination it doesn't seem nearly as far as it really is. Especially when there's a minor slope involved so you can see even farther than you normally would.
Back to the original culinary discussion: Of course after that long of a walk I was famished. Okay, so I wasn't famished but the crepes looked good and we were on vacation. Now get off my back.
Crepes + Nutella = Ultimate sweet snack! I could have eaten two but Wife talked some sense into me, though after what I ate later I think she would have been happy for me to fill up on crepes. I'm getting ahead of myself though.
We sat in the park for a while for a rest and digestion and then soldiered on. Walking almost to the Louvre we hung another right toward the river. After walking along the river for a short distance we crossed the Pont Neuf bridge to the Ile de la Cite (yes, that's the bridge in the Bourne Identity after Jason contacts Treadstone). By this point I was getting kind of tired so I don't remember the island as well, though it was a very nice neighborhood.
For those with sensitive dispositions please skip this paragraph: Okay, I was sparing the sensitive in that last paragraph. I wasn't that tired. What I really needed was a restroom. I swear the French do not urinate. Even at the busiest tourist attractions the restrooms are hidden or non-existent. And they're not as friendly to McDonald's so you can't rely on that either. This must be why so many people died when it got so hot last year. They're programmed to stay slightly dehydrated because you can't find a public restroom to save your life.
Now that the readers who were silly enough to read the last paragraph have either gone to another web page or are finished we'll continue.
Despite any tiredness I was feeling we kept going. Notre Dame was close and we were tourists on a mission. From the outside Notre Dame is not really that imposing. Impressive, yes, but looking at it does not give one a sense of size. The city is so close around it that it is difficult to grasp the size of it. Also, I didn't get the sense of age from it that I've gotten from other churches. I'm not quite sure why this was. Even walking around inside of it I never got the sense of history that I've gotten from other places.
Maybe that was because of the number of tourists in the church. It's very different from other old churches that I've visited in that there isn't the reverence for being in a holy place that you get when you're in Italy or England. In the end I just didn't feel as impressed as I thought it would.
On that somewhat anticlimactic note we headed back to our hotel to relax for a bit before dinner. Unfortunately that wasn't as simple as we thought it would be. After getting on two different trains going the wrong direction we finally got turned around the right way and made it back. Ahhh, the adventures of travel in a non-English speaking country.
Our second foray into the city that evening was much more relaxed. We got as far as the corner café just down from our hotel on the Trocadero for a beer and then went to a brasserie one corner over for dinner. That's where the real adventure began.
We'd walked around for a bit looking for a place to eat, looking at menus, trying to catch a hint of the smells emanating from the kitchens to see if they picqued our appetites. The place we chose had just what we were looking for: good smelling steak frites, outdoor seating, and reasonable prices (at least for Paris). We sat down and a waiter brought us menus.
The great thing about countries like France and Italy is that you can walk into almost any restaurant and order the house wine with fair confidence that you're going to get some good wine. Nothing that will blow your socks off but that will go with food very well. This brasserie was no exception. The Cotes du Rhone Villages was excellent and also two Euros cheaper, for a half liter, than the beer I had earlier.
While we sipped our wine and perused the menu the sounds of Paris in the evening played in the background. The silent clatter of cutlery against dishes, conversations in a language we couldn't understand, people walking home from work or to a night out. It was picturesque. If only it had stayed that way.
Wife decided to have the steak frites, which I was going to have, but I felt the need for us to have different meals for more taste choices so I picked something different. Oh, the choices one makes in life. The good ones (marrying Wife), the neither here nor there ones (sausage or mushrooms on the pizza?), the regretted ones (Andouillette sausage). "Andouillette sausage?" you ask. "I've had that in jambalaya. It's good." No, that would be Andouille. Subtle difference, but subtlety in name does not imply subtlety in form. Wikipedia can explain much better than me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette.
Yes, my friends, I ate some of this sausage. Wife couldn't even stand to look at it. Me, wanting to be sure that I didn't like it and wasn't missing something incredible, ate almost half of it. The texture I encountered was more soft than rubbery, but the cross section looked truly disgusting. Do you remember in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they cut into the big snake at dinner and all the little snakes come slithering out? Cutting into this sausage made me think a little bit of that. Not to mention that there was definitely a slight fecal matter bouquet.
After getting about half way through it I gave up. Wife gave me a bit of her steak so I wouldn’t leave hungry and continued ignoring the disgusting lump on my plate. When we were finished she said she would have given me her whole steak when she saw the cross section after I cut into the sausage. I think she was more disappointed for me about the whole ordeal than I really was. She knows how much I enjoy food and felt bad that I had lost one of my chances for a good meal while in Paris.
Wow, this got a little longer than I was planning. I'll write more about the Saturday when I get a chance.
Cheers,
Frog
Monday, April 02, 2007
Sunday lunch part 2
How can there be a part 2 to Sunday lunch? Well, when you smear some of the garlic on a baguette, add the leftover chicken pieces and have a sandwich for Monday lunch. Beats the heck out of deli ham or turkey any day.
Actually, I've come to believe that almost anything beats the heck out of processed deli ham or turkey. Lately I've been having chorizo or good salami sandwiches. The full flavor of the meats let's me eat less while still satisfying my taste buds cravings. Excellent for helping me cut down on the quantity that I eat. I highly recommend it.
Maybe I should start the campaign for flavor in sandwiches. What do you think? Would anyone care or would they still just go get a sandwich at Subway where the meat comes out of a plastic bag?
Cheers,
Frog
Actually, I've come to believe that almost anything beats the heck out of processed deli ham or turkey. Lately I've been having chorizo or good salami sandwiches. The full flavor of the meats let's me eat less while still satisfying my taste buds cravings. Excellent for helping me cut down on the quantity that I eat. I highly recommend it.
Maybe I should start the campaign for flavor in sandwiches. What do you think? Would anyone care or would they still just go get a sandwich at Subway where the meat comes out of a plastic bag?
Cheers,
Frog
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Sunday Lunch
Over the last several weeks Wife and I have been cooking a big Sunday lunch. Mostly this is my excuse to cook something elaborate. Dishes have included pork shoulder roast braised in a tomato and red wine sauce, fettuccine Alfredo, and lasagna with meatballs. Wife also made an extremely delicious Guinness chocolate cake in honor of St. Patrick's Day. To put it bluntly, we've been eating well on Sundays.
Today took it to a whole new level. Yesterday I started feeling ambitious so I decided that I would try to make some bread. I've made bread before, but I wanted to do something a little more involved than the standard white bread in a loaf pan.
Lately I've been eating some salami or chorizo on baguette sandwiches for lunch because they're very full of flavor so I don't feel the need to eat so much. The only problem is that the baguettes we can get from the grocery store are not as good as what I got used to when a Panera was close by. That's why I thought I should try to make some baguettes.
The recipe I used came from the Williams and Sonoma baking book, which we highly recommend. To get things started you make a sponge. This is something I'd never tried before so already on to something new. It was really cool to see the sponge start to grow. The start of my bread was alive! ALIVE!
Once the sponge had developed for three hours (next time I'll leave it longer to develop more flavor) I made the dough and began the standard rising process. Knead, rise, punch, rise, shape, rise, bake. The shaping part was really the only bit that went wrong. Had it gone better I would have posted a picture of the finished product. As it was, I thought it better not to post a picture of some bread that brought to mind something that wasn't exactly family friendly (baguette, not family friendly - you figure it out).
Good bread can be a something incredible on its own, but find something excellent to slather it with (good French butter or fresh goat's cheese come to mind) and it becomes something ethereal. Well, today's lunch provided just such a substance for slathering.
A favorite Good Eats recipe of mine is the 40 cloves and a chicken. It's a very simple dish of baked chicken with roasted garlic and thyme. The chicken and garlic bake with the thyme in olive oil so the garlic goes all soft and spreadable. It was the perfect thing to spread on slices of the baguette. The chicken gets very tender since it's almost braised and I use dark meat so it's that much more juicy. I made some sauteed kale with bacon and garlic to go with everything and we washed it down with a very tasty Cotes du Rhone (E. Guigal 2003 for the curious).
Now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening digesting and relaxing. Hope everyone else out there is eating well too.
Cheers,
Frog
Today took it to a whole new level. Yesterday I started feeling ambitious so I decided that I would try to make some bread. I've made bread before, but I wanted to do something a little more involved than the standard white bread in a loaf pan.
Lately I've been eating some salami or chorizo on baguette sandwiches for lunch because they're very full of flavor so I don't feel the need to eat so much. The only problem is that the baguettes we can get from the grocery store are not as good as what I got used to when a Panera was close by. That's why I thought I should try to make some baguettes.
The recipe I used came from the Williams and Sonoma baking book, which we highly recommend. To get things started you make a sponge. This is something I'd never tried before so already on to something new. It was really cool to see the sponge start to grow. The start of my bread was alive! ALIVE!
Once the sponge had developed for three hours (next time I'll leave it longer to develop more flavor) I made the dough and began the standard rising process. Knead, rise, punch, rise, shape, rise, bake. The shaping part was really the only bit that went wrong. Had it gone better I would have posted a picture of the finished product. As it was, I thought it better not to post a picture of some bread that brought to mind something that wasn't exactly family friendly (baguette, not family friendly - you figure it out).
Good bread can be a something incredible on its own, but find something excellent to slather it with (good French butter or fresh goat's cheese come to mind) and it becomes something ethereal. Well, today's lunch provided just such a substance for slathering.
A favorite Good Eats recipe of mine is the 40 cloves and a chicken. It's a very simple dish of baked chicken with roasted garlic and thyme. The chicken and garlic bake with the thyme in olive oil so the garlic goes all soft and spreadable. It was the perfect thing to spread on slices of the baguette. The chicken gets very tender since it's almost braised and I use dark meat so it's that much more juicy. I made some sauteed kale with bacon and garlic to go with everything and we washed it down with a very tasty Cotes du Rhone (E. Guigal 2003 for the curious).
Now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening digesting and relaxing. Hope everyone else out there is eating well too.
Cheers,
Frog
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Yup, it's March Madness. Thank goodness for CBS broadcasting the first three rounds online. It's not HD, but it beats by a mile soccer, cricket, rugby, horse racing, snooker, and any other sport they televise here all combined.
Right now I'm watching the 'Nova-Kentucky game on replay. Have to scout for the 'Hawks next game.
Other odds and ends on this St. Patrick's Day morning (have you had your Guinness yet?)
Wife and I went to Oxford last weekend to check out the town and universities. It was a really cool college town, but it definitely wasn't a typical weekend. It must have been some kind of end of term because there were a ton of parents thre helping their kids move out of the dorms.
We got there in the late morning and took off wandering. Wife will cover the sites on her blog, so I'll cover lunch. Our guidebook said one of the best restaurants was a place called Quod. It was geared toward Mediterranean cuisine and sounded pretty good. It did not disappoint.
When we walked in I was afraid we wouldn't get a table because the place was packed, but we lucked into a small table. For an appetizer we split an order of fried squid. It was perfectly cooked: lightly crispy, just the smallest bit chewy but not tough at all, and very tasty. Main courses were a wild mushroom and goat's cheese pizza for Wife and porcini ravioli with parsley butter for me. Wife and I both agreed that the pizza was one of the best if not the best pizza we'd ever had. The ravioli had a wonderful mushroom flavor with a lot of parmesan as well.
Dessert was a blackberry and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. Needless to say we pretty much had to role out of the restaurant after all that food.
But sometimes something like that can't compare to a homemade quesadilla when you're hungry for Mexican food. That's what we had last night to go with our basketball watching (along with lots of Corona of course).
Unfortunately there's not much of anything more exciting than that to report. Next month should be a lot more exciting because we're headed to Ireland for Easter and then Paris for our anniversary. That should be fun because we're taking the high speed train from London to Paris.
Rock Chalk!
Frog
Right now I'm watching the 'Nova-Kentucky game on replay. Have to scout for the 'Hawks next game.
Other odds and ends on this St. Patrick's Day morning (have you had your Guinness yet?)
Wife and I went to Oxford last weekend to check out the town and universities. It was a really cool college town, but it definitely wasn't a typical weekend. It must have been some kind of end of term because there were a ton of parents thre helping their kids move out of the dorms.
We got there in the late morning and took off wandering. Wife will cover the sites on her blog, so I'll cover lunch. Our guidebook said one of the best restaurants was a place called Quod. It was geared toward Mediterranean cuisine and sounded pretty good. It did not disappoint.
When we walked in I was afraid we wouldn't get a table because the place was packed, but we lucked into a small table. For an appetizer we split an order of fried squid. It was perfectly cooked: lightly crispy, just the smallest bit chewy but not tough at all, and very tasty. Main courses were a wild mushroom and goat's cheese pizza for Wife and porcini ravioli with parsley butter for me. Wife and I both agreed that the pizza was one of the best if not the best pizza we'd ever had. The ravioli had a wonderful mushroom flavor with a lot of parmesan as well.
Dessert was a blackberry and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. Needless to say we pretty much had to role out of the restaurant after all that food.
But sometimes something like that can't compare to a homemade quesadilla when you're hungry for Mexican food. That's what we had last night to go with our basketball watching (along with lots of Corona of course).
Unfortunately there's not much of anything more exciting than that to report. Next month should be a lot more exciting because we're headed to Ireland for Easter and then Paris for our anniversary. That should be fun because we're taking the high speed train from London to Paris.
Rock Chalk!
Frog
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Foie with a side of foie
Yup, it's another food post, but I couldn't resist. I had to go to Barcelona for a conference recently and had the most incredible dinner at the hotel my group stayed in (http://www.hotelcalasanz.com/en/index.htm). Check out the menu for an idea of the kind of place it is.
Since there was a large group of us we had a tasting of several tapas style appetizers and the choice of pan fried plaice or sirloin steak for a main course. I chose the steak, but that's getting a bit ahead of myself.
The first thing they brought out was a glass of Bach Cava Brut Reserva. It was a very light sparkling wine with some pear, apple, and a little bit of sour gooseberry. An excellent apertif, though I didn't need much to get my appetite going as I hadn't had anything but a sandwich and some chips all day and it was past 9:00 at night at this point.
While we were still finishing off the Cava they started bringing out the different tapas. First were some small croquettes of potato and cured ham lightly fried to golden brown. The meal was definitely off to a good start as Spanish croquettes are one of my more recent favorite foods.
Following the croquettes were roasted baby artichokes with Belotta ham and a sliver of foie gras on top. These were really tasty, though the foie gras got a little lost in the smokiness of the artichoke and ham.
After the artichokes there were ravioli filled with cep (porcini) and truffled foie served with light cream sauce. This was the dish that did the least for me. It was good, but nothing really distinguished itself.
Next were some grilled octopus with a little melted cheese and lots of paprika. Some lightly fried potatoes formed the base for the octupus. This is one of my favorite Catalonian dishes. The octupus is chewy but not rubbery, and the paprika adds a bit of spice that brightens up the dish.
The last tapas were slices of foie gras with a paper thin slice of apple on top. The apple was bruleed which added a wonderful caramel sweetness to offset the richness of the foie gras. Toasts were provided to spread the foie on and figs added another fruity component. This was just sublime and definitely the highlight of the meal for me. Luckily some of the group were not as adventurous as me so I took it upon myself to help them with their portions.
When the steak arrived I thought my arteries might jump out of my chest in protest. After all the rich appetizers, what was on the steak? Yep, you guessed it: a nice slice of duck foie perfectly browned. Roast carrot, potatoes and zuchinni accompanied the steak and were perfectly cooked. The steak could have been a little bit rarer for my taste, but the flavor was still excellent. It was seasoned to perfection and it restored my faith that it is possible to get good beef in Europe.
Throughout the meal the Rioja was flowing. The vintage we were drinking was a 2002 from Vina Herminia. It had enough age that the tannins were nicely soft and there were heavy notes of black pepper and cherry. It was very good. Unfortunately the duty free shop at the airport didn't have any.
Dessert, as if we needed it, was a molten chocolate cake. Cutting into the cake with a spoon and seeing that chocolate ooze out made any thought of restraining myself to a couple of bites go out the window.
I wanted to get pictures of all of this, but my stupid camera on my phone wasn't working for some reason. Oh well, the pictures probably wouldn't have turned out anyway. My food pictures never do.
Cheers,
Frog
Since there was a large group of us we had a tasting of several tapas style appetizers and the choice of pan fried plaice or sirloin steak for a main course. I chose the steak, but that's getting a bit ahead of myself.
The first thing they brought out was a glass of Bach Cava Brut Reserva. It was a very light sparkling wine with some pear, apple, and a little bit of sour gooseberry. An excellent apertif, though I didn't need much to get my appetite going as I hadn't had anything but a sandwich and some chips all day and it was past 9:00 at night at this point.
While we were still finishing off the Cava they started bringing out the different tapas. First were some small croquettes of potato and cured ham lightly fried to golden brown. The meal was definitely off to a good start as Spanish croquettes are one of my more recent favorite foods.
Following the croquettes were roasted baby artichokes with Belotta ham and a sliver of foie gras on top. These were really tasty, though the foie gras got a little lost in the smokiness of the artichoke and ham.
After the artichokes there were ravioli filled with cep (porcini) and truffled foie served with light cream sauce. This was the dish that did the least for me. It was good, but nothing really distinguished itself.
Next were some grilled octopus with a little melted cheese and lots of paprika. Some lightly fried potatoes formed the base for the octupus. This is one of my favorite Catalonian dishes. The octupus is chewy but not rubbery, and the paprika adds a bit of spice that brightens up the dish.
The last tapas were slices of foie gras with a paper thin slice of apple on top. The apple was bruleed which added a wonderful caramel sweetness to offset the richness of the foie gras. Toasts were provided to spread the foie on and figs added another fruity component. This was just sublime and definitely the highlight of the meal for me. Luckily some of the group were not as adventurous as me so I took it upon myself to help them with their portions.
When the steak arrived I thought my arteries might jump out of my chest in protest. After all the rich appetizers, what was on the steak? Yep, you guessed it: a nice slice of duck foie perfectly browned. Roast carrot, potatoes and zuchinni accompanied the steak and were perfectly cooked. The steak could have been a little bit rarer for my taste, but the flavor was still excellent. It was seasoned to perfection and it restored my faith that it is possible to get good beef in Europe.
Throughout the meal the Rioja was flowing. The vintage we were drinking was a 2002 from Vina Herminia. It had enough age that the tannins were nicely soft and there were heavy notes of black pepper and cherry. It was very good. Unfortunately the duty free shop at the airport didn't have any.
Dessert, as if we needed it, was a molten chocolate cake. Cutting into the cake with a spoon and seeing that chocolate ooze out made any thought of restraining myself to a couple of bites go out the window.
I wanted to get pictures of all of this, but my stupid camera on my phone wasn't working for some reason. Oh well, the pictures probably wouldn't have turned out anyway. My food pictures never do.
Cheers,
Frog
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Mmmm...Now that is a tasty burger!
Given that British beef isn't really that great compared to what's available in the Midwest it's really not that surprising it's difficult to get a decent burger here. They try, but so much of the time they put filler, eggs, etc. in the burger that make it more of a meatloaf. And that's on top of the poorer quality beef.
Well, imagine my delight when I found some organic, Argentinian ground steak at the Tesco this evening when I stopped on the way home. We had some excellent burgers and a very tasty replica of the NYO Mac and Cheese (aka Mac and Crack) at J. Alexander's restaurants. In a small recipe there was a cup of cream and almost 6 oz. of Gyurere cheese. It was heavenly. Now if I could only get their recipe for blue cheese dressing so I could have an Alex's salad. If you haven't had a burger at J. Alexander's with the NYO Mac and Cheese get there as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.
Cheers,
Frog
Well, imagine my delight when I found some organic, Argentinian ground steak at the Tesco this evening when I stopped on the way home. We had some excellent burgers and a very tasty replica of the NYO Mac and Cheese (aka Mac and Crack) at J. Alexander's restaurants. In a small recipe there was a cup of cream and almost 6 oz. of Gyurere cheese. It was heavenly. Now if I could only get their recipe for blue cheese dressing so I could have an Alex's salad. If you haven't had a burger at J. Alexander's with the NYO Mac and Cheese get there as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.
Cheers,
Frog
Monday, February 05, 2007
Of Roasts and Super Bowls
Last weekend Wife and I had a cooking weekend. On Saturday Wife prepared a dish from Giada De Laurentiis That was couscous in a tomato broth with scampi. It turned out excellent. The couscous was really tasty with the tomato and complemented the shrimp really well. I better get to work or Wife is going to be a better cook than me.
On Sunday I tackled a boneless leg of lamb roast. My aunt gave me a meat cookbook for Christmas and it was a good thing she did. I was planning on roasting the lamb low and slow like you would beef, but according to the book the meat is already so tender that cooking it for a long time will completely break it down. Therefore I seared in a pan to give it a nice crust and then baked in 375 oven until it hit 130 degrees internally. The lamb turned out really well. Juicy, tender, and very flavorful.
Since I had excellent pan drippings I went ahead and made some gravy. It tasted okay, but I didn't let it reduce enough to really make it good. Then I reduced it some more and it ended up a bit too salty. Oh well, cook and learn.
To go with the roast we had a trio of roasted vegetables: carrots, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. Wife and I both agreed that our poor kids are going to be laughed at for their irregular eating habits if they take after us. Please God have them take after us! I don't know how I could cope with a child that won't eat anything but peanut butter and jelly.
Yesterday was a bit disappointing because it was Super Bowl Sunday and I didn't throw a party. I've thrown a party for the last few years, but there's just not much call for it when the game doesn't start until about midnight here. To at least keep one tradition alive Wife made guacamole and I made chili, though not the uber-chili I usually make. That's a bit much for just the two of us. Besides, I didn't want to put that much effort in because I've got a horrible cold at the moment. (That's why I'm writing my blog during the work day because I'm home sick).
Cheers,
Frog
On Sunday I tackled a boneless leg of lamb roast. My aunt gave me a meat cookbook for Christmas and it was a good thing she did. I was planning on roasting the lamb low and slow like you would beef, but according to the book the meat is already so tender that cooking it for a long time will completely break it down. Therefore I seared in a pan to give it a nice crust and then baked in 375 oven until it hit 130 degrees internally. The lamb turned out really well. Juicy, tender, and very flavorful.
Since I had excellent pan drippings I went ahead and made some gravy. It tasted okay, but I didn't let it reduce enough to really make it good. Then I reduced it some more and it ended up a bit too salty. Oh well, cook and learn.
To go with the roast we had a trio of roasted vegetables: carrots, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. Wife and I both agreed that our poor kids are going to be laughed at for their irregular eating habits if they take after us. Please God have them take after us! I don't know how I could cope with a child that won't eat anything but peanut butter and jelly.
Yesterday was a bit disappointing because it was Super Bowl Sunday and I didn't throw a party. I've thrown a party for the last few years, but there's just not much call for it when the game doesn't start until about midnight here. To at least keep one tradition alive Wife made guacamole and I made chili, though not the uber-chili I usually make. That's a bit much for just the two of us. Besides, I didn't want to put that much effort in because I've got a horrible cold at the moment. (That's why I'm writing my blog during the work day because I'm home sick).
Cheers,
Frog
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Lunch...
Allow me a bit of self indulgent boasting if you will. Yesterday I was lucky enough to fly to Paris for lunch. Yup, just for lunch. There was a candidate for a position with my company who was there so I met with him over lunch for an initial interview.
I’ve done a lot of complaining lately about living here, but this was a really cool thing about being over here. I flew over, got downtown from the airport, had lunch, went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (see pictures below), and then came home. The food was pretty good. I had probably the best Caesar salad I’ve ever had (I know, what was I doing getting a Caesar salad, but trust me, this one was worth it). Then I had Steak au Poivre with some excellent mashed potatoes. Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake that almost exploded with fudge when I cut into it with my fork. The small scoop of vanilla ice cream that came with it was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Give it to the French, they know dessert.
La Tour Eiffel (I wish I'd had a real camera because the sky was really cool, but this picture doesn't do it justice.)
Champs Elysées (Looking toward The Louvre. The jumbled looking parking lot at the bottom of the picture is actually a roundabout. Ask Wife about that sometime because she's run across that. There's a tunnel that other people who are lucky enough to find it take.)
Au revoir,
Frog
I’ve done a lot of complaining lately about living here, but this was a really cool thing about being over here. I flew over, got downtown from the airport, had lunch, went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (see pictures below), and then came home. The food was pretty good. I had probably the best Caesar salad I’ve ever had (I know, what was I doing getting a Caesar salad, but trust me, this one was worth it). Then I had Steak au Poivre with some excellent mashed potatoes. Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake that almost exploded with fudge when I cut into it with my fork. The small scoop of vanilla ice cream that came with it was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Give it to the French, they know dessert.
La Tour Eiffel (I wish I'd had a real camera because the sky was really cool, but this picture doesn't do it justice.)
Champs Elysées (Looking toward The Louvre. The jumbled looking parking lot at the bottom of the picture is actually a roundabout. Ask Wife about that sometime because she's run across that. There's a tunnel that other people who are lucky enough to find it take.)
Au revoir,
Frog
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Turkey, turkey, turkey…
As promised, here’s a recap of the Thanksgiving meal Wife and I made. Everything turned out pretty well. Juggling burners in our tiny kitchen was a bit of a challenge, but everything ended up coming out together and it was all really good.
We had a pretty aggressive menu planned for the amount of space we had to prepare it in:
Turkey
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Corn
Green beans with butter and almonds
Candied sweet potatoes
Jello salad
Rolls
Pumpkin pie
The turkey was done with the tried and true AB method. Blast it at high heat to brown it and then bake at a lower temp until the breast meat hits 161. Dressing was my grandma’s recipe that I’ve made for the family the last few holidays. It came out really well, possibly some of the best I’ve ever made.
For the mashed potatoes I tried something different. According to a couple websites and a cookbook on our shelf the best mashed potatoes are made by using a two part cooking process. The first cooking is at around 160 degrees for 30 minutes followed by a cool down period. After cooling down the potatoes are cooked again at 180-190 for another 30 minutes. This cooking process is supposed to keep the starches from breaking out of the cells and making the potatoes gummy. It seemed like it worked for that, but I don’t have a potato ricer or food mill so the effect was somewhat lost due to the lumps.
I couldn’t have been happier with the gravy. The only thing that was missing was more of it! Everything else was fine. Wife made it all possible with a ton of help throughout the day and by making the rolls and pie the day before. The rolls were from a recipe that her great-grandmother made, and the pie was extremely tasty, especially with the real whipped cream we made with it.
Mmmm….I might need to pull some leftovers out of the freezer for dinner.
Now that's a nice looking bird.
Gravy doesn't photograph well, but it sure is tasty!
The table all set and waiting for us to dive in.
Cheers,
Frog
We had a pretty aggressive menu planned for the amount of space we had to prepare it in:
Turkey
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Corn
Green beans with butter and almonds
Candied sweet potatoes
Jello salad
Rolls
Pumpkin pie
The turkey was done with the tried and true AB method. Blast it at high heat to brown it and then bake at a lower temp until the breast meat hits 161. Dressing was my grandma’s recipe that I’ve made for the family the last few holidays. It came out really well, possibly some of the best I’ve ever made.
For the mashed potatoes I tried something different. According to a couple websites and a cookbook on our shelf the best mashed potatoes are made by using a two part cooking process. The first cooking is at around 160 degrees for 30 minutes followed by a cool down period. After cooling down the potatoes are cooked again at 180-190 for another 30 minutes. This cooking process is supposed to keep the starches from breaking out of the cells and making the potatoes gummy. It seemed like it worked for that, but I don’t have a potato ricer or food mill so the effect was somewhat lost due to the lumps.
I couldn’t have been happier with the gravy. The only thing that was missing was more of it! Everything else was fine. Wife made it all possible with a ton of help throughout the day and by making the rolls and pie the day before. The rolls were from a recipe that her great-grandmother made, and the pie was extremely tasty, especially with the real whipped cream we made with it.
Mmmm….I might need to pull some leftovers out of the freezer for dinner.
Now that's a nice looking bird.
Gravy doesn't photograph well, but it sure is tasty!
The table all set and waiting for us to dive in.
Cheers,
Frog
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Cooking up a Storm
One thing that is definitely an upside to being here is that we’re cooking a lot more since moving. Eating out is about the same expense as back home (if you keep to our method of thinking that if we spend a dollar back home we spend a pound here). What is different is the availability of the food we would normally have gone out for. Back home if we were eating out it would normally be for Mexican, Chinese, or any of a number of ethnic cuisines. Since the most common of those was Mexican, that’s not as much of an option here.
There’s also not as much to do in the evening since there’s not a house to maintain and we’re not preparing for a wedding and a move. In the last week we’ve had roast chicken, rigatoni with tomato vodka sauce, chocolate chip cookies, beef and lamb stew (see below), and spaghetti with tuna, caper and tomato sauce.
Needless to say we’re eating much healthier now, which is funny if you consider some of the British cuisine. My favorite was the traditional dessert that one celebrity chef made on TV. It was basically lemon flavored fat with a little flour. The actual name was something on a pond with the pond being the lemon flavored fat. How that was appetizing is still unknown to me.
But that’s the bad of British cuisine. There are some good things. The fish and chips is great, and beef and ale pie is very tasty, especially if there are mushrooms included. And there’s always bangers and mash or liver, bacon, and mash, neither of which Wife will eat.
When it comes down to it, though, any more we’re just as happy cooking dinner at home. It’s been really nice having time to do things like make stock. Wife is taking on one baking project a week and is getting more interested in cooking. Now we have to each have nights where one of us cooks.
But that’s enough rambling from me. Here’s the stew we had tonight.
Cheers,
Frog
There’s also not as much to do in the evening since there’s not a house to maintain and we’re not preparing for a wedding and a move. In the last week we’ve had roast chicken, rigatoni with tomato vodka sauce, chocolate chip cookies, beef and lamb stew (see below), and spaghetti with tuna, caper and tomato sauce.
Needless to say we’re eating much healthier now, which is funny if you consider some of the British cuisine. My favorite was the traditional dessert that one celebrity chef made on TV. It was basically lemon flavored fat with a little flour. The actual name was something on a pond with the pond being the lemon flavored fat. How that was appetizing is still unknown to me.
But that’s the bad of British cuisine. There are some good things. The fish and chips is great, and beef and ale pie is very tasty, especially if there are mushrooms included. And there’s always bangers and mash or liver, bacon, and mash, neither of which Wife will eat.
When it comes down to it, though, any more we’re just as happy cooking dinner at home. It’s been really nice having time to do things like make stock. Wife is taking on one baking project a week and is getting more interested in cooking. Now we have to each have nights where one of us cooks.
But that’s enough rambling from me. Here’s the stew we had tonight.
Cheers,
Frog
Monday, September 25, 2006
Borfesztival
Didn't get much of an impression of Budapest. Nothing stood out, but still a fun trip. Lots of beautiful buildings and a very fun wine festival. Hungarian red wines tasted like rubbing alcohol to me, but liked the whites.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Eating like a Catalonian
WARNING: FOOD CENTERED POST
Well, you’ve been warned, so let’s continue on. Over the last few weeks my job has taken me to a couple European cities that I’d never been to before and a couple that I have. The predominant theme of these trips has been that I get into town, have time for a late dinner, have a day of meetings, and then fly back to the UK. So far I haven’t had any trouble finding good food, though. Some places were better than others, but there really hasn’t been anything that I could say is bad.
My first trip took me to Barcelona, which is in the Catalonia region of Spain. Catalan cuisine is fairly similar to French cuisine, which makes sense given the region’s proximity to France. The evening my colleague and I arrived we had dinner at La Dida, which was close to the Sagrada Familia.
I had found the restaurant in a guidebook that Wife had bought. Luckily they had an English menu since my Spanish competency isn’t nearly what it needs to be to order successfully. My first course was a dish the guidebook recommended. Roughly translated it was called Black Rice, which is exactly what it was. It was a little like a risotto consistency but with long grain rice. The “Black” part came from Cuttlefish ink. A garlic aioli came on the side. Adding a little bit to the top gave the dish a bit of a zing that cut through the richness of the rice. I even got a picture of it, but it was such poor quality I didn’t include it.
The second course was slices of foie gras with a cream sauce and fried whipped potatoes. Beyond rich is the best way to describe it. I can handle rich food, but even this was a little much for me. Luckily they offered a great citrus sorbet for dessert that took away the stuffed feeling from all the rich food.
Dinner was good, but it couldn’t hold a candle to what we had for lunch the next day. The head of the company we met with in Barcelona took us out to another Catalonian restaurant for lunch. We left the starters ordering up to the locals, which was a very smart thing to do. Six appetizers were ordered for us all to share. First there was toasted bread with crushed tomatoes and olive oil. This came out with a platter of fresh and cured anchovy filets. The anchovy had a fishier flavor than I normally like, but paired with the bread was really good. After this was a goose or duck liver pate with crostini. It was good, but I don’t know enough about pate to rate it. Shortly after the pate they brought these small pieces of fried cheese. This was my favorite part of the meal. The cheese was mild with a very pronounced nutty flavor. A thin coat of breading added a little crunch to the contrast with the soft cheese inside. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.
And that wasn’t the end. Just when I thought we were done with the starters they brought out a platter heaped with grilled octopus. It was dressed very simply with a little olive oil and lemon and cooked to perfection. Grilled just enough to heat through and not enough to be tough, it was one of the best seafood dishes I have ever tasted. The final taste was a dish of fried anchovies with a pureed red pepper sauce. It was good, but after the octopus it was a little anticlimactic.
For the main course I had steamed hake with vegetables. It was very simply flavored, but cooked very well. Accompanying all this was a great Rioja. Dessert was the Catalan version of crème brulee. The custard had a thinner consistency, but the flavors were very much like traditional crème brulee.
That was it for eating in Spain since we left before we had another chance for a meal. But there was another trip coming up that I was looking forward to even more: Milan.
Cheers,
Frog
Well, you’ve been warned, so let’s continue on. Over the last few weeks my job has taken me to a couple European cities that I’d never been to before and a couple that I have. The predominant theme of these trips has been that I get into town, have time for a late dinner, have a day of meetings, and then fly back to the UK. So far I haven’t had any trouble finding good food, though. Some places were better than others, but there really hasn’t been anything that I could say is bad.
My first trip took me to Barcelona, which is in the Catalonia region of Spain. Catalan cuisine is fairly similar to French cuisine, which makes sense given the region’s proximity to France. The evening my colleague and I arrived we had dinner at La Dida, which was close to the Sagrada Familia.
I had found the restaurant in a guidebook that Wife had bought. Luckily they had an English menu since my Spanish competency isn’t nearly what it needs to be to order successfully. My first course was a dish the guidebook recommended. Roughly translated it was called Black Rice, which is exactly what it was. It was a little like a risotto consistency but with long grain rice. The “Black” part came from Cuttlefish ink. A garlic aioli came on the side. Adding a little bit to the top gave the dish a bit of a zing that cut through the richness of the rice. I even got a picture of it, but it was such poor quality I didn’t include it.
The second course was slices of foie gras with a cream sauce and fried whipped potatoes. Beyond rich is the best way to describe it. I can handle rich food, but even this was a little much for me. Luckily they offered a great citrus sorbet for dessert that took away the stuffed feeling from all the rich food.
Dinner was good, but it couldn’t hold a candle to what we had for lunch the next day. The head of the company we met with in Barcelona took us out to another Catalonian restaurant for lunch. We left the starters ordering up to the locals, which was a very smart thing to do. Six appetizers were ordered for us all to share. First there was toasted bread with crushed tomatoes and olive oil. This came out with a platter of fresh and cured anchovy filets. The anchovy had a fishier flavor than I normally like, but paired with the bread was really good. After this was a goose or duck liver pate with crostini. It was good, but I don’t know enough about pate to rate it. Shortly after the pate they brought these small pieces of fried cheese. This was my favorite part of the meal. The cheese was mild with a very pronounced nutty flavor. A thin coat of breading added a little crunch to the contrast with the soft cheese inside. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.
And that wasn’t the end. Just when I thought we were done with the starters they brought out a platter heaped with grilled octopus. It was dressed very simply with a little olive oil and lemon and cooked to perfection. Grilled just enough to heat through and not enough to be tough, it was one of the best seafood dishes I have ever tasted. The final taste was a dish of fried anchovies with a pureed red pepper sauce. It was good, but after the octopus it was a little anticlimactic.
For the main course I had steamed hake with vegetables. It was very simply flavored, but cooked very well. Accompanying all this was a great Rioja. Dessert was the Catalan version of crème brulee. The custard had a thinner consistency, but the flavors were very much like traditional crème brulee.
That was it for eating in Spain since we left before we had another chance for a meal. But there was another trip coming up that I was looking forward to even more: Milan.
Cheers,
Frog
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