The next morning after our night at Mamma Mia!, my Aunt and I drove first to A Southern Season which I would describe to you as a LARGE Dean & Deluca of the South. A huge wine section (I bought a bottle of French wine, "La Poule Blanche" to take back to Chicago), cheese section, chocolate section...really need I go on? Let me tell you if you're in the Raleigh/Durham area anytime soon...drive on over to A Southern Season and spend a good 2 hours there...you won't regret it. After tasting and shopping our way through A Southern Season we headed over to Fearrington Village in Pittsboro. Before exploring this quaint shopping spot, we decided to have lunch at The Old Granary Restaurant. And we were so glad we did. My Aunt had the Chicken Salad (which consisted of: celery, gala apple, red onion, grapes, spiced walnuts, potato straws, mixed greens and rosemary dressing). I had the Chicken Pot Pie which was served with the ingredients (slow-cooked chicken, winter vegetables, mustard and parsley cream) outside the buttery puff pastry.
I spent last weekend in North Carolina visiting my Aunt. What's the first thing we did after leaving the airport? Eat! My Aunt found this great place called, Mamma Mia! in Apex, North Carolina. When we walked in the lovely man that greeted us said buona sera in a real Italian accent, I knew we were in for a wonderful dinner. We started with a glass of wine each and then ordered a 16 inch Bianca pizza ("New York style thin crust with fresh garlic, ricotta and mozzarella cheese") and added eggplant and meat balls for our toppings. Soo good and soo much pizza that when I left last Tuesday afternoon there were still slices in my Aunt's refrigerator to eat! What I also loved was as we left the restaurant in this strip mall were the kids sitting outside telling us to have a good night and to come back soon for food made by their Dad and Grandma. Love it.
OMG, I can't get enough of pickle! Cucumbers, red onion, pepper corns, jalapeno, habañero, white wine vinegar and cider vinegar. Let it sit for a few hours and you'll have a spicy, épicé, picante and delicious condiment. I like it on everything except my breakfast.
We're all squirrels to a certain extent... hoarding stuff, easily mesmerized by shiny objects. Fusilli hoards toothpaste for fear they may stop making Colgate Winterfresh flavour. I once found ten tubes in the bathroom cupboard... seriously.
Anyway, now we're so addicted to our apples, yogurt and granola routine that we've started hoarding our favourite yogurt! It all started when we discovered Liberté's Méditerranée style vanilla yogurt and then quickly realized it's not always in plentiful supply. Running out of yogurt can lead to morning trauma, which is the worst kind of trauma. So now when it's in stock, we just grab everything on the shelf and run erratically to the checkout.
I've said it before... last minute trips are the best. If I liked surprise birthday parties, I imagine they'd feel like it did when Fusilli mentioned Dawes were playing at the Bowery Ballroom. Surprise!
What more could you ask for than a great live band in an incredible venue... in New York? Imagine Massey hall crossed with the HorseShoe. It's Perfection!
This trip we decided we would only try new things, no old favorites, only new, new, new! First new thing: the hotel. We arrived Friday night, and checked onto the Hampton Inn Soho. This might be the best deal in town. Set on the edge of Soho, just above Tribecca, you can anywhere in a flash.
We changed and went straight to dinner. Next stop on the new tour, Public on Elizabeth in Nolita. No pictures, too hungry. Fried Oysters in shizo leaf, white anchovy on lentil cakes and berkshire pork something. I ate so fast, I can hardly remember.
Why do concerts always start late? Do they want to sell more drinks?
By the end Dawes had the entire place singing along. Bonus points if you can spot me in the audience near the end of the video.
After the concert we headed to the next new spot, Los Felis, for Tequila and snacks. The list of Tequilla options was so long I just let the waiter decide what to put in my margarita. We had guacamole and a grilled shrimp soft tacos. So much better than late night pizza.
Saturday morning was bright and cold as we headed to Bread, a new breakfast option around the corner. We both had baked eggs in tomato sauce based on a vauge recollection of Prosecco's recent post. For some reason mine was full if garlic, but Fusillli had none. I picked out all the slices of garlic (totaling about 4 cloves) and just enjoyed their essence. Garlic and onions are like scotch, best enjoyed after 4pm. Topped up with breakfast we headed to Soho for a walk.
My ears were in danger of disappearing beneath my mop, a sight not seen since they emerged in 1984. Not wanting to revisit the "awkwark years", I stopped in at my favourite spot... The NYC Shaving Co. The only not-new stop on our trip. I always love visiting here for their old school vibe and skilled barbers. Plus, what's more obnoxious than saying... I had to go to New York to get my hair cut? Ha!
Observe the perfection master barber Fracesco bestowed on my slowly disappearing head of hair. That perfect line was the result of much clipping, buzzing and staight shaving. Bravo Francesco!
It was time for lunch, so we headed to the much anticipated Breslin in the swank (new?) Ace hotel. This was turned out to be the highlight of the trip, and the reward for trying something new. I was expecting fancy pub food, but it was so much more.
First up, caesar salad. Perhaps the best I've ever had. I loved the full uncut lettuce leaves and the light and lemony dressing. It was topped with anchovy croutons and whole anchovies. Wickedly good.
Next we had a moist and delicious lamb burger with what I'm told are the best fries in NYC. They might be the best fries I've ever had! Thrice fried, and accompanied with a delicious cumin mayo dip.
The fries were so good, I had to take a close-up. They were thick and crispy, without the mushy centre. Bravo Breslin!
Saturday night we wanted to try Dinero's restaurant in TriBeCa, Locanda Verde. Unfortunately, the place was so packed so we had to come back for breakfast instead. No complaints, the brunch was incredible. I had Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with blueberries and meyer lemon curd.
Fusilli had the Uovo Modenese with cottechino hash, spinach and tomato hollandaise.
I loved the giant balls of yarn. I've never seen that before. New? Check!
Stopping for a glass of prosecco after walking for a few hours was nice, but the real treat was sitting outside on a patio in February. Cheers!
By the end of the day we needed one more meal before heading to the airport. Our first choice was closed, but they were kind enough to recommend Ideya, just down the street. They make excellent Mojitos.
What's better with a Mojito than a cuban sandwich?
Proof that we weren't the only summer jumpers enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. At least I wasn't in shorts and flip-flops.
It's not really a Pu-pu platter, but that sounds so much more interesting than mediterranean platter. This awesome platter has chicken salad, cucumber salad, hummus, olives and pita bread. To drink, a delicious grapefruit G&T.
I was going to title this post... A Poaching Perfection, because I recently learned the secret to poaching eggs, but my inner editor protested. I think my little editor was right, a vaguely rude title is always better than a bad pun.
So, the secret to poached eggs, as revealed by a current student of the Stratford Chef School. Stir the water to create a gentle vortex and then crack the egg into the centre. Simple, brilliant, and it works like a charm. The other basics still apply: Water at a gentle boil with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt. My additional discovery is that you can't create a vortex when there's already an egg in the water. So, poach for 30 seconds to let the egg set, pull it out with a slotted spoon and hold it in a dish until your next egg is set. Drop the other egg back in the water and poach to perfection. Don't forget to drain your eggs on a towel before putting it on your [insert meal here] or you'll drown it with watery poached eggs.
I took a second shot midway, after adding some Frank's, but it looked too much like the opening sequence from Dexter. For the unrated version, continue reading.
In the history of sandwiches, one sandwich stands out... the Cubano. Before College street was all that... and then not again, you could always count on a Cubano before a game of pool at Bar Italia. A Cubano consists of a crusty bun filled with roast pork, crispy pancetta, avocado, radicchio and garlic mayo.
Here's our attempt, and if I may say so... a worthy contender to replace the original. I made mine with a mix of mayo and Frank's hot sauce, which added a nice smokey heat. The real star was Fusilli's roast pork shoulder that had been cooking for six hours. Fall-aparty goodness!
I went out to my favorite local lunch spot today. First, because it was warm enough to venture outside for the first time in a while.
Side note: Heated car seats are perhaps the greatest cold weather comfort ever invented. The problem is, you can't drive everywhere. So I'm throwing out this idea... heated pants. Imagine that feeling when you put on your pants, fresh from the dryer. Not so hot that the rivets in your jeans burn you, just that toasty warm feeling that puts a silly grin on your face. Now imagine your waiting for the street car with toasty warm pants in the midddle of winter.
The second reason I went out for lunch is to prove to Prosecco that salads rule! Observe—The Mega Salad! Tell me you wouldn't want to eat that! Grilled chicken, red leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, shredded carrots, shredded beets, pumpkin seeds, sun flower seeds and wheat grass. All topped with a hemp seed vinaigrette.
Homemade, home-cooked comfort food by Carlo's mother: butternut squash + ricotta gnocchi with butter, sage and lemon zest. Followed by salmon trout (I didn't know there was such a thing!) perfectly cooked with a breadcrumb parmigiano topping and for the vegetable component, broccoli. And next day's lunch? A salmon trout sandwich, of course!
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This is the first I've ever heard, seen or tasted bacon… in a pretzel. Stopping into a Polish grocery store on Roncesvalles to pick up some perogies, my pal Tomi spotted these and gave me the nudge to buy them, not that she had to nudge that hard. She's a vegetarian so bacon pretzels aren't exactly on her to-eat list.
I ripped open the package when I got home and settled in to watch some Olympics (men's speed skating 1500m) with a fresh gin and tonic in hand. Smoky, salty, dry and crispy… bacon pretzels are pretty addictive. I wrapped up the remainder of the package with elastic bands and hid it away, in fear I'd down the entire thing in one sitting.
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Talk about disappointment. Tomi gets a tuna melt for lunch from (the post-changeover) Hank's and gets taken for a $9 ride. Here's what it consisted of: a thin slice of brown bread about the size of an iPhone with a smear of tuna, topped with cheese and a forest of arugula. Seriously?
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This past Sunday I met up with Nidhi and Martina at Orange at Grand & Milwaukee for a noon-ish brunch. Orange has a few locations around the city, but this one was a good halfway point for all of us and our respective neighborhoods of: West Loop, West Town and the Gold Coast.
We ordered a round of Frushi to share. Frushi is fresh fruit, in-season, made into sushi rolls or pieces. YUM. I chose for my entree, the not pictured, Omelet #4. For me it was a nod to Kauai; with roasted ham, pineapple and swiss cheese and toasted coconut flakes sprinkled on top. Martina had the Chai Tea French Toast and Nidhi had the pancake flight.
The theme to the pancake flights changes weekly. This week's theme was honey and included these four (descriptions taken from their table menu): Lemon Thyme (blueberry buttermilk pancakes with lemon-thyme honey and whipped cream, garnished with ground pecans), Granola (almond buttermilk pancakes topped with mango-honey mousse and home made granola, Bacon (honey butter on buttermilk bacon pancakes drizzled with pecan syrup and garnished with powdered sugar) and Strawberry Banana (strawberries inside buttermilk cakes, topped with slices of banana honey-cottage cheese whipped cream and oven toasted walnuts).
My next visit to Orange I will try either the pancake flight of the week or the French Toast Kabob! What will you have?!
Who says bacon and eggs are only for breakfast? How about a little cast iron skillet pizza with the easiest pizza dough ever, topped with tomato sauce, chopped bacon from the farmer's market and a dusting of parmigiano? When it's cooked, crack an egg on top. I stuck mine back in the oven for a bit, but don't let that yoke get hard! You want it to ooze out when you slice up the pizza so you can soak up all that sunny yellow goodness.
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Perfect dinner party to relieve a hangover : viewing of lori's Bird Poop Madonna, with a delicious dinner featured below of LCBO 2008 recipe sirloin chili rub (complemented with jims description of Dwaynes rub n tug), with peppers avocado, tomato, red onion salad and cornbread. Totally delicious, sibling rivalry wine was perfect for the hangover. Tit biting.
Eggs poached in homemade tomato sauce, crusty bread to mop up all that lovely sauce and runny yolks, and a fantastic value ($6.75!) Montepulciano d'Abruzzo to drink. For more egg ideas, check out this post on Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn.
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This is one of my favourite stalls to visit at the Green Barn Farmer's Market. C usually buys the Red Fife and has a chocolate brioche. I just like to sip my coffee and admire the bounty of bread.
I discovered that the St. John's Bakery is a social enterprise business owned and operated by St. John's The Compassionate Mission and that bakery workers have included refugees, people struggling with addictions, people with emotional troubles or mental illness, and single parents struggling with poverty.
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A quick and healthy, crispy, tasty dinner : Mark Bittman, Andalucian Tortillitas - chickpea flour, water, shrimps, parsley and salt and pepper cooked in a pan like a pancake. Use any fish or herbs on hand. Una comida mue buena.
I made marshmallows! It was my first attempt and I almost gave up. The recipes I read said to whisk the mixture for about 15 minutes to get it thick and stiff. Um, it took me FORTY minutes, people. Whatevs, it all worked out in the end as you can see by the little cloud floating in a mug of homemade Callebaut hot chocolate. I like this recipe from Orangette although it's a tad too sweet for my taste, especially if you'll be adding a fat marshmallow on top, so I cut the sugar by half. And about the marshmallow? You'll never go back to store-bought. These babies are delicate, fluffy, and totally gourmet. A bit messy to make but definitely worth it. Hopefully it doesn't take you 40 minutes of high-speed whisking!
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This pic didn't come through last post, I hope it did this time, I'm emailing via blackberry. Poached halibut on Gios tomato sauce. Gios tomato sauce made by thick slicing tomatoes and covering them in minced garlic on one side and frying them in a pan w olive oil on each side until they turn to mush (about 8 min per side on med). Drop the halibut on top after the tomatoes are done and cover c and after another 5 to 8 min, voila healthy tasty french restaurant erasing meal that makes you feel happy. The wine was awesome, ontario small winery, foreign affairs that I found in lcbo vintages - expensive but worth a try its great. I just remembered I left a full bottle of vodka in my hotel room dangggg!
For our second brunch of 2010, we were feeling adventurous and headed on over to the Hoof Café. It was highly recommended, and rightfully so. I've barely begun to tell you about what we ate and I'm just so excited to go back!
Not only is the room tiny and charmingly decorated, the food is delicious and special. Like things I couldn't get anywhere else for brunch, like tongue grilled cheese or marrow donuts? My gut was to go for the tongue grilled cheese, but since I'd never had tongue before, I ordered the hash which had tongue in it, but also potatoes, caramelized shallots and soft poached eggs on top. I also had the toast which came with goat butter and blueberry jam (oh so delicious!). Turns out, I like tongue! Although I'm not sure if it was cow or pig. I'm going to say pig, since their sign has a picture of a pig on it. C decided on the sweet and ordered the brioche french toast with a side of spicy sausage that came on a bed of baked beans. Hey, that's two for two now with C ordering french toast at both 2010 brunch spots! C felt like he still needed something when he was done but turned down the marrow donuts when our server made the suggestion, thinking they'd be too heavy. Instead, he ordered the house granola with goat yogurt. He liked the yogurt, but thought my homemade granola was better! Yayaya! Oh, I should also mention that we both ordered tea (Earl Grey for me, green tea for C) which were freshly brewed from leaves, not bags.
All in all, there is something for everyone here: traditionalists, adventurers, meat-lovers, vegetarians, coffee-drinkers, tea-drinkers, booze-drinkers. But definitely more geared toward adventurous carnivores. Check out the slideshow of our brunch here.
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Happy New Year! What better way to start off the new year than with brunch, and on a Friday to boot. Circumstances somehow landed us in the Junction and at Cool Hand of a Girl, a charming café C and I would pass by many times but never had a chance to stop in. I'm so glad we did because we're definitely going back.
I had the all-day breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes and toast, to which I also requested a side of spicy chicken sausage. C had the French toast special which tasted like it had lemon poppyseed cheesecake melting between the layers of bread. Delicious and decadent. The food is organic and locally produced, which was a great bonus for us, and what we really liked was the vibe of the place. Very mellow but cool. Maybe I'm just biased because they were playing the Cure, but that in combo with a good coffee and cozy breakfast while it snowed outside put me in good spirits for the first day of the year.
