Clinton Hill Foodie

Food and Puzzles for Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:28:00 +0000

This is a bit off-topic, but it's my blog and I can post off-topic if I want to. And it's kind of relevant because it's about food, even if it's dog food.

I've got a border collie named Archie. He's a pain in the butt sometimes because he's too smart and has too much energy. To combat those twin evils, we need to give him challenging things to do that don't drive us crazy at the same time. A few months back, we discovered the Kibble Nibble, an egg-shaped treat dispenser that keeps him engaged for, well, hours. It's been a life saver, and it's also a lot of fun to watch him use it.

So, today's post is a video of a dog playing with a toy getting his kibble. Yay, foodies.

Dinner at Dino

noreply@blogger.com (Olivia) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Since Brian has yet to visit the new neighborhood favorite Dino, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I am no photographer, so you'll still have to wait for those glorious images of gluttony, but I think I have the advantage in terms of writing style. Hopefully I can charm you critical readers with my heavenly prose.

We hadn't planned to go to Dino, in particular. I was having dinner with a friend, unfamiliar with the Fort Greene eatery scene, and I decided to let him choose the spot. As we walked along DeKalb Avenue - in the middle of the ice storm, I might add - I pointed out Madiba, Cornerstone, and Kif, all favorites of mine. None of them seemed to catch his eye. We passed Sushi D (which apparently only got a B rating...a little scary for a sushi place) and the General Greene. We were about to walk by when he spotted the slightly hidden, but invitingly lit restaurant and pointed.

"That one," he said.

"Brian's going to kill me," I said.

We entered the front door and found ourselves in a small but cozy haven from the elements. There were only a few tables, maybe 10, but we were lucky enough to get one by the window, from which we could watch others struggle through the cold as we enjoyed a glass of wine. The staff was friendly and attentive, giving us a place to stow our bags and pointing out the specials, posted on a blackboard. I was almost convinced by the thought of pear and ricotta ravioli, but instead chose to order spinach gnocci and a side of roasted brussel sprouts. My friend got the caprese appetizer and grilled salmon served over lentils and topped with an eggplant tapenade.

While we waited for our food, we enjoyed bread with delicious olive oil. Since I have sworn off excessive cheese, I refrained from trying the mozzarella, but from the sounds of pleasure emanating from the seat across from me, I assume it was good. Then the main courses arrived. We both dug in, he exclaiming over his salmon's eggplant topping and I, charmed by the exotic contrast between the tomato sauce and roasted garlic cream that mingled atop my gnocci. As a gnocchi connoisseur, I enjoyed it, but wished it had been a bit more melt-in-your-mouth. The brussel sprouts, however, were to die for and I was so glad I had added them, almost as an afterthought. Buttery, yet crispy, they reminded me of Thanksgiving and my mom's cooking. And, as I'm sure previous posts on this blog have revealed, my mother is no amateur in the kitchen.

Once our plates had been cleared, we began contemplating dessert. Both of us are trying to diet, so there was a moment of hesitation, but we had been staring at the specials board all night and it had been calling to us. Green apple tart. When we heard it was served with vanilla ice cream, it was all over.

And so worth it. The crust was delicate and flaky, while the apples had the perfect tartness. The ice cream melted easily atop the warm tart and we devoured it. I almost regretted we hadn't ordered two.

Overall, I enjoyed Dino and look forward to taking Brian there so that we can get some pictures. I'm sure this is a place that will soon be added to his somewhat short list of recommended restaurants.

Clinton Hill Foodie Doubles in Size

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:16:00 +0000

It's impossible to spend any significant amount of time with me without ending up in this blog somewhere. Regular readers may recognize the names of friends and family who've passed through my culinary life, and most food experiences I have (and write about) involve others. For the last year, however, I've been blessed with sharing both kitchen and restaurant with my girlfriend, Olivia. While she enjoys being part of the blog tangentially, she grows ever frustrated with my lagging post schedule and my inability to do anything and everything she demands. I've decided that her oppression will reign no more. I will not stand idly by while she yells at me for not posting that Madiba review or forgetting to credit her pictures. Instead, I've simply given her a login.

I have no idea how often she'll post, but if she's got something to say, now she has a way to do it. Instead of hitting me.

A Simple Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:30:00 +0000

Winter has brought lots of football, lots of staying in, and lots of feeling gross on Sunday nights after copious amounts of beer and wings. Last night we needed a break from the gluttony, so I tossed together a simple and healthy Sunday dinner. There's hardly a recipe here to speak of; it's just baked seasoned chicken breasts, white rice, and steamed broccoli. Sometimes it doesn't need to be complicated to be good.

New Grocery, New Farmer in the Deli

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Looks like the northeast part of Clinton Hill (near where I currently call home) will be getting some new food options soon.

First up, it looks like at least part of the space in the new Pratt building on Myrtle will be occupied by a grocery store. I don't know much about Khim's Millennium market, but their spartan website proclaims "Natural and Organic Products at Affordable Prices." Anyone been to their other location in Williamsburg? Any good? The emphasis on natural and organic could point to a nice upscale grocer, which would be great. Or it could be overpriced nonsense.

On the other hand, it looks like some of the retail space across the street has been rented to none other than Farmer in the Deli, purveyors of excellently-built sandwiches. See this? This is me excited.

Along with Tamboril, the recently-relocated Jive Turkey, both Ruthies, the Emerson, and venerable White Castle, there seem to be a lot of food goings-on round these parts. Yay.

Saffron and Chicken Risotto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:09:00 +0000

It's starting to sound really weak, even to me, to bemoan my lack of posting whenever I get around to throwing one up, so I'm not even going to bother. Needless to say, life these days hasn't afforded as much time for blogging as I'd otherwise like. Still, it doesn't mean there aren't some good eats to pass along. I'm still cooking from time to time, and starting to eat out more than I have over the last few months as well. Lots of spots, both new and old, are on my radar that I'm hoping to get to and review.

Until then, though, how about I pass along a recent saffron and chicken risotto? See what I did there? I made you think you had a choice.

I've done risotto a few times on this blog, and it's something I'll always being toying around with, even if I'm never going to reach the experimental heights of the great Last Night's Dinner. This time, however, I kept things pretty traditional and just did a basic saffron risotto with, oil, butter, chicken stock, and a valencia onion.

All well and good, but I also tossed in some amazing salt that Liv's parents were so kind as to give me for Christmas. The set has four different artisan salts, and for this risotto I tried the red sea salt. I simply added a pinch of salt along with the rice and another when I added the parmesan and butter at the end.

It was good.

Liv threw together some sauteed vegetables and I pan seared a couple of chicken breasts to go on top (or rather, along side) the risotto.

Which Way to Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year, fellow foodies! Hope everyone made it through Blizzageddon '10/'11 all right. I got stuck in Vegas for a few extra days, but was otherwise unscathed. Now it's time to think about January eats, yeah? Some egregious holiday spending has curtailed my budget for eating out, so I haven't been sampling our local cuisine nearly as much as would be expected. I did get over to 67 Burger the other night, but other than that? Nada.

As we head into the new year, I realize there are a variety of places I have yet to try, both old and new. The new coffee place on Willoughby, WTF, for instance. The Local wrote about it recently, and a reader even e-mailed asking if I'd been there. Well, aside from walking past it a few times, I haven't. Yet.

The Emerson (which isn't on Emerson), is another. Looks like an interesting new bar, and it's right around the corner from me. Have I been there? No. Will I? Sure.

How about restaurants that have been around forever that I've yet to try? Luz, for one. Black Iris, for another. What else am I missing? The new place that replaced Thomas Beisl? Dino?

Help me out here, folks.

Eggnog Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:56:00 +0000

I'm out in Vegas for Christmas this year, and decided to contribute an eggnog cheesecake to our festivities. I'd already made this once before, giving one to Liv's family for Thanksgiving, but since I was in a rush when I made it, I never posted about it.

Well, I'm here to rectify that.

This recipe was a bit of an amalgam of my last few cheesecakes, with a little bit of improv as well. As of this writing, I haven't actually tasted it–it's currently cooling in the fridge–but I'll update the post when I do.

Eggnog Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Filling
3 8oz packages cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup eggnog
1 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For crust:

Preheat the oven to 350º and place a casserole dish half-full of water on the bottom rack. In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and mix together with a fork until combined.

Wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan in parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray (I use Pam for baking!). Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan and cover evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Set aside.

For the filling:

Let the cream cheese sit until room temperature. In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat. Add the yolks and beat. Add the eggnog, the vanilla and spices. Beat.

Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200º and bake for 30 minutes more. I took this opportunity to sprinkle a little extra nutmeg on the top. After 30 minutes, turn off the oven, open the door and let the cheesecake sit for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cheesecake sit for another hour to slowly cool before putting it in the fridge.

Mine's currently in the fridge waiting for Christmas dinner. I'll update the post when I have a chance to try it, but it looks great.

A Man's Loaf

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:40:00 +0000

I don't know how the conversation got started, but it did.

"My mom's had mozzarella cheese in it."

"We used to put ketchup on ours, but I'm not sure I'm for that any more."

"Ketchup is ok if it's on cold sandwiches the next day."

Not a catloaf

No, it's not a surrealist discussion of the placenta. It's meatloaf! That grand, hearty loaf that's perfect for when it gets all nonsense cold like it's been lately. I'm not sure who was the first to come up with the idea of loafing some meat, but man, is it good when it's done right. The problem, of course, is that it's also the kind of dish that's pretty easy to do wrong, leading to a bland, boring hunk of grey burger. I'm pretty sure mine isn't that.

Dog gets no loaf

No loaf for you, either

Liv and I had some meatloaf and mashed potatoes the other night, and since it'd been a while since I posted about what I was eating, I figured I'd take some pictures and share with you all.

Nothing out of the ordinary with this loaf, it's the same recipe I've been using for a while and have posted about here a couple of times.

Same with the mashed potatoes. Peeled, cubed russet potatoes boiled until soft and then mashed in a stand miser with salt, pepper, butter and sour cream. Simple, people.

Add peas.

Fin.

Dinner & Drinks?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Got this question from a reader this morning:

howdy... where's the best place in ft greene/clinton hill for a group of seven to have dinner and drinks at 6pm this saturday? we are driving down to meet friends there.

thanks,

ryan j.

Great question, Ryan, and thanks for writing in!

My first choice would be No. 7, I think. Great food, awesome bar, and not terribly pricey. It can get kind of crowded on a Saturday night, so you may have to plan on a bit of a wait for a table while you booze up a little.

Aqualis Grill would be another good choice, and they've been decidedly less crowded whenever I've gone, even on Saturday nights.

Other choices? I'd never hesitate to recommend Kif, especially now that they have their liquor license back and bar in place. Cornerstone (formerly Papa's Place, formerly Red Bamboo) has always had a great bar, and I've really liked the food the last few times I've been. Hard to go wrong with Chez Oskar, Madiba, or any of the Italian places, too.

So what say you, folks? Where's your favorite spot for dinner and drinks? Where should Ryan go?

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up Spectacular

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:00:00 +0000

For the first time in a few years, I didn't do any cooking for Thanksgiving. Well, I made an egg nog cheesecake that I sent with Liv for her family (and it was received well), but I didn't actually cook anything I ate on Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean to imply no one else did either, though. My stepmother, Pat created quite a spread for the four of us, which I have taken the time to document for your viewing pleasure. No walk-throughs or recipes here, just blatant food porn.

We started out with a couple of great little appetizers - arancini (fried balls of risotto) and stuffed mushrooms.

The arancini were served with fresh Italian parsley and a marinara sauce. The mushrooms were bare.

Instead of a full-blown turkey, Pat went with a brined turkey breast since there were only four of us, and it turned out spectacular. If you've never brined a turkey, it's well worth trying.

The turkey breast right out of the oven. It had been brined in the refrigerator for the previous day or two before roasting.

Vegetables and sides are important.

One of my favorite parts of this year's meal: homemade cranberry sauce with black cherries.

Roasted root vegetables. It was also very sunny.

I guess it's not technically stuffing since it didn't stuff anything, but it was still amazing. There's a lot of Italian sausage in there.

As was to be expected, an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. For dessert we were treated to two pies: pumpkin and pecan.

It's been a wonderful yet trying year for me in a lot of ways, and this Thanksgiving was the first real break I've had in months. I want to again thank everyone who takes the time to read Clinton Hill Foodie, and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:23:00 +0000

Well, now, it's one of my favorite days of the year, second only to fall back day, maybe. I have so much to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is how much I've enjoyed writing this blog over the past three years. It hasn't been as active as I'd like the last few months thanks to a few other things I have to be thankful for, but it's still a big part of my life and something I hope I'll always be able to continue writing.

Thanksgiving this year is once again down in Florida, and we've got what's looking like a major feast in store for us this afternoon. I've got my camera with me and I'll be documenting everything before consuming it all with gusto.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday, wherever you are!

Roast Pork and Apple Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:15:00 +0000

You know what's great about fall? Yes, the weather turns from that awful, sweltering late summer heat and humidity, but also there are apples. Not the ok-bu-not-great apples you can get year round, but the these-are-amazing-give-me-some-more apples you can only get after August. Good apples call for making apple sauce (or spiced apples), and that also means it's time to roast up a pork loin.

Which is exactly what I did.

There's not a whole lot to say about making this, really. Get a good pork loin, season it a bit (this was some Chicago steak seasoning combined with some excellent gray sea salt), and throw it in a rotisserie oven for an hour. The only way to mess it up is to overcook it, and as long as you keep a decently close eye on it, that's not going to happen.

To go along side, I started out making spiced apples and ended up with apple sauce because they cooked a lot faster than I'd planned. There's so little to this I'm not even sure it's worth a recipe, either, but I might as well just so I can pretend I'm providing a service beyond "LOOK WHAT I ATE."

Apple Sauce

Ingredients:

4-5 apples. These were Macintosh.
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:

Peel and cut the apples into small pieces.

Put everything in a pot over medium heat. Stir.

Cook until you've made apple sauce.

So there's the meal. Nothing particularly fancy or complicated, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good.

A Delightful Return to iCi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:25:00 +0000

Whenever I'm asked about my favorite places to eat in Brooklyn, I invariably gravitate towards a few restaurants. No. 7 almost always tops the list–I've never had a bad meal there, and the food is consistently, surprisingly good. Aqualis is another great choice, as are any of the brick oven Italian trio–Il Porto, Graziella's or Anima. Overlooking Stonehome would be a mistake, and I'd be remiss to omit Kif or Chez Oskar.

One restaurant I seem to never remember is iCi, even though I've been there a couple of times and even reviewed it earlier this year. My first visit was actually my second date with Olivia–also our first dinner together–so you think I'd never forget it, right? Well, since I'm not very bright, that's exactly what tends to happen. When I think about it, I'm pretty sure iCi is in the short list for my favorite restaurants. Not just Clinton Hill and Fort Greene restaurants, but favorite restaurants, period. It's always been that good, but for some reason I never remember to pass that along to the rest of the world. I think it's time I rectified that.

Olivia's parents were in town this weekend, and I was tasked with coming up with a restaurant suggestion for Saturday night. When choosing a restaurant, there are a whole host of things to consider:

What kind of food, and how good is it? I imagine that's at the top of most everyone's list. What's the point of going out to eat if you're going to be paying for awful food. Similarly, if you don't like sushi, you probably don't want to end up at a sushi place. Or maybe you do? Let's assume you don't.

How much does it cost? If you can afford Luger's or The River Cafe every time you want a bite to eat, more power to you, but most of us have to balance quality with affordability. At the same time, I'm not always interested in the cheapest option. A night out is a bit of a luxury, and it's fine to pay for a great experience.

iCi turned out to be a fantastic choice. Because I didn't want to break up the meal by insisting on taking pictures of everyone's food, I left my camera at home, so no pictures this time.

Since there were five of us, we ended up getting a variety of appetizers to start out along with a bottle of Les Baux de Provence. iCi's menu, like No. 7's is focused on a few, very well crafted dishes. You don't get a whole lot of choice, but nor are you ever very worried that you're not going to get something excellent. We started with a good variety of appetizers, though unfortunately we couldn't try everything.

With a couple of vegetarians in our midst, we sampled both the market salad and the vegetable terrine. I thought the latter was great, though Liv said she preferred the one at Chez Oskar. I think the argument has merit, and Chez Oskar certainly offered more goat cheese, but I've a certain ambivalence over which I'd pick. At the time, I thought iCi's was better, but now I'm not so sure. It's very good, no matter.

The special appetizer of the night was a mixed wild mushroom tart of some kind. Its mushroom-ness was overpowering, which I suppose makes sense for something tart-like that's filled with mushrooms. I happen to love mushrooms, so this was a good thing, but this isn't the kind of dish you should order if you're not wild about mushrooms.

I'm sorry.

One of the more interesting (and tasty) dishes was the ginger and carrot latkes with spiced apple chutney. Quite literally everything in that name is something I crave from time to time, so to combine them all into a neo-hippie Jewish pancake was enough to make me swoon. I was especially impressed with the apple chutney.

While the latkes were good, the sauteed quail with fig compote had cried out to me form the moment I spotted it on the menu, and it turned out to be my personal favorite starter. Eating a quail makes you feel like some bumbling giant performing surgery on a chicken, and it's delightful. While I favored the quail, that almost everyone at our table liked something else the most speaks highly of just how interesting and well-prepared each dish was.

Our entrees were again varied and wildly successful. I was in the mood for something substantial, and ended up with the braised mountain pork shank with squash gnocchi. The latter proved such a hit that we actually asked for a second side plate, but unfortunately the chef had only made enough to go with the pork entrees. The rest of our table was sad, but I remained happy, enjoying my gnocchi.

Liv had the braised duck special, which was spectacular. Even those at our table who are not normally fond of duck had to admit that this crisp, succulent version was amazing. If pressed, it would be hard to deny the duck being the star of the evening, but I was still partial to my spritely quail.

Thanks to the variety of orders, I also got to sample the eggplant and spicy peppers with smashed chic peas, the chicken breast with kohlrabi and wilted spinach, and the rib eye steak wtih white beans and blue cheese. each was a marvel of elegance, and I didn't hear one word of disapproval the entire evening.

While we weren't particularly hungry after such a meal, the dessert options proved to enticing to pass up. While the chocolate mousse with hazelnut was good, it honeslty couldn't hold a candle to the two others that we tried.

For many at the table, the plum tart tatin with vanilla ice cream stole the show, and it was easy to see why. A perfect tart crust with a spicy, powerful plum filling and the simple decadence of ice cream was really spectacular. So much so that few in our party would shut up about it.

For me, though, the real star was the pear tiramisu. Served in a ramekin, there's a wonderful variety of fruit and spice in eat bite. I don't even really like tiramisu most of the time, but this was really great and is the kind of dessert I'll probably just keep ordering every time I go.

iCi may not have come straight to mind whenever I thought of the best restaurants in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene before now, but I can't imagine I'll ever overlook it again. The atmosphere is great, the prices aren't bad, the wine list is very good, and the food is amazing. If you haven't been, go. That's about the best recommendation I can make.

Information:

iCi
246 Dekalb Ave
718.789.2778
http://www.icirestaurant.com/

Humble Pie: A Cautionary Tale

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:30:00 +0000

I like to blog about culinary successes–a great dinner party or interesting dessert are fun to write about. If I've taken the time to take some passable pictures, I like sharing them. Writing about food that I enjoy and the process of creating and enjoying it is what keeps me at this infernal endeavor, even if I'm not posting as regularly as I used to (or as much as I'd like). If I'm going to share cooking success, I suppose it's only right that I give you my failures as well. I've never claimed to be a professional, but I like to at least pretend I have some idea what I'm doing. Many of you have disagreed with me on that, so I suppose this one's for you.

We went apple picking recently and ended up with two great big bags of Cortland and Macintosh apples. I've been happily munching away at them for a while, but we'd also planned to do some baking with them, specifically an apple pie. How hard could it be, really? I mean, it's an apple pie. Well, it turns out if you try to use a monstrous 16-inch pie plate that your crazy father gave you, pretty damn hard.

"That's no moon..."

To start, making enough crust for a pie this big is quite a feat. Liv makes the crust in our family, and hers is a delicate dough that requires assembly in pieces almost. Made of nothing more than flour, Crisco, salt, and water, the dough is just barely moist enough to hold together. While this makes for a challenging dough to work with, it also makes for a perfectly flaky crust when baked. That's all well and good when you're working with a 9 or 10-inch pie. But 16 inches makes for a huge amount of crust, especially if you want to attempt to put a lattice on top. Which we tried.

So there's a crust problem. I actually think the bottom of the crust looked great. Liv did a good job of making enough do and assembling it into a nice layer in the pie plate. There wasn't a whole lot left for the top, but we weren't worried about that yet.

Each apple piece is about an inch across, for scale

While the crust is important, I maintain that the most important part of the pie is the filling. How many apples does it take to fill a 16-inch pie plate? Turns out it's somewhere around 30. I lost count after 20 or so. Of course, we took a bit of a shortcut and didn't actually peel all these apples, thinking there shouldn't be anything wrong with a skin-on apple pie. That may have also been a mistake.

Once you've cut up 30 or so apples, you need to season them all for the pie. We thought that the apples were so sweet and juicy that it would be best to cut back on the sugar (probably ok) and water (may have been a mistake). We also added cinnamon and nutmeg, though the exact amounts elude me. Since we ere out of gigantic bowls by this point, the apples and spices were mixed in a garbage bag. This was actually not a mistake, as the tactic worked well.

We tried

We piled the spiced apples into the pie place and then tried mostly in vain to create a lattice-work of dough on top. We didn't have enough dough. We did our best.

The thing about a pie this size is that you actually have to be really careful where in the oven you put it. I initially stuck it on the top rack, thinking, "Well, it fits." Yes, you dimwit, it fits, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. See how it's all..dark and almost burnt in places? That was after 10 minutes in the oven. Thankfully, I notices and moved it down to a lower rack, but we have a feeling a lot of the damage was done during this crucial early baking phase. Lots of the moisture both in the crust and apples was likely sucked away, never to be seen again. Alas.

Now, what actually came out of the oven turned out pretty good–we ate a bunch of it and will certainly enjoy the rest. But to liken it to an apple pie would be disingenuous, I think. One doesn't really take a "slice" of this dessert. It's more a pile. "Would you like a pile of pie?" one might ask. "Yes, please hand me a mound, with a dollop of iced cream, would you?"

So, not a rousing success. Thankfully, we have another seven or eight pounds of it left.

Brooklyn Tornado: Not Delicious

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:56:00 +0000

Wow, that was some weather, eh? I've been tweeting about it, but I figured I'd post some stuff up here, too. Hope everyone made it safely through what was apparently a wicked little Brooklyn tornado.

Here's a car on my street that did not survive.

And here's some video I took during the worst of it. The loud sounds are hail hitting my windows.

Five Cheese Ravioli

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Making ravioli from scratch is something I've been meaning to do ever since I first started making my own pasta dough. It's not that it's really all that hard, but it's just one of those things I've never gotten around to. Well, Liv finally put her foot down this weekend and demanded homemade ravioli on Saturday night. The recipe was a bit of a mishmash from a few different sources as well as some improvisation, but it ended up working well. According to Olivia, "This was the best thing you've ever cooked for me." I guess I did good.

Five Cheese Ravioli

Ingredients:

1lb fresh pasta dough. You can get my recipe here.
2 eggs, lightly beaten plus a tbsp of water for egg wash

For Filling:

12 oz ricotta
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella
1/3 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1/3 cup grated pecorino romano
1/3 cup grated provologne
3 eggs
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the pasta dough.

Cut and roll into sheets. Do your best to make the sheets about the same size and shape, or at least symmetrical so you can cut each in half and have a good match for placing one on top of another.

For the filling, combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together using a fork until combined.

To make the ravioli, place 1 tbsp dollops of the filling on a sheet of pasta, 1-2 inches apart. Brush the egg wash onto a separate sheet and then lay it over the sheet with the dollops of filling.

Gently seal the pasta around the filling, then cut with a knife or ravioli cutter. I used a knife and then the prongs of a fork to seal around the edges.

Place the ravioli on a paper towel (they'll stick to a plate, as I found out). You can stack the ravioli, but make sure to have a paper towel between each layer. Continue until you've used up all of the pasta or the filling.

Have your sauce pretty much ready to go, as well as everything else you're going to be eating, before you think about cooking the ravioli. Like most fresh pasta, these cook extremely quickly–1-2 minutes–so you want to make sure this is the last thing you do before eating. Place as many ravioli as you can into a pot of boiling, salted water. Remove with a slotted spoon after about 2 minutes–they'll hopefully be floating after they're cooked.

I recommend not trying to cook all of the ravioli at once, but rather do them in batches so that you're not putting one ones in while the first ones are done. This is up to you though, but managing these properly can be a little tricky.

Once they're done, plate them and add whatever sauce you like.

It looks pretty simple, but with making the pasta it ends up being a pretty significant amount of work. Turned out amazing, though, and was instantly one of my favorite dishes ever. We used an amazing meat sauce that Olivia's mom made last weekend, and the combination made each ravioli taste like a little lasagna.

To go along with the pasta, we had a small appetizer of some incredible Moroccan bread we picked up at the Fort Greene Farmer's Market. After warming the bread up in the oven, we topped it with a portobello mushroom and roasted pepper salad.

We also picked up these beautiful heirloom tomatoes at the market and made a quick caprese salad using basil from the garden, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. As you can see, the tomatoes were so massive that we made far too much.

While it was a lot of work, this turned out to be one of my favorite recipes ever. I've got a few more ideas for ravioli as we get into the fall, so stay tuned.

The First Risotto of the Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:33:00 +0000

I guess it's still technically summer, but with the weather finally cooling off a bit and the leaves starting to change, we found ourselves in a risotto mood the other night. There was nothing particularly interesting about this risotto (you can follow any of my other posted recipes) other than that I got to use a bit of truffle-infused olive oil that Olivia and her mother brought back for me from France.

Really excellent stuff, that. Other than that, it was a simple mushroom risotto, though not as good as I'd have hoped which I'm owing to my having run out of porcini mushrooms.

To go along with the risotto was a cucumber, tomato and feta salad concocted from what we picked up at the Myrtle Ave farm stand the other day.

To drink, a Pouilly Fuissé. Can't go wrong, there.

Greene Hill Food Co-Op Gets Its Lease

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:47:00 +0000

Via The Local, it looks like the Greene Hill Food Co-Op has gotten its lease for the space on Putnam between Grand and Downing. Were you on the fence about signing up? I think you might have been, but now you have no excuse.

Sign up, dammit.

http://www.greenehillfoodcoop.com/

One Greene Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:30:00 +0000

If it's not clear by now, I really like a lot of the restaurants we have around here. Most of the time I'm stuck trying to pick between three or four great choices for dinner if I'm going out, cursed with a plague of choices. That's all great, until I want sushi. I love sushi, but to be frank, the choices around here aren't great. Sushi Tatsu is good for delivery, but I'm not a fan of the space when you're actually in the restaurant. I say that with a caveat, though, since I think they're already up to Sushi Tatstu IV now and it's possible that at least one of them is really nice. So as usual, I might be very wrong.

I know there are a few of you out there who are already pissed at me and starting your vitriolic comment because I'm not touting Sushi D, another eatery I admit I might be dismissing too lightly. I ordered delivery from Sushi D when I first moved to the neighborhood, and I thought it was absolutely awful. The rolls were tiny, the fish was pale and tasteless, and it was way too expensive. Maybe I ordered on a bad night? Maybe things have changed in the last four years? Maybe they're just the best of a bad lot around here? I don't know what it is, but they're still around so they're probably doing something right. A lot of people seem to defend them passionately, which says something. Still, I'm not a fan based on my single experience.

Dogs are welcome on the porch

That's all a prelude to my going to One Greene for the first time last week. One Greene's a welcoming little place on the corner of Greene and Fulton down in the heart of what I guess is Fort Greene's restaurant district. What I think I like most about it is that they always seem to have a great happy hour with beers at a reasonable price, and they have nice outdoor seating so it's a great place to spend a lazy afternoon or warm evening. My only complaint about the location is that it's a noisy intersection, so if honking cars tends to tick you off while you're eating, get a table inside.

Gyoza - pretty great for $3

Crispy calamari salad

Still, if location and atmosphere were all I cared about in a sushi place, I'd love Sushi D. One Greene is a nice place in a good spot, but it's the presentation of rice that I really care about. To start, I had an order of gyoza and Liv had the crispy calamari salad. Both were good, and the gyoza especially was a good value at (I think) $3. They have a happy hour appetizer menu with cheap eats, and I was impressed with how much you got for the price.

Our shared rolls

We decided to share a bunch of different rolls for our entreé. On the plater were spicy yellowtail, Boston, shrimp tempura, and salmon tempura rolls. Nothing really stood out as exceptional, but it was all pretty good. The two tempura rolls were massive and actually difficult to eat in one bite, which is good except that they'd completely fall apart if you didn't swallow them whole.

Tempura ice cream

We weren't initially going to stay beyond the sushi, but when offered something like fried ginger ice cream, I find myself unable to move and simply nodding with expectant glee. While the sushi may have been a bit predictable, the dessert turned out to be really excellent, and would almost be worth the trip alone. The ice cream was creamy and not too sweet, and was surrounded by a wonderful tempura batter and topped with whipped cream and chocolate. While the sushi was all right, it's hardly something that will ever conjure up any cravings. The fried ice cream, on the other hand, certainly has that potential. If you want a nice, comfortable, inexpensive place that won't wow you with its food but almost certainly won't disappoint you either, One Greene is a good choice. I think we could still use a really great sushi restaurant around here, but this will do for now.

Chez Oskar Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0000

A stalwart bastion of Frenchness in Fort Greene, Chez Oskar's one restaurant everyone will get to at some point. I've been a few times, though not since starting this blog, which is why I never got around to reviewing it. Does it really need a review, though? I mean, Chez Oskar's not going anywhere, and if you're ever considering going after some French food in the neighborhood, you're going to consider Chez Oskar. Eventually you'll go, and you'll probably enjoy yourself.

As French fare goes, I actually preferred Loulou when it was around. I'm not sure if the food was any better, but I really liked the more intimate atmosphere, especially the back yard area. It's been replaced by an Italian restaurant called Dino, though, so if you want French you're probably going to head across the street to Chez Oskar, or maybe up to Myrtle for its sister café Chez Lola. Either way, you'll be chowing on some Chez.

Olivia's a new transplant for Fort Greene, so she'd never actually had any Chez in her life to this point. The other night I figured it was time to put a stop to that and head over to Chez Oskar, which I will document henceforth. Liv's got some experience with French food, as you may remember, so I was really curious about her opinion of our version. We weren't super hungry, so it wasn't a big meal–just an appetizer, a couple of entreés, and a few drinks.

To start, the Vegetable and Goat Cheese Terrine Gratinee that was really impressive with the way it combined a variety of flavors. The goat cheese was very pungent and tasty, and since it was warm it was partially melted. Combined with the vegetables and the bread it was a super tasty way to start the meal.

I had soft shell crab as my main course, which I was less thrilled with. I overreached a bit in going for something interesting, and when it arrived I immediately realized that I wasn't in the mood for soft shell crab at all. Sometimes I am, and I'm sure had that been the case that I would have enjoyed it. This night, however, was not one of those times, and I kind of had to fight my way through it.

Liv did much better by picking the rabbit, which was absolutely perfect. Rabbit's another one of those meats that you tend to love or hate, and we both love it and thought this was a great example. Delicate and buttery and not too heavy, while still feeling hearty, if that makes any sense. I'm not sure it does, but it's what I'm going with.

If you want traditional French food in our part of Brooklyn, Chez Oskar does a good job of fitting the bill. Price-wise, it's right in line with all of the local restaurants, and there's a great wine list if you feel so inclined–I just had a glass of the house pinot while we were there. It was good, but not great, but the price was right. Loulou will be missed, but it's good to know Chez Oskar will always be here.

My First Visit to the Myrtle Ave Farm Stand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Wow, am I behind on posts. I have a few of them in the queue, including a couple of new (for me) restaurant reviews. More on that later, but for now let's take a look at my first visit to the Myrtle Ave farm stand, which started up a couple of months ago on Thursday evenings.

The farm stand is a great idea, and it's always nice to have more options for local and sustainable food. The Greene Hill Food Co-op is also using the stand as an opportunity to recruit new members, so there's another reason to stop by if you haven't yet.

The stand itself isn't massive, but what's there looked great. We picked up a few tomatoes, some green lettuce, and a ginormous cucumber that dwarfed everything else. I loved the tomatoes and the cucumber, but the lettuce turned out to be kind of soft and disappointing. Maybe I'm just picky about lettuce.

The stand is up on Thursdays from 4-7 PM on Myrtle between Price and Navy and will run through October 28th.

The True Face of Jealousy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:52:00 +0000

Things are pretty good in the House of Brian these days. Great job, a new dog, and it's almost football season.

Still, all is not well, for the lovely and talented Olivia has been gone for the better part of a month, gallivanting around Europe without me. Right now she's hopping from hostel to hostel in Ireland, but before that? Before that she was livin' the dream, man. Olivia and her mother spent a week on a biking and wine tour in Provence. I'd say more, but what more really needs to be said? They ate, they drank, they biked. Sounds like a perfect holiday to me.

They were kind enough to pass along some pictures, I imagine chosen specifically to make me frothy with jealousy. They chose wisely, assuming that was their goal.

This was our first meal in Provence - all of the meals have about 5 courses. This one had quite a lot.

First picture is the Amuse-bouche, literally meaning to amuse the mouth - in this case, a salmon sashimi with a garlic cream and seasonal veggies and a cold melon soup.

Second picture is the appetizer - again, sushi-related, with rice, seaweed, avocado, with a tomato jelly below and tomato sorbet on top.

The third is the main course - lamb with seasonal vegetables, cooked to perfection and delicious

The fourth is a collection of pre-desserts - meringue cookies, nougat cookies, mini fruit tarts and violet lolly pops (not shown)

The fifth is the real dessert - custard with graham cracker and chocolate, plus strawberry sorbet on top.

Looks tasty. How about another entire meal?

Appetizer of sea scallops uncooked except for some citrus juice, atop seasonal vegetables.

Fois gras with tomatoes stuffed with tomato jelly (my mom's appetizer).

Cod fillet with sauteed fava beans, topped with peppers and a wonderful candied lemon slice (I ate the entire slice). On the side is a tomato sorbet.

Mint-infused chocolate mousse with dark chocolate pieces, topped with an unbelievable fresh candied mint leaf.

Fresh raspberries atop custard and cookie with ice cream (my mom's dessert, also superb, but not quite beating mine).

The jealousy runs deep, I tell 'ya.

Myrtle Eats Fresh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Like food? How about fresh food? Live anywhere near Myrtle Ave? If so, this event might be for you!

Celebrate fresh food at the Myrtle Eats Fresh Kick-Off Event!

MARP’s Myrtle Eats Fresh initiative includes a number of projects that engage community members in activities to improve access to healthy, affordable food on Myrtle Avenue, and in the surrounding neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Projects include a community-run farm stand, a community chef program, creating and expanding community gardens on public housing grounds, and the formation of a local food policy task force.

Join us to learn more about the program and celebrate the inaugural season of the Myrtle Farm Stand, and meet the community members, project partners and MARP staff involved in making it all happen!

When: Thursday, August 12, 2010
Time: 4:30pm
Where: Myrtle Avenue Farm Stand, at the Ingersoll Community Center, 177 Myrtle Avenue (Prince/Navy)

Please RSVP: Joanna Reynolds, 718.230.1689 or joanna@myrtleavenue.org

Light refreshments will be served.

Events:

KICK-OFF SPECIAL! Spend at least $8 and get an additional $2 free produce!

Cooking Demo by Community Chef Jasmine Reaves

Meet gardeners from Ingersoll Garden of Eden

Free face painting with Dumeha Bernice of ParaLee’s Peace

The Myrtle Eats Fresh Initiative is supported by New York Community Trust and Atlantic Philanthropies as part of the New York City Community Experience Partnership (CEP), a collaboration with United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH), with additional support from Brooklyn Community Foundation.

Quick Note

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:59:00 +0000

For a while i haven't had any good way to get in touch to with me through the blog - you either had to leave a comment with your contact info (not ideal) or join Twitter and DM or something (also not ideal). Well, I've come up with a solution I think will work: Contact Me Page.

Just use this page to contact me if you need to. There's also a link over there on the right. Hope that helps.