Tuesday, February 1, 2011

best oyster deal

I've written about Fish before, but I just wanted to do a quick post about their amazing Red, White, and Blue deal. For $8, you get 6 clams or blue point oysters and a glass of red or white house wine or a PBR on tap. It's a great place to meet for a drink or for a tasty dinner - tonight I got the oysters and mussels in a lemongrass broth, yum! Super buttery and delicious and great, crispy fries.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

BYOB Thai

(This restaurant has moved across the street and changed its name to Potjanee, and has also acquired a liquor license. Still a great spot, but no longer BYO)



Having a delicious dinner at Morakote Siam on Carmine. It's my favorite neighborhood standby for cheap food and BYOB - great for friends. The veggie springrolls are amazing. Also love the Thai chili beef.




I also love any BYOB for budget reasons. Try it for a casual dinner.




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snow storm at city bakery






Due to the storm which has turned the city into an idyllic snowglobe, no one has unlocked my office. I went across the street to City Bakery - one of my favorite places - and got myself a raspberry bran muffin. It's super moist and the raspberries give it a great tartness. Thanks Jack Frost.





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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Movie Night Dinner





Jamie and I both missed the Social Network when it was out in theatres and wanted to finally see what all the buzz was about for the Facebook film. Result? My scheming movie night. Instead of the regular dinner foods, I wanted to make a movie themed dinner to surprise Jamie when he came home. After debating sliders and milkshakes etc, I decided on corn dogs, garlic-butter popcorn, twizzlers, and root beer. He was psyched, and I’d been craving a corn dog since the first and last one I had which was in 5th grade I think… They’re easy to make and are a great junk food treat.

I got the recipe from epicurious, but halved it.

Corn Dogs

Ingredients:

4 hot dogs
1/4 all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons, divided
About 4 cups vegetable oil, divided
3/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 large egg
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk
Popsicle sticks (I couldn’t find plane popsicle sticks, so I actually bought a box of popsicles and pulled a few out)





Directions:

Grill the hotdogs first to give them a little char and smoky flavor, then skewer them with the popsicle sticks. Dredge them in 2 tablespoons of flour and shake off the rest.

Whisk the cornmeal, ¼ cup flour, tablespoon of vegetable oil, baking power, sugar, baking soda, cayenne, and ½ teaspoon salt. Add egg and whisk, then add buttermilk and whisk. Pour it into a tall glass.





Heat the oil until a little drop of batter sizzles in it. Dip the floured hot dogs into the batter cup and spin them around until coated, then place them in the oil. Once they’re all browned, drain them on a plate with paper towels, top with ketchup mustard etc and enjoy!

Popcorn

Ingredients:

· Unpopped popcorn kernels
· Vegetable oil and olive oil
· Butter
· Garlic cloves, crushed
· Salt





Directions:

Pour some oil into a large pot, just enough to cover the whole bottom. Pour in a couple tablespoons of kernels (you don’t need as much as you think!) Put a lot on it, turn the burner on high, and shake them every once and a while until they all pop. Once the popping slows down, take it off the heat, wait a few seconds so you don’t get kernels popping out, then pour it into a bowl.

Meanwhile, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pan w/ a few crushed garlic cloves. Keep it on low so the butter melts but doesn’t brown and so it absorbs the garlic flavor. Add a little olive oil then strain out the garlic, pour on the popcorn and salt to taste. (Also good w/ a little fresh thyme if you have it)


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Back again!

I know I've been on hiatus, but now that I have this blog iPhone app I will be posting up a storm! New name, but same recipes and cooking/eating/drinking adventures. In the near future expect movie night dinner, an Indian feast, and great BYOBs. Thanks!!


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Friday, September 24, 2010

Charles Smith, please

First of all, excuse the hiatus! But we're back, and yes, with a new slightly more anonymous monicker.
Jamie and I recently signed up for this Zagat wine club and low and behold we were delivered a crate of various bottles of red wine. When I was asked to choose one, I obviously went for the prettiest bottle, and that was Charles Smith. A 2008 Cabernet. It was delicious! Very smooth and drinkable. I wish I'd taken better notes - it's been a week or two - but I would love to go out and buy a whole case and have it as my go-to red.
After thinking we liked this obscure wine, we found Charles Smith was rated Wine Maker of the Year, so he's not really an underdog. Nevertheless, I'm still as enamored as I was when I thought it was obscure.
(I didn't think to photograph the bottle at the time, so this I just snatched off google)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

spruced up eggs benedict

People tend to find eggs benedict a little intimidating, but it's really not that hard. If you have butter, eggs, lemon, and bread of some sort, you're good. Last weekend I had a loaf of sour dough bread and got a few slices of prosciutto and hot sopressata at Faicco's. I also had some herbs (tarragon, thyme, and chives) in the fridge. With the great salty/spicy meat, the sourdough, and the fresh herb Hollandaise, this turned into arguably the best eggs benedict I've ever had.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
lemon
fresh herbs (ideally thyme, tarragon, and chives)
2 slices hot sopressata
2 slices prosciutto
2 slices of sourdough

Directions:
Chop up the herbs (about 2 tsp). Separate the yolk and the white and put the yolk in a small bowl. Throw in a pinch of salt and whip up the yolk with a whisk. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking until it thickens. Squeeze in a little lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp) and the herbs and stir it up.
Poach the two eggs, drain them on a paper towel. Put the slices of meat on the toast, put the egg on the meat, and pour the Hollandaise over the egg.
Enjoy and impress!