Albany Eats!

Kim Chee

2012-01-25T11:08:00.000-05:00

Oh David Chang, you are a genius. Project Kim Chee all started with this 2nd Edition of Lucky Peach magazine (brought to you by Chang & my other food crush, Anthony Bourdain).

Chang's got a crazy-easy recipe for kim chee contained within this tome, and he made it seem so... accessible. Like even I couldn't screw it up. It's a two day process, but really not all that time-consuming.
Start out with a big ass head of napa cabbage. They're $.50/lb or less at the asian grocery stores in Albany. This particular head was exactly four pounds. Yes, I tared the bowl.

The next step is quartering each head and removing the tough cores. But don't throw them out! Just cut them into little slices. We waste nothing with this kim chee.

Chang's recipe says to cut the quarters of napa into 2" sections. That's the size you get (or larger) in kim chee you can buy in stores. I don't like those size leaves - too big and difficult to cram in my mouth (I know, hard to believe).

I sliced these into 1" sections instead. I'm so badass!

Then you throw them in a bowl and dump a TON of kosher salt and granulated sugar on them. I'm serious. It's a lot of both. Cover it with saran wrap and let it hang out in your fridge overnight.
Wow, that really shrunk overnight, hunh? There's a lot of water at the bottom of that bowl, so you want to drain out as much as you can, but there's no need to go crazy with it.

Then I busted out my handy dandy mandoline to matchstick-ify some carrots (please, like I have the dexterity to even think of trying that with a knife), and roughly sliced up some scallions. Just one bunch of scallions is fine.
Next, we prepare our chili paste in a blender. About a cup of chili flakes, 3/4 cup soy sauce. 5 T fish sauce. About a dozen dried shrimp (I think that dried scallops would also make a great dried fish ingredient). Close to a whole head of garlic, 2-3" of ginger (peeled), some sugar syrup, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Any who, whir that into a paste.

Plop the paste onto all of the other ingredients.
ATTACK! If you wear contacts, I highly recommend wearing a glove when touching spicy items. Otherwise you will scream later.

Mix, mix, mix. Work it girl - you really wanna work that hot & spicy paste into every bit of your veggies. I think that some daikon probably wouldn't have been a bad addition to the napa cabbage with salt & sugar the night before now, come to think of it.

Then pack it in some jars. I had a few ball jars, and a few leftover other glass jars (miraculously with tops, even).

Let it sit in the back of your fridge for at least a week before you even think of trying it.

Then have your husbear make kim chee fried rice! Holy moly, I have no clue what kind of kitchen chicanery her worked on this, but this was good! And that's coming from a rice-hater.

The kim chee wasn't that fermented after a week, but had a good kick to it and was quite velvety. Sweeter than I'm used to, that's for sure. I'll give it another try in a week and see how it's fermented, but it's definitely tasty stuff.

Forno Bistro

2012-01-24T00:34:00.000-05:00

Forno Bistro is an Italian-American restaurant in Saratoga Springs, NY. Don't go there hungry. The bar is nice, though. I'd go back for drinks at the bar.

They're a step up from Olive Garden and chain restaurants, but after my dinner tonight, I don't really see myself wanting to go back again. I went with a few other folks. The pleasant was that they split our checks without us asking. They added in an auto grat. The service wasn't terrible, but our server actively stayed away from our table and took a while to refill drinks - seemed more interested in padding the bill. One of our dining companions also had a food allergy, mentioned it to the server, and the dish came out with the problem food still on it. Who's expo-ing? They gave the diner a little bit of sorbet while waiting for the requested dish to come out, but our server pretty much disappeared after that. I'd just rather have a server interested in my dining experience instead of how much their 18% auto grat is going to be.
The server also pushed signing up for their free dining club card and mentioned we'd get 10% off of all of our bills that night. We didn't see anything off of our receipts when we paid, and when we asked out of curiosity the server mentioned that it was money that would go back on the dining card to be used as dining points at Forno at a later date. This was kind of annoying because being told we'd receive 10% off of our meals is way different than "10% of your meal is going to be added to this card that you can use eventually when you dine here and spend enough money". It's just a matter of goodwill - if your servers are telling diners one thing to get bonuses because they had people sign up for the dining card (I'm not sure if that's the case at Forno, but in many other models, this is commonplace), and diners find out what they were told wasn't exactly correct, it doesn't exactly leave a stellar impression of your business. Do you want people to leave thinking "Wow, that was a great night!" or "That was nice, but..."

Ok, so, on to food:
Bread - there was one slice of bread per diner. They have olive oil and vinegar at the table, which was tasty, but I could have used more bread. Further requests for bread were ignored.Which was kind of a bummer, because my main would have benefitted with some bread. The bread itself wasn't too bad. One of those par-cooked loaves that the kitchen finishes. In my FOH days, I quite enjoyed snacking on those types of bread.

I got an eggplant parm ($15). I like eggplant parmesan when I dine out because it is a royal pain to make at home - so much frying and THEN baking. The eggplant came in a rectangular dish (Il Forno has a fire oven they bake a lot of their food stuffs in). It was okay, but the eggplant parm I make at home is better. The eggplant slices were unbreaded and the whole dish was uniformly smooth and one texture. Mozzarella cheese, eggplant... it was all one mushy texture. I went to dinner hungry, and left not really full.

Albany John got a fra diavolo dish which was not at all spicy. It was okay as a pasta dish, but a few flakes of chili would have been nice. Something to add some heat to a diavolo dish.

Oh, so I liked the bartenders because they had a pretty humorous personality. I saw a liquor I liked and asked for them for a cocktail using it. That was met with the equivalent of a "Hunh, wuh? Um, okay...", so I pretty much just looked at their bar and was like "Okay, add this, this, this, this, this, and this" because if I'm going to pay for a drink, I want it to be a tasty one and not a science experiment. But the bartender played it off well and was like "Hey, special drink I just came up with for you." when he gave it to me. It made me smile. I'm glad I could think up a tasty drink on the fly, but my mixologist days are over. Sometimes it's nice to just stop in a bar and be like "I like XYZ. Work your magic and do something with that."

So. Overall, not a bad night, but just a "Meh Saratoga Yuppie" dining experience. I think I'mma have to check out some of Phairhead's rockin' Italian joints in Schenectady.

Taiwan Noodle for CNY Eve Lunch

2012-01-23T05:16:00.000-05:00

I remember CelinaBean called me when I was waiting to cross the boarder back to the US from Montreal when she told me about a new soup place on Central Ave - Taiwan Noodle. Their menu is small, simple, and cheap.

I had planned on heading down to NYC this past weekend to spend Chinese New Year with my family. But the snow storm put a kibosh on that. I was bummed I was going to miss them. I hadn't finished making soup for Renee's soup swap, but was happy when Celina mentioned she's be back in town to order as much off of the menu as possible. She brought the whole family with her, and we were able to sample quite a few different dishes.

These spicy wontons ($3.95) were great - slippery skins, and a hearty dose of heat.

Two orders of scallion pancakes were a big hit with the kids. This is a crispier version than I am used to, but not at all oily.

Wood Ear ($3.95) was a cold dish of wood ear, carrots, and celery in a slightly sweet sauce. Not cloying, and really quite refreshing.

The shop itself is in the old Saso's space on Central Ave (218 Central Ave, Albany, NY). The interior is clean and simply decorated - it appeared to be the owner and maybe his son or another young adult relative doing FOH service.

I heard an order of "Har Gow" getting shouted at the kitchen when we sat down, which means I was all like "TWO ORDERS OF HAR GOW, PLEASE!" when it was order time. They're on the menu in English as Shrimp Dumplings ($3.95). You can skip these and get more spicy wontons, though - they were just frozen pre-fab ones. The shrimp inside was kinda mealy.

Pork and leek dumplings - $2.95 for four hefty dumplings. Not too shabby.

Xiao Long Bao ($2.95)! I can probably tell you what brand of frozen XLB these are, coz I think I have these exact same dumpling sitting in my freezer right now. Not bad, but... you know. Frozen and premade. It'll scratch your XLB cravings.

So. The dumplings might be a little hit-and-miss, but what you really want to come here for are the noodle soups.

Chicken wing soup - the kids really liked this one.
Pig foot soup. OMG, love. Celina and I were raving about how good the broths were - so clean, light, but still rich and flavorful. They surprised us and told us that ALL of their broths were vegetable based (made in house)! WHAT?! Veggie based broths at an Asian restaurant?

These were so good, and I don't think these pictures do justice to the sheer size of these dishes - huge! You get SO much food for $5! They were bigger than my head! I can't wait to go back and try more soups, and more mains-over-rice types of dishes. Great flavors, and the soup broth was so clean.

Pan fried dumplings - another big hit with the kiddos. Not too greasy even though the bottoms were fried into tasty crispiness.

We also got to try another vegetarian broth chock full of onions and tomatoes. This one, he said, was for beef noodle soups. As-is, you wouldn't peg it as an Asian broth. But it was very richly flavored and I can't wait to try out a beef soup now.

A meal for 8 people was $57! That's less than $10 per person, even with tax and tip! What a steal!

Then Albany John and I went for a hike at Grafton Lakes State Park. We hit up a trail with only two other sets of footprints on it!

Gung Hey Fat Choy

HAM! (or maybe Canadian bacon)

2012-01-22T14:50:00.000-05:00

Every time I cure some meat, I think of Jon in Albany. Because he gave me 8 oz of curing pink death salt. When you only use 1/4 tsp at a time, that is a LOT of curing salt.

I cured some pork loin I picked up at Roma Importing in Latham. Let it go for at least 5 days in a brine from Ruhlman, and it's good to go! The gist of it is 1 gallon of water, 1/4 tsp pink curing salt, 1 1/2 c kosher salt, 1/2 c sugar (uh, don't quote me on those salt & sugar measurements... it's probably wrong). And then you can toss in whatever seasonings you want. I tossed in a half a head of garlic cloves and that was about it. Maybe some onion powder. Next time I'll add in more... stuff.

But smoked over some maple wood chip bits and you get yourself a fine piece of cured, meaty goodness. This was a pork loin, so it was a fairly lean cut of meat to begin with. And I may have over smoked it a tad in the heat, so it's drier than I'd like it to be, but Albany John keeps telling me that it's really not as dry as I think it is.

Either way, great way to use up some meat (I picked this up for $3.99/lb on sale at Roma's - their sale meats are still better quality than the grocery store any day of the week). For some reason I find cured meats more satisfying in smaller quantities, so it's a good way to keep meat consumption down. I had some bread leftover and made a pretty bangin' grilled cheese and ham sandwich (it takes me, like, 30 minutes because I keep the pan over low heat, otherwise I burn the bread, but it is so golden and delicious it is worth the wait). And Albany John's been using some bits in omelettes.

Oh, I've also been back on a dessert kick at nights lately. Toasted pecans and cacao nibs were the dessert de nuit.

The Merry Monk

2012-01-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

Albany John and I popped in for supper at The Merry Monk (90 North Pearl St, Albany, NY), one of Albany's newest eateries on Pearl Street. Save your groans, The Merry Monk is worth a trip to Pearl Street.

Albany John suggested we check out either The Merry Monk for mussles, or Pho Yum for pho. Clearly, mussles > pho for me on this night.

Rince Cochon beer on the left. I liked the name and the tap (a big pink elephant!), and they were out of the Ephemere I wanted, but Albany John wisely urged me toward the Palm beer sitting on the right since the Rince Cochon had a 9-10% abv!

I liked the Palm beer. Both were drafts, but boy did that little piggy have an alcoholic kick! The Palm was caramelized and nice for a chilly winter night.
Mussels are buy-one-get-one-free on Wednesday nights. Oh mama. They offer a little over a half dozen types of sauced mussels, and orders are 1 or 2 lbs. We were dainty and went with 1# orders.

Albany John got the chipotle lime mussels. These were my first pick, but he beat me to them, and I'm glad he did - they were thoroughly enjoyable and well prepared (don't let the blurry picture fool you), but I don't think I could have eaten an entire bowl of them by myself. Spice wuss that I am. But I happily stole some off of his plate. The sauce was kicky and had a good degree of heat, but wasn't just a one-note "spicy" thing going on.

Blue Cheese & Bacon mussels! I've never seen such a combo before with mussels, so I had to try it. Curiosity got the better of me, and I'm glad it did - these were delicious! As a salt-fiend I loved the flavors going on - salty, strong (from the blue cheese), but still balanced and rich. If you're watching your sodium levels, you could probably choose a different preparation. Albany John and I can't wait to go back to try the meuniere and Thai coconut sauces.

The mussels were all well cooked - plump and juicy, and not an overcooked or shriveled mussel among the log. Albany, we've got our mussels joint! And prices are great too - $10.99 for 1 lb, and about $16 for 2 lbs. I'm getting 2 lbs.

We also tacked on some fries for an extra $2 with two dipping sauces. I pretended they weren't mayo-based, hehe. The pesto was really good (again, balanced), and the horseradish had some heat to it.

Here's where the Merry Monk really stood out for me, though. We'd also ordered one of their app specials - boar short ribs in a cherry sauce. It was $9.99 for the appetizer portion. It didn't come out before or while we were eating our mussels. When we mentioned it to our waiter, he was really that it didn't come out at all. He put the order in, told us it was on the house, and asked if we wanted any other drinks on the house. Wow! All over a missed appetizer. Our server apologized a few more times and mentioned the error was on his part. We didn't order any more drinks, so he took our more expensive beer off of our tab. Dude! This kind of proactive service is in Albany now? I love it!

These were worth the wait - falling off of the bone tender. They were generously covered in pepper. Something I normally wouldn't like, but it worked really well with the whole cherry sauce thing they had going on. I wonder if they got it from Adventure in Food?

I can't wait to go back. On a week night, the space wasn't crowded and was pleasantly different from other Pearl Street bars and restaurants. I really liked their service - not only did they own up to a mistake and go above and beyond to correct the problem, but it was laid back and when I was in there it felt like I was just in a nice, relaxing bar/resto, away from any urgent pressure.

The fact that they went above and beyond to correct something I saw as a minor mistake is something I am just blown away by. It's a great sign of Albany's restaurant service evolution. I've been to restaurants where the exact same thing has happened, and they just shrug it off (worst-case scenario was they left an item on the bill and then give you stink eyes when you point out you never received an item). Maybe if I were more into having my meal arrive in any sort of order other than as-soon-as-it's-ready this would be more of a deal to me, but as long as it comes out shortly after it's made, I don't care if my appetizer, salad, and entree all come out at the same time (actually, I kind of might prefer it that way, grazer that I am).

Any way, great job Merry Monk - I look forward to many more pounds of your deliciously economical mussels in a relaxed atmosphere.

Troy Wings

2012-01-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

Troy Wing tour! Wednesdays are $0.40 wing nights at the Ruck, which means if you drag your husbear & eating partner in crime there, you can split a 10 set of wings for $4!

One order fo BBQ hot for us, thanks! Unlike the last time I dragged Daniel B. there, our order didn't sit on the counter cooling and getting soggy. I must have looked cute or something, because the guy working the line actually came out from behind the counter and searched for me around the bar.

This kind of service happens occasionally, but not usually on busy nights. You should expect to have your name shouted once and then go up to the line to pick up your food yourself. I've had folks bring my my food before, but it's usually when it's not very busy.

Oh, I also had a tasty beer - I think it was Bombardier? I used my time-honored method of choosing a cool-looking tap. It works more often than you'd thing.

After polishing off wings at The Ruck, we made our exit just before they started playing live music. Sorry, I'll never be much of a live music or concert kind of gal.

We headed to The Ale House for the next stop on our mini tour of Troy wings.$7.99 for 10. It's been a while since I've been out at night, and the Ale House is a place I've been meaning to hang out. It's pretty much everything I want in a bar. Low lighting but not too dark, $5 beers from the tap, and low/no music so you can actually talk with people next to you without shouting.

The exteriors were very crispy. Nom. There wasn't much sauce on the wings, and not much buffalo flavor going on. But really, as long as the wings are crispy, that's all I really care about.
And in yet another probably not-so-healthy lifestyle choice, we also ordered a large basket of fries ($3) with sides of gravy made in-house. Turkey and beef. The beef is AWESOME. The turkey is too, but the beef is so savory and tasty. $0.50 per cup. They were a lot bigger cups the last time I went. Sign of the inflated times. To be fair, prob shouldn't be guzzling much more gravy than this with deep fried potatoes.

I also was a lush and had two whole pints of woodchuck cider - it was SO good and refreshing. These were some really clean taps.

AlbanyJohnsgiving

2012-01-17T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am so bad at remembering to take pictures of these things. Albany John cheffed it up like crazy this weekend. We had the FUSSYlittleFAMILY over, another one of my fave chosen couples, and Artsy Designer Friend.

The picture looks like a hot mess, but the food was banging:
Spinach dip
kosher mashed potatoes shaped like a pancake
pork & beans

smoked dark meat turkey

roasted turkey breast

veggie stir fry

sweet potato slices with onions, honey, and butter (nom)

spinach salad

lemon-soaked onions

roasted carrots & onions

Nom! So good. And Daniel B. brought over an orb of Burrata. Mmmmm.
I made raspberry macarons with vanilla buttercream. So tasty. Maybe I'll do another post proper on them, but short and dirty: Add 20-25g of freeze fried raspberries to your blender with the 200g of powdered sugar & 110g almond flour. Pulse until the dry stuff is pink-hued.

Phoenicians Restaurant

2012-01-16T10:14:00.000-05:00

Where do bloggers go when they're near Wolf Road but looking for some place local? I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that Albany John and I were hanging with Daniel B. one night. We got peckish, and I looked at Daniel and asked "So, where are we going for dinner?" When you have a fussy friend, it takes a lot of decision making out of the equation.

We went to Phoenicians - we'd never been and had heard some tasty things. Short story - it was okay, but I'm not sure I'd go back for dinner.

When we were seated, they had this non-alcoholic beer in a few different flavors on the menu - raspberry, apple... I asked our waitress about it, and she said she had no idea what it was. She showed me a display bottle, but it would have been nice to know things like what the beer tasted like, or if it was popular... Not just "Well, you can't buy it at the grocery store,"
We left the ordering up to Daniel B. We got a bunch of plates to share. These are the tiniest dolmas I've ever had. At over $1 each, I was surprised by how tiny and exploded they were. They were about the size of a knuckle. I've never seen dolma so tiny before!

They were warm and quite lemony. There was a white sauce with them, but the lemon flavor overpowered it for me.
Daniel B said the baba ghanouj came highly recommended to him by a friend. It was okay - pleasantly smooth, smoky, and creamy; but the pita they served us was stale. The price tag was a little high for the portion, too - $7.99 for an app plate's worth.
The spicy potatoes were a surprise. The menu listed them as potatoes with garlic, coriander, and lemon juice. What came out were some excellently fried squares doused in Frank's red hot sauce. The fry job was commendable, but dude - what's up with that description vs reality? This seemed more like diner food than a Phoenician side dish.

Wraps! With some pretty decent rice on the side. Falafel wrap is on the left, Kafta is on the right. They were kind of skinny.
Again, falafel left, kafta right. The falafel didn't have much taste. I was kind of like "Hey guys, what did we order for the one that wasn't meat? I didn't taste much of anything besides the veggies."

The kafta was savory, and the better of the two. The pita wraps were, like our earlier pita, stale. Pita delivery in this area isn't a daily thing, but I wish there was a way to have non-stale pita bread when it's not a delivery day.

The service was okay throughout the meal - a bit unpolished and kind of awkward. When our server was clearing our plates at the end, she started bussing up bits of rice with her finger tips. That kind of thing can wait for after a table leaves, and is easier to do with a rag/sponge than it is with your fingers.

I'd prefer to go to Beiruit in Troy for similar fare with better service (friendlier, knowledgeable), lower prices, and better food (flavor & portions). The three of us ended up leaving a bit peckish and underwhelmed.

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

Like any good narcissistic blogger, I pride myself on my own fancy pants pizza dough (that I gleaned from the Daring Bakers). Hannaford's frozen pizza a bit of alright, though. For $4.49, it's not too bad for a quickie night time dinner/snack. The calorie count on the margherita pizza isn't too bad, either - realistic (i.e., the pie doesn't serve "32"), and doesn't have 80g of fat. Didn't taste too heavy, but still sated the pizza scratch.

I was surprised by how bright the tomatoes tasted, and how much I liked the pizza overall. The thin crust was pretty crispy/flaky. Albany John's got a guilty pleasure for crappy frozen pizzas (sorry Johnny, cat's outta the bag now). I picked this up on a whim for him, and I ended up eating at least half of it.

Serve it up with a big bowl o' veggies and it's a fast dinner.

Chili Wednesday

2012-01-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I drive 3+ hours one way to New Jersey to eat my friend's chili and hot dogs. Epic chili dogs.

Cardona's hot bar

2012-01-12T19:42:00.000-05:00

Mmm, I love Cardona's hot bar. It's like $7/lb, and this big tray of food was ~3/4 lb. Shrimp and tortellini with alfredo sauce (not for dieters, but so, so worth it!).
The broccoli rabe was surprisingly bitter. I wouldn't have wanted to eat much more of it, but it was a nice foil to the uber-rich and fatty tortellini. The shrimp wasn't overcooked or anything!
Albany John got seafood marinara with some grilled chicken. I was kinda skeptical about how the scallops would be on a hot bar, but they were just perfect - juicy, not at all rubbery or overcooked.

2012-01-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

Did I ever show you my meal from dinner at The Epicurean with Daniel B. and Celinabean? Well, here it is. Squid to start, plus some pate that came with Daniel B's set meal ($20 for three courses, how can you pass that up?).

I passed on the set menu because I saw tartare ($19), and I had to have it. You know the tartare is good when I *need* it when it's winter time. Fries were a little soggy, but really, I don't need to be eating gobs of fries with my raw beef and raw egg yolk, so...

I love how beefy and flavorful the tartare is - it says ground beef on the menu, but I'm pretty sure it's minced and cubed. Otherwise it's a very rough grind. Don't think it's supermarket quality ground beef you're ordering - waaaay better.

I stole some of Daniel B's dessert. Which you can imagine he loved. Some kind of apple oatmeal with ice cream. I'd pass on it next time - the oats were still pretty raw. Skip sweet desserts at The Epicurean and get some cheeses with wine paired by Sandy. He makes the best cheese and wine pairings!

Oh, service note - if you're going, make sure you ask for Beau. I loved him! He was super personable and a great server overall. The next time I go I'm making sure I get him for my waiter.

Malbec-Off

2012-01-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

I had a Malbec tasting at home. Between Albany John and my own tastebuds. I totally dig tempranillos, but there just isn't a whole lot of selection in the Albany area liquor stores. But we do have a bunch of Malbecs to try.

Why I like Malbecs:
They are low on tannins (low bitterness)
Juicy flavors

Kind of sweet, without being at girly-drink levels of sweetness

On the left, we have Sensual Malbec from Mendoza. It was about $8 at All Star Wine in Latham. On the right, we have Las Acequias Malbec,also from Mendoza, aged in Oak from 2007. It was about $13.

Sensual was okay - it had a tart fruitiness and was pretty light. I imagine this would be better suited to warmer temperatures - summer/spring and sangria kind of weather.

Las Acequias was rich and velvety. So good. VELVETY. So tasty for temperatures below 50F. Rich, rounded flavors. It made the Sensual seem like an alcoholic juice box by comparison.

Beef Chuck Roast

2012-01-07T18:45:00.000-05:00

I got Albany John sick. I spent most of the months from late fall through early spring in various states of sickness because my immune system sucks, so I've kind of gotten used to it. But Albany John comes from hearty stock, so when he gets sick, he gets SICK.

Funny thing about Albany John - he doesn't really like making roasts. He thinks they are unhealthy, and just too much meat for our small household to have. I usually cook roasts, but from now on I am demanding he make roasts, because this chuck roast he made was AWESOME. He picked it up from Roma, and he happily related that the butcher had to go back and custom-cut the roast from their side of beef for his order.

We just went back this morning to Roma, and the butcher remembered him and we told him how delicious the roast he cut us was. It was under $4 per pound for a chuck roast. Nom. So fall-apart tender and beefy. Chuck is one of my fave beef cuts.

We refrigerated the stew overnight. This morning Albany John was out exercising (the roast made him feel that much better - geesh!). I woke up at the crack of Noon and made myself some hash with leftover baked potatoes cooked in the fat I skimmed off of the roast. Waste not want not. Nom. I also tossed in some carrots and shreds of chuck near the end of potato crisping.

And a sunny side egg to boot. A brekkie Nana might have gotten down with.

Montreal NYE

2012-01-03T21:30:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaaaack! I drove up to Montreal with three of my closest friends (and husbear) for New Year's Eve in the hopes of avoiding the rowdiness that is Albany nightlife.

We got in with very little traffic on the 31st of December. Probably the shortest wait I've ever had at the border. We were in so early, we had enough time to get reservations at my Must-Eat restaurant - Nil Bleu.

Albany John and I split a combo platter for two. $34.95 for (clockwise from top): Beef in berbere sauce, yellow lentils, spicy chicken, and lamb with potatoes & carrots. So good! The lamb was lamb-y and good. A nice warm comforting stew with such richness.

The chicken had a kind of sriracha kind of spiciness to it (way less heat-spice, though), so I wasn't crazy about it. But it was pretty good. The beef in berbere was really good, too. Quite flavorful, and a teeny bit spicy. I was really surprised with how much I really liked the yellow lentils. Lentils usually have this scratchy texture to them, but these went down so easily and didn't bother me at all. I need to figure out how to make this.

The spongy injera bread that comes with it is lovely too, although I remember it being served warm before. We had a bunch of different servers, and one of them mentioned that they had no managers on duty that day and were kind of flying blind. Yikes. But they did a good job. Except that all of the wait staff were grabbing injera out of a bag with their bare hands in between bussing dirty dishes. Not the most sanitary of conditions, but this germaphobe was willing to overlook it (albeit kind of hard, since we were seated right next to the kitchen).

We wolfed this down in record time. I guess that's what not eating Ethiopian food for 5-ish years will do to an appetite.

Mango Raspberry mousse cake. ~$7. So tasty. Kind of heavy for a mousse cake, but tasty as a dessert overall. Light, velvety, sweet, and a pinch tart.

My friends ordered some Ethiopian coffee, and I ordered an Ethiopian tea. The tea was pretty much like chai, but the coffee tasted like dirt. Maybe heavy on the chicory?

Then some dancing at Foufounes Electriques. $20 cover (inclusive of coat check), fairly non-packed and they had dollar beer specials until midnight. Worked quite nicely for me. Evidently Montreal isn't that crazy on NYE, so this is a nice spot for me to head to.

A bit of rowdy fighting now and then handled fairly well by the large team of bouncers on duty. Some punk kids, some rock, some indie, some skaters, and a whole lotta plaid. Three stories, something for all of my tastes on all three.
The next morning Albany John went out to a grocery store and picked up some provisions to last our group through the rest of our trip. A fresh boule of bread. Their grocery store bread is so much better than our own in the states. Sigh.
Flax seed bread.
Eggs, juice, mushrooms, and spinach!
This will probably seem trivial to any Quebecois, but I love these trios of ground meat: veal, beef, and pork. The portions are perfect - about the size of a large ice cream scoop (or a handful) and the three meats complement each other to make meatballs, or just flavorful meat patties. Albany John made some bangin' meatballs.
For breakfast he made a bangin' omelette. Oozing with cheese and filled with fresh spinach greens. Nommy nom nom! I also came "out" to my new friends as Albany Jane. So yeah. That's me. All anonymous and shiz.
Later on we went to a Hookah bar on St Denis. A lot of places were closed on New Year's day.
We got a mix of apricot, pear, and honey shisha. Service here was very reeellaaaaxxxeeeddd. The staff were attentive if you flagged them down, and there was absolutely no rush to leave.
We got a corner big booth. It was nice, and you took your shoes off, but the cushions were all ripped and kind of dirty. Eh. At least there was no rush. We ended up spending about $40 for drinks and one head of shisha. Not bad for five people who were there for close to 2 hours.

I don't normally like any kind of smoking, but flavored shisha doesn't taste at all like tobacco, and the honey shisha was especially nice. The smoke is cool/not hot, so it doesn't burn my throat. Nice little thing to indulge in during the new year.

I grabbed a Cote d'Or chocolate bar on the way out. It's a truffle bar, and pretty tasty. Lot of filling to coating ratio.

Overall, a successful return to Montreal. The exchange rate is about even between USD & CAD, so things are no longer at a 20% discount like when I first began visiting. The culture hasn't changed - there's something about it that I really enjoy - laid back but vibrant, and filled with lots of good food.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year from Montreal!

Wishing you the best for an awesome 2012. Make at least a few silly resolutions.

With any luck I'll be nursing a hangover in a few hours.

Blue Spice

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know what took me so long to get to Blue Spice (Central Ave, Colonie, NY). It's an easy location to get to (just off of 87), and the decor inside is bright, warm, and very inviting. There are even tables you can sit at all Asian-style and eat with your shoes off. Looked like it was mostly for large groups, though.
I got 2 soft shell crabs as a meal. I think it was something like $18. Tasty! It came with a salty and peppery sauce and sprinkled with some cilantro. I could probably eat 9 of these, but 2 was a good portion size and price.
Albany John got Drunken Noodles with duck. It was also under $20, and not an overwhelming amount. The restaurant was busy on a weekend night, but our dishes came out soon enough, and I liked the presentation. I think this might be why I hadn't been earlier - I'm usually not a fan of Thai dishes, but this had a nice balance of spicy/sweet/salty and didn't lean too much in one direction. Albany John really liked the flavors in this dish.
I liked that the portions weren't too large, because then I had room for dessert! This was a mango (maybe pineapple? sorry, it's been a bit since I was there) layer cake dessert. It was so good! $7, and easy to split, or eat by yourself after your better half has seen the look of cake-ly desires in your eyes.

It was around $50 with tax for dinner for two. Not a bad night out, and the location is good for a date night.

NYC Christmas

2011-12-30T07:04:00.000-05:00

I went down to Queens the weekend before Christmas to see my family. Stayed with my bro & sis in laws, Maka & CVS. CVS is too good of a chef and insisted on cooking for us while we were there. He made smoked chicken wings, and this mezcal-brushed smoky pork chop with a side of spicy BBQ sauce. Dude, so good. I think I like mezcal now.

The stuff on top is a jerusalem artichoke puree. SO GOOD. He uses cream in his dish, but I'd just sub in chicken broth. Because I am so making Albany John make this at home - I wanted to eat a bucket of it. I think it was in a recent edition of Gourmet magazine? Or some kinda food magazine.

I stopped by to see YehYeh, my uncle, and my dad and his lovely lady on my way out through Flushing. I lucked out and found street parking - wahoo! It's becoming so hard to find in Flushing now, and the public lot is always full on the weekends.

We grabbed some yum cha at Grand Restaurant. Taro cake.
Har cheung! We got about 3-4 of these. My YehYeh knows how much I love this dish. My fave dish at yumcha - supple rice noodles, and briny shrimp in a sweet soy sauce.
Some steamed spare ribs & siu mai.
Fried taro with meaty stuffing. Ok, but kind of cold.
And a plate of chow fun (cow). More fresh rice noodles! So good!

Then I wandered around for a while (but it was SO cold). I recognized the characters for Xiao Long Bao at a stall in the Flushing mall (the one that's pretty much all food stalls), but I was too full to order them. 8 for $3, too! Sadness.

I wanted to try White Bear. I'd heard great reviews on other blogs, and all signs on Yelp seemed to indicate that these were some of the best dumplings hands down in Flushing. It's a hole-in-the-wall type restaurant. But slightly larger. There are 3-4 small tables, but it's hard to fit a group of 4 in here. Better for groups of 2-3.

One of their popular dishes is #6 - wontons in chili oil, $4.50. It's not actually spicy, despite all of the chili oil, but my main point issue were the gummy & overcooked skins. I think these had been sitting around too long, because a dude behind the counter was just like "Number 6?" and I was like "yeah" and he was like "here" about 30 seconds later.

I decided I liked my wontons I make at home better. So, at least on the bright side, I won't be lusting over dumplings 200 miles away.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes. Maybe.

2011-12-29T10:47:00.001-05:00

Jim! Buddy! (Crap, or was it Jeff? I'm terrible with names. I'm going with Jim). I hear you are familiar with my father-in-law Papa Amherst and get some sort of kick out of reading this blog, and wanted proof of the Feast of the Fishes that we had for Christmas. Consider this your delicious proof.
Antipasto platter! Bunch o'cheeses fresh & aged asiago. Anchovies wrapped around olives. Toasty bread. Moar cheeeeese!

This was quite the fun Christmas eve - I got to sous for Papa Amherst for a while in the kitchen. "Yo Papa, tell me what to do." "Okay. Do this."

We realized about 4 dishes in that maybe we should hold off on more than four dishes for four people. It was a good call. So much food. So much.
So much tastiness. Top to bottom: Broccoli, mussels in white wine sauce, salt cod stew, and housewife's shrimp. That shrimp. Oh. That shrimp. So good.
I love any Christmas that involves dishes comprised solely of seafood.
So, funny story. I decided to pick up some cannoli for dessert from the Cap Region. I stopped off at Bella Napoli in Troy. HOLY LINE WAITING! I waited about 45 minutes to be able to order (they had a numbering system in place), but I actually enjoyed the wait. It seemed like an action one goes through when when one is part of a community. Everyone crowds in the bakeries leading up to Christmas.

I also picked up that penguin-covered red velvet cake for a mere $5.50. Because how can you resist a cake with a giant penguin made of icing plopped on top? I don't have that kind of willpower. It was a small cake (I'd liken it to a smash cake, which is more prevalent in the south) - maybe ~4" in diameter. Wasn't too dry or anything.

My mom also willed us some leftover baklava from Christmas at her place on the 23rd. Thanks, Ma!
We think we covered more fish dishes on Christmas dinner. Squid stuffed with scallops, prosciutto (and a teeny bit of carrots and other filler). SO GOOD. Unfortunately, I want to eat this Every. Single. Night. The recipe called for shrimp, but we used that all up the night before (and hadn't touched the scallops). Trust me, this substitute WORKS. Nom. Merry Fishmas to us one and all.

Gingerbread Tardis

2011-12-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

Gingerbread Tardis!

Holy moly, were these ever a time-consuming effort.
Had to make the dough the night before and chill it in the fridge (I just found a recipe online for gingerbread house making - a stiffer dough). I was making a mess with my sis-in-law Maka in Queens a little bit before Christmas.
Ta Da! The icing was kind of hard, mainly because it had to be pipe-able, but stiff and quick to dry because it's a cement for the boxes. Clearly I need to work on my cookie architecture, because these look like The Stuff is oozing out of each tardis.

Sushi X Night

2011-12-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

Went to Sushi X with a bunch of my incredibly good looking and funny friends. Namely JoJo, Ray, and their new bundle of cute; Sebastien; Daniel B.; and a bunch of other enjoyable people of all walks of life.

Dinner is $19.99 per person M-Th (before tax and tip), and for a group of 6 or more, they tack on 18% for you. It was just a hair over $25 per person for the buffet itself. Thursdays are also ladies nights, where they have $2 girlie drinks.

I really enjoy this place for groups. They only take reservations within a few days of your date/time (max 1 week) and don't really seem to care about taking them to begin with (not the "You MUST have a reservation or we won't seat you" BS). And they also will split checks individually in large groups no problem. Wow! Some restaurants in the area refuse to split checks, or add a fee to do so. There's plenty of seating at tables throughout the restaurant.

Apps and sushi for $25 per person? If you eat sushi like I do, this is a steal.
ROCK SHRIMP! Our table got three of these, and I'm pretty sure I ate 95% of each order. So crisp on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside.
Round two of sushi! I was so excited about the first round that I must have forgotten to take a picture. Sashimi is even included! How awesome is that? Now, it's not Nobu freshness or quality, but it's good for what it is.

Thanks all for coming out! We will have to do Sushi X 2: Electric Boogaloo very soon.

Gluten Free Chevre Cupcakes

2011-12-18T00:37:00.000-05:00

Artsy Designer friend dropped off some gluten-free cupcakes with chevre icing. Ho-LEE cow (err, goat?). These were super tasty. If you love cream cheese frosting, chevre frosting is cream cheese frosting taken to the next deliciously tangy level.

TCBY Guilderland

2011-12-13T18:58:00.000-05:00

TCBY. Finally. Albany/Guilderland gets a self-serve frozen yogurt shop. (Wow, was that yuppie-ish, or what?)

$0.49/oz for your fro yo and toppings.
8 Different flavors of frozen yogurt to try. You can get a sample cup from the folks who work there.

This place was quite brightly lit and felt "clubby". Deffo trying to pull in the tweens and teens of the area. And those of us who are teens at heart.
I liked one of their sorbets and the original tangy frozen yogurt. Good combo together with some berries. Albany John and I split this. It was the smaller sized bowl with a few berries on top. It was around $4.50.

So I've heard complaints before about how these places are expensive. They can be, if you fill up your bowl so it's overflowing. But that is what companies like this want you to do. They only make big cups available for you to choose from (Big or Gigantic). They want to you fill up with 2+ cups of frozen yogurt and toppings. But you can avoid all of that by just taking the "smaller" cup and only filling it up half way or less.

When I was at Red Mango in Queens, this one woman had a large bowl that was chock full of frozen yogurt and drenched in toppings. She paid over $11 for it, and was complaining about how expensive it was, while proceeding to eat all of it! Dude, that's over a pint of frozen yogurt and toppings! Keep your portion sizes in mind, and you'll be just dandy for how much it costs. Bring a cute guy to share it with, and you'll be even better.

Gluten Free Canoli

2011-12-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

Gluten Free Cannoli. Artsy Designer Friend is awesome. It's great to have friends who'll deliver their new creations to you. So good!

Mystic Seaport

2011-12-09T07:09:00.000-05:00

Went on a couples trip to Mystic Seaport in CT with my girlfriend and her guy. It was okay. Maybe it's better if you're a kid. It was pretty kid-oriented. I'm not very kid-oriented.

It was about $26 to enter. Kind of a steep entrance fee, but it supports ship rebuilding and historical preservation. Still, kind of a bit much for a place that's open year round. I probably just don't appreciate historical education. Any way. There are food-related things.
Here is a ship that's being rebuilt. It gets repaired a lot. Or something like that. There are such things as gribbles that eat wood. Or maybe they were called something else. But it sounded funny.
Food. There was only one place open when we went. Prices were decent - not jacked up museum prices or anything. Order here.
Pick up nyah.
Albany John got a fish sandwich and some onion rings. Good fry job on the onion rings.
I got a salad. Some greenery, goat cheese, and soggy flavored walnuts. Nice to get some vegetation, though.
My girl and her guy got the "nachos" because it was like a $3 side to accompany their sandwiches. holy moly. If you want bang for your buck, this is where it's at.

The nachos were fried triangles of wheat dough, so it was more like fried dough. That was kinda soggy and crispy at the same time. It came with two mega huge cups of Hormel's best chili (har har) and some velveeta cheesey dip. Oddly addictive.
Hey, here's what a kitchen looks like on a fish catching ship.
Map! Of fishing areas! In Canadia! I'm part Newfie, so I liked this bit of my background.
Old school dining room. Man, houses used to be dark. But oh-so-proper.
Anyone else ever want a canopy bed as a kid? I think it must be a girl thing. But I guess it was probably more necessary than cute way back when to keep heat in.
There were mussels growing on these docks. Mmm. I resisted eating them, though.
Nother boat. This one was in the water.
Mmm, seaweed!
Now we're talking my style! Oyster info!
Different ways to harvest oysters. Man, I wish I could get in on that.
What's the larges oyster you've ever had?
Oh, then Albany John bought penuche fudge. The gift shop was way overpriced otherwise. Overall, it was a nice day to hang out with friends, but I'd probably rather not go again. Or maybe just go to a nice park and roam around instead.

Pizza!

2011-12-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

I love making pizza dough at home. The Daring Bakers dough never steers me wrong. Let it wait a day. It's okay to eat the same day, but more flavor develops the next day.
White pizza! Albany John hates it, but I love, love, love it! I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of throwing a pie on the pizza stone, so I just baked this on a cookie sheet (flipped upside down) with some parchment paper. Easy peasy.
Brush the edges with oil (or just paint it on with your fingers) and you'll be a happy person.

Southwest menu at SCCC

2011-12-05T06:18:00.000-05:00

It's good to have friends. While I was at the seasonal dinner at Ala Shanghai, my buddy Jess offered to arrange a night at SCCC, since The Profussor and I were lamenting our lack of attendance at the Casola Dining Room and feasting our taste buds on the work of the students therein. We hopped at the chance. It also helps that Jess is married to the chef that was teaching the night we met.

We walked in on a dead night, and were shocked to see this spread awaiting us at the table. Hello, Lardo!
Seriously, this is an insane spread. Smoked salmon, mortadella, prosciutto, nuts, chorizo, cheese sausage, and... so many cured delights. Chef Tanner was gracious enough to allow us to sample some of his work. Mmmmm. Such good work.
And here is the skinny Chef in the flesh with Daniel B.

With a tray of BACON no less. Three kinds of bacon. THREE KINDS OF BACON. I LAHV YEW FOREVAR AND EVAR AND EVAR. My fave was the bacon that was also grilled. So smoky! And fatty. And DELICIOUS.
Daniel B. brought along some duck prosciutto for the table and students to try from Adventure in Food. The duck was from the people that do Hudson Valley Foie Gras. It was really mild. Quite easy to eat, and a large breast.
THREE KINDS OF BACON!!! My favorite is the dark one on the right. Grilled and smoked. Epic win!
So after stuffing my gullet with gobs of smoked foods, we got started on the menu. Here's the cactus pear salad. Eh, it was okay. There was a lot of hard boiled egg bit in there, and I'm not a fan of hard boiled egg, so... not a big winner for me.
Albany John got some hard tamales. They were... not so good. But the sauce underneath them was bright and tasty.
Daniel B. eating the second to last piece of bacon after I forced him to.
Fish! with rice and collards. I loved the rice, which is weird. Since I usually hate rice. But this was flavorful and tender. Mmm.
Albany John's pork stew. He really loved this.
Dessert time! Tequila cheesecake for me and Jess.
Cactus pear sorbet for Albany John. This was so good. We switched off halfway through. I want a bucket of this. So refreshing!
Oh, and the class was making ribs for themselves (the way it works is the students make the menu one week to taste it themselves and get a feel for how to cook it, then the next week they make it for serving in the dining room), so we got some leftovers. Nommy spicy and smoky ribs. YES.

Ala Shanghai on Black Friday

2011-12-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

Went to my fave resto, Ala Shanghai on Black Friday with the mister. I like going there for the lunch specials. Salt and pepper pork and chili shrimp meals for under $10? Yes, please!

Chili shrimp - nom! This was pleasantly spicy. Very warm and quite spicy. I really enjoyed it - it was a very flavorful spicy, not just spicy for spicy's sake. And the shrimp were perfectly cooked. Popped in my mouth. Mmm.
Salt and pepper pork! Deep fried bits of pork - I loved the garlic slivers on top! So good! They really complemented the fried pork. I was full all day after eating this :D
I also got to sample the new take on scallion pancakes. More scallions on the inside, and chewy layers on the inside.
Check out those layers! This is a legit homestyle scallion pancake. The layers inside are chewy and delicious, which are a nice texture contrast to the crunchy exterior. You'll love it.

Thanksgiving - Cooked and Raw Food style

2011-11-28T23:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This year I am thankful for many things. 18 years with the best furry Party Cat ever, is one of them. Were he still with us, he'd have been on that plate of turkey in no time. Glaring and chomping away.

As it was, we settled on a new tradition of dog fights and blood drawing (oddly enough not between any family members, and more the result of two big doggie 'tudes in one small kitchen). This was joined with family traditions of yore, like my mom hosting Thanksgiving.

It's been a heck of a year for the lass, and when she offered to host, we all happily accepted. My good in-laws also trekked over from Amherst for the holiday.

Ready. Set. Eat. My mom even made cranberry sauce from scratch - quite a step out in her culinary repertoire, and tasty, too. My sister's raw feast can be seen in the background. She also ate some cooked vegan foods as well, which was quite nice for the family. No quibbling or teasing, everyone enjoying company of some sort.

Albany John brought some gluten-free bread (with dates, nuts, cranberries, and raisins). I helped him make dressing/stuffing (which means I prepped everything and made him do the assembly/seasoning).
The pooches post-fighting. Water under the bridge. Must be nice to have the memory of a dog, right? Funny part of the night - the little one ate more than the big one.
Dessert time! My sister made a raw apple pie (coz she ate the raw pie I made) on the left. I made the pumpkin swirl cheesecake at center, and Mama and Papa Amherst brought ice cream from Flayvors (Inez and Pumpkin, yum!).

Pumpkin cheesecake was stupid easy to make. Take some regular cheesecake batter, and mix it with pumpkin pulp. Then swirl in. Done! My cheesecake had three cracks, though. I was quite pouty. No perfect cheesecake for me. :/

Here is the raw pie I made that my sister ate. I only brought 3/4 of it. I had to sample it earlier, to make sure it was worthy of bringing. And then I had to sample a slice to my sister as well, to make sure it was truly acceptable to the person who most enjoys raw food. I mean, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have made it in the first place, you know? I wouldn't bring it if she thought it sucked.

What's it made of?

Coconut cashew cream with pecans and cranberries, TYVM. On a sunflower seed chocolate crust.

Here's what I like most about raw foods. You can pretty much wing it. No baking times means that many ingredients are flexible. A lot of raw crusts call for almonds, pecans, cashews, or other expensive nuts. I soaked sunflower seeds for the majority of this crust. Way more economical, and you can't really tell it apart from any other soaked nut.

Chocolate Sunflower Crust Recipe:

1/4-1/3 C virgin coconut oil, melted (dehydrator, your hot little hands, hot oven, etc)

1 C sunflower seeds, soaked until soft (30-60 mins in hot water) then ground/minced

1/4 C cocoa powder

2 T liquid sweetener (I used maple syrup. I know it's not really raw, but it's what I had at home. Go for agave syrup if you're gonna have a fit about it)

1/4 -1/3 C almond meal

Mix it all up, then press in a pan.

I liked lining my pan with plastic wrap. Made it easy to spread and take out to serve later.

Step two: filling. Coconut cashew cream. This is just plain awesome. You don't need to like raw food to like this. I had a ton of filling left over, and boy did I enjoy each and every spoonful.

Coconut Cashew Cream Recipe

1 C cashews, soaked ~2 hours

1/2 of a fresh (dried) coconut. The brown kind of coconut that you have to crack.

1/4-1/2 C liquid sweetener

1/2 of liquid from coconut (as needed to blend)

1/2 C coconut oil

Blend together until it has a paste/pudding consistency. I put this in an electric blender for several minutes until it was smooth.

Then add in some chopped cranberries and pecans. You can add as many cranberries as you like. The richness from the coconut cashew cream will balance out the tartness. Go for about 1/4 -1/3 C to start.
All mixed together.
Then you just plop and freeze it all together. You can take it out of the freezer an hour or two before you want to serve it, or just serve it frozen. This holds up surprisingly well (when I brought a slice to my sister before Turkey Day, it kicked around in a tupperware in my car for a few hours with no ill effects or mis-shaping).

I wouldn't say this is an extremely rich pie. If you're used to cooked food, this is probably a fine and dandy pie on its own to you. If you're trying to eat foods that are a little less refined, you will also like this pie. If you like creamy tasty fillings, oh holy moly, you will freaking LURVE this pie.

I'm most thankful my sister was chill about me using maple syrup in the pie and not freaking out about it being a form of sugar and not being raw. And she sneakily ate the remaining 3/4 of it on Thanksgiving while cooking, and sheepishly admitted to it while we were serving up dessert and I was like "Hey, where'd the rest of mah pie go?!" . Now I'm starting to believe we actually are related. Sneakily eating almost a whole pie, and being cute about eating it all? Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Viva San Antonio!

2011-11-22T15:55:00.000-05:00

Howdy y'all! I went for a quick trip to Texas recently to catch up with some friends. Bought a ticket for the mister, and told him to pack his shorts!

My buddy V picked us up at the airport and took us straight to Pico de Gallo for dinner. Sensory overload! Mariachis, and glitter, and lights everywhere!
SO MUCH GLITTERY BRIGHTNESSSSSS!
Broken chips and salsa to start.
I made the mistake of getting a jumbo margarita. Y'know how some things are bigger in Texas? Well, the drinks are a LOT stronger too! I made my way through (maybe) half of this throughout dinner before throwing in the towel.
App for the table. Beef and onions with cheese. Tortillas on the side.
Chicken mole enchiladas. A little too sweet for me. Refried beans were nice, though. V and I ordered the same thing, and the dishes came out looking a little differently. I think they made one, then forgot about the second one and made it on the fly.
Albany John ordered some kind of a goat dish. Just tasted like pork to me. I think this was a stewed goat spine of some sort?
Then we made our way to the Flying Saucer for drinks. Waitresses in cute plaid skirts, and an impressive selection of beers to choose from.
They also had some nice spacing - some areas were more intimate, others brighter and chatty.
Hello Kitty enjoyed her beers - a raspberry lambic and golden wheat mixture. Nom!
Breakfast the next morning was chorizo and eggs! So good!
Then you put it in your mouth. Then we were off to try and find the one person I was really hoping to see:
SGM Pryor, one of my biggest mentors growing up. He passed away before I left Texas, and I got it in my head that I had to see him again before I left. V and I eventually found his plot, and shared a few moments with him.

I've never been happier to be in a graveyard before. SGM Pryor was a great man.

And then I was off to meet some other friends from high school at El Maracube. I'd been there once or twice when I was growing up, and was psyched to go back. Their chips were awesome - super thin, crisp, and fresh.

Albany John got a stuffed zucchini dish. Not bad.
I got shrimp enchiladas! SO GOOD! Lunch prices on a Saturday, yes please. I don't think any of our dishes broke $7 or $8. We sat around catching up for a few hours, totally unrushed by staff. Actually, I think it was partially because once they drop the bill, you have to pay at a register up front, which I didn't realize, lol.

Caught up on who's doing what. Life, gossip, you know.
Snacks after!
Meringues!
Then V was ALL ABOUT taking us to the CIA bakery downtown.
How cute!
They had these knitted pieces around pipes. Very cute.
Well hello. I love you. I want to move back to San Antonio. Be still my heart.
So many breads! At great prices, too! Ooohhh, NY inflation.
Desserts! An entire case of them! We grabbed some snacks and sat down.
You can even peep in the kitchens.
Our model-esque desserts. Chocolate mousse bombe (gluten-free), banana white chocolate tart, and a chili pumpkin panna cotta.
The white chocolate banana tart was my favorite. Super rich and fatty. The banana factor was actually very minimal. Mostly white chocolate and tons of flaky, crisp pastry.

V and I digging in!
They had this cute pan-delier outside.
Hipster brew!
Anyone know what these things are? Red on the inside, with green stuff on the outside. Cute.
Flowers!
Then we walked around the new leg of the San Antonio Riverwalk. This is new to me - they hadn't expanded when I left!
This was really nice - peaceful, quiet. Not the hot hubbub of tourism like the main part of the Riverwalk downtown.
Herons, even!
And art! ART!
V was really insistent that we go to Mi Tierra Cafe for dinner. He said it was even better than Pico de Gallo.
We grabbed a buzzer (the place was PACKED), and waited outside.
Busy bar, but the inside was great. So many murals, and rich colors on the walls. One room even looked like it was permanently Christmas.
Grabbed a canteloupe agua fresca. Something like $5 for this huuuuge cup. Soon enough, we were called in.
Chips!
We went for some Texas beers. Which I forget what they were now, because I'm awesome like that. I went with a smaller baby-sized beer.
Tortilla soup! Nice broth. I could have had a larger bowl.
I got the appetizer platter for my meal. So much food to try! I ate about half of it, so full!
Albany John got pork ribs.
Hello Kitty was quite pleased with Mi Tierra and wants to go back again. Then we went downtown even more to meet up with one of my girlfriends (from lunch earlier at El Maracumbe) for the diwali festivities downtown.
Diwali party people!

Ended up going over to her place and hanging out for a few hours just talking and stuff. Awesome time - I love it when things like that happen. So unexpected, and so great!
The next day we went to the Oriental Sunken Gardens. It's free, and so, so, so pretty! I never even knew it was nearby when I lived here. I'd have gone here all of the time.
We also went for a walk around the area. It looks like they feed stray cats/build them homes. And this area used to be an exit ramp for a highway. Albany John's snapping some aerial photos here while V chills out.
Then we went to SAMA - the San Antonio Museum of Art. Ever in need of food, we stopped off at Cafe Des Artistes for some sustenance.
V was talking up the coffee. He said it was so good it didn't need anything in it. He was right! It was tasty black!
This is a great spot to grab some light fare along the Riverwalk.
V got a quiche and salad.
Albany John got gorgonzola and beet soup (very cheesy!).
And I got a grapefruit tart. SO. Freaking. GOOD. Buttery and rich. Win!

That night we decided that we should a)knock it off with the Tex-Mex, and b)try some BBQ. I put my foot down on having Bill Miller's BBQ. It's just so-so chain BBQ and nothing outstanding. Enter Rudy's. We went to the original location WAAAAY north of San Antonio. It's worth the drive, though.
Such a good sign. This is the best 'que I've had in San Antonio.
We ordered about $45 of meat and sides. The smoked turkey was AMAZING. If I lived down there, I'd order my thanksgiving turkey from Rudy's.

We also got brisket, chopped (a mix of chopped beef, pork, and chicken), 2 sausage links, and a TON of sides:
Witness, the yellow-hued sides.The creamed corn was actually really good. Potato salad was so-so, and the cole slaw had a good crunch and freshness to it.
V got me a Lone Star beer to try and wash down the remaining food. The peach cobbler was quite tasty! Fresh peaches!
In the end, we finished it all save for this wee bit o'sausage. I mourned our inability to fit an extra 2" of sausage in our bellies. Next time we will. Next time we will also try the ribs.

Showed Albany John a HEB (grocery store chain). They had so many kinds of wine in their grocery store!
My beloved box o' wine was under $9!!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me?!
And then I saw the Krispy Kreme sign was lit and hot, so I squealed at V to pull the F over.
Donut win!
The next morning we barely made our flight, so I grabbed a McBiscuit for breakfast when we got to our connecting airport. Love these little shameful breakfasts. I wasn't even hungover, but man, they hit the spot.

Pot Belly sandwiches for lunch.
I got a chicken salad for the plane. It was okay. Some kind of greenery, you know?
Albany John got this phyllo dough pocket with ham and cheese. Tasty and greasy. And then we were back in New York. Le sigh.

Texas, I can't believe I'm saying this, but boy howdy do I miss ya.

Winter 2011 Seasonal Dinner at Ala Shanghai

2011-11-18T10:25:00.000-05:00

Daniel B. organized another lovely seasonal dinner at Ala Shanghai. Now that we are in the middle of November, and well into our way of the season of slight chilliness in the Northeast, it's a great time to try out some warming dishes at Ala Shanghai.

About 16 of us gathered earlier this week to eat a bunch of courses for $20 per person, inclusive of tax and tip. You too can enjoy this menu if you so desire. And by the end of this post, you're gonna desire.

Many thanks to the man who organized the lot of us rogue eaters. Cheers, Daniel! (I hope I didn't make your face look too melty here).

Thanks also extend to Steve for bringing some wine. Yay! Great pairing with the food. Ala Shanghai is a BYOB place, so feel free to bring your own if you'd like.

Xiao long bao to start. They were all soooo full of soup! Yay! No sad deflated XLBs here :D

This time we made sure Celina had one, since I probably ate hers at the last dinner. That's grounds for de-friending right there. I'm a terrible dining companion.Man, how have I not alienated myself from most of the fooding elite in Albany?

More apps - turnip pastries on the left, steamed glutinous rice dumplings in the center, and steamed and pan fried meat dumplings on the right. Love the turnip pastries when they're nice and warm with crunchy sesame seeds on the bottom. And you can't go wrong with meat filled carbs! I don't really like rice that much, but boy does Albany John, so he ate my dumpling with gusto.
Soup course - chicken and wonton soup. It came out bubbling in the casserole dish. Now that's fresh!

So chickeny! This was a great simple soup for a cold day - the chicken flavor shone, the soup was refreshing and light. I've mentioned before that Ala Shanghai is my favorite place for soup in the area because they don't load their soups up with unnecessary sugar or fat.

Flounder filets with woodear. This is a simple fish dish. The fish are tender, and the woodear is a nice crunchy foil. I love, love, love woodear. It's a mushroom/fungus that's more texture than anything, but I think it goes really well in meat dishes.

Lanny and one of his staff assembling the sizzling lamb table-side.
Lamb slices with scallion and onion. I've had similar dishes Cantonese-style with beef, but the lamb flavor and tenderness blows it out of the water. It's so meaty and good!
Note: This is not a dish for someone counting calories - there's plenty of delicious fat and flavor in this dish.
Pork shoulder. Fatbomb on a plate! Unctuous skin, incredibly tender meat within, and a wedge of bok choy with some crunch. Mmmm. Meat coma. This is a little on the sweet side of flavor. This is a dish you absolutely must share with eight other people. You wouldn't stand a chance of putting a dent into this rich dish on your own.

Ham with Chinese cabbages. I really liked this ham. I want to make some myself. It was rich and smoky, with a little bit of sweetness. And I usually don't like sweet meat. It's got a lot of flavor. The small slices are all you need. BIG FLAVORS here. Albany John wasn't as big of a fan of the sweetness (just not his thing), but that just means he won't be touching my ham this winter.

SALTED VEGGIE WITH SOY BEAN AND TOFU SHEET!!!

Lanny brought this out and told my table "This is favorite dish,"

He is so right. If there is a dish you MUST order at Ala Shanghai, it is this. It's so good and fresh, and they make the salted veggies there (it's salted mustard greens so they're kind of like pickles), and the combination of flavors just makes it so that you can't stop eating it, and I love it so much, and it's perfect for winter.

It's mega-salty and refreshing. And very low fat. It really wakes you up (and fills you up). And makes you a happy person. Like their soups, I think this dish really highlights Ala's abilities to let ingredients shine on their own.
Noodles made in-house with some veggies and chicken. Tender noodles. They're good. But you know what makes them even better? Having those salted veggies to toss on top! Great combo!

Red bean pancakes for dessert. I got at least two because Albany John doesn't like red bean paste. Yesssss.

Go there. Bring your friends and get all of this delicious food. $160. 8 people (or dinner for a week). Do it.

Or just go there and get the salted veggies with soy beans and tofu sheets, because I said so, and because it will take the winter blues right out of you.

Epicurean's Wine Tasting dinner - Bordeaux's Left Bank

2011-11-14T09:18:00.000-05:00

CelinaBean and I met up a few weeks ago for a wine pairing/tasting dinner at The Epicurean. Celina was looking for a girl's night out, and loves Sandy's wine pairings. I heard "Epicurean" and I was in. Check out their events page for similar upcoming events.

The wines we tasted were from Bordeaux's left bank. Reservations are required, and the tasting cost $35 per person. There are two communal tables with about 10-12 seats each, and Sandy stands in between them talking about each wine. If you are a group of more than two people, you might want to get there a little bit early so you don't get split into two tables.

I'm not much of a red wine fan, and Bordeaux's I've tried in the past have usually been pretty high in tannins, so I went in expecting to not really LOOOOVEEE the wines I tried, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the new wines I tried.

The first course was a trio of pates. Liver on the left, rabbit on the bottom, and seafood on the right, and some zippy arugula in the center. A server who dropped them off took a guess at the pates, but was way off - he told us that at least one of them was vegetarian, hehe. Sandy clarified that for Celina and me, though. Sandy is definitely a part of The Epicurean experience for me - he is so warm and welcoming!

I ate about half of the pates. I wished I could have brought some for Albany John, he would have loved them!

The pork liver pate was, well, pork liver-y (some iron, you know).
The rabbit pate was delicately flavored. I really enjoyed this and can't wait to have it again.

The wine we had was a Chateau Larose Trintaudon - Haut Medoc 2005. This was nice, and had been opened for about 10 minutes before it was poured. The meals pacing wasn't rushed, so there was time for the wines to open up in our glasses and develop throughout the appetizer course. This may have been my favorite wine of the night - it was light, not too much of a tannin note.
Round two started off with a Chateau Malmaison Moulis - Baronne de Rothschild Medoc 2006. Bold, bold, BOLD wine. This was a very big wine. Like... wow. There was a whole lot of fruit flavor going on with some crazy bitterness, and I've since lost my note sheet so unfortunately that's the extent of my description.
The main dish was coq au vin - so tender, with a nice crispy piece of bacon on the side. Mmm. I loved the rosemary polenta cake on the right, too. Nice aromatic flavor, and very tender polenta. I just love how well portioned out their main dishes are - plenty to eat, but not too much.
Wine number three was Chevalier de Rauzan-Gassies - Margaux 2005. I think I heard that this was the most expensive of the wines. I thought it was a fairly enjoyable wine on its own. But the real surprise was still to come with the cheese course.

The Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese was a nice funky blue cheese. Tasty on its own, but when you took a sip of the wine and cheese together...

All was right with the world.

Celina and I tasted this combo at about the same time and just... looked at each other. You know, with those faces, that say... "Oh, oh. This. This is good."

The tannins in the wine and the tanginess of the blue cheese completely washed each other out and all that you could taste was this delightfully sweet creaminess. Man oh man, Sandy has an amazing talent for pairing wines.

Wine math is delicious stuff. It's like when two negatives equal a positive. Two strong flavors = delicate deliciousness. I could have eaten an entire wheel of cheese with a bottle of this wine. So good.
They've also got a nice selection of cheeses in their display.

This was a nice night out to meet new friends and try out new flavors and combinations. I'm so excited to enjoy a wine and cheese combo this much!

Red Pack Tomato Giveaway

2011-11-09T20:26:00.004-05:00

Hey Y'all! Guess what time it is?

Time for another Red Pack tomato gift set giveaway!

Perfect timing for this time of year, no?

To enter, just leave a comment with your favorite way to use canned tomatoes. Comments will close Saturday morning.

Green Tea Macarons

2011-11-02T10:10:00.000-04:00

Green Tea Macarons!

These are so awesome, recipe goes first, blathering later!

Green Tea Macarons

90-100 g egg whites (3 eggs)
200 g powdered sugar

50 g granulated white sugar

110 g almond flour

20-30 g matcha powder

Whip whites to stiff peaks, adding the granulated sugar in slowly.

Almond flour with powdered sugar and matcha.

Bake at 300 F for not very much time at all. Check on them after 7-8 minutes.
Plops! Ploparons! This was before I let them rest. Word to the wise, matcha powder absorbs water differently than powdered sugar, so... you might want to go easy on it or else your mixture might be a little more magma-like in texture than you really want.

Fluffy whipped egg whites! So pure and fluffy. If you can flip the bowl upside down and nothing moves, you're good to go.

This is what it looks like when you mix in everything else. It was a little more deflated than I wanted it to be. I also didn't sift out the almond bits in the flour, so there was some coarseness. I was just too lazy to break out the food processor and get it all fine.

WTF is this?

It's my fave method for piping things. A Ziploc baggie in a cup makes it easier to pour batter/icing into. And you can just throw it away when you're done. Easy clean up. Yay!

Just make sure you use Ziploc baggies. Maybe Reynolds is okay, but Ziploc is one brand I've had that never bursts or distorts in any way when I need to use it for decorating, etc.
Tada! Keeps the air out, and now it's all in one easy place! Just snip off a corner and you're ready to pipe out the batter.
More unrested macaron plops.

They were pretty intense without any filling. Like, so bitter I thought I'd maybe overdone it. But with a white chocolate ganache they were quite good. Even though my ganache refused to set, so I had to add powdered sugar and almond meal to thicken it up.

Oh well. They still turned out pretty well. Kind of crackly and ugly, but good in the mouth. Hehe.

Happy Blogaversary, Steve

2011-10-31T21:59:00.002-04:00

Made it just in time to wish Steve a happy 3 year blogaversary at Taste's upstairs area. The roast was awesome, there are some talented jokesters in the area.

Happy Birthday, Table Hopping! I love reading about everything that's going on in the area. It's like the meeting place for Cap District food stuffs. A crossroads of tasty awesomeness. Thanks for being so diligent with it, Steve!

Cheese and snacks from Adventure in Food. Those guys are awesome. Truffle cheese for the win!
Then we went to City Beer Hall after running into some of the guys there. I asked Kenny to surprise me with a beer, I think it was an Ephemere. Either way, tasty and a little fruity/tart. Mmm. I think Albany John got a Mother's Milk.

2011-10-29T14:14:00.000-04:00

Happy wedding my beautiful hippie chick and rocket scientist!

I was lucky enough to be invited to my pals' wedding. Which was on a boat. ON. A. BOAT. It was epic and awesome.

Mazel tov was happily shouted at sunset after breaking some glass. Much folksy dancing occurt. Happy smiles abounded. Many glasses of grog were consumed.

Appetizers, yaaaay! Plus passed apps. I may or may not have eaten half of the wheel of baked brie.

Meatacular and vegtastic dinner.
And then the bride and groom walked around to folks and were like "Soooo, you should start using the glasses on the table. Go get some grog. In the big mugs." You've got it!
Desserts were awesome. Peanut butter mousse in a chocolate cup, cake pop, and pistachio pudding layers. So tasty!

And all I'm gonna say is that the groom and officiant had an awesome ending to the wedding. I'M ON A BOAT!

Halfmoon Salad & Sandwich Shop

2011-10-27T15:25:00.000-04:00

Tasty salad, yay! I went a little extravagant on this one and ended up spending a little over $11 on it. Tee hee, whoops! It was so good, it was worth it, though.

Cucumbers, walnuts, avocado, beets (not from a can!), chickpeas, red onions, blue cheese, artichokes, mushrooms on top of some lettuce. Crunchy tastiness! Dressing on the side 'coz I haven't been into heavy salad dressing.

You can pay another $0.50 to get everything chopped, if you'd so like. Everything was fresh and tasty. Totally loved it.

Although, minor thing - I wish they had some salad combos listed, because I am terrible at coming up with my own combinations. This was a success, but I was wondering if the ingredients that sounded awesome in my head would actually be awesome on my tongue.

Oh, and BTW, this was a large salad. Who orders small salads for a meal? They're salads. Go big or go home (hungry).

Coconut Flour Muffins

2011-10-25T20:45:00.000-04:00

Coconut flour is my new obsession. It smells so coconutty and good! And it's got a ton of protein in it - 2 grams in 2 Tablespoons. It's also about 80 calories in 2T, but it doesn't work 1:1 in conventional wheat/all purpose flour recipes - it's much less.
It's gluten-free, stupid low-carb, and but best of all, it tastes and smells DELICIOUS. Right now the co-op has it on sale for $5.02 per pound. Okay, that sounds expensive for a flour, but like I said, it uses a lot less in a normal recipe than regular flour would. I made some frozen berry studded coconut flour muffins. So tasty!

Coconut Flour Muffins
1/2 C coconut flour
4 egg whites
1/4 - 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 c coconut milk (or yogurt, or whatevs you'd like)
pinch salt

Bake 350 F for 15-20 mins for cupcakes/muffins.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! You can mix them all together - trust me, it's okay. There's no gluten involved to complicate matters. The coconut flour will really absorb all of that liquid and look just like a normal batter. I made 11 muffins/cupcakes with these amounts.

The texture is very light and fluffy - almost like a ricotta dessert. Very moist, too. So tasty! What a nice surprise. I was expecting something dense, or coarse.
I hope you'll try making these - they are so easy and tasty. I hear there are some sort of healthy aspects to coconut flour too, so if you're one of those health nuts, these might be a sort of healthy alternative to breakfast muffins or cupcakes. I haven't done much research on the matter, but I just love the way this stuff smells.

But who cares about that stuff - they taste so good, you'll want to make them over and over again.

Cauliflower Scardey Cats & Bunny rabbits

2011-10-22T23:02:00.000-04:00

One night I decided to try taking a (rare) creative twist on cauliflower "pizza"/patties. Scaredy Cats & Bunny faces instead of circles!

I put some pureed and seasoned cauliflower in big cookie molds! Aren't they cute? Bunny faces & scared kitties! Made of veggies!

First, you should start off with some boiled/steamed cauliflower. That's it.

Then MASH IT! Mash it with a big ole' masher! You can mash it for a while, but if you're impatient like me...
You'll enlist the help of your handy-dandy immersion stick blender to puree it into bits.
Tada! Then I added some cumin, romano cheese, garlic, and the teensiest pinch of salt. You can add whatever else you want. Egg is also a good binder, and I probably should have added some because I am terrible at eating enough protein.

Then take your pureed cauliflower and plop them into molds. Yaaay, cute veggies! I baked these so they were a little firmer, but you could also just put it on a plate warm as-is so it's like mashed potatoes. Who can resist such cuteness?
I also made a few small circular "pizza" patties.

Eggy Weggs and Whole Wheat Pancakes

2011-10-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

I like to keep my pancakes warm on a cookie sheet in the oven. Nothing sadder than a stack of cold pancakes.

Scrambled eggs are awesome with some cheese shredded into it while cooking.

Fam in NYC, oh and food, too.

2011-10-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

Just took a whirlwind trip to NYC. Aunt Cali & one of my fave cousins were in town! So we drove down (on the Taconic, like hell I'm paying $12 on the GW plus the 87 tolls to get in to NYC!) one night, and spent it with Maka and CVS, my awesome bro & sis. Ordering sushi, natch.

$1 sushi & sashimi slices makes me a happy girl.
$6.50 Naruto roll. Cucumber outside, avocado & tuna inside. Tasty and refreshing!

Albany John got a roll with hamachi, sake, and toro. Plus some cuke and tobiko. Tasty, too! I wanted to meet up with YehYeh, but I had a cold and I didn't want to get him sick, too. I feel so badly being in the area and not seeing him, though, or even telling him I'm there.

Mmm, more sushi rolls.
Spicy tuna, white tuna, and a specialty roll of some sort. I think we ordered about $70 between the four of us, $35-40 of which was me. Hey, I like sushi. Albany John was like "Hey, make sure you take it easy honey, this is usually where you hit the wall,"

And then I ate all of my food, and started eating his sushi. To be fair, I have been extraordinarily hungry lately.

The next morning we woke up and went to the Barking Dog on the UES. I even found parking on the street after trying to pay for parking twice, and no attendants being around. Yaaay, lucky! I consider it my reward for driving through 5 miles of Queens Blvd and catching every. single. light. on the way there.

Started off with some beverages. To quote my awesome DC cousin (who was also up for the event), "Boozy cousins brunch!". Yaaay!

Rare burger for me! More like medium, though. Premade patty, too. But there was some pink, so I was happy enough. And it actually tasted quite beefy. So that was nice. Coleslaw was gross, though. Prices were totally awesome for the UES. I always get a kick out of dining in the UES of Manhattan because all of the meats are super low fat. Those UESers love their low fat meat on buttered carbs, heh.

Albany John got a waffle, fruit. Nom. Yes.

I don't ever think I'll spend enough time in the city.

Gelato in Colonie Center

2011-10-18T22:18:00.000-04:00

Went to Colonie Center to check out the gelato in the food court with Daniel B. and Albany John one night. Albany John was pulled by some sort of tractor beam into the video game store, which led to some gelato sampling and chatting.

Me: "Oh, I like the pumpkin,"
DB: "Yeah, it's pretty good,"
Me: "Wanna split one?"
DB: "WHAT?! GET YOUR OWN!"

I think sharing has to be a girl thing.

Strawberries & cream and pumpkin gelato for $3.24 with tax. And they take credit cards! Yaaaay! (I'm so bad at actually carrying cash)

The pumpkin was awesome. Not too sweet (although I'm sure the Profussor will say it was sweet), and lots of pumpkin-y flavor. Not too creamy in a good way.
Strawberries & cream flavor was a little weak on the berry part, but otherwise tasty.

You get 3 scoops with a small - totally enough to share BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE after a meal, or whatevs.

Beefsteak

2011-10-16T22:17:00.000-04:00

Albany John and I went to the Beefsteak event at Wolff's Biergarten this Saturday. So much fun!

I bought the tickets as soon as I read about it on Friday Puppy and anticipated its arrival like most wee children do Christmas. Waited in line for a bit until the doors openedand then we soon made our way inside. I'd read the NY Times article on Beefsteak before, and I'd always thought it sounded like a great idea. I was beyond excited when I knew I'd be able to try it up here!

There was a procession of meat by all of the staff. What a joyous moment. Trays of meat! Trays of meat!
The delicious bits were brought in on platters, and served with tongs on to everyone's platters. Nom. Sidebar: The gent above also had awesome hair.
Here's Mark serving me some delightfully rare beef tenderloin. I asked him after the fact if he minded that I took his picture, and he was like "No, that's why I was trying to look all serious,"

And then he came back and said "Now, if you'd have asked, I would have posed for your picture like this. Cheers!"

OMG, I <3 Mark! He's got a perfect personality for being in the service industry. Super nice and friendly.

First round of beefsteak. It's thin slices of bread with slices of beef tenderloin placed atop. With butter. The first few rounds were light on the butter, but it quickly became a decadently fatty affair.

Here's round 9324098-0424. So much deliciousness! You didn't have to eat the bread, either. Many folks used them as markers to see how many slices they'd had. Some tables had impressive stacks of bread.

The beef was SO tender and tasty! Look at how deliciously rare that was! There were pre-dressed salad bowls and french fries passed around in addition to the beef, and free-flowing dark and light beer. I forget what kinds, because I'm bad at telling beers apart other than it tasting like beer.

Everyone seemed to be in a jovial mood. It's so rare to see an entire restaurant full of really happy people. I loved the staff in their long sleeved uniforms and bow ties. And Matt's glasses were super awesome! They plan on having beefsteaks quarterly, and if you weren't here for this one, make sure you keep your ears perked for the next date. So much fun! I think next time I will dress up all 1950s-like.

Bested by bread. I had more than the number of slices on the plate - I ate a bunch of bread slices, too.
Friehoffer's cookies at the end! What a sweet way to end a nice event.

It was $45 per ticket, and then you tossed down whatever cash you wanted at the end to tip the (very accommodating) staff. I thought the ticket pricing was quite fair, given that Wolff's was shut down for 3 or so hours for the event, and it was such a unique experience with a great atmosphere (and hey, grossing close to $4,500 in 3 hours is awesome for a local business).

I look forward to going again, and hope to see you there, too!

Tour de Donut a Deux (1.5 weeks later)

2011-10-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

A week and a half late, and many dollars short, here are my fave/only pictures of the 2nd Annual Tour de Donut.
Maybe you can tell what my favorite place was... Oh, I've nver been good at hints or subtlety. Golden Harvest Farms FTW!
AND THEY HAD PEARS AND GRAPES!

And sacks of delicious donuts.
How good do they look?
It looks like an average, perfectly (almost toooooo good looking) donut from one side.
And then you turn it and see nooks, and perfect imperfections. And when you hold it, you feel the light and crisp exterior.
Which gives way to the fluffy interior with perfect apple cider flavoring.
And then we went to Love Apple Farm where Albany John got some so-so Mexican food 'cause he was all like "I need to eat real food," and I was like "Um, hello, we just had donuts!" and he was like "No, that isn't real food," WHATEVER.

The rice was gummy (like Mexican fried rice), the tamale was supposed to be "very hot"/"Extra spicy", but I couldn't tell it had very much flavoring in it, much less a spicy kick. But their presentation was really pretty, so there's that.

Big props to Daniel B for loaning my Sista a sweater during the chilly and somewhat rainy tour!

Why I Don't Shop at Price Chopper

2011-10-06T18:55:00.000-04:00

It all started with one little tweet.

Price Chopper sent me a tweet inviting me to a baking class.

Daniel B got the pot a stirring with his tweety thread which was filled with some entertaining theories as to why I don't shop at one of our local grocery chains.

My reply and their following response was here. Basically, a thanks but no thanks since I don't shop at Price Chopper stores (I don't know what it is, but I hate not responding to direct invitations). Their response was along the lines of "Bummer, sorry about that! How can we do better?"

I feel like I owe you all more of an explanation on why I don't shop at Price Chopper, since there was so much interest in the subject. It's actually pretty simple.

I don't shop at Price Chopper any more because of multiple poor experiences in-store, followed up by rude customer service responses. I know that sometimes retail folk can have their off days, and that's when having a solid customer service team can really help repair a situation.
Unfortunately, every time I'd called/emailed/passenger pigeoned Price Chopper, the response from their customer service reps were always the same. Essentially a "Well, you did XYZ. It's your fault it happened and we fully support the decisions/actions made by the store members." kind of response. Somehow, it seems that taking customer complaints personally isn't something new with Price Chopper.

I'd probably still be a Chopper Shopper if their initial customer service responses had been something along the lines of "We're sorry about XYZ, please know that we value your business and will try to make your next experience better." Maybe even a coupon if you really wanted to get crazy with things.
Cheap, cheap words to make a customer feel valued. Who cares if you don't actually care with what the customer said? As long as you see in their records that they don't call up eight times a week screaming that they were possessed by a succubus you put in your products, maybe your first steps should be a little bit of chillin on the hubris and trying to ameliorate any problems.

The first tweet response from Price Chopper I thought was quite nice. It was a tone I'd been hoping for as a response from previous calls to customer service.

Then I noticed another tweet that said they'd have someone else contact me to follow up. Did I want a follow up from customer service I'd previously been unhappy with? No, but I figured I could just ignore the email any way. I mean, I ignore all of the promos I get from Albany PR for Price Chopper.

It turns out, I almost tossed it in my junk mail, but I opened an email from incredibly generically-named sender Consumer Response, and titled CASE ID:263767. I was expecting the usual flattering prose from a lady or gent in Africa in need of transferring millions of dollars to the US with a princely reward, all for the simple request of my bank account number. Or maybe I'd won the Irish Lottery I never knew I entered. These folks are getting creative, I thought.

Instead I was surprised (and yet somehow, not surprised at all) to see a generically worded and addressed:

Dear Price Chopper Customer,

We are sorry that you have experienced a problem with customer service at Price Chopper. As we do not have record of you contacting us previously, please provide us with details regarding your concern, your name, and contact information, and we will certainly look into it.

You can reach our customer service team at 1-800-666-7667 (option 3), 8:30 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday, and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturday and Sunday, or on our website at ...

Wow. Really personal, hunh? Especially since I'm not a Price Chopper shopper. To be honest, this made me less likely to want to shop at Price Chopper again. Not only did they send me an email I never wanted in the first place, but it was an email with a chore. It was also a different tone than their lighter tweeting, way more Corporate Machine.

So here's the thing - I appreciate that there is some kind of effort being made, but I'd have much preferred interacting with better-trained customer service reps right from the get-go.

Pizza Central

2011-09-29T13:28:00.000-04:00

Sorry, Profussor. I cheated on you by bringing Albany John to our pizza spot. And I didn't even tell you. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. (No, I'm not.)

$1.25 for any slice. The prices on their menu board aren't right (lower than what they actually charge), and they don't care if you mention it.

But wash down two slices with a Coke Zero and gaze at Central Ave... and somehow all is right with the world. Thin crust underneath, thin but pillow-y crust at the end. I even like their Chicken Bacon Ranch slices (I just pretend the ranch isn't there, 'coz it doesn't have much flavor). But Buffalo Chicken is also sweet.

Find Pizza Central at 1123 Central Ave, Colonie, NY (the Albany/Colonie boarder).

The Greek House

2011-09-27T13:06:00.000-04:00

Albany John was raving about The Greek House (27 3rd Street, Troy, NY) to me, and took me out for dinner. He's in Troy quite a bit for lunch and has enjoyed a few lunches at The Greek house.
Inside is cute - clean, blue colors and some pylons.

A sort-of-open kitchen. Food comes out on the counter from the kitchen. The guys working the line wear gloves, and they seemed pretty about cleanliness on the whole.

Started out with a taramosalata appetizer. I love that fish egg dip! The pita bread was oiled up and grilled/toasted a bit. Think fluffier pita bread vs. 2-layer pita bread.

Beet salad! I was excited to try this, since they said it was marinated beets. It tasted like sliced beets out of a can with some olive oil and salt/pepper. Ho-hum. Not very exciting, and if they weren't out of a can I'd be very surprised. I was hoping for some fresh beets that had been roasted & marinated.

I got an avgolemeno soup. It was a big bowl, but could use a little reworking. Tasted a little too semi-homemade for me, and more like it had been reheated in a microwave and not fresh out of a pot. Broth tasted like it was from a box/can, orzo tasted gummy and overcooked (like it was good when it was fresh, but had been microwaved). I don't like my own leftovers, and I'm not a super huge fan of getting served (and charged) food that tastes like leftovers at a restaurant.

Albany John got a pork souvlaki. The meat was really tough. I normally love food that is described with the words "gristle" and "chew", but whatever cut this was needed to be sliced/chopped up more, because it was really difficult to eat. It was either Eat-a-HUGE-piece or try-to-gnaw-off-a-piece style of eating. The pita also could have been greased/oiled up a little less.

Okay, so this might seem silly, but I thought their ice cubes were really cute. Like little Pac Man ghosts.

Service was beyond friendly. While my meal wasn't that great, I'll give them a few weeks/months to work the kinks out and try again, just because their service was so nice and I want to see them succeed. At one point, I was telling our waitress (who I think was also an owner) that she could take her time with us, and not to worry about the little things or hurrying things up. Her response was "Well, no, no. Because you should have good service, and I want you to have a great meal, and I really want you to enjoy your time here."

Chinese Meatballs

2011-09-24T16:06:00.000-04:00

Chinese Meatballs! I've been craving meatballs lately. I don't have much luck with Italian-style meatballs, so I thought I'd give the Chinese style a try. They are awesome. I also made friends with Albany John's food processor during this cooking adventure.

So you guys know my deal with meat. I try to buy some meat that tastes... meaty. Usually that is meat that is of the "happier/natural/organic/wahtevs label" variety and not just whatever plastic-sealed package you get in the grocery store.

I picked up a pork shoulder roast at Roma in Latham. Sometimes they run specials, and I found this in their refrigerator case already wrapped up for $3.99 per lb! Not bad!

I've also become rather picky about my grind of meat, and find that many pre-ground meats are ground too fine for my liking, and take on an unpleasant grainy/mealy texture when cooked. Eff Tee Ess.

I cut up wee nubbins of pork meat and let them freeze for about 10 minutes before giving them a whir in the food processor until they were at my preferred texture (nice and chunky).

The Food Processor and I do not usually get along. Mr. Cuisinart likes Albany John, but I... have issues. But today, he was very nice to me and cut some foods up. Minced ginger and garlic together (lots o' ginger) with lots of minced up water chestnuts (I love the texture - stays a little crunchy while cooking).
Crap, this picture of the grind is blurry, but I promise it has texture and doesn't look like cat food pate. Toss some seasonings on top, ADD A BUNCH OF CHICKEN BROTH (this is the secret to make them so juicy and moist) mix it up, and then let it sit in the freezer for 20 minutes. Just in the bowl is fine.

Then take it out of the freezer, roll in some flour of your choice, and pan fry to brown them.

"Lion's head meatballs" are a popular Chinese meatball. So in that way, I tried to make these meatballs quite large.
And then I made smaller meatballs.

Wedged them in a pan.

Made a sauce to cook them in (recipe below).
Covered said partially-cooked meatballs in sauce, covered the pan with tin foil, and let bake for 30 minutes at 350F.
While those were baking, I made a tray of meatballs to freeze and eat later. If you freeze them, you can just add them in a sauce later. No need to pan-fry.

I also put some scraps in a pan and cooked them up. Tasty like this, too! Are crisped meaty things ever bad?
All done! As you can see, there are some scallions and wood ear fungus/mushrooms in the sauce as well.

Recipe inspiration was from Use Real Butter. Totally read her post, especially the funny part about Jen's dad and mom's debating the size of Lion's head meatballs, hehe. The sauce is all her

Actual recipe I cobbled up for Chinese Meatballs:
3/4 can of sliced water chestnuts, minced

5 cloves garlic

3" ginger

1# 10 oz of pork shoulder, cubed, frozen, the processed to a coarse grind/dice

Soy sauce, sesame oil, vermouth

hoisin sauce

chicken broth (about 2 cups)

White pepper

Flour (for rolling)

Plus Jen's sauce recipe. Click on the link to get her sauce recipe. You'll wanna pour it over everything.

AWESOME. Pork was so moist and tender. Not grainy or too lean, but not uber fatty either.

Tai Pan in Clifton Park for Dim Sum

2011-09-18T12:26:00.002-04:00

It's rather unfortunate that some of my clearest pictures in a while were taken at one of the most 'meh' meals I've had in a while. Daniel B. and I met up for lunch one day at Tai Pan (1519 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY). I've had food at Tai Pan before. Never been very impressed with it - usually long waits for so-so food, but The Profussor was all about Cheryl Clark's upbeat review in the TU. Eventually, he wore me down enough to go over there and try out their dim sum menu for a weekday lunch.

We sat in a front/sunny area. The seats/tables looked like outdoor patio kind of furniture, and a lot of the backs of the wicker chairs were broken. :/

One positive thing about Tai Pan's weekday dim sum menu - they don't have everything on the sheet, and they tell you that. More like, circle it and see what your server says they have.

We got some of my dim sum mainstays - har gow & har cheung. Shrimp rice rolls & Shrimp rice noodle dumplings. These were really bad. There's no mincing words about it. I'd just basically suggest avoiding the dim sum dishes that involve rice noodles.
The har gow were better than the har cheung, but... they were still kind of gloppy/granular. And what's up with the bed of shredded iceberg lettuce underneath instead of a leaf of napa cabbage?

These may have been some of the worst shrimp rice noodle rolls I've ever had. See how thick the noodle is? It was crazy-thick. And tough. And tasted kind of stale. And there was only One. Small. Shrimp. in the roll. It was way overcooked and gummy. WTF, you always get two whole shrimp in har cheung. Not one or one half. And they should pop with shrimpy goodness, not mushiness.

The sauce was really weird too - VERY oily and greasy.

The shrimp eggplant were one of the better dishes. New take on it - I'm used to seeing the eggplant stuffed with shrimp and the entire thing deep fried. This dish was more like they fried slices of eggplant, and then put slices of fried shrimp discs on top that were battered in panko. Nice texture, and not too oily for something fried.

At first I was like "WTF is this?! This isn't traditional!" But then the texture won me over, so I ended up really liking it at the end. But if you're used to the more traditional stuffed eggplant dim sum dish, the first time you eat this will be way different.

Taro dumplings with some meat in them. These were also good. Too oily/greasy, but still passable. You know how you get some fried foods, and you're like "Oh, these are good, but there is a lot of oil coming out of these.", and you still eat it? Yeah, that's what these were like. Nothing so horrible we couldn't eat 'em, but enough of a distraction to make us double check where our napkins were.

Beef chow fun. It was okay. But suffered from way too much oil. Good wok hei on the meat and some noodles, though. These rice noodles were much better than the rice noodles in the dim sum dishes.
I liked the cold beef tendon dish. We got the whitey warning from our server about it being a "very traditional Chinese dish" and asked if we really were sure we wanted it. *sigh* I guess I'm not looking too Chinese lately, eh? Maybe if I did they wouldn't have given me a heads up on the cheung fun situation, lol. Give me tendon bits and lemme put them in my mouf, pls!

These were spicy-style and served on a bed of cucumbers. This was probably one of the best-executed dishes of the meal. Pleasantly chewy tendon slices - if you like beef tendon, this will suit you just fine. Beef tendon is more about texture than it is about flavor.

Here's another shot of the chow fun. Look at all the oil pooling on the bottom! Way too much oil.

If I go back, I'd ask them to go really light on the oil. I think this was about $7-8. I'm not really sure how much everything else was because when we got the bill it just had one price on it. Maybe some of the other Chinese dishes are more authentic than the ones we got. Beef tendon isn't too popular 'round these parts, so I would go back just to get that again.

Canadian Bacon

2011-09-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Canadian Bacon! I'm a woman on a curing kick and I just can't help myself. Picked up a pork loin at Roma for $3.99 per pound and mixed up a cure from Ruhlman's blog.

30 g pink salt

70 g kosher salt

125 g sugar

2 bay leaves

some sage

5 crushed garlics

1/2 lemon

Add the above ingredients to 2 quarts of boiling water. Cook until the sugar & salts have dissolved, then let it cool down for a while.
2 lbs, 2 oz of pork loin. All mine for the curing!
And now the loin is combined with the brine in a Ziploc baggie (freezer, gallon sized).
It gets to sit for a few days to cure, then it gets a trip in the hot smoker.

It came out SO awesome!! Smoked it with maple wood chips for a few hours.

I'd say this is the best "value" smoking-wise. It ended up gaining weight from the liquid brine, and didn't lose much during the smoking. Fattier cuts shed a LOT of weight while smoking, but it seems like hot smoking a leaner cut with a wet brine = way less weight loss.

Saratoga Wine, Food, & Ferrari Festival 2011

2011-09-11T13:30:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went to the Saratoga Wine, Food, & Ferrari Festival. I attended last year as part of a live blogging to do. This year was a lovely day to attend - great weather.
Albany John was wonderful enough to accompany me to take all of these great photos.

Albany John got a kick out of seeing a little red set of luggage come out of the boot of one of the vintage cars.

This was my favorite table - truffle cheese! So good, even Albany John liked it! And it turns out that Daniel B. sort of had a connection with the owners!
Hudson Valley Whiskey. Here's one of the very nice owners adding a touch of water to my single malt whiskey.
Putnam's chef making sure everything was all set with their dish before the masses came. 'Twas a lovely pork loin seared right there, with a side of baked beans and a lovely reduction.
Oh, there was also wine. Lots and lots of wine. You pick up a glass when you first walk in, and then refill it and rinse it out throughout the day.
One of the chefs at Prime's table. Their presentation was one of the best, if not the best, of the whole event. They are really into their details, and it shows.
Salad toppings mise. ~~I believe this was at Maestro's table.~~ This was Jacob & Anthony's American Grille, part of Marrello Restaurants & Catering.
Salads - all done! Great combo - roasted golden beets are always a win for me.

Back to Putnam's table for dessert. An apple tart with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Both toppings made by them. That caramel was so rich and moreish. Mmm.

Ducky, duck, duck, duck! Duck with apple shreds, and it looks like a bit of brie. These tasted great, but the bread was a little tough/oily by the time it reached my mouth. I think a little bowl of the other ingredients sans bread would have been even more spectacular.

Smoked salmon cakes from Sperry's table. Lots of shmoozing going on at this table. SWFF2011 was a great time for people watching.

Marche had shrimp and grits. I loved the grits. Shrimp were a little gummy.
Dessert cups from Jacob & Anthony's table. Loved the presentation. The long sticks in the cups are actually spoons.
Albany John came up to me at one point and says:
"The artichokes at Chianti's are THE BEST thing I've eaten here. Have you tried them?"

They were awesome. Not too oily, and quite fresh. Mmm, grilled artichokes.

Veal shortrib over celeriac puree at the Prime table.
But their shell pasta with arugula pesto was the real standout. SO refreshing and filling and tasty! I was lucky enough to meet Doc Sconz in the flesh, and I think this would fit the Slow Food movement's "cheap & good" category quite well.
And then we saw this. Porchetta. It looked kind of like a gigantic porky empanada. It was being slow roasted by the folks from Chianti for the after party.
I was so happy to be going to the after party. Evidently such porky wonderfulness is stuffed with herbs and let to sit and have the flavors mingle for a few days. Then they cover it with skin and bake or roast it on a spit.
By 4:30 it was time to bid my porky love a goodbye and kick it around Saratoga for a few hours before the after party Aperitivo at 7 pm.
When we came back, we were greeted with quite the array of food. Meat cup. MEAT CUP! The prosciutto was great.
Grilled veggies - asparagus was so good!
Grilled chicken - so moist & juicy!
They were roasting potatoes on the grill. Albany John says he does not like the color composition of this picture, but really liked getting the salt sprinkling action.
SHRIMP. Grilled and large. YAS PLZ.

Okay, so I know it was a wine festival, but the most favorite and delicious thing I tried all night was Cabin Fever maple whiskey. I'm usually not a whiskey gal (I lean more on the bourbon side), but oh, this was like a deliciously maple-y nectar of yum.

AND THEN IT WAS TIME TO CUT INTO THE PORK ON A SPIT!
And they gave some samples to the people crowded around the pork. Such a thing of glory.
I love you, oh crispy, crackly pork skin. So perfect and good.

Red Front & Cotton Candy Ice Cream

2011-09-05T07:06:00.000-04:00

Hallo! Would you like a taste of my cotton candy ice cream? (just look at the smile on my chubby cheeks - of course you do!) Strap in, because we're on a whirlwind trip around Troy.

It all started when Daniel B and the FUSSYlittleCHILDREN (not at all fussy, btw) were gonna meet up at Pig Pit in Cohoes, but then it turned out the Pig Pit was closed for vaycay the one week we ended up going (I have very good timing like that - they're open now) so we had to come up with another place to eat.

Wait, let's check out Red Front. Bastion of Troy dining. This place is a hidden gem of old skool Troy dining. I love their pizza and have only ever gotten take out. Why not check out what dining in is like?

They have a TON of off street parking. It's in the section of Troy downtown that's all one-way streets, so make sure you map this out before you go. You can sit in the bar area, or go in the dining area.

Albany John was teaching Young Master Fussy how to gamble on the video lottery numbers games (sorry, Mrs. Fussy...). Pick 10, or something like that. He always wins when he gambles, so... I can't really bitch about that. Well, I can, but I'm not that horrible of a wife. Yet.

The Profussor ordered an 8 slice Cheese On Bottom pizza. I still think that style is kind of gross, but whatever. ANY WHO. Lemme tell you about what you want to order:

Regular square-slice pizza! Look at that bottom crust. I thought the take out pizza from Red Front was good, but it's even better when you dine in! Crispy crunchy edges and pillowy soft dough. Mmmm.
Lookie all that nommy pizza! 10 slices O' Cheese, please! The only downside is that this type of pizza has a VERY short half-life, so you should eat it within 45 minutes, or else the dough will get gummy.
I'd been craving eggplant parm, so we got an order of that, too. It came with pasta (okay, but nothing crazy) on the side. $10-11 for this order. Very manageable and tasty portion for the price. The thin slices of eggplant were fried to a nice crispy-crunchy texture, not at all bitter, and not really greasy for something that's fried.

Totally hit the parm spot.

We ordered a ton of food and it was just a little over $40 for the lot of us.

Then we went to Snowman for ice cream. The Profussor needs to learn that whatever ice cream he orders for the kiddos is going to be secondary to whatever ice cream I order. As a bonus, I always have someone to finish the ice cream I can't when the Fussy Little Children are around.

Cotton Candy hard ice cream for the win! This was a small - $2.15 - crazy! It's got tons of rainbow sprinkles mixed in the ice cream. 2 out of 2 fussy little children agree it is awesome!

Ala Shanghai - My fave local restaurant

2011-09-01T08:45:00.000-04:00

It's nice to get a break from the weather sometimes. But if you're given to sickliness like yours truly, sometimes your immune system doesn't appreciate the sharp humidity drops and you get a summer cold.

Enter Ala Shanghai. My kitchen away from home. I like going here (especially when I'm sick) because it feels like I pulled a seat up to a relative's table and they're taking care of me. Very familial here.

I was so craving some jelly fish, and Lanny must have been reading my mind because some free appetizers came my way. Jelly fish and cabbage. Mmm. Crunchy and so good. Ala Shanghai has the best jelly fish I've ever had - nice and crunchy, tastes briny like the sea, and just a touch of sesame oil. Mmm.

Albany John ordered some turnip pastries. I think these are really good for kids - flaky and pastry like, but not too vegetal.
I decided to try the pan-fried steamed dumplings. Basically, steamed baos, with one side fried in oil.

Inside of turnip pastry. So many flaky layers.
Fried baos from above.
Bao innards. Nommy pork with lots of juices.
Oh, and of couse some xiao4 long2 bao. There were a few breaks in the XLB (no soup :<), but...
The few that did have soup were just ay-may-zing. Look at all that soup! The skins also tasted thinner than they usually have. Mmm. Still kind of thick by NYC XLB standards, but quite thin for Ala Shanghai standards.
Albany John also wanted the sticky rice dumplings. You guys know how much I like rice, so this dish was all him. Coin purses of seasoned sticky rice.

And here is the real reason I went to Ala Shanghai. SOUP. They have the best soup in the area. Wonderfully seasoned broth (not too salty, rich meaty flavor). Sure to cure what ails me. Now THIS is my kind of Chinese Medicine. When I get sick, my first thought is "I gotta get to Ala Shanghai for some soup."

I just got the pickle and shredded pork noodle soup. Nothing overly fancy, just what you'd think your Chinese grandma would make you if you were sick. Good home cooking, and very rich in flavor while being very low in oil. I don't like a lot of other soups in the area 'coz of all the grease in them. If I'm eating soup, I don't want a 1/4" of oil floating on top! I want to taste the broth!

Mmm, soft, pillowy homemade noodles. Super tender pork. Lots of curative, flavorful broth. Oh, and at $5, yes FIVE DOLLARS you get like a huge quart of soup. It's insane how cheap and awesome their soups are.

Gluten Free "pizza"

2011-08-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this isn't legit NY style pizza. Or really even pizza per se, but for what it was, it was tasty, especially if you like cauliflower. And you can feed it to your celiac friends without worrying that you're going to internally maim them. I haven't really been feeling gluten-y carbs lately, so I based my recipe loosely off of this recipe I found from Sleep Love Eat.

Gluten-Free Cauliflower Pizza Ingredients:
Half a head of cauliflower, blanched/lightly boiled and then mashed/pureed

salt, pepper,

oregano

garlic powder, onion powder

romano/parmesan cheese
veggies, toppings as you see fit.

So, cook your cauliflower in some boiling water and mash/puree. If you like it chunkier, just mash it. If you like it smoother then puree it.

Add some seasonings to it. Whatever makes you think "pizza". I liked oregano and garlic/onion powder with some salt and pepper. You can toss in some egg if you feel like it to bind, but it's up to you.

Put some parchment paper over a baking/cookie sheet and smooth the cauliflower puree over it. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes until it starts sticking together and looking like a solid substance for pizza toppings. Then add some more toppings and bake for 20 more minutes. Or until it looks good to you. Whatever.

Here's what the underside of the "pizza" should look like if you've cooked it long enough. I wanted to cook it long enough to get a good amount of char on the bottom so I could eat it like an actual pizza and not just "stuff on top of baked cauliflower paste"
Okay, so you might be like "Albany Jane, how can you call yourself a New Yorker and say this is pizza?!" and I'll be all like "Whatever, it's tasty. Call it a reeeaaallllyyyyy thin cauliflower gratin with toppings if you don't like the 'pizza' moniker."

If you want to lower the water content of the pizza, bake your tomato slices and whatever other veg has some water in it so it's just a wee bit roasted, then slap it on the surface of your tasty cauliflower pizza type substance.

Project Baconage

2011-08-28T17:18:00.000-04:00

So. You might know that I am a spurious individual given to the occasional impulse purchase. In this case it was about 10 pounds of primo Kurobuta pork belly from Adventure in Food. Given that my significantly better half is from Western Mass, it's pretty much local to me.

Also, quite a nice purchase at around $7.99 per pound. This bacon was cooked two ways. One with my stovetop hot smoker, and cold smoking with the help of one Chef Christopher Tanner.

I'll get the math out of the way. The hot smoked bacon lost about 25% of its weight while smoking. So it was closer to $10.50 per pound for hot smoked bacon. I didn't weigh the cold smoked bacon, but I don't think it lost very much weight. Cold smoked and all. Next time I'll try to be a bit better with my measurements so I can nerd out and create a graph on weight variances.

The hot smoked bacon is delicious and 100% cooked. 180-200F with maple wood chips until the bacon registers around 160 F and the meat looks pinky and good. Kind of like super delicious fatty ham. Just use Ruhlman's cure and you're set. A few weeks, 6 weeks.... it's all good.

I enlisted The Profussor in this cholesterol laden drive. Parce que je suis égoïste et je voulais une autre personne à essayer ce lard.

Any way. Step 9723 of Project Bacon is to petition your chef friends to cold smoke your bacon out of the kindness of their hearts 'coz they have cold smokers and you don't. Pull out all the stops - compliments, pouty faces, promises of first born children. This is science, damnit! COLD SMOKED BACON THAT YOU CURED, HULLOO!

Your chef friend may explicitly tell you "You NEED to cook this. DON'T eat this raw. Whatever you do, don't eat this raw. COOK IT." Clearly, my reputation for putting things in my mouth precedes me. Okay, cause I might have just tried a wee slice of raw bacon. But I didn't cause Tanner was all concerned about me eating raw pork. Sheesh.

So I just cooked the bacon. SO GOOD. Best part of making your own bacon is slicing pieces to your own desired thickness. THICK BACON!!
Here is what the bacon looked like raw. Huuuuge props to Chef Tanner for vacuum sealing it for me too!
Bacon lurve! So making your own bacon isn't exactly easy, but oh man is it worthwhile. SO FREAKING GOOD.

But the down side is that it is so yummy you will want to eat tons of delicious bacon slices whenever you open the fridge and the bacon is just sitting there. Sitting there in the bag. Un eaten. Poor bacon, come to my belly.

YehYeh's 80th Birthday

2011-08-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

I didn't do the best job of photo-documenting the food of my Yeh-Yeh's 80th birthday weekend. But let me tell you, I'd never have it any other way, 'cause I focused tons of the people with me. Namely that goofy-eyed little hellion above. Well, the smaller one more than the bigger one.

Bro, Margarita, and Baby Dubs (bro & BD above) flew up from Mississippi to celebrate. Baby Dubs was a little fussy around Chinese food (must've inherited that from my side of the family. My sibs & I were cheeseburger kids...). Here he is eating vanilla ice cream at the Flushing Mall food court.

We went to this place near my YehYeh's place for dinner the night before. I think it was called Jin Cheng on Roosevelt Ave. Now I know why he walks to his beloved Mellie's so much. This place wasn't bad... but compared to Mellie's it wasn't great either.

The food was fine. The service was bad. Even for a Chinese restaurant (more on that in a second). Slow, slow, SLOW to have the food come out, and there weren't even that many people in the dining room. Like, 20-30 minutes for the chicken to come out. And it was a little greasy.

Above are some plates of Mapo Dofu, lamb & veggie, and I think duck tongues on the right (deep fried). Albany John & Bro loved the duck tonguies. Bleh, no thanks for me!

Some sweet and sour pork, so-so fried rice. Dishes were okay, but a lot were on the American side of things.
Here's the chicken that took forever to come out. Just okay. Nothing I'd go back for again when there are so many better places in Flushing to eat at.
And soon enough it was Yeh-Yeh's birthday celebration! Here's my very beautiful sister dancing with the birthday boy. He was rocking out all night!

The dinner party was held at Grand Restaurant (3rd Floor of the New World Mall on Main Street). Their Yelp reviews aren't that great, but trust me, it was an awesome time. We had a small banquet rooms with 4 tables all to ourselves, and the food came out piping hot. And TONS of it. Lots of seafood. Seafood everywhere.

Abalone & Sea Cucumber for one course. Walnut shrimp was another (best walnut shrimp I've ever had, and I usually really don't like this dish coz of all the mayo - but this was lightly creamy in a good way, and the walnuts were perfectly candied, and the shrimp perfectly fried and SO huge). Naturally, we had some lobster. And chicken. And whole fish. And fried rice. And mango pudding dessert (I ate like three cups of them - never had that before and I want to eat it all the time now! SO GOOD and refreshing).

Mama and Papa Amherst joined us for the festivities, and after the app courses were done, they were like "Wait, how much more is there?". TONS MOAR!

Wine, and drunk karaoke (by my uncle and dad's buddies), some dancing, and a very touching speech by my dad. Connecting with cousins I hadn't seen in a while. Cake. YehYeh's German friend spilling wine on the cake. Noming cake. Bro finding a suit jacket on the side of the road and wearing it in (dude, I refuse to believe you paid for that thing).

At some point we also went to some beer place in Rego Park with my siblings-in-law, Maka & CVS.
They had these fried coins of freshly sliced jalapenos and other spicy pepper things. Kind of a russian roulette of "am I going to need to chug my drink?"
Fried pierogies were okay, but gummy on the inside.
Not a big fan of the way they pour drinks - refilling with the same glass and letting the beer go over the tap = breeding ground for germ cross contamination.

The morning after the party... or maybe the next day... we went back to Grand Restaurant for dim sum. I guess that they cost a lot more (almost 2x as much) as Mellie's, but oh man...

Any way, I loved how big and full of shrimp the har gow were here. They might be pricey, but they were worth it.
Spare ribs and black bean sauce in the center & left bowls. Pig intestine in the right bowl. Not a big fan of the pig intestine - it's kind of... pungent, lol.
NOM, CHOW FUN! Margarita and I could eat a plate of these ourselves, so great is our love of this dish.
Got a plate of 3 dan tats on da house 'cause they remembered my dad from the night before. Mmm, hot & flaky.

This was a great trip for everyone. First time YehYeh got to meet his great grand son in person. Family, food, good times.

Jarritos Cola

2011-08-23T19:59:00.004-04:00

This post brought to you by Jarritos & Albany John. Partially 'cause it was taking me forever and a day to actually get around to opening the promo bottle of Jarritos' new Mexican Cola, but also because the man loves his sodas.

There is nothing quite like a nice cold soda on a hot day in august.
That being said, the allure of a soda is lost on one albany jane.

Albany Jane is not one who has "guest posters" on her blog. That being
said she knows I embrace beverages with a vigor most men reserve for
sports teams, poker, dogs, or old cars.

Jarritos. This is what a sody pop is supposed to be. There was one
Jarritos mexican cola sitting in the back of the fridge. Beverages are
meant to be drank but apparently this soda belonged to the internets,
and could not be consumed without an accompanying blow by blow
account of its faults and glories.

Some soda is too carbonated for me. I have been accused in the past of
leaving bottles of carbonated beverages uncapped slightly in the
fridge. This particular soda still has enough fizz in it to make the
satisfying "pssshhht" when the cap is opened, but not enough to induce
belches.

The flavor is somewhat less like a coke or pepsi cola, more like what
you'd imagine an old time soda from a soda jerk would be. Think like
a sarsaparilla or a cream soda without the sarsaparilla or cream soda
flavor. The bottle advertises 100% natural sugar. I like sugar.
Nothing wrong with that. I'm not going to get into the whole "whether
hfcs is bad for you" issue, I'm on the side that you should eat what
you like if you can deal with the politics. I like sugar. I wish maple
sugar tasted good in soda, but unfortunately I've never seen a
beverage containing it to test the theory. I also think that sodas
feel different when you drink them if they have sugar rather than
hfcs, less syrupy/less viscous.

If you grew up on coke or pepsi, and that's what you think a cola
should taste like then you might not be a big fan of Jarritos. I mean
expectations of nostalgia rank up there pretty high when it comes to
food or drinks. I was raised in a household of hydrox cookies and rc
cola, so I'm not really bound to a nostalgia for a particular kind of
soda. We made our own root beer and sarsaparilla as a kid. My
brother's favorite flavor was birch beer.

Sincerely,

Albany John

Albany Jane here: I thought it was okay, but a little heavy on the warmer flavors. Then again, I'm a Coke Zero kind of gal. Also, how can anything top Jarrito's guava soda??

Tour de Fish Fry

2011-08-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

The Profussor is a man of many ideas. Tours are one of them. This weekend he took quite a lot of us on an eating event of five local fish fry favorites. His write up is significantly more well written than this post could ever hope to be, so check there for specifics, attendees, and facts.

First up was Gene's in Rensselaer. Albany John and I teamed up with Rochelle and decided to have a fish fry three-way for the tour. I love fried food, but for some reason fish fry itself always seems kind of boring to me in comparison to other things available (like fried clams), so I didn't want to stuff myself with something I wasn't 100% in love with to begin with. (were it a lobster eating tour I would have doubled up on the orders)

Ordering at Gene's. Their fish fry was $5.13 after tax.
Confusing condiments and a lone fish fry. They weren't clearly labeled. Which made finding condiments hard.
Part of the Fussy Little Tour was sampling aspects of the fish fry, plus cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and chili sauce. I couldn't tell if they had horseradish at Gene's so I might have handicapped the lot of us because I didn't get it. Never been much of a fan of chili sauce.

If you're new to the region, chili sauce served with fish fry isn't at all hot. It's actually sweet and ketchupy. So confusing. Any way, this was a pretty decent fish fry. Tied for second place with me.

We went across the street to Offshore Pier Market. Literally, right across the street.

Here's the thing with fish fry. It usually looks like a sit-down restaurant, but you order at a counter and there's very minimal table service. It's more like fancified fast food, if that makes any sense.
DIY condiment bar.

GENE'S WAS MY FAVE FISH FRY! Made me think "Woah, I really like fish fry." Why? Because it was deliciously salty & buttery. Yet not very greasy for something that was deep fried. Also, the breading was a crispy cornmeal variety. The combination was so, so good. This was $4.75 out the door.

The third stop was Bob & Ron's, the Albany mainstay. Now, Albany is in my name, but... I've just never been all that keen on Bob & Ron's food. Albany John took me here when we first started dating because he knew my unending love of the combination of fried + seafood, but for some reason Bob & Ron have just never really clicked with my taste buds.

Here's a fish fry. Thinner in width, but pretty long. I think this was $4.25. I ~~really didn't like~~ wasn't a big fan of the fish fry here. It just wasn't very good to me... the breading tasted like unseasoned flour that wasn't fried long enough. The inside was mushy and watery. Daniel B. said an issue others had was with the cusk fish meat being overcooked and tough, but our fish fry was just... blah. No flavor, no texture.

So sad, you know? Just for the fish to die and taste so... blandly. Such a waste. The bun had a sour back note that really lingered, too. Didn't really help the whole sum of the sandwich. R & I didn't even try to finish this one. WE DIDN'T TRY TO FINISH FRIED FISH! WHUT?!

The fourth stop was Ted's in Watervliet (or Waterford? I always confuse the two). Ted's has multiple locations. I usually hit up a Ted's for fried clam strips. Mmm.

I broke the fish on the way to the table. Oopsie. Ted's was my "average"/3rd place fish fry ranking. Not in a bad way, just something that captured the idea/flavors of what a fish fry is. Any improvements are just a bonus. This fish was incredibly thin, but very long.

Matt's in Cohoes was our last stop. This is my go-to fish source for the area. It's limited, and their hours are frustratingly short, but the stock they have is so fresh! Order at the counter, then walk in the dining room for them to bring it out for you.

Chunky, moist, perfectly fried fish. Cornmeal breading. Hearty big ole piece of firm fish. So good. Matt's knows their stuff. I'd tie this with Gene's for 2nd.

Seeing as how I'd only had less than two fish frys over the course of the afternoon, I also decided that a clam belly roll (~$6.25) was also necessary. So good.
LOOK AT THOSE BELLIES! They were a little on the oily side, but not overcooked. Tasty stuff. Matt's = Clams in my book.
We finished up the tour with some Snowman ice cream. I got coffee frozen yogurt. Just tasted like really good ice cream, not "diet" tasting or anything. Tasted like lots of yummy brown sugar was involved.

Check out our cute mascot in the background, too. I think somepup will come in handy for the cider donut tour.

Giveaway: 2 Tickets to the NYS Fair

2011-08-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been to the New York State Fair? It's held August 25th - September 5th in Syracuse, NY. The NYS Fair wants you to come, and they're giving away two tickets that you can win!

This weekend I was talking with someone who was well familiar with the NYS fair, having grown up going to it just about every year. Though I grew up in NY, I've never been to the State Fair. I imagine my mom's side of the family would enjoy going, since there are livestock shows. We hail from dairy folk, and there's even a Dairy Day (August 29th, if you're so inclined).

There are bunch of free acts to see, ranging from that Buddy dude from Cake Boss to Gym Class Heroes, and even the Pointer Sisters. Plus, you know, rides, and food, and awesomeness and such.

Kids 12 and under are free, so if you're a family with some wee ones, this could mean free entry. Not too shabby.

If you wanna win two tickets and a parking pass:
Comment to win. If you tweet this link &/or put up a blog post, add the links as extra comments/entries. So you can technically enter 3 times.
Please comment with a valid email address.
You will be asked for your address. If I get this out in time, you'll have tickets mailed to you, if not, you'll get will call tickets to pick up when you get there.
This is open to anyone who wants to go there. Live in Buffalo? Awesome, enter. If you live in Western Mass and feel an urge to go NYS Fair-ing, type away!

Comments will be closed and giveaway over tomorrow night, whenever I go to bed. Or reeeallly early on Friday morning. At the very least you've got a solid 24 hours.

CLOSED: Congrats to L!

Shake Shack @ Saratoga

2011-08-15T22:05:00.002-04:00

All hail the great Meyer Empire! I went to the Saratoga Race Track with Cute~Ella, Sue, GenWar, and the rest of the Cute~Ella crew. Oh, plus I dragged R & M. My mind was on burgers made of cow meat.

I think last year was the first time I was ever at the track, not being much of a horse-racing fan in general. However, I am a fan of hyped-up burgers from NYC. Well, it's easier to get there than Shake Shack in Central Park.

I don't mind a "day at the track". It's $3 per person to enter, free parking, and you can bring in your own coolers and seats. You don't even have to go look a the horse track. It's basically like going picnic-ing with tons of people to gawk at. And you can dress up. Win-win in my book.

Also a win-win - two double Shack Burgers ($9 each) and a Track Shake ($5.75). The shake looks small, but it's very custard-y and rich. It's a lot to suck down.

The burgers were so good. Glad I got doubles instead of singles. Albany John thought his was fine, and even I had trouble finishing mine off. They're deliciously salty and beefy flavored. A bit pinky rare in the center, yet firm of exterior.

THEY ARE SO MEATY AND GOOD. SO MEATY! SO MUCH MEATY BEEFY FLAVOR!

Heads up - they show up on your credit card as "UnionStreetSportsandENT" and not something easier to recognize.

Albany John liked it, but his stomach felt a little funky later on. I guess he's going to have to be on the Jack Sprat diet. I'll troop through it for him somehow.

Cute hat I made a Cute~Ella's the night before tracking. She so fancy!

Oh, and heads up - if you go, it'll probably be elbows to asses people. Don't really expect any personal space, but otherwise you're good. As long as everyone's friendly you'll be fine. Also, their bathrooms are really quick and clean.

Garden Bistro 24 for Family Dinner

2011-08-10T22:37:00.000-04:00

Bro, Margarita, and Baby Dubs came up from Mississippi for a bit recently. It was so good to see them! Hard it believe it's been almost a year since I last saw them!

I wanted to do something special while they were up here, and booked a dinner at Garden Bistro 24 for them, my mom, my sister, plus Albany John and me. Oh, and a toddler.

I emailed ahead of time to partially arrange a special meal for my sister, who'd said she'd eat cooked food. So I requested something vegan and gluten-free. Much to my surprise, John Grizzaffi himself responded! Who ever expects the chef and OWNER of a restaurant to answer your emails? (He's a peach, btw).

They have old fashioneds!So yummy! So potent!

Albany John got a hangar steak. Yum! Cooked med rare. My mom got a steak too, but no sauce. Not sure if she really liked it, she said it was kind of tough. Ah well. I guess I should have considered the cuts a little more. My mom's more of a prime rib gal. I was hoping she'd like GB24 because they do simple meals, but I guess I didn't consider the cuts she usually likes.

I got a duck confit special. Came in an amaretto sauce (but not too sweet). Two legs! Woah man - so much food! Really tasty - can't get enough of their mustard, either.

My sis-in-law Margarita got a Garden Bistro 24 salad with Chicken. She really liked this.

My brother got mussels with the coconut sauce on them. He was like "These are fucking DELICIOUS!" (only add more cursing and it's all said in caps). If I hadn't seen the duck special I would have deffo ordered up some mussels!

Here is the special dish John made for my sister. I don't think she actually ate any of it, since she ordered a salad instead. I guess she decided to switch back to raw food 'cause she got a salad. It was beautiful, though, and full of ingredients I don't normally see on BG24's menu. Freshly grilled seasonal veggies, kalamata olives, and organic polenta. The rest of us picked at it - so flavorful. I don't know, I just wanted to have something she could/would eat with the rest of us aside from her usual greens, but I guess I screwed that one up along the way. I ordered it any way, since I made such a big deal about special ordering it. At least she was nice enough to take it home in a doggy bag, tossing it, I'm guessing, out of my view.

John - thank you very much for the effort you put in this dish (and vegans, put a rezzie here!).
A pic of Albany John's steak, the special vegan dish, the salad my sis got instead, and a pic of my mom's frites, 'cause evidently I didn't snap a pic of her steak.

Service was great (as usual) - really friendly service, and guess what? Kids are always welcome here!
All done!

I always like going here. I was hoping I'd pick a place everyone would like because I like it so much. You can enjoy the food yourself, but you can't necessarily force others to like what you do too. Or hope really hard. But you can enjoy the company and let them distract you from bluer thoughts 'cause you're so happy to be with the crazy family you have.

Hunh, and here I thought I just went here for a meal. Instead I come out with some kind of life lesson.