tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12460316941427586832024-03-02T12:30:04.153-05:00Learning through FoodI use as my overarching framework the notion of “learning through food,” i.e., learning about people and cultures through the foods they prepare and consume; the recipes which have been passed down, shared and adapted over time; and the meaning behind the meal. Situated within an ethnographic approach to food and a passion for "feeding the experience," I extend my foodie platform to include the cutting board, the in-between from farm to table. Bon appétit and ukonwabele ukutya kwakho!LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-84062853896547921622014-06-11T12:25:00.001-04:002014-06-11T12:58:32.175-04:00EatWith, Round 2: Parisian Bistro-Style Food Fare<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two Saturdays ago, Brianne and I joined host, home cook, and food enthusiast Tess Geer at her French-style country home in Westerville for another delicious EatWith dinner. Following <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/05/eatwith-tess-geer-provencal-summer-dinner.html" target="_blank"><b>our previous (and first) experience the week before</b></a>, the bar for me was set rather high. Tess, as expected, did not disappoint, offering us and her other Westerville-area guests a menu brimming with bistro food fare appropriate for any time of the year. On the evening's menu: olive selection and roasted almonds; goat cheese, leek and mushroom tart; roasted lemon chicken with potatoes and carrots; romaine salad with lemon dressing; cheese selection; madeleines and mocha pots de crème.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tess shares some of her own bistro experiences in France, which inspired the evening's menu</i></td></tr>
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Again we pulled up to Tess's beautiful home, her kitchen brightened by the aromatic smells of lemon and fresh chicken stock, coupled with the warm hugs of summer air and baked goods. We could see that Tess's guests had arrived and were already taking in the tranquility of the environment.<br />
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En route to the shaded patio, we stopped by the familiar table complete with the appetizer course. Originally, Tess had anticipated making French 75's, but an unexpected lack of cointreau meant that we were able to instead have more of the kirsch concoction we enjoyed during our last visit. As far as food went, all but one of the almond-stuffed French olives were taken (a clear hit). Upon tasting that last one, I'd unquestionably vouch for at least trying these should you ever be given the chance, this coming from someone who does not like olives all that much to begin with,. Also on the table were a small plate of delicious almonds that Tess had roasted herself, with olive oil and her <a href="http://www.gourmetsaltblends.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html" target="_blank"><b>Gourmet Salt Blends</b></a> mix of rosemary, lemon, and garlic.<br />
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Paired with this lot was a savoury tart with tender sautéed <a href="http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=26" target="_blank"><b>leeks</b></a> (a personal favourite of mine, especially over onions) and meaty oyster mushrooms. Enriched with a bay leaf, thyme, chicken stock, and crème fraîche, this is eventually transferred and encircled by puff pastry which when cooked is predictably flaky, buttery, and the perfect vehicle for hosting this collection of vegetables. (On this note, the veg can certainly be switched out, making this a seasonally-adaptive dish.) Lest it not be forgotten, tying all of this together is the added creaminess and salt content from the goat cheese. <br />
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With the sunlight still very much among us, we moved onto the lawn for the rest of the meal, bottles of my favourite white (Sauvignon Blanc; thanks, Tess!) chilled and patiently awaiting us next to bottles of sparkling water.<br />
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And then, the focal point of the dinner made its way to the table: Tess's take on <a href="http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/my-favorite-roast-chicken" target="_blank"><b>Julia Child's favourite recipe for roasted chicken</b></a>. In past encounters with Tess, she'd mentioned this particular course, her descriptions being mouthwateringly accurate. After brining her whole chickens prior to roasting, she sets them on a roasting "rack" of celery stalks and thick, halved carrots, the latter of which is a trick she learned in a French cooking class. The result is a succulent cut of simple perfection--whether the white meat or brown--paired with the rich and flavourful tastes of the <b><a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/word-of-mouth-mirepoix-43822" target="_blank"><i>mire poix</i></a></b>-esque veg and natural chicken stock. (Waste not, want not: as for the carcasses, Tess saves them and cooks them in a large slow cooker for additional chicken stock to freeze until the next recipe calls for it.)<br />
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Served with some of her homemade baguettes (which I must admit may have sat out a little too long, but which nevertheless held up to the important task of sopping up the leftover fragrant <i>jus </i>on our plates), this dish remains an incredibly memorable one.<br />
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In French-style fashion, the next course was the palate-cleansing salad, its simplicity of which is unequivocally reminiscent of my own experiences at French bistros. Here, a simple bed of crisp romaine lettuce (of course you could use the arugulaesque <a href="http://kitchengardenfarm.com/vegetable-pages/frisee#.U5h4rsq4Ntw" target="_blank"><b><i>frisée</i></b></a>, or my favourite, the sweeter <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1370492" target="_blank"><b><i>mache</i></b></a>) was paired with an extremely bright (borderline tart, in the best way possible) dressing made of not vinegar but instead lemon juice as its base.<br />
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Onward to the next course, as the sun began to fade, came perhaps my favourite of any French course (right next to dessert, <i>bien sûr</i>). Presented on a large white plate came a trio of cheeses, paired with jam. Starting with the mildest on the left, the cheese course began with double-cream <a href="http://www.cheese.com/brie/" target="_blank"><b>brie</b></a>, which along with the others melded very well with Tess's homemade baguettes. Progressing toward the strongest cheese, the middle one was my personal favourite hard cheese, i.e., <a href="http://www.cheese.com/comte/" target="_blank"><b>comté</b></a>. Smooth and without the waxy, off taste I pick up from similar cheeses like emmental, comté has nutty notes which pair well with creamy dishes as one might find in eastern France. (And it certainly works well with the evening's chicken.) Finally, and arguably the most challenging of the three (yet one of my favourites no less), was the sheep's milk-based <a href="http://www.cheese.com/roquefort/" target="_blank"><b>roquefort</b></a>, known in particular by its rather distinctively look and smell. Accompanying this wonderful selection were jams made of guava and fig.<br />
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Finally, as dark as the night arrived and the citronella candles were lit, two desserts made their way to their table (I love multiple dessert rounds, by the way). The first were madeleines, which Tess had perfected over several recipe alterations, made particularly famous in Marcel Proust's <i>Remembrance of Things Past</i>. (Check out the extract <a href="http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/proust.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.) Rather than finding <a href="http://coffeetea.about.com/od/teaandtisanebasics/a/TisaneBasics.htm" target="_blank"><b>tisane</b></a> (as typically served <i>à la Proust</i>) in the little cups Tess brought out with the madeleines, instead we found servings of <a href="https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t1.0-9/10417629_795658442303_2407937190238944514_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>densely decadent</b></a> mocha pot de crème.<br />
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Made of heavy cream, egg yolks, 100% cacao baking chocolate, and strong coffee, among others, this custard dessert was topped off with whipped cream, which in itself lightened the dish overall. At one point, Tess said there were extras and encouraged me to take another. I had to respectfully decline, as I had already eaten three.<br />
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As already noted above, it came as little surprise to me that the evening's dinner was the success that it was. Indeed, as I get ready to head back to Paris in a few weeks' time, the Parisian bistro-style dinner Tess put together turned out to be a perfect precursor to the summer ahead. Many thanks go to Tess for our second EatWith experience. And to our new Westerville dining partners, it was wonderful to meet you! (If you happen to reading this, do send me a message so I can include your names here!) To sign up
for one of Tess's upcoming EatWith meals (either <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#%21/offering/7196-Enjoy-a-French-Bistro-Dinner-Without-going-to-France--Ooh-La-La-" target="_blank"><b>this Parisian bistro menu offering</b></a> and/or <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#%21/offering/9849-A-Provencal-Summer-Dinner-with-a-French-Lover" target="_blank"><b>her Provençal offering</b></a> which you can read more about <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/05/eatwith-tess-geer-provencal-summer-dinner.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>), or to suggest a date, click <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#%21/host/6016" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. To find an EatWith host in your neighbourhood or future travel destination, click <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. And to check out the full album of photos from this dinner, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.795657893403.1073741981.36203035&type=1&l=9346b8360e" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-19292581190155776162014-05-31T18:06:00.000-04:002014-05-31T18:06:01.027-04:00Cooking in Columbus: Apple-Stuffed Pork Loin et al.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello, Food Fans! It's been a while for many things, as they relate to this blog, chief among them being a meal post. Last night, Brianne and I ventured to a local Meijer and amidst a growing sense of hunger bought a slew of ingredients which will eventually find a place here. For dinner, and in under an hour and a half, we pulled together a meal which stuffed ourselves with ingredients costing in total no more than $15. On the menu: <span class="userContent">apple-stuffed pork loin with toasted white rice, seasoned kale with bacon, and angel food cake with strawberry-rhubarb compote.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">As is the case with many of my meals (and really most great meals in my book are concerned), I started off by rendering on medium heat the fat of three slices of hardwood smoked bacon in a large metal pan. In addition, I set the oven to 375°F. After most of the fat cooked out, I transferred the bacon over to an iron cast skillet, where the bacon fat finished rendering on medium-low heat and the bacon itself crisped up. The cooked bacon was transferred to a plate for later use.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">While the bacon fat was rendering, I washed and prepped one bunch of kale by cutting the leaves off the stems. Tearing them up by hand, I <i>carefully </i>dropped the kale pieces into the bacon fat. (I stress here to be careful, as the moisture from the kale hitting the hot fat equates to splattering.) After the kale cooked down (reducing in size by about half and absorbing most of the fat), I deglazed the pan with a few tablespoons of <a href="http://www.totalwine.com/eng/guide-to-wine/chardonnay.cfm" target="_blank"><b>chardonnay</b></a>, scraped any remaining <a href="http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/244/Fond-of-Fond" target="_blank"><b><i>fond</i></b></a>, added about 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, gave everything a quick toss, turned off the heat, and <a href="https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t1.0-9/10360614_794697842353_1002099151326621433_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>covered the kale</b></a>, relying on the moisture to finish cooking the greens.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Meanwhile, Brianne had cut the ends of two stalks of rhubarb, cut them in half, and then cut them further into half-inch pieces. She then put these into a pot, along with about 8 oz of strawberries cut into quarters. (The goal here is to get the rhubarb and strawberry into fairly uniform pieces so they cook evenly.) All of this went onto medium heat, along with 1/4 c each of granulated sugar and chardonnay.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Brianne then measured a cup of white rice and toasted this in a pot over medium heat, making sure to move the rice around so it didn't burn. To this, she added a cup of low sodium chicken stock and a cup of water. Following a rapid boil, Brianne then covered the rice with a lid and reduced the heat to low. </span>As Brianne tended to the rice, I petite diced what would become the stuffing (inspired, in part by <a href="http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/apple-stuffed-pork-loin-with-cider-sauce.html" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a> recipe) for the pork loin, into which Brianne had cut slits: half a golden delicious apple, a whole small onion, and two garlic cloves.<br />
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After stuffing the pork loin, Brianne salt and peppered all sides of the pork, which I browned before carefully covering the entire pan with aluminum foil. This all then went into the preheated oven to cook for 25 minutes. It was at this point that I reduced the heat on the strawberry-rhubarb <a href="http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Compote.htm" target="_blank"><b>compote</b></a> to medium-low.<br />
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Once the pork loin was in the oven, we checked the rice, to which I <span class="userContent">added another 1/2 c water, and a splash of the chardonnay, and seasoned the lot with about 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper. With the heat turned off, and the pot re-lidded, I let the remaining heat and moisture finish off the rice.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Soon enough, the 25 minutes had elapsed. I took the lid off the kale and added the earlier crisped bacon to it. As for the pork loin, I added a touch of chardonnay, covered the pan again with the foil, and left this all alone to rest before plating. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Also finished at this time was the strawberry-rhubarb compote, which I took off the heat completely to cool.</span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><i>Et voilà ! </i>The </span><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent"></span>the servings of pork loin, rice, and
kale were richly seasoned, the pork of which had a bit of heat from the
the black pepper and garlic which was still somewhat on the raw end. On
this note, and although the pork loin was cooked and not completely
dry/tough, I would first cook the stuffing until browned and slightly
caramelised, stuff the pork loin, and then cook it for 20
minutes. As far as aiming to cook on a small budget is concerned, the pork loin was on sale for under $5, and the stuffing ingredients brought the entrée to no more than $5.50 ($0.44 for half the golden delicious apple, and about $0.15 for the small onion and garlic cloves). The rice came out to about $1, considering </span><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent">the cost of a cup of the chicken stock is about $0.75 depending on quality, etc., and the </span>relatively little expense (especially when bought and stored in larger quantities) of the rice itself, as well as the water, salt, and pepper. Finally, the bunch of kale was $1.29, and three slices of a pound of bacon plus the few tablespoons of chardonnay use to deglaze the pan brings this side dish to under $2.50.</span><br />
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For dessert, we bought a loaf of angel food cake (for the sake of simplicity and fewer ingredients to work with) and atop a few slices, added a healthy dollop of freshly whipped cream (1/4-1/3 c cream <complete id="goog_2141099570">+ a few tablespoons of granulated sugar, whisked together until thick and able to maintain soft peaks). And to finish this off, we added a few tablespoons of the strawberry-rhubarb compote which I thinned out slightly with a tablespoon or so of chardonnay. In total, our two servings of the light dessert came out to about $1.50. Then again, "light" is all relative, given how heavy the rest of our very filling meal was. (One might say, we were as stuffed as the pork loin, if not more so!)</complete> For these, and additional photos from last night's dinner, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.794697777483.1073741980.36203035&type=1&l=41fbc8fe34" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Do you have any budget-friendly dinner ideas? Post in the comments section below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-18370008115211635382014-05-28T19:00:00.002-04:002014-05-28T19:00:47.640-04:00In Pursuit of a Provençal Summer... in Ohio<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs4ckpO2vboXxUIQdLsyS8CtUG0nbsbcttLvOSVeTaXaZkKFF_ZWszgznMi0RUlJlMcKv2u-HKofNo4wR43POJafyCyBsj1ta_gZ6tRk1EPpWIyQL87mUbXizHZyZaJf14Ynmz0Q5IYgg/s1600/EatWith+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs4ckpO2vboXxUIQdLsyS8CtUG0nbsbcttLvOSVeTaXaZkKFF_ZWszgznMi0RUlJlMcKv2u-HKofNo4wR43POJafyCyBsj1ta_gZ6tRk1EPpWIyQL87mUbXizHZyZaJf14Ynmz0Q5IYgg/s1600/EatWith+1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tess finishes off a large pan of haricots verts with freshly ground black pepper and a blend of rosemary, lemon, and garlic salt</i></td></tr>
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Over the course of two <a href="http://www.slowfoodcolumbus.org/" target="_blank"><b>Slow Food Columbus</b></a> encounters, I have since felt privileged to have met Tess Geer, owner of <a href="http://www.gourmetsaltblends.com/" target="_blank"><b>Gourmet Salt Blends</b></a>, and--most recently--Ohio's first <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/" target="_blank"><b>EatWith</b></a> host. The EatWith concept is fairly straightforward: folks passionate about food, cooking, and hosting, invite diners from around the world to eat with them. But it's not just anyone who gets to be certified and insured by those running EatWith. After proposing a unique offering as part of their application, potential hosts undergo a series of paperwork, interviews, and trainings. Tess has made it through the process and as my luck would have it, her angle is <i>à la française</i>. A frequent traveler to France (she has a home just outside of Paris) and connoisseur of regional traditions and tastes, Tess invites her guests to dine at her beautiful French-inspired country home. The emphasis, it should be noted, is that she does not only cook for others, but more importantly she eats with them. The result is an unforgettable experience, and one which I learned first hand a few days ago leaves you with a feeling that you just dined at a longtime family friend's home. Indeed, you might very well walk away from an EatWith meal by Tess with a sense that this was an everyday affair and not an EatWith event. In this post, I'd like to highlight the test meal that Tess concocted, an EatWith offering aimed at transporting guests to a summer in Provence.<br />
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As Brianne and I made our way to Tess's (and husband Dan's) home, the travel off the highway and across the bridge over the Hoover Dam felt a bit like going through a wormhole of sorts, transporting us away from the otherwise busy, Midwestern charm of Columbus, and entering the arguably quieter suburban life of Westerville. From the buck welcoming us at the start of the path to the large home which seemed to appear out of nowhere, the bright and verdant woods acted like a buffer from the rest of the world around us. <br />
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Before I get too lost in the grandeur and splendor of the Geer's property--seriously: <a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10389706_793617287793_7019367424692833153_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10409399_793620391573_1513889144514816210_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>,<a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t1.0-9/10388139_793620621113_3308009906280279830_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>3</b></a>--I should probably just get right to it and talk about the wonderful menu we enjoyed. As an important aside, this was Tess's test dinner, which she was prepared to edit before <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#!/offering/9849-A-Provencal-Summer-Dinner-with-a-French-Lover" target="_blank"><b>officially posting this $25 offering</b></a>. Our meal began with an <a href="http://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive_60/86_wine_dine.html" target="_blank"><b>apératif</b></a>, as most great French meals I've ever experienced have begun. The evening's offering was a play off the Provençal <a href="http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink4692.html" target="_blank"><b>kir</b></a> <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/kir-and-kir-royale-a-guide-to-124781" target="_blank"><b>royale</b></a> (as the aforementioned link notes, kir is made with wine, while kir royale is made with champagne). Rather than <i><a href="http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/16366437-423/whats-creme-de-cassis-and-why-should-i-use-it.html#.U4ZTGHZW9mg" target="_blank"><b>crème de cassis</b></a> </i>(i.e., black currant liquuer), Tess opted for <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/07/kirsch/" target="_blank"><b>kirsch</b></a> royale, using instead cherry-flavoured liqueur.<br />
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As Tess was preparing the main course, we sampled three savoury appetizers. The first was a subtly briny olive tapenade made with <a href="http://www.delallo.com/articles/ni%C3%A7oise-olive" target="_blank"><b>Niçoise</b></a> and <a href="http://www.delallo.com/articles/picholine-olive" target="_blank"><b>Picholine</b></a> olives, the salt content of which was boosted by capers, anchovy, and roasted garlic shallot pepper salt. In addition, the tapenade has the smallest hint of heat from some garlic, a subdued hit of sweetness from sun dried tomatoes, and herbaceous flavours coming from fresh basil, thyme, and oregano. Melded together with extra virgin olive oil, the concoction of flavours are tempered by a dollop of sweet, creamy goat cheese. As someone who is not the greatest fan of olives (<a href="http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/02/culinary-pluralism-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-olive/" target="_blank"><b>though I have been on the path toward enlightenment</b></a>), I am wholeheartedly a fan of olives in this form, especially when served on a toasty slice of bread.<br />
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Second on the rotation was a luscious, chilled celery soup that despite even my own better judgement did not need an optional swirl of heavy cream. The depth of flavour coming from the celery, russet potato, shallot, garlic, chicken stock, and butter, compounded by roasted garlic, shallot, and cracked black pepper salt, was so refreshing and complex that I'd certainly drink it up by the bowl full. That is, if I made it for myself in my own home. (It's worth noting that in Tess's case, EatWith diners go home with all of her recipes, so I potentially could be making a batch in the near future...). Garnished with a celery leaf and a radish slice (<a href="http://globetrotterdiaries.com/recipes/french-radishes-with-butter-and-salt" target="_blank"><b>also typically French</b></a>) for added coulour and texture, this soup is worth the drive up to Westerville alone.<br />
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Fortunately for us, the appetizers didn't stop there. On a great serving plate was a mouthwatering roasted vegetable tart. At the base was a shortcut crust (which is out of this world, by the way... flaky, tender, and with just the right amount of butter and salt), atop which sat roasted tomatoes and eggplant, a summery pesto, and crumbled goat cheese. Unfortunately for future EatWith diners, this dish won't appear on the final menu, as the relative heaviness is a bit much for an opening course.<br />
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With most everything wiped off the screened-in patio table, we moved outside and onto an even more relaxing atmosphere. The weather couldn't have been any better, nor the company. Also, at the table (going counterclockwise beginning to the left of Brianne, in pink) were Camille, Wyatt, Dan, Charles, Charlie, Jen, Tess, Olivia, Sam, and Andrea.<br />
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When I think the south of France, my first thought by way of drink is the chilled rosé. Again, Tess didn't disappoint in her pairing. Coming from the <a href="http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/French_Regions/Languedoc-Roussillon/languedoc-roussillon_11.htm" target="_blank"><b>Languedoc-Roussillon region</b></a>, <a href="http://savour-fare.com/2013/06/05/trader-joes-cheap-wine-pick-jl-quinson-cotes-de-provence-rose-2012/" target="_blank"><b>the J.L. Quinson Côtes de Provence Rosé</b></a> can be found at Trader Joe's (though, I'm pretty sure Tess got all the available ones from her local store, so look elsewhere) and its light, subtle fruit notes embodies the calmness and character of Provence. Of additional note, Tess bakes her own bread (pictured above), the interior of which especially reminds me of those I've enjoyed in France, which should be of little surprise given three proofs in a warming drawer of the butler's pantry aside her kitchen (yes, such things are necessary in life). <br />
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Within the first few minutes of our arrival, I had already tried the amazing green beans cooked with lemon zest and one of Tess's garlic blends (which you can buy <a href="http://www.gourmetsaltblends.com/our-products.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>). While the others were tasting the appetizers, I was also given a quick taste of the succulent chicken which Tess had first brined in water, salt, and sugar, and then marinated in lemon juice and zest, garlic, a cup of Sauvignon Blanc (my favourite white), <a href="http://theepicentre.com/spice/herbes-de-provence/" target="_blank"><i><b>herbes de Provence</b></i></a>, freshly ground black pepper, and salt. Oh.my.yum was that amazing on its own. But to elevate it even more, Tess had whipped up a lemon truffle aioli that I could all day any day. Altogether, though, this was a meal that deserved the company of every component on the plate.<br />
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And as if this wasn't enough, we did conclude with a dessert, lightened by the presence of blueberries, raspberries, and freshly whipped cream. Specifically, we tasted the nearly set attempt of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/29/how-to-cook-perfect-cherry-clafoutis" target="_blank"><b>clafoutis</b></a> which is typically made from cherries. For future EatWith diners, you should know that this dessert will be swapped for another, less finicky one.<br />
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Following the delicious meal, Brianne and I made the mini-trek to check out the sunset across the deep, brilliant blue water, before heading indoors for a tour of the Geer's home, the highlight for me of which were the gorgeous wine cellar and library outfitted with reclaimed cherry wood.<br />
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With sincere gratitude for her kind invitation to test out the Provençal menu, I'd like to sign off this post in full endorsement of Tess's natural knack for cooking and hosting, two of many ingredients which are necessary to uphold the conviviality and spirit of EatWith. To sign up for one of Tess's upcoming EatWith meals (either <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#!/offering/9849-A-Provencal-Summer-Dinner-with-a-French-Lover" target="_blank"><b>the Provençal offering</b></a> and/or <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#!/offering/7196-Enjoy-a-French-Bistro-Dinner-Without-going-to-France--Ooh-La-La-" target="_blank"><b>her Bistro menu offering</b></a>, which we'll be trying this upcoming weekend), or to suggest a date, click <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/#!/host/6016" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. To find an EatWith host in your neighbourhood or future travel destination, click <a href="http://www.eatwith.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. Finally, for these and other photos from my experience, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.793616698973.1073741979.36203035&type=1&l=6a86bb3e1b" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-53936972576364858382014-05-14T21:51:00.000-04:002014-05-15T12:44:30.524-04:00Restaurant Review: Scrambler Marie's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-n-516WK6h8wsKUzQqZkQvefo4FnXY3VzzoD83wpYilqHTDKz_lJmtO3SFlVHXh4bm6k8cjks0JAwwYg5_Bcq1HkO4d1Foa8BfG6aaMv8tlj-2yYUtMcOX9Em-OlAaGX69WlzJxoCiHl/s1600/DSCN9933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-n-516WK6h8wsKUzQqZkQvefo4FnXY3VzzoD83wpYilqHTDKz_lJmtO3SFlVHXh4bm6k8cjks0JAwwYg5_Bcq1HkO4d1Foa8BfG6aaMv8tlj-2yYUtMcOX9Em-OlAaGX69WlzJxoCiHl/s1600/DSCN9933.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/372190/restaurant/Polaris/Scrambler-Maries-Columbus" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Scrambler Marie's on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/372190/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Somehow more than a month has past since my last blog post, and wow have the past weeks been flown by with foodie flare! Before I catch you up on my latest adventures--more recently those from Texas--I wanted to post a review of a brunch place in the Polaris area of Columbus. For those of you who may not have known, earlier this year <a href="http://www.learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Learning through Food</b></a> <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/January-2014/Online-Dining/" target="_blank"><b>was featured</b></a> (along with local bloggers <a href="http://www.thebreakfastgrubguy.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Breakfast Grub Guy</b></a> and <a href="http://www.leptologistsatlunch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Leptologists at Lunch</b></a>) in <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/January-2014/" target="_blank"><b>the January 2014 issue of CityScene Magazine</b></a>. Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by Amy Burns, who teaches (and has since revamped) Family and Consumer Sciences at <a href="http://www.centerburgschools.org/index.php/high-school-home" target="_blank"><b>Centerburg High School</b></a>. I presented to her Foods for Life classes, as well as students studying agriculture sciences. Throughout the semester, Amy's Foods for Life students have been blogging about food (coincidentally, and not at all surprisingly, on-line blogging and food critique were the foci of my presentations); now that their semester is coming to a close, they had one blogging assignment left: to take all they learned and put it into practice into an in-depth restaurant review. Grateful for the opportunity to join them, I gladly accepted Amy's invitation and alongside her seniors and Steve (a guidance counselor at the high school), I embarked on a journey to <a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/" target="_blank"><b>Scrambler Marie's</b></a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>All Scrambler Marie's locations are open daily from 6.30am-3.00pm</i></td></tr>
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Tucked away in a little shopping area off Sancus Blvd, the Polaris location is one of seven in <a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/locations/columbus-ohio" target="_blank"><b>Columbus</b></a>, <b><a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/about-us" target="_blank">this family owned restaurant concept</a> </b>of which is <a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/locations" target="_blank"><b>spread throughout Ohio</b></a> and extends into <a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/locations/detroit-michigan" target="_blank"><b>metro Detroit</b></a>. Upon first glance and entry into the space, Scrambler Marie's reminds me of what I might generally categorise as a restaurant with a Midwestern pseudo-diner feel. It seems right off the bat that everyone's friendly and that diners have been coming here for years. I suppose "years" is all relative, in that the first location didn't open until after I was born, but a few decades of business have gone and past and it seems the franchise is as strong as ever. <br />
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I arrived first, was pleasantly greeted by the waitstaff, and then shown to the area which had been reserved by the manager. Amy, Steve, and the students arrived within a few minutes and when all was said and done, I had a fairly clear view looking into the restaurants. The small group of students broke off into even smaller groups, and already they seemed engaged in the assignment. From table etiquette to placing an order to eating and subsequently checking off their review rubric, it seemed unfailingly obvious to me at least that these students were clearly demonstrating what it means to learn through food.<br />
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As for my own order, my eyes were drawn to the <a href="http://www.scramblermaries.com/sites/default/files/13216_Scrambler_Lo.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Stuffed French Toast</b></a>, proclaimed on the menu as "famous." I asked our waitress, Brittany (who was friendly and ever-attentive), just how famous "famous" was, and after her affirmation of just how good they were, I felt comfortable ordering that. The seasonal mixture blending with the sweet cream cheese was strawberry, a concoction which seemed appetizing.<br />
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A reddish-pink plate eventually made its way to me, atop which sat the slices of French toast layered with the cream cheese mix. I would have hoped to say drizzled, but more so healthily piled, all over the toasts was something of an electric and intensely sweet red glaze, followed then by whipped topping. Certainly bonus points go toward interesting and vibrant colours (a refreshing departure indeed from the traditionally bland-looking, monochromatic palate of most breakfast fare). This being said, quite honestly I found the conglomeration a bit much and slightly off kilter from the quality, fresh-prep, made from scratch emphases printed on the back of the menu. In other words, what I tasted did not seem to match my level of expectations.<br />
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My biggest gripe of the entire dish was hands-down the glaze, where hues of breakfast browns were replaced by hues of reds. In addition to the already moist cream cheese layer (can one really say it's "stuffed"?), the glaze not only took down any savoury quality to the French toast, but together the cream cheese and glaze turned what little crisped, toasted bread there was (or had been) into a rather soggy, borderline gummy, series of bites. I found some tastes of textural contrast, but unfortunately too few for my liking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yeah, I need to lighten this photo a bit...</i></td></tr>
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On the other hand, much more praise I feel can be directed toward other aspects of the dish. Most obviously, the French toast (and really the entire menu) is economical and incredibly filling. Full orders of the griddle dishes (i.e., pancakes, waffles, and French toast), for example, are all "bottomless" and half orders of any of these are possible. There are many healthy options, too, and accommodations for particular allergies and restrictions are handled with care. A word to the wise: don't come to Scrambler Marie's having previously eaten (unless you plan to take leftovers or you <i>really </i>like to eat); the serving portions will fill you up without much problem. Though it seemed all of the students loved their food, I saw a few more leftovers on plates than I had expected for whatever reason. The service we received was also outstanding and incredibly personable, and if nothing else at the end of the experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the company and the overall atmosphere. Having said all of this, I would venture to Scrambler Marie's once more and give it another go. I just probably won't be ordering the French toast that time around.<br />
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A sincere thanks go to Amy for the invitation to join everyone at this final assignment review. To check out what the students have been learning throughout the semester and to read their blogs, click <a href="http://mrsburnsfcs.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> to view Amy's entries (the students' blogs are on the right-hand side under "Following").LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-80397002799009240102014-04-10T23:48:00.000-04:002014-04-14T15:25:43.118-04:00Happy First Birthday, Alfie's!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Evening greetings, foodies and food-consumers alike! Despite the handful of other restaurant experiences I know I need to write about, I feel compelled to jump ahead and share with you my experience this evening back in Granville, as this is obviously freshest on my mind. Tonight's attention is being duly paid to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AlfiesWholesomeFood" target="_blank"><b>Alfie's Wholesome Food</b></a>, which held its first birthday party today. Perhaps you may remember <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/04/restaurant-review-alfies-wholesome-food.html" target="_blank"><b>my blog post of Alfie's opening day last year</b></a>? Regardless if you ever read it, I expressed my hope then that Alfie's would be well established in Granville. By the looks of the crowd that descended upon East Broadway and behind the Robbins Hunter Museum, <a href="http://www.nacentralohio.com/new-locavore-restaurant-opens-in-granville/" target="_blank"><b>this locavore restaurant</b></a> certainly has. In addition to the opening of neighbouring Wisp Knitting Shop, there was certainly much for Chef/Owner Sam Dodge and his team, as well as Granvillians and visitors, to celebrate.<br />
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With over 60 folks (of the nearly 100 invited via Facebook) responding as participating in the event, I knew many more would be in attendance. To that end, I left OSU's campus right after my morning class and spent the day on Denison's campus, until 5pm-ish, when I headed down the Hill and grabbed a nearby parking spot.<br />
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I caught up briefly with Sam and started off the evening by taking photos and checking out the sampling menu as each item was being prepped in the Museum kitchen by Alfie's employee and COTC culinary student Jessica, and Sam's mom Pat, who told me she was there to specifically help out with this event.<br />
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In addition, and noting her own self-proclaimed bias, she added that Sam's food (put simply) is good. I unequivocally agree, emphasizing "good" not as a reductionist, comparative term but merely as a simple, straightforward fact, without need for further qualification or unnecessary adornment.<br />
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But hey, poetic flourishing and embellishment seem to be staples of this blog, no? With a glass of Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio (a special treat for the event) in hand (poured by Charlie, who also remembered me from last year's opening), let's start with the lemon bars. I feel like I could throw around the Oh.my.yums all over the place for this evening's tastings, but I'm going to reserve it for two dishes, these lemon bars being one of them.<br />
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Starting out with its buttery and flaky texture, the dough was clearly homemade and very well-seasoned. Biting into the lemon bar, the nuanced layer of sweet-but-not-too-sweet, coupled with its subtle lemon flavour and general lack of artificial tang, was utter perfection. Together, the dough had a gentle cookie-like texture which brought upon me a sense of childhood nostalgia for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Scout_Cookies" target="_blank"><b>the discontinued Lemon Drop Girl Scout Cookie</b></a>. I could sincerely eat the whole tray of them. Oh.my.yum.<br />
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By this point, Marilyn found me and together we tried two crostini. The first was topped with a refreshing egg salad which included classical French <i>fines herbes </i>(i.e., chervil, tarragon, parsley, and chives). [According to Sam, <span class="null">"These go especially well with the sweetness of egg dishes; try them on an omelette sometime!" (To which I'm replying with "I sure will!")] </span>Altogether, it had a great texture to complement its creaminess. <span class="null"></span>The second was topped with a savoury chicken salad made with apricot and toasted almonds, along with a sauce of <span class="null">Greek yogurt, paprika, and
basil. </span>The breads upon which all of this sat were well-toasted. Additionally, I found the saltiness of the bread upon first contact with my tongue to enhance the flavours of the salads themselves.<br />
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Up next was my second Oh.my.yum dish: an out-of-this-world, rich, creamy, and warm chicken pot pie. Among the highlights of the entire assembly was the puff pastry which Sam made from scratch. Seriously, who makes their own puff pastry?! (Okay, probably quite a few professionals, but still... I was nevertheless impressed.) In contrast to prepared, frozen puff pastry, the lack of uniformity is a clear giveaway, this "lack" actually being a good thing. The crust was airy and collapsed easily against the roof of the mouth, following the light crunch into the egg-washed dough. <a href="https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/p417x417/10171835_782727945123_7695014583974122148_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>As for the filling</b></a>, the individual components still had a slight bite to them and were thickened to the perfect consistency. As an individual sample size, I suppose it all could have been eaten as a chicken pot pie shot, but I instead went for trying the delicious puff pastry on its own first and then following up with the remaining contents.<br />
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It was at this time I finally got to meet Denison's current French TA, Pauline, a Parisian Master's student of philosophy who's here in the States until the end of the term. As timing would have it, she arrived at Alfie's as celebratory birthday cupcakes were being passed around. Golden brown and subtly caramelised on the outside, and light and moist on the inside, the cake itself was very well executed. This paired extremely well with the sweet, airy frosting, of which I ate in its entirety (I say this as someone who doesn't really like frosting to begin with). <br />
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The third crostini (and final hors d'<span class="st">œ</span>uvre) in the form of a tuna salad made its way to us, leaving behind arguably the most intriguing flavour profile on our palates (and I mean this in the best way possible). As someone who doesn't really like tuna (yes, I know I can get fairly picky, but I promise I'm getting better), I was absolutely won over with Sam's version. Concocted with a brightness from lemon and parsley, a crispness from crunchy celery, and a richness from the homemade mayonnaise (the same used in the other salads), the noticeable yet not overpowering flavour of cumin tied the entire dish together.<br />
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Following this taste, Marilyn needed to head home, at which point Pauline and I went to check out the museum that was adjacent to both Alfie's and Wisp. After our walk-through of the 1842 Greek revival building currently set to reflect the Granville residence in 1865, Pauline had her first introduction to mac 'n cheese. I suppose she should have started at an arguably lower level, but on the other hand, perhaps it's best to start out with something as great as what Alfie's offers. After having been to Alfie's a limited number of times, it seems as though I've tried most everything on the menu; one of the newer items is this aforementioned mac 'n cheese. The macaroni itself was cooked to tender, <i>al dente</i> perfection, and topped with a toasted crust full of flavour and crunch. Hands down the star of this $5 serving (more than enough for two semi-full individuals) was the creamy béchamel sauce made with cheddar and bleu cheese. Okay, I'm going to add a third Oh.my.yum here. It is here, too, that I'll end my food critique.<br />
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I should note, though, that rather than emphasizing seasonality, as originally desired, Sam's approach now at Alfie's is to be more so limited by seasonality, i.e., offering customer favourites until local supplies are no longer available. This said, Sam is still able to exercise his creativity by offering occassional specials throughout the year and as ingredients present themselves. I shall hope here that Sam and company have many more years ahead of them to continue to especially grow in this way.<br />
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There are many things I love about being a food and culture blogger, a
primary one being the challenge to offer (if nothing else) a slice of
whatever I previously tasted. Another reason, and arguably one of the most important ones for me,
is the networking I make with those on both sides of the kitchen-- from
the chefs to the servers to the diners themselves. In this blogger's
opinion, my limited, on-going foodie relationship with and support of
Sam and his Alfie's crew is an example of this. (I would--perhaps
selfishly--hope this is evident in all of my posts.) The opportunity to
dialogue about food with others (while eating a diverse array of
gastronomic delectables, of course) is one I highly value. If you're
actually reading this post, I want you to know that I appreciate your
taking the time to sit down and at least scan the experiences I've laid
out below. I originally began the cooking portions of this blog as a
means of conveying that anyone (especially students) can indeed cook
within limited parameters such as budget and space. From the restaurant
review side of things, this blog was nothing more than a means of
notetaking for my own sake. As I continue onward years later, I recognise greater meaning and purpose for this blog. I am also constantly amazed and touched that you and others such as yourself have any
interest in some part of my contribution to the Blogosphere, whether it
be the photos, the descriptions, the hyperlinked source materials, or
the chance to simply catch up with me. Sincerely, <i>merci</i>.<br />
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~ </div>
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Extended best wishes and thanks for this evening's event go to Sam and the folks who work at Alfie's. Special kudos go out to those whose farms Sam sources ingredients, as well as to Granville High School's Blue Steel band, Ron Emoff, and Denison's DUwop, who provided music for the party. For these and other photos from my evening in Granville, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.782723633763.1073741956.36203035&type=1&l=45e130a9f2" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. <i>Have you been to Alfie's Wholesome Food? What have you tried? And/Or conversely what would you like to try?</i> <i>Comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-12262402227002598762014-04-03T16:20:00.000-04:002014-04-03T16:27:30.711-04:00Quick Notes from the Short North: Arch City and Mac's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In my world of food, the opportunity to try out new recipes and restaurants is quite plentiful. And for those who know me well (as a food blogger, at least) know that I aim to use my blog (and how up-to-date I am with it) as a metric when it comes to accepting such opportunities for learning through food. Well, with the semester quickly winding down, I haven't done the best job keeping up with this thing and I certainly haven't stopped cooking and eating, as has hopefully been evident in my recent swing of catch-up posts. (If it's not evident yet, it should be in the next few days.) This being said, I wanted to make sure I include here my restaurant experiences at <a href="http://www.archcitytavern.com/" target="_blank"><b>Arch City Tavern</b></a> and <a href="http://www.macscafe.com/" target="_blank"><b>Mac's Café</b></a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1718516/restaurant/Short-North/Arch-City-Tavern-Columbus" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Arch City Tavern on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1718516/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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In mid-March, the newest group of incoming anthropology fellowship recipients came to visit the department [as an aside, I can't believe it's been a year since I was in their shoes]. On the evening prior to their campus tour, they met with other graduate students at Arch City Tavern (862 N High St). The bar, <a href="http://www.columbuscrave.com/content/stories/2013/03/openings-arch-city-tavern.html" target="_blank"><b>which opened a bit over a year ago</b></a>, has been named as "<a href="http://drinkupcolumbus.com/2013/03/19/arch-city-tavern/" target="_blank"><b>definitively 'Columbus'</b></a>," its name referencing the city's Arch City nickname from yesteryear (1888). I eventually joined everyone there after class with little anticipation on trying out their food menu. It doesn't take much to break me down apparently, and so I asked the server if they're particularly known for anything. With very little hesitation he named one dish: the Lobster Mac 'n Cheese.<br />
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If the above plate is any indication, I hands-down absolutely loved this dish, and would certainly go back for a few more plates. The macaroni was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of <i>al dente</i>-ness. And I find it difficult to fathom not liking anything smothered in a smoked gouda béchamel. Add in some tender lobster meat and oh.my.yum. This being said, Arch City's <a href="http://www.archcitytavern.com/food_menu.html" target="_blank"><b>crafted menu</b></a> appears to have many a fine offering, especially one which seemingly pairs well with its crafted drink list (<a href="http://www.archcitytavern.com/beer_menu.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.archcitytavern.com/spirits_menu.html" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>).<i> My quick take: a return to Arch City seems inevitable.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/371489/restaurant/Short-North/Macs-Cafe-Columbus"><img alt="Mac's Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/371489/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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The following day, Brianne and I walked up and down High St trying to figure out what to eat for lunch. After one too many minutes spent making a decision, the impulse reaction was invoked and we settled on Mac's Café (693 N High St), which <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mac%27s+Cafe/@39.976576,-83.003564,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x88388ed78b589593:0xd54741525baeaafb" target="_blank"><b>Google maps</b></a> describes as a "Scottish spot for American pub grub."<br />
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We began with glasses of Crispin Cider, which was perhaps not the best way to start off our experience there (or mine at least anyway). Its pale, light, watered-down taste is undoubtedly one of my least favourite cidres of them all.<br />
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But, bring on the pub food and we're more or less good to go. Brianne got the Breaded [deep-fried] Chicken sandwich which was served on a toasted sub bun. As you can see above, it came with an inordinate amount of fries. Upon first look, they seemed a bit undercooked (or at least under-developed in terms of colour). Upon first taste, there really wasn't much there, as it seemed to lack any sense of seasoning.<br />
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As for me, I got the Chicken Salad sandwich which, given my more recent meals of fried and/or cheesy (not that there's anything wrong with either of those), tasted refreshing and filling without being incredibly heavy. Speaking of cheese, I did find it a bit strange to find shredded cheese in this chicken salad mix (especially as it didn't add much in terms of flavour), though I can say I loved the addition of sweet green peas to replace the sweetness I'd expect from grapes. In terms of grapes, a bowl of them was a side option, which in retrospect I wish I had gotten instead of the mac 'n cheese. Overall, the chicken salad was more than an enough to fill me up, overflowing at times to the point of needing my knife and fork. <i>My quick take: this one seems to be rather hit-or-miss.</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-13912188274148914752014-04-03T14:27:00.001-04:002014-04-03T14:27:51.374-04:00Epic Food Day #2: Cleveland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p71OVL2hAGnmf9MwN1nQhCrv0KiXlQUxMo6RM7E2iR5sKDUGkzzU335caYeeLQI4suUMr8kVfAeyVJ-7iCAYMwPpHykippUvnu4ffo20nBXaEjz-rr-K0UqxzWTgRYIy25h9IpLuoBNi/s1600/cleveland1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p71OVL2hAGnmf9MwN1nQhCrv0KiXlQUxMo6RM7E2iR5sKDUGkzzU335caYeeLQI4suUMr8kVfAeyVJ-7iCAYMwPpHykippUvnu4ffo20nBXaEjz-rr-K0UqxzWTgRYIy25h9IpLuoBNi/s1600/cleveland1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last month, Brianne and I went on an epic food day journey to <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/03/epic-food-day-1-pittsburgh-part-1.html" target="_blank"><b>Pittsburgh</b></a>. Just a few weeks later, we ventured about two and a half hours northeast to <span class="st"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland" target="_blank"><b>Cleveland</b></a>, </span>the county seat of <span class="st">Cuyahoga County (the most populous county in Ohio), to get a sampling of its culinary offerings. In addition to checking out the <a href="http://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/Zoo/Zoo.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Cleveland Metroparks Zoo</b></a> and <a href="http://www.clevelandart.org/" target="_blank"><b>Cleveland Museum of Art</b></a>, a fair amount of equal time was spent at Cleveland's oldest publicly owned market--<a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/" target="_blank"><b>West Side Market</b></a>--and <a href="http://clevelandchop.com/" target="_blank"><b>Cleveland Chop</b></a>, both of which are reviewed in this post.</span><br />
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<span class="st">According to <a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/1976981_777366624253_1037584410_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>a historical marker</b></a>, West Side Market "continues to offer a culturally diverse shopping experience," the visual diversity being clearly on display as we took our first steps inside. </span>Located along Market Ave and W 24th St, two packed pathways of vendors and their fresh produce<span class="st"> </span>are situated in a giant L, which surrounds the main, interior stalls of proteins, baked goods, prepared foods, and the like. Had we not been hours away from Columbus (or more likely had I been ready)<span class="st"></span>, I definitely would have spent quite a bit more time in the chilly Cleveland market air.<br />
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And with that, we happened upon the entrance to the main portion of West Side Market (the overall configuration of which isn't all that dissimilar to Cincinnati's Finlay Market or even Columbus's North Market).<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/16/1602370/restaurant/Ohio-City/Frickaccios-Pizza-Market-Cleveland"><img alt="Frickaccio's Pizza Market on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1602370/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Hungry from the drive, and quickly nearing noon, one of our first stops was at <a href="http://www.frickaccios.com/" target="_blank"><b>Frickaccio's Pizza Market</b></a>, where Manager Pam Cramer (above right) served up some deliciously warm pizza bagels (or more simply, "pizzagels"; 3 for $5). Doughy, unabashedly cheesy, and with just the right amount of sauce, these pizzagels are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_bagel" target="_blank"><b>truly an original</b></a> worth experiencing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/16/777238/restaurant/Ohio-City/Crepes-De-Luxe-Cleveland"><img alt="Crepes De Luxe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/777238/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Following our self-guided walking tour, we made our way back to <a href="http://www.crepesdeluxe.com/" target="_blank"><b>Crêpes de Luxe</b></a>, located right beside City Roast Coffee and Tea, for lunch. Inspired by the "street style" crêpes of Paris, two crêpe griddles accompanied by wooden batter spreaders added to the sense of authenticity to the experience, as did the ingredient combinations and menu jargon (though, I feel compelled to call out the slight inconsistency in accent marking). <br />
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Brianne got a Citron Crème sweet crêpe ($5), filled with a tangy (not too tart and not overtly sweet) lemon curd and smooth honey mascarpone. On the other side of the spectrum, I went with a Smoked Salmon savoury crêpe ($7), complete with a generous serving of sliced smoked salmon, a little too generous-for-my-liking serving of spinach (in addition to taste, too much of the spinach liquid was trapped in the crêpe, making the whole thing a bit soggy), and just the right drizzle of crème fraîche. As seen in the above left photo, it was also finished off with capers. Overall, while both crêpes had their fair share of excess filling, they were nevertheless tasty and filled us just enough to make it to dinner time.<br />
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Plus, you can't quite compete with enjoying the great overhead view of the layout of the market scene, no?<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/16/201073/restaurant/Warehouse-District/Cleveland-Chop-Cleveland"><img alt="Cleveland Chop on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/201073/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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For dinner, Brianne and I eventually found a plethora of open restaurants in the downtown area periphery bounded by W St Clair Ave, W 6th St, Frankfort Ave, and W 9th St. The lightly falling rain served as inspiration to make a quick decision and in the end we went with Cleveland Chop for one of my favourite meals in recent memory.<br />
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Starting off with drinks (why not?), I got a glass of the smoothly crisp <a href="http://www.sippitysup.com/2011-gentil-hugel-alsace/" target="_blank"><b>Gentil "Hugel"</b></a> ($8.5), an Alsatian blend coming from Alsace, France, whereas Brianne went with the Veranda ($9), a sharp and dangerously sweet blend of fresh strawberry, lemon vodka, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/st-germain-liqueur_n_1590006.html" target="_blank"><b>St. Germain</b></a>.<br />
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As if I didn't already fall in love with this place, our server brought over a small cast iron skillet of jalapeño corn bread topped with butter melting under the bread's warmth. Structurally sound, yet incredibly light, this was a perfect complement to our day of food and the meal which awaited us.<br />
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Slathered with the brightness of lemon and the richness of butter, a plate of Chicken Piccata ($17) made its way to Brianne. Also presented were sun dried tomato, asparagus, <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-caperberries.htm" target="_blank"><b>caperberry</b></a>, lemon butter (of course), and a healthy serving of mashed potatoes.<br />
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Seafood Fettuccine ($18), a customer favourite according to our server, made its way to me, and I took it all in without any sense of regret. Generous portions of shrimp, scallops, and mussels intermingled wonderfully with the chiffonaded basil-topped spinach fettuccine adorned with sundried tomato and roasted garlic cream.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Oh.my.yum</i></td></tr>
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With our stomachs full, and a relatively long drive ahead of us, we passed on dessert and made our way back to Columbus, ready for the next epic food day that awaits us.<br />
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For these and other photos, including those from our visits to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Cleveland Museum of Art, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.777366534433.1073741952.36203035&type=1&l=9b25c1220a" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-57450819141402419712014-03-31T23:10:00.000-04:002014-03-31T23:10:29.548-04:00Another Ambitious Menu: Cooking Lamb for 40+<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Greetings, "Learning through Food" readers! I feel an apology is in order (if not for you, at least for me), regarding my recent pause on keeping up with this blog. The semester is quickly winding down here on campus, meaning my available free time to write is becoming much more limited by the day. This said, it's events such as the one I'm about to share with you that help me get centered, to take a break from the academics and take on an intellectual experience of a different sort. The challenge--had I chosen to accept it--was not to recreate as close as possible the first initiatory banquet menu (1906) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (<a href="http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/alpha/" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://bgl.precedenceonline.com/history_apa.asp" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>). Rather, it was to do so with a low-cost budget for an unspecified number of guests (though we were aiming for somewhere in the 40-person range), bearing in mind lack of on-site kitchen facilities and the main protein being lamb. Thankfully, I received the call about two weeks in advance and the dinner itself would take place during spring break. And so, <u>challenge accepted</u>. On the menu of which I was responsible: 1st course: selected cheese and crackers; 2nd course: creamy tomato soup, with salted wafers; 3rd course: shrimp salad on endive lettuce and broiled lamb chops, with wild apple jelly, green peas, mashed potatoes and dinner rolls; 4th course: chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache; and 5th course: Neapolitan ice cream with lady fingers.<br />
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Perhaps the greatest challenge facing me was figuring out how to keep the lamb loin chops (<a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/A-Guide-to-Lamb-Cuts" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.mealsforyou.com/cgi-bin/customize?meatcutslamb.html" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>) warm without having them be overcooked by the time they had to be plated. The eventual decision was to cook the chops last and keep them warm in an insulating bag. To that end,<b> </b>and knowing I'd also need oven space later to keep other dishes warm, I began tackling this menu by cooking 2.5 batches (to be baked in two 13"x9" and one 10"x8" dishes) of <a href="https://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=184&name=HERSHEY%27S-PERFECTLY-CHOCOLATE-Chocolate-Cake" target="_blank"><b>Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake</b></a>, with my standard substitution of additional baking powder to replace the baking soda. I needed these cooled before I could think of frosting them, and so I made sure these were complete and baked before heading out to get to Church. <br />
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When I got back, next up was my take on creamy tomato soup, the entire pot of which would eventually go into a insulating bag. In the ideal world, I'd start this thing from scratch with fresh tomatoes, but with time against me, I went the way of the organic and canned. After browning one 6-oz can of tomato paste at medium heat, I added four 28-oz cans of sliced stewed tomatoes, and cranked up the heat to medium high to bring up the tomatoes to a slow simmer. (Leading up to that point, you should see wisps of smoke.)<br />
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At that point, I used my immersion blender to break down the tomatoes, and get the (now) soup to a thick yet relatively smooth consistency. To this was then added another 6-oz can of tomato paste, as well as two more 28-oz cans of sliced stewed tomatoes, blending everything together which each addition. The final additions to this were two cups of heavy cream. With a final whir of the immersion blend, I reduced the heat to low, salt and peppered it to taste, and left the soup alone to simmer uncovered, stirring every now and then for about two hours or so (probably a 5% reduction overall).<br />
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As the soup was going, I peeled and boiled five pounds of russet potatoes in salted water. Once sufficiently boiled (i.e., easily pierceable with a knife and falling apart), I pressed them through my potato ricer into a foil tray, added six tablespoons of unsalted butter, 1/2 c heavy cream, and salt and pepper to taste. This immediately got tin foiled and then placed in the oven which was heated at the lowest possible setting. By this point, Brianne arrived and helped me out the rest of the day, beginning with finishing off the second batch (another five pounds) of russet potato peeling and boiling.<br />
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With the potatoes nearing completion, I defrosted five bags of frozen cooked salad shrimp (100-200/lb count); for future reference, I think just three of these bags would be plenty sufficient. For this combined recipe derived from <a href="http://southernfood.about.com/od/shrimpsaladrecipes/r/bl30107z.htm" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a> and <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/shrimp-salad-119096" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a>, Brianne prepped the remaining ingredients: juicing four large lemons, petite dicing 1/2 bunch celery (about 2 cups' worth), thinly slice 2 bunches of green onions, and dicing 5 Roma tomatoes. All of these were then bagged/containered and placed in an ice-filled cooler for transport, to be constructed on-site.<br />
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While Brianne worked on the shrimp salad ingredients, I heated up a total of 3/4 c heavy cream. Once wisps of smoke could be seen (prior to the edges simmering), I turned off the heat and added a total of 1.5 12-oz bags dark chocolate chips (apprx. 3 cups). Slowly stirring everything, the ganache came together into a lusciously smooth concoction. This lot was then divided up and spread among the three cakes.<br />
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Once the cakes were tin foiled and readied for transport, I got a large pot of salted water boiling, to which I then added six small bags (next time, three, if not two, bags should suffice) of frozen green peas. After about 12-15 minutes, carefully stirring the lot to ensure heat distribution, I transferred these into a foil tray, added a total of three tablespoons of unsalted butter, and salt and pepper to taste. This then got tin-foiled and put off to the side.<br />
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Around 3pm, I prepped two baking sheets by covering them with tin foil and lightly coating them with vegetable oil. I then took the 40 lamb loin chops out of the refrigerator (Erik mentioned there may be a few more showing up, and so Brianne also got 6 lamb rib chops, for which I prepared a third sheet). The oven was set to broil, and as it heated up, I salt-and-peppered each chop.<br />
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The first side got broiled for about 8-10 minutes, flipped, and then broiled on the second side for another 5-8 minutes, until just resistant to the touch. Once cooked, I transferred the chops between foil trays (two layers for each), tin foiled them, and placed immediately into an insulating bag.<br />
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When the lamb was put away, I added all of the pan drippings to a sauce pot and added a 32-oz of low sodium chicken stock, bringing this to a rapid boil. In the meantime, I whipped together 3T all-purpose flour and 3T room-temp butter (microwave for 5-10 seconds, if needed to soften) into a <a href="http://southernfood.about.com/od/saucesandseasonings/a/roux-recipes.htm" target="_blank"><b><i>beurre manié</i> (as compared to a blonde roux</b></a>; it should look something like <a href="https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/1981780_780721535983_2062238274_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a>) and added it to the pan to cook with the <i>jus</i>. As this boiled away, I brought the oven heat to low and warmed up four 12-count dinner roll packages (one package per foil tray), as well as the potatoes and peas. Given my time constraints, it was time to pack everything else up and head over to the event site, by which point I was only able to let the <i>jus</i> reduce about 10-15%.<br />
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Once on-site and everything unloaded from my car, Brianne, Erik, a few others, and I, set everything up and got to work throughout the evening plating each of the dishes. (As an aside: we had a few dishes going with Sternos, but eventually shut the heat off because they started to burn the food.)<br />
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First up were the cheese and cracker plates, for which I selected smoked gouda, smoked mozzarella, white cheddar, and brie to be served alongside an assortment of butter crackers and crackers with dried fruits and nuts.<br />
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As the first course was underway, with the plates being passed around in the other room, we ladled and portioned enough soup for just over 40. To finish each bowl, I added a light touch of heavy cream, chiffonaded fresh basil, and freshly grounded black pepper. Saltines, it should be noted, were served alongside the soup.<br />
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With course two out of the way, I quickly put together the shrimp salad, mixing Brianne's prepped ingredients with half a jar of mayonnaise. I also gave four avocados a rough chop and added these to about a third of the lemon juice. This was served atop a small spoonful of the shrimp salad, which itself was served on a (Belgian) <a href="http://endive.com/how-to-pronounce-endive" target="_blank"><b>endive leaf</b></a>. Plated across this was a serving of green peas (the entire tray of which was monumentally more than what we needed), and between the two at noon a scoop of mashed potatoes (the two trays I had were more than enough).<br />
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Missing from the plate above, but nevertheless across from the potato scoop was placed a dinner roll which was still relatively warm. On the centre of the plate was its star-- the lamb, which turned out to not only be warm, but perfectly cooked. A small dab of apple jelly topped off the lamb, before spooning on some of the still-warm <i>jus</i>. <br />
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Course three's completion marked the easy plating prep for our final food courses, in the form of dessert. The chocolate cake was presented first and cut into richly dense wedges completed with dark chocolate chips to decorate. <br />
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Finally, the Neapolitan ice cream--which I left in the cooler the whole time and which also happened to be produced in Ohio--was in the perfect condition to scoop. A single lady finger accompanied each bowl, and with the final placement, dinner service--a marathon endeavour so it seemed over the course of 120-odd minutes--and now this post were over. Until then, and into the future, who knows what culinary adventures await? For these and additional photos, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.780720962133.1073741954.36203035&type=1&l=b0607502d7" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-61660703272944941232014-03-13T23:59:00.000-04:002015-05-06T18:51:34.368-04:00Epic Food Day #2: Pittsburgh (part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last month, one of my foodie friends and food anthropology colleagues, Lisa, informed me of an event that I just could not see myself passing up. For this March 1st event (opened to the public, though in large part a gathering of chefs and folks linked in some way to the food service sector), the <b><a href="http://www.acfpittsburgh.org/" target="_blank">Pittsburgh chapter</a></b> of the <b><a href="http://www.acfchefs.org/" target="_blank">American Culinary Federation</a></b> would be holding its <b><a href="http://acfpittsburgh.org/wordpress/?page_id=521" target="_blank">annual award dinner</a></b> at the prestiguous (and exclusive) <b><a href="http://www.duquesne.org/" target="_blank">Duquesne Club</a></b>, from which many chefs have excelled in their craft [e.g., <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/life/food/2011/08/18/TV-victory-on-Top-Chef-Just-Desserts-would-be-sweet-for-local-chef-Orlando-Santos/stories/201108180361" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">1</a> and <b><a href="http://www.acfpittsburgh.org/profiles/hurlbert.pdf" target="_blank">2</a></b>]. The menu (upon which at first glance I'm sure I started to drool over) looked incredibly impressive, and Lisa assured me it would be absolutely amazing. With the reservations made shortly thereafter, and following <b><a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/03/epic-food-day-1-pittsburgh-part-1.html" target="_blank">a fun-filled foodie first part of the day with Brianne</a></b>, here's my recap of what I can safely say is my second favourite meal ever (following <b><a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/08/colmar-partie-ii.html" target="_blank">this one</a></b>, of course).<br />
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The black tie optional gathering was entirely appropriate for the Duquesne Club, the opening gathering of which, just past the registration table and through a small hallway, was adorned with three beautiful ice carvings by Dean Tozzi. Brianne and I were perched in a far corner of the room in direct sight
of all the food prep, with everyone plating with precision, speed, and
steely concentration. On the other side of the curtains, we were in prime ethnographic position to also survey those who arrived throughout the hour. But perhaps most importantly, we were primed and ready to check out the plates full of cleanly presented hors d'œuvres which were passed around by the knowledgeable and friendly waitstaff. <br />
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I was perhaps a mixture of both excited and hungry so much so that I failed to take a photo of my first hors d'œuvre-- smoked shrimp, which I enjoyed without the spicy cocktail sauce. Thankfully for the blog's sake if nothing else, I did quickly regain my composure and asked to take a photo of the other plates prior to trying each work of art. The Asian duck bbq atop a steamed bun topped even further with pickled vegetables and Thai basil was definitely one of the evening's standout hors d'œuvres, as evidenced in my book by the second helpings I had. The bun was doughy without overpowering the duck and the veg added brightness and texture to the more calculated, heavier components.<br />
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Also served on its own individual spoon was a <a href="http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-medjool-dates.htm%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>Medjool date</b></a> wrapped up in a slice of pickled carrot and topped with an orange yogurt sauce and cilantro. Amongst an outstanding selection of hors d'œuvres, this was not one of my second helping favourites; nevertheless, the meatiness of the date alone made it a worthwhile taste. The third served-on-a-spoon dish (which happened to be the one which made the most sense I thought to serve on a spoon) consisted of a chilled poached <a href="http://www.foodista.com/food/3ZPS8DW2/kumamoto-oyster" target="_blank"><b>Kumamoto oyster</b></a> topped by a small sliver of grapefruit and mint, swimming in a small pool of gin and its juices, and finished by what looked to me like pink peppercorns. Its milder taste (in comparison to others) made sufficient room for the other components of this dish to shine.<br />
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One look at the plate of mini bowls, followed by the look on my face by the sight of them, must have been priceless, especially when considering what was being served: <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100778147%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>Meyer</b></a> lobster risotto. Also joining that party were licorice greens and <a href="http://mikuni.myshopify.com/products/northern-divine-caviar" target="_blank"><b>certified organic</b></a> <a href="http://www.northerndivine.com/" target="_blank"><b>Northern Divine caviar</b></a> (read <a href="http://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/summer-2012/fyi-food-sechelts-northern-divine" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a>, too). Rich, creamy, and without any hint of overpowering seafood, this was by far my favourite hors d'œuvre.<br />
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From what I considered the best to what may perhaps have been the least successful for me, the tuna carpaccio was at least well-plated. Here, I'd like to acknowledge the following: I'm not the biggest fan of tuna or Asian flavours (or at least, I don't jump toward them immediately), and so to have both on the same plate made this one an unfortunate miss. Sitting atop the carpaccio was an unfamiliar take on ratatouille, which was finished off by a basil seed vinaigrette and squid ink aioli. The result was a strangely mono-textual mash that I didn't entirely care for.<br />
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What I did care for was the final passed hors d'œuvre, a healthy chunk of fried pork belly which rounded out my top three favourites of the hour. Sitting a top a bed of creamy savoy cabbage, the pork belly was finished with a sweet tomato glaze and topped with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matignon_%28cuisine%29" target="_blank"><b>matignon</b></a>.<br />
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With our palates whetted, the announcement was made to head up to the second floor banquet room for dinner service. Upon entering the charming room and finding my way to our table, my eyes immediately caught sight of the centrepieces. As you may be able to tell in <a href="https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/1922077_774387903633_238667155_n.jpg?oh=e1286bb5ec15f4634d5d08d89eb22e9a&oe=55D3F03E" target="_blank"><b>this photo</b></a>, they were red-themed and included roses, daisies, chrysanthemums (I think), beetroot, rhubarb, and strawberries. The tables themselves were arranged rather compactly in the centre of the room spreading outward, with a podium and screen to the front, and silent auction items in the back benefitting the <a href="http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/259019/Foust-William.php" target="_blank"><b>Chef William Foust</b></a> Educational Scholarship.<br />
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Following the introductory remarks and invocation, the meal and principal cause for our journey to Pittsburgh began with spicy turtle gumbo. Cooked <a href="http://southernfood.about.com/od/cajuncuisine/a/Creole-And-Cajun-Cookery.htm" target="_blank"><b>creole-style</b></a>, the finely chopped turtle meat melded beautifully with the textures and flavours of the deep broth and its ingredients. It had a slight heat to it which hit the back of my throat and paired nicely with the warm corn bread made with chopped jalapeño. Though somewhat dry, the corn bread was great for sopping up the gumbo, and the goat's milk butter which was incredibly light, whipped, and sweet lightened the overall density of the bread.<br />
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In terms of textures, flavours, and colours, our second course really got things going for me. From left to right, a fabulously firm <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noisette" target="_blank"><b>noisette</b></a> of <a href="http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/types-fish-00400000041660/" target="_blank"><b>Pacific halibut</b></a> (sourced from Philadelphia-based <a href="http://www.samuelsandsonseafood.com/" target="_blank"><b>Samuel and Sons Seafood</b></a>) was topped off by a rich truffle-salmon mousseline (<a href="http://ruhlman.com/2009/07/mousseline/" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1992-06-11/food/fo-49_1_seafood-mousseline" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>) that added some toothiness to the perfectly flaky fish; a mélange of crisp sautéed radish and asparagus, and well cooked yet borderline waxy beech mushrooms, were tasty but in great need of the <a href="http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/gooseberry.html" target="_blank"><b>gooseberries</b></a> which somehow missed my plate (I did try a few and found them to be warm while adding a citric brightness that would have contrasted against the overall meatiness of the mushrooms); and the one component of the entire menu I was most nervous about, the <a href="http://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/how-make-persillade-your-parsley" target="_blank"><b>persillade</b></a>-topped pressed veal sweetbreads were texturally difficult for me to fully enjoy on its own but nevertheless tasted much better than I anticipated. Beneath these dishes were a thick celeriac purée and hands down one of the best sauces I've ever tasted: a lemon-dill <a href="http://www.chefs.edu/Student-Life/Culinary-Central/December-2011/How-To-Make-Beurre-Blanc" target="_blank"><b>beurre blanc</b></a>. Oh.my.yum. [Served with this course was a glass of <a href="http://estanciawines.com/artisan-wines/contemporary/unoaked-chardonnay/" target="_blank"><b>2011 Estancia California Unoaked Chardonnay</b></a>.]<br />
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From that beurre blanc onward, the meal was especially unforgettable. Our third course was presented in a bowl and upon first glance looked to be rather meager and humble in contrast to everything that had been served thus far. With one bite though, it was evident this salad was much more complicated, technical, and composed than my initial judgement suggested. The winter greens were lightly dressed with a ginger lime vinaigrette and paired well with each of the other ingredients in the bowl. My favourite of the lot was without question the <a href="http://www.murrayscheese.com/blog/the-story-of-torus-our-newest-cavemaster-reserve-cheese/" target="_blank"><b>Vermont Cavemaster Torus</b></a>, a rich, creamy, and relatively subtle goat cheese that matched the earthiness of the roasted beet. Compressed and fresh pear, as well as the insane combination of dehydrated and fresh mandarin (the former being referred to as "mandarin crunch"), balanced out the bitter and salty notes of the salad, the latter of which was made more texturally interesting by way of candied pistachios.<br />
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As if the meal to this point couldn't get any better, our final savoury course arrived. Placed in front of me was a rich, deep-coloured sauce which I immediately read as something of perfection that was about to be consumed. Sitting in the center of that sauce was a <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A9pinette_%28cuisine%29" target="_blank"><b>crépinette</b></a> (a form of sausage held together pre-cooking by caul fat) of <a href="https://purebredlamb.com/" target="_blank"><b>Elysian Fields</b></a> (Waynesburg, PA) lamb loin and <a href="http://thegreatmorel.com/" target="_blank"><b>morels</b></a>. The meat was perfectly cooked, tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Dipped into the natural <a href="http://www.chefs.edu/Student-Life/Culinary-Central/May-2012/How-To-Make-A-Demi-Glace" target="_blank"><b>demi-glace</b></a>, it was utterly fantastic. In addition to the meat were a medley of <a href="http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/643147" target="_blank"><b>haricot vert</b></a>, heirloom carrot, turnip, and caramelised romanesco (<a href="http://parade.condenast.com/23643/linzlowe/what-the-heck-is-romanesco-and-how-do-you-cook-it/" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="https://www.fourmilab.ch/images/Romanesco/" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>), which accompanied a great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e46YG6dSJQ" target="_blank"><b>boulanger potato</b></a>. [Served with this course was a glass of <a href="http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/Our-Wines/Napa-Valley-Wines/Pinot-Noir" target="_blank"><b>Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir</b></a>.]<br />
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It is at this moment I realised this meal was my second favourite, a <i>déja vu</i> kind of experience that <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/08/colmar-partie-ii.html" target="_blank"><b>brought me back to Colmar</b></a>. Back in 2011, I gained an understanding of what it could mean for food to be considered artwork, presented in most cases on an otherwise blank, white plate (read: canvase). The focus of some of the best dishes I have ever tasted were not necessarily the principal characters of the plate, but rather the supporting cast in the form of the sauce(s). These are the chef's paints, and it is my firm belief that the sign of a great plate of food is one in which you feel resistance to lick the sauce off the plate. Of course, that's not the most polite, formal, or well-manered thing you could do, but proper <a href="http://gofrance.about.com/od/culture/a/tablemanners.htm" target="_blank"><b>etiquette</b></a> (and yes, I know that's sincerely contextual) permits you to do so by placing a piece of bread on the tines of your fork and mopping things up with that. Coincidentally, I claim, it seems you've created a faux paint brush of sorts, and as you move about the sauces, you're creating your own form of artwork through the act of removing from rather than adding to. The end result, if all goes well, is a clean plate, i.e., a clean canvas, which in turn symbolizes your readiness for the next great piece of gastronomic art to makes its way to your palate.<br />
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Well, wait no longer. The first of two major art pieces made its way as the conclusion of the main dinner service, in the form of a contained explosion of temperatures, textures, techniques, and of course flavours. The obvious focal point of the plate was a dark chocolate pineapple croquant, a dessert layered with caramelized pineapple, chocolate cheese cake, and crème fraîche ganache. To its right was a contrastingly bright blood orange sorbet, and at the center was a fresh raspberry atop an amazing passion fruit gel. I'm going to end this one with an Oh.my.yum, and move on. [Served with this course was a glass of <a href="http://www.sandeman.com/homepage/en" target="_blank"><b>Sandeman</b></a> Tawny Porto.]<br />
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Following the presentation of the awards and recognition of the cook and wait staffs, the sixth course in the form of assorted petit fours (also individually and collectively referred to as a <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-mignardise.htm" target="_blank"><b>mignardise</b></a>): grapefruit caramel tart, almond raspberry frangipane, milk chocolate grand marnier truffle, and three awesome ones I tried-- blackberry lime pâte de fruit, petite Duqesne Club macaroon, and chocolate nougat kiss.<br />
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With all of this said, I would like to wrap up my commentary on our Pittsburgh trip with a notation of gratitude. Many thanks go out to the chefs and everyone behind the scenes in the kitchen, led by Executive Chef Keith Coughenour, and the wait staff and all those serving on the floor. Thanks, too, to Lisa for informing me about the event, and herein a special shout-out to Cynthia for all her work in organising the event, as well as to everyone at our table who helped make this a memorable experience. For these and other photos, including from <b><a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/03/epic-food-day-1-pittsburgh-part-1.html" target="_blank">the first part of our visit to Pittsburgh</a></b>, click <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.774385817813.1073741951.36203035&type=1&l=89ff29b1a5" target="_blank">here</a></b>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-47526980370636402652014-03-06T17:03:00.000-05:002014-03-07T14:12:08.414-05:00Epic Food Day #1: Pittsburgh (part 1)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>By the end of our visit to the Strip District, John was just as cheerful as when we first met him earlier that day.</i></td></tr>
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Have you ever been witness to a day when you knew it was going to be wonderfully amazing, enjoyable, and beyond any sensible reconstruction of words that just wouldn't seem to do justice to your experiences? Perhaps the term you might anticipate using at some point is "epic." I suppose from my lens epic-ness is an all-too-familiar concept applicable in my world of food, but without a doubt my trip with Brianne last weekend was nothing less than that. For reasons that will be much clearer in part 2 of this epic food day
post, Brianne and I made our way over to Pittsburgh (hopefully the first
of many more sites in the future), a drive that only took us about
three hours to complete. She had never been, and I had visited just once
prior (somehow over three years ago); still there was an interesting
familiarity in the air, as if nothing has since changed. As we
eventually learned from John (pictured above, making sure to have worn his "funny hat" [his words, not mine]) at the end of our trip
throughout <a href="http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/" target="_blank"><b>the Strip District</b></a>, the main focus of this post, quite a bit has changed in terms of developing this part of the city. What has remained consistent in the past 35 years or so is the downtown foodie destination that is "The Strip," a historic conglomeration of <a href="http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/thestrip/thestrip.html" target="_blank"><b>retail produce and ethnic food stores, restaurants and coffee shops</b></a>. Without a doubt, our time ahead was not to be merely epic, which in itself crams too many words and emotions into four little letters. To quote John, who has worked at the Pittsburgh Public Parking site (21st and Smallman St) for the past 35 years or so, the first half of our day in Pittsburgh was everything he'd hoped it would be for us, summarised in five (okay, technically six) letters: "a blast!"<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1467607/restaurant/Strip-District/Peace-Love-Little-Donuts-Pittsburgh"><img alt="Peace, Love & Little Donuts on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1467607/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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During my previous visit to Pittsburgh and The Strip, one of my first stops was at a locale called <a href="http://www.peaceloveandlittledonuts.com/" target="_blank"><b>Peace, Love & Little Donuts</b></a> (2018 Smallman St), the location of which I associated with St. Stanislaus Church. En route to finding a parking spot (i.e., eventually at Pittsburgh Public Parking), I caught sight of the church and at that moment I knew we'd need to start out the day with fried dough. As we passed by John, cheerful as ever, I started to smell the cornucopia of flavours that awaited us a short two blocks away. Heading closer, the smells of Peace, Love & Little Donuts filled the air, the anticipation of introducing Brianne to this food scene becoming unabashedly apparent. A sign caught our eyes as we neared the tiny shop: "<a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1620898_774386516413_1624842723_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Featured Donut: Maple Bacon</b></a>".<b> </b><br />
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Well, that certainly took care of our first choice of six, as pictured above. Freshly made (and by made, I mean fried) right before customers' very eyes, these small, five- (or arguably two-) bite donuts are coated with truly appealing combinations, including but not limited to (clockwise from <a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/1959738_774386546353_628687090_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>the maple bacon donut</b></a> at 11:30-ish): Oreo, lemon strawberry, chocolate sprinkle, caramel macchiato, and cinnamon in the centre. With crisp and tasty exteriors, and airy and filling interiors, these relatively-expensive treats are all about the experience for me.<br />
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The donuts also served as a great starter course to our day of dining, the next stop of which was located just around two corners and suggested by one of my greatest foodie friends Tony (who I visited with my sister, Toni, the last time I was in Pittsburgh): <a href="http://www.reynafoods.com/" target="_blank"><b>Reyna Foods</b></a> (2031 Penn Ave), Pittsburgh's premier Mexican grocery store (not to be confused by <a href="http://www.reynafoods.com/content/casa-reyna" target="_blank"><b>Casa Reyna</b></a> located just next door and downstairs). Immediately, the smells of the outdoor stand just outside the store hit me, triggering a whole bunch of somethings in my <a href="http://users.ipfw.edu/abbott/120/hungersatiety.html" target="_blank"><b>lateral hypothalamus</b></a>. After taking a quick stroll through the grocery selections, we went back outside and ordered some tacos for course two.<br />
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From right to left (just because), Brianne got a chicken taco, I got the pastor taco, and we split the beef barbacoa tacos. Starting with the foundation, the authentic slant of doubling up on the corn tortillas definitely added to the overall taste and texture of each taco [<a href="http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/take-two-flour-corn-tortillas-00400000037614/" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/792174" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>]. They also seemed to valiantly attempt to hold the abundance of food piled on top (that, or I just couldn't figure out how to eat them quickly enough without forgetting to savour each bite). The chicken taco was moist and tender, with a subtle, almost negligible amount of heat coming from the <a href="http://www.eatmorechiles.com/Guajillo.html" target="_blank"><b>Guajillo chiles</b></a>, garlic, onion, and Mexican spices that had been used in the chicken's marinade. As for the <i>taco al pastor</i>, I could have probably eaten half a dozen of them in one go. The pork, paired with slices of absolutely perfect roasted pineapple, was marinaded in a combination of dried chiles and spices, the heat content of which was elaborated by the fact I bit into the seared jalapeño pepper sitting atop the barbacoa. The first bite of the pepper was manageable, but the second one <a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1959581_774386770903_1815347408_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>took me down</b></a> all the while adding to my sensitivity to the dried chiles incorporated into the tasty (though tougher) beef, along with the onion, garlic, and avocado leaves.<br />
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Finally (or at least somewhat) recovered from the jalapeño, we continued onward. <a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1525461_774386905633_1014728934_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>After this caught my eye</b></a>, we couldn't help (more so me than Brianne) but stop and go into <a href="http://shopinthekitchen.com/" target="_blank"><b>In the Kitchen</b></a> (1725 Penn Ave), Pittsburgh's specialty kitchenware store. I won't belabour this one too much except to note that I felt like a kid in a culinary candy store.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1434146/restaurant/Strip-District/S-D-Polish-Deli-Pittsburgh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="S & D Polish Deli on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1434146/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Passing by pastry stand upon pastry stand, and following our quick walkthrough of <a href="http://www.pennmac.com/" target="_blank"><b>Pennsylvania Macaroni Co.</b></a> (2010 Penn Ave), Poland's flag caught my eye, proceeded once again by my stomach and the hope that there were <a href="http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/Holidays/paczki/paczki.html" target="_blank"><b><span class="st">pączki</span></b></a> being sold at <a href="http://www.sdpolishdeli.com/" target="_blank"><b>S&D Polish Deli</b></a> (2204 Penn Ave).<br />
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While we didn't eat a full meal here (and believe me I was tempted, especially given that Brianne has never had a <a href="http://www.tastingpoland.com/food/polish_food_desserts.html" target="_blank"><b><span class="st">pączek</span></b></a><b> </b>nor <a href="http://www.insidethetravellab.com/what-are-pierogi/" target="_blank"><b>pierogi</b></a>), I still think it's worth highlighting here (and linked <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1434146/restaurant/Strip-District/S-D-Polish-Deli-Pittsburgh" target="_blank"><b>via Urbanspoon</b></a>). That said, we did happen to get there in time to pick up the last pączek, one filled with <a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1900168_774387050343_693810463_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>a deep-flavoured plum compote</b></a>. Light, yet unquestionably rich (though slightly dry, but mainly because it was out for a while), the taste brought me back home to <a href="http://detroit.about.com/od/peoplelifestyles/a/Paczki_Day_in_Hamtramck_and_Detroit.htm" target="_blank"><b>metro Detroit</b></a>, where pączki are apparently much more well known and celebrated<b> </b>[<a href="http://www.tour-de-troit.org/paczkirun" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20140303/ENT1005/303030104/packi-day-hamtramck-hotel" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>,<a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2014/03/paczki_day_2014_draws_crowds_t.html" target="_blank"><b>3</b></a>,<a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/03/04/paczki-lovers-brave-freezing-temps-for-fat-tuesday-treats/" target="_blank"><b>4</b></a>].<br />
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As we stepped back outside, the realisation that springtime was soon on its way became extremely apparent as some of the best weather in relatively recent memory shone throughout the Strip District. Into the sunlight and cool breeze, a literal candy store appeared, into which Brianne and I most certainly needed to venture.<b> <a href="http://www.grandpajoescandyshop.com/" target="_blank">Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop</a> </b>(2124 Penn Ave) serves an eclectic mix of vintage and contemporary candies, has a section for just <a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/q71/r270/s720x720/1972328_774387120203_26869719_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>bacon-flavoured confections</b></a>, and features a <a href="http://www.grandpajoescandyshop.com/Visit-Our-Pittsburgh-Store_ep_40.html" target="_blank"><b>Pittsburgh Candy Buffet wall</b></a>, in which a box full of your choice of candies is a mere $5.00. As if this wasn't enough, <i>Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory </i>is on constant loop in a special area toward the back dedicated to the brand, and the second floor has items bagged in bulk.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1474839/restaurant/Strip-District/Mon-Aimee-Chocolat-Pittsburgh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mon Aimee Chocolat on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1474839/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Somehow I made it out of there without buying anything, but only because I was saving up for our second to last stop (can you tell Brianne and I really love multi-course desserts?), <a href="http://www.monaimeechocolat.com/" target="_blank"><b>Mon Aimee Chocolat</b></a> (2101 Penn Ave). I'm not entirely sure where the name comes from (cue the synapses <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/health/Language-and-the-Human-Brain.aspx" target="_blank"><b>all over my brain</b></a> as my French training went to work), though for the time being, I'm going to assume this is a play on owner <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2014/02/13/retailers-aim-for-sweet-revenge-feb-14.html?page=2" target="_blank"><b>Amy Rosenfield</b></a>'s name. Upon entry into the store, the first thing that caught my eye (and will most likely catch yours) is the chocolate. In any given direction, on chairs, tables, bookshelves. and from the wrapped and imported to the locally packaged and labeled, chocolates sourced from all over the world had been gathered into this corner shop on 21st & Penn. Brianne ended up getting a chocolate bar with orange peel, as well as a small set of truffles, while I limited myself to a small scoop each of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_panning" target="_blank"><b>panned</b></a> <a href="http://www.monaimeechocolat.com/barks.htm" target="_blank"><b>confections</b></a> manufactured by NYC-based <a href="http://www.kopperschocolate.com/" target="_blank"><b>Koppers Chocolate</b></a>: <a href="http://www.kopperschocolate.com/products/" target="_blank"><b>dark chocolate orange peel and orange blossom chocolate savouries</b></a>. [As an aside: photos are not allowed inside the store, ergo my pictorial lack of chocolate temptations.]<br />
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Earlier in the day, a sign for free wine tastings caught our eyes. And with a bit of time before our evening voyage in Pittsburgh, we concluded our tour of The Strip at a family urban winery known simply as R Wine Cellar (2014 Smallman St), <a href="http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/a-family-owned-winemaker-joins-the-strip-districts-mix/Content?oid=1533475" target="_blank"><b>which opened barely two years ago</b></a>. Lo, and behold, this tasting brought us back to the start, just a few doors down from Peace, Love & Little Donuts. As we walked in, a couple on their way out joked at the fact they left with far more than they intended to purchase.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDbXMy47jaQE_1FknOZ_Li98Sp-zNyBC9GEVNxKHex16uMoWYJKkBPBdrwPUYiKqieth5W2xQeBbQUS6ogCP8-9U4VCS5VXx7bveXthoJ11R5raszn5tziNkowYs-Xe6_Y4mBHrKsdsTE/s1600/Winery_Group-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDbXMy47jaQE_1FknOZ_Li98Sp-zNyBC9GEVNxKHex16uMoWYJKkBPBdrwPUYiKqieth5W2xQeBbQUS6ogCP8-9U4VCS5VXx7bveXthoJ11R5raszn5tziNkowYs-Xe6_Y4mBHrKsdsTE/s1600/Winery_Group-2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Above photo courtesy of Kathy Russell</i></td></tr>
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The natural charm of Kathy and Steve Russell (co-owners of R, along with the support of their kids, <a href="http://lebomag.com/14831/r-wine-cellar/" target="_blank"><b>Connor, Fiona, Margaret, and Thomas</b></a>) are infectious and honest, clearly knowledgeable of wine palates and seemingly confident in their ability to match taste preferences just as much as they're excited to share their own. Inspired by their travels in Germany, the selection of wines they produce are unique and full of character, in the end attributes which add to the complexity and difficulty in making a selection or two (or more).<br />
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We began our tasting with a few of the white wines, including the springy cousin to German Gewurztraminer, the Lake Erie <a href="http://wine.appellationamerica.com/grape-varietal/Traminette.html" target="_blank"><b>Traminette</b></a> (a comforting taste to my own Midwestern upbringing); two wines named after their daughters the Fiona Peach <a href="http://www.totalwine.com/eng/guide-to-wine/chardonnay.cfm" target="_blank"><b>Chardonnay</b></a> (which I ended up getting) and the Margaret Apple, Spice, and Everything Nice (served warm, and which tasted like a liquid apple pie); and out of my own personal affinity toward <a href="http://winefolly.com/review/sauvignon-blanc-wine-taste-food-pairing/" target="_blank"><b>Sauvignon Blanc</b></a>, their take on this wine which typically starts off crisp and ends with a rather dry, elusive, ephemeral finish. The second half of our tasting focused on their reds, including the ever-so-slightly-sweet Lake Erie Red made with Pennsylvania's <a href="http://www.visitpa.com/articles/grapes-wealth-concord-grape-region-pennsylvania" target="_blank"><b>Concord</b></a> grape (which Brianne chose);<b> </b>a warmed, red spice wine known in Germany as Glühwein [<a href="http://marketplaceeurope.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-history-of-gluhwein.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/GIC/TWIG__WoW/2012/47-Gl_C3_BChwein.html" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>] (or here in the States, mulled wine); and, if not mistaken, the <a href="http://www.winemag.com/March-2011/Sangiovese/" target="_blank"><b>Sangiovese</b></a>, Tuscany's trademark wine. And with that, the selection process was necessarily swift; following our respective wine purchases and farewells with the Russells, we headed out to drive through a bit more of Pittsburgh.<br />
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All in all, this was the perfect end to a perfect afternoon, which set
the stage for the dinner that brought us to Pittsburgh last Saturday in
the first place. For these, and other photos from our entire day in Pittsburgh, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.774385817813.1073741951.36203035&type=1&l=89ff29b1a5" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. (<i>The link to the second half of our first epic food day will be linked here in the near future. But hopefully sooner than that!</i>)LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-2579346635629379212014-02-28T10:56:00.000-05:002014-02-28T10:56:12.607-05:00Restaurant Review: Flip Side (Easton location)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1636202/restaurant/Easton/Flip-Side-Columbus"><img alt="Flip Side on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1636202/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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It's been nearly a year since the doors of Ohio-based <a href="http://www.flipsideburger.com/" target="_blank"><b>Flip Side</b></a> opened in Columbus. And as it turns out, quite a bit has happened since then. The second of three locations (the third being in Chagrin Falls which opened earlier this season), Flip Side was originally established in Hudson, OH, in 2011, along with neighbouring <a href="http://onereddoorhudson.com/" target="_blank"><b>One Red Door</b></a>. And come summertime, <a href="http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120607/FREE/306079997&" target="_blank"><b>a location in Cleveland's Flats</b></a> will complete the currently planned chain of gourmet burger sites. All of these spots are co-owned by central Ohio-raised <a href="http://www.firstandmainhudson.com/2010/12/01/two-new-hudson-restaurants-to-feature-culinary-couple/" target="_blank"><b>Michael Schwartz</b></a>, and <a href="http://clevelandhops.com/2011/01/flip-side-in-hudson/" target="_blank"><b>long-time Hudson area restauranteurs</b></a> <a href="http://directory.mimivanderhaven.com/article/what-the-chef-shawn-monday.html" target="_blank"><b>Chef Shawn</b></a> and Tiffany Monday, Flip Side of which hopes "<a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/03/13/covering-allthe-burger-bases.html" target="_blank"><b>to stand out from its 'better burger' competitors by having a 'chef-driven menu but with a middle-market price.'</b></a>" Well, after watching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6TRwfxDICM" target="_blank"><b><i>Pompeii</i></b></a> this past Sunday and failing to check out Flip Side despite the number of times I've been at <a href="http://www.eastontowncenter.com/tenants/flip-side.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Easton Town Center</b></a>, I went with Brianne to finally get a taste of their culinary offerings. The final verdict, for those who want to bypass the description and just check out the photos: in this blogger's humble opinion, Flip Side is an area transplant worthy of being considered an accessible mecca for both foodies and non-foodies alike.<br />
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<a href="http://www.eastontowncenter.com/directory-map.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Located</b></a> at the confluence of Banana Republic to its left and Groovy Spoon and Celebrate Local to its right, and across the street from Abercrombie, Flip Side is rather difficult to miss, its modular design somewhat towering over the nearby vendors. Inside, the lighting of the relatively dimly lit restaurant (further context: we got there just before 8pm) focused on antique-coloured walls upon which meat-themed stenciled designs and Wild West-esque artifacts were placed, contrasting against the not-so-bar-like flat screen televisions. The interior felt immediately homey, a middle ground between Western saloon and sports bar. Brianne and I were seated toward the large back wall and after moving to sit beside her (the tables felt awkwardly long for two people to sit across, though perhaps it's necessary if you plan to fill the table with a lot of food), we had full view of the main area of the restaurant. [The second major part of the space, i.e., the bar, was to the left of our view, from which you could look into the kitchen.]<br />
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Not having reviewed <a href="http://www.flipsideburger.com/locationeaston.html" target="_blank"><b>the menu</b></a> before hand, I was inundated by the wonderful selection of burgers (let alone the drinks), each sounding better than the one above it. My eyes eventually fell upon two of them, the first being the <a href="http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/smokey-burger.html" target="_blank"><b>Smokey Burger</b></a> ($10) which was featured on Cooking Channel's <a href="http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/unique-eats.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Unique Eats</i></b></a> (<a href="http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/unique-eats/400/between-the-bun.html" target="_blank"><b>episode 405: Between the Bun</b></a>, next scheduled to air on March 2nd). Made of 7 oz of Ohio-raised premium grass-fed beef (as is the case with the others), and with which a bacon bbq sauce is served on the side, the Smokey Burger begins with a grilled hamburger patty topped then with smoked Gouda cheese, followed by smoked beef brisket, and finished off with pickled jalepeno peppers, all of which is burgered between two slices of delicious toasted special recipe brioche sesame seed buns. Also featured on the aforementioned episode (and noted on the menu) is <a href="http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/videos/unique-burgers-at-flip-side.html" target="_blank"><b>the red hot Chili Pepper Burger</b></a> ($9.50; pickled jalapeño, pepper jack cheese, crispy chili onion rings, and smoked chili ketchup). <br />
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While both of those descriptions sounded incredibly enticing, we didn't get either of them. Instead, Brianne went for the Mikey Burger ($9.50), a delicious-sounding concoction which included applewood bacon, pepper jack cheese, crispy onion rings, and <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/remoulade" target="_blank"><b>remoulade</b></a>.<br />
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As for me, I went with "the one that started it all": the One Red Door Burger ($10). And hands down, this is one of my new favourite burgers. [As an aside, I should note that we were never asked how we wanted our
burgers cooked; originally, I took issue to this until my first bite, at
which point I realised just how perfectly cooked the burger was. For
future reference, there is a note on the menu which in regard to burger
prep reads "Chef prepared Mid to Mid Well allowing for the perfect combination of texture, flavor, & center temperature."] Atop the juicy patty were thick slices of melted brie cheese, which were themselves were topped by crispy shallots. The layers of texture collided beautifully, melded by the warmth and distinctiveness of the brie. But perhaps the guilty pleasure of the meal was the serving of date applewood bacon <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aioli" target="_blank"><b>aioli</b></a>, an incredibly rich sauce with chopped bacon goodness. Oh.my.yum. <br />
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Rather than eating the aioli with the burger, however, I instead enjoyed this with the extremely well-fried sweet potato fries ($4.50), which came with its own sauce of horseradish mustard. With definitely plenty to share between the both of us, the fries weren't all that necessary as the burgers filled us up more than sufficiently. But if you happen to love sweet potato fries, these are definitely worth trying.<br />
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From what I've read, the shakes are somewhat of a specialty for Flip Side, but by the end of dinner, a shake seemed out of the question. Upon my return, I'll definitely plan ahead and make sure to add that to the experience. Until then, I hope to "catch ya at Flip Side!" <br />
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<i>Have you been to any of the Flip Side locations? If so, what did you try? If not, what are you looking forward to trying the moment the opportunity presents itself? </i>To check out Flip Side's menus, click <a href="http://www.flipsideburger.com/locationeaston.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>, and for these and other photos from the experience, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.773941842543.1073741950.36203035&type=1&l=f60f2a5760" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-59923618715082816592014-02-22T17:47:00.000-05:002014-02-22T17:47:14.235-05:00Bringing Change to a Familiar Space: The Edit Room<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week, I attended my first <a href="http://www.oeffa.org/conference2014.php%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>OEFFA conference</b></a>, held annually at Granville High School and now in its 35th iteration. I went as an exhibitor, sitting at the Slow Food Columbus table and chatting with folks not only about the Slow Food movement and the work we're doing locally, but also about Columbus's diverse, growing food scene. In retrospect, it's the confluence of these types of lived experiences and dedication to the local, regional, and national food scenes that makes being a part of (and researching) Columbus so much fun. It's not all that often I get to catch up with Denison and Granville folks, let alone meet owners and producers of companies that I've known by association (e.g., <a href="http://www.shagbarkmill.com/" target="_blank"><b>Shagbark</b></a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bobskombucha" target="_blank"><b>Kombu-tea</b></a>), as well as Facebook and blog followers I never knew I had (e.g., Local Food Coordinator Jeff Givens of <a href="http://sanfillipoproduce.com/" target="_blank"><b>Sanfillipo Produce</b></a>). Among those I saw at the conference were Erin Harvey of <a href="http://thekaleyardohio.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Kale Yard</b></a> and <a href="https://www.thegoinggreenstore.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Going Green Store</b></a> (who co-presented at <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2012/09/itkp-courageous-cooking-class-fermented.html" target="_blank"><b>one our Food and Culture Colloquium events</b></a>) and Bryn Bird of <a href="http://www.birdshavenfarms.com/" target="_blank"><b>Bird's Havens Farms</b></a>, both of whom invited me to a "Cocktails and Community" happy hour hosted by the Licking County Local Foods Council. (As some context, I had been a part of the early stages of their work during my last year at Denison.) The site of the happy hour, and the principal focus of this post, was in a place which houses a catering business known as The Edit Room.<br />
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Depending on how familiar you are with the dining options in Granville, you might notice an all-too-familiar sight to your left upon entering The Edit Room. The bar is the only remaining post-renovation element of one my favourite Granville restaurants, The Short Story Brasserie [<a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/03/in-brief-interim-photo-less-post.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/04/here-eat-this.html" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>], which closed rather unexpectedly a few years ago. Today, the rest of the space has indeed been edited by owner Lucas Atwood, a space which now accompanies Lucas's other business <a href="http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20130130/LIFESTYLE/301300006/Snapshots-hopes-give-diners-picture-perfect-meal" target="_blank"><b>Snapshots</b></a> (formerly The Junto Club, one of the first restaurants a pair of my Denison colleagues took me to, and a locale I've dined at since then), located off to the left and down the steps below of the wrap-around porch. The Edit Room, as you might be able to guess from the above right photo isn't the largest space and is thus a perfect setting for an intimate happy hour such as this one. The room itself is rather flexible, fitting sitting and standing arrangements up to a rather tight 40-person seated dinner.<br />
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Speaking of dinner, let's talk a bit about the food Lucas had available for us to chow on while we chatted.<br />
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After passing by the <a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/1016767_771343819003_370066868_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>chocolate covered strawberries</b></a> on the centre table (and snagging one... or two in the process), Lucas had an Asian-style lettuce wrap stir-fry (which included water chestnuts and walnuts) station, paired with hands-down my favourite thing of the evening: a baked brie dish complete with whiskey and brown sugar.<br />
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The stir-fry just had enough of a tolerable heat to it, the individual ingredients melded into a composite flavour that worked well against the crisp, refreshing lettuce. Sitting in a pool of its own utter deliciousness, the brie wheel, additionally topped with berries, was just begging to be eaten, to which I happily indulged.<br />
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Against the other window, and among the other items on the table, Lucas had set up a bread station with spreadable options of an Asian pear chutney made with pears from the summer harvest, a red pepper chutney made from produce from the <a href="http://www.sunbeamfamilyfarm.com/" target="_blank"><b>Sunbeam Family Farm</b></a>, and cream cheese.<br />
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And to the right of that, sitting decadently atop an old stereo(?) was a luscious cheesecake, the recipe of which belonged to Lucas's great-grandmother. Topped with a beautiful cream cheese icing, the cake itself was incredibly moist and full of textures, all of which sat in a warm, toasted, and contrastingly textured and crumbly crust.<br />
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With that, I'll sign off here. Many thanks to Erin and Bryn for the invite, and to Lucas for all the great food! For these and additional photos, please click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.771343394853.1073741947.36203035&type=1&l=3c917ff5ca" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-60649195035230432112014-02-12T23:59:00.000-05:002014-02-13T01:23:13.970-05:00Dedicated to "Magic Bread"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Five words, punctuated with purpose: Magic. Bread. Oh.My.Yum. For those of you who either know me or my food blogging rather well know that the sound of hearing (let alone seeing) the illustrious Magic Bread prepared by Chef Justin Boehme and DaCroux of one of my most blogged about restaurants, <a href="http://www.dalevee.com/" target="_blank"><b>Da Levee</b></a>, makes my mouth water. Hands down, it is the reason (alongside the amazing atmosphere, friendly staff, and of course deliciously well-priced and consistently tasty Cajun food outside of Louisana) I continue to return to this small Short North restaurant packed with flavour, which has more recently been subtitled by "Roux Stews Brews." My self-professed (and perhaps overtly evident) love for Magic Bread (pfft, or all bread for that matter) is the impetus for this post, a post which I have been planning to write for the past many months. Indeed, my initial draft of what should have been this post--my dedication to Magic Bread in so many words--was based on my visit to Da Levee on <a href="http://www.foodday.org/" target="_blank"><b>National Food Day</b></a> and the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/events/unday" target="_blank"><b>68th birthday of the United Nations</b></a>. A slightly edited (tense, word choice, general flow, etc.) form of those notes is embedded in this post. Complementing that experience are my general reflections and comments on Da Levee's offerings I've enjoyed (be prepared for a longer post) since that chilly autumn day, including Super Bowl fixings and today's trek for my favourite thing on the menu (next to Magic Bread): cheesy craw étouffée.<br />
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<i>24 October 2013: </i>Before I get to the meat of this post, I feel I need to preface it with the following context. Sitting on my lap, beneath a notebook upon which I have scribbled my notes, is a styrofoam container encapsulated by a plastic bag. I'm holding onto everything carefully so as to provide a sturdy writing surface. (Though, I'm more concerned that the sauces don't spill all over the place.) The anticipation of the meal I'm about to have is maddening. Despite my own fatigue from this week and the insurmountable amount of work that lay ahead, the only thing I can really think about is the food in the container.<br />
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Really, this story begins the evening prior. I had just come back from watching an advanced screening of <i>About Time</i> with Brianne and Nicole. As I updated my Facebook status declaring my enjoyment of the film, a different status popped up on the newsfeed. It instantly caught my attention, simply reading [or at least all I read was]: <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-maque-choux.htm" target="_blank"><b>Maque Choux</b></a>. My tastebuds went into a frenzy. It seemed illogical at the time, given we and Amanda had earlier been at Da Levee (ie, that evening). I had the half-and-half of chili cheese étouffée and the B&B [not pictured]. I didn't think I was as hungry as I was at the time; next thing I knew, I hadn't scribbled down any notes or taken any photos (gasp). My plate was practically pristine, cleaned off by the last remaining morsel of my carefully portioned Magic Bread, the principal character herein. Lesson learned then, I forced myself to write. Let me tell you it's not going well, with the smells of Cajun cuisine creeping out of their confinements and making their way to my senses.<br />
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There are few foods in life (okay, actually there are a lot) that kickstart my salivary glands. Magic Bread is towards (if not at) the top of that list, right next to bacon, of course. In part, the thought of more Magic Bread motivated today's return trip to Da Levee for a half-and-half of the maque choux (an <a href="http://www.yumsugar.com/What-Difference-Between-Gumbo-Jambalaya-Etouffee-14254088" target="_blank"><b>étouffée</b></a>, with caramelised corn, chikin', and chorizo) and crawfish étouffée.<br />
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Without question, some of the best foods in life are the simplest. And Da Levee's Magic Bread is one of them. In fact, it's seemingly too simple, you may even feel the desire to try and replicate it at home. And still, there's a special <i>je ne sais quoi </i>that I taste when the folks at Da Levee prep the bread themselves. Moreover, there's a sense of comfort in letting go of such a notion as making it yourself and instead just letting them take care of the Magic Bread themselves. I'm not sure I'm conveying my thoughts clearly (really, I'm just getting hungry again), but I feel a sense of restraint and uneasiness at the thought of me trying to make my own version of Magic Bread. It's an iteration forever linked to the first moment I tried the soft, airy bread loaf sandwiched between crisp crusts, one of which is packed with layer upon layer of what taste like oils, herbs, seasonings, and a touch of the Cajun south. For me, it's a gastronomic emotion that I personally never want to have muddled by my own involvement in that process.<br />
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<i>Super Bowl XLVIII: </i>But such desires must come to a temporary halt. For the past three years (<a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/02/super-bowl-unity-dinner-because-im-not.html" target="_blank"><b>XLV</b></a>, <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2012/02/many-bowl-for-super-bowl-xlvi.html" target="_blank"><b>XLVI</b></a>, and <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/02/oh-my-yum-super-biscuit-bowls.html" target="_blank"><b>XLVII</b></a>) I have drawn upon the Super Bowl as culinary inspiration, predominantly cooking during each of those games. Last year, I made "<a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/02/oh-my-yum-super-biscuit-bowls.html" target="_blank"><b>Super Biscuit Bowls</b></a>" as the Ravens and the 49ers duked it out in New Orleans. This year, a post on Facebook once again directed my attention to Da Levee, and the suggestion to cater food from Da Croux just made a lot of sense. As you can see in the above photos, Wade not only handed me a bag of food, but two loaves of Magic Bread. First off, I was elated at the thought of bringing home <i>loaves</i>. But then I realised I would need to toast them myself if I wanted them as fresh and warm as possible. Cue just a touch of fear of messing this one up.<br />
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As expected, the at-home version of Magic Bread (which is pre-oiled before it leaves the restaurant) was close but just not the same (I definitely over toasted it). Nevertheless, it fit in with our spread of foods that were served or could be eaten in a bowl. In the bowl on the right, I should note, are the succotash (with chorizo & smoked sausage), the pollo pozole (with corn, black beans, cilantro, lime, hominy, and kikin' chikin'), and the red beans and smoked sausage (slow cooked with the Trinity & garlic). [As an aside, I'd like to further note I got the toasting closer to perfection (though still not quite) when I tried again for Alex and Brianne.] <i>By the way, thanks to Amanda, Brianne, Daniel, and Nicole for amusing me by participating in our "Celebration of Bowls" theme! </i><br />
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<i>12 February 2014: </i>To complete this post, I turn once again to Facebook and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaLeveeOnHigh" target="_blank"><b>Da Levee's page</b></a>, on which I once again<b> </b>read great news. Every Wednesday, my favourite Da Levee dish, i.e., cheesy craw étouffée is being concocted in Da Kitchen. After (arguably) much exercised patience over the past week (is that all?!), I went with Brianne on a proverbial pilgrimage to Da Levee, currently located directly across from Da Igloo.<br />
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Our goals--cheesy craw étouffée for me, and in the end a half and half of jambalaya and chicken Creole for Brianne--were achieved successfully, the journey capped off with extra Magic Bread (as most meals between us typically are).<br />
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And with such brevity towards the end here, I must sign off and sleep off this once again illogical hunger. In closing, I want to emphasize that since <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2012/02/jambalaya-and-roxbury-road-few-hours-in.html" target="_blank"><b>my first blog post of Da Levee nearly two years ago</b></a> to <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/03/onto-year-three-continuing-to-cook-up.html" target="_blank"><b>last spring's 3-year anniversary</b></a> to this evening's truly (ful)filling dinner (I can still recall the taste of the tender crawfish smothered in dat cheesy sauce sitting atop the toasted Magic Bread... oh.my.yum.), Chef Justin and Da Croux continue to produce some of the most enjoyable and reliable meals I have ever had. It's rather surreal to look back at my photos and recall my food memories of visits past, to see visible changes in the menu boards and the restaurant itself, and yet to remain forward-thinking and confident that there are many more photos, memories, and innovations to blog about in the future. I feel like I'm running out of the proper words and/or coherence, so I'll officially conclude now-- hungry for more. For photos from today's dining experience in the Short North, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.770376627263.1073741944.36203035&type=1&l=8bca5007e4" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Have you been to Da Levee? What's your favourite dish off Da Board? Comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-2386410359842722602014-02-06T14:56:00.000-05:002014-02-06T16:39:55.930-05:00'CityScene Magazine' Release Party @the Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1565982/restaurant/Grandview-Heights/Buckeye-Hall-of-Fame-Grill-Columbus"><img alt="Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1565982/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Continued wintry greetings, fellow foodie friends! For those among you who have not yet heard (or rather, read), I was contacted last November by <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>CityScene Magazine</i></b></a> Community Editor Lisa Aurand regarding a story she was working on about food bloggers. As it turned out, she had learned of my blog <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/br/33/9860/learning-through-food-columbus" target="_blank"><b>via Urbanspoon</b></a> and wanted to interview me. I naturally jumped at the opportunity to share my story, and the motivations and development of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/learningthroughfood" target="_blank"><b>Learning through Food</b></a>. And last month, her finished article--also featuring the local bloggers of <a href="http://www.thebreakfastgrubguy.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Breakfast Grub Guy</b></a> and the <a href="http://www.leptologistsatlunch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Leptologists at Lunch</b></a>--was published <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/January-2014/Online-Dining/" target="_blank"><b>online</b></a> and in print form. A few weeks later, I was contacted by <i>CityScene</i> Editor Garth Bishop inviting me to their January/February issue release party. Of course, I couldn't pass up that opportunity, and with Brianne joining me (prior to watching <i>Frozen </i>again...for the fourth time), the journey brought us to Grandview's <a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/" target="_blank"><b>Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill</b></a> where I also couldn't help bring out my camera and snap some shots for another restaurant review.<br />
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Spacious and adorned with Buckeye paraphernalia and 40 flat-screen TV's, the glossy wood flooring and sophisticated ambiance create an atmosphere conducive to a positive dining and sports fan viewing experience. To this latter point, this review in itself is rather limited, limited in this case to the appetizers that had been organized for the magazine release party. All this really means is that I'll have to come back to try out Buckeye Grill's other culinary offerings. If the following appetizers are any indication, I'm confident I won't be disappointed.<br />
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To this end, three appetizers made it to our p(a)lates. Starting with the one at 12 o'clock on the above plate is the BBQ chicken flatbread. The crisped bread upon which all else sat was well toasted and seasoned, with actual flavour to it. More importantly, though, it served as a great vehicle for the tender pieces of grilled chicken coated in a sweet and smoky barbecue sauce, the layer beneath it of Monterey Jack and garlic herb cheeses, and the addition of cilantro and softened red onion. The amount of flavour packed into one such bite was worthy of another (and maybe a few more after that...). Moving clockwise, next up to bat was the Margherita, also from <a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/menus.aspx#flatbreads" target="_blank"><b>the flatbread menu</b></a>. Made with that same, wonderful dough as the BBQ chicken flatbread, this one was layered with melted mozzarella, meaty roma tomatoes, touches of basil, and drizzles of extra virgin olive oil. A classic dating back to <a href="http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/pizza-margherita-history-and-recipe" target="_blank"><b>the late 19th century</b></a>, Margherita pizza (or in this case, flatbread) is a pretty safe choice. I seemingly can't seem to emphasize it enough, but it's Buckeye Grill's dough which makes its version a particularly delicious one. Finally, and actually off <a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/menus.aspx#appetizers" target="_blank"><b>the appetizer menu</b></a>, were the Hall of Fame pretzel bites. Warm bundles of dippable dough, these savoury confections are paired with one of the best things ever made: cheese dip (here, one made with pale ale, which is of course fitting with Buckeye Grill's sports theme).<br />
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<a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/menus.aspx#drinks" target="_blank"><b>Drink options</b></a> are unsurprisingly plenty, though it was the tasty sour apple martini--made with vodka, Apple Pucker, and sour--which was the highlighted special for the party. Reminiscent of liquid sour apple hard candies, this is definitely a drink I'd drink again.<br />
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But perhaps the most meaningful highlight of the night was expanding my network of Columbus foodies. In addition to meeting <i>CityScene </i>President Kathy Gill (above right), I had the fortunate pleasure of meeting Candice Strelsky and Paul Melko, <i>the </i><a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Leptology" target="_blank"><b>leptologists</b></a> of <a href="http://leptologistsatlunch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Leptologists at Lunch</b></a>. Along with <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2012/05/25/40-under-40-nicholas-dekker.html" target="_blank"><b>Nicholas Dekker</b></a> (OSU graduate, lecturer, administrator, and author of <a href="http://breakfastwithnick.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><b>Breakfast with Nick</b></a>, who I met last semester), and Jim Ellison (the mastermind also known as <a href="http://cmhgourmand.com/" target="_blank"><b>CMH Gourmand</b></a> and <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/11/microbrewing-community-columbus-grandview.html" target="_blank"><b>with whom I went on a microbrewery tour last November</b></a>), Candice and Paul clearly reflect what I find to be hallmarks of the Columbus food blogger community. My own bias and limited knowledge..acknowledged, it seems to me that Columbus food bloggers generally (and by generally, I say this with a rather high degree of confidence) tend to be extremely down to earth, truly love talking about (and of course eating) food, and above else, are excited and inspired by the food scene of this city. It is in our stories--attempts to recapture and share our experiences through photos and words, with as much justice as possible--that we aim to highlight and celebrate the local food scene, as well as the food scenes we visit elsewhere. Our stories are added to yours and the countless others which are transmitted every day in both written and oral form. With every uploaded photo and published text, the chatter of the foods and cultures which support each other throughout and outside of the city of Columbus grows stronger. Collectively, such chatter is a reflection of this ever-vibrant foodie destination. May the dialogue and the journey continue!<br />
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<i>Many thanks again to Lisa for including me in her article, as well as to Garth and Kathy for their invitation to the magazine release party. <span class="userContent">Click </span><a href="http://issuu.com/cityscenemediagroup/docs/cs_jan2014_web" target="_blank"><span class="userContent"><b>here</b></span></a><span class="userContent"> for access to the online magazine version (pp 10 & 11 for the "online dining" food blogger article), or visit CityScene's website <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/January-2014/Online-Dining/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. And once again, check out the <a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/" target="_blank"><b>Buckeye </b></a></span><a href="http://www.buckeyegrill.com/" target="_blank"><b>Hall of Fame Grill</b></a> (located at 775 Yard St), and comment below to share your experience there, as well as your thoughts on what I should taste next!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-32302993420055296292014-02-02T17:02:00.000-05:002014-02-02T17:02:38.714-05:00Encore! Restaurant Week Round 2, and My Return to The Refectory<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/372046/restaurant/Northwest-Side/The-Refectory-Restaurant-and-Bistro-Columbus"><img alt="The Refectory Restaurant and Bistro on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/372046/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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A few days ago, <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2014/01/restaurant-review-basil.html" target="_blank"><b>I posted a review</b></a> of my first experience at Basil, as part of the January 2014 iteration of Columbus's <a href="http://restaurantweekcolumbus.com/" target="_blank"><b>Restaurant Week</b></a>. 70 restaurants <a href="http://restaurantweekcolumbus.com/participating" target="_blank"><b>participated</b></a> this time around, and with that many choices and delictable menus, there is in theory a limit to just how far our time, wallets, and stomachs can stretch. Cue then RW encores, whereby restaurants elect to carry on the same (or at least a similar) prix fixe menu for dinners to experience. Last Monday, Brianne asked if I'd be interested in spending $35 on a meal, and upon hearing those words I knew exactly what she was implying. I had practically drooled over the menu proposed by Orsi- and Bocuse-trained <a href="http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/2008/04/26/Blondin.html" target="_blank"><b>Chef Richard Blondin</b></a> the first time around, and so I was more than ecstatic at the thought of not missing it altogether. With each passing day then, we approached my return visit (Brianne's first) to <a href="http://www.therefectoryrestaurant.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Refectory Restaurant & Bistro</b></a> (located at 1092 Bethel).<br />
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In preparation for this post, I took a look at my first <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2012/02/this-is-ohio-adventure-at-refectory.html" target="_blank"><b>Refectory review</b></a> and the memory of that meal flooded back. That being said, I can't believe it's already been nearly two years since I first stepped foot in this wonderful place, the smells and stylings of France immediately reminiscent of my most recent visit to Paris and Lyon this past summer. Nothing looks as if it has changed since my last visit to this <a href="http://blog.zagat.com/2013/02/whos-serving-up-best-service-top-rated.html" target="_blank"><b>top-rated Zagat restaurant</b></a>, consistency in ambiance, <a href="http://www.therefectoryrestaurant.com/page/1m5p6/About_Us/Reviews.html" target="_blank"><b>service</b></a>, and overall gastronomic experience remaining as "<a href="http://www.therefectoryrestaurant.com/page/nur9/About_Us.html" target="_blank"><b>gracious and unpretentious</b></a>" as their website claims.<br />
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As soon as we were seated, Brianne and I were asked if we were celebrating anything (a bit forward, in my opinion, but at least they care). We couldn't really think of anything; though, in the end we settled on our 22nd day together (which in itself was a surprising revelation, seeing as how it feels like we've been dating for much longer). Shortly thereafter, we were presented with our menus by Casey, our enthusiastic and friendly server for the evening. Brianne started off with a drink called Bad Angel, whereas I got The Legacy, a bourbon-based cocktail that at least in theory should cut through the richness of my anticipated first course.<br />
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After much deliberation (again despite our familiarity), we were eventually able to vocalise our choices. Brianne's first course came in the form of a baby frisée salade, <a href="http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Frisee.htm" target="_blank"><b>the curly endive</b></a> (no, not the Belgian on-deev, but rather the N-dive) variety complemented by thin curls of crisp carrot. Dressed with a sweet corn vinaigrette, the salad was also accompanied by slices of flavourful venison sausage and roasted pumpkin seeds.<br />
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Of the seven options on the menu, my eyes quickly went to the lobster <a href="http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Bisque.htm" target="_blank"><b>bisque</b></a> <a href="http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/veloute-sauce-recipe/" target="_blank"><b>velouté</b></a> (cf. this classic Escoffier text, note 663 on pg 236 regarding lobster bisque and the note [N.B.] at the top of pg 239). While the seafood <a href="http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/repasts-crowning-glory-classical-russian-kitchen" target="_blank"><b>coulibiac</b></a> and mushroom feuilleté [<a href="http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/cook/recipe/feuillete-of-mushrooms-with-truffles-and-a-parsley-puree-20121123-29uza.html" target="_blank"><b>version</b></a>] were equally tempting, I couldn't let go of what I envisioned to be a rich, creamy, and warming soup. Not only was I not disappointed, but as I told Brianne if I could, I would swim in an entire pool of it. The blue crab meat that punctuated each bite also offered an al dente-type texture that was pleasing and cleanly refreshing against the clarity of the smooth bowl of joy in front of me.<br />
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For our second course, we were offered eight options, each just as decadent-sounding as the next. Among our choices were a marinated and grilled Ohio pork tenderloin with <a href="http://www.cheese-france.com/cheese/fourme_ambert.htm" target="_blank"><b>fourme d'Ambert</b></a> (one of my favourite bleu cheeses) and a pale ale mustard sauce, and pan seared poisson du jour <a href="http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/fishseafood/ht/meuniere.htm" target="_blank"><b>meunière</b></a> (which, if I remember correctly was either sea bass or flounder). Brianne settled on the roasted beef shoulder tenderloin, which had a beautifully seared exterior pressed earlier with pepper and cocoa, and a Szechuan peppercorn sauce which sat underneath.<br />
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I, on the other hand, went with the roasted spiced duck magret [<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/restaurant/menu17/magrets.html" target="_blank"><b>version</b></a>]. Despite the chef's recommendation for medium rare, I asked for mine to be cooked <a href="http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/7648/is-rare-duck-breast-safe" target="_blank"><b>rare</b></a>; in France, at least, I have always ordered my duck breast <a href="http://www.speaksheets.com/translation/how-to-say-rare-in-french-saignant/" target="_blank"><b><i>saignant</i></b></a> and at the hands of Chef Richard and his crew, I had no issues trusting their abilities. With a great sear on the outside, and a tender and pink interior, I think I can say that was perhaps the best preparation of duck I have ever tasted. Completing this dish was a serving of Minnesota wild rice (which I found to be a tad too toothy for my liking), crisped tastes of duck bacon, and an absolutely wonderful cassis <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=OO7NVyLhiSYC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=bordelaise+escoffier&source=bl&ots=6bAqSEKN9M&sig=_o9h9lLZzcOltEBPoLu_jehOXO0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ArnuUvb9Jc7lygGHr4DADA&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bordelaise&f=false" target="_blank"><b>bordelaise</b></a> (cf. Escoffier's text again, note 32 on pg 24) which worked deliciously well with each bite.<br />
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Finally, for dessert, three options were available (as is the case with the other courses, an extra option was also available, for an additional price). Neither of us went for the nonetheless tempting classic tiramisu with caramel sauce. Instead, Brianne went with a vanilla <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-creme-brulee.htm" target="_blank"><b>crème brûlée</b></a>, which I found to be perfectly brûléed. The creamy base was utterly decadent, its relative smoothness a counterpoint to the crisp citrus sable that accompanied it.<br />
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Rather than the chocolate bombe which was unfortunately no longer offered during this second go-around, I went with the chocolate bread pudding. Light-handed in terms of any sense of cocoa (arguably my only issue with the entire meal, other than the fact that I finished my soup too quickly), I enjoyed its perceived warmth when contrasted to the caramel drizzle and vanilla bean ice cream.<br />
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To conclude our meal, Casey offered us a wonderful dessert wine, in the form of the <a href="http://www.sandiegowineclassic.com/bio/personalities-bio-popup_quady_andrew.html" target="_blank"><b>Andrew Quady</b></a> <a href="http://www.quadywinery.com/redelectra.html" target="_blank"><b>red electra Moscato</b></a> (2012). A perfect level of sweetness and depth of flavour (which truth be told I was anticipated from dessert), I have every intention on purchasing bottles upon bottles of this in the
future (did I mention I live about less than five minutes from The
Refectory?).<br />
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With sincere thanks to Chef Richard, Casey, and the cook and wait staff of The Refectory for another enjoyable dining experience, I sign off, once again filled, fulfilled, and looking forward to my next foray into the world of food. For these and additional photos from our experience at <a href="http://www.therefectoryrestaurant.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Refectory</b></a>, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.767846752153.1073741940.36203035&type=1&l=bb58e66428" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Have you been to The Refectory? If so, what's your favourite dish and/or drink? Do you have any suggestions for other French/French-inspired restaurants I should try out? Comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-84880483222616791822014-01-30T15:30:00.000-05:002014-01-30T18:43:23.484-05:00Restaurant Review: Basil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1497102/restaurant/Short-North/Basil-Thai-Restaurant-Columbus"><img alt="Basil Thai Restaurant on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1497102/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Hello, Food Fans! For those of you who didn't know, last week (which somehow came and went quicker than the winter weather that has hit most of the country by this point) was Columbus's seasonal tradition of <a href="http://restaurantweekcolumbus.com/" target="_blank"><b>Restaurant Week</b></a>. With the busy schedule that seems to have caught one too many off-guard, including me, I was only able to get a taste of one menu (if you don't count the delicious <a href="https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/1551523_765459116993_631286795_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>espresso chocolate mousse cupcake</b></a> I had at <a href="http://thecrestgastropub.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Crest</b></a>). This time around, the Short North's <a href="http://www.basilshortnorth.com/" target="_blank"><b>Basil</b></a> (1124 N High St) was ultimately the reigning choice. And so, Brianne, Nicole, and I headed over to what was once an antique shop and one of the many restaurants I have been meaning to try out for a while now.<br />
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Basil's $20 <a href="http://phoenix.about.com/od/foodanddrink/g/prix_fixe.htm" target="_blank"><b><i>prix fixe</i></b></a> menu for the January iteration of Restaurant Week actually included four courses (instead of the typical three for nearly all the others), which was more than enough to feed this food and culture blogger. But first things first... To go with my meal, I ordered a glass of the <a href="http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=919500" target="_blank"><b>2009 Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling</b></a>, which the wine menu noted is the winemakers choice pairing with Thai cuisine. (And with it being one of the cheaper options, why not, right?) Wow, was I impressed. Sweetly soft and smooth, it had a refreshing crisp ending which calmed the subtly spicy tones of my meal. This is definitely one variety I plan to get again in the future.<br />
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Thank goodness I had that Riesling from the onset, as the spice (which if you know me well enough, I'm still learning to get past) made its appearance during our first course of tom yum soup (as an aside, the other choice was vegetable). In reality, the "spicy soup" wasn't incredibly spicy; in fact, I
don't quite remember getting much heat from it (though, it was probably
because of the wine). Given the cold weather that evening, the soup was
certainly more warming than anything else. As I went in for each
spoonful, the bright herbaceousness coming from the lemongrass, lime
juice, and citrus leaves were rather pronounced without overdoing it,
while the mix of ground chicken and straw mushrooms gave an interesting
set of textures to each bite. <br />
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In a nut shell (or I guess, in crispy deep fried rice wrapper), our second course highlighted what I think is one of Basil's high points: they know how to fry. Brianne ordered the chicken egg roll, which seemed to be stuffed more with vermicelli noodles than ground chicken, and also included carrots and cabbage. Without question, the overall flavour was ramped up by the sweet and sour sauce. Nicole got the tempura battered sweet potato fries which were cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of a toothy bite engulfed by the crunch of the tempura batter. As was the case with the egg roll, the sweet potato fries tasted even better with their accompanying sauce, in this case a Thai vinaigrette.<br />
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On my end, I tried my luck with the crab cream cheese wontons, and was quite happy with my choice. My one gripe with it, though, was the over abundance of fried wonton wrapper; minus the excessive quantity (i.e., the part without any of the delicious filling), this is a starter I would have no trouble eating more of.<br />
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Brianne and Nicole's third course came in the form of one of Basil's specialties, Kee Mow [<a href="http://vitalveganforthepeople.blogspot.com/2012/07/pad-kee-mow-drunken-noodles.html" target="_blank"><b>version</b></a>], minus bean sprouts. Also written as Kee Mao or known as Drunken Noodles [<a href="http://peegaw.tumblr.com/post/18598995288/making-thai-drunken-noodles-pad-kee-mao" target="_blank"><b>version</b></a>], this wide rice noodle dish is stir-fried with bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and Thai basil.<br />
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My choice was in the form of Basil's other specialty, and our server's favourite, Pad Ka Praw [<a href="http://whitelotuscooks.com/2010/05/spicy-thai-chicken-with-basil-or-gai-pad-ka-pow/" target="_blank"><b>version</b></a>]. Made with basil, onions, bell peppers and garlic sauce, mixed in a rich brown sauce, the dish is certainly flavourful and can be heated up to taste (I asked for a 1, on a 1 to 5 scale). Unfortunately, the protein of this course mirrored my issue with that of my tom yum soup: the ground chicken is far too dry and no amount of liquid seemed to give back some sense of moisture. In the grand scheme of things, the simple solution would be to avoid the ground chicken if at all possible (or make sure it's bathed a bit in the beautiful broths).<br />
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Finally, we once again deviated on our dessert choices. Brianne got a vanilla cupcake decked out in a fair amount of green icing (because basil is green...?), whereas Nicole got a rather moist slice of carrot cake. I went with the gluten free flourless chocolate cake which wonderfully tasted like a thick slab of softened ganache. I must admit all three of these choices don't immediately scream "Thai cuisine," but I suppose I'll look past that and label the options under food fusion. <br />
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Overall, the food is flavourful, service is friendly, and the menus (particularly the one of <a href="http://www.basilshortnorth.com/specials/" target="_blank"><b>specials</b></a>) are well-priced. That said, whenever asked about which Thai restaurant is worth going to in Columbus, my initial response has long been something along the lines of, "Well, I don't really eat much of any Asian food, but I've been told Basil should be on that list." Now that I've tried it, I definitely have no qualms recommending it! For these and other photos, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.767377682173.1073741939.36203035&type=1&l=b1bd17301b" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Have you visited Basil? What was your experience like? And what would you recommend I try the next time I return? Do you have any other recommendations for Thai cuisine in central Ohio? Comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-90956781004866333202014-01-23T14:01:00.001-05:002014-01-23T14:23:12.077-05:00Soured Beers and Savoured Tastes: January 2014 Beer Dinner at The Crest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1747377/restaurant/Clintonville/The-Crest-Gastropub-Columbus"><img alt="The Crest Gastropub on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1747377/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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As I continue to settle into living in Columbus, one of my more consistent weekly routines is participating in <a href="http://excessstrivia.com/" target="_blank"><b>Excesss Trivia</b></a> every Monday night (beginning around 8.45pm) at <a href="http://thecrestgastropub.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Crest Gastropub</b></a>. In addition to four rounds of fast-paced and often-intense Jeopardy-style friendly competition on topics from football coaches to kitchen tools and indie bands to African geography (perhaps you can guess which side of the spectrum my strengths are in), The Crest offers $4 Ohio drafts, $5 Ohio liquors, and half-off selected appetizers (the sliders are an especially great deal). I share this info not only as a plug for The Crest's <a href="http://thecrestgastropub.com/" target="_blank"><b>weekly specials</b></a>, but as a contextual opportunity to say it was during a previous Trivia Night that Brittany, who I first met when she waited on our <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/09/back-at-crest-anthropological-experience.html" target="_blank"><b>anthropology department's happy hour back in September</b></a> (and have since seen nearly every week along with the rest of The Crest's friendly staff on Mondays), told me about a then-upcoming beer dinner. Just as had been the case with previous beer dinners, such as <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/09/august-beer-dinner-at-crest-gastropub.html" target="_blank"><b>the one I attended last August</b></a>, drink pairer Braden worked with executive chef Dustin to create another enjoyable and mouthwatering menu inspired by an eclectic range of flavour profiles. This time around, they worked with the folks of Dexter's (Michigan) <a href="http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/Default.htm" target="_blank"><b>Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales</b></a>; and as I'm guessing Brianne can attest, I had many a food moment throughout the evening.<br />
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Lo and behold, the first moment came with the first course: smoked blue cheese & panchetta crisps. Enrobed in a deliciously fried exterior, finely diced panchetta meshed incredibly well with the creaminess and added texture from crumbled blue cheese. The salty tones bounced around warm flavours, and got my taste buds going, as the bitterness from the lightly dressed arugula cut through the inherent fattiness of the meat and cheese. Truth be told I would have been content with just this course, but thankfully that wasn't the case.<br />
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Paired perfectly with the crisps was a glass of <a href="http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/calabazablanca.htm" target="_blank"><b>Calabaza Blanca</b></a> (by the way, <i>calabaza</i> is Spanish for "pumpkin"), a 4.8% abv Belgian Bière Blanche spiced with coriander and orange peel, and whose dry and light start transformed into a slightly sour end with a champagne-like finish. Just as was the case with the other beers of last Sunday's menu, the Calabaza Blanca gets its sour notes from the fact of being aged in oak barrels. <br />
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The 9% abv <a href="http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/noeldecalabaza.htm" target="_blank"><b>Noel de Calabaza</b></a> was served as part of our second course. This holiday ale had definite sour notes and a noticeably sweeter tone to it, tasting like an incredibly caramel-molasses-like syrup against my palate at the finish. Completing this flavour profile were other holiday flares including figs, raisins, sugar plums, cashews, and rum truffles.<br />
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The nutty notes of the beer played quite well with that of the pickled walnuts and woodsy-reminiscent components of the "knuckle sandwich" (i.e., reminiscent in terms of what I think of when I contemplate pigs roaming French-German woodlands for truffles). Perhaps not as intentionally directed as what I conceived in my head, this round also conjured up notions of the American south, with the braised pig knuckle, stone ground honey mustard, and doughy slice of bread intermingling with the very well cooked collard greens which had a balanced level of acidity to them.<br />
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Speaking of woodland creatures, the third course featured cold-smoked rabbit <a href="http://www.circuslionsrabbitry.com/definitionsandterms.htm" target="_blank"><b>saddle</b></a> (one version of prep may be viewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqrXq0pKga4" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>). Rather than being stuffed with the liver and kidney as is done in other dishes (such as <a href="http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2010/04/18/saddle-of-rabbit/" target="_blank"><b>this one</b></a>), this rabbit saddle was wrapped around leg mousse and beautifully cooked candied striped beets, the stripes of which weren't all that visible as it was hidden by the delicious white sauce draped over them. The livers, however, were fried and<b> </b>added as the textural and flavour-packed meat component of the dirty couscous (versions: <a href="http://www.isitedible.net/2007/09/dirty-curry-couscous.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/prt/RecipePage.aspx?Type=2&RecipeID=217783270" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>), the couscous itself of which was one of my favourite components of the entire dish. My one critique, though, of this dish and really the whole meal was the overall doneness of the rabbit, which I thought was a tad overcooked and not as tender as I expected.<br />
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The 8% <a href="http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/orodecalabaza.htm" target="_blank"><b>Oro de Calabaza</b></a>, rated in 2010 by the <i>New York Times </i>as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/dining/reviews/24wine.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank"><b>the best Belgian Golden Ale in the world</b></a> (in <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/gabf04_winners.pdf" target="_blank"><b>2004</b></a> it won the gold medal among French & Belgian Ales in the <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/" target="_blank"><b>Great American Beer Festival</b></a>, and bronze in <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/gabf05_winners.pdf" target="_blank"><b>2005</b></a>), was paired with the rabbit and was actually my least favourite of the beers presented with this menu. I should note, though, that I'm not an incredibly huge fan of beer to begin with, and this was the least distinctive of the lot, tasting the most like what I think of when I think of beer.<br />
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For our fourth and final course, we ended with a bang, trapped in three tiny and unsuspecting nuggets of flavour. The trio of truffles were simply amazing, the well set chocolate exteriors encapsulating complex centres of chocolate deliciousness. Each sat next two representatives of what we should expect to find, divided on the plate by milk and white chocolate curls. On the far left of the above photo, we began with a texturally crisp <i>pain perdu</i><b> </b>(or <i><a href="http://savoringthepast.net/2012/07/17/pan-perdu-or-as-we-call-it-french-toast/" target="_blank"><b>payn perdue</b></a> </i>in 18th-century French; aka, French toast), drizzled with a light maple syrup. On the far right, we found a tart cherry folded into a deep chocolate mousse, aside the cherry sauce to its right. And last, but certainly not least, sat an orange peel & corriander confection of pure joy. This was certainly the ultimate food moment for me to end an overall successful dinner. Paired with this course was the <a href="http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/maracaiboespecial.htm" target="_blank"><b>Maracaibo Especial</b></a>,<b> </b>a 7.5% abv brown ale aptly brewed (and appropriately matched to the truffle trio) with real cacao, and spiced with cinnamon and sweet orange peel.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Brittany, me, and Brianne, during 4 November 2013's Excesss Trivia night</i>, photo via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/excessstrivia" target="_blank"><b>Excesss Trivia</b></a></span></div>
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And with that, I'll end here. Another round of sincere thanks go to Dustin, Abed, and The Crest crew for a great experience and continued support, as well as Megan and Lauren of Jolly Pumpkin for teaching us about each of our beer pairings. For these, and additional photos from this beer dinner, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.765876540473.1073741937.36203035&type=1&l=af430a56e3" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. And for photos from my previous Trivia Night visits, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.751088341143.1073741928.36203035&type=1&l=d5a74f1c99" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-34774705157778108972014-01-22T15:10:00.000-05:002014-01-22T15:42:38.945-05:00Restaurant Recap: Knead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1535453/restaurant/Short-North/Knead-Columbus"><img alt="Knead on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1535453/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Having passed it countless times over the years in my case, Brianne and I made our way to <a href="http://www.kneadonhigh.com/" target="_blank"><b>Knead </b></a>(505 N High St) earlier this month to check out the offerings of this "modern diner featuring locally sourced food in Columbus," owned by Chef Rick Lopez and his wife, Krista.<br />
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As it was yet another cold evening in central Ohio, Brianne got a Hot Dicken's Cider, Ohio apple cider served warm with a zippy serving of <a href="http://www.bulleit.com/" target="_blank"><b>Bulleit bourbon</b></a>. Also from the <a href="http://www.kneadonhigh.com/drinks/" target="_blank"><b>drink menu</b></a>, I got the <a href="http://www.discoveringohio.com/2013/01/top-5-brunches-in-columbus.html" target="_blank"><b>Tapatio Margarita</b></a> for $3, which was part of the regular happy hour drink offerings: Tuesday-Friday, 5-7pm; 1/2 off all beers and house red/white; $3 for margaritas and well drinks. <br />
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For a starter, I got the Brussels sprouts, fried and tossed with garlic, honey, and golden balsamic, and made even more decadent with house made bacon. They had a slight acidity to them complemented first by the sweetness from the honey and balsamic.<br />
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Next up (before our typical dessert adventure over at Jeni's), Brianne got a delicious hamburger to her liking and I got one of Knead's best sellers (and happy hour food options: 1/2 off all starters, including the Brussels sprouts, along with $5 off Cuban-OHs, Knead A Burgers, and Vegan Reubens): the Mother Clucker. Sweet from the toasted <a href="http://www.secretofchallah.com/50708/Challah-Recipes" target="_blank"><b>challah bun</b></a> and honey, fried and succulent buttermilk <a href="http://www.gerbers.com/" target="_blank"><b>Gerber</b></a> chicken is sandwiched with house cured bacon (no end to <a href="http://ndnspeechmom.com/2012/05/09/bacon-is-natures-candy/" target="_blank"><b>nature's candy</b></a>), aged cheddar cheese and Great Lakes greens. To finish it all off, there's an edible heat kick that comes from roasted poblano chile and garlic aioli. Adding to this flavour profile, and of final note, I'll include here that we tried out the hand cut potatoes (fried in peanut oil) with Knead's house made fennel ketchup, which is reminiscent of a cross between marinara and romesco. <br />
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<i>Have you been to Knead? What should I try next? Sign on and comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-67670762952942816302014-01-06T17:46:00.002-05:002014-01-08T23:56:41.019-05:00First Post of 2014: Foodie (and Film) Fun in Columbus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/moSFlvxnbgk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Happy New Year and frosty Monday! Here in the Midwest, temperatures are falling to record lows, pushed even further by wind chill factors that make me want to see how long it would take to make ice cream outdoors. As much fun as that would probably be (I mean, outdoor food science? Of course that would be fun.), I'm bundled up indoors, as are the huge majority of central Ohio's student population. In a word, it's almost like the city is becoming "frozen." Speaking of which, Brianne and I saw <i>Frozen </i>again (this time in 3D, so of course it was of a justifiable necessity...) this past weekend and absolutely enjoyed it. We also managed to enjoy quite a few foodie destinations, of which I've chronicled below. Reviewed here are my return (Brianne's first) visits to <a href="http://www.skilletruf.com/" target="_blank"><b>Skillet</b></a> and <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/" target="_blank"><b>North Market</b></a> (with focused commentary on the newly-opened <a href="http://www.pistaciavera.com/" target="_blank"><b>Pistacia Vera</b></a> location), (briefly) our return visits to <b><a href="http://www.whitscustard.com/" target="_blank">Whit's</a> </b>and <a href="http://www.latenightslice.com/" target="_blank"><b>Mikey's</b></a>, and our first visit to <a href="http://philcodiner.com/" target="_blank"><b>Philco</b></a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1483370/restaurant/German-Village/Skillet-Rustic-Urban-Food-Columbus"><img alt="Skillet, Rustic. Urban. Food. on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1483370/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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Unbelievably, my previous visit to Skillet, Rustic.Urban.Food. (410 E Whittier), was way back in <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/food-film-and-football.html" target="_blank"><b>October of 2012</b></a>. Since that visit, not much seems to have changed. The same warmth, charm, and familiar atmosphere I initially felt more than a year ago still remains not only within the restaurant's walls but also among everyone who works and eats within the small, focused, physical space. There's certainly comfort in continuity.<br />
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To kickstart this second experience, I ordered a glass of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cherry-Orchards/242827629070897" target="_blank"><b>Cherry Orchards</b></a>' (Crooksville, OH) apple cider. (Coincidentally, I ordered the apple pancakes during my first visit.) If nothing else, I figured the apple profile should go well with the German-esque entrée I ordered. On it's own, the full-bodied cider was delicious, appreciated even more so with the "Weekender" bratwurst plate I first read about on Skillet's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/skilletruf?fref=ts" target="_blank"><b>Facebook page</b></a>.<br />
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<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The bratwurst was house made from House
made bratwurst from heritage Red Wattle pork, which I first tasted <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/06/pork-or-pork-serving-up-red-wattle-hogs.html" target="_blank"><b>last June</b></a>.<b> </b>An <a href="http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/red-wattle-hog" target="_blank"><b>Ark of Taste food</b></a>, I knew the dish would already be inherently good. I ordered two links (the option for just one was there, but for two bucks more, why not?), which sat </span>atop an amazing heap of bacon and onion winter kraut cured with pear, Riseling, caraway and mustard seed. (In retrospect, maybe I should've gotten Cherry Orchards' pear cider to go with this lot...) Moreover, underneath all of this was a luscious, velvety, natural gravy with pear cider.<br />
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The single component, though, that made the dish for me was the memorable griddle mashed potato pancake layered between the gravy and kraut. It soaked up all of the flavours and added complementary moisture to the bratwurst while toning down the acidity of the kraut. Oh.my.yum.<br />
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On Brianne's side of the table appeared her order of the tasty Skillet burger. Made from Ohio proud grass fed beef (ground for the folks at Skillet from bottom round, brisket, short rib, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/dining/the-tender-second-cut-of-brisket-or-deckle.html" target="_blank"><b>deckle</b></a>), the "basic" burger is served on a brioche roll with housemade sauce, creamy <a href="http://laurelvalleycreamery.com/site/#/home/" target="_blank"><b>Laurel Valley Creamery</b></a> (Gallipolis, OH; by the way, I'm a fan of <a href="http://laurelvalleycreamery.com/site/#/home/" target="_blank"><b>their website</b></a>) <a href="http://laurelvalleycreamery.com/site/#/our-cheese/harvester/" target="_blank"><b>Harvester</b></a> cheese, and a healthy dose of dressed arugula, which helps cut through the meaty burger. Cherrywood double smoked bacon and a fried Holistic Acres egg are available additions to this otherwise wonderful plate of food, complete with a side of pickles and a great side of quinoa salad.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1803403/restaurant/Arena-District/Pistacia-Vera-Columbus"><img alt="Pistacia Vera on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1803403/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Moving out of German Village and en route to the Short North, I found out/realised Brianne had not yet been to the North Market. I don't know how that happened, but in any case we put a brief pause on our stop at Whit's to check out one of the first foodie destinations I ever blogged about since my move to central Ohio over three years ago. After an intial tour of the many vendors, some of whom have recently moved in, we made our way back to <a href="http://www.columbusunderground.com/pistacia-vera-joins-the-north-market-family-aw1" target="_blank"><b>one of the newest additions to the North Market family</b></a>, Pistacia Vera (the flagship location of which opened a decade ago in German Village). I was captivated yet slightly dubious by the display of large, vibrantly-coloured macarons which adorned the display case. In the background, additional, freshly completed macarons rested in the open kitchen. Tomorrow, Pistacia Vera will have just been opened for <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/activities-events/events-calendar/agenttype/view/propertyid/133/pistacia-vera-opening--events.aspx" target="_blank"><b>a month</b></a>, and already it seems to be very <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/meet-the-market/our-merchants/Pistacia-Vera.aspx" target="_blank"><b>well-established</b></a>.<br />
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After a taste of the basic vanilla bean macaron, Mel did a fantastic job of not only easing my macaron concerns (in the early exchange, I could hear myself being some proclaimed expert of <i>le macaron</i>, to which I can only justify by the one too many I've eaten during each of my trips back to France), but in exercising her product knowledge and recommendations. In addition to my gastronomic tastings, our summer 2013 language and cooking Experiment group tried our hand at making the mighty macaron. Through all of those experiences, the one word I immediately ascribe to this deliciously dainty dessert is "finicky." And apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, too (<a href="http://themightymacaron.blogspot.com/2013/10/uk-french-macaron-making-classes.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://mrsbso.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/macaron-a-finicky-kind-of-dessert/" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>,<a href="http://www.ceeinthekitchen.com/2011/02/oh-macarons-you-finicky-bastards.html" target="_blank"><b>3</b></a>,<a href="http://theculinarychronicles.com/2010/08/06/french-macarons-the-holy-grail-of-pastries/" target="_blank"><b>4</b></a>,<a href="http://picky-palate.com/2013/05/13/cookies-and-cream-double-stuf-macarons/" target="_blank"><b>5</b></a>,<a href="http://www.ceeinthekitchen.com/2011/02/oh-macarons-you-finicky-bastards.html" target="_blank"><b>6</b></a>; also, take a look at these, which happen to not use the term <a href="http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/5100-french-style-macaroons-macarons" target="_blank"><b>7</b></a>,<a href="http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2013/04/making-macarons-what-i-learned-in-paris/" target="_blank"><b>8</b></a>).<br />
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In theory, macarons are fairly straight-forward and easy to make. In practice, however (and as evidenced by the above posts)... well, you just need to practice. Indeed, there are a lot of facetors that can destroy the macaron-making experience, including but not limited to too much heat in the kitchen, not having enough moisture, overbeating the batter, and opening the oven door too soon. But when you get them right, you get them right. Coupled with much of the cacaophony of macaron commentary I've gathered and read from others, and based largely on my own palate, I would suggest the perfect macaron is one in which the macaron halves have delicately risen and are visibly supported by a bottom layer referred to as "feet." The tops should be rather smooth and uniform. When bitten into, they should gently collapse against a distinctly nuanced crunch, making way into an airy interior. The filling should be smooth, cover the entire surface of the macaron halves, and meld with the cookies (as this is what typically gives the macaron its overall flavour) rather than taste like a separate layer. [On the cultural end of things, check out <a href="http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/5100-french-style-macaroons-macarons" target="_blank"><b>this article</b></a>.]<br />
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Having said all of this, Pistacia Vera passes my equally finicky review. They're slightly larger than the ones I typically have in France, though definitely not as large as the mega-sized ones that are sold across the pond. I realise the sizing is all relative.. My point here is that they're big enough to more easily share than the standard French size and definitely cheaper if not at least cost-effective when consider how much of a macaron you're actually getting for your $1.50. (I shudder slightly at the thought of my personal macaron investment in euros.) There are perhaps two downsides which to most won't even matter, especially given the relatively low number of macaron suppliers. First, and thing that surprised me the most upon my initial bite: the macarons are kept cold and are best served at room temperature (an easy adjustment, unless you can't wait the few minutes that would take). Second, and much less of an issue, the fillings don't extend to the
outermost edges of the macaron cookie, in which case the ratio of
filling to cookie tastes slightly off (this is truer for the chocolate
ganache-filled macarons). The flavours are nevertheless distinct and
pronounced, so no major harm there.<br />
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Onto the tasting then! Following the clean vanilla bean with vanilla bean buttercream, I also got the chocolate cherry cordial (great balance between the ganache and dark cherry notes), pistachio (Mel's favourite), mint chocolate (which turned out to be my favourite), milk chocolate passion fruit (among this batch, the arguably weakest in terms of flavour.. for me, the chocolate overtook the more subtle passion fruit), and the assertive and absolutely amazing lemon yuzu.<br />
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As if this wasn't enough, I also got the chocolate bombe which (excuse my return to the '90s) was the bomb. This is one of my new favourite foods in life for the present moment, utterly decadent, rich, and unabashed in its complexity and chocolate identity. Sitting atop a thin chocolate dish, is a layer of beautifully-textured chocolate buttermilk cake, topped off with a generous scoop of an airy semi-sweet chocolate mousse infused with marsala wine, all of which is then glazed with a chocolate ganache, dusted, and completed with cocoa nibs.<br />
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A single bite should lure all occasional chocolate eaters, chocolate lovers and chocoholics alike, if the description alone didn't do it for you. [<i>Personal shout-out to Mel and Nathan for a great introduction to Pistacia Vera!</i>]<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/370099/restaurant/Arena-District/Omega-Artisan-Baking-Columbus"><img alt="Omega Artisan Baking on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/370099/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
</div>
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In addition to our stop at Pistacia Vera, I should note, too, that Brianne and I stopped by <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/meet-the-market/our-merchants/the-barrel-bottle.aspx" target="_blank"><b>The Barrel and Bottle</b></a> where I purchased <a href="https://cydermarket.com/France_Import.html" target="_blank"><b>Clos Normand</b></a> brut cidre. So far, The Barrel and Bottle is the only place in the area I've found so far that sells one of my favourite cidres ever. (Check out a review <a href="http://cidersage.com/hard-cider-review-clos-normand-brut/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>, as well as a compendium <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/clos-normand-brut-cider/23144/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.) Before leaving North Market, we also stopped by <a href="http://www.omegaartisanbaking.com/" target="_blank"><b>Omega Artisan Baking</b></a>, where I introduced Brianne to their delicious foccacia. Complete with a liberal amount of olive oil, toasted garlic, and herbs, this airy yet meaty bread with a delicate crust was just as great as I remembered when I first had it. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO51iVJy1i5pt87Q4iG1oOQf3bZAm_b9kBqRjYSkCIqfWN2RBMLvEu7zAIHT4rbGlJpEu_KbBDPpkmqhla4zG9S_IOcbSQNbXf8HlP6aa_dLXbSsKA1gj4k0H6wfH3OWdpo_7igBhMLqk/s1600/whits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO51iVJy1i5pt87Q4iG1oOQf3bZAm_b9kBqRjYSkCIqfWN2RBMLvEu7zAIHT4rbGlJpEu_KbBDPpkmqhla4zG9S_IOcbSQNbXf8HlP6aa_dLXbSsKA1gj4k0H6wfH3OWdpo_7igBhMLqk/s1600/whits.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1687327/restaurant/Short-North/Whits-Frozen-Custard-Columbus"><img alt="Whit's Frozen Custard on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1687327/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Now moving into the Short North, Brianne and I completed our foodie Friday afternoon with a stop in the ever-popular Whit's (841 N High St). I typically don't veer from my traditional grasshopper Whitser, but this time around I went with the "Cool Coffee," a blend of vanilla custard, mocha syrup, and Irish cream.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1517399/restaurant/Short-North/Mikeys-Late-Night-Slice-Columbus"><img alt="Mikey's Late Night Slice on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1517399/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Recharged but this time in need of a food break, we then headed over to <a href="http://www.eastontowncenter.com/" target="_blank"><b>Easton</b></a><b> </b>and eventually settled on watching <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i>. (Cue my bolstered motivation to travel the world and learn through food.) To cap off the night, we made our way over to another ever-popular locale, Mikey's Late Night Slice, and ordered some pizza to pair with the start of our season 8 <i>Will & Grace </i>marathon. Brianne got a Baby Cheezus and I got a slice of the flavour of the week, the Mac 'N Cheezus. The great textures and layers of cheesy goodness paird well with a glass of the Clos Normand. (Oh hey there, coming back full circle with that cidre. How about that?)<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1760737/restaurant/Short-North/Philco-Bar-Diner-Columbus"><img alt="Philco Bar + Diner on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1760737/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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On Saturday, we continued our marathon and in the midst of trying to get some reading done, chose a different course and after much thought-processing (<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/problems-only-procrastinators-understand?bffb" target="_blank"><b>#11</b></a>, just saying), we set our sights on watching <i>Frozen</i> in 3D. (I'm convinced it's impossible for us to watch it too many times). Before all of that took place, however, a visit to Philco Bar + Diner (747 N High St) for brunch was in order.<br />
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Complete with a rather hipster, contemporary, and rather rustic kind of vibe, in addition to the impressive wine display above the back of the counter, Philco's style fits perfectly with that of the Short North. Each of the menu items are reasonably priced and (un)fortunately sound delicious. I was told the Huevos Rancheros are popular (as also evidenced by the number of such plates greetings diners) and especially well-plated (which would be great to photograph). Also suggested were the Steak and Eggs (which come with home fries and a bloody mary aioli) and the popular Traditional (in the form of two <a href="http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Johnnycakes.htm" target="_blank"><b>Johnnycakes</b></a>, two eggs, and two strips of <a href="http://www.nueskes.com/" target="_blank"><b>Nueske</b></a>'s bacon).<br />
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While the breakfast menu is served all day, and the rest of the menu looked equally appetizing, I ended up going with an order of the Baked Grits and a Coney Dog topped with Ohio cheddar.<br />
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I'm not the biggest connoisseur of grits, but I know what I like, and I definitely love Philco's take. The serving is creamy and has a consistent, non-gritty texture throughout. The chorizo mixed into the grits provides an even-handed spiciness which elevates the dish entirely. To top this all off, there's also a richness from the baked cheese layer that ties everything together, without going overboard. If you want an even richer iteration, there's also the option to order two eggs to accompany the grits.<br />
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As for the coney dog, I can't say it's one of the better ones I've had (that distinction remains with Detroit's <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/12/quick-review-lafayette-coney-island.html" target="_blank"><b>Lafayette Coney Island</b></a> until proven otherwise). That being said, this one is still a popular and worthwhile choice. I did find the bun to be a bit doughy, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm the dog itself. The coney sauce is delicious and the white onions were not an overpowering mess that they could be (at least for my palate). And any addition of cheese to most anything is always a welcomed comfort. If you're interested, the addition of slaw to the coney dog is an option.<br />
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Brianne also ordered from the breakfast menu and went with the Biscuits & Red Eye Gravy. I can't say I've ever had red eye gravy (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eye_gravy" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Country-Ham-with-Red-Eye-Gravy-and-Grits" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>), but wow is it good. It had a smooth, deep flavour and soaked well into the flaky, fresh buttermilk biscuits which were topped with smoked paprika. Adding additional, building heat to the mix was a rather generous serving of andouille sausage. And with that, I leave you to enjoying the rest of your day. Stay warm, stay full, and continue to learn through food this year, and every day after! <i>For these and additional photos, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.762518689633.1073741936.36203035&type=1&l=07898506e3" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. For your take on any of the locations mentioned above, or to suggest a dish or spot to try out, leave a comment below!</i> <i> </i><br />
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Also, and as a final aside, I wanted to share with you that I was interviewed for an article last month, which was posted just a few days ago. Click <a href="http://issuu.com/cityscenemediagroup/docs/cs_jan2014_web" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> for access to the online magazine version (pp 10 & 11), or visit CityScene's website <a href="http://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/January-2014/Online-Dining/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-38084224902775841062013-12-31T23:17:00.000-05:002013-12-31T23:17:47.160-05:00Final Post for 2013: Christmas Concoction & Contest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, here we go folks. Many of the wintertime holidays have gone and past, and in many parts of the world, 2014 has already made its mark. Before New Year's eve comes to an end in Michigan, I wanted to share with you for this final post of 2013 an experimental recipe gone right. Coupled with this is another reminder of the <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank">Christmas Menu recipe challenge</a></b> I'll be helping to judge in the coming weeks, the deadline of which is January 5th (more info at the end of the post). And since I can't win as a judge, the timing works out to share the following concoction I made to pair with <i>brie en croûte</i>, which is perhaps the recipe I have replicated most frequently since beginning this blog nearly three years ago. <br />
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At a very basic level, <a href="http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/briehistory.htm" target="_blank"><b>brie</b></a> en croûte isn't at all that complicated; simply put, just wrap up a wheel of brie in a layer of puff pastry (<a href="http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2010/08/quick-puff-pastry/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/rough-puff-pastry.aspx%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>,<a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/puff-pastry-2/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>3</b></a>; or you can just use <a href="http://www.puffpastry.com/products" target="_blank"><b>frozen puff pastry</b></a> like I do). And on its own, it's seriously delicious-- buttery and flaky, gooey, melted goodness enrobbed in a filling richness. So what better than add layers of additional flavours and textures?<br />
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Working in multi-tasking form, I turned on the oven to 350°F and, because I unconventionally had a whole 16 oz wheel of brie to work with, set out two frozen sheets of puff pastry on a plate to defrost. As the oven heated up, I put some peeled garlic cloves onto an olive oil sprayed sheet of tin foil. (Usually I would leave the skins on, but as the cloves were so small I wanted to maximise what little garlic I did have.) After topping this with a kosher salt and ground black pepper, I bunched up the tin foil and got that in the oven.<br />
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While the oven was doing its thing, I turned my attention to the stove top. I sprayed some olive oil into a large skillet and heated up the pan until it just started to smoke. As that was heating, I started to peel and slice yellow onions into thin half moons, adding them to the pan one onion at a time. Make sure to watch out for the heat. If the oil gets to hot and starts to smoke, the onions will burn rather than brown. With each additional onion, I stirred the onions around and added a dash of kosher salt, the salt of which draws out the onions' natural moisture.<br />
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By the time all the onions were cut and added to the pan, about 15-20 minutes had elapsed. (You could certainly prep the ingredients in advance, but you still need to let them all soften, brown and eventually caramelise, the process of which usually takes at least 15-20 minutes.) At that point, I began to peel and dice two Bartlett <a href="http://localfoods.about.com/od/pears/ss/Pear-Varieties.htm" target="_blank"><b>pears</b></a> into 1/4" chunks, and add them to the onions. I ended up going with Bartletts because they happened to be on sale. (I imagine <a href="http://www.usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Now%20Serving/Pears%20and%20Varieties/Bosc.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Bosc pears </b></a>would be just as great, if not better for this recipe, as could other fruits. After seeing <a href="http://m.deliciousliving.com/recipes/caramelized-onion-and-pear-marmalade" target="_blank"><b>this recipe</b></a>, though, I was confident pears, a <a href="http://www.thetasteoforegon.com/2010/03/perfect-pairing-pear-and-brie-baked-in-pastry/" target="_blank"><b>natural pairing</b></a> for brie, would work out.)<br />
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Taking note they are rather soft (in fact, they're among the juiciest <a href="http://www.fruitsinfo.com/pears.htm" target="_blank"><b>pears</b></a>), I didn't want to cook them for too long or expose them directly to the pan, which is why I waited until the onions were nearly done caramelising before adding in the pears. After about 10 minutes, the pears had sweetened, softening up without losing their shape.<br />
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30-35 minutes in total had perhaps gone by since turning on the oven. The garlic had finished roasting and so I carefully took it out, opening up the tin foil and releasing one of the best culinary smells I have ever come across. After smashing this lot, I gently folded it into the onion and pear mixture. I left all of this in the pan on low heat to keep warm.<br />
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Meanwhile, the puff pastry had defrosted. I laid out one of the sheets and pinched the folds to create a seamless sheet. (This step is pretty important, or else the cheese will melt out... though there could be worse things in life.) I then took two of the three rectangles of the second sheet and likewise folded and seamed the sheet, laying this on top of the brie wheel. Wrapping it as close to the wheel as possible, I folded the bottom layer over the top one, encasing it as well as I could. As an aside, I should note I usually bake a smaller brie wheel, in which case just one sheet rolled out is sufficient, but the process is pretty much the same, with an entirely covered brie wheel being the ultimate goal. I then flipped this lot over (that bottom layer is now the more even one and will this puff up more evenly), and got to work on the final third which I had reserved from the second puff pastry sheet.<br />
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This bit's one of the easier steps, as this is the decoration sheet. My typical design is a braided ring, so I did the same thing, using water to help "glue" it into place. Try your hand out with leaves, flowers, cross hatches, letters, what have you. Décor all finished, I got this onto a lightly greased baking sheet and into the oven.<br />
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As the brie en croûte is baking, other dishes could certainly be in the works. That, or clean up, for which I opted. About 30 minutes later, the puff pastry puffed and was ready to come out; though it took just 5-10 minutes more for it to turn golden brown. To speed up that process, you could certainly give the puff pastry a light egg wash (usually one egg yolk plus a touch of water) before putting it in the oven, or lightly toasting it under the broiler after the initial bake.<br />
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Et voilà, I present one of the best (and simplest) food matches to ever exist. <br />
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Finished off with buttery crackers as seen here, toasted baguette or even left all alone, this is one dish that always completes the holiday picture for me and one which I am sure you will enjoy, as well... as long as you enjoy flaky pastry dough and melted cheese, as well as the sweetness and textures from caramelised onions and pears, the warmth from roasted garlic, and a slight, nuanced heat from the black pepper.<br />
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For these and additional photos from the Christmas meal to which the brie en croûte was added, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.759849129453.1073741934.36203035&type=1&l=637fcc3752" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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With that, I sign off for 2013, noting here some stats for future comparison's sake. As of this post, <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>this blog site</b></a> has 32 "likes," 11 Google followers, nearly 38.5K all-time views (recorded, though who knows how accurate), and 269 posts officially posted, with more than a few handfuls backlogged as drafts. Learning through Food on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/learningthroughfood" target="_blank"><b>Facebook</b></a> has 196 "likes," and my <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/br/33/9860/learning-through-food-columbus" target="_blank"><b>Urbanspoon account</b></a> (complete with 56 total posts, 40 of which are from Columbus) is ranked #8 among those in Columbus.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlT28dcvAsx0EOb-4ERUQNSuaKbX2GWDy8hai_LZtOSSjNTisuQTQXr_SSMVNMhKJHu6ZUmqVMveOP295Hfahve5chW2DTLzARWQemOFGArYILPvbKbfnSBWx4X1kzOsqN9jbCuv2_OO2j/s1600/profile+tday+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlT28dcvAsx0EOb-4ERUQNSuaKbX2GWDy8hai_LZtOSSjNTisuQTQXr_SSMVNMhKJHu6ZUmqVMveOP295Hfahve5chW2DTLzARWQemOFGArYILPvbKbfnSBWx4X1kzOsqN9jbCuv2_OO2j/s320/profile+tday+2013.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
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<i>If you like this blog, I invite you to "like" and follow my accompanying pages via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/learningthroughfood" target="_blank"><b>Facebook</b></a> and/or <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/br/33/9860/learning-through-food-columbus" target="_blank"><b>Urbanspoon</b></a> (and don't forget to share these with others). Here's to many more food and culture experiences throughout 2014 and beyond! And above all else, thank you for your continued support!!</i><br />
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As alluded to at the top of this post, the above brie en croûte recipe (an appetizer entry in this case) is but an example of what could be presented for Very Great Recipe's Christmas Menu recipe challenge, which began on December 5th and will end on January 5th. As noted in <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2013/12/thanksgiving-christmas-challenges-2013.html" target="_blank"><b>my Thanksgiving post</b></a>, anyone and everyone is
encouraged to share their original recipes and join in this fun,
international collaboration, whereby food is at the heart of it all. The following rules have been summarised/restated below from the official challenge web page (<a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>).<br />
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<u><b>Official Rules:</b></u> <br />
<ul>
<li>There must be at least one picture in your recipe, and both the
recipe and picture need to be your own. If your recipe is inspired by
another, please mention it in your recipe.</li>
<li>You cannot use an already published recipe to participate in the
challenge, you need to publish a new recipe (otherwise there's no
challenge!)</li>
<li>We would love to have participations from all around the world,
including from blogs in languages other than English. Please do include
an English translation of your recipe in your post though. :-) If you
need help with the translation (proofreading etc.),
we will be glad to help if we can.</li>
<li>You can participate with up to one recipe for each category: Christmas appetizers, entrees (main dishes) and desserts.</li>
</ul>
<u><b>Submitting Your Entry(-ies):</b></u><br />
<ul>
<li>If you have a food blog registered on Very Good Recipes, you just
need to publish your recipe on your blog with a link to the challenge
page <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge">http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge</a></b> in the text of your recipe.
<i>(Note how I linked this post to the Thanksgiving challenge.)</i><br />
Please also add a link to the recipe category so that we can find participating recipes easily:
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-appetizer">Christmas Appetizer</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-entree">Christmas Entree</a></b> (main dish)</li>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-dessert">Christmas Dessert</a></b></li>
</ul>
It will then be automatically listed on the <a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>Christmas Menu recipe challenge page</b></a>. (If you don't see it after 30 minutes, <b><a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com" target="_blank">e-mail Stéphane</a></b>.)</li>
<li>If you have a food blog (or a blog with a recipe category or label) but are not yet registered on Very Good Recipes, you can <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/cgi/blog.pl">register</a></b> in 30 seconds.</li>
<li>If you do not have a blog, you can participate by <a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com" target="_blank"><b></b></a><b><a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com">sending Stéphane</a></b> your recipe with one or more pictures. He will publish your recipe on Very Good Recipe's blog so that it can be
displayed on the challenge page.</li>
</ul>
<u><b>Prizes:</b></u><br />
The judges, including yours truly, will select four winners. The grand winner will be selected from among those who submit three recipes, one from each category. In addition, there will be a winner for each of the three course categories. At stake are not only bragging rights, but cookbooks and laurels that'll be posted on VGR's website and which can also be posted on winners' respective blogs!<br />
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<u><b>This Challenge's Judges:</b></u><br />
- Anyonita: <b><a href="http://www.anyonita-nibbles.com/" target="_blank">http://www.anyonita-nibbles.co<wbr></wbr>m/</a></b><br />
- Clem: <b><a href="http://urbanfoodcrawl.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">http://urbanfoodcrawl.wordpres<wbr></wbr>s.com/</a></b><br />
- Jenny: <b><a href="http://bubbuleincucina.blogspot.it/" target="_blank">http://bubbuleincucina.blogspo<wbr></wbr>t.it/</a></b><br />
- Karon: <b><a href="http://www.larderlove.com/" target="_blank">http://www.larderlove.com/</a></b><br />
- Leslie: <b><a href="http://cookingmemoirs.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://cookingmemoirs.blogspot<wbr></wbr>.com</a></b><br />
- Marica: <b><a href="http://www.cookingwithmarica.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cookingwithmarica.n<wbr></wbr>et/</a></b><br />
- Mark Anthony: <b><a href="http://www.learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://www.learningthroughfood<wbr></wbr>.blogspot.com/</a></b><br />
- Stefania: <b><a href="http://bigshade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://bigshade.blogspot.com/</a></b><br />
- Vera: <b><a href="http://vojvodjanskakuhinja.blogspot.fr/" target="_blank">http://vojvodjanskakuhinja.blo<wbr></wbr>gspot.fr/</a></b><br />
- Yankee Chef: <b><a href="http://theyankeechef.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://theyankeechef.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com/</a></b><br />
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<b>Finally, please feel free to pass along this challenge to your friends and family! </b>For more information, check out the <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank">Christmas Menu recipe challenge page</a></b>. I look forward to seeing all this recipes for this challenge, especially those from Learning through Food readers. :) LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-90804303395888260822013-12-26T23:59:00.000-05:002013-12-28T15:22:12.346-05:00Restaurant Review: Northstar Café<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXqqeJPczKGxIIaHqxRmdY3Xwp0T96WXrlpYFTVi1m9ILvXw4lhyphenhyphenDbEDXt48rkBmxY4G2xuaxtI158Hfuy3TaMg95Ckm-jgXW5dssPdwBTE-XAISJ1fM80qdRy8LWT01MjhstcYg1bhOj/s1600/DSCN9690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXqqeJPczKGxIIaHqxRmdY3Xwp0T96WXrlpYFTVi1m9ILvXw4lhyphenhyphenDbEDXt48rkBmxY4G2xuaxtI158Hfuy3TaMg95Ckm-jgXW5dssPdwBTE-XAISJ1fM80qdRy8LWT01MjhstcYg1bhOj/s320/DSCN9690.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1539189/restaurant/Easton/Northstar-Cafe-Columbus"><img alt="Northstar Café on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1539189/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to venture into <a href="http://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/" target="_blank"><b>Northstar Café</b></a>, but I finally did just a few weeks ago, prior to travelling to Michigan for the holiday season. I met one of my closest Denison friends, Amanda, at the <a href="http://www.eastontowncenter.com/" target="_blank"><b>Easton Town Center</b></a> location, where she introduced me to Northstar's wonderfully fresh and deliciously healthy menu (there are actually <a href="http://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/menus/easton.pdf" target="_blank"><b>two</b></a>, depending on the meal), complete with a cozy, warm vibe throughout the restaurant space. Though it's easy to spend a fair amount rather quickly, I can assure you the quality and experience are certainly worth the cost.<br />
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Enjoyed alongside her glass of white, Amanda ordered one of her favourite dishes off the Northstar menu: the whole grilled artichoke. Quite simple in its presentation as seen above, the artichoke is cut in half and topped with fresh herbs. The best part of this vegetable is the artichoke "heart," where the largest concentration of "meat" resides. Undoubtedly fresh and satisfying, the leaves pull away easily and leave you wanting another taste. (For the uninitiated among you, click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL4RaoSaHu4" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> to watch a short video on how to eat an artichoke.)<b> </b>An aioli dipping sauce accompanies the dish, though I found out it isn't all that necessary, as the artichoke preparation and natural flavours are perfect all on their own.<br />
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As for me, I ordered our bartender-waitress's favourite thing off the menu: the chicken and avocado sandwich. And oh.my.yum this lived up to and surpassed all expectations. Resting on top of one of their in-house breads was a layer of creamy avocado, of which I'm usually not a fan of outside of guacamole. On top of that sat chunks of slow-roasted <a href="http://www.bellandevans.com/" target="_blank"><b>Bell & Evans</b></a> chicken and a beautiful slice of smoke Gouda (one of my top three cheeses, the other two being Comté and Reblochon). Completing this lot was then a lightly dressed bunch of peppery arugula, sweet roasted red pepper, and a hint of heat from some cayenne aioli. As a complete unit, the harmony of flavours and varied textures was simply exquisite. I could taste each component and the balance was so present that nothing seemed to take away from something else. Served on the side was a bright, deliciously toothy wild rice salad, which certainly contributed to my being full but not being overstuffed. This is something I'd definitely get again, though there are so many other great-looking options on the menu!<br />
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Alongside the rustic, cabin kind of environment are fireplaces and a spiral staircase which I can only imagine leads to a great overhead view of the entire layout. The most apparent and appreciated feature of the entire space for this blogger is the open kitchen area connected to the in-house bakery. There's no shying away from the freshness and energies placed into every dish that's prepared at this Northstar location. Perhaps future visits to the other locations (in Beechwold and the Short North) are in order... for research purposes, of course.<br />
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To check out Northstar's website, click <a href="http://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. And <a href="http://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/philosophy.html" target="_blank"><b>especially check this out</b></a> to get a glimpse at their firm commitment to quality ingredients and similar locally, globally, and environmentally-conscious decision making. If you've ever been to a Northstar location, let me know what you think about it in the comments below or on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/learningthroughfood" target="_blank"><b>Learning through Food Facebook page</b></a>.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-6482182620970911832013-12-12T23:59:00.000-05:002013-12-13T15:28:30.923-05:00Restaurant Review: Two Pre-Movie Visits to Melt<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/1790919/restaurant/Short-North/Melt-Bar-and-Grilled-Columbus" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Melt Bar and Grilled on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1790919/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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It's not quite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJrytUyagY" target="_blank"><b>summer</b></a> here in central Ohio. But with the recent releases (and definite favourites of mine) of <i><a href="http://www.thehungergamesexplorer.com/us/epk/catching-fire/" target="_blank"><b>Catching Fire</b></a> </i>(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoKj7TdJk98" target="_blank"><b>trailer</b></a>) and <a href="http://movies.disney.com/frozen" target="_blank"><b><i>Frozen</i></b></a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQm5doF_Uc" target="_blank"><b>trailer</b></a>) the dynamism between heat and the wintry weather can coincidentally be felt in Columbus's <a href="http://www.shortnorth.org/" target="_blank"><b>Short North</b></a> at the newly installed (<a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/09/14/clevelands-melt-brings-cheesy-menu-to-columbus.html" target="_blank"><b>1</b></a>,<a href="http://www.columbusalive.com/content/blogs/thelatest/2013/11/melt-bar-and-grilled-columbus-short-north.html" target="_blank"><b>2</b></a>), Cleveland-based <a href="http://meltbarandgrilled.com/" target="_blank"><b>Melt Bar and Grilled</b></a> (840 North High St.). Unintentionally, though nevertheless prior to my first viewing of <i>Catching Fire </i>and third viewing of <i>Frozen</i>, I headed over to check out Melt's offerings on two different occasions, with some of my classmates. With the fall term officially ended, I now have the time to share my composite review below.<br />
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As I've been trying to figure out how exactly to lay out the words floating in my head, the anthropological side of me strongly feels like some context and bias need to be especially laid out in advance. I should note Melt opened on November 15th; my first visit was on November 21st. Until that point, the hype had certainly been built and there were consistent observations of a packed interior whenever someone passed by. By the time we (some of my fellow cohort members) got there, the place was certainly busy, but not insanely packed that it took us forever to get seated. As another important contextual piece: during the wait, we headed across the street to Whit's for dairy-rich appetizers. No regrets there, but that tends to limit additional food intake.<br />
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My second jaunt over to Melt was on December 6th, the same day Columbus was hit with inches of snow (truly a fitting day to watch <i>Frozen </i>again). From Melt's opening to this second visit, it's seemingly clear the restaurant has a defined identity and upbeat persona, complemented by a strong, communal vibe and personality coming from both the bar and wait staff. The place is still regularly packed from what I've seen and have been told, with the biggest rushes expectedly during main meal services. Of further note, food is no longer served past 1am, should you decide you need some melted cheese that late at night.<br />
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This leads me to my strongest bias. I love cheese. And when I think of a place called Melt, the image that gets conjured in my head is a considerable amount of thick-sliced, or multiple slices of, melted cheese. Perhaps that's too much to expect, or maybe I just cook with too much cheese... Then again, is there such a thing as too much of it? (Actually, they do have a <a href="http://meltbarandgrilled.com/melt-challenge/" target="_blank"><b>"Melt Challenge"</b></a>: over 5 lbs of food, which does seem borderline offputting yet utterly delicious-sounding.) Unfortunately, I have yet to have a grilled cheese sandwich from Melt (granted I've only had two, though you'd expect consistency, no?) which meets my cheesey expectations.<br />
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The culprit, perhaps may be what I think Melt is especially known for: the layers in between thick slabs of bread. Quite honestly, I imagine I'd be totally fine just eating their lasagna or spaetzel or chicken and waffles on their own. Put any of that between bread and hide the slice(s) of cheese, though, and that's where you've lost me. Is it just a gimmick, a gastro-cultural phenomena, or is there a culinary element that's supposed to heighten the flavours alongside the experience? I'm not entirely sure, but what I can say is that I found myself closer to the "meh" spectrum than the "mmm." Take, for example, the "War Pig."<br />
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Melt's menu is a formidable one, one description sounding better than the next as you read aloud from the vinyl record covers (<a href="http://meltbarandgrilled.com/menu/" target="_blank"><b>or even the screen</b></a>). The bulk of the War Pig is a toss up between the bread and the delicious espresso & ancho rubbed pork. Don't get me wrong, I love toasted/grilled bread but not when it muddles the nuanced heat coming from the meat, and makes the sandwich much dried than it needs to/should be. Maybe there should have been some more house made mole sauce, or there should be more that comes with it on the side. (At least I had some cidres to help combat the dryness.) Reading along the rest of the description, next up is the seared pork belly which took me a while to find. If you're expecting a slab of pork belly, you won't find it either, as it's chopped up and melds with the pork. In theory, the pork belly should add some moisture to the pork, but it doesn't... or if it does, the rest of it is so dry it's incredibly unnoticeable. By the time I saw and tasted the honey ham atop which the other meats sit, I realised this grilled cheese is wicked salty (and I love salt, but not when it overtakes everything else). The tamale cake didn't help either, nor did the "crispy" chicharrones, by which I mean soggy from all the trapped heat under the bread. As for the pepper-jack, well, I didn't notice until the following day when I ate my leftovers that I saw there were two slices, whose peppery taste was indistinguisable against everything else. Also, if you can't tell from the above photo, this isn't the easiest sandwich to eat; so, at least the bread is strong enough to help hold everything together... until it falls out nearly in one mass. High hopes, but perhaps too high in this case.<br />
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So, I decided to scale back, and I mean way back, for my second visit. I chose a regular, plain grilled cheese (listed on the menu as a "Kindergarten"). There would just be bread and cheese, no other fillers, nothing else to take away the taste of what in my mind should be the foci. Prior to even placing my order for a smoked gouda grilled cheese, I was told that no one had ever asked for just a plain grilled cheese from our server. This should be interesting, I thought. But first, and given how cold it was outside, I decided to also get the soup of the day: Mediterranean chowder. There didn't appear to be any frills in this one. Great textural contrast and balance sat within its ingredients, the amalgamated flavours coming together to satisfy the warmth I sought from Melt's food. <br />
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And then, the grilled cheese arrived. Now that I look at both sandwiches, I can immediately see inconsistency in grilling (and/or maybe buttering), though that didn't bother me too much. The cheese was definitely melted and looked amazing, my taste buds salivating as I photographed it. But then, the thick sliced bread got in the way..again. Any sense of grill distracted the gouda's inherent smoky qualities. And any moisture that should be there was zapped by the dry bread above and below the cheese. On a positive note, the fries are good (though I thought they needed a little seasoning), and I earlier had that soup. But I didn't specifically go to Melt for either of those.<br />
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Overall, I'm leaning toward disappointed in this review, though I'd be willing to give it another go. Again, the bar selections and staff are all wonderful, and the restaurant as a whole makes sense in my mind when I consider the entirety of the Short North. There's also certainly proof among the palates that good, if not great, grilled cheese sandwiches come from Melt's kitchens. During my first visit, Brianne got "The Dude Abides" (homemade meatballs, fried mozzarella wedges, rich marinara, provolone & romano) and Daniel got the "Hungry Hungarian" (pulled roasted chicken, rich paprikash sauce, homemade herb spaetzle, muenster), while Jay and Nicole built their own. For the second go-around, Amanda got the "Parma, Italy" (crispy breaded chicken, sun-dried tomato pesto, roasted garlic, provolone), while Jay and Nicole both got "The Mighty Macaroni Melt," which is also the monthly special (creamy homemade macaroni & cheese, breaded and deep fried to a golden brown; Jay got his with gouda and Nicole with American. [<i>Thanks, Amanda!</i>]). I'm not entirely convinced that Melt lives up to all the hype, but at the end of the day, the constant flow of customers through its doors seems to indicate an affirmation of communal appreciation for cheese (which is always a good thing in my book). For photos from my visits to Melt, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.752077139583.1073741929.36203035&type=1&l=baea888a71" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.757063571733.1073741933.36203035&type=1&l=7793494a76" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. And given all this talk about cheese, perhaps you may be interested in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/favorite-cheese-says-about-you_n_4399840.html" target="_blank"><b>what your favourite cheese has to say about you</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Have you been to Melt yet? What was your experience like? Is there a particular dish I should try and/or forego altogether? Comment below!</i>LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-90577280330926498432013-12-05T14:28:00.000-05:002013-12-05T15:39:35.566-05:00Because It's Just Better with Bacon: Three Thanksgiving Side Dishes for 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Greetings, Foodies and Food Fans of the Blogosphere! Somehow the end of my first semester in graduate school has arrived and with it comes the rather hectic week of finals. That said, I need to take a quick break from all that to make a fun announcement (and finally get this post published). If you haven't seen <a href="https://www.facebook.com/learningthroughfood" target="_blank"><b>via Facebook</b></a>, <a href="http://www.learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>LearningthroughFood</b></a> has recently been catalogued on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VeryGoodRecipes" target="_blank"><b>Very Good Recipes</b></a>'s<b> </b>website (<a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/learning-through-food" target="_blank"><b>linked here</b></a>). Soon after, I signed on to join VGR webmaster Stéphane Gigandet (who recently launched <b><a href="http://openfoodfacts.org/" target="_blank">http://openfoodfacts.org</a></b>) and eleven other food bloggers from around the world as a judge for VGR's "<a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>Christmas Menu</b></a>" recipe challenge which opened up earlier today! But before I get to that, I wanted to share with you my entries into VGR's "<a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/thanksgiving-challenge" target="_blank"><b>Thanksgiving Your Way</b></a>" challenge (which you could join as well, until the 7th: <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/thanksgiving-challenge">http://verygoodrecipes.com/thanksgiving-challenge</a></b>).<br />
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Last week, I cooked up three side dishes to contribute to a Thanksgiving meal held at my godparents' house in Michigan. Inspired by a question on this year's <a href="http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2013/11/thanksgiving-live-2013-recipes/" target="_blank"><b>Thanksgiving Live special</b></a> ("How can I incorporate bacon into my Thanksgiving meal?), and because frankly everything's better with <a href="http://visual.ly/bacon-and-humanity-love-story" target="_blank"><b>bacon</b></a>, I decided to take three otherwise vegetarian dishes and pork things up a bit. For the sake of the VGR challenge, I'm going to try and keep the recipes as separate as possible, though just take note all three were made concurrently within an hour or so timeframe. On the bacon-enriched menu: Brussels sprouts with an orange-balsamic reduction; kale and beets with crumbled goat cheese; and sweet potato casserole with toasted marshmallows.<br />
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In response to the Thanksgiving Live special (you should have seen my reaction as soon as I heard the question..), my first thought was to fry up Brussels sprouts in rendered bacon fat (which I did for this past St. Patrick's Day dinner..oof, which I still need to blog about). By the way, if you love Brussels sprouts and aren't all that into bacon (more for me I guess), check <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/thanksgiving-brussels-sprouts-recipes" target="_blank"><b>this</b></a> out.<br />
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For each batch of Brussels sprouts (two 1-pound batches in my case), I fried up four slices of bacon. Meanwhile, I sliced the Brussels sprouts in half and after removing the
crisped bacon from the pan, I got each sprout half into the bacon
drippings. It's important to leave the sprouts alone so they can not
only take in all that porky goodness, but also have time to caramelise,
as well. Feel free to crowd the pan and stir things around to make room
(the Brussels sprouts will shrink a bit) for any remaining sprouts that
didn't get into the pan the first time around. After about 10-15 minutes
(the sprout halves should be anywhere in the golden to deep brown
colour range), transfer them into a bowl and repeat the process as
needed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBQT5JgzUTFkuCkYCgigW_sRPD9vDmlVHyyjffWWUx5UInjgfK3d5prQvfmnPBuwezu-uXqxVOWUpiB8Ht4JZcZnXgJ7g47jGokLZ1Mw-5Fa4eLQXf43MQZNDhGyNXG-o2a1HBFZU1OmD/s1600/thanksgiving16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBQT5JgzUTFkuCkYCgigW_sRPD9vDmlVHyyjffWWUx5UInjgfK3d5prQvfmnPBuwezu-uXqxVOWUpiB8Ht4JZcZnXgJ7g47jGokLZ1Mw-5Fa4eLQXf43MQZNDhGyNXG-o2a1HBFZU1OmD/s200/thanksgiving16.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GPHOMDDvLLj78nz4bTVw40PdU6lzR8OvIyTj_WUPnNpDE2p2T5uzCvcmY9Lj8IJULL6Nos2yFDsubVFrpoySu3kQNWko9G5dpuRYzlTgT9GjkGagESZHQ-U4_5mdTQiTTjo5eJYFQ_S_/s1600/thanksgiving8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GPHOMDDvLLj78nz4bTVw40PdU6lzR8OvIyTj_WUPnNpDE2p2T5uzCvcmY9Lj8IJULL6Nos2yFDsubVFrpoySu3kQNWko9G5dpuRYzlTgT9GjkGagESZHQ-U4_5mdTQiTTjo5eJYFQ_S_/s200/thanksgiving8.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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While all of that was going, I got into a small sauce pot about 1/2 c balsamic vinegar and 1/2 c orange juice (with pulp), and let them simmer on low heat. By the time my two batches of Brussels sprouts were finished, the balsamic and orange juice mixture had reduced by about half. At that point, I added about 2-3 tablespoons and let it reduce in half again. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVLM0OecabyfUMZoH3elvSM-FNosyVwkcdCaz0C7Y4GWUwvqzLscigATrqgLu1_De4JdHXM0dZVYPyGlxPx2CFIs8NTCJP6Ee1_dZ1-euwTaJalb0ktavpH5Ckxlx3JeZwtTafHHi9H_K/s1600/thanksgiving7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVLM0OecabyfUMZoH3elvSM-FNosyVwkcdCaz0C7Y4GWUwvqzLscigATrqgLu1_De4JdHXM0dZVYPyGlxPx2CFIs8NTCJP6Ee1_dZ1-euwTaJalb0ktavpH5Ckxlx3JeZwtTafHHi9H_K/s320/thanksgiving7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once reduced, I added the lot to my bowl of sprouts, gently tossed it all together and topped it off with about four slices worth of crumbled bacon. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnC7zC9jdAqFtMe2GE09ZaLP-VOF_Nsuuaf66kErP11az_3Axwu3vN6mverbhghSOt9igQ2ge7NDwRtqFgSjuPeU90fMMGk2WpVzyhMZN6yasF5A_W__GiwFtEtCHMQl1Nk4hh92iPWG5f/s1600/thanksgiving13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnC7zC9jdAqFtMe2GE09ZaLP-VOF_Nsuuaf66kErP11az_3Axwu3vN6mverbhghSOt9igQ2ge7NDwRtqFgSjuPeU90fMMGk2WpVzyhMZN6yasF5A_W__GiwFtEtCHMQl1Nk4hh92iPWG5f/s320/thanksgiving13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As I was daydreaming of the Brussels sprouts, Bobby Flay had made the suggestion that adding bacon to kale and goat cheese would be one of the easiest ways to get in the pork craving (my words in that latter part, not his). I had already thought of wanting to cook up some beets for Thanksgiving, so why not serve them all together? For this second recipe, I decided to chop up the bacon into smaller
pieces and render more bacon fat. Note to self: I don't think I'll ever
do that again, unless I'm really in a time crunch. Though chopped bacon
definitely cooks faster, they tend to get to that bitter, burned stage
more quickly, too. (Thankfully I was able to save some of them.) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-z5SsnhoPsqpA0sOs_wej1QSU992-8g8zMamSwiMyMPaAzbWu51y0mGEl6l0H05D1-60Jw_Q5DBJvDcbKB7n2O0FiXUbvXE82I7GzhpsatNOvmlZa9WJyvbNXT1_sC8FulhoF49zXeNQ/s1600/thanksgiving17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-z5SsnhoPsqpA0sOs_wej1QSU992-8g8zMamSwiMyMPaAzbWu51y0mGEl6l0H05D1-60Jw_Q5DBJvDcbKB7n2O0FiXUbvXE82I7GzhpsatNOvmlZa9WJyvbNXT1_sC8FulhoF49zXeNQ/s200/thanksgiving17.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiByv9J-hLVjva4Ysw5Rrc4zU_vCcXodkRmQ0R8Nn_MPIy6_Hw9QtI1s84so-qx-CcqGb7GBX5esy4B3xtuHQXMZeCs3xjgTD57st8mpOcd7STikOTAwwsmYndZdcmFPUzy9y4MMzm5pTd/s1600/thanksgiving18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiByv9J-hLVjva4Ysw5Rrc4zU_vCcXodkRmQ0R8Nn_MPIy6_Hw9QtI1s84so-qx-CcqGb7GBX5esy4B3xtuHQXMZeCs3xjgTD57st8mpOcd7STikOTAwwsmYndZdcmFPUzy9y4MMzm5pTd/s200/thanksgiving18.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Anyway, I began peeling and dicing a total of six beets while the bacon was cooking. After rescuing the chopped bacon, I lowered the heat and cooked the beets directly in the rendered bacon fat (I did strain it first, though, to get rid of any leftover bacon char), adding more beets as I was finished prepping them. While the beets were cooking, my sister prepped the kale (one bunch), cutting the fiberous stems from the leaves, and then giving the leaves a rough chop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsTVjpmeVQG_EpyJZTzMEK66kRgbDnBnE4qrCxjbJah62oOdtMQKfMIREBgrRXqDfDP5QB6lhXPdabyum7UiemfssUF5CG9suyaUmZRgmsFQB2TxiMAGbMAvUqkDbcDkdLMIuWI0yo1UW/s1600/thanksgiving20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsTVjpmeVQG_EpyJZTzMEK66kRgbDnBnE4qrCxjbJah62oOdtMQKfMIREBgrRXqDfDP5QB6lhXPdabyum7UiemfssUF5CG9suyaUmZRgmsFQB2TxiMAGbMAvUqkDbcDkdLMIuWI0yo1UW/s200/thanksgiving20.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEHmVW4Un53ko7MHZ4AhQzq_MyZSLlAecYoxi2ZHp53lyB7J9ajqkf8n3-shsGJV1SHFHiM9uKJi_Mx8KXnZjJkkgDxCHJLINEIZ1tebehmraHo_mIik02_w8mXvV6bLU36Pr9BKt8hMV/s1600/thanksgiving9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEHmVW4Un53ko7MHZ4AhQzq_MyZSLlAecYoxi2ZHp53lyB7J9ajqkf8n3-shsGJV1SHFHiM9uKJi_Mx8KXnZjJkkgDxCHJLINEIZ1tebehmraHo_mIik02_w8mXvV6bLU36Pr9BKt8hMV/s200/thanksgiving9.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The bacon, along with the moisture released from the beets, yield enough liquid that's perfect for steaming the kale. That being said, I added the prepped kale in small batches to the beets. I covered the lot and let the steam wilt the kale. Before each addition of kale, I gave the kale-beet mix a delicate toss along with a pinch of kosher salt. There's no need to add an inordinate amount of salt, as the goat cheese and bacon will take care of most of the flavour for you. Also, you know you're all done when the kale has completely wilted and has changed to a darker green colour (not too dark or else it'll get mushy), and a fork can easily pierce the beets (again, don't over cook the beets, as you still want them to retain their shape and slight bite). <br />
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Drain any excess liquid and transfer the kale and beets into your serving dish, and complete it with crumbled herb goat cheese (plain works just as well, but why not add more flavour?) and about 2-3 slices worth of bacon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72myj89ZHOCUmtF373hdJx2E5XiCiAHoM7a49nQiAeybpi3lO9YJiTKThpMuCYQ7n8ZV1G5ijLVmx2FuVBXOd9JJfqw6p7R5dfF4ybX6THYJOs7_nfBnwqWccII_tXaOnaxNsdMnwWB7R/s1600/thanksgiving12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72myj89ZHOCUmtF373hdJx2E5XiCiAHoM7a49nQiAeybpi3lO9YJiTKThpMuCYQ7n8ZV1G5ijLVmx2FuVBXOd9JJfqw6p7R5dfF4ybX6THYJOs7_nfBnwqWccII_tXaOnaxNsdMnwWB7R/s1600/thanksgiving12.jpg" /></a></div>
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At the grocery store, I decided to cook up some sweet potatoes. I've only really eaten sweet potato fries and have only ever cooked <a href="http://learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/2011/08/discover-taste-of-caribbean-for-about-1.html" target="_blank"><b>one sweet potato dish</b></a> which was purposefully non-Thanksgiving, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was going for this time around. As I had gone grocery shopping on Thanksgiving Day, it turned out all the sweet potatoes had been purchased (they also happened to be 50% off so they must've been sold wicked fast). Luckily, there were some sweet potatoes that were sold in microwavable bags; a bit more expensive, but it wasn't a drastic dent in my bank account. Each bag was about 1.5 lbs and I didn't use all of them. If you attempt to recreate the following recipe, I'd say look for 2-2.5 lbs worth of sweet potatoes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I3o1OBtcjDKm4uiTQhxrZ4qz7RFYbUjg3bEbBPCUnCXJrYPFZkc8xeZvqt-7PSbjKzSbjU3ff5tsybEbcdIuXPda6Wycao_8QSyHf2qlaR3iy9ppApLgvMCforc_EAkYhycP6GNPkUbr/s1600/thanksgiving10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I3o1OBtcjDKm4uiTQhxrZ4qz7RFYbUjg3bEbBPCUnCXJrYPFZkc8xeZvqt-7PSbjKzSbjU3ff5tsybEbcdIuXPda6Wycao_8QSyHf2qlaR3iy9ppApLgvMCforc_EAkYhycP6GNPkUbr/s200/thanksgiving10.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVoBintmbubYTLfS7KCahz-xq6EPr9MTF06JJHue_KMuZ0xrQc8-t4rrpVPXlxuQujROh91FXlJbua9nYGUMMZW-u61TjVej24W5hIyeerGaeWQCRDm_1muoGhpzB_Kw4WvkDFs3-tvdi/s1600/thanksgiving11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVoBintmbubYTLfS7KCahz-xq6EPr9MTF06JJHue_KMuZ0xrQc8-t4rrpVPXlxuQujROh91FXlJbua9nYGUMMZW-u61TjVej24W5hIyeerGaeWQCRDm_1muoGhpzB_Kw4WvkDFs3-tvdi/s200/thanksgiving11.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I set the oven to 350°F, and proceeded to peel and thinly slice (maybe 1/4") the sweet potatoes. I arranged them with a slight overlap and topped the first layer with a light brown sugar. Atop the second layer, I sprinkled more light brown sugar and a healthy dose of ground cinnamon. All of the store brand heavy cream was sold out, too, so I ended up getting a pint of half and half. I poured the whole thing into the baking dish, which was just about enough to cover the sweet potatoes. I put covered the dish with tin foil and got this in the oven. (While this was in the oven, I was working on the above dishes.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pLbspWXTfHEKf42PasAR6YCtG_ZNF04zit7Y9GpkRj84Z33AxfMpZiCADxAV_gXUwMd_lPg20KGX1xIq64Hta0xzIcc90y3J4kg_MRZ5IiqQ5Tj2WkZw7kzI_kAW9ij9nuivnX6B4XmQ/s1600/thanksgiving6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pLbspWXTfHEKf42PasAR6YCtG_ZNF04zit7Y9GpkRj84Z33AxfMpZiCADxAV_gXUwMd_lPg20KGX1xIq64Hta0xzIcc90y3J4kg_MRZ5IiqQ5Tj2WkZw7kzI_kAW9ij9nuivnX6B4XmQ/s320/thanksgiving6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After about half an hour, the potatoes didn't look done, so I put them back for about 15 more minutes. At that point, a knife could easily pierce through them, but there was still quite a bit of liquid. I ended up spooning out about a cup of the half and half, and because time was working against me, I decided to remove the tin foil completely, cover the sweet potatoes with about 5 oz mini marshmallows, and then set the oven to broil on high to toast them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6p0AEj0Sk7ZiOnK20ZZJnJKXDciXwujvEZDnJLlJnglUYDhx0w1yOReLfazvbF5tN88k_5XP5T9FbUTI6Dru86j86DedTL0KyMawQCNpXX4Vn73mkTn2ZSOzyF0ts7sVXnHShE6Ad4D_/s1600/thanksgiving2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6p0AEj0Sk7ZiOnK20ZZJnJKXDciXwujvEZDnJLlJnglUYDhx0w1yOReLfazvbF5tN88k_5XP5T9FbUTI6Dru86j86DedTL0KyMawQCNpXX4Vn73mkTn2ZSOzyF0ts7sVXnHShE6Ad4D_/s320/thanksgiving2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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About three minutes or so should do the trick, depending on how close the casserole is to the heat source. In any case, just be sure to keep a close on it; or if you've got a mini torch or a salamander (no, not the animal; <a href="http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-salamander-broiler.htm" target="_blank"><b>this one</b></a>), toast the marshmallows with either of them. jBy the time all of the dishes got to my godparents', some of the half and half had spilled, but no bother. I drained some more of it off and it all still tasted great. Into the future, I'm going to stick with heavy cream and/or make sure to thicken whatever resulting sauce/liquid the sweet potatoes will be cooked in. Oh, and as for the bacon element, I just sprinkled the remaining bacon over the marshmallows for a smoky, sweet-and-salty finish.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIieelOKHM_d95ycsxbyx3rTMl_08tx76YfsULHRZ8mU4txYW019641QDD6_blaOJWjhvzTFWtDcllBfvwxlgYdq5_U4nJzVch5lEQR0EWoUBdm8mDGsWNSNlQwz04HwAEzWSnRnI0kcd9/s1600/thanksgiving5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIieelOKHM_d95ycsxbyx3rTMl_08tx76YfsULHRZ8mU4txYW019641QDD6_blaOJWjhvzTFWtDcllBfvwxlgYdq5_U4nJzVch5lEQR0EWoUBdm8mDGsWNSNlQwz04HwAEzWSnRnI0kcd9/s320/thanksgiving5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
So there you have it, three dishes that could theoretically do without the bacon. But really, I'm just thankful for bacon, so I might as well celebrate it, no? For these, and all of my other Thanksgiving 2013 photos, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.753550472013.1073741931.36203035&type=1&l=9ba4359270" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. Also, if you've got an original recipe from your past Thanksgiving that you'd like to share on Very Good Recipes, don't forget you've got until Saturday to submit your recipe in time for <a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/thanksgiving-challenge" target="_blank"><b>the Thanksgiving challenge</b></a>! But if you're really continuing to read for more information on the <a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>Christmas Menu recipe challenge</b></a> I'm helping to judge, keep on reading.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0Nqxi_nu_9zosel1Vf1nYGQkm7OSHRwOrD6PrBtUlDZownVvGAyPF5KyD9mvLA_bZZ8pb7yN7j8wseAQzdjdbbTk-9YfLjSifuP-I10_EpAeuyHy3fLGphoIsXhjuf15xqbS159WRxNY/s1600/christmas-menu-challenge.400x300.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0Nqxi_nu_9zosel1Vf1nYGQkm7OSHRwOrD6PrBtUlDZownVvGAyPF5KyD9mvLA_bZZ8pb7yN7j8wseAQzdjdbbTk-9YfLjSifuP-I10_EpAeuyHy3fLGphoIsXhjuf15xqbS159WRxNY/s320/christmas-menu-challenge.400x300.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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As summarised/restated from the official challenge web page (<a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>), VGR's Christmas Menu recipe challenge began/begins today (December 5, 2013) and will go through January 5th, 2014, giving you plenty of time to test out any recipes in advance and/or write up any spur-of-the-moment recipes you end up concocting. Anyone and everyone is
encouraged to share their original recipes and join in this fun,
international collaboration, whereby food is at the heart of it all.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Official Rules:</b></u> <br />
<ul>
<li>There must be at least one picture in your recipe, and both the
recipe and picture need to be your own. If your recipe is inspired by
another, please mention it in your recipe.</li>
<li>You cannot use an already published recipe to participate in the
challenge, you need to publish a new recipe (otherwise there's no
challenge!)</li>
<li>We would love to have participations from all around the world,
including from blogs in languages other than English. Please do include
an English translation of your recipe in your post though. :-) If you
need help with the translation (proofreading etc.),
we will be glad to help if we can.</li>
<li>You can participate with up to one recipe for each category: Christmas appetizers, entrees (main dishes) and desserts.</li>
</ul>
<u><b>Submitting Your Entry(-ies):</b></u><br />
<ul>
<li>If you have a food blog registered on Very Good Recipes, you just
need to publish your recipe on your blog with a link to the challenge
page <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge">http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge</a></b> in the text of your recipe.
<i>(Note how I linked this post to the Thanksgiving challenge.)</i><br />
Please also add a link to the recipe category so that we can find participating recipes easily:
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-appetizer">Christmas Appetizer</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-entree">Christmas Entree</a></b> (main dish)</li>
<li><b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-dessert">Christmas Dessert</a></b></li>
</ul>
It will then be automatically listed on the <a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank"><b>Christmas Menu recipe challenge page</b></a>. (If you don't see it after 30 minutes, <b><a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com" target="_blank">e-mail Stéphane</a></b>.)</li>
<li>If you have a food blog (or a blog with a recipe category or label) but are not yet registered on Very Good Recipes, you can <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/cgi/blog.pl">register</a></b> in 30 seconds.</li>
<li>If you do not have a blog, you can participate by <a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com" target="_blank"><b></b></a><b><a href="mailto:stephane@verygoodrecipes.com">sending Stéphane</a></b> your recipe with one or more pictures. He will publish your recipe on Very Good Recipe's blog so that it can be
displayed on the challenge page.</li>
</ul>
<u><b>Prizes:</b></u><br />
The judges, including yours truly, will select four winners. The grand winner will be selected from among those who submit three recipes, one from each category. In addition, there will be a winner for each of the three course categories. At stake are not only bragging rights, but cookbooks and laurels that'll be posted on VGR's website and which can also be posted on winners' respective blogs!<br />
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<u><b>This Challenge's Judges:</b></u><br />
- Anyonita: <b><a href="http://www.anyonita-nibbles.com/" target="_blank">http://www.anyonita-nibbles.co<wbr></wbr>m/</a></b><br />
- Clem: <b><a href="http://urbanfoodcrawl.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">http://urbanfoodcrawl.wordpres<wbr></wbr>s.com/</a></b><br />
- Jenny: <b><a href="http://bubbuleincucina.blogspot.it/" target="_blank">http://bubbuleincucina.blogspo<wbr></wbr>t.it/</a></b><br />
- Karon: <b><a href="http://www.larderlove.com/" target="_blank">http://www.larderlove.com/</a></b><br />
- Leslie: <b><a href="http://cookingmemoirs.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://cookingmemoirs.blogspot<wbr></wbr>.com</a></b><br />
- Marica: <b><a href="http://www.cookingwithmarica.net/" target="_blank">http://www.cookingwithmarica.n<wbr></wbr>et/</a></b><br />
- Mark Anthony: <b><a href="http://www.learningthroughfood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://www.learningthroughfood<wbr></wbr>.blogspot.com/</a></b><br />
- Stefania: <b><a href="http://bigshade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://bigshade.blogspot.com/</a></b><br />
- Vera: <b><a href="http://vojvodjanskakuhinja.blogspot.fr/" target="_blank">http://vojvodjanskakuhinja.blo<wbr></wbr>gspot.fr/</a></b><br />
- Yankee Chef: <b><a href="http://theyankeechef.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://theyankeechef.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com/</a></b><br />
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<b>Finally, please feel free to pass along this challenge to your friends and family! </b>For more information, check out the <b><a href="http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-menu-challenge" target="_blank">Christmas Menu recipe challenge page</a></b>. I look forward to seeing all this recipes for this challenge, especially those from Learning through Food readers. :) LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-33800470300683275162013-11-21T23:59:00.000-05:002013-11-23T17:19:55.615-05:00(Micro)Brewing Community in Columbus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last Thursday, I had the fortunate opportunity to join Jim Ellison (a.k.a. <a href="http://cmhgourmand.com/" target="_blank"><b>CMH Gourmand</b></a>, and Co-Owner and Tour Coordinator of <a href="http://columbusbrewadventures.com/" target="_blank"><b>Columbus Brew Adventures</b></a>) and 13 others on <a href="http://columbusbrewadventures.com/2013/tour/grandview-brewery-tour" target="_blank"><b>a brewery tour</b></a> in the <a href="http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-microbrew.htm" target="_blank"><b>microbrewing</b></a> district of <a href="http://www.grandviewheights.org/" target="_blank"><b>Grandview</b></a>. Begun just this past September, van fulls of folks have participated in one or more of CBA's <a href="http://columbusbrewadventures.com/tours" target="_blank"><b>six public tours</b></a>, including voyages to Granville and Athens. The Grandview tour took us to four different sites, where we tasted over a dozen local brews and especially learned through drink. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlILRT5cF3uFpw_50hYJ5rkBF9bAvamxsUAK6rT2Jm4LuXzW2eZjqYgGBenfebT9GUAA3NUy5Ww1tR_aRsmttdOo9FdqlyhvqFZu93g71RiVzL6xlmK9wQAvRlmAiTNt9F-kX9T0s11Q3h/s1600/columbus+brew+adventures+-+grandview+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlILRT5cF3uFpw_50hYJ5rkBF9bAvamxsUAK6rT2Jm4LuXzW2eZjqYgGBenfebT9GUAA3NUy5Ww1tR_aRsmttdOo9FdqlyhvqFZu93g71RiVzL6xlmK9wQAvRlmAiTNt9F-kX9T0s11Q3h/s320/columbus+brew+adventures+-+grandview+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/370153/restaurant/Grandview-Heights/Barleys-Smokehouse-Brewpub-Columbus"><img alt="Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/370153/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Our tour began where microbrewing began in Columbus some 15 years ago: <a href="http://smokehousebrewing.com/" target="_blank"><b>Barley's Smokehouse and Brewpub</b></a> (<span class="" dir="ltr">1130 Dublin Road). After gathering in the lobby, we made our way to a large L-shaped bar stool seating area located in the centre of the brewpub, with a great 360-view of the entire space. There was a liveliness I didn't quite expect on a Thursday evening. Then again, I would soon discover that each of our stops were full of regulars, microcosms of local brewery supporters. Mere moments later, plates of food were brought out as Barley’s Brewing Co. Founder <a href="http://614columbus.com/article/the-brewdood-abides-5815/" target="_blank"><b>Lenny Kolada, a.k.a. </b></a></span><span class="" dir="ltr"><b><span class="" dir="ltr"><a href="http://614columbus.com/article/the-brewdood-abides-5815/" target="_blank"><b>"Brewdood,"</b></a></span></b> and <a href="http://www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-blog/the-beer-blog-1.273124/five-questions-with-angelo-signorino-jr-1.273929" target="_blank"><b>Angelo Signorino</b></a>, the longest serving brewmaster in the state of Ohio, greeted us. </span><span class="" dir="ltr"><span class="" dir="ltr"> (In addition to his start in home brewing,
Angelo has also been brewing since the opening of the first Barley's,
some 21 years and a couple days ago.) </span>[Click <a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1455979_750208095163_483038751_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> for a photo of Jim, Lenny and Angelo.] Following Lenny's brief crash course on beer basics (capped off by the need for great risk taking and creativity), we were set to begin.</span> <br />
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Before I get to the beer, I need to talk about the appetizer plate set before us. More or less from left to right, the sampler included tender St. Louis-style riblets which had a deep, smoky rub to them; wings that had been brined, smoked, and then grilled; sauerkraut balls--<u>oh</u>.<u>my</u>.<u>yum</u>; beer battered fried onions; and an amazing chipotle hummus that had a slight zing to it and was served with grilled pita bread. I could have just ended the night there. But then there were beers.<br />
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Our first beer was the <a href="http://www.smokehousebrewing.com/images/WhatsOnTap/description_christmas.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Christmas Ale</b></a>, which had only been on tap for a week. Brewed with local honey, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks from <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/" target="_blank"><b>North Market</b></a>, and the zest of 88 hand-peeled oranges, the flavour profile was crisp and very well-balanced. I got a slight kick from the cinnamon and ginger, picked up on the sweet tones of the honey and orange zest, and ended with a smooth follow-through.<br />
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The second and third beers were both <b><a href="http://www.smokehousebrewing.com/images/WhatsOnTap/firkin_112213.png" target="_blank">Centennial IPA</a></b>s (Angelo's favourite), with one important difference: one was cask-conditioned. Originally brewed in celebration of Barley's 100th batch (a batch = 300 gallons), the Centennial IPA takes on vanilla tones, alongside a more nuanced citrusy vibe. The beer on the left, in the above left image, was poured from a brewing tower, its crisper, harsher mouthfeel coming from the fact the carbon dioxide is better preserved. By contrast, the beer on the right has a smoother, flatter start and end point, given that air (i.e., the carbon dioxide) is released in order to add extra hops to the mix. My preference leaned toward the latter.<br />
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Our final beer was a true treat: the last remaining tastes of <a href="http://www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-blog/the-beer-blog-1.273124/barley-s-smokehouse-to-release-banshee-on-halloween-1.440805" target="_blank"><b>Banshee</b></a>. Bourbon barrel-aged, this pumpkin porter is poured from a nitro-style Guinness tap, and smells like fall time in a glass. Notes of all spice and mace make their way through the drink, an overall feel reminiscent of pumpkin pie. I'm still not a huge beer aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, but this one was utterly delicious. To check out all of the beers currently on tap, click <a href="http://www.smokehousebrewing.com/TestTap" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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Bidding adieu to Barley's Smokehouse and Brewpub, we soon found ourselves saying Prost! at <a href="http://zbeers.com/" target="_blank"><b>Zauber Brewing Company</b></a>, site of <a href="http://zbeers.com/beers/" target="_blank"><b>"zee beers"</b></a> of brewmaster <a href="http://drinkupcolumbus.com/2011/12/27/becoming-a-brewmaster-with-geoff-towne-of-zauber-brewing/" target="_blank"><b>Geoff Towne</b></a>. Zauber has been in business for about three years now, with Geoff's experience dating back at least ten when he studied beer and fermentation academically at UC Davis. A member of Columbus's microbrewing scene, Geoff recognizes the area and environment as a very collaborative one. For Zauber's, he finds this to be especially true when considering the field and food trucks as harkening the Eastern European influence of beer halls. <br />
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Of important note, Zauber beers are reflective of Geoff's international experiences, and take on a <a href="http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/beginners.html" target="_blank"><b>Germanic</b></a> or <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21541708" target="_blank"><b>Belgian</b></a> preparation. The first of our beers (my favourite of the trio) was the <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/zauber-vertigo-hefeweizen/174035/" target="_blank"><b>Vertigo Heferweizen</b></a>, a German-style ale with distinctive notes of banana, vanilla, and clove. The second was the Stodgy Brown German Alt, which reminds Geoff of his time in western Germany (Düsseldorf). I found the Stodgy to have a relative neutral taste with a slight hoppy afterbite. Rounding off the sampling was the <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/zauber-magnum-opus-belgian-amber/174037/" target="_blank"><b>Magnum [Opus]</b></a>, a Belgian Copper Ale, which has a fruity/fizzy mouthfeel that finishes calmly at the end.<br />
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From Zauber's, Jim brought us to the taproom and brew house of <a href="http://fourstringbrewing.com/" target="_blank"><b>Four String Brewing</b></a>, headed up by OSU grad (Lenny also graduated from OSU) <a href="http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2012/02/23/brewer-dan-cochran-of-four-string-brewing-co-.html" target="_blank"><b>Dan Cochran</b></a>. Moving on to Beer 102, Dan provided a crash course on beer production as he walked us through the different pieces of equipment used at Four String. Most recently, the site has been refitted with repurposed 1000-gallon dairy tanks which have the capability of producing 30 barrels of beer per batch.<br />
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Here, the sampling included a flight of three beautifully autumn-coloured beers. From left to right, we had the Brass Knuckle Pale Ale (I think), the <a href="http://fourstringbrewing.com/backstageblond.php" target="_blank"><b>Backstage Blonde</b></a>, and the Skeleton Red IPA. The first one had a smooth start and bubbly finish, complete with an a crisp and aggressive hoppy, "beer" taste I usually expect of beer (and as such, am not the greatest fan). The Belgian Blonde Ale which followed was my favourite of these three and had a crisper, more palatable taste for my sensibilities. The third beer is the fall seasonal beer that Four String produces, and has a unique after bite coming from the addition of rye to the brew.<br />
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Our fourth and final stop before heading back to Barley's was <a href="http://theohiotaproom.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Ohio Tap Room</b></a>, which opened just this past Memorial Weekend. As far as <a href="http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2013/06/13/grandview-growler-station-ohio-taproom-focuses-on-in-state-brews.html" target="_blank"><b>growler stations</b></a> go, I'd have to agree that this place takes the cake. Featuring twenty Ohio beers at any given time, the glowing lights behind the bar immediately catch your attention. It's a <a href="http://pegasdistusa.com/sample-page" target="_blank"><b>Pegas CraftTap system</b></a>, which removes oxygen from the bottle (via the addition of carbon dioxide) before filling up the growler. This inherently helps to prolong the life of the bottled beer (beers that have undergone this pressure system can last about 90 days unopened), to a similar effect of bottling factories.<br />
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Here, we began with a duo subbing for a chocolate-covered raspberry. On the left of the above left photo, we had the <a href="http://jackieos.com/drupal/?q=beer/razz-wheat%E2%80%8E" target="_blank"><b>Jackie O's Razz Wheat</b></a> (from Athens), a fruit beer that had a great raspberry taste (and by great, I mean it didn't taste artificial) which seemed to create a smooth mouthfeel through the finality of the taste. Paired with this was a porter by the name of <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/taste/index.ssf/2012/05/one_eyed_jack_from_strongville.html" target="_blank"><b>One-Eyed Jack</b></a>, which comes from the Brew Kettle located in Cleveland. The rich, heaviness to it rounds out the lingering flavour promised by the aforementioned duo, with the chocolate tones clearly articulated.<br />
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The last official taste of the night was (appropriately/coincidentally) called <a href="http://homesteadbeerco.com/archives/3551" target="_blank"><b>Time (The Revelator)</b></a>, an IPA produced by the folks at Heath's Homestead Beer Co. A light, rather refreshing way to end the tastings, this one just floats off the tongue. I should note, too, that I also tried the <a href="https://untappd.com/beer/388686" target="_blank"><b>Fighting Tartan Scotch Ale</b></a> (Portsmouth Brewing Company) with its smooth finish, as well as the assertive barley wine known as <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19544/103384" target="_blank"><b>Liquid Courage</b></a>, which comes from the Fat Heads Brewery of North Holmstead.<br />
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And with that, my foodie friends, I'll sign off this post, knowing full well that the microbrewery scene is alive and flourishing here in central Ohio, with each location expanding its grasp on the great communities of Columbus and Ohio at-large. As an aside: If you happen to be interested in CBA's Downtown Brewery Tour, you can check out a recap <a href="http://www.experiencecolumbus.com/blog/index.php/2013/10/21/columbus-brew-adventures-a-great-way-to-sample-columbus-drinks/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> via Experience Columbus. And visit <a href="http://columbusbrewadventures.com/" target="_blank"><b>this site</b></a> to check out CBA's tour options. For my complete album of photos from this tour, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.750207950453.1073741925.36203035&type=1&l=e72c333628" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.<br />
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<i>Also, sincere thanks to Jim for extending the invitation to join this tour!</i> LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246031694142758683.post-23616541970833527432013-11-19T16:14:00.000-05:002013-11-19T17:29:28.260-05:00Oh là là là ! La Chatelaine of Dublin, OH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdKUhMw85wa9zZWGt9_E9tWZqqSgw403f5XudU_09cC7cnU4ZvXKr81ofZQcQlM23x1ionlwMW9hfhXmNjy1OLEEY3n4cAe2GdYE12si7eHMFQnkjPmRKWng2e7SWjEG601BHuo2kJZrD/s1600/la+chatelaine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdKUhMw85wa9zZWGt9_E9tWZqqSgw403f5XudU_09cC7cnU4ZvXKr81ofZQcQlM23x1ionlwMW9hfhXmNjy1OLEEY3n4cAe2GdYE12si7eHMFQnkjPmRKWng2e7SWjEG601BHuo2kJZrD/s320/la+chatelaine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/371389/restaurant/Columbus/La-Chatelaine-French-Bakery-Dublin"><img alt="La Chatelaine French Bakery on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/371389/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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We stepped into a rather charming-looking restaurant, a tri-colored flag posted prominently on its façade. Inside, the temperature rose considerably from the crisp autumn winds; clearly the wintry weather was hitting central Ohio early this year. Around the interior were a series of menus, all of which indicated familiar names and harkened back to memories from trips past. My speech began to take on a dual persona as I transitioned into French mode, my ears quickly acclimating to the music playing on the speaker system (this must be a live, streaming radio station I recalled). The Dublin, OH, location of <a href="http://lachatelainebakery.com/" target="_blank"><b>La Chatelaine</b></a> instantly became a place of homey comfort.<br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/33/372067/restaurant/Upper-Arlington/Ritas-Italian-Ices-Columbus"><img alt="Rita's Italian Ices on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/372067/minilogo.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 15px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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Despite the brisk weather, Brianne and I had earlier visited a <a href="http://www.ritasice.com/" target="_blank"><b>Rita's Italian Ice</b></a> stand (the one located on Henderson Rd), where we each got <a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1384066_744617234293_728343384_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Blendinis</b></a><b> </b>(a blending of Italian ice or frozen custard, and a mix-in of choice). I went with chocolate custard and mini peanut butter cups. For what it was, it certainly fit the moment. That said, there are a few places ranked higher on my list. (Though maybe I might need to go back, you know, for research purposes...) From Rita's we continued onward in search of a winter coat and when we finally gave up, we found our way to La Chatelaine.<br />
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In French, <i>chatelaine </i>translates to<i> </i><a href="http://www.wordreference.com/fren/chatelaine" target="_blank"><b>lady of the manor</b></a>. I suppose the lady of the manor in this series of family-owned Columbus businesses would be <b><a href="http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2012/06/28/pie-art-la-chatelaine.html" target="_blank">Gigi Wielezynski</a></b>. Gigi and her food chemist husband <a href="http://www.capital-style.com/content/stories/2011/07/05/yl-dessert.html" target="_blank"><b>Stan Wielezynski</b></a> immigrated from France to the United States <a href="http://lachatelainebakery.com/about_us" target="_blank"><b>in 1985</b></a>, and since 1991, La Chatelaine has been among Columbus's staple restaurants. The three restaurants are currently run by Gigi and Stan's four children: Tad, Val, Marie-Charlotte, and Janek, more information on each of which may be found <a href="http://www.columbusmag.com/section-capitalfare-article.php?id=977" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. In <a href="http://www.capital-style.com/content/stories/2011/07/05/yl-dessert.html" target="_blank"><b>this article</b></a>, Charlotte is quoted as saying "You might
not come to La Chatelaine and see somebody French," Charlotte said. "But everyone's going to greet
you with a 'Bonjour!' " Not only were Brianne and I greeted with « <i>Bonjour ! </i>», at <a href="http://www.columbusmag.com/section-capitalfare-article.php?id=977" target="_blank"><b>the Dublin location (opened in 2007)</b></a>, but our waitress Véronique(?) switched linguistic gears fluidly between English and French for us. (You can only imagine how excited was by this point.)<br />
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To start things off, we got an order of <i>Escargots de Bourgogne</i>. Swimming in warm butter and herbs, the snails were utterly delicious. Paired with grilled breads, this appetizer course was a wonderful introduction to the restaurant. I will say, though, that the fact we weren't fishing for the snails out of their shells was an ingredient I did miss, i.e., that taste of success. (Anyone who's eaten escargots in France or elsewhere that uses <a href="http://www.amazon.com/chefgadget-Escargot-Stainless-Steel-Tongs/dp/B002U9GK6M" target="_blank"><b>this piece of dining equipment</b></a> should know what I mean.) For different preparations of snail, click <a href="http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2004/snails/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. If you're looking to cook up some Burgundy snails, you may want to start out with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/French-Burgundy-Snails-Bontout-Escargots-Bourgogne/dp/B008VQ8O58" target="_blank"><b>these</b></a>. Just don't forget <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/29/snails-are-not-fast-food" target="_blank"><b>they're not fast food</b></a>!<br />
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Shortly after receiving the escargots, our soups arrived. Brianne's was a tomato soup, whereas mine was a <i>soupe à l'oignon</i>. The bread served with it soaked up the full-bodied beef broth, as the cheese melted into it and was enrobbed in beautifully caramelised onions. I mean, <a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1391560_744617498763_977546131_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>look at this</b></a> and tell me your mouth isn't watering.<br />
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While Brianne ordered<i> Spaghetti à la Gigi </i>(made with ground beef and a sauce of tomato, onion, and red wine), I ordered as my main course the Duck Confit <i>en Cassoulet</i>. Complete with a richly, fall-off-the-bone duck leg, a thick slice of pork belly, and a clearly (in terms of texture) housemade sausage of pork and merguez, the dish was rounded off by a healthy serving of beans in wine sauce. In this one dish, I recalled most clearly two of my favourite regions of France, i.e., Brittany and Alsace, both of which lean heavier gastronomically on the meat spectrum.<br />
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To conclude our meal, Brianne and I headed over to the dessert case. After minutes of indecisiveness amongst everything that seemed just as good if not better than the last, we settled on the above creation. Draped in white chocolate, an almond flour wafer served as the base for the buttercream mouse whose ears were made of almonds. As a whole, this served as a light ending to this first experience<i> </i>at La Chatelaine<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45,"tn":"*G"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"></span></span>. Click <a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/58510_744617818123_853679730_n.jpg" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> for a cross section of the wafer dessert. And click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.744616954853.1073741918.36203035&type=1&l=767e06a732" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> for the small album of our food adventure on the last Saturday of October.LearningthroughFoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01123813651869926270noreply@blogger.com0