My friend, Peter, and I wanted to go out to dinner for Dine About Town and decided to try Jack Falstaff where neither of us had been. Our reservation was at 7:45pm on a Friday and although the restaurant seemed empty when we arrived on time, we had to wait in their "lounge" for 10 minutes until our table was ready. While we waited we both ordered the basil gimlet, which were delicious. We were seated in a corner and I was overshadowed by a large rubber plant. The decor was drab; browns with dim lighting and very little art or decoration with a backdrop of smooth jazz. It definitely lacked the flair and yuppy atmosphere we were accustom to. After looking at both the regular menu and the Dine About Town menu, we decided to order off the regular menu that had several interesting sounding dishes compared to the dumbed down Dine About Town menu.
Peter selected an Oregon pinot noir. I will add the name when I remember it! We started with the Baby Romaine Hearts "Caesar", a sort of deconstructed Caesar salad. It came on a long rectangular plate with three small piles; grated parmesan with an anchovy on top, small romaine heart pieces with a garlic dressing, and a halved tempura soft boiled egg. I guess the idea was to allow the diner to assemble their own bites to taste, and it was actually quite delicious. For $11 the portions seemed substantial and they split the plates for us. Next we had a cheese plate, $15: Laurel Farms goat cheese stuffed in a squash blossom & pan seared, St. Andre cheese wrapped in philo dough and fried, and some cherries sauteed with a sour cherry sauce. This dish was tasty, but kind of lack luster compared to everything else we ordered. Following the cheese plate, the Pan-Seared Sonoma Free Range Quail which had 3 pieces of quail wrapped around artisan foi gras with an apricot marmalade. This dish was delicious and very well balanced. We thought this richness of the fois gras was perfectly cut by the tart flavors of the apricot marmalade. The portion was substantial for an appetizer and a good value at $14. We noticed there was roasted bone marrow on the sides list and couldn't resist for a mere $6. The same dish at Bar Tartine is at least twice that much. A piece of toast with some marrow was a great segway into dinner. For our entree we ordered the Handmade Egg Fettuccine
Braised Beef Oxtail & English Peas, for $22. This dish was really delicious and we both finished our bowls despite feeling stuffed at this point. The pasta was wider than traditional linguine and had ridged edges. The oxtail was rich and much leaner than I remember oxtail being last time I had it and the peas added a nice sweetness to cut the richness of the dish. For dessert we couldn't resist the homemade yeasty donuts with three sauces; creme englais, raspberry and dulce de leche. This was in indulgent and delicious dessert. We watched other tables eat their donuts to finish their meals and couldn't help ourself.
At first I thought our server was going to be stuffy, but he got much more comfortable with us and ended up being good. The overall service was excellent; water was always refilled, table was cleared promptly, food was spaced out well. The crowd was more problematic; a mix of an older conservative crown and young financial types. It definitely isn't my scene and I probably won't return, but we both really enjoyed the food.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Toad in a Star!
Lately, Molly and I have been really into making "toad in a hole" for breakfast. I know there are many other names for this (egg in a frame?), but you basically cut a whole in a piece of bread and crack an egg into it, fry & flip. We had a fresh loaf of uncut sourdough bread from Acme Bakery. I was feeling creative and remembered that I had a star shaped cookie cutter. I cut two thick pieces of toast (the thicker the better--- these were maybe 3/4") and made a hole using the cookie cutter. Served with a few slices of a perfect avocado and this was a delicious breakfast!
Sushi Feast At Home!!
Our friend, Billy, had a birthday last week and Molly and I wanted to make him a celebratory dinner. We know he really likes Japanese food, so we thought we'd make a sushi feast for him. I had never purchased sushi grade fish, so it was kind of an adventure. We started by going by Sun Fat Seafood Market on Mission St. at 22nd. We had heard of it through a friend and read some great reviews on yelp.com. It definitely is a great fish shop and I will definitely be going there again. They had trays of whole snapper, fresh shrimps, crab, clams, oysters, mussels, and various other fish. Everything looked fresh and was very reasonably priced.
From there we went to Japantown, ending up at Uoki Sakai K Company. We read reviews about it on yelp.com and called to see what they had. They had just what we needed. When we got to the seafood counter our hesitant minds about buying fish for sushi was eased by a woman ahead of us in line who was a regular. She bought almost 3 pounds of fish that she was using to make sushi for her family that night. We got to the counter and got a beautiful piece of hawaiian ahi tuna and asked for some hamachi. The fishmonger didn't have any hamachi out, but asked me to wait and ran to the back. He came back with a huge uncut hamachi! He filleted the fish on the spot and let me pick my piece. The fish was so fresh and we were excited to make some sushi.
To start the meal I made a simple and delicious Salmon & Egg Drop Soup. This is a recipe I got from my dad and its quickly becoming one of my favorites. In a bowl you place a small handful of thinly chopped napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms (thinly sliced shitake will also work), dollop of fresh ginger, a few peices of thinly sliced salmon, a few drops of sesame oil and a few black sesame seeds. Make a simple broth--- I used vegetable broth, a touch of dashi, some chinese five spice and a dash of white pepper. Bring the broth to a boil, swirl slightly with a spoon and slowly pour in one egg (scrambled and thinned with water or a bit of broth). The egg should cook immediately. While the broth is piping hot, pour a couple ladles full over the items in the bowl and they should all cook just through. Serve immediately.
We ended up going a little bit overboard and made over 12 rolls along with some nigiri. We made a teriyaki eggplant roll, baby shitake mushroom roll, pickled plum and shiso roll, avocado w/ teriyaki and shiso, hamachi w/macadamia, shiso & sesame seeds, hamachi w/avocado & lime, ahi w/chilis & cucumber....it went on and on! Oh, and the teriyaki sauce was homemade. (1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 sake. Bring to a boil and then simmer to reduce.)
I wanted something refreshing for dessert, so I made a Meyer Lemon Granita served with Lemonchello Liqueur. You basically make a lemonade mixture, but in this case I used meyer lemons and added a bit of zest. You place the mixture in a rectangular pyrex dish and put it in the freezer. As an icy crust forms you break up the mixture with a pastry scraper. Repeat this process until the ice is the right consistency. Delicious!
From there we went to Japantown, ending up at Uoki Sakai K Company. We read reviews about it on yelp.com and called to see what they had. They had just what we needed. When we got to the seafood counter our hesitant minds about buying fish for sushi was eased by a woman ahead of us in line who was a regular. She bought almost 3 pounds of fish that she was using to make sushi for her family that night. We got to the counter and got a beautiful piece of hawaiian ahi tuna and asked for some hamachi. The fishmonger didn't have any hamachi out, but asked me to wait and ran to the back. He came back with a huge uncut hamachi! He filleted the fish on the spot and let me pick my piece. The fish was so fresh and we were excited to make some sushi.
To start the meal I made a simple and delicious Salmon & Egg Drop Soup. This is a recipe I got from my dad and its quickly becoming one of my favorites. In a bowl you place a small handful of thinly chopped napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms (thinly sliced shitake will also work), dollop of fresh ginger, a few peices of thinly sliced salmon, a few drops of sesame oil and a few black sesame seeds. Make a simple broth--- I used vegetable broth, a touch of dashi, some chinese five spice and a dash of white pepper. Bring the broth to a boil, swirl slightly with a spoon and slowly pour in one egg (scrambled and thinned with water or a bit of broth). The egg should cook immediately. While the broth is piping hot, pour a couple ladles full over the items in the bowl and they should all cook just through. Serve immediately.
We ended up going a little bit overboard and made over 12 rolls along with some nigiri. We made a teriyaki eggplant roll, baby shitake mushroom roll, pickled plum and shiso roll, avocado w/ teriyaki and shiso, hamachi w/macadamia, shiso & sesame seeds, hamachi w/avocado & lime, ahi w/chilis & cucumber....it went on and on! Oh, and the teriyaki sauce was homemade. (1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 sake. Bring to a boil and then simmer to reduce.)
I wanted something refreshing for dessert, so I made a Meyer Lemon Granita served with Lemonchello Liqueur. You basically make a lemonade mixture, but in this case I used meyer lemons and added a bit of zest. You place the mixture in a rectangular pyrex dish and put it in the freezer. As an icy crust forms you break up the mixture with a pastry scraper. Repeat this process until the ice is the right consistency. Delicious!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Some Recent Meals at Home....
From Top to Bottom:
Roasted Asparagus with Blood Orange & Jalapeno Vinegarette
Quinoa Cakes with Olive Tapenade Vinegarette
Pan Fried Tilapia Nicoise with Caramelized Peaches
Low Mein Noodles with Roasted Chinese Eggplant & Yam with Pea Shoots and a Ginger-Soy Sauce
All photographs copyright Molly DeCoudreaux
Monday, February 4, 2008
Roasted Tomato Salsa
This salsa is adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe. It is a very simple recipe with big flavors that can be adapted to individual taste. I bought 1 14.5oz can of fire roasted tomatoes (with chilies, but I usually get without). I roasted 1 jalapeno and 2 cloves of garlic (with their shell still on) in a pan on medium-high heat until the outside of the garlic and jalapeno are blackened. Into a food processor (or using a hand blender) put all ingredients along with salt, pepper and the juice of about half a lime. Chop a bunch of cilantro (I used about 3/4 cup), but you could add more or less if you want. Stir cilantro into the salsa mixture and enjoy! I also added a dash of vinegar (cider or red wine would work) for a little bit of extra zip. This is a great recipe and can be adapted to your liking, depending on how spicy or garlic-y you like things.
Wasabi-Horseradish Potato Salad
We went to a Super Bowl party yesterday and decided to make a potato salad for the occasion. I'm not a big mayonnaise fan and have adapted this new take on an old classic. We used yukon gold potatoes (1 bag from trader joe's- about 1.5lbs - 2lbs.?), but new/red potatoes, dutch creamers or russets would probably work, too. We cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces before boiling to expedite the process. I made a sauce from lite sour cream (about 1 cup), milk (2-3 tablespoons for thinning), horseradish (3 heaping tablespoons), wasabi (1 tablespoon), cider vinegar (about 1 tablespoon), a few dashes of wasabi oil (optional) and salt & pepper to taste. I added the warm potatoes to the horseradish mixture to maximize absorption. To that we added 1 chopped orange bell pepper (any pepper would do; red or yellow), edammame beans (about 1.5 cups), sugar snap peas (1 cup, ends trimmed & cut in pieces) and chopped napa cabbage (about 2 cups). (Obviously, quantities can be adjusted depending on your tastes.) The spice of the sauce adds a great new complexity to the potatoes and the added vegetables provide some color, crunch and freshness to the salad (not to mention and little bit of extra nutrients). This is a great side dish in the summer for barbeques, or for seared ahi or other meat dishes.
Bar Tartine, Friday, January 18th
I had wanted to dine at Bar Tartine since it opened, but hadn't had the chance. My friend, Alex, also hadn't been there, so we decided to make a night of it. We had an 8:30pm reservation and were hungry when we arrived. Had I written down what I had eaten closer to when I dined, I would have retained more of the flavors, but I'll do my best. We ordered in 3 courses and shared each dish. We ordered the Westwood 2000 Hanyes Vineyard Pinot Noir, a delicious and smooth wine that complimented the meal straight through. For $55, this is one of the most delicious pinots I've maybe ever had. Our first course was a little gem salad with beets, hazelnuts, chevre & a citrus vinegarette and the grilled sardines with blood orange on a bed of frisee with a creamy dressing. Both dishes were good, but were not my favorite of the meal. I found the sardine dish to be a bit small, with only four small sardine fillets, but the blood orange pairing did provide a bright flavor to the dish. Our second course was the Marin Sun Farms Marrow and Grilled Bread with persillade (parsley & garlic, minced) and arugula salad. I had never had marrow before, and to be honest didn't have a lot of interest in trying it, but was feeling adventurous and trusted the quality of Bar Tartine's products. The plate had 4 pieces of marrow, each topped with a bit of persillade, and were served with a demitasse spoon. With the tiny spoon, you scoop out a bit of the marrow and spread it on the grilled bread. Although the flavors were rich and buttery, it was surprisingly light with a subtle beef undertone. I was only disappointed at the seemingly small amount of marrow that was in the bonees we were served. For our 3rd course we had the veal cheeks and the squid sauteed with pork belly. Both of these dishes were delicious and the portions were substantial. The cheeks were incredibly delicate and fell apart in your mouth. The squid was tender and deliciously paired with the pork belly. Despite being a little bit expensive, I had a delicious meal and great service at Bar Tartine. I would definitely consider going back, if even just to sit at the bar and share a bottle of wine and a couple appetizers.
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