Eggplant To Go

I'm Lucky and My Friends Are a Peach

2012-02-10T23:56:00.001-05:00

I'm hitting another birthday, and rather than bemoan this milestone, I'm choosing to make an extended celebration of it. Festivities started in January, with these succulent oysters at the "Naked" dinner at Azur in Lexington, a meal so spectacular it deserves its own post (to come, I promise).

Thanks to Stephie of Small Girl Adventures and her boyfriend Brett, I finally ate at A Tavola in Over-the-Rhine. After tasting their wagyu meatballs with goat cheese (truly, The Best Meatballs in the World), I am looking forward to trying their wood-fired pizzas. And everything else on A Tavola's menu.

Dear Stephie even baked me birthday cookies! She is building her own baking and catering business, Small Girl Delights, and you should check it out now!

Stephie's sweet treats were almost enough to mend my broken heart when Chef Edward Lee got booted from Top Chef this week, just shy of going to the finale. But I will console myself by dining at his Louisville Restaurant, 610 Magnolia, next weekend. Ed did a great job of representing himself, his adopted city, and the caliber of cooking going on here in the middle of the country. (Here's the podcast he did with my blogging teammate Laura Kluvo on AllTopChef - one of our best exit interviews all season.) I've been proud to root for Ed, and I can't wait to taste what he does in his own kitchen, free of the constraints of the goofy Top Chef challenges.

My Louisville weekend will also include the Anthony Bourdain/Eric Ripert traveling road show, for which I now have an extra ticket, if you know of anyone who is interested . . .

My birthday happens to coincide with Cincinnati Winter Beerfest, the craft-beer capper to Cincy Beer Week. Lucky me, I'll be spending my b-day at the 5B (Believers in Better Beer, Bites and Blogging) blog conference. Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting in person some bloggers I've so far only had the privilege of getting to know online.

One of my dearest long-distance blogger friends, La Diva, who also has a February birthday coming up, was kind enough to think of me when she received an extra copy of Lucky Peach, the David Chang/McSweeney's quirky quarterly quasi-food magazine. It's a publication filled with compelling personal writing on topics that go beyond food. The design and illustrations are fresh and fascinating enough for me to recommend it to my artsy friends who aren't foodies. It's a hefty tome of print worth holding in your hands, turning off your phone/fb/twitter/pinterest, and settling in with. It may remind you of where your first love of books came from, and it's edgy enough to keep you flipping the pages.

After one horribly depressing birthday in my early twenties when I lived in NYC, I decided to take charge of coming up with my own ways to celebrate, big or small, sometimes just indulging in nerdy things of my own predilection. It's a strategy that has worked pretty well the last 30-odd years. Still, a true surprise is one of the best birthday gifts ever, and I've received one this year, thanks to Boxer, whose papier mache, puppy porn, gorgeous photos, and big heart always lift my spirits and remind me why it means so much to me to be part of the blogging community. She checks in on me to make sure I'm ok when I haven't posted in awhile, and lookie what she made for my birthday. Yep, it's Eggy meets Mr. Potato Head meets Archie McPhee, courtesy of my favorite PNW gal!

Big thanks to all my blogger friends who share their corners of the world, and the unique corners of their minds. You keep me going through my rough patches, and always inspire me with your talents, your wide-ranging interests, and your kindnesses.

I'll be back with more tales from my birthday adventures. Meanwhile, I'm just gonna experience them :)

xoxo, eggy

Ingredient of the Month: Dry-Roasted Edamame

2012-01-29T14:44:00.000-05:00

My Christmas present from my sister last year was a custom Ingredient of the Month Club. Near the end of each month, a package would arrive enclosing a foodstuff she had selected just for me! Some I’d tasted but never before cooked myself. One I’d never even heard of.

Most were non-perishable. A good thing, not just due to shipping practicalities. Despite my best intentions, and the smile each IOTM package brought to my face, my plans to indulge in recipe research and experimentation kept falling by the wayside. But I’m filled with resolve in this new year, and bringing you the first installment of my Ingredient of the Month series for 2012, featuring Dry-Roasted Edamame.

Edamame are immature green soybeans picked while still in the pod, often served boiled in Asian preparations.

Photo and more edamame health info from WellnessInChicago

I, however, was working with a product the package described as “Lightly Salted Dry Roasted Soy Bean Nuts.”

Google presented me with lots of hits about the health benefits of this vegetable and a number of suggestions for roasting or dry-roasting edamame yourself, but very few recipes using the dry-roasted version once you have it. I guess most people eat them straight out of the package as a snack. But, hey, I’m supposed to be cooking here.

Alton Brown’s Dry Roasted Edamame Brittle, with soy sauce, cayenne, and kosher salt, sounded interesting. But I kept scrolling for more ideas. I found suggestions for using them as a crunchy salad garnish in place of croutons, grinding the dry-roasted edamame into powdered form to season vegetarian dishes or use when breading meat or veggie “cutlets.” Even dipping them in dark chocolate, using them in chocolate chip cookies, or using them in a trail mix with dried blueberries and raw pumpkin seeds.

The dish I finally decided to make was inspired by this “Japanese Chex Mix” (which was no doubt inspired by a product-placement opportunity). “Party mix,” as we call it in my family, has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I am always the one digging through it for the nuts – especially the cashews. Why not try switching it up with some ingredients that might be healthier, or at least different? In case you’d like to try it for your Super Bowl party, I bring you:

Not Your Grandmother's Party Mix

1 c. dry-roasted edamame (not quite all of my 4.4 oz. package – I might try some dipped in dark chocolate later)
1 1/2 c. wasabi peas (or full 4.4 oz. package)
2 c. sugar snap pea crisps
4 c. veggie chips
4 c. wheat Chex (because what would Party Mix be without it?)
3/4 c. mixed nuts (my favorite part)

Combine dry ingredients in oven-proof pan if you're baking, or in microwavable container if you want to try to nuke this in 15 min. (per new instructions on the Chex box).

Separately, melt 6 T. butter (mine was unsalted) and your chosen flavorings. I started with the suggested 1 t. soy sauce for this "Japanese" version, recognizing that many of my "healthy" ingredients were already salted as compared to the old-time version featuring sweet-ish cereal products.

Halfway through baking at about 275 degrees for a total of 1 hour (stirring every 15 minutes), I tasted it and decided to tweak. And of course, that's when I got impatient with measuring and did what I usually do here in the Intuitive Eggplant Kitchen. I melted a couple more tablespoons of butter, added a liberal dash of Worcestershire, some Tobasco, garlic powder, celery salt, and seasoned salt to replicate the tastes from my youth..

My verdict? Not bad. But not quite as satisfying as my nostalgic favorite. And I will still be hunting for the cashews.

Stay tuned next month, when I'll tackle another ingredient and share more recipes you might want to try in your own kitchen.

Post-Battle Breakfast

2012-01-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

January's Culinary Smackdown was a success, especially considering that tofu was the theme ingredient. Thanks to all for playing! Anonymous Boxer has posted a recap of all the fine entries and pronounced Grumpy Granny the winner. Granny plans to post the details of the February Smackdown in the next couple of days. Once she does, I'll link them under this Smackdown badge on my sidebar.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I could see what Friday night's ice storm had left in its wake. There was even ice clinging to the screen outside my second-floor window.

Brrrr. I wasn't going to leave the house all day. But, taking a cue from the comments to my Battle Tofu post, a hot and hearty breakfast featuring some of my leftover sour cream and caper sauce seemed like a splendid idea. Voila, an omelette stuffed with mushrooms, asparagus, raw milk cheddar, and Browning's country ham, with a Blue Oven English muffin on the side.

Wherever you are, stay warm and eat well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that temps really do warm into the upper 40s today, or I'll have some serious work ahead of me to scrape the ice off my windshield. We're in for more wacky weather this week, but I think my travel plans to Lexington Thursday for another dinner at Azur are safe.

Old School or New School? Eggy’s Eggless Egg Salad

2012-01-19T20:35:00.001-05:00

To prepare for this month’s Culinary Smackdown: Battle Tofu, I knew I had to stand toe to toe with my tofu past. After an invigorating cleanse digging into the memory vault and writing about it, I thought I was ready to bring a freshly robed bean curd dish from its corner of the Smackdown ring, hosted this month by Anonymous Boxer. Or was I?

As much as I’d love to figure out how to replicate my favorite hot and sour soup, from the now-retired folks of the Szechwan Wok in Silverton (good for them, sad for me), that direction seemed too obvious – and their soup’s perfect balance too out-of-reach for me to pursue.

Then I thought of the vegan “eggless egg salad” I’ve heard nothing but raves about from Fresh Table at Findlay Market. It always looks sassy and enticing in their prepared foods case, although it’s not one of their dishes I’ve tasted yet, and I don’t have a photo of it. Here, however, are some other sprightly Fresh Table offerings.

After a little research, I confirmed Fresh Table’s eggless egg salad is made with tofu, but Chef Meredith Twombly wasn’t giving up her recipe. I was stymied at the prospect of trying to replicate a dish I’ve never tasted. But then my mind veered in another direction, to my very favorite, very old school egg salad recipe.

It’s from the 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking, a recipe that got edited out when Cincinnatian Ethan Becker – son of Marion Rombauer Becker and the grandson of Irma Rombauer, Joy’s prior authors – updated this go-to cookbook for its 1997 edition. I don’t think Asparagus and Egg Salad is nearly as far afield for a contemporary audience as squirrel recipes, for instance. But perhaps Ethan thought it was too much of a throwback to a ladies’ luncheon dish to warrant including when he wanted to make room for a whole new chapter on beans and tofu.

Aside from the inclusion of asparagus, which I love in any form, what I like best about this Joy egg salad is the dressing, made not with mayo (traditional or vegan) but with sour cream punched up with capers, grated onion, vinegar or caper juice, and a pinch of curry powder. I sometimes use this dressing for potato salad, and it makes a good dip for crudités as well.

The texture of tofu is not that different from that of hard-boiled eggs, and my theory was that the curry powder would impart a yellowish color to the dish. Some curry powders would, but I chose to use a sweet curry brought from India by a friend, which wasn’t quite so yellow, along with smoked paprika from Colonel De’s of Findlay Market (who will be opening additional outlets at the upcoming Jungle Jim’s at Eastgate and the Findlay-esque Friendly Market in Northern Kentucky!).

So how did my tofu variation on an egg salad theme fare? I was a woman on a mission to extract as much water as I could from my block of firm tofu, fearing it would dilute the dressing and rob it of its zing. So I spent darn near a whole evening pressing my paper-towel-wrapped tofu. Good thing I’d just stocked up on paper towel, because I kept rewrapping the tofu, and it just kept giving off more liquid.

I sampled a bit of pressed tofu and dressing before I went to bed that night and was disappointed. So I tried two alternatives. I marinated half my tofu cubes overnight in the dressing and the rest in a bit of sherry vinegar and olive oil, which I planned to top with dressing when I finally assembled the dish. When I got home from work last night, the dressing-marinated bean curd was astonishingly dry, having soaked up almost all the dressing, yet without gaining as much pungency as I would have liked. When I tried topping the cubes marinated in vinegar with the dressing, the balance still seemed a bit off. So I just mixed my two marination experiments together, globbed on more dressing, plunked them on a bed of spinach, and added the asparagus, sliced olives, and more capers.

Not half bad, if I say so myself. Here’s the 1975 Joy of Cooking Asparagus and Egg Salad recipe as photographed from my well-worn copy of the book.

If anyone's interested in a typed out version that includes my tofu tweaks, let me know and I'll come back and update this post. Right now, I’m scrambling to make Boxer’s deadline for Smackdown submissions. Head on over to her place to check out the other entries, and stay tuned for her announcement of this month’s winner, who will earn bragging rights and the right to select the theme or key ingredient of next month’s Smackdown and become next month’s host and judge for this friendly round-robin cooking/blogging competition.

P.S. If you really want to amp up this eggless egg salad, serve it with slices of toasted baguette slathered in truffle butter, like I did. Ladies who lunch, eat your hearts out!

Peace out, eggy

Tofu Anarchy and the Culinary Smackdown

2012-01-16T20:29:00.002-05:00

Image from Oberlin Alumni Magazine. So Oberlin.

I loved a lot of things about Oberlin, the small college in northeast Ohio I attended in the late 1970s. But the Autumn of Tofu Anarchy was not one of them.

Like most Oberlin students of any era (we call ourselves “Obies), I was young, impressionable, and idealistic. My high school years were awkward. I’d been desperate to go away to college and begin my “real life.” Upon arriving in the small town of the same name, surrounded by farm fields, I delighted in meeting smart, inquisitive, talented, creative people from all over the country, and all over the world. We stayed up late discussing what was important to us, and learning from others.

There were the aspiring opera singers who devoted themselves to their craft, day and night, in the practice rooms of the “Con” (Oberlin’s music conservatory). A rich kid from NYC who used his 1000+ vintage jazz LP collection to decorate his dorm room in lieu of furniture. My first college boyfriend, a Grateful Dead head desperate to get out of the infirmary in time to see Jerry Garcia perform on campus at Finney Chapel, who requested I bring him clean underwear and help him walk to the gig. I don’t know what felt more awkward at age 18, being asked to perform this duty, or to realize that said boyfriend’s dorm-room drawers were filled with cassette tapes (top drawer for his Dead tapes, below that “other” music) and I had to go hunting for where a boy like that kept his, er, drawers.

There was more than music filling my ears at Oberlin. I was surrounded by more wide-ranging knowledge and worldly experience than I ever expected to encounter at that tender age. If I mentioned the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as the favorite thing I’d ever learned about physics, I could count on someone in the room knowing what it is without having to explain.

We were earnest. We were passionate. We were open. We were Obies. We were grateful to be part of an engaging community that “got” us and where we could be ourselves.

The Autumn of Tofu Anarchy was a Harkness thing, Harkness being one of the six or seven dining co-ops on campus at that time. Oberlin has a long and proud history of dining and residence co-ops dating back to 1950. The idea is that instead of paying a food service staff, students perform the menu-planning, food-ordering, cooking, serving, and cleaning duties required to feed themselves, resulting in a price break, more decision-making power, and better food than in dorm cafeterias.

From Oberlin Alumni Magazine

There were always more students who wanted to eat in a co-op than there were openings, so access was via lottery. The first semester I was eligible to participate, I drew a high number, and by the time it came up, only one co-op had openings left: Harkness, the vegetarian co-op. That didn’t bother me a whit. I like vegetables, and I looked forward to healthier options than I could get at a regular dining hall.

But that particular fall semester, a group of Harkness folks decided we should run the co-op by anarchy instead of the tried-and-true co-op system of assigning jobs via lottery, with specific dates, times, and responsibilities attached. They urged the group to trust in our classmates’ willingness to volunteer for whatever needed to be done, free of the “tyranny” of assignments. And we would govern ourselves, not by voting on policies and procedures – with resulting “winners” and “losers” – but by achieving “consensus.” As I recall there was even some brouhaha about how we began down this road to anarchy, when its proponents insisted that voting for or against it would be an inherent contradiction.

We were earnest. We were passionate. We were open. We were Obies. So we went along with anarchy. For a while.

At the beginning of the term, there was plenty of enthusiasm and volunteering. But as that idyllic Indian Summer yielded to the gray skies of a north Ohio fall and the demands of our classes closed in on us, the food turned as colorless as the surrounding landscape. Dinner after dinner of brown rice. Lots and lots of tofu. Sometimes nary a vegetable in sight. If we were lucky, someone actually made whole wheat bread. If we were luckier, the bread wasn't leaden. We had a whole lotta beige food going on.

Dinners, instead of being a respite from the day’s studies and a chance to enjoy the company of friends, turned into every-night meetings where we grappled with this anarchy thing and found ourselves farther and farther from consensus.

Vegetables did make a welcome reappearance for our Thanksgiving meal (we had classes the following Friday and Saturday as usual, so most students stayed on campus). It was the one meal of the year at Harkness that deviated from vegetarianism, with a turkey or two rounding out the spread, and variety of holiday stuffings (one of which may or may not have been spiked with THC).

As we headed into the December home stretch of term papers and finals, caffeine and all-nighters, it was clear we couldn’t count on volunteerism to keep us well fed and healthy. Our experiment with anarchy had failed, and that was a consensus. We dragged ourselves home for holiday break, grateful for sleep and as much home-cooking as our mothers could dish up.

There have been many times in my post-college years where life has batted me around to the point where nothing is more welcome than sound sleep and being well fed by others. Although I can no longer claim the idealism of my youth, at heart I’m still an Obie. Still earnest. Still passionate. Still open – even to tofu. And grateful to be part of an engaging (online) community that “gets” me and where I can be myself. My blogger friends – smart, inquisitive, talented, creative people from all over the country, and all over the world – share what is important to them, and I continue to learn.

Especially when it comes to this friendly little food blogging contest called the Culinary Smackdown. It’s a great incentive to stretch myself in my kitchen, and I always come away with new ideas and a lot of inspiration from the other contestants. Our last Smackdown winner, Anonymous Boxer, is hosting and judging this month’s Battle Tofu. As part of her “prize,” which is mainly bragging rights, Boxer chose this month’s theme. You can find her pre-battle warm-up post here. The deadline is Wednesday, 1/18/12, and two fine contenders are already up with their entries.

Lori of Fake Food Free, a Kentucky food blogger I've met recently online, drew inspiration from both her travels in Southeast Asia and Chef Ouita Mitchell's Windy Corner Market on the outskirts of Lexington, for this Tofu Po'Boy with Barbeque Cole Slaw.

Photo by Fake Food Free

Grumpy Granny, prior Smackdown winner for her entries last summer in Battle Eggplant, embraced the tofu for another entry that proves tofu can be appetizing: Tofu Pizza Italiano Two Ways.

Photo by Grumpy Granny

I'm off to press some tofu (I don't think we'd ever heard of such a thing back in the day) and I'll be back Wednesday with an entry that I promise will not be beige. And it will include vegetables. Boxer will decide the winner (who will be next month's host/judge/theme-picker). There are never any losers here at the Culinary Smackdown. And we manage to do it without anarchy.

P.S. Thanks to Boxer for my new "eggy" profile pic. I've also taken the twitter plunge. Find me if you're a tweeter and interested. I have much more to learn :)

My Current Situation: Blogiversary

2012-01-08T22:30:00.002-05:00

My clever sister came up with some great personalized Christmas gifts this year, all of which she tagged to the theme “your current situation.” You can see mine above – a 3-d version of my blog logo!

For my dad, who has been having issues with his eyesight (we're hopeful it will be improving soon): large print playing cards, a giant die (singular dice), and more. (Dad also got a kick out of the blog book I dedicated to him based on my trip to South Dakota.)

For my mom, who has been driving Dad where he needs to go, a fun turn-about: My sister hired a stretch limo to chauffeur Mom (and the rest of us) around her town to view the Christmas lights!

Today marks the start of Year #3 at Eggplant To Go, and I’m looking forward to where this blogging journey leads me next. I couldn’t have predicted the surprises, delights (and occasional scoops) the last year has brought my way.

Thanks to Chef Todd Kelly at Orchids in Cincinnati and Chef Jeremy Ashby of Azur in Lexington, I’ve had two of the most spectacular meals of my life. I got all kinds of inspiration from the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show in Lexington, a front-row seat to watch the filming of Man v. Food at Tom + Chee, an invite to the press party for Chef Kelly’s new cookbook, and an insider’s view of the Cincinnati Magazine “Best of the City” party, thanks to two of my favorite Cincy food truck friends, Toya and Randy from a Streetcart Named Desire aka New Orleans to Go. Even got a hug and a thanks from my favorite fishmonger on New Years Eve day.

It’s funny how what goes around comes around. 2011 was a year in which I made strides in overcoming my shy, homebody ways and learned a lot about how rewarding it can be to reach out. One turning point came in August when I screwed up my nerve and asked local Top Chef: Just Desserts contestant, Orchids pastry chef Megan Ketover, if I might be able to speak to her on behalf of AllTopChef (where I’m a member of the blogging team). In addition to being a remarkable talent, Megan was so welcoming and gracious that the experience inspired me to screw up my nerve again and invite local food bloggers Stephie from Small Girl Adventures (who is launching her own business) and Jen from Our Good Food Life to join me for dinners during Restaurant Week, and Jeff from A Dork and His Pork for a Slow Food Cincinnati meet-up, where I met a bunch of other lovely people passionate about local food. At the press event for the release of Todd Kelly’s cookbook, I finally got to meet in person the uber-talented Courtney of Epiventures (who is also Chef Kelly’s co-author) and a number of other local food bloggers, reporters, and personalities as well. I was in food blogger hog heaven thanks to the company, as well as the opportunity taste more of Chef Kelly's amazing dishes.

As much inspiration as I draw from all the fine food folks I’ve been lucky to meet in person this year, I’m also full of gratitude to my homies – the bloggers of all ilks, from all parts, who have become dear friends even though I haven’t met them in person – who care, and comment, and lift my spirits. One never knows quite how karma weaves its way through our lives. But I can’t help but believe the chances of Scout returning home after his 2½ week kitty walkabout were only improved by your prayers and good wishes. And I’m certain that if he hadn’t come back, you would have been there for me too.

With the full force of your inspiration and friendships filling my sails, I already have a lot to look forward to, including a return visit to Lexington for Azur’s “Naked Dinner” Jan. 26; a local Cincy blogging conference in connection with the Winter Beer Fest on my February birthday; the weekend after my birthday in Lousisville to see Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert – and eat at Edward Lee’s 610 Magnolia!; and a late March visit to Nashville, where my niece is competing in Show Choir Nationals (think “Glee” in real life). Let me know if you have any suggestions on where to eat in Nashville.

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to be an enthusiastic cheerleader for the Culinary Smackdown (do you have your recipes ready for Battle Tofu?), and I’m looking forward to bringing you more blog-worthy posts from my own kitchen. Because inspiration is a terrible thing to waste, and it's always fun to keep exploring!

xoxo, eggy

January Culinary Smackdown Reminder

2012-01-01T17:25:00.000-05:00

Scout and I have spent a quiet weekend reflecting on 2011 and looking forward to 2012. At least I have. Who knows what's going on his kitty brain as he snoozes on my lap? I'm just glad he's back home with me.

My calendar is already filling up with 2012 events and adventures to look forward to. The first on my eggy dance card is the January Culinary Smackdown hosted by Anonymous Boxer. Details at her place here.

After her win, Boxer elected to make our January challenge Battle Tofu. Some may turn their noses up at tofu, but I am having fun researching recipes, and have the first of many 2012 field trips in mind. If you're up for eating lighter now that the holidays have passed, here's a nice tofu primer from blogger Call Me Old Fashioned, where I found the photo at the top of this post.

The deadline for this month's Smackdown is Wednesday, January 18, 2012. This friendly little blogging contest is a great way to stretch yourself to try cooking something new, and I'm always inspired by what everyone else comes up with. Whether you've participated before or are ready to tackle something new, ALL are welcome to join in the fun. The Smackdown winner receives bragging rights and gets to serve as host, judge, and "theme picker" for the next month's contest. Plus you can snag a Chickory-designed CS badge for your blog. If tofu isn't your thing but you'd like to join in another month, you can always find updates on my sidebar by clicking the image under "Where in the World is the Next Culinary Smackdown?"

Wishing you all a tasty 2012 filled with new beginnings, and happiness and success in whatever ways you define those terms for yourself.

xoxo, eggy

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T18:05:00.000-05:00

2011 is ending with a bang here in Eggyland. Somehow I’ve reached an all-time high of 798 page views so far today. The vast majority were for this post about the blogger bash last New Year’s Eve hosted by dear friend Anonymous Boxer, where we raised a substantial sum for our respective local charities. If you're hungry in the morning, you are welcome to a reprise of the virtual New Year's brunch I offered up as my contribution to the festivities. I rewatched Boxer’s recap video last night and teared up again at how much this merry band of bloggers means to me.

Boxer’s soiree sure got 2011 off on a good foot, and the good blogging karma has continued. In the past year I’ve made some wonderful new friends and met some amazing chefs, food vendors, and local bloggers in person. I continue to be inspired by the awesome folks in my blogging community, near and far, who are talented in so many ways, and whose generosity of spirit is a treasure.

Thank you all from the bottom of my eggy heart, and wishing you a great 2012!

xoxo,
eggy

A Tribute and a Recipe

2011-12-27T20:33:00.001-05:00

I’m back from my holiday weekend with family, which was filled with food, food, and more food, as well as family traditions (old and new), inside jokes, and fun surprises. Roast beef and apple pie were part of our Christmas menu, and they got my sister and me talking about Grandma R., whose birthday is today.

Long before my blogging days, I had a tendency to come up with made-by-me holiday gifts, often of the verbal variety. For Christmas 2002, I made a recipe calendar and dedicated it to my Grandma R., who would have turned 105 today. She didn’t make 105, but she did make it to 96. As iron-fisted as she could be, she knew how to enjoy herself and wasn’t about to let her birthday be overshadowed by that big December holiday that always fell two days earlier.

I pulled out my copy of that calendar earlier this month and reread what I wrote about Grandma R. (and my Grandma W.) nine years ago. It’s actually one piece of my writing I think stands up over time (and I think it was the first time I wrote about “intuitive eggplant”), although I've edited this recipe for her signature chocolate cake with boiled icing for clarity.

One of the most evocative memories from my childhood is the intertwined aromas of roast beef and apple pie in my grandparents’ house in Nebraska City. Grandma R. insisted on buying her beef at Goody’s butcher shop, and the fall harvest of Nebraska City apples is renowned (at least among Nebraskans).

I’ve never learned to make roast beef or apple pie quite like Grandma R.’s. But one thing we have in common is that we aren’t given to cooking from recipes. The dishes we cook best we cook from experience, and from the heart.

That was brought home to me recently. After she moved to Tennessee, I inherited Grandma R.’s recipe box. I remember it always being in her kitchen, but don’t recollect her ever referring to the recipes inside. I was honored to receive it, and hoped the special cedar box would yield her culinary secrets. What I found were mostly recipes from other people, not the ones I remember her cooking. Then again, perhaps that was because whenever she asked me for meal requests, I always wanted her roast beef and either apple pie or her special chocolate cake.

Like Grandma R., I ask for other people’s recipes. I also turn to my collection of cookbooks and magazines, the Internet and TV. Long before there was “Emeril Live” or a cable channel devoted to food, I watched Julia Child with Grandma W. I feverishly took notes as Julia whipped up a tomato and zucchini gratin. Then Grandma W. and I prepared our version of it, with freshly picked vegetables from her garden.

Whatever the source, these days I use recipes more for inspiration than as prescription. I love to experiment, to mix and match, to tweak a recipe, or to recreate something I’ve tasted elsewhere.

My cooking style might be described as “Intuitive Eggplant,” as housemates at Oberlin College dubbed one of the dishes I love to make. I can’t tell you how to make my eggplant parmesan, but I learned the basics in Colorado by watching my buddy Derf (who learned from Italian mamas in New York). For many dishes, from marinara sauce to chocolate cake, there is no substitute for learning at someone’s elbow.

Grandma’s Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

Melt over medium heat:
2 squares chocolate
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar

Combine in mixing bowl, then add melted chocolate mixture:
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar

Add 2 eggs.

Sift dry ingredients together:
2 c. cake flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Combine following wet ingredients and add to mixing bowl alternately with the dry ingredients:
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla

Mix and bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool at least half an hour before icing.

The Boiled Chocolate Icing

4 T. shortening
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
2 T. cocoa

Melt and combine above ingredients in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan. Increase heat and boil exactly one minute. Remove saucepan from heat and place in sink filled with cold water, being careful that water does not touch icing. When icing is cool, beat until thick. Do not rush this process. If you stir the icing while it is too hot, it will sugar (this was a tip I got from Grandma only after I thought I had finally learned how to make “her” icing).

Here’s hoping you enjoy, experiment, and taste something new this year!

Merry Christmas from Eggy and Scout

2011-12-25T11:00:00.001-05:00

I’m off traveling to be with family for a few days, but if all goes as planned, it should be safe by the time this post pops up to share with you the Christmas gift I made for my dad. Yep, I tried my hand at making a blog book. I guess you can take the Eggy out of the publishing world, but you can never quite take the publishing world out of the Eggy.

If you’ve ever been tempted to turn your blog (or a portion of it) into a real, live, hold-in-your-hands book, Blog2Print aka Shared Book is pretty easy to work with and offers lots of ways to customize what you want to put into print. (Some work better than others.)

My dad has always been a big supporter of my blogging efforts, and it was the cross-country trip he led our family on in 1970 that made me want to go back and explore more of South Dakota last summer. So for the book I’ve dedicated to him, I selected just my posts from my 2011 vacation to S.D. And because I received so many wonderful comments from my bloggy friends about the trip, I chose to include comments to those posts as well. I don’t think my photos in the book look as good as they did online. But, hey, I did have a boatload of them :)

This link should take you to the flip-book version, in case you’re interested.

Happy holidays to all. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindnesses, inspiration, and friendship during the past year. 2011 has been a year of unexpected good blogging karma from all corners. The universe works in mysterious ways, but I’m not discounting that Scout found his way back home after his walk-about/disappearance in part because so many of you were rooting for us to be reunited. Now, if Scout had recorded his journey, that would be a real scoop :)

Coming in January: The Good Dog! And a Streetpops Update

2011-12-21T21:32:00.000-05:00

After the first of the year Lunch on Main will relaunch with a new name and a new concept – gourmet hot dogs. Lunch on Main chef/owner Adam Easterling tried out a few last summer (which I wrote about here) and told me he thinks the new incarnation will do more to set his restaurant apart. After two years at 633 Main Street, I’m guessing Adam is also ready to unleash more culinary creativity – which was deliciously evidenced by those trial-run dogs. Here’s my personal favorite: the Bob Cobb, with a splendidly fresh Cobb salad and homemade bleu cheese dressing atop a kicky 100% beef dog from local favorite Avril-Bleh.

The Good Dog promises more than a dozen gourmet dogs – including vegan dogs –
along with soups, sides, and salads, at an affordable price point. (Lunch on Main’s hefty hot dogs were an across-the-board $5.) I’m looking forward to tasting what The Good Dog comes up with.

Meanwhile, I ran into Sara Bornick of Streetpops (who launched her business last summer in Lunch on Main’s kitchen) at Cincinnati Magazine’s Best of the City party (thanks, Toya and Randy, for letting me ride shotgun). Streetpops, which won a Best of the City award, has moved into the Over-the-Rhine space formerly occupied by much-missed Fork Heart Knife, which Sara plans to operate as a retail space/restaurant, not just a commissary. She and her team have been making changes to the space, and she is looking to offer soups and breads from it later this winter.

As I scramble to finish my holiday preparations and hit the road to spend Christmas with my family, best wishes to all the talented cooks, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and friends of all ilks I have had the pleasure to meet – or get to know better – this year. It has been an amazing year of good blogging karma, and my eggy heart is filled with gratitude for your friendship and inspiration!

Cheers!
xoxo, eggy

Slow Food Cincinnati Happy Hour This Thursday at The Palm Court Featuring Red Wattle Pork from Orchids Chef Todd Kelly

2011-12-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

This sounds like an event too good to pass up.

Slow Food Cincinnati’s facebook page says: "Sorry for the late notice, but we have decided to have a happy hour this Thursday at the Hilton downtown. Chef Kelly has agreed to have some Red Wattle Pork offerings on the happy hour bar menu, and Slow Food Cincinnati will provide a few of those for you to try. The Bar at Palm Court will also have other wonderful half-price appetizers and drink specials until 7:00pm! Click on the event for more details!"

The Red Wattle Pork is no doubt from Dean Family Farms.

More details here. Who’s joining me?

This will be in the more casual (and affordable) bar area at the Palm Court in the Netherland Hilton, but if you haven't experienced Chef Kelly's food or visited this magnificent space lately, this is a great opportunity to do so.

Dinner and Demos at Lexington’s Azur Restaurant and Bar

2011-12-07T00:04:00.001-05:00

My holiday gift to myself Thanksgiving weekend was a Wednesday night trip to Lexington, where I attended the first Chef Series Cooking Class at Azur Restaurant and Bar, and what a treat it was!

Lexington is a city I’ve passed countless times traveling between Cincinnati and Knoxville without having a clue what is going on there culinarily or otherwise. Fortunately, that is changing. When I went to the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show there in October, I ate at a couple of area restaurants, sampled the wares of some local food purveyors, and was especially intrigued by one demo at the food show, by Azur Chef Jeremy Ashby. I knew right away I wanted to taste his food, and an excellent opportunity presented itself when I read on Azur’s facebook page that he would be doing a cooking class and five-course tasting menu rolled into one for $60.

Among the things at the Incredible Food Show that impressed me about this Kentucky native (he attended Johnson + Wales in Charleston, SC, after UK and worked with Norman Van Aken in Miami prior to returning to the Bluegrass State) are Chef Ashby’s commitment to high-quality, often (although not exclusively) locally sourced ingredients and his inventive preparations. He also has a casual demeanor about him and wants his food to be accessible and fun, which I sensed at the Food Show and saw even more in evidence that Wednesday night. Many long-time friends of the restaurant were in attendance for this inaugural cooking class. But the chef and his staff made me feel welcome and comfortable as a newcomer too. So comfortable, in fact, that – with no disrespect, Chef – I’m going to refer to you as Jeremy in the rest of this post :)

Before the evening’s proceedings got underway, I asked Jeremy if he’d be cool with me taking pictures, explaining up front that I’m a food blogger. He assured me I was welcome to, and even brought some of his demo plates to my table so I could photograph them.

I’m always fascinated to hear how chefs come up with their dishes. Once hooked up to his mike, Jeremy said he would talk a little about plating and mentioned that he tends to write menus as a series of ingredients. The first course: “octopus, shrimp and ahi tuna with Stuarto’s cilantro and roasted onion olive oil, honey ginger balsamic vinegar, baby beets, sweet corn ice cream and chile verde infused sea salt.” That may sound like a lot of ingredients for a salad course, but the clean, well-balanced flavors had me at first bite.

You can see the demo plate at the top of this post, on a slab of Himalayan sea salt. Here’s my diner's plate.

A thin raw slice of bright red ahi tuna forms the base of each plate. The white curvilinear pieces are octopus cooked in court bouillon (which Jeremy said is good for 2-3 uses). The tail-on shrimp were cooked in the same court bouillon, then halved lengthwise. Late-season baby candy-striped beets, sitting upright, were cooked sous-vide. The salad was dressed with a carefully selected, and light, combination of infused olive oils, vinegars, and salts from local Lexington Stuarto’s Olive Oil Company (owner Stuart Utgaard and his products would be featured later in the evening as well). And for temperature and texture contrast, the yellow bit in the middle is sweet corn ice cream, not only whimsical but utterly delicious!

Jeremy had promised a meal that would not resemble Thanksgiving, although he was definitely playing with fall flavors. For his second course, he took inspiration not only from autumn but also from a dish that once failed spectacularly on Top Chef, Butterscotch Scallops.* The menu described Jeremy’s version as “wild mushroom and scallop wellington, fuji apple, butterscotch, rosemary smoke, country ham.”

Demo-ing the dish before us, Jeremy seasoned a day-boat scallop with Stuarto’s Spanish smoked rosemary salt and seared it over high heat. Then he pan roasted an oyster mushroom whole, which he chopped into duxelles and placed in the bottom of a puff pastry pouch and topped with the scallop to create the Wellington, which would be baked in the oven.

Next Jeremy caramelized the fuji apples with some country ham (from much-lauded Benton’s in Tennessee). For the “butterscotch” (which is just butter and brown sugar, he reminded), he added some butter to the pan drippings (which froths when added to oil and helps deglaze the savory browned ham bits), a smidge of brown sugar, and a touch of chicken stock to create a light apple pan sauce that reminded me more of the woods than of dessert.

To bring full circle the autumn inspiration and the smoked rosemary salt he seasoned the scallop with, each plate featured a quickly torched sprig of fresh rosemary. Not to worry – the mini fires extinguished themselves almost immediately. But they gave off into the room just enough smoky rosemary aroma to add another fun, and complementary, element to experiencing the savory flavors in this dish.

For the third course, Jeremy went old school with pasta carbonara, a dish he introduced as so often being made badly in restaurants that he wanted us to taste an authentic version. I’m not sure I’ve ever had it at a restaurant, although this “bacon and eggs with pasta and pepper” dish is one I’ve made many times at home, doing what I thought was a reasonable job of following Marcella Hazan’s recipe. I now know better.

The demo for this course spotlighted another of Jeremy’s local culinary friends, Lesme of Lexington Pasta Company, who made fresh tagliatelle. This two-year-old company supplies restaurants throughout Kentucky and has a retail spot that offers pasta-making classes where one can also sample wine and local cheeses.

Interspersed with Lesme’s demo, Jeremy rendered some guanciale (a bacon of sorts made from pig’s cheek, which he said is even more savory than pork belly) and added some razor thin slices of garlic. The fresh pasta tossed with the pork, garlic, a bit of eggs, and some parmesan produced a dish that was one of the most eye-opening of the evening. As delicious as the guanciale was, the star by far was the fresh tagliatelle. Tasting it was a lightbulb moment when I felt like I finally “got” why people make a fuss about fresh pasta. A trip to Italy may not be in my near future, but a pasta-making class at Lexington Pasta Co. definitely is on my list for a future field trip to the Bluegrass State.

As if this dish wasn’t magnificent enough in its own right, if we chose, we could add a bit of truffle salt to cap off the dish. Stuart of Stuarto’s came around to each table with a sample, and how could I resist? The truffle taste sent the dish over the top, although there was already enough salt in this particular dish that the truffle salt made it almost too salty even for my palate. (Note to self: use these delicious salts sparingly.) Before I left that evening, I bought one of the infused olive oils Stuart brought with him, and after tasting Stuarto's espresso-infused balsamic and salt, which Jeremy was kind enough to share samples of with me (I used them in my Thanksgiving dinner here), I definitely want to check out the Stuarto’s shop in person.

Next up: Course 4, “horseradish crusted beef short rib, lemongrass braised endive, celery root, house-made ricotta, and pea shoots.”

Jeremy is a proponent of cooking sous-vide, and my takeaway from the evening is that he uses it because he genuinely likes the results achieved by this technique rather for any kind of novelty factor. (If you’re not familiar with the term, sous-vide – literally, “under vacuum” – means ingredients are sealed in a plastic bag and cooked at a constant low and well-controlled temperature in a water bath, usually in an immersion circulator, although Jeremy pointed out one could use a readily available and fairly inexpensive food-saver vacuum-bag sealer, a pot of water, and a thermometer to achieve the same results.)

An advantage of cooking vegetables like the baby candy-striped beets prepared sous-vide for the first course, he said, is that the vacuum seals in the vegetable’s innate flavors, as opposed to boiling, where flavor and nutrients dissipate in the water. (I’m still not sure the taste is superior to the flavor concentration you can get by roasting vegetables . . . but then sous-vide may work better for cooking veggies whole as he did with the beets, rather than sliced as I usually do when roasting. And it wouldn’t set off the smoke alarms in my house.)

For this course, Jeremy prepared the short ribs sous-vide, emphasizing that it allows even edge-to-edge cooking and that the fat in the short ribs would be evenly distributed in the meat as a result. Although I enjoyed the dish as a whole, maybe I’m just accustomed to a little more fatty gusto when I indulge in short ribs. My note-taking kind of fell off in the midst of the fun and as I was into my fourth taste of the accompanying wine pairings ($35 for 5 pours – all excellent and well matched to the evening’s dishes), but I think the endive (it looks kind of like a tongue in my photo of the demo plate below) was prepared sous-vide as well. Although the bitter taste of fresh endive definitely mellowed during its sous-vide bath, it was a little hard to cut.

One of my favorite components of the short rib dish was the house-made ricotta Jeremy demo’d for this course (you can see it more clearly perched atop the short rib in the pic of my diner's plate farther up). Ricotta is one of the simplest and quickest cheeses to make from scratch (as I learned from an unfortunately short-lived cheese-making group I once joined). Diners were invited to come up to the demonstration table for this one, and I was glad to see I wasn't the only curious onlooker.

Finally, dessert. Jeremy told the assembled group that Azur doesn’t have a pastry chef, so he just likes to play with flavors and textures. And play he did, creating this plate of “pomegranate panna cotta, flexible chocolate, mint emulsion, caramel powder, cinnamon granola soil, chocolate truffle.”

Jeremy demonstrated how to make a straightforward panna cotta, making it look simple enough a home cook could tackle it. At the other end of the spectrum, he turned to some chemical compounds from his “molecular gastronomy” toolbox to turn caramel into powder and crème de menthe into a creamy emulsion (alas, I wasn’t quick enough to get the chemicals’ names written down correctly). For the pièce de résistance, he applied some liquid nitrogen to take chocolate in direction I hadn’t before tasted. A colorful, fanciful course to finish the evening with. Along with the excellent 20-year-old Port that accompanied it, definitely enough to keep my tastebuds – and curiosity – engaged, full though I was after the previous four courses.

Chef Jeremy was kind enough to stop by my table, chat a bit, and answer my questions at several points during the evening. When I commended him on his presentation style, he thanked me and said he tries to keep things casual during his demos, but was also finding it a little hard to be out front rather than in his usual spot in the kitchen as the dishes went out. At the end of the evening, he invited his young kitchen staff into the dining room to introduce and thank them, and the diners erupted in applause for the fine meal they had treated us to.

Azur – which Jeremy quipped at the Incredible Food Show stands for come “as you are” – has a loyal following in Lexington. Like the chef himself, the restaurant has a laid-back vibe to it, even as the kitchen is putting out innovative, high-end dishes. The combination is a great recipe for accessible adventure. Although I would happily dine at Azur again at any opportunity, the tasting-menu-plus-cooking-class format (Jeremy said he plans to offer more of these either monthly or every other month) was a great introduction to not only the quality of Azur’s food but also where it’s coming from – both the carefully sourced ingredients themselves and the mind that conceives of how to make them taste good, assemble them in unique combinations on a plate, and delight his diners. Whether he’s exploring modernist techniques or harkening back to artisanal preparations, Jeremy Ashby is a chef with boundless culinary curiosity and an underlying generosity of spirit. I loved the magic carpet ride of my first evening at Azur, and I can't wait to be swept away again.

*Dale Talde’s Butterscotch Scallops got him eliminated on Season 4, although when challenged to redo the dish during the All-Stars season, Talde redeemed himself with a version that guest judge Anthony Bourdain said Talde successfully managed to “un-f--k up” the dish. Jamie Lauren in the Top Chef scallop arena, not so much.

UPDATE: Next Culinary Smackdown Announced!

2011-12-02T00:13:00.001-05:00

The deadline isn't until ~~January 15, 2012~~ January 18, 2012 (Boxer decided to change the date), but Boxer, the reigning winner in our friendly little round-robin virtual cooking competition (for her Butternut Squash Cupcakes with Walnuts and Candied Apricot) has announced the theme of the next Smackdown!

And what is this crafty vegetarian from the Pacific Northwest challenging us with? Battle Tofu! Click here for all the details straight from Boxer herself. It's been great to have some new folks join in the fun lately, and remember that ALL are welcome. Boxer is even planning a prize (handmade, I'm guessing) for whoever takes the top spot at making tofu both look and taste good.

Boxer has been a big supporter of the the Culinary Smackdown, even playing along when I revived our friendly little monthly blogging/cooking contest for Battle Eggplant, an ingredient it turns out she was allergic to. The Smackdown is all about stretching yourself to try something new, so keep January's contest in the back of your mind as you go through your busy holiday season. After the new year rolls around, a new challenge and a bit of whimsy might just be in order.

Speaking of handmade, blogger friend Chickory is hosting a Handmade Holiday at her art studio in Blue Ridge, Georgia this Sunday and I hear some of her offerings will be available online too. ETA: Here's Chicky's website.

Wherever you are, please support handmade and local this holiday season!

A Very Eggy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T17:38:00.000-05:00

Despite a couple of kind offers, I chose to stay home and dine solo this Thanksgiving, in the company of my favorite kitty. Freed from the responsibility of cooking for other people’s palates, my menu options were so wide open it took a while to figure out what to fix. One of the multitude of holiday cooking shows I’ve watched recently mentioned that although turkey may not have been served at the first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts, lobster and venison likely were. Aha! A starting point. I had a couple of lobster shells left from the recent sale at Lobsta Bakes of Maine, and I could pull a package of venison out of my freezer.

For my Autumn Seafood Stew, I made lobster stock with a chunked onion, the stalks and part of a bulb of fennel, four evacuated corn cobs, a healthy handful of fresh sage, and two lobster shells. I filled the pot with almost enough cold water to cover, then half a bottle of white wine. Trouble was, that was a lot of water and the lobster shells themselves didn’t give off much flavor. Next time I’ll try to remember to add some fish trimmings (or do what I did today to tweak the leftovers – I bought some lobster stock from Kevin at Lobsta Bakes – he has more fish trimmings and lobster shells to work with than I could ever hope to). Last night I took about a third of the stock, added clam juice, fennel seed, celery seed, and dried chipotle pepper and reduced it significantly, then added the other half bottle of wine and reduced some more, until it finally started to taste like something.

I fried a couple slices of Eckerlin’s double-smoked bacon, sautéed fennel, onion, garlic, and corn in the renderings, then quickly cooked some oysters. Part of this mélange went on my dinner plate and the rest, along with shrimp, lobster, and roasted red pepper, went into the reduced stock to which I added a bit of cream and brandy – a definite boost to my rather weak stock.

For my meat course, I went with an old favorite, venison carpaccio, which, I am thankful to say, went in a delicious new direction this time. First I thin-sliced a couple of these butterflied steaks.

I had in mind to do a little taste-testing with my carpaccio, so, using the corn as a colorful divider, on half the venison I used fleur de sel and Banyuls vinegar from Le Bon Vivant, along with some Meyer lemon and blood orange olive oils I’ve been hoarding since my trip to California last year. On the other half I tried three products from Stuarto’s Olive Oil Company I came across on my Wednesday night trip to Lexington: wild mushroom and sage infused olive oil, espresso salt, and espresso balsamic.

I will have much more to say about the magnificent dinner/cooking class I attended at Azur Wednesday night. For now I will mention that Azur chef Jeremy Ashby used Stuarto’s products in several of the evening’s dishes, and Stuarto’s owner Stuart Utgaard was on hand to talk about his products and offer some for sale. The first time I happened onto chef Ashby was at the Incredible Food Show in Lexington in October, and during his demo there he raved about one of Stuarto’s olive oils that he described as being an excellent all-purpose finishing oil. It was not available either at the food show or on Wednesday at Azur, but I had a moment to ask the chef for a recommendation. When I told him I planned to make venison carpaccio for Thanksgiving, he suggested the wild mushroom and sage oil (which I purchased), and then his eyes lit up. They weren’t among the products Stuart brought that evening, but Jeremy went into his kitchen and came back with these samples of Stuarto’s espresso salt and espresso Balsamic. Thank you, Jeremy! I would never have thought to mix espresso flavors with my tried and true carpaccio, but these were amazing, giving the dish a whole new dimension and depth!

I topped the seasoned venison with capers, sliced garlic, and, in place of my usual parmesan, shards of sheep’s milk cheese from another KY Proud company, Good Shepherd Cheese.

This dish made me so happy I didn’t think twice about not having turkey for Thanksgiving :)

It just wouldn't be right to have a holiday dinner without dessert, and I came up with one that entailed hardly any work. Last weekend at Jean-Paul's Paradiso, I picked up some house-made pumpkin sorbet.

I love chocolate with pumpkin, so I made some ganache. If you’ve never made your own ganache before, what are you waiting for? It is dead simple even if you, like me, are no pastry chef. Just chop some chocolate (Joy of Cooking says 8 oz.).

Bring some cream to a boil (Joy of Cooking says 3/4 cup).

Remove the cream from the heat and stir in the chocolate. That’s all there is to it (although I like to add a splash of Grand Marnier to mine). It keeps well in the fridge, and a few seconds in the microwave will return it to a creamy consistency. Don't let the fancy-sounding French name intimidate you – this recipe is almost impossible to mess up.

I drizzled a little ganache on the pumpkin sorbet.

Because it was a holiday, I added some toasted pecans. And then, my best idea of the evening hit me: I added a bit of that espresso salt from Stuarto's! What a magnificent match with the chocolate!

So there you have it, how I holiday cook when left to my own devices. And I enjoyed every moment of solo, stress-free self-indulgence. Of course I missed being with family and friends. But this just wasn’t the year for it. I’m still in overly protective mode since Scout returned from his 2-1/2 week walkabout and didn’t want to go off and leave him for the long weekend. But I am happy to report he has bounced back from his ordeal – so much so that today he went outside for the first time in a week. You can bring the kitty indoors, but Scout is one kitty you just can’t take the outdoors out of.

Thankfully, he came back in too.

Wishing you all the best of holiday weekends, and if you’re out shopping, please shop local and handmade.

xoxo, eggy

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T16:09:00.000-05:00

Wishing all of you a happy holiday filled with good food and good company! I am so thankful for the friendships, old and new, I have made via this blog and by getting out into the community and meeting some terrific folks dedicated to raising and preparing good food. This has been a year truly filled with good blogging karma.

Of course, I am especially thankful to have Scout home from his 2-1/2 week walkabout. He has regained the weight he lost, and is actually wanting to go back outdoors, although I have not yet allowed that to happen.

Not wanting to leave him for a long weekend, I'm having a quirky holiday of my own. It started Wednesday night with a quick getaway to Lexington, where I attended Azur Restaurant and Bar's first Chef Series Cooking Class, a spectacular five-course meal created by Chef Jeremy Ashby interspersed with demos by Jeremy and a couple of his local culinary cohorts. I came away with a full stomach and a lot of inspiration! Stay tuned for a full report.

And now I'm headed into the kitchen to whip up a holiday dinner with only one palate to please, taking inspiration from two ingredients I was recently reminded were likely present at the first Thanksgiving, lobster and venison. If my dishes, and photos, turn out worth a hoot, I'll be back with a little report on that as well.

With much gratitude for all your kindnesses,
xoxo,
eggy

A Fine French Weekend Avec Mes Amis et Le Scout

2011-11-20T18:42:00.001-05:00

These magnificent pear and apple tarts were actually served at Le Bon Vivant's October Third Friday's wine and cheese tasting, made by owner Catherine Meguire herself. When I arrived at last Friday's event, taking us to Burgundy, I was so swept up in the camaraderie that I forgot to pull out my camera until we'd reduced the magnificent cheeses to, well, this.

I was delighted to meet up with blogger friend Stephie of Small Girl Adventures again, who already has her own post up about the evening. Catherine welcomed us both with open arms, and I was happy to see a number of other delightful folks I had met on my last visit, and meet some new ones, too. It was definitely one of those evenings where being in the moment trumped taking photos for the blog.

I did not, however, come away empty-handed. This time I bought a bottle of one of the evening's five excellent Burgundian wines, a 2008 Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Chablis, which was a revelation as to what Chablis can be. I also purchased the Banyuls vinegar I'd had my eye on (a favorite of Jean-Robert, I hear). And of course, I couldn't walk away without replenishing my supply from Chocolats LaTour, which Le Bon Vivant carries.

After spending most of Saturday keeping a watchful eye over my recently returned kitty (ok, let's just say we both snoozed together a lot – I had no idea how exhausted I was from worrying about him), I had a taste for pizza. Not just any pizza, the Northern Woods pizza from Jean-Paul's Paradiso, made with a mix of wild mushrooms, a hint of rosemary, topped with goat cheese, on one of my favorite crusts, as only Belgian Jean-Paul can make it.

Jean-Paul puts his magnificent dough to use in other forms, like these tomato cheese breads.

The shop offers daily soups and much more. (Since my Thanksgiving plans turned wonky, I wish I'd learned earlier that they were offering T-Day carry-out; orders are now closed.) Do not miss their patisseries!

I bought some of Jean-Paul's pumpkin sorbet to hedge my bets for whatever I end up throwing together for Thanksgiving, and was happy they had my favorite chocolate mousse cups available, too.

As I head into Thanksgiving week, I am filled with gratitude toward all my friends and family, new and old, far and near. And especially thankful for the return of one of my very best friends, my Scout man guy, after his 2 1/2 week disappearance. He's purring again, and has finally meowed. He felt like a feather when he came back, but I am happy to report he is eating and putting weight back on. He has spent most of the weekend sleeping on or near me, something we both needed. He has eyed the front door a couple of times, but so far hasn't seriously wanted to go back out. Prayers work in mysterious ways - and cats work in mysterious-er ways. Thank you all for sending good wishes our way, and in return I wish you the best of Thanksgivings. Scout would too, if he weren't sleeping :)

He's Back!

2011-11-17T19:29:00.001-05:00

I could hardly believe my eyes when I got home from work tonight. As I walked up to the house, a little buff-colored guy appeared at my side and nonchalantly headed indoors with me as though nothing had happened.

Thankfully Scout seems uninjured, although he definitely lost weight during the ~~week and a half~~ two and a half weeks he disappeared. He headed straight for his food dish once he got inside, followed by a good deal of water slurping.

No doubt something happened during his feline walkabout, although I’ll never know what. He’s atypically docile this evening. He’s shown no interest in going back outdoors and just wants to sit on my lap. I am ever so happy to let him do just that.

ETA: I guess I've been in such a funk over this I lost my ability to do math. Scout was gone for 2 1/2 weeks!

A big thank you to all for sending good vibes our way, and checking back repeatedly. I am immensely relieved to have good news to report at last.

xoxo,
eggy and scout

Doesn’t Everybody Cook This Way?

2011-11-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

In honor of National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, I thought I’d share this dish. Not only did it turn out to be tasty bowl of comfort food, it reminded me of one of the things I like most about cooking: Puttering with what’s on hand.

Sure, I ooh and ahh over dishes I spot on other blogs as much as the next cook. I wouldn’t want to count how many recipes I’ve clipped, or copied and pasted. I confess I’ve never actually prepared the overwhelming majority of them – although they often serve as inspiration when I’m trying to figure out what to do with a specific ingredient, or feel my well of culinary creativity has run dry.

But sometimes the best inspiration comes from simply looking inside my fridge . . . surveying my pantry . . . and pondering my typically overzealous farmers market purchases.

The concoctions I’ve come up with have been peculiar on occasion. A few so disappointing I either disposed of them immediately or let their leftovers languish until I had to throw them out, refrigerator container and all. But one of the bonuses of cooking for oneself is playing around in the kitchen unfettered. I’m not chained to recipes. I have no need to impress anyone. No one else’s palates to please, or food prejudices to work around. And I can make things as complex, or as simple, as I choose.

This time I went simple. I fried a couple slices of bacon. Threw some diced garlic and chopped fennel into its renderings. Added in some fresh sage, then – why not? – tossed some whole wheat penne and white wine into the skillet to see if I could adapt that risotto-like first stage to pasta. When the pasta began to soften, I added some water and covered with a lid. Checked back periodically to add liquid and check on the doneness of the penne. When it was close and had absorbed most of the liquid, I added more sage, a handful of mushrooms, some shreds of butternut squash cut with a vegetable peeler, (which I knew would cook in a flash), fresh clams, and more white wine.

I pulled the clams as each opened, not wanting to overcook those precious puppies. Glad to find only one would not (a sure sign to discard), I returned the rest to the skillet for a moment to rewarm. I turned out my veggie-pasta-clam mélange into a bowl, then – because it pleased my whim – topped with some torn prosciutto, cubed parmesan, cherry tomatoes, and fennel fronds.

All in all, a successful experiment. With some warm bread and a glass of wine, that pasta dish was just what I wanted to tuck into in front of some food television as I nursed a lingering cold and kept an ear cocked for anyone scratching at the door.

Sadly, Scout has not returned, nor have my efforts posting on Craigslist, calling animal shelters, etc. turned up anything. It’s hard to be optimistic, especially as days pass and with our cold, rainy, windy, dismal weather. I thank my many friends for opening your hearts to me and checking back for news. After 14 years, he may have used up all nine of his lives patrolling the neighborhood, making friends with kids and old people alike, and adventuring in his own fashion (with more dire consequences than my simple cooking experiments).

Scout came into my life, tiny and not yet weaned, when someone dropped him off at a state park where one of my best friends worked. (why people think this is a good idea, I do not know). Della took in many strays herself and was relentless in finding homes for more. I have now been missing her for the better part of a decade. In the event Scout turns up, I will hale his return loud and wide.

Meanwhile, I am doing my best to envision Scout and Della reunited somewhere they are both pain-free and enjoying themselves as the perennial teenagers they always were in their own minds. Scout, you’re on your own when Della cranks up her 80s head-banger rock :) But you’ll also find Della is a cat whisperer who will protect you like no other tiger mom who never had kids of her own.

Haiku Monday: Adventure

2011-11-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

My thoughts are straying from food. With thanks to everyone who has asked after Scout, I am sorry to report he has not returned and at this point I am about out of hope. I dedicate this post to my buddy of 14 years. Moi at Bite the Apple is hosting Haiku Monday this week. Click on over to read a plethora of much more poetic and upbeat entries.

Uncontained Adventurer

Silence here deafens.
Strut your stuff on heavenly
walkabout, my friend.

Lobstas and Oystas and Middle Eastern, Oh My!

2011-11-07T06:00:00.005-05:00

Lobsta Bakes of Maine had such an overwhelming response last weekend to their $9/lb lobster special that they're doing it again. Call Wed. (513-561-0444) to order yours for either Friday or Saturday pick-up this time. They'll steam 'em and crack 'em if you like. Loved these I picked up last weekend. Lobster doesn't get much fresher, cheaper, or easier when you live in Ohio.

On the food truck scene, which is (sigh) waning as we head into winter, New Orleans to Go has flown in some oysters for Oyster Peace-Maker Po-Boys. Now that they've got a great regular gig going in Springdale on Tuesdays, I'm hoping NOTG's supply holds out for what I'm hearing will be this Thursday at 5th and Race. Toya and Randy, save me one, please!

Prassino/Greek To Me has opened on Court Street, and I ate at Turquoise, newly opened on Vine Street, last week. Thank goodness their ezme (which I first fell in love with at Cafe Istanbul) is back.

I'll return with more food and photos, although it may be a bit. Lots going on outside this little food blog, and I'm sorely worried that I haven't seen a certain buff-colored furry guy since Sunday.

On a more upbeat note, my niece's Glee-esque show choir, named Happiness, Inc., was just voted best in the nation at Parade Magazine. Click here to listen to to their version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," a song that both inspires me and makes me cry every time I hear it. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Nashville to see her group in the Nationals - and to taste Nashville food!

Yikes, I just listened to that video again, and welled up with gratitude to blogger friends who recently sent me kind words out of the blue. Much appreciated.

Till we rendezvous again,
xoxo, eggy

Lobsters for $9/lb Saturday at Lobsta Bakes and Culinary Smackdown Results

2011-11-03T22:37:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite fishmongers, Lobsta Bakes of Maine, is running a special this Saturday: Lobsters for $9 a pound. They'll steam them for you, if you like, and even crack them upon request. Call 513-561-0444 to reserve yours. The pic above is one I got at Lobsta Bakes, in Newtown, for my very first entry in the Culinary Smackdown, Battle Lobster.

Owner Kevin Smith, a native Mainer who comes from a family of lobstermen, knows his stuff – and where to get the best fish and shellfish from all over. In addition to fresh seafood, you'll find prepared foods made in-house, like cioppino, lobster bisque, clam chowder, lobster quiche, roasted shrimp salad, and lobster rolls, available on a rotating basis. Lobsta Bakes also smokes some items in-house, like their sensational seafood sausages, which are also on the menu at Brown Dog Cafe, where local food blogger Jen from Our Good Food Life (October's Smackdown host) joined me for dinner during Restaurant Week.

If you stop by this weekend, be sure to add your name to Lobsta Bakes' email list. Or sign up via their website. They send out a weekly e-newsletter with current offerings and prices, and it's also the best way to find out about specials like this Saturday's lobsters or events like their open-to-the-public lobster bakes.

If you, like Jen, are looking for a fishmonger to call your own, I can't recommend Lobsta Bakes highly enough. The friendly and knowledgeable crew will make you feel welcome every time you stop in, and they'll bend over backward to accommodate special requests.

As judge and host, Jen has also posted her round-up and results of Battle Squash. Congrats to Boxer, with able assistance from Nephew, on her win for these Butternut Squash Cupcakes topped with cream cheese icing, candied apricot, and chopped walnuts!

And thanks to all of the participants, from Smackdown veterans like La Diva Cucina and Buzz Kill to our newest newcomer, Jeff from a Dork and His Pork. If you're interested in participating in the future, remember that all are welcome. The Smackdown is all in good fun, and in the interest of not stressing anyone out during the food-holiday heavy months of November and December, I think Boxer is going to wait to schedule the next Smackdown for January (with an as-yet-unrevealed ingredient/theme she promises will be very challenging). As resident cheerleader for the Smackdown, I'll update when I know more.

October Culinary Smackdown: Battle Squash

2011-10-31T00:24:00.000-04:00

Apparently it was autumn of 2007 when I became obsessed with squash dishes. I know this because I found a motherlode of squash recipes in a subfolder titled Thanksgiving 2007. For this month's Culinary Smackdown, I had in mind to reprise one that ended up being my favorite of everything I cooked that holiday. But there was another I've never forgotten and always wanted to try: Fresh Butternut Squash Salad.

You may be reading this and shaking your head as I did when I first read the recipe. Eating a hard winter vegetable like butternut squash raw? Huh? My usual inclination is to go with roasting squash or turning it into soup.

Guess what happens when you don't cook the heck out of it? If yours is as fresh as the one I got at Hyde Park farmers market last week, it's fragrant and melon-y and very easy to peel into lovely curls for this salad, with prosciutto, parmesan, and nuts. Add a little olive oil and red wine vinegar, and you're good to go. I topped mine with some microgreens I was lucky enough to have on hand. But really, this is dead simple and truly delicious.

This month's host (and last month's winner) for the Culinary Smackdown, Jen of Our Good Food Life, is up with her host post. If you're playing this month, head on over to her place to share a link back to your entry in her comments section. I'm looking forward to a wealth of great ideas from all!

Thanks to Jen for taking on this month's hosting duties. And to all the participants, and onlookers, for supporting this friendly little monthly cooking/blogging competition. As the resident cheerleader for the Smackdown, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to put it on hiatus during the busy months of November and December, then resume in January. Leave a comment here to let me know what you think.

Cincinnati Chocolate Festival

2011-10-29T19:00:00.002-04:00

Ghoul cookie from The BonBonerie

In honor of Halloween, here are a few photos I snapped at last weekend’s Cincinnati Chocolate Festival. I would have taken more, but it was crazy crowded. That’s a good thing, though, when the proceeds go to projects and donations that support women and children thanks to the Isaac M. Wise Temple Sisterhood, who organized the festival for the second year in a row. It was also great exposure for the 40-some vendors who participated – what a wealth of local chocolatier and baking talent!

Most vendors had bite-size treats available for 1 ticket, like these cake pops, from Janel’s Cakes. Since admission came with 10 tickets – and there were so many samples to try – I was glad they were on the small side.

Most vendors had additional items available for purchase, too, like Chocolats LaTour. I didn’t realize until I got mine home that this pumpkin shell is edible too! And those chocolates inside? Shalini LaTour’s seasonal specialties like Spice Berry, Wild Turkey, Stout, Honey Basil Caramel, and Rosemary Mandarin – ooh, la, la!

And some tables – like Artrageous – showcased what they can do in a large format, drawing mobs for smaller tastes of their creations.

I was delighted to find wine and chocolate pairings available from A Bottle or Two (1 ticket per chocolate bit + 1 ticket per wine tasting). I didn’t manage to get a photo of their table, but it was conveniently located just across the aisle from Murray’s Cheese/Kroger, which offered this, one of my favorite bites of the fest. (Acclaimed NYC-based Murray’s Cheeses has partnered with Kroger to make a lot of national and international specialty cheeses available in the Tri-State and elsewhere – I was surprised to learn how many Greater Cincinnati Kroger locations now have Murray’s selections available, and I’m going to have to clue my mom in there’s one in Knoxville too.)

According to the handy card I picked up, this was dark chocolate-dipped Plava Vecchio cheese served with Kissel’s blueberry lavender jam and mascarpone on a thin, crispy 34 degree wafer. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who loved it. This won the “Most Creative Use of Chocolate” Award in the Vendor/Professional Division.

Amateurs were invited to compete in their own division, and as luck would have it, I was standing near that table when their sweets were brought out into the hall after the judges had made their deliberations. Here are Debbie Heldman’s Mushroom Meringues, which took 1st place in the candy category. How impressive is this?

There were also a huge number of gift baskets being raffled off. Realizing I was going to reach sugar overload before using up all my tickets (I bought more than came with my admission), I decided to drop some of them in the boxes for the baskets – after all, it was for a good cause.

And then there were the demos. Again, just 1 ticket, although there were only 30 seats available for each – but if you got one of those choice seats, you also got to taste the chef’s dishes! The area was cordoned off with a short white “fence,” so onlookers could view, even though they couldn’t taste. While watching part of the demo by Steve Hellmich, Chocolatier of Graeter's, outside that fence, I realized I was already in line for the next one, by Megan Ketover, Pastry Chef at Orchid’s and recent contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef: Just Desserts. Having had the chance to meet her and taste her food a couple of months ago, I was looking forward to this, and so were many more fans.

Megan showed how to make her pumpkin whoopee pies with brown sugar buttercream and chocolate cardamom sauce in a way that made it all look easy. The finished product, prepped ahead for those of us lucky enough to be within seating and eating distance, was far more elaborate.

The pipette you see sticking out of Megan's whoopie pie contained her chocolate cardamon sauce – just squeeze the bulb to inject some of the rich sauce into the center of the dessert. Each confection also featured an edible chocolate garnish bearing the insignia of the Netherland Plaza, the hotel where she is pastry chef at Orchids. If you're interested in the recipe, Megan graciously agreed to let me share it and I'll be posting it on All Top Chef.

Megan wasn’t the only well-known Cincinnati pastry chef to demo. She was in the company of two Cincinnati veterans, Pam Sturkey and Summer Genetti.

Unfortunately, I missed most of Pam’s demo, after exiting the seating area to make way for more “ticket-paying” customers. But I did secure a seat for Summer Genetti’s demo, and it was a stunner.

Here is the dessert Summer demonstrated, titled, simply, "Fish Eggs."

Straddling the line between sweet and savory, Summer's offering was white chocolate and pink peppercorn custard baked in eggshells, with ginger whipped cream, green apple and radish salad, ahi tuna, wasabi caviar and orange zest – as delicious as it was unexpected!

Summer recently moved from The Palace to one of my favorite restaurants, Honey, in Northside. It's been far too long since I ate there, but Summer's inventive desserts are extra incentive for a return trip.

It was a fun afternoon, even if I did ingest way more sugar than I normally would. As soon as I got home, the phone rang with more sweet news. I actually won a raffle basket (and I never win things like this)! So I jumped back in the car and returned to the Cintas Center to pick up my prize. I've got six pints of Madisono's gelato and sorbet in my future, and I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Enjoy your Halloween festivities, and stop back Monday for my entry in this month's Culinary Smackdown, Battle: Winter Squash, hosted by last month's winner, the lovely Jen of Our Good Food Life. It sounds like we're going to have a pretty good turnout for this month's contest, and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! For updates on each month's theme, host, and deadline, you can always click this image on my sidebar.

Coming Soon (?) - Greek to Me on Court Street, Turophilia + Japp's, Fountain Square/Food Truck Update, and Truffles via Le Bon Vivant

2011-10-25T23:51:00.004-04:00

Owner George Betas tells me he is hoping to open his third It's Greek to Me - Prassino location on Court Street later this week on Court Street (depending on how inspections go). Once the shop is up and running, he plans to be open Mon.-Fri.10-6 and Sat.11-3, and this link should take you straight to the anticipated menu (the player on website's home page is, er, problematic). I'm looking forward to trying this Middle Eastern restaurant with an emphasis on fresh preparations and organic ingredients. It's in the same block as Tom + Chee.

Turophilia, purveyor of inventive, cheesy quesadillas, usually from its tiny retro Airstream trailer at Eighth and Vine, reports on facebook it will be teaming up with Japp's (of Molly Wellman fame), to bring 'dillas and drinks during happy hour Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays ~~at Nada (Sixth and Walnut)~~ starting tomorrow. ETA: Sorry I misunderstood. Fallon Horstmeyer's original message said, "What could be better than Turophilia and Japp's? Nada" - as in nothing could better. The locations is actually Japp's.

Turophilia's Black Keyes quesadilla

WVXU reported on Tuesday's City Council committee meeting about expanding the mobile food vendor program in the wake of 3CDC's decision to oust food tents from Fountain Square. This was a committee meeting, and a recommendation to Council was tabled for the time being. According to WVXU, "City administrators will be preparing a report on the Fountain Square vending spots. . . . It could be discussed next week. But the full City Council won't meet again after Wednesday until November 16th." I keep hoping the City and/or 3CDC finds a way to embrace these entrepreneurs who are putting out some outstanding food and contributing to the vibrancy of the downtown core.

Le Bon Vivant had a limited time opportunity to get in on some fresh truffles from Italy and France today. My wallet may be breathing a sigh of relief, but I am not. Stop in this lovely Walnut Hills shop to sign up for their contact list or friend them on facebook to keep up with the surprises they have in store. I am still dreaming of these apple and pear tarts made by owner Catherine Meguire for last week's wine and cheese soirée.

Le Bon Vivant's Third Friday wine and cheese tastings spotlight a different region of France each month (Burgundy in November). If last week's event is any indication, the crowd will be convivial, wine guy extraordinaire TJ will bring unique wines to sample, and there may be more food in store, like this Choucroute-Garnie at our evening in Alsace.

The Voltaggio Brothers and More from the KY Incredible Food Show

2011-10-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

Thanks for bearing with my circuitous series of Lexington trip reports. The impetus for my weekend getaway, as you may recall, was the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show. It led me to dinner at Jonathan’s at Gratz Park and brunch at Jean Farris Winery and Bistro, but the food show itself was such a full day of inspiration that I’m doubling back to share more. I wrote about a few of the 100+ vendors and their products here, but there were so many activities and demos going on concurrently I sometimes had trouble choosing.

This is just the schedule for the “Culinary Seminars,” in the smaller break-out room.

The Kids Craft Café offered youngsters the opportunity to create their own artwork with painted toast, eggshell mosaics, pumpkin painting, and other activities. “Exhibit Space H” featured cooking demos by Chef Tom Mackinnon of BlueFire Grill at the Lexington Regency Hyatt.

Barnes + Noble turned a section of the show into a cookbook store, with food titles by lots of Kentucky authors and this huge display of advance copies of Volt ink., set for wide release tomorrow, by headliners Michael and Bryan Voltaggio of Top Chef fame, performing at 11:00 and 3:00 in adjacent Rupp Arena.

B+N held book signings by local authors throughout the day, as well as one by the Volt Bros. Yes, I walked away with an autographed copy.

And then there was the jam-packed schedule for the demonstration stage sponsored by Sullivan University’s Lexington culinary program, where I spent a good chunk of my day getting my food geek on.

I decided to skip the potential mayhem of the Voltaggios’ morning show in favor of the Heritage Meats Master Class. “I’m glad you’re here instead of watching those foodie chefs,” said the Sullivan University chef-instructor leading the demo, nodding toward Rupp Arena. “You can see them anytime on TV, but what we’re going to show you here you can see only once a year.” Not quite accurate, but it drew an appreciate chuckle from the crowd.

As three students broke down a Katahdin lamb raised in Lincoln County, KY, before us, I learned that Katahdin, also called hair sheep, is a heritage breed developed in Maine in the 1950s. Rather than being covered in wool, which requires shearing, these sheep develop a heavy coat of hair during the winter, then shed it in spring. Absent the lanolin in wool, which can impart a gamey taste, this breed produces a fine-grained, well-marbled meat that is mild in flavor.

The instructor discussed the different cuts of meat, their best uses, and how to make sausage and stock to utilize every part of the animal. Thanks to the large-screen monitors, we also got to see knife techniques demonstrated, like Frenching the bones of a lamb loin.

A later highlight on the Sullivan University Stage would be a live-taping of a TV program called “Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs.” While the crew was setting up for that, three Sullivan graduates did a Q+A session spotlighting their different paths in the culinary profession.

Natalie Blake (left), who appeared on “Hell’s Kitchen,” is presently sous-chef at the Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and dreams of eventually having a food truck she can take throughout the state of Kentucky. Allison Davis (center) is the owner of Wild Thyme in Lexington, which does catering and offers cooking classes. The fellow on the right, whose first name is Ryan (alas, I didn’t catch hear his last name well enough to be able to figure out how to spell it), is the director of a school food program. He said the tack he takes is to look at the typical food choices made by kids, throw them out, then figure out how to replicate them more healthfully, like offering panko-breaded chicken tenderloin in place of chicken fingers. He also talked about getting kids involved in the edible garden on the school grounds, which has gotten his students to be more willing to try different foods and is helping them learn to think more seasonally about food. And he touted the advantages of having a culinary position that follows an academic schedule, compared to the hours worked by most restaurant chefs.

Next up was the actual taping of “Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs.” Host Tim Laird travels throughout the state spotlighting fine-dining as well as casual restaurants. The first segment showed Sullivan chef-instructor John Foster preparing gnocchi (from local Lexington Pasta Company, who’d done a demo earlier showing how to make gnocchi from scratch) with a fresh tomato sauce.

The second featured Chef Jeremy Ashby of Lexington’s Azur Restaurant and Patio preparing braised short rib wrapped in caul fat around goat cheese from nearby Capriole Farm, with maitake mushrooms (found by one of his foragers, he said), mashed potatoes with porcini powder, and corn pudding garnished with pea shoots and “onion glass.”

I was intrigued by Chef Ashby's commitment to local ingredients and his inventive preparations. He joked that “Azur” stands for come “as you are,” saying that while his restaurant offers dishes that may be upscale, it’s a casual environment. Azur is definitely on my list to visit next time I’m in Lexington.

“Secrets of the Bluegrass Chefs” airs on two Lexington channels and, I’m guessing, stations elsewhere in Kentucky too. Videos of prior shows can be found on the Kentucky Proud website here, and here are Part 1 and Part 2 of a 2009 episode that will give you a favor of the show, Azur, and Ashby’s culinary style. What can I say? I was intrigued enough to go google this stuff.

As if all of this wasn’t tantalizing enough, I still had the Voltaggios’ afternoon demo to look forward to. Check out my post on All Top Chef for that report.

All in all, I found the Incredible Food Show to be an impressively well organized event that was fun, informative, and well worth the admission price. It’s great to meet the people who produce your food, and the vendors were very outgoing. The Sullivan University staff and students shouldered a huge role in the day’s events and did the school proud. The organizers also did a great job of enlisting sponsors and making this a very professionally produced event. I came away inspired, and with a long list of Kentucky food producers to keep an eye out for – on restaurant menus, on the web, or to visit in person when I travel through the state. Regardless of who the headliners are next year, I plan to be back.

Lexington Trip, Part 3: Jean Farris Winery and Bistro

2011-10-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Before heading back to Cincinnati after the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show, I had time for one more meal. So, without a reservation, I headed for Jean Farris Winery and Bistro. I've seen the winery's name on a brown interstate sign designating "local attraction" many times as I drove to and from Tennessee but never realized it also features a restaurant until I started investigating the day before this trip. It's only three or eight miles off I-75 (depending on which exit you take), about 20 minutes from downtown Lexington. But you're out in the rolling hills of Kentucky horse country.

A short drive through the rows of vines that front Richmond Road . . .

. . . takes you to this structure, which houses an intimate bistro and the enormous side porch you can see on the left.

Although it was a tad chilly when I arrived at 11:30 that Sunday, I asked to be seated on the porch, where I got a lovely view of the surroundings. The high-ceilinged porch is equipped with outdoor heaters and zip-up plastic windows for cooler weather.

Decisions, decisions. I sipped a cup of coffee and nibbled this delectable chocolate chip muffin while struggling to settle on my order.

I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to try the charcuterie board, even though it was early in the day. At dinner as well as weekend brunch (11:00 to 3:00 both Saturday and Sunday), the restaurant offers a rotating variety of cheeses and housemade charcuterie you can mix and match (one for $6 or three for $14). Mine were served on this long, narrow weathered board; similar boards of different shapes and sizes were served to other diners.

With plenty of lovely accompaniments, this could have been a meal in itself. From front to back, here are toasted pecans, freshly grilled links of fennel and milk-fed veal sausage (outstanding!), and raisin compote.

Then there was a chunk of a sheep's milk cheese called Appalachian, duck liver paté topped with blackberry gelée, and housemade crackers at the back.

As much as I enjoyed the charcuterie, one of my favorite components was the miniature pickled heirloom tomatoes you can see nestled between the cheese and the paté served in a shot glass. If I come back again for dinner, I will definitely try a glass of Jean Farris wine with another one of these samplers.

There were lots of tempting entrées to choose from on the brunch menu as well.

I finally settled on this omelette filled with housemade ricotta, Kentucky mushrooms, and Newsom's prosciutto, made in Princton, Kentucky, southwest of Louisville.

And at last I got my grits on, with this Weisenberger grits cake – light and creamy on the inside, crisp and crunchy on the outside.

Whether you're brunching or not, enjoy your Sunday. I'm off to the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival, and with any luck I'll double back for one more installment from the Incredible Food Show later in the week.

Lexington Trip, Part 2: Jonathan's at Gratz Park

2011-10-20T23:27:00.000-04:00

Goodness, these Scallop Hot Browns seemed to get my readers' tastebuds tingling when I posted a preview to my Lexington trip report. So let’s plunge into my dinner at Jonathan's at Gratz Park, shall we?

I'd originally planned to attend the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show just as a day trip. But Friday was one of those gloriously warm fall days that makes you feel downright festive. By the time I got home from work, I'd talked myself into staying overnight after the Saturday food show and checking out a couple of Lexington's restaurants, even if meant scrambling to make arrangements. Without my usual drawn-out googling when visiting an unfamiliar city, I came up with a short list of restaurants that appealed to me, phoned Jonathan's at Gratz Park to see if I could get a reservation on such short notice (yes, they could accommodate my one-top in the bar at 6:30), booked a hotel with similar haste, checked mapquest for directions, threw some clothes in my overnight bag, and tried to get to bed early enough I wouldn't sleep through my alarm clock and could make the hour and a half trip down I-75 in time to arrive at the food show by 9:00 a.m. Although Cindie called at 10:30 p.m. and we didn't get off the phone until 11:30, I made it to Rupp Arena by 9:20 the following morning, which I count as a personal victory.

After a fun day at the show (and, thankfully, pacing myself with all the available food samples), I was relaxed – and hungry – by the time I arrived at Jonathan's, a fine-dining establishment in the Gratz Park Inn, on a narrow side street in a picturesque historic district near the heart of Lexington's downtown. The main dining room was already crowded by 6:30, so the hostess walked me down the Inn's central corridor to my table in the bar, whose two-tops, four-tops, and an eight-top between me and the flat-screen TV were nearly full. I was a bit surprised to see a flat-screen TV in a white-tablecloth restaurant, but then again, not only was this the bar, I was in University of Kentucky country, where Wildcats fans do not want to miss their sports.

I ignored the TV and perused the evening's menu, a little different than what I'd seen online, but not a surprise given the changing seasons. I was curious to check out the restaurant's spins on Southern classics by chef Jonathan Lundy (a native Kentuckian who got his start in the restaurant biz in New Orleans working with Emeril Lagasse before attending Johnson + Wales and eventually returning home). Gone from the summer appetizer menu were his Boiled Peanut Hummus, Pickled Watermelon and Shrimp served in a Mason jar with Corn Bread Crackers, and Asparagus Spring Rolls with Bourbon Barrel Aged Kentucky Soy Sauce and Hot Pepper Jelly. But the Pimento Cheese Grit Fries, the Burgoo, and those Sea Scallop Hot Browns were still there. I wouldn't be surprised if they never leave.I was powerless to pass up the Hot Browns. Since scallops are often paired with bacon, this dish made sense to me as soon as I read the description. The Newsom’s country ham as porky counterpoint was exceptional, as was the classic Mornay sauce, and I was glad each round of airy brioche was topped with just a thick slice of perfectly broiled sea scallop rather than entire scallop, or I have cried uncle after my next course.

I was seated close enough to the next table to be able to admire their salads (Succotash Salad with fresh corn, heirloom tomatoes, soy beans, cornbread croutons, and fresh herb vinaigrette; Fried Green Tomato Salad with Limestone bibb lettuce, buttermilk crème fraiche dressing, and shiitake “bacon”). I, however, opted for this Root Vegetable Waldorf from the evening’s specials, with cubes of squash and sweet potato augmenting traditional celery and apple in a mayonnaise dressing topped with fresh greens and toasted pecans. While I enjoyed the flavors, the salads here are on the large side, and between the size and the sweetness of my Waldorf, I was starting to fill up. My entrée was ready before I finished my salad (this has happened to me several times lately – should I inform my servers I’m a slow eater?). In this instance, I was ready to move on.

It’s not uncommon to find on Kentucky fine-dining menus elevated versions of shrimp and grits (I was holding out on that possibility for my Sunday brunch) or entrées in various bourbon preparations (Jonathan’s offers a Maker’s Mark 46 roasted salmon with maple mustard glaze, potato salad, hard-boiled eggs, and capers). I was also intrigued by the Cola-Braised Short Ribs and the Sweet Tea Brined Pork Loin with grilled lemon, orange blossom honey, mint, sugar snap pea slaw, and goat cheese whipped potatoes. But I was reticent about going with something too sweet.

So I chose the Mushroom Dusted Beef Tenderloin with asparagus, mashed potatoes, and demi-glace, partly because it came with that “crispy shiitake bacon” that had roused my curiosity earlier.

I did like these shiitakes (although I couldn’t quite decide how “bacon-esque” I found them), and the tenderloin was cooked perfectfly to my requested medium rare. It satisfied my beef craving that evening (and no doubt fills that slot on the menu for customers who want to spend their money on beef), but in retrospect I wish I had been more adventuresome. Most entrées are in the $28-$35 range, and the portions are large. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it through mine, so I asked to have half of it boxed up.

My server not only was great at checking on me without rushing me, he was extremely knowledgeable from the culinary side. He knew the evening’s specials as well as the dishes on the fixed menu inside out. His descriptions of ingredients and preparations were spot on, and he was great at answering my questions. I saw him guide the nearby eight-top with equal aplomb about portion size, etc. as they selected their dishes.

When it came to dessert, there was no printed menu for me to peruse, just my server’s descriptions. I had pretty much convinced myself I had no room left for another course, but didn’t want to miss learning what Jonathan’s had to offer. I was almost scott-free until my server recited the last one, blackberry balsamic sorbet – two flavors that piqued my interest, in what surely had to be the lightest-sounding option on the dessert menu. I’m glad I gave in.

While not overtly tasting of balsamic vinegar (whose sweet-ish, deep-aged fermented flavor is a classic combination with fresh berries), each bite was full of beautifully rounded blackberry that hit just the right balance between sweet and tart. My only disappointment was that, once again, the portion was huge and sadly I could not feasibly take my leftovers with me.

Miraculously, I managed to wake up hungry enough the next morning to tackle brunch in the Lexington environs before heading home. I'll be back with another installment of my trip report about that.

Lexington Trip, Part 1: The Incredible Food Show

2011-10-16T22:56:00.002-04:00

I hit the road early last Saturday morning for the Incredible Food Show 75 miles south in Lexington, Kentucky, so early the Ohio River was swathed in fog as I headed south. But once out of the river valley, it was all blue skies and sunshine. The show opened at 9:00 a.m., and my ticket ($13 with the $2 off coupon I found online) promised free breakfast to the first 300 paying attendees. This was the first year I’d heard of this event, and I had no idea if lines would form outside the Kentucky Center/Rupp Arena venue before the doors opened – after all, the Voltaggio brothers, who placed 1st and 2nd in Season 6 of Top Chef, were headlining.

I managed to park and wend my way through the massive convention center to the Incredible Food Show on the bottom floor before 9:30, and yes, breakfast was still available, prepared and served by students of Sullivan University’s Culinary Program in Lexington (there is also one in Louisville). I was grateful to have something to take the edge off my morning hunger. The smiling Sullivan students and this festive arrangement on the breakfast buffet table set the tone of Southern hospitality I would find throughout the show.

One of the things that sets this event apart from other “fancy food” shows is its emphasis on local foods. Now in its third year, the Incredible Food Show is sponsored by Kentucky Proud, which promotes farmers, wineries, farmers markets, and local food retailers across the state. Under the auspices of the state’s agriculture department, the program also offers incentives to Kentucky restaurants for using Kentucky Proud products, and its outreach efforts include getting local food into schools. Kentucky State Parks also participate in the program by offering local produce and meats in their restaurants.

The 100+ Kentucky businesses with booths at this year’s Incredible Food Show showcased a wide range of locally raised and produced foods, and nearly all were giving out free samples.

There was a quite a line for the goetta sliders from Glier’s, based in Covington, Kentucky, just across the bridge from downtown Cincinnati.

The applewood-smoked bacon and country ham freshly fried up by Browning’s (from Dry Ridge, Kentucky) were so delicious I bought some to bring home.

Not surprisingly, bourbon and barbecue were big themes. There were lots of purveyors of rubs and sauces, including Hillbilly Specialties, whose stall took “Best Decorated Booth” honors. Although based in the city of Lexington, Hillbilly Specialties isn’t afraid to flaunt its country side.

They served up their Moonshine Marinade on chicken and mushrooms fresh off this rig, and it was mighty tasty, y’all.

Louisville-based Bourbon Barrel Brewing does something a little different in the bourbon vein. It micro-brews soy sauce made with non-GMO soybeans from a farmer in southern Kentucky, letting it naturally ferment in bourbon barrels. Its Bluegrass Soy Sauce and Bourbon Barrel Smoked Salt would also be used in the Voltaggio brothers’ demonstrations inside Rupp Arena.

Several booths featured local honey, and there were a number of candy makers in attendance. Lexington Chocolate Company, which earned an Honorable Mention in the show’s Best Sweet category, offered its Bourbon Barrel Fudge (semi-sweet chocolate infused with premium Kentucky bourbon and toffee pieces).

The Sweet Shoppe, which also specializes in fudge and sets up at lots of festivals throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, brought an astounding array of caramel apples from its Hodgenville, KY shop.

I’ve seen Weisenberger grits mentioned on menus of a number of restaurants in Kentucky, and was pleased to find they had a booth at the show.

Turns out Weisenberger Mills, in Midway, Kentucky, also makes mixes for yellow corn muffins, white cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, spoonbread, and more.

With both white and yellow grits available, I asked about the difference. Yellow grits have a more distinctive corn taste, I learned, and white are more commonly used in dishes (especially at restaurants) where they’re combined with other ingredients and flavors. Itching to experiment at home, I bought a package of the white.

I didn’t realize beer cheese was such a big thing in Kentucky, but five different vendors offered it. Other surprises included a bubble-tea booth from Lexington’s Honnah-Lee Bubble Tea . . .

. . . and flavored teas from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas of Perryville, KY, which somehow publishes books too. The chocolate mint variety smelled heavenly.

One of the busiest aisles was dedicated to Kentucky wineries. Tastes were free or at a nominal charge (25 cents); you could also sample a glass or buy a bottle to take home.

If you've been following this blog, you know how much I love cheese. Bluegrass Dairy and Boone Creek Creamery were just two of the cheesemakers present at the Incredible Food Show.

With production facilities in Springfield and Glasgow, KY, Bluegrass Dairy’s cheeses have won awards, at the KY State Fair and the World Championship Cheese Contest. Their smoked cheddar took Best of Show in the Savory category at last year’s Incredible Food Show.

Boone Creek Creamery debuted a new cheese called the Sassy Redhead (a spicy Old English Cheddar) at the show, adding to its impressive line-up of artisan cheeses. The company also offers monthly cheese-making classes (which may provide the perfect excuse for my next trip to Lexington).

In addition to hosting a booth, Good Shepherd Cheese, home of Kentucky’s first sheep’s milk dairy, in Owingsville, KY put on one of the culinary seminars, sharing a slide show of its farm and animals and explaining the process it uses to makes sheep’s milk cheese. I couldn’t resist buying a chunk to bring home.

Other seminars, in a smaller break-out room, covered rubs and marinades, sauce techniques, the basics of home brewing, and jam making without pectin.

More to come from the Incredible Food Show, and about the Voltaggio brothers. Stay tuned.

Man v. Food Nation Viewing Party at Tom + Chee

2011-10-15T01:29:00.001-04:00

I declared Wednesday my official Tom + Chee day, picking up this Armagoetta sandwich for lunch from their Court Street shop in anticipation of its appearance on Wednesday night’s Man v. Food Nation Cincinnati show. A great combination of pickled cherry peppers, crispy fried onions (yep, like those atop a traditional green bean casserole), hot mustard, and goetta. I thought MvF host Adam Richman did a good job of explaining our regional specialty, goetta, as: “where patty sausage meets meat loaf meets scrapple."

I had hoped to try T+C’s other sandwich featured on MvF for dinner, the Blueberry Bleu (mozzarella, blue cheese, and homemade blueberry compote on an inside-out grilled glazed donut), but arrived at their Newport on the Levee location later than planned. Co-owners Corey Ward and Trew Quackenbush and their wives wanted the “friends and family only” viewing party to be a treat for all the staff too. So by the time I arrived, the kitchen was closed and they’d ordered in pizza. It was fun to see staff I’ve come to know, most of whom were present the day of filming, this time in street clothes and with children and significant others in tow for the big night.

There was both excitement and nervousness in the air as 9:00 p.m. approached. The Travel Channel's Man v. Food Nation film crew was in town for more than four days in August to shoot its Cincinnati episode. They spent the better part of their Saturday at T+C and host Adam Richman himself was there for more than three hours. What footage would make the cut for the half-hour episode T+C shared with Camp Washington Chili and Izzy’s?

The room went quiet for the intro, and all eyes were on the restaurant’s two TV screens for the first segment, featuring Tom + Chee.

Actually, I was surprised at how much of what I saw filmed ended up being packed into those 5-6 minutes. Although the Armagoetta and Blueberry Bleu were the two sandwiches that got the most attention the day of the shoot, I didn’t expect both of them to make air. Yet they did – including Trew’s solid demos at the cooktop, and Adam Richman’s rhapsodies about both. A whoop went up from the crowd when Richman used the word “melt-aphysical” to describe T+C’s grilled cheese, and we all applauded at the end of the segment. The food looked good on camera, the restaurant was well represented as being fun, fresh, and innovative, and Adam Richman’s enthusiasm for it was unmistakable.

The program included some gorgeous shots of the Ohio River and the bridges between downtown Cincinnati our sister cities in Northern Kentucky, and it did justice to two other venerable Cincy restaurants as well. Izzy's is a place I've been going to since I was a kid and have written about before. Camp Washington Chili is one of the best independent Cincinnati-style chili parlors in town.

To be honest, once the T+C segment was over, we weren’t quite as glued to the TV. If you missed all or part of the Cincinnati episode of Man v. Food Nation or want to watch again, here are some upcoming air times on the Travel Channel:

Saturday, October 15 11:00 AM
Wednesday, October 19 9:30 PM
Thursday, October 20 12:30 AM
Saturday, October 22 11:30 AM

You can also find online video from the Cincy show on the Travel Channel website here, and here. And here is a terrific segment from my beloved Findlay Market that, alas, didn't make it into the show's half-hour time-slot. At about the 1:33 mark of you can see an actual "eggplant to go" from Daisy Mae's, which offers produce year-round at Findlay Market and convenient delivery - thanks, Barb :)

Tom + Chee's facebook page is the best source of info about their locations, hours, and the always evolving specials at both of their current locations, Court Street in Cincinnati and Newport on the Levee (near the Aquarium). Unfortunately, Tom + Chee no longer has their spot on Fountain Square since 3CDC banned food tents from the Square. I am keeping fingers crossed that could somehow change.

If you agree, here's a thought. The Enquirer/Metromix is running its 2011 Readers Choice dining poll. Tom + Chee isn't named as a nominee in any of the categories. However, "Most Buzz-Worthy" is a write-in/"essay question" category where you could voice your support for T+C (and, if you choose, how much you miss having them, and other food vendors, on the Square).

So . . . what do you do if you’re the owners of a small food business open less than two years and suddenly receiving this kind of national exposure? Breathe a sigh of relief at finally seeing it air. Thank your dedicated, hard-working crew and the rest of your support system. Enjoy a few moments of the high. Tend to your phone as it blows up. And brace yourself for what may come next. At least that’s what Mr. and Mrs. Tom and Mr. and Mrs. Chee are doing.

I was honored to be invited to share this milestone with the T+C crew. And I thank Adam Richman and his gang for making my city look so good and tasty on TV.

Le Bon Vivant Does Third Friday Choucroute Garnie Tasting and Man v. Food Does Cincinnati Wed. Night

2011-10-11T23:53:00.003-04:00

How many kids volunteer to go to summer school? I confess I did. After attending Walnut Hills in 7th and 8th grades (where Latin is required of all students), I had some fitting in to do when my family moved to a new school district. To switch languages and catch up with the students at my new high school, I spent mornings that summer taking French. While memorizing the genders of common French nouns and learning to conjugate French verbs in le passé compose et le subjonctif (verb tenses weren't even taught in my English classes during that era, and they sound so much more compelling en francais), I learned a bit about French geography and culture, and was smitten. As much as I enjoyed my local branch library, I dreamed of stepping inside a Parisian bibliothèque, a book stall on the Left Bank, and more.

A trip to France is still on my bucket list, and although at one point in my life I actually managed to read Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex in the original, what little I've retained of the language leans (no surprise) toward culinary terms. But my Francophile inclinations remain. And they led me to Le Bon Vivant, a lovely new shop on Woodburn Avenue, just south of De Sales Corner and just north of Josh Campbell's restaurant, The Skinny Pig. The neighborhood has changed a lot, not only since the days I rode the bus home from Walnut Hills High School but more recently.

The streetscape outside is inviting (there's also a free, well-lit public parking lot across the street from Le Bon Vivant), and once I stepped inside, I was charmed by the simple elegance of the high-ceilinged space.

Le Bon Vivant offers a mix of French table linens, dishes, and serving ware, as well as bath and body products.

And then there are the French food items, which of course were my focus.

In addition to imported packaged items, Le Bon Vivant carries baguettes, cheeses, duck fat(!), and wines. Among the specialties Cindie and I purchased were Fleur de Sel, Piment d'Espelette, and truffle butter. You can also find the amazing locally made chocolates from Chocolats Latour here.

Le Bon Vivant has embarked on a series of Third Friday "wine and cheese explorations" spotlighting different regions of France. This month, on Friday, Oct. 21, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., you can taste Alsatian wines and sample two different recipes for choucroute garnie for $30. Space is limited to 30 people and is not open to the general public, so call or email owner Catherine Meguire at (513) 221-2921 or cmeguire@cinci.rr.com to reserve your spot. I was so bummed when I realized I'd missed the first one, featuring the Loire, that I RSVP'd immediately for this one. To stay up on news of Le Bon Vivant's products, events, and all-around cool France-related links, like their active facebook page or subscribe to their e-newsletter.

Meanwhile, a quick reminder that this Wed. night (10/12) at 9:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel, Man v. Food Nation airs its Cincinnati show. I was lucky to be present for the portion filmed at Tom + Chee, and am crazy curious to see how the show's 4 days of filming in my city get squeezed into this half-hour episode. Local food blogger Kitty of Cincinnati Nomerati has a great new post up about her friend who actually tried to eat the ginormous meal at Izzy's for MvF.

I'll be watching with friends Wed. night and back later with more from my Lexington trip.

Lexington Road Trip - Amuse Bouche

2011-10-09T20:10:00.001-04:00

Candy corn and M+M caramel apples from The Sweet Shoppe

I hit the road this weekend for a quick trip south to Lexington. The weather was warm, the leaves were turning, and I wanted to check out the Incredible Food Show 2011 sponsored by Kentucky Proud. So glad I did.

More than 100 Kentucky food vendors displayed their wares, with samples available in abundance.

I also got to indulge my inner food nerd by attending demos like the Heritage Meats Master Class, featuring this Katahdin lamb.

At the last minute I decided to stay overnight in Lexington and treat myself to dinner.

Sea Scallop Hot Browns from Jonathan's at Gratz Park

And this morning I meandered into nearby Bluegrass horse country for brunch.

Jean Farris Winery's duck liver pate and blackberry gelee

Oh, and I got to meet these boys, too.

Michael and Bryan Voltaggio

More reports to come. Meanwhile, hope your weekend was as inspiring as mine was.

Megan Ketover: Top Chef, Class Act

2011-10-07T19:37:00.000-04:00

Megan Ketover’s Malted Chocolate Bavarian with Roasted Bananas, Peanut Streusel and Dolce de Leche

I’ve been rooting for my hometown pastry chef, Megan Ketover, all season on Top Chef: Just Desserts and was saddened to see her eliminated in this week’s episode. The good news, however, is that (contractually speaking) she can now speak more openly about her experience on the show. Check out the terrific exit interview podcast she did with my blogging partner on All Top Chef, Laura Kluvo, if you’re craving more Megan.

I had the opportunity to meet Chef Ketover and taste her creations before the show premiered (my report here). The proof is on the fork, or spoon, and there’s no question in mind her skills are impressive. But I think there’s more to Megan than that. She's a genuine team player, and a professional through and through. She exhibits poise under pressure, has a profound passion for her work, loves to tackle new challenges, and maintains an even keel, reasoned perspective, sense of humor, and infectious enthusiasm no matter what comes her way.

In other words, she’s not just a fine baker, she’s an inspiration. During her turn on Top Chef: Just Desserts – where she made it to the 7th of 10 episodes, no small accomplishment! – I’ve come to realize how much respect and admiration she’s earned from many of her colleagues in the Cincinnati culinary world, including her former teachers and students at the Midwest Culinary Academy. She also clearly earned the respect of her competitors on the show. How great was it when they stood up for her at Judges Table in the Willy Wonka episode!

Although she’s off the show, I think Megan is just getting started on a remarkable career. I can’t wait to see where it goes – and I can’t wait to taste more of her food!

October Culinary Smackdown Announced + More October Food Events

2011-10-05T00:01:00.003-04:00

Our September Smackdown winner, Jen from Our Good (Food) Life, has announced the October theme, Battle: Winter Squash! Details at Jen's place here. It would be great to welcome back previous participants who have been otherwise occupied with moving into new digs, crazy work demands, epic swims around Alcatraz, travels that make me jealous, or on blogging hiatus (you know who you are). It would be swell to welcome more newcomers to this friendly little virtual cook-off too - all are welcome! Deadline is October 31, and you can find the link to this month's details anytime by clicking the image on my sidebar (designed by my talented friend Chickory) below the thingie that says: "Where in the world is this month's Culinary Smackdown?"

Jen mentioned she was originally leaning toward pumpkin as this month's theme. If you're in the Cincinnati area and have a hankering to try out a pumpkin preparation, Marvin's Organic Gardens, in Lebanon, OH, is hosting its 2nd Annual Fall Harvest Family Festival Saturday, October 15, from noon to 5:00, complete with a pumpkin cook-off/bake-off in both sweet and savory categories. You can do the required pre-registration thing up until noon on the day of the festival.

ETA: 1st and 2nd place winners in each category (sweet and savory) will receive $100 and $50 gift certificates to Marvin’s. You can register either online or at the event. Full details on how to enter here on Marvin’s website, and more about the event on Marvin’s facebook page here.

Wherever you reside, Sunday, October 16, is Blog Action Day (BAD), an international opportunity for bloggers to make their voices heard. Since this year's BAD coincides with World Food Day, the theme is food. If you're a blogger and choose to participate, you can register your blog here. If you care about food and its local and global implications, you'll no doubt find lots of thought-provoking posts from around the blogosphere that day as a reader too.

As conflicted as I am about using the word "foodie" to describe myself, I believe there is an important flip side to my obsession. You can contribute canned foods to one of my favorite organizations, the Cincinnati Freestore Food Bank, at lunchtime this Friday on the Square, as a kick-off to the evening's events celebrating the 140th birthday of the Tyler Davidson Fountain.

And if you just want to have fun, how about the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival October 23 at Xavier's Cintas Center? Among others, three fine local female "celebrity" pastry chefs - Summer Genetti, Pam Sturkey, and Megan Ketover (who I continue to root for on Top Chef: Just Desserts - aired Wednesday nights at 10:00 Eastern on Bravo, ahem, not Food TV). Another of my local favorites, Chocolats Latour, will also be participating. Proceeds from the event go to a number of worthy organizations via Isaac M. Wise Temple's Sisterhood project.

ETA: There will also be an amateur chocolate cooking competition. Details and entry form here. Plus, tickets, which can be redeemed for chocolate tastings, raffle baskets, children's activities, chef demonstrations, etc., are available at Kroger at $5 for 10 (at the door, they’ll be 7 for $10). Items such as raffle baskets, most samples and activities such as demonstrations and Kids Zone will be 1 ticket. Wine and chocolate pairings will be 2 tickets and concession items will vary, according to the Festival’s facebook page. Wine and chocolate pairings? I’m in!

What's on your October agenda?

Culinary Smackdown – My Part of Our Entry for Battle: Oktoberfest

2011-09-30T22:41:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in yesterday's installment, Cindie and I had originally planned to make sauerbraten for this month's Smackdown, then switched to sausages. One of things I like best about a sauerbraten dinner is potato pancakes topped with the gravy that's made by adding sour cream to the boiled sauerbraten marinade. When we changed our main dish to sausages, Cindie suggested hot German potato salad as a side. It would have made an excellent pair, but I'm glad I stuck to my guns about going the pancake route with our potatoes. I thereby avoided blogger jinx, as Jen from Our Good (Food) Life has the German potato salad covered with her Battle: Oktoberfest entry :)

I adapted the Joy of Cooking recipe for potato pancakes a bit, primarily by doubling it (because these go like, er, hotcakes) and adding a little more onion. At Cindie's suggestion, I also threw in some baking powder (unmeasured) in the hopes it would help them puff up a little more. Turned out I didn't add enough to make much difference. Joy says its smaller recipe yields about twelve 3-inch cakes; some of mine were larger and I'd guess we ended up with maybe 20.

Aside to Cincinnatians accustomed to ginormous potato pancakes like Izzy's makes: These are much smaller and thinner, but very tasty nonetheless, and practical to make in a home kitchen :)

4 cups coarsely grated/shredded peeled Idaho potatoes (Instead of grating them on a box grater as I have always done, we used a food processor with the large shredding blade, and it worked like a charm. The size it produced was produced was perfect, and it saved a lot of hassle – and time – which is especially good since you don't want the potatoes to oxidize and turn brown.)

1 small onion, grated (This I did use a box grater for, although you could use the small shredding blade on a food processor. You want the onion to end up pretty small, and the onion juice produced when you grate rather than chop it helps the onion flavor permeate the pancakes.)

some lemon juice (to forestall oxidation)
5 eggs
1/4 cup flour
salt
pepper
some baking powder (optional)

1/3-1/2 cup vegetable oil and/or butter

The shredded potatoes are going to give off a lot of liquid. So you want to roll them up in a clean dish towel and wring them out to get rid of as much moisture as possible. You may want to do this in batches. I would not recommend trying this with paper towels – they won't stand up to the amount of moisture you're trying to remove. What my mom always referred to as a "tea towel" (not a fuzzy towel) works best.

Spritz potatoes with lemon juice after you wring them out, then combine in a bowl with the flour, eggs, salt and pepper, and eggs. You'll have better results if you beat the eggs lightly to combine the whites and yolks before adding them to the potato mixture.

Heat the oil or butter (we used a combination of oil and lard, because we had some!) in a large skillet to medium-high heat and drop the potato mixture by spoonfuls into the skillet. You may want to flatten them a bit with the back of your spatula.

Fry until the bottoms are crisp and golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes, then flip once and cook until the other side is browned and the pancakes are cooked through.

If you'd prefer to bake rather than fry, check out this post from my friend Sam over at My Carolina Kitchen. I love the smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar her husband topped them with too!

I had one more side dish up my sleeve: caramelized onions. While Cindie loves kraut with her wursts, onions reduced to melty sweetness are my favorite accompaniment. There are basically two things you need to make caramelized onions: a lot of onions, and a lot of patience.

Start by thinly slicing way more onions than you can imagine you'll need (I used 5 or 6). Add them to a large skillet with some oil, butter, or bacon grease. Stir to coat the raw onions, and I find it helps to get them softened if you put a lid on the skillet at the beginning of cooking. Add salt and pepper (thyme is a great addition too).

Remove the lid and cook over medium to high heat to let the moisture evaporate, turning every few minutes. Do not be afraid to let them get brown. That's what you're going for!

During this process you will find that even if you started with so many onions they practically toppled out of your skillet, they will shrink dramatically (not quite as much as spinach, but close). It's all good. Keep turning, reducing, and tending to your lovelies. (You can always add some beer, wine, broth or water if they seem to be getting too dry.) Let them go darker and darker until you end up with a gooey jam-like onion essence. You may be surprised at how sweet they become when concentrated.

Aside to Jen: I liked the onions with Lobsta Bakes' seadog even better than with the kraut, because I thought they let the smokiness of the seafood sausage shine. But kraut with my cheddarwurst made me happy, too :)

All in all, despite our now-expected Smackdown spillage (the most memorable of which was when Cindie dumped our platter of Lobster Thermidor on the floor); this time the hot slaw casserole tipped over in the oven) . . .

. . . and two tired cooks, plus one grumpy husband, we ended up with a satisfying meal.

We filled our plates, everybody had seconds on the potato pancakes, we cleaned up, and then everybody crashed, which is what I'm ready to do now.

Thanks again to Stephie for hosting this month's Culinary Smackdown, and to Jen for joining in the fun. Off to Stephie's place to see if there are any other entries even later than mine :)

P.S. to the usual Smackdown peeps, I know a lot of you have been traveling, swimming, hiatus-ing, or otherwise occupied, but if you have any suggestions for future Smackdown themes/ingredients, please share your ideas in the comments.

Thanks!
eggy

Culinary Smackdown – Cindie's Part of Our Entry for Battle: Oktoberfest

2011-09-29T22:27:00.004-04:00

It’s that time again. Stephie of Small Girl Adventures was chosen as the winner of the August Smackdown winner by last month's host, Grumpy Granny (GG was otherwise occupied this month, traveling from Colorado to San Francisco from her epic swim around Alcatraz!). For this month’s contest, Stephie elected Oktoberfest as our theme. She’s already up with her post here, so head on over and check the comments for links to what the other participants came up with this month.

As for Cindie and me, after last week blew up on both of us, we ended up modifying our original plan to make sauerbraten (basically, German pot roast marinated in vinegar and red wine), one of my favorite German dishes. There’s nothing difficult about throwing beef into the marinade, then braising it 3 to 7 days later (the longer in the marinade the better, I say). But I didn’t get to the store early enough last week to make that happen, so we switched our entrée to sausages and kraut and forged ahead with the sides we had originally planned. Every time we’ve cooked together this summer we’ve tried to adhere to the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. This time we think we finally achieved it. And I managed to remember to take some step-by-step photos along the way. So let’s roll.

HOT SLAW

This side was Cindie's baby, and she approached it the same way I often tackle recipes I haven’t made before. She googled several variations, then combined what she liked about each into her own version, which I had the foresight to ask her to write down while she was prepping. (It's always harder to remember after the fact, especially with a full belly.) I’m doing my best to read her handwriting as I transcribe here.

5 slices bacon, cut up, fried and drained

Keep the the bacon grease.

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped

Add these to the warm bacon grease and saute until translucent. Season with salt, pepper, celery seed, and whatever else you choose. Caraway seed would be good, but Cindie's not a fan. We also declined to go the cinnamon-nutmeg-brown sugar route. We like our slaw vinegary.

1 large or 2 small heads of red cabbage, heart removed and thinly sliced

(You might want to beware of small cabbages. Cindie came to the conclusion later that the ones she'd purchased were old, with the outer layers removed, making them look smaller.)

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil

Place melted butter and olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish, then add alternating layers of raw sliced cabbage and the sauteed onion, apple, garlic mixture, ending up with top layer of cabbage. Add the crisp bacon.

Vinegar - oops, Cindie forgot to note how much she used. She used white wine vinegar because that was what she had on hand. I'd say cider or red wine vinegar would work just fine too.

Place the casserole in a 350 degree oven for at least an hour, turning twice.

Cindie wanted her hot slaw to retain some cabbagey crunch rather than braising it for several hours. An hour at 300 didn't get the raw cabbage cooked, so she bumped up the temp and cooked it some more. Eventually she had to add some more liquid - beer and hard cider worked great.

SAUSAGES AND KRAUT

This is dead simple, especially if you have good sausages and fresh sauerkraut to work with. Neither of us can resist the great sausages from Cincinnati sausage artisans like Kroeger's and Eckerlin's at Findlay Market or Avril-Bleh's on Court Street. Turns out Cindie had overbought, and frozen, an interesting array from our food forays over the summer, and this was a perfect time to use them. I headed to Avril's on my lunch hour last Friday for a couple pounds of their fresh kraut (Cindie's favorite). And I couldn't resist adding one of my own faves, smoked seafood brats from Lobsta Bakes of Maine, in Newtown (more about them in an upcoming post).

We had so many different kinds that we piled them into a Dutch oven (sprayed first with vegetable spray - Cindie always does that).

Put them in a 350-degree oven, uncovered, until the brats (yep, those are those giant ones from Eckerlin's) start to puff up and split.

Dump the sauerkraut and some beer on top of the sausages and continue to bake until the kraut is warmed through.

ETA: Here's my part of our entry for Battle: Oktoberfest - potato pancakes!

Lunch on Main: Around the World in 80 Dogs?

2011-09-28T23:38:00.006-04:00

The Kraken, Lunch on Main's Mediterranean-inspired hot dog with red pepper hummus,
tzatziki, chunky feta, and sliced pepperoncini

I don’t know how sixth graders these days celebrate their birthdays. But in my girlhood, it was customary to invite all the girls in your class (our mothers didn’t want anyone to feel left out). One classmate’s birthday party stands out in memory. Not just because it was a perfect summer afternoon for splashing in the pool and having a backyard cookout, but because it was where I had my first Avril’s hot dog. Turns out my classmate was related to the Avril family that founded the Court Street butcher shop and sausage-maker in 1894, now Avril-Bleh’s. Her mother also provided “ordinary” hot dogs, in case the Avril dogs proved too spicy for our tender 12-year-old palates. I’ve come to love Avril’s hot dogs, and pretty much all the other wursts they make themselves.

Restaurateur Adam Easterling must share my affection, because he uses Avril’s 1/4-pound dogs exclusively in his expanded hot dog menu ($5 each) at Lunch on Main. And then takes them a step – or three – further. LOM offered a series of hot dog specials over the summer and is now bringing them back, a couple at a time, during the fall and possibly into winter. The most popular will remain on the menu.

The Voodoo Child, topped with Lunch on Main’s own jerk sauce, black beans and rice, red bell pepper strips, and sauteed onion with papaya

I hear the Caribbean-inspired Voodoo Child will be one that sticks around. It’s tasty, and packs plenty of heat!

The Bob Cobb, topped with fresh tomato, greens, hard-boiled egg,

bacon, and Lunch on Main's homemade bleu cheese dressing

If you’d like something cooler to complement the kick of an Avril’s dog, you can’t beat the Bobb Cobb – one of my favorites – and it’s on the menu this week! I would never have thought to put a Cobb salad with a hot dog, but this combination works.

The Conquistador, with LOM's homemade black bean and corn salsa, lettuce,

sour cream, shredded cheese and tortilla strips

Lunch on Main’s hot dogs, like all their sandwiches, are served on breads from one of Cincy’s best bread bakers, Shadeau Breads. And you can always count on freshly sourced veg to perk up your LOM ’wich.

This place has become one of my downtown noon-meal mainstays since it opened almost two years ago. The sandwiches are hefty and satisfying at an across-the-board $6.50, and a thoughtful combination of fresh ingredients and housemade condiments goes into each.

The Main

Like the red onion marmalade and roasted fennel that accompany pastrami and Swiss on Shadeau multi-grain bread in The Main.

The Red Meat

Or the horseradish sauce and sprouts that go with the roast beef and smoked gouda on a Shadeau baguette in The Red Meat.

The Bleu Bison

Or The Bleu Bison (it’s made with chicken, not buffalo meat), a grown-up chicken salad sandwich with all the components of traditional buffalo wings, like celery and LOM’s creamy homemade blue cheese dressing, plus heat that stops just short of making you wish for a cold beer to wash down some hot wings when it’s only lunchtime.

I'm a pretty darn loyal customer when I find a lunch place I like, but I also appreciate it when my favorite vendors keep things interesting by changing up my options. Lunch on Main has started offering wrap specials, like the turkey-asiago wrap, pictured here with their signature tomato-basil soup.

Turkey and asiago in a tomato-basil wrap, with

baby spinach, carrot, cucumber, and ginger-sesame mayo

They make a few wraps fresh each day, and when they're gone, they're gone. My turkey-asiago wrap was served cold, appropriate for the raw veg inside, and the tomato-basil flatbread it was encased in was fresh too. I'm looking forward to trying LOM's latest, a roast beef and cheddar wrap, with lettuce and horseradish sauce.

Lunch on Main always has a soup or two to round out your meal. In addition to their tomato-basil, which is almost always available, they're currently serving up clam chowder. And I'm hoping that if I ask really, really nicely, they'll bring back this spectacular squash and apple soup I had last autumn.

Lunch on Main Squash and Apple Soup, with (Legends of the) Fall Turkey sandwich

From time to time you'll also find interesting mac 'n' cheeses on the menu (from buffalo chix, to turkey + bacon, to Philly cheesesteak versions), as well as salads and Buckeye brownies and Streetpops. LOM was the kitchen home to newcomer Streetpops before Streetpops decided to move into Fork Heart Knife's old location, and continues to offer these yummy frozen pops.

Lunch on Main's name is pretty straightforward: They serve lunch only, and they're located on Main Street (633 Main Street, to be exact, which is on the west side of the street between 6th and 7th - in the same block as Izzy's, but on the opposite side of the street and a tad farther north).

There's a lot of interesting food going on inside LOM's unimposing storefront, however. They may not have 80 different hot dogs on the menu yet, but I admire them for keeping things fresh enough to manage their turnover, and creative enough to be interesting. Check out what Adam and his friendly crew have to offer, and where they'll take things next.

Eli's BBQ Going Brick-and-Mortar!

2011-09-26T23:49:00.000-04:00

Catch ’em while you can – this is the last week for regular lunch service on Fountain Square before the plug is pulled on the food tent vendors at the end of the week. And hope the weather cooperates – after yesterday morning’s heavy rains, none of them were there for lunch on Monday.

Tom + Chee has already grown from its booth/tent on Fountain Square to two store-front locations, one on Court Street and a second at Newport on the Levee. Eli’s BBQ is growing beyond the Fountain Square “food business incubator” too. When I got lunch at Eli’s last week, I learned they’ve found a brick-and-mortar spot in Columbia-Tusculum, where they’re aiming to open in November. You can also find Eli's BBQ weekends at Findlay Market, outside near the Biergarten.

Eli’s serves up a fine moist and smoky pulled pork sandwich, topped with cole slaw and BBQ sauce.

On Fountain Square, you can get the sandwich for $5 or go for the $8 platter, with sides of gooey traditional mac and cheese (just the way I like mine) and baked beans that have some heat to go with the sweet.

Eli’s doesn’t currently have much of an online presence, as far as I can tell, but if you stop by their tent on Fountain Square before the end of the month, you can sign up for their email list to get news as their plans develop.

Congrats to another fine Cincinnati street food vendor who has made the most of its opportunity serving lunch on the Square and winning over customers one plate at a time!

Restaurant Week at Bouquet Restaurant + Wine Bar: New Food, and a New Friend

2011-09-25T18:48:00.001-04:00

I hate to let a Restaurant Week pass me by. These affordably priced three-course deals ($26.10 for the Fall 2011 Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week) are a great incentive to explore places I haven’t eaten at before. (GCI offers Restaurant Weeks in both spring and fall. The Do Downtown group also offers a Restaurant Week, with a separate set of participating restaurants.)

I’ve missed a few RWs because either I or my usual dinner partner Cindie was on vacation. We even had a reservation booked early this time. Then Cindie announced she was headed to the beach that week. I could have persevered with the same determination as when she baled on me for our dinner at Orchids during Do Downtown's recent Restaurant Week: “I am not missing this. Even. If. I. Have. To. Eat. Alone.” But I came up with a better idea.

Stephie of Small Girl Adventures is a local food blogger I’ve become friendly with via the interwebs. She was game to join in the revival of the Culinary Smackdown when I hosted back in July, and stuck around to participate in August. The Smackdown is a revolving monthly blogging cookoff where the previous month’s winner becomes host, judge, and theme-picker for the following month. And wouldn’t you know, Grumpy Granny, the August judge (who lives in Colorado) selected my hometown girl Stephie’s Bacon-Studded Brioche as the winner of Battle: Bacon. So Stephie is now standing tall as the host of this month’s Smackdown, Battle: Oktoberfest.

Stephie seemed like such a sweetheart online that I took a chance and asked if she might be interested in meeting me for a Restaurant Week dinner. She said yes to my “food blogger blind date” suggestion (whew!), and we met up at Bouquet Restaurant and Wine Bar in Covington.

Coincidentally, Covington’s Oktoberfest on Mainstrasse was taking place the night of our dinner, and the street festival had the road blocked off in front of Bouquet. When I called the restaurant to confirm our reservation, I was helpfully informed of that fact and told where we could find free parking a couple of blocks away. Covington is not an area either us is very familiar with. I managed to find the recommended lot, then got turned around trying to find the restaurant in the Oktoberfest hullaballoo, arriving a few minutes late. Stephie’s attempts to navigate the crowd and one-way streets resulted in her being a few minutes later than I was. She’s already posted about our dinner here, and I had to laugh when I read she was grumpy when she arrived because she wanted to make a good impression on lil ole me. She didn’t seem grumpy at all, maybe just a tad shy – after all, we had never met in person before. But soon we were ordering, eating, and talk, talk, talking!

Located in a row house with large windows looking onto Covington’s Main Street, Bouquet is a very congenial spot for talking. There was a mix of ages, attire, and different-sized groups that night. Stephie and I weren’t the only diners who didn’t arrive quite on schedule, yet the front of house staff made everyone feel welcome and at ease. We felt attended to throughout the evening, but never rushed. Bouquet’s décor, like the food it serves, is marked by simple elegance. Yes, there are white tablecloths, but there is nothing stuffy about this place. What does shine through is the kitchen’s commitment to locally sourced ingredients and skill in putting them on a plate. The food, thoughtful but unpretentious, is prepared with such precision that it highlights the quality of the ingredients and elevates each dish.

As it happened, Stephie and I both selected the same options for two of the three courses on Bouquet’s Restaurant Week menu. The day had started chillier than it was by the time we dined (and I felt foolishly overdressed by the time I’d hoofed it to the restaurant amidst the shorts-wearing Oktoberfest crowd). This light, yet flavor-filled Butternut Squash Soup topped with toasted pumpkin seeds perfectly fit the early fall tastes Stephie and I were both craving.

When I asked Stephie to join me, she mentioned this would be the first GCI (Greater Cincinnati Independents) Restaurant Week she didn’t have to work for. I hope it was as much of a treat for her to sit in a GCI dining room for a change as it was for me to sit across the table from her. Stephie got her culinary training at the Midwest Culinary Institute, then worked for her alma mater’s Summit Restaurant for two years before moving on to her current gig. Warm breads served with a salt-topped composed butter accompanied our soups. There was something about that butter I really enjoyed, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint the flavor. As soon as I unthinkingly asked, Stephie zeroed in on it as honey and rosemary, and I was extra happy to be in the company of a trained chef. Another plus dining with a sister food blogger: as we both pulled out our cameras, we realized there was no need to apologize for doing so.

We diverged in what we ordered for our second course, but not in our conversation. Stephie had the Heirloom Mixed Green Salad with pistachios, goat cheese balls, and Strawberry Vinaigrette, while I went for the Green Bean Caesar Salad. The menu description had me at fried capers. And what’s not to love about almonds, orange, and Caesar Vinaigrette to go with? I was anticipating a romaine salad topped with crisp green beans, but this was a full-on green bean salad with nary a lettuce leaf in sight. I enjoyed the twist, and the Caesar dressing, thicker than I would have expected from something described as a vinaigrette, was hearty enough to stand up to the fresh blanched beans. Enjoyed the dish, not interested in quibbling about the menu writing.

For our entrees, we both opted for the Flat-Iron Steak with Diced Potato Hash. Cooked to a perfect medium rare and served with a delicious red wine demi-glace, this course was my personal favorite of the night.

Stephie and I found so much to talk about that we were in no rush to let the evening end. Knowing that baking is her passion, after we finished our three Restaurant Week courses, I asked if she was interested in dessert, to which she readily agreed. She loved her chocolate brownie with whipped cream, while I savored my croissant bread pudding topped with crème anglaise, both accompanied by enormous cups of coffee.

Since Stephie selected Oktoberfest as the theme for this month’s Culinary Smackdown, it seemed only appropriate to check out a bit of the Mainstrasse Oktoberfest after dinner. It turns out another thing we have in common is that neither of us is big on crowds, so we didn’t spend a lot of time there among the revelers.

As it was, I already had plenty to revel in. A tasty meal becomes so much more when you share it with good company, and I thank Stephie for joining me. I was completely charmed and energized to meet her. We parted that evening agreeing to meet again to share other Cincinnati tastes, and I can’t wait!

This was such a fun evening that I was emboldened to ask another Cincy food blogger to join me for a Restaurant Week dinner. Stay tuned for that report, my Oktoberfest Smackdown entry, and good news about one of the Fountain Square food tent vendors. Catch lunch on the Square while you can - after September 30, the food tents will be gone.

ETA: Bouquet is the venue for Cincinnati Magazine's October Food + Thought event October 10. Click here for more details.

UPDATE: Fountain Square Food Vendor Restrictions

2011-09-20T00:25:00.002-04:00

Get your own intense street-food lovin' T-shirt from Look At Me Shirts here.

Wow, this story I broke a week ago Sunday sure ended up getting some attention, didn’t it? It was picked up by Channel 5, Channel 9, Channel 12, and Fox 19 at various points as it developed, and the Enquirer ran a follow-up here. Plus a whole lot of social media going on.

I did finally receive a response from 3CDC Friday (while I was at work and before I headed out of town for the weekend), pretty much the same one you may have already read elsewhere. I’ll include it at the bottom of this post since I promised to share 3CDC’s side of the story.

Food vendors will still be permitted on Fountain Square for specific events, says 3CDC, but apparently not on the regular lunchtime basis we have seen. 3CDC’s response states: “We have also been working with the City Administration on allowing Food Truck venders around the Square on both Fifth and Vine Street.”

Food tents seem to be the target – specifically the large one on the east edge of the Square with Skyline Chili branding – which housed Skyline Chili, Tom + Chee, and Eli’s BBQ for weekday lunches this summer, and sometimes other food vendors for evening events. Utilization of space on the Square is cited by 3CDC as being part of its rationale: “To allow us to continue to program larger events while also maintaining the ample space for lunch crowds, the decision has been made to remove the food tent from the Square.”

3CDC executive vice president Chad Munitz is quoted in the Enquirer’s follow-up piece as saying “the tent will be coming down a few weeks early to free up room to repair damaged granite and trees.” The large Skyline tent is usually taken down in the fall to make way for the installation of the U.S. Bank-sponsored ice skating rink. But Tom + Chee has been told they will not be able to offer up their hot chocolate and noshes this ice-skating season.

The press release states that the Tuesday summer lunchtime Market on the Square sponsored by law firm Strauss + Troy will be back in 2012. This summer it included a handful of vendors offering Tuesday-only take-away lunch options from vendors like Cooking With Caitlin (which has participated for several seasons), but fewer than in previous years. This summer Market on the Square included one produce vendor, a couple of bread/dessert vendors, a spice vendor, a pet food vendor, and a majority of vendors of non-food-related wares, all in covered booths.

Those same covered booths are used by a variety of organizations, including many non-profits, for a plethora of events on the Square. And the Square puts up umbrellas over many of the tables on the Square provided for the public’s comfort and on-Square dining (wherever their food may come from).

So, how exactly will all this shake out among “the tent(s),” “the booths,” and “the umbrellas”? What roles do aesthetics vs. space vs. other factors play a part in the new Fountain Square plan? I'm waiting to see.

Tom + Chee, which got its start on a shoestring on Fountain Square last year and has now expanded to two storefront businesses (one on Court Street and one at Newport on the Levee), says: “We would totally get a smaller pretty tent if that's what's needed. We could take it down every day and keep things pretty!”

The owner of Eli’s BBQ, who also started with limited funds, told Fox 19 he attracted customers one day at a time serving home-cooked food on the Square with affordable weekday lunches that helped him build his business. “It's been a great incubator and it's a shame to see it go."

And what are the chances the city’s food trucks – another arm of Cincinnati’s entrepreneurial street food movement – will actually be allowed to park on Fountain Square or on the street at Fifth and Vine, particularly during events/times when they can get enough foot traffic yet remain safe? A lot remains to be seen, and you know I’ll be following it.

Meanwhile, I’m a fan of a lot of local brick-and-mortar food businesses as well. And I have the Culinary Smackdown: Battle Oktoberfest to prep for (hosted this month by Small Girl Adventures). Details here.

Stop back later in the week for fresh content.

The response I received from 3CDC:

This is not a complete elimination of food on the square – We will still have events such as the Tuesday Strauss & Troy Market. While there will not be a permanent food tent, food will be back at some events, just not all events. We have also been working with the City Administration on allowing Food Truck venders around the Square on both Fifth and Vine Street.

Through an agreement with the City of Cincinnati, 3CDC has actively programmed Fountain Square for the past five years. Over these years, we have seen an exponential growth in Cincinnati’s downtown core and specifically, in event participation on Fountain Square. While actively programming the Square it is our main goal to provide quality, clean, safe, fun, and diverse options downtown.

To allow us to continue to program larger events while also maintaining the ample space for lunch crowds, the decision has been made to remove the food tent from the Square. It will be removed at the end of September and will not return. 3CDC is currently looking into other avenues for food service during future 3CDC programmed events.

3CDC would like to thank Skyline Chili for their generous sponsorship of the food tent over the last three years. We are proud of this partnership and look forward to finding new and exciting ways to partner in the future.

3CDC Finally Responds about Ousting Food Vendors from the Square

2011-09-16T07:00:00.002-04:00

I promised to update my original story from last Sunday when I learned more. 3CDC never responded to me when I requested comment. But after Polly Campbell ran the story Thursday on the Enquirer's website, 3CDC finally issued a press release. Polly has an update here and promises more coverage today. Julie of Wine Me, Dine Me shares from the press release here. The Fountain Square facebook page (under the auspices of Fountain Square Management and 3CDC) has also posted a couple of excerpts from the press release. WLWT ran a brief item on Thursday's 11:00 p.m. news here.

While it may or may not have led to 3CDC's decision to restrict food vendors on the Square, in my attempts to research this story, I also found this Letter to the Editor on the Enquirer's website by Charlie Luken published in July 2011 voicing dismay that the “aesthetically pleasing Fountain Square promised by 3CDC in all those pictures and designs has turned into a hodgepodge of ugly tents, wagons, barricades and a very few scrawny trees. Somewhere behind those barricades, tents and wagons sits the most beautiful fountain in North America.” Luken concludes his remarks with this: “So, I have a question: Can Fountain Square be clean, safe, fun and attractive?”

The word attractive has diverse connotations. “Aesthetically pleasing” is one. “Acting as a magnet” is another. I hope future plans for the Square do not lean toward one at the expense of the other. The inclusion of food and beverage vendors in the Square's programming efforts has helped increase the vitality of the area and draw more people to downtown, especially in the evenings.

I still have a lot of questions and am eager for more details, including how future policies may impact the city's food trucks. I will continue to update as more info becomes available.

Dining Journal: Poco a Poco + Culinary Smackdown Reminder

2011-09-14T01:14:00.000-04:00

You might recall that prior to preparing our entry for the August Culinary Smackdown: Battle Bacon, friend Cindie and I spent a lovely morning at Findlay Market. Once I got Cindie off her riverbank and into the city, we did some additional exploring as well. Our intended lunch destination as we wended our way eastward toward her house was Enoteca Emilia in O'Bryonville. But after paying to park in the lot across the street and entering EE's beautifully designed space, we were informed they were closed for lunch that day while mechanical/HVAC issues were resolved. (Enquirer's Polly Campbell reported today that Enoteca Emilia has decided not to offer lunch but intends to offer brunch "eventually" - I hope they do.)

So, what next? "How about Poco a Poco?" I suggested, having been reminded of it on a recent trip to Hyde Park Farmers Market. "What kind of food do they have?" asked Cindie. I paused, trying to remember what I had read. "Mexican-ish?" The menu has been through several iterations, and even participated in a restaurant makeover show for Food Network Canada (in one of those "I know I read about that somewhere" moments, I found it here).

Having started our day early (for us) in order to get to some Blue Oven bread before they sold out at Findlay (I think the Blue Oven line is shorter at 9:30 than earlier - but my experience is they often completely sell out by 11:00), Cindie and I were in a lunch mindset when we arrived at Poco a Poco, on Hyde Park Square in the former Red space. Feeling like we'd been up for hours, we learned the restaurant offers a brunch rather than lunch menu both Saturdays and Sundays (I wish more places did Saturday brunch).

There were so many dishes on this menu that spoke to me, from the Strawberry Summer Salad (described as grilled eggplant, strawberries, whipped Boursin, pickled asparagus, and artisan bacon vinaigrette) to the Corn Cake and Egg (fresh corn, onions, chiles, cilantro, and something called “sour cream vinaigrette"), I had trouble deciding.

I finally settled on the Latin Benedict, and was glad I did. The menu describes it as slow-poached egg, ham, smoked cotija cheese, and pico de gallo. But that doesn't tell the whole story. However they make the sauce (I had a moment of menu dyslexia thinking it might be that "sour cream vinaigrette"), it was unlike any hollandaise variant I have ever tasted and really made the dish - especially with the punch of fresh cilantro. For me personally, I wouldn't have complained if the poached egg were runnier, and I'm not sure I'd describe the fresh tomato-onion-cilantro garnish as "pico de gallo." But I enjoyed this enormously and have no interest in niggling about the menu writing.

Cindie went another direction, ordering Poco a Poco's pulled pork sandwich, topped with cole slaw and a huge fried onion ring. (Sorry my photos didn't turn out better - we sat outside under an umbrella on a beautiful sunny morning - great for people; not great results given my photogging skills.)

Smoked pork/barbecue are among those dishes with a bagillion different regional versions on which people have serious opinions. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert or dissuade you from your preferences. But Cindie and I both really liked the pork on this sandwich - moist and honestly smoky.

Poco a Poco's online dinner menu says you can order a roast suckling pig that feeds up to 22 people at market price. But I noticed that their blackboard specials mentioned pig roasts every other Tuesday for $25/person. I'm always a sucker for a pig roast (especially if cracklin's are involved), and this sounds like a great deal to me - for customers and the restaurant alike.

Last, but definitely not least, as a side I ordered the "charred" corn, which arrived in this a cocktail-ish glass.

I think the topping you see on this "sundae"-style presentation was a cilantro cream, but it was almost irrelevant to the corn -- the single most knock-your-socks-off essence-of-summer corn Cindie and I have had all summer. So much so that she and I tried to research and recreate charred corn ourselves on her home grill. Sadly, our efforts were a massive fail. (Cindie was so annoyed that a bunch of corn ears ended up tossed over her riverbank.)

One of the things I appreciate about Cindie as a cooking buddy (and my best friend since 8th grade) is being able to honestly bounce ideas off each other about what works and what doesn't. Our morning-after conclusions in this instance: 1) the corn we tried to work with was too mature and basically sucked, 2) we could try other variations as to technique, 3) there is no substitute for summer corn at peak freshness.

Hope to be back soon as I enjoy Restaurant Week. New posts may or may not be up before I head out for the weekend with dear friends.

Meanwhile, my lovely Restaurant Week dining companion at Bouquet last Saturday, local blogger Stephie from Small Girl Adventures, has her post up about our dinner here. She is also last month's Smackdown winner and this month's host for Battle Oktoberfest. So glad to meet her! Her details for the Smackdown here.

Haiku Monday: Journey

2011-09-12T21:29:00.001-04:00

This week seems to be full of invitations, both extended and received. At the shout-out/nagging? of Aunty Belle, who is hosting this week's Haiku Monday, I am going against my grain and trying to compress my thoughts into a couple of 17-syllable offerings on this week's theme: Journey.

This Ain’t Your Grandpa’s Bread Line

Sweet or sourdough, boy!

Beckoning Blue Oven loaves.

Tortano, at last.

And here's an untitled one that's less foodie-ish, but even more from the heart.

Western quest, a drive

toward hills heavy with sage.

Jagged landscapes: home.

Stop by Aunty's place to check out all the fine entries this week. Thanks, Aunty, for distracting me from my frettin' over what my silly city is doing to my beloved street-food peeps. I'll be back later in the week with more food-focused coverage (and more news about food vendors getting booted from Fountain Square if I can track it down - dang!).

xoxo,
eggy

This Just In: Food Service Banned From Fountain Square?

2011-09-11T22:27:00.000-04:00

I received word over the weekend that after Friday, September 30, there will not be ANY food service on Fountain Square! I am incredulous at this news, which I am told came from 3CDC, and working to find out more.

The only suggested rationale for this policy change I have heard so far is that “some people complained that the food tents make the square look bad.” How this stacks up versus the vitality food vendors contribute to Fountain Square and its many activities that draw people to our city’s downtown core escapes me. I am hoping the limited information currently in my possession does not tell the whole story.

Feel free to add your questions in the comments section to these that already have me scratching my head: 1) Does the prohibition of food service apply only to full-time vendors, or will food service be allowed on Fountain Square for special events? 2) Does this new policy bar beverage vendors as well? (If not, isn’t it sketchy to offer alcohol for Fountain Square events without having food readily available as well?) 3) Does this mean no coffee or hot chocolate vendors will be permitted on Ft. Square while the ice-skating rink is up this winter? 4) Does this mean the Strauss + Troy Tuesday Market on the Square will not be back next summer?

I don’t doubt my source, nor do I wish to be unnecessarily alarmist. I will update this story as I (or others) learn more. Because, ya know, I have a day job :) This is a “scoop” I would be more than happy to retract.

There Is No “Ooooh” in “Macaron”: An Opinionated Top Chef: Just Desserts Recap

2011-09-11T02:26:00.003-04:00

Those of you following along know I’m a die-hard Top Chef fan and that I am unabashedly rooting for local pastry chef Megan Ketover, a contestant on this season of TC: Just Desserts. I was delighted to see Megan on the winning team for the second week in a row, although I’m itching for individual rather than team Elimination Challenges already.

I am somewhat surprised at my overall reactions to Wednesday night’s episode. Despite the egregious (but of course not uncommon) product placement component to the Quickfire Challenge – contestants were tasked with creating a dessert that might grow up to be a chewing gum flavor – I was impressed by the pastry chefs’ efforts. Sure, the prospect of winning the $25K ponied up by the chewing gum sponsor might have been a motivator. But, at least as the show was edited, I didn’t see any of the contestants rolling their eyes at the silliness of the exercise. When this show is at its best, the contestants rise above the goofball twists and constraints they're up against to produce innovative and well thought-out results. And I saw a lot of that in this Quickfire.

While for the most part the contestants came off well, the sponsor, not so much. The winner was to have his/her dessert “voted on by consumers” as a potential new gum flavor. However, it seems the sponsor has dumbed down [unexpected] winner Craig’s Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes with Cream and Strawberries and is offering it in gum form as "Lemon Square" alongside Root Beer Float and Bananas Foster flavor options. Vote if you care to. I won't bother. Nor will this episode convert me into a chewing-gum consumer, whatever the flavor.

Other than that, I’m wondering if I'm looking at this season through rose-colored glasses as I root for my local, Megan. Somehow I didn’t find the Real Housewives on this JD episode as annoying as I expected to. Nor did my usual allergy to the color pink send me into hives at this week’s dishes for the Elimination Challenge.

Hugh Acheson's appearance as a judge may have helped keep this episode from becoming too saccharine for me. I loved his dry sense of humor as a contestant on Top Chef Masters last season and am looking forward to his appearance as a judge alongside Emeril on Top Chef 9: Texas.

But the one thing that drove me crazy this episode was that everyone – even that chick at the end of the table who was Housewife Lisa Vanderpink’s colleague who I assumed was French – pronounced this dessert as “macaroon.”

What a missed opportunity! Macaroons are shredded coconut American concoctions, while macarons are delicate cream-filled sandwich cookies of French origin. Serious Eats has a solid 101 on the topic here. And you can listen to something resembling the correct pronunciation of macaron here. OK, stepping down from my soapbox now.

Next week Just Desserts meets Willy Wonka in an episode TC producers The Magical Elves selected as one of the all-time top 10 favorite episodes they’ve ever produced, telling Entertainment Weekly it “may be the ultimate episode of Just Desserts. . . The contestants cry when the challenge is announced, and it's one of the most creative and dramatic episodes of any show we've ever done.” So, as for that preview that shows Megan Ketover in tears? I’m hoping it was filmed at the beginning of the challenge, not after. The Elves love misdirection . . .

Meanwhile, if you’d like a taste of Top Chef before next Wednesday rolls around, Season 6’s Kevin Gillespie, one of my all-time favorite TC contestants, appears in cartoon form at 11:45 Sunday night in Squidbillies on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Sounds like Kevin had a hoot playing himself. You can read more here, and here's a video that's giving me fits trying to upload.

It's Restaurant Week 'round these parts and I'll be back with more later in the week. Enjoyed a fine dinner at Bouquet Restaurant and Wine Bar with local food blogger Stephie of Small Girl Adventures, who is hosting this month's Culinary Smackdown: Battle Oktoberfest. What a delight to meet her in person!

Culinary Smackdown: Battle Oktoberfest Is On!

2011-09-05T22:08:00.000-04:00

Our August winner, Stephie from Small Girl Adventures, has announced the theme of the September Culinary Smackdown, and it's Battle Oktoberfest! To my out-of-town readers, yes, in Cincinnati (and Munich) Oktoberfest is celebrated in September. Oktoberfest Zinzinnati also hosts the world's largest chicken dance, but that's another story.

Everyone is welcome to participate, and we hope you'll join in the fun. Put on your culinary thinking caps with an eye toward German food. Something with sausage or beer? A veggie twist on a schnitzel? How about a decadent German dessert?

Deadline for this month's contest is September 30. Check out Stephie's blog for further details. I've also added a "Where in the world is this month's Culinary Smackdown?" link to my sidebar that will take you right there. (I'll just have to remember to update it each month - lol.)

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Mine included some spectacular steaks at Cindie's.

Plus fried green tomatoes from Anna Ree's Andouille, and a visit to the restaurant's garden out back, where they were grown.

There was more great end-of-summer food at Cindie's and, of course, dogs waiting to taste it.

Wishing everyone a good week,
eggy

Battle Bacon Results Up - and Cincy's Small Girl Adventures Is Our Winner!

2011-09-02T00:11:00.000-04:00

Grumpy Granny, host of the August Culinary Smackdown, has delivered her verdict on Battle Bacon, and Cincinnati blogger Small Girl Adventures is the winner for her Bacon-Studded Brioche adapted from a Thomas Keller recipe.

The Culinary Smackdown torch has been passed for September, and I can't wait to see where Stephie takes it. Thanks to all for playing, and especially to Grumpy Granny for hosting this time around, as we bring back the Smackdown :)

Another New Food Truck! Marvelous Munchies

2011-08-31T23:13:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I spotted the new bright orange Taz food truck at Fifth and Race (the food there on my second visit was just as good the first). Last week I got lunch at another colorful newcomer, Marvelous Munchies, serving from this lavender converted camper at Court and Vine.

Marvelous Munchies is focusing on finding its place in the Cincy food truck landscape as the city’s “Healthy Food Truck,” offering vegan and vegetarian options that include hummus, falafel, and fresh veggies, along with sandwiches made with meats like chicken, sausage, and burgers that are MSG- and additive-free. The owner, a former real estate agent who runs the truck with her niece and nephew, told me she herself is gluten-intolerant, so she is careful on that front as well. As the menu says: “You can find gluten in the obvious places, like pasta or buns, but not in the falafel or meats.”

In the fall, she plans to offer soups made from gluten-free stocks. I was curious to try some of her gluten-free cookies, but she was out of them the day I stopped by.

What I did try was this marinated chicken sandwich on a wheat bun (they also offer white) and the pasta salad side.

The chicken was a well marinated and very flavorful boneless, skinless breast that I liked a lot, especially with cheddar, fresh lettuce, tomato, and red onion on the sandwich, and a dill pickle spear on the side.

Marvelous Munchies started up earlier this summer in Elmwood Place near the P+G Ivorydale plant and moved the Court + Vine food truck location a couple of weeks ago. The owner told me she plans to park there on a regular basis for weekday lunches and hopes to eventually expand to other locations at other hours. But as any food-truck owner – or customer – recognizes, these things take time and tweaking is inevitable.

I’m a supporter of all the bold, hard-working entrepreneurs who comprise the Cincinnati food truck scene and glad to welcome Marvelous Munchies to the mix, especially if they continue their presence as the seasons change. And I’m such a soup lover that I’ll gladly walk a few blocks for a good soup on a chilly day. Best of luck to Marvelous Munchies!

Culinary Smackdown: Battle Bacon

2011-08-31T00:28:00.002-04:00

My friend Cindie’s mantra this summer has been the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. But sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.

When Grumpy Granny announced bacon as the theme for the August Culinary Smackdown, Cindie decided we should do a bacon tasting. Cindie selected three of local fave Eckerlin’s bacon varieties and had me make little signs for them, insisting my handwriting is better than hers (when you've been friends as many decades as we have, you learn to roll with it).

First up, the applewood-smoked bacon.

When it came out of the oven, Cindie tried to make the number “1” out of toothpicks.

Next, the double-smoked bacon.

Aggravated with trying to make the number “2” out of toothpicks when it came out of the oven, Cindie resorted to a Roman numeral II out of basil stems.

Here's the one we saved for #3, Eckerlin’s hickory-smoked bacon.

By the time it came out of the oven, I convinced Cindie to quit worrying about numerals.

Results of our at-home taste test experiment? We both liked the way the bacon turned out baking it on a rack in the oven instead of frying it. Neither of us could pick up much apple or applewood taste in the bacon smoked that way, and thought it was saltiest of the three. We liked the double-smoked bacon better and it had a firmer texture to it (Cindie had also asked for it to be cut thicker). Our unanimous favorite was the hickory-smoked bacon. Which is what the guy who waited on Cindie on our previous trip to Eckerlin’s said was his personal favorite. Once again, it pays to ask vendors what they recommend.

Regardless of KISS, Cindie has made a pie or cobbler every time we’ve cooked together this summer. I peeled and cut the apples while she made the crust and a streusel topping she added later to this one.

For hors d’oeuvres, Cindie had in mind to reprise my Rumaki recipe, which we made earlier this season: Marinated Chicken Livers and Water Chestnuts Wrapped in Bacon. Thinner works better than thick-cut bacon for this application, although I struggled with some (not from Eckerlin’s) that was so thin it frayed apart and was tricky to secure with a toothpick.

If you’d like to try our version of Rumaki, we used a pint of chicken livers, a 5-ounce can of water chestnuts, rinsed (which wasn’t quite enough to match the amount of chicken livers we had, although two cans would have been too much), and however many half-slices of bacon it took to wrap them in after we marinated the chicken livers and water chestnuts in 1/2 cup soy sauce mixed with 4 tablespoons sugar. The marinade is one I use for bacon-wrapped water chestnuts without chicken livers, a much lighter bite. (Half as much marinade will be plenty for a can of water chestnuts if you go that route.) Ginger can be a nice addition too.

You can bake these puppies, but you’ll need to turn them. We found it easier to turn them and attend to even bacon cooking by frying them either on top of the stove or in an electric skillet. Look at Cindie’s tongs-wielding, rumaki-turning fingers fly!

As another supposed appetizer, we opted for classically simple bacon-wrapped scallops. I kept warning Cindie both apps would be rich and filling and finally talked her down to only nine of these lovely 10-20 count sea scallops from Luken’s at Findlay Market (they have larger ones too – this one just looks as large as it does because I biggified one of my best photos from the weekend).

Yep, I was right. We ended up with 3 or 4 appetizer platters like these (minus the mayo dipping sauce, which was actually intended for our main course/Smackdown entry). Luckily a couple of Cindie's husband’s friends stopped by and helped eat them.

While the men ate and shot the breeze outside on the deck, Cindie and I were glued to Hurricane Irene coverage inside on the TV. Our rich “snacks,” not to mention our early morning at Findlay Market and an ample lunch on the way home, caught up with us. We were both too full to eat our Smackdown dish that night, or, alas, that pie.

But I was not going home Sunday without photos of our entry – or tasting it. So here’s what I had for breakfast, er, brunch.

A couple of toasted slices of Blue Oven bread:

Some of these gorgeous red and yellow heirloom tomatoes Cindie picked at a friend’s:

And, of course, bacon. Plus some Romaine and leaf lettuce we picked up Saturday morning from one of the farmers at Findlay (barely visible here). I tried fancifying it a bit with Pimente d’Espelette in the mayo (I failed to add enough to store-bought mayonnaise for it to be a noticeable difference), and adding some fresh basil. I love the summertime combination of fresh tomatoes and basil so much that its addition worked for me.

Verdict? No need to mess around with a BLT when you have perfectly ripe home-grown tomatoes. They were unquestionably the star of this sandwich, although the rest of it was pretty darn good too. And as much as I enjoyed the ciabatta-style Tortano loaf I purchased from Blue Oven, you get more surface area – aka more room for bacon – when you keep it old-school like Cindie’s husband Odie did with his.

For much more innovative Battle Bacon entries, head on over to Grumpy Granny’s, where her own post as this month’s host (and last month’s winner) features a dish that will have you salivating (even if you’re vegetarian or have a sweet tooth) and you can find your way to the other Smackdown entries in the comments, which keep rolling in.

Ran out of time to participate this month? Got caught up in a hurricane frenzy or other real-world concerns? No problem. If you have power or are online in some fashion, you can still join in the fun and support the revival of this little thing we call the Culinary Smackdown by checking out the submissions, commenting if you choose, and staying tuned for where the Smackdown will go in September.

A Perfect Saturday Morning at Findlay Market + Battle Bacon Kick-Off

2011-08-28T19:08:00.001-04:00

While all too many on the East Coast were contending with Irene's ill effects, she kept a high-pressure system in place over Cincy this weekend, with blue skies, comfortable temps, low humidity, and pleasant breezes.

Cindie and I couldn't have asked for a more lovely morning when we headed to Findlay Market yesterday to pick up ingredients for this month's Culinary Smackdown: Battle Bacon, hosted by Grumpy Granny. For my out-of-town readers, one of Cincinnati's nicknames is Porkoplis, stemming from my city's deep German heritage. We know how to embrace our nickname and have fun with it. The Cincnnati marathon is called the Flying Pig, and a few years ago, the Big Pig Gig had artfully decorated fiberglass pigs like the one in the photo above popping up all over town.

We made a point of arriving early so I could pick up some Blue Oven bread before they sold out. I took my place in the Blue Oven line while Cindie headed inside the Market House to the always-busy Gibbs to stock up on requests from her husband and father.

I was rewarded for my efforts with this hearty loaf of Blue Oven's Tortano, made with wheat flour and potato, plus some of Blue Oven's legendary English muffins, now safely stowed in the freezer for next weekend.

The Market Shed was abuzz with customers and offerings like these from LeGrand Vegetables.

Cindie and I never make a trip to Findlay Market without a stop at Fresh Table, at the east end of the Market House (just inside from Daisy Mae's, which also offers downtown delivery and a Quick Pick Produce option, where you can order ahead, then drive up for curbside delivery).

Fresh Table's prepared foods always taste as good as they look, and most are made with ingredients sourced from other Findlay Market vendors, including Daisy Mae's.

As much as Cindie and I love our old favorites at Findlay Market, we always seem to discover something new to us as well. This time we explored Skirtz + Johnson (in a store front across from Findlay's Market House on the south side). After seeing this window display, how could we not?

We treated ourselves to a couple of Skirtz + Johnson's lovely macarons on the spot. Cindie picked up a loaf of their salted rye from S+K's impressive bread selections for her father, and, powerless to resist a cannoli, I purchased their pistachio version after spying it in this dessert case inside.

Skirtz + Johnson also offers breakfast and lunch (you can find a menu on their website), including a uniquely Cincinnati goetta danish, made with goetta from Eckerlin's, Cindie's new favorite goetta.

Eckerlin Meats is another of our must-stops at Findlay, in part because Cindie's dogs love their smoked bones. Cindie passes up no opportunity to spoil her dogs (and these captivate Oscar's attention enough to actually keep him from barking).

We were also on a quest for bacon for this month's Culinary Smackdown, and Eckerlin's was our go-to source.

Cindie had the idea we should do a bacon tasting, selecting Eckerlin's Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Hickory-Smoked Bacon, and Double-Smoked Bacon, although I wouldn't have minded trying their Cajun Bacon as well.

Knowing Cindie had a list with her, and would probably get carried away with additional purchases, I left her to her own devices at Eckerlin's while I headed to Dojo Gelato for some of their amazing Porkopolis gelato - maple gelato mixed with candied bacon from another fine meat vendor at Findlay, Kroeger + Sons, thinking it would be a perfect way to kick off our Baconfest weekend. If you think that combo sounds odd, clearly you were not one of the people who caused Dojo to sell out of it between the time I finished in the Blue Oven line and went back an hour later. I had to console myself with memories of tasting it at Dojo's Hyde Park Farmers Market booth, and a cup of their Up in Smoke (made with a porter/ale?) and a hazelnut flavor with an Italian-sounding name I have sadly forgotten. However, it is difficult to stay sad long when tasting any of Dojo's flavors.

Thanks to all the great Findlay Market vendors I am happy to support with my local dollars, and stay tuned for more of my Battle Bacon adventures with Cindie later in the week.

Cincinnati Pastry Chef Megan Ketover Premieres on Top Chef Wednesday Night

2011-08-24T00:29:00.001-04:00

It’s been a crazy few days in my little bloggy world. First, I lucked into attending the filming of Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food Nation at Tom+Chee on Saturday, a very cool experience by itself. Then my post about host Adam Richman’s shoot at Tom+Chee (which turned out to be an “exclusive”) was linked by Cincinnati Enquirer TV columnist John Kieswetter, resulting in an astonishing 500+ hits for my little local blog, Eggplant To Go.

But that’s nothing compared to the media attention Cincinnati’s own Megan Ketover, pastry chef at Orchids at the Palm Court in the Hilton Netherland Plaza, is about to receive when she appears on Top Chef: Just Desserts, premiering at 10:00 p.m. on Bravo Wednesday night.

I had the opportunity to meet Megan and taste her amazing desserts a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, you can find my post about her here. I’m part of the blogging team at AllTopChef.com, and we'll have have lots more Top Chef coverage to offer in the weeks to come.

Megan is a hometown talent any Cincinnati fan of Top Chef can be proud to root for. The Enquirer ran this article about Megan last weekend. and I hear Kieswetter has another planned for Wednesday. Meanwhile, here’s a Q+A with Megan from Cincinnati Voices, another media source I’m happy to discover. If you're rooting for Megan Ketover or have more news, coverage, or just plain fan love for Megan Ketover, please let me know. I'm proud to be a home-town fan, and I'm confident that however she fares on Top Chef: Just Desserts, Megan has a bright future ahead of her!

Orchids: Treats from Two of Cincinnati’s Top Chefs - Todd Kelly and Megan Ketover!

2011-08-21T23:00:00.003-04:00

Things often don’t turn out as anticipated. A truism I bump into frequently. I’d made reservations at Orchids for friend Cindie and me during Downtown Restaurant Week, then learned she had to drive to Indianapolis for work that day. Cindie was iffy about whether she would be able to join me Tuesday night, which I knew would likely turn into a no. But I stuck to the same line I used when I first asked her about going with me: “I am going to Orchids. Even. If. I. Have. To. Go. By. Myself.”

The high-ceilinged “Palm Court” where Orchids is located, in Cincinnati’s historic art-deco Netherland Plaza Hotel, is one of the most magnificent rooms in the city. Every time I walk into that space, I feel swept away to another time and can’t help but check my daily concerns at the door. It reminds me of another classic art-deco landmark, Radio City Music Hall, which I saw the inside of for the first time when my grandparents visited me in NYC and took me to the annual “Holiday Show.” As the house lights dimmed, my stern, straight-laced Nebraska grandma laid her hand on mine and uttered the most startling and endearing sentence I ever heard from her lips: “In my next life, I want to come back as a Rockette.”

The hotel, which has gone through more changes in ownership since it was built in 1931 than I can keep track of, is currently run by Hilton. I’ve eaten and had drinks there in a number of its iterations, but hadn’t been there since Chef Todd Kelly came on board, garnering Orchids “Best Restaurant in Cincinnati” designation from Cincinnati Magazine for the last two years and consistently glowing praise from Cincinnati Enquirer restaurant critic Polly Campbell, bloggers, and other media sources. Chef Kelly was also recently named the American Culinary Federation’s Chef of the Year.

When I learned one of the chefs competing on the upcoming season of Bravo’s Top Chef: Just Desserts is Orchids’ pastry chef Megan Ketover, my resolve was unshakeable. I’ve been a fan of the Bravo cooking competition show since the beginning, and last fall was invited to join the blogging team at fan blog AllTopChef.com. (Blogging partner The Minx does our “morning after” posts, rounds up links to the most entertaining recaps of the show from around blogosphere, posts preview videos of each episode, and more. Laura Kluvo, founder of Blogging Project Runway, has been contributing podcast exit interviews with the Top Chef contestants for the last several seasons and will likely continue to do so when Just Desserts Season 2 premieres this Wednesday.) My role is to wrangle the ATC email box and write (almost) weekly posts spotlighting news and info from around the web about the show and its contestants from all the seasons. I gather TC news via various avenues, but one of the most fruitful has proven to be friending/fanning contestants on facebook, where many post links about their appearances, events, and other press coverage.

When the cast of TC:JD2 was announced, I sought out all the contestants I could find on fb, and Orchids’ Megan Ketover was one of them. She was kind enough to reply to a couple of questions I asked, and confirmed the desserts on the Orchids Restaurant Week menu would indeed be her creations. She also recommended making RW reservations early, and I was glad I did. Orchids limits the number of RW reservations it accepts each night, and when I called to see if I might switch mine due to Cindie’s schedule, I was out of luck – they were sold out through the week. No problem. I wanted to taste the food of both Chef Kelly and Chef Ketover, and would stick with my original reservation, where three courses could be had at this premiere Cincinnati restaurant for a budget-friendly $35.

I’m not accustomed to approaching celebrities of any ilk, but I screwed up my nerve and asked Megan on fb if there was any chance I might be able to meet her while I was there. I thought it only fair to disclose my connection with AllTopChef, but assured her I would not ask anything that might violate the strict nondisclosure agreement Bravo contestants must sign, which carries a $1 million penalty. Megan replied that she would pop out into the dining room if she could, and my anticipation level edged up another notch.

Walking a block from my downtown office, I arrived at 6:00. Cindie hadn’t called to say she’d be able to join me after all, so I informed the hostess I would be a party of one. The restaurant wasn’t yet full, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was directed, not to a two-top in the middle of the room, but to a spacious corner booth with a great view of the entire room. I ordered a glass of wine, perused the Restaurant Week menu (which had some additions and changes from the version posted online), and told my server which options I’d like from the first course and entrée selections. I was torn between the two dessert offerings and hoped that if I was lucky enough to meet Megan I could ask her about them – a question that surely wouldn’t be prohibited by that Bravo contract.

Megan makes not only Orchids’ pastries but also their breads. Here are her three selections that evening, a thin, crisp grissini, an airy sesame-seed-topped roll, and her new favorite, she told me later, a wheat roll made with herbs grown on the 17th floor of the hotel. (She and Chef Kelly are also raising bees on the rooftop of the hotel and did their first honey harvest a few days later.)

Megan’s breads were served with this trio of stellar accompaniments: Paquillo pepper pesto made with garlic and almonds; an herb and garlic infused olive oil, and a thick European butter with topped with Maldon salt. Paquillo pepper is one of my favorite things, and this romesco-style dipping sauce was a delight.

Next up: this delightful amuse-bouche – a savory custard served in an egg shell with crème fraiche, chives, truffle oil, and dried local corn. The custard was cooked perfectly, and the other components added to the inviting decadence of this creamy opener.

I’m always tickled to receive an amuse, not just because these pre-appetizer tastes arrive unordered, but because I think chefs have fun with them too. As I saw plates of these perched eggshells being served throughout the restaurant, I appreciated that the kitchen was sharing them with those of us there for Restaurant Week.

My taste buds were piqued and ready for the Tuna Tonnato first course I’d ordered. But as my server set my second plate before me, I was in for a surprise, this stuffed squash blossom!.

I developed serious foodie lust for stuffed squash blossoms last summer, after reading lots of tempting recipes and gawking over squash blossom food porn. I hadn’t been able to find any to try my hand at until I visited my aunt in California last fall and spied some in her garden. That attempt turned out reasonably well for this home cook on my first try (the flowers are very delicate and tricky to work with). But the burrata and anchovy filling in Orchids’ tempura-battered blossoms and the skill with which they were fried showed me what can be done with them in the hands of a pro.

Not just one amuse, but two. I don’t frequent fine-dining restaurants as often as I wish I could, but this was new for me. Meanwhile, time was ticking away, so, basking in stuffed squash-blossom afterglow, I asked one of my servers if she would let Chef Ketover know I was there. My hope was that if I asked early enough, before the dinner and dessert rush, Megan might be able to find time to “pop out” and meet me in the dining room for a few minutes.

Served next was my “first” course, the Tuna Tonnato. Crisp haricot verts and garlic chips contrasted with the moist, succulent sashimi-grade tuna cooked sous vide. Tomato confit, kalamata olives, and the creamy tonnato sauce underneath brightened the dish and pulled it all together.

As I savored this dish, my hopes were answered when Megan stopped by my table. Warm, genuine, and down to earth, she is Top Chef: Just Desserts contender any Cincinnati fan of the show can happily root for. I was cautious about asking too much about the show, but she did give me a baker’s tour of the three selections on my bread plate. When I asked which of the featured desserts she would recommend – “unless that’s like asking you to pick your favorite child” – she described both the “chocolate option” and the “non-chocolate option” in detail, saying she finds two-thirds of customers opt for chocolate, while she herself prefers the non-chocolate side. (You can find more of my conversation with Megan on ATC here.) I didn’t want to keep her too long during service, and thanked her for her time. She completely won me over, and I must have been grinning from ear to ear as I finished my tuna and looked forward to my entrée of pork cheeks.

However, this whimsical plate was set before me instead. “The chef wanted you to taste his new heirloom tomato salad,” explained my server.

This was another of the first course options for Restaurant Week, described on the menu as Heirloom Tomato Salad with House Made Mozzarella, Tomato Gelée, Fennel Lavosh and Mizuna, and I had wrestled with the decision to forgo it in favor of the Tuna Tonnato. The menu didn’t mention that the mozzarella was not only house-made but also inflated into a balloon. I’ve read about this preparation elsewhere (it’s one Thomas Keller has done at the French Laundry), but had never had an opportunity to try it. What fun to pierce that delicate dairy balloon and watch it deflate while the crunchy teetertotter of lavosh, over tiny skinned heirloom tomatoes, remained in place. (It didn’t occur to me until later that the lavosh crisp was likely Megan’s creation as well.)

Among many things I appreciated about the top-notch service I received that evening was the delicate choreography between back of house and front of house. I appreciate a menu written with enough detail to provide a fair idea of what to expect as I decide what to order, without going into volumes about every element (and its source) in a complex dish. On the other hand, I am very interested in those details. The fellow who served the majority of my plates did a superb job of explaining what I was about to eat in a way that enhanced my appreciation of each dish without coming across as condescending or designed to impress.

It was also at this point in the evening that it finally sank in that not only was I dining at a place with the well-deserved reputation of being the best restaurant in town, I was probably receiving extra attention as a blogger interested in supporting Megan. “The chef would like you to taste this” had been used earlier in the evening in connection with my two amuses, but it was clearly more than a standard line used by well-trained front-of-house staff accustomed to delivering gracious service. By now I’d also been served two amuses and two “first” courses, although I’d walked in the door looking forward to just three courses total from the Restaurant Week menu, and the possibility of meeting Megan. For a moment I worried about the blogger ethics of receiving such treatment. But I was so won over by every morsel I’d tasted and every bit of stellar service I’d received that I decided I’d be a fool not to succumb to this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On to my entrée at last: Pork Cheeks with Chanterelles and Roasted Garlic Gnudi. This wasn’t on Orchids’ online menu for Restaurant Week as I initially contemplated my course choices. But when I saw it on the menu that night, I was excited by the prospect of trying something new to me. The preparation for these savory pork cheeks reminded me of high-end beef short ribs, one of Cindie’s favorite dishes, and I made a mental note to add them to my list of reasons she should be jealous for baling on me that night.

My belly was pretty full by this point, having cleaned every plate set before me, except my bread plate (sorry, Megan). When my server asked if I was done with the bread, I didn’t quite hear what she said. I was sorry to bid those breads good-bye, but I needed to preserve my appetite to taste one of Megan’s desserts. The time had come to make my selection. As tempted as I was by the chocolate option, I elected to go with her preference from the non-chocolate side: Brown Butter Cake with Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream, Bourdon Blackberries, and Crispy Vanilla Tuile.

But I was in for another surprise when this stunning plate of Megan's Malted Chocolate Bavarian with Roasted Bananas, Peanut Streusel, and Dolce de Leche arrived instead.

“Megan wanted you to try both and thought the other would travel better,” said my server.

I was thankful to be able to taste Megan’s Brown Butter Cake at a later time, especially as full as I was. (You can read more about it, and my conversation with Megan, on AllTopChef.) But I couldn’t resist these mignardises that arrived with my check: dark chocolate and pistachio truffles, caramel hazelnut french macarons, and blackberry pate de fruit.

My deepest thanks to everyone at Orchids who gave me an experience that went beyond my wildest imaginings. And in case you can’t tell, I will be shamelessly rooting for Megan Ketover on Top Chef: Just Desserts!