What I Ate This Week

Ah, that time of year.  Warm weather food, time with family, and for me… a roadtrip or two to Michigan to be with those friends and family.  I’ll dispense with the pleasantries and get right to it.

Meal #1:  A BBQ Holiday Stop, Anyone?  (Pit to Plate)

Hog Heaven

I kicked off the holiday week last Monday with a stop at what I believe to be Cincinnati’s finest BBQ establishment, Pit to Plate in Mt. Healthy.  The debate among local Porkopolis residents lingers on, and I can’t admit to having been to ALL of the places, but so far Pit to Plate’s the only place that has lived up to the hype time and again.  Just one of those places that I get excited when I see it, and since it’s out of the way for me I don’t get there very often!

Pit to Plate isn’t one of those places that just specializes in one kind of BBQ.  That can make me nervous sometimes, since the “Jack of all trades” style of restaurant can get old in a hurry.  After all, you have to have your specialty!  PtP specializes in smoking.  You’ll do best to get some kind of smoked meat for your meal– in fact, you can bring your own meat and they’ll smoke it for you!  That’s how much confidence they have in what they do.

Isn't it good when you can get a side order of rib?

So, I was my usual indecisive self and went for a pulled pork & kielbasa combo.  A little Memphis, a little Texas.  On the side?  Baked beans with rosemary potatoes.  (I love a BBQ place that doesn’t have fries.  Don’t get me wrong, I love fries but it can be a distraction!)  Also on the side?  A rib.  Ribs are a buck a piece and make a very nice side dish!

Verdict?  Not bad.  Not my favorite meal– the meat wasn’t heated up enough for me and was a little watery.  No issue with product quality, just would have been nice to have a little more attentive line cooks this time out.  A Monday lunchtime, I suppose, is “approach at your own risk.”  The meat was seasoned and smoked right on, and those beans remain heavenly, swimming in a pool with some bits of that pork.  Even a “B” day at Pit to Plate beats most places’ “A” days.  A great way to get the week started.

Meal #2:  A Stop (at Tony Packo’s) In a Blizzard

Hungarian / Hot Dog Hot House

On Tuesday, as I attempted to keep a car out of the ditch on I-75 driving northbound, in Toledo I found myself hankering.  That usually means a stop… at Tony Packo’s.

A Feast Fit For any Anglo-Hungarian!

God bless us, every one!

Oh yes, the holidays.  So many great things about the holidays (Christmas is the one I celebrate, but mostly of the “commercial” variety), but my favorite it my mom’s Christmas ham.  I won’t share the recipe (at least not without talking to her first!) but it’s the best damn thing about the whole holiday (aside from spending so much time with my loving family, of course!).  I don’t think the magic is in the ingredients– it’s pretty straightforward with the ham braised and baked in a lovely brown-sugar-pineapple sauce– I just think it’s years of practice really making perfect.  (My mom thinks it’s the pan.  How humble.)  The verdict is simply DELICIOUS, with ham that’s fall-apart tender with a meaty flavor and just a touch of sweet.  Amen.

From this dish, a man was born...

The day after Christmas was a bonus– my mom made lasagna.  It was, quite literally, my favorite thing to eat growing up.  That dish made me who I am.  I have no apologies for loving its simple greatness.  It has all the things I love today about food– contrasting flavors and textured, the warm and sweet tomato sauce, mixing with just enough cheese and al dente pasta.  And yes, it comes with lovely italian sausage.  Many things change in life, but here’s one I’m hoping never does.  It sits perfectly alongside a nice spinach greens salad and some red wine.  One of those dishes that tastes like home.  Thanks Mom.  Rockin’ stuff.

The meatballs are hiding in that Crock Pot. Trust me.

On the 27th I always get together with college friends from Michigan and we have good times.  And good drinks, usually too.  I won’t say much about them, because the more I talk about it, the more my credibility just gets decimated.  But we had meatballs.

Ring around the awesome.

This week I made the perfect little desserts- petit-fours.  Simple but oh so good.  In the middle are layers of sponge cake and raspberry jam, sealed in with chocolate.  On the outside, almond cake and orange-almond cake, layered with orange marmelade and just a little bit of buttercream on top.  These were heavenly, dangerous little things.  I’ll admit, I snuck them out of class and into the party.  And they did the trick.  Also great at sopping up just a little tequila.

So I’m a day late.  Sue me.

An interesting week of music and food– two of my three life passion areas.  (Travel’s the other one.)  I wish I could say it’s been a great week of food, but to be honest I was let down a couple of times.  But you know what, you can’t win them all!  But paired with my awesome music weekend (in which I, becoming a near-groupie, I guess, saw Over the Rhine for three straight days for their annual homecoming shows), I can’t complain much.  So let’s see–

Hey, it's open...

No Encore for Greenup Cafe

Lunch on Thursday had the potential to be awesome.  No meetings right after lunch so a friend and I got in the car and drove across the river, intending to dine at Chalk Food + Wine, a Jean-Robert creation.  To our surprise… it was closed.  Has Chalk always been closed for lunch?  We don’t think so, but perhaps our memory is playing tricks on us.  On the front door:  an arrow pointing next door to his Greenup Cafe which was open.  I was disappointed because I wanted to eat at Chalk, but I hadn’t ever been to Greenup Cafe before, so what the hell.  The place is homey enough and has a coffeehouse feel to it.  We were seated quickly and without much fanfare, into a small dining room that did indeed feel cozy.  The menu was spartan and frankly a bit odd… breakfast specialties, and a couple of sandwiches.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what was holding the menu together, but we shrugged our shoulders and ordered two sandwiches– the duck BBQ sandwich and the meatloaf sandwich.  Sometimes you’ve got to diversify your portfolio a little bit.

Blackened duck?Thin meatloaf...

Not bad. Not great.

The verdict?  Blah.  I keep trying Nada and I don’t know why I allow myself to be disappointed!  The chips are salty and greasy, the salsa is bland.  The chicken tacos are from sliced boneless chicken breast and are on flour tortillas!  I mean, come on!  The most redeeming thing was the barbacoa, which clearly has been sitting too long but had a nice flavor with the pickled red onion.  But where’s the flavor?  My recent visit to the taqueria is making it hard for me to be objective!  It filled a need, got me full.  But no encore for Nada.

What About the Waffle Guy?  Surely, HE deserves an encore?

Now that's a good afternoon.

So yesterday ended my musical weekend with a little encore of its own– Over the Rhine playing a small church.  It was a simply delightful afternoon.  I loved it.  There’s something about an artist you love reaching out to THEIR community, of which you are a part.  The band did a lovely job buying cheese, wine, coffee, and cookies for their fans– on a frigid cold day like we had yesterday, it was a delight to be able to come in.  They also hired “The Waffle Guy” (aka Taste of Belgium) to come in make Belgian waffles.  I’ve not talked much about him here, but Jean-Francois knows what he’s doing.  He makes incredibly tasty waffles that need no introduction, no topping, no syrup.  Walk and eat, god bless that guy.  He gave me his last two waffles after the show and it felt really nice.

The verdict?  Waffle guy is the man, and earns a big time “Encore!”  Even after serving about 300 waffles, the last two are as good as the ones he’s made for me personally at local cafes.  Go see this guy.  He’s at Findlay Market and has stands set up in several coffeehouses.  GO SEE HIM.

Anyway, THANK YOU Over the Rhine for an amazing weekend, and thanks for a lovely and delicious Sunday afternoon– and for finally giving me a culinary reason to shout Encore this weekend!

Something I Made:  The Baked Alaska.  What Were They Thinking?

And finally, from the “I Made It” file.  This week we made Baked Alaska.  As a kid, I always assumed Baked Alaska was some kind of terrible watery fish dish.  What other kind of food comes from Alaska?  Up until last week, I assumed it was some kind of dessert you put in the oven.  Wrong on both counts.  However, this might top the Charlotte Royale as the strangest thing I’ve ever made.

What the hell...?

What is it?  Here’s the short version.  Sponge cake on the bottom.  An inverted dome of ice cream on top of that.  Another layer of sponge cake coating that to make a full-on dome of sponge cake with ice cream inside.  Covered in French gritty meringue which makes the whole thing look like a snow globe.  Pattern it and brown it with a butane torch.  Freeze.  Serve, ideally with flaming liquor running down the sides.  Welcome to 1983.

Seriously though, this is a weird dessert.  We were allowed to take this one home for class and we had it for dessert last night.  It is sugary-delicious, that’s for sure (especially with homemade raspberry ice cream in the middle!).  But that doesn’t mean I understand it!

OK, that’s far too much from me for the week.  For those who celebrate, have Merry Christmases and Happy Hanukkahs, and happy Solstice.  From here out, the days only get longer!

Well, this was one hell of a fast week, eh?  It’s Sunday and I remember last Sunday like it was… well, something a lot less than a week ago.  But here we are nonetheless.  Another week, another memorable meal.  Like many in recent memory, it’s a nice Saturday experience.  I was on my way to Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield OH (a true holiday gift emporium for the culinarily-minded!) and it was lunchtime.  I had remembered hearing about a great Mexican bakery up that way, so I thought I’d hit it on the way home, but as I approached it I saw that it was attached to a hole-in-the-wall Taqueria.  Real Mexican sounded good, so I pulled in…

Making a run for Cincinnati's northern borders...

I love real Mexican food.  This place had all the signs of greatness, starting with a clientele and waitstaff that were, myself excepted, 100% Mexican.  It was bustling, even at 1pm.  Diners were enjoying the weekend menudo and birria (goat) stews.  And I didn’t see a dollop of sour cream in sight.  Right on!

When it comes to trying Mexican restaurants I haven’t visited before, I always (ALWAYS) order one of three dishes that can tell me a lot about a place:  tacos al carbon, tacos al pastor, or chile colorado.  If these go well, you can ensure I’ll be back!  So on this day it was the tacos al carbon, three of them with beans and rice.  Ordered in Spanish, acknowledged in Spanish.  (Another positive sign.)  While I waited, I enjoyed the people-watching and the kitchen-watching.  This place was humming right along.  At the back of the dining room was a check-cashing counter, an extremely common sight at Mexican-American community centers.  (Fairfield, as so many towns these days, has a very sizable Mexican-American population.)

Tacos without flour, sour cream, or green peppers. Viva la Mexico!

A few minutes later, the tacos came out, and I knew at a glance I had something good going on.  The verdict?  Really good.  The tortillas were fried just right, and the blend of grilled meat, fresh onion and cilantro, and a squeeze of the lime– oh so harmonious!  I love it when a plate comes together.  I will admit that the meat was a little tough and in my opinion a little underseasoned.  However, a squeeze of the tomatillo salsa added just the kick I was looking for.  Delicious!  I will definitely be back when my travels bring me back north for foodie stuff.

The Panaderia Trio

By the way, I did stop at the panaderia next door and picked up a trio of Mexican pastries.  They were all nice, but the churro was a standout.  Earlier this year I had fresh-made churros from the “Churro lady” in Brooklyn (at the subway station)– this brought back the fondest of memories!

Drunk cook concocts idea-- house of jelly rolls!

What I Made This Week:

  So this week’s experiment was a Charlotte Royale in baking class.  I must admit I’ve NEVER understood this dessert.  Make a jelly roll (speaking of desserts that are hard to comprehend), slice it into 1/2″ wide slices, stuff the bottom and sides of a charlotte mold with them, fill the mold with pastry cream (!), and top with a layer of sponge cake.  Refrigerate to set, flip, glaze, refrigerate again and… serve as a pie?  Well, I’ll admit I don’t get it.  It came out looking nice, but I’ll never order (or make!) one of these again.  Ah, classical food!

Well, another exasperatingly long week has come and gone in southern Ohio, and with it has arrived the snow–  a month or so before usual, reminding me of home in Michigan!  Both Friday and Saturday night were good reminders of my neighbors’ laughably poor driving skills.  (Not my literal neighbors… I haven’t seen them drive anywhere!

Terry's Turf Club

So last night brought me back to a few weeks ago and that amazing burger at Red Steakhouse.  It was there that I most recently heard about Terry’s Turf Club.  It’s been one of those places spoken about over the past couple of years in the kind of hushed reverie that either means it’s the kind of place the neighbors are trying to keep secret because it’s so great… or a place that people get excited about because nobody attracts a crowd like a crowd.  But truth be told, I was hopeful to get a really really tremendous burger for something less than steakhouse prices.  So, despite the snow, I traveled with a dining companion down Eastern Avenue to Terry’s.

Snow Day?

Well, after a day of running errands in empty shops and on quiet roads, I think I figured out where everyone was!  Terry’s was hoppin’… we squeezed ourselves inside, grabbed some beers and just took a look around.  This isn’t a full-on restaurant review site, so I’ll spare most of the commentary, except to say that the place was full of neon and a touch of kitch– something that had me a little nervous (perhaps they’re trying too hard at the atmosphere?).  However, the specials on the blackboard were special enough, and about that beer– they’ve only got one tap, so they rotate through a seasonal selection.  I can dig that.  So what about the menu?

No second page needed.

Burgers.  Filet.  Chicken.  Grilled Mushroom.  Halibut.  Cod.  Shrimp.  Need there be more on the menu?  The server made apparent that one need only order the burger at Terry’s.  In fact, in the whole evening I think I only saw one non-burger order (for a chicken sandwich.)  So I ordered it up right.  In case it helps to know how I ordered it:  medium-rare with American cheese, grilled & raw onions, burgundry wine + mushroom sauce, lettuce, pickle, hot peppers (grilled) on the side.  With fries, please!

It’s not often in life you hear someone tell you, “well sir, that’s going to be quite a big burger.”  But those definitely aren’t bad moments. 

Sir, that IS a big burger...

And then it came, sitting aside a veritable pile of natural, hand-cut fries.  It was a sight for sore eyes, the kind of meal that makes you completely forget the long day you just endured, and the half hour of waiting to sit down.  Gone.  In a flash.

The verdict?  It was phenomenal.  Once again, and maybe only for the second time in my 10 years in Cincinnati, my medium-rare was actually medium-rare– blisfully warm (not hot), pink (not charred).  Right on.  So many flavors competing for my attention!  It was excellent, and was paired perfectly by those fries, which tasted like they were fried in peanut oil.  They actually tasted a lot like local chain Penn Station’s… but better.

So who wins?  Red or Terry’s?  For now, it’s a split decision.  The atmosphere at Terry’s is a hands-down winner, although I’ll be honest that I practically forgot where I was when I started eating– I was living in that sandwich!  I think I like the meat better at Red– both the quality as well as the shape of the patty (still living in my mind to this day).  I also like Red’s brioche bun– unlike Terry’s, it stood up extremely well to the juices that come from a med-rare creation.  When it comes to toppings and flavor profile, it goes to Terry’s– that burgundy sauce was extremely delicious and savory.  The mushrooms were sauteed to perfection, and they did onions right both ways– the sauteed had just a little bit of resistance and a lovely flavor, and the raw ones were cut the right thickness and had a fantastic fresh flavor.

At this point, I think my overall dinner experience was better at Terry’s but I enjoyed the burger more at Red.  In Terry’s defense, and with 24 hours of retrospect, I think I overloaded that burger last night.  To tell for sure, I’ll need to try again– it’s a hard life!  Next time, I’m thinking just swiss cheese, burgundy sauce, and raw onion.  That’ll do it.  What a week!

What I Made:  Chocolate Ganache Torte

99% done. And delicious.

This week’s class brought me an opportunity to make a chocolate ganache torte, pretty much ending two cake myths for me– first, that I don’t like coffee in a cake (there was some in here, but it wasn’t bad!) and second that a cake needs icing (this cake is iced with ganache!).  The cake itself came out beautifully, and I enjoyed garnishing the bottom with chocolate shavings and the top with chocolate transfer designs.  Awesome.  The only disappointment, and it was a big one, is that my ganache was too loose when it came time to decorate the top.  So it just got messy.  Too bad!  I’ve got a chance to do it right again, though, as I’m making it for my work holiday party Tuesday.  Wish me luck!