Idiot

Last weekend we went to The Village Idiot on Melrose. It's a great place to get a good drink and some good food. It was a bit crowded (although not hard to walk through the bar area). The menu had some fun categories such as "no face (vegetarian)", "two legs (poultry)", "four legs (lamb, beef, pork)" etc. Overall it's a pretty fun atmosphere. If you come with a party of 7 and they put you in a booth, be ready to get cozy with your group.

They had a good selection of beers to choose from. I was drinking the "black and pale" which is a black and tan with Guinness and Yellowtale Pale Ale. Carolyn had "The Bumblebee": a half cider half hefeweizen. I would recommend both of these.

Food Recommendations - Pub Burger (add the fried egg, I promise it's good). Roasted Half Chicken, Chorizo Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates.

One person in our party ordered the lamb meatballs... apparently they weren't the best.

Fun with Salmon

I was going through some old photos from 2009 and ran across some of the food that I cooked last year. As I find more of last year's pictures I will have to post them up here sporadically. For this post, I've included some of the fun things that I tried with salmon.

1. Salmon Sashimi with Citrus and Chili Sauces, Cilantro and Chive







2. Salmon Tartare on Seaweed Salad and Fried Wonton








3. Salmon in Phyllo Dough with Port Wine Reduction

Emeril's White Bean Chili

Carolyn made a pot of "Emeril's White Bean Chili" for dinner tonight. She first made this at home after she came back from a trip to Sedona with her family. Ever since, it's been a family favorite. And tonight (as always) it didn't disappoint.

This is a great alternative to the standard chili and makes for a great tasting hearty meal. The spices are balanced well with the sour cream and the green onions add a nice fresh touch to the dish.

This is an awesome meal for a nice cold day or for weary tax preparers!

The recipe can be found at the following link:
Emeril's Turkey and White Bean Chili

Lola's

Last night we went to Lola's because I was seriously craving a good drink. I had been there once , but Dave hadnt been before. A few friends joined us and between us we tried a number of martinis on the menu and even some that weren't. Since it was still happy hour when we got there I looked at the menu and found that it was nearly impossible for me to choose between my drink favories of Kir Royale, Cider, and of course the martinis. In the end, I chose the Ruby Red Grapefruit Fizz Martini. At least thats what I think it is called. Everything was a bit fuzzy after 3 of them. :)

We also had dinner at Lola's and it was pretty good as well. I had the beef stroganoff and Dave had a pub burger. Since I really wanted fries and fearing that Dave's alone might not be sufficent for my craving, I ordered a side and was delivered approximately 1lb of salty, fried goodness. It was definitely worth it and our table ate the majority of said fries. All in all, it was a good venture on a Friday night and I would definitely go back even if just for the martinis.

A little slice of Heaven - Chicago Style Pizza

We may have moved away from Chicago, but when we're craving pizza, nothing beats some good Chicago style stuffed pizza. Our favorite is sausage and spinach (recipe below). The pizza came out very well and was pretty tasty! Although the next time I think I'll have to try pre-baking the crust so it's a bit crispier on the bottom. Carolyn's suggested pairing: "Pink" Sparkling Wine. She says it may not be a good pairing, but she really wanted it.

Ingredients:
Dough
1.5 C. all purpose flour
1 Tsp. yeast
3/4 Tsp. salt
3/4 Tsp. sugar
6 Tsp. olive oil
6 Tbsp. warm water

Toppings and Sauce:
1 C. shredded spinach
6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
4 oz Cooked Sausage (Italian works but make sure there's no casing)
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 T salt
1 T black pepper
5 T grated parmesan cheese
2 T garlic powder
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried basil
1/2 T red pepper

Instructions:
1. Mix warm water and yeast
2. Mix flour sugar and salt for dough with yeast mixture
3. Add oil to dough and small amounts of water until dough has the appropriate consistency
4. Knead dough for 2 minutes
5. Cover and let rise for at least 2 hours
6. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
7. When dough is ready, roll out 2 times and layer it into a 2 inch deep greased pie pan
8. Pre-bake dough for 15 minutes in the oven to firm the crust

Prepare the toppings and sauce:
1. Mix seasonings and tomatoes and heat in pot to reduce some of the liquid
2. Cook the sausage
3. Mix the cheese and spinach and add a touch of salt and garlic powder

Build the pie:
1. Take pre-baked dough and layer the sausage on the bottom
2. Layer the pie with the cheese and spinach mixture
3. Layer the pie with the sauce
4. Raise temperature in oven to 450
5. Bake pie for at least 35 minutes

It's Alive!

I finally put this Blog up after some prodding (thanks Carolyn and Vishav). For now it's going to be a place to track some of the adventures, culinary experiences and general shenanigans that Carolyn and I have on the West Coast. Enjoy and Eat well (We always do)!