Hungry?

I am NOT on a diet. Absolutely not.

2008-01-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

So, since Tula has recently closed (tears shedding), Mr. M and I ended up at Mezcal for brunch this weekend. I often get the "Entomatada", which is basically a stacked enchilada plate with a spicy red sauce, topped with eggs and bacon. It's more delicious than it sounds and just the thing to hit the spot after working all night.

We also hit Abyssinia again recently, drinking Meta (the Ethiopian beer that tastes like honey), eating with our hands, and licking our fingers clean in what can only be described as a truly sensual dining experience.

On another note, have you tried Ca Del Doge Chianti 2006 (Tuscany)? We had some last night, and I was a bit worried given the high-end wines we were drinking over the holidays. But it was a fantastic accompaniment to our dinner last night, and you can't beat the price. Go get it at Marczyk's Wine Store now - here's an excerpt from their website:

Ca Del Doge Chianti 2006. Tuscany, Italy. A WOW Chianti, even at twice the price. Beautiful clear ruby red in color with a vibrant floral nose. A plethora of integrated flavors of cherries and cranberries, flirty hints of cinnamon and cloves round out the palate. The sweetly charming introduction is backed up by judiciously firm tannins and a lengthy finish. An outstanding food wine! Regular price: $13.99 - Sale price: $9.99 - Case discount price: $ 8.50.

Also, I bought some yummy cheese at Marczyk's the other day. One of my very favorites of all time is the Pierre Robert triple cream brie. Unbelievably creamy and rich - one of the best ways possible to break your New Years resolutions. I also bought another one that I can't remember the name of right now, but it's a goat cheese, I think, marinated in red wine and has a reddish/purplish rind - if you look, you'll see it. It is also quite good.

So, if you're having trouble with Weight Watchers, don't worry. You can always count on me to encourage you.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Mr. M and I had a quiet New Year's Day dinner at home. We had some beautiful grilled ribeyes, an arugula salad, and some decadent creamy polenta. We lubricated this meal with a bottle of 2005 Ca di Pian, La Spinetta (Piedmont) Barbera. What a way to start off the new year. No diets for us!

Spicy Creamy Polenta (modified from Paula Deen's Rosemary Polenta recipe)

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (more or less as desired)
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups milk
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup good grated Parmesan

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt, and pepper and saute for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, half-and-half, and milk and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly sprinkle the cornmeal into the hot milk while stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 10-15 minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Magnum Opus

2007-12-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law came to town Christmas Eve, armed with a shopping list organized into sections for meat, produce, etc, so that shopping would be more streamlined. We hit Whole Foods around 5pm that day, and they were already out of so many things. Thanks to her organization and planning, we were out of there relatively quickly.

The Christmas Menu:

Pea Soup with Avocado and Lump Crabmeat
J. Schram 2000, Schramsberg Cellars

Beef Wellington
Orange Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Opus One 2003, Opus One Winery

Chocolate Mousse Tart with Strawberry Macedone

We cooked for close to 4 hours on Christmas Day. We'd never made a Beef Wellington, and we learned a lot along the way. We worked hard for that meal, but it was all worth it. We had a meal truly worthy of the carefully chosen and exquisite alcoholic accompaniments.

(I'm really worried that I'm spoiling myself. After J. Schram and Opus One, can one really go back to drinking Yellowtail?)

Stuffing my face with my family

2007-12-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

Isn't that always what we do when we get together with family? It's definitely true for mine. As if this month hasn't been bad enough, with all sorts of gluttony and drunkenness already encouraged at work, at home, at holiday parties, with friends...

I don't remember the details of each meal, as it is a bit of a haze. Here are the highlights:

I remember shopping on the Pearl Street Mall, then hitting Centro for some beautifully tasty $2 happy hour tacos - the adobo and the shrimp beating out the chicken tacos by a mile. A hot manchego and chorizo fondue was lubricated well with grapefruit margs.

Our party of five blew three bills at Sushi Den. For lunch. With no alcohol. I remember a delicious cold creamy Japanese tofu, some black cod, some tasty eggplant. There was fantastic sashimi. Lots of fresh sushi - toro, uni, buri belly, etc. I could go on.

We had a lovely meal at Limon, though it did worry me that the restaurant was almost completely empty during a time when most restaurants are packed. The kitchen obviously had time to focus on our food, which was excellent. The fritada appetizer - little bits of fried pork - how can you go wrong? The tiradito cebiche was great. As was the Quinotto de hongos, the Arroz con pato, the Corvina bass. Again, I could go on. The cachacaritas and margaritas are also excellent.

Osteria Marco - fun to go at night with all the lights on Larimer. The burrata continues to be amazing, always a favorite. We also discovered a new favorite in the wild mushroom and robiola pizza, drizzled with truffle oil. Earthy, rich, and fantastic. Even the two devoted carnivores at the table agreed that it was the best dish.

Happy, happy holidays...

Going Ethnic

2007-12-18T21:50:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, a shortage of cash is a dilemma that accompanies the always inevitably expensive Christmas holidays. I also usually feel short on time as well during this season, with all the holiday parties, cookie making, gift shopping, and travel planning to do. So what to do if you're short on cash but still want to eat out because you have no time to cook (and you really, truth be known, like eating out)? The answer for me is always - Go Ethnic.

One snowy cold night, Mr. M and I made our way (slowly) down the parking lot previously known as Parker Road to Masalaa, the South Indian restaurant touted to be the best in town by those in the know. Our usual Indian meals come from Little India - I'm definitely a bit more familiar with North Indian cuisine, but this was a welcome change from the usual. Mr. M suffered a bit of disappointment when he discovered that Masalaa is a vegetarian restaurant, but like a trooper, he quickly recovered and tried everything that was put in front of him. We had dosa of course - the classic North Indian crepes filled with savory fillings. We also had a combo thali with Mysore masala dosa, onion tomato uthappam, Kanchipuram Idly, medhu vada, idly podi, sambar, coconut and tomato chutney and Rava Kesari. I had no idea what I was eating most of the time, but it was all quite tasty.

Another day, I discovered Lao Wang Noodle House. I can't believe I've lived in Denver so long never having discovered this little gem. They have the best xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and kwo tyeh (fried potstickers) in town. The place is run by a cute older couple that speaks minimal English, but that just means that the food is going to be outstanding! Wasn't cheap as far as dumplings go - you could get them in a major city's Chinatown for half as much - but they definitely have the market for dumplings in Denver. They are the market. The dumplings are good and authentic - the skins are great. Haven't tried the various noodles yet, but I'll be back for sure.

Another night, we went to one of the many Ethiopian restaurants that line Colfax in a stretch near our house. We've been to many of them, but this night we chose Abyssinia, right near Colfax and Colorado. Mr. M discovered a new favorite beer - Meta, an Ethiopian beer that tastes like honey. (If you've never had Ethiopian food, it's a really fun and tasty experience. Be prepared to eat with your hands, licking your fingers clean because it's so good. Fluffy injera bread, which tastes like sourdough but looks and feels like a washcloth - hee hee -, is served with the meal - you break off pieces of it and use it to sop up your food, trying to get it in your mouth before you drop it in your lap. Lots of fun and kinda romantic to eat with your sweetheart.) We ordered a meat combination and a vegetable combination, all of which arrives on a injera-lined platter, colorful dollops of goodness covering the plate. Again, many of the dollops are unidentifiable, but they are so good that you really don't care what you're eating - you just want more of it. I'm serious. Give it a go.

Anyway, these three meals this week not only saved me some bucks during a negative cash flow month but also gave me some really, really, really good eats.

Christmas Cookies

2007-12-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

Living in Denver is not always conducive to baking - I discovered that the hard way when I first moved here after several dessert disasters. Though I may not attempt cakes as much as I used to, I still love to bake cookies. Cookies still seem to turn out right despite the altitude, and heck, they are just so convenient and fun to eat!

Holiday cookies are even more fun. They are especially nice to give as gifts, or just to have around for parties, for friends that drop by, or for your family houseguests for the holidays. Plus, I wanted to give my (relatively) new Kitchen Aid mixer a good workout.

This year, I finally invested in some commercial-quality baking sheets as well as several silicone baking mats. It made all the difference in the world, and I'd highly recommend it.

I made 4 different cookies this year (I picked out 8 recipes, bought all the ingredients for them, then ran out of steam halfway through):

Mexican Wedding Cakes - classic, always a crowd pleaser, and pretty on a plate.
Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints - for the fruity people. also very pretty.
Chai Spiced Almond Cookies - something a little different.
World Peace Cookies - for the chocoholics. see below.

Though all 4 batches turned out well, my runaway, hands-down favorite, are the World Peace Cookies. I am usually not a fan of chocolate chocolate chip cookies (I suppose I'm more of a traditionalist and prefer the plain chocolate chip ones), and I probably wouldn't have picked these up had I seen them on the cookie plate. But these have captured my heart. Aptly named, this is a chocolate chocolate-chip cookie that is made totally transcendent by the addition of some fleur de sel. If you make these, be sure to use excellent quality chocolate and fleur de sel - do NOT substitute regular table salt. Anyway, supposedly if everyone could eat one of these cookies every day, we would all be so happy that we would truly have World Peace. I, however, agree with smittenkitchen - if you were holding the last cookie of the batch, warm and soft from the oven, I'd most certainly resort to acts of violence in order to wrench it from your little fingers...

What could be better than sushi at Sushi Den?

2007-12-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

The answer is, of course, FREE sushi at Sushi Den.

One of the (few) perks of my job is that once in a while, product reps will take us out to dinner. Sometimes, the food is already ordered for us, or we are limited to only a few selections. But occasionally, there are one of those much-coveted free-for-all, order whatever the hell you want kind of dinners. Last night, I was privileged to take part in one of these lovely occasions at one of my favorite (and one of the most pricey, at least the way I eat) restaurants in town. I sipped on a couple glasses of a wonderful Spanish Albarino ($10/glass, new on the menu, can't remember the name) over the course of my meal which included edamame, agedashi tofu, calamari, and miso black cod. And those were just the beginning.

We feasted on orders of the ginger sashimi and japanese wasabi sashimi to start - both incredibly fresh and dressed with delicate sauces and microgreens giving layers of flavor. We ate LOTS of melt-in-your-mouth toro, some briny sea urchin, some seared tender sea scallops, some salmon roe. We overstuffed ourselves with the spicy firecracker roll, creamy house roll, crunchy spider roll, and much much more. The only thing that lay mostly untouched (hurrah! I'm so proud) was a sad California roll that no one would quite own up to having ordered...

As I'm sure is true with any job, there are times I really hate mine. (Especially whenever I'm up working at 3 am.) I wonder to myself, "Is my job is really worth this?!?" But after just one evening of excess at the Den, I am finally convinced that it is.

A yummy party appetizer

2007-12-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

A friend had a party last night and made (among other things) these wonderful hors d'oeuvres of which I ate an embarrassing quantity (let's just say I didn't need any dinner). Sliced French baguette topped with seared beef tenderloin, watercress, parmesan, capers, and a mustard-horseradish sauce... mmmmmmmmm.....

Lobster Roll

2007-12-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

We braved the snowy weather to lunch at Steuben's. I'd heard so much about their lobster roll, and it's taken me forever to get back there to try it. Since the last time I was at Steuben's (which was admittedly awhile ago now), they have raised the price on the lobster roll from a steep $18 to now a whopping $20. But I decided, what the hell, I might as well see what all the fuss was about.

Both Mr. M and I ordered the lobster roll. It came with a huge pile of their thin crispy fries, which I love. The roll itself initially looked disappointing - it looked suspiciously like a packaged store-bought hot dog bun for which you can buy 8 for 99 cents at King Soopers. "I'm paying $20 for this!?," I thought initially. It was also, however, generously filled with lobster chunks in a light, creamy sauce with not a lot of extra fillers - it really was just good, tender, lobster meat. There was also a strong buttery flavor as well, but I don't want to know exactly how much butter they put in each sandwich. Ignorance is bliss.

By the time I finished my sandwich, I was licking my fingers and wanting more. I sure hope I haven't developed yet another expensive addiction.

Cheese

2007-12-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making some homemade ricotta cheese, courtesy of Frank Bonanno's cheese-making classes and recipes. It was actually really easy! I served a dollop at room temperature sprinkled with sea salt and drizzled with a good extra virgin olive oil. I sliced a baguette on the bias, drizzled the slices with olive oil, toasted them and rubbed them with garlic. Yum. Definitely better than what you buy in the store, and easy enough to make. I'm not sure if it would make a huge difference in a lasagna or something, but you can sure taste the difference if you're eating it on toast.

Of note, I also picked up a delectable little piece of heaven at The Truffle the other day - a funky, creamy French goat cheese that reminded me why cheese is one of my favorite things in life. It's called St. Maure de Touraine. Try it!

We ate both while sipping a bottle of Pra Soave, an Italian white.

Ricotta Recipe (c/o Frank Bonanno)
Serves 4

5 lemons (1 cup lemon juice)
2 quarts organic whole milk
1 cup heavy cream plus additional ¼ cup
1 cup buttermilk
Pinch of salt

Squeeze the lemons; set juice aside.

Bring 1 cup cream and milk to a boil. Add lemon juice, buttermilk and salt. Reduce heat and simmer; stirring until thick and chunky, about 10 minutes.

Have cheesecloth pressed over a strainer in a bowl. Pour hot liquid through cheesecloth; drain at least 15 minutes. Gather cheesecloth ends and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Whip ¼ cup heavy cream into ricotta until the consistency of soft ice cream.

Ricotta Al Forno: Oil inside of ramekins; fill with ricotta. Bake at 400 degrees 36 to 45 minutes until golden.
Sweet Ricotta: Add 1 cup of powdered sugar to the ricotta. Serve with strawberries.

Nutritional information per serving of ricotta: 591 cal., 44 g fat (27 g sat), 154 mg chol., 32 g carb., 19 g pro., 0 g fiber, 289 mg sodium.

Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie

2007-12-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

Before Thanksgiving, I ran across this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs. As much as I wanted to try it, there was no room on the Thanksgiving menu for this dessert too. Finally, I decided to try it yesterday. I used (gasp!) store-bought pie crust pressed into an 11-inch tart pan, which I baked beforehand with pie weights. The filling came together quite easily and quickly, and in no time I had put it back in the oven.

The pie is rather homely-looking, I must admit - you should at least dress it up with some ice cream or whipped cream, maybe a few berries or something. But it tastes great - all the deep syrupy maple sweetness and earthy spicy nutmeg make for a rich and creamy filling. An easy recipe if you're looking to bring something to one of the many holiday parties we'll all be attending in the next few weeks.

Dim Sum

2007-12-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get a craving for dim sum? I sure do.

For those that don't know, I was a former resident of Houston, Texas. Now Houston has very little to recommend itself as a place to live (especially compared to Denver, but hey, I'm biased) other than a pretty low cost of living and (conveniently also) some good shopping. But one very important thing that Houston does have is an awesome supply of good Chinese restaurants, in all price ranges and of all types. Usually and unfortunately, as with most ethnic restaurants, the food quality is inversely proportional to the ease with which a non-Chinese speaker/reader can navigate his or her way through a meal.

Drooling from memories of eating at Golden Palace or Kim Son in Houston, I settled for The Empress. There are, arguably, better places in town for dim sum, like maybe Super Star Asian or King's Land, but they also have longer wait times for a table. We were starving, so we went to Empress and were seated immediately.

Sipping hot tea, we ate our way through small bowls of tiny little spareribs, shrimp dumplings, steamed pork thingies, sticky rice, stir-fried vegetables, and more. My favorite is the little flaky pork croissants.

Though it was no Golden Palace, at least it scratched my itch.

Chicken pot pie

2007-11-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

The aftermath of Thanksgiving and the frigid weather left me craving something warm and hearty. I found a few basics in the fridge and didn't want to go to the store. I came across this recipe for Chicken Pot Pie and decided to make it because miraculously, I had everything I needed for it at home (except I used only chicken breast - no dark meat). It came together so quickly and easily I couldn't believe it. The Bisquick biscuit crust is actually really good. Mr. M said it was the best. I suppose he has to say that, but the way he hoovered it down suggests he was telling the truth.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

(Skip this post if you are tired of Thanksgiving and don't care about Turkey-Day recipes.)

Like for many people, the holidays are really a special time for me. The holidays are all about things that I love the most - family, friends, and food.

This year, we traveled home to enjoy Thanksgiving at my sister's house. My sister is one of my favorite people period, but she is also definitely my favorite person with whom to enjoy two of my favorite activities - cooking and eating.

This year, she moved into a new house, complete with a beautiful, newly remodeled kitchen. I was looking forward to seeing it and cooking with her in it. We had a fantastic time, and the food was great.

Our Thanksgiving menu:

Roasted Turkey
Italian Sausage and Bread Stuffing
Spinach Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Sweet Potato Gratin
Brandied Cranberries

Cranberry-Almond Tart
Texas State Fair Pecan Pie, Mom's way
Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

Recipes or links follow:

Roasted Turkey: - my sister did the 12-14 hour brine, added veggies to the roasting pan and veggies and lemon to the cavity of the bird. From Cooks Illustrated.

Roasted Brined Turkey

We offer two brine formulas: one for a 4- to 6-hour brine and another for a 12- to 14-hour brine. The amount of salt used in each brine does not change with turkey size. If you’re roasting a kosher or self-basting turkey, do not brine it; it already contains a good amount of sodium. Rotating the bird from a breast-side down position to a breast-side up position midway through cooking helps to produce evenly cooked dark and white meat. If you’re roasting a large (18- to 22-pound) bird and are reluctant to rotate it, skip the step of lining the V-rack with foil and roast the bird breast-side up for the full time. If making gravy, scatter 1 cup each of coarsely chopped onion, celery, and carrot as well as several fresh thyme sprigs in the roasting pan at the outset; add 1 cup water to keep the vegetables from burning.
Serves 10 to 22, depending on turkey size
Table salt
1 turkey (12 to 22 pounds gross weight), rinsed thoroughly, giblets and neck reserved for gravy, if making
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

1. Dissolve 1 cup salt per gallon cold water for 4- to 6-hour brine or 1/2 cup salt per gallon cold water for 12- to 14-hour brine in large stockpot or clean bucket. Two gallons of water will be sufficient for most birds; larger birds may require three gallons. Add turkey and refrigerate for predetermined amount of time.
2. Before removing turkey from brine, adjust oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 400 degrees for 12- to 18-pound bird or 425 degrees for 18- to 22-pound bird. Line large V-rack with heavy-duty foil and use paring knife or skewer to poke 20 to 30 holes in foil; set V-rack in large roasting pan.
3. Remove turkey from brine and rinse well under cool running water. Pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Tuck tips of drumsticks into skin at tail to secure, and tuck wing tips behind back. Brush turkey breast with 2 tablespoons butter. Set turkey breast-side down on prepared V-rack; brush back with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Roast 45 minutes for 12- to 18-pound bird or 1 hour for 18- to 22-pound bird.
4. Remove roasting pan with turkey from oven (close oven door to retain oven heat); reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees if roasting 18- to 22-pound bird. Using clean potholders or kitchen towels, rotate turkey breast-side up; continue to roast until thickest part of breast registers 165 degrees and thickest part of thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 50 to 60 minutes longer for 12- to 15-pound bird, about 1 1/4 hours for 15- to 18-pound bird, or about 2 hours longer for 18- to 22-pound bird. Transfer turkey to carving board; let rest 30 minutes (or up to 40 minutes for 18- to 22-pound bird). Carve and serve.

Italian Sausage and Bread Stuffing - the hands-down favorite dish this year. Depending how dry the bread is, a little more liquid than the recipe calls for may be needed - I added another cup or so of chicken broth.

Spinach Casserole - a very easy, back-of-the-box type of recipe, but a family favorite for Thanksgiving nevertheless. People who don't even like spinach like this casserole. We've had it every year for as long as I can remember.

3 packages frozen chopped spinach
1 cup sour cream
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
bread crumbs
butter
parmesan cheese

Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain well, pressing the liquid out from the colander. Mix soup mix into sour cream, then mix into spinach. Spread mixture into 8x8 glass baking dish. Melt a few tablespoons of butter and mix with some breadcrumbs, about 1 cup. Mix in parmesan to taste, about 1/2 cup. Spread topping over spinach. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until warmed through and topping is brown.

Mashed Potatoes - Too simple for a recipe, but here we go. Definitely a Thanksgiving favorite, because it's only once a year that we add quite this much butter and cream. We also did not use the potato ricer this year but instead used (gasp!) our Kitchen Aid mixer to mash the potatoes. Sacrilegious, I know, but so much faster.

Cut Yukon Gold potatoes into chunks and boil until tender. Drain. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, adding salt and pepper, at least one stick of butter, and a very generous pour of heavy cream (or half-and-half, if you're feeling like being healthy). Adjust to taste.

Gravy - no recipe for this either. Use pan drippings from turkey; add flour and cook down in the roasting pan. Add turkey stock and white wine, scraping up pan drippings. Cook until thick; season to taste.

Sweet Potato Gratin - we used this recipe but used only sweet potatoes instead of the two kinds. Ours had a bit too much liquid, so I'd cut back or add more potatoes if I made this again. I'd also add some nutmeg, and maybe a bit of maple syrup for flavoring.

Brandied Cranberries - another long-time family favorite. Mr. M eats embarrassing quantities of this - he loves it! Also quite good with yogurt as dessert or a decadent breakfast. It's important to use good quality brandy - not top shelf necessarily, but something you would actually drink.

1 lb cranberries
2 c sugar
brandy to taste

Spread cranberries in a single layer in a foil-lined baking pan. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover with another layer of foil. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool. Mix with brandy to taste. Store refrigerated.

Cranberry-Almond Tart - this recipe sounded great, but we were a little disappointed with it. It looked absolutely gorgeous when it was done, but it just wasn't sweet enough, so you may want to add a bit of sweetness to it somehow. Definitely serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Texas State Fair Pecan Pie, Mom's way - This is the best pecan pie I've ever had. My mom loves pecan pie, but her frequent complaint is "not enough nuts". My sister ended up adding double or triple the amount of pecans originally called for in this recipe, but it ended up being absolutely fantastic.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake - I've never met a pumpkin cheesecake I didn't like. I've always made this recipe, but my sister made a different one this year. Still wonderful, still delicious, and still hanging onto my thighs... From Cooks Illustrated.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

11/2003

Depending on the oven and the temperature of the ingredients, the cheesecake may bake about 15 minutes faster or slower than the instructions indicate; it is therefore best to check the cake 1 1/4 hours into baking. Although the cheesecake can be made up to three days in advance, the crust will begin to lose its crispness after only one day. To make slicing the cheesecake easy and neat, use a knife with a narrow blade, such as a carving knife; between cuts, dip the blade into a pitcher of hot water and wipe it clean with paper towels. The cheesecake is good on its own, but the Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream (recipe follows) is a grand addition.
Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 12 to 16

Crust
5 ounces graham crackers (9 whole crackers), broken into large pieces
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Filling
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar (10 1/3 ounces)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese , cut into 1-inch chunks and left to soften at room temperature, about 30 minutes
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice from 1 lemon
5 large eggs , left at room temperature, about 30 minutes
1 cup heavy cream

1. FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Pulse crackers, sugar, and spices in food processor until evenly and finely ground, about fifteen 2-second pulses. Transfer crumbs to medium bowl, drizzle melted butter over, and mix with rubber spatula until evenly moistened. Turn crumbs into prepared springform pan and, using hand, spread crumbs into even layer. Using flat-bottomed ramekin or drinking glass, press crumbs evenly into pan bottom, then use a soup spoon to press and smooth crumbs into edges of pan. Bake until fragrant and browned about the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling.

2. FOR THE FILLING: Bring about 4 quarts water to simmer in stockpot. Whisk sugar, spices, and salt in small bowl; set aside. To dry pumpkin (see illustrations below): Line baking sheet with triple layer of paper towels. Spread pumpkin on paper towels in roughly even layer. Cover pumpkin with second triple layer of paper towels and press firmly until paper towels are saturated. Peel back top layer of towels and discard. Grasp bottom towels and fold pumpkin in half; peel back towels. Repeat and flip pumpkin onto baking sheet; discard towel.

3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat cream cheese at medium speed to break up and soften slightly, about 1 minute. Scrape beater and bottom and sides of bowl well with rubber spatula. Add about one third of sugar mixture and beat at medium-low speed until combined, about 1 minute; scrape bowl and add remaining sugar in two additions, scraping bowl after each addition. Add pumpkin, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat at medium speed until combined, about 45 seconds; scrape bowl. Add 3 eggs and beat at medium-low until incorporated, about 1 minute; scrape bowl. Add remaining 2 eggs and beat at medium-low until incorporated, about 45 seconds; scrape bowl. Add heavy cream and beat at low speed until combined, about 45 seconds. Using rubber spatula, scrape bottom and sides of bowl and give final stir by hand.

4. Set springform pan with cooled crust on 18-inch-square doubled layer heavy-duty foil and wrap bottom and sides with foil; set wrapped springform pan in roasting pan. Pour filling into springform pan and smooth surface; set roasting pan in oven and pour enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until center of cake is slightly wobbly when pan is shaken, and center of cake registers 145 to 150 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours (see note). Set roasting pan on wire rack and use paring knife to loosen cake from sides of pan. Cool until water is just warm, about 45 minutes. Remove springform pan from water bath, discard foil, and set on wire rack; continue to cool until barely warm, about 3 hours. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

5. TO SERVE: Slide thin metal spatula between crust and pan bottom to loosen, then slide cake onto serving platter. Let cheesecake stand at room temperature about 30 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

Thai chicken curry

2007-11-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

I was in the mood today for curry and whipped up this fast and easy concoction. The recipe comes after reading about 10 different chicken curry recipes online and putting them all together while modifying for the contents of my refrigerator. Enjoy!

2 T vegetable oil
2-3 T curry paste, or to taste
1 red chili, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 14-oz can coconut milk
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 T fish sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut in large chunks
8 oz white button mushrooms, quartered
4 green onions, sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped plus a few sprigs for garnish
3 sprigs basil, destemmed
juice of 1 lime
cooked jasmine rice

Saute curry paste and red chili in vegetable oil over med-high heat for one minute. Add a thinly sliced onion and a dollop of coconut milk and saute until tender. Add sliced chicken breast, browning on all sides. Add chicken broth, fish sauce, and brown sugar, along with the rest of the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. When chicken is almost done, add red bell pepper and mushrooms. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Stir in green onions, cilantro, basil, and lime juice. Remove from heat and serve over hot, steaming, fragrant jasmine rice. Garnish with cilantro.

Onion soup and garlic bread

2007-11-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

I had a plethora of yellow onions in my pantry that were just waiting to go bad while we leave to go home for Thanksgiving next week. I decided to try to make a quick and easy Onion Soup to use them up.

3 T olive oil
6 small yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 box beef broth
1 c chicken broth
1/2 c white wine
1 tsp dried thyme
shredded gruyere
sliced baguette

Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed pan (I used my Le Creuset stockpot that my sister gave me). After 15-20 minutes, they should be soft and sticky, and the bottom of the pot should be brown. Add the beef broth, chicken broth, and white wine while scraping up the bits at the bottom of the pot. Throw in the thyme and let it simmer for a bit. When ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Ladle soup into oven-safe bowls, top with a baguette slice and a handful of gruyere, and place under the broiler until cheese is melty and brown.

I also recently stumbled across Heidi's dad's "recipe" for garlic bread which gave me a hankering for it. Since it's just Mr. M and I, I used half a loaf of French bread, which I then sliced in half lengthwise. I used half a stick of melted butter and half a head of garlic, minced and drowned in the butter. I slathered the mixture onto both sides, trying to keep it even. Half I wrapped in saran wrap and foil and put in the freezer. The other half I baked at 350 for 15 minutes, then broiled for a couple minutes until brown and crispy. A decadent yet perfect accompaniment for my onion soup! Warning: Do not attempt to come within 10 feet of anyone who has not also eaten garlic bread for the next 24 hours. :)

Baked Apples

2007-11-14T16:10:00.001-08:00

Trying to make a (somewhat) healthier dessert for company the other night, I cored apples with a melon-baller thingy and placed them in a baking dish. I sprinkled them with lemon juice, then filled them with a mixture of brown sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped walnuts, raisins, and a little bit of butter cut into small pieces. I baked them at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the whole house smelled like Christmas.

I served them drizzled with the syrup at the bottom of the pan and a dollop of Boulder All-Natural Sweet Cream ice cream. YUM!

Pear Tart

2007-11-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

We went to our friends' house for dinner last night. They had just moved into their new house last month, and we were their first guests. We brought them a bottle of yummy Veuve as a housewarming gift so they could celebrate. In their beautiful new gourmet kitchen, they cooked up a storm. First we snacked on a baked brie with apples and bread while sipping Gewurztraminer. We then moved on to a delicious meal of vegetable risotto, baked salmon, and a spinach salad, paired with a yummy, jammy La Crema Pinot Noir.

I had been staring at the dessert all night. My friend had baked a pear tart that had turned out beautifully, and it had been sitting on the counter since we arrived. When we finally finished our meal, I was stuffed, but I couldn't pass up the tart - it was so good. We cracked open a bottle of Muscat to go with.

The original Epicurious recipe called for hazelnuts, but when she couldn't find them in the store she substituted almonds. I think it turned out so well that I just might do the same!

Grappa with Frank

2007-11-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

Mr. M and I went to Sushi Den Friday night for our weekly date. As the restaurant is usually packed, we showed up early (around 6 pm) so we wouldn't have to wait for a table. We ate the usual wonderful stuff while sipping green tea (me) and an Asahi (Mr. M) and catching up on the week. In our (continually failing) efforts to save money and calories, we ordered just enough to feel satisfied but not full (which is not our usual M.O. when we go out).

Since we ate so early, we contemplated what to do next, as neither one of us wanted to head home just yet. We felt virtuous after our relatively healthy meal and decided to splurge and go somewhere else for dessert. Remembering the tasty bread pudding we had at Osteria Marco last week, as well as wanting to support this new restaurant, we decided to head back there, grab a table at the bar, and have dessert.

We wandered around downtown a bit, poking in and out of some shops before finally arriving at the restaurant. We waved hello to Jacqueline Bonnano (chef's wife) on our way in, then grabbed a booth at the bar, fully intent on having just dessert. However, the menu arrived, and I was a goner. It started with Mr. M saying that he wanted to have a glass of wine. That sounded good, but of course you have to have something to nibble on while you drink it, and, somehow (I'm embarrassed to admit), I ended up ordering a couple of appetizers as well...

While we sipped our wine, we snacked on the housemade ricotta - fresh and creamy and delicious. We also tried the mozzarella en carozza, a gussied-up version of fried cheese which wasn't really my favorite but I'm sure kids would love. We still had loads of fun though, guiltily partaking of our second dinner.

I guess Jacqueline tipped off her husband to our presence in the bar, as all of a sudden we were graced with Frank's presence. We chatted for awhile, about mozzarella and ricotta, about the challenges he's faced (like building the panini bar with his own two hands) and is still facing (like wine education for his servers) with the opening of the new place. He's worked his butt off opening the restaurant and said he'd been on site for something like 49 days straight. Now that's dedication. (And his wife still loves him!) Anyway, it was really cool that he would stop by and say hello - I appreciated it.

We decided to skip dessert, astutely deducing that we had used up our calorie quota for the evening. The waiter brought the check, but before we could pay and get out of there, Frank reappeared with not only the butterscotch bread pudding we'd enjoyed so much the time before, but also with 3 glasses of grappa. We touched glasses and downed the stuff, he thanked us for coming in, then went back to the kitchen. Now. How cool is THAT.

I have to admit that we shoveled down that bread pudding as if we hadn't been fed in days, talking about how great it was what Frank did. I remembered the lackluster night I'd had at Fruition a few months ago, comparing it to the effort that had been put forth tonight just say thanks. It cost him a few minutes of his time, as well as maybe a few bucks for the dessert and grappa, and what a difference it made! He's effectively made us loyal regulars, so it was a smart move as well as just plain awesome.

So now, I'm the Osteria Marco evangelist. Everyone who lives here must visit soon. Or else.

My own version of miso soup

2007-11-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

In the attempt to cook more at home and be a bit more healthy, I took a trip to the Asian grocery store this weekend. I like to wander around, poking in and out of each aisle, trying to decipher the contents of the mysterious cans, jars, and packages. I bought all sorts of things I can't find at Safeway. I bought some pea shoots and some leafy green vegetables that I don't know the name of. Last night, I stir-fried them (separately) with healthy doses of garlic - yum! My dinner was nothing but the veggies with brown rice, and it was great! Even Mr. M ate lots, and that's saying something.

Tonight, I made some bonito soup stock (from a powder) and added some baby bok choy, sliced shittake mushrooms, and cubed tofu. I boiled it for a few minutes, just until the bok choy was tender. I then turned off the heat and added some miso (soybean paste), stirring until it was fully incorporated. This all took about 10 minutes. While the soup had been cooking, I had boiled some soba noodles separately - they cook in about 5 minutes - and drained them. I also chopped up some green onions and rinsed some bean sprouts.

When the soup was done, I put some noodles, green onions, and bean sprouts in a bowl, then covered it with the hot miso soup. It was a healthy, fast, easy dinner that hit the spot on a chilly evening.

Every bit as good as I expected, only better...

2007-11-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Osteria Marco, the newest venture by Chef Frank Bonanno (of Mizuna and Luca d'Italia) in Larimer Square and the ode to his second son (Luca d'Italia being the ode to the first). I mentioned it briefly in my post about the cheese class I took in September - it's a more casual and affordable restaurant that still upholds some of his core values, like excellent food and wine. Who can argue with that?

Mr. M and I decided to hit it Friday evening, hot on the heels of a blurb in 5280's Table Talk as well as a mention in the Westword. I actually ran into the chef's wife, Jacqueline, at the door as we were coming in. (I had met her briefly at the cheese class and recognized her from there.) I congratulated her on her starring role in Jason Sheehan's Westword column:

"My wife, Jacqueline, fucking deserves all the fucking credit," Bonanno said when I got him on the phone the day after the very soft opening. Jacqueline did all the sourcing, all the design. She picked the colors, she found a guy who could turn a set of old bleachers into stained mahogany tabletops, and then, along with partner Ryan Gaudin and chef-partner Jean-Philippe Failyau, they'd built an entire panini bar.

Impressive, eh?

The space is below street level, so the hostess led us down the stairs into the dining room. Wine racks divide up some of the room and line the walls, while dark wood warms the space. The lighting is a bit dim, and the mood would be rather subdued but for the din produced by lively conversation and laughter from the surrounding patrons. How can a place be so pleasantly well-crafted and put-together yet so wonderfully relaxed all at the same time? They've struck this balance right on the money. And already, the place was almost full to capacity.

The menu is a bit more approachable and wallet-friendly than Bonanno's other establishments. A variety of salumi, house-made cheeses, appetizers, and salads are intriguing, as well as the pizzas and paninis. All quite simple yet well-thought-out.

We lubricated the menu-reading with a bottle of Scarpetta 2006 Tocai Friulano, made by none other than Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson of Frasca. Of course, it was excellent.

We started with some house-made burrata cheese, deliciously creamy in the center, served with grilled bread - fantastic. We also had an order of the red-wine cured bresaola, also quite good. We tried the artichoke fonduta, which was creamy, rich, and artery-clogging I'm sure, but it went down SO easy. We had some potato/parmesan/proscuitto crochettes as well - little bits of fried potato goodness. We ordered the spicy sopressata pizza with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and while the toppings were yummy, I almost couldn't get past the delicious crust - done to perfection. I couldn't ask for anything more. We were quite stuffed by that time, but Mr. M put us over the edge by ordering a fabulous butterscotch bread pudding to top off our meal.

Our bill came to $100, but half of that was the wine. I know, I said this place was supposed to be affordable, and actually you could come here and order one delicious pizza or panini and get out of here for $10. But me? I just can't do it. I start reading the menu, and automatically I want to order everything on it. I'll be back very soon. Bravo to the Bonannos!!

Cottage Cheese Muffins?

2007-11-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it sounds terrible. But I was intrigued after reading another blog post on 101 Cookbooks. And these were so easy-sounding that I just had to try them. Here is the recipe.

Basically, you mix cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, ground almonds, flour, baking powder, eggs, water, salt, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil in a bowl, fill up some muffin cups, and pop them in the oven. I bought grated parmesan, so the only prep work I did was whiz some almonds in my Cuisinart and chop some sun-dried tomatoes and basil. What could be easier than that? After about a half hour of delicious smells wafting from the oven (during which time Mr. M kept poking his head in and asking me what I was cooking and when it would be ready), they are beautifully golden-brown.

As mentioned in her post, these muffins have more of a quiche-like texture than a bready texture, but if you're prepared for that, you'll love them. The batter was a lot wetter than I thought it would be, but they tasted terrific! My only complaint was that too much of the "muffin" stuck to the paper muffin cups I used - I ended up trying to scrape every last bit off with my teeth (which was attractive, I'm sure - sorry, Mr. M!). She also gives some suggestions for other flavors besides sun-dried tomato and basil that I can't wait to try. But these are a quick and easy idea that would complement any meal.

Knife skills

2007-10-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, I decided to take a Knife Skills class offered by The Cooking Studio at the Whole Foods in Belmar. A small group of 10-12 people gathered in the studio kitchen, learning better ways to prepare, chop, dice, and mince things. We prepared garlic, shallots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, avocados, and citrus fruit. We then took turns making French omelets with some of the ingredients we had chopped. At the end of the class, we had a meal of omelets, hash browns, and grapefruit sections drizzled with agave nectar.

Overall, it was a decent class, though more geared towards beginners in the kitchen. I did pick up a few helpful hints about chopping onions and deseeding peppers and tomatoes, and I learned how to make a better omelet.

Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl with a tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a tablespoon of clarified butter in a small omelet pan over low to medium heat. Pour the eggs in the pan. Continue to whip air into the eggs using a fork, trying not to disturb the eggs setting at the bottom of the pan too much. Eventually the omelet will be almost cooked through and set. Tease up all the edges of the omelet using a spatula so that it is totally free from the bottom of the pan. Add fillings of your choice to the center. Fold one third of the omelet over the fillings, then turn it over onto a plate (folding the other third over on the bottom as you go). Voila! Light and fluffy omelets.

Speaking of ice cream...

2007-10-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

Have you tried the new Haagen Dazs flavor yet? This year, they debuted their new Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan ice cream. It's to-die-for. Try it.

The holidays, already?

2007-10-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner, especially given the exceptionally warm fall we've had in Denver. Mid-70's at the end of October? Weird. Not that I'm complaining though.

Anyway, we hit Bonnie Brae Ice Cream with some friends last night, and I had a generous scoop of their Pumpkin Pecan. It was fantastic - the wonderful flavor of pumpkin pie with all the spices - but better, without that custardy texture that so many folks (myself excluded) find so unappealing. It was just the thing to get me in the mood for fall and the upcoming holiday season.

Sausage strata

2007-10-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

I'd been missing one of my favorite brunch dishes from The Kitchen in Boulder. Lucky for me, the restaurant posts many of its recipes on line. I seemed to have most of the ingredients already at home, so with a few minor modifications, I was on my way.

Here is the recipe as posted. It's a creamy, delicious, savory bread pudding of sorts.

Sausage Strata
[Recipe Serves 6-8]

Ingredients:
3 whole eggs
5 egg yolks
1 pint whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 lb sausage meat (out of casing)
8 slices of rustic white bread
1 1/2 cup gruyere cheese-- grated
2 hand full fresh spinach
Salt and pepper.
Large gratin dish
Instructions:
Take the sausage meat and cook in a sauté pan until cooked.

Mix together eggs, yolks, cream and milk in a bowl. Season with a little salt and pepper. Next, take the gratin dish and start to layer the bread, sausage, spinach and cheese (like you would for lasagna), keeping some cheese for sprinkling over the top.

When you have layered every thing together, pour over the custard and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Leave to stand for at least one hour or over night.

Cover with foil and bake in 350º oven for about 1 hour. Check to see that the center is cooked and the custard is set.

Just before serving, put the strata under a broiler until brown. Watch closely so that it does not burn.

I used skim milk rather than whole milk, and the only bread I had at home was 100% whole wheat sandwich bread. I also didn't have any fresh spinach greens, so I used about a half package of frozen spinach that I cooked in the microwave, seasoned with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I browned some sausage, then layered it with the sandwich bread, spinach, and grated gruyere. I poured the cream/milk/egg mixture over it and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. I popped it into the oven, and we had a decadent, sumptuous brunch an hour later. Super easy (though not super healthy), and so much better than other breakfast casseroles I've had. Try it!

Napa Valley

2007-10-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I met his parents and brother in wine country this weekend to celebrate his parents' 45th wedding anniversary. As dedicated oenophiles, much anticipation and planning went into this quick weekend trip.

We arrived Friday afternoon and made our way up to Napa. We had no plans until dinner, but it was early enough to start our vacation off right by doing a little wine tasting. We decided just to pick a place along the way. I'd been to Cosentino a couple years back and really enjoyed this friendly, down-to-earth place that makes great wines both in my price range and beyond. So when we saw it, we pulled off the road to do our first tasting. The place was busy, but we still found a place at the long copper bar to taste some of their newest releases. I enjoyed everything we tasted, especially The Poet and the M Coz 2002 and 2003. I honestly think (though I don't begrudge them one bit) that they pour so generously for the tastings in hope that they will get you drunk enough to buy lots of wine or join the wine club. Anyway, it worked for us! And when the purchases had been completed, they poured us even more!!! (I forgot my camera, but here are pics from the web anyway.)

We then went quickly next door to the tasting room housing Napa Cellars and Folie a Deux, having been given coupons for free tastings there. These are pretty much everyday wines you can find at home, and though they were good, they didn't compare to the high-end reds we had just been tasting at Cosentino. The only stand-out was the Napa Cellars Chardonnay, which was surprisingly good. I love the trend towards less oak in the California Chardonnays, and this was a tasty step in the right direction.

We drove all the way to the north end of the Valley to Calistoga, where we stayed at the Meadowlark B&B, the place where my in-laws stayed during a visit in 1988! It was on a beautiful piece of property with mountain views and a quiet mood. They keep huge Hanoverians that they breed and train on the property - one of which is 17 hands high! Wild turkeys also roam the property, providing some interesting entertainment. The breakfasts here were quite notably delicious.

We dined that evening at La Toque. La Toque offers only a 5 course fixed price menu for $98, with 2 or 3 choices at each course. Some have compared it to the French Laundry, and though I wouldn't go that far, there were some good dishes. The kitchen sent us out a few treats, one of which was a "foie gras corndog" - you gotta love it. We tasted some very nice fresh kampachi and a hearty warm tomato soup. The scallops were good, and the seared foie gras was excellent, but how can you really screw that up? A few of the courses I felt were rather lackluster (the turbot and the bass). Unfortunately, after tasting at two (liberally pouring) wineries in two hours, I was in no shape to take part in the wine pairings that La Toque is so famous for (some say they're the best in valley for wine pairing with food), so I can't comment on that. Overall, I think I'd spend the money and go see Thomas Keller. What I think did it for me was the rather stuffy and austere mood in the dining room - almost like everyone was so serious about food that they forgot to have fun while they were eating it.

The next morning, we rose for our morning appointment at Stags' Leap Winery (not to be confused with Stag's Leap Wine Cellars - note the position of the very important apostrophe). It was a gorgeous drive out, and we were ushered into the dining room of a large house for our tasting. There were 9 people including us in the group, and our guide regaled us with the fascinating story of the winery, the grounds, and the families that have lived there. It was nice to actually sit down to taste - much more relaxed. The grounds were gorgeous and quiet - I could have spent hours there. I'm not sure what it is about vineyards that are so relaxing - maybe the orderliness of the rows, the meticulous caretaking that goes on. Whatever it is, I love it.

We tasted some excellent Cabernet at Silver Oak next, which, due to a recent fire, is holding tastings in a rather unattractive trailer. The wines were still excellent, however - we had the 2002 Napa Valley and the 2003 Alexander Valley. Yum.

We stopped by the Oakville Grocery to pick up some sandwiches and snacks for lunch. It was crazy crowded, but lunch was great. Of note - they have an excellent olive bar. Also really good spicy salsa and guacamole.

Our next stop was right next door at Opus One. The winery seems to rise out of the earth like something in a sci-fi movie, and the architecture is modern yet classic at the same time. At $30 per taste, this was a splurge. But we tasted both the '02 and the '03. I am quite sure this was the most high-end wine I've ever put in my mouth. I preferred the '02, but both were fantastic as we sipped them on the upper terrace overlooking the vineyards.

We continued on to St. Supery. By this time we were all a bit wined-out, but we still managed to enjoy their excellent Sauvignon Blanc, Virtu, and Cabernets.

For dinner that night, we hit Wappo Bar and Bistro in Calistoga. It was a cozy, small restaurant with a much more relaxed mood and fun atmosphere compared to the evening before - aided particularly by the large double magnum that a nearby table was polishing off. The menu is quite ethnically varied, which usually makes loud alarm bells go off in my head, but it had come recommended, so I kept an open mind. There was Hawaiian poke, French cassoulet, Moroccan tagines, Thai curry, osso bucco. Hmmm. I took a risk and ordered the poke, which actually was more Mexican in style - with jalapenos and avocados, almost a ceviche, but pretty good. I then ordered a tagine with roasted vegetables, lamb kofte, couscous, and harissa sauce, which was also good.

The next morning, we drove to Schramsberg for a tour and tasting. Schramsberg is one of the more notable producers of American sparkling wine and is famous for being the bubbly frequently poured at state dinners and important hooplas at the White House. Our tour guide (whose second job is stand-up comedy - no joke) told us the story of the people and the place, keeping us interested and laughing. He led us through the dark Schramsberg caves, where they age their wine for years before releasing it. The caves were dark and cool and just a bit creepy, with cobwebs falling from the ceiling and a heavy air of history hanging about. We ended the tour in a small room of the cave lit with candelabra and a beautiful table set with champagne flutes and the various wines. We did our tastings here in this dramatic setting. We tasted the 2004 Blanc de Blanc, the '99 J Schram, the Brut Rose, and the 2000 Reserve. Was blown away, especially by the J. Schram and the Reserve. This was definitely my favorite place of the weekend, and it's making me rethink my Veuve Clicquot loyalties.

We had lunch at a forgettable Italian place in Calistoga, with some very basic pizza and pasta. We went on to visit Joseph Phelps, another producer of famous Napa Cabs. Well, if nothing else, this place had some of the most beautiful grounds I've seen. The wines weren't bad either, of course the Cabernet and the stellar Insignia being the highlights. But I think almost anything would taste good while looking at this view.

We ended at Freemark Abbey, partaking in an unusual vertical tasting of 3 different cabs of different vintages. Also good, but I was out of steam by then.

We did visit Dean and DeLuca twice while we were there - a place I could browse in for hours at a time. I bought a delicious TK (read: Thomas Keller) Oreo cookie at the bakery, fresh in from Bouchon.

We had the best dinner of the trip that night at Terra. The dining room walls are hewn stone, giving it a rustic atmosphere, but the mood was festive. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu, taking lots of time to make sure we understood the components of each dish. I chose the hamachi sashimi starter, which was excellent - generous slabs of fresh, flavorful fish dressed lightly in a vinaigrette and garnished with radish and a small green caviar. Beautiful. I also tasted the beef carpaccio, which was very good, and the lobster chowder with sweet corn, which was in the top 5 soups I've ever tasted. Great lobster flavor in the soup, and whole kernels of sweet corn bursting in the mouth. For the entree, I chose (surprise, surprise) the broiled black cod with accompanying shrimp dumplings. It was phenomenal, perfectly cooked. I had a couple glasses of a syrupy chardonnay that complemented the meal very well. Finally, I had the maccha green tea pannacotta with fresh strawberries. Another perfectly executed, interesting, and wonderful course. We had a bottle of 2004 Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc with dessert, toasting mom and dad's 45 years of marriage. A fitting end to a wonderful weekend.

Go Rockies!!

2007-10-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the Rockies for their playoff sweep and the chance to play the World Series. I freely admit that I don't follow sports of any kind, but it's hard not to get caught up in the frenzy that has enveloped our city. My sister, a former psychology major in college, sent me this very interesting article about being a sports fan.

It's a good read. I'm definitely BIRGing.

Not about food - random funny stuff

2007-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

My sister, while she was in town, directed us to two funny commercials posted on YouTube. Enjoy!

Sistahs!

2007-10-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

My sister came to visit me this past weekend. Even though I don't think we look much alike, I know we are related because of two things. First, even my mom sometimes can't tell us apart on the phone because our voices sound so similar. (Though with the advent of caller ID, we now seldom have the opportunity to play tricks on her anymore...) And second, we are both helplessly addicted to food. We love talking about it, eating it, making it, shopping for it, and dreaming about it. We talk about restaurants, ethnic cuisine, cooking at home, kitchen appliances, farmers markets. We travel all over the world just for food. And whenever we're together, the first thing we plan is our meals.

She is a long time fan of Sushi Den, so that was definitely on our itinerary. We had some incredible toro (of course) and other great sushi while seated at a two-top next to the window. We also had a tasty and spicy brunch at Lola, where they had just rolled out a new menu. The breakfast tacos, though not particularly authentic, were to die for. The weather was not particularly good this weekend, so we stayed home and made a cozy, hearty split pea soup with ham for one of our meals. Then we made homemade strawberry ice cream so that I could convince her that she needed her own ice cream maker for when we go to her place for Thanksgiving. (I'm dreaming of all the possible ice cream flavors already...)

It would have been a shame for her to visit without taking her to Frasca, but I had tried to get reservations without any luck. We hiked Mt. Sanitas one afternoon, trying to work off the buttery fatty tuna we had previously consumed, and while we were in Boulder, we decided to take our chances finding a walk-in spot. Not having planned ahead, we weren't quite dressed for dinner at such a fine establishment, but a quick trip to Ann Taylor Loft and the mall restrooms remedied the situation - so fun! We walked into Frasca, expecting to be seated at the bar, but were instead informed of a late cancellation - a table was available! We were seated next to the Salumi Bar - a prime location for watching the preparation of beautiful plates of cured meats and lovely, mouthwatering desserts. We immediately noticed the beautiful pear tart that sat unassumingly just a yard away, tantalizing us all through the meal.

We ordered the Livio Felluga Tocai Friulano 2006, a bottle recommended by the sommelier. Though my sister, Mr. M, and I all have different taste in wine, this bottle was a crowd-pleaser. We all loved it - it was spicy, apple-y, and big but balanced. Yum. We enjoyed the frico caldo, then each ordered an appetizer. We split all three - the creamy polenta with heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and dill; the montasio cheese flan with salsa verde and escolar conserva; and ricotta and sage ravioli with sweet corn and brown butter. All were quite good, but the ravioli was the hands-down favorite.

For our entrees, we did the same thing, sharing all three. We had the Parmesan risotto with rabbit and corn, the roasted leg of lamb, and the sliced pork leg with fingerling potatoes, onions, and pears. To drink, we had the Renato Ratti 2005 Barbera, quite good as well. Again, all the entrees were good, with the favorite being the sliced pork leg - a variation on the same dish I had at my last visit, with pears instead of peaches. We recommended it to the couple sitting next to us, and both of them ordered it (though we left before their entrees came - I hope they enjoyed it too!)

Our dinner ended with a slice of the perfect poached pear frangipane tart with vanilla frozen yogurt and a dusting of white chocolate. Incredibly good. The frozen yogurt was a great accompaniment, its tang complementing the sweetness just right. A couple seated at the salumi bar asked for our impression, and we gave it rave reviews. Hope they enjoyed it too.

Frasca approaches what is for me the perfect restaurant. The service is impeccable and a perfect balance between casualness and professionalism. The atmosphere is understated classy - it feels like a special meal, but it's also a place where you can chat with those seated near you and ask what's good. The wine I've had there is consistently fantastic (though I don't really have the budget to explore the breadth of the wine list). And the food. Well, that goes without saying.

I am still thinking of that meal and will continue to for a long time - not only tof he great food and wine, but also the experience of sharing it with two of the people I love most in this world. There's nothing that can match that in my book.

My sister's coming back to town for Christmas - do you think they're taking reservations for December yet?

In need of bionic eyes

2007-10-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

We met another couple for dinner at Il Posto last night. I haven't heard great things about this place, yet it's packed every night! We decided to see for ourselves.

We were seated at the high table by the window. It was a beautiful night, the window was open - loved sitting there. We ordered a bottle of Barbera and chatted until the waiter came over to explain the menu. The menu was written in miniscule print on a very dimly lit chalkboard high up on the wall on the other side of the room. The waiter went over the menu briefly, giving a few recommendations, but once he left it was impossible to read the menu. I asked for a printed menu but was told there were none available. Giving up, we decided just to order what he had recommended.

Most but not all of his recommendations were quite good. We had a crespelline filled with ricotta and caramelized onions - excellent, as well as the stuffed calamari - very good - to start. For the pasta course, we all split the gnocchi with arugula/pistachio pesto and the pappardelle with sausage ragu and oyster mushrooms - both just okay. I ordered the duck, which was very good, and Mr. M enjoyed the black cod. I was stuffed after this, but Mr. M ordered dessert - some sort of squash bread pudding recommended by the waiter that I really didn't like.

All in all, we had a great time with our friends, spending a leisurely 3 hours over dinner on a beautiful night at a great table. But the food was hit or miss, and the menu thing really bugged me. There are too many great restaurants in town - I don't think I'll be back here. At least not for the food.

Bottomless Mimosas? If you insist...

2007-10-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what this says about us (are we really old?), but Mr. M and I love Sunday brunch. We love sleeping in, only getting out of bed when we damn well feel like it, then lazily throwing on some clothes, driving to a restaurant, and letting someone else cook for us, wait on us, and then clean up after us. It seems like the ultimate luxury...

This Sunday we decided to try the new brunch menu at Tula in Cherry Creek. Former home to Papillon, Go Fish Grille, Indigo, and others, Tula is actually my favorite rendition of this space - in both atmosphere and food.

The waitress managed to twist our arms into ordering bottomless mimosas ($7). All of a sudden, we were having a great time!! We ordered the Southwestern Corn Bread - a heavenly combination of sweet, spicy, and savory - mmmm. I had Mexican Eggs, served with a mole enchilada and guacamole. Mr. M had the cleverly named "Green Eggs and Lamb". Both were awesome. Very good. I think. Best I can remember. I really liked the mimosas...

There's a new fish house in town...

2007-10-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I decided to splurge on a midweek date night - dinner and a show. Having heard the raves about Oceanaire recently, we decided to check out their fixed price pre-theater menu. We had tix to the 6:30 showing of "You Can't Take It With You" at the DCPA, so we showed up at Oceanaire bright and early at 5 o'clock. The restaurant is a fish house, but a classy, art-deco, white tablecloth kind of fish house. A row of semi-circular high-backed booths look out over the main dining room, and we were seated in one of these. I loved being able to people-watch as we looked over the menu, sipping on a couple of lovely Sidecars to get us in a celebratory mood.

The pre-theater menu is served from 5-6:30. For $30, you pick 3 courses from a limited selection off the menu. I had a very nice chopped salad followed by a very fresh and perfectly cooked stuffed Dover sole. Mr. M had a bowl of clam chowder and the fish and chips. The portions were generous, and everything was quite good except for the fried fish Mr. M ordered - the batter was mysteriously lacking in salt or flavor. We had a forgettable chocolate mousse and creme brulee for dessert. I won't hold those things against them though, as what I really care about is the fresh fish, which they seem to have plenty of! The regular menu looks fantastic - not cheap, but very tempting. We had the check in plenty of time to walk across the street for the show, but we'll definitely be back another time when we can afford to linger.

BTW, the show was excellent. Go see it before it's over!

Falafel and Friends

2007-10-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

A small group of us went to Jerusalem (on Evans down by DU) for dinner last night. We sat on the screened-in patio while stuffing our faces with good Middle Eastern food that comes out almost a moment after you ordered it. Loads of fresh pita bread accompany the meals, and mine (the vegetarian combo) was a smorgasbord of hummus, babaganoush, taboulleh, falafel, rice, fries, stuffed grape leaves, and fatouch salad. YUM! We finished the meal with a decadent honey-soaked baklava. Heavenly. I think overall I prefer Damascus (on South Colorado) because of it's incredible hummus. But Jerusalem is pretty good too.

A Fall Getaway

2007-09-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I took a much-needed romantic getaway to the mountains last week. We headed out of Denver mid-day, heading out I-70 before turning south at Copper Mountain. We drove through Leadville, Twin Lakes, and over Independence Pass towards Aspen, where we were staying 2 nights at the famed Hotel Jerome. The fall colors were spectacular along the way, especially around the Twin Lakes and Independence Pass areas.

Aspen was pretty sleepy and quiet while we were there - everyone said it was "off-season", though with the beautiful fall color and gorgeous perfect weather, I'm not quite sure why. We dined that evening at The Wild Fig, joining only a few other people in the restaurant. Though there weren't many folks there, the dining room is cozy, intimate, and warm. It's really a romantic spot. Though our food (lobster linguini for Mr. M; Wild Fig salad followed by Clams and Chorizo for me) was good, it wasn't great, but we thoroughly enjoyed the evening anyway with the aid of a lovely wine called Atteca Old Vines 2005 (100% grenacha, Spain). I highly recommend.

The next morning, I did the most beautiful bike ride I've ever done. Though I was definitely feeling the effects of the altitude while pedaling up this road, it really helps when the views look like this:

This was, of course, Maroon Creek Road, a 12-mile climb from Aspen up to the incredible Maroon Bells. This is the view that greets you at the top:

Not bad, eh?

And the descent was as exhilarating as the views.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Hotel Jerome pool. We were quite impressed with the hotel and would definitely stay here again.

To make up for our taxing, calorie-burning bike ride, we drove to Carbondale to visit Six89 that evening. Eating at this quaint place off Main Street almost feels like you are having dinner in someone's home - the dining area is all broken up into smaller rooms. This is a place that is nice (white tablecloths and imaginative food) yet doesn't take itself too seriously - a refreshing trait. They were having an off-season fixed price menu that was a fantastic deal - $26.89 gets you a small plate appetizer, a large plate entree, and dessert of your choice, anything off the menu!! I had an app of slow-cooked lamb shoulder with chevre agnolotti - wintry and rich, and a roasted halibut entree. Mr. M had a great spinach salad with sauteed wild mushrooms, and the filet of beef (of course). We sampled Riesling, Viognier, and Zinfandel by-the-glass, and by the time dessert rolled around, we were feeling merry. I topped the meal off with Hot and Spicy Ginger Beignets with dark chocolate ganache - yum! This was Mr. M's favorite meal of the trip.

The next day, we packed up and headed back towards Glenwood Springs, where we rode the Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail - an 18 mile ride from Glenwood Springs that runs along the river through the canyon to the other side. It's a beautiful ride on a paved bike path, with rest stops sprinkled conveniently every few miles.

We checked in at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, and immediately I wished I never had to leave. Our room and patio looked out to a beautiful quiet valley, tucked away behind the Beaver Creek/Edwards area and bursting with bright fall color. It was probably the most relaxing place I've ever been, and we'll definitely be making it a fall tradition to come back here every year. I swam in the pool overlooking this view and seriously thought I was in heaven.

We had dinner at Dish in Edwards. I've heard so much about this place and had really looked forward to trying it. We looked over the daily-changing menu while sipping a glass of bubbly and snacking on the tasty parmesan-truffle popcorn that's brought to every table. We decided to have the oft-discussed 7-course chef tasting menu for $40 per person. Our meal involved:
1. a slice of manchego and serrano ham served with a shot of sherry - a good start
2. a wonderfully thick and hearty five onion and potato soup - really good
3. a savory bread pudding with wild mushrooms, garlic, and truffle oil - pretty good
4. a roasted japanese eggplant with tomato sauce and white cheddar - not my fave. Mr. M said the tomato sauce tasted like Chef Boyardee (though I'm sure it wasn't). never a good sign.
5. spicy boiled crawfish - just ok. rather boring actually, for anyone who's ever had boiled crawfish regularly. and a couple of the crawfish had already gone off. at this point, my opinion of the meal and of the restaurant was that it was disappointing overall.
(A side note - we hit a really low point here, as our server told us we were done and that it was time for dessert. She even brought us our coffee and everything. I finally got up the nerve - again, I'm always a chicken about these things - to tell her that had we ordered each of the above off the menu, it would have amounted to $28 rather than the $40 they were supposedly charging us. She looked confused for a moment, and I offered her an out by supposing that maybe these portions had been bigger? Yes, that was it, she assured me. Five minutes later, she arrived back at our table explaining that she had made a mistake and there were still a few courses to come. I must have lost count, she said. I'm still not sure what happened here. Nevertheless, she then brought out the star of the evening...)
6. a pan-seared piece of fish served on a Asian-style soba salad and green onions. FANTASTIC. Truly great. Our server said it was sea bass, but it's really funny - this fish I'm sure was black cod. (If you've read my earlier post from Fruition, you'll see the irony in this situation...) This was the only dish that we were served that wasn't on the menu, though there was another black cod dish on the menu that evening. Anyway, this dish was so good that it redeemed the whole meal.
7. a buffalo sausage with a spicy bbq sauce. by this time, i was full, and i wasn't expecting this course. it was just okay to me.
8. cheesecake with homemade strawberry sauce. again, too full by now, but it was good, not great.

Overall, I'd say Dish didn't quite meet my expectations. Atmosphere-wise, it actually is pretty great - energetic, hip, and funky without being too noisy. But if I had it to do over again, I'd just go order what I wanted off the menu. I guess I thought that a chef's tasting menu would get you stuff that wasn't on the menu, but I guessed wrong, and if that's the case, I might as well pick out my own courses. I was also disappointed in the service and the snafu of cutting the meal short 3 courses before the end. I'll never know what would have happened had I not mentioned something to the server. Some of the food was so good that I'll have to go back and try it again, but this time, I'll be ordering for myself.

We splurged and ordered room service on our last morning of our mini-vacation, eating on the porch and looking out at the incredible view while wrapped in our comfy robes. I am sad to return home, but I wouldn't trade these past few days with my husband for anything.

Se habla espanol?

2007-09-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I have just recently discovered the joy of biking in our beautiful state of Colorado, and today we decided to attempt our first real climb. We drove out to Golden to ride up Lookout Mountain's Lariat Loop Road. I don't even think we actually thought we'd make it to the top, but we ended up doing it without even stopping! Not bad for first-timers, I'd say, though it was rather embarrassing to be passed so many times by so many people at such great speed on our ascent.

Anyway, after a hair-raising descent back down to the car, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, but also quite hungry. We got back in the car and headed back to town on Hwy 6, looking for a place to eat.

I'd always wanted to try El Taco de Mexico, with numerous people claiming that it's some of the most authentic Mexican food in town. It happened to be right on our way home, at Santa Fe and 7th.

The actual restaurant is not a place for atmosphere. It's rather confusing how it all works when you go in - there's a long counter, but no real line or ordering station. I'm not convinced that any of the employees speak English (a place after my own heart). Eventually we placed our order, then opted to sit outside rather than in the small crowded seating area inside.

If you've ever been to Mexico, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that eating on the street is exciting. The sights and sounds and smells, the knowledge that some of the very tastiest eats are being made right there in front of you. At the same time, it's not unlike playing Russian roulette. You never know what kind of "excitement" will be later afflicting your bowels. But some of the best tacos you'll ever taste will be the ones sold on the street.

For lunch, I tried tacos of 3 types - asada, carnitas, and lengua (tongue, for the uninitiated). All were very tasty - the type of taco you get on a street corner in Mexico, not at Taco Bell. The lengua was surprisingly my favorite - very tender and juicy. All tacos were priced under $2. Many of the other patrons were eating smothered burritos - I'll have to try those on the next visit.

So, if you're looking for a place to eat when arriving back from the mountains, stop by! It's fabulous that we can eat Mexican street food right here in Denver, and WITHOUT the "excitement."

A new toy!

2007-09-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

I've wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer for a long time. I've dreamed about the beautiful shiny appliance sitting on my counter, like a piece of artwork - a sculpture really. I dream that when I'm old, I'll treasure it like a trusted and faithful friend, a companion in my lifelong quest to eat well.

I finally bought one on a whim the other day (if you can call wanting it for 7 years a whim...) when I was aimlessly shopping on Amazon. I picked the chrome finish, then anxiously awaited its arrival.

Two days later, I pulled it out of its box and admired it. Wanting to put it to use right away, I perused the contents of my fridge, trying to think of something to make without having to go to the store.

I decided to improvise and make a cheesecake loosely based on another recipe I had. I had a half a box of gingersnaps in the pantry, so I decided to use them for the crust rather than the usual graham crackers (which I didn't have). And I've made this with fresh blueberries in the past, but strawberries would have to do today. And I thought a lemon would be a nice touch.

To make the crust, I whizzed about 50 gingersnaps (I even counted for you...) in my Cuisinart, then mixed them with a whole stick (but who's counting?) of melted butter. I pressed it into the bottom of a 10-inch springform. I then washed, dried, stemmed, and chopped a pound of fresh strawberries, laying them over the crust in the pan. Finally, I zested one lemon over the top of the strawberries, then laid the lemon aside. I stuck the pan in the fridge to chill while I made the filling.

I threw 2 blocks (1 lb) of room-temp Philadelphia cream cheese (full-fat variety and all!) into the silver bowl of my new toy. I added a 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs plus one yolk, and the juice of the zested lemon. With great anticipation, I started the mixer and let it do its beautiful work. Easy, easy, peasy.

I dumped the cream cheese mixture over the top of the fruit in the pan, spreading it to cover evenly. I baked it at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

While it was heating, I mixed 1 cup of sour cream with a dollop of vanilla. After the cheesecake was done, I increased the oven heat to 450, poured the sour cream topping over it, and baked it an additional 5 minutes. I then removed it from the oven and let it cool on the counter until I could chill it in the fridge.

This improvised recipe turned out quite nicely (especially according to Mr. M, who still has not claimed personal responsibility for the entire half of the cheesecake that was missing when I came home from work.) Though I like cheesecake of any kind, my preference definitely tends toward the more creamy and soft ones instead of the drier, cake-y ones, and this one definitely fits the bill. Enjoy!

In the Presence of Greatness

2007-09-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I got an ad (via email from 5280) that Frank Bonanno, chef/owner of renowned Mizuna and Luca d'Italia, would be teaching a few classes on making fresh Italian cheeses. These small classes of 10 students would be held in the Luca d'Italia kitchen and then topped off with a small tasting menu and wine pairings. Being a fan of cheese, of Luca d'Italia, and of Frank Bonanno, I called to reserve a spot right away.

I showed up Saturday afternoon at 3pm at Luca, in great anticipation of learning how to make fresh mozzarella. Chef Bonanno is an unassuming guy, very down-to-earth and approachable given his stature as a nationally known chef. He took us right back to the kitchen, where we tried to stay out of the staff's way as they prepared for a busy Saturday night service. We were offered glasses of Prosecco to sip as we watched him work his magic. He talked as he worked, telling us some of his own story in the process. His passion for food was genuine and evident in everything he said and did. As he melted the mozzarella curd and then carefully worked it into spheres, I was transfixed - seriously enraptured.

He talked about his passion for the freshest and best local ingredients. "I hate recipes," he said. "You should just go to the market and buy what looks the best, what's ripe, what's good. Because if you go looking for something specific, you very well may end up with shit." Straight from the horse's mouth.

He waxed poetic about salting the water for the mozzarella. "The thing I always tell home cooks is their most common mistake is that they don't season their food! This water should be saltier than sea water; it should be THAT objectionable..."

He spoke about his training and apprenticing in some of the best kitchens of the world. The appreciation for good ingredients that came from working with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry. "Keller was really intense, really serious about food." He worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy and France, at Gramercy Tavern in New York, each time saving up enough money to go work in these renowned kitchens for free for six months. Now that's dedication. That's passion. And having sampled the chef's tasting menus multiple times at Mizuna and Luca, I am the proud beneficiary of both his dedication and his passion.

He discussed his new venture, Osteria Marco (named after his second son, Luca being named after his first) which is slated to open in Larimer Square next month. It's to be a place that holds the values his other restaurants display (like using the best, freshest, housemade ingredients) while trying to be a more affordable, approachable place (than, say, Mizuna...) with nothing on the menu costing over $18. I can't wait.

He talked about Luca - that almost everything they serve is top quality, organic, local if possible, and the best and freshest available. They make their own grissini and breads, their own cheeses, their own salumi, which cures in their basement year-round except for July and August. They grow most of their own herbs, greens, and vegetables. And everything they serve is made fresh that day. Leftover mozzarella is either thrown out or smoked (in their own smoker, which Chef Bonanno bought at Sports Authority). Every pasta is made fresh daily (with the exception of the fusilli) then thrown out or given away at the end of the night.

What was also fascinating to me was the sheer number of people it took to run such an establishment. Their were seven people alone to work the line for the evening service. You add to that all the prep cooks who had been working all morning to prepare for the dinner service, all the dishwashers, all the waitstaff, the front of the house people, the sommelier. On top of all the hours and dollars it takes to get the best ingredients and make essentially everything in house, you're employing all these people just to serve dinner to 60 in an evening. Even though Luca would be considered by most people to be an expensive restaurant, chef Bonanno revealed that the profit margin in these fine dining establishments can actually be quite low. And I believe him, now that I've seen Luca's kitchen. And maybe I'm just a sucker, but now that I've seen all this, I wonder if they shouldn't even charge more. I'm not rolling in dough, but now I'll be a little more inclined to part with my money at places like Luca and Mizuna.

At the end of his cooking demonstration (that also included making a fresh agnolotti filled with fresh cheese and herbs), we were ushered back into Luca's dining room and seated at a table set for the ten of us. Sommelier Noel Martin poured three different Italian wines, giving a brief biography on each one. Our first course was a mozzarella tasting with two different levels of acidity. One was fresh mozzarella with heirloom tomato (salted well, of course, as "tomatoes really need a lot of salt!"), great extra-virgin olive oil, and 25 year aged balsamic; next to it was served fresh mozz with red onion and lemon cucumber that had been briefly (5 minutes) pickled in red wine vinegar. Both were good, but I preferred the former, as it just let all of the great ingredients just speak for themselves. The second course was a bruschetta of sorts, with gently melted mozz and some house-cured bresaola. This was heavenly - I could have eaten plates and plates. The final course was the agnolotti, dressed simply with a fresh tomato sugo and some olive oil.

All of this for just $45! Honestly, I would have paid that much just for the three courses of food and four tastings of prosecco/wine. Heck, I would have paid that much just to learn from Chef Bonanno for an hour or two and hang out in the Luca kitchen. And I got to do both...

Anyway, I was left this weekend with a profound sense of appreciation for his commitment and passion to his craft. Frank Bonanno truly inspires me, and I hope he remains in the Denver food scene for many years to come.

Perfection

2007-09-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, Mr. M had to leave town suddenly last week to attend to a family matter, leaving me home alone for five days as single working parent to our three and a half month old puppy. Suffice it to say that I was quite exhausted by the time he returned, and I hadn't really talked to him all that much either. I missed my friend.

I decided to snag some reservations for a special dinner the night after he returned home so that we could catch up. I booked a 5:30 table at none other than Frasca. I'm happy to note that it's still difficult to get a reservation here unless you book way in advance or are willing to eat very early or very late. At least I know they're doing good business and will continue to be around to satisfy my darkest food cravings, at least when I'm willing to drive to Boulder for dinner.

Denver saw just a hint of the winter to come just the day before, when temperatures never got above 60 degrees. Tuesday, though, was a beautiful warm day, and we elected to skip the elegant, airy dining room for the outdoor patio. Hey, we might as well enjoy it while we can...

I started with the fried lobster appetizer - a very simple dish served with some mortadella and fresh peach. It effectively transported me to the ocean while I was eating it. Seriously. The '05 Bisci Verdicchio paired quite well with it. Mr. M had the fresh tomato soup garnished with blue crab - which was beautfully elegant and pure in its simplicity - so refreshing, and tasted of summer itself. Mr. M then ordered the russet potato gnocchi - comfort food at its very best. On recommendation from our server, I ordered the Pork Leg, which had been slow-cooked for 24 hours and served with potatoes, cipollini onions, and fresh palisade peaches. It was quite possibly the best entree I've had this summer. Though summer is about over, you MUST go try this before the peaches are gone. The '05 Palama Primitivo was a good match for this. Finally, we ordered a chocolatey dessert that was good but admittedly not as "wow!" as the other food.

No better way to close out summer than with an amazing meal highlighted with the flavors of fresh tomatoes and peaches.

Service, as always, was impeccable. Professional and knowledgeable without an ounce of snobbery. This place truly amazes me in its seemingly effortless perfection. I guess the combination of the service with the outstanding food keep this place in business. And I hope it keeps it up.

Confession

2007-08-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I haven't been the most well-behaved this week. In addition to breakfast at Snooze Monday and dinner at Fruition Tuesday, I also had a burrito bol at Chipotle for dinner yesterday, and lunch at Parallel 17 today. Lunch today, I'm afraid, was followed by a girls' trip to the 7-11 across the street for some Haagen Dazs. I am afraid to step on the scale.

Fruition - A Hitch in the Get-along?

2007-08-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

I'd been eye-ing Fruition's summer menu a bit, since I hadn't been there in a couple of months. What caught my eye especially was the new black cod entree. For the uninitiated, black cod is an insanely buttery-rich, flaky fish that is actually not a cod at all. It has recently been "discovered" by gourmet restaurants everywhere and has appeared on many a notable menu. (Just for the record though, I was eating black cod before black cod was cool. My mom used to buy it at the Asian grocery store and cook it at home way before anyone else knew what it was!) Here in Denver, the best specimens I've found have been at Sushi Den and Zengo, but almost any place you look now, you can find some version of a miso black cod dish.

At Fruition, they were advertising a pan roasted black cod with orecchiette pasta, vegetables, mushrooms, and truffle oil - a small departure from the Asian flair that most black cod dishes wield. It intrigued me, and as I never pass up the opportunity to eat black cod, I made a reservation for a Tuesday evening. Mr. M and I were in need of a date night anyway, and this was just as good an excuse as any.

We arrived and were seated at the back corner banquette table. Not my favorite - it feels a little cramped, and the people beside you can definitely hear every word of your conversation, but maybe it's supposed to create a communal atmosphere.

We started with the chilled heirloom tomato soup with burrata grilled cheese - very fresh and summer-y tasting. We also tried the pasta carbonara, which was also quite good; the house-cured pork belly was truly a thing of beauty.

I ordered the black cod (of course), and Mr. M ordered the beef (of course). The beef was good, not great, yet the duck-fat fries were definitely great (how could they not be?). Mr. M loved the accompanying Fourme d'ambert cheese crumbles too.

Yet lo and behold, the fish that arrived on my plate resembled nothing like any black cod I'd ever seen or eaten before! Frankly, it was overcooked and rather tasteless. I had a few bites, then called the server over and expressed concern. Unfortunately, he had neglected to inform me that the kitchen was out of black cod and was serving striped bass instead...

I have actually never done this before (I'm always too "nice"), but I sent my plate back to the kitchen and asked for a different meal. Not only was it not what I had ordered, it was not cooked well either. I felt embarrassed, even though I don't think I should have. Only a few minutes later, a plate of diver scallops arrived, perfectly cooked. The fennel salad served on top was a tad sour for my taste, but the scallops themselves were excellent. The server apologized for his mistake, and my second meal arrived quickly, but that was the end of it. Maybe that was all I should have expected, but for a restaurant of that caliber, I would have thought maybe a small appetizer, dessert, or glass of wine would have been added to our meal gratis. But there was no further mention of the incident.

We left satisfied but a bit disappointed also. As you've read, I've been pretty impressed with Fruition up until this point. And every restaurant and its waiters can have "off" nights. But I guess I didn't expect it of a nationally-recognized place that's been impeccable up until now. It's funny - it takes a rather small gesture to smooth over a mistake like this, and when restaurants neglect to do it, they potentially lose some repeat business. Though I can't say I won't go back and give it another shot (mostly because of their transcendent appetizers), I'm sure not itching to go anytime soon...

For the first time, I'm going to actively solicit comments - what do you think? Was I right to send my plate back? Is what they did in response "enough", or am I too greedy and demanding in expecting more? I know I have high expectations, but aren't they justified when I'm dropping $50 per person on a meal? And do you think someone from the kitchen spat in my scallops? (I've been wondering that.) Let the debate begin...

Brief thoughts on Snooze

2007-08-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Met a girlfriend for breakfast at Snooze today. Snooze has been the latest Denver breakfast darling, and though its location may not be the greatest, the inside is great fun, and the menu pretty much makes you drool. I'd never been on a weekday before and was pleasantly surprised not to see the line snaking out the door as on the weekends. We had one of the round circular tables to ourselves. Though we were seated immediately, service was a bit lacking. However, I enjoyed their coffee and the company of my dining companion enough that it didn't matter so much. My friend had the (enormous) whole wheat blueberry pancakes, which looked great. I had breakfast tacos with chorizo, and they were also quite good. Much better than the huevos rancheros, which were a bit disappointing to me on prior visits. I still haven't been able to order any of the sweet entrees (pineapple upside down pancakes, molten chocolate french toast, snickers pancakes) myself, as I'm not sure I could handle such a large sugar load so early in the morning. Too bad they're not open late at night, 'cause they sound like they'd be great for dessert.

Lunch for one

2007-08-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

I took myself out to lunch today. After working all night, I felt like treating myself to a little something special. Life sometimes can be a bit much, so it's such a good thing for me to get away by myself to either process some things or just to relax.

Boulder is a great getaway because it's so close - just 30 minutes, and I feel like I'm away. It also is home to one of my favorite restaurants, The Kitchen. It's a place with great food, a nice vibe, and free Wi-Fi!! (So I can sit here blogging on my MacBook, looking like I'm working. I have them all fooled...)

Today, I had a half portion of the Abbondanza salad - a special salad of butter lettuce, creamy chevre, crispy bacon, and fresh sweet peaches. Yum. I also ordered the proscuitto and burrata flatbread - something on the menu that I've had my eye on for a long time but have never ordered. The flatbread was soft on the top and nice and crispy on the bottom, perfect. It was delicately draped with thin slices of proscuitto, then covered with dollops of fresh burrata. Burrata, for those unfamiliar, is a fresh Italian cheese that's basically mozzarella with cream; thus it tastes like a softer, more creamy, liquid-y mozzarella. The burrata was cool, added after the flatbread was baked, and then the whole dish was drizzled with a bit of olive oil. This was a masterpiece - the salty, rich proscuitto, the soft and crispy bread, and the cool, creaminess of the burrata combined to make my mouth sing in celebration and turn cartwheels in joy. Ok, I'm exaggerating. (But just a little.)

Before I admit that I had dessert and coffee too, I have to add this little self-congratulatory note: since I got back from Las Vegas and Mr. M and I had our talk about saving money by trying to eat out less, I've lost 5 pounds. Now, that's just a pound a week, but it's definitely made a difference. Now, I would never be one to advise people to eat out less - I appreciate good food and good restaurants way too much to do that. But for me, that one small change, painful as it has been, has at least had an "up" side as well.

Anyway, to celebrate, I did splurge and have angel food cake with Chantilly cream and fresh strawberries. And coffee. Because you can only deprive yourself so much.

I bet I just gained those 5 pounds back.

Fish tacos

2007-08-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

From some leftover salmon that I had, I made some delicious and healthy fish tacos. I filled white corn tortillas with the fish and topped them with salsa and the roasted red pepper sauce that I'd had leftover from the kabobs. Easy as pie.

Sushi Den 2?

2007-08-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit this past weekend. One of my family's favorite things to do when visiting us in Denver is enjoying a meal at Sushi Den. Obligingly, we planned our outing for Saturday evening.

On arrival at around 6:30, there was already a line out the door. Mr. M stood patiently in line for one of the privileged talking beepers and was told that the wait would be 30-45 minutes; however, if we were so inclined, we could be seated immediately down the street to their newly opened sister restaurant (or stepchild?), Izakaya Den.

We decided to walk down to check it out while waiting for a table. We walked in to find an extremely harried hostess with nary a smile or greeting for us as we entered. I asked to see a menu, and one was unceremoniously plunked down in front of me with a sigh. I perused it briefly, then dared to ask to see the sushi menu as well. The one that was proffered showed most of the basic nigiri, including toro and uni, but nothing really special.

We looked around the restaurant - it's actually a decent space, especially the small slightly crowded patio in the front, enclosed on three sides with the fourth being a tiny bamboo fence. It looked like a pleasant spot to share drinks and snacks with friends. There was a large bar and sushi bar as well.

One of the waitresses approached us and asked if we'd like a table. I asked her more about the sushi and was told that the nigiri is the same as we would get across the street. We decided to sit and try it out.

When we were seated, another sushi menu (much abbreviated from the first) was handed to me, missing some of my favorites - I'm not really sure why it was different. When I asked the server about it, she said that this menu contained everything that was available that day from the sushi bar. I looked over the regular dinner menu, and though it might have appealed to me on a different day at a different time, I had my mind already set on sushi. My mouth was watering for some buttery rich toro, some briny uni, and maybe something new from the chef specials menu. We regrettably informed our server that we would be waiting for our table at Sushi Den instead.

By that time, a spot at the sushi bar at Sushi Den had opened up, and we were seated immediately. We enjoyed the Japanese Wasabi appetizer - fresh bincho with real wasabi (not the powdered kind) grated over the top, then ordered a ton of nigiri and some sushi rolls. We splurged on 2 pieces of toro each and also tried the fresh kodai and kampudai from the chef's menu, both which were excellent. As is our usual, we blew $60 per person in under an hour.

Maybe one day, when I'm not in the mood for sushi (though when would that be?), I'll go back and try Izakaya Den - they had some interesting-sounding dishes on the menu, and if your taste for sushi is limited to your routine tuna and salmon nigiri, I'm sure it would be fine. But if you're serious about sushi, I would skip Izakaya and just stick with the tried and true.

Lunch, if you're beautiful enough...

2007-08-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

I strolled through Cherry Creek North yesterday, walking to meet a friend for lunch at North. Along the 2 short blocks that I walked from my car to the restaurant, at least eight tall, beautiful, willowy-thin women in designer clothes, the latest "it" handbags, and three-and-a-half inch Jimmy Choos passed me by. No kidding. Sure, there were plenty of regular joes like me around, walking their dogs or just enjoying the first day of respite from the 100-degree weather we've had the past week. Being me, of course, I had donned a plain denim skirt and T-shirt, wore my sunglasses as a headband, and slid into my comfy Born sandals before running out the door. In the restaurant, it was even worse. This may possibly be the only place in casual Denver where you can feel under-dressed for lunch.

Attire concerns aside, we had a lovely lunch. The modern decor, sexy vibe, and large picture windows looking onto a gorgeous summer day made for a pleasing backdrop against which we enjoyed our meal. The bread and roasted red pepper spread they bring to the table is always a low-carb-diet buster. We split the "Tutta la casa" salad - a chopped salad with goodies like capers, onions, proscuitto, salami, and gorgonzola nestling in the soft mounds of romaine. We also split the roasted eggplant pizza, with a thin crispy crust and a faint scent of truffle oil adorning the simple cubes of aubergine. The damage was only $13 per person, which is a good thing. If I want to keep eating here, I'll have to step up my wardrobe...

Great Easy Company Recipes

2007-08-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm usually a little anal when it comes to having people over to the house for dinner. I'm not really sure why - maybe it's personality, maybe it's pride, maybe it's the pressure I put on myself to serve a great meal because everyone knows I love food so much. Whatever the case may be, I generally don't like to try recipes for the very first time when company comes over, for what if disaster strikes and it doesn't turn out well? As I've quoted in a previous post, when company comes, "cook what you know". So occasionally, I'll put together an entire dinner as if company was coming over, when actually, the only guests are myself and the dashing Mr. M. He is my guinea pig, so to speak, but far be it from him to complain about it.

Last night, I wanted to try something summery and quick - something I could put together even if I was having people over on a weekday night after work. I decided on a menu of grilled kebabs with a roasted red pepper dipping sauce, along with an orzo salad with feta, basil, pine nuts, green onions, and cherry tomatoes.

The orzo salad is from a recipe that appeared last spring in Bon Appetit magazine and is one of Giada De Laurentiis's (the famous, top-heavy, Food Network celebrity chef that can't possibly eat anything she makes) recipes. That aside, it is actually one of my go-to dishes for company already. I've made it tons of times before and am really comfortable with it, but I wanted to see how it would go with the kebabs. The recipe is quite simple, and just by reading it, you'd never believe how good it is when it comes out. I don't modify a thing. Really, you have to try it to believe it, even if you're not usually a fan of pasta salad! I made it with fresh basil and tomatoes from our garden, which makes a difference I think. The only thing you cook is the pasta - everything else is just mixed in, so it comes together so easily. You can make this an hour or two in advance and let it sit at room temperature to let the flavors mix, mellow, and meld...

I was inspired to make the kebabs from this post from one of my favorite food blogs. I simplified it just a bit and modified it to accommodate what I had and didn't have in the house and garden. (I unfortunately didn't have any extra lemons to use as suggested in her blog post, but I can't wait to try it for next time.) I used:

16 oz whole white button mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper cut in large squares
2 small zucchini (of course) cut in one inch thick coins
1 package extra firm tofu cut in cubes
1 red onion cut into 8 wedges (helps to leave them attached to the root end)
half of a big thick steak, cut in cubes - (omit if there are vegetarians, use more if there are carnivores coming)

I threaded these prettily onto 4 oiled extra long metal skewers. I drizzled them with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sent them outside with Mr. M, who grilled them to perfection.

Meanwhile, I made a roasted red pepper dipping sauce for the kebabs. Not having quite all the ingredients for the sauce suggested in the aforementioned blog recipe (who the hell has pomegranate molasses hanging around in the pantry?), I made do with what I had. Into my food processor went:

1 jar roasted red bell peppers (without the juice)
large handful of pine nuts
the leftover tofu that didn't fit on the skewers
a dollop of my thick homemade Greek-style yogurt that I keep in the fridge
a bit of hot smoked paprika (wonderful stuff!)
salt to taste

I whizzed all of this together, tasting as I went, and discovered it was quite nice. I poured it in a small bowl to serve with the kebabs.

When we served up our dinner, there were beautiful palettes of summery colors on our plates. It was delicious - the smoky kebabs went very nicely with the creamy but light red pepper sauce, and the lemony orzo salad complemented and rounded out the meal well. And the only thing I had to do on the stove was boil pasta!!

I can't wait to try this out on my next unsuspecting guests. Anyone want to come over?

Puppy Pics

2007-08-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Totally unrelated to food, yet the cause of much fun and laughter (as well as much potty training and crate training consternation) around our house the past couple weeks, is our new puppy. Maybe it's mommy's pride, but I think she's the cutest thing ever.

Tomato Basil omelet

2007-08-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

It may surprise some of you to know that Mr. M is actually a pretty good cook. He is a master on the grill, but his second specialty is breakfast.

This morning, he went out to the garden and harvested some of the beautiful red tomatoes that are ripening in the sun this month. He also grabbed some generous handfuls of basil - our plants are going crazy despite one huge batch of pesto I already made just a few weeks ago! He chopped the tomatoes and basil, then some red onion. He sauteed the onions over medium heat until they were caramelized.

He then made a beautiful 3-egg omelet for each of us, stuffed to bursting with mozzarella cheese, the sweet, caramelized onions, the sun-warm, ripe tomatoes, and the pungent fresh basil. With some fresh ripe Rocky Ford cantaloupe on the side, it was quite the heavenly breakfast.

Family-style Italian

2007-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

A friend's birthday was this weekend, and she was requesting Italian. She'd never been to Carmine's on Penn, but I had celebrated many a friend's birthday there, and the noisy, boisterous, festive atmosphere would be just right for our little party.

Something that is a bit annoying about Carmine's is that the menu is posted on a large chalkboard (for example, "Pasta Boscaiolo") without any explanations of what each dish is. I suppose that the regulars never have to ask, but our friends had never been here, and I had a hard time remembering. Our server, however, was great about patiently explaining the ingredients of each dish. The food is served family-style in insanely large portions. Eventually, after much discussion with our server, we ordered a Caesar salad (pretty standard, nothing special), the Pasta Boscaiolo (spaghetti with portobello, spinach, and some other veggies - really good) and the Chicken Pazzo (chicken scallopines with eggplant and cheese on top - also very good). It was PLENTY of food for the four of us - we never came close to finishing the salad or the pasta. We enjoyed a bottle of Italian white - a Tocai blend - that was very good. For dessert, we split a cookie thing with fruit and cream on top - yum. The meal came to about $130. Which included the free entertainment. Yes, really - there was no extra charge for the loud slurred conversations peppered with episodic bouts of ear-splitting belly laughs from drunken patrons at nearby tables. Can you believe it? It all adds to the fun-loving atmosphere to be had at Carmine's. Happy Birthday, M!!!

Season's Eatings

2007-08-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I hit Potager tonight with some friends of ours who live in Evergreen. Being that our friends are mountain folk with two young kids (and we are DINKs in Central Denver), it's not often that we get together with them, so we felt privileged to go out on the town with them. I hadn't been to Potager at all for the past year, but a friend recently went and raved to me about the late summer menu, and I was inspired.

In case you've never heard of it, Potager is a lovely little place on a tucked-away corner in Capitol Hill. The chef, Teri Rippeto, has been called "the Alice Waters of Denver", due to her devotion to fresh, seasonal ingredients and locally farmed produce. The menu changes every month or so to showcase whatever happens to be growing at that time. Though this emphasis has become "trendy" in recent years, Potager is anything but trendy. This restaurant seems really genuine in it's love for good, local, fresh ingredients, and they're not just doing it to be cutting edge.

Mr. M and I showed up early and sipped a glass of bubbly at the long concrete L-shaped counter-height bar (which I love). The bar overlooks the open kitchen, where bowls of ripe peaches and bundles of fresh produce were in abundance. The atmosphere is light, airy, peaceful, and classy without an ounce of pretension. When our friends arrived, we grabbed a table out on the patio. There is a beautiful garden out back, perfect for enjoying a summer evening meal. We pored over the menu, having a hard time deciding what to order, as everything sounded so good. Eventually, we decided on mostly small plates with a couple of entrees to placate the boys.

We had a wonderfully fresh and crisp green bean salad with fried onions and nasturtium flowers - excellent. The goat cheese souffle was delicate, light, and full of flavor - I could have had one to myself. A nice corn pancake, some ruby-red house cured salmon, and some yummy lamb meatballs gracing the table as well. Portions of the appetizers were on the small side. The two entrees of steak and fish were eaten mostly by the guys, though I did sneak a taste of Mr. M's steak, which was really good. We had one bottle of Viognier with our dinner that was just okay to my taste. For dessert, we split the peach berry cobbler and a buttery, delicious almond cake. All in all, the damage was about $50-60 per person - definitely not cheap. But it was some of the best food we've had. At least this week.

Quick and Easy Stroganoff

2007-08-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

In a hurry tonight to get dinner ready, I decided to make a quick, easy, healthier version of a childhood favorite. I boiled some salted water for some whole wheat linguine pasta. While that was going, I sliced some sweet Walla Walla onions and some steak into thin strips. I sauteed the onions first, carmelizing them until they were brown and gooey. I then browned the steak strips and seasoned them with salt and pepper, which took only a few minutes. I then deglazed the pan with a generous pour of red wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Finally, I added a couple good-sized dollops of my homemade yogurt, whisking it in off the heat. The sauce was creamy and rich without all the fat of sour cream or heavy cream. I served this over the whole wheat linguine, and dinner was ready in the blink of an eye.

The Un-glorious Transformation

2007-08-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard, Sketch in Cherry Creek closed and miraculously turned into a new restaurant in just 3 weeks. When I heard this, I was sad that my June 19th post seemed to be a harbinger of bad things to come for Sketch, but I can't say I didn't see it coming given the lack of butts in the seats. I was also amazed that it could undergo a transformation in such a short amount of time. The location now houses a restaurant called Tambien, run by those who also opened Mezcal on Colfax and Chama in Belmar. There was a big ad in the Westword last week saying there would be happy hour all weekend at Tambien in celebration of its grand opening.

Mr. M and I decided to check it out today, as we are fans of Mezcal. The dining room had been dressed down a bit and opened up past that lovely wine wall that I'd always loved about Sketch. Overall, the menu is almost an exact duplicate of the menu at Mezcal. The house margaritas didn't compare to those at Mezcal either. We ordered the chips and 3 salsas (a bit of something new - a green tomatillo, smoky chipotle, and honey habanero) which were good. The queso and tacos we had were also good, but if we'd wanted to go to Mezcal, we would have gone to Mezcal. It quickly became clear to me how they had turned the restaurant around so fast: they basically copied everything from their other restaurant and opened a Mezcal 2. Unfortunately, as with most sequels (with the very notable exception of The Bourne Ultimatum), this one was not as good as the first.

I'm disappointed and will actually miss Sketch, especially given what it's become. I likely won't be returning for awhile. The only question I have is: what did Sketch do with all that wine, and will they give some of it to me?

Mish-smash

2007-08-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

A rather boring food week and weekend was had due to the arrival of a new family member - an 8-week old puppy we named Naia, after one of our favorite Spanish white wines. Anyway, all I have to say is that it's a good thing that puppies and babies are so cute, because otherwise no one would ever want one.

We did make it to another Botanic Gardens concert where we thoroughly enjoyed sipping a fabulous 2005 Pra Soave (an Italian white) while listening to Patty Griffin.

This afternoon, Mr. M was hungering for a good old-fashioned hamburger. We stopped at Smashburger, a new burger joint in a strip mall at Colorado and Mississippi. Overall, it's a good concept - a step up from your generic fast food chain, where you order at the counter and the burgers are brought to the table; the place also has a liquor license. There is a choice of everything from burger size, bun, cheese, sauce, and fixin's. The burger was pretty good, and the fixin's seemed fresh. The service was somewhat lacking in that Mr. M, while looking for something to dress up his fries, could not find a single full bottle of ketchup in the restaurant. When he brought this to the attention of the staff, they proceeded to bring him yet another mostly empty ketchup bottle for him to puzzle over. A burger done exactly to your specifications, with any of the toppings, is less than $5. Pretty decent meal, if that's what you're in the mood for. Still can't hold a candle to the burgers at the Cherry Cricket, but I really don't think they're competing in the same category, so how can you compare? Good if you want a step up from Mickey-D's but don't want sit-down service at the Cricket.

This evening, I went over to a friend's place, and she treated me to a hearty meal of Cincinnati chili, made from the cans of sauce sold by Skyline chili. For some reason, it seemed better this time around than when I had it in Cincinnati last month, maybe because I wasn't eating it in a fast-food dining room. All that was missing was a scoop of Graeter's ice cream!

Chinese for the broader palate

2007-07-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I met another couple at Little Ollie's in Cherry Creek for dinner last night. Having lived in Denver for 5 years, I had never patronized this restaurant, though it has always received good reviews. I guess I'd always lumped it in the category containing the likes of P.F. Chang's - just a gussied-up version of Panda Express or the Super China Buffet. I imagined sweet and sour pork, bright pink and dripping with a sticky, cloyingly sweet syrup. General Tso's chicken, with a half-inch layer of spongy batter clinging to the meat. Fried wontons and egg rolls, the likes of which would never be seen in an Asian country. I always maintained that I could get real Chinese food that is twice as good and half the price over on the west side of town off Federal, so why should I pay so much for the privilege of eating Chinese food in Cherry Creek?

But, seeing as how friends are more important than my personal Chinese-food prejudices and snobbery, we arrived at Little Ollie's with only a surprisingly short tirade about the above dying on my lips.

We were immediately seated (on a Saturday night at 7pm) at a table in the outer dining room area. The large windows were all open, giving it a feel of an outdoor patio. The evening was beautiful and cool, and we enjoyed the blooming flower boxes hanging outside right next to the table. While we were perusing the menu, Mr. M reminisced to our companions his introduction (upon marrying me) to REAL Chinese food, chicken feet and all, which I'm sure much improved the appetites of our dining companions. Good times, good times.

We split 3 entrees between the 4 of us - the Yushan beef, vegetable lo-mein, and Ollie's shrimp. The first two were okay - nothing terrible but nothing terrific or memorable, the beef beating out the noodles by a hair. The third, however, was surprisingly good and made me rethink a few of my ingrained-from-birth tendencies to avoid these places like the plague. It was an excellent combination of flavors and also artfully arranged. Even better was that we ran just a little over $10 per person for the food. Not bad for Cherry Creek, especially for a table in the pleasant outer dining area, and very good for our new pocketbook-conscious goals.

I don't know if I'll ever really develop a taste for this new genre of food. I can't really call it Chinese, but I could call it "Chinese for the broader palate." It seems quite popular, as Ollie's and PF Chang's seem packed every night. For me, it will always be a completely separate entity from the food I truly love, but at least I think I'm beginning to appreciate it for what it is.

Bottom line: Good atmosphere and relatively inexpensive for its neighborhood. Food overall just okay, but some dishes at Little Ollie's may just surprise us.

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

2007-07-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

At this point, I don't know what to do about my zucchini plant. I turn my back for a day or two, and all of a sudden I have enough zucchini to fill the bed of a pickup truck. What to do, what to do...

My beloved sister, knowing my plight, emailed me this fantastic zucchini bread recipe as soon as she saw it. It's not your typical zucchini bread - I was drooling just reading the list of ingredients that included crystallized ginger, poppy seeds, and curry powder, of all things! I made a batch today, adjusting it a little for altitude (less sugar, less leavening, higher temp, more liquid), and baking them in my new silicone bread pans. The result was fantastic - much more interesting and unique than your typical zucchini bread. Would definitely make this again, and might soon given my overly fertile zucchini plant.

I also made a chocolate zucchini cake, which was good also. Very moist. Nothing earth-shattering, but definitely a good way to use up some extra zucchini.

I fed both to friends, coworkers, and Mr. M with good response. My only complaint is that I still have too much zucchini!!!!

Addendum - Jerk Chicken Pasta

2007-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

A follow-up to my July 19th post about jerk chicken:

I made another batch with my leftover marinade from the other day, sending Mr. M out to grill the chicken. I asked him to bring back the marinade after he got the meat on the grill.

I sauteed some sweet onions until caramelized, then added some sliced red bell pepper. To this I added the leftover marinade and simmered for awhile before adding a smidge (okay, a bit more than a smidge) of heavy cream that I had leftover from all my ice-cream making exploits. I sliced the grilled chicken breast and layered it with the sauce over whole wheat pasta. Quick, easy, and very good, especially with a full-bodied white wine...

Car-camping cooking

2007-07-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I decided to take a 4 day weekend and enjoy some of the best that Colorado's got to offer. As you might gather, summer is my favorite season here, and the mountains in the summer is the stuff of dreams.

We decided to camp at a tiny campground (10 sites) called Lost Lake off of Kebler Pass near Crested Butte. We arrived around noon on Friday, taking the next-to-last spot for the weekend. The campground is adjacent to Lost Lake Slough, and it's one of the prettiest picturesque spots around. The size of the campground also means it's nice and quiet, essential for enjoying the lake and the surrounding conifer and aspen forest. As it was just the week after the Crested Butte Wildflower festival, the blooms still blanketed the alpine meadows. And by night, you would never imagine the sky having so many stars.

I've lived in CO for a good many years but still haven't been backpacking - only car camping. Besides having to dig your own toilet, a task which I am keen to avoid, I also have no desire to eat freeze-dried beef stroganoff paired with vintage giardia-laden stream water for dinner. Because when we camp, I refuse to suffer culinary or alcoholic deprivation. Why ruin a perfect setting with a less-than-perfect meal?

One of our favorite things to cook is, of course, chili. We have a large iron skillet that we heat directly on the grate over the blazing campfires that Mr. M so skillfully creates. It's nothing fancy - chopped onions, ground beef, canned kidney beans, canned corn, tomatoes - but the mountain air and smoky campfire must be the secret ingredient, because nothing ever tastes so good. And though we drink ice-cold Corona that's been chilling in the cooler while we set up camp in the warm afternoon, our chili dinner is accompanied by a big flavorful Italian red - sooo good as the evenings turn crisp and cool. Who ever said camping was "roughin' it"? It doesn't have to be!

On another note, if you ever camp here, you can take a short 3-mile loop around the lake (Three Lakes Trail) and see such vistas as these:

Jerk Chicken Salad

2007-07-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

Walking down Platte a few months ago after a particularly large pie at Proto's, my nose led me to a non-descript storefront a few doors down. Intriguing and tantalizing aromas wafted out the door as a steady stream of customers came and went. Peering curiously in the screen door of the establishment, I watched and listened as people smelled, tasted, and discussed the contents of the hundreds of glass jars on shelves lining the walls. I had discovered Savory Spice Shop.

Savory Spice Shop grinds their spices fresh each week, you can smell/taste anything you want before you buy it (you get to try a lot of new things too - like yummy grains of paradise!), and you can buy as little as you need for any given recipe. The conventional wisdom says that your entire spice cabinet should be thrown out and replaced yearly to maintain the flavors. Embarrassing to admit, but I have some rarely used spices in the back of the cupboard that I've had for ages. All that to say, I appreciate that I can buy small amounts of freshly ground or whole spices - just what I need so that they don't collect dust while taking up space in my kitchen.

The other great thing about the Savory Spice Shop is all of the seasoning blends that they have compiled and offer for sale. There are a plethora of dry rubs, seasonings, dressings, marinades - even some flavored cheese sprinkles (I know, sounds gross, but tastes good!) for tossing over popcorn. These are reasonably priced, and again - you can smell and taste to your heart's content - there are tons of them. The staff are enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and they'll tell you how to use what you buy if you need a tip. These mixes make cooking super quick and easy, which is nice for us busy folk.

On a recent trip to the shop, I got to talking with one of the employees about the Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (I love spicy food); she was raving about it! I took the jar off the shelf, unscrewed the lid, and leaned in for a whiff. Too late, the employee warned me just to take a gentle sniff. Instead, I got 2 lungfuls of airborne Habanero pepper that caused my respiratory system to rebel. From the label:

We meticulously hand mix this spicy blend from toasted minced onion, salt, garlic, sugar, allspice, thyme, chives, black pepper, nutmeg, Saigon cinnamon, sage and habanero. Please note that the ground habanero chiles in this blend register around 250,000 scoville heat units, which is 10 times hotter than a jalapeno. This is why we only put 3/4 of an ounce into our 13 1/2 lb. batch!

When I recovered from my sneezing/coughing fit, I took another gentle whiff. It smelled soooo good. I bought a small bag, which conveniently came with the recipe for the marinade:

To serve 4 to 6; mix 6-9 tbsp. jerk spice with 3 tbsp. olive oil, 3 tbsp. soy sauce, 6 tbsp cider vinegar, 6 tbsp. orange juice and 4 tbsp. lime juice. Pour over your meat of choice and marinate 4 to 12 hours. (Makes enough for 2-3 lbs. of meat.) For a spicier version, use more jerk spice with the same amount of liquids. If you’re in a time crunch, skip the marinating process and just brush the liquid mixture on and grill. It will still be great, but nothing will beat marinating overnight.

Supposedly, it is good for chicken, pork, shrimp, ribs, or steak. I went for the classic and used chicken breast, which I put into the marinade first thing in the morning. That evening, I grilled them outside, the surface caramelizing into little bits of rich, yummy goodness, the inside remaining juicy and tender. I sliced and served them over salad greens with a plain vinaigrette, my favorite part being the little end bits that were slightly charred and where the flavor was concentrated. Dinner was ready in less than 15 minutes. Healthy, fast, and packed full of heat and flavor. I might put the leftovers on a sandwich, or over pasta. Hell, it's even good eaten with fingers right out of the fridge.

Maybe I'll be forced to go to Jamaica now to see if my version is authentic. You gotta do what you gotta do, you know.

A bend in the road

2007-07-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I decided to take a close look at our finances last night. Never a good idea. As you might gather from our recent travel and eating extravaganzas, we were not exactly following the budget that we had proposed a year ago.

We have also experienced a significant amount of spontaneous clothes shrinking in our house lately, especially of waistbands. (What's up with that? Are your clothes doing that too, or is it just us?)

In light of these two dilemmas (as well as the fact that we would like to properly furnish our house that we moved into over a year ago), we have made a commitment to curb our out-of-control spending habits and quit eating out 8 times a week. A serious commitment for a food-lover such as myself. Can I do it? Only time will tell. But in the meantime, you may see more recipes than restaurant reviews on this site. I'll let you know how it goes. If I start to slip, it's up to you to save me...

Noodle salad and strawberry ice cream

2007-07-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we had tickets to see The Neville Brothers at the Gardens again. I bought a creamy Cambozola cheese for our picnic, then decided to make a cold soba noodle salad. Soba noodles are great - they cook in 4-5 minutes, are good for you, and are great for a picnic.

While I boiled the noodles, I julienned some zucchini from our garden (it's coming out our ears now about this time in the summer), chopped some red bell pepper and red and green onions. I ran the cooked noodles under cold water, then dressed them with a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. I added the chopped veggies and put it in the fridge to chill before the picnic, next to the bottle of Chablis (Domaine du Chardonnay) I'd bought a few weeks ago from Little Raven and had been saving.

While at the store that morning, strawberries were on sale, so I bought a whole bunch and decided to make a special treat for Mr. M. He LOVES strawberry ice cream, so I decided to try this Epicurious recipe out with my new ice cream maker. I made up the custard and pureed the strawberries and left them to chill in the fridge while we went to the concert.

We enjoyed our dinner, immensely enjoyed our wine, especially with the accompaniment of some great tunes. When we got home, I put the ice cream in the machine to freeze, and 30 minutes later we were enjoying a very tasty summer treat! After a few hours in the freezer, it was even better, and Mr. M hasn't stopped eating it since. He sneaks a spoonful every time he passes through the kitchen!! The lemon adds a lot to brighten up the flavor of the berries. You might just have to buy an ice cream machine just for this...

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...(except the extra pounds)

2007-07-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

As much as I am in love with Mr. M, sometimes it's really fun to go on a GIRLS vacation. I did something very good for my soul this week and went to Vegas with an old girlfriend of mine. We've lived in different cities for over 6 years now, and it's sometimes many, many months between our visits. We decided to go to Vegas not because we are gamblers (I think we gambled one coin during our visit - can't remember if it was a nickel or a quarter...and we lost!), but mostly because the hotels and flights were affordable and it wasn't that far away. Let me tell you though, the weather in Vegas in July is NOT ideal. Just in case you were wondering. As I was walking up the Strip sightseeing, I kept remembering the views from last weekend's hike in Beaver Creek. A little different from the scenery I was seeing in Vegas, if you can imagine. Where else can you see half-dressed, drunk people carrying around foot-long margaritas stumbling up and down the street? Anyway, here are some pics; I'll only show you the tasteful ones.

We had a great time, exploring the hotels on the Strip while sipping daiquiris, doing some shopping (Ann Taylor, White House Black Market) and window shopping (Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik), sitting by the pool, people watching, and just having some great heart-to-hearts. But yes, you want to hear about the meals!! Okay, okay...

Now, Vegas is famous for having a restaurant by just about every celebrity chef you can think of. You can get any food, especially if you're willing to pay any price. Overall, I found that (good) food costs about twice what I would normally pay. But I definitely had some great eats.

We were staying at the MGM Grand, so the first night we arrived we went to Fiamma (of SoHo fame), in the hotel itself. My friend wasn't that hungry, but somehow I convinced her to share a 3 course meal with me - she'll never trust me again! We started with a Kobe beef arancine appetizer with a tomato coulis...to die for! We had two pastas, both of which were superb - a fusilli with proscuitto and peas in a creamy sauce, and a gnocchi with huge bits of lobster claw meat. Finally, we had a sauteed branzino, very fresh and delicate. I drank a Cortese white wine from Piemonte. Total bill was $160 for the two of us - pricey, but good eats.

The next day, we didn't leave our comfy bed until mid-morning, so it was lunchtime before we were looking for a snack. We walked up to the Paris and went to Mon Ami Gabi, a cute litte French bistro that makes you feel a million miles away from Vegas (in a good way!) We sat inside in the room overlooking the patio and the Strip, and it was a cool, relaxing place for lunch. The waiter recommended the Quiche Lorraine, which was fantastic - creamy, flavorful, with a hint of nutmeg and some caramelized onions - very nice. We split the bananas foster crepe for dessert - some decadent caramel sauce on that baby... Affordable place with great atmosphere.

We were looking to save some cash that night, so we went to Noodles at the Bellagio. I am generally suspicious of Asian noodle houses that sell dishes for $16. I am used to paying about 1/4 of that price. But as a dinner option, it was one of the least expensive places to go. We ordered the spicy thai shrimp noodle soup, which was actually really good! Total comfort food for me - it hit the spot. We split some spicy fried flat rice noodles as well that were pretty good. Overall, very affordable and good food (though you can get the same thing for $4-$5 in any major city). We watched a few "performances" of the Bellagio fountains on our way out, including a dramatic choreograph of "Con Te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli that had the woman next to me sobbing in tears. Hmm. Weird. But definitely the best free show in Vegas.

The next day, we made it all the way to the Venetian for breakfast (okay, brunch), to partake of Bouchon, a Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) restaurant. It too is a classic French bistro located in the Venezia tower - a bit out of the way, and thus quite nice with a more private feel. Breakfast today, we decided, would be sugar. The pastries were amazing - we had a chocolate-almond croissant (with good quality, dark chocolate baked inside and drizzled on top) and a strawberry croissant (excellent, yummy, perfect, divine). My friend had the sourdough waffles, quite good, and I had the french toast. The french toast was more of a dessert than a breakfast - a custardy, rich, bread-pudding of sorts with thinly sliced apples that somehow tasted more "apple-y" than any apples I'd ever had. If I'm ever back in Vegas, I mean to go back for the corned beef hash, which our waiter said was also one of their specialties. Overall affordable and very good.

As we had tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show "Ka" that evening, we decided to pass over Bartolotta in order to take advantage of the early-bird fixed price menu at none other than Daniel Boulud Brasserie. Boulud's restaurant is located in the Wynn (the nicest hotel on the Strip that I visited), and our table overlooked a beautiful water feature outside. Their three course menu, available before 8pm, is a reasonably priced $48. We drank a nice, plummy Cotes du Rhone. I had a pate appetizer with housemade pickles, which was good, and the DB burger with black truffles, foie gras, and shortribs, which was over-the-top fantastic, bursting with rich, earthy flavors. My friend had the duck confit with lentils. For dessert, we had housemade ice creams, the coffee flavor being my favorite. Would totally go back again.

Before we left the next day, we lunched at 'wichcraft, Tom Colicchio's (of Craft fame) down-to-earth, informal sandwich shop. I had a roasted turkey sandwich (warm) with avocado, bacon, and thick mayo - it was one of the best sandwiches I'd had in a long time. My friend had a cold chicken salad sandwich which she said was a bit disapointingly dry and looked like it had been premade. Stick with the hot sandwiches or paninis - they looked wonderful. Nine bucks seemed steep to pay for just a sandwich, but I suppose it's Vegas after all.

Now I'm home, a few pounds heavier, but with some great memories. Girlfriend - where are we going next??????

Goin' to the mountains and I'm, gonna get ma-a-arried...

2007-07-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

We spent four days in Beaver Creek this past weekend for a friend's wedding. My friend, the bride, is wonderful - she's beautiful and smart, has fabulous taste and deep friendships, and, of course, has class to the max. The entire weekend was planned impeccably, and it was more fun than I'd had in a long time.

For me, the weekend was a great balance of classy social functions (like the rehearsal dinner, the welcome cocktail party, and the wedding itself), good conversations with old friends and new, a nice marriage getaway trip, and time by myself. I ended up alone on a 16 mile hike (unintentionally, honestly - the result of poor planning) one day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, as these were some of the views I saw along the way to Turquoise Lake:

The lake was not exactly turquoise, but I was the only soul there, and the hike was truly beautiful. The trail leaves from the Beaver Creek Village, and I'd definitely recommend it. It took me about 7 hours at a leisurely pace, including stops to eat lunch, take beautiful photos, and just drink in the scenery.

But anyway, this is a food blog after all, and I should stop talking about hikes. We ate (and drank) quite well while we were there, most of it prearranged as part of the wedding festivities. The few meals we had on our own were overall mediocre except for the affordably priced All-American meal we had at Larkburger in Edwards, consisting of a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake. Yum - sometimes you just can't beat a meal like that! Larkburger, like any good Colorado mountain restaurant, is into sustainability and all that - so you can feel good about eating there, even as your arteries are clogging. If that's not enough, where else can you find truffle-parmesan fries (thin-cut, just lightly scented and not overpowering), Tillamook cheddar or truffle aioli available to dress up your burger, and huge, thick, yummy milkshakes in a modernly designed restaurant with no sign of Ronald McDonald or the Hamburglar? Exactly. I knew you'd see my point. Edwards seems to have more (and better) dining options than Avon. Next time we're up there, I'd like to try Dish and Fiestas.

Of note, the wedding was held at Beano's Cabin - a gorgeous venue on Beaver Creek Mountain that is usually accessible only by foot, horseback, or sleigh (in winter). The wedding guests were taken up in resort shuttles and milled around on the lawn drinking cocktails waiting for everyone to arrive. The ceremony was held outside, with the majestic mountain bearing witness to their vows. Following the ceremony, we lingered outside socializing as waiters came around bearing really tasty hors d'oeuvres and libations. Eventually, we were seated inside against the floor-to-ceiling windows for a wonderfully prepared four course meal, including a very noteworthy scallop appetizer. I was very impressed by their ability to prepare food so well for a large crowd - especially seafood! I would love to try the restaurant sometime in the winter. And the sleigh-ride would just be a bonus.

Congratulations to the newly married couple! We look forward to many years of happy eating and drinking with you.

Vanilla Fro-Yo

2007-07-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

With some homemade Greek-style yogurt that I am now so fond of, as well as the help of my trusty new ice-cream maker, I made some vanilla frozen yogurt the other day. I used Heidi Swanson's recipe that she posted, taken from David Lebovitz's new cookbook Perfect Scoop. Yum. It's more guilt-free than Haagen Dazs, though I'm not sure how much healthier it really is, since I made the yogurt from whole milk. She's right though - the tanginess of the yogurt gives it such a great flavor! I also used a bit less sugar than was called for, and it tasted fine. We topped it with some fresh, plump blueberries and had ourselves quite a tasty snack.

Summer is in full swing here in Colorado, and just having suffered through a few 100-degree days makes me want to buy a copy of Perfect Scoop and make each recipe one by one.

Summer!!!

2007-07-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been a sweltering 100 degrees in Denver, forcing even the most hard-core outdoorsmen inside in the afternoons. The ends of the day, though - those blessed mornings and evenings - are still perfect. We had a lovely Sunday brunch at Bistro Vendome under the shade of an umbrella on their beautiful outdoor patio. We've also had some lovely evening walks at Wash Park.

Monday night, we went to Sushi Den, for what better thing to eat in the heat of summer than sushi? The cool slabs of fresh fish on rice make a light meal, one that doesn't weigh you down. (Plus, it's fun to imagine that you are close to the ocean!) Afterwards, we went over to Bonnie Brae Ice Cream - a place that used to be a regular hang-out for us when we lived in the neighborhood. I had a scoop of Toasted Almond - chock full of whole nuts. Mr. M had his usual Strawberry. We ran into some friends and took a seat outside in the warm summer air. We chatted and caught up while their kids managed to get ice cream all over themselves (did any of it get in their tummies?)

I don't know about you, but there is something about eating an ice-cream cone outside on a summer evening that makes me giddy with happiness.

A WINE bar, not a food bar

2007-06-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, I've realized I've been posting about all the same places lately - Luca D'Italia, Fruition, The Kitchen, etc. Maybe you could say I'm in a bit of a rut. Yet, as Steven Shaw wrote in Turning the Tables (a very interesting book, by the way, if you eat out a lot), it's actually a good thing to become a regular at a restaurant. He maintains that every restaurant is really two restaurants - one for the average joe who happens to walk in, and another one completely (a much better one) for the regular. I'm still trying to figure out if he's right. And I love trying new places, but at the same time, I also like to spend my money in a place that's proved itself (at least to me). In other words, if I'm going to blow a hundred bucks, I want to know that the food's going to be great. Or at least good. So I'm always trying to strike a balance between the places I know and love and the new places all over the city that I've never tried. Because who knows, maybe if I tried a new place, I would discover my new favorite restaurant, one that I would regret not having discovered much earlier.

Anyway, Mr. M and I went to Larimer Square after work yesterday with the intention of visiting the Tamayo patio for drinks. However, once again (story to follow), the rooftop patio was closed, presumably for a private party.

BRIEF DIGRESSION: Two weeks ago, my partners and I had planned to meet at Tamayo for a quick drink at 5pm before heading to a work party at 6pm, and it was closed also. By the time I arrived, several of our party had already ordered drinks at the place across the street, Ted's Montana Grill. I'd never been there, but seeing as how they were already settled in at a patio table, the rest of us joined them.

We asked if we could pull some tables together at the end of the patio to accomodate our group of eight. We were promptly informed that it would create difficulty for the servers to maneuver around us. So we sat at the different tables and shouted across to one another while our margs and beers were on the way. Then, another staff person came out to tell us that really, the patio was reserved only for people who were going to eat dinner. We reiterated that we would be gone by 6, and reluctantly they accomodated us and brought us our drinks.

I was ready to leave the place already. Again, why do restaurants do this? I've never felt so unwelcome in a restaurant before, and had it not been for our large party and time constraints, I would have left immediately. Despite the fact that they actually poured a decent marg, I will never go back.

BACK ON TRACK: Anyway, back to last night. Since the Tamayo patio was closed, and I was trying to find a new place to try, we looked for another spot. I've been to almost every restaurant in the Square except for 3 - Corridor 44, Del Mar, and Cru. We were looking to sit outside of course, and we passed an empty table at Cru and decided, hey, why not?

Cru actually calls itself Cru - A Wine Bar. Cheesy. But I like wine, if you haven't noticed. After the wretched excess of the night before, I told myself I needed to take a break, but one look at the numerous wine flights they were offering changed my tune. I tried a flight of 3 Italian flights, while Mr. M ordered a flight of rose, something we haven't tried much of before.

The wine was excellent. I'm exploring the joys of Alto Adige, a celebrated wine region in the far northeast part of Italy. Mr. M discovered a lovely, syrupy smooth rose from McLaren Vale, a region south of Adelaide, Australia - tastes like a red but drinks like a white. It was fun to taste all of them together, comparing them back and forth and reading the little blurb about each wine that comes with the flight. (Of note, the service was also very good - attentive and gracious, even when Mr. M spilled a large glass of wine all over the floor and the surrounding patrons.)

We were hungry, so we ordered dinner. Mr. M was jonesin' for some fried calamari, but it was quite terrible - frozen rubbery rings fried in a forgettable batter, some sweet and sour sauce on the side. Should have gone to Capital Grille next door for our calamari, as theirs is quite good. Or to the Greek festival, where the squid is fried whole in big deep fryers right in front of you, served with nothing but a squeeze of lemon so that the flavor of the sea comes through unadulterated.

I had seafood linguini because I was hungering for pasta. The pasta was limp and soft, with a tomato broth. The seafood was hit and miss - the same tired calamari rings appeared over the pasta, but also a fantastic diver scallop that was surprisingly good.

All in all, however, I'd come to Cru for the wine, service, and atmosphere but not necessarily for the food. There aren't many places that serve wine this way, giving the opportunity to taste 3 wines at once. It's a good way to explore new tastes. The service was good, as I said earlier, and the patio is great for people-watching. (We saw a man hit a fire-engine-red Mercedes convertible with his Jeep - oops! - then saw a woman in a very large fur coat last night, 80-degree weather and all!) But for food, I'd stick with the cheese plate or something, then head somewhere else for dinner. Like Luca, Fruition, etc. etc...

One last girly hurrah...

2007-06-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

Doktameri is leaving this weekend. My fun-loving friend of 10 years, companion through thick and thin, fellow foodie, and close female confidant is leaving Denver to join her husband back in Albuquerque. We always knew this day would eventually come, but in the end I feel like it has snuck upon us like a thief at night. I'm still in total denial.

We decided to toast the end of the year at Luca D'Italia. I realize I've written a lot about this place of late, but it's become one of my faves. And their tasting menu, complete with wine pairings, was just the thing to send my classy friend off right.

We both sipped a celebratory(?) glass of Prosecco on our arrival while snacking on an amuse of salami and wild mushroom bruschetta. As our waiter arrived to explain the tasting menu for the evening, the sommelier also came to begin our wine flight. The tasting menu began with a 3-bite amuse: an eggplant puree, a baby artichoke, and a piece of tripe! It was paired with a lovely white from Piedmont. Yum! Five courses to go...

A cold prawn, arugula, and fennel salad arrived with a Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc - light, summery, and crisp. It was followed by a perfectly transcendent piece of pork belly confit with braised cabbage, red onion relish, and a mustard drizzle - yum! paired with a Tuscan red. We relished every bite, every sip a celebration.

The pasta came next - a fresh tagliatelle topped with shaved black truffles, butter, and parmesan. This was my first taste of real truffle (not truffle oil) - it was mild and earthy, much better than the oil because of its subtlety. The simplicity of this dish won me over, as well as the Piedmont Nebbiolo paired with it.

As you might imagine, I was not exactly hungry at this point, nor was I thirsty. In fact, I couldn't imagine eating or drinking any more at all, until the ribeye showed up, with morels and balsamic glaze. All of a sudden, I found the strength to continue on, surely no doubt aided by the amazing glass of 2002 Velenosi Rosso Piceno "Roggio Del Filare" Marche that appeared alongside.

We topped off the meal with a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate mousse served with a vanilla bean milkshake, accompanied by a Banfi Brachetto D'Acqui dessert wine from Piedmont.

The next morning, I wasn't exactly jumping out of bed to go to work, if you know what I mean. But our last hurrah was totally worth it. We sent her off in style.

Summer Picnic, Concert Included

2007-06-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

We went to the Botanic Gardens to hear Wynton Marsalis (part of the Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series) last night. This is a particularly appealing venue for concerts for two reasons (the second being slightly more important than the first): 1) the supremely beautiful and intimate outdoor setting, and 2) the fact that you can bring your own food AND WINE for your own noshing and sipping pleasure.

I went to Whole Foods earlier in the day looking for snacks. The prepared crab and avocado salad looked good. I perused the cheese section and chose an old favorite goat cheese (Humboldt Fog) and a blue I'd never tried before (bleu d'auvergne). I picked out a selection of olives from the olive bar, along with some crackers and sliced ciabatta. I got some thinly sliced La Quercia proscuitto and some hot soppresata to appease my carnivorous husband. I bought some beautiful fresh black mission figs and some dark 61% cacao chocolate disks from El Rey for the sweet tooth. I had a bottle of Naia chilling in the fridge.

Being a novice at this particular concert series, I didn't realize how early people lined up in order to get the best spots, so we ended up sitting facing the backs of the performers. All was good, though, as the venue is small enough so that you feel like any seat is a good seat. The music was fantastic - jazz with a surprising, amazing African flair. We spread out a blanket and our Crazy Creeks, poured the wine, and dined sumptously on our gourmet spread while listening to great music and watching the sun go down. Summer evenings in Denver don't get any better than this.

Greek Festival!

2007-06-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

I love going to the Greek Festival every year - the atmosphere is so festive! Though they play Greek music at truly deafening levels, and there is nothing to do but eat and drink (but what's wrong with that?), it's an important part of my summer tradition. We hit the Festival Friday evening and gorged ourselves on fried kalamaria, gyros, and Greek salad. Everyone was paying $5 to drink Mythos (which I found funny, as I think of it as the Greek "Budweiser" - we drank it every day on the sailboat when we were cruising around the Greek isles). For dessert, we had all the honey-drenched pastries you can imagine. Yummy, hot, crispy fried loukoumades, rich and nutty baklava, and creamy galaktobouriko.

If you really think about it, it's cheaper (and safer, if you want to retain your hearing past the age of 45) to go to Pete's or something to get your Greek fix. But there's just something about the Greek festival that I can never pass up.

Happy Birthday, Mr. M!

2007-06-21T22:25:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy at our house lately, and though we had originally planned on having a big BBQ birthday celebration for Mr. M (starring his brand new grill from Home Depot), he at last decided it would be easier to have a simple dinner at home with his visiting parents.

Mr. M's mom is a fantastic cook, and ever since I started dating Mr. M, I've been treated to sumptous multi-course gourmet dinners in their home. Good food is something that my mother-in-law and I can bond over, but generally she cooks it whereas I buy it in restaurants. I just hope one day I'll be as good a cook as she is! Anyhow, the in-laws are in the middle of a massive kitchen remodel, and when they escaped to visit us for the week, she said she'd been itching to do some cooking. Being the ever-gracious hostess that I am, I generously offered her the use of our kitchen during her stay. (See, I'm not as stupid as I look!)

For Mr. M's birthday dinner, however, not much culinary creativity was required. Mr. M was raised in Texas, and like any good Texas boy, his favorite meal is steak, baked potatoes, salad, and his mother's homemade apple pie.

Mr. M grilled some 1.5-2 inch thick boneless NY strip steaks seasoned ever-so-simply with salt and pepper. The choice aged steaks from Whole Foods were definitely a cut above (wink wink) what we usually buy (whatever's on sale at Safeway). He grilled them to a perfect medium rare. When I tasted them, I was reminded that buying good meat really does make a difference. We had baked potatoes with all the fixings, and a green salad with a Chipotle Ranch dressing that had a nice spicy Texas-sized kick. We had grilled eggplant, red pepper, and zucchini dressed lightly with olive oil and salt. We ate under the fruit-laden cherry tree in our back yard, the meal made even more tasty by the perfect summer evening we were having.

For dessert, Mom made her signature homemade apple pie (secret ingredient: Calvados), as well as a homemade vanilla bean ice cream (made in the ice-cream maker we'd picked up in Boulder the previous day). Truly heavenly. What better birthday present could you ask for?

Happy Birthday, Mr. M! You should have them more often.

Hangin' with the in-laws

2007-06-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Took the in-laws up to Boulder for the day today and spent a pleasant few hours walking at Chautauqua Park, basking in the mountain views. We poked around in Peppercorn (cute kitchen store) for awhile, and, inspired by the hot day, impulsively purchased an ice cream maker. We visited a meadery (who knew such a thing existed?) called Redstone for a free tasting of 3 sparkling and 7 or 8 nonsparkling meads. I wasn't quite won over by these honey wines - maybe it's an acquired taste, but it was really interesting to try. As we wandered around Boulder, there were tons of people out and about, enjoying the day, and I was forced to wonder if anyone there actually has to work (at least normal business hours?).

Anyhow, I knew I wanted to take them over to The Kitchen for lunch. I have to wander off on a tangent here and tell this story. When we arrived, there were no 4-tops available in the small restaurant. Granted, the hostess did inform us that this was her first day, but she proceeded to tell us that we would have to wait about 25 minutes for a table. This was maddening, given the fact that there were plenty of empty 2-tops that could have been pushed together, as well as the two empty round tables, meant for 5 or 6 people. Eventually, we were (finally) seated at the communal table in the back.

I tell this story just to ask the question - why? Why do restaurants do this? If we hadn't been seated, we would have left and tried to lunch somewhere else. My friend doktameri told me she had a similar experience at Zengo the other night, where she and a friend were asked to wait for a table despite the restaurant being half empty. Anyway, to cut this long story short, I say a bird in the hand (a party of 3 standing in your restaurant) is worth two in the bush (the possibly imaginary party of 5 or 6 that you hope will walk into your restaurant). Of course, we lazily lunched for almost 2 hours, and those round tables remained (mockingly) empty the entire time.

Anyhow, I digress. Back to the matter at hand. We started with soup - a creamy rich chilled fennel soup for the gals, the famous tomato soup for the guy. In hopes of eating a lighter lunch, I passed on the tempting proscuitto and burrata flatbread in favor of the crab-avocado salad, a light and fresh tasting (not fishy) mixture sitting on a bed of greens. The greens were a mix of young mizuna, peppery arugula, and horseradishy mustard greens (which I'd never had in a salad anywhere else before, but they were amazing!) Finally, we topped off our perfect summer lunch with a refreshing scoop of housemade green tea ice cream, chock full of green tea flavor!

I'd only had brunch here a handful of times, and this was my first lunch. I'm already itching to go back and try the proscuitto flatbread, and I can't wait to try dinner sometime too. I also found out that many of the restaurant's recipes are posted on their website! So I may try my hand at their sausage strata soon.

Sketch - usually great, one time sketchy?

2007-06-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

I've been to the same restaurant 3 times in the past week. I know, I know - you shouldn't get into a rut or anything. But hear me out.

One evening, we were meeting with a couple to discuss their upcoming wedding and the part Mr. M would be playing in it. Mr M. requested a relatively quieter spot for our dinner meeting so that we could hear each other. (This is harder and harder to find, especially in the less expensive categories. Unfortunate. I guess we are starting to show our age.) We had neglected to make any reservations, so we chose Sketch, hoping to sit on the sunken patio outside. The weather was its usual pleasant self that evening, and a patio table was available - perfect! I enjoyed a flavorful white wine that is a blend of 7 varietals, called Airlie 7, from Oregon. Great, summery wine! We snacked on the always fabulous beef carpaccio "Harry's Bar" while we settled in. I ordered the salmon for my entree on recommendation from one of the staff, and it was very good - cooked perfectly, sitting on top of a crispy risotto cake and surrounded with a smattering of fresh fava beans. It was made even better with a Steakhouse Cabernet from the Northwest as well - lots of black cherry, blackberry fruity flavors, and very smooth. Yum. Excellent service from the waitstaff this night.

We returned Saturday night when Mr. M's parents came to town. It's rather sad but true that there is almost always a table available at Sketch if you come during normal dining hours, like before 9pm. I hear that the place does most its business late at night, and I hope its true, because it's pretty dead most times I've been there. Not that I'm complaining, because it's really nice to have somewhere to go where you know you won't have to wait for a table. We showed up on a Saturday at 7, and we had our pick of the place. Service this evening was lacking. We tried to order 2 different wines from the list (one being the Cabernet from above) only to be told minutes later that they had run out of it. The waiter himself seemed uninformed and a bit confused about it all. I ordered the corn soup, which was good but maybe almost too overwhelmed with pepper, even though I like that spicy kick. I then ordered the duck, but for some reason it underwhelmed me. The wine that we finally got to order, a Cab blend called "The Prisoner", really didn't do it for me either. This was my first negative experience at Sketch.

Just a few nights later, the girls met for happy hour on the patio. This was another great day - all the stars must have been aligned, for we had the same waiter from Saturday night, but he seemed to be on top of things a bit more. We snacked on the steamed mussels, tomato bruschetta, goat cheese ravioli, and white truffle fries - all of which were very nice. We sipped many glasses of the Airlie 7 as well, which luckily, they had in stock.

I suppose any restaurant can have an "off" night here and there, but I would think with only a few tables occupied on a Saturday night, that they would have done a better job. Isn't consistency one of the marks of a truly great restaurant? I will continue to give Sketch the benefit of the doubt for now, even after the rather lackluster review in this month's 5280, because I have had some great experiences here. But this town has too many other great restaurants to waste time or money. Sketch, consider yourself duly warned...

The third date

2007-06-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Took the in-laws to Fruition on Sunday to celebrate Fathers' Day. Again, this restaurant served it up fine with impeccable service, exquisitely-crafted food, and a casually classy je ne sais quoi that I haven't found anywhere else in town. (I know I sound like a cheesy commercial.) I know I'm infatuated, I know it's only the third date. But after three dates, isn't it about the time you decide if you really want to keep investing, if you really see a future together?

The negative of the evening was that the restaurant was uncomfortably warm. It had been in the 90's in Denver all day, but they might need to do something about that, especially given the forecast for the week. Also, we were seated in the smaller dining area, which seemed a little bit too crowded for my taste. (Unlike the main dining area, which I find to be charmingly cozy but not overcrowded. Maybe it was just the heat.)

We drank the same white wine I'd fallen in love with on my last visit - the Burgans Albarino - a truly perfect summer sipper, especially for a very warm day (and a warm restaurant). I showed my in-laws the pure physical pleasure of the potato wrapped oysters, the delicacy of beet carpaccio, the creamy goodness of goat cheese fritters, the flakiness of pine nut crusted sole, the sweet satisfaction of the lemon meringue and the cobbler. Shall I go on?

I really think we're getting serious.

To Cincinnati and back

2007-06-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

A very short overnight business trip took me to Cincinnati this past weekend. One of my partners accompanied me on this jaunt - and I was so glad not to be alone when I discovered that our hotel was in the far suburbs with nary a place to eat anywhere within walking distance. I had posted and searched on Chowhound diligently, but even though I was willing to take a long taxi ride in search of good food, there were very few notable restaurants that happened to be open on a Sunday night.

We decided instead of fine dining, we would pursue the local classics. Again, having done extensive research, I was directed to the following: 1) Cincinnati "chili" from Skyline, 2) ice cream at Graeter's, and 3) ribs from the Montgomery Inn. We took a short (3 mile max) cab ride to a nearby Skyline establishment, and it felt essentially like I had paid for a cab to take me to McDonald's. A weird feeling. Anyway, we sat at the counter and ordered 2 regular sized orders of Cincinnati chili. In essence, it's spaghetti topped with a meat chili sauce that has hints of cinnamon, then covered with shredded cheddar. It looked like it might not be so good for you, but I guess that's beside the point. Interestingly, I discovered that this dish is actually a Greek recipe, brought to Cincinnati by immigrants awhile back. It's taken off ever since, and there are some serious rivalries over who makes the best in the city. It was oddly satisfying and very filling, and I can see why people like it. Our two orders cost us less than 10 dollars. (Our cab ride cost 30 dollars plus tip, but that's another story...) But I have to admit that it's not something that I came home missing or dreaming about.

We walked down the road to Graeter's ice cream, another classic Cinci establishment. For less than 3 dollars, I out into the warm summer evening enjoying a single scoop of Black Raspberry Chip ice cream on a sugar cone. Now, this was money well spent!! The ice cream was really flavorful, and the chocolate chips were big chunky pieces - not the tasteless miniscule bit variety. I was left wanting more. I am embarassed to say that the only thing that kept me from reentering the store to purchase another scoop was the embarassment at what my companion would say if I did so. Ultimately, we paid $8 apiece for a very filling dinner (and $20 apiece for the cab!)

The next evening, after our work was done, we went to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse on the Ohio River downtown to enjoy some ribs before our flight home. The ribs were good, the sauce was good, and the view was good. Again - good, but I'm not left wanting more. Maybe you have to grow up with this stuff to really miss it when it's gone. I did have a scoop of Strawberry Chip Graeter's ice cream for dessert however. Yum. I guess it is just not in my nature to be very critical of ice cream ever, but I do think this stuff is good.

So there's my whirlwind trip to Cinci. Hope none of this offends anyone from there.

Another favorite

2007-06-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

My friend doktameri is spending her last month here in town before she leaves to join her husband back in New Mexico. It's been great having another foodie companion in town this year, and I knew I couldn't let her leave Denver without experiencing Fruition. I made reservations for early Saturday night.

We ordered a bottle of the Burgans Albarino, which was very floral, light, and summery - I loved it! We sipped while appetizing on a carrot ginger soup, the beet carpaccio with goat cheese fritters, and, of course, the potato-wrapped oysters - my very favorite thing, which notably, by the way, garnered national attention in this month's Gourmet magazine. I would travel across the country to taste these things. They're that good. We then dined on a vegetarian agnolotti pasta (good) and the pine nut crusted pan roasted sole (fantastic!), drizzled with hollandaise and served with baby artichokes. I tell you, this location has never failed me with baby artichokes. (Sean Kelly's Somethin' Else did pretty damn good artichokes too!) We ended the meal with the cupcake tasting (chocolate, toffee, hazelnut latte), the lemon meringue pie, and two individual pots of french press coffee. A fitting end to a perfect meal.

This place becomes more and more amazing to me each time I come. I love the relaxed atmosphere yet meticulously prepared food. I am in love with Fruition, and I hope it will be a very long affair.

Homemade Yogurt

2007-06-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

While traveling in Turkey, my family was subjected to my endless comments about how "we can never get yogurt this good in the States". When I got home, with the aid of a Greek coworker and the internet, I decided to try my hand at making my own.

I heated a gallon of whole milk in a big enameled cast-iron pot (Le Creuset) until it was steaming but not boiling. (Unfortunately, I did manage to burn it a bit, as a small layer of brown stuff ended up forming on the bottom of the pan - next time I'll turn the heat down some.) I then took it off the heat and let it cool to about 120 degrees. I then added about 1/4 cup of plain Dannon yogurt as a starter and whisked it completely into the milk. I placed the lid on my pot, wrapped it in several towels, and let it sit on the counter for about 8 hours. Voila! I had made my first batch of homemade yogurt!

When I did a little taste test with the storebought Dannon and my homemade stuff side by side, there was no comparision. The Dannon tasted weak and insipid, while the homemade stuff was tangy and thick.

I ate a big bowl with honey, then decided to put some of it to drain in order to thicken it even more. I wrapped some yogurt in a layer of cheesecloth, stuck it in a colander hung over the edge of a bowl, and let it drip away in the fridge. Eventually, enough whey dripped out to give me a lovely, thick, creamy yogurt that I subsequently used to make a wonderfully garlicky tzatziki. Yum.

Try it! It's easier than you think, and it tastes way better.

Favorites that just never get old

2007-06-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

In a mild state of job-related depression, a couple of coworkers and I decided to self-medicate by going out to lunch. For what better thing is there to do when you're worried your jobs are in jeopardy than to go out and blow some dough on a nice meal?!?! My thoughts exactly...

We weren't just looking for food; we were looking for inspiration. As we stepped outside in search of a place to eat, one of my dining companions remarked that he was "just soooo bored" with his food lately. What could we find to excite his palate once again? What could we find to remind us that life is good, with or without a job?

We stood in front of Strings and debated the merits of their lunch menu, then bypassed Parallel 17 because we'd been there recently, and finally landed at one of my old faves, Limon. I'd been here for lunch once before, but not in awhile. There is no "lunch menu" per se, so it can be a bit pricier than one would usually want to pay for an ordinary workday lunch. It was good to see that they have apparently completed their expansion into the space next door, though they definitely didn't need it that day for lunch - we were one of only 3 tables occupied.

Like slipping into an old shoe, I ordered my tried and true. The Quinotto here never disappoints. I lovingly savored each comforting, earthy bite while regaling my two unfortunate dining companions with the boring details of my vacation.

And you know what? After lunch, I actually did feel better. Nothing like Peruvian comfort food to get you through job stress.

Back from Turkey!

2007-05-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Still basking in the warm memories of our 12 day trip to Turkey, I reluctantly settled into my (tiny) airplane seat for the 10 hour trip home. We had left our hotel at 3 am that morning to make our flight from Istanbul to Frankfurt, then suffered through a long, painful 5 hour layover in the crowded, smoke-filled airport before finally boarding a flight to Denver.

Ten hours gave me a long time to consider all that we had jam-packed into our 12 day vacation. Turkey is a fascinating land of contrasts - East meets West, Islam meets secularism, ancient history meets modern day. I concluded that the most unique (or "eunuch" as pronounced by our Turkish tour guides...hee hee) thing about our vacation was the hot-air-balloon ride we took over Cappadocia. The most entertaining thing was the public latrine at Ephesus (ask me about it...I'd be happy to share in any forum except a food blog.) The most interesting thing was Ayasofya, a 6th century building that was first a church, then a mosque, and now a museum. The most relaxing thing was the view out my hotel window in Kusadasi...

But the most tasty thing? This would be a matter genuinely worth pondering over a 10 hour plane ride... It's so difficult to pick out just a few things. I had very little understanding of Turkish cuisine before our trip - kebabs, baklava, that's about it. Let's just say that the food way exceeded my expectations.

One thing that (very pleasantly) surprised me was the Turkish olive oil. It is superb in quality, very smooth and flavorful. We ate first-press olive oil (with a little bit of bread to go with) at a small restaurant surrounded by its olive groves. I would have been happy with just the bread basket, but that tiny little restaurant with its wood-fired oven and griddle just outdid itself. Here is the kitchen and our chef preparing grape leaves for dolmas.

Turks do truly amazing things with eggplant, and peppers too. Their yogurt is thick and full of flavor, like nothing you ever have in the States. They use spices in robust, sensual ways I've never experienced. And if you ever have a chance to try gozleme or hingal, DO IT. They love desserts dripping with honey. (Who doesn't?) Yes, their roasted meats and kebabs are wonderful, especially the lamb. But there is SO much more, and you have to taste it to believe it.

(Unfortunately, for us in Denver, you have to travel all the way to Turkey to get this stuff, as our city's only Turkish restaurant, as far as I know, has just recently closed.)

Now, off to the grocery store, as 4 out of the 5 meals I've had since being home have consisted only of Honey Nut Cheerios...

Hiatus

2007-05-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, May will likely be a dry month for this blogger. I haven't really had anything super-interesting to post about lately. Had an idyllic weekend brunch of coffee and croissants at Bistro Vendome with Mr. M, and a dinner of green curry, spring rolls, and drunken noodles at Thai Basil last week.

I did visit Szechuan Chinese Restaurant in Lakewood this weekend on the way back from the mountains. I am always looking for good Chinese food, as I've never really found any in Denver. There are some okay places in the Federal/Alameda area, but other than that, nada. So, on the recommendation of Jason Sheehan, Westword food critic, I stopped at Szechuan, which supposedly has good dumplings. All I could say about the dumplings is that they are huge. Other than that, no comment. Everything else we ordered tasted like something I would get at the Panda Express at DIA while waiting for my delayed or cancelled flight.

Noteworthy, however, was the superb "Jed-i" sandwich I had today from Marczyk's for lunch - basil pesto, fresh mozz, and proscuitto San Daniele on ciabatta. mmm, SOOO good. Not cheap ($8), but SO worth it. It beats most things you can get on the go. Personally, I'd go a little easier on the proscuitto, but overall, a great sandwich.

We will be out of town for the last half of the month, so you'll not hear from me again until June. See you soon.

A Deal Too Good To Pass Up!

2007-05-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

As recently heralded in 5280's "top 101 Denver dining experiences", Luca d'italia offers a dinner special at the bar on Tues, Wed, and Thurs that is just too good to pass up. For $25, you choose 2 glasses of wine (from the by-the-glass list), a salad, and a pasta entree.

Mr. M and I showed up and took 2 seats at the small bar around 7pm. The restaurant was about 3/4 full, decent for a Thursday night. We were greeted with a small amuse bouche, a goat cheese and butternut squash puree on a crostini. We each ordered a glass of wine while we considered the dinner options. There is a choice of two salads - one spinach salad and one panzanella, both which were very good. The two pasta dishes were a penne with rapini and housemade sausage and a fusilli with wild mushrooms. The courses were on the small side, but with all the noshing we did on the beautiful bread basket, we were both actually quite full at the end of the meal. (It didn't stop us, however, from splitting the vanilla arborio rice budino at the end of the meal, complemented by an extra glass of Prosecco.)

Try it out - you won't be disappointed. It's a wonderful cost-controlled option for dining well at one of Denver's finest restaurants.

Cinco de Mayo at home

2007-05-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Mr. M and I had heard of the party happening this weekend in Civic Center Park for the Cinco De Mayo Celebration. However, as the weather this weekend was not extremely cooperative, and definitely not conducive to walking around outside, we celebrated our own Cinco de Mayo by visiting the recently opened Mexican drive-thru joint near our house. The building previously housed a forgettable burger shack or wings place, but a few months ago it reopened as a branch of the Santiago's chain. We ordered a load of food - guacamole, enchiladas, tacos, burritos - and took it home to eat in our comfortable, warm, dry kitchen. We opened a few Coronas and tucked in to a very hearty, satisfying, artery-clogging feast. We were stuffed for a mere $14.

According to the Westword, Santiago's is supposedly a purveyor of excellent breakfast burritos. I'll have to try them next.

Cheap lunch in Cherry Creek

2007-05-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

We had (yet another) beautiful day in Denver, and I grabbed a quick lunch with a friend at Crepes 'n Crepes, a tiny but quaint little place at 3rd and Detroit. We sat at one of the four tables on the shaded patio outside, and for a mere $6, I dined on a buckwheat crepe daintily stuffed with a creamy spinach and feta mixture that would make any Greek spanakopita proud. The waitress also offered two complimentary sauces to serve alongside - a walnut pesto and a roasted red pepper sauce, both of which were nice. My friend had the classic ham and swiss crepe, which I've also enjoyed on multiple occasions.

There is a sweet side to the menu also, where you can order crepes with any variation of chocolate, nutella, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, caramel, etc etc if you're feeling indulgent. I've tried many of these and have never suffered a moment's disappointment.

So if you're shopping in tony Cherry Creek and want to save your pennies for that fancy pair of Pradas, have a $6 gourmet lunch at Crepes 'n Crepes.

Springtime planting

2007-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I planted my vegetable garden this past weekend. As anyone close to me can tell you, I don't generally have what is considered a green thumb. Mr. M is amazed at how I can kill the most hardiest of house plants. So, keeping all of this in mind, I carefully considered what would be the easiest plants for me to grow.

After spreading compost and turning over the soil with a shovel (hard work, by the way), I put in four tomato plants - one Early Girl, one Big Boy, one Super Sweet 100's, and one Large Cherry tomato. I thought of trying to grow some heirloom variety, but I just don't know enough about them, or about gardening. Maybe next year? I also like to grow loads of sweet basil, which I make into pesto, freeze, and use throughout the year. I planted zucchini, which pretty much grows no matter what you do to it or don't do to it. I threw in a few cucumber plants and some more herbs, and I was finished.

I'll try my best to color my brown thumb green this summer, and if I'm successful, I share the bounty of the harvest with those interested... If you are a good gardener and want to share any tips with me, feel free! I need all the help I can get.

The Worst Breakfast Burrito

2007-04-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

I generally don't like to post negative comments, but if I don't, you will all think that I am an undiscriminating diner who pretty much thinks everything is good. So I have to be honest. Also, I'm a bit embarassed at what I'm about to admit, but for the sake of full disclosure, I have to tell you:

I ordered a breakfast burrito at The Market downtown.

Now, I know that one should probably never order a breakfast burrito in that kind of an establishment. Breakfast burritos are much better had at places like La Abeja (from my Apr 10 post), where you walk in wondering if anyone speaks any English. I agree that if one orders a breakfast burrito at an establishment that does not meet this criteria, one may expect, even deserve, to be disappointed. So some of you may say this is all my own stupid fault.

When Mr. M and I woke up on Sunday morning, I asked him if he'd like to go try Snooze with me. I've been meaning to try it for some time now, just never quite making it over there. I've heard from many people and many reviews how good it is; some say it's the "best breakfast in Denver". I had looked at the menu online and couldn't decide if I wanted to try the breakfast tacos or one of the fancy pancakes. When we got there at 9 am, however, there was a line out the door, and we were told that there would be about a 20 minute wait. We waited about 35 minutes, and not seeing any end in sight, we bailed and headed to The Market, futher down Larimer in Larimer Square.

Now, I've been to The Market many times and have generally had quite a favorable impression. It's a great place for coffee and a pastry, or for lunch - they have great salads, sandwiches, and hot entrees. They also have the most excellent desserts - all sorts of cakes and cookies that sit enticingly in a glass cabinet located conveniently right beside the cash register.

This morning was another beautiful Denver day, and we wanted to sit outside on the street - Larimer Street is such a fun place to people-watch! Since we'd been waiting awhile outside Snooze, we were pretty hungry at this point, so a simple chocolate croissant or blueberry muffin just wasn't going to cut it. I was already craving breakfast tacos, so I made a fateful mistake and ordered the breakfast burrito, and Mr. M did the same.

At just over $5, I expected it to be pretty big. The size did not disappoint - it was a Chipotle-sized burrito, smothered in a watery green chile and served with a side of rice. I was so excited. We took our plates outside and hungrily dug in.

The burrito was stuffed with soggy eggs and potatoes, and it was utterly tasteless. No flavor from the meat, no spicyness, no salt, no nuthin'. Nothing could save this disaster from itself. I ate a few bites, and even though I was hungry, I tossed the rest in the trash.

A valuable lesson, learned again the hard way. Don't make the same mistake.

A beautiful day in Boulder

2007-04-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous - blue skies, with nary a cloud to be seen, and an unseasonably warm 80 degrees. Mr. M and I decided to pop on up to Boulder for a little bite to eat and a hike.

The Kitchen in Boulder has been quite the rage among the food crowd for the past few years, not only for its stellar food but also for its "Green-ness". Apparently, the restaurant runs on 100% wind power, and they recycle or compost nearly everything. No wasteful paper towels in the bathrooms...it's with nice hand towels that you dry your fingers.

Green-ness aside, The Kitchen is still a winner. The restaurant is light and airy, with high ceilings, exposed brick and stone, and a few beautiful pendant lights a la DWR. Mr. M gave the place an "8" on the atmosphere scale (which is pretty good). The restaurant is at one end of the Pearl Street Pedestrian mall, right next to Juanita's.

We arrived around 10 am and were seated immediately in full view of the open kitchen in the back, which seemed to run calmly and seamlessly. A variety of delectable-looking breads and pastries tempted me from the bar area, but we decided to have a more substantial breakfast since we'd be hiking later. The coffee was wonderful, as was the glass of fresh-squeezed OJ (complete with a few orange seeds ensuring its authenticity) I had while perusing the brunch menu. Mr. M decided on the House Sausage Strata (a breakfast casserole of sorts) with greens and gruyere, while I ordered the Toffee French Toast with pecans. We split both, giving us each a bit of sweet and a bit of savory. The food was really wonderful, and I was sad when the last bite was gone.

After brunch, we strolled along Pearl Street mall for awhile, letting our food settle and enjoying the gorgeous tulips that were in full bloom all up and down the street.

We then headed a few blocks over to the Mt. Sanitas trailhead, for one of my favorite hikes in the metro area. It's a good dose of exercise with fantastic views served alongside. The perfect thing to work off our much-too-delicious brunch. Try it - you'll love it!

Though Mr. M didn't like me much for dragging him up that mountain on his day off, we rewarded ourselves with margaritas and snacks at Centro Latin American Kitchen and Refreshment Palace. I'd never heard of the place, and it definitely had a goofy name, but the patio looked soooo inviting after our hike - a "refreshment palace" was exactly what we were looking for! I had the grapefruit marg, which was quite "refreshing"! (no, really, it was...) We also munched on their version of guac, which they call "avocado salsa" instead, because it's chunky, not mashed together like guac, and Mr. M had some tacos that were fair. All in all, it refreshed and replenished us for the drive back home, sunburned but happy after a wonderful day together.

A Spanish Getaway

2007-04-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

A month before I got married to Mr. M, my family (mom, sister, and I) took a memorable 2 week trip to Spain. We visited Madrid, Seville, the Costa del Sol, Granada, and Barcelona, even crossing over to Morocco for a day. It was a fun time - an extended and exotic bachelorette party of sorts with my two favorite women.

While overall, Barcelona was my favorite, I also have very fond memories of our days on the Costa del Sol. I remember warm, sunny days on the Mediterranean beach, and one dream-like little coastal town called Mijas. It is a small town of whitewashed buildings (a little reminiscent of Greece) and brightly colored flowers exuberantly spilling out of the hanging pots lining its narrow streets. It's a town to get lost in, wandering in and out of shops and eateries, looking at cheery pottery in bright primary colors, enjoying the seaside breeze.

When I discovered The Ninth Door last year, I was terrifically excited that it was named after a place in one of my favorite Spanish towns. From their website:

Why The 9th Door...

On Spain's Costa del Sol, located between Malaga and Marbella, sits a quiet little mountain village called Mijas.

During the summer of 1969, after having been made famous by James Mitchner's novel The Drifters, Mijas had become an expatriate community of writers and poets. On lazy afternoons, these expats would gather at their favorite bar - one without a name, recognizable only by the number nine that was carved into the door.

Behind the ninth door, they would imbibe on the local wine and brandy and share the tapas of the house, trading stories and reciting poetry to the local women until the early hours of the morning.

I love tapas. No, really, I do. We did the tapas crawl almost every night in Spain. The nibbling of delicious tidbits of this and that, eating as much or as little as you want, sipping wine, and chatting about life - THIS, my friends, is the way to eat.

The Ninth Door is Denver's first true Spanish tapas restaurant. When I lived in Texas, I was a frequent patron of Cafe Madrid in Dallas and Mi Luna in Houston - both very good. Needless to say, I was very excited when The Ninth Door opened here, after having lived sans tapas in Denver for four years.

I've visited the Ninth Door eight or ten times in the past year, most often taking advantage of happy hour and its specials. Monday night is also nice, as wine is half-price. Last night, the girls and I went to take advantage of both.

The caipirinha is the best I've ever had. If you've never tried one, it's like a syrupy smooth mojito but made with a Brazilian liqour called cachaca. A warning however - they are dangerous!! The happy hour drink is only a few bucks and seems small when it comes, and they sure go down easy. Be careful, or take a designated driver...

The tapas are, across the board, consistently wonderful. There are usually some specials on the blackboard, and these are usually very good. Sometimes they offer a good paella or tortilla on this menu, or my recent favorite - serrano wrapped pear and manchego, mmmmm.... The happy hour tapas are also nice - the fried goat cheese balls dressed with spiced honey, the mussels in spicy tomato sauce, and all the little tostas. Off the regular menu, I almost never pass up the fried artichoke hearts or the datiles (bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese), though everything I've tried has been pretty good.

The space is beautifully and richly decorated yet in an understated, modern, classy way. It's nice for conversation and hanging out with friends, though it can get pretty crowded, loud, and crazy on the weekends. Mondays are actually perfect, as we discovered again last night.

As a restaurant, The Ninth Door wins major points for all areas - atmosphere, food, and drink. As a venue for my preferred way of life - sharing great food and drink with friends in community - it's priceless.

Dinner Party, with kids!

2007-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had a friend and her family over for dinner last night, and I love planning what to cook. I really enjoy putting together a good and cohesive meal, taking into account the likes and dislikes of my guests, the degree of formality versus casualness, etc. I enjoy shopping for and cooking it too, and even though it takes up much of the day, doing it once in awhile is really fun.

Usually, I don't really like to try new recipes when I'm having people over. I am OCD enough that I like to know how things are going to turn out. A new recipe is risky - if you've never tried it yourself, how do you know it's good? and how long it really takes to cook? Amanda Hesser, in one of my favorite books of all time Cooking for Mr. Latte (a sort of cookbook/love story/book about food and life), briefly mentions that her mother had always taught her, "When cooking for others, cook what you know." It really is good advice - it lowers your anxiety level a bit, and it allows you to enjoy cooking because you're not worried about whether or not it's turning out right.

My friends have two young twin boys, and seeing as how we have no kids, I was wondering what I could make that kids would like also. I decided on an old standby that I've used for many years, a variation on an old Gourmet recipe - Grilled Flank Steak with Sauteed Cremini and Portabella Mushrooms. (I try to lighten it up a bit by not using quite so much sugar and butter - what is this, a dessert?) It's super easy but still is special, and it involves grilling, meaning that I can get Mr. M involved in cooking the meat while I finish up the last touches for the rest of the meal. The flank steak swims for awhile in a balsamic/soy marinade, and the mushroom combination is sauteed and sauced with the same sauce. The flank steak is tangy and smoky, and the earthiness of the mushrooms is balanced with the sweetness of the sauce.

Alongside I served a simple potato gratin with cheddar cheese (thinly sliced russets baked with half-and-half, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a hint of cayenne), as well as some fresh asparagus, drizzled lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper and placed under the broiler for 3-4 minutes (we make this all the time in the summer). Can't improve on what's already naturally good.

I thought the kids would enjoy the meat and potatoes at least. I didn't really expect them to eat mushrooms or asparagus, but I thought at least the adults could enjoy them. However, one of the boys surprised us all by eating all of his mushrooms and 4 stalks of asparagus! I served them whole, and I think he was kind of tickled to eat what looked just like a green stick. He brandished them like a sword at the table, with a very satisfied look on his two-year-old face.

With our meal, we drank a Spanish tempranillo that went with everything quite nicely.

For dessert, I served a tart that is another of my old standbys. I based the recipe on a Bon Appetit recipe for Nectarine Tart. The blend of mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream creates a light, delicate, and flavorful filling, and the candied ginger and gingersnap crust add a zing that makes the dessert just a little bit different. The first time I made this, I made it with ripe, juicy Palisade peaches at the height of the season one summer. I almost ate the whole thing by myself. Every time I make this, Mr. M eats half of it in one sitting, so I can't do it often. But it's a good and easy "company" dessert. You can make it with any fruit you like, and because the strawberries looked so good at King Soopers the other day, I made a strawberry tart, using strawberry preserves for the topping at the end. A Columbia Crest Riesling paired very nicely with this.

When I brought the colorful tart to the table, you should have seen the look on those boys' faces. You would have thought I hung the moon.

I've Met Someone New!!!

2007-04-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Those who know me know that the closing of Somethin' Else, the small plates restaurant formerly located on Sixth, was a big blow for me. I didn't think I'd ever get over my depression.

When I heard that the a new restaurant called Fruition would be opening in the same space, I wasn't excited. I was still in mourning over the death of one of my favorite Denver dining experiences. Also, I looked over the menu, and it didn't really seem that exciting on first glance.

Finally, though, after reading some excellent reviews from the Post, Chowhound, Westword, and the like, I decided I should try it. Plus, the chef Alex Seidel, is a four year veteran of Mizuna, so I conceded that he probably knew his way around a kitchen.

We were seated in a row of two-tops against the back wall. There is a nice mirror on the wall so that the person not seated on the banquette doesn't have to stare at a wall the whole night. Overall, I really like what they've done with the space. (For example, I remember Somethin' Else's bathrooms use to open up directly into the dining room in order to maximize their space I suppose; now Fruition has them sheltered away a bit, as they need to be.) It feels very warm and intimate, a good place to go for a meal with your spouse or a small close group of friends.

The wine list is manageable and accessible, with many served by the glass in the $7-$10 range. They were still serving the winter menu, which I assume will be replaced soon by a spring menu. Still, the appetizer list tantalized, with homey favorites like chicken noodle soup and pasta carbonara sharing space with intriguing dishes like potato-wrapped oysters rockefeller and braised rabbit. The entree list had only six choices, but it was still hard to decide.

We had the oysters to start. These little morsels were high up on the list for one of the best things I've tasted this year. Orgasmic. Really.

For our entrees, Mr. M had the Angus beef, and I had the braised veal cheeks. Servings were reasonable, not huge, and I liked that. Both entrees were meticulously prepared - you could tell that a lot of thought went into constructing the combinations of the things appearing on the plate together. It was cohesive, complementary, perfect. I would not change a thing. I was a happy woman, enjoying the melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of the veal, the delicate flavors marrying well with the oyster mushrooms, baby spinach, and pearl onions. The crispy Fontina polenta was perfect for sopping up the last little bits of the flavorful broth.

I was happily stuffed after the entree, but Mr. M managed to find room for dessert. He wolfed down the bread pudding in record time, saying it was because of how good it was. I think in actuality, he feared that I would find a spoon and steal away some of his little piece of heaven.

So all in all, though I'll always miss Somethin' Else, Fruition is already worming its way into my heart. After only our first date, I'm not quite ready to get married, but I can definitely foresee us getting serious and committing to a long-term relationship. I'll keep you posted, and for now, I'll enjoy the giddiness and infatuation of puppy love.

Japan in Denver

2007-04-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

You are all aware by now of my insatiable appetite for Sushi Den. What you may not know is that I am a lover of all Japanese food, not just sushi, though sushi does tend to win out most of the time. I'd been meaning to try Domo for a long time, hearing about it often. You may have noticed the honors bestowed this year again from both 5280 and Westword.

Mr. M and I finally decided to try it for lunch yesterday. Maybe one of the reasons I'd never been to Domo was that it is located in an unfamiliar part of town for me, west of Speer, just west of downtown, in a very unlikely industrial location that seemed more fitting for warehouses and such. I was kind of glad we were there during the day, for it looked like the type of place that Jack Bauer might go at night to intercept a terrorist cell.

Once we got inside however, everything changed. Though I've never been to Japan, I think this may very well be the closest I've come. The interior is very traditional Japanese, beauty found in simplicity, with big heavy tables and rustic stools. It opens onto a beautiful outdoor Japanese garden in a courtyard, complete with cherry trees in bloom, a wooden bridge, and a pond filled with fat, orange koi. The serenity and beauty of the garden was marred only by the cheap-looking plastic tables and chairs and the occasional jarring blast of a train horn. There is an actual dojo on the property where you can take Aikido classes, as well as a small collection of Japanese artifacts housed in the the same area. For atmosphere, Mr. M gave this place high honors.

We dined on simple rice bowls, topped with raw tuna in a salty-sweet sauce ($9). (Having recently been to Kauai, I can see where Hawaiian poke has its roots.) The rice bowls were served with a bowl of miso and three small side dishes. This is a meal I could imagine having in a real Japanese family's home, not some fancy food gussied up (or down) to suit my American palate. It was healthy, filling, inexpensive, and tasty food served in a peaceful environment. What more could you ask for?

I can only imagine what it's like to come for dinner - to sit in that beautiful garden as the evening begins to cool, enjoying more of Domo's authentic cuisine. We'll be back for dinner soon.

Tilapia and Naia

2007-04-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

We had some tilapia in the fridge to cook, so when I got home from work, I decided to throw together a quick dinner.

Inspired by and slightly modifying the epicurious recipe for Spicy Sauteed Fish, I chopped up a bunch of Italian parsley, 6 roma tomatoes, a couple handfuls of green olives, a red onion, a chipotle pepper (just one this time), and some garlic. I sauteed the six tilapia fillets in olive oil in my large saucier pan, barely fitting them all in, and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and a hint of cayenne. (I love tilapia because it cooks so quickly - just two to three minutes per side and they're done!) I removed them to a plate and covered them with foil to keep them warm. I sauteed the onion in the pan, then added the parsley, tomatoes, chipotle, garlic, and olives, seasoning lightly with salt, pepper, and again a hint of cayenne. The meal came together in about 20 minutes.

I served the tilapia with the tomato/parsley mixture spooned liberally over the top. We had some leftover lime cilantro couscous from the other night, which we finished off with the tilapia. We opened one of my favorite white wines - a Spanish one, 100% Verdejo, called Naia ($16). (I first tried this wine at Rioja several months ago, during Restaurant Week, if you remember my post.)

Mr. M gave the dinner two thumbs up.

Wino weekend

2007-04-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening, three friends came over for dinner, wine, chat, and an addictive board game called The Settlers of Catan. Anyway, the 5 of us managed somehow to consume 5 bottles of wine through the course of the evening. I won't comment on who drank the most, but it wasn't me...

We started snacking around 6 pm, waiting for the last couple to arrive. We drank a $30 bottle of expensive (for us) Spanish red, a blend of grenache, syrah, and cabernet. It was good, but I sure couldn't tell it was a $30 bottle. It tasted better than a $10 bottle, but not better than most of the $18-$20 range bottles we buy, so I won't mention the particular bottle. We then drank a 2004 Cosentino (an excellent boutique winery in Yountville, home of the most excellent French Laundry) Sangiovese ($18), which was most delicious and drinkable, especially with our snacks of Mahon cheese, pesto and cream cheese with crackers, stuffed olives, and a rustic rosemary bread with balsamic and oil.

When everyone arrived, we made dinner (Spicy Cajun Shrimp, Lime Cilantro couscous, and roasted sweet potatoes) and served a Spanish white that we tasted at Merchant of Vino (the wine store connected to the new Whole Foods Market on Hampden) that day - a Lurton white wine made of 70% Verdejo and 30% Viura. It was very nice! Try it - it's only $10 a bottle, and an excellent wine for the spring. Dinner was quick, as everyone was pretty full from all the snacking. During the board game, 2 more bottles were opened and drained. (In all fairness, the game takes about 2 hours to play, so don't think we're all drunks.)

Anyway, the bottom line - I recommend both the Sangiovese and the Verdejo, as well as the board game. Have fun.

Yes, again!

2007-04-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

I fell off the wagon hard, another night succumbing to my addiction to Sushi Den. The craving started innocently enough, as I ran across a brief blurb on the Rocky Mountain News website about a dude (the Sushi Pilgrim) that was trying to eat at as many sushi restaurants around the country as possible. Of course, he gave the Sushi Den a five rice-bowl rating (the highest on his scale), and I suppose the temptation started there. I guess the battle is always one of the mind.

We sat at the sushi bar this time, trying all the suggestions of our sushi chef. Mr. M, brave to the last, tried everything that was put in front of him, with the aid of a large Asahi. He ate it all, including the needlefish and the Japanese shad, though I don't think he was particularly fond of those. The only thing he really didn't eat after trying was the monkfish liver, and I must say that it was the weirdest thing we tried. No matter, more for me! Sadly, they were out of uni last night, but the toro, kampachi, hamachi, red snapper, salmon, and seared scallop were all quite delicious as usual. As usual, we dropped 50 smackaroos per person on our heavenly but short meal.

Anyone wishing to donate money to hungrygirl's Sushi fund is welcome. Gifts are tax-deductible and will be rewarded with treasures in heaven.

Yummy snack

2007-04-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

The beef carpaccio "Harry's Bar" at Sketch. Go get some. Now.

"Shut your butt" chili

2007-04-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a dish (a weight-watchers core recipe) that my friend doktameri made last week, I tried to replicate the dish without the recipe. It's a chili made with ground turkey, kidney beans, and pineapple tidbits. Nothing gourmet or fancy, but healthy and easy - lots to be said for that. I knew most of the ingredients, so I decided to try it.

I thinly sliced a large white onion, sauteeing it with minced garlic in a smidge of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. I added a pound and a half of lean ground turkey, browning it and breaking it up into smaller bits and seasoning with salt and pepper. I had a can of chipotle peppers in adobo in my pantry, and because I love the smokiness of those peppers, I finely chopped up a handful and threw it in the pot, along with some chili powder and a touch of cumin - it smelled great. I then added a large can of diced tomatoes, a regular can of pineapple tidbits with the juice, and a couple cans of drained kidney beans. I also added some Safeway brand "pineapple and peach salsa", the medium spicy variety, about half a jar. I let it simmer and bubble away lazily on the stove, the whole process taking about 15 minutes. (I should start my own Food Network Show - Hungrygirl Denver's 15 minute meals! Delicious and healthy, from start to finish, with absolutely no exclamations of yum-o, delish! or references to EVOO...hee hee...)

When I served it up for lunch, Mr. M and I hungrily dug in. Only then did I realize that maybe I'd been a bit overzealous with the chipotles, for with that lovely smokiness also comes a heat that I had blissfully underestimated. The chili was so good, but so incredibly hot. Mr. M fondly christened the dish "Shut your butt" chili; I'll leave it to you to figure out why.

Bitten by the bug (or stung by "La Abeja")

2007-04-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

One morning recently I was walking alone down Colfax (don't ask...) trying to find a quick bite to eat. I passed Tom's Diner but didn't really want to sit down - I was looking for something quick, convenient, and tasty to-go. McDonalds...no way. I then wandered by a storefront hispanic bakery called "La Abeja" (which means "the bee"). I was initially drawn the baked breads displayed in the window, thinking I could grab one and go, but on further inspection, a small dining room adjacent to the restaurant was packed with people enjoying huge, enormous plates of breakfast. They seemed to be mostly hispanic men, and I was a little reluctant to enter (because I am shy about speaking Spanish, and I thought I might have to in this place), but hunger drove me in anyway. Over the counter, a menu displayed an offering of breakfast burritos - just the thing I was looking for! Hot, portable, savory, and filling. I ordered one of the chorizo ones (in English) and was informed that it would also contain eggs and potatoes, and would I like some onion too? Of course.

I waited awkwardly for what seemed like forever for my order to be filled, walking around the small shop looking at baked goods and Hispanic snacks. Eventually, my $3.25 got me a Chipotle-sized burrito (the biggest breakfast burrito I'd ever seen!), wrapped in foil with little plastic containers of sour cream and salsa. I exited the small store, unwrapping the steaming hot package of goodness as I walked. The tortilla had been toasted lightly on the griddle so that bits of it were nicely crunchy, and it was overflowing with the fragrant goodness of its innards - lots of soft potatoes, fluffy eggs, and some chorizo to give it spice and heft.

I was stuffed after eating that whole thing, but it really hit the spot on that cold snowy morning. And after "bee-ing" bitten by the bug, I can't wait to go back to La Abeja.

Late night nosh

2007-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

What could be better on a Saturday night than margaritas and Queso Fundido with chorizo at Mezcal with Mr. M?

Comfort food (continued...)

2007-04-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Speaking of comfort food, we hit Steuben's last night for the first time. Like everyone, we've been hearing so much about it but just hadn't quite made it there yet. So last night, when Mr. M and I were looking for a casual, fun place for a Friday night date, we popped in.

Steuben's menu is really fun to read. You could curl up in bed with it, a cup of coffee in hand, and settle in for a long road trip down memory lane. The menu pulls from regional down-home favorites from all over our great country, from diner food to lobster roll, cioppino to meatloaf, etouffee to chile relleno, mac and cheese and fried chicken to monte cristos and cheese steak sandwiches. The dining room has a 50's diner feel to it with a classy twist (if that makes any sense), complete with waitresses that call you "honey" even though you're twice their age... It's a room that feels familiar, like a conglomeration of every roadside diner you've ever been to, but with enough surprises to keep you interested. Overall, we felt relaxed in this place, a big plus especially if you recall Mr. M's prediliction for the non-stuffy atmosphere.

We were early, arriving around 5:30 because Mr. M was starving. Now, Mr. M and I have really been trying lately to be a bit more healthy in the way we eat, but it was Friday, and we felt like celebrating a bit. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, we ordered a couple of Dark and Stormys (rum and ginger beer) and plate of gravy fries to start. The gravy fries at Steuben's are luscious, but it's also one of those heart-attack-on-a-plate kind of things to eat. A whole dinner plate of shoesting fries topped with gravy and melted cheese goes a long way in negating a whole week's worth of trying to eat right. Mr. M then ordered the BBQ brisket plate (you can take the man out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the man...), which he enjoyed very much. I had all day been thinking about the lobster roll, only to be told that they were not available that night. Instead, I lit into a (very light, healthy) green chili cheeseburger...wonderful (except for the soggy mushy half-cucumber sitting on the plate next to it trying to masquerade as a pickle). I think that you could probably power a small nation with the amount of oil coursing through our veins at that moment. I could actually feel the plaque forming in my coronary arteries.

Sated, we left the restaurant, too full for dessert, by 6:45. Already, people were standing around the door waiting for tables. Families with kids, older couples with big hair and overdone makeup, young people looking for friends. All were having a good time, living (or re-living) their youth with the nostalgic flavors and fun coming from the kitchen at Steuben's. I'll be back next week for a root beer float.

Noodle soup....a cure pho what ails ya

2007-04-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

I knew it was too good to last. The unseasonably warm temperatures that we enjoyed most of March have given way to a few cold and rainy/snowy days. After the warm beginnings of spring, the cold temperatures of late have chilled me to the bone...

So, when looking for a quick lunch with my friend doktameri yesterday, we of course turned to Parallel Seventeen. I am a regular here for lunchtime, because all through that terrible snowy winter we just had, there is nothing that warms and comforts you like a hot, steaming bowl of pho. A dark, rich clear beef broth surrounds rice noodles and thin strips of beef, and when the condiments and herbs are added, a heady aroma of cilantro, basil, and lime rises from the bowl.

I've tried almost everything on the small lunch menu, from the light and fresh vermicelli bowl to the hearty, satisfying curry, and everything is good. But on a cold rainy day, nothing else does it pho me like noodle soup.

A weekend with Patrick Dempsey

2007-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Just kidding, Mr. M!! Actually, I spent the weekend with Mr. M (my own personal McDreamy) in cloudy, drizzly, sunless Seattle. Coming from Denver (a city with 300+ days of sunshine per year), even going to Seattle (a city with only 80 rainless days per year) for a mere 48 hours left me with a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder. However, despite the SAD-ness, we still managed to have a great time.

Our most memorable stop was Salumi, the famed home of Armandino Batali's (Mario's father) cured meats. A must-eat on every food aficionado's list when traveling to Seattle, the shop is located in Pioneer Square, between the International District and the Downtown/Waterfront area. At first, we had trouble finding the small storefront but soon identified it by the line snaking out the door and spilling onto the street.

The specials of the day are printed on a large board that sits on the sidewalk, allowing you to begin drooling the moment you approach the store. As you progress forward, the line takes you past the small storage area where some of the cured meats hang, causing more ropy saliva to begin pooling on your lower chin and the front of your shirt. Finally, as you reach the counter, the full menu is printed on small chalkboards that hang high on the wall ahead. Now, you need a mop for the puddle of drool that has collected at your feet.

We ordered an insane amount of food for the 6 of us, so much food that I was actually embarassed to bring it to the small communal table that occupies the rear of this tiny store. Somehow, we managed to polish off most of 2 porchetta sandwiches, a cotechino sandwich, a grilled lamb sandwich, a cured meat and cheese plate, and a hot cooked meat plate. Though they were out of the lamb proscuitto, we particularly enjoyed the mole salami and hot soppresata, and the porchetta sandwich was one of the best sandwiches I've ever tasted.

Moving onward, we continued to browse and taste our way through the Pike Place Market, buying fruit, tasting vinegars/jellies/syrups, enjoying the hustle and bustle of food commerce. I bought a bottle of blueberry syrup that I was most assuredly promised was "absolutely incredible on oatmeal!!" Eventually we made it to the waterfront, where we stopped to enjoy a few dozen West coast oysters on the half shell. mmmm....

We toured two wineries in Woodinville - Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia, both of which were nice. It's worth it to pay for the tastings of the nicer wines. We tasted a nice toasted hazelnutty chardonnay, a smooth and full-bodied syrah, a silky smooth merlot. I still can't learn to like the sweet wines, though I tasted quite a few that were very much enjoyed by my companions.

We got to see the cherry blossoms in full flower at the University of Washington, a sight of which I'd never seen the likes. We walked around Green Lake and strolled along Alki Beach, enjoying being near water, something we miss here in Denver. I just kept wishing that the sun would come out, but alas my SAD-ness would not abate. And then came the final blow:

Traveling home, my treasured blueberry syrup was ruthlessly confiscated by a very official, serious, and stern-looking TSA officer, as I had thoughtlessly included it in my carry-on luggage. Oh well, I hope that at least someone is enjoying some good oatmeal today...

The best $6 you'll ever spend...

2007-03-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was absolutely craving sushi. It is for sure one of my favorite meals, and if I could, I would spend half my paycheck every 2 weeks at none other than Sushi Den. A few days ago, doktameri and I met for lunch at Hapa down in Cherry Creek, and it was a totally forgettable experience. So forgettable that I forgot to write about it until now. Every time I go somewhere else for sushi, I regret it, and I agonize over a meal that I missed at Sushi Den because I chose to be unfaithful...

By 5pm, my craving was overwhelming, so Mr. M, doktameri, and I showed up there REALLY early, and on a Monday night to boot. Now, I've commented on Monday nights eating out in Denver in other posts, so it is significant to note that there were actually a lot of people at Sushi Den at 5pm on Monday. It was nowhere near full, but it was already doing a lot better than many other spots in town. Of course this is no surprise to any of you who have ever tried to get a table at this restaurant at or after 7pm. We had actually driven by (out of sheer lunacy) on Saturday night at 6:30 (which is when my craving actually began...I'd been nursing it awhile), and there were scads of people spilling out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk waiting for a table. (Mr. M and I promptly turned around, and that's how we ended up at Pete's that night.)

One day, I'd love to sit at the sushi bar and just eat omakase, but none of my regular dining companions are quite ready for that yet. And Mr. M would probably have to find a second job to finance it. So we settled at a table, proceeding as usual to order the usual suspects. Mr. M had never had sushi until I married him and forced him to accompany me, but he has made some amazing strides in the past 6 years, and he is now really beginning to enjoy it the past few years. At least that's what he tells me. Maybe for the sake of maintaining marital harmony and peace.

Anyway, Mr. M enjoys the Kobe beef roll (I know, not real sushi, but delicious anyway) and the Hotate aburi (a fresh, lightly seared, smokey, tender scallop). He likes tuna, salmon, yellowtail, the house roll (eel and avocado). He likes most things, but is still developing a taste for the more exotic and "fishy" fish. I, on the other hand, am pretty adventurous and will eat most anything. I really love uni (sea urchin) - the soft texture, lightly briny flavor, and creamy smooth umami taste. Mr. M tried a tiny corner of it last night, and he didn't make a face. I don't think it was as bad as he expected, but I don't think he really enjoyed it either. Maybe it is an acquired taste.

The best $6 you'll ever spend though is on one lovely piece of toro nigiri. Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth goodness that transports you heavenward... It's one of the most expensive things you can order here, but it's worth every penny. Even Mr. M agrees that there is nothing like it. It's like heroin - I can't stop eating it, no matter how much it costs me. It is truly in a league of its own. But we judiciously allowed only 2 pieces per person.

It's always a bit embarassing to me to blow $50 a person in an hour (without alcohol), but by 6pm we were leaving the restaurant, our bellies full and our wallets lighter. I think I'm going to have to start dealing drugs or stealing cars to finance my Sushi Den habit. But believe me, I'm coming back soon. Better set your car alarm.