Julie and Julia........Wonderful film

Last night I had the pleasure of watching the movie Julie and Julia.  I'm sure you all know its a true story about a blogger and her love for Julia Child.  As a foodie and a fan of Julia and a fellow blogger the movie was right up my alley.  Now I don't  have anywhere the same following as she, not that I don't appreciate all three of you readers :-), but it's nice to see what a blogger looks like when they are doing what they are blogging about.

I just did a search and obviously I'm not the only one who has recently looked this up.  It came up very quickly.  Julie/Julia project

I navigated to the beginning of the blog so that you can read along with her.  I started to read a little bit and it's looks like it's fun.

And if you haven't seen the movie, please go rent it.  If you like food, and you like blogs, you will like this movie.

Bon Appetit.

Ollie's in Dearborn Michigan

For those of you who don't know it, Dearborn Michigan is home to the largest settlement of Middle Eastern Descendants in North America.  It is filled with so many different types of Middle Eastern Delicacies you have trouble picking just one.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a small place on Ford Rd. called Ollie's.  It has a big open space that holds a large dining room and a bar.  The cool thing about the bar is that is houses an oven where they cook fresh pita bread all day long.  That is the first thing you smell when you walk into the restaurant.

I was fortunate to have gotten there right before the real lunch rush came in.  It's right near the Ford Headquarters so you have a lot of people there that I'm sure know about this place.

I had looked at the menu and remembered I had gotten the hummus and Chicken special the last time and I wanted that hummus again.  The menu has a good mix of Lebanese cuisine from Shish Ka Bob's to all kinds of salads.  I wanted to try the Baba Ghanooj this time.  They had a starter combo that included the Baba Ghanooj, Hummus and Tabbouli.  I figured I can't go wrong with that one.  The Hummus was creamy with the right amount of garlic and paprika.  If you wanted, there was a small pitcher of Olive oil on the table to richen it up.  The Baba Ghanooj was good but not great.  It had too smoky a flavor to it that needed to be toned down in my opinion.  The Tabbouli was fantastic.  It had a great amount of mint in it to freshen everything up.

I don't know why the photo is turned on it's side here but turn your head to get an idea of what it looks like.  Trust me when I say you won't have to do this when you eat it one day. You can keep your head exactly how you like it.

Now as I was in the mood for a salad, I chose the small Fattoush salad.  Which was basically your average salad but with fried pita chips that were fried in Garlic.  Oh, so good.   I had it topped with meat Shwarma. For those you who don't know the name Shwarma, you have seen it before.  It is basically any kind of meat that is stacked on a large skewer and placed vertically next to a heating element to caramelize the outside of the meat skewer.  Then it is rotated so the outside is cooked evenly.  A person then slices off meat vertically so that you get a nice caramelized piece of meat with every bit.

As you can see the salad also came with a whole bunch of Feta cheese on top.  Bummer right?  Well I hope I don't dissapoint but there was no way I was able to finish both of the dishes.  Very filling and very generous portions are given here.  I saw some Shish Ka Bob's brought out all over so I have to try them next.

Ollie's can be found in Dearborn Michigan at 16351 Ford Rd.  313-253-1010.  or look for them online at www.olliescuisine.com/

Tbar Steak and Lounge in NYC......Come for the bar scene but stay for the bite.

I had a great opportunity last week to meet up with three old friends from Long Island where I grew up.  New York City provided a good central location for us since we all lived about an hour from there.  One of us works in New York City and was told that Tbar is a good bar and lounge to go with a group of people.

We met on a Friday night and our reservation was for 7:00 pm.  Early Prime time for NYC.  When we walked in, the tables were all full so that is always a good sign.

We were seated and had a great time catching up since it was April when we all saw each other last.

The menu had a great selection to choose from.   We decided to get a few apps to start off.  The Spring roll came out first which was a little heavier than your usual Chinese spring roll.  It came with a nice Chili sauce on the side.

Our second appetizer came which was buffalo Mozzarella the a tomato basil salad.  In reality this dish was their version of your traditional ensalada caprese.  It was done excellently.   Slivers of basil swam through cut grape tomatoes piled high next to an equally high pile of fresh Mozzarella that was in a pool of Balsamic Vinegar.  The vinegar really brought the plate together.  It was rich and full and had the slight consistency of syrup.

Tuna tartar was next.  This is a popular dish as well as our other two and Tbar did a great job with it as well.  The Tuna was real fresh and the portion was fairly generous.  It was seasoned with Sesame oil and ginger and packed full of flavor.  A frisee salad accompanied the Tuna as well as sliced baguettes.  It was really delicious.

We also got a Caesar salad which was served like a chopped salad.  The dressing was creamier than I would have liked but it had lots of Parmesan which you can never go wrong with that.  There were no anchovies and really only one large crouton on top.  It was tasty but everyone has their own favorite place for Caesar salad.

For the main dishes one of us got the Penne with the shrimp and it looked good.  Light cream sauce covered the noodles and as you can see from the picture below, they were generous with the Shrimp.

The three others including me got burgers.  We got the Amish Turkey Burger and the Lamb Burger.  Personally I got the Lamb Burger and it was delicious.  It was topped with a cucumber mint yogurt sauce which as you can imagine goes well with lamb.  All three burgers were served with French fries placed in a chinese take-out box.  very clever plating and if you didn't finish them, you have your to go box.

Tbar can be found in New York city on 3rd Ave. between 73rd and 74th.  You an also get there by going here: http://www.tbarnyc.com/

A Trip to Mecca.......The Culinary Institute of America

A year ago when I turned the young age of 40, I was given a gift from my Sister and Brother in law of a day at the CIA.  I had taken a class there a few years earlier and it was not the greatest experience.  The teacher I had for the class of Cocktail parties and finger foods was a bit drab and bland.  He encouraged us to take one dish and really concentrate on it and do that as your dish.  What kind of class is that?

So what class would I take?  I really wanted to take a class that I was going to be able to take something more than one dish away with me.  So what kind of cuisine has lots of small dishes?  Spanish tapas.  The class I took was Spain and world Cuisine.

The class started out as any classes start, in a classroom.  I was in a group of 16 people from all over the New York area who was either given the class as a present as I was or came with a sibling or significant other.  The teacher was Chef Carol Murphy Clyne who was there to teach with her husband.  Chef Carol had a real grip on Spain and how the people there eat.  We discussed the foods that were native to area there as well as sampled some Cheeses from the area like Manchego.  We also tried two different types of Olive oil.

After the brief discussion we got a look at the list of items we would be cooking for the day.  16 dishes total were going to be made that day.  The group was to be split up into four groups of 4 so there is a chance that some people wouldn't get to cook what they wanted to.  But as it turned out, the group split up perfectly with everyone getting to cook what they wanted to do.  My group consisted of a mother daughter team Monica and Virginia and a Robert from New Jersey.  We chose to cook the following:

Alaskan Scallops on Serrano Ham and Lentil Salad
Grilled Lamb Chops with Salsa de Pasitas Rojas and Fennel Salad
Manchego Croquetts with Quince Sauce

So we donned out aprons and our toques (that's the big silly hats they wear in the kitchen) and went into the kitchen where we were to be cooking.  All the ingredients were located at the stations that we picked.  The greatest thing about the group I was with is that we all wanted to do everything so that we could learn as much as we could.  Plus we all wanted to help each other.  So first started the prep work.   Chopping, dicing, slicing, mixing so that we can be ready.   To be honest, we had less than two hours to prepare the three dishes and we were all slightly overwhelmed.  But we all looked at the instructions and dove in.

I saw a cheese cloth being loaded with herbs and tossed into a pot with the lentils to cook while we did more prep work.   I cleaned up and sliced the fennel for the salad under the Lamb Chops.  Virginia prepared the potatoes and Monica cut the cheese.  For the potato and Manchego Croquettes of course.  what were you thinking?  (ok, I was thinking it too and I just couldn't help myself.  Monica I apologize).  Rob was cleaning up the Scallops and working on the Lentils.  I don't know why but I went to work on the Salsa which ended up being super cool.  First of all, take any idea that you currently have of salsa and throw it away.  This is called Salsa but not like you and I would know it.  It was more like a sauce made from cooking up some stuff and completely blending it till its smooth and silky.  It had Raisins, Almonds, Black Olives, anchovies, garlic, Chili's, Balsamic vinegar and some other stuff.  Does that sound like any salsa you've ever tasted?  Nope, but it is one you would want to.  The cool thing about the sauce is that you could put it on any protein.

So after a lot of the prep work was done, we started the cooking.  Rob prepared a pan of oil for the Scallops only to have another group steal it.  I was next to him with another pan of oil to fry up the croquettes.  Below is a photo of Rob and I at the stove.

While we were doing that, the girls were at the grill firing up the lamb chops.  I believe Monica came back to the stove area to fry up the Serrano ham for the Scallops.

In the end, we plated 3 amazing dishes.  Some of the other teams finished early and had a chance to work on the other additional dishes that were open to anyone.  One of them were Churros with Xocopili Hot Chocolate.  Now, I'm not one with a sweet tooth so I kind of steer away from dessert things.  When I heard Churros, I immediately think of Disney World and people walking around with the 2' long sticks of fried dough.  So I wasn't too excited about it when I heard they were being made.  The hot chocolate isn't really hot chocolate but more of a bowl of thick melted chocolate to dip the churros in to.  The batter was made and put into a pastry bag and it was then squeezed out into hot oil.   The batter cooked quickly on one side and flipped to the other to completely cook the churros in about 2-3 minutes.   After it was cooked, it is immediately tossed into a big bowl with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  You then took this Churros and dipped it into the Hot Chocolate.  Now for the person who has a sweet tooth, this dessert is heavenly.  I figured I would try a small bite just to try it.  I expected such a deep rich sweet heavy flavor but what I got was a soft, light and fluffy, sweet cinnamon-y cake that was so delicious, I wanted many more.  I was thinking this is going to taste so heavy but it was exactly the opposite.  Dipped into the Chocolate brings it to another level of delight.

After we were done, we all placed out dishes onto the long table for everyone to observe.  Below are our dishes that we made.

They are from right to left, Croquettes, Lamb Chops and Scallops.  We all got a chance to explain what each dish was so that we all knew what each dish looked like from the descriptions we read earlier.  After that, we all got in line and had a mega buffet lunch.  Everyone got to try everything that we made.  When we sat down, a few of us from different teams got to discuss the dishes that we made and how it was easy or challenging to make the dishes.

After were were done, we all got an opportunity to take home some leftovers.  Then we got back to the classroom to discuss how each of us made out dishes and how we would change it in the future to tweak it to our own palates.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget.  Especially since I bought a Sweatshirt from there and it has become my favorite one to wear these days.  If you have an opportunity to take a class there, I suggest you do.  Yes, it could be hit or miss with the teacher you get, but with so many amazing cooks that have graduated from this school, odds are you have a better chance than not that you will have a good teacher.

If anyone wants the recipes for any of the dishes we made, I can send them to you.  Just send me a message.

Happy New Year

I hope you all had some great holiday feasts over the past Holiday week.  I know mine was filled with lots of amazing food.

My Week of great food intake started out Christmas eve when my family was invited to the Italian Christmas Eve tradition of the "Feast of the Seven Fishes".  Traditionally there are seven seafood dishes served at this holiday meal.  Since it was a small group, there were only five.  Awe shucks.  Only five different seafood dishes for a seafood lover.  Poor me right?  What a meal!!!  We started out with Linguine topped with Lobster sauce.  The Lobster started off alive like most crustaceans do before cooking them.  The Lobster is Quartered (which is slightly barbaric when you think about it.  You have to quarter it alive.)  Then it is sautéed in some oil and garlic.  After it gets that nice rich red color, crushed tomatoes are added.   That's all.  Just simmer it for about 30 minutes you have lobster sauce.  It was so delicious.

Next we had both Shrimp and Scallops fried in oil with just a simple covering of flour for color and flavor.  Also served was Baccala which I believe is a salted cod.  This fish has to be soaked in some sort of liquid to wash off all the salt.  when that is done, it is simply reheated and served.   If you like salt, you will like this dish.  the final dish was a seafood salad that had Octopus, Calamari, and Shrimp in a pasta salad.  it was very refreshing but you have to like the chewy seafood proteins of the octopus or calamari.

It was  great experiience for me and my family and I was so grateful to have been invited to this tradition.

A few days later the family went up to Vermont to join the Christmas Eve family at the home of our friends.  Since we are all foodies, we each took a night.  the first night was Italian Ragu night.  The very thick sauce that layed atop fresh Cavatelli pasta was made with three different cubed meats cooked down and added to a crushed tomato sauce.  this is a true meat lovers dream.  The sauce was rich with flavor as you tasted sausage, veal and beef.  I would like to try to make this one day since it's so hearty.

The next night was mine so I went with the Mexican theme.  first we made the kids tacos with chopped meat and all the fixins,  For the Adults, I had marinated skirt steaks for Fajitas.  As the kids were eating, I sautéed peppers and onions and grilled skirt steaks.  I made a crucial mistake of not adding salt to the marinade so it was lacking in flavor.   with a few hits of salt it helped the dish but it was still sub par.  I had made fresh guacamole and had a few assortments of salsas.    All of this was washed down with two different types of Margarita.  One your easy margarita mix and tequila and the other we looked up was equal parts of Tequila, triple sec (we used grand mariner)  and fresh lime juice.   Those really kicked our butts.

The final meal together was New Years Eve.   We started out with a drink I discovered over the summer that we have called Koo-Koo Juice.  It's a mix of Passion Fruit Juice and Rums.    Have two big glasses of this and you will live up to the name.  Dinner was the elegant Filet Mignon.  Our host does a simple covering of olive oil and crushed garlic and the roast goes on the grill and cooked indirectly.  The simple garlic and oil coating is all this tender steak needs.  But our host kicks it up with a fresh made Bearnaise sauce.  Personally I'm not a fan of sauces on steaks but this one is good.  He served the steak with a great potato dish.  Red potatoes were roasted with sliced onion and everything was tossed in a ground mustard sauce he made.   Very Tasty.

All in all a great week of eating as the holidays usually are.  I hope each of you had a great holiday week and got some great gadgets and tools for your kitchen creations.

Carmine's in Times Square....Now that's Italian

If you have never been to Carmine's in New York City, then you haven't really experienced the pinnacle of family style Italian food.   This place is an absolute Landmark in Times Square.  We decided on a whim on a Saturday to battle New York City at Christmas time to see the tree and sites.

I have been to Carmine's before and know it to be a madhouse to get a seat.  So I thought I was smart and called at 9:30 am to make a reservation for that night.  I thought since we were seeing a show, an early dinner of between 4:30 and 5:00 would be a possibility but I was dead wrong.  The earliest reservation they had available was 11:00 am.  So we had done a trick once before and it had paid off this time.  We walked in and looked at the bar area.  The bar area is fairly large but packed. There are many bar stools along the very long bar and about 10 tall small tables.  These tables are really designed to hold drinks while waiting for a table but for many it could hold dinner.  The trick is all placement and timing.  First move is to scope out a table that has people eating on it.  The tables with drinks could last forever.  But with food, you know you can see where they are at in their meal.  These tables are meant for eating and leaving.  you won't find people sitting there for a long time talking because it's really loud and pushy.  So once you find your table or tables with food, you see where they are at with their meal or blatantly ask.  We scoped two and then asked both of them. One of them was not leaving anytime soon and the other was finished.  Cool, no one else laid claim to it as it would have been identified at first look.  It's New York remember?  I'm Waitin' Here!!!!

The table cleared out maybe 5 minutes after talking so the timing couldn't have been better.  A reservation wouldn't have gotten seated faster.   All menu's are on the wall.  All your classic Italian dishes are served from Baked Clams Oreganata, Hot Antipasto to all the pasta you can think of.  All the dishes are meant to be shared.  Now when I say shared, a single dish can feed probably six.  So be ready to eat.  We started off with the Carmine's salad which was a mix of fresh greens, olives, pepperoncini's, and dried tomatoes in a light vinaigrette. You can't go wrong with this other than getting scolded by some real Italians saying you have that at the end of the meal.

We also got the Fried Calamari since it is a favorite of my kids.  The batter it was fried in was not a super heavy fried batter and the marinara sauce for dipping was delicious.

For our main dishes we wanted one pasta dish and one meat dish.  So for the pasta dish, we saw the Lasagna from the previous diners and it looked amazing.   So we decided to order that.  Normally we get just meatballs and spaghetti or something like that so this was a change for us.  Again the portion is huge.  We only finished 1/2 of it but it was really good.  For Lasagna Lovers, this is a winner.  Again the Marinara sauce that is used is so tasty.  Bits of oregano and spices float in the gravy as it is layered in soft noodles, Ricotta Cheese and Chopped meat.

The meat dish we chose was Chicken Parmesan.  A staple in Italian cooking.  Plus again we didn't want to get too adventurous with the kids because if they didn't eat it, we didn't have room or space for another dish. Again, this dish was done so well.  Carmine's takes the tender Chicken Breast and pounds it so thin that it must cook through on contact.  Topped with the Marinara sauce and Mozzarella Cheese makes this dish complete.  I highly recommend it.

Eating in the bar area comes quick so we were done in less than 40 minutes from when we sat down.  No sooner were sitting back did we feel a tap on the shoulder.  A woman was there asking if we were finishing soon.  And the cycle starts over again.

Carmine's has two location.  One on 44th street off Broadway and the other is on Broadway uptown near 91st street.  For a loud fun family style meal, you won't go wrong at Carmine's.

For More Information please visit them on the web at www.carminesnyc.com/

Baldo's Lunch in Brownstown Michigan

As I mentioned in previous entries that I travel for my work.  One of the things I try my best to do is to find non chain restaurants.  Not that I'm knocking chains.  For lunch or a quick bite or even a meeting place, it's something familiar to people and for that they are great.  But I like to find non chain places to go to when I can.  Especially when I'm on the road.

One of the places that I frequent is Michigan.  Motor City. Personally I love the Detroit Metro area.  It has so much to offer and it's a real shame it gets a bad wrap.

On my last trip out there, I visited with a customer of mine with my father and we all went out to lunch to a place called Baldo's Restaurant.  They seem to specialize in Ribs but we didn't get a chance to try them.  The restaurant has a diner or expanded Pizzaria type of atmosphere.  It is well lit and the place is very comfortable.  I think it would be a great place for a large group or a meal among friends.  They have a large menu that has everything from Italian options to steaks and BBQ.

For lunch the four of us started out with a cup of Minestrone soup which was very hearty.  Nice vegetable broth and hearty chunks of veggies and beans.  Next we all split an antipasto salad that had lots of meats and cheeses on top of it which was great.

My father got for his main lunch spaghetti and clam sauce which was real good.  The sauce was a light tomato sauce with clams.  Not as garlicky as I would like it but a good dish.  The other three including myself, shared a pasta and sausage dish.  The light tomato sauce carried over onto this dish that was like my father's but the real key to the dish was the sausage. It was a real good Italian Sausage that had lots of garlic and fennel.  The combination of the sausage and the fresh sauteed peppers really made this dish a winner.

If you are looking for a good place to eat for lunch or dinner and want something casual, look for Baldo's.  It's located in Brownstown MI, which is just south of Taylor MI near the airport.

For more information about Baldo's please visit them on the web at www.baldos.com