Bob Chinn's Crabhouse..............Crab's in Chicago? I didn't know Lake Michigan had crustaceans

About 12 years ago I was introduced to Bob Chinn's.  Bob Chinn's is located in Wheeling Illinois about 20 minutes north of O'hare airport.  It's a huge place that seems to go on forever.  When you arrive, you are placed in one of three lines.  Parties of 4 or less, 5-8 people, 8 or more.  From there you are escorted to about a 1/3 of the way into the seating area where you are met by yet another hostess who then seats you at your table.

Years ago when I was first introduced, the menu was hand written on both sides everyday.  All fresh fish was flown in every day and posted on the top of the menu.  Obviously the main feature was crab.  All sorts were to be had there.  King, Dungeness, Jonah, Snow and even blue.  

Today, similar handwritten typeset is on one side of the menu only but it does change everyday.  Insuring that all the items on the menu were delivered fresh that day.  

I'm a sucker for Dungeness Crab because it's pretty much native to the waters of the San Francisco Bay area.  Its getting more and more popular and you see it more on menus so if you do see it, get it.  Aside from King Crab, it's real easy to eat.  Big meaty knuckles allow large chunks of flesh to come out easily.  So when I saw that on the menu this time, I knew what I'd be having that night,  But what to start with .

I saw they had Gumbo on the menu so I started with a cup of the soup.  It was very good with large chunks of green pepper and Okra.  It had a little spice to it which was nice but not too spicy for those who are sensitive to it.

I also had some Oysters on the 1/2 shell which were real nice.  Only argument was the fact that they really weren't shucked well.  the oyster was still connected to the shell so if you were to just try to scoop it into your mouth, you would rip the mollusk in 1/2.  Since this happens more times than not, I always get into a habit of checking this first before I don them with horseradish and cocktail sauce.

One of the great things that I forgot about Bob Chinn's are the rolls.  Ordinary rolls are served in a basket topped with a garlic parsley oil mixture.   You see people licking their fingers all over the dining room eating these.   I broke my rule and took a photo:

Now for my main dish of Dungeness Crab, I had the choice of having them served cold, steamed, with garlic and oil or Ginger and onion.  The ginger and onion sounded good but in reality, I should have gone with one of the other three.  One large crab was cooked and covered in a syrupy sauce that I guess had ginger flavoring.  It lacked the flavor.  

But when you got through the sauce, the meat was tender and delicious.  The only negative with a meal like this is that it is work.  You can't just dive in with silverware and eat.  you have to crack, and poke and scoop to get the meat out.  You do risk a slight cut when handle the crabs but that is a risk I just love to take.  

When you eat like this, you are bound to get a bit dirty.  At many places, you get a nice little wet nap.  At Bob Chinn's, you can go to any sink that is strategically located throughout the restaurant.  They are shaped like old wooden barrels and they are constantly being used.

So if your in the Chicago area and are close to O'hare airport, give Bob Chinn's a try.  Everyone knows the place there and you'll have a great meal.  

For more information about Bob Chinn's Crabhouse, go to:http://bobchinns.com/

Vegas Trip in March...............Quick trip and good eats

It was supposed to be a nice long weekend.  Part fun, part work.  My original plan was to go out on Friday night and just Chill Saturday and ½ day Sunday before my convention started.  The convention was to take place at the Ritz Carlton in Lake Las Vegas from Sunday night to Tuesday night.  I didn’t want to stay 30 minutes away from the strip as that is where all the action is.  So I chose my usual Bellagio location and for the first time rented a car to drive back and forth.  Taxi’s would have cost $70 each way so the car was the cheaper move by far.  I had made a reservation at L’Atalier de Joel Robuchon where I enjoyed a fabulous meal in November ( search through here and you will see what it was like and why you should go).  I made a reservation for 4 just in case I was able to find some people who were going into Vegas Early for some fun and wanted to have dinner with me. 

All that fun and planning came to an abrupt crash when two weeks before my trip on the first run of a beautiful warm ski day, my 6 year old hit a jump and came down hard breaking his femur in two.  Long story short, got to the hospital where we eventually had to wait till 7:00 pm before he could go into surgery to repair the break.    Over a month later he is doing amazing now and will probably be running around like nothing happened in 6 weeks or so.

But then, I had all the plans to cancel my trip.  My wife had said I shouldn’t and to take one day at a time.  Which I did. Since he and we were doing great up to when I was leaving, I changed the trip to go out on Sunday instead of Friday.  I canceled L’Atalier and made another one for Monday. 

Sunday night found me on the old strip of Las Vegas’ Freemont Street.  Our convention started at the Golden Gate Hotel, home of the original $ 0.99 Shrimp cocktail.  One of the members of our organization is now the owner of this hotel and hosted a cocktail party out in front of the hotel on the now pedestrian only street.  I haven’t been there since they first put the cover on the street and closed it to cars.  Back then it was cheesy and dirty and not anywhere near as flashy as what the new Vegas had become.  Now it boasts the world’s Largest HD TV in the world.  The canopy that covers the street is a huge TV. How huge?  How about 4 blocks huge.  At 7:30 and every hour after that the screen fills up with music and videos from the Doors, to CCR and Kiss.  One of the cool video portions was a rocket that started at our end of the street and went all the way down to the far end.  I have to admit, it was real cool.  Derrick the owner, said that they (meaning everyone who has properly on the street) have done a lot to bring people back to this area.  Including three concert stages with great acts.  I’m told that year round, Friday and Saturday nights are similar to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.  I’m glad I went not just for the business end but to see what Old Vegas has done.   I would say I would probably come back one day.

Now at a cocktail party like that, I don’t tend to eat a lot.  Even though there were some good food being passed around, I try not to eat so that I can pay attention to conversing with others.  Plus I would hate to talk and all of a sudden I’m spitting food on someone that I want to sell a quarter of a million dollar machine to.  So I sip my drink and talk.  After a few hours of this the crowd dispersed for everyone to go their own way.  I went back to the Bellagio where I found myself hungry.  I walked around and decided to go to Fix.  It is located near the stores that lead you over to the Caesar’s.  It is also located across from a very popular sushi place called Yellowtail.  The place was bustling so from where I sat across from there, I had a great view of some very beautiful people getting ready for a late Sunday night frolic.  I think it was stripper night at the night club there because the last time I have seen so many tight outfits propped up on 4” heels was at a strip joint.  

So at Fix, I just wanted a little nibble, so after my drink came, I ordered the Kobe Beef slider appetizer.  It was three small sliders done up with caramelized onions on small buns.  They were very tasty but I have to admit I think the “Kobe” is wasted on sliders.  Because the burgers are done small, there is a tendency to overcook them.  Now the onions and ketchup bring moisture back to the burger, you don’t get it from the beef at all.  I have had regular Kobe beef burgers that needed no condiment on them at all.  The interlaced fat retains all the delicious juicy flavor that you need.   I have had one at Burger Bar at Mandalay and it is spectacular.    So after my burgers and $100 donation, I went to bed early.

Monday was meetings and golf all day and I couldn’t find someone to join me on the strip for dinner that night.  Most people wanted to stay local, so I went back and tried to figure out what to do.  I cancelled my L’Atalier reservation because I didn’t know if I wanted to get in a taxi.  The beauty of the Bellagio is it’s location. I can walk to Caesar’s, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Bally’s, Harrah’s, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, the Orleans, and the Venetian.  There is lots to see and lots of places to eat all within a 15-20 min. walk.  I was in the mood for Steak or at least I thought I was.  I first went to Jean-George Vongdericten’s Prime in the Bellagio.  It was now 8:15 and the first table for one would be available at 9:30.  Monday night with a long wait like that, I was happy to see Vegas is coming back.  But I didn’t want to wait.  So I know there are a few places in Caesar’s.  So I make my way over the bridge and into the Palace.  While walking around, I noticed the famed New York Eatery Rao’s.  I glace over and it looks like they have availability, but at that point, steak was still on my mind.  I made my way to the forum shops of Caesar’s where it is home to many shops and restaurants.  At the end on the 3^rd floor is BOA Steakhouse.  I walk over and notice it’s a dark looking place and as I get closer, aside from the hostess, the place is empty.  Not a good sign.  I didn’t even stop to glace at the menu.  So I took the circular escalator, yes circular it’s really cool, down to the first floor where it is home to Joe’s Steak and Crab.  This is satellite restaurant from the famed Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami.  If you have never been there on south beach you have to make it there one day.  I hope to get there again soon to write about it but better yet, to eat there. 

The location where Joe’s is, is mostly out in the mall area.  While it’s good for people watching, the location isn’t very good for high traffic and I wasn’t in the mood for a brightly lit area while eating.   So what do I do?  Should I make my way back to Prime and wait another 45 min. at this point?  I remember Rao’s.  I walk back there and see that I could just come in so I glance at the menu outside.  It is classic Italian fare but I have heard done better than anyone else can do it.  So I go up to the front and was seated in a minute.  The menu looked great.   All Classic Italian dishes.  My problem was what to try.   I changed my plan from Steak to Veal.  Yes I know it’s the same animal but we all know it’s different.  All veal dishes looked amazing and I was really having a hard time deciding.  I saw at the last minute that there was Osso Buco on the menu and that was a heavy contender.  Glancing at the appetizers I saw Clams Oreganata.   When done right, the clam is left whole and the topping is a breading mixture of oil, clam juice, lots of finely chopped garlic and parsley and then topped with even more butter.  It is baked and then broiled for a minute to crisp up the tops.   Growing up in Long Island, there were lots of Italian places that did these right.  We used to get an extra loaf of bread to mop up the juices.  The plates would literally come back stark white.  Not clean mind you, but stark white.   But in Connecticut, I am yet to have a clam done like I did growing up.  Yes they have the clams casino and the big heavy stuffing chopped up baked clams.  But a Clams Oreganata done right is probably the best thing you can put in your mouth. 

Just a short story about Clams Oreganata.  Our entire family plus spouses had gone to my grandmother’s unveiling of her cemetery stone in Long Island a year after her death.  There is usually a small ceremony and that is it.  After, being that every fairly large event in the Jewish religion revolves around food,  we decided to go eat at La Parma.  Another classic New York Italian family style eatery.  There were 10 of us all together.  I think we were all drooling at the idea of the clams as they do them fabulous there.  When the waiter came, we ordered 6 dozen.  Yes 6 dozen for a group of 10.  Normal families usually have 1 or two clams as a morsel to start the meal.  We don’t believe in morsels.  We asked for many loaves of bread to so we can mop up the juice when we finished the clams.  If there were professional clam eaters, my family would be champions.   We devoured these clams so that there wasn’t any bits of mollusk or bread crumb left.  There were noises coming from our table that would sound like it was meal in the medieval days.  One of us was facing the servers who were watching all of us and noticed one of them saying to another, “look at those pigs”.  We were all hysterical.  But we were happy and we were together so they could have called us whatever we wanted. 

So knew I was ordering the Clams, but what to have for the main.  As I usually do, I ask the help of the server.  He said if this is your first time, it has to be the veal. I said I was only looking at the Veal.  He said then the choice is between the Veal parm or the Osso Buco.  I said the Osso Buco it is. 

The clams arrived and they sat in an oblong ramekin in a bath of butter. The tops were browned perfectly.  But they were scalding hot. So I had to just wait a moment before diving in.   The crumb topping was perfect with just the right amount of seasoning and moisture that you would expect in dish.  I would say I have two gripes with the way they prepared the dish.  One was that the clams weren’t shucked so if you didn’t eat them right, you would have to take two bites, one with all the topping, then another with the clam.  The way to get the most out of the dish is to have them together in one smooth motion with your front teeth acting like spoon removing it from its shell.   Then you can go after and get any last remaining bits.  So this one required some work with a knife and fork.  But in the end it was still worth it. My second gripe was the fact that none of the topping spilled over into the dish for mopping.  The bottom of the dish was basically clarified garlic butter.  Delicious yes, but not for mopping.   Would I order it again, I’m not so sure If I would for two reasons, one it’s $17.00 for 6 clams.  And two there are probably other things on the menu that are amazing. 

The main dish came and it looked pretty as a picture.  I still kept in my new no picture policy at restaurants and this one I should have broken the rule.  This massive bone in Veal shank sat atop a bed of saffron risotto and looked so beautiful. I was given a steak knife and I don’t know why.  It was so tender, and when it is done right it should be, that you only needed a fork to remove the meat.  The dish was cooked in a veal reduction sauce that enhanced the flavor that much more.  The sauce mixed in the risotto making it creamy and rich in flavor.  The portion was huge.  I didn’t finish the rice but I did finish the meat.  And yes, I did get a small spoon for the buttery marrow inside.  Truly a decadent dish.  I would highly recommend this to everyone. 

No dessert as I was filled to the gills.   I had a nice walk back to walk off the meal.   I am looking forward to another visit there.

My final food experience was at a place I went to the last time I was there.  Hot and Juicy Crawfish.  I really went there for a t-shirt because they didn’t have my size last time I was there.  And sure enough, they didn’t have it this time as well.  But I got an amazing meal of spicy crawfish for lunch.  They were just as good as the first time and I guess I’ll be back for that shirt in a few weeks when I return. 

I’m not sure where I’ll eat then but I’ll be sure to let you know.

Papaya Thai.........Taste of Thai done locally good.

Last weekend (yes I need to catch up) my youngest sister Emily had surprised us by saying she had nothing to do Saturday night so she ordered us out on the town while she watched the boys.

So Anita and I took off to Norwalk to Papaya Thai where we haven't been to in a long time.  We were quickly seated but moved due to the chill near the door.  We settled in and looked at the extensive drink list.  I don't remember what Anita got but my drink was called the Mind Bender.  Tequila with Lime Juice, and another juice that I can't remember.  Guess it bent my mind.

They have a great menu but we always seem to get a bunch of small plates to share.  So we stuck to our plan and each ordered Tom Yum Goong which has shrimp and mushrooms in this amazing broth.  It had some heat to it but not too much.  It would be awesome to make this soup one day.   It would be great with on a really cold day.  We both really enjoyed the soup.

The first of the small plates came which was Larb Gai Lettuce Cups.  A spin off of the lettuce cups from P.F. Chang's but less mass produced tasting.  Flavor was good and served in red leaf lettuce instead of Iceberg.

Our next dish was one of my favorites, Beef Short Rib Satay.  But without the Satay.  It is a piece of short rib, off the bone that must be marinated and grilled.  The meat is so tender as a short rib should be cooked.  But the taste is really what gets you.  I could have had two of these.

The last dish we got was the Curry Sampler, which is a small portion of three different curry dishes.  This I would personally pass on next time.  The sauces were each too watery for me.  I picture a curry dish to have a thicker sauce that these had. They weren't bad.  Don't get me wrong.  But I would get another Satay or starter to nibble on.

Its a fun place to go to and in the summer they have outdoor seating.

Papaya Thai can be found in Norwalk across from the Maritime Aquarium.  You can learn more about them by going here: www.papayathai.com

Marly's of Wilton......Fun for Family, Great for Dates

Just finished a great meal at Marly's in Wilton CT tonight.

Now I want to preface that I'm going to change the way I write about restaurants here.  I've seen in a bunch of cooking shows that talk to the chefs or the owners and most of them have said that they really dislike that people take pictures of the food.  They said it takes away from the experience.  I tend to disagree but I have seen enough of the shows to make me think that unless it absolutely requires a photo, I will try to refrain from taking photos at restaurants.  But I will torture you with stuff I cook.

So onto Marly's.  The location is tucked away in the center of Wilton Center CT.  The space is handsomely decorated and in the warmer months, outdoor seating is available.

The  menu is a terrific blend of everything.  Appetizers include two types of chicken wings, fried calamari which you would find in many places that are safe bets.  But Marly's kicks it up a bit by adding P.E.I Mussels and a Pan seared Scallop dish. They also offer two different kinds of sliders.  Kobe beef and Pulled Pork.

On the same side of the Menu were 7 different kinds of salads.  Some of which I'm sure would be big enough for a whole meal.  I was in the mood for Caesar Salad and order theirs as my appetizer.  The romaine was crispy and fresh and the dressing was not too heavy.  It had great salty flavor to it but the best part about it was the long pieces of shaved Parmesan.

On the right side of the menu were the main dishes.  Your choices go from Burgers to Steak and everything in between.  The burgers are not just simple burgers though.  You have your choice of 8. I have had the pleasure of trying three of them in a previous posting and let me tell you, it is difficult to choose just one.  You can also choose to go lighter and select one of five different sandwiches.  Other main dishes included steaks, a few fish dishes including Salmon, Tilapia and Cod.  They also have a number of pasta dishes that you can order 1/2 order of if you want it as an appetizer or just a lighter dinner.  I chose the Buccatini pasta and clams.  The sauce that it came with was a red sauce that was rich and bold.  It was also quite spicy.  Just how I like my meals.  The clams circled the pasta when it arrived so there were plenty.  I enjoyed the sauce so much I had to get more bread for mopping.
Anita ordered off the specials menu tonight which was seared Scallops over an Arugala Salad.  The Scallops were very big and the dish was very pretty and colorful.

We had our kids with us tonight and a friend of theirs.  The kids menu comes on the kids activity book to keep them busy.  All the kids dishes were either $5 or $6 which is perfect.  And the fries were perfect.  One of the greatest things they do is on Sundays.  For families, they have movie night.  in a smaller section of the restaurant, they set up a TV and show a movie.  Kids also get served a meal while watching the movie.  So while they are enjoying a movie and dinner, you can have a little alone time with your loved one.

Oh, and I know I started by saying I wouldn't take photos at restaurants again unless they are real special.  Well I couldn't resist.

Marly's can be found on the web at www.marlysofwilton.com

Passover Feast.......There is no slim way to do it.

The Passover Seders are now over.  And thank goodness.  Yes,I know. What the hell am I whining about.  Two days of some incredible Jewish Soul food.   It's exhausting.  There is so much stuff that you want to have that you end up eating yourself silly.

I remember when we would have those marathon Seders at my Grandparents, we would all sit and rest after the soup just to make some space.  

So I'll start by letting you know how the Pastrami Salmon turned out.  It was bad.  But bad in a weird way.  You see after the siting in the salt/sugar/cilantro/parsley/shallot wet rub for two days, it has in essence cooked.  So you take all that stuff off and give it a rinse.  Then you dry it off and pour on a mixture of molasses, cayenne ( lots), and coriander.  It then goes back in the fridge overnight.  This is what it looks like:

Then you take it out and slice it.  I put it out on a nice plate and it looked real pretty, see:

Even the flesh looked good:

But the topping was weird tasting.  And Spicy.  I didn't mind the heat but it had a strong molasses flavor.  Maybe with less molasses it would have been better but it still wasn't pastrami tasting.  I have to find the recipe that I used many years ago and make it again.  

So I served that along side Egg Salad with mushrooms.  Just some good stuff to nibble on while everyone arrives and gets settled.  

We then took to the table to do the ceremony and story telling of the holiday.  I like to really breeze through this and enjoy the wine along the way.  The traditional Seder has you drinking 4 glasses of wine throughout the meal.  Some of us did that before the meal started.  We were all laughing a lot.  It was a great night.

I suggested to Anita, my wife, that we use the soup we had in the freezer for the night.  I'm all for fresh soup but this was a time saving tactic.  We had three gallons frozen that we really needed to move and it was one less thing we had to make.  Fresh Chicken soup is wonderful and Anita makes it really great.  But it takes almost a whole day to really get it right.  So we went with the Frozen stuff that tasted just as good as it was made that day.  

Our main meal was next.  I originally wanted to make two chickens on the rotisserie but Anita said we would need three for our crowd.  My rotisserie will only hold two chickens so I needed another plan.  How can I cook three whole chickens on the grill at the same time without having to constantly watch it and flip it.  I already had the oven doing something so the Grill was it.  

Did I hear someone say Beer Butt Chicken?  that is right sir.  Beer Butt chicken is the way I went.  Now before any of you hardcore Heebs out there start in on me about not being able to drink beer during Passover, I'll have you know, I drank the beer the night before and only used the cans.  

For those of you who don't know Beer Butt chicken, listen up.  This is such an easy and fun way to cook a chicken on the grill.  You just need a grill, a can of beer (or any beverage in the average 12 oz can) and a chicken.  The idea is you open a beer, drink 1/2 of it and set it aside.  Then you make a rub for the bird and rub it all over the chicken.  Take any leftover rub and put it in the can.  Then you place the chicken's cavity over the can of beer so that the chicken looks like it's sitting on a tri-pod.   Can of beer and it's two legs keep it from falling over.  I made a mixture of Olive oil, lots of fresh squeezed lemon juice and lime juice, ginger powder, garlic powder and rubbed sage.  I think mixed it all up in a bowl and took a turkey baster and filled up the cans 1/2 way.  I then took the birds and dipped them in mixture coating all the sides and placed them on each can.  

when you put it on the grill, you need to cook it indirectly.  That means there is no flame under it.  I used the two outside burners and preheated the grill to 325 degrees.  I then placed the birds in the middle of the grill and it looked like this:

Don't they look awesome!!!!!

After about 1 hour, then come out like this:

Now if you want, you can put a drip pan under the bird or birds to catch the drippings so that you can make a gravy from it.  I forgot to do that but in the end, I didn't need any gravy.  It was even juicy today for leftover lunch.  The idea of the can is used for two reasons.  One is that it provides a good sturdy base to hold the bird.  Second is that when the mixture gets up to a steaming point, that steam provides moisture for the bird.  the moistness and the flavor is worth it.  I highly recommend cooking it this way.

The other item we made was brisket.  I don't know why we don't make this dish more often.  We have three great recipes but we have found the one we made this night is our favorite.  You sear the meat on both sides for 5-7 min. to get a good outside to the meat.  then you cover the meat in a mixture of ketchup, onions, dark brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.  The mixture looks like this on top of the brisket:

 

After covering it up, it goes in the oven for 2 hours.  After two hours to you take out the meat and when it's cool enough to handle, you slice it into 1/4" slices.  Then back into the pot for another 2 hours.  You cut it 1/2 way because if you wait till it is all the way cooked, the meat just shreds apart.  After cooking, it looks like this:

 

'The sauce was sweet from the ketchup and the meat was so tender, a knife would be there just for show.  

The Main dishes were accompanied by a potato dish called potato Kugel.  It is made from a mixture of potatoes, matzo meal (like corn meal) eggs, and salt.  You put it all into a food processor till it get to the consistency of a potato pancake batter.  It is placed into a casserole dish and cooked for about an hour.

The other side dish was baby organic veggies roasted with honey and cumin.  The veggies were Patty Pan Squash, baby multi colored carrots, baby Vidalia onion, baby zucchini, and fennel.  It was really tasty and so simple.

 

After a short break, the final portion of the meal is served.  Anita makes some of the greatest desserts.  She made her staple cheese cake that was so good this time.  Where she really excels are her cookies.  She made Pecan  meringue's and coconut macaroons.  The meringues are so light and fluffy and sweet.   They are the crowd favorite.

 

the platter of cookies is always so impressive.  take a look:

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing how we celebrated the Passover holiday.  The crazy part is that we did it all over again the second night.  Its truly an exhausting few days but there is no better way to make yourself tired.

I'd be more than happy to share the recipes that you see here with anyone.  if you would like the recipe, send me a comment and I'll be sure to send it to you.  Or you can send me a message to alanharitonblog@gmail.com

thanks for reading and enjoy every meal you can.

Passover is here........Bring on the Soul Food Part 1

Now for those of you who don't know me, I'm the farthest thing from a religious person.  But what I really enjoy about the holiday, any holiday, is that it brings family and friends together.  Usually around a meal when it comes to me.  Now the time has come for the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Small History Lesson:

 Passover is the holiday where Jews around the world celebrate the exodus for the evil Pharaoh who kept the Jews enslaved to build the pyramids.  During this time of escape, the Jews had no time to wait for their dough to rise for their bread.  So the bread that they had to eat resembled what we have today as Matzo.  So for 8 days we eat nothing (or try to eat nothing) that is made of flour or rises.  That list includes: bread of any sort, crackers, rice, pasta.  The first two nights are called the Seders.  These nights are meals that are served around a ceremony that really tells the story about how the slaves escaped Egypt.   Growing up and going to my grandparents who are Orthodox Jews, our ceremonies there would last sometimes up to 5 hours.  The ceremony at my house lasts about 15 minutes then onto the eats.

History lesson Over.

For me, this is a time when I have an excuse to entertain.  So this is what I have planned.

As a good entertainer does, I will have nibbles out for people to nosh on while we wait to start the dinner.  I have decided to make my egg salad with mushroom and a Pastrami Salmon.  I had made the Pastrami Salmon once a while ago and it was a huge hit.  So making it again I thought would be great.  I searched high and low for the recipe and couldn't find it.  So I found another one from the chef David Burke and thought I'd give it a try.  It calls for taking a 2 to 2 1/2 lbs piece of salmon with no skin on it and curing it with salt and herbs to sort of cook it.  So I have a 2 lb. piece here.

I kind of mauled it a little when I was taking the skin off.  My original goal was to go to Costco and get their Salmon because it is perfect for this.  Boneless and skinless.

So the recipe calls for 1 cup of salt and 1/2 a cup of sugar to be covering the entire piece of fish.  Then in a food processor puree 1/2 lb. of shallots, 2 bunches of Cilantro and 1 bunch of Parsley. Coat the entire fish in the puree and let it sit for two to three days.

My fish will sit for two days.  Then I'll mix a mustard, molasses, coriander seed, cayenne, and bay leaves and let it sit for one more night before serving it sliced.  With my new low salt diet, i'll be having very little of this but it's very dramatic when served right.  I hope it turns out ok.  You'll see the results either Monday or Tuesday.

For the rest of the meal, we'll be serving traditional Matzo ball soup which Anita makes the best I've had.  I'll be making for the main dish, Brisket, and three chickens done on the grill beer butt style.  our sides will be Broccoli, roasted red potatoes with rosemary and a vegetable medley consisting of Patty Pan Squash, baby organic carrots that are all sorts of beautiful colors, baby Vidalia onions, and baby zucchini.  If it turns out right it will be both beautiful and tasty.  I'm going to season it with honey and cumin.   We will also make a potato dish called kugel which takes almost the same batter as a potato pancake and makes it in a casserole dish.

As usual, Anita will out do herself in the dessert category.  She's got one Chocolate cheesecake made and is currently cooking a regular cheesecake.  we'll have coconut macaroons, and meringue cookies.

it will be a great feast that I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you.  I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I have enjoyed both writing about it and preparing it.

I'm Back

I took a small break and I'm now back.  I have some exciting things to share especially with the Jewish Holiday's coming up, i'll be sharing some good Soul food.

Plus I just got back from Las Vegas so I have one new place to mention.

All in all I'm happy to say that since I got rid of salt in my cooking, my ticker has been much better.  I've also dropped a little weight and hope to drop more.

I want to mention that I got rid of the salt I used to use.  I still have it in somethings but I don't use it anywhere near where I used to use it.  I don't go so far as getting low sodium everything.  I get low sodium soy sauce and low sodium chicken stock but I don't go beyond that.

I'll be in touch again shortly with some past places I have eaten and some things I've made to try to help my diet.

In the meantime, enjoy what you eat and try something new all the time.