SW Steakhouse.............You will Wynn when you dine at this Wynn location

As much fun as i'm having here in Las Vegas at my Machinery Dealer's convention, I have been taking advantages of any meal opportunity I have been given to me.

Last night was a smart move on my part to join my parents and two other couples that we are friendly with.  The SW Steakhouse is located downstairs near the lake of Dreams. When you take the circular (yes circular) escalator down in front of the small lake, you have SW on one side and Daniel Boulud on the other.  The Space is very Steakhouse like with a lot of dark colors but very well lit.

The Menu was also very Steakhouse like with your usual raw bar selections as well as some high end additions like a Caviar plate and Kobe beef Carpaccio.  They had an excellent selection of Salads.  Two of us got Caesar Salads, two of us got the Roasted beet salad, and the best looking salad was the chopped salad with Avocado topped with crisp thin potatoes.  I got the Beet salad and it had an excellent amount of these tender morsels.  there were three different vibrant color beets to choose from as well as it being bathed in a hazelnut dressing and sliced hazelnuts mixed in.

Most of us ordered the steak as well that is what we came for.  Both my father and Susan (one of the women with us) don't eat meat, so they ordered fish.  My father got the Halibut and I got to try a small piece before he completely devoured the dish.  It was juicy and flaky and just down right delicious.  It was soy glazed before the sear so it had a nice sweet flavor.  It mixed well with the miso lemongrass sauce it was sitting in.

I ordered the Bone in Rib-eye.  I'm always a big fan of a bone in rib-eye because the bone adds so much flavor.  Both my mother and I got that dish. Now I know I often talk down about steakhouses because....well, there isn't much to it and they don't differ really from one place to another.  the steak that is.  What you need to make a good steak is first good quality meat, and freaking hot ass broiler.  Many of the high end steakhouses have a line to top brands and quality of beef.  The ovens on the other hand does the magic.  If you had an oven that can produce a heat of 1250 degrees, you too can make a great steak.  That super high heat will char the outside while leaving the inside nice and pink.  That char is where you get all the great flavor.

One of the people with us, Frank, got the Tomahawk Filet.  A rare selection to find and if you do, please get it.  Yes, it's above the top when it comes to pricing it.  At almost $80, you best enjoy steak.  The Tomahawk cut is a bone in Filet Mignon.   It gets the name from.......well take a look:

I normally don't get the Filet because I find the rib-eye is much more full of flavor.  But this steak was awesome.  I got to taste a little bit and really enjoyed it.

Now what really sets a steakhouse apart are what it offers in addition to the steak.  The side dishes were fantastic.  We ordered a very regal Black Truffle Creamed corn.  Very rich in truffle flavor and the right amount of creaminess to it. We also got Balsamic glazed Chipoline onions and jalapeno peppers.  The bite of the jalapeno against the sweet balsamic was an excellent mix.

For dessert we pre-ordered a chocolate soufflé.  I'm not a big soufflé fan, but I had a taste of it and it was very good.  the accompaniment of sour cherries I thought was an excellent touch as well as it looking beautiful

All in all a great meal and I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good steak house out here in Las Vegas.

SW Steakhouse can be found in the Wynn Hotel or online at www.wynnlasvegas.com

Day one in Las Vegas again..................Lunch for two....for one at Carnegie Deli

Yes, I'm back in my favorite city again.  This will be the last time I'm here till November.  This was a unique year for me as I was able to go to Las Vegas so often in such a short time.  I belong to two business organizations that move their yearly conventions from one place to another.  both of them coincidentally had them here.

So I got in met up with a fellow machinery dealer who I have been friends with now for many years.  We each got in early today (Wednesday) to have a little bit of extra fun.  We started off the day by going to the famous New York eatery Carnegie Deli located at the Mirage Hotel.

It is smaller than the original but the taste was the same.  As you walk past this place the smell draws you in.  You can't beat true New York style Corned Beef and Pastrami.  Yes a stumbling block for my low salt diet but I have been super good the past few weeks and felt I can afford a cheat.  I wanted a corned beef and pastrami combo.  it's called the "Woody Allen".  It should be called the meat towers.  It was ridiculous.  As were most things coming out of the kitchen.  This place takes portion control and annihilates it. The sandwich is so big that it is held together with Skewers.  I took a photo but it was blurry.  But I can easily say, it was stacked about 10" high.  A true Dagwood.

The Pastrami was juicy and peppery the way pastrami should be.  The corned beef was very lean and therefore dry in my book. I like a fattier piece of corned beef.  I think my mother and I are the only ones who order corned beef fatty.

We both ended up controlling ourselves and eating just 1/2 the sandwich and taking the other 1/2 back.  I think I can make three sandwiches with what I brought back.

If you go to any type of New York Style Deli, bring an appetite.

Carnegie Deli can be found on the Strip in Las Vegas at The Mirage Hotel.  www.mirage.com

leFarm in Westport Ct...........Farm to Table food has never tasted this good

Anita and I had the pleasure of dining at leFarm again last night.  And I mean pleasure.   His inventive farm to table cuisine puts it at the top of our favorite dining locations.

Now I know I have said in the past that I wouldn't take photos of the food at the restaurants but I draw exception to the new rule with Chef Bill. He said he has no problems with me taking photos of the food and I could take as many as I wanted. While I was tempted to walk through the restaurant and photograph patrons and their meals, I decided not to.  For Anita's sake.

So for those who don't know leFarm, the rustic barn interior of the space seats around 30 but feels bigger than that with high ceilings and light tones and mirrors on the walls.  The appetizers are quite diverse including a selection of cheeses, Long Island Fluke Crudo (served raw), many salads, and small fish plates and of course my favorite the roasted bone marrow.  I usually get the bone marrow but told Chef I wanted something different.  I noticed that there were Sardines on the menu.  No one locally makes Sardines as I think they have a bad reputation of being the sibling of the Anchovy.  I think that they are a sibling and personally I see that as a good thing since I love Anchovies.  But not many people do.  Sardines are similar in that they are small fish, but they have much different flavor.  Chef said they are excellent and decided to get those.  And he was right. The small filet's are paired with a unique type of grapefruit that is sweeter than most. it also looked like it had a hint of green color.  It also had cucumbers and slivered onions and the entire dish was circled with a harissa sauce which added some nice heat to the dish.

Anita wanted a salad as Chef Bill always makes strong vibrant salads.  We always steer towards any of his salads that have beets in them.  That is one vegetable that I want to start to use more.  I think they too have a bad reputation as been a heavy red colored vegetable that is only associated to Borscht and Greek Salads.  A lot of the Beets he gets are so colorful and rich in flavor.  Her salad had yellow beets and lentils but what really crunched up the dish were the pecans.  They were sweet and crunch and worked great with the thinly sliced and salty La Quercia ham.  I have never heard of this kind of ham but I loved it.  It was similar in texture and taste to Prosciutto but not as strong a flavor.

Our Server Frank, who we have known for years, had gotten upset with us because we didn't hear what the special was this evening for the appetizer.  Frank knows us and knows that we enjoy almost everything and said we would enjoy it so he brought us out a dish.   It was octopus that was grilled and also had some harissa mixed into the sauce.   The dish was served with scallions (I think) chorizo (I know) and shaved Fennel.  Octopus normally has a chewy texture but Bill did something to it that made it soft.   The perfect bite was a bit of fennel, chorizo and octopus.  If you ever see this on the menu, get it.

leFarm's main dishes have a selection of pastas that can be ordered as an appetizer or a main dish.  His bolognese is really great.  Other main dishes had something there for everyone.  His Chicken dish is always on the menu and everyone always talks about it.  personally I have never gotten it because there are so many other amazing ones.  Last night they ran out of the Lamb meatballs that is served over polenta.  His Pork belly dish is one I usually get but again wanted to go down a different road last night.  I asked Bill what he thought and asked if I liked Sweet Breads.  I have to admit, I have never had Sweet Breads as I have sort of been turned off to what they were.  Which is not really like me.  But he said they make them real well and I should give it a try.  For those of you who don't know, Sweet Breads are a gland in either a calf or a lamb.  Bill said if I didn't like them, that the rest of the dish is a meal in itself.  I have to say I'm now a fan of Sweet Breads.  Bill made them Asparagus, ramps, smoky bacon in a rich meaty sauce.  The Sweet Breads themselves reminded me a little of a really extra firm Tofu but had a meatiness to them.  I also had tried ramps for the first time with this dish and they were delicious.  Ramps are a short seasoned leek or green onion that have a nice subtle onion flavor.  I'm sure a nice dish of these just sautéed in  olive oil would be great.

Anita loves the way Bill makes his Halibut and he delivered last night.  It was a real big piece of fish that sat on a bed of white coco beans and spinach with chunks of chorizo.  Yes lots of chorizo last night.  I really hate when that happens.  The fish was topped with a romesco sauce that was delicious.

While we sat and enjoyed out drinks, Frank dropped off a dessert menu that listed many sweet treats.  I'm not a major dessert fan but I love Bill's cornbread.  It is topped with Maple ice cream and candied bacon.  Its so good.

Yes I started in without a photo as you can see  but I couldn't resist.

If you live in the Fairfield County Ct area I highly suggest you come here.   Reservations are highly recommended and they are open from Tuesday through Saturday.   If you go, tell Bill I said hi when he is walking around the restaurant.  He enjoys mingling.

More information can be found online at www.lefarmwestport.com

Being Married to a Woman who bakes has it's advantages

Both Anita, my wife, and I love to cook. Well let me rephrase that. I love to cook. She loves to bake. The funny thing about how we look at both crafts are that they are easy. I personally think that if you know how to read, you know how to cook. Obviously there is more too it but that is the basic necessity. You just need to follow a recipe and there you go. Food.

There are differences between cooking and baking. The major one is the ingredients and how you use them. What I mean by that is that with cooking, you can add more of something on the fly just for kicks. With baking, the majority of the ingredients must be exact. You almost never substitute something in baking. That is for the most part. Yes you can change certain acids and certain bases and get similar results, but everything stays the same for the most part.

So as I was saying, whipping up something for Anita and I is pretty easy. For example, this morning Anita realized we have no cookies in the house. Her signature cookie is the Chocolate Chip. I personally like them frozen with a very cold glass of milk. With each holiday, she whips up something appropriate. Ruggalah and Bobbka for the Jewish High Holidays and Pecan Meringue's and coconut macaroons for Passover. She is also known to make a fabulous Cheesecake at a moments notice.

Back to today, she made up a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. Take a look why I'll never be known as slim.

Yeah, waking up or just sitting down somewhere close by can be so rewarding when these are being baked.  Really.  In the back you see the signature chocolate chip cooling down before being placed in a baggie and then put in the freezer.  In the front are her peanut butter cookie.  Playfully done with a Hershey's Kiss in the middle.

I've been messing around with photographing some of the food I make so hope this makes you water.

I made sure I have milk tonight when I get home from Dinner.

Reading Labels to watch Salt and discovered I was reading them wrong.......Are you reading them better?

As many of you may know I have been putting in a better effort to lower my salt intake.  The FDA recommends 2 to 2 1/2 grams ( 2000 to 2500 mg ) of salt (or sodium) a day.  I've been trying real hard to stay below that as well as help my family stay below that as well.

Before I got on this kick, I had purchased some things that are not on board with my new lifestyle. Not many items but one in particular was a bowl of Japanese Udon Noodles.  I don't get into a habit of buying stuff like this but thought it might be good for something hot and filling and real easy to make.  So after I said Sayonara to sodium, I looked at that label and was shocked.  Take a look at the sodium count

No your not misreading.  It does say 1520 mg.   click the photo to make it bigger.  You'll see it.  That is almost a full day of salt in one bowl of noodle soup.  Why I didn't throw it away right then and there I don't know.  But I kept it in the pantry.

When shopping at Trader Joe's I came across some of these noodle bowls which looked smaller and I looked at the label and thought these were not great but better than the big bowl I had in my pantry.  So I bought some.  Look at the difference in the sizes.

Packaging plays a huge part here.  The bowl on the right looks huge compared to when you remove the bowl from it's packaging on the left.   Anita pulled the bowl on the left out of the pantry and I told her to take the one on the right and throw it away because it was high in sodium.  She looked at it and was as shocked as I was when she saw that 1520 number.  She looked at the smaller bowl and said, like I did, not great but better  than the other one.  But then she looked closer.   She said did you know that the smaller bowl contains two servings where as the bigger bowl contains one.  Here is the label for the smaller bowl

It has 970 mg of sodium for each serving.  Times two that is 1940 mg.  almost a whole days worth of salt in one small bowl.  Take another look at the serving size on top.  The big bowl is 221 grams in a serving and the smaller bowl has 85 grams for serving, 170 grams total.

So in this situation, the smaller bowl of soup was actually worse than the bigger bowl.  One thing that I know I won't buy anymore are these quick fix bowls.  I think I'll make my own and freeze it for my quick fix.

I have heard that the FDA is now talking about changing the way manufacturers make their labels so it clearly states what the entire portion contains.  For example, an idiot like me won't have to worry about looking at the label and seeing that the small bowl actually contains two servings vs. one.

I hope that this has helped you to look closer at labels as it has for me.

Dinner for one?............... Easier than you think.

The one thing I hear the most that makes me nuts is when people tell me that they would love to cook but if it's only for one person (themselves) what is the point.  In my opinion, that is the exact point!!!!

What better a crowd to cook for when you want to experiment than just yourself.  You can make as much as you want or as little as you want.  You can try something new you saw in a cookbook one day and didn't have the time before.  You can experiment.  If you screw up, who will know?

I do love to cook for a crowd.  I also love to cook for just Anita and I or another couple.  But I also love to cook for myself.  I don't have to worry about if a person doesn't eat pork or shellfish.  Allergies?  I have none!!!!  I can strategically round out a meal with a protein, vegetable and starch.  Or just load up on protein like when I did Atkins.   Or go for a mega salad with only veggies.  You can do what you want and you're not out to impress anyone.  You just want for you.  Yes it sounds selfish and self centered.  I can see that.  Don't get me wrong, if given the choice to cook for more than me, I would jump all over it.  The pleasure I get from seeing a person enjoy a meal I made is very fulfilling to me.

Tonight for example, I'm making Tuna steak.  Now usually I go with the easy safe bet of marinating the steak in low sodium soy sauce, fresh grated ginger and fresh grated garlic.  But since I'm trying to go real low sodium, I didn't drown it in Soy.  Instead I broke out the food processor and threw in three cloves of garlic, a whole bunch of parsley, a bunch of cilantro, mustard powder, garlic powder ( I like Garlic) and ginger powder, and a dash of low sodium soy.  Turned it on and drizzled in Olive Oil to emulsify the entire mixture.  Put it in a baggie and let it chill for about 1 1/2 hours.

On the grill it goes.  5 minutes or so on each side and it is done.  Squeeze a little lemon on it and your good to go.

Now If I were eating with Anita, I wouldn't make this because she isn't a fan of Tuna. I love Tuna.   I got two pieces of Ahi frozen at Trader Joe's so I made them both.  I'll have one for dinner tonight and I might have the  second one for lunch tomorrow.  Or for dinner tomorrow.  So it's dinner for one, two times with one time of the cooking and prep.

And by the way........It was delicious.

Matzo Brie (pronounced Bri) gives me a true Salt test

So it's a week after the Passover Holiday and I had no dinner.  I was thinking omelet but then I remembered over the past holiday I had no Matzo Brie.   But what is Matzo Brie you say.  I'm glad you asked.

You start off with a bunch of sheets or squares of Matzo and crush them in a bowl.  Wet down the crushed bits with water till they are soft but not a bit of mush.  Take some eggs and scramble them in a bowl then mix it in with the bowl of Matzo.  In case you need specifics, I used 4 sheets of Matzo and 3 eggs.   I was hungry back off.  Now the bit issue here for me personally is salt.  I have been trying and succeeding to cut down my salt intake.  I have pretty much cut it out completely in my cooking.  Usually I add a a bunch of salt to the mixture and then it goes in a hot pan but this time, just a little salt. (back off Roger, just back off, it was a little)  Then it goes into the pan and you cook it up like you would Scrambled Eggs.  

You know when it is done when you know scrambled eggs are done.  I like mine on the more well done side.  In the past I would actually add more salt to the dish so the flavor was well salty.  Many people add syrup to the top like they would to pancakes or waffles.  I'm not a syrup guy so I never have it that way.

So if you want to try something different, give Matzo Brie a Try.  ( I didn't plan the pun)