We've been there a few times, so this review is overdue.
This is not your average mac and cheese place. The first time we were there, the special of the week was lobster mac and cheese with tarragon cream sauce with sherry and caramelized shallots. Um, yeah.
That first time, Craig had the Buffalo chicken. Chunks of chicken dredged in Buffalo sauce, mixed into macaroni with gorgonzola. I had the Cheeseburger - ground beef, cheddar, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, and bits of pickle! We also had the weekly special of fried white cheddar triangles with compotes (blueberry, apple cilantro). Which. Were. AWESOME. Especially the apple cilantro compote.
The next time we went, I picked up takeout for Craig at work. I got the Cheeseburger (why mess with perfection?), and for Craig I got the Chipotle Chicken BBQ (american cheddar, chicken cutlet, roasted corn, cilantro, chipotle BBQ) and the Mexi (pepper jack, chorizo, seasoned ground beef, pico de gallo). Home run all the way 'round.
This past weekend, our friend ordered the Mushroom Swiss (sauteed mushrooms, port wine cream, smoked gouda) with bacon. She was thrilled with her food. I think she might have proposed to the chef.
I had the Cheesesteak, but I subbed out the roasted tomatoes for the green peppers (I can't eat them). It was wonderful. Nice chunks of ribeye, bits of onions, chunks of tomatoes. Teh awesome.
Craig had the Fiery Steak. Pepperjack cheese, ribeye, spicy pepper blend (kinda like sriracha), broccoli, cilantro soy. He loved it, but said it was really spicy. REALLY SPICY. Because he's pretty resilient to hot food, so if he says it's hot, it's HOT.
We also got some of the mac balls. These are deep-fried mac and cheese balls, with add-ins. We had the mac and cheese and bacon, which were okay (the tomato cream dipping sauce is AMAZING. These people need to bottle this stuff and market it). The triple cheddar cranberry mac balls were phenomenal. Chunks of cranberries mixed into mac and cheese? Awesome to the max.
Summation: This. Place. ROCKS. Go there.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Adventures in Yogurtland, part two
Once more into the breach.
This time, I used a mix of skim milk and Simply Smart, which is a skim-plus type milk. I didn't stir it at all, and when I added the yogurt starter I was very gentle and just slipped it into the milk. I incubated it in a bowl inside my crockpot filled with water. I set the temperature to "warm" and left the lid half off to maintain the proper temperature. It came out much less grainy, but still not as creamy as I was hoping for. I have seen posts that showed the drained result being whipped with an electric beater, so that's my next attempt. The taste is great, though, and it's still less than a fourth the cost of the Fage.
This time, I used a mix of skim milk and Simply Smart, which is a skim-plus type milk. I didn't stir it at all, and when I added the yogurt starter I was very gentle and just slipped it into the milk. I incubated it in a bowl inside my crockpot filled with water. I set the temperature to "warm" and left the lid half off to maintain the proper temperature. It came out much less grainy, but still not as creamy as I was hoping for. I have seen posts that showed the drained result being whipped with an electric beater, so that's my next attempt. The taste is great, though, and it's still less than a fourth the cost of the Fage.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Adventures in Yogurtland, part one.
The boyfriend and I have been doing the Nutrisystem thing since about August last year. We've lost a total of 65 pounds, with about 120 to go (mostly mine). The diet requires that you eat a certain amount of non-fat dairy to make sure you get the necessary amount of calcium and protein, so we buy a lot of Greek-style yogurt. Since it's not cheap, I decided to try making it at home.
Four cups of skim milk, heated to 180 degrees in the microwave, to kill off competing bacteria. Cool down to about 100 degrees and add around a quarter cup of starter (Fage non-fat). Culture at about 100 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Strain for a bit through a mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter. Save the whey - it's usable, as liquid in biscuits or pancakes or bread. The result was about 2 cups of yogurt and an equal amount of whey. That amount of yogurt costs $4 when I buy it. Making it cost me 84 cents.
The taste of the resulting yogurt was great. The texture was a bit grainy, more like ricotta than the rich creaminess of Greek yogurt. I did some checking on-line, and apparently I made three mistakes: while heating the milk to 180 degrees I stirred it, when I added the starter I stirred it thoroughly, and the incubation temperature was too high.
Stay tuned for Adventures in Yogurtland, part two. But while you're waiting, here is my non-fat dip recipe:
4 oz. non-fat cream cheese
12 oz. non-fat Greek yogurt
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Gradually blend in yogurt. When thoroughly incorporated, add dip flavoring. Lipton's Onion soup mix, Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix, whatever, to flavor 2 cups of sour cream equivalent. Chill.
If you use Fage, the fat levels and cholesterol are extremely low.
Four cups of skim milk, heated to 180 degrees in the microwave, to kill off competing bacteria. Cool down to about 100 degrees and add around a quarter cup of starter (Fage non-fat). Culture at about 100 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Strain for a bit through a mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter. Save the whey - it's usable, as liquid in biscuits or pancakes or bread. The result was about 2 cups of yogurt and an equal amount of whey. That amount of yogurt costs $4 when I buy it. Making it cost me 84 cents.
The taste of the resulting yogurt was great. The texture was a bit grainy, more like ricotta than the rich creaminess of Greek yogurt. I did some checking on-line, and apparently I made three mistakes: while heating the milk to 180 degrees I stirred it, when I added the starter I stirred it thoroughly, and the incubation temperature was too high.
Stay tuned for Adventures in Yogurtland, part two. But while you're waiting, here is my non-fat dip recipe:
4 oz. non-fat cream cheese
12 oz. non-fat Greek yogurt
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Gradually blend in yogurt. When thoroughly incorporated, add dip flavoring. Lipton's Onion soup mix, Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix, whatever, to flavor 2 cups of sour cream equivalent. Chill.
If you use Fage, the fat levels and cholesterol are extremely low.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
restaurant review - Portofino in Staatsburg, NY
Well, this one isn't a new place. I've been going to Portofino for years. The chef, Brian, is a good friend of my younger cousin Vicki, and he catered both my cousins' weddings. That having been said, this review is way overdue.
Craig and I went there again tonight. He ordered his favorite appetizer, the carpaccio. As always, it was perfect: rare rare rare beef, beautifully dressed with olive oil, capers, shaved parmesan, and lightly dressed spring greens (or maybe arugula?). My appetizer was OMG duck wings. DUCK WINGS! With a chipotle-maple glaze. Absolutely fantastic. Crispy duck skin with a fantastic sweet-hot sauce. Lovely.
Salads were perfectly dressed, not drowned in dressing. Fresh baby greens, grape tomatoes, carrot shreds, and house-made garlic croutons.
Entrees. Oh, my, entrees. Craig had the pulled pork with hand-cut french fries, cornbread, and broccoli rabe. The pulled pork was absolutely AMAZING. It was moist, flavorful, a bit sweet and spicy, and not overpoweringly smoked. The fries were served on top of the pork. They were very flavorful and crisp. The cornbread was of the savory type, with real corn kernels throughout. The broccoli rabe was deep-fried, and its bitterness made a perfect contrast to the rich sweet/spicy/porky goodness of the pulled pork.
I had the linguini carbonara. Pancetta, prosciutto, peas, roasted garlic, red onions, parmesan, tossed in a cream sauce with the linguini. It. Was. Awesome.
Dinner (without drinks or dessert) was about $54 (before tax). If you go there, try the gnocchi. Brian makes the best I've ever had - light, fluffy, and absolutely wonderful.
Craig and I went there again tonight. He ordered his favorite appetizer, the carpaccio. As always, it was perfect: rare rare rare beef, beautifully dressed with olive oil, capers, shaved parmesan, and lightly dressed spring greens (or maybe arugula?). My appetizer was OMG duck wings. DUCK WINGS! With a chipotle-maple glaze. Absolutely fantastic. Crispy duck skin with a fantastic sweet-hot sauce. Lovely.
Salads were perfectly dressed, not drowned in dressing. Fresh baby greens, grape tomatoes, carrot shreds, and house-made garlic croutons.
Entrees. Oh, my, entrees. Craig had the pulled pork with hand-cut french fries, cornbread, and broccoli rabe. The pulled pork was absolutely AMAZING. It was moist, flavorful, a bit sweet and spicy, and not overpoweringly smoked. The fries were served on top of the pork. They were very flavorful and crisp. The cornbread was of the savory type, with real corn kernels throughout. The broccoli rabe was deep-fried, and its bitterness made a perfect contrast to the rich sweet/spicy/porky goodness of the pulled pork.
I had the linguini carbonara. Pancetta, prosciutto, peas, roasted garlic, red onions, parmesan, tossed in a cream sauce with the linguini. It. Was. Awesome.
Dinner (without drinks or dessert) was about $54 (before tax). If you go there, try the gnocchi. Brian makes the best I've ever had - light, fluffy, and absolutely wonderful.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
restaurant review - Palace Dumplings in Wappinger Falls
Craig and I have driven past this place with its neon "DUMPLINGS" sign for a while. Finally, I decided to check teh Intarwebz for information about it. I saw a bunch of reviews, virtually all of them positive. As I am a HUUUUUGE fan of all dumplings, we decided to check it out.
Side note - every ethnicity has dumplings of one sort or another. Pierogies, ravioli, what have you, I loves them all.
We started out our meal with soup. I ordered the egg drop soup and Craig chose the hot and sour soup. Which is the reverse of our usual choices, but what the hey. My soup was very light, not the usual thick bright yellow concoction I'm used to. It was excellent! Craig's was pretty much the same soup but with added rice wine vinegar, hot chili oil, and some tofu. It was an excellent and different version of the traditional hot and sour soup.
Next was our "salad" course. I ordered completely randomly - flavor green beans sheets. It was a bit weird, but it grew on me. It was tagliatelli-sized strips of a very chewy noodle-type thing with strips of cucumber, shreds of chicken, and maybe parsley dressed with a sweet rice wine vinegar dressing. The noodles were perfectly clear, similar to konjac noodles. I was a bit taken aback at first, but the flavor was so amazing that I just kept eating them. They are really, really, REALLY hard to eat with a fork, though. Chopsticks are kind of necessary.
Craig's salad course was the horseradish cucumber, which was very tasty and not too overwhelmingly horseradishy, even for weenies like me.
The dumplings. OMG the dumplings. There are twenty-five different kinds, vegetarian included. We ordered the pork and scallion dumplings and the beef and onion ones. Both were absolutely wonderful. Thin wrappers with lots of filling. There were a few choices of sauces on our table - straight soy sauce, something labeled dumpling sauce (garlic, rice wine vinegar, maybe Chinese mustard), another labeled sweet dumpling sauce (soy, sugar, rice wine vinegar), and a hot chili paste.
Our total bill came to $28.
There is nothing on the menu that is typical of what we think of as "Chinese food." No egg rolls, no fried rice, no sweet and sour pork. This is northern Chinese food, and it's absolutely wonderful. Highly, highly recommended.
Side note - every ethnicity has dumplings of one sort or another. Pierogies, ravioli, what have you, I loves them all.
We started out our meal with soup. I ordered the egg drop soup and Craig chose the hot and sour soup. Which is the reverse of our usual choices, but what the hey. My soup was very light, not the usual thick bright yellow concoction I'm used to. It was excellent! Craig's was pretty much the same soup but with added rice wine vinegar, hot chili oil, and some tofu. It was an excellent and different version of the traditional hot and sour soup.
Next was our "salad" course. I ordered completely randomly - flavor green beans sheets. It was a bit weird, but it grew on me. It was tagliatelli-sized strips of a very chewy noodle-type thing with strips of cucumber, shreds of chicken, and maybe parsley dressed with a sweet rice wine vinegar dressing. The noodles were perfectly clear, similar to konjac noodles. I was a bit taken aback at first, but the flavor was so amazing that I just kept eating them. They are really, really, REALLY hard to eat with a fork, though. Chopsticks are kind of necessary.
Craig's salad course was the horseradish cucumber, which was very tasty and not too overwhelmingly horseradishy, even for weenies like me.
The dumplings. OMG the dumplings. There are twenty-five different kinds, vegetarian included. We ordered the pork and scallion dumplings and the beef and onion ones. Both were absolutely wonderful. Thin wrappers with lots of filling. There were a few choices of sauces on our table - straight soy sauce, something labeled dumpling sauce (garlic, rice wine vinegar, maybe Chinese mustard), another labeled sweet dumpling sauce (soy, sugar, rice wine vinegar), and a hot chili paste.
Our total bill came to $28.
There is nothing on the menu that is typical of what we think of as "Chinese food." No egg rolls, no fried rice, no sweet and sour pork. This is northern Chinese food, and it's absolutely wonderful. Highly, highly recommended.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Mexican Chicken Casserole
I've been asked to provide this recipe, so here it is. This is exactly how I made it this past weekend. There are cheaper substitutes at the end.
Mexican Chicken Casserole (serves 8 generously)
3 cups of cooked chicken, diced
1 tub Knorr chicken stock
1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Cajun flavor
1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Santa Fe flavor
1 eleven oz. can Mexicorn - it is a mix of corn, beans, and peppers
1 sixteen oz. jar of garden salsa - it has corn in it. I used medium.
1/2 of a twenty-one oz. can of Bush's Fiesta Black Beans
2 cups shredded four-cheese Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
optional topping:
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a small dish, dissolve the Knorr stock with the liquid from the canned Mexicorn. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. You can also microwave this until the cheese is melted rather than baking it.
If you are using the optional sour cream topping, mix the sour cream, Mrs. Dash, and salt. Chill while casserole is baking.
To make this less expensive, you can substitute 4 cups brown rice for the Uncle Ben's.
Mexican Chicken Casserole (serves 8 generously)
3 cups of cooked chicken, diced
1 tub Knorr chicken stock
1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Cajun flavor
1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Santa Fe flavor
1 eleven oz. can Mexicorn - it is a mix of corn, beans, and peppers
1 sixteen oz. jar of garden salsa - it has corn in it. I used medium.
1/2 of a twenty-one oz. can of Bush's Fiesta Black Beans
2 cups shredded four-cheese Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
optional topping:
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a small dish, dissolve the Knorr stock with the liquid from the canned Mexicorn. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. You can also microwave this until the cheese is melted rather than baking it.
If you are using the optional sour cream topping, mix the sour cream, Mrs. Dash, and salt. Chill while casserole is baking.
To make this less expensive, you can substitute 4 cups brown rice for the Uncle Ben's.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Not My Brother's Chili
This recipe is a tweaking of my brother's chili recipe. His is very good, but I made some changes to suit my tastes.
Chili - serves 12
London broil - about 3 lb. (buy it on sale and it's cheaper than ground beef)
oil for browning
2 medium onions, diced
2 fifteen-ounce cans diced tomatoes (I use one of fire-roasted and one with green chilies)
2 fifteen-ounce cans of pink beans with sauce (Goya is best)
chili powder
cumin
optional:
chopped bell pepper (red or green)
chiles in adobo sauce
tabasco
Have the butcher slice the London broil in half so that you have two pieces half as thick as the original. Cut the meat into half-inch chunks. The meat will be easier to dice if you put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you dice it.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the onion until transparent (if using the optional bell pepper, cook that as well). Remove from the pot. In SMALL batches, brown the beef. As each small batch is done, remove it from the pot and start the next batch.
When all the beef is browned, return the beef and cooked vegetables to the Dutch oven. Add the canned tomatoes and the beans (don't drain the beans). Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin. If using the optional chiles in adobo and tabasco, add them to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Adjust seasoning and serve.
All of the proportions are flexible. If you like more beans, add more. If you want more tomatoes, add another can.
Chili - serves 12
London broil - about 3 lb. (buy it on sale and it's cheaper than ground beef)
oil for browning
2 medium onions, diced
2 fifteen-ounce cans diced tomatoes (I use one of fire-roasted and one with green chilies)
2 fifteen-ounce cans of pink beans with sauce (Goya is best)
chili powder
cumin
optional:
chopped bell pepper (red or green)
chiles in adobo sauce
tabasco
Have the butcher slice the London broil in half so that you have two pieces half as thick as the original. Cut the meat into half-inch chunks. The meat will be easier to dice if you put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you dice it.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the onion until transparent (if using the optional bell pepper, cook that as well). Remove from the pot. In SMALL batches, brown the beef. As each small batch is done, remove it from the pot and start the next batch.
When all the beef is browned, return the beef and cooked vegetables to the Dutch oven. Add the canned tomatoes and the beans (don't drain the beans). Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin. If using the optional chiles in adobo and tabasco, add them to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Adjust seasoning and serve.
All of the proportions are flexible. If you like more beans, add more. If you want more tomatoes, add another can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)