Brinkley's Review

The former Bar Martignetti turns British with a great space and menu makeover. Same ownership, new atmosphere. I have been stalking the new opening as the former had an amazing menu. Having only been open a week or two you can tell they are still tweaking some things.
The food was outstanding. Very British Pub like food takes a deconstructed gourmet approach yet keeping is simple and comforting. Overall dimly lit and great for a date.

No pictures here but a sample of what we ate:

Small Plate: Zucchini Carbonera
The zuchinni strings severed as the "pasta" with a light creame sauce, bacon and a poached egg on top. Creative!

Large Plate: Stilton and Pork Sausage with Bubble & Squeak
First of all, the best sausage I have ever tasted. The stilton is in the sausage!! Bubble and squeak! I love the name. It is cabbage with bacon and potatoes. The dish was very flavorful and a touch spicy. But gooooood.

Desert: Battered Mars Bar with Vanilla Ice Cream
The deep fried candy bar is delish! The batter tastes like funnel cake and the candy bar gets all mushy and warm. The vanilla ice cream definitley has a hint of strawberry. Tastes like strawberry cereal milk. I would go back for this.

The Doughnut Plant!

Last weekend my friends who came into town requested
to visit a place they saw on the Food Network.
Behold The Doughnut Plant.

http://www.doughnutplant.com/

There is some great history here. Mark's (the owner) grandfather was a part of the army bakery in WW1 and owned two bakery's in North Carolina from 1934 to 1965 where he developed and fine tuned his doughnut recipe. Today the Doughnut plant has a wide variety of doughtnut types from sqaure jelly filled (with homemade jam) to cake doughnuts (no yeast) to Churros!! Oh and some really good traditional doughnuts too.

They are on Grand street and Norfolk on the LES.
Open @ 6:30 and close when the doughnuts are sold out.

Jelly filled Square Doughnut

Tres Leches Doughnut

Apple Cinnamon Glazed Doughnut

My Pumpkin Doughnut!! So scrumptious

Pumpkin Bars

Completely in the holiday spirit of fall and festivals and the month of October in general made me want to make pumpkin flavored everything. So I say to myself a pumpkin pie in the form of a bar would be excellent. And of course I find the best recipe from Paula Deen who is fabulous because she is southern and know how to make a great desert!

Try her pumpkin bar recipe here. They were a smash with my co-workers and friends
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-bars-recipe/index.html

Stay tuned for my next pumpkin adventure.....

Gourmet Cupcakes!

A girl in my office had a bridal shower this week and I was a very lucky recipient of a cup cake from her party. I was floored by how gorgeous they were not to mention delicious!!

Damon the artist and chef is making them to order by word of mouth.
The best part is the candy coated rose petals seen here as the dark purple on the cupcake.
So flavorful! These are highly recommended for parties and showers.
Me devouring the cupcake.
Can we talk about how pretty the lattice cupcake holder is!!!

Figs!! and yummy recipes

I am a big fan of Bon Appetite. In the September issue there is are two great recipes that I modified into one. Fig Salad and Lamb Chops with fig. Recipe links below.

Salad:
http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/09/fig_salad_with_goats_milk_yogurt_and_pepper_cress

This recipe is great. I was lucky to find some extra soft goat cheese already infused with honey for the dressing. Also I was missing the yogurt and subbed heavy cream for dressing. Also missing watercress. All I'm saying is the figs and dressing make this salad. Don't skip the mint! It is a great pop. But only use small amounts.

Lamb Chops:
http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/09/lamb_chops_with_fresh_herbs_and_roasted_figs

Followed this exactly minus the figs and I have to say the cook time is too long! I'm sure it's also dependent on the meat size. I would say seer the meat 3 min each side instead of 5 and reduce the oven time.

The ingredients look so yummy I want to eat them individually!

Get Your Recipe in a Cook Book!

Food52.com

I found this through Daily Candy today. It is an online sight hosting recipe contests. Anyone can enter @ any time! 52 weeks & 52 winners. End up in a Harper's Studio beautifully published cook book at the end of the year! Supper dope. Let's enter!!

Cheers,
K

Pound Cake & Top Chef!

I was on Hiatus! Doing my version of Spring cleaning for Fall. Honestly there haven't been many highlights on my menu since LA. However Mama Gibbs from MI made some ubber delectable pound cake. Am I tasting a hint or orange? and the crust was perfect!

Also I have been glued to Top Chef. Anyone else watching? I am guessing Kevin or Michael will win. I have a soft spot for Kevin because he is southern. :) Any votes?

Cheers,
K

Labor Day and LA!

I recently visited LA for labor day.
Here's the skinny

9/4
I couldn't have started the trip better than by watching the History Channels special "Modern Marvels- cheese" while on the plane!! I was glued. You can find several clips from the special. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=modern+marvels-+cheesesearch_type=&aq=f
I highly recommend it.

9/5- The Little Next Door
"E" lead me to a great brunch spot on west 3rd street called The little next door. Complete with an impressive bakery and lengthy breakfast menu. I had the salmon plate which was beautifully presented. We're talking minced onions not diced here people. Yum! "E" had an omelet with the best potato Gratin side I have ever tasted. And I couldn't leave without inhaling a lemon french macaroon. (in my opinion these are better than chocolate) The scenery was beautiful too. Just look at the light pouring into this place.
http://www.thelittledoor.com/

Next Stop: The Jar (Beverly Boulevard) Dinner
What an amazing dinner. At first glance the menu may have some items that you've seen before. But they certainly know how to make their mark. For example the Wedge salad with Blue cheese dressing. I'm thinking jeese why did my boyfriend order such an ordinary salad. Until he let me try it. The blue cheese was nothing but ordinary. Bleu D'Auvergne, a type of creamy Roquefort blue cheese from France. Order this from artisanalcheese.com and make yourself a wedge salad! Onions make a nice topping. They also knew how to make a French75 cocktail which is a plus.
http://www.thejar.com/
http://www.artisanalcheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=10733

9/6 The Village Idiot
Ok we didn't eat Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner until 4:00pm that day but we couldn't have picked a better place. A Gastropub on Melrose and Martel. "E" and I inhale the house baked cinnamon orange sticky bun. Seriously sticky and seriously good. We were starving. Next up. Heirloom Tomato with shaved onion and blue cheese. Heirloom tomato's are the most flavorful and delicious. And then...Chorizo stuffed Bacon wrapped dates. I am salivating as I write this.
Forgive my photo's of half eaten food. Apparently I am too anxious to eat my food that I forget to take the picture!!
http://www.villageidiotla.com/


9/7 Todd & Vanessa's
These are friends of mine not a restaurant. They graciously took us in for two days and made great hosts. Check out these farm fresh eggs hand picked!! that we got to eat for breakfast that day.

Oh Meat Oh My. Philly Food

I was prepared mentally to eat some rather unhealthy food this weekend as "E" and I visited Philadelphia. Saturday was jam packed with some delectable meaty samplings...

Stop 1
As my hotel guide said, "When in Paris you visit the Louvre and when in Philly you visit the Reading Market. WOW. This is the place to be. I damn near died when I realized I was in no capacity to go gourmet grocery shopping with an over the shoulder carry on bag. BUT! I did buy some Apple Butter from Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce. Check out these photo's which do not do justice to the vastness of this place....

For lunch I had A Miller's Twist Cheese Pretzel Dog. It was divine.

Stop 2 Later that day.....

I sampled a Philly cheese steak from the Phillies Ball Park and an Italian sausage with grilled vegetables on top.

Stop 3 Pat's Steak's
I was taken here by several locals who swear this place was the most authentic version of a Philly cheese steak you could get. I sampled a cheese steak with American, however I still prefer the ubber fattening cheese whiz on my steak. Still it was damn good.

Danny Myers New Restaurant

To all my New York friends:

You heard it here first! Danny Myers new restaurant is opening in the newly renovated Gramercy Park Hotel and it has just been named Maialino, which means "little pig" or "suckling pig". The interesting story behind the name appeared in the media. One summer while Danny was in college he worked for his father's travel company in Rome, Italy as a tour guide. His Italian co-workers took to calling the boss's son "Meyerino" ("little Meyer"). Danny's favorite part of the job was to bring his tour groups to a different trattoria every night, where he'd unfailingly order "Maialino" (roast suckling pig) for dinner. His Italian co-workers noticed this and they took to calling him "Maialino" instead. Because Danny did not speak Italian he did not pick up on the subtle change immediately but eventually he did, and realized calling him "little pig" was a joke. On him. Now, many years and restaurants later, he gets a chance to revive that affectionate name.

In a recent interview with Time Out NY Danny was asked; "What's your goal for the new restaurant?" To which he responded; "We're trying to capture the soul of why people use restaurants in Rome. Gramercy Park, which this restaurant looks out onto, has a community formed around it-it's like its own tiny village within the city. That's not too dissimilar from the piazzas one finds in Rome, where the local trattoria is adopted by the community. So we want to create a trattoria for the Gramercy Park community."

Baked Salmon & Mashed Potato's

This meal is super simple and is a great and easy way to cook fish with flavor.
I like to compose a meal idea and surf the internet for various recipes..... I prepared this on Sunday. For the salmon I modified the recipe by marinating in a zip lock bag so there was no need for turning the fish.

Baked Salmon
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Salmon-II/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

Mashed Potatoes
http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001509perfect_mashed_potatoes.php

This website has a great recipe as well. Yukon Gold potatoes are the creamiest and definitely make the best mashed potatoes. Don't be afraid of the butter, heavy cream, & salt! Also try adding a table spoon of some minced garlic for flavor.

Bon Appetite!!

Pot Lucks!

Ok, I work in a office of 200 something people. (estimated). We have an amazing work/ social culture. One of the things we do most is pot lucking!

My co-worker who I will name "Miss T" cracks me up and is the real reason I am writing about potlucks. She is adamant about not eating from the potluck. GERMS!!! They spread fast and are scary. This is her take. Think about all the people who put their faces up to the dishes to smell the food. Their noses and breath inches from savory food. Also what how do we know the counter top was clean where they were cooking? Did they wash their hands?!!

I have to say I've sampled the potlucks several times and I've never gotten sick.

Here's the funny part. One of the definitions of "potluck" is "Taking one's chances with what is being served" go figure. The other is "a community meal composed of food contributions" and both have ancient roots. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the term "potluck" in print to the 16th century. In Elizabethan times an unannounced guest was invited to share potluck, i.e., the contents of the large cast-iron pot on the hearth. The invention of the "potluck supper" comes from the 19th century where each invited guest was expected to bring a dish.

If you are to host a pot luck, history says you are not required to prepare a dish, but to be responsible for all preparations of the party. The host can suggest the type of foods for the gathering but cannot control the quality of food that is brought. At the end of the day the host is still responsible which poses quite a predicament.

I say take your chances with close friends and family. Be weary of large gathering style pot locks where you may not know the people serving the food.

To read more about meal history check out: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq7.html

Intro & Triple Cream Brie!

Great Tasting food can be utterly euphoric. Ask anyone who knows me well and they'll tell you how much I love food. I am open minded about food and love to cook. I also love to eat out. Having worked in the service industry as a waitress, bartender and hostess I have fairly high standards of what service should be like. In this blog I will write about all things related to food from restaurants I like and dislike, recipes I've cooked and tried, great foods and where to find them along with fun cooking gear.
I am also here to learn more about food so please post ideas and comments!

With that said I figured the best way to open a blog would be with my favorite food!
A "favorite" I would categorize as something I never get bored of and can always eat unless I'm completely stuffed.

CHEESE, CHEESE, CHEESE

Next time you eat out at a restaurant that offers a cheese plate, please order it!! This is the most incredible way to sample some really amazing selections at a fair price. They usually offer a selection of 3, 5, or 7. If I bought 4 great cheeses from Whole foods I could spend around $50-60 bucks. Most cheese plates range around $10-20.

My new obsession is Triple Cream Brie. This stuff is utter decadence. Buttery, smooth, and mild cheese. In the past month I have tried 2 that are impeccable.

Pierre Robert (tried at The House in NYC)
Brillat-Savarin (tried at Tribeca Grill NYC)

Both come from the same cheese makers Robert Rouzaire and Pierre of the Seine et Marne region.
Pierre Robert is my favorite. It is a touch creamier and rightfully so as it is the succession of Brillat-Savarin. Both taste great with a muscat which happens to be one of my favorite desert wines :)

To purchase some amazing cheese and learn more check out www.artisanalcheese.com