A Week of Restaurants : Part Two

Another Restaurant Week has come and gone, and this second week of meals was even better than the first! I went to a few favorites this week, rather than trying new places, and I was so pleased with my choices.

On Wednesday evening, I met Michele and Heidi for dinner at Blue Inc. I've written about this one before, but that was a lunchtime meal that I enjoyed. I was happily surprised to see that the entire menu was featured for Restaurant Week, which meant my decisions became even harder. I wanted one of EVERYTHING! While trying to decide, I opted for a cocktail called The Anorexic Model (cognac, lychee, St. Germaine, Champagne, and garnished with a small branch of grapes)! With a floor to ceiling poster of Twiggy on the wall, I felt like it was a necessity. The drinks at Blue Inc are so cool because they use liquid nitrogen to chill the drinks, and they have a very "cool" (ha, puns!) steaming effect. For my appetizer, I decided to have the Cast Iron Baked Figs. It came to the table, fourme d'abert cheese a-bubblin', with warm, gooey figs, pancetta, aged sherry and chive flowers. It was decadently delicious, and a perfect start to the meal. Moving on to the main course, I opted for the Mussel Frites, a dish that reminds me of our trip this past November to Belgium. Creme Fraiche, lobster broth, fresh herbs and spicy fries rounded out the meal. The mussels were done to perfection, and the bowl was just piled high with them. I couldn't even finish it all! For dessert, I had a Malted Chocolate Cheesecake. It was good, but not the highlight of this delicious meal...and I was too full to finish it anyway!

The next day, I enjoyed a leisurely lunch with my friend and co-worker at Sel de la Terre. We sat in cozy lounge chairs, enjoyed a hearty French lunch and some wonderful conversation. We have a tradition of always hitting at least one Restaurant Week spot every time it comes around, and this time was no different! I started off with an Asparagus Soup with Potato Croquettes and Tarragon Creme Fraiche. This soup was delicious because the flavor was so vibrant. Now is the perfect time to make things containing asparagus, and this soup really showcased the flavor of this in-season vegetable. The croquettes just melted in my mouth too - I wish there had been more of them! For my main course, I had the House Made Ricotta Gnocchi, served with English Peas, "Hen of the Woods" mushrooms, shallots, baby carrots and beets. This was a hearty dish, and the perfect amount for a lunch time meal. The gnocchi had been sauteed a little on top of boiling, so they were a bit crisp on the outside, and tender in the middle! The surprise in this dish were the beets ... they went really well with everything else, but were an unexpected bite when the fork found a piece! I think the beets might have made that dish! For dessert, my friend decided to go with the cheese course, instead of the dessert course...and that was a GREAT choice. The platter that came out was stacked high with breads, crackers and different kinds of cheese - most impressive! I went with the Vanilla Panna Cotta with Blood Orange, Streusel Crumble and Mint. Because this was the dessert my friend was interested in as well, we shared both the cheese and the Panna Cotta and were both very pleased with our decision!

For my last Restaurant Week dinner, my group of friends that I went to Asana with, gathered again for a meal at Dante, in Cambridge. Meeting at the bar, we all ordered a drink while we awaited being seated. There was one drink on the menu that stood out to me: the Spezia. Hot orange spiced tea, spiked with rum and apricot, was the perfect drink for a cold Friday evening. It was cozy and comforting after a long week, and I could just picture sitting in front of a fire in a ski lodge, enjoying this cocktail. For my first course, I decided to go with a pasta appetizer. Chef Dante de Magistris makes a killer fresh pasta, and I couldn't visit one of his restaurants without having some. I decided to go with the Tagliatelle, served with rabbit "cacciatore," chanterelles, and green olives. What a way to start a meal! The rabbit was succulent, the pasta was the freshest, and the sauce was so flavorful, a meal in and of itself. For my main course, I chose the Lombo : a stuffed pork loin "involtini," smoked prosciutto, sage and polenta. The pictures are a bit dark but the presentation on this dish was incredible, not to mention how TASTY it was! I didn't think I'd be able to finish both a pasta appetizer, as well as a main course, but somehow I managed quite nicely! That was DELICIOUS! For dessert, I had the Torta : a chocolate hazelnut mousse cake with spiked chocolate sauce, anglaise, and caramelized hazelnuts. 

All in all, I'd say this was a successful Restaurant Week(s)! I had lots of delicious meals, at lots of wonderful places, and enjoyed good times with friends! It's time to get back into the swing of things, cooking at home (and writing more often than once a week!) I've posted a new menu for the coming week, and we're also going to learn how to make our own chicken stock! Stay tuned, and keep on cookin'!

Schokoladenmuseum!

Today, during our day sight-seeing in Cologne, we visited the Schokoladenmuseum, or Chocolate Museum. I thought I would take today's post to tell you all about it since it was extremely interesting, and I didn't have much in the way of obscure meals today.

The museum began with an exhibit describing how cacao is grown, harvested, made into cocoa, sold, and traded. Many of the tools, shipping methods, and facts about each country that exports cacao were located in this exhibit.

Moving on, we were ushered into a room cordoned off from the rest of the museum by two doors. The second door would not open until we had stepped into the vestibule, with the door closed behind us. We discovered that the reason for this was that we had wandered right into a natural environment for growing cacao, as well as coffee, mangos, and even papayas! It was nice and warm in there, and we had to wait in a second vestibule to leave.

The next exhibit we came upon taught us about the make-up of different grades of chocolate. White chocolate doesn't even have a cocoa mass percentage, while bittersweet dark chocolate has a cocoa mass percentage of 65%. It was also interesting to see the amount of other ingredients that go into making a bar of chocolate.

We made our way into the next room, the biggest room, and found to our amazement that there was a full chocolate factory set up in there! Hello Willy Wonka! ... But where was the chocolate river?! The machinery was extensive! Here is the machine used to roast the cocoa beans during the first stages of production.

There were also mixers, pounders, crushers, stirrers...you name it, we saw it! Here are some more pictures of the machinery!!

At the end of this side of the room, we came upon a cocoa tree, made out of chocolate, resting in a chocolate fountain! Thats as close to Willy Wonka as I think we're going to get today, but there was a woman dipping wafer cookies into the chocolate and handing them out to visitors, so yum!

At the corner of the room, we turned to follow it down the other side, only to find that it was an assembly line, creating the exact chocolate candies that we had received with our tickets at the entrance to the museum. We watched the chocolate get filled in the molds from a large vat that was continuously stirred...

  

The trays were then set into a rack where they rested...

Then, they were passed through a machine that flipped the trays, and knocked the small chocolates onto the awaiting conveyor belt...

Finally, the chocolates were lifted, in sheets, onto another machine that passed them through, into a single file line, in order to get wrapped in gold foil!

The result? A delicious little morsel of chocolate that I would have taken a picture of, had I not eaten it already! :)


The exhibit ended with a large room, made to look like a 1930's candy shop, complete with the mascot of one of the many famous chocolate makers, Sarotti. I like these guys!

Dolci means Dessert!

Happy Sunday everyone! In the midst of my weekend duties of laundry and cleaning, I decided it was high time I made an Italian dessert to complement this menu of delicacies of the same cuisine. I opted for one I didn't actually have to cook - because we all know how baking and I get along...not well. The perfect choice - TIRAMISU. This quick take on very traditional Italian dessert was so easy to make and looks SO delicious! I can't wait to try some after dinner!

First off, I got my mise en place together, and like most baking recipes, it was more measuring than any other prep work so it went fairly quickly. Ladyfingers, coffee, sugar, mascarpone, vanilla beans, sweet sherry, an orange (for the zest and the juice) and some 70% dark chocolate, and I was ready to go!



I got myself an 8-inch square dish and layered my ladyfingers in an orderly fashion. The recipe called for 15 biscuits...and there were 20 in my package, so I just used them all to complete my second layer.



Once I had my ladyfingers in place, I poured my freshly brewed cup of coffee (sweetened with some of the sugar) over them. Immediately, the cookies started to soak up the coffee.



While I left them to get all soggy and delicious, I put my mascarpone in a bowl with the rest of the sugar and whipped it up.



Once that was nicely blended, I split the two vanilla beans by scoring them the long way and used a small coffee spoon to scrape all the seeds out of each pod.



I added the seeds to the bowl of whipped mascarpone and continued to whisk. The vanilla seeds separated into tiny little black specks when I whisked it. Look at all the little vanilla seeds!



I then whisked in the 1/2 cup of sweet sherry and the mascarpone mixture was finished. Once the sherry has been blended, the mixture should have a loose, shiny consistency. If for some reason you should need to loosen the mixture a bit more before you pour it on your ladyfingers, you can use some of the orange juice to do so. Then the squeeze the rest of the orange juice over the ladyfingers and spread the whipped mascarpone mixture evenly on top.



Once you've got that all spread out evenly, sprinkle shaved chocolate over the entire surface, along with some orange zest, and VOILA...TIRAMISU!



Doesn't that look mouth-watering? It's going to be very difficult to keep that in the fridge until after dinner. Wish me luck! :)

In Honor of the Superbowl

Today, I wanted to share a recipe that is healthy, low-fat, and also PERFECT for a football game celebration, like the ones most people will be attending this evening. So much of the food that gets served at these get-togethers is drenched in BBQ sauce, or smothered in buffalo, or dripping with melted cheese...isn't it nice to think that one thing on the table can be good for you and taste delicious too!?

From Cooking Light

That's right, I'm talking about Chili with Chipotle and Chocolate. The original recipe comes from a 2007 issue of Cooking Light, and is only 257 calories per serving, with only 6.6 grams of fat. I've shared this recipe with numerous people throughout the years, and have found that there is an unanimous love for this chili. It's rich, delicious and very deep in its flavors...and guess what? It takes less than an hour to make!


And now, without further ado, here it is!

What you'll need:

Cooking spray

2 cups diced onion (about 1 large)

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained

2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, minced

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup light sour cream

Chopped green onions (optional)

Chocolate adds a lovely depth to this chili

Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and turkey to pan; saute 8 minutes or until turkey is browned and vegetables are tender. Add sugar and next 9 ingredients (through chipotle) to pan, stirring to blend; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Add chocolate, stirring to melt. Ladle 1 1/4 cups chile in each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon of sour cream. Garnish with green onions. Yield: 8 servings.

And for good measure, here's the nutrition information! :) Enjoy everyone! Go Packers!

Calories 257 (23% from fat); Fat 6.6g (sat 3.8g, mono 1.7g, poly 0.2g); Protein 23.6g; Carb 26g; Fiber 6g; Chol 34mg; Iron 2.6mg; Sodium 603mg; Calcium 78mg