Tomato Soup

Kevin Rathbun Steak

We could only eat Thanksgiving leftovers for so long until my family and I were itching for a nice dinner out. My mom premeditated this dining-out itch and made reservations at Kevin Rathbun Steak. This steakhouse, in the only 5 or so months it has been open, has been bestowed with many accolades, including several mentions on "Best of" lists.

Our reservations were for a table in the "Cookbook Library", a candlelit room nestled in the wine cellar. I felt very romanced by Kevin Rathbun Steak in this room, and we all settled comfortably into the cushioned (but sleek) seats with a glass of a '95 Cabernet Sauvignon from my dad's own collection.

Because the steak is the feature of the restaurant, not many people in our party indulged in appetizers. I, however, was persuaded to order the oysters after the waiter assured me they were the best possible available, from Connecticut:

These were meaty, briny, fantastic oysters.

And now here is the steak:

My 6 oz. Filet Mignon with Black Truffle Butter


3 person, Dry-aged Porterhouse

The steak was tender and flavorful, but, most disappointingly, over-salted. I do not eat steak very often, and was really looking forward to a beautifully cooked filet (especially with black truffle butter!) but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped due to the high salt content. My cousin, who also had the filet, felt the same. We both agreed that steak is generally salty, but this exceeded the usual limits.

My mom, Aunt, and Dad shared the porterhouse and ate everything but the bone (my mom thought it might be a little impolite to pick up the bone and suck on it in the middle on the restaurant)!

The sides were ordered a la carte, and we sampled a variety of them including the creamed spinach, oregano-garlic roasted potatoes, and the twice-baked potato. All of them were average, except for the jalapeno creamed corn:

The creamed corn was different, smoky, and spicy. It was the perfect compliment to the robust, salty steaks.

Even though I was romanced by Kevin Rathbun's renovations of what was once a Clorox factory, I was less romanced by the food. It may be that I am not as easily wooed by a simple steak as I am by a beautiful filet of fish, but none of my family members left wowed by this "best of" restaurant.

Thanksgiving in Atlanta

Andy and I spent Thanksgiving with my family in Atlanta, Georgia. My mom and various other family and friends cooked up the feast and here is a pictorial review of the most fantastic meal.

First, there was a "turkey cookoff" my mom versus our family friend Michael. My mom cooked the traditional roasted turkey with stuffing, and Michael made a Southern favorite- a deep-fried turkey:

My dad carving the roast turkey


The fried turkey rubbed with Cajun spices

I personally prefer the roast turkey. I truly think the roast turkey is more moist and benefits in the flavor department from consistent basting. Also, the idea of a fried turkey does seem a little silly and unnecessary! But, it was still tasty.

We also had pumpkin bread with chocolate chips:

Here is a picture of my (first) plate:

This plate had all the crucial elements (from left to right) brussels sprouts, peas, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatos, mashed potatoes, gravy and, of course, turkey.

Then, as if all of that wasn't enough, my mom made four of her famous pies:

Apple Cranberry


Pecan


Pumpkin



and...pumpkin pecan!

All of it was phenomenal, and I was lucky enough to enjoy several rounds of pumpkin pie during the long weekend!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Hibernation

Keeping with the tradition of great, seasonally appropriate themes, this week's Supper Club, compliments of the hosts C and L:

"In a nod to the coming of winter, an ode to the passing of autumn, a
sigh to the last lingering ray of light, the theme of this season's
Supper Club will be Hibernation.

That's right, it's getting cold and we all need to fatten up and to
help us along the way our dinner will be a veritable cornucopia of
delicious, wintery, fatty, goodness.

So please bring your wintery dish of choice--one that will warm our
hearts and our bodies."

To start our wintery feast, C and L made homemade eggnog with bourbon:

L and A brought veggies with cream cheese dip:

(and really adorable penguins made from olives, cream cheese, and carrots!)

And turkey linguica wrapped in a blanket:

The penguins were so adorable, and the linguica-in-a-blanket were so delicious- a great twist on pigs in a blanket!

Thrilled by the idea of hearty, warm dishes I decided to make sweet potato soup:

I have always wanted to serve soup in little pumpkins, and supper club seemed the perfect opportunity. I cut a large hole and then scooped out all of the goo and let them air dry for a couple of hours before the party. They really looked adorable and the soup was fantastic. Once again, it was a winner from the Simply Recipes recipe archive. The sweet potato flavor was the star, but the celery and leek helped add crispness to the dense flavors of potato and cream. The splash of nutmeg and maple syrup brought a festive taste to the soup that wasn't overpowering or too sweet. I served these pumpkins with sage and honey cornbread muffins, which brought another comforting winter flavor to the side dish.

C and L's take on wintry and fatty was eggplant parmigiana:

This was the perfect entree, because it was a nice contrast to the sweetness of my first course. This was salty and hearty. The eggplant was sliced perfectly thin and so every bite had many layers of eggplant, sauce, cheese, and fresh basil.

For dessert, H and R brought a dish that, at H's house, they call the "chocolate thing":

The chocolate thing was essentially a rich, no-bake, fudge pie, topped with perfect homemade whipping cream. It was quite an end to the feast- I certainly felt like curling up and hibernating for the rest of the winter after all of that food and a couple of glasses of wine!

Schlafly Brewery

Last time I was in St. Louis, I wrote about some of my favorites from the city. One thing I didn't get around to writing about, however, is the Schlafly Brewery.

St. Louis is synonymous with Budweiser, which does the city a great disservice.  There are other breweries in St. Louis that focus their efforts on quality, not quantity, and are lesser known as beer making machines, and are instead popularly viewed as craftsmen. Tom Schlafly, the president of the St. Louis Brewing Company (another company name for Schlafly Beer) even wrote a book about the trials of building up a brewery in the same city as the "Goliath" Anheuser-Busch.

The Schlafly Beer company has two places in St. Louis where you can enjoy their beer. The Tap Room, and Bottleworks. Andy and I always find ourselves at Bottleworks, which is a production brewery that offers brewery tours and one of the only non-smoking environments in St. Louis.

My two favorite things about Bottleworks are the beer sampler:

And the Bison Nachos:

The beer sampler consists of five year-round brews: Pale Ale, Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Oatmeal Stout, and Wheat Ale and one seasonal brew. For this particular sampler the seasonal was the Winter ESB. They were all delicious, and I love having the chance to try all of them.

The Bison Nachos are a masterpiece built with yellow corn tortilla chips, ground bison meat, black beans, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream. Schlafly takes something basic and makes it better with the use of bison meat. Bison is a great alternative to ground beef, and has incredible flavor- even though it is a very lean meat (it has less calories and cholesterol than both beef and chicken!). Schlafly also offers as much of their food from local farmers and businesses as possible, to help the country's efforts at sustainable living.

The Blue Cottage

There is a small, unassuming place that I frequent on weekend mornings when I'm too lazy to think of anywhere else to go- and every time I go, I don't even think to blog about the experience. But, I do think it is worthy of a review, because it is a simple, no-frills place that always cures my craving for waffles and sausage. So last weekend I finally remembered to bring my camera.

This little place is The Blue Cottage, and here is my Belgian waffle covered with real maple syrup:

I am always satisfied with this waffle. It is always fluffy, always perfectly crispy on the outside, always served with a nice sprinkling of powdered sugar, and always only $4.45.

Andy always gets an omelette (most specifically, a broccoli, ham, and cheese one). I also like the omelette, but I do have a few gripes about the plate. First, the cheese tastes like (and may very well be) processed American cheese, and the homefries aren't particularly flavorful. They need a lot of salt, pepper, and ketchup to be worth eating. But for only $4.95, it is a breakfast that won't make your wallet cringe, even after the night out on the town you may be recovering from.

The service is also nice and friendly, and we always get a kick out of the menu featuring a little cartoon chef with the name "Andy" on his hat, in reference to the owner and cook!

The Original Pancake House

Sorry for the brief absence! Andy and I took a trip to St. Louis for his dad's 50th birthday (don't worry, I have some food stories to share).

To finish up my experience in New Jersey, this is a post about one of the best breakfast places in the country, The Original Pancake House.  They have a great overview of the restaurants' history on the website, but I will offer a brief one here.

The Original Pancake House was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1953. The menu is a combination of the founders knowledge of international pancake recipes, and offers a deliciously unique breakfast experience. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and the original The Original Pancake House is a feature in many of my best childhood memories. Granted, when I was younger, I remember being very restless during the two-hour waits and played endless games of hangman to help pass the time before I could drink a steaming cup of hot chocolate and munch on the powdered sugar heaven that is the Swedish Pancake. The James Beard Foundation even designated the Pancake House as a regional landmark restaurant!

When we left Portland, my whole family was distraught over the idea of leaving our favorite breakfast indulgences, and the warmth and friendliness of The Original Pancake House behind.

Eventually, the founders decided to franchise the name of The Original Pancake House and they started popping up all over the country. And one of those franchises happened to open up not far from the town we moved to in New Jersey! This was the location my parents, my friend Cailyn, Andy and I enjoyed at the end of our visit. It isn't quite the same as the Portland location, but the food is still just as good and maintains the strict level of quality set by the founders.

When I was younger, the Swedish Pancakes were the only thing I ever ordered. But as I got older, my tastes changed, and now I can't resist (and neither can my mom) ordering one of their most signature dishes, the Apple Pancake:

This is a huge, thick, puffed pancake topped with cinnamon and sugar slathered apples- all baked in the oven. It is an impressive pancake, that puts most breakfast-joint specialties to shame!

My dad's choice has always been the ham and cheese omelette, so Andy took his recommendation and ordered it as well:

This omelette is a monster made with, urban myth says, 5 eggs, a 1/2 pound of ham, and a 1/2 pound of cheese! And it comes with a side of three buttermilk pancakes smothered in syrup and butter. As my dad says, "is that a heart attack waiting to happen or what!? But the thing is, you'll die with a smile on your face". Truly, every once in awhile, the indulgence is well, well worth it.

Unfortunately, there is no The Original Pancake House in Rhode Island, but if you ever find yourself in a state with a location, make it a stop one morning!

Highschool Memories

For a brief period of time (of about three of my highschool years) I lived in Randolph, New Jersey. It is a small, small town of about 25,000 people in northern Jersey with little else but a diner, a strip mall, and a couple of Italian restaurants.

I don't have much "home pride" when it comes to Randolph, except for when it comes to pizza. My absolute favorite slice of pizza comes from the ovens of Pizza Palace:

Pizza Palace, when I was in highschool, was a constant haunt- for meeting up, before and after football games, on lazy Sundays, dates..."Palace" was always the no-fail place. We ordered up a slice or two and slipped into the seats and felt like maybe the highschool years were the best of our lives.

I will admit that, in reference to the aformentioned trip down memory lane, some of my love of Palace may be rooted in love of nostalgia. But, I still maintain that in the oft-unknown and strange community of Randolph, New Jersey you can find some pretty fantastic pizza.

The thickness of the crust is perfectly inbetween thin-crust and standard pizza crust, which is hard to find. Pizza crust is often either too thin, tough and/or crispy, or much too thick and doughy. Pizza palace always wins in the dough breadth category. The sauce is simple, and tastes mostly of zesty tomato paste then it does herbs, another plus in my pizza critique. And no pizza critique is complete without a comment on the cheese. When I am looking for a good, greasy, parlor-type pie, the volume and quality of the cheese is tantamount. Pizza Palace excels in this cheese inquiry as well. There is enough cheese to make the top of the pie oozy and a little heavy, but not too much that the crust is soggy, the slice sags, or that you almost choke on each bite because you can't possibly chew all the cheese. 

So, if you ever find yourself on the road in New Jersey, and you happen to pass a sign reading "Township of Randolph" make sure you stop in to Pizza Palace, grab a slice and relive some highschool glory days.

Pizza Palace
1161 Sussex Turnpike
Randolph, NJ
973-895-3344