Thursday, February 9, 2012

Dinosaur BBQ

Last night I went to Dinosaur BBQ uptown with Barbara, her daughter Jackie, her niece Katie and Katie's partner Anna.  The scent of the place outside is more than enough to draw you inside.  The smell inside is enough to make you want to stay forever.  Wood bar, floor, tables, chairs and walls with old movie posters and tin signs.  A great selection of beers and of course there's the BBQ!

We had:  An order of fried green tomatoes which are yummy, however, an order of 5 slices of tomatoes costs $8.95.  Truly unconscionable.  We also had:  Pulled pork sandwich; blackened catfish; bbq ribs; pulled pork over portobello mushroom cap and collard greens, corn bread, mac and cheese; whipped sweet potatoes and chocolate ice box cake for dessert.  I brought home an order of garlic chipotle wings for Michael.  Good late night snack :)

Always exactly what you expect, decent service and street parking.  Along with great company, what more could you want?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesday

Saturday night we went to Glenn and Eileen's for pizza (from Emilio's).  It's GREAT! And Sunday we spent at Leslie's for the Super Bowl...3 foot hero, chili with rice and fixin's, crudite, dip, guacamole dip, bean and corn salad, olives, cheese, roasted peppers, hot dogs with sauerkraut, chicken wings (many assortments-all homemade).  And of course, NY won so that was good, even if it wasn't the Jets.

Monday night I made the best meatballs I have ever made.  Now truthfully, I don't make good meatballs so it is relative.  But here's what I did:  1/2 pound of ground dark meat turkey, 1/2 pound of ground sweet Italian pork sausage, 1/4 onion chopped, 4 garlic cloves chopped, 1/4 cup parsley chopped, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs soaked in milk, a few tablespoons grated parmigiana, salt and pepper.  I made meatballs, put them on a rack over a cookie sheet and baked them in the oven for 40 minutes or so.  Then I added them to the sauce I was already making on the stove (2 cans crushed tomatoes, 1/2 onion chopped, 4 garlic cloves chopped, 1/4 cup parsley chopped, oregano, salt and pepper, red wine).  That cooked for a few hours and the sauce was great and the meatballs were great.  Good taste and texture.  Michael came home from work the following day saying he was thinking about having a meatball all day :)

Last night was arroz con pollo, but the brown jasmine rice would not soak up the liquid, so I added more and more (broth) until the rice became al dente.  The taste was great, just a bit crunchy :)

I am glad Michael is my food tester.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Cabana

Tonight I went to Cabana on Austin Street with Jill.  We had a vodka and club soda (hers) and a Mojito (mine) at the bar before we sat down.  We shared mariscados (clams, shrimp, mussels, scallops and salmon in a light tomato broth) and empanadas (1 chicken and 2 shrimp).  Both came with black beans and yellow rice and both dishes were delicious.  If you haven't been to Cabana in a while, go back and check it out. The dinner and the company were worth it!

Photo is Missing

When I posted about Ray's Candy Store I included a photo of the funniest beignet.  It looked like a penis :) but now it's gone from the blog. Not sure why. Sorry you missed it.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Last Week

Last Sunday we went to the Gandiello's house for dinner.  Glenn, Eileen and Sarah were also there :) Debbie made ravioli, sauce, turkey meatballs, chicken parm and salad.  Everything was yummy!
Tuesday night I made chicken cutlets, spinach with garlic and oil and (finally) farro with onions, garlic and carrots.
At this point you may be wondering exactly what farro is. According to Garzanti's Italian-English dictionary it's spelt, but Luciano Migliolli, author of Il Farro e le sue Ricette (Farro and its recipes), says that though it looks rather like spelt they're not the same. Farro must be soaked, whereas spelt can be boiled straight off. Also, cooked farro has a firm chewy texture, whereas spelt softens and becomes mushy.
Last night I went to see Jackie's new apartment in Astoria with Barbara.  It is great!  Two bedrooms, full bath with a nice deep tub, eat in kitchen, long entry hallway with closets and a living room.  After the tour we walked to 30th Avenue and spied many restaurants.  We decided on Sugar Freak (www.sugarfreak.com).  They serve "Louisiana homestyle cookin' & spirits."  The decor is great!  We had:  Abita Haze Purple BBQ shrimp, Fried oyster Po'Boy, Crawfish Etouffee and a Turkey burger.  Everything was really good.  Service is good, they certainly do not rush you out the door.  The bathrooms are cute and we would all go back.






S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night

Tonight Michael and I went into Chinatown.  I was hoping to catch a little Chinese New Year spirit, but there were no parades only a few drum beats down the street.  We ate dinner at Shanghai Cafe (100 Mott Street between Hester and Canal).  We specifically went there for their soup dumplings to be able to compare them with the ones at Joe's Shanghai.  And the verdict is...not so dissimilar from each other, but if I had to pick a winner it would be Shanghai Cafe.  The rest of the food was so-so:  Shanghai pan fried noodles with chicken, shrimp, pork and vegetables and also eggplant in garlic sauce with pork.  They do refill your water glasses without asking and I really liked their hot tea. 

Afterward we went to Ray's Candy Store (113 Avenue A) for beignets (think zeppoles).  They were hot and yummy and dusted with confectioner's sugar.  Here is the most special one of the bunch: 

75th Birthday party for Chris

If any of you remember, last year we had a 75th birthday dinner for my mother in law Chris.  Except she was only 74.  So we did it again this year for her 75th.  Invited were her closest friends, us (of course) and Margo, Mike, Chrysalis and Ryan.  I spent most of the night in the kitchen, which was fine with me :)

We had:  Crudite with blue cheese dip; Ciao Angelo and French feta cheeses; parsley garlic olives; tomato-garlic dopping sauce from Ithaca Bakery; Rosemary foccacia; onion baguette; pepperdews, roasted peppers and bocconcini.

Then we had:  Smoked salmon on brown bread with caper-dill sauce; Chicken dumplings; Crab cakes and Rosemary Frenched baby lamb chops.

Dessert was fruit and a beautiful chocolate Ribbon cake from Baked to Perfection in Port Washington.  Wine, soda, coffee and cordials too.