Cool Soup

The first item that has caught my eye at the International Fancy Food Show is the Cool Soup. I saw it yesterday when I was checking out tsp spices booth where I will be working for the next couple of days. Both booths are in the New organic and natural food section.

All natural soups with 3 flavors at the moment: Rich Vegetable Gazpacho, Carrot Bisque and Creamy Mango Spice. All natural, healthy tasty alternative for the fast life style - pop a straw and drink your Cool Soups.

Finding lots of info on products from South Africa that I want to review. I have to hit the show floor now. I have a meeting at the Chilean pavilion with their chef. There is a unique spice I haven't heard of before and will post when I can ...probably from the MAC store tonight.

Big Apple - Day One

Hello from the MAC store on 5th Avenue.  I'm psyched for the Fancy Food Show that starts tomorrow.  I hope to do some real time blogging if I can get to the computers in the press room.

Unfortunately I left my camera home and I had a tremendous dinner with my friend Suzanne Fass and her hubby at Sheridan Square Restaurant (only open about 4 weeks)  Suzanne used to work with the chef.  So at the end of the meal chef sent out 5 desserts and glasses of port.  A delightful evening.  I will blog more probably when I get home as to the meal.

The train ride was uneventful as was my stop by at the Javitts Center where I visited with tsp spices, Vanns Spices and the Carribean trade booths.  

My body is in sugar overload.  I have to study the pricing on tsp spices to be prepped to work their booth tomorrow.

That's it now kiddos....time to head back to the apt.

Mayor Into The Lion's Den

There I was at a happy hour get together tonight of the local press, a great number of them from The Sun. It has been a rough week at The Sun with approximately 100 layoffs and buyouts. No one is really feeling secure about their jobs-not a good week there. Talking about having a bad week, let’s take a look at Mayor Dixon – not a good week there either. Now put them all together.

Talk about a strong, savvy politico, Mayor Dixon walked into the proverbial lion's den of a bar full of reporters who are drinking at a media happy hour gathering. This was truly a Kodak moment and I got it.

I got to chat a little bit with her honor, the Mayor. Being the non-politico and the Dining Examiner, I asked her about favorite foods and restaurants. I can say that the mayor enjoys grilled fish, seems to have a penchant for Italian food, and enjoys a good mojito though she was sipping white wine.

It Left a Sour Taste

The gathering was at Ixia and I would think that some arrangements would have been made for discounts on the drinks for this group of about 30 but no, and no one behind the bar or hosting was savvy to put discounts together. I had two cocktails and with tip was $30. It’s a beautiful venue, and my yuzu based cocktail was delicious but it soured when I got the bill.

Real-Time Blogging with Gourmet Magazine

This is a new experiment, I'm reading the just delivered July's Gourmet Magazine and I will post random thoughts while I peruse the magazine. I should be okay looking at the food photos, I just ate a salami sandwich and Kosher pickle to help deflect immense hunger.

The cover picture is a delicious looking steak with roasted baby and pear tomatoes. Looked so good I went to the freezer to see how many New York strips steaks I have left. Only one and two of us- damn.

The Wolf ad had two pages, one a beautiful layout of mollusks. I tried to guess all the names which are on the page but aren’t real visible. Got about 60% correct

Great picture of Martin Yan, from the very early food cooking show Yan Can Cook promoting Merrill Lynch.

The contents page photo is eye-catching of a house on a river. Content page two had a recipe for Sweet Ricotta Pudding with Roasted Grapes, looks way good and quite simple; I’ve folded the edge over to remember the page.

Ooh no, not Ms Perky, the Regis Philbin sidekick, who is promoting the heck out of Electrolux appliance. I doubt she ever touches a sauté pan in real life.

Still on table of contents page 3 and they are featuring the new Gourmet Test Kitchen videos (here’s the link http://www.gourmet.com/food/testkitchen).

There’s a picture of Emeril promoting his pots and pans. I can’t remember where I read a story recently where someone tested all the celeb pots and pans - Emeril’s came out favorably.

Okay, I’m at the Letters and You Asked for It Column. Someone wanted a recipe for sweet-and-sour crab salad. As I look at it the dressing is unseasoned rice wine vinegar, sugar, garlic and chili pepper flakes. They call for crab legs, cabbage, cucumbers and fresh herbs…didn’t bother to turn down the corner of the page.

Ooooh, ooh – yummy photo of a burger with a poached egg, beets and slice pineapple….have to skip to page 36 to read the recipe. It is called an Aussie Berger. I have folded the corner down on this. The salami sandwich isn’t cutting it now.

A blurb on the New classic duck fat fries. I wonder what they would be like if fried in schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)?

Skipping the review of a restaurant in LA – won’t be in LA anytime soon unless I do a stage (pronounced staw aage) internship with a food styling company. Jan and Michael Stern’s review in the Roadfood column I will read that another day. More restaurant listing for LA, Culver City….pass.

Wine column---pass.

Promo for the Gourmet Institute in New York – October 17-19th. If I had the extra dollars, would love to do this but alas I needed two crowns and filling. Hint, hint Gourmet, treat me and I will live blog the event.

Good Living Cooking column – Book review, Beyond the Great Wall by the award winning cookbook authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I just received an article from the Washington Post about the Eye-Watering Taste of Bhutan’s Unique Cuisine being featured at the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival. It seems Yak is featured in both. Who is raising yaks in Baltimore? Anyone know? Buy local!

Debunking the don’t wash your mushrooms…Gourmet says go ahead and wash them – doesn’t matter, they are about 90 percent water to begin with.

There is a story on M.F.K. Fisher, inspired by what would be her 100th birthday in August. Postpone reading it for now.

Whoa Hoo – Goat, the next new red meat. Pass on that story-I’ll get back to it.

The science column----The Corrections is all about how everything we know about taste is wrong. Great column, I read the whole thing and will come back to it again. Corner of the page is folded.

(Ice Tea Break)

Another picture of steak…a definite run to the food store after I pick up my prescription.

Quick look at the Quick Kitchen column …nothing eye catching. Picture of the Zucchini-Basil soup looks good, simple preparation though I’m not sure I will fix it.

Interesting recipe, Cantaloupe with Coulis, you take the seeds and some juicy center section of the cantaloupe, using a blender, combine them with sugar and lemon juice and strain it. Serve it with the cut melon slices. Yup, that edge of the page is turned under.

Gourmet Entertains…lost me with the pictures of the skinny young folk in the bathing suits.

Gourmet Travels…ooh, an article by my namesake, Dara Moskowitz, who lives in Minnesota. I’ll come back to this later.

A story on Beijing and the Olympics. I have to come back to this. I’m falling behind in real work.

There is a great list of recipes using fresh herbs. Excuse me, ripping out that annoying cardboard piece for Gourmet subscriptions. Five chefs mention their favorite herbs. Okay, one is David Myers from Sona in LA, he donated a recipe for my cookbook compilation. Damn, his favorite herb is shiso. Shiso is impossible to find here in Baltimore. Do any of you know where to find it? I can’t find it at the Asian stores. Jerry Traunfeld, the chef from the Herbfarm near Seattle had to bring it in with him when promoting his cookbook. There was none to be found here and I needed it when styling for him.

On the article called Big Love, about our summer love with tomatoes. Here are the recipe titles: Tomato Bread Pudding, Tomato Risotto, Heirloom-Tomato Terrine, Sherry Tomato Granita (folding corner down), Porterhouse Steak with Pan-Seared tomatoes (cover shot I talked about earlier.), Green-Tomato and Honeydew Melon Salad.

Cool beans..no, cool tomatoes: a market guide of photos of the different types of tomatoes.

The grand finale, The Last Touch column on at final page, I love this column; they pick a single ingredient and list recipes. They discontinued this column at one point and so many people complained, it was added back. OK, this month it is parsley.

It’s a wrap. Go buy your own July copy of Gourmet and let me know what you like. Off to the food store. You guessed it, steak for dinner.

Edible Enlightenment - Part 1

When Nyghia and Phoung Hoang introduced me to Vietnamese food, it was truly a day of edible enlightenment. Some of you will remember them from their Hoang’s Seafood Grille in Mt. Washington and Canton. The Hoang's have relocated to Falls Church and have opened Hoang' s Cuisine.

The Hoangs became good friends and it was Nyghia who introduce me to pho (pronounced FUH), which means soup in Vietnamese. I received an in-depth lesson on this rich, flavorful broth at Hoang’s carryout location on York Road, near Lake Avenue. The carryout had a small counter and it was only there that Nyghia offered pho. In Baltimore, at that time, few if anyone knew of pho, of course the Vietnamese and then the Vietnam War veterans did. From my Northwest home it was easily a 30 minute drive but I had to have my pho. I remember dragging Chef Nancy Longo from Pierpoint Restaurant for this new flavor sensation.

Warning:

This story is not for the attention deficit. For those of you who read all installments, you will be deemed pho literate (by Dining Dish standards). Yes, I said installments: recipes and reviews are to follow.

What is the History of Pho?

A great number of people believe that pho (fuh) was derived from the French dish, pot-au-feu, which the French colonist introduced to the Vietnamese. The method of charring the onion and ginger for pho is similar to that process of charring onions for pot-au-feu. Let me suggest you read Andrea Q. Nguyen's story for a thorough examination of pho - Click Here . I am not here to re-event the wheel when it is so well documented.

Here Comes the Pho, Here Comes the Pho


The basic aromatics are star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel seeds and a long simmer of beef bones are the heart of this broth.

Pho is typically served to you in a deep bowl which containss rice noodles (banh pho), the same type of noodle used in Pad Thai, reminiscent of linguini in shape. You can choose from an assortment of beef toppings and I usually pick the brisket and rare beef (which cooks submerged in the broth while you eat it). There can be scallions and onion in the broth when served.

You will be served a separate dish with accoutrements; cilantro, culantro and/or thai basil (remove the leaves from the stems and add to the pho), mung bean sprouts, sliced onions, scallions, wedges of lime, and sliced chili peppers (dip in broth so the natural oils come out or leave them in the broth if you really like hot).

On your table will be a condiment tray of hoisin sauces, srichacha sauce, chili and garlic paste, hot chili oil and nuoc mam (fish sauce).


You Are the Final Flavor Profile to your Pho


How tart, how hot, how salty and how sweet is based on what you add. I throw in the herbs, sprouts, onions, squeezes of lime, srichacha sauce, hoisin and a splash of nuoc mam. For your first foray with pho, go gently. What I mean, add just a small amount of the items you think you will like and then taste it, you can always add more but you can’t take it out.

From my Spaghetti Eating 101 Class, I apply the twirl method to eating the pho rice noodles. I twirl the noodles twisted in my chopsticks on the base of the flat Asian spoon and then I slurp it all up, loudly and with great pride. At a recent trip to Asian Court ,a Chinese woman complimented me on my fabulous chopstick skills when eating dim sum.

The number of pho restaurants are growing in Baltimore and I will be reviewing a selection of them in my next installment Edible Enlightenment Part 2.

Lobster Watch

I just got a call from "the husband" that the SuperFresh in Timonium has lobsters at $6.99 a pound. I do not know how long this will last but do know they are limiting everyone to 4 lobsters.

Guess what I'm having for dinner?

Tainted Tongue

It was just less than 2 weeks ago I got an e-mail from Roopa K., writer of http://www.raspberryeggplant.blogspot.com/ inviting Baltimore’s food bloggers to a gathering where our taste receptors on our tongues will be altered.

The invitation “ Have you heard of miracle fruit? (If so, feel free to skip ahead.) Miracle fruit is an amazing little berry-like fruit that contains a protein called miraculin. Miraculin alters your taste buds' perception of foods such that any sour or bitter foods you eat taste sweet; the effect of each berry lasts anywhere from 20-60 minutes. After you eat one, lemons taste like lemonade; goat cheese tastes like cheesecake, Guinness tastes like chocolate, and vinegar tastes pleasant. It has been written about in a number of publications and on many blogs, and, most recently, the New York Times ran an article on it in Wednesday's dining section - take a look at it for more info on a recent miracle fruit party in NY.”

I, in fact, had read the story in the Times and was right there for the gathering just this past Friday night. Meghan, writer of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was co-hosting and was on WYPR discussing the Miracle Fruit



The Experiment:

There were a number of us bloggers gathered at Roopa’s Mt. Vernon apartment. She spent a great deal of time putting together food items to taste; plates of citrus, pickles, cheeses, vinegars, hot sauces, beer, unsweetened tea – one blogger brought a can of artichoke soda that was already sweet so when tasted sweetness was cloying.

We were to coat our tongues for about 30 seconds with the berry and I actually felt a tingle or numbing on the tip of the tongue. Most of us went immediately for the lemon and grapefruit which rather than being sour were a sweet tart. The vinegars were sweet, the hot sauce if it was sweeter I didn’t notice because the heat took over. The pickled items took on the “sweet bread & butter pickle” flavor profile.

I squeezed straight lemon juice in water and it tasted like lemonade and the ice tea, unsweetened tasted bitter but once I squeezed citrus in the tea it tasted sweet. So for me, it didn’t alter bitter it only altered the tart items. I could munch on a fresh piece of rhubarb with no wincing.

The Bloggers:

Here are the bloggers and their links:

Baltimore Snacker http://baltimoresnacker.blogspot.com/2008/06/miracle-fruit-party.html

Pigtown-Pigout http://pigtown-pigout.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-miracle.html

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme http://culinarynovice.blogspot.com/

Black Coffee and Donut http://blackcoffeeandadonut.com/

Kitchenography http://kitchenography.typepad.com/

Strawberries in Paris http://strawberriesinparis.wordpress.com/

Along with our food bloggers from Baltimore, Rob Kasper of the Sunpapers attended as well. ttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/today/bal-columnist-kasper,0,6430018.columnist

In conclusion:

My tongue was challenged, tainted and taunted - it has fully recovered.

Food Pornography

Here I am at 6 a.m., licking my monitor’s screen: enticed, titillated, and with uncontrolled yearning. It was wrapped in a virtual brown paper wrapper, an innocent e-mail newsletter from StarChefs.com that touted "Father’s Day Grilling Tips" in the subject line. There I was the lamb heading to the slaughter (pun intended).

I perused the stories and there, innocently stuck in-between #7 Jim Clarke's Sincere Musings on Sancerre and #9 Top 10 Jobs on StarChefs.com JobFinder was # 8 Recent Tasting Photos From New York: Gordon Ramsey, Morimoto, Adour, Beards Awards and more. I clicked, and I was hooked: picture after picture of the most delicious food and drink, I was salivating heavily.

Oh no, the whole gallery is there – I’m going to loose the entire day drooling over food, looking at pictures of the great chefs and their food. OH NO! The gallery has photos all the way back to 2006.

No junkie (well food junkie) likes to drool alone – join me: CLICK HERE

Whoooo Hooo Stephanie

Dear Stephanie Izerd:

Congratulations on your win on Top Chef. Thank you for representing women chef in a positive demeanor.

Much good fortune and may I have the pleasure of enjoying your food up close and personal one day.

A big Whoooo Hoooo Top Chef Stephanie.

Sopranoville Grilling Lesson

Okay youse guys, put on the wife beaters, talk like Joe Pesci and light up the grill for Father's day. If you loved Tony Soprano you will appreciate this video.

How can you not love the aroma sausage, onions and peppers on the grill.

Happy Father's Day and Mangia

Ter-i-yak-i (scratch that) Food Network

I was just writing a story about how delicious and simple teriyaki is to prepare when I got a phone call from the Food Network. Change of story, change of plans. I need your help.

The Food Network is looking for a independent retailer, small manufacturer, non-chain restaurant and/or caterer that creates something unique for Thanksgiving and ships it anywhere in the country. It can be a whole Thanksgiving dinner, it can be an unusual component (old family recipe for cranberry relish or Aunt Tessie’s turkey seasoning mix), and/or something new for the Thanksgiving table. Write me with your suggestions at diningdish@hotmail.com.

Behind the Gulumki

Some might say they are behind the eight ball but I’m behind the gulumki. I should have written the review of Ze Mean Bean Café weeks ago. The fans of Ze Mean Bean Café, and there are many, enjoy their menu offerings which honor old world Slavic home-styled dishes (stuffed cabbage, borscht, periogies, goulash etc) to their contemporary crab cake served with spicy Polish honey vodka sauce over greens and asparagus or sea scallops with chorizo rum vinaigrette.

Ze Mean Bean's Borscht

The best place to start is at the beginning. My fellow food blogger, Jake Slagle of Unique Culinary Adventures wanted to interview me about my new gig writing for Examiner.com and what better way to do so then over food. Ze Mean Bean Café was Jake’s choice for lunch. I had never dined there because I ‘assumed’ (you all know what that word means) that it was a coffee house and I don’t do coffee (that is another story). In fact, Ze Mean Bean started off as a bakery/coffee house back in 1995. I direct you to Jake’s story and his take on our luncheon. I had to smile that anyone thought me worthy of an interview.

Getting Down on Gulumki

So let’s get to what matters, the food. I couldn’t pass up the borscht and it didn’t disappoint. The ruby red broth of the Russian borscht ($5) was perfect. It was rich with the natural sweetness of the root vegetables but not cloyingly sweet and the chicken that was used in making the broth was a nice light touch over the heavier flavors of a beef stock. It reminded me of my Lithuanian grandmother’s borscht. In our family, the borscht was served cold or at room temperature. While I enjoyed my borscht, Jake indulged in the spinach salad with the fruity Parmesan tuile ($8).

I moved on to the Holupki (Gulumki) Dinner ($10) that offered two plumb cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and rice in a light tomato sauce with potato cake and vegetable of the day. It was a fair value for the dollar, plenty of food. I prefer my stuffed cabbage with a little less rice than what was served but that goes back to what you grew up eating and your expectations. Jake just loved his crab cake, he felt the crabmeat tasted extremely fresh, from the Atlantic but in reality he knew it was too early in the season. You can order the crab cake as an appetizer or entrée and it is market price.

Sweet Finishes

Aaaah, desserts – we can’t forget something sweet to finish off the meal. Our lovely and attentive waitress informed us that the owner’s mother makes the desserts. There was a large selection that day (remember Ze Mean Bean started out as a dessert and coffee café). Let’s see if I can make heads or tails of my notes on our selection for that afternoon:

Chocolate Mousse Pie
Apple Dutch Cake
Apple Pie with Caramel Crunch & Nuts
Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake
Chocolate Babka and woe was us…they were out of the bread pudding.

Jake said he would take a bite of whatever I ordered but he was watching his waistline. I lost my waistline about 15 years ago so it didn’t matter to me. I chose the Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake and it was worth every single calorie. The cake was dense, moist, flavorful and not too sweet. How good was it? Well I gave up eating it half way through because I was just too full when Jake decided that one bite was not sufficient for him and preceded to help finish the dessert.

Ze Mean Bean isn’t all about Slavic food or homemade desserts there is entertainment, a wonderful wine list and they cater as well. I enjoyed the homey feel, the pleasant service and a menu with a diverse selection of old world and contemporary menu choices. It’s on my list for a return visit….do give it a try.

Polish Dining Footnotes:

1. The Polish Festival is this weekend at Patterson’s Park Pulaski Monument, Eastern Avenue at Linwood – enjoy entertainment, dancing and food. (May 30th, 31st & June 1st)

2. Wednesday, June 4th Sotto Sopra Restaurant is offering a 4-course Home Cooked Polish Dinner. Yes, Sotto Sopra is an Italian restaurant but the owner’s in-laws are in visiting from Poland and his mother-in-law and wife are preparing the special dinner. It is limited seating, it is communal and family style dining.


For more info:

Ze Mean Bean Café
Eastern European Café & Wine Bar

1739 Fleet Street (Fells Point)

Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 675-5999
http://www.zemeanbean.com/

Beat the Inflation Heat: Every Tuesday their chef creates a three-course menu that is sure to tantalize your taste buds. This delectable menu is a steal at only $19.95 per person, and $29.95 with specially paired wines. Every Tuesday receive any bottle of wine from their list at half price with the purchase of two Chef Specialty entrees!

Conflicting Advertising

Today on The Bay 100.7 I heard a commercial talking about saving our planet. The commerical said that enviromental dangers are caused by the raising of our meats (ie beef, pork & chicken)so we should go vegetarian. That ad ended and went immediately into an ad for a restaurant that features ribs.

Okay, I thought...strange. Then I heard it again and waited to see if the enviromental spot had a sponsor or name...NOTHING! and boom....back into the radio ad for the restaurant hyping ribs and beef.

Who the heck is their programming director?

What is Growing Faster Than Jack's Beanstalk?

Childhood Hunger!

Where do you start when you know children are going hungry in this city? Some statistics I gleaned showed that 29% of the hungry in Baltimore are children under 18. Another statistic that is shocking, 81% of the food insecure in the city are families with children. Nearly 185,000 children are facing hunger in Maryland. What do you say to a child who is hungry and there is no food?

Irony at Its Best – Eat Well and Help End Childhood Hunger

Mark your calendar for Monday, June 2 as Baltimore’s best chefs and restaurants cook to end childhood hunger at the American Visionary Art Museum from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. for Share Our Strength’s (SOS), Baltimore’s Taste of the Nation which raises critical funds needed to support SOS’s efforts to end childhood hunger in Baltimore and across America.

The area charities that will benefit from this year’s event include Baltimore’s Garden Harvest, Maryland Committee for Children, and Advocates for Children and Youth.

More than 20 of the city’s finest restaurants will participate in this gastronomic event including (in no particular order):

Jack’s Bistro
Inn at Perry Cabin
Jordan’s Steakhouse
VIN
Sotto Sopra
Indigma
Pierpoint
Red Maple
Lebanese Taverna
The Capital Grille
Ixia Restaurant
Trapeze
Cabot Creamery
Lindt Chocolate
Corks
Kali’s Court
Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine
Karma’s Cupcakes…and many others

Guests will enjoy the city’s finest foods paired with beverages by Finlandia Vodka, Herradura Tequila, Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Southern Comfort.

Tickets for Baltimore’s Taste of the Nation are $75 (100% tax deductible) and $125 for VIP admission (VIPs receive seating, champagne and surprise perks). Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-877-26-TASTE or visiting http://www.tasteofthenation.org/. The evening will be fun, fulfilling and filling.

Show your local restaurateurs and chefs that you can support their childhood hunger relief fundraiser as they have consistently and without waiver, supported all our charities year-after-year, day-after-day.

More About Share Our Strength

SOS has been working with the culinary industry for 20 years to create engaging, pioneering programs like Taste of the Nation, Great American Bake Sale, Operation Frontline and A Tasteful Pursuit.

Generous support from presenting sponsor American Express, national sponsors SYSCO Corporation and Food Network, Brown-Forman, S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, the National Pork Board and OpenTable ensure that 100 percent of ticket proceeds go to Baltimore’s Taste of the Nation’s efforts to end childhood hunger.

Can We Fix Childhood Hunger?

Do I think childhood hunger is going to get better? I hope so, though I think it will get worse before it does. With utilities sky rocketing and gas prices growing faster than Jack’s beanstalk, families who were just getting by last year face the lack of food for their families. The children need your support….gather your friends and join us Monday, June 2nd at The Visionary Art Museum for Baltimore’s Taste of the Nation. I’ll be there; I’m the one with the camera.

Dining Dish

P. S. Unable to make the event but you have a great auction item, do reach out and let the organizers know (tasteofthenation@strength.org).

Top 10 'Inflation Busting' Dining Specials

Check out my Top 10 (really 11) restaurant "inflation busting” dining specials for every night of the week. You can go out to eat and eat well, cost effectively. Here is my list, if you know of other restaurant specials worthy of being up here, please share with all of us and post the restaurant and their special.

A number of these restaurants run additional specials during the week so do check out each of their websites.

Sundays

Jack’s Bistro
3123 Elliott St
Baltimore, MD 21224
410.878.6542
http://www.jacksbistro.net/

$12.00 Entrees at the bar
5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Cinghiale
822 Lancaster Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
410 547 8282
http://www.cinghiale-osteria.com/

Sunday Supper at Cinghiale
$29 Per Person

Cinghiale will host Sunday evening suppers featuring a 3-course menu that will change weekly. There is only one seating time and one menu.

Cinghiale will open at 5:30 pm with a variety of antipasti presented at 6:00 pm. At 6:30, pasta will be served and a dessert or cheese course will follow.

The supper is casual and social. Come alone, or with your family and friends.

Mondays

The Wine Market
921 East Fort Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21230
410.244.6166
http://www.the-wine-market.com/

20% off all dinner entrees

Bill Bateman in Reisterstown
102 Chartley Dr.
Reisterstown, MD 21136
410-526-6200
http://www.billbateman.com/directions_banquet_meeting_rooms_reisterstown_maryland_md.php


6 oz Strip Steak, Baked Potato and Salad Bar- $2.99 at the bar with the purchase of a beverage from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tuesdays

Gertrudes at the Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
410.889.3399
http://www.johnshields.com/restaurant/rest/01.00_menus.html

Tuesdays with Gertie
$10 entrees – 9 choices
$12 entrees – 3 choices
5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Helen’s Garden
2908 Odonnell St
Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 276-2233
http://www.helensgarden.com/V2/

A three course wine dinner is available for only $29 which includes 3 tasting glasses of wine.

Pazza Luna Trattoria Italiana
1401 E. Clement Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
410.962.1212
http://www.pazzaluna.us

$15.00 Seafood Entrees starting at 5:30 p.m.


Wednesdays

Sotto Sopra Restaurant
405 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410 625 0534
http://sottosoprainc.blogspot.com/search/label/Special%20Events

Chefs 3 Course Tasting Menu - $30 per person
The menu with multiple selections changes monthly letting you sample the regular seasonal items on the dinner menu.

For the Early Bird from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.- get a seat at their bar Monday through Thursday for their $10 pastas.


Don’t Know Tavern
1453 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-539-0231
http://www.dontknowtavern.com/

Steak Night - $12.95 for 12oz NY Strip w/ 2 sides

Thursdays

Mother's Federal Hill Grille
1113 S. Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
410-244-8686
http://federalhillrestaurants.com/

$10 on selected entrees from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Starting in June they will have Lobster Night on Wednesdays – pricing hasn’t been determined as yet but I bet it is a great deal well under $20. Stay in touch with them at Mother’s

Every Day

Pierpoint Restaurant & Catering
1822 Aliceanna Street
Baltimore, Md 21231
410.675. 2080
http://www.pierpointrestaurant.com

When you call Pierpoint Restaurant for a reservation mention you want the ‘19th anniversary promotion’ which is 19% off your dinner bill. Now remember, you need to mention it at the time of your reservation. Chef Longo wants to help offset your gas or BG & E bill. The promotion has been extended to the end of September.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restaurateurs, if I missed mentioning your restaurant specials, I apologize, please email me the details and I will do post an additional list – send to diningdish@hotmail.com.

Unbridled Cooking

I enjoy cooking for small intimate dinner gatherings and this past Sunday wasn’t any different as I put together an eclectic menu for friends. I start small, a simple 3 course dinner and BAM, it has grown, out of control cooking. (recipes below) Keeping it simple doesn’t seem to be in my realm of reality, I ended up with 6 courses…yup, count them.

Pot Stickers with a Yuzu Dipping Sauce
Tom Yum Soup (inspired by my dinner at Redfish)
Grilled Caesar Salad
Lemon Basil Sorbetto
Honey Truffle Marinated Chicken, Steamed Asparagus with Apricot Marmalade and Oven Roasted Potatoes
Yellow Cake with Fudge Icing with Fresh Strawberries

Guess what, I didn’t take any pictures at dinner - not a one but I have put together a couple post pictures. I’m going to write this in course order though food prep was much different.

Dara’s Dinner for 4

1st Course

Pot Stickers: This was a last minute decision to have a munch in the den with drinks before we sat down to dinner. I pulled the Pot Stickers from the freezer, sautéed them and then steamed them per the package instructions.

Yuzu Dipping Sauce: I used a tablespoon of yuzu juice (lime juice is a good substitute), 2 tablespoons of Asian fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger, 1 small garlic clove thinly sliced and 1 teaspoon of sugar to balance the acid of the yuzu juice. Mix and make adjustments to your taste buds.

2nd Course

Tom Yum Soup: I had homemade chicken broth(see below) and combined it with low sodium chicken broth (total 4 cups), diced shallots, sliced mushrooms, shredded carrots and the Instant Sour Shrimp Paste (tom yum) for the chili-sour flavor* (1 teaspoon). I peeled 8 shrimp and put the shells in a strainer that I put in the stock to cook a bit and add more flavor. I added the shrimp about 2 minutes before service so they wouldn’t be over cooked. I previously boiled off some egg noodles (I was out of rice noodles) which I added to the stock just after the shrimp.

* the instant sour shrimp paste is spicy and I suggest start with a regular teaspoon and let it blend well into the soup. Give it a taste and add a bit more until you reach the level of heat you want in the soup.

3rd Course

Grilled Caesar Salad: I had just gotten the new Food and Wine-June 08 and on page 160 they had Seared Romaine Spears with Caesar Dressing. I got Romaine hearts at the produce store on sale for 99 cents…yes, 99 cents. I cut the romaine heads in half lengthwise and brushed with Canola oil and grilled them until they had a slight char on both sides but were still crisp.

The dressing swapped out egg yolks with low fat mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, garlic cloves, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. I processed all the ingredients and slowly added Canola oil. I dressed the plate with the dressing and put the romaine spears on top, salt & pepper, shaved Parmesan-Reggiano cheese and chopped tomato.

4th Course

Lemon Basil Sorbetto: I wrote about this before, it is SOOO good and I had about 11 lemons leftover from a food styling job just the week before so I filled in to the 20 lemons needed. I zested all the lemons before I juiced them and froze them for future cooking endeavors. The recipe is from Executive Chef Bill Crouse at Sotto Sopra – RECIPE. This was my intermezzo.

5th Course

Honey Truffled Chicken: First I purchased two whole chickens and brought them home and broke them down into parts. I took the wing tips, the backs and gizzards and threw them in the pressure cooker with onions, carrots, celery, parsley stems and salt for a quick stock-used in the Tom Yum soup.

Marinade for the chicken:

4 ounces of honey
2 tablespoons chicken stock
2 tablespoons of truffle oil
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients for the chicken. Coat the chicken pieces well and marinate them overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the chicken about 45 minutes (test for doneness with an instant read thermometer.) As the oven preheats mix up the basting mixture. As the chicken cooks, baste it from time-to-time.

Basting mixture for the chicken:

3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chicken stock
2 teaspoons of truffle oil
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons of fresh ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of salt

Oven Roasted Potatoes: I chose to use the tiny red potatoes. Remember start your potatoes in cold water with lots of salt. (If what you are cooking grew below ground you start it in cold water and if it grew above ground you add it to boiling water). Once at a boil, I let them cook 5 minutes and drained. I tossed the potatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chopped parsley, garlic powder, and chopped shallots and put them on a cookie sheet in the oven with the chicken. Every time I basted the chicken, I gave the pan of potatoes a shake.

Asparagus: From the WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook, I used their recipe for steamed asparagus and slivered carrots topped with Apricot marmalade and grated ginger. This is a fabulous cookbook that doesn’t feel like a healthy cooking cookbook. There are many recipes I have fixed and many more I am going to make. It emphasizes heart healthy foods, 40 foods proven to promote heart health.

Ladies, don’t be fooled, heart disease kills more women than breast cancer. This is a cookbook that should be on your shelves – the food tastes great plus you learn how many choices you do have with heart healthy foods.

ARE YOU FULL YET?

6th Course

Yellow Cake with Fudge Icing: This is an ongoing quest of mine to find a really moist, dense yellow cake. Where as this cake was delicious, denser and moist, it wasn’t what I’m seeking ~ so I still search for my holy grail of cakes. PLEASE, if you have a yellow cake recipe that is really dense and moist send it to me (diningdish@hotmail.com).

I tried the cake recipe from Restaurant Eve which was in the Washington Post-I did not make their icing. I searched the internet for a chocolate fudge icing recipe and was ready to make one that called for condensed milk. I knew I had a can in the cupboard only to find out it had a date on it from 1996. Needless to say, I chose another recipe – Caroline’s Chocolate Fudge Frosting that came out great (I added a pinch of salt to it and only used ½ cup of milk. I think salt brings out the chocolate flavor)

Heathens that we were, we polished off ½ the cake between 4 people. I probably should put a warning on this menu “Do Not Try This At Home~ It Can be Harmful to a Full Night’s Sleep and One’s Waistline.” I’m still eating cake and sorbetto; I sent the leftover chicken, asparagus and potatoes home with my guests.

Are you an unbridled cook? We can start a club and go insane cooking for each other...but what a way to go.

Local Wine Events

I have been a great supporter of Eric Orange's Local Wine Events, a website that promotes food and wine events all over the world. They have just come out with a widget (the ability to put their information on my site)that will be found on this blog promoting special events in the Baltimore Area. Check it out ~ it is in the right hand column.

Primal Grill Premieres and I Helped

Baltimore’s own hometown boy, cookbook author, TV personality, Steven Raichlen premieres his lastest TV series, Primal Grill this Saturday on MPT at 1:00 p.m. and I helped. Yup, Dining Dish was called in at the last minute when Raichlen’s assistant had health issue that kept her from working. The conversations started on Friday and Sunday afternoon I got the go a head to fly out the next day to Tubac, Arizona. I’ve worked with Steven in my past life at a local spice company as well as food styled for him when he did live performances at MPT.

I’ve not worked as a personal assistant before but advised Steven I would do my best. Everything was new; a new location, new production company, chefs who have never styled for TV and a willing, yet inexperienced personal assistant. Challenging to say the least I got through it without being fired and I’m living to write about it.

Please note the series was filmed outdoors, in a field with very live and vocal cows, mucho flies and other oh mys (javalinas and cow gifts). I was on set before dawn and left after sunset, I never saw my back patio of my room in the daylight until the last day of shooting when we wrapped early. By the time we got to day 10, I finally got the gig down. The staff and Steven were great and understanding. Steven was a gentleman even when others might have lost their cool, I so respect this man for all that he has accomplished. He’s written 25 cookbooks and is finishing his first novel and is traveling the world for background on his next cookbook.

I’ll stop my kvetching and tell you some behind the scenes stories. I mentioned the flies, they were horrendous. Camera’s rolling and there are flies all over the food so we would spray everything with bug spray…keep that in mind when Steven bites into the food at the end of the shot. Oh, the beauty shots, the finished products for that final shot. I would hear “Dara, there’s not enough salsa in the bowl we need more!!!!”….what. no more salsa—I would dump the salsa, roll up a paper towel and top it with the salsa…the bowl was full, beauty shot complete.

We were 20 miles north of the Mexican US border and at night I heard the helicopters search for the illegal immigrants sneaking across the border. Taking the airport limo back to Tucson we were stopped by border police checking out the van. When I was asked if I was an American citizen I was so tempted to say “si” but good sense took over my need to be funny.

What does a personal assistant do you ask? We needed extra long cinnamon sticks and we were no where near anywhere to find them. I reached out to an acquaintance in Tucson who owns Flavorbank Spices who had 18 inch cinnamon sticks. I coerced a waitress from the resort to drive 80 miles round trip to go pick them up for that day's shoot (only to have that recipe's filming postponed for the next 7 days).

I polished plates and bowls. Followed the recipes, caught errors, and noted changes. I would make sure everything for the recipes were on set as well as equipment and made sure it got cleared quickly after the filming. Worked on the beauty shots set up ( I had a lot of help from the one of the producers). Iron shirts when the PA’s PA disappeared (that is another story unto itself).

The set was not without its injuries. Injuries…ah burns, bloodied toe, smashed hand, head injury due to the boom being blown over in the wind and a sprained knee. Then there was the evening of the escaped cows that got out on the golf course and were corralled by chefs on golf carts.

If you love to grill this is the show to watch – please tune in on Saturday, May 17th at 1 p.m. –Maryland Public Broadcasting Channel 22 and 67 and if you look very closely at the credits and read really fast my name should be up there.