Author: eatonedgecliff

Eat Out: Michaelangelo’s

Eat Out

We haven’t had much luck eating in Little Italy besides the casual Mama Santa’s and Presti’s – both which are great and we go to all the time for lunch.  We have tried some of the nicer places over the years but none have been very good.  We have heard good things about Michaelangelo’s and have always wanted to go so we finally went on Friday to celebrate yours truly’s birthday.  We were there kind of early, so it wasn’t too crowded…but was filling up as we left around 8:00.  Right after work we went the the Cleveland Museum of Art to see the Rembrandt exhibition (very good) and then went to Michaelangelo’s after that.  It’s a very nice room, bigger that we thought as we have walked past it dozens of time, with a great cozy bar with a big fireplace that we will definitely go to next time.  We split calamari for an appetizer, not fried but sauteed and served with tomato sauce.  It was just ok – not too flavorful.  I had a bowl of escarole soup with beans, veal sausage and prosciutto.  Courtney had the grilled caesar salad.  Both were good…especially the soup which is definitely a meal in itself.  I had the mushroom ravioli stuffed w cheese and mushrooms with a rich dark buttery shroomey sauce with lots of mushrooms.  Very rich and delish.  Courtney had scallops served with papardelle which was made with a tomato and olive sauce. We were stuffed so unfortunately skipped on dessert.  The food was good, but wasn’t outstanding like I was expecting it to be, also for the price as it wasn’t cheap.  Still, I would say it is a nice place and would recommend.

EatOnEdgecliff Rating: B+  (next time try to eat in the bar and order less heavy things…or just a bowl of soup)

Book: Lost Memory of Skin

Books

A 22 year old homeless boy lives under an interstate bridge in large Miami-like city because he is a convicted child molester and is not allowed to live close to anywhere where children might be.   He meets a hugely obese college professor who is doing research on homelessness and other things.  No one is quite who they seem to be and still not sure by the end of the book.  I really liked the main character and and you root for him to get out of his hole.  A different, very readable book that is hard to shake once you’re finished and hard to put your finger on.  I liked it though.

PJH rating: 4 stars.

Eat Out: Happy Dog and Sweet Moses

Eat Out

Jack was home for the weekend and wanted to go to Happy Dog so we all took a trip to the mysterious west side for a late lunch.  Happy Dog is a rehabbed neighborhood bar on Detroit and W.58th that opened a few years ago and only serves hot dogs and tater tots and has good live music on the evenings and weekends. The room is very vintage 50’s/60’s with a great wrap around bar in the middle with bar stools and linoleum tables sprinkled around.  They had a great selection of drafts.  Courtney had a Great Lakes Conway and I had a Lagunitas Pilsner from Petaluma California.  Both very tasty.   Courtney and I split a hot dog with bacon-balsamic marmalade, caramelized onions, feta cheese and tomatoes.  Awesome – especially the bacon-balsamic marmalade which we’ll have to see if we can recreate.  I don’t remember what the kid’s had on theirs but it was everything and the kitchen sink.  You can also choose dipping sauces for the tater tots. We tried the house made ketchup, chipotle hollondaise, terriyaki, grape jelly with chili sauce among others.  All very good.

EatOnEdgecliff Rating: A

After lunch we wandered a few blocks down Detroit and happened upon Sweet Moses which is an old fashioned soda fountain that I’ve read about.  We stopped in for some post hot dog and beer ice cream treats.  It’s a great place where they make everything like they used to. (I miss Euclid Race.  Such a great place).  I had a mint chocolate ice cream cone, Sophie had a moose tracks cone, Claire had a chocolate milk shake and Jack and Grace split a beautiful looking and tasty brownie hot fudge sundae.  They had the wrought iron vintage soda fountain tables and chairs and also some nice art work and photos.  Cool place to go.

EatOnEdgecliff Rating: A

I guess we’ll have to go to the West side more often.  (Not really!)

Below is shot of the crazy Happy Dog menu.  You just check off what you want and it comes to your table in a few minutes.

Book: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Uncategorized

Tweenaged boy’s grandfather dies which results in him discovering his past as a “peculiar child”.  Boy and his father travels to remote island in England where he investigates his grandfather’s past and discovers Miss Peregrine’s home and all of its peculiarities.  Interesting reading this right after The Night Circus which deals with similar themes.  I enjoyed this book much more than The Night Circus.  It is a fun read and I highly recommend.

PJH Rating: 4 1/2 stars

St. Baldrick’s Day

Uncategorized

I’m shaving my head to raise money for children’s cancer research.  St. Baldrick’s is an organization that is second only to NIH in funding children’s cancer research.  They have funded over $1,000,000 in research to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital where I work.  Click on below link to donate to this great cause.  Thanks

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/521899/2012

Book: The Night Circus

Books

Set in late 19th century two young magicians are matched together in a competition set in a dream like circus.  They eventually fall in love and work to get out of their destiny of doom.  I wanted to like this book but it was one of those books I just couldn’t get into.  The setting and the circus was interesting, but the plot wasn’t too exciting and I never really got it to tell you the truth.  I did finish it though so it wasn’t bad.  I just read they are making it into a movie which should be interesting.

PJH rating: three & 1/2 stars

Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Appetizer, Dill, Fenell, Nuts, Onion, Parsley, Rice

This was my third attempt at making dolmades over the past year or so and I am happy to report success at last.  I have always loved these ever since Uncle Tom and Aunt Evie introduced them to us, but could never quite get it right.  We were at the West Side Market on Saturday and they were charging $7.00 for a half dozen of them so I said… sam hell… I can make those for much less and much better to boot.

Fennel….our new favorite vegetable that makes everything taste good:  (made a risotto on Saturday w fennel, shitakes, cremini and sausage… awesome).

pine nuts.  an essential ingredient in dolmades:

The slightly cooked mixture of onion, fennel, rice, parsley, dill and mint:

rolling them up…

Not the most beautiful things… and they are a lot of work…but they sure taste good.

Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves)

Recipe 99% from Tyler Florence on FoodNetwork.com after looking at lots of recipes.  I also learned from watching quite a few YouTube videos of Greek Grandmas dolmades techniques.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb, halved, cored and diced
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 1 cup long-grain rice
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 T. finely chopped dill leaves
  • 1 T. finely chopped mint (or 1 t. dried)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 jar grape leaves, rinsed and drained – the big jar
  • 2 lemons, juiced

Directions

To make the filling, coat a large saute pan with 1/4 cup of the oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and lemon zest and stir until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the pine nuts and rice, saute for 2 minutes, stirring to coat. Pour in just 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and lower the heat. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 10 minutes. Scrape the parboiled rice mixture into a bowl and add the dill, mint and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.

Bring a big pot of water to a simmer. Blanch the grape leaves in the hot water for 5 minutes until pliable. Drain then trim the stems and any hard veins from the leaves. Pat dry with paper towels.  The leaves are all really packed tight in the jar.  I found it easiest to separate them by submerging them in water.

To assemble the dolmades, lay a grape leaf on a work surface, shiny-side down. Put 2 tablespoons of the rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up into a cigar – it should be snug but not overly tight because the rice will swell once it is fully cooked. Squeeze lightly in the palm of your hand to secure the roll. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.

Place the dolmades in a large Dutch oven or wide deep skillet, seam-side down in a single layer. Pour the remaining cup of broth, remaining olive oil, and the lemon juice over the dolmades, the liquid should reach halfway up the rolls, add some water if necessary. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dolmades are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm, at room temperature or cool.

Sugar Cookies

Cookies, Desserts

It has become a tradition to make valentine heart sugar cookies to bring over to the Maxwell’s illustrious February party which took place last night.

Lots of butter and sugar is always a good thing.

ready to decorate:

Cookie decorator in training:

Butter Cookies

Christmas from the Heart of the Home,  Susan Branch

  • 2 cups butter, softened
  • 1  1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 t. vanilla
  • 4  1/2 cups unbleached flour
  • 1/2 t. salt

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well.  Sift flour and salt together and beat into butter mixture until well mixed.  When ready to bake use UNGREASED cookie sheet (we always use silpats) and place cookies 1 inch apart.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes depending on how big/thick of cookies you make, but do not brown them.  Take them out when you see the first tinge of browning on the edges.  Remove cookies from sheet while still warm and cool on cooling rack.

We always roll out the dough and use cookie cutters but you can use a cookie press, make drop cookies or roll them out.  The dough is very versatile.

 

Book: A Visit From the Goon Squad

Books

Crazy book that’s hard to explain.  I would say it’s mostly a group of short stories that are loosely interconnected by random people that are in the other stories.  Goes back to the early 80’s and then out into the future.  One chapter is powerpoint slides.  crazy.  Some of the chapters are excellent.  Some are not as much.  I usually don’t re-read books but once I finished this one I wanted to re-read as it jumps around so much.  Good read though and recommend it for the adventurous.

PJH rating: 4 stars.