Eat On Edgecliff

EatOut: Washington DC, 2012

Courtney and I went on a quick trip to DC on Thursday to pick up Jack and we went out to eat at some good places.

Thursday, 6/7/12; Firefly

After an action packed day we ended up in Dupont Circle where I made a reservation at Firefly after looking through Open Table reviews. It turned out to be a good pick. We had a dinner reservation for 7:30 but still had to wait 20 minutes for a table as the place was hopping. It was a beautiful evening and everyone was out. After having a beer at the bar we eventually made it to our table. For firsts, Jack had a bowl of matzah ball soup and Courtney and I split a plate of shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits were great – creamy and cheesey. I don’t think I have ever had grits before… I like them. For seconds Jack had a plate of sausage and greens, Courtney had a vegetable casserole of braised endive, asian mushrooms and other veggies over polenta and I had a soft shell crab. All were good. The soft shell crab was a work of art. I wish I would have taken a picture. It tasted as good as it looked – crispy, chewy and just a little bit spicy. One of the best dishes I have had in a long time. We skipped dessert and had ice cream at a place a few blocks down the street.

the check came in a jelly jar lit up by fireflies.

Friday, 6/8/12; Pizza Paradiso

After walking and walking and walking we stopped for lunch at Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. Courtney was happy and officially declared it vacation as she had a peroni on draft for lunch. We split a big salad of greens, white beans and artichokes and ordered two big pizzas…a margarita and one with pepperoni. The margarita was the best…it always is. The pizzas were very good; crust nice and crispy and charred, chewy in the center, with fresh mozarella and just a small amount of sauce. Just the way we like it. Again, a good place to be.

Friday, 6/8/12; Graffiato

I made a reservation at Graffiato about three or four weeks ago once we knew for sure when we were going. Graffiato is Top Chef contestant Mike Isabella’s restauraunt in China Town and is a hot ticket. It reminds me a lot of Cleveland’s Lola but a lot more casual. Everything is small plates and we tried a lot of good stuff. We split six plates: red and yellow beats with a citrus sauce; flatbread with pepperoni sauce; a platter of six different cheeses that we chose; hangar steak with a green sauce served with little chunks of deep fried polenta (mmmmmm); pecorino tortellini with peas, pea tendrils and mint; and salmon served over a bean puree with arthichokes and capers. All were excellent. We split three desserts: chocolate cake with salted caramel gelato; blood orange cheesecake with passion fruit sauce; and a serving of mango sorbet. Again, all were excellent.

Book: Salvage the Bones

Books

A book you can’t put down and spend all day reading is always good. Thanks for the recommendation Stephanie. It was interesting that the same day I was reading this it showed up on the Plain Dealer top books of the Summer. Esch is a 14 year old dirt poor girl in Mississippi who finds herself pregnant and chronicles the days leading up to the hurricane Katrina. Very good.

PJH rating: ****1/2

Pasta with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Goat Cheese, Pasta, Tomatoes

The ingredients in the refrigerator last night led me to this simple and very tasty pasta recipe. Roasted tomatoes are wonderful and the goat cheese made it nice and creamy. Grace announced that this is now her favorite pasta.

Below is the recipe that I followed pretty much as is except I cooked the tomatoes at 300 degrees for about an hour and they were perfect. I also used a different kind of pasta and didn’t have too much basil yet so used a bit of parsley, basil and oregano from the garden.

Pasta with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Sara Moulton, Sara Moulton Cooks at Home

Ingredients:

2 pounds red and yellow cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound penne
6 ounces fresh goat cheese
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
Additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Halve each tomato and place cut side up in 1 flat layer on the baking sheets. Drizzle the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt. Roast until the tomatoes are dried around the edges but still moist, about 2 hours.

Crumble the goat cheese into large chunks and refrigerate until ready to serve the pasta.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the package directions. Remove 1 cup of the cooking liquid and reserve. Drain the pasta well and return to the pot. Add the tomatoes, goat cheese,basil, reserved cooking liquid, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Book: Doc

Books

Doc is a historical fiction novel about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp before they became famous at Tombstone. Written by Cleveland native Mary Doria Russell, and much different than her other novels I have read, it is a great story that is beautifully written.

PJH Rating: ****

Verdi’s Requiem

Uncategorized

We continued our Spring of culture last night with a visit to the beautiful Severance Hall to hear the Cleveland Orchestra perform Verdi’s Requiem. I was not quite sure what to expect as I don’t think I have ever heard it before. It was A M A Z I N G. The full chorus and the four outstanding soloists really went over and beyond. Seriously raising the roof. I’m looking forward to getting a copy from the library and listening to the good parts again. There is nothing like being there in person though.

cbh — love this picture of Courtney standing in the doorway

severance interior — such a beautiful place

The horror

Uncategorized

Tragedy struck Friday night. The last Dairymens glass broke. The end of an era. Manhattans will never taste the same.

Lettuce

lettuce

We are growing lettuce for the first time ever and it’s growing great in this great spring we are having. Not sure what kind of lettuce this is, I think I have it written down somewhere, but it has been very prolific and we have used it most every day for the past week. We made a nice rice salad for today’s Memorial Day Picnic with it that was nice and tasty. Recipe that I sort of followed is here: Basmati Rice with Summer Vegetables. Sorry no pix of salad, but here’s some pix of our lovely lettuce

burpee something...forget what it's called — burpee something…forget what it’s called

Around the yard in the middle of May

garden

we have never grown lettuce before and it’s doing great…and tastes good too.

bird bath — more hostas and sweet woodruff

started to work on the pots. I like this caladium.

Monday Night Pasta

Beans, Garlic, Main Dishes, Parmesan, Parsley, Pasta, Uncategorized

We have been trying to do meatless mondays for quite a while now. We have come to perfect this pasta dish over the past few months. It is quite adaptable and is a good way to clean out the refrigerator on a Monday night. It is definately worth it to make your own beans instead of using canned. They are firmer and stand out better with the pasta.

swiss chard 2 — the swiss chard wintered over from last year and is growing great

the beans and greens before putting the pasta in

Monday Night Pasta (Pasta with Garlic and White Beans)

Serves 4-6

6-8 cloves of garlic or more, sliced very thin
olive oil
butter
bag of cannelini beans, or any white beans (canned beans work just fine too)
bunch of swiss chard, or broccoli, or broccoli rabe or whatever is left in the refrigerator
vegetable broth or chicken broth
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes if feeling spicy
1 lb of penne, rigatoni or whatever pasta you want
parmesan cheese

Soak beans in a pot of water overnight. The next day drain them and rinse them. Boil in a pot with salt until tender.

In large saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon or so of butter. Saute the garlic on very low heat making sure you don’t burn it. Take your time and get them nice and soft. Don’t be stingy on the olive oil. When the garlic is nice and soft, about 15 minutes, add the greens to the pan and saute them for a few minutes. Add a few splashes of broth and put a top on the pan to help the greens cook. After the greens wilt put the beans in and keep the pan on low.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente or even a touch under al dente as it will cook a little bit more with the sauce. When pasta is done, drain the pasta but keep a cup of the pasta water. Once the pasta is drained, put it in with the beans and greens. Mix everything up and add enough pasta water to get it to a nice creamy consistency. Adding pasta water is a great trick that brings everything together. Add salt and pepper if you want and last but not least lots of parmesan. Serve and enjoy.

Eat out: Bar Cento

Eat Out

Grace texted me Friday afternoon at work and said she was looking at my blog and thought I needed a new update and would be happy to go out to eat with us so I can post something. Sneaky. It doesn’t take much to talk us into going out so we decided to head out to Bar Cento on West 25th when we got home from work. Grace wanted to go there for her birthday back in March but we never made it. We went early as it was Friday night and got a table right away. It actually wasn’t crowded at all. The Market Garden Brewery across the street was packed though. We ended up ordering a bunch of different things and sharing. We had some warm olives, mussels, frites, a large plate of different meats, cheeses and pickles and two pizzas. Quite the smorgasbord. We had a pizza blanco, just oil, and cheese, and an olive pizza that we have had before here and is really good. The mussels were good and buttery and the fries were great as always with three different types of mayonnaise to dip in. The meat platter had a nice selection with a little bit of everything. I tried goose liver for the first time so am proud of myself. I liked it too. We ate pretty much everything. Just brought home some of the pizza and some of the meat that was left over.