Restaurant Widow

Green is the Color::Chef Richard's French Lentil Salad

Last week, I had an ill-fated experience while trying to participate in FoodGoat's IMBB Orange Your Hungry event.  Since I already had the vinaigrette ready to go, I decided to go back to the correct version of the dish and make it with the French Green Lentils.  This recipe comes from Richard Blondin, executive chef at the Refectory restaurant, which I reviewed on Tuesday.  They served it a few years ago as a salad; I think it would be great on a hot summer's day with some roasted and chilled lamb chops, I'll have to try that if summer ever comes.  If you make this salad (and you should), you might want to make it a day ahead and refrigerate, to let the flavors blend.  I just realized that this might be the only thing I will make and post about that is vegan.  Not that I have anything against vegans, of course, I just really like butter.  And cheese.  And bacon...

This recipe can be found in Richard's The Hunter's Table Cookbook, which has a lovely picture of duck breast, sliced into many medallions, on the front.  Alas, my Amazon link does not include a picture.  The recipe follows in the extended post.

Bar Fly Dining - The Rossi Bar

Thanks to Sarah over at the Delicious Life, and her new Dine & Dish event, I had an excuse to visit the Rossi bar a few times in the past week.  Open for about a month now, the Rossi Bar has taken a formally scary, cramped dive (Roadhouse Annie's) and turned it into a sleek, if small, Art Deco showplace.  The bar itself is quite a piece of art, having been sourced out from somewhere in Brooklyn and painstakingly refinished, featuring pressed glass panels that are echoed in the store front windows - a nice touch that, alas, I don't have in photo form at this time.  The Rossi Bar has to be one of the only places in Columbus where I have never sat at the actual bar - I'm a bar fly, I always sit at the bar - but at the Rossi, I always seem to be there with large groups of people, and their booths are really comfortable, upholstered in crushed brown velvet with glittery acrylic seats.  This might sound a bit tacky, but it works.

The Rossi might be the closest thing to a true "bistro" in Columbus, featuring quality food and drink until the wee hours in the morning.  Late-night dining is very important to anyone in the food service industry, as we are always working until l1 or later, and we need sustenance after work, preferably other than White Castle.  The menu at the Rossi seems a little ambitious - I mean, it's a bar, right?  Well, yes and no.  It is a bar, but it's a bar with a chef.  The menu features appetizers, salads, sandwiches, entrees and pizzas. 

From the appetizers, I chose the lamb lollipops; 3 lamb chops for $9, which I did find to be a little high, but the lamb was good.  It was paired with a fingerling potato and haricots verts (french green beans) salad, which I thought would be hot for some reason, and was a little put off when it was chilled.  My dining companion thought it was great, which I conceded, I just wished the menu would have said "cold fingerling potato and haricots verts."  Next up for appetizers is the vegan shitake mushroom and walnut tortellinis in hot and sour miso broth.  This dish was great for being a vegan dish; the walnuts really add a nice meatiness and richness to the dish; the broth wasn't very hot (as in "hot and sour")  but was still a well-executed miso with superfluous bits of diced firm tofu floating about.  Lastly for appetizers, the always-delicious Yukon Gold Fries with Lemon Basil Aioli.  Yum.  I think I mentioned in my preview that the aioli was so good I acquired the recipe.  I know these are bad for you but every once in awhile you have to splurge.  Aside from that, all of your friends will steal them off your plate anyway.

Dinner continues...

Things to do with Rugelach Dough When You're Lazy

Tuesday I decided to make rugelach.  The last time I made them and took them in to work, everyone loved them, so this time I decided to make a double batch.  And then, as I was separating the dough, I remembered what a pain - er, labor of love - rugelach is.  There's the mixing, the patting into a ball, the chilling, then there's rolling out, filling up, cutting into wedges, rolling, and chilling AGAIN.  All before baking.  Of course, baking is alchemy or other arcane science, and the rugelach knew I was in a hurry and therefore was not as delicious as it was the last time, when I made it with hope and love in my heart.  All this to say that I only used half of the dough.  And so yesterday I was staring into the fridge, waiting for lunch to appear, and I rather sheepishly eyed the remaining balls of rugelach dough.  I should really use those, I thought.  Oh but the rolling and the cutting and the - Wait!  I know!  I'll make pasties!  (Pastry pasties, not other)  That way I would only have to roll once.  Surely, I am a culinary genius.  I think I even liked these a bit better because there was no burned, oozing jam.  Husband ate one and said "no offense hon, but these taste just as good as the rolled-out ones."  And I said "good!  I told you they were the lazy version!"  To which he replied "Can you please stop taking pictures of my carryout pizza from the Rossi so I can eat it?  please?"  (more on that later)

At any rate, I used the recipe from Ina Garten's Parties book, and since I think you should have it, I am not going to included the recipe; I was going to include the link to the recipe on Food Network, but it doesn't appear to be there.  I did change her recipe slightly; instead of using apricot jam, walnuts and raisins, I used sour cherry jam, pecans, and dried tart cherries, chopped a little with a mezzaluna

And here's why it's worth it to buy her books:  all of her recipes have been in use for years, and they all work.  She thinks and instructs like a caterer and offers very practical advise. 

Dinner at the Refectory, Along with the Worst. Pictures. Ever.

Well, we had been invited to celebrate our friend's birthday at the Refectory Monday night.  I had to work, but at the last minute an alternative came through and I was free!  Free to eat Foie Gras!  I was really excited to go to the Refectory, as it is one of my favorite restaurants, and with a large group of people I was sure to get some great pictures.  Alas, my camera did not come through for me.  The pictures with a flash are washed-out white, and pictures with no flash are a nice orangey hue (which you can see in the picture of creme brulee, on the left).  You will be happy to know that I have almost saved up enough for my new camera!  And, if anyone would like to offer an opinion on the best small digital camera that takes good pictures in low light with no flash, please leave comments.  Okay, here's the thing: the pictures are really so bad that I have decided to place them in my photo album, so that you may choose to see them if you'd like, but they won't be inflicted upon every innocent viewer. (Click to the right for the photo album)

But let's get on with dinner first, shall we?  The Refectory is constantly on everyone's list for Number 1 romantic and/or special occasion restaurant, and it is romantic, but I think people erroneously think it is far out of their price range, when it is on par with most other "nice" restaurants in town, or maybe just a few dollars over (but always worth it).  Of course, their wine list is massive, and you can definitely choose something to shoot your bill way up, but that's your choice.  Our host chose a few reasonable bottles in the $30 - $50 range.

Dinner continues...

Refectory Preview

I had a whole post almost ready to go, and the promptly erased it by accident.  Ah well, these things happen, I suppose.  It's off to work now, but here's a picture of the Refectory dining room, taken by the best camera ever! 

Also, don't forget that tonight Jeni's Ice Cream will be on Roker on the Road on Food Network at 9 pm. EST/PST!

The Rossi Bar - Preview

I will be doing a full review of the Rossi Bar on Thursday for the Bar-themed Dining Out event, but I thought I'd give this little preview, since I am busy planting herbs and flowers today (okay, I'm really supervising Husband doing it) and I have to go to work in a bit.  Oh, and I ran out of sugar and can't do any baking!

  These are the Rossi Bar's fries with lemon aioli on the side.  They are so good that everyone was fighting over them, and couldn't keep their fingers out long enough for me to take the picture!  (This was the second order.)  The lemon aioli is so good that I asked for the recipe; I first had it alongside their ham, gruyere and fried egg sandwich on brioche.  Mmm....cholesterol.

Info:  The Rossi Bar  895 N. High St. Columbus, Oh  614.299.2810

Things Fall Apart::The Big Orange Blech

The split red lentil cannot hold.  I really wanted to participate in this IMBB, as I have never done so, and I was feeling heady from the success of my molasses creations (especially after licking all that bourbon sauce off the plate...)  Sadly, I was feeling a little uninspired by the color orange.  And then it hit me!

There is a salad Husband loves to make (and we both love to eat) that comes from Chef Richard Blondin at the Refectory Restaurant.  It involves Lentils du Puy, Granny Smith Apples, and a curry vinaigrette.  I could do this with the split red lentils I had in the cupboard!  Add some carrots and an orange bell pepper and viola!  Orange salad!  I am genius.

Well, here's the thing.  The French lentils are prized for their ability to retain a toothsome meatiness after cooking.  They are great for cooking and then incorporating into salads.  Split red lentils, on the other hand, are prized for their ability to cook into a creamy mush, great for cooking into spicy red dal soup. 

After about 10 minutes of simmering, during which time I whipped up my curry vinaigrette, the red lentils burst apart and I had a stock pot full of orange mush.  I hurriedly calculated, started a mirepoix in another pan, deciding to make soup in reverse - am still genius, ingenuitive genius!

I incorporated the two and allowed them to simmer on the stove.  And then forgot about it.  And so, here it is, my failed non-entry:  (Because I would never want anyone to think I couldn't admit my mistakes!)

So how does it taste?  Er, I'm not sure.  I'm a little afraid to try, to be quite honest.  At least I have my vinaigrette.  Will make the real thing, green though it may be, and tell you all about it in the coming week.

Brownie Update

UPDATE (after work)::These were really good.  Everyone thought so.  This might, in fact, have been the best brownie I have ever eaten.  Therefore, I wholeheartedly recommend it.  Just thought I should let you know.

We're Having 2 Inches of Snow Today

I awoke to snow this morning.  Actually, we are having what forecasters like to call a "Wintry Mix."  You might think of a wintry mix as hot apple cider and cinnamon sticks, but no; it's snow and rain.  What can you do with weather like that?  Make brownies, I guess.  I used Sara Moulton's recipe for Double Chocolate Mocha Brownies, which sounded like just the thing I was looking for.  They were super-easy and came out great; dense and gooey, with rich chocolate flavor thanks to the addition of chocolate chips.  Hopefully they will lift the spirits of my coworkers tonight, what with all of this cold wetness.  So to all of you who are a) in a part of the country where the weather is beautiful or b) lucky enough to NOT have to go to work when it's snowing on a Saturday in late April, remember all of the people who are serving your coffee or dinner or beer or whatever aren't so fortunate, and tip accordingly.  We think of you when we're sleeping until noon on Mondays.

Sugar High Fridays::Spiced Molasses Cookie with Molasses Ice Cream and Basil Hayden Treacle Caramel Sauce

   Whew.  That was a long title.  Well, this is my first Food Blog event, and I was happy to have an ingredient that is near and dear to my heart.  Here is my contribution to Sugar High Friday, an uber-molassesy treat with a nice little bourbon kick at the end (shouldn't everything, really?).  The cookies are nice on their own and were very well received by my coworkers - although everyone thought they were chocolate and then had a bit of a surprise when they tasted them.  They are nice and spicy and filled with a deep molasses flavor, thanks to the use of blackstrap molasses and dark brown sugar.  I found the recipe at Cookie Recipes Online, and you can find it there, too, by clicking here.  The only thing I added was 1 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 tsp cardamom, which I think belongs anywhere the cinnamon/nutmeg combo is used, but is rarely included in recipes.   

For the ice cream, I used Nigella Lawson's method of whipping heavy cream with flavorings and powdered sugar, and then freezing.  You can see my recipe in the the extended version of the post.

My caramel sauce was inspired by the filling for the Caramel Melting Moments in Donna Hay's Entertaining Cookbook. 

The cookies in the recipe are always delicious but I have never been able to get the filling to firm up enough to spread without turning into toffee, so I just adapted it into a caramel sauce recipe.  I use the same ingredients, but in different proportions and with the addition of bourbon. 

This dessert would be great in the wintertime, after a nice ham or something.  The ice cream melts really fast, so I recommend keeping it in the freezer until the last possible moment.  Serve with a few sliced strawberries to cut through the richness.

Recipes follow: