Meatloaf, the followup

Yes, we did it. Our first meatloaf. I posted the Food & Wine recipe earlier, so I'm not going to repeat all of that. The meatloaf itself was very easy to make...and we liked that you cook the onions, carrots and celery beforehand so they are a subtle taste. And the cubed Monteray Jack was a great addition...though next go around, we will shred the cheese instead of cubing it to get the flavor more evenly spread through the loaf.

The creamy onion gravy was great and complimented the meatloaf really, really well. But it took a long time to make and we're not sure it's worth the effort.

Finally, the mashed potatoes...I got a Pressure Cooker from Williams-Sonoma for my birthday after reading an article about them and it boasting that you can make mashed potatoes in 7 minutes. Could this be true?!? We broke in the new appliance trying out this theory on some Yukon Golds. What they didn't tell me in the article was that there is a warm up period of a few minutes while the pressure builds in the cooker before the actual cooking starts. But still, gorgeous, perfectly cooked mashed potatoes in less than ten minutes - what a God-send. We'll be eating a lot more potatoes, baby!!

All said and done, a really great, pretty easy meal with leftovers. We're happy to try this recipe again!

Marea, the Three-peat

This past week was another get together of the Manhattan Ladies Dining Club. The MLDC decided to up the ante after a mediocre showing by Porterhouse by making this month's reservation at the double Michelin starred, Marea. Located on Central Park South at Broadway, this Michael White restaurant has already captured my time and attention with their incredible pasta dishes and phenomenal one bite crudos. But could they repeat this fantastic track record a third time?


Damn it, yes they can!! Patty, Mary (our guest this time) and I started our evening off at the bar; me with a glass of bubbly and them with the house rose. We were seated a few minutes before our 5:45pm reservation in the middle of the main dining room. Being one of the first parties seated we were able to see how quickly this hot spot filled up around us. No empty tables by 6:30pm could be found. Our fourth, and founding member of the MLDC, Gianne, arrived a few minutes after we were seated.


Our format for the evening was decided upon; a course of six crudo bites, a shared round of antipasti and then pasta. For the crudos we chose Scampi (pacific lanougstines with Murray River pink salt); Sparnocchi (Canadian side striped shrimp with lemon and black lava salt); Ono (wild pacific Wahoo with red grapes and oregano); Tonno (big eye tuna with oyster crema and crispy artichokes); and Astice (Nova Scotia lobster with sun dried tomatoes and olives).


Before the first course arrived we were presented with our selected bottle of champagne (Egly-Ouriet, non vintage brut) and an amuse bouche of chilled soup that I honestly can't remember what was in it...other than it was light green in color and there were red grape segments that stuck to the bottom of the little shot glass. Hopefully someone else remembers. Nice, light and refreshing.


The first course was served! Gorgeous, aren't they? The Scampi served on the slice of cucumber was the group's least favorite simply because it had the least amount of flavor although still clean with a great texture. These one biters continue to be pretty amazing if you like raw fish...in this case the Ono, Tonna and Sparnocchi really stood out and go so nicely with champagne.

For our next course we picked three antipasta dishes to share; Astice (Nova Scotia lobster with burrata, eggplant al funghetto and basil); Uovo (poached egg, spring garlic, bone marrow, baby eel, passatelli and barley bordo); and a blue crab salad.

These three were standouts...the poached egg was amazing with such incredible balance of tastes - the running yoke, creamy sauce and saltiness from the eel. And the lobster with burrata; fantastic!

The pasta course came up next... Patty and I both ordered the dish that Marea has become known for (and possibly the single best pasta dish of all time), the fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow pictured first. Gianne opted for the rigantoni with shrimp, sepia, squid ink and pecorino. Mary ventured to the right side of the menu and selected the Mare risotti (risotto of shrimp, lobster and scallops).

The fusilli remains the king of dishes...it is perfection. The squid ink dish was a little less flavorful and felt like something was missing. Not sure what, but it didn't have the completeness of the fusilli or other pasta dishes we've had here in the past. The risotto was one the dish I was most intrigued by since no one that we've dined with yet had ordered a risotto. It looked great but it too came up a little short in my mind. It was creamy, yes and cooked to the correct level of al dente. But I didn't feel the seafood came out enough to identify it as a Mare course. Don't get me wrong, really good but it could have been phenomenal and my expectations were high. Every bite of all four dishes got finished.

With our main course we went with the sommelier's recommendation for a red: Palari Faro, an Italian medium bodied, berry / cherry nosed with moderate tannins, it was a 20o6 vintage from Sicily that was priced mid-range and was quite enjoyable. Heartier than a pinot but not anywhere close to a cab, it fit the dishes well.

We decided to skip dessert, being full from three courses - but our attentive and friendly server brought us out this dish to split and finish our evening. I remember basically nothing about it other than the sorbet was wickedly yummy with a deep fruit flavor - maybe black cherry? Really good.

All in all, another wonderful meal at Marea and the highest caliber dinner to date of our dining club. I think we've raised the bar with this one! It'll be interesting to see where we end up for our December dinner.

Jenn's rating: 90

Michelin: 2 stars

Zagat: 28-26-26

Orecchiette with Sausage & Cherry Tomatoes

Another interesting recipe I saw in this month's Food & Wine magazine was for a simple pasta dish using sausage. It looked intriguing enough for me to get the few ingredients and wait for an opportunity to try it. Getting home from the city too late for Pilates last night, we did have enough time to put together this wickedly easy recipe. There's comments of what we changed and a picture of how ours turned out below...

The dish as seen in the magazine:


Food & Wine, November 2011 Issue:
Using sausage in place of ground meat is a good sauce shortcut, because it's already seasoned. For a salty, creamy finish, Marc Vetri stirs in shredded provolone cheese before serving.

• 1 pound orecchiette
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Salt
• 2 ounces aged provolone, shredded

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the sausage in 1-inch clumps and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate.

Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the skillet along with the tomatoes and crushed red pepper; cook over moderately high heat, pressing the tomatoes until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, season with salt and cook over moderate heat, scraping up any browned bits and crushing the tomatoes, until the liquid is reduced by half and the tomatoes are nearly broken down, about 5 minutes.

Add the pasta to the skillet along with the sausage and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook, stirring, until the pasta is evenly coated, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the provolone. Transfer to bowls and serve right away.

First, the taste. Pretty damn good! The alterations I made to the recipe while cooking were minor. When cooking the tomatoes and red pepper, I added a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic (we keep that monster size container of crushed garlic from Costco in the fridge). I also added, in addition to the shredded provolone, a big handful of a shredded Italian blend cheese (mozzarella, provolone, asiago, parmesan & romano) we had in the fridge.

Second, what we'd change next time. Following the recipe above netted us too much pasta. You can see I used I different shape since I couldn't find any Orecchiette at Wegmans. Next time we'd cut down the amount of pasta...maybe use only half a box or three quarters. Either that or we'd have to almost double all of the other ingredients to get it to be a bit more even of a sausage to tomato to pasta ratio. Alan suggested that next time we try and get it to be a bit saucier as well. So either we'll add tomato pasta or see if adjusting the pasta quantity gives it more wetness.

The Italian sweet sausage gives a great flavor and the pepper flakes add a little bite. The cheese made it creamy and salty. Cooking time was about twenty minutes in total and the house smelled great. Overall, can't wait to do this one again!

Food & Wine: Meatloaf w/Creamy Onion Gravy

This weekend I will attempt to make my first ever meatloaf. Hesitating for years, It became ellusive to find a recipe that sounded both appetizing and easy to make. Finally, I found one! In this month's issue of Food & Wine magazine (the Thanksgiving issue) is a recipe that is reportedly one of the best recipes they've come across. From contributor, Andrew Curren, here's the recipe for Meatloaf with Creamy Onion Gravy. I'll let you know how it turns out.

"This is a culmination of all the meat loaves I've ever eaten," says Andrew Curren, chef-partner of 24 Diner in Austin. "My mom always made a good meat loaf—it never had the tomato goo on top of it. Then I tasted a meat loaf that had cheese in it; that was a good idea. In Italy, I was introduced to soffritto and realized the importance of cooking with carrots, onion, celery." Curren serves the meat loaf with creamy gravy, which is also excellent on lunchtime meat loaf sandwiches.

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots, finely chopped
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a very large bowl and let cool. Add the panko, eggs, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper and stir to form a paste. Using your hands, work in the ground meats and cheese until combined.
2. Line a large roasting pan with parchment paper. Firmly pat the meat mixture into 2 loaves, about 10 inches long. Arrange the loaves 3 inches apart on the parchment and roast in the lower third of the oven for about 1 hour, until lightly browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the loaves registers 150°. Let the meat loaves rest for 15 minutes, then cut into thick slices and serve with the Creamy Onion Gravy.

Make Ahead The baked meat loaves can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days. Cut the meat loaves into thick slices and brown in a skillet to serve.

 

Gravy:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large white onions, thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the apricots, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Cover and let stand overnight, stirring occasionally.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°. Set the garlic cut side up on a large square of foil and top with 3 thyme sprigs, the rosemary and the olive oil. Wrap tightly in foil and roast for about 1 hour, or until softened and caramelized. Let cool in the foil. Squeeze the softened garlic cloves from the skins into a bowl and mash with a fork.
3. Cook the apricot mixture over high heat, stirring frequently, until the fruit is translucent and jammy, about 15 minutes. Spoon one-fourth of the mixture into a mini food processor, add the praline paste and puree until smooth. Scrape the puree into the saucepan and stir to combine. Transfer the apricot-praline butter to a bowl and let cool.
4. In a large saucepan, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the sliced white onions and stir to coat. Cover and cook over moderate heat until the onions are very soft but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook, whisking frequently, until the gravy is thickened, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer the onion gravy over moderate heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Transfer the onion gravy to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper. Return the onion gravy to the saucepan and simmer until it is reduced to 5 cups, about 5 minutes.
6. In a food processor, pulse the trout until finely chopped. Add the cream cheese, half-and-half and lemon zest and process until combined. Add to the roasted garlic, along with the minced thyme and pepper. Garnish with the remaining 2 thyme sprigs.

Make Ahead The onion gravy can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Atlas Bar & Grill: Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas

For the first night with family down at the Atlantis Resort & Casino in the Bahamas, we were looking for somewhere casual to eat that was appropriate for adults and kids. One of the low key restaurants listed in the resort guide was the Atlas Bar & Grill located in the casino. After making sure we could take my nieces into the casino to dine there, we sauntered down for dinner.

The restaurant is an open plan with no walls so the sounds and views are from the surrounding casino but not so loud as to be distracting. The center is made up entirely of the circular bar with lots of TVs showing sports. In this case, college football games. Seating is around the outside plus a large room in the back that appeared to have a view of one of the many lagoons on the resort property. We were seated at a booth to one side of the bar.

The menu is pretty standard American bar fare: http://www.atlantis.com/content/pdf/menus/AtlasMenu.pdf

We started with quesadillas to share and ordered entrees. Caitlyn and I both went with the chicken club salad that was advertised as their Caesar salad with grilled chicken, tomatoes, bacon, Parmesan cheese and croutons, served with a creamy Caesar dressing. Mom selected the Mediterranean shrimp salad with crisp vegetables, eggs, artichokes, olives, feta cheese and a lemon vinaigrette. For Keira, my seven year old niece, we ordered her the hot dog and fries from the kids menu.

While my expectations were pretty low, I was happy to discover that this meal was both tasty and affordable with large portions and the happiest server (Jeff) around. The quesadillas were served with cream cheese, avocado, salsa and were piping hot and yummy. Caitlyn and I devoured our respective salads which were large and very fresh. The chicken was grilled nicely and warm to compliment the crisp coolness of the lettuce and tomatoes. Surprising to me was Kiera's kids menu selection that I thought would be this rinky-dinky little hot dog with a few fries. Her dog was super long on a great looking potato bun and a heaping pile of crispy fries. She finished the whole thing but looked like she might go into a food coma afterwards. Overall, a good meal especially considering the price tag was less than the buffet breakfast we had earlier that morning. A good option if you're down there and looking for casual eats.

Jenn's rating: 77

Ale-Braised Short Ribs plus an idea for the leftovers

A great recipe that we've now made twice from William-Sonoma's Slow Cooker cookbook:

Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 lb. bone-in beef short ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 yellow onions, cut in half lengthwise, then thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 butternut squash, about 2 lb. total, peeled and cut into bit sized chunks
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced plum (San Marzano) tomatoes, with juice (or buy the big can and use the other half for the leftovers)
• 1 bottle (12 fl. oz.) ale or dark beer (I've used a chocolate stout and breakfast stout before)
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

Brown the short ribs
Preheat a broiler. Generously season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches if necessary, arrange the ribs on a broiler pan and place under the broiler. Broil the ribs, turning once, until well browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the ribs to a slow cooker.
Cook the short ribs
Scatter the onions and garlic over the ribs. Add the squash. Pour in the tomatoes with their juice along with the ale. Cover and cook until the meat is separating from the bones and the squash is tender, about 5 to 6 hours on high or 7 to 8 hours on low.
Thicken the sauce
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ribs and squash to a shallow bowl or platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Skim the excess fat off the sauce. Put the slow cooker on the high-heat setting (if your slow cooker insert can go on the stove I would do that instead, the sauce will thicken faster). In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and water. Whisk the flour mixture into the sauce and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the ribs and squash and serve immediately.

Now for the leftovers.

Let’s say you made Short Ribs recently, browning them and braising them with a copious amount of red wine or beer and aromatic vegetables. You have, of course, saved not just the uneaten meaty bits, but the rich liquid and tender vegetables as well.

So you shred the meat off of the bones, if there is any left on them (tossing the bones into the freezer for future stock-making if you do that) and toss it into a pan with the leftover braising liquid and vegetables. You add half of a big can of San Marzano tomatoes (squished up), with the juice, and a splash of olive oil. And when everything is warm and soft, you pass about 3/4 of it through a food mill (I go with the medium disk). You put it all back in the pan, taste it, adjust the seasoning, add a palmful of fresh herbs (thyme and savory leaves in this case or whatever you have on hand) and let it continue to cook and reduce while you make your favorite kind of pasta. We have used Barilotti.

Then take your pasta (cooked to your liking) and add it to the pot of sauce, ladling in a bit of the starchy pasta water for good measure. Toss to coat. Turn off the heat. Add a generous amount of freshly grated cheese. No green cans allowed. Add another sprinkle of fresh herbs if you’re feeling sassy.

Plate up some for your sweetheart, and then for yourself. Sit, clink your glasses, sip, taste, smile. Leftovers do not have to be boring. Again this is just an idea we found on the internet that turned out to be one of the best Bolognese sauces that we've ever had. Enjoy!!

Marketplace: Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas

When Mom, Kiera & Caitlyn arrived at the resort from their early morning flight from Fort Lauderdale, they were pretty hungry. Being 10am, the options were really breakfast and the easy choice was to hit up the buffet in the Royal Towers.

The buffet was set up for breakfast and had a big selection of meats, eggs, omelet station, grill with pancakes, waffles and french toast, pastries, cereal, fresh fruits, breakfast potatoes, quiche and Latin selections with beans, rice and other ethnic dishes. We got seated and went to work loading up our plates. The food itself was perfectly acceptable, standard breakfast fare. The eggs tasted like eggs.

But herein lies the issue I have and will always have with buffets. There's just no way I can or would eat enough to justify the cost. At $25 per person, $100 for the four of us...is that really appropriate for a donut, a waffle, some eggs, potatoes, bacon and fruit? Because that's the sum total of the food spread across those four dishes. When I know I could have made the same exact meal in my own home for $12, it's hard to swallow the price tag. So unless you're Adam from Man vs. Food and can truly do damage to a buffet, elect to grab a bagel and be done with it!

No more buffets for this foodie!!
Rating (adjusted for the value): 60

2012 Michelin Ratings, NYC

There were a few surprises in the soon to be release 2012 Michelin Guide for NYC...one of which was Brooklyn Fare receiving a third star. You can review our earlier post describing our experience there a month ago. Incredible food? Yes!! But a BYO with basically no ambiance and no real "service" to speak of getting three stars? I don't think so. But here's how they stack up this time. I left the 2011 ratings in as well so you can see the newbies, the changes and who lost a star!

There's only one three star restaurant we haven't been to but Masa's incredibly high fixed priced dinner is still daunting enough to keep us away...for now.

City	Restaurant	2011 Rating	2012 Rating	Rating
New York City	Brooklyn Fare	««	«««	Three Star
New York City	A Voce Columbus	«	«	One Star
New York City	A Voce Madison	«	«	One Star
New York City	Adour Alain Ducasse	«	«	One Star
New York City	Ai Fiore		«	One Star
New York City	Aldea	«	«	One Star
New York City	Annisa	«	«	One Star
New York City	Aureole	«	«	One Star
New York City	Blue Hill	«	«	One Star
New York City	Bouley	«	«	One Star
New York City	Breslin		«	One Star
New York City	Bruskstroke		«	One Star
New York City	Café Boulud	«	«	One Star
New York City	Casa Mono	«	«	One Star
New York City	Corton	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Daniel	«««	«««	Three Star
New York City	Danji		«	One Star
New York City	Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen	«	«	One Star
New York City	Del Posto	«	«	One Star
New York City	Dovetail	«	«	One Star
New York City	Dressler	«	«	One Star
New York City	Eleven Madison Park	«	«««	One Star
New York City	Gilt	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Gordon Ramsay at the London	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Gotham Bar and Grill	«	«	One Star
New York City	Gramercy Tavern	«	«	One Star
New York City	Heartbreak		«	One Star
New York City	Jean Georges	«««	«««	Three Star
New York City	Jewel Bako		«	One Star
New York City	Junoon Restaurant		«	One Star
New York City	Kajitsu	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Kyo Ya		«	One Star
New York City	L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon	«	««	One Star
New York City	Laut		«	One Star
New York City	Le Bernardin	«««	«««	Three Star
New York City	Marc Forgione	«	«	One Star
New York City	Marea	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Masa		«««	Three Star
New York City	Momofuku Ko		««	Two Star
New York City	Oceana	«	«	One Star
New York City	Per Se	«««	«««	Three Star
New York City	Picholine	««	«	Two Star
New York City	Public	«	«	One Star
New York City	River Cafe	«	«	One Star
New York City	Rosanjin		«	One Star
New York City	Rouge Tomate	«	«	One Star
New York City	Saul Restaurant	«	«	One Star
New York City	Seasonal Restaurant and Weinbar	«	«	One Star
New York City	Shalizeh	«		No Stars
New York City	SHO Shaun Hergatt	«	««	One Star
New York City	Soto	««	««	Two Star
New York City	Sushi of Gari	«	«	One Star
New York City	Modern - Dining Room	«	«	One Star
New York City	Tamarind		«	One Star
New York City	Tulsi		«	One Star
New York City	Veritas	«	«	One Star
New York City	Wallsé	«	«	One Star
New York City	wd-50	«	«	One Star
New York City	Yakitori Tori Shin		«	One Star