Alba White Truffle Dinner

We had such a good time last year with our at home white truffle dinner that we decided to do it again - this time with more people and different dishes. A team affair, everyone participated in shopping, prepping, cooking and plating - and eating! Thanks to Susan, Rich, Jeff, Dana, Kristie & Mike for a wonderful holiday dinner.

To kick off, here are the truffles!

We ordered a 2 oz Alba White and 4 oz of Burgundy Black truffles from Urbani online. We were able to get a good discount again this year keeping the price out of the stratosphere, more or less.

We started the evening (afternoon, really) with a selection of cheeses, bread and meats before the cooking got underway.

The first dish was a return visit to Daniel Boulud's white truffle scrambled egg. A very, very simple recipe of fresh eggs (these came right from Rich & Susan's sister's farm collected just a few days prior), butter, salt, pepper & creme fraiche. The only trick here is the double boiler and constant stirring in a slow, deliberate figure eight to get them to cook but only ever so slightly which Susan did to perfection. Finished off with shaved white truffle and eaten immediately.

For the second course Jeff prepared enormous bay scallops with a little sea salt seared in rendered bacon fat and finished with aged balsamic vinegar. These were topped with shaved black truffle.

For the third dish was a ricotta gnocchi in brown butter sauce and Parmesan with white truffle

Susan and Rich made the gnocchi at home ahead of time. To prepare the dish they boiled the chilled gnocchi and then seared them in a pan with butter before plating and adding the cheese and truffle.

For the fourth and final white truffle dish, Alan and I prepared a knock off of Gordon Ramsay's famous and famously expensive pizza. Store bought pizza dough was allowed to warm up to room temperature and rise slightly for a few hours before making. A pizza stone was used and heated in a 500 degree oven for an hour. We caramelized onion and finely chopped porcini mushrooms to go with the fontina, buffalo mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. White truffle is shaved over the hot slices and served immediately.

 To finish the meal, Susan & Alan prepared two roasted chickens with leeks, black truffle and a black truffle gravy that was fantastic! No picture of that since there was champagne, California and Italian wines flowing.

A great evening, good food and simple recipes to showcase the truffles.

Super Simple Pulled Pork in Slow Cooker

Need a really, really easy recipe for cool Fall Football days? Pulled pork in the slow cooker.

Ingredients: 3-4 lbs pork shoulder (leave untrimmed for most flavor) and one can of root beer (not diet, you need the sugar). Put shoulder in slow cooker, pour root beer over it, close and cook for 8 hours. Remove from slow cooker onto cutting board or work surface. Drain & throw away juice & fat from in the slow cooker, rinse out so you can reuse.

When the pork is cool enough to handle, shred using two forks or your hands. It should be falling apart. Put shredded pork back in slow cooker. Add an entire bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (pork will absorb the sauce so don't worry if it looks really wet at first). For best / more flavor add hot sauce or Sriracha to taste, some salt and vinegar for a little tang. Mix well - put slow cooker back on low or warm to reheat to desired temperature.

Serve on favorite buns with some Cole Slaw on top.

Thomas Keller's BEST EVER simple Roasted Chicken

Looking around online for a new and easy roasted chicken recipe, I found this article on BuzzFeed where they did a cook off of the ten best roast chicken recipes from greats like Thomas Keller, Martha Stewart, Julia Child, Jamie Oliver and so on.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/roast-chicken-rules#4befe4q

Seeing that Thomas Keller's incredibly simple recipe was the winner, I needed to give it a try. I mean come on! Three ingredients? You really can't screw this one up. You can follow the link above for pictures & the recipe but it's this uncomplicated:

• allow chicken to come to room temperature
• preheat oven to 450 degrees
• dry chicken all over & in the cavity with paper towels (moisture is not your friend)
• generously add kosher salt & some ground black pepper to the cavity
• generously salt the outside of the chicken with kosher salt & black pepper
• truss the bird (there's a nice YouTube video to see TK demonstrate trussing)
• put on roasting rack, in roasting pan
• throw in oven for 50-60 minutes until gorgeous golden all over
• take out of oven and let sit on cutting board still trussed for 15 minutes
• carve and serve

Best chicken ever! So juicy it's out of control.

** excuse my amateur trussing technique - needs practice ***

Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, NYC

For our anniversary we met up at the newly opened Aldo Sohm Wine Bar (www.aldosohmwinebar.com) across the courtyard from Le Bernardin where Aldo is also still the sommelier. This is a nice space with bar, sofas and high top tables. Small plates menu accompanies the wine selections. We started with a bottle of champagne and ordered the four cheese sample from Murray's Cheese as well as fennel salami and truffle mousse pate. We added to that the much raved about foie gras lollipops and the truffle pasta with grated yak cheese. Finished off the experience with a half bottle of red wine.

Overall a really nice addition to midtown - a sophisticated happy hour with lots of men in suits unwinding with bottles from the well balanced list. But you have to get there early - by 6 PM all the seats are taken and it's standing room only with little space left over to navigate around patrons all waiting like vultures for a table to open up.

Word of adivce - if you do get there late, immediately see the hostess if you can find her and get your name on the list for a table. It is not first come, first served.

Charleston Eats! McCrady's

After drinks & appetizers at Peninsula Grill, we took a stroll down Market Street to East Bay for our dinner reservations at McCrady's Restaurant. We'd heard from Jeff & Dana that this was a tasting only menu with limited choices but weren't deterred!

The entrance & address are are Unity Alley, a narrow little side street off East Bay. Inside it's fairly cavernous with lots of exposed brick, wood and fireplaces. We were taken to a little table for two on the wall that was lovely and comfortable. On the way in we got a glimpse of the long bar - now on my list of places to have a drink!

The menu is four course, price fixed. Limited choices but everything sounded really good. We stuck with our style of divide and conquer to cover as much of the menu as possible. Starting off we ordered the 5 Snacks. These are single bite creations. This was mostly interesting with a few that didn't quite hit the mark. The piece of cured meat was very good - but odd to have a single little piece of cured meat on a plate by itself. The buckwheat Oreo cookie did not resonate with either of us - too dry and really, does any one actually like buckwheat? The other three though were seriously good. A cold, frothy soup concoction that had caviar and maybe cucumber in it was outstanding. The roasted tomato hot bite was also good and I loved the crispy sweetbreads with foam.

For our first course we had summer melon with Edisto cucumber and roof top flowers; Cox Farms beef tartare with Goat Lady gouda and beef tendon. 

I loved both of these dishes but I think Alan felt the smothered cheese on top of the tartare might have been a bit distracting. The summer melon was a perfect hot weather dish.

Next course were the fishes: snapper with summer squash, baby leek, Kafir lime and tarragon; grouper with red cabbage, purslane & black truffle.

The snapper was outstanding; the grouper was overwhelmed by the cabbage & cabbage broth. Both fishes were cooked perfectly and so nicely presented.

Our main dish were meats - Alan having the Duo of Berkshire Pork with corn, cherry, chanterelle and peanut. I had the Cox Farms rib eye with beet, blueberry and Shiso.

The pork was both a loin and belly. The dish was a touch too deconstructed though individual components had great flavor. It didn't all come together as well as hoped. The steak was perfect - fantastic flavor, cooked to that optimal medium rare and served alongside the best blueberries I've ever tasted. Very nice!

To finish up we did desserts: chocolate, raspberry & chamomile and the server's recommendation of the panna cotta with blackberry and marigold.

Both of these were very good - so good we ate all of both which is unusual for us with desserts.

Overall - great experience, great ambiance and service was excellent! Really enjoyed the meal and would go back when the seasonal menu changes. If you're okay with tasting menus, put this one on your list.

Charleston Eats! Peninsula Grill

A few weeks ago Alan and I tagged a few days in Charleston to the end of a family Myrtle Beach trip. Packing in a couple of new restaurants & bars was easy from our centrally located historic Inn on Kings Street (King's Courtyard Inn, 198 King Street - highly recommend).

To kick off the weekend we popped over to Peninsula Grill for a glass of champagne and an appetizer. This was a repeat - we'd been there for dinner at the bar back in September of 2012 and remembered it fondly. We shared the Lobster “3 Way” ~ Lobster Ravioli, Lobster Tempura, and Sautéed Lobster with Warm Tomato Basil Vinaigrette. Plus lots of warm, soft, fresh bread to mop up all the broth. Excellent dish! We paired this with a glass each of bubbles: Taittinger "la Française", Brut, Reims N/V and the Dumont Pere et Fils, Brut Rosé, Aube N/V.

Because we already had dinner reservations elsewhere, we kept ourselves to the single dish. Still a great looking menu and a popular place that fills up quickly. Give it a try it you're in town but if you've been there before and remember the extensive by the glass champagne list from a few years ago, be prepared to be underwhelmed.

~ July 2014

barMASA, Las Vegas NV

For our last dinner during Girl's Weekend in Las Vegas we chose barMASA in the Aria Resort & Casio. Masa, the famously expensive big brother restaurant in NYC has long been a topic of discussion. Should we go? Can the food actually be worth the enormous price fixed bill that comes along with the reservation? To date, we've passed it over. But it still holds some intrigue to me - and since Patty & Gianne were game and at this casual little sister we could order ala carte we decided to give it a go.

As you can see from the picture - this is a cavernous space. Super modern and spread out, you would never use the word intimate to describe the ambiance. We have an early reservation and were one of only a few tables eating in the beginning of our meal.



Comfortably seated by the bar we settled in and ordered a bottle of Collet Rose to start. With a beautiful color, great floral nose and a nice medium finish, this was a great bottle of NV champagne that

Now for the food: I can't remember all of the dishes because we did go with most of the evening's specials - think this might have been the Sea Bream or Fluke with black truffle (oh hell yes) and the second dish was the sizzling,k spicy octopus.

We also tried the Peking Duck fried rice with foie gras. What can I say - it's one of the best ways I've ever had fried rice.

Everyone next went to sushi, rolls and a second bottle of champagne: Guy Larmandier MV Brut. From the sushi selection, all of the pieces you see below were my order - yes, I went back for seconds. I tried the Wild Bluefin fatty tuna, lean tuna; Sea Bream, Young Yellowtail, Island Jackfish, Horse Mackerel and the Fatty Deep Sea Snapper. Patty & Gianne went with a specialty roll.

This was the best meal of the trip - the sushi was stupid good - so fresh; fishes that you can't find regularly at home so experiencing something new was great. Really loved this entire meal - every bite. I would go back in a heartbeat. The champagne list was one of the more extensive and reasonable ones to be found in Las Vegas. Great evening overall.

Zagat: 26-23-24
Jenn: 90

Blue Ribbon Sushi, Las Vegas NV

This March I did a girl's weekend in Las Vegas with Patty & Gianne. One of the places we unanimously voted to go for dinner was Blue Ribbon Sushi in the Cosmopolitan. This would be my second trip to this Blue Ribbon outpost - one of a collection of restaurants in New York City and Sin City. We had a long day by the time we sat for dinner (plus drinks and appetizers at Hyde in Bellagio); ordering sushi and the famous fried chicken.

Patty & Gianne chose to start with the Hamachi Tataki (Yellowtail tartar with quail egg) while I went with a simple house salad with watercress, avocado and ginger dressing. Both were quite good even if mine seems like a boring choice...I needed something green.

Next were the sushi selections: while P&G decided to split a specialty roll, I ordered a selection of fishes including Yellowtail, Amber Jack, Tuna, Eel and Albacore. Tasty but nothing to knock your socks off.

And to finish the meal we got the Blue Ribbon Style fried chicken with Wasabi & honey dipping sauce. Now I've had this dish three times prior - the first time it blew my mind ~ so unbelievably good. The second time it was just okay but we were with a huge group of people and I only had one bite so chalked that up to poor circumstances. This time I was hoping for a repeat of that magical first encounter. But alas...it wasn't to be. Too dry, bland even with the sauce that this time felt that a mask and not a compliment. Disappointing to say the least.

While the ambiance is fun and casual and the location in Cosmopolitan is great, I think I'm done with Blue Ribbon Sushi. Too many other places that still bring the WOW factor. But that being said, if you haven't tried it and since the possibility exists that you too can have that truly noteworthy experience of this place at it's best - give it a go. When the chicken is on - it's Donkey Kong On.

Zagat's Rating: 24-23-22
Jenn's Rating: 81

The NoMad, NYC

Mary & I met up at the NoMad last week to chat, eat & drink. It's such a pretty, unique location with it's different rooms and vibes. Owned and run by Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park fame, it's the more casual sister also located off Madison Park.

We met in the bar for a drink ahead of time. It's a relatively small bar though for the size of the restaurant and it gets packed so assume you won't get a seat. A glass of bubbly (Billecart-Salmon) before we were shown to our table in the Parlour room. This is a more intimate room with oak and dark fabrics adding a richness. We like this room better than the larger Atrium with it's uniformed rows of tables all close together.

After selecting a bottle of the Araujo Altagracia, Eisele Vineyard 2010 Syrah we got busy picking menu options. We went with two appetizers served back to back and then a shared entree.

To start, the FOIE GRAS; SMOKED TERRINE WITH APPLE, SUNFLOWER SEEDS & THYME

This was just perfection! The sunflower seeds were roasted giving the dish not only texture but a nice nuttiness to compliment the sweetness of the terrine and apple. The bread they served with it was unexpected - almost a Texas toast thickness with multi-grain texture.

Next course was the Egg, slow cooked with mushrooms and black garlic kale.

There is no better ingredient than an egg. It won't be overwhelmed as easily as shellfish but it's delicate, runny, luxurious and goes well with almost everything. They pairing with mushrooms was fantastic. These two courses were close to perfect and there was nothing left on the plate.

For our entree we shared the whole roasted chicken for two with foie gras and black truffle. They actually come and present your chicken to you before taking it into the kitchen for deconstruction and presentation. Your chicken comes back as two dishes - the breast and the dark meat. The breast had foie gras and black truffle stuffed under the skin served with what I believe was cauliflower puree. The chicken is moist and super flavorful - added layers of depth from the truffle and foie gras ensure this isn't your everyday poultry dish.

And my personal favorite, the dark meat:

This evening's preparation was with crispy chicken skin and a poached egg. Yep, another egg! Holy happiness!! Incredible flavor - so decadent!!

If you get the chance to go to this 28th and Broadway fun spot, I promise you'll love the food. Not to be missed in NYC.

Zagat: 27-26-24
Jenn's Rating: 93
Michelin: One Star

Lorena's, Maplewood NJ

We haven't seen friends of ours in a few months so jumped at the chance to meet them out for dinner. The BYO of the evening was Lorena's in the heart of Maplewood, NJ. This is a tiny little restaurant that seats only 32 at capacity, reservations are hard to come by. Luckily our friends secured a coveted Friday evening (Jan 17).

When you enter the restaurant you are both struck by how small and almost immediately relieved that the sense is intimate & cozy not crowded or uncomfortable in any way.

Service was close to perfection - the type you don't often find outside of NYC. Always there, never obtrusive - you didn't have to wonder what was taking so long; why food was coming too fast; or if your water glass would ever be refilled. Quite a nice experience.

The menu is moderate - roughly six each of appetizers and entrees. That being said, it was harder to choose than you would have thought with so many of the options sounding fascinating. In the end, we started with a shared plate of a dozen oysters from Long Island followed by two courses.

My first course was the Warm Lump Crabmeat Crepe, Shibumi Farm Wild Mushrooms, Fresh Herbs, White Truffle Oil. Spectacular! Nothing about this dish was heavy and achieving a meld between crab that can so quickly be overshadowed by anything with wild mushrooms was heaven. Fantastic!

Alan ordered the special of the evening, the wild mushroom bisque.

This was close to perfection - with truffle oil nice pieces of mushroom afloat in a soft but rich broth...wow, so nice.

I'm having difficulty remembering what anyone else ordered - I think there was a Scottish Salmon Tartare or perhaps the foie gras.

For our entrees we covered the majority of the menu including the Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs, Cipolinni Onion, Tomato Confit, Potato Puree, Cracked Black Pepper-Braising and the Roasted Domestic Rack of Lamb with Pistachio and Herb-Shallot Crust, Baby Carrots, Black Olive Powder, Potato Puree, Rosemary Lamb Jus.

The braised short ribs weren't as fall apart succulent as I've had in the past - they came off as a bit dry so this wasn't my favorite dish.

We did open four bottles of wine / champagne with dinner that we all brought (love BYOs) and skipped dessert. Overall, a really nice evening with fantastic service and some fantastic dishes.

Pluckemin Inn, Bedminster NJ - Winter Menu 2014

We saw that Pluckemin Inn had made some changes to the menu for winter including bringing French Onion Soup back which had been a favorite of ours years ago. So a few weeks ago (Jan. 18th) we went up for drinks & to meet friends for dinner.

While drinking champagne by the glass at the bar I sampled a dozen Maine oysters with a simple mignonette, cocktail sauce, citrus & horseradish accompaniments. We also had a dozen wild caught shrimp. The oysters - two different kinds - were briny and succulent. Wonderfully paired to the bubbly. The shrimp were quite large and the cocktail sauce had a nice bite to it.

For dinner we ordered two courses including the Lobster salad with castle valley farro, cucumber, meyer lemon, radish and fine herbs see below. Meaty, generous lobster was not overwhelmed by the citrus dressing & herbs but rather supported by them. Quite a nice dish.

In addition, tried the French Onion Soup (Jeff's serving was a better balance of broth to bread than mine both both tasted wonderful), Spanish Octopus with green olive, chorizo, hakurei turnip, pine nuts and salsa verde and the Mahi Mahi with heirloom carrots, hen of the woods, braised lettuce, hazelnut brown butter.

Thought these four dishes were a wonderful additions to the menu. Alan's Mahi was the standout of the evening; cooked to perfection (sous vide?) with a beautiful depth of flavor that can often be missing in fish preparations. The side order of French Fries with trio of dipping sauces for dessert didn't hurt either.