I met up for some post work drinks (which turned into dinner, which turned into drinks and snacks at Eugene). And nope, it is not passé. Great food and drinks is still what they do.

Above – playing with the new camera

marrow

fennel sausage

sweet, sweet Old Fashioned

mushrooms

beef cheek – could be more tender, but good flavor

My first taste of the famous hot dog. Whoa. It’s as good as everyone says. Possibly as crave-worthy as the burger.

My post on the pork belly confit from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook is far and away my most viewed post of the last four months, having almost three thousand page views. I think most of it has to do with the excellent photography by Broderick, but I think part of it is because it just sounds obnoxiously good – pork belly cooked in fat.

The best part is that the dish is as good as it sounds. So of course I made it again, this time using a larger slab of belly, courtesy of my friend Liz who is a great chef in Greenville. As there was so much pork belly, we couldn’t eat it all right away, so I cleaned the fat, then submerged the belly and kept it in the fridge for a month, pulling out a piece on occasion. Pork belly confit goes well with fried eggs, I’ve discovered.

David of Eat Buford Highway told me that he had made a similar dish, then fried it and made a sandwich out of it, and ever since I knew I wanted to deep fry a piece and try something similar. Tacos.

Of course, a unique protein calls for interesting taco garnishes. I started by quick pickling thin slices of beets. I used my mandolin to get the slices super thin, then soaked the beets in olive oil, cider vinegar, and added a tablespoon of both sugar and salt. Twenty minutes was enough time, but they were even better a few hours later.

For another accompaniment I tried to recreate the kimchi from Top Flr. I swear the kimchi they serve with their roasted chicken tastes like there is Frank’s Hot Sauce in it, so that’s what I used. I sautéed salt seasoned cabbage in a small amount of olive oil until it had a little color on it. Then I added two tablespoons of water and covered it and steamed it for a few minutes. Finally, I added 1/4 cup of Frank’s, took it off the heat, and mixed it all up. I really think mine tasted similar, but am 94% sure they don’t use Frank’s, just something reminiscent of it.

Here’s the pork belly, ready to fry.

3 minutes at 350. Awww yeah.

Plated on a white corn tortilla, with a small amount of cheese and salsa. The salsa isn’t necessary, later that day when I made another taco I didn’t use it.

One of the best “original” dishes I’ve made. The cabbage was spicy and creamy, the beets add texture and a welcome additional layer of flavor, and the pleasantly crunchy pork belly exterior hid the softest, most delicious pork fat I’ve ever tasted.

Photo from later that night:

tea rose dumplings

Thai food is interesting to me. From the time the first Thai restaurant arrived in Greenville in the late 90’s, ubiquitously named “Bangkok”, I’ve been in love with the flavor combinations. Salty soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, funky fish sauce, and fiery curries, garnished with lime and cilantro. It’s a flavor lover’s dream.

But lately when I’m feeling like getting adventurous with some Asian food, rarely do I end up eating Thai food. I think the problem for me is that 95% of Thai menus are all the same, with the exact same presentation, preparation, and taste as a dozen other Thai restaurants in town. It’s as if the food is dumbed down for us, catered for the American palate that can’t handle the heat, that isn’t familiar/comfortable with the street food, and just looooooves to order Pad Thai every time, just like when ordering the General Tso beef every time from Chin Chin.

I don’t mean to be holier than thou, and I’m not saying I don’t ever eat these same dishes – I love some spicy as hell Penang curry, with tons of sauce for spooning over my rice, but it doesn’t excite me so much any more. It’s my Thai “safety order”. What I order when I call for delivery and I haven’t even looked at a menu.

My taste for Thai food may have developed, the offerings seem to all be the same, and I don’t think I’m alone in this interpretation, which is why I think Kokai Thai Bistro and Tuk Tuk have become successful. Am I over thinking this or does anyone else feel the same way?

This post really isn’t a review of Kokai (there are plenty of reviews here), I was just curious about what people think about Thai food. Is it tired to you? Do you order the same thing every time you order Thai? Are you clamoring for more?

ginger chicken – whoa intense ginger flavor!

beef jerky

chicken larb – common dish, but done better than I’ve had elsewhere

boat noodles

kee mao noodles

Thanks to Chloe for meeting me for this lunch. No one else knows this part of town and cuisine like she does.

As soon as I saw the recipe for this month’s post, I ear marked the page and knew this would be the recipe I’d make. I’ve been wanting to deep fry an egg for a while, well, because I love deep frying, and I love eggs. Double bonus that this recipe comes from Jeremy Fox, chef at Ubuntu.

I started by soft boiling the egg in lightly simmering water.  Like a dumbass I didn’t gently lower the egg into the water, I dropped it in there, and it cracked when it hit the bottom. Instead of cooking another egg I just let it go, curious if it would still work. The egg spilled out of the shell slightly, but cooked instantly and created a seal in the opening. After plunging in the ice bath, I peeled the egg, and though the egg is shaped funny in the bottom, it all worked out.

For the bed I quickly sautéed some kale and turnip greens.

Then breaded the egg in the panko/flour mixture. Instead of semolina, I used Korean potato starch.

The egg didn’t get quite the exterior that is shown in the recipe photo, so perhaps using the exact instructions will provide that more even and rich coating.

The remoulade was easy and tasty. I didn’t have mayonnaise so I quickly made my own using a method I found online last year. Crack one egg in a tall, plastic measuring cup, add 1 Tbsp of cider vinegar (lemon juice is often used, but I didn’t have any – any acid will do), 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt. Then stand up a hand held immersion blender in the cup and pour in 200mL of olive oil. Mix until it’s whipped into mayonnaise. Easy.

Note – I didn’t add cornichons, tarragon, or hard boiled eggs to my remoulade because I didn’t have some of that stuff and it seemed a bit tedious for a sauce that tasted great without them. Though, this recipe comes from a restaurant, and that’s one great thing about restaurants – they take the time to do things I’m too lazy/busy to do.

How did it taste? Fantastic. Deep fried eggs, with a creamy yolky center, spiced up with sriracha…that one is quickly being added to the super easy yet cool repertoire.

Thanks to my brother Thomas for the chopstick/plate/spoon set seen in these photos.

Damn, I’m jealous Thomas.

Last Wednesday evening a friend and I dined at Saskatoon, in the spot that housed the amazingly-fast-failure Atlanta location of Harry Bisset’s. The Atlanta location is a franchise, and I was interesting in trying their game, but I also had interest because the original Saskatoon in Greenville was the first > $10 dinner I ever paid for myself. I was a 16 year old lifeguard making $6.50 an hour, and my buddy and I thought we were big shots paying for a steak dinner.

The Saskatoon concept has long endured in Greenville, and I’m interested to see if the idea will be able to stick in a stiff Atlanta/Buckhead market, and an even tougher economy. All of our food was cooked excellently, exactly to the correct temperatures specified. Even the lamb lollipops pictured above were cooked perfectly to medium rare, and I think they are often overcooked at many restaurants, presumably due to their very small size.

We also tried the sausage sampler seen below, then the elk steak, and the game sampler entree, which featured duck, lamb, and quail. The sausage appetizer was very large, so I was glad to be sharing with another person. They were good, though I’d prefer they weren’t cut long ways and seared, as they were a bit dry. The entrees were solid too, making for an overall pleasant experience, though I wonder about the novelty factor. It was great to try elk loin, but when it comes to a steak, my heart still belongs the grain fed NY strip. I do recommend Saskatoon though, especially if you’d like to try well prepared game without getting your hands dirty with a large caliber rifle in Saskatchewan.

Disclaimer! This meal was complimentary, because I’m big time.

As part of my dinner on Friday night I made colcannon. I used the traditional cabbage, but added kale, shallot, and garlic. I would have used lacinato (dinosaur) kale, but Kroger didn’t have it.

I used Yukon Gold potatoes, with chevre, butter, and cream. Everything the body needs.

Of course, top it with some more goat cheese when serving.

When I had the leftovers at lunch I topped it with some fresh butter, which I made in my stand mixer. I tried to use the food processor method found in the local blog Whisk Away, but the buttermilk wouldn’t separate from the cream. I think my dough blade wasn’t wide enough for my mixer to effectively mix all of the cream.

The mashed potatoes were a warm up for my real lunch – the short rib special at Fox Brother BBQ. Seen below: brontosaurus BBQ.

Dude. I should have won a prize for finishing all of this.

Finally on Sunday I had to get rid of a lot of vegetables before another work road trip. I roasted potatoes, beets, celery, carrot, leeks, red pepper, and garlic in olive oil in a cast iron skillet for one hour, turning occasionally. Then I reduced the last of my stock from my Ad Hoc short ribs until it could almost coat a spoon. I then cut and seared the vegetables in a very hot skillet, plated, and poured the sauce over them. It was like fantastic beef stew, but without the beef. Also, the jus turned an awesome red wine color from the beets.

I drank the stock once the veggies were gone.

Since a change at work at the end of last year, I am now in Columbia, South Carolina three days a week, allowing me plenty of time to explore their food scene. Unfortunately I think Columbia has a long way to go, especially compared to Charleston and Greenville, which are both vastly superior in terms of cuisine and weather.

Of course, there are gems, my favorite being Terra just across the bridge from the Vista (downtown). I probably visit once a week. Chef Mike Davis is young, creative, and recently had the honor of cooking at the James Beard house. The menu has some mainstays, but the specials are often the way to go. On a recent visit they were trying out some bar snacks, including lobster “corn dogs”. This was fresh lobster, fried on a stick, with a tempura like texture. It was a little gooey from being undercooked, but showed potential and was a fun attempt, and was worth ordering at $7.

I often end up ordering the wood fired pizzas, as they are too hard to pass up at $10. The pizzas are super thin, very much like Sardinian flat bread, with great toppings. The duck confit and port soaked cherries is my personal favorite, though the carnitas is a close second.

The frisee lardon is also a common order of mine – rich chewy Benton’s bacon, mushrooms, and a poached egg soaked in jus. Sinful and delicious.

Last week I tried the veal hangar steak with risotto. Perfectly cooked veal, wonderful al dente risotto with little cubes of roasted butternut squash, and once again, a good value at $20.

I don’t have a picture of another dish I like, but Terra commonly offers a skate wing appetizer, which is three medium sized pieces of fried skate, with celery root mash, and hericot verts for $8.

On another trip, I ventured towards the east side of Columbia, near the military base, where the best ethnic food can be found. The ladies at Mai Thai near my office, who often day dream about how good the Korean and Chinese food is in Atlanta, sent me over to Pho Viet when I told them I was seeking pho.

Compared to my first pho mission in Columbia, this was stellar, but I’m slowly learning just how good we have it in Atlanta. The broth was decent, though the ribeye wasn’t thin enough, and the brisket was tough and too lean. The omission of Thai basil was also disappointing, I love that stuff.

Last week I decided to seek out tonkotsu ramen. I found it at Inakaya. This was edible, but my heart sank as I realized that this was no Haru Ichiban or Yakitori Jenbei. The broth was too salty and was too thin, and the pork was a major let down. Rather than the thin slice of fatty, falling apart pork, these were three little pieces of tough pork, maybe small slices of roast loin.

The adventure of finding great food in Columbia has been a lot of fun, and as mentioned, only reinforces how good the food is in Atlanta, particularly ethnic food. Terra can be slightly inconsistent in execution, but I think it’s the best food in Columbia, with prices which beat anywhere of comparable quality in Atlanta. They also has a wide wine selection with fair prices.

I’m sure there are other “finds” in Columbia, and my plan is to try them all. 

This past weekend I visited Toscano & Sons after I tried to hit up a BBQ/burger trailer that sits next to a dingy convenient store on Marietta St, not far from Carver’s, but it was closed. Anyone ever been to that shack?

It had been a while since my last visit to T&S, and it’s always interesting to see if my opinion changes over the span of a year.

I was instantly drawn to the porchetta sandwich. For four bucks, it’s a great deal – the bread was still soft, with a touch of crunch from being momentarily pressed, and the salty, fatty meat hit the spot. I spent roughly $13, purchasing the sandwich, chips, a soda, a great loaf of ciabatta, and some bucatini.

The sandwich wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned though. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed my lunch, and it was a heck of a deal, but all throughout 2009, I couldn’t go even a week without hearing about the sandwich at Porchetta in NYC. So when I saw the word on the Toscano menu, I had visions of grandeur. Grandeur being the photo below.

photo above via Serious Eats NY

FYI – flights to NYC in April are $250 as of this morning, or 32,000 Delta SkyMiles as of 7:30AM today.

I had a fantastic porchetta roast at the Antinori property at the top of Atlas Peak in Napa Valley this past summer. It’s pretty much seasoned pork roast, wrapped in a huge slab of pork belly. Could you imagine layered cross section slices of that sucker, piled high on a sandwich?

Need some porchetta recipes?

This past Thursday through Sunday I had a jammed full schedule, including an insane amount of guilty pleasure eating. Luckily my weekend included a total of twenty miles of running; my fancy GPS watch said I burned 3,070 calories. Somehow I still think my appetite managed to beat out my metabolism.

Thursday night a group of us met up at one of the back tables at Antico for pizza and wine. The quattro stagioni was our first pie, and probably my favorite pie of the night. The toppings are my favorite part of Antico, second only to the ambience. The peppers on the san gennaro, the Italian sausage, the spicy calabrese peppers, and the copious amounts of sauce are all great. But the crust is a bit doughy for me. It’s often too dense, too gummy. The quattro stagioni we were served had the crispiest and lightest crust of the bunch, and perhaps not coincidentally, it appeared to have been cooked the longest. I really think their pies could go for just a few seconds longer in the oven, but that’s just me.

I loved this bottle of Morgon we had with the pies, it is head and shoulders better than most $20 Pinot based Burgundy you will find. The sparkling vouvray wasn’t a bad deal for $15 either. Both are available at Tower.

For lunch Friday I made my way downtown to Grindhouse. This was my second visit, and my first opportunity to try the apache burger, as they were out of the green chiles on my first visit. It wasn’t as spicy as I would have guessed, but this was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a while. The two meat patties were thin, soft, not overcooked, and had the most delicious griddle crust I’ve ever seen. Add to that a perfect bun, and crispy hot, salty seasoned krinkle fries, and I was a happy fat man for the rest of the day.

Later that night I went to the circus, which I haven’t attended in probably fifteen years. I forgot how amazingly well trained (abused?) the animals are. And forgot that popcorn costs $7. ZING ZANG ZOOM!

After the show I hit up La Fonda Latina where Slice used to be on Howell Mill. I had two chicken tacos, which were surprisingly decent. They were filled with large chunks of char-grilled chicken. The salsa was poor though, it tasted like they add tomato juice to it.

On Saturday my parents visited for my Mom’s birthday, and we took her on an eating tour of ATL. As they were staying in Buckhead, we started on the Westside and worked our way back towards their hotel. The first stop was the bar at Abattoir. The four of us sampled the duck meatballs, pickled shrimp, fried chicken livers, ceci peas, pommes frite, and celery soup. The celery soup was creamy and sinfully nourishing, and I loved the meatballs, particularly due to their super soft texture. The pommes frite seemed different than the last time I had them, I’m not sure if they’ve changed the style of if my memory isn’t serving me correctly, but I recalled liking them more in the past. Anyone know if they’ve changed?

After Abattoir we made our way over to Tuk Tuk, which was my first visit there. We easily sat at the bar, though at 7:30PM there were no open tables in their main dining area, a good sign for them. The spinach wraps pictured below were great, though the jerky in the background was probably my favorite dish. Flavorful, not overly leathery, and a fairly large portion, considering it’s jerky.

For “dessert” we went to Varasano’s. I don’t visit Varasano’s as much as I should, especially considering how much I love pizza. The pies on Saturday night were as good as I’ve had there, the sour dough crust is perfectly epic when it’s on point – light, full of sour flavor, crisp & chewy at the same time, and not “dough blow” inducing. Being a crust lover, I don’t think there’s better pizza in ATL.

You know what my dream is? I would love for Varasano’s to start offering some pasta entrees or small plates, similar to the menu at Flour+Water. If I could get the celery root tortelloni I had there, or “garganelli with fennel pollen sausage, chard, and fresh horseradish” they are currently offering, in addition to killer pie, you wouldn’t be able to drag me out of there. For now, eating at the bar at La Pietra, then heading on over to Varasano’s will have to suffice.

Finally on Sunday, I completed the first steps towards assembling my new sous vide immersion cooker. We’ll see if this sucker works. My past “handy” accomplishments include hanging a towel rack.

Dessert was at the bar at Bacchanalia; once again, they pulled out all the stops with our order of chocolate cake and mint ice cream. There was the candied lemon fizz amuse, petit four, macaroons, and a big old glass of Woodford Reserve “Sonoma Cutrer” bourbon (though the sampling of Black Maple Hill Rye was the bomb). It was a great night.