• Emory’s Sustainable Food Initiative will be offering three classes with Ann Quatrano (Bacchanalia, among others), Linton Hopkins (Eugene), and Scott Peacock (Watershed) January through March of this year. $25 per ticket or $75 for all three. 
• Our friends over at Atlanta Dish mentioned Marlow’s will be showing the BCS Championship Game over at Marlow’s this Thursday at 8PM. They mention that if you signup for Marlow’s e-news you get $10 towards your next purchase of $30+. Click here to join their mailing list. 
• Metromix offers some new Restaurant News today. Highlights include: Meal dealz at Aqua Blue (I added the ‘z’) and healthy food options at Uncle Julio’s. Man I hope that includes a deep fried burrito. 
• Citysearch recently listed some of the Best Kept Secrets in the Atlanta dining scene. My favorites include the not-on-the-menu secret sliders at The Palm and the $5 steak sandwich at Morton’s from 5-7PM everyday. 
• In the spirit of “Best of 2008“, Creative Loafing lists the top 5 Restaurants of 2008. I agree with Holeman & Finch as number 1, but I ain’t really going out on a limb here. Everyone loves that place. I need to find some random spot that no one knows about that rulez so I can be snobby and say, “oh the food is to die for, you must try it”. Hrm, maybe not. 
• From reading some posts over at Atlanta Restaurant Cuisine I found about about Yasu Japanese Bistro, a great sushi place. You already know of great sushi places? Well, I bet yours doesn’t give you the chance to eat the deadly blowfish. True, it’s not ITP, but depending on who you believe, there are less than 20 places in the country licensed to serve this fish. Feeling lucky?

Eat up!

I Heart Cuppycakes:  Pomegranate Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

Closet Cooking: Tacos al Pastor 

The Kitchen Sink: Mexican Meatball Soup with Rice & Cilantro

Hey, that tastes good!: Lamb Ragu with Polenta Triangles

Passionate Eater: Wanton Lust (step by step, how to fold wontons)

I work in Columbia, South Carolina almost every week, and even though I’ve been doing this for roughly three years now, I actually eat at the same 3-4 places all the time. It’s kind of surprising even to me, considering how much I love food and variety, but it’s because of how busy my schedule is when I’m on the road and the proximity of certain restaurants to our office and my hotel. Every so often though I feel like some variety, so being that I love Yelp so much these days, I headed there for some insight, and definitely found a winner when I tried out the Blue Cactus Cafe. 

Blue Cactus Cafe is an interesting mix of Korean and Southwestern food, located in the eclectic 5 Points area of Columbia. They are strong believers in the slow food movement emphasizing quality and freshness. 

If you live in Columbia and like something different check this place out! The quality is fantastic, especially for the price, and it is something you aren’t going to see every day in Columbia. Photos ensuing!

On my first visit I started off with the Korean dumplings. They were good though not the most memorable part of the meal. No complaints and a good start. They did arrive surprisingly quick considering this place unabashedly prepares their food slowly. 

A very unassuming spot, oh, and they serve ice cream!

The kimchi - I’m no expert on this, but it was yummy to me. 

Above is what I ordered on my first visit, the Bee Bim Bop, one of their most popular dishes. It’s a bowl of rice topped with your choice of meat (pork in this case), vegetables (sprouts, cucumbers, etc), and a fried egg. It was a ton of food, with fantastic fresh flavor, all for $6.50. 

Below it’s all mixed up, with some of the spicy chili sauce. 

One my next visit I got the Spicy Pork with extra vegetables. While I enjoyed the diversity of the Bee Bim Bop better, this was very good. There was tons of spicy pork, carrots, and zucchini. There was more than I could eat but I almost knocked this whole thing out. 

Just looking at this I’m salivating… I can’t wait until my next visit! Hit me up if you’re in Columbia and wanna go some time.

It has been quite nice doing nothing today and this food really hit the spot. The Mexican version turned out better than I remembered. Now my belly is full and I’m still in my pajamas as of 5PM and though I feel a bit guilty, there’s nothing that can be done now but bask in it and watch the Rose Bowl. 

Oh and Georgia Tech sucked last night. Sucked bad. 

I took some photos of the prep of the Mexican version. It’s a little more involved than some other breakfast casseroles, but it was worth it. The poblanos give it some good kick. 

Greased up poblanos ready for 25 minutes of roasting at 400. 

Chorizo sausage. Cooking it made the house smell like meat for half the day. 

Before they go in the paper bag so I can peel the skin off. 

Meat + peppers + onion + garlic. Crowded pan. I drained the grease off a bit with paper towels. There was way too much of it. 

First layer poblanos. 

Egg + half/half + green onion + cilantro + cheese

Starting the layering process. 

Almost done. You can see the tortillas layered in there. 

Ready to go in the fridge and hang out overnight, all done so I can just pop it in the oven for 1 hour the next morning. 

All done. I should have got a photo of an individual slice because that looked even better. It went well. Try it out.

Everyone is doing “Best of 2008″ lists, so why should I be the exception? This site has only been going since the end of July, but I do have roughly 125 posts to work with, so hopefully I can pull out ten that aren’t absolute garbage. I say ten because top 10 lists rule. The Kitchn has been putting out some mean top 10 lists lately - go check that site out if you don’t already.

Also, this has nothing to do with anything I’ve been talking about, but here is a cool list of top 10 techniques every chef should know. Some of these are things you may use every time you cook, but it’s worth taking a look at and they have videos to help if you want to learn now. 

Anyways, before I list my “Favorite Posts of 2008″, I’d like to say thanks to everyone who has taken a few minutes out of their day to check out this site, and thanks to my supportive friends, girlfriend, and family. The response I’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive and I’m flattered that people still want to check this site out on occasion, particularly the people I’ve never met. 

I’m excited about 2009, I think it’s going to be a great year. But 2008 isn’t going to be a pushover. Looking back it’s amazing how much I had going on. There were many great meals, the most memorable being Holeman & Finch, Allegro, Top Flr, Il Mulino, and Rathbun Steak. I traveled more than I ever have, hitting up spots all over the continent including Puerto Vallarta, Aspen, Chicago, Montana, and Martha’s Vineyard. It was also a good year for personal development - I ran my first full marathon, completed a triathlon, and really ratcheted up food and wine as a hobby, manifesting itself mostly in the form of this site and an empty wallet. Oh yeah, and I have a demanding (and fun)  job! 

But I’m determined to make 2009 better, and I look forward to the challenge and the excitement. I hope your journey in 2009 is a fantastic one and will see you along the way. 

Top 10 Favorite Posts of 2008

1. Thai Style Hot and Sour Soup - My first post, I like the pictures, and the soup was very easy and delicious
2. Maurice’s Racist BBQ - It was fun being the undercover investigator on the scene!
3. Holeman & Finch - Favorite restaurant of 2008, and I was happy with the iPhones photos. 
4. Pizza (Nov 4)  - I had many pizza posts, but I was especially happy with how this one turned out
5. Asian Chili Sauces Explained - This one gets me the most Google hits; people wanna know about this stuff!
6. Super Stuffed Pork Tenderloin - This guest post was funny, and it’s very cool how many people want to contribute
7. Mooozarrrreeeellllaa - Making cheese, finally successful
8. You Say Tomato - A lot of my summer posts involved growing tomatoes, this goes into getting started + salsa
9. Bon Appetit Texas Beef Brisket Chili - Quite different and tasty
10. Italian Tomato and Lamb Feast - One of my most involved meals of the year, lots of fun

A few weeks back my roommate noticed a new eatery where Giorgio’s Pizzeria used to be in the strip mall on Collier, over by Howell Mill. The same strip mall that used to house Have A Nice Day Cafe, before they moved to Buckhead. Giorgio’s used to be a fun place to go, mostly because the owner was friendly and had no qualms about serving beer to underage students, it was a good group locale,  and the pizza was ok.

The extremely unsubstantiated rumor was that Giorgio had mob ties. A couple of years ago I heard (who the hell did I hear all this from? I can’t even remember…) that sold the pizzeria to someone else and moved back to Sicily to avoid the government. The new owner went under with a year or two. Maybe the new guy wouldn’t sell beer to minors. Or maybe he got whacked! Yeah, I like that better. You can tell people that. Mob stories rule!

Anways, Giorgio’s is now Pollo Brassa, a Peruvian rotisserie chicken spot. While in Peru, the only thing I ever saw on a rotisserie was NOT something I wanted. It was cuy - a guinea pig with a stick shoved up it’s ass. Not too pleasant. There were kids in Cusco begging me for money so they could afford to buy this delectable treat. I would have paid them to not walk around and eat them so I didn’t have to stare at the tiny little guinea pig faces, frozen in horror. Where is PETA in all of this?

But I was told that Polla Brassa was worth a try, and it’s close to home, so why not?

We tried to go there around 12:45PM on Saturday afternoon, only to be told by the people inside that they don’t open until 1:00PM, but that this day it would be more like 1:30PM due to oven difficulties. What? Why would you even be open for lunch and not open until 1PM?  I would have just gone elsewhere but I had errands to run so I did them and went back.

The menu has some salads and sandwiches, but it’s really a meat and side kind of place. You choose your chicken, choose your sides, then apparently wait a long time for the food considering no one else is in there.

I ordered 1/4 chicken, all white meat (didn’t realize it cost so much more), black  beans, and rice. The chicken was good, but not really so much of a step up from your grocery store offerings. The beans and rice were decent too, though the rice was kind of mushy. I liked the sauces they that were provided and it was plenty of food, but I won’t be rushing back. You’re better off buying a whole chicken, black bean, and rice from your local grocer and cooking yourself up 3-4 meals for much less cost.

I kind of feel bad dissing this place because I can’t really see how it will stay open very long. You ever walk in somewhere and say, “now how is this place making money?”. If a restaurant serves 20 people a day is that enough to stay afloat? It seems that plenty of entrepreneurs are eager to find out.

Adventurous Tastes has a good list of  some prix fixe New Year’s meals at 4th and Swift, Shaun’s, JCT, Eno, and Trois. 

Metromix Atlanta also offers a few ideas, including ONE Midtown Kitchen, Parish, and a New Year’s brunch at the Atlanta Grill in the Ritz. 

I’m slightly interested in finding a cool brunch for New Year’s day, but last year we had a “hangover party” at my house on New Year’s morning/afternon, which was a lot of fun. Everybody was required to come “as-is”, meaning, in whatever condition they were in from the night before, and also there was absolutely no need to shower or change into respectable clothing. We had champagne, bloody mary’s, and we cooked up two greasy breakfast casseroles and lazily (fantastically? amazingly?) settled in to watch some football. It was a grand day. 

Hrmm, now that I just typed that all out, that sounds like more fun than a snotty brunch at the Ritz. Winner!

Recipe for the Mexican Breakfast Casserole below. Not sure of the original source. 

Mexican Breakfast Casserole 

• 6 Poblano peppers, roasted and peeled, seeded
• 1 and 1/2 pounds Mexican Chorizo or other hot sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
• 1 cup chopped yellow onions
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. veg. oil or more as needed
• 5 flour tortillas
• 10 large eggs
• 3 cups Half and Half (I use the fat free kind)
• 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions - green tops only
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 and 1/2 cups grated Pepper Jack Cheese
• 1 and 1/2 cups grated medium Cheddar Cheese
• Salsa & Sour Cream 

Grease a 9X13 pan.  Spread the poblanos in a flat layer across the bottom of the dish. 

Cook the sausage over medium high heat, stirring to break up the meat until browned.  Add the onions and bell peppers and cook stirring for 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and chilipowder and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Remove from heat. 

In another skillet, heat about 1 tsp of the oil over med/high heat.  Add 1 tortilla and cook until softened about 30 seconds per side.  Remove from the pan and cut into quarters.  Add more oil to pan and repeat with remaining tortillas 

Combine the eggs, half and half, hot sauce, salt, pepper in a large bowl and whisk.  Combine the green onions, cilantro and cheeses in a medium bowl and mix well. 

Spoon one third of the sausage mixture over the poblanos in the baking dish.  Top with on third of the tortilla quarters and then one third of the cheese mixture.  Repeat the layering, ending with a cheese layer.  Pour the egg mixture over the ingredients.  Let rest, covered in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight. 

Bake casserole uncovered until bubbly and golden brown and a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean - about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with salsa and sour cream if you want.

Some of the bubbles. 

The beef tenderloin roast, with the balsamic glazed brussel sprouts with pancetta. 

Trespass ‘01 Cab. Delicious. 

Belvedere Winery 1986 Rally Cab. It was fun to check this out. It still had a bunch of fruit, but wasn’t too complex. The tannins were surprisingly present though. 

Guess we missed that by a bit. 

Decanting. The cork fell apart. 

The warm fried goat cheese round salad from the other night. Yum.

Another Christmas dinner photo. The mac ‘n cheese (recipe viewable here) was very memorable. Do it. 

We went to Zorba’s Lounge in Greenville for lunch on the 26th. This place could totally be on “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives”. The steak sandwich is fantastic. Two of us split a small Greek salad, and split a steak sandwich with fries. Neither of us could finish our half. 

Zorba’s Bar. Very old school, with a slight hint of danger.  

Half a salad. Get the dressing on the side. They drench it. 

As usual, my photo doesn’t do it justice. A fresh, warm onion roll, with grilled onions and thin sliced steak, topped with swiss cheese. Add in a pickle and the still-hot-and-super-crispy steak fries and a single tear fell from my eye.

We really have been eating and drinking up a storm since I arrived to my hometown yesterday. We enjoyed some champagne as we waited for dinner to cook, then we popped open the bottle of Jean Milan Champagne Brut Carte Blanche Grand Cru that I brought back from Ansley Wine Merchants in the ATL.

I am still learning a lot about wine, and I’m particularly inexperienced with bubbles. So I was quite excited about a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs (white from whites - 100% chardonnay), and a grower champagne none the less. Grower champagne is champagne where the grape grower also does the vinification, instead of just selling the grapes to a large champagne house for production. If you are interested in reading more about why grower champagne is special, check out this very useful document here. Gary Vaynerchuk did a grower champagne tasting a few hundred episodes ago and discusses some aspects of this topic as well (link here). 

Initially served with a simple salad with fried goat cheese rounds, then later served with the lobster ravioli in lump crab cream sauce, the Jean Milan showed very well. It had a fantastic deep yellow color, plenty of bubbles, along with very floral and peach fruit aromatics. It was quite sweet, with strong flavors of apricot with a tone of minerality. Definitely more complex than I am used to, I may be hooked!

We drank some more champagne while we opened presents this morning, this time a Piper-Heidsieck Brut that was very nice as well. I didn’t keep great notes, but it was quite enjoyable and once it warmed up a bit, it really opened up to me and I got some nice burnt wood flavors that was very intriguing. 

Also, in addition to the Garmin running GPS and immersion blender I was hoping to receive for Christmas, my parents gave me a bottle of 1997 Heitz Cabernet that they pulled from their cellar. While my parents have a bunch of wine in their perfectly chilly, old exposed brick cellar, I wouldn’t call them serious collectors, and for them to give me one of these bottles is a big deal to me and is much appreciated. I can’t wait to pop it some day on a special occasion. 

I hope you are having a great holiday as well, and I especially hope that you are getting to spend time with some family or loved ones. Enjoy the rest of the extended weekend, eat some great food, and try some new wines!

Not all states can sell raw milk, not because in essence it is bad for you (in fact it’s quite good for ya), but because of the increase in likelihood that harmful bacteria will be introduced into the final product. After some quick research, I realize it’s too lengthy a topic for me to attempt to summarize here (see the 65 page statute summary here), but in short there are only 25 states that can sell raw milk, but even fewer of those states can sell raw milk in stores. 

Well, those that know me from college know that I’m a risk taker, so I was quite excited to give it a try, particularly so I could try to make mozzarella with it. I’ve tried mozzarella before, and had fairly poor results. Both times the cheese kind of fell apart, creating a bland ricotta mixture of sorts. After many conversations with Rebecca from Foodie with Family, I really thought my milk might be the problem. Was my intuition right? Read on!

But first…a quick shot of the meats and cheeses all wrapped up purdy like from Star Provisions….sooo good. 

Here is the milk. Not sure if you can read the label, but it states, “Warning: Not for human consumption. This product has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria”. Hrmmmm. I wasn’t aware, but it turns out the rules are funny in Georgia; you can’t sell raw milk marketed for human consumption. Kind of creepy. 

Also I picked up an endive mix from The Local Farmstand, with my super salad fave, frisee.

I wasn’t using all of the milk for cheese, just about half of it. The rest will be for drankin’. I took the photo below so you could see the ridiculous viscosity of this stuff. It was quite thick/dense, sweet, and hearty. I couldn’t drink this all the time, but it was almost a rich treat. There could be a lot of uses for a milk of this consistency in cooking, and I imagine if you got used to drinking it, you could never got back to the store-bought stuff. 

Warming up the milk, after I’ve added the citric acid, but right before the veal rennet gets mixed in there. 

Once it hit about 105 degrees, it’s pulled of the heat and rests for 6-7 mins. If you compare this to my previous attempt, you can see how the curds pulled away much better. 

Here’s what I pulled out of the whey, before I started working the cheese. 

There’s 1/2 gallon of milk turned into a glorious un-worked mound of mozzarella. 

At this point I can work it like dough. 

I pulled chunks off and finally got the hang of the “stretching and pulling” that creates the shiny, smooth mozzarella surface. The first few I attempted didn’t come out as smooth looking as this, but it was just due to my inexperience and I’m hopeful for future attempts. 

Finally, for some use… I put together a salad dressing with some olive oil my mom brought back from Italy a few months ago, and some local Georgia Wildflower honey.

Yum. 

This cheese making has been a challenge. Even though the process itself is simple, similar to making pizza dough I realize that little variations, as well as having an experienced “touch”, will greatly affect the outcome. But I look forward to making more progress and am happy to have dove into this endeavor - that’s how you learn!