Archive for 2005
I’m off for a few days, going to fly to LA to see my sissy… eating lots of Mexican food and sit on the beach…
Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday… I’ll be back with lots of eating adventures from the left coast… See you in 2006!
3 Comments | Category: Let's eat
Just got off the phone with the owner of The Cake Lady Bakery in Southaven, Miss., on Airways, just north of Goodman Road.
I was interviewing her for a story, but I went off topic to ask about this relatively new bakery’s signature desserts… the pie that keeps customers coming back is The Haystack, a graham cracker crust filled with sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, coconut, pecans and caramel sauce…
A friend gave her the recipe, but she called it “the pie to die for”… why? Because she got the recipe at a funeral!
You can order a slice of Haystack at Payton’s on Highway 51, which The Cake Lady said has the absolute best steaks and best catfish in the region! Anybody been to Payton’s? I’ve always got my radar up for undiscovered gems, I’m surprised that I had never heard it mentioned…
2 Comments | Category: Let's eat
I just love ginger ale… it’s one of those cure-alls in my household, along with the gigantic bottle of ibuprofen. But we were out of it this weekend, so I had to improvise…
I made a simple syrup in the microwave, one part sugar to two parts water. While it was still hot, I added thin sliced ginger and let it steep for a few minutes. Add ice and club soda and voila, instant ginger ale.
It was so good I’ll never go back to canned. What’s your favorite punt, turning nothing into something?
I am so sentimental this time of year, so it’s not surprising that I nearly busted into tears when I opened the Christmas card from my husband’s aunt, and the recipe for my late mother-in-law’s famous holiday cookies fell out. I’ve been asking for that recipe forever, though I am certain it will take me years of practice before they come close to the melt-your-mouth gems that signified the season.
The sisters had a long-standing tradition of making cookies together, these incredible cream wafers and then some Icelandic cookies with dates that I didn’t care for. I was involved in a cookie swap with friends for many years, though my “creations” were laughable compared with my pal Holly’s edible ornaments. (Hey, but she’s an artist, so…)
Anybody doing a cookie exchange with friends/family/co-workers? Love to live vicariously through your experience… give us some delicious details.
2 Comments | Category: Let's eat
Regular readers know I would always choose a Mom-and-Pop over a chain restaurant, but I wasn’t doing the choosing for a going away lunch for a respected colleague. His favorite place is Outback, so I went.
And it was good. The hefty burger was fine. The server was on the ball. It’s obviously a wildly popular, as we had to wait for a table to open up.
A friend teased: “You mean you like a chain?”
Again, it’s not that I don’t like chains. I applaud the framework that makes them work efficiently, and it’s encouraging to see some independents picking up on those corporate-style techniques. Still, I think the food and atmosphere is almost always more interesting at a small, unique place.
Anybody want to try and convince me otherwise?
12 Comments | Category: Let's eat
Blog regular Neil sent this delicious report:
We went to Encore last night. We have a friend that comes to town quarterly and we go out to dinner. For the last 15 years my job has been to pick the restaurant. We have eaten is like a whose who of the best. The list includes Chez Philippe, Felicia Suzanne’s, Automatic Slims, Cafe Samovar, Aubergine (now closed), Marena’s (now closed, it came before Marena’s Gerani, and was our favorite for years because Rena always served two disctinct cuisines, rotating them regularily), Grove Grill, Erling Jensen’s The Restaurant, Jarrett’s, The Beauty Shop, Tsunami, Melange and Wally Joe’s. We have the art of sharing down pat.
But last night is the best we have had in a long time. The restuarant is attractive, the music doesn’t intrude and the service was with out doubt the best we have had in Memphis. Not too formal, not to inform, just perfect.
Our waiter was a New Orleans refugee. His name is Shadow. Ask for him if
you go again. He and his wife, Clarissa, both work there.
We informed Shadow at the beginning of the meal that we would be sharing and from that point on there were always extra small plates and silverware on the table to accomodate us.
The pissaladiere was as good as you said. We also tried the Goat Cheese Provencal and the Wild Mushroom Ravioli. Both were good, but flavor of the goat cheese with the caramelized onions, roasted peppers and olive tapenade out shown the ravioli.
The salad Nicoise was delicious. I had not had one in many years. The ratatouille cake made the spinach salad.
Soups last night were a lentil and the Soup au Pistou. In fact, out friend, emptied his bowl of the lentil soup.
Braised short ribs, cassoulet and caramelized wild salmon were the main courses. The flavor of the short ribs was earthy and rich and was probably the favorite of the three.
Desserts were the bread pudding with poached pears, apple and quince cobbler
and the roasted hazelnut ice cream with warm dark chocolate ganache. The
last was the surprise. The simpe combination of those items presented a taste that was more than the sum of the two. Wonderful.
Finished with the port tasting and coffee. Good deal on the port tasting.
$22 for 1 ounce each of Taylor Fladgate 10 year old, 20 year old and 40 year old.
We spoke with Jose and Colleen after the meal. I had taken classes from her at Viking. We thanked Jose for bringing this type of restaurant to Memphis.
Even with only the soft opening he had a good crowd for a Tuesday night.
Encore will allow people with modest budgets to go downtown, have a very good meal and see a movie, show or game and not break the budget for the month.
I’d be happy to share other reviews, as long as you play nice… criticism must be backed up with detailed descriptions…
6 Comments | Category: Let's eat
… for holiday feasting. We’re having our office Christmas lunch today, and that reminds me of my favorite scene from one of my favorite holiday movies: “The Apartment” with Jack Lemmon and Shirley McLaine. The office party involves lots of drinking and dancing on desks. But those were simpler times…
What’s on tap for your office party? Thrill us with your gastronomic and/or boozy antics…
And while we’re on the subject of holiday movies, what’s your favorite flick that involves food? (I’m crazy about the scene in “Christmas Story” where the hound dogs eat the turkey off the table, so the family ends up at a Chinese restaurant…)
8 Comments | Category: Let's eat
I don’t know how I’ve missed out for so long, but I only just discovered prosciutto cotto, the sweet ham-like cousin of the more recognizable proscuitto.
Having lunch at Fino’s, my friend thanked the owner, Joanne, for introducing her to this delectable stuff… I tried it and fell in love and ordered a half a pound of it. She suggested using it in a muffaletta. Speaking of that sandwich, what’s your favorite recipe for the olive salad that makes it so distinctive?
5 Comments | Category: Let's eat
Just got a news release saying sauerkraut sales have soared… following word that that pickled cabbage might help protect you from bird flu… guess I must have missed that report.
One of the recipes included involved stuffed green olives with kraut (Frank’s kraut out of Ohio to be precise…) and marinating them overnight in vermouth. Then garnish your gin martini with the stuffed olives… though, if you wait to eat the olives until after you’ve drained the glass, it’s likely that you wouldn’t be able to tell kraut from pimento from blue cheese (my current obsession on the olive front…)
A favorite uncle used to make us sauerkraut and franks every week when I was a kid… and I do love sauerkraut on a Reuben. Here’s your Tuesday afternoon brain teaser: Come up with a unique way to use sauerkraut… these recipes might get things percolating…
7 Comments | Category: The wet bar
… shaved chocolate, to make gourmet cocoa?
… sichan peppercorns?
… a variety of desserts to go?
… goat meat?
(Got the answer to the last one… at a place called Pleasant View Meat Market on Mendenhall!! Who knew!??)
Curious epicures have been looking for obscure items and a few have called or emailed me recently… in some parts of the world, there are people paid to forage for new/strange/interesting edibles… I’d like that job, if I had a private jet to fly me to Alaska/Thailand/whereever…
Here’s what I’ve been hunting for… Dungeness crab. We have a Christmas eve tradition of sitting around and cracking this sweet shellfish, but this year, we’re staying in Memphis. I guess I could order it online, but it might be cheaper to fly to Seattle and bring some back. (That’s why I need that private jet!)
7 Comments | Category: Let's eat
