Just back from a very nice lunch at comfortable and welcoming River Oaks with a couple of wine-tasting friends. Red wines being the theme, we stuck to dishes (mainly) that would complement what we were tasting, so let me dive in right here and say that the appetizer of beef short ribs ravioli, with sauteed wild mushrooms, garlic coulis and sherry emulsion ($8) was (1) perfect for a chilly afternoon, (2) incredibly tender and succulent, and (3) a terrific bargain. Now chef Ben Vaughn is deeply involved with deconstructed food concepts, so this was ravioli in the “new sense,” meaning that rather than being “ravioli,” it was one “raviolo,” and not only that but simply sheets of thin pasta draped over a heap of the melt-in-the-mouth beef. Did we care? I didn’t notice.

One of our party ordered the Caesar salad ($8), which, in the deconstructed sense, appears as a sheaf of hearts of romaine lettuce standing upright within a ring of puff pastry; that’s right, the salad was inside the crouton! So to speak. Another appetizer was the charcuterie plate ($8, another incredible bargain), which brings various rustic sausages, a selection of different cheeses, pickled cipollini onions and grilled flat bread. This serving is so generous that we saved some of the cheese for after the meal, to have with the last red wine and espresso.

Now I hate to be a disappointment to readers of Whining & Dining, but since the three of us were tasting red wines, we all opted for the tournados of beef tenderloin ($15), not very imaginative, perhaps, but certainly appropriate. The beef, cooked properly to medium rare, came with creamy, glossy mashed potatoes, sauteed baby green beans and a rich and flavorful truffle bordelaise sauce.

So that’s it, three guys tasting red wine and eating like robber barons on a winter night. Too bad River Oaks is so far from Downtown.

River Oaks is at 5871 Poplar, where the Cockeyed Camel used to rock. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner is 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Friday, 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Call 683-9305. Menus are available at riveroaksrestaurant.com.

An open letter to diners in Memphis:

PLEASE. I’m begging you. If you can’t cut out the perfume and the cologne, please cut back.

First of all, it’s tacky to overdo the scent. I know your mama told you that someone is supposed to be close enough to kiss you before they smell you. If she didn’t, well, I’m someone’s mama and I’m telling you now. No matter how much you like it, there will be others who don’t.

Second, your loud perfume/cologne interferes with the meals of the diners around you. I want to smell my wine and my food–that’s part of the experience–and when you’re sitting next to me drenched in Eau de Too Much, I can’t.

It’s true that I’m particularly sensitive to fragrances. I get a sniffy nose, a tickly throat and eventually, if I don’t get away from some scents, a blinding headache. But even those who aren’t physically affected by it can still be offended by it.

And yes, of course, I’ve had recent experiences with this and that’s why I’m blogging about it. I thought I might have to leave a restaurant not too long ago because of a woman’s perfume. It filled the room as she walked through and it was just luck that she was seated as far away from me as possible.

So, enough said. Please think of others when you’re spritzing or dabbing.

Very truly yours,

Jennifer

Randy Caparoso came to Memphis early in April to build the wine program for Circa, John Bragg’s restaurant Downtown. Caparoso had 30 years experience in food, wine and restaurant management, and he created a unique and immensely gratifying wine list for the restaurant.

We interviewed Caparoso about his philosoply of wine and and food and wine pairing and posted the result to this blog on August 23, shortly after the restaurant opened. We asked Caparoso then about his commitment to Memphis and Circa, and he replied, “Circa is my job and my commitment.”

We learned by email a few minutes ago that Caparoso is leaving the restaurant and the city. His (brief) farewell and his paean to local indigenous food are here at culinarywineandfood.

We couldn’t fit all our reader-submitted recipes in today’s paper, so here are the rest of them…

Anne Peschel’s Apple Cranberry Compote

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cans whole cranberry relish
cup orange juice

Saute apples in 1 tablespoon of butter until soft. Layer apples on bottom of 9-by-11 glass pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with cranberry relish. Repeat apples, cinnamon and cranberry relish layers. Sprinkle with orange juice. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 8.
Source: Norma Rosenthal, Lakeland
Read the rest of this entry »

I know recipes aren’t the most popular forum here, but I just got an email from a friend who wants to know how to post his request for tarragon beans. And since it’s the holidays, we might all be looking for a long-lost recipe. If you are, this is the place to post. If you have the recipe, this is also the place to post.

In tomorrow’s food section, we’ve got a story about reader-submitted side dishes. There were so many that we couldn’t get them all in the paper, so I’ll post those tomorrow under a different heading.

It’s funny. Lately I’ve been thinking about my grandmother’s chicken and dumplings, which were fantastic and were made from, I would’ve sworn, canned biscuits. My cousin and aunt say no way, that Nanny always made her dumplings from scratch (still, I’m pretty sure I saw a can of biscuits once…).

Anyway, Gary sent the following e-mail to me and I told him we’d put our heads together. Who knows how to make good dumplings? (Nanny’s, by the way, were fairly dense. They were prehaps a half-inch thick and while they were completely soft, they had some body to them. )

“My grandmother (died in 1986 at age 85) used to make the best dumplings - I have never had their equal.  They were round and between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball.  When you dug into one, the first half an inch or so would be saturated with the chicken broth, and the rest would be hot and fluffy like a biscuit fresh out of the oven.  She always put a dab of butter in the middle, which saturated the middle of the dumpling - it also seems that some of the butter would be pooled in the middle of the dumpling when you cut into it.
Grandma was from Southwest Virginia, in the coal fields of the Appalachian Mountains.  Perhaps this is a scotch-Irish recipe, as many of the people in the Appalachians are.  But, her family was a combination of Irish, English, German, and French - so who knows the origin of the recipe.  It is possible that it was her creation, but I suspect not.”

Tell me what you think about this: How would you like to see more healthful foods featured in dining reviews? Don’t panic! I’m not talking about going all spelt and sprouts on ya, just talking about consciously choosing at least one healthier options when I review and then telling you about it.

This comes after a week of being in and out of the cardiologist’s office. I’m fine, but let me tell you, nothing can inspire you (at least temporarily) to adopt better habits than seeing people walking around with oxygen, or folks so pitifully obese that they’re breathing hard just walking. At home I try to follow the 75 percent rule: Good nutritious food 75 percent of the time, and eat 75 percent of what’s on your plate. Yes, I said try. I’m bad about having good intentions and falling off the wagon after a whiff of good cheese.

But when I’m dining out, it’s harder. I eat appetizers. I order desserts–all this I do for you! What do you say I opt for the healthier choices sometimes? It’ll be better for me, it’ll let you know if you can trust the grilled fish, and maybe it will even make chefs take a good look at their menus and give us tasty healthy options.

If you know of places serving up yummy and healthy food, don’t keep it a secret.

And don’t get the idea I’m giving up creme brulee or anything foolish like that. Just going to moderate a little…

Seems like I recall that someone talked about Totino’s pizza when we posted about “food we lie about.”

This is from AP: General Mills says it’s recalling almost five million frozen pizzas sold under the Totino’s and Jeno’s label because of possible E. coli contamination.
The company says the problem may come from pepperoni produced at
an Ohio plant. General Mills says state and federal authorities
have been investigating 21 E. coli illnesses in 10 states including
Tennessee.
Nine of those 21 people reported eating Totino’s or Jeno’s pizza
with pepperoni topping at some point before becoming ill. Eight of
the cases were reported in Tennessee.
Symptoms of E. coli can include stomach cramps and diarrhea.
People typically are ill for two to five days but can develop
complications including kidney failure.
—
Eds: The specific products in the recall, with SKU, include:
Totino’s Party Supreme, 42800-10700.
Totino’s Three Meat, 42800-10800.
Totino’s Pepperoni, 42800-11400.
Totino’s Pepperoni, 42800-92114.
Totino’s Classic Pepperoni, 42800-11402.
Totino’s Pepperoni Trio, 42800-72157.
Totino’s Party Combo, 42800-11600.
Totino’s Combo, 42800-92116.
Jeno’s Crisp ‘n Tasty Supreme, 35300-00561.
Jeno’s Crisp ‘n Tasty Pepperoni, 35300-00572.
Jeno’s Crisp ‘n Tasty Combo, 35300-00576.

Well, well, well–FINALLY. Sorry it took so long to get these pictures on. The first one is a “bacon tree;” the second a plate of catfish at Taylor Grocery (fantastic!); the next is an overall shot of the Viking luncheon on Saturday (which was, thankfully, a much nicer day for eating outside than Friday). And you all know that’s Shirley Corriher in the the last picture; it’s her delightful husband Arch who’s sitting with her.

OK, the food, after this brief detour: I had an appointment with my cardiologist today (I have palpitations and go in every couple of years to make sure everything is stable; nothing serious). I thought it was funny that he wanted to talk about the food I ate in Oxford before we got down to the issue of my health. I mean, how do you talk about eating pig ears with your cardiologist?

Anyway, the pig ears were fabulous, cooked by Frank Stitt. They were cut in small pieces, about a rough inch square, batter, deep-fried, and served with a dab of a mustard sauce. The North Carolina-style barbecue was also excellent, Donald Link’s deep-fried boudin balls out of this world. The only item I wasn’t crazy about was mutton, which was very tender but had a “gamey” taste, I guess you would say. I’m always surprised that people won’t eat lamb, which I love, but now I get what they mean when they say it tastes gamey. (I’ve always thought that sounded silly, since lambs are exactly fodder for fearless hunters, and now I’m saying the same.)

Refried blackeyed peas! Yum! I’m going to see if I can score the recipe for these and we can all forget about Hoppin’ John for New Year’s this year. Besides the horchata with Jack Daniels, which I only had a small taste of since I didn’t know it was even being served until I was almost ready to leave, that was what impressed me most about Thursday’s dinner.

Friday night was that great Taylor catfish, along with appetizers including the fantastic hickory catfish dip from Ajax Diner. The recipe I ran in yesterday’s paper was for a smoked catfish pate, which would have a similar taste, but the texture of the dip was creamier. If I can’t get the actual recipe (I’m hoping to include it in a story about throwing a $100 party for the holidays), I’ll come up with something very close. Beer that night was from Lazy Magnolia brewery in Kiln, Miss., and it flowed freely. Blue Mountain played outside, but I spent over an hour in the art gallery. First, some of the art in there was just gorgeous, but I was so taken with the owners that my husband and I couldn’t stop talking to them. Too much to talk about here, but they are truly interesting people. I’ll be writing about them soon. On a funny note, on Friday night when I was introduced to a restaurateur who will remain nameless, we chatted and when he meant to give me his card, he gave me his hotel key instead. It was truly accidental–he turned all shades of red and kept stammering before he finally just hugged my neck and told me he was sorry. I told him so was I, but my husband was in town that night… (just joking about that part).

It was Friday at lunch when Shirley and Arch ended up sharing a table with me. It was sort of funny. The Corrihers are from Atlanta, another guy at the table was from Atlanta, a young man from Athens, Ga. was there, the woman sitting next to me lives in Kentucky now but lived in Memphis for about five years. We all had a great time just talking about the south.

I just had a great time all ’round and I hope that EVERYONE will get involved with Southern Foodways. I can’t believe I’ve spent so much time writing about food, living just up the road, and haven’t been active. I plan to be from now on.

I’ve spent an hour from my home computer trying to post SFA pictures and they’re just not loading. I’ve got an appointment outside the office in the morning and I’ll be in around noon. I will do NOTHING until I get photos posted and tell you what I ate. We’ve had updates lately and I think we’re still a little buggy…