Adventures in the Great White North

by Xani

Wow people, where do I even start? I've spent the last week in various states and time zones, logging lots of frequent flier miles. Work sent me to Alaska (!!), then I took a quick trip to LA to visit friends. Now that I've finally arrived at home, unpacked (ok, half unpacked), and uploaded my pictures, I've got all kinds of culinary adventures to tell you about.


First let me say that, if you ever have to fly to Alaska, I highly recommend First Class. Finally all those frequent flier miles were good for something! The food was "free" and not only edible, but not half-bad. I spent all day flying and when I arrived in Anchorage, I didn't even feel like killing myself or any of the other passengers or flight crew-- amazing! Anyhow, after landing in Anchorage I grabbed a quick shower and then headed off to the Moose's Tooth, a local pizza and beer joint that had been recommended by a number of people. It was only about 4:30pm in Anchorage, but since they are four hours behind the East coast, co-worker Mike and I were ready for dinner. Surprisingly, the place was PACKED. I guess people in Anchorage like to start happy hour early... or maybe they just wanted to come in from the cold.


Moose's Tooth makes their own local microbrew beer, and they had several types on draft. But I was so tired and dehydrated from the flight, which had absolutely nothing to do with the free bloody marys they served for 6 hours straight, that I was in the mood for something non-alcoholic. Lucky they also make homemade root beer and cream soda. So, we ordered a pitcher of the root beer which was sweet, spicy and creamy. (Don't worry-- the next day we stopped off at the Bear's Tooth, a sister restaurant, for a REAL beer, which was excellent.) We were not only thirsty but STARVING, so we ordered the sun-dried tomato hummus before moving on to their specialty: pizza!

Wild Mushroom Pizza

Margherita Pizza

I got the Margherita and Mike got the Wild Mushroom. Not the best pizza I've ever had, but definitely the best pizza I ate in Alaska! Then we headed to a local Starbucks (I know, I know-- but it had a fireplace and was soooo cozy) for a sweet treat (I got the new salted caramel hot chocolate-- it almost put me in a sugar coma but it was worth it). By then it was LATE, at least for those of us still on East coast time, and time for bed!

Scenery in Anchorage

Silliness in Achorage

The next day we did some adventuring all around Anchorage and took some awesome pictures of the scenery. I also researched a place for our last dinner in Anchorage, and decided on the Marx Brothers Cafe, which got high praise on the Chowhound boards. The cafe is in a cute little townhouse in downtown Anchorage, and serves high-quality, imaginative food in an upscale setting. Also, it's totally cozy! The service was very professional (except for the constant calls of "comin' in!" every time a server went through the swinging door to the kitchen) and the food was delicious. We both started with the oysters on the half shell-- local from Stedman Cove, and served with pickled ginger-pepper vodka sorbet. The oysters were very fresh, clean, and had a sweeter, less briny taste than the Chesapeake oysters I'm used to eating with BCD Dad. The ginger/pepper vodka sorbet was inspired and danced on the tongue.

For our entrees, Mike got one of the specialties of the house, Halibut Macadamia, which is baked halibut in a macadamia nut crust, served with mango chutney, mild coconut curry, and jasmine rice. The man cannot resist anything with curry! He reported that the fish was very fresh and the dish was very tasty. I selected the Broiled King Crab legs (Jumbo red king crab with paprika brown-butter and a Yukon gold potato gratin), because I was dying to try this local treat, and apparently wanted to challenge myself to dismantle these beasts without embarrassing myself at a fancy restaurant. It was a challenge, indeed! The crab meat was very sweet and the brown butter sauce was soooo rich. I picked at it with a tiny fork and tried not to send it flying across the room. It was delicious, but in the end, I still prefer my Maryland crabs, eaten with the hands on newspaper-covered tables.

Monster Claws!

Finally, dessert. All the Marx Brothers desserts are made in-house, and they all sounded wonderful but both Mike and I ended up ordering frozen treats. I got the espresso ice cream and Mike got a selection of sorbets. A perfect end to a very lovely meal.

The next morning we hopped in the car for a quick, 400 mile trek to Fairbanks. This drive, which I was certain would end in a "I Shouldn't Be Alive"-type disaster, was actually pretty uneventful. We drove through the now-famous Wasilla, saw gorgeous scenery, and paid $5.21/gallon for gas! (you don't even want to know what we paid for Sun Chips.) Here are some of the pictures I snapped along the way:

On the road to nowhere...

snowy mountain roads-- we still make record time

We arrived in Fairbanks, tired and achey, and had dinner at a casual burger joint. The next night, disappointing Italian food. But the final night we went for a real Alaskan meal at The Pump House Restaurant and Saloon, a historic site overlooking the Chena river. This was a really cool, old-timey place with a giant stuffed Alaskan Brown bear next to the hostess station, and moose heads on the wall. They also have some local game on the menu, which Mike and I just had to try. So we both ordered the Reindeer Tenderloin, which is grilled and served with a raspberry-orange sauce, braised red cabbage and au gratin potatoes. I was really not expecting this to taste that good-- I don't usually like tenderloin because it is so lean, and I was worried it might taste too gamey. But I figured I may never get the chance to try reindeer again, so I'll go for it. And it was SO good. It was lean, but not dry or tough at all. The flavor was definitely more intense than regular beef, but not in a bad way. I think the sauce really was a perfect compliment to the meat, just sweet and tart enough. And the potatoes were KILLER. All the while, it was snowing outside (snowing! in October. I know this is nothing to Alaskans, and it gets much much snowier and colder and darker throughout the winter, but it blew my mind. Faribanks is the furthest North I have ever been), which meant we had to stay for a little longer and watch the snowfall over chocolate brownies and ice cream.

The closest we got to seeing a moose

Snowy scene outside the Pump House

And then it was over! The next morning I headed to the Faribanks airport to fly COACH (ew) all the way to LA. Alaska was quite an adventure in culture, weather, and flavor. I'm wondering where work will take me next!

Coming up: adventures in LaLa Land!



X

P.S. One of my favorite things about Alaska were these little coffee huts/shacks that we saw everywhere. I guess Alaskans love their coffee-- they need something to keep them warm and awake during the long, dark winters...

The Family That Cooks Together...Tries Not to Stab Each Other

by Erin

As I mentioned earlier, last weekend our Aunt and Uncle came all the way from New Mexico to see Blackacre. While they may have thought they were coming to reconnect with family, relax, enjoy sunsets over the Chesapeake Bay, and perhaps take a dip in the brand new swimming pool, we had other plans for them. Yes, we figured with two more people in the kitchen, we can REALLY get cookin'.

The menu planning commenced in the days before they arrived, but much of what we chose to cook was dependent on what fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and fish were available at the markets the day of the meal. The family split into teams and hit the road. Team Mom and Gloria went to Emily's Produce and bought fruits for Gloria's dessert and veggies for the salad. Team Dad, Michael, and Xani went to the butcher (Lazar Wolf?), the baker, and the fishmonger, Kool Ice Seafood (no candlestick-maker this time!). I, unfortunately, stayed home and did schoolwork (cue violin).

Anyway, after the shopping came the prep work and the menu planning. Recipes were researched, veggies were peeled and chopped, fish were cleaned, and dessert was started. Then we had a few hours to relax around the house and the pool and catch up a bit.

Flash forward a few hours, it was time to commence cooking! In all, we prepared a five-course meal. Normal!! But first, to prepare, we of course had cocktails...

Now onto all the delicious details...

First Course: Roasted Marrow Bones and Maryland Crab Cakes

As you might remember from previous posts, we love and are always on the hunt for bone marrow. Probably the best I've ever had was at Lupa in NYC, with Blue Duck Tavern in DC being a close second. I know it may sound gross to some of you but trust us on this one -- it's damn good. We found the bones at the butcher shop in Cambridge, and found a simple recipe that included soaking the bones in water (not sure why-- it helped to defrost them, and it was a Martha Stewart recipe and you do not eff with Martha!) and then placing them on a baking sheet, and roasting them for about 25 minutes at a high temperature. We served them with toasted baguette on which to spread the deliciousness. Xani's favorite part was obviously the teeny spoons one must use to get the marrow out.

Before they were roasted

Toasted up crostini

Awaiting plating...

Alongside the bones we made Maryland-style crab cakes. "Maryland-style" meaning (a) mostly crab, not a lot of filler, and (b) awesome. BCD Dad made these using egg and a little matzo meal as binder, some homemade crab stock, Old Bay (a Maryland staple), and some other ingredients. Then he breaded the outside with panko (Japanese bread crumbs).

Then Xani fried them up and got a beautiful golden crust on all sides. That is the product of patience, folks!!

Here is the final plating:

Second Course: Oysters on the Half-Shell

Okay okay, we didn't really cook this course, but blood was shed, therefore it counts as a course. These oysters gave BCD Dad a run for his money in the struggle to open them all up. But as usual, Dad prevailed (my hero!) and we were able to enjoy these really delicious oysters. Mmmm, oceany.

Third Course: Summer Vegetable Salad

This is a little something we threw together after seeing the lovely produce at Emily's. They had some great looking green beans and cute yellow squash, along with bright red peppers just begging to be roasted. So, for this "simple" salad, Xani first cleaned all the green beans and cut the squash into green bean size pieces. She blanched the green beans and sauteed the squash up with some shallots. While both beans and squash were cooling, Dad roasted some red peppers over the gas stove, then cooled and peeled them. Then when everything was cool, she tossed all the veggies with a shallot and rice vinegar dressing, and some fresh basil.

Fourth Course: Bouillabaisse

When deciding what main course to make, we had a couple goals in mind: (1) let's try to use the great seafood we can get out on the shore, (2) let's do something super-complicated to challenge ourselves and really test Kitchen Stadium at Blackacre. With Bouillabaisse as the main course, we satisfied both goals!

We used a very traditional recipe for this classic French dish, which basically had three components: the broth, the fish, and the rouille. We started the broth pretty early in the cooking scheme since it is basically a stock. Took lots of veggies, herbs (including saffron, of course!), and the (usually) inedible fish parts (e.g., heads, tails, bones), and cooked them down into a really flavorful stock. Oh, and we also cooked a potato in there - this potato will make an appearance later in the show. After the stock had cooked for a while, we strained it through a chinois and put it back in the pan to cook down some more.

Next there was the fish. We used striped bass, flounder, clams, shrimp, and maybe some other kinds that escape me now. Kool Ice kinda slacked on the cleaning they were supposed to do, so Dad and Michael pulled out the big cleavers and knives and did some additional butchering on these fishes to make them edible. Once the broth was strained and back in the pan, Michael cooked each type of fish separately in the stock. Basically, he gently poached them in the stock, and then once they were done he used the heating shelf to keep them warm.

BCD Dad and Uncle Michael work together on the fish for the Bouillabaisse

Last there was the rouille. I personally had never even heard of this amazing condiment until we made it. Now I want to put it on everything! We took the potato from Act 1, and put it in the food processor with garlic, olive oil, parsley, basil, and some hot peppers to make a thick sauce, almost like a dip. It is essentially a super-flavorful mayonnaise.

Drizzling in oil

The final dish with all the components put together was just awesome. The fish was perfectly cooked and kept in tact by Michael's careful cooking methods. The broth had a wonderful, intense flavor from the fish and saffron and all the herbs and veggies. The rouille had great flavor, and went so well on the fish and the nice bread we bought. Put all together, it was a fabulous dish! It was really fun to make something we'd never made before that was so complicated and a classic.

Fifth Course: Peach Granita

For dessert, we put Gloria to work since she is quite amazing in this area. We have early memories of Gloria's homemade candies and cakes, and we were excited to once again enjoy one of her desserts. Using the peaches she found at Emily's, she made a granita flavored with orange juice and champagne. It was an all-day process since she had to keep stirring the granita (in the freezer) so the ice crystals that were forming wouldn't be too large. In the end it was a sweet, conforting flavor with a nice texture from the ice and the fruit itself. (Sorry, no pics, unfortunately!) We enjoyed the granita on the deck overlooking the Bay. It was a great end to a really great meal!

And that's it! That's the story of our Podolny family cooking extravaganza. See Michael's impressions of the extravaganza here. But don't worry, it certainly won't be our last! Especially since BCD Dad's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and you know what that means: LOBSTERS!

Gellie says: Why didn't I get any Bouillabaisse?

Happy family cooking,
EP

Come On Baby, Do the ‘Local’-Motion

By Erin



First off, let me apologize for the lack of new posts recently. It’s crazy sauce around here with both of us working and schooling, and Xani is currently up in the Great White North (aka Alaska – and NO, she cannot see Russia!!) for work, so hopefully she’ll have some great eats to report. I told her to kill a moose for me – we’ll see if she comes through for her little sister.

Anyway, back to business! Last weekend, the BCD parents welcomed their first official out of town guests (besides us, of course) to Blackacre! Those guests were our Uncle Michael (dad’s bro) and Aunt Gloria, who came all the way from New Mexico to see the new digs – especially Kitchen Stadium. Sorry to be a tease but our ridiculous cooking adventures will be in the next post. First, we’ll talk about our first meal of the weekend together at Restaurant Local. Restaurant Local is located in Easton, MD, and – you guessed it – they specialize in using local ingredients. It’s a pretty upscale place and we were very excited to try it after all the hype we’d heard.


Xani and I drove in from Baltimore and got there early, so we had champagne cocktails at the bar while we waited. We often order this old-timey cocktail (sugar cube, angostura bitters, and champagne) at fancy places, and it’s amazing how few bartenders are familiar with it. Luckily the recipe is pretty easy so we can usually get what we want without looking too much like the tremendous snobs we are. Whew!



Once the BCD parents and Michael and Gloria arrived, we settled into our big round table in the dimly lit, but modern, dining room. Everyone ordered more cocktails, and we began to peruse the menu. We decided that our plan of attack would be to share a bunch of appetizers, but get our own main courses (with the plan of allowing others to try our mains, of course!).

But before we could do anything, we got an amuse bouche from the chef: tuna tartare with black sesame seeds, sesame oil, and other Asian flavorings.



Then came the first course. We ordered:

• Duck Foie Gras, with Spring Berry-Jalapeno Jam, Smoked Hazelnuts, Brioche Crouton, and a Spearmint Gastrique
• Caviar “Potato Skins” – Mini Potatoes with Crème Fraiche, Chives, and American Paddlefish Caviar
• Lobster Bisque (the soup du jour)
• Crab Spring Rolls with two dipping sauces

The foie gras was of course out of this world. Rich and decadent and loads of flavor, boosted by the awesome berry-jalapeno jam and perfectly toasted brioche. It was a shame to have to split this into five parts!



The bisque was also absolutely amazing and I really had to hold myself back from licking the bowl. It was really intensely flavored with seafood and herbs (and, let’s be honest, cream), and had a nice basil oil drizzled over the top.



The spring rolls were crispy and delicious, and the dipping sauces were very good as well. One was a peanut-based sauce so it was saltier and thicker, while the other was sweet and hot and more syrupy. The only criticism I had was that the flavor of the crab got lost from the flavor of the sauces.



Last was the winner for “most adorable first course”: the caviar potato skins. For once, the phrase “so cute I could eat it” isn’t totally inappropriate! These were teeny tiny baked potatoes with caviar and other accoutrements. I personally did not partake since I have not yet acquired a taste for caviar, but everyone said they were good. They also said they could have used more caviar. Go figure.





Ack! So cute!

Next was the main course, where we each got our own thing but were constantly giving “tastes” to everyone around the table via passed bread plates. With this course we ordered some delicious wines – both red and white since people were eating different things. In addition to our wine glasses, we had water glasses AND our cocktail glasses. It was a little ridiculous with all the glasses….



Michael got the Hudson Valley Duck, with Pan Roasted Breast, Confit Leg, Bok Choy, Crispy Fingerlings, Roasted Fennel-Ginger Demi.



Gloria got the Wood Grilled Filet Mignon, with Roasted Garlic Whipped Yukon Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, and Wild Mushroom Bordelaise



Dad got one of the specials, the Halibut, with bulgur and some other stuff that’s not listed because it was a special. Whatever it was, it was good!



Xani and Mom both got the “Zabuton,” explained to us as a type of American Kobe (not Wagyu, as it is commonly called) with Squash Gratin and MORE mini baked potatoes (this time with bacon). The cut wasn’t specified but it seemed to be a NY strip.



Last, I got the GQ Burger, which was Kobe Ground Beef Stuffed with BBQ Brisket, Topped with Southern Slaw and Tomato Onion Jam, on a Cracked Pepper Parmesan Brioche Bun, served with French Fries.





To be honest, it was a bit of a whirlwind experience with so many people, all talking and laughing, passing plates, trying bites of everything, that I can’t remember TOO much detail about these dishes. (Perhaps all the wine played a role as well.) But, I can tell you that Mom and Xani’s kobe steaks were very tender and delicious, and the duck was moist but had a fabulously crispy skin.

And of course, I remember my burger. My wonderful burger. Who knew that one kind of beef stuffed with another kind of beef would work so well?! Perhaps those Turducken people were onto something. The meat was really flavorful, very tender, and went so well with the sweet tomato-onion jam and the crunchy slaw on top. The fries were also very good. Xani gave this burger 9 out of 10 burgers!

Finally, it was time for dessert and coffee. Dad, Michael, and Xani ordered espressos, and Mom and I ordered coffee. Our coffee came in our OWN mini French presses! So cute, and VERY good coffee.



For dessert, we ordered two desserts and shared between the six of us because we were so full by then. We ordered the Hazelnut Mousse Cake with Chocolate Ice Cream, and a Trio of Cheesecakes: Oreo, Dulce de Leche, and Strawberry. The Hazelnut Mousse Cake was okay, not spectacular. The “chocolate” ice cream didn’t taste like chocolate but we couldn’t put our finger on it, so we just didn’t say anything. The cheesecakes were very good, and very cute. They each came with a delicious sauce and everyone was very happy with these. The only disappointment with the cheesecakes was that they didn’t have a crust! If only they had had a little contrast in texture from a crust, they would have been golden!



Hazelnut Mousse Cake



Trio of Cheesecakes

After dinner, we drove the 45 minutes into the middle of nowhere to Blackacre and rested up for our day of cooking the following day. We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere of Restaurant Local, but as BCD Dad always says, much of that was outshined by the wonderful company.

Stay tuned for more Blackacre eats!

Cheers,
EP