The Ultimate Black Coffee and a Donut

by Erin

Last week, I went down to Biloxi, Mississippi with The Maryland Law Katrina Project (see also the Project's blog) to rebuild homes and help people affected by Hurricane Katrina. It's amazing that 2.5 years after the storm, we were helping people move out of their FEMA trailors. It was such a fun trip, and I made a lot of new friends and most importantly, helped those who needed it. But this is a food blog, and you came here to read about FOOD, and that's just what you'll get!

It was cheaper to fly into New Orleans than into Biloxi, so on our last day, we left Biloxi very early so we could spend some time in the French Quarter before heading to the airport (we also allotted some time to drive around the Upper 9th Ward to see the destruction and rebuilding efforts). As soon as it was decided that we were going to the French Quarter, I almost exploded with excitement because in my mind, French Quarter = BEIGNETS from Cafe Du Monde!

Xani and I went to New Orleans last March for my spring break and we frequented Cafe Du Monde many times - it's open 24 hours, after all! It's been in operation since 1862 and only closes on Christmas Day (though it closed for over 30 days after Hurricane Katrina). It has a very limited menu: beignets (french square donuts covered with a pile of powdered sugar) and coffee, which is either served black or au lait (half hot milk, half coffee).

This is all I need to survive: beignets, coffee, and water

Yum!!

I was so excited when we sat down in the open-air seating area that I could barely contain myself! We each ordered an order of beignets and coffee (I got au lait - it's my lovely sister who has the ability to drink her coffee black, not me). Our orders of beignets came up almost immediately, hot and fresh, crispy and chewy, and just sweet enough.

The coffee was really good too as it was traditional New Orleans coffee, which is made with chicory. We all enjoyed our beignets and one of my friends even ordered another batch to take on the plane!

As we were getting ready to leave the French Quarter and head to the airport, we passed my second-favorite place in New Orleans: The Central Grocery Co. I had to go and get what I have deemed one of the top three best sandwiches I've ever eaten: the Muffaletta. This was another stop for me and Xani last year, and it was such a great experience I had to go back!

Central Grocery, in operation since 1906, is a cute grocery store with lots of imported goods and is known as the original home of the Muffaletta, the traditional New Orleans sandwich made on a big round loaf, with italian meats and cheeses and the signature component: the "olive salad." I decided I would buy a whole one (which serves 4, it's so huge) and bring it home to the BCD Family. Several of my friends from my trip followed suit and soon the whole store was filled with law students buying sandwiches! Unlike when I went with Xani and had to wait in line for an hour and a quarter, we didn't have to wait at all since it was about 10am - sweet!

All my friends agreed that it was a great sandwich (though they could have just been humoring me), and when I finally got the chance to have mine I remembered just how AMAZING it is! I did a little investigating and it looks like they use provolone cheese (or maybe swiss, couldn't tell), mortadella, some kind of ham, and genoa salami (or as Xani used to call it "general salami"). The olive salad on top was tangy but very oily, and the bread was firm and delicious, and covered in sesame seeds. YUM!!

Friends modeling their sandwiches for me

Comin' atcha

I was so glad we got to do some good eating in the Big Easy on our last day - it was a great capstone to our incredible trip!

Cheers to Black Coffee and a Donut!

Happy eating,

EP

ps. The picture at the top of the blog is from our first visit to Cafe Du Monde last year. Take a good last look at it because a mini blog makeover is coming soon!!

We are pleased to present… BCD Parents Go To Las Vegas

By Guest Bloggers Dennis and Janice!

Heading west for the center of gastronomic excess (Las Vegas), BCD parents are determined to provide input to the blog to show our support and admiration for our daughters' oeuvre.

After passing through security at BWI, with the prospect of 6 hours in an aluminum tube in front of us, the unexpected Silver Diner beckoned from within Terminal A. A shared Turkey BLT with passable and garlicky fries fortified us for the trip ahead.

We had deliberated long and hard selecting which restaurants to go to in Las Vegas, and using Zagat, had made a list of candidates. But the new top end venues, with prices ranging from $150 to $250 per person without booze seemed to be more special occasion kind of places for us and not consistent with our annual trip to visit our lost money. So we put the list aside and focused on revisiting the good experiences from past trips. While we are generally fans of Zagat, our experience in Las Vegas has been that the ratings for the strip restaurants don't generally meet up with our expectations. On the other hand, the ratings for restaurants for the "locals" seem to be more in alignment with our taste. Last year we had a wonderful Italian meal at a place northwest of the Strip (Sommerlin), but of course we didn't remember the name. A little searching through Zagat though found us back at Marc's Italian Steak House
http://www.marcsitaliansteakhouse.com/. Why it's called a steak house we haven't quite figured out, although they do have a number of nice steak dishes on the menu. We showed up one-half hour early for our nine o'clock reservation, got seated immediately, and ordered a very nice Brunello di Montelcino that our waiter, Dean (who only told us his name after we asked. Thank you Dean!) recommended as being a very good bargain ($53!). It was a very nice wine, but the tannin level would have been more appropriate for a fattier meat than what we ordered. I should have known.

We couldn't resist ordering the calamari appetizer, the large portion of which came with a tempura-like coating, was very tender and flavorful, and was enhanced by diced pepperoncini and accompanied by a very garlicky marinara sauce. While waiting for the primi piatti, the two types of bread, both rustic loaves, one with olives, were dipped in a fragrant olive oil, laced with balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Pretty, tasty and original.

Figure 1- Calamri Fritti, Marc's Las Vegas

Figure 2- Olive Oil Dipping Tray, Marc's Las Vegas

The menu offered up a small but nice variety of seafoods, pastas, and meats. What caught our eye right away was the veal chop Milanese. As opposed to a cutlet, this was an entire rib chop of veal, still on the bone, but flattened, coated and fried. It was spectacular. The veal was tender, flavorful, the coating heightened and did not distract. Alongside was a mound of arugula (can you spell "My Blue Heaven") dressed in another riff of the earlier balsamic vinegar.

Figure 3 - Veal Chop Milanese at Marc's - Las Vegas

Orcchiette Bolognese (little ear shaped pastas) was our other main dish choice and it was the equal of the veal. Bologneses are highly variable and in this iteration the sauce was less thick, had small chunks of tomato and the beef was in little clumps rather than a completely smooth sauce. Different but excellent. When Dean asked me if I wanted cheese, I asked his opinion. He said I should try it first. It was so good I never gave the cheese another thought. As the portions were so large, we forgave desert and had coffee and espresso. Both of excellent quality. As Marc's is more of a neighborhood place, we were the last to leave at around 10:30 and the restaurant had closed by then.

Figure 4- Orchiette Bolognese at Marc's, Las Vegas

But Marc's was just the capstone of a few interesting meals we had had during the day. Staying at THEhotel (part of the Mandalay Bay complex), we had breakfast in THECafe. (Detect a spelling trend here?) Although our expectations were not high, we were treated with version of huevos rancheros that combined the tortillas, chorizo, salsa, refried beans and over-easy eggs in a delicious and visually appealing way. BCD Mom, not a big breakfast eater, agreed to share. Out came two large platters mounded with aforesaid huevos. Teeth-gritting time. Did they get the order wrong? Were we going to have to pay for two outrageously expensive breakfasts? Relief. The order was so huge they could split it in two. Reminiscent of the famous grinders at Papa Joe's in the Manchester (CT) Green.

Having built up a store of energy from breakfast, we were now prepared to work on where to go for lunch and dinner. Dinner was soon taken care of once we tracked down Marc's. But lunch? Can you spell Jack in the Box? Several years ago, and by accident during a Las Vegas trip we tried the super-cheap, two-for-a-buck tacos at Jack in the Box. We were hooked. Now no trip to Las Vegas is complete with a stop (or two) for these deep-fried econo-wonders. We ate six of them!

Later in the week, we had a group dinner with BCD Uncle Sheldon, cousins Doug and Weh Wah and Ethan, and Doug's uncle and aunt. BCD Dad had the assignment to find a restaurant, and not knowing the taste of all the parties, we selected the Daniel Boulud Brasserie in the Wynn hotel http://www.danielnyc.com/dbbrasserie/cuisine.html. We had been several years ago, when we had a great meal. Since bistro style covers many different tastes from chicken, steak, crudités and fruit de mer, there would be something for everyone. We were told it was recently renovated. It is a beautiful space. Having gotten there a bit early, we sat in the bar where BCD Dad had a Hendrick's martini ($17.00, a new record!) with olives stuffed with blue cheese. BCD Mom had a glass of chardonnay.

DB offers a prix fixe meal but we didn't get it. Instead we shared an order of three Mediterranean tapas which consisted of very good homemade hummus and grilled French bread, a boneless, stuffed and breaded chicken wings. Interesting concept but way too subtle. There was a third dish featuring goat cheese and some kind of sweet garnish but we can't remember what it was.

BCD mom had an "organic chicken" which was presented in three ways – it came with grits, but they were almost indiscernible. Nothing else. BCD Dad had the braised short ribs. A smallish portion, no sides, and sort of bland all around. We were a party of eight including a 5 year old, who got the buttered noodles. Probably the best choice. All in all service was great, venue was beautiful but the food was only so-so and for $150/person with wine and cocktail did not seem a particularly good value.

Feeling guilty from various excesses, we worked out in the spa/gym at THEhotel. A really unusual décor – 24 ft ceilings, black stone walls, all kinds of japanesque water effects. This prepared us for breakfast.

Tops on the Zagat list we found two places, the Egg and I and Egg Works, both very highly rated and located in strip malls far from Strip. BCD Mom had biscuits in sausage gravy, eggs, bacon "ranch" potatoes. BCD Dad had the Cincinnati chili burrito. The burrito had a very nicely spiced Cincinnati-style chili on top and on the onside, with a melted cheddar cheese topping. The portions were gigantic, and we were not able to finish. The atmosphere is very casual – just regular working people having breakfast/lunch – not the crazy Las Vegas tourists.

Figure 5 - Biscuits and Gravy at the Eggand I, Las Vegas

Figure 6 - Cincinnati Chili Burrito - Egg and I, Las Vegas

Later in the trip, having gone to see the Cirque du Soleil's Ka the previous night, and missing a 'real" dinner, and since it was our last day on vacation, we were determined to visit our favorite dim sum restaurant in the US – in Las Vegas Chinatown, the Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant. Also off the Strip, this restaurant is very reminiscent of those we visited in Hong Kong, although much smaller. The restaurant opens incredibly at 10:00 AM and closes at 5:00 AM! We arrived about 11:15 and got one of the last available tables. In true dim sum style, we were immediately surrounded by trolleys filled with dozens of varieties of these Chinese edibles. We had the egg roll, ribs in black bean sauce, shu mai (a steamed dumpling with pork, shrimp, mushroom stuffing) and har gow (an almost transparent thin dumpling filled with whole shrimp), crab claw stuffed with shrimp, Singapore style noodles, wakame salad, fried shrimp wanton: pork and chicken "white fluffies" (bau), ground pork dumpling, the sticky rice in banana leaf. All the usual suspects. We could not work up enough enthusiasm for the chicken feet but others were eating them with gusto, or the half-dozen or so varieties of congee. Other things that looked great but we passed on were the whole salt/pepper shrimp, deep fried calamari, whole fried sardines, various soups etc. We ended up having ten dishes which was too much so we brought the "bau" back on the plane with us. And we resisted eating them on the plane!

Figure 7 - Dim Sum at Harbor Palace Seafood, Las Vegas

Figure 8 - More Dim Sum at Harbor Palace Seafood

Happy Eating and Good Luck,

BCD Parents

Note from BCD Girls: Thanks Mom and Dad! Great post!

Pantry Raid: Butternut Squash "Ravioli"

by Erin

First, a note about the title of this post. You may have seen the show "Pantry Raid" on the Style Network (or maybe not-- its probably been cancelled by now because it sucked) which brings a bitter tear to my eye since Xani and I, and our cousins Ann and Karen, had thought of this exact same idea (only better)! But, we were beaten to the punch. Our version would have been fabulous! Okay, moving on...

The other night, I did a little pantry raiding of my own and came up with a sort of deconstructed butternut squash ravioli. As you may have noticed in past posts, butternut squash is a top-rated ingredient for the BCD girls. Xani has raved about it's durability and shelf-life, so the last time I was at the store, I picked one up.

As I was rummaging through my fridge, I placed the squash on the counter top, thinking "maybe I will use this, maybe not." As I turned back to the fridge to continue rummaging, I heard a roll and a thump. The squash had fallen off the counter and cracked in half. "Well, gotta use it now!," I thought. I also had some ricotta cheese leftover since I made the Ricotta-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates (that we made for a Thanksgiving nosh) for a holiday party earlier in the week. So, I googled "ricotta cheese and butternut squash" and mostly what came up were recipes for butternut squash ravioli or butternut squash lasagna. I, of course, did not have any of the appropriate shapes of pasta, so I just improvised.

I started by peeling and cutting up the squash into about 1-inch cubes. I tossed the cubes with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them for quite a while (probably 45 minutes) until they were very soft and caramelized.

Before...

After - all caramelized and yummy

I boiled up some pasta (penne - I prefer short pasta, maybe because I'm short?) while the squash was roasting, and got out the other ingredients I wanted to use, namely the ricotta, parsley, and lemons.

Then I just put everything together: pasta, roasted squash, ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil.

I think it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself! The ricotta sort of brought the whole thing together, and the parsley and the lemon juice cut through the heavier ingredients like the squash and the olive oil. (When I told the BCD parents about this, they said it sounded like the old-school comfort food of bow-ties and cottage cheese, which by the way is SO GOOD.)

I don't really cook that much at home (since cooking for one is LAME) but this was a fun little experiment, and I feel inspired to do it again soon!

Happy eating (and experimenting),

EP

Celebrations at Pazza Luna

by Erin

The day I finished my exams (now seeming oh-so-long ago since school is almost starting again!!), Xani and I went to Pazza Luna to celebrate! (By the way, their website is beautiful and awesome!) Xani had been to Pazza Luna during Restaurant Week over the summer, but I had never been so we decided to go.

Pazza Luna is located in Locust Point, a neighborhood not far from Federal Hill. The space is warm and cozy, and we ended up sitting at the bar and chatting with the bartender. Apparently there is an upstairs to the restaurant but it was completely filled with a private party – ah well, hopefully I'll get to see it next time.

First we ordered some Prosecco to celebrate the end of my third semester – half-way done! Then we ordered a few appetizers, which were all awesome. First, we ordered the Prosciutto and Pears, which was great, and a nice twist on the traditional Proscuitto e Melone (this was a happy switch for Xani - she loves pears, hates melon). The dish consisted of a pear, poached in wine and some other wonderful things, with arugula, parmesan cheese, lots of proscuitto, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Next, we ordered grilled polenta with sausages, which was served with a red pepper sauce. This was also really good and a combination of flavors not often seen.

Last, we ordered the Calamari alla Griglia (grilled calamari), which was DELICIOUS. It was so simple too – grilled, large pieces of squid, with a little lemon, some tomato, and some arugula. This is what is great about authentic Italian food – great ingredients, simply prepared = AMAZING!

For our mains, we switched to red wine. I ordered the Risotto del Giorno, which was risotto with gorgonzola, tomatoes, and rosemary, and roasted duck breast on top.

Xani got the Casoncelli alla Bergamasca, which was a pasta (shaped sort of like large bow-ties), filled with pork, beef and lamb. It was served with proscuitto and asparagus and drizzled with truffle oil. Yum!

Both of our dishes were amazing. Xani's pasta was perfectly cooked and the filling of the pasta was delicious, as was the proscuitto. My dish was also awesome - it was pretty intense because (a) risotto is just, well, like that, (b) the gorgonzola cheese was a strong flavor throughout the dish, and (c) there was an entire duck breast on top! But, I'm not complaining. Have you ever known either of us to turn down anything with "duck" in the name?

We didn't have any dessert, since this was an obscene amount of food. But, it was still a great celebration and we had a great time. I would definitely go back and try other dishes - they seem to really know what they are doing over at Pazza Luna!

Happy eating,

EP

UPDATE: Pazza Luna has their own blog where they graciously linked to our review! Check it out!

Cookie-Thon 2007

by Erin and Xani

In addition to our holiday dinner with the Smiths, another one of our holiday traditions dating back to when we were little girls is our annual Cookie-Thon, where we make a ton of holiday cookies to give away as gifts and bring to holiday parties. This year we made all of our cookies on Christmas Day, because hey, what the hell else are we gonna do when everything is closed? (Don't worry, we went for Chinese food after all the cookies were done!)

This year we decided to make four kinds of cookies, and we actually only made one recipe of each! Back in the day, we would make dozens upon dozens of rugelach, black-bottoms, and pecan puffs (sometimes known as Mexican wedding cookies) with our family friend Ellen, but this year we thought one recipe would suffice for our party schedules. As usual, we made a shopping list from the recipes, and the wonderful BCD Mom did the grocery shopping.

The first cookies we made weren't cookies at all, rather they were Toasted Coconut Marshmallows, a recipe by Ina Garten. This is a favorite recipe of ours, and they are always a hit since (a) they are delicious, and (b) they are pretty unique. "You made your own marshmallows??" they say.

This recipe isn't that difficult, but it involves candy-making, which we explored when we made our spooky caramel lady apples for Halloween (near disaster!). Our cousins are much more adept at this since their mom, our Aunt Gloria, made candy for them (and us!) back in the day and she's passed on the knack. But, we did okay this time - no burns, spills, or disasters! And they turned out totally delicious as usual!

For this recipe, you begin by making a syrup by boiling together granulated sugar, light corn syrup, water, and a bit of salt until it reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (we ended up using both a candy thermometer and our trusty instant-read thermometer just to be sure we were at the right temperature).

Meanwhile, you dissolve several packages of gelatin in water in an electric mixer. In addition, we toasted up some coconut in a pan until it was golden brown. Once the syrup is ready, it is carefully added to the dissolved gelatin, and then the whole thing is mixed on high speed for 15 minutes - yes, FIFTEEN MINUTES! It goes from a clear bubbling mixture to a beautifully fluffy white blob! Vanilla is added to the blob, and then it is spooned into a pan lined with half of the toasted coconut. Then the other half of the coconut is added on top, and it is supposed to sit for a day to dry out before cutting it into cubes. They are sweet and better than any Stay-Puft product you've ever had. The coconut adds a great contrast in texture and flavor. YUMMM!

The next recipe we made were (Mint) Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. We wanted to make a chocolate-mint cookie, so we chose this recipe, omitted the walnuts, and replaced half of the vanilla extract with peppermint extract.

Made in Maryland!

The recipe begins with melting bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, and butter together over a double-boiler. The chocolate mixture is placed into the electric mixer (which we washed NUMEROUS times during this cookie-thon!) and flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and the peppermint extract are added and everything is beaten until combined. Then semi-sweet chocolate chips are folded in, and the cookies are dropped onto baking sheets. These cookies are described in the recipe as moist and chewy like brownies, and that is pretty much accurate! They are chocolatey and chewy, and they have a lovely, subtle hint of peppermint.

For the next two cookies, we turned once again to the Smitten Kitchen, who presented many delicious cookie recipes in a row in honor of the holidays, and we picked two which looked irresistible. The first recipe from her site that we made was Austrian Raspberry Shortbread, a recipe adapted from Gale Gand's book (remember her? She had that show on Food Network called Sweet Dreams...whatever happened to her?).

We chose this recipe because we love shortbread and jam cookies, and we usually make Ina Garten's Jam Thumbprint Cookies, but the Austrian Raspberry Shortbread cookies had an unusual technique that actually seemed much easier. First you make shortbread dough, which begins with four (yes, FOUR) sticks of softened butter (no wonder they're so good!), and then flour, egg yolks, baking powder, salt, and a bit of lemon zest are added to the mixer. This dough is then put in the freezer for 2 hours. Then, the dough is shredded using the shredding disk of the food processor! Half of the shreds are placed on the bottom of a baking dish, then raspberry jam is drizzled all over the shreds, and then the second half of the shreds of dough are placed on top. It's baked for about an hour, then cooled, and then cut into small bars.

The verdict? Oh. my. goodness. These are like tiny squares of buttery heaven! They are sweet and intense, and much more tender and delicate than traditional shortbread cookies, which are usually harder and more crumbly. The brightness of the jam cuts through the richness of the buttery shortbread, and they are absolutely delicious.

The second Smitten Kitchen recipe we used, and the last cookie we made, were Rugelach Pinwheels. Our Grandma used to make rugelach and we would watch her painstakingly roll out the dough, cut it into small slices, and roll each one into a crescent-shaped cookie. We have made rugelach in the past and have done the same process, but this recipe seemed to take some of the labor out of it, so we gave it a try.

The dough is made with cream cheese, butter, sugar, and flour, which is combined in a food processor and chilled in the fridge for two hours. For the filling, the recipe called for sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisons, walnuts, and apricot preserves, but we omited the raisins and the cinnamon to accommodate some family flavor preferences. Once the dough was chilled, it was rolled out to about 1/8 of an inch, covered with the apricot jam, and then the sugars and nuts were sprinkled over top. It was then rolled into log and chilled for another hour, then sliced into 1/4 inch slices. The cookies were tossed in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, and then baked for 20 minutes or so. The only problems we ran into were rolling out and rolling up the dough, since it got very soft very quickly.

These cookies were absolutely delicious! Like traditional rugelach, they had a harder outer layer and a soft, chewy center. The nuts added yet another texture, and the sugars and cream cheese dough were sweet and delightful. Although they are in a different shape than traditional rugelach, they taste the same and therefore remind us of Grandma - a sweet memory indeed!

At the end of the night, after we had our traditional Christmas Day Chinese food, we divided up the cookies (ironically in chinese food containers that Dad has ordered IN BULK for use as storage containers) for each of us to take to parties and friends.

It was a great day of baking and family time! This holiday season has been a fun and relaxing one for both of us as we hope it has been for all of you. As we count down to the new year we are looking forward to many more delicious experiences and sharing them with all our readers! We wish you all a very sweet new year!

Happy 2008!

E & X