More Fun Playing with Alaskan Salmon from Mister Brisket

I had not intended to again blog about Mister Brisket's Alaskan salmon this year, since I just did. But the dinner I just enjoyed was so amazing, I must tell you about it one more time.

I am an intensely fussy fish eater. I only eat salmon when it is in season, which the last couple of years in Cleveland has meant Alaskan Salmon season. Since I only prepare it at this time of year, my technique had slipped. Tonight, I reviewed last year's blog entry to ensure that I did it perfectly. And perfect it was.

According to the email, this was again Taku River salmon. But Mister Brisket, who was leaving as I was buying, said everyone was getting Copper River Salmon. Now, things are a little feblunged (mixed up) at Mister Brisket, since the sudden and unfortunate loss of Sanford's mom last week, so I wasn't worried about it. We were charged the lower Taku River price, and the product was simply fabulous - which is why I'm writing about it again so soon.

This time, I caramelized the onions correctly, and used the cast iron and the oven to obtain perfect results:









The meal was competed by Brown Texmati Rice and Green Beans/Carrots with Indonesian Spices. All of the flavors and textures worked perfectly, and the crispy salmon skin was simply sublime. Bravo, Mister Brisket. We had a lot of fun playing with this dinner tonight!

More Fun Playing with Tastee Bites

Tastee Bites, a charming little spot at 5416 Mayfield Road (440-605-9946, no website), has really hit its stride since I last wrote about it. Chef-owner Charlotte Bechara has streamlined her menu and made it economically competitive with even fast food lunches. She now offers, among other delights, a selection of grilled Lebanese and American sandwich wraps for $4.99 for vegetarian and $5.99 for meat varieties. Most important, though, is that all of Charlotte's food is real food that is cooked from scratch. It is truly "slow food."



These are some of the goodies we've recently enjoyed at lunch:


Original Steak Wrap (cheese omitted at diner's request)


Kosher Hot Dog

Split open and grilled.




Grilled Chicken Wrap (pickled turnips omitted at diner's request)

He left out the best part! The pickled turnips are amazing.


Kafta Wrap

Seasoned beef and lamb patty is grilled and wrapped with goodies in this blurry shot.


Kafta from an earlier visit, with all the trimmings: hummus, veggies, parsley, pickled turnips

This was before they were grilling the wraps, so it is more oval than square. Even though I'm not usually a toast kinda gal, I think the grilling gives it great texture. But this shot showed off the fillings better!



This is gooood stuff!


Moujadara Wrap

This was simply fabulous. The filling consists of lentils, rice, and caramelized onion, which are mixed with cooked vegetables. The sandwich was tasty, filling, vegetarian and healthy.



While we were enjoying our sandwiches, Charlotte emerged from the back kitchen with several containers of freshly made items. She then deposited the following on our table:


Freshly made, from scratch, Tabouli Salad with Pita



This salad explodes with flavor. Fresh, fresh, fresh.

Now, our table received another comp as a result of a miscommunication - Charlotte thought someone in our group was having a birthday and delivered this plate:



The sad news is that Charlotte is no longer making desserts for the restaurant herself (I did not ask about her catering, so that may still be available). The good news is that she is sourcing her desserts from locally owned small bakeries. The baklava was very enjoyable - not too sweet or sticky - just right! The cake had thick buttercream and was crusted with crushed pistachios.

Other budget conscious, yet freshly prepared items available are the Angus Burger ($4.79), Chicken Burger ($5.29), which I blogged about in my earlier post, Salmon Burger ($4.99) and Veggie Burger ($4.99), which I sampled recently but didn't photograph. Light in taste and texture, the veggie burger is made in house and has no mushrooms (I don't care for mushrooms). A small selection of salads (which can be topped with any meat or veggie option) and sides are also available, as well as Soup of the Day.

We are enjoying playing with the food at Tastee Bites and recommend it for simple, healthy, fresh lunch or dinner eats.

More Fun Playing With Food From Mister Brisket

I was most sad to learn late yesterday that Margret Vine (the mother of Sanford Herskovitz a/k/a Mister Brisket), passed away on Friday at the age of 95. Per Jewish tradition, the funeral must be held as soon as possible, but NOT on Shabbat (Friday or Saturday). I had spoken briefly with Hank Kornblutt on Friday about getting some of the Wild Alaskan Salmon, from Alaska 's Taku River, that he had gotten in via Fedex, and he said nothing about it.

I can only conjecture that she had been ill and her passing expected, because no one said a word about it when Bob and I visited the store on Saturday to pick up our fish. Although, Sanford was on the phone the entire time, which is unusual. So, my apologies for not offering condolences while we were there. I learned last night that the funeral is today.

Bob had never tasted a freshly made Mister Brisket Pastrami Sandwich - and we had decided to remedy that this day. We packed our pound of fish, casing hotdogs, and sliced turkey breast into a cooler, and took the sandwiches in another bag. We needed to shop at the Heinen's down the street anyway, so we made that our next stop. Before starting our shopping, however, we picked up a pop in the food court, then went upstairs to the dining room to enjoy our sandwiches. They were heavenly!


Pastrami, Rye, Ba-Tampte Deli Mustard





Every time I eat one of these (which isn't very often - I think my last one was on my birthday last July) I marvel at the punch of the fresh spices - that is what sets this pastrami apart from all others. Bravo, Hank and Sanford! And Bob was most impressed with the pickles - he pronounced them delightfully garlicky (I do not consume cucumbers in any form - so Bob got to enjoy both pickle slices).

Later in the evening, I made dinner. I did NOT split the fish filet - I asked Bob to do that because he can usually cut things much more precisely than I can. Not this time.



This was an exquisite piece of fish. No smell - not even normal salmon smell - it was absolutely pristine. You can see where the butcher got all of the pinbones out, so I didn't have to.

I caramelized red onions and prepared a side dish of Sichuan Green Beans, which I neglected to photograph. Then, I thought I was prepping mai fun, or thin rice noodles, which I was going to make into a simple fried-rice style accompaniment. It wasn't until the soaked noodles hit the wok and it became apparent that I had goofed - and grabbed bean thread noodles and not rice noodles. Oh well - no photo of that mistake, either.

The salmon got the same simple treatment we always give to King fillet - salt and fresh cracked pepper, saute in Extra Virgin Olive Oil to medium-rare, plate with caramelized onion and today, parsley. Simple and delicious.



Neither Bob nor I could finish our fish. Or our sides, for that matter. I had the solution for that!

After dinner, Bob decided to make a loaf of potato bread. This bread would be an amazing accompaniment to our leftovers omelet. The bread had amazing texture - soft on the inside, with a perfect crust. And specks of potato skin throughout!

We began our day this morning with the following breakfast:


Potato Bread


Breakfast Omelet





I started with a red Hungarian hot pepper from the freezer and a little ghee. Once that got hot, I added the leftover vegetables and noodles, and got them nice and hot. I then added the leftover salmon, and let it get hot. Over the top went two Hensbury Farm eggs. Stir gently.



Hartzler Farms butter on Bob's potato bread completed the plate. Yum!



Once again, Mister Brisket has satisfied our hunger, and given us primo food to play with - first for an amazing lunch, then dinner, then breakfast the next day. And Bob has a pot of beans in mind to accompany those hotdogs we bought . . . and I've got potato bread to make my turkey sandwiches on!