Coming Soon, Fun Playing With Food, the Re-Boot

Stay tuned for the yummies, coming soon!

Bamboo Sushi and Hibachi Express, Niceville FL

Clemenza's, Fort Walton Beach FL

The Boathouse Landing, Valparaiso FL

Fun Playing With Latkes, 2019 Edition

This is our second consecutive winter in Destin, Florida. Our cute apartment has a recently renovated kitchen. Despite the learning curve on the smoothtop electric stove, I enjoy cooking here and have some marvelous local ingredients to work with. This week, the Fort Walton Beach Farmers' Market provided the raw materials for some fabulous potato latkes (or pancakes) - the traditional food of Hanukkah. I make them the same way as my mother did (before MS took her from the hand grater to the blender). But with neither a box grater nor our trusty Cuisinart and it's cheese grating wheel to process the onions and potatoes, what do do?

I never travel when I might be cooking with taking my "Boat Motor Box." It's a plastic box holding a Braun immersion blender with a plethora of accessories. The item attached to the handle at 12 o'clock that is hiding behind the carafe is a whisk.

Though it's about 20 years old, I never figured out until last winter here in Destin that the center cup-like thing and the small blade to the left of it are for grating! So - here are the works for latke making!

Start by beating a fresh Farmers' Market egg using the long food processor blade in the carafe.

Remove beaten egg to the workbowl, and insert that strange colander-looking thing into the carafe. The blade with the little notches on the side fits right in (it doesn't fit into any of the other parts). 

First, roughly chop then process the onion. I did a half recipe each night - 3 potatoes to half a medium onion. Onion and potatoes came from the Farmers' Market.

Mix the processed onions with the egg and then peel the potatoes and place in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation. First potato up!

Clever gadget, isn't it? Not quite as fine as the cheese wheel on the Cuisinart, but the process made a great latke! I decanted each potato into the egg/onion mixture as it finished processing. There is enough liquid in the bowl to prevent potato oxidation.

Add Matzoh Meal (it took a bit more than the 1/4 cup in the recipe to get the right texture, but remember, we didn't drain any liquid out of the potatoes), about a teaspoon of baking powder, salt and pepper, and it's ready to fry!

I used a combination of Olive Oil and Peanut oil.

Serve up with applesauce and sour cream, and dinner is ready! 

And it wouldn't be Hanukkah dinner without a little dessert, would it? How about some fried donuts from our local favorite The Donut Hole.

Raspberry

Bavarian Cream

Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday)! 

Fun Playing With Clam Bake Season, Part 2

After devouring two clam bakes at Solon's Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh, we next sampled the Clam Bake at Fisher's American Tavern, right next door to Mish Mosh. Though we give the slight Clam Bake edge to neighbor Mish Mosh, we also had a great time at Fisher's. Fisher's is serving it's last bakes tonight and tomorrow starting at 4pm; Mish Mosh goes through the end of October.

Fisher's basic clam bake includes a dozen clams, half roasted chicken, corn on the cob, sweet or baked potato, clam broth, New England clam chowder, and a roll with cinnamon butter for for $29.95. Extra dozen clams are $12. They also have a New York strip steak bake for $35.95 and a clamless chicken bake for $19.95. We continued our pattern of sharing one full bake, plus a dozen extra clams. On this evening, we decided to get a second cup of clam chowder in addition to our Steak Bake and extra dozen clams.

The chowder was ok, but definitely a food service product. 

This part of the bake was very good. We opted for sweet potato instead of white. Even though the corn wasn't grilled as Mish Mosh's was, it still had a lot of flavor for late October corn. The steak was nicely cooked to medium. And the sweet potato hit the spot for sweetness and texture. We were grateful for the pats of real butter, since the cinnamon butter was actually margarine. I especially liked the jus. 

Bob liked Fisher's clams better. I liked them better than the clams at the first Mish Mosh bake, half of which were a little too big and tough, but equal to the second two Mish Mosh bakes we had (the last after we had Fisher's). Mish Mosh won for presentation and that lovely tomatoey clam broth. Mish Mosh also won for it's house made chowda with fresh clams. It's not fair to compare lobster or filet with NY Strip, though we also loved Mish Mosh's grilled chicken. All the animal proteins we sampled were perfectly cooked by each restaurant.

So, side by side, priced within a couple of dollars of one another in each variation they shared, we give the win to Mish Mosh. But if you are hankering for clams, either restaurant will slake that thirst in style. Get Fisher's until tomorrow, Mish Mosh's Monday-Saturday through the end of the month.

Oh and if you fancy lobster with your bake, Mish Mosh offers live Maine lobsters Thursday-Saturday, and they are tasty!

Our third bake at Mish Mosh was steak - which had been a 12oz New York Strip similar to Fisher's, but switched out the night we dined to an 8oz Filet, still priced at $38. I normally prefer strip to filet, but not that night. 

Cooked to a perfect medium rare!

Straight up Clam Broth no Tomato, Third Mish Mosh Bake

We're going to try to get back to Mish Mosh for the pork ribs before the season ends! Though Fisher's was a very worthy second. Fun Playing With Clams in Solon for one more week!

Fisher’s American Tavern

28020 Miles Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-3736

https://www.facebook.com/fishersamericantavern/

Open for lunch at 11am Mon-Fri (Saturday at noon)

Closes 11pm

Closed Sunday

Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh

5020 Brainard Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-7300

mishmosheatery@gmail.com

No website, FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bar5020/

Open for lunch and dinner M-TH 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat until 1am.

Fun Playing With African Eats at Choukouya Resto-Bar

Though Columbus Ohio has many African Cuisine dining options, until recently, all you could get in Cleveland was Ethiopian. Enter Choukouya Resto-Bar, which took over the old Nazca spot in Warrensville Heights last year, offering what it calls, "Afro-European Cuisine." The dishes come from a variety of regions in West Africa, and there are a lot of European touches folded in. We enjoyed vibrant flavors and a fun atmosphere. Check out their Facebook page for information on live music nights.

After ordering an African red wine that is served refrigerator cold (but it works and went very well with the spicy food), we were served seasoned toast and a delightfully garlicky dipping sauce. The same sauce is served with the Meat Pie appetizer, which we tasted from a dining companion (no picture) and the meat pie was very good, if served a little colder than it wanted to be.

The menu is divided into Appetizers, Salads, "Sauces" (which are like stews), Gourmand, Sea, Land, and Pasta, as well as Vegetables, Sides, and finally Desserts. The signature items are the grilled meats, which we didn't get to on this visit, but we'll be back to try them. 

On this chilly night, we were both seduced by the promise of a hearty stew and selected from the "Sauces."  My entree (picture above): Egussi (West African melon seed), cooked with fresh cut spinach, spicy broth with oil palm, and choice of protein. The Egussi seeds look like ground turkey in the stew, and tasted almost like ground meat. In fact, at first I thought it WAS meat. Oil palm aka elaeis guineensis, is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm, but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa. 

The diner is offered a heat scale of 1-10, and I asked for 5 hoping it would have medium spice. Well, it remained a very spicy dish, but so tasty! (Another dining companion had Egussi with chicken and asked for it "medium"; he also found it a little too spicy for his palate). 

The diner is also offered a choice of meat or aquatic proteins. The lamb was stew meat, with lots of connective tissue and fat, but much of that had melted in the cooking process such that it cut and chewed well, but it had an obvious presence. So, if that's not your thing, be forewarned. I really enjoyed it! I think the chicken meat my friend had was more typical filet cuts. 

The diner also gets a choice among 4 different rice preparations or 3 different types of Fufu, the classic African starchy side. I chose the Eba Fufu. The menu says that this Fufu is made with Gari stirred in hot water and slowly cooked. Further research suggests that Gari or Garri is a fermented and roasted food made from Cassava. Our server (who was also the bartender/mixologist and FOH manager that evening) said that their version of Eba combines the Gari with a bit of semolina. This gives it a nice firm texture that is easy to break off in little pieces with your fingers. It was the perfect foil to the spicy stew. Fun to look at, eat, and fun to play with!

Bob opted for N’Dole, a Cameroonian dish made with fresh groundnut and Cameroonian bitter leaves cooked in a sauce and choice of protein (lamb), served with rice or boiled plantain. He asked for "medium" spice, and his was spot on (not too spicy). It had a lighter flavor profile than the Egussi, but still distinctive and bold in its own right. 

For his starch, Bob chose "Wake Rice," which is pronounced wake as in "wake up!" Studded with tender black and other beans, and more seasonings, the rice had just the right amount of chew, and accompanied the N’Dole well even though they each had busy flavor profiles that differed a great deal from one another.

Service started out a little slow (hence the slightly imperfect meat pies), but fell into place by the time the entrees rolled out. Our server was very knowledgeable about the food and patient in answering questions and explaining things. Similar to Chinese manners, West Africans do not stand on ceremony when it comes to service - your dish hits the table when it's ready, even if other diners' food is not yet ready. This is totally fine with me, because I prefer to eat hot food from the stove, rather than having my plate sit under a heat lamp (or not), drying out and getting cold. So bravo to the manner of service that honors the food! Just be prepared for it.

I do hope they put a wine list together. The server asked what I liked and recommended a wine I really enjoyed ($9/glass), but I prefer to peruse a menu. At present, they have full liquor and wine service, but no beer permit. Hopefully, that will come to them soon, but there are plenty of satisfying libations as is. One dining companion enjoyed the Chi Chi Watermelon (which is made in a whole small watermelon rind and is easily shared by two), which features rums and watermelon juice right out of the gourd. 

A line dancing class took place while we were dining (one of our party stood up and boogied along). It was a little loud but not too off-putting, and the group of ladies was a lot of fun. But the restaurant was way too empty for a place serving food this delicious!

So get yourself out to the intersection of Warrensville Heights and Bedford Heights (same plaza as Brian Doyle's Cafe Avalaun) and try something that is a little different but loaded with lots of food (and other) fun!

Choukouya Resto-Bar

4620 Richmond Road Suite 290

Cleveland, Ohio 44128

(216) 245-6660

Monday -Friday     3pm - 1am

Saturday - Sunday  1pm - 1am 

Fun Playing With Rosh Hashanah Dinner At Blu

Regular readers of this blog know that I love to cook, especially for the Jewish Holidays. Love it and do it so well that I was fortunate enough to be featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer doing it in 2011! But circumstances are not permitting this tradition to continue, at least in my current home.

Restaurateur Brad Friedlander to the rescue! After closing his iconic Moxie, the Restaurant in Beachwood Ohio earlier this year, he reinvented the space as Blu, the Restaurant and the emphasis of the cuisine to fish and seafood. Moxie had done Rosh Hashanah dinner for a number of years, and we sampled it once with friends. It was ok, but lacked profundity. 

Blu offered a Rosh Hashanah dinner this year, with essentially the same menu as Moxie had before. Given the home kitchen situation, we decided to give it a try, and it proved to be a winner. Not as good as mine, you know, but a lovely meal to welcome in the New Year. 

After making Gefilte Fish from scratch for most of my life, I find most others' versions range from lame to repulsive. Still, Blu specializes in fish. How could it be bad?

Gefilte Fish with Grated Beet and Horseradish

The answer is that it was light and fresh, and quite good. Not as good as mine (they probably didn't use any carp), but a delightful start to the holiday feast. I would have liked a higher ratio of horseradish to beets in the topping, but that's a quibble.

House made Challah followed the fish. We asked for honey and it was brought immediately. Lovely.

Next up, the big test. Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls.

Though not quite as special as mine is, this soup offered chickeny flavor, with a nice balance of sweetness from the carrots. The matzoh balls were softly textured and tasted great. I would eat this again.

Brisket Au Jus and Roasted Chicken 

I always made brisket for the entree. My mother would occasionally roast a turkey in addition to the brisket, but I never did. This brisket was more pristine, without the tomatoes that are a staple in mine. Still, it was cooked to melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and the jus complimented it nicely. The roast chicken was a standout - crispy skin, deftly seasoned, and perfectly cooked. 

Green Beans Almondine

Carrots

We really enjoyed the vegetables. Somehow, despite the nearly full restaurant and the hustle and bustle of service, these plates were hot, but the contents were still al dente. So not only did they taste good and have great texture at dinner, the leftovers didn't turn to mush on reheating. Well done, Blu!

Roasted Potatoes

Accented with a generous hit of rosemary, the potatoes were likewise perfectly cooked. 

Sweet Noodle (Lokshen) Kugel (Pudding)

My mom (and I) never did noodle kugel, or anything too sweet for the main courses. My Russo-Hungarian dad was all about the pepper and salt, so we always made potato kugel. Nonetheless, this was probably my favorite dish of the evening. Eggy and creamy, with a little sweet and a nice hit of cinnamon, I would welcome this dish on my own table.

This brings us to dessert.

The menu said that this was Rugelach and Spiced Apple Cake. The Apple Cake is on the left. The honey went so well on it! The pastry on the right didn't resemble the Rugelach I grew up on. But the buttery rich flaky pastry, and infusion of what tasted like home-made preserves (prune and apricot, I think) made them a winner whatever they are called. 

Service, which had been poor on our first visit to Blu, was mostly excellent. We were glad to see they've worked those glitches out! And the portions - we had enough leftovers (about half or a little more than half) for dinner for the second night of Rosh Hashanah at home, and leftovers remained even after that!

So if you wonder how this dinner stacks up against mine, here are some links to previous dinners I've done at my house or my mom's. 2009, 2008, 2011 (at Mom's). But we had a lot of fun playing with Rosh Hashanah dinner at Blu, and a big thank you to Brad for doing it.

Oh, and here's what a fish dish from a non-holiday night looks like at Blu.

"Special" Swordfish, corn relish, avocado creme. 

Blu The Restaurant

3355 Richmond Road

Beachwood, Ohio 44122

(216) 831-5599

https://blutherestaurant.com/

Open for lunch and dinner Monday-Friday

Saturday dinner only

Closed Sunday

Fun Playing With Clam Bake Season, Part 1

Not Wabbit Season. Not Duck Season. Sadly, not even Baseball Season for Cleveland in a few more days. But - it is Clam Bake Season! After seeing the post by Fishers American Tavern in Solon about their clam bake, we were excited to try it. It's available Thursday-Saturday now through the month of October. We'd just had Taco Tuesday there two days prior, and it wasn't crowded at all, so I didn't make a reservation, even as the clock slipped to 5:45pm. And the parking lot was completely jammed. Cars were parked on the lawn next to the parking lot. We knew this meant that the restaurant would be completely filled and very cramped. 

Sad, we looked at each other and Bob said, "how about Bar 50/20 next door?" Though we both were jonesing for clams, we decided it could wait for another day. Then we walked into Bar 50/20, and learned that they also have just started their Clam Bake Season, they just haven't told anyone yet. Well, I'm telling you! And we got to dine on the patio during a perfect early fall evening, so it was a win-win.

We had decided before leaving the house to share one clam bake and order an extra dozen clams so we could each have a dozen. As we anticipated, that was more than enough food for the two of us.

First course, a mug of Clam Chowda. Big chunks of potato and bacon rounded out the goodness. We shared it and it was a perfect portion.

The stars of the show! The dozen steamed clams were 2 varieties, not all Little Necks as stated on the menu. I prefer the Little Necks, but all were enjoyable, especially since they were delivered in a bowl of tomato-infused broth! The Honey Pomegranate Roasted Sweet Potatoes seemed like a pre-Rosh Hashonah treat (since both honey and pomegranate are traditional items for that festive New Year meal), and were a real step up from the traditional baked or boiled white potatoes. As we predicted, we barely made a dent in the Garlic Herb Roast Chicken, after polishing off our clams. Both the chicken and the corn were redolent of the grille and full of flavor. The breast meat was even more delicious dipped in that tomato-ey broth! 

Do NOT wait till you get home! Bar 50/20-Mish Mosh is offering three different meat options with this bake Monday-Saturday, and adds an additional choice of 1.5# Steamed Split Maine Lobster Thursday-Saturday. Instead of chicken, you can choose a half rack of Dry Rubbed BBQ Basted Baby Back Pork Ribs, or Black Angus NY Strip Steak. Prices are: $28 for chicken, $33 for ribs, $37 for steak, and $56 for the lobster, which come in alive and stay that way until you order them. The extra dozen clams were $13.

Fun playing with Clam Bake Season started for us at Bar 50/20, and we'll be back to try some of the variations, but there will also be others, I hope, before we're done. Fishers does take reservations . . . .

Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh

5020 Brainard Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-7300

mishmosheatery@gmail.com

No website, FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bar5020/

Open for lunch and dinner M-TH 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat until 1am

Reservations accepted and encouraged

Fun Playing with Food at Bar 50/20 AKA Mish Mosh

Mish Mosh made it's first appearance on this blog in March 2017. At that point, we'd only scratched the surface of their food; I thought surely I'd posted about them again. But with the roller coaster our lives have been on the past few years, it never happened. Until now. 

Chef-Owner Howard Curtis and his sons, Chandler and Skyler Curtis, cook up an eclectic menu and a constantly changing bevy of specials for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday at their cozy space located at 5020 Brainard Road in Solon. In nice weather, their outdoor patio is primo. Howard's wife and Co-Owner Jamie curates a lovely wine selection year round. It is one of our favorite places to dine. A base menu of starters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, salads and entrees is complemented daily by a specials list that can compete with any restaurant in Cleveland for quality, freshness and creativity. Price points range from $10 up to $24 for the Strip Steak, and mid twenties to low thirties for some specials.

Since it seems my photographs have been accumulating for over two years, here are some highlights:

This gorgeous piece of cod was also from the 2017 Lenten season. 

Continuing from 2017, this Special featured Tortellini, tossed with sausage, seafood and cream.

Bob enjoyed their take on a Banh Mi. Roast Pork, Country Pate, Pickled Carrots, Daikon Radish, Nuoc Mam Cham were served on a Crusty Baguette. It took them a while to get the hang of the fresh cut fries, but get it right they do!

When Stuffed Cabbage is on the menu, it is on my plate! Served here with potato-cheese pierogi (and a tossed salad first, with housemade balsamic dressing). Oh, there it is:

Their Bourbon Street Cobb Salad resembles no Cobb salad I've ever had, but it's delicious. After the first time I had it, I asked for the dressing on the side because it is a spicy meatball! Mixed Greens, Rice, Cheddar and Mozzarella, Scallion, Roasted Peppers, Cajun Ranch with an "add" of chicken. 

This Sausage Kale Soup actually made kale not just palatable, but delicious! Another awesome soup selection is their Clam Chowder with Bacon.

This particular dinner was enjoyed on the aforementioned patio. 

Another standout from the regular menu is the burger selection. 

Bob loved his Cajun Burger. Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, Pepper Jack Cheese, topped with Cajun Ranch. 

This Pork Chop special also made Bob very happy, There were enough leftovers for a second meal!

Bob had tried the pizza over the last couple of years, but it never appealed to me. Howard, a Connecticut native, sympathized with my longing for East Coast style pizza, but it's not what he serves here. Still, something made me decide to try it. And, as Anthony Bourdain said of Chicago's Burt's Pizza (deep dish) back in 2008 - it's not pizza (as I know it), I don't know what it is but it's delicious!

The crust had a great chew and crunch, and even though it was cooked in a pan, I liked it! So much so that I ordered another style on my next visit. 

They call this the Mesclun Pizza: A plain cheese pizza topped after baking with Baby Field Greens, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese, Balsamic Vinaigrette. And as weird as it may seem to top a pizza with a salad, the sun dried tomatoes really pull it together and make it work. Though I confess I ate the greens part mostly as a separate salad component and not still on the pizza. 

Howard and Jamie offer delicious food, gracious hospitality, and a killer patio (in season). Highly recommended for Fun Playing With Food in the Eastern suburbs!

Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh

5020 Brainard Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-7300

mishmosheatery@gmail.com

No website, FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bar5020/

Open for lunch and dinner M-TH 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat until 1am.