Fun Playing with Traditional Family Style Indian Food

It was a mere two days after we returned from Destin that we attended a fabulous dining experience at Doug Katz's wonderful restaurant, fire food & drink. We had missed last year's dinner, when Chef Doug teamed up with local Indian cook Radhika Rajwade to create an authentic family-style meal of Indian cuisine, and we were determined that we would not miss this one! A Rose Wine Cocktail began the repast; sorry, I didn't get a photo of it.


Our Hosts: Chefs Doug Katz and Radhika Rajwade

As Chef Doug introduced his cohort, the servers began pouring a variety of three Indian beers, which would continue to flow throughout the meal.


Hari Chutney - Cilantro & Green Chile


Lal Chutney - Red Chile and Garlic

Our table needed repeated refills of these fiery condiments, as all 7 of us were spice lovers!


Achar - Spicy Indian Pickles.

No cucumber = I love these!


Imli Chutney - Tamarind

This was freshly made and offered a sweet counterpoint to the heat of the other condiments.


Dahi Papdi and Ragda Patty

On the left, a house-made flour crisp is topped with Lentils, Potato and Yogurt. To the right, a mashed potato cake topped with chick pea curry.









Chicken Chaat - Indian Chicken Salad

Delicious!


Tandoori Prawns - Tandor-Roasted Shrimp with Indian Spices

I had warned Chef Doug before the meal that, being just off the plane from Florida, he should not be insulted if I found any of the fish or seafood not palatable. This dish surprised me, because although the shrimp was certainly frozen, there were no chemically tastes or smells. It actually was quite good.


Lahori Fish Fry - Spiced Talapia

I cannot say the same for the talapia - the joys of fresh-from-the-water grouper were too close to my memory banks. Though the preparation was lovely, the fish was, well, Cleveland fish.




Mughlai Karu Murgh - Cashew Chicken Curry

This dish was one of my favorites of the evening. As boring as white meat chicken might be - in this dish, it sang in perfect harmony with nutty, spicy, creamy goodness.


Baingan Bharta - Roasted Eggplant

One of my favorite Indian dishes - not too greasy, not too heavy - perfect!


Blurry, Steamed Basmati Rice


Naan - Clay Oven Bread


Aloo Gobi - Cauliflower and Potato Curry

Another delicious and expertly executed dish.


Makhani Macchi - Butter Fish Curry

Alas and alak - I could not get enthusiastic about the fish - though I again loved the preparation. Oh well - more food was coming out to the table!


Kheema Biryani - Spiced Minced Goat, Rice, Saffron and Crispy Onions

This was also one of my favorites. Who knew that goat meat could taste so good! It really stands up to the spices.


Yoghurt

This dip accompanied the Biryani. The yoghurt tasted homemade!


Saag Gosht - Braised Goat and Spinach

Loved this, too.


Badami Matar Paneer - Pea, Cheese and Almond Curry

This was my favorite dish of the night - I'd never had freshly made paneer before, and it was amazing. I was kind of sad that this was the last savory dish, because I did not have much room left to truly appreciate it! Though another round of naan was served with these courses, I was too full to taste any.


Mango Ice Cream with Nan Khatai (Cardamon-Pistachio Cookie)

I had a tough time eating any dessert - as tasty as it was, I was done.


Gajar Halwa - Warm Carrot, Cardamom and Saffron Pudding

I apologize for the lateness of this post - but by COB the day following this dinner, I came down with a nasty cold that got me way behind on a lot of things, including blogging.

If you learn that Radhika Rajwade is cooking somewhere - make a reservation - because we had tremendous fun playing with her artful, tasty food. And the rest of the staff at fire, together with Chef Katz, made this a great evening of fun and food.

Fun at Fire Playing Slowly with Maple Syrup

Yesterday, the Northeast Ohio Convivium of Slow Food held its second "tasting" event at Shaker Square's fire Restaurant. It was about two years ago that we had a "bacon tasting" at fire, followed by brunch. This time, the featured item was Maple Syrup. Ten syrups, as a matter of fact. After tasting and scoring all of the syrups, we were served a delicious brunch by Chef Katz's kitchen. But first, the tasting!

When we arrived at fire's back room, we found the tasting set up as follows:



The syrups for two of the glasses (#5 and#6) arrived a little late - but in time for everyone to enjoy them. We each had a scoresheet and a small pencil - and the table held a whole lot of little bitty spoons!











#6


#7







Let the tasting begin!





This little guy wasn't the only youngster - bravo to the parents who are educating their children about where their food comes from! After everyone had tasted, Kari Moore revealed which syrup was which - and there were a couple of surprises. The biggest surprise what that some people liked #10 a lot - #10 was Mrs. Butterworth's. I confess, I had started at the end and worked my way up, so I tasted #10 first and #1 last, though #6 & #7 were my actual last tastes, as they arrived after my table had gone through the line. #10 did not taste very "maply," but it was very tasty, with a lot of caramel/butterscotch flavor. It coated my palate, and seemed thicker than the other syrups. Thank heavens #7 came to rescue me from choosing a fake food as favorite! It's scary how such artificial food can taste so good!

The real syrups lined up as follows, I hope (Kari - please feel free to comment and correct any mistakes I may have here):




Miller Farm 2007 Light Amber




Kari said this was also from Miller Farm, but the label says Sutton's
2008 Medium Amber




Godell Farm 2008 Light Amber




Godell Farm 2008 Dark Amber

I don't seem to have a photo of #5, which is ironic since that syrup, a 2008 Light Amber, is the fire "house" maple syrup, produced by Snake Hill Farm in Geauga Country. One of the proprietors, Savery Rorimer, was our guest speaker, and she told us about the syrup making process and answered questions.





Snake Hill Farm 2008 Medium Amber




Snake Hill Farms 2008 Dark Amber

This was the personal favorite of me and my husband; we were very happy that Ms. Rorimer brought some to sell!




Vermont Maple Syrup 2007 Dark Amber, Grade B (the only sample that was not Grade A)




Holden Aboratorium [spelling??]

This was from 2007; Kari was not sure whether they are still producing syrup.

I did not photograph Mrs. Butterworth, but you know what she looks like!

The servers then began to appear, bearing goodies. First, an exquisite clay oven bread topped with cinnamon sugar that melted in the mouth:





Next, two warm pancake toppings:


Blueberry Compote


Snake Hill Farm 2008 Light Amber Maple Syrup (tasting #5)

Next, plates of meaty sides appeared:


Applewood Smoked Bacon

The bacon was perfectly cooked to slightly chewy crispness - and what a taste difference from supermarket bacon!


House Made Breakfast Sausage



I'm not a big sausage eater - but I really loved this!


Lemon Souffle Pancakes







Once everyone was served, plates of fresh pancakes came out for each table.

This event was a perfect way to play with nine natural, sugar, corn syrup, color and chemical free Maple Syrups, while enjoying a delicious brunch! Thank you, Chef Katz and Slow Food for a lovely event.