Fun Playing with Noodles, Pork Belly and Clam Casserole at Noodle Chu

We have completed our final trip to New York for 2011. Both the first and last trips included a dinner stop at Noodle Chu, which does not appear to have a website, but which can be found at 770 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054-3401, (973) 299-6518. Parsippany is located right about where a re-fuel becomes necessary, so Noodle Chu's location is especially convenient. Prices are low, quality is generally high, and despite some internet comments I've seen to the contrary, service is always just fine.

Our group shared six dishes each visit, with nary a dud among them.

Singapore Mei Fun

Peking Pork Chop

This would be the only dish repeated on our second visit. Pounded pork chops breaded to be light and crunchy with waterchestnut flour, expertly fried and served sizzling hot. Yum.

Thick noodle with Beef and Black Pepper

Sizzling Plate Scallops with Black Pepper Sauce

Yes, two black pepper sauced dishes at one meal are not too many. Noodle Chu does them very well.

Snow Pea Leaves with Crab Sauce

Despite the shaky photography of the first photo - this was my favorite dish of the meal. Fresh crab meat married to sauteed snow pea leaves by a creamy-eggy sauce.

Pork Belly and Preserved Vegetable Casserole

This was not a dish for the faint of stomach - in addition to looking very Chinese - the dish contained a fair amount of pork fat. Those of us who appreciate soft, melt-in-your-mouth pork fat really enjoyed this dish. The preserved vegetable adds both flavor and textural contrasts to the dish.

Our second visit occurred last week, just two days before a freak October snowstorm would blanket the Tri-State Area. We began with Sizzling Veal Chop in Black Pepper Sauce:

Yi Mein Noodles with Crab Meat

The crab meat in this dish didn't wow me as much as it had on our previous dish. Nevertheless, we happily cleaned this plate.

Udon noodles with seafood

I actually liked this noodle dish a bit more than the yi mein. The seafood was standard food service quality, but no chemical smells or bad tastes were in evidence. The scallops were particularly tasty; the squid was the only weak link for me.

Sauteed Snow Pea Leaf

A simple dish, executed beautifully. 

Yup, it's the Peking Style Pork Chop once again

Note that I was unable to photograph the plate before someone who shall remain nameless (my husband) shamelessly grabbed a piece. It is that good.

Casserole of Clams in Satay Sauce

We all liked this slightly spicy treatment for fresh clams. The satay sauce, a cousin to curry, was a nice change from the more ubiquitous black bean sauce.

Our happy table

Dessert

We had fun playing with the well crafted dishes at Noodle Chu. I have my eye on the fresh seafood tank, where the Dungeness Crabs were swimming, for our next visit.

Fun Slurping Noodles Slowly at Noodlecat

All of the soggy weather we've had lately in Northeast Ohio has left me hankering for a steaming bowl of noodles. One of the first scenes of my favorite food movie, Tampopo (which is a Noodle Western), begins in the rain. And so, it was perfect timing that Slow Food Northern Ohio decided to offer a slurpilicious dinner on October 13 at Jonathon Sawyer's new Noodlecat restaurant in downtown Cleveland, just around the corner from his delicious Greenhouse Tavern.

We began with a platter of house made pickles, served family style.

Items included pickled onions and green tomatoes, hot Hungarian pepper slices, beets, turnips, slices of Asian vegetable (was it wintermelon or bittermelon?), ginger (my favorite item, at the center of the platter), sliced egg (next to the ginger) and cucumber.

Two more appetizers would be served family style:

Broiled Rice Balls with Market Spices and Mushroom Infusion with Sesame Oil Dipping Sauce

This time-honored Japanese technique for using up yesterday's rice delivered crisp texture, simple but tasty flavors, and a big hit of umami from the mushroom creme dollop up top.

Chickpea-Stuffed Gyoza w/Chef's Garden Vegetables and Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce

When Chef Brian Reilly told us that the filling was chickpea, I almost didn't believe him. It was that good.

Bob and I both selected the same entree from the three choices on the menu: Pork Miso Ramen with roasted Ohio pork, miso, scallions and greens.

The noodles, jointly developed by Chef Sawyer and his team and Ohio City Pasta, which handles production, were pretty darn close to  noodles I've enjoyed before in Asia and New York. The broth was deliciously porky but balanced by the miso without being overpowered by it. My only disappointment was that the bowl did not come to the table steaming hot as it should have. But it was still delicious, and I can't wait to return to Noodlecat for another ramen (or udon or soba) fix. 

We also enjoyed the company of other supporters of Slow Food's mission to encourage local and sustainable eating. Joining us at our table was Ed Butdorf, the self described "Director of poultry relations at Happy Chix Farms." Though we have not sampled his products (including chicken, duck and rabbit), I've heard nothing but great things about them - if you are interested in trying them, contact Ed through the Happy Chix Facebook Page and he'll fix you up - he delivers to several Cleveland-area restaurants regularly and will happily meet you on those journeys!

Fun playing with ramen in Cleveland - Noodlecat satisfies the craving.

Fun Playing With Garden Tomatoes in a Cobbler

This post is a few weeks late, but we still have some luscious garden tomatoes ripening in the house, and basil in the garden - hopefully some of you do also (or can still get from the farmers' markets) - because this recipe is so good, we made it four times in two weeks!

I stumbled upon Tomato Cobbler on Seriouseats.com, here. The recipe originated with cookbook author Lisa Fain, and can be found in her book The Homesick Texan Cookbook.  Ms. Fain rightly wondered if cobbler, traditionally a sweet ending filled with fruit, would work as a savory when made with garden tomatoes and cooked in a cast-iron skillet. After sharing the recipe with Bob, he turned it into even greater deliciousness with a few garden tweaks. 

He first followed the recipe exactly. The prescribed ingredients are as follows:

1 pound tomatoes, peeled, cored, and diced or 2 cups canned diced tomatoes, drained
1 jalapeño chile, seeds and stems removed, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and black pepper, to taste
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup whole milk

which yielded this:

Here is is served up for dinner with some of our Breychak's Farm Sausage, from the grill:

We devoured it, but felt we could do better. We also skipped the cast iron skillet, concerned about the tomatoes reacting, and used a three quart All Clad Chef's Pan. So in some ways, this post is about the process of playing with food, and how by being unafraid to experiment, you can sometimes improve someone else's recipe.

For the second incarnation, Bob doubled the amount of tomatoes to 2 cups. He also added some garden corn kernels and reduced the liquid in half. This version was more delicious, but a little too wet:

By the time we made it a third time, for my parents in NY, we'd decided to cut the tomato back to 1.5 cups and to substitute garden basil for the impossible-to-grow-in-Northeast Ohio cilantro. Perfection!

We made a triple-size batch of the cobbler for our friends in Jamaica Plain Co-housing, but it was devoured by our 30+ guests before I could snap a photo of it!

So, the next time you have garden tomatoes and basil (and perhaps corn) on your hands - give this amazing dish a try. It works as a side (as seen above) or drizzle with cheese of your choice and melt to make it a one-pot meal (I enjoyed the leftovers from the first one that way, with cheddar).

1.5 cups tomatoes, peeled, cored, and diced
1 jalapeño chile, seeds and stems removed, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped basil or cilantro
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon lime juice
Kosher Salt and black pepper, to taste
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
.5 cup whole milk (we used 2% from Snowville Creamery)

Fresh corn off the cob

To make the cobbler:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Toss together the diced tomatoes (together with their juices - don't let them get away!), diced jalapeño, garlic, basil or cilantro, cumin, and lime juice. Add Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

3. Melt the butter in a 2.5-3qt. oven-safe skillet or Chef's Pan, on low heat. Once the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat.

4. In a bowl, bring together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and Kosher salt. Add the milk and stir. Add and stir in corn, if using. Pour the batter over the melted butter in the skillet. Do not stir the batter. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the batter and again, do not stir. Bake for about 30 minutes, uncovered, and remove from the oven when golden, brown and delicious!

Fun playing with garden tomatoes, corn and basil never tasted this good!

Fun Playing With Freddie's Polish Boy

As many of you know, one of Cleveland's favorite culinary sons has "made good" with a starring role on daily national television - Michael Symon, who appears on ABC's The Chew. The Chew debuted about a month ago, replacing the long running soap opera All My Children. The DVR has allowed me to see many of Michael's exploits (and you can watch complete episodes via The Chew's website). On Wednesday October 19, 2011, Michael demonstrated a Cleveland classic: the Polish Boy. The Polish Boy consists of grilled sausage or kielbasa on a hotdog bun and topped with coleslaw, french fries and BBQ sauce. Symon said that sometimes pulled pork is added - I've been told that such an addition turns the sandwich into a Polish Girl.

Who would tell me such a thing? The fine folks at Freddie's Rib House, which opened in April 2011 at  5361 Mayfield Road, Lydhurst OH, that's who. You can reach Freddie's at (440) 449-9400 (no website). Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, noon to 1 a.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

I've eaten there a number of times, but held off posting about them. The people are really nice, but they had some early kinks to work out. Things seem well in hand now. Except for the fries, which I'll get to shortly. Owner Andre Wheeler is the son of the restaurant's late namesake Freddie Wheeler, and he was working the order counter my first two visits. The original incarnations of Freddie's served for years downtown, but the urban location closed shortly after the Lyndhurst spot opened. Take out or eat in at one of four four-tops.

After watching The Chew Crew devour Symon's Polish Boys Wednesday night, I had a hankering to eat one myself yesterday. And I knew where I could satisfy that craving - Freddie's! Here it is - a "deal" for lunch at $4, including a can of pop (regular price is $5 just for the sandwich). A larger size is available for a dollar more.

Usually, I would eat something this messy with a fork - but inspired by Chef Symon, I tucked the foil back into the bottom end of the package, picked it up, and just dove in. Crunchy from the grill, the sausage skin gave way to tender, juicy saltiness that was complimented by the slightly sweet, yet tart (and obviously housemade) cole slaw. The fries, which are cut in-house from whole potatoes, were a bit limp, but full of potato flavor. The BBQ sauce was reasonably well balanced between heat and sweet, but applied perhaps a bit too robustly. My hands and face were a mess after eating this, but oh was my tummy happy!

Here's a Polish Girl I sampled on April 15; it was also messily delicious:

 Other items I've enjoyed at Freddie's since April are below:

Fried Perch Lunch, April 13, 2011

My first meal from Freddie's consisted of a generous portion of frozen perch that was hand-breaded to order and perfectly deep-fried, accompanied by the house made french fries. Everything Freddie's serves is prepared to order - either call ahead, or expect to wait at least ten minutes.

This bag, one of several in the restaurant, could be seen from the ordering counter - a sign of the authenticity of the fries. I believe that they store the raw, cut fries in water to prevent oxidation, then fry them to order. As Chef Symon explained on the The Chew, the better technique is to blanch the fries in 300 degree oil (which would also solve the oxidation problem) and THEN fry to order at 360 degrees. The single-fry method explains why the fries don't get very crisp. But they do taste delicious, and contain no artificial ingredients or processing.

Andre told me that I had to try the wings, and so went my third meal:

Meaty wings, fried to exquisite crispness. The Wing Dinner contains a generous portion for $6.25.

Plus house-made cole slaw.

Plus fries, and two slices of bread (which you can sort of see in the upper left corner), together with a cup of Andre's BBQ sauce.

A friend joined me on my next visit, and we started by sharing an order of onion rings:

Though clearly not made from scratch, the rings were fried to hot crispiness and were most enjoyable.

My friend had a fried tilapia sandwich (all of the sandwiches come with fries):

I opted for the Rib Tips:

Both lunches satisfied and offered good value for the price. The rib tips were melt-in-your-mouth tender and not overly sauced.

One of the kinks I was hoping they'd work out, though, concerns the sides - priced at $3 each. When last I ordered any, in May 2011, the portions were very small for the price point. For example, the cole slaw:

That cup didn't hold more than 2 ounces of product. Yes it is house made and delicious, but for $3, I wish they'd move up to the next cup size. Same issue with the mac and cheese side order:

This cup didn't hold more than 3 ounces, I'd guess. It tasted nice, but wasn't anything special and didn't go very far. I do not know whether anything has changed in regard to this issue in the intervening months.

At first, the baked stuffed potato seems pricey ($8-10). But the portion is huge (chicken, steak or shrimp, plus chopped broccoli, onion, cheese, mushrooms and green pepper), especially for lunch. More important - it was one of the best tasting items I've had at Freddie's (hold the mushrooms on mine, please):

You can see bits of seasoning atop the cheese; I have no doubt that this sprinkle added to my enjoyment of the dish. 

Freddie's seems to have solved it's early issues with utensilry, nakpins and beverages. So - if you are in the Lyndhurst area and are in the mood for a Polish Boy or Girl, or ribs, or fried chicken or fish (and yes, they offer grilled chicken also) - Freddie's can be a fun choice to play with Southern-inspired comfort food. It certainly slaked my Symon-induced Polish Boy craving!

Fun Playing With Fall Road Trip Food, Westbound and Down

The third and final leg of our recent road trip was the shortest part. After a third breakfast (and second popover) at Ula Cafe in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts, we turned our wheels westbound, towards Binghamton NY.  

I wish I could report on some fabulous road eats between Boston and Binghamton, but for most part, we stuck with beverages and bathrooms. Though we did visit a fast food place for snack and bathroom in what proved to be a detour through the little town of Cobbleskill New York. We didn't realize until after we'd settled on the mundane that we could drive straight through the town to pick up I-88 instead of turning around and getting back on where we'd gotten off. When we did this, we noted a number of interesting looking places to eat in this small town; next time, I'll know.

Once arrived in Bingto town, my aunt and uncle suggested Chinese Buffet. They are big fans of the form, and though we are less so, we were delighted to go where ever they wanted to take us. Our destination: Buffet Star in Vestal NY, a strong stone's throw from the State University at Binghamton campus. Tired from the long drive, I didn't bother to extricate my camera for what I expected to be a typical Asian buffet serving mediocre-to-average food. Buffet Star, however, diffused that notion before we even got in the door, as several Asian customers exited just as we approached, and they all looked happy. Stepping inside, we noticed a substantial number of Asian patrons - always a good sign in an ethnic restaurant.

The essential law of physics that drives buffet restaurants is that most kitchens (even supersized ones) can't  turn out the large variety of items offered in the quantity needed. Therefore, any buffet restaurant at any given time will be serving many items that come straight out of food service packs. In my experience at Asian Buffets, this will include sushi and desserts; in the case of Buffet Star, it also included a selection of dim sum items and many of the appetizers. To be fair, we did not sample the "Mongolian BBQ" section, where you pick out raw ingredients and have them cooked to order.

I tried to gravitate to the items that the Asian customers were selecting, and I was mostly rewarded, with some tasty pork (prepared three different ways) and fresh, delicious clams with black bean sauce. So, no photos, but happy tummy. And an actual recommendation for an Asian Buffet (my first) - you can find a very nice meal at Buffet Star, and at about $10 for the all-you-can-eat dinner, what's not to like?

After a fun evening looking at digitized old family photos, and photos my uncle took while stationed on Okinawa in the late 1960s, we headed to bed in the guest room. We awoke refreshed and ready to face the final leg of our trip. My uncle gifted me with a CD that I haven't been able to stop listening to since the trip, and I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the late country music star Jerry Reed and/or the late great Shel Silverstein (who wrote all of the songs), or Reed's compatriots on the disc - Mel Tillis, Waylon Jennings and Bobby Bare. The disk is called Old Dogs, which was originally released as a 2 disk set, but is now apparently only available as two separate disks.

Our last meal of the trip, as it would turn out, was in some ways a mirror of the first - PIZZA! My aunt and uncle took us to a local, mom-and-pop type place: Tonarlo's, 1113 Conklin Road, Conklin NY, 607.775.9299.

Tonarlo's prepares everything from scratch, and it takes awhile. Even though we all ordered pizza or calzone, our server deposited two loaves of fresh, crusty bread for us to nosh while we waited.

Bob decided to be a purist and opted for the personal size pizza topped with sausage.

Uncle Jerry, never the purist, also ordered a personal pizza - the Chicken, Bacon, Cheddar, Ranch.

Lucky me - a slice of each pie wound up on my plate! And look at that crust - why, oh why, it is so hard to find a crust like this near Cleveland?

Each slice satisfied, in a different way. I'd never have expected ranch dressing to work on a pizza, but topping off great ingredients, expertly prepared, each bite sang. Bob's simpler pizza also pleased my palate with great chew, a little crunch, and fresh sausage.

My Aunt Phyllis and I each ordered a calzone. Remember how I'd passed on the calzone in Connecticut? This time - I was not to be denied my ricotta cheese fix! But even better - my Aunt explained that even though it wasn't yet on the menu, she'd invented the "Phyllis" calzone at this establishment - stuffed with mozzarella, ricotta and breaded eggplant slices, and served with a cup of house-made marinara sauce! Can you say, "yum"?

This tasted as good as it looked - creamy, crunchy and eggplanty in every bite! And, thankfully, there were leftovers of both calzone and pizza, which we stashed in our cooler for eating later. And dinner wound up being much later. You see, we should have taken that left toin at Albuquerque . . . .