New Obsessions

I have a new obsession...or infatuation...however you want to look at it. A good friend recently took me to Hankook Taqueria, a little "cantina" located waaaaaaaaayyyy back on Collier down near the distribution centers. It's the kind of place that you'd only find if you already knew where it was but I'm in love.

Ladies and gents, meet the korean taco.

*Photo taken by Jennifer Zyman for Creative Loafing

My first visit I had the special Calamari Taco, the Shrimp Taco and the Beef Bulgogi Taco -- all of which were excellent. My personal favorite was the Shrimp.  It was well seasoned, lightly fried and paired with just the right amount of salad tossed in a light soy vinaigrette. Since my inaugural trip last Friday I've been again twice and will probably be back a third. Can't help it, when i like something... i apparently really like it.

This little west midtown gem also supplies the Yumbii food truck -- Atlanta's first official permit sporting food mobile. It's the beginning of a street food revolution people. Atlanta's finally catching up.

Making the most of a whole lot of nothing

Alfredo sauce is typically cream, butter, and Parmesan cheese... i'm generally pretty lazy, so i'll just go with a jar of ragu. However my goal this week is not to eat out or spend any more money on food then i absolutely have to - so i milled around my cupboards and fridge. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 2 cups milk

• 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

I see the usual suspects...

dried pasta

frozen chicken breast

frozen peas, corn and other misc. vegetables

milk

random bits of cheese (i know, sounds appetizing -- right?)

So i decide, what else is a pretty quick and easy dish when you have nothing but frozen/dried and leftovers? Generally speaking my options are fried rice or pasta - tonight i went with pasta. Problem was i didn't have any ready made sauce, so i found a pretty easy recipe for Alfredo. 

Naturally you know me and recipes... So i subbed Parmesan with Asiago and added a pinch of cayenne pepper. No photos but it was delish. 

My dish was bowtie pasta with peas, corn, sauteed spinach and chicken with crisped shallots. 

Source

Food Porn

So i'm playing a little bit of catch-up. My intentions were to post all about my restaurant week escapades, alas that didn't quite work out as planned but i'll do a quick recap:

First stop - Bistro Niko

This is the newest Buckhead Life Restaurant Group restaurant to open in a while and it's been on my radar to try. The atmosphere was darling and very stereotypical "French." The decor actually reminded me a lot of this bistro i was in when i visited Paris a number of years ago. All the posts, the booths and the color scheme... it all had a sense of Je ne sais quoi.

Now i understand the whole point of restaurant week is the "great deal" you get from ordering off the $25 prix fixe menu but I, of course, decided to order off menu instead. Nothing spoke to me! I just couldn't help it.

Since I'm a sucker for escargot, we started with those -- and it was done pretty well. Not too salty, not too much garlic and it came topped with a sort of choux pastry which was a delight.

Entree consisted of Skate, pan seared with a lemon butter sauce and capers. Pretty traditional. I haven't had skate since Food Studio but always seem to enjoy it. It's odd to me because i don't normally see it on the menu but it's a fairly common item as far as seafood is considered. Although, this year i saw it on several different restaurant menus and let's just say after Bistro Niko -- i'm not sure where else i would want to order it.

No dessert for me, but one of my friends ordered off the restaurant week menu and got the creme du pot which is basically creme with out the brulee in a pot and chocolate dipped madelines. They were cute but nothing extravagant to note.

Second stop: Kevin Rathbun Steak

You'll have to forgive the lack of pictures, they were taken with my phone but i won't post them because pictures would not do it justice. I am a huge fan of Rathbun Steak. Albeit a little on the pricey side i still concede that it's probably one of the best steaks in Atlanta. I've been a couple times now and have never had a bad experience. This time i stayed on menu, started with the Ahi Tuna Poke. Pretty standard, nothing earth shattering -- but I eat so much sushi and tartar that i'm rarely phased by anything anymore. (not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet).

The steak was a flatiron steak served with herb roasted potatoes and a red wine shallot sauce -- cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was just the right portion tender. I grew up very much a "steak and potatoes" kind of girl so this was particularly enjoyable.  Dessert was a ridiculously rich chocolate mouse with a hard chocolate shell. I will refrain from commenting as i'm not a big chocolate fan so this was wasted on me. Lets just say you come here for the steak...and that's pretty much it.

Third stop: Bluepointe

This is an establishment which I've long wanted to visit but just never had the opportunity to. Our server was ....well... special, but that aside the food was decent. I might have hyped it up more in my head than I should have. The GBF and I ordered a bottle and naturally, went off-menu. (we just can't seem to stay on budget to save our lives) Started with one of the house rolls. Ordered Butterfish as an entree. Have you ever had Butterfish? I once had Escolar and was told Escolar was a Butterfish. Unfortunately, i since discovered this was a lie. sad times... The fish was done very well. it has a consistency and texture not too different from Seabass or Kompachi (which i ADORE). Paired with the coconut rice everything was a nice complement; however the soy broth was a bit too salty for my taste. Overall i enjoyed Bluepointe and i enjoyed the Butterfish -- maybe next time i'll try something a little more outside the box.

Fourth and final stop: Wisteria

Again, no pictures. Sorry! I'll have to be better about breaking out the camera. Now the rest of my friends visited Wisteria Wednesday while i took in a show at the Fox (Spring Awakening, Duncan Sheik = AMAZING) so i came prepared for the worst on Friday. I was briefed on what they enjoyed, what they found to be common and most importantly what they did not enjoy.

I was good, stayed on menu but may or may not have opted for the $35 instead of the $25. I know, I know... this is why i will soon be living in a box. The appetizer was a seared scallop served atop thing slices of pork belly and some sort of bourbon molasses reduction (which in my opinion, could have been left off). Pork belly is again one of those items that i'm just a sucker for -- so needless to say the scallop and pork belly combination went over very well with my palate. The thick/burnt/glaze/reduction whatever it was however did not.  Originally i wanted to go with the shrimp and stone ground grits... but the description of the tomato/shrimp brine broth on the menu didn't sound the slightest appealing. That in addition to poor reviews i opted for the Gemilli Pasta in an Arugula Almond Pesto tossed with sweet corn, roasted tomatoes and shaved Grana Padano with Georgia Coastal Shrimp. This dish far exceeded my expectations. I'm normally not a fan of pesto but it was done so well with a hint of basil and arugula. The corn mixed with the sweetness of the tomatoes and the abnormally large shrimp -- I was very pleased with my entree. Based on that alone, I would recommend the restaurant. 




Final Thoughts...


I think if I learned anything from restaurant week (other than the fact that i'm now completely broke) is that what you order can dictate your entire experience. It's very rare i find a place that i enjoy every single item on the menu but it's my new mission in life to find such a place. The problem is the journey and sifting through all the poor dishes and finding what's good and will suit your palate; however its a challenge i'm happy to take on. :) 


So by "quick recap" i clearly meant, "let me tell you exactly what i ate and where i ate" during restaurant week. Toss in a friend from out of town and you can also note that i did brunch at Parks Edge and lunch at Flip before she went home. Such an orgasmic week as far as food is concerned but not quite as pleasurable for my wallet. Oh well... no use crying over spilt milk. I may complain but you know when the next neighborhood restaurant week comes around i'll still be all over it.

A venture into eastern lands

I don't understand how people do it. And of course, by "it" I mean give up meat. I grew up as such a "steak and potatoes" kind of girl that I’m afraid I feel completely devoid of satisfaction if my meal is not overwrought with some sort of protein. Ask any of my friends. 

Well tonight we went to Cafe Agora, a Mediterranean restaurant in Buckhead. I probably drove around it for 10 minutes before I realized where it actually was but what a find! The picture you see is pretty much it. Imagine a small bar to the right of this photo and the kitchen is straight ahead, it's a narrow but quaint restaurant. When you walk in, it just smells.... well... yum. All night I tried to put my finger on what exactly was so aromatic but I never did figure it out. The lamb, shish-ka-bob, gyros, all of it was incredibly tempting. The menu is simple and they have a glass fridge case to showcase all their appetizers. I ordered a small meza platter which pretty much is fancy for "everything on the left side of the menu" but in smaller proportions. Add two cuts of spanokopita and I had a meal. There was hummus, babaganoush, Cacik, Ezme, Haydari, Piza and other things I can't pronounce with Eggplant mixed in. Their pita is home-made and toasted to order: fluffy and perfect bit size pieces to try each and every mixture on my plate. 

Now even after all that raving, I can't sit here and lie to you because as I was enjoying my mix plate -- my friends had a full plate of mixed meats which included thin marinated lamb, chicken and beef shish-ka-bob along with something else I couldn't place but it successfully taunted me from across the table. 

When all was said and done, though full... I can't admit to being satisfied. It just means I’ll have to go back and try some of the meat :) I think my favorite part about this experience is the fact that this hole in the wall is family run and one of those places where the owner will get up in your face and show you how to eat something if he felt you weren't doing it right. We merely looked at the baklava and they gave us four pieces to "try" free of charge! Call me Asian, but I do love me some free food. :)  


**photos courtesy of their web site

Who knew you could curdle cheese?

So I had all these thoughts on what I wanted my first blog post to be. I've played through different scenarios thinking oh well I'll introduce myself...give some background...yada yada... well.... turns out, my first post will be on cheese. Yes... cheese.

I went to Rosebud a few weeks ago in the highlands with my friend, whom I will affectionately call “A,” to catch up. I ordered the pork ravioli (which I remembered being significantly better but I’ll save that talk for another day) and he ordered the blue plate. A very tender roasted chicken with a side of green beans and mac n' cheese… but wait for it... the mac n' cheese had dried cranberries! I was pleasantly surprised, especially since I'm not normally a fan of cranberries -- but back to my story -- I get it in my head that I want to toy with a traditional mac n' cheese. 

Totally thought it was going to be a piece of cake.

1) Melt some cheese

2) Boil some noodles (in this case I'm using penne)

3) Mix and bake. Sounds easy enough, right? HA.

So I boil my penne... that part wasn't a problem. I set a second pot on the stove, set it on medium heat and pour in a bit of heavy cream, milk and a bit of butter to melt. I stir and once it's heated I put in the Gouda cheese which I've already cut into chunks. So far so good right?

Well apparently I forgot one key little thing.... FLOUR. (Because if you didn't know, flour or a bit of cornstarch will keep your cheese or sauce from clumping and curdling.) As a result my cheese never really melts. Instead it breaks down into crumbles and just kind of curdles. I will spare you the photos because to be quite honest, it's not a good look. I then frantically Google "how to fix curdled cheese sauce." Lucky for me there are apparently others in the world who don't know how to melt cheese. So I try everything from "adding milk" to "whisking continuously on low or no heat." Alas I am unsuccessful.

At this point I feel like an utter failure and am about to give up and break out the Velveeta cheese... but as they say, sometimes you just need to take a step back and breathe. So I let it cool. Get another pot, heated some cream and this time remember to add a tbsp or so of flour and stir. Then I added in a little bit of the crumbly cheese at a time while whisking like my life depended on it. Never have I been more excited to see cheese melt. Pathetic, I know but it's the little things in life. So I add a pinch of cayenne pepper a couple dashes of garlic salt and a quarter fistful of dried parsley. Top it with some Parmesan Herb Panko Bread Crumbs and bake for 30-40 minutes till brown.

Who knew I'd have such a hard time melting cheese? It's quite embarrassing but key lesson to learn: Don't forget to add that flour or cornstarch to your cheese sauce because it will save you a hell of a headache!

Final product?

Not too shabby. I went a little heavy on the Parmesan Panko bread crumbs and since Parmesan tends to be an oily cheese, it’s a bit greasier than I'd like. So next time I'll probably cut back on the crumbs but add more Gouda cheese to give it a creamier texture. Last tweak? Rosemary... I think it'd be really awesome with a bit of rosemary in it.

And thus concludes my first foray into food blogging. Here's to more posts (hopefully more concise) and better outcomes. :)