Tribeca Tavern, and a note about ice cream...

My dad and his girlfriend came to town last night for a quick visit, and we went to Tribeca Tavern for dinner. Several folks I know had said positive things about it, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
They pride themselves on their burgers, and I think they do a good job on them. They're ground 'in-house', and the kitchen will cook them how you want, so if you ask for 'medium-rare', you'll get it. I had a simple bacon-cheddar burger, and aside from being really messy, it was quite tasty.

The beer selection is pretty good, too, and they have a lot of NC beers to choose from. I had an Aviator Belgian White that I liked.

After my visit with my dad, I finished up the ice cream recipe I started the other night. Mr. Lebovitz is right, it doesn't have the most appetizing appearance, but the "banana-brown sugar coconut milk" ice cream was pretty tasty. It would probably very nice with something chocolate, like a chess pie, or flourless chocolate cake or something.

Sandwhich

I saw that Sandwhich is moving, and that gives me an excuse to say that I have always wanted to try this place.

Monday dinner

I had plans last night to go out to dinner with my friend Anne at Remedy Diner in Raleigh, but when I hadn't heard back from her by around 5, I started thinking "hmm, I think I need a backup plan".

So, I headed to the store, picked up some salad greens, some organic chicken thighs, etc. and then before I got started cooking, I heard back from her, and we ended up going to Remedy after all (which was pretty good, I must say. It reminded me a lot of a place I used to go to a lot in the 'burg, in that it was very vegan/crunchy. I ate "vegan buffalo wings" for the first time, which were actually pretty good, or at least the sauce was. My reuben was pretty good, and pretty messy, and I ended up eating way too much, including dessert, which for me is pretty rare). I'd go there again, and I was surprised at the size of their vegan menu. I've been trying to think of things to write about on this poor neglected blog, so maybe I'll try to work more "meat-lite"/vegetarian/vegan things in...

But, going to Remedy last night left me with this dinner tonight. I figured I'd make a simple salad (lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, and some quickly pickled onions), and put some grilled chicken over top, which was exactly what I did. After I grilled the thighs, I brushed them with a little honey/soy/hot pepper mix right at the end, just to give them a little more flavor. I then whipped up a quick dressing with some kewpie mayonnaise(sp?), some miso sitting in the back of my fridge, some rice vinegar, and some wasabi. It turned out ok, but I think I could've done better by leaving out the wasabi.

The only real "recipe" out of this is the pickled onions, which were inspired by looking at the Momofuku cookbook's section on pickles (where, oddly, there are no recipes for pickled onions):
Quick pickled onions:
2 small onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp (or more, to taste) rice vinegar

Toss onions with salt, sugar, and vinegar in a container, and allow to sit for a while (15-30 minutes). Taste, season, and serve.

Anyway, it was a nice light meal, and I'm now left with enough energy to take a stab at making the Banana Brown Sugar ice cream recipe (which is vegan, actually) off of David Lebovitz's excellent blog.

Morning Ramen...

I've been on a big ramen kick lately. Partly because I got the Momofuku cookbook over Christmas, and partly because ramen is great 'cheap eats'.

My ramen today:
1-2 tbsp miso (red)
1 tbsp ginger-scallion sauce (from Momofuku)
1/2 package of ramen
3-4oz tofu
3-4 slices of pork belly
scallions
bean sprouts
1 sheet of nori
hot water

I wish I could get pix from my phone to the blog at work, b/c I've always felt that a "bowl of noodles with a bunch of stuff on it" photographs well.
I was going to post a stock photo, but when I googled, I didn't find good pix, but I did find this page, billing itself as the "Official Ramen Homepage" (I don't believe him, though), and this inspiring article from the NY Times travel section, which makes me want to go loaf around Japan, eating noodles.

Totally unrelated to food, pt. 1

Esquire magazine has a great article this month on Roger Ebert that is well worth checking out.

I remember watching "Siskel and Ebert" when I was kid, and whenever I think of movies, one of the images that flashes in my head is of those two, arguing over the merits of a film.

Another favorite "Roger Ebert" memory of mine is the first time I read of this episode (quoting from Wikipedia):

In January 2005, film critic Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said in an
article that Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo was overlooked for an Academy Award because
"nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered
by a Third-Rate Comic." Schneider responded two weeks later with full-page ads in
Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, saying he had done research and found
that Mr. Goldstein had never won any journalistic awards, commenting,
"Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for
Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers."
...
In August 2005, film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times responded to the
Schneider-Goldstein conflict in his review for Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.
While noting that an online search showed that Goldstein had won a National Headliner
Award, a Los Angeles Press Club Award, a RockCritics.com award, and the
Publicists' Guild award for lifetime achievement, Ebert said, "As chance would
have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my
official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."

Happy "1st day of Spring Training"!

Ok, so actually yesterday was the first day of Spring Training (pitchers and catchers), but I didn't realize it until late yesterday.
Anyway, since nothing says "day at the ballpark" like a hot dog (with chili and cheese, please), I give you Serious Eats' "Hot Dog of the Week":



I love the Serious Eats blog, and it's worth checking out, even if you don't like hot dogs. (But if you do, there's more here).

Phases and stages...

I think I'm misquoting Willie on my title, but that's ok.
My youngest daughter turns 7 tomorrow, so when I got home tonight @12:30, I broke out the streamers and "Happy Birthday" sign, and decorated the kitchen. Hopefully she'll like it and feel special. On your birthday, you should feel special.

On other 'phases... et al' notes, this is probably the best kiss-off song I've heard in a while, and it's by one of my favorite bands to boot.

I will write about food soon...