Peachy!

Peaches might be my favorite fruit. But I'm not talking about the crappy, hard, flavorless peaches you can get at Kroger any time of year. I'm talking about in-season, make-a-juicy-mess-all-over-your-shirt, daydream-about-them-over-the-winter peaches. I got a craving last night, so we went to ValuMarket and picked up our first peaches of the summer. I got home, selected the ripest one, and it exploded all over my face as soon as I bit into it. Perfect!

My very favorite thing to eat for breakfast during the summer is yogurt with granola and peaches. The tartness of the yogurt, the crunch of the granola, and the sweetness of the peaches is a perfect combination. So this morning, peaches in hand, I set about making some granola so I could enjoy my first bowl of breakfast bliss.

I have written about Ellie Krieger's granola recipe before. It's still my go-to granola recipe because it's so easy and because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. Today it turned out that I was out of almonds, so I substituted sunflower seeds. Honestly, it's better with almonds, but the sunflower seeds were okay in a pinch. The great thing about this recipe is that you can throw in pretty much any combination of nuts, seeds and/or dried fruit that you happen to have. I think my next batch will be almond-coconut, and I'd like to try a cranberry-orange version, too.

After this photo was taken I totally cut up the other half of the peach and threw it in the bowl all willy-nilly!

It's Memorial Day Weekend and I have one or two interesting recipes on the agenda. Here's hoping they turn out blog-worthy!

Two Things

1. My oil and vinegars from Oleaceae arrived yesterday. (We had them shipped as opposed to wrapping them in dirty laundry, crossing our fingers, and flying home with them.) I wasted no time trying them out, making a vinaigrette with the olive oil and the fig balsamic to go on a salad with last night's dinner. Having this olive oil in my own kitchen made it obvious how very different it is from the grocery store stuff I use for most applications. It's fragrant, green, grassy, and has a really peppery finish.

Anyway, I used this fig vinaigrette on a salad of spring mix, blue cheese, and walnuts. Oooooohmygod. I see many repetitions of this salad in my future. Like, maybe around lunchtime.

1.5. Related to my trip to New Mexico, we were watching Breaking Bad last night (we're still on Season 2) and there was a bottle of Santa Fe Pale Ale in Walt's fridge and I was all "Eeeee, I drank that beer!" Because I'm a giant nerd.

2. This fake restaurant menu, which was handed out at Brooklyn's Great GoogaMooga Festival, had me laughing until I couldn't breathe. It's in tiny print so you might have to zoom in to read it (Command-+, Mac users!), but it's totally worth the trouble. It features such delicacies as Stanza Cotta: "Accidentally dropped in a honeydew stuttering, with a poo-poo-berry possibility." And Mini-Hrak Cuddles with Malonies. And Panty Slaw. Just go read it.

I have some cooking-related posts in mind for the near future, so stay tuned!

Santa Fe: An Epic Food Adventure

New Mexico's nickname is the Land of Enchantment, and I am duly enchanted. Beautiful weather, breathtaking scenery, and friendly people made New Mexico easy to love. But this is Blog Tartare, and what we're really here to talk about is the food, right? Brace yourself, because we did a hell of a lot of eating in the few days we were there! (Disclaimer: This post will be a mix of nice DSLR photos [mostly taken by Neil] and crappy iPhone photos [mostly taken by me]. We apologize if you find this visually jarring. Be sure to click on them if you want to see bigger versions. Also, I didn't really take notes about anything, so restaurants that don't have menus online are going to get some pretty vague descriptions.)

Day 1
We arrived in Albuquerque at 12:00 local time, which was 2:00 our time, which meant that we were more than ready to eat lunch. I employed Yelp to locate something that was on the way from the airport to Santa Fe and came up with the Red Ball Cafe.

This historic eatery dates back to 1922 and is located on part of what used to be Route 66. The original owners adopted a Popeye theme, selling Wimpy burgers for 5 cents. The Red Ball closed in the late 1970s and was finally resurrected by the current owners almost 20 years later.

I decided to waste no time getting acquainted with the local flavors and ordered a green chile cheeseburger.

 Here it is with the lid off:

Delicious! Unfortunately, this relatively mild burger lulled me into a false sense of comfort as far as chiles were concerned. I had no idea what was in store for me in the coming days.

After lunch we drove up to Santa Fe. For dinner I employed Yelp once again and came up with Casa Chimayo, which was a short walk from where we were staying. We sat out on their patio and enjoyed some delicious beer from Santa Fe Brewing as well as some fantastic food.

This is Neil's dinner. He describes it as "a chicken taco, a cheese burrito in a blue corn tortilla, and a pork tamale in red chile. And it was delicious." 

I had two tamales, one with pork and red chile, the other with vegetables and green chile. Both of these were pretty spicy, but totally delicious. That squashy business next to the green chile tamale is calabacitas, a mixture of sauteed squash and onions. I love squash to begin with, but this was way tastier than I even expected to be. I'm definitely going to be making some of this myself this summer.

We were also serenaded by this guy while we ate. He sang the Habanera from Carmen. Impressive!

Day 2
Our plan for the day was to visit the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and then do some wandering around and shopping. But of course we had to eat breakfast first. So off we went to the Tecolote Cafe. This restaurant's tagline is "Great breakfast - no toast," a nod to the fact that they provide baskets of muffins and other baked goods instead of toast with their meals. Yes please!

Neil had the carne y huevos, which is described on the menu as a "Heaping serving of lean pork, cooked in a blend of red chiles, two eggs any style, and our famous potatoes." Neil comments, "It was spicy as hell, but the pork was very tender. That was our first helping of that style of potatoes as well." Indeed, potatoes that were very thinly sliced and then fried up together seemed to be the typical preparation method for breakfast.

I had the breakfast burrito. "Eggs scrambled with ham, bacon, or sausage [I chose sausage], rolled in a flour tortilla, topped with red or green chile [I chose both, which is referred to as "Christmas style"] and melted cheddar; choice of beans, posole, or potatoes [those are potatoes on the far side of my plate]." This was so hot. SO HOT. I laughed. I cried. I blew my nose. It was right on the border of being too hot to eat. This was by far the spiciest meal of the trip. Tecolote Cafe does not eff around with its chile sauce!

My dad, who is apparently known as El Niño at one of our local Mexican restaurants because of his absolute inability to handle anything spicy, wisely ordered the French toast.

Not pictured is the bakery basket, which included green chile muffins (mmmm), chocolate chip muffins, and plain biscuits. Thank god for the biscuits; when I was finally bested by my burrito, I slathered half a biscuit in an unreasonable amount of butter in order to soothe my poor scorched mouth.

After an enjoyable morning at the museum, we proceeded downtown to do some wandering around. One of the first places that Neil and I came across was Oleaceae Olive Oil. "Do you want to go in?" Neil asked. "Yeah, I guess," I said. I like olive oil, but how interesting could it really be to go look at a bunch of bottles of it? It's not like I can't buy good quality olive oil at home.

I laugh now at my naïveté.

This is what it looked like inside of Oleaceae:

Those are tanks full of different flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and customers are invited to taste as many as they like. And did we ever. Then we were approached by a very friendly salesperson who introduced us to the concept of mixing the oils and vinegars together in the little paper cups. Sweet basil olive oil and ripe fig balsamic. Citrus limon olive oil with lavender balsamic. Chipotle olive oil with dark cocoa balsamic. I quickly lost track of all the combinations that we tried.

In the end we bought the Arbequina olive oil and the ripe fig and Tahitian vanilla vinegars. We also picked up a jar of campfire smoked sea salt. I easily could have purchased everything we tasted there, and I will definitely be ordering more.

We were so full from breakfast that we more or less skipped lunch, instead stopping for a quick snack at a frozen yogurt place.

When dinner time rolled around we headed to a place up the street from where we were staying called Agave Lounge. I was a little worried that it described itself as a "hip, sophisticated Santa Fe lounge," both because I am neither hip nor sophisticated and because any place that describes itself that way very well may be trying too hard. But Agave Lounge turned out to be a comfortable place with nice ambiance and friendly service. I had a pomegranate margarita while Neil opted for the smokey one. Then we split lobster sliders, mini fajita steak tacos, and calamari fritti. Everything was delicious, and a welcome respite from the chile-drenched meals we'd experienced so far. Meal in progress:

Day 3
The plan for this day was to drive up to Taos to visit Taos Pueblo. But first, breakfast at the Tune-Up Cafe. This was probably the least impressive meal I had there. My mom had some weird brown sludge in her coffee cup, which got the meal off to a rather unappetizing start. I ordered the house-made corned beef hash. Corned beef hash is one of my favorite childhood comfort foods, and although I virtually never indulge in it anymore, when I have it I want it like this:

The hash at Tune-Up Cafe was, in a way, too high quality. The meat was not mushy enough. The potatoes were in large chunks and not fully integrated. It was good, but it did not quite meet my hash expectations.

This is Neil's breakfast burrito, of which he says: "I know it was some kind of avocado & egg burrito with red & green chile and it was one of my favorite breakfasts of the trip. One of my favorite meals, really."

After a fascinating trip to the beautiful pueblo (where I got to try Indian frybread, mmmm), we stopped at Michael's Kitchen in Taos for a late lunch.

Okay, now this place is just ridiculous. Our meals were so big that we all saved half and ate the rest for dinner. Fortunately, they were as delicious as they were huge!

Neil had the Indian taco, "A grand sopapilla heaped with ground beef, beans, onions, cheese, chile and garnished with lettuce and tomatoes. Don't forget the guacamole!" Neil comments, "It was good, but honestly it was SO MUCH FOOD and I think my opinion of it was tempered by eating half of it at slightly lower than room temperature later in the day. Which is unfair, I know. Also, I'm still not sure how it was really all that different from what you had."

As Neil mentioned, I had the similar stuffed sopapillas, "Two delicate sopapillas stuffed with beans, cheese, onions and ground beef. Your choice of chile is ladled on, then crowned with guacamole and sour cream." This was delicious, and I was relieved that the red chile was tolerable. Despite the pain of the chile sauces, I just couldn't stop ordering them!

Not pictured are the plain, unstuffed sopapillas that came to the table in a basket with a side of honey butter. Oh my god, they were good. The sopapillas that you get in Kentucky are essentially just fried tortillas served with honey, and they're tasty, but they don't begin to compare to these delicate little pillows of fried dough.

Day 4
Neil and I decided to split off from my parents and do our own thing for the day, but first we all went to breakfast at The Pantry.

Neil had the daily special, bread pudding french toast with bacon and eggs over easy. He reports that it was "tasty, but not mind-blowing."

Believe it or not, in real life, I'm about 75% vegetarian, so I decided to lay off the meat and have a veggie omelet with a side of delicious potatoes. But if you look closely you'll also see a bowl of sausage gravy to the left of my plate; the two choices for sides were toast or biscuits and gravy, and how could I turn down biscuits and gravy?

After breakfast, Neil and I set out on foot to see more of Santa Fe. By the time we reached the plaza I was thirsty, so I bought a cup of fresh watermelon juice from a vendor, which was delicious. We did some shopping and some art-viewing (the galleries are amazing!), and eventually we stumbled upon Secreto Lounge at the Hotel St. Francis. This place was already on our list of things to do because I'd read great things about their innovative cocktails, so we were happy to stop there and have an afternoon drink. I had the Spicy Secreto, "Cucumbers, lime juice, cane syrup, Cabana Cachaça, St Germain and a touch of spice," while Neil opted for I'll Take Manhattan, "A spicy Southern twist on the classic Manhattan using Maker’s Mark Bourbon, sweet vermouth and locally made Bitter End Memphis Barbeque Bitters." Both were fantastic.

Neil enjoys his I'll Take Manhattan.

For dinner that night we partook of the buffet at the Buffalo Thunder Casino, which was decidedly mediocre and doesn't merit any additional commentary. I did thoroughly enjoy the slot machines, though, especially the ridiculous Kitty Glitter.


Day 5
This post is so long that I'm afraid it's going to break Blogger. Fortunately, I only have one more meal to report on. Our final New Mexico meal took place in Albuquerque on the way to the airport at Loyola's Family Restaurant. This place was located on yet another strip of road that used to be Route 66 and was surrounded by amazing signs for old motels, some of which were still standing.

Loyola's itself was a Route 66 relic, with a vintagey atmosphere and delicious diner food.

I had an omelet with chorizo and yes, one last bout of red chile sauce.

Neil had the same thing, but he went with with green chile. Because he is insane.

Aside from the casino, we didn't have one bad meal the entire trip. I was also impressed by the friendly, attentive service that we received virtually everywhere. Most of all, I'm inspired to learn much, much more about southwestern cooking. The food in New Mexico is obviously different from the Tex-Mex stuff that dominates most of the Mexican dining scene in Louisville, but it's also very different from the few places that purport to do more authentic Mexican-style food here. I'm very interested in exploring the regional food differences in the southwestern United States as well as Mexico. This is not a hard thing to be interested in, given how delicious all of it is.

One last note: If you're planning to travel to Santa Fe, especially if you're going with a group, I highly recommend Casas de Santa Fe as an alternative to a hotel. We stayed in the delightful Casa Tisnado. The house was beautifully decorated, very comfortable, and just a short walk away from downtown. I'd love to stay there again when it's cold enough to use the kiva fireplace!

The Imminent Return of Blog Tartare

So. Blog Tartare. It moved over to Tumblr for a bit, but even there it has been languishing. Graduate school was taking up entirely too much of the time that I used to use to cook things (and then blog about them), and since I've been only marginally employed for most of the last two years, we haven't had the money to do the kind of dining out we used to.

However!

Yesterday I graduated with my master's degree, and I start a new job next month. My hope is to start cooking interesting dinners again several times a week now that my evenings aren't dominated by academic reading and writing. (It helps that the Root Cellar will be on my way home from work!) I'm also looking forward to getting caught back up on the local restaurant scene. I feel incredibly out of the loop in that regard, because most of our dining out over the last couple years has consisted of old familiar (and cheap) favorites.

In honor of this new chapter in my life and the impending return of Blog Tartare, allow me to share a recipe that made an appearance at my graduation party last night. I found this on AllRecipes and was pretty impressed by how easy it was and how delicious these margaritas turned out!

Bucket of Margaritas
4 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups tequila
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen limeade
1/2 cup triple sec (orange-flavored liqueur)
1 whole lime, cut into 6 wedges

Mix the water, tequila, limeade, and orange liqueur in a freezer-proof container with a lid; stir. Cover and store in freezer until it reaches a slush-like consistency, about 24 hours. Serve in glasses garnished with lime wedges.

We made four gallons of this using freezer bags, and it was pretty awesome to be able to take a new bag out of the freezer and refill the margarita pitcher when it started getting low. Some of the comments on AllRecipes also mention making individual servings in sandwich bags and then taking them camping, to the beach, on picnics, etc, which I think is a great idea. The next time I do this I will probably try adding mango nectar, because I do love a mango margarita!

In other news, we're heading to New Mexico for a quick vacation later this week, and I am SO EXCITED about the food there. Hopefully my next entry will have lots of photos and descriptions of all the southwestern deliciousness I encounter there. I also want to write soon about my recipe for panang curry, which I adapted from another recipe several years ago and have finally perfected. This recipe has the distinction of being the first one that I know by heart and can prepare from memory.

'Til soon, Blog Tartare readers! <3

We've moved!

Blog Tartare can now be found over on Tumblr. Please join us there!

Another blog recommendation

Speaking of the Dining Popitos, I have to mention that my soon-to-be second cousin-in-law (I think) Angie also has a food blog, Glutîre. Like Amanda, Angie focuses on vegan cooking, but don't let that turn you off. I doubt you'd kick her
Pistachio-Ginger-Crusted Sweet Potato with Green Curry Sauce out of bed!

Dragon King's Daughter

Neil has a lot of family members, and the other day I started working on a family tree for both our families so I could try to get a handle on some of his extended relations. If you take a look right here you can see the tree starting with Albert Andriot, Neil's great-grandfather, also known as Pop.

When Neil's great-aunt Betty passed away a few months ago, the funeral turned out to be a bit of a family reunion, and it was decided that everybody should start trying to get together for dinner once a month. In honor of Pop, the Andriot family patriarch, the group named itself the Dining Popitos (which people keep accidentally calling the Flying Popitos, which is awesome).

The Dining Popitos met this week at Dragon King's Daughter. This place is owned by the same folks as my beloved Maido, but it's very different, with a lot of fusiony stuff; there's sushi, but also sushi-inspired pizzas and tacos, as well as a variety of other Asian-flavored small plates. (Although I haven't had it, I love the fact that there's a tako taco.)

Neil and I had been to Dragon King's Daughter twice before, and the last time the service was pretty bad. Not so bad that I refused to return, as I did with Third Avenue Cafe for almost two years, but bad enough to put me off of the place a little bit. Still, I was excited when it was announced that this was the Dining Popitos' selection for April, and I looked forward to trying it again.

I want to love Dragon King's Daughter the way I love Maido, but the fact is, it's just pretty good. The food is tasty, but it doesn't totally blow my mind, and the service is friendly but remains inattentive.

We started with some edamame, which is more or less the same wherever you get it, and that was fine. Next we had tuna tataki (which we didn't photograph until we'd already dug into it):


Slightly seared ahi tuna slices on a bed of fresh organic spring mix, served with Hawaiian pink salt, avocado-wasabi and fried garlic chips.

Neil didn't care for the fried garlic chips, assessing them as "just little bits of burned garlic," but I did. I actually thought this whole thing was pretty divine; the tuna was fresh and perfectly seared, and the avocado-wasabi mixture was a nice complement, although it could have used some more wasabi. I was a little sad we had to share this with the rest of the table.

Next up was a sushi roll, Sushi and the Banshees. Neil didn't email me a photo of this, so I'll have to check with him later and see if he has one. Cream cheese, garlic, avocado inside... salmon and basil outside. This was just okay. I thought the basil was an interesting flavor to encounter in a sushi roll, but there was a little too much cream cheese and it overwhelmed the roll's other components.

Then we had the unagi pizza:


Unagi, avocado, scrambled eggs and cheese—topped with unagi sauce.

In the last, oh, six months or so, I have realized that I am totally batshit in love with unagi. I remember trying it and not liking it at some point, and I didn't eat it for years. But then I tried it again and it totally rocked my world. I admit that I was a little unsure about the scrambled eggs and cheese on this pizza, but the idea of an unagi pizza was too compelling for me not to try it. So we did. Neil really liked it, but for me the flavors just didn't work together very well. The baked avocado was especially off-putting; I would have preferred for that to be added after the fact.

We ended the meal with a tempura fried Snickers bar with red bean ice cream. Yes, really.



What can you even say about a tempura fried Snickers bar? It's a fun novelty of a dessert, not orgasmically delicious, but worth trying at least once.

We also had tastes of a few things that other people were eating, and I especially liked the wasabi salsa: Fresh wasabi, diced tomato , avocado, mango, jalapeños, red onions, garlic, cilantro and lime juice mixed together and served with fried wonton chips. The wonton chips were outstanding, although for something with wasabi in the name, the salsa didn't have much of a kick to it.

Our server was friendly (and didn't make condescending comments about our beer choices the way our server did the last time we were there), but he disappeared for long stretches of time, and we had to wait quite a while before he came back to take our dessert orders.

Overall, I like Dragon King's Daughter, and I think to a big extent it just requires some tolerance for trial and error; I won't order the unagi pizza again, but I know from previous visits that I like the sashimi pizza. The tuna tataki was a big hit, and I could totally make meal out of that and some salsa and wontons. I'm also looking forward to trying their happy hour; that sounds like just the thing for the band of food- and booze-loving freelancers I hang out with. (The best thing about freelancing is - by far - drinking beer with my self-employed friends while the rest of you poor suckers are at work. Too bad I'm about to give all that up this fall so I can go back to school and become a social worker!)

Anyway, Dragon King's Daughter, final verdict: Try it. You might like it!

Blog Recommendation

My friend Amanda started a blog called Happy Introvert a while back. While I was very excited when she announced this because she is an awesome person and a great writer, I forgot to add it to my Google Reader and then I forgot about it entirely. Oops! Fortunately, she just tweeted about her latest entry, and I re-remembered the blog (and immediately subscribed to the RSS). And man! Amanda has been busy! Although Happy Introvert isn't strictly a food blog, she does a lot of posts (with lots of photos!) about vegan cooking. And even though I'm not vegan, I'm all about reducing my intake of animal products, so I'm totally interested in these yummy-sounding recipes. You should check her out!

I had been hearing really great buzz about the Comfy Cow for a few months, so a couple weeks ago I finally ventured out to Westport Village with my friend Eric to sample their handmade ice cream. I had a scoop of white chocolate coconut almond in a cone, and it was amazing. I came home and told Neil about it and asked him if he would accompany back to the Comfy Cow in near future for A Monkey's Delight, the Comfy Cow rendition of a banana split.

I am a banana split fiend. I have been ever since I was a kid and my grandpa would take me to the Ice Cream Factory (RIP) after movies at the Village 8. I'm pretty sure the Ice Cream Factory's banana split was called the Roller Coaster, and it was exactly as a traditional banana split should be; served in an oblong glass dish, scoops of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry nestled between two banana halves, each scoop covered in the appropriate topping. And for purists, there are definitely appropriate toppings: chocolate sauce on the chocolate scoop, strawberries on the strawberry scoop, and pineapple on the vanilla scoop. Three liberal dollops of whipped cream follow each topping, along with a sprinkling of nuts, and each mound of deliciousness is crowned with a cherry. That is the consummate banana split.

A Monkey's Delight bends the rules a little bit.

Our Signature “Strawberry” Fields Forever, Chocolate and Vanilla ice creams loaded with homemade strawberry, marshmallow and chocolate toppings, then covered with thick, rich whipped cream, chopped peanuts and maraschino cherries... All this nestled within a large, ripe banana.

And it doesn't come in the traditional banana split dish, simply because it won't fit:



I will admit that while the marshmallow topping was good, I still prefer pineapple. But that is a small quibble. This was a damned good banana split. I really appreciate the fact that they make all their toppings there; there was none of that weird fakey chemical taste you get with cut-rate banana splits from the likes of Dairy Queen. (And seriously, how can a place called Dairy Queen not even have ice cream? Or at least more than one flavor of soft serve? Ridiculous.) Now it is true that all this homemade deliciousness is going to cost you; with tax A Monkey's Delight came to $11 and change. But you get what you pay for, and A Monkey's Delight is definitely worth the splurge. I imagine most other things at the Comfy Cow are, too.

The only thing that marred our visit - and this is really not a criticism of the Comfy Cow, more just a feminist rant that marginally even belongs in this blog - was one obnoxious young male employee, who was loudly lecturing his young female coworkers about rape. "Seventy-five percent of women in the US have been raped," he said. Uh, no. "I encourage all women to take self-defense classes."

"I encourage all men to stop raping women," I replied to Neil. Seriously, kid! Go take a women's studies class and shut up so I can enjoy my ice cream!

Delicious Summer Sandwiches

We're having quite a heatwave here in Louisville, and I feel like I've been kind of fast-forwarded into summer (which is fine with me!). The weather put me in the mood for these delicious grilled veggie sandwiches. We didn't feel like messing with the real grill, so we just slapped the veggies on the George Foreman. It's nothing fancy, but the lemon garlic mayonnaise with the feta is a great combination. I'm looking forward to making these throughout the summer, especially with veggies from the farmers market and/or my own garden!

Edible Louisville

This morning I noticed a strange and interesting new magazine on the coffee table. Edible Louisville, read the title, Celebrating the Pleasure of Local Food and Beverage. I gave it a cursory flip-through, as I was getting ready to leave, and I liked what I saw.

"Hey," I said to Neil as we were having lunch at Lunch Today, "where did that Edible Louisville magazine come from?"

"Oh yeah! I got that at Heine Brothers. The cover says it's $5.95, but it was free."

It turns out that this is the latest publication from Edible Communities, which publishes similar magazines in cities across the country. And this isn't any bush league magazine, either; the design and photography look great, and it's edited by long-time Courier-Journal food editor Sarah Fritschner. This first issue contains a feature on Capriole goat cheese, gardening commentary from Jeneen Wiche, and a reprinted Wendell Berry essay. Good stuff! I'm assuming that Neil got this for free because it was the first issue, and that going forward the $5.95 cover price will be in effect, but I think I might be willing to cough up $32 for a six-issue subscription.

Tangentially related: The magazine has a little blurb about Butcher's Finest beef, which is available at ValuMarket. I had noticed that ValuMarket was carrying fresh (as opposed to frozen) local beef and had been looking forward to trying it, but this blurb, which had a definite promotional tone, turned me off. "All beef... is born and raised for its first few months on grass at participating farms throughout the state. The cattle are then shipped to the Midwest for fattening and finishing. After processing, the beef is shipped back to Kentucky." Is it just me, or does it seem totally ridiculous for anyone to call this local? My whole reason for eating local meat is to avoid the use of fossil fuels for transporting the animals/meat and to avoid the inhumane conditions and environmental problems associated with feedlots. As far as I can tell, the only way that Butcher's Finest differs from regular factory farming is that the cattle are born in Kentucky and then returned to Kentucky to be eaten. So what? I call bullshit on this whole thing.

California (and Oregon) Dreamin'

So Neil and I are finally getting married this May. I'm very excited about the wedding, but I'm perhaps even more excited about the honeymoon. We're spending four days in San Francisco and then driving up the coast into Oregon, staying at little seaside motels and enjoying the gorgeous beaches and forests. In true Erin and Neil style the trip is shaping up to be quite food-centric, and I'm wondering if we might have to extend the San Francisco portion of the trip a bit to fit in all our eating. Here's what we have planned so far:

Foreign Cinema - A former classmate told me about this place at my 10-year high school reunion last summer, and I immediately wanted to go there. It sounds both fun and delicious!

The Rogue Ales Public House - We are both huge fans of Rogue beers (mmmm, Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout), and while the food sounds like average pub grub, it will be a blast to go somewhere with all those great beers on tap. And it's only a mile from our hotel. :)

Cowgirl Creamery - This creamery's Mt. Tam cheese is one of my very favorites, and it so happens that the first time I had it was the night that Neil proposed to me at L&N. In fact, it may be the cheese that my mouth was full of the moment he popped the question. I am super psyched about touring the creamery and sampling their other cheeses!

Chez Panisse - I'm a big fan of Alice Waters and have been quite excited about going to Chez Panisse, but looking over online review just now, a not-unsubstantial number of people seem to think that it's over-hyped, overpriced, and not very good. Perhaps we'll just do lunch there.

Those are our big plans so far. I am still researching our possibilities for amazing sushi, and I'm also looking forward to trying little hole-in-the-wall ethnic places. And we haven't yet made plans for winery visits, although those will definitely be part of the trip.

I feel very fortunate to be marrying someone who is an adventurous, passionate eater. Our honeymoon will definitely be a celebration of our love for each other and our mutual love of food. <3

An Interesting Wine Event

A couple days ago I got a note from John Bojanowski at Clos du Gravillas. This native Louisvillian has been living in southern France for the last 11 years growing grapes and making organic wines alongside his French wife Nicole. This week John will return to Louisville, along with some wines that will be making their Louisville debut. It sounds like some good stuff is coming out of Clos du Gravillas and this might be worth checking out!

Clos du Gravillas Wine Pouring
Friday, November 6 5:00-7:00 pm
Liquor Barn Springhurst
4301 Towne Center Drive
Louisville, KY 40241

Ramsi's Sunday Brunch

People! Did you know about this? I've actually known about for quite some time, since Michelle over at Consuming Louisville blogged about it. But the fact is, despite her glowing review, I was reluctant to try it. I used to eat at Ramsi's a lot, but a combination of weird/bad service, irritating menu changes, and mediocre food added up over time and we stopped going there. But Neil's mom and her partner wanted to take us out today to celebrate my birthday, and there are only a handful of restaurants they really like, including Ramsi's. So we decided to try the brunch.

OMG! This is vegetarian/vegan paradise (although there's plenty for meat-eaters, too). I can't begin to tell you everything that I had, let alone everything that's on the buffet. Here's a sampling:

- Scrambled eggs
- Tofu scramble
- Bacon and sausage
- Spinach alfredo eggs benedict
- Vegan huevos rancheros
- Vegan biscuits and gravy (!!!)
- Black bean cakes (which I topped with vegan queso)
- Blackened grouper
- Some kind of pot roast-looking meat
- Tortellini salad
- Croissants
- Beignets
- Fresh fruit
- Banana pudding, carrot cake, vegan chocolate mousse, and other desserts

And that's probably not even half of it. And there's an omelet bar! Everything was fresh and hot, unlike the food on a lot of brunch buffets. This is definitely our new favorite brunch destination. (I'm also happy to say that we received great service from Neil's sister Rachel.)

I really highly recommend this brunch to everyone, and especially vegetarians and vegans. Delish!

Zen Tea House

A few weeks ago I lunched with a couple of my fellow freelancers at Zen Tea House. It was my first time there, and I was so impressed with it that I decided to take Neil there for my birthday lunch on Thursday. He loved it as much as I do. I could easily see this becoming one of my favorite restaurants.

Before we get to the food, let me say a bit about the experience. Because it does feel like an experience, rather than just a meal. The decor is soothing and sparse, tranquilly Asian. I understand that farther back in the restaurant there's pillow seating, which, in retrospect, we should have tried, since it was my birthday and that seems like a fun thing to do. But we opted to sit up front, next to the window, where we could watch the cool rainy day outside. It was quite cozy.

The other defining characteristic of the Zen Tea House experience is the service. It's definitely leisurely and not always quite as attentive as it maybe should be, but the folks who work there are extremely welcoming and knowledgeable. There's no need to be intimidated by the lengthy tea menu; they will be happy to help you choose, as well as enthusiastically answer any food questions. It's a pleasure to be served by these people.

So, the food! On both visits we started with the mushroom pate, "A delicate combination of fresh mushrooms, mixed nuts, spices, cream cheese and olive oil blended together and served with toasted bread." Oh. My. God. This stuff could almost pass for real pate. It reminds me a bit of liverwurst, and I mean that in the best way possible. Delish.

On my first visit I had the Roasted Portabella & Caramelized Onion Panini, "A creamy spread made from Boursin cheese, sun-dried tomato and garlic layered on our herb focaccia bread, topped with roasted portabella mushroom, caramelized onions, fresh Mozzarella cheese, mesclun greens and sliced tomatoes then pressed and grilled to perfection." That was really good, but good panini are pretty easy to come by. One of my dining companions that day had the Steamed Banana Leaf with Lotus Seeds & Vegetable Rice, "Vegetable rice cooked with tofu, veggie meats, and lotus seeds is wrapped in a banana leaf, steamed, and then topped with a drizzle of olive oil infused with roasted garlic and scallions." To be honest, on the menu I thought it sounded a little boring. And watching my friend eat it I thought it looked a bit bland. But she insisted that it was fantastic, so on my second trip I tried it for myself. And it was just as good as she had promised. I know a lot of people aren't huge fans of fake meat, but the way it was mixed in with the rice and other stuff made it very subtle and rather believably meat-like, which is something that this reluctant vegetarian appreciated very much. The garlic-and-scallion-infused olive oil added a real depth of flavor to the whole thing. When it arrived in front me I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it, but I had no trouble with it.

Neil had a cup of the soup of the day, a compilation of veggies in a light ginger broth. It was a very simple, clean-tasting soup, and he slurped it right down. For his entree, he chose the Curry Tofu & Carrot Salad Sandwich, "Tofu and carrot salad seasoned with mayonnaise and curry spread on a toasted baguette and topped with green leaf lettuce, tomato, pickled carrot & daikon and fresh basil leaves." This was sort of a cross between a carrot salad and curried egg salad, both of which I love. I will have a hard time choosing between that and the banana leaf the next time we go. Both our entrees and the pate were served with crisp pickled vegetables, which were a nice complement to the meal.

To drink, I had the Keemun Imperial, a strong black tea that felt just right for a gross rainy day, while Neil chose the GenMai-Cha, a brown rice tea with a wonderful smoky flavor.

With appetizer, two entrees, two cups of tea, and one (amazing) vegan chocolate cupcake, the bill came to a little over $40 with tip. A bit on the pricey side for lunch, maybe, but worth every penny. I can't wait to go back.

Sweet Potato Gratin... and more!

This entry will cover a lot of territory, so here's a quick overview:
1. Sweet potato gratin.
2. Tomato soup.
3. Vegetable bouillon and vegetarian gravy.

Ready, go!

Earlier today I Tweeted/Facebooked about the awesome sweet potato gratin I made last night. A ton of people requested the recipe, and I'm more than happy to share it. Alas, I can't take credit for this one; it's another tremendously successful selection from Vegetarian Suppers From Deborah Madison's Kitchen.

I don't know about you all, but the changing weather has had me craving warm, hearty comfort food. I went cruising through Ms. Madison's cookbook yesterday and landed on the following recipe. We served it as an entree with a side of kale, but it would be fantastic as a side dish, especially if you're getting sick of the ubiquitous sweet potato casserole that always shows up at Thanksgiving.

Sweet Potato Gratin with Onions and Sage

2 teaspoons oil, plus a little for the dish
1 large onion, chopped into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons chopped sage or 2 teaspoons dried
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), thinly sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
a large handful of parsley leaves, chopped with 1 plump garlic clove
3/4 cup grated Gruyere or smoked mozzarella cheese (Kroger actually had smoked Gruyere, so I used that!)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cream or half-and-half, warmed (I never told you this was healthy!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly oil a 2-quart gratin dish and put a moderately large pot of water on to boil.
2. Put 2 teaspoons oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the onion and sage. Cook, giving them an occasional stir, until soft and golden, about 12 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes, then slice them as thinly as you can manage. Salt the water, then drop them in. Allow the water to return to a boil, which may take a few minutes. Boil for a minute or until the potatoes are partly tender when pierced with a knife, then drain. Toss them with the onions, chopped parsley, and garlic.
4. Scoop a third of the potatoes into the prepared dish and even them out. Season with salt and pepper, add half the Gruyere, and grate over a little Parmesan. Repeat, making two more layers and covering the last with a dusting of the Parmesan. Pour the warm cream over all, cover with foil, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the potatoes are utterly soft and the gratin has browned, another 25 minutes or so. Let the gratin stand a few minutes before serving.

A few things I will do differently next time:
1. Add walnuts. Neil and I agree they would be great in this.
2. Drain the potatoes better and/or let it cook a little longer. It was a little watery on the bottom.
3. Add more cheese (maybe). It's perfectly good as it is, but if you want to make it really obnoxiously fattening and delicious, more cheese would be the way to go.

So today, after a heaping bowl of leftover gratin for lunch, I got to thinking about what I wanted to make for dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about that delicious smoked Gruyere. I started thinking grilled cheese and tomato soup. I spent some time looking for a tomato soup recipe that did not require a food processor or immersion blender, neither of which I own (yet - hello, wedding registry!). I found this recipe for Hot and Healing Tomato Soup. I was a little concerned that it would be weird in a New Agey, earnestly healthy kind of way, what with its six cloves of garlic and handful of celery leaves. But it was actually really good, quite chunky and thick. Neil suggested that it would be good over pasta as well. To go with it, I sliced some of the Moroccan olive bread that Kroger makes (which is way better than it has any right to be), sprinkled shredded Gruyere on top, and stuck them in a hot oven until the cheese was melty and golden. I've taken to calling this deconstructed grilled cheese, because I occasionally enjoy being a pretentious asshole. (You're welcome to call it cheese bread.)

If you looked at the soup recipe, you may have noticed that it involves a roux, to which vegetable broth is added. Let me first say that today, instead of buying a package of vegetable broth, using half a cup, and putting the rest in the fridge to sit until it went bad, I wised up and bought some bouillon cubes. Specifically, Edward & Sons Garden Veggie. I mixed up half of one with some hot water to make broth for the soup and it smelled really good, better than vegetable broth usually does. Once I mixed it into the roux it smelled fantastic, so I gave it a taste. Sacrebleu! It was like a delicious gravy! I cannot wait to make some mashed potatoes to put this on!

Erin's Vegetarian Gravy
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup to 1 cup vegetable broth, depending on how thick you like it

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until mixture turns golden. Slowly stir in vegetable broth until gravy reaches the desired consistency. (Note: I can't vouch for the tastiness of this if you don't use Edward & Sons bouillon. Like I said, it's better than any vegetable broth I've ever used. I found it at Kroger in the organic/natural section, with the soups.)

So, that's been my two days of culinary excitement. Now that I sit down and think about it, there are multiple things that I meant to write about on Blog Tartare, like my visits to Dragon King's Daughter, Zen Tea House, and a much-improved Zeppelin Cafe (whose website is so abjectly bad and lacking in content that I won't even bother to link to it). Expect restaurant reviews soon!

I'm sensing a pattern...

What I've had to eat today:

Breakfast: Cottage cheese and apple sauce
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of apple cider (mmmm, fall)
Snack: A Babybel and an apple

This is totally unintentional, I swear! At least tonight's dinner of chili will introduce a little bit of variety. :)

Crepes for a good cause!

My fellow foodie and writer Dana McMahan has landed a two-week writing residency at Kitchen-at-Camont. I had never heard of Kitchen-at-Camont, but after reading about it I think it's one of the coolest things ever. I'm so happy for (and envious of) Dana!

In order finance her trip to France, she's throwing a crepe brunch fundraiser for herself. Is that not the best idea ever? Come eat crepes, donate what you can, and send a fellow foodie off to two weeks in paradise. Here's the invitation.

I've never actually met Dana, but I'm a fan of her blog and her joie de vivre. I'm looking forward to eating crepes for her benefit!

Toward more compassionate eating, one bite at a time

Wherever you fall on the animal products-eating continuum, I think we can all agree that animal agriculture in this country is Fucked (with a capital F). I mean, just take a look at the video of male chicks being ground up alive that's been making its way around the Internet. No, really, go take a look. If you eat eggs, you should see where they come from.

Late last year I got into a tremendously ugly online dispute with a vegan acquaintance. I called her out for saying that by going vegan she "became civilized," suggesting that her arrogance was probably doing her cause more harm than good. She, not surprisingly, did not take kindly to that comment, replying in part "The ridicule that I face for exercising compassion, care and responsibility in a very real, tangible way, is a small price to pay for having the opportunity to make the truth more visible. I realize that it turns you off. But I'm not here to turn people like you on."

You can imagine where it went from there.

I have wrestled with this issue a lot. Unlike a lot of people, I don't think that veganism is ridiculous or extreme; I think it's a perfectly reasonable way to excuse oneself from participating in an unnecessarily cruel and harmful (in a variety of ways) system of food production. I am totally sympathetic toward veganism. The problem, of course, is that my sympathy is misplaced; it belongs with the animals who are the victims of this whole fucked-up system. And I sure do continue to eat animal products.

Because I really do try to understand other people's points of view, I tried to think about the fight for animal rights as I think about feminism. Would I say it would be enough if women achieved mostly equal rights? No, of course not. Would I say that feminists can live their lives however they want but that they should shut up about sexism and not point out oppression and privilege to other people? Hell no. Then why should I expect any different from animal rights activists?

In fall 2007, I taught Women's & Gender Studies 201, Women in American Culture. Now, you will never, ever hear me say anything along the lines of "I'm a feminist, but I'm not one of those feminists." I most certainly am one of "those" feminists, plenty pissed and plenty radical. It probably goes without saying that I want to get the feminist word out to as many folks as possible. However, I knew that in a classroom full of young college students, most of whom knew nothing of feminism but stereotypes, my righteous indignation was not going to do anything but turn people off. I made it clear from the start that we were going to be discussing controversial issues and that they were going be introduced to ideas that were totally new them, and that, by virtue of the fact that I was in the process of getting a master's degree in Women's & Gender Studies, I had certain opinions on these matters. But I had no interest in converting my students into feminists; setting out with that goal would have either turned the entire semester into a futile ideological battle or resulted in a class full of students parroting my own opinions back to me. Rather, I wanted them to take each new idea and think about it. Argue with each other about it. Critique it. Assess how it applied - or didn't apply - to their own lives.

At the end of the semester, did I have a class full of feminists? Of course not. But did I have a class with more feminist tendencies and better critical thinking skills who were more likely to look favorably on women's rights issues? Absolutely.

This approach is sorely lacking when it comes to vegetarianism and veganism. It's almost always presented as an all-or-nothing proposition; you either eschew all animal products or you are a barbaric asshole. Yes, if everyone became vegan, that would eliminate food-related animal cruelty and environmental problems, and that would be great. But that's not going to happen. What realistically could happen is that people could reduce their intake of animal products, which would not eliminate food-related animal cruelty and environmental problems, but could reduce them drastically. Do animal rights advocates want to be righteously indignant and dismissed as ridiculous extremists, or do they want to moderate their views - or at least their rhetoric - and spur people to move in the right direction?

Here are my suggestions for people who are bothered by the way food animals are treated and the environmental ramifications of animal-eating but who aren't ready to take the vegetarian/vegan plunge:

1. Educate yourself. Will you think twice about eating eggs after watching that video? Maybe, maybe not, but you ought to at least know the truth about where your food comes from. There's a ton of information out there about all aspects of animal agriculture.
2. Choose meat alternatives when possible. If you're craving a steak, no portobello mushroom cap is going to satisfy that craving. But if you're craving chili, could you use a meat substitute or more beans and veggies instead? When mixed with other stuff, Quorn Crumbles are almost indistinguishable from ground beef.
3. Similarly, choose dairy alternatives when possible. I can't image life without cheese, but I find that Silk creamer in my coffee instead of half-and-half is just fine. Any little change you can make like this is a step in the right direction.
4. If you are going to buy animal products, try to buy them locally. Animal products from small local farms are generally more humanely produced, better for the environment, and good for the local economy. Depending on where you live, your farmers markets and/or grocery stores may carry locally-produced meat, eggs, and dairy products. In Louisville, ValuMarket is a good source for this stuff.
5. When dining out, try a meatless option. Do you find yourself dismissing meatless entrees because you're afraid they won't be filling, or just because you're in the habit of ordering meat? Why not give one a try? Vegetarian/vegan entrees are very often high in creativity and flavor, and filling too.
6. When choosing seafood, do it responsibly. Check the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch or the Blue Ocean Institute's FishPhone to make sure the seafood you choose is sustainable. (I mean, seriously, FishPhone. Don't you want to use it based on its name alone?)
7. Beware of organics. The organic label has been co-opted by industrial agriculture and means almost nothing. Do your research before you pluck an organic animal product off the shelf and assume you've made a good choice. The Cornucopia Institute's Organic Dairy Report will give you the low-down on your favorite organic dairy products. It turns out that Horizon, which is always on prominent display in the Kroger natural foods cooler, is one of the most ethically deficient dairy brands on the market.
8. Experiment with vegetarian/vegan foods. Be adventurous. Try some seitan or tempeh or tofu. Find a tasty-sounding recipe and give it a try. You may hate it, but then again, you may be very pleasantly surprised.
9. Commit to several vegetarian/vegan meals a week. Can you make a meatless meal a couple times a week? Maybe even a meal with no animal products at all? Try it; I bet it will be easier than you think.

Changing your eating habits is hard. Food is primal and necessary. Most of us grow up eating animal products and not questioning it, and I would be a liar if I said I didn't miss meat. I miss my mama's pot roast, meat loaf, and chicken and dumplings. I miss hamburgers and pulled pork sandwiches and the turkey-artichoke panini from Panera. And I am far from perfect; I have meat slip-ups from time to time. Most often at parties (because food is social) and when I'm sick (because food is comforting). I also have a lot of work to do on my dairy consumption; I happen to like soy ice cream quite a lot, but it doesn't replace frozen custard. Still, I'm trying. I'm trying to eat with more compassion toward animals and the environment. Do you want to, too?

Eggplant Boursin Panini

We stopped frequenting Ramsi's some time ago, after a few too many experiences of mediocre food and bad service. But that doesn't mean I don't still love their Eggplant Boursin Panini:

Lightly breaded eggplant, tomato sauce, and a trio of cheeses, served on homemade Cuban bread.

When we brought home some eggplants from the farmers market last week, Neil suggested eggplant Parmesan, but that felt like too much work and too much time with the oven on. So I decided to try my hand at recreating my beloved panini instead. The results were pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. Anyone looking for ways to use up their eggplant harvest should give this one a try!

1 eggplant (depending on size, of course, but one average eggplant provided enough for four sandwiches and a few snack slices for us)
Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 package Boursin (it won't require nearly the whole package, but use however much you want)
1 ball mozzarella, sliced thickly (ours yielded four slices and a chunk for snacking)
Shredded Parmesan to taste
Some sort of chunky tomato sauce business (we used Kroger brand bruschetta topping and it was pretty good)
Whatever bread/bun/roll you fancy (no Cuban bread to be found at Kroger, so we went with their sub rolls, which worked surprisingly well)

Skin and slice eggplant, then dip slices into egg and dredge in breadcrumbs. Fry in oil (or bake, if you want to be healthier about it) until golden. Spread a layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the roll, and follow with mozzarella slices, eggplant, and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Spread a layer of Boursin on the top of the roll (the inside of the top of the roll, that is). Stick the whole thing in your panini press press or George Foreman (what we used), or, if you don't have any such thing, just pop it in the oven until the cheese is melty and the bread is toasty.

I wish I had a photo of this for you, but unfortunately, the ones we took did not really do the deliciousness justice. Just trust me when I promise you that it is fantastic.

Notes:
1. Depending on what kind of bread you use, the quantities might vary a little bit. Since we used oblong sub rolls, each sandwich used four slices of eggplant stacked two high, and a slice of mozzarella on each eggplant stack. But that's just how it worked out for us. This is bound to turn out delicious no matter how you do it, so don't worry too much about the details.
2. I think I've more or less given up on sweating eggplant. The only difference I can tell is that when I do it, even though I rinse it off afterward, the eggplant ends up way too salty. It's also a pain in the ass. The hell with it, I say!
3. Boursin is freaking expensive, around $6 for 5.2 oz at Kroger. Although it's kind of central to the Eggplant Boursin Panini, feel free to skip it or mess around with other cheeses if you don't want to spend that much. (Or, if you happen to be going up to Jungle Jim's, get it there. It's always much cheaper even at regular price, and we once found it on sale there for $1.99.)

Enjoy!