My last reviews all seemed to slant toward the negative. So here's a positive review on myself and what I cooked tonight. This is my adaptation from the original recipe from the SF Chronicle, sent to me by my friend who lives there. I ate a the Slanted Door which overlooks the beautiful Bay on a lovely October day in 2008.
Chicken in Caramel Sauce
Serves 4 to 6
The inspiration for this dish that Charles Phan serves at his Slanted Door restaurant in San Francisco came from a street cart in Vietnam. It's a good example of the great food that is served from street stands throughout that country.
•1/2 cup brown sugar
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (see Note)
•3 tablespoons rice vinegar
•1 teaspoon minced garlic
•1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
•1 teaspoon ginger (I use a microplane)
•1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
•2 small Thai chiles (fresh or dried), broken in half
•1tablespoon canola oil
•1/2 yellow onion, minced
•2 chicken breasts, sliced
•Steamed white rice
•Cilantro sprigs for garnish
Instructions: Combine the brown sugar, water, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, pepper and chiles in a small bowl. Mix well, and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the onion and saute until brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken and saute until it is slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced by half, about 12 to 20 minutes depending on the pot size. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.
Note: Fish sauce is available in Asian markets and upscale supermarkets.
Per serving: 400 calories, 41 g protein, 22 g carbohydrate, 15 g fat (4 g saturated), 131 mg cholesterol, 903 mg sodium, 0 fiber
The secrets: The interplay between the fish sauce and brown sugar creates a complex flavor. The combination of white and dark meat gives interesting texture to the dish.
Wine pairing: Try something slightly offdry with pear and honeysuckle aromas and flavors, such as the 2008 Columbia Winery Cellarmaster's Columbia Valley Riesling ($12).
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/07/FDQ31BJVKK.DTL#ixzz0gDrSfD6k
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Fifteen Minutes of Shame
Last night we had the displeasure of eating at Jim Edmund's number-sake restaurant, Fifteen. We did not choose this place, as we were with three other couples, but the menu looked safe (steak and more steak) and the gentlemen in our party (minus Tim) had actually eaten here before.
I'll start with the positive here: The restaurant in amidst the faltering revitalization of the far-west loft district between Wash Ave. and mid-town. There are many "For Lease" store fronts along Locust Street as we were driving east, and clearly a lot of these lofts were empty. It's good that a few businesses are trying their hand at making a go of it here, and this place was pretty full on a Saturday night as well as hosting a party (wedding reception?) in the upstairs area.
Now the negative: We had reservations for 7 PM, and our table was ready for us early. However, they placed us in an odd orientation, with our table running parallel to the wall and thus precluding the waiter from reaching none but the two top chair positions. We were constantly passing plates, drinks, and even steak knives down the line. We were all seated by 7:10...our bread service arrived at 5 minutes to 8:00. Our water was empty for at least 15 minutes before it was refilled and that was only after one of the lucky two at the top of the table stopped the waiter as he whizzed by. Our appetizer arrived 10 minutes before our steaks, and normally this is fine...except it was 8:10, one full hour after we had arrived. It was shrimp that were served cold (purposely), so they mearly had to pull these shrimp out of the fridge, put some cocktail sauce in a little dish and out of the kitchen it should fly.
All of these annoyances could have been forgiven, if our food was outstanding. Or maybe even just good. Our waiter, Robbie or Raubine, informed us that steaks were "what they were known for." Fine. All eight of us ordered steak, with seven choosing the indulgent filet mignon and the big guy choosing a 16 oz. ribeye, which in my opinion is much easier to mess up than a filet. We ordered ours "Medium" as filets are thick and I was concerned that it could still be mooing if I ordered it Med-rare, as I like my strips or sirloins. Well this cow stopped mooing, rolled over, died, had the vultures come and then it was served to us. Our even less-fortune dining partners had had their filets SPLIT! (ugly as hell) and then served as previously stated. I purchased bacon wrapped filets during a New Year's special Aldi was running for 2 dollars a piece...and they were better than these 30 dollar petrifications.
Everyone kept saying "mmmm the potatoes are good." When does one comment on the potatoes? When everything else sucks. And it all did.
http://www.15stl.com/
I'll start with the positive here: The restaurant in amidst the faltering revitalization of the far-west loft district between Wash Ave. and mid-town. There are many "For Lease" store fronts along Locust Street as we were driving east, and clearly a lot of these lofts were empty. It's good that a few businesses are trying their hand at making a go of it here, and this place was pretty full on a Saturday night as well as hosting a party (wedding reception?) in the upstairs area.
Now the negative: We had reservations for 7 PM, and our table was ready for us early. However, they placed us in an odd orientation, with our table running parallel to the wall and thus precluding the waiter from reaching none but the two top chair positions. We were constantly passing plates, drinks, and even steak knives down the line. We were all seated by 7:10...our bread service arrived at 5 minutes to 8:00. Our water was empty for at least 15 minutes before it was refilled and that was only after one of the lucky two at the top of the table stopped the waiter as he whizzed by. Our appetizer arrived 10 minutes before our steaks, and normally this is fine...except it was 8:10, one full hour after we had arrived. It was shrimp that were served cold (purposely), so they mearly had to pull these shrimp out of the fridge, put some cocktail sauce in a little dish and out of the kitchen it should fly.
All of these annoyances could have been forgiven, if our food was outstanding. Or maybe even just good. Our waiter, Robbie or Raubine, informed us that steaks were "what they were known for." Fine. All eight of us ordered steak, with seven choosing the indulgent filet mignon and the big guy choosing a 16 oz. ribeye, which in my opinion is much easier to mess up than a filet. We ordered ours "Medium" as filets are thick and I was concerned that it could still be mooing if I ordered it Med-rare, as I like my strips or sirloins. Well this cow stopped mooing, rolled over, died, had the vultures come and then it was served to us. Our even less-fortune dining partners had had their filets SPLIT! (ugly as hell) and then served as previously stated. I purchased bacon wrapped filets during a New Year's special Aldi was running for 2 dollars a piece...and they were better than these 30 dollar petrifications.
Everyone kept saying "mmmm the potatoes are good." When does one comment on the potatoes? When everything else sucks. And it all did.
http://www.15stl.com/
Monday, February 8, 2010
Opa?
After viewing an awkward sex scene featuring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, nothing sounded better to me than a little flaming saganaki and various dishes featuring my favorite red meat, lamb. So off we go to the Olympia Kebab House, just a stone's throw down McCausland from the Hi-Pointe theatre.
This place was beyond crowded, and even at 7 PM was full of young children. And those weird couples that sit on the same side of the booth and you can't help but to stare at them. But I digress.
The saganaki was good as any, but the whole reason you order this flamer is to hear the overzealous "Opa!" as your server puts about 20 of these delights on flambe. Instead we got a Opuuuhhhhhh. Come again? Not a single server in the place said this exclamation with any gusto. Yeah, I get it, this job blows, but the place was full of kids and I know their eyes are following that dish all the way from the kitchen just to hear the flaming cheese battle cry.
I ordered the lamb souvlaki and at 8 bucks, this was a steal. I couldn't even finish half of the lamb in my sandwich. Tim ordered the "appetizer sampler" and at 18 bucks, expected a coupld of grape leaves and maybe some spanikopita, etc. Instead it had three dips: hummus, baba ganoush and taziki; and a few olives. I couldn't believe I got all of this wonderful meat and for 10 MORE DOLLARS HE GOT A FEW DIPS?? Weird.
The most disappointing thing of all was the complete unattentiveness of our waiter. We were both drinking beer and he never came by to ask if we wanted a refill. At five bucks a piece, I would assume this would be a near effortless way to increase the bill and therefore, the tip. Never refilled our water. Never stopped after our meal arrived. We had to nearly trip him for our bill.
It really was a disappointment that the Olympia Kebab House was such a hit and miss place. It's clearly popular and there is a paucity of Greek food here in the Lou that it could really build a great business on this fact. Except it needs to fix a few basic problems.
This place was beyond crowded, and even at 7 PM was full of young children. And those weird couples that sit on the same side of the booth and you can't help but to stare at them. But I digress.
The saganaki was good as any, but the whole reason you order this flamer is to hear the overzealous "Opa!" as your server puts about 20 of these delights on flambe. Instead we got a Opuuuhhhhhh. Come again? Not a single server in the place said this exclamation with any gusto. Yeah, I get it, this job blows, but the place was full of kids and I know their eyes are following that dish all the way from the kitchen just to hear the flaming cheese battle cry.
I ordered the lamb souvlaki and at 8 bucks, this was a steal. I couldn't even finish half of the lamb in my sandwich. Tim ordered the "appetizer sampler" and at 18 bucks, expected a coupld of grape leaves and maybe some spanikopita, etc. Instead it had three dips: hummus, baba ganoush and taziki; and a few olives. I couldn't believe I got all of this wonderful meat and for 10 MORE DOLLARS HE GOT A FEW DIPS?? Weird.
The most disappointing thing of all was the complete unattentiveness of our waiter. We were both drinking beer and he never came by to ask if we wanted a refill. At five bucks a piece, I would assume this would be a near effortless way to increase the bill and therefore, the tip. Never refilled our water. Never stopped after our meal arrived. We had to nearly trip him for our bill.
It really was a disappointment that the Olympia Kebab House was such a hit and miss place. It's clearly popular and there is a paucity of Greek food here in the Lou that it could really build a great business on this fact. Except it needs to fix a few basic problems.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Hot Dierberg's
The Chesterfield Dierberg's has a great little hotdog/popcorn stand that made me a Rose-ammended (no pickle relish) Chicago-style hotdog yesterday. Mmmmm! It's hard to resist those ridiculously eye-catching ads Vienna Beef puts out, just in case you wanted to eat a giant hotdog in the likeness of an "L" train, or in this stand's case, one water-logged by Lake Michigan. When the proprietor found out I was "from" Chicago, I had to eat my hotdog and then come back (!) and give him my report. I said, "nice job on the sport peppers-they crunched right in my mouth." And they did.
Monday, February 1, 2010
We Actually WALKED Somewhere in the Lou
Walking somewhere, ANYWHERE, in St. Louis is just something people don't do. After living in Chicago where it took a small act of God to get from point A to B just to eat dinner, the fact that you can park anywhere in this city has made my Carbon footprint grow terribly.
But.
I do still live in an urban area and there are places to eat and drink within walking distance. On Saturday night, following too many beers Friday night (see Hardshell Cafe review), I just didn't feel like [this is not my quote] "ethnic crap." Benton Park Cafe is a little coffee shop only three blocks from my house but somehow, I have overlooked this cute little place for a bite to eat.* They were only employing one waitress on a Saturday evening, which posed a problem with my water refill, but she was pleasant and was really moving quickly, and since staffing is ostensibly not her responsibility, I didn't care too much.
We were more interested in soup/salad/sandwich fare, but they do carry a few (5-6) hearty dinner-type offerings. The waitress did talk me in to the chicken salad after I told her I have a strange aversion to celery and she was right, the yummy grapes and apples did mask that weird stringy-crunch of that vegetable. Tim really liked the salad as it was not iceburg and they added raw yellow onions and according to him, that makes a good salad.
They have an extensive coffee bar and after-dinner specialties that seemed to focus on espresso vodka, which I've never had the pleasure of trying. To top it all off, we even burned 35 calories walking home.
www.bentonparkcafe.com
*To be fair-I don't go out to breakfast-that could be its on blog, really-and this is their specialty.
But.
I do still live in an urban area and there are places to eat and drink within walking distance. On Saturday night, following too many beers Friday night (see Hardshell Cafe review), I just didn't feel like [this is not my quote] "ethnic crap." Benton Park Cafe is a little coffee shop only three blocks from my house but somehow, I have overlooked this cute little place for a bite to eat.* They were only employing one waitress on a Saturday evening, which posed a problem with my water refill, but she was pleasant and was really moving quickly, and since staffing is ostensibly not her responsibility, I didn't care too much.
We were more interested in soup/salad/sandwich fare, but they do carry a few (5-6) hearty dinner-type offerings. The waitress did talk me in to the chicken salad after I told her I have a strange aversion to celery and she was right, the yummy grapes and apples did mask that weird stringy-crunch of that vegetable. Tim really liked the salad as it was not iceburg and they added raw yellow onions and according to him, that makes a good salad.
They have an extensive coffee bar and after-dinner specialties that seemed to focus on espresso vodka, which I've never had the pleasure of trying. To top it all off, we even burned 35 calories walking home.
www.bentonparkcafe.com
*To be fair-I don't go out to breakfast-that could be its on blog, really-and this is their specialty.
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