Tater Tots! (I ordered mine well done...)
Tiny fried crispy friends! Reminiscent of grade 4! Tater tots, in the able hands of the staff at the Waterfront location of Bar Louie, are as surprisingly great eats as were some of the other offerings we enjoyed from this little chain restaurant's kitchen. Some, not so much... but definitely not BAD, well priced, and right across from the movie theatre.
seriously?
I know that I have custom of disdain for chain restaurants, but this was decent.
seriously!
I had a black cherry mojito - which is actually more of a blackberry mojito. It was tasty but seemingly ethanol-free. T enjoyed a traditional mojito and was surprisingly buzzed after about 1/8th of it. So, ymmv. Fresh blackberries made mine tasty, though. Don't tell my mother, but I kinda pounded it, and still, nuthin.
For my main course, I ordered a "small plate" of pot roast sliders. Now, I do have a small gripe here - two, actually. gripe #1: these aren't sliders - they're a smallish sandwich on some weirdly mushy shite bread that has been cut into four pieces. gripe #2: the meat is supposed to be accompanied by horseradish mashed potatoes. Fascinatingly, this is yet another of the burgh's missing ingredients - no horseradish. As I have said before, kids, the nose knows. And horseradish is an easy one. So, the sliders were ok - a lot of bread, little meat, bland-ish flavor from the mysteriously missing horseradish, but the meat itself was tender, fat fully rendered out, and good if not stingy in portion.
BUT
I got a side of tater tots.
Which is precisely what you should do if you find yourself down at the waterworks and want a drink and salty snack. Definitely the finest iteration of this Reagan-era school lunch vegetable that I have ever seen. I suspect they're high temp deep friend to crispy perfection, and then dusted with a spice-salt mix that smells like it contains dehydrated tomato, black pepper, and I am not sure what else. Nummy. Crispy. Infantile. $3.50 bought more than two diners could down - we managed less than half. And no hair nets and lunch ladies. No detention if you throw 'em. But I wouldn't waste this junk food nirvana.
Just for completeness, T had a BBQ chicken pizza. I dislike chicken on pizza, it just bugs me. Oddly, not one but ALL except the sole vegetarian pizza have chicken as a topping! Not really a pizza, more of a squishy flatbread. Sauce was a little sweet. But T liked it overall, although he noted dough was soft and too fluffy and would have fallen into a heap if he hadn't cut and eaten it with a knife and fork.
Summary judgments for the Waterworks location of Bar Louie: ok for the price and location. Service was pleasant and efficient, drinks were tasty but inconsistent in potency, food was ok except for mystery ingredients and lousy job done in every iteration of bread. BUT a bright shining beacon of goodness, hope and youth would bring me back - go there for tater tots and beer. Seriously.
Showing posts with label dining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dining. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
La Grande Citrouille
Veganism (well, nearly) in my kitchen...
I openly admit that while I tend to have an adventurous palate, quite often and depending on my mood, some meats can taste incredibly bad to me. That experience, in addition to my limited available time to locate great product, prep it, cook it, and eat it, as well as a growing belief that eating much meat is bad for body and planet, has yielded a great interest in vegetarian cooking. And I mean elegant, tasty, no-sacrifices cooking that is not of that 70's earthy-crunchy ilk (well, at least not all of the time). No mush, no chili, no rice 'n beans (well, at least not most of the time).
Just to complicate matters, a number of the usual vegetarian staples don't agree with me (I need to minimize dairy, eggs sometimes don't sit well, and I am allergic to avocados...), and my diet plan involves my eating about 60 grams of lean protein a day and very little simple sugars. Not all that easy without much meat. (Although I do eat a lot of Greek yogurt (which doen't bug my belly)).
So, I am still eating a serving of fish 1-2x a week, which I can rationalize by buying things that are more sustainable and aren't known to bioconcentrate mercury. I'll just admit it up front so that when you dine with me you don't think that I am a hypocrite. I also am still eating meat when I want it, particularly when dining out (still have a tough time resisting duck breast and bacon, but I don't need to keep them in the house...). And I loathe the sort of vegetarians (be they real, or, like me, not wholly committed) who preach their ethical crap to others, especially while eating.
Thus, the point of this is not to convert you to some religion in which even I do not believe, but to share with you tonight's feature in the ongoing saga: what I made for dinner.
My friend, Ross (shoutout to you, dude!), recently gave me the idea of using polenta as a vegetarian, fat-free "crust" for a quiche I often make. Likewise, my old pal and uber-carpenter Mike (shoutout atcha, too, baby!) has been giving me tons of higher protein, low sugar, low fat, still tasty, not mushblobs vegan cooking ideas, including the joys of silken tofu in lieu of dairy thickeners in recipes. So, guys, you (and the things going bad in my fridge) inspired tonight's recipe.
La Nuit de la Grande Citrouille, Charlie Brown!
(Aromatic maple pumpkin tart with sage-polenta crust and red wine laquered wild mushroom ragout with sage and brown butter)
(yes, I know the butter isn't vegan)
(and that that description is silly)
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
ingredients (all of this is rough, I didn't measure):
1/2 cup corn meal
1.5 cu water
salt
about a tablespoon of finely minced (back cut for dryness) fresh sage
one can, 15 oz., of Libby's pumpkin (just the plain pumpkin, not the preflavored pie mix)
3/4 cup of silken reduced fat tofu
about a teaspoon of finely minced Chinese ginger
a small dash of ground red cayenne pepper (I always put this in a pumpkin pie, as an aside)
a few shakes of five spice powder
one shake of nutmeg
salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups of mixed wild mushrooms (we had shitake, crimini, and oyster)
2 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of unsalted butter
the red wine (a medium bodied cab) that was left in my glass (I think a dry chardonnay would have been better, but I wasn't drinking that)
some more fresh sage (this is just rolled up and sliced finely into the pan with kitchen scissors) - circa a teaspoon
salt
maple syrup (and a little Pecorino Romano as a garnish would have been good, but I didn't want the fat)
easy:
in a saucepan, put the water and salt it to taste (I think I used about 2 tsp). boil it. whisk in the corn meal, cook it until it is done over medium heat (maybe a minute or so), toss in the sage, whisk it all together, and remove from heat. set aside to cool a bit.
spray a nine inch metal pie pan or whatever you have around with some cooking spray. I just use the olive oil kind since I like the taste.
Press, using a hand rinsed in cold water (no sticking), the polenta into the pie pan, then put this in the oven and cook it for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling: dump filling ingredients into a bowl and blend until smooth, then salt to taste. I used a stick blender. You use whatever you like.
when the "crust" is kinda set and dried a little, dump in the filling, smooth it out, and put it back in the oven.
I cooked it at about 350 (the oven in my apt is unreliable, but that is what my thermometer said. Incidentally, I set the oven to 390 F, so as ever, YMMV) for about 50 minutes whilst I accomplished other goals.
when it was done, I turned the oven off but left the pie in there while I made the mushrooms: put the olive oil in a skillet. get it warm but not super hot. put the mushrooms in, whole. toss in a pinch of salt. toss the mushrooms every so often to prevent sticking. when they're mostly done to your liking, toss in the sage. continue to cook. toss in the butter, let it brown very slightly, and lightly caramelize the outsides of the flat mushrooms. deglaze with whatever you were drinking at the time (kinda like a reverse monte au buerre), toss a bit more, the whole thing will thicken and be delicious.
to serve: cut a nice slice of your semisavory pie. put some of the mushrooms on top. pour on a teensy touch of real maple syrup, and finish with a sage leaf and a little Romano grana if you have it and are feeling fancy (or just eat it, if you are me, while watching William Shatner interview Jenna Jamison).
If you are a hungry person, 1/4 of the pie is a serving. roughly, this contains 14 grams of protein, 12.5 grams of sugars, and under 200 calories. plus the mushrooms, which, depending on how many you eat, are the source of fat in this dish.
Have vegetarian(ish) food ideas? a great recipe to share? tried this and it sucked? let me know!
off to Memphis tomorrow.
I openly admit that while I tend to have an adventurous palate, quite often and depending on my mood, some meats can taste incredibly bad to me. That experience, in addition to my limited available time to locate great product, prep it, cook it, and eat it, as well as a growing belief that eating much meat is bad for body and planet, has yielded a great interest in vegetarian cooking. And I mean elegant, tasty, no-sacrifices cooking that is not of that 70's earthy-crunchy ilk (well, at least not all of the time). No mush, no chili, no rice 'n beans (well, at least not most of the time).
Just to complicate matters, a number of the usual vegetarian staples don't agree with me (I need to minimize dairy, eggs sometimes don't sit well, and I am allergic to avocados...), and my diet plan involves my eating about 60 grams of lean protein a day and very little simple sugars. Not all that easy without much meat. (Although I do eat a lot of Greek yogurt (which doen't bug my belly)).
So, I am still eating a serving of fish 1-2x a week, which I can rationalize by buying things that are more sustainable and aren't known to bioconcentrate mercury. I'll just admit it up front so that when you dine with me you don't think that I am a hypocrite. I also am still eating meat when I want it, particularly when dining out (still have a tough time resisting duck breast and bacon, but I don't need to keep them in the house...). And I loathe the sort of vegetarians (be they real, or, like me, not wholly committed) who preach their ethical crap to others, especially while eating.
Thus, the point of this is not to convert you to some religion in which even I do not believe, but to share with you tonight's feature in the ongoing saga: what I made for dinner.
My friend, Ross (shoutout to you, dude!), recently gave me the idea of using polenta as a vegetarian, fat-free "crust" for a quiche I often make. Likewise, my old pal and uber-carpenter Mike (shoutout atcha, too, baby!) has been giving me tons of higher protein, low sugar, low fat, still tasty, not mushblobs vegan cooking ideas, including the joys of silken tofu in lieu of dairy thickeners in recipes. So, guys, you (and the things going bad in my fridge) inspired tonight's recipe.
La Nuit de la Grande Citrouille, Charlie Brown!
(Aromatic maple pumpkin tart with sage-polenta crust and red wine laquered wild mushroom ragout with sage and brown butter)
(yes, I know the butter isn't vegan)
(and that that description is silly)
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
ingredients (all of this is rough, I didn't measure):
1/2 cup corn meal
1.5 cu water
salt
about a tablespoon of finely minced (back cut for dryness) fresh sage
one can, 15 oz., of Libby's pumpkin (just the plain pumpkin, not the preflavored pie mix)
3/4 cup of silken reduced fat tofu
about a teaspoon of finely minced Chinese ginger
a small dash of ground red cayenne pepper (I always put this in a pumpkin pie, as an aside)
a few shakes of five spice powder
one shake of nutmeg
salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups of mixed wild mushrooms (we had shitake, crimini, and oyster)
2 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of unsalted butter
the red wine (a medium bodied cab) that was left in my glass (I think a dry chardonnay would have been better, but I wasn't drinking that)
some more fresh sage (this is just rolled up and sliced finely into the pan with kitchen scissors) - circa a teaspoon
salt
maple syrup (and a little Pecorino Romano as a garnish would have been good, but I didn't want the fat)
easy:
in a saucepan, put the water and salt it to taste (I think I used about 2 tsp). boil it. whisk in the corn meal, cook it until it is done over medium heat (maybe a minute or so), toss in the sage, whisk it all together, and remove from heat. set aside to cool a bit.
spray a nine inch metal pie pan or whatever you have around with some cooking spray. I just use the olive oil kind since I like the taste.
Press, using a hand rinsed in cold water (no sticking), the polenta into the pie pan, then put this in the oven and cook it for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling: dump filling ingredients into a bowl and blend until smooth, then salt to taste. I used a stick blender. You use whatever you like.
when the "crust" is kinda set and dried a little, dump in the filling, smooth it out, and put it back in the oven.
I cooked it at about 350 (the oven in my apt is unreliable, but that is what my thermometer said. Incidentally, I set the oven to 390 F, so as ever, YMMV) for about 50 minutes whilst I accomplished other goals.
when it was done, I turned the oven off but left the pie in there while I made the mushrooms: put the olive oil in a skillet. get it warm but not super hot. put the mushrooms in, whole. toss in a pinch of salt. toss the mushrooms every so often to prevent sticking. when they're mostly done to your liking, toss in the sage. continue to cook. toss in the butter, let it brown very slightly, and lightly caramelize the outsides of the flat mushrooms. deglaze with whatever you were drinking at the time (kinda like a reverse monte au buerre), toss a bit more, the whole thing will thicken and be delicious.
to serve: cut a nice slice of your semisavory pie. put some of the mushrooms on top. pour on a teensy touch of real maple syrup, and finish with a sage leaf and a little Romano grana if you have it and are feeling fancy (or just eat it, if you are me, while watching William Shatner interview Jenna Jamison).
If you are a hungry person, 1/4 of the pie is a serving. roughly, this contains 14 grams of protein, 12.5 grams of sugars, and under 200 calories. plus the mushrooms, which, depending on how many you eat, are the source of fat in this dish.
Have vegetarian(ish) food ideas? a great recipe to share? tried this and it sucked? let me know!
off to Memphis tomorrow.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Steeltown Girl on Saturday Night...
I hearken back to Flashdance and sing along... "just a steeltown girl on a saturday night..."
This newly minted Steeltown girl likes to eat out - I am just kinda lazy and am not always up to cooking. I also enjoy a leisurely dinner with friends. So when I recently relocated to Shadyside, one of Pittsburgh's more chic neighborhoods, flush with well-reviewed dining hotspots, I figured I would never lack for a hip place to eat.
but
then I started going out.
and
lots of the food here is bad.
or, worse than full-on bad. I have, to date, only had one meal in Pittsburgh's "finer dining" establishments that I felt was better-than-mediocre.
so I hope that you'll join me as I explore and offer my unbiased reviews of wine, cuisine, and a few other musings as I get to know my new home of Pittsburgh. Just wait... I am no midwestern girl, which is to say that I am not always nice.
This newly minted Steeltown girl likes to eat out - I am just kinda lazy and am not always up to cooking. I also enjoy a leisurely dinner with friends. So when I recently relocated to Shadyside, one of Pittsburgh's more chic neighborhoods, flush with well-reviewed dining hotspots, I figured I would never lack for a hip place to eat.
but
then I started going out.
and
lots of the food here is bad.
or, worse than full-on bad. I have, to date, only had one meal in Pittsburgh's "finer dining" establishments that I felt was better-than-mediocre.
so I hope that you'll join me as I explore and offer my unbiased reviews of wine, cuisine, and a few other musings as I get to know my new home of Pittsburgh. Just wait... I am no midwestern girl, which is to say that I am not always nice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
