Superbowl 2012

This year for the Superbowl instead of breaking the bank by going out to a bar and spending ridiculous amounts of money on overpriced crappy food and beer, I encourage you to have friends over and make it an appetizer party. They are personally my favorite types of get togethers; you can always make a meal out of just the appetizers! So ever since we moved off campus and got a house of our own, we've held a traditional Superbowl party.

This year I came up with two recipes I was dying to try and my roommate Kait always makes her famous nachos. Between those and wings from a local pizzeria (50 for $20 can't beat that deal) there is more than enough food. Have everyone bring their own 6pack to share and you really do have a party. Superbowl on a budget, I'm all for it.

This recipe is from Iowagirleats.com

Mini Corndog Muffins

Ingredients (makes 48 mini muffins)

• 1/2 cup melted butter (or 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8-10 all-beef hot dogs, cut into 1″ bites

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add buttermilk and whisk to incorporate.
• In a separate bowl, combine baking soda, cornmeal, flour, and salt, and stir to combine. Whisk into wet ingredients in two batches.
• Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray, and spoon 1 Tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup. Place one hot dog bite into the middle of each cup.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes (oven temperatures vary), or until cornbread is golden brown. Cool in mini muffin tin for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, and re-heat for 20-30 seconds before serving.

Next, I'm doing baked mozzarella sticks from wearenotmartha.com

Ingredients

• 1 package part skim mozzarella cheese sticks, halved
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons melted butter

Directions

1. Cut cheese in 1/2" x 1/2" x 3" sticks.
2. Toss with flour and set aside.
3. In small bowl, beat together eggs and water and set aside.
4. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, italian seasoning and garlic powder.
5. Dip sticks in egg mixture, then coat with crumbs.
6. Repeat this process.
7. Place on a plate in a single layer, cover with foil and chill for 2 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
9. Place cheese sticks on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter.
10. Bake until crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes.Flip after 5 minutes.
11. Heat a little spaghetti sauce to use for dipping.

Happy Superbowl sunday! Go Giants!

Providence Restaurant Week

So I was not planning on doing a blog post so soon but I felt I had to share my good fortune with the rest of you. Yesterday began Providence's restaurant week and it will continue until Sunday, January 28th! Thats over a week for those of you who aren't inclined in math. Looking over the list, I was shocked by the fine dining restaurants participating. Last night, my roommates and I had by far the best steak of our lives. We ate at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. It was really a magically experience for those of you who have never been there before. The service was exceptional and as expected the food was so excellent that I cannot describe it in words. For their restaurant week menu, they offer three courses, starting with : A steakhouse salad or Seafood Gumbo, the second offers: An 8oz filet, A 12oz NY strip, Blue crab-crab cakes, or a Stuffed Chicken breast and finally dessert, which is a duo of berries and a chocolate mousse cup. When looking at the regular menu, the 8oz fillet I ordered is originally $40. But for three courses, steak included I only paid $30.

Restaurant Week is an amazing opportunity that I'm not quite sure if very many people take advantage of. As students who appreciate fine dining and first class food, this is a resource that all of us should be taking advantage of. I looked at other menus and they are all an excellent deal as well. There are over 90 restaurants participating such as Ruth Chris, Capriccio's, Gracie's, and Hemmingway's just to name a few. I highly suggest that if you can, you take advantage of Providence's Restaurant week, for dinner or even lunch (which is priced at $15 but not offered by all restaurants) because it really is a great price for an outstanding meal.

Heres the website: http://www.goprovidence.com/rw/

Mad Dog & Beans

Over the break, I went on an adventure to find some of NYC's best mexican. Besides, I'm a sucker for a good margarita. I decided to take my dad away from work and include him on my quest. This limited my location to the downtown area but after some Yelp research, I settled on MadDog & Beans, Mexican Cantina. MadDog & Beans is located on pearl street and stone street. Stone street is one of New York's oldest cobblestone streets. I have to say, this place was so busy at 1pm on a friday; I was shocked! We ended up waiting twenty five minutes, but it is certainly worth the wait. The place was filled with people at tables and even sitting (and standing) at the bar.

I was so intrigued with MadDog & Beans; I knew I had to look up the background. They have a very colorful and interesting story. Mad Dog was a man who was accused of a brutal murder so was forced to flee to Mexico. He began living peacefully in a town, where the people did not care about his past. There he found a friend (& drinking partner) in a local chef. A man nicknamed Beans. Together they formed not only a friendship but an extremely successful restaurant. Whether this is true or not, it sets a nice background to this restaurant. The inside is decorated in all wood and the lighting is dark. The walls are adorned with black & white photos of mexico and various objects; such as guns and crosses. This creates an intimate yet fun atmosphere.

Moving on to the most important part of going to dinner; the food was also exceptional mexican for the right price. I judge all mexican restaurants by their Guacamole and chips, so we started with an appetizer portion. When it came to the table, it was served in a mortar and pestle which is made of lava rock and decorated with paint. It had fresh, real chunks of avocado and the perfect amount of spanish onion, with a small hint of lime juice. It was very simple, but delicious. The chips were light and crispy. It was the perfect appetizer to go with my corona light while we anxiously awaited our meals.

I decided on the De Raja quesadilla, which was filled with poblano peppers. Since attending Johnson and Wales, my dad usually ordered the chicken tacos. He is notorious for not reading the menu and so as usual we were pleasantly surprised when he got his huge portion including four tacos and a side of rice and beans. There was no complaints from the both of us and we enjoyed the silence that comes from eating a good meal, when everyone is enjoying what they ordered and are entranced by the food.

I fully intend on returning to MadDog & Beans to continue and explore their entire menu some more. It has so many options, from fajitas to Red Snapper. So next time your in NYC and looking for pretty excellent mexican, or even a fun place to get a drink.

You are what you Eataly

Over this past summer, I was fortunate enough to finally go on my homage to Mecca. I don't mean actually to the middle east, but the equivalent of a religious experience to me. On one of the hottest days in August, we traveled in New York City to marvel at the true mecca for all foodies- which is Eataly market.

For those who are unfamiliar with this food market/revolution, Eataly NYC is one of eight other locations all over the world. Eataly was started by Oscar Farinetti, as a small appliance and food store in Italy. Then he partnered with Mario Batali and Lidia and Joe Bastianich to bring Eataly to where it is today. It is a large glorified food market that focuses on all fresh produce and using only what is high quality products. They also place a large amount of importance on teaching people about the speciality items they offer. Their goal is to create an environment where all people can eat, shop and learn. Eataly is a market that has it all: Beer, Wine, Beverages, Meat, Seafood, Fresh Pasta, Fresh Produce, Books, Housewares, Bread and Cheese, to name a few. They also have a variety of different restaurants to eat at whether your in the mood for pasta, vegetables, meat, pizza, desserts, or a beer on the rooftop beer garden All this information and more can be found on their website www.Eatalynyc.com

As I walked in, I was completely speechless. Where has this amazing place been my entire life? Can I live here? I quickly became envious of those special individuals who live in the area and can do all their grocery shopping here! It quickly killed any experience I've ever had at Whole Foods. As you walk around, you literally feel like you've been transported to another world. There are people everywhere, shopping, talking, laughing, its loud and still wonderful at the same time. I marveled at the fresh produce, items I've never seen outside my grandmas backyard garden, such as Zucchini Flowers and extra large Eggplants. The seafood was still moving as you passed the case and the smell of fresh bread permeates your nose. They also have a huge dry goods department and as your walking around you can look up and see a map of where in Italy this product was manufactured. The collection of beer and wine was marvelous, there was certainly something for everyone. They had bottles of wine which were 15 dollars to bottles which were 1500. Even my favorite italian wine from the Castello dei Rampolla Vineyards in the valley of Panzano. I could have walked around all day and still not seen everything I wanted to. But we had a reservation at the rooftop beer garden, Birreria, so quickly we made our way to the reception desk, where the hostess was waiting with her Ipad to usher us up to the roof.

When we were seated, the view itself was breath taking and even with the heat, the breeze coming from the fans was lovely. There was a long bar- adorned with oak casks - with people getting a drink while hoping to get a table. We started off with drinks, I finally decided on a glass of Flor Prosecco to start, which proved to be light and refreshing. But on to more important matters, we started with a plate of meats and cheeses and a salad to split. Between that and the bread-that comes in a nice little bag-we quickly found that we could not stop eating/enjoying.

So we glanced over at the table next to us and they were enjoying these little fried balls of something, and since fried shoe leather would be tasty, we had to have that next - along with our second round of drinks, this time going for one of their famous house brewed cask ale's. These little fried balls of deliciousness turned out to be fried Shiitake Mushrooms sprinkled with sage. Words cannot describe the way they melted in your mouth.

This was my perfect idea of lunch-little plates so that I can try and experience a variety of different things. But their menu also has bigger items if you wanted more of a lunch entree. Well after this marathon of a food adventure, its a good thing we decided to continue to walk around the city because it was certainly needed.

So next time your visiting NYC, it would be in your best interest to visit Eataly and I strongly suggest trying to get a table at Birreria, if not it is worth it to have a drink at the bar. They are open all year round with a retractable roof so rain, snow, sleet, there is no excuse. Life is too short not to eat well.

Progressive Dinner Parties: ruining neighborhoods all over America

Last week on top chef -my favorite of all favorite shows-they had to cater a progressive dinner party. For those of you who aren’t as familiar with this new social trend, it’s a type of dinner party where each course is served at a different persons home. For example, the appetizers are served at my home, and then we walk down the road to Lisa’s house for the entrée course, and after we go to Bradley’s for dessert. While watching, I couldn’t help but think how interesting and different this idea seemed; it splits up the cooking and cleanup and adds a little exercise between courses. But then I really thought about how stupid the idea really is. So I want to plan a dinner party, but I can only invite my neighbors, no one else? What if I don’t necessarily get along with all my neighbors? For example, My father attempts to make peace with everyone but George across the street dislikes Don next door; maybe it’s because Don steals trash cans then plays it off like that trash can with your house number on it is actually his or something like that. So now your not inviting all the neighbors that you dislike for walking their dog on your lawn, or whatever the issue. And then during the ingenious progressive dinner party, the left out neighbors are watching this spectacle of all the popular “kids” walking from house to house laughing and discussing which dish was their favorite, basically plotting how to key your car without getting caught. This progressive dinner party is just another way to continue the childish behaviors we all learned in high school, and to further discriminate against people for no reason. To me, it sounds like a fight waiting to happen on an episode of the Real Housewives. If you want to have a dinner party, then take the entire responsibility, clean your house from top to bottom, shop for days, spend money you don’t have on caviar just to impress your guests, dirty every pan in your house and when everyone leaves, sware that you’ll never do it again. But don’t decide that you only want to contribute the cheese platter or the cake –which by the way we all know you bought from the bakery up the street. Invite friends that you haven’t seen in a while or don’t see often; make the dinner party worthwhile, especially if its so taxing that you really never do it again. Don’t invite the people that you’re forced to see everyday when you’re walking to your car. Progressive dinner parties are not progressive; it’s a potluck dinner party with some walking involved. If you want to have a potluck dinner party then have it at one home and call it that, don’t make up a fancy name and think your special enough to include some people and leave some out. And if you think a Progressive dinner party is something you’d like to host, maybe you should talk to a therapist about why you feel the need to still be the popular kid in your adult years.