Greek Salad Skewers

I remembered on Monday night that I had book club on Tuesday.  (That's the day after in case you've been working the kind of hours I have resulting in days that bleed together.)  I was right near Whole Foods so I cruised Pinterest for an easy appetizer while I walked to the store.  I found this pic for mini Greek salad skewers and loved that it was so simple I didn't even need to look at a recipe.  I bought all the ingredients and set my alarm 15 minutes early so I had time to assemble the dish before work.

The night before, I was telling my Mom about my brilliant app idea and she questioned how I would skewer the feta without it crumbling.  "Ugh, Mooom.  Clearly it works if you use good feta.  How else would they have a picture of it?"  Can you guess what happened next?  My Mom was right.  As usual.

No matter.  The toothpicks I was using were a bit tiny anyway so I just skewered the tomatoes, cucumbers, and pitted kalamata olives.  Then I crumbled some feta on top.  I figure when people pick up their toothpicks there will inevitably be some feta clinging on.  If I was doing this at home and presenting on a large platter, one update I would probably make would be to drizzle the skewers with some olive oil and sprinkle a few crushed red pepper flakes over the top.  I only remembered to snap a pic after they were almost all gone and had been sitting out for a while, pooling in their own juices.  It's not the most appetizing shot, but it's better than nothing.

Monday Reads

1. While men are immediately praised after helping out around the workplace, people rarely feel they owe the same debt to women.  Don't worry about not receiving credit right away, gals; evidence shows lending a hand will greatly help your career in the long run.
2. After 250 years, Crimea has broken up with Ukraine and become part of Russia.  The US is nyet happy.
3. Happy St. Patty's Day!  If you're going to get silly drunk in his name, you might as well know what the guy known as St. Patrick was all about.
4. Since I loved the Color Run, I'm pretty sure I would go nuts celebrating Holi, the Hindu festival of colors denoting the beginning of spring.

Parker & Quinn

When I realized my parents would be staying right by Albert's new office, I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out the bar/restaurant he discovered during his first week on the job.  Parker and Quinn is a gastropub which basically means it's elevated bar food with fancier drinks.  The vibe is a tad more upscale, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it swanky.  The place is divided into a bar area and restaurant area, but the bar itself is in a circle so half of the bar is in the restaurant space.  The setup made the place feel more communal...which is exactly why I would steer your attention towards the many share-able items on the menu.

The octopus was good, but I thought the pimento cheese was the real winner.  Another cheese based dish, the broc and cheese (mac and cheese with broccoli) was also very nice.  My caesar salad was good (nice and crunchy, good amount of dressing) but I thought the scallops were a little flat (physically - as in squished down) and a bit over-seasoned.  I saw some pizzas (flatbread style) pass by and thought they looked pretty tasty.  It's exactly the kind of food and drink you want when it's time to unwind after work.  The kind where you can nibble and share but still feel like you ate something real (I don't get that feeling from potato skins...do you?).

The Dardanella cocktail

Book Review: Dare Me

Megan Abbott's "Dare Me" allows you to perch on the bleachers to view the dark inner world of high school cheerleading.  This is "Heathers" kind of dark.  Addy has always been happy to play second fiddle to her best friend Beth.  Beth rules the school and has a knack for crafting the perfect insult, the kind that cuts into the soul of her prey, making them doubt themselves, and securing her spot as top dog.  When a new coach joins the school, Beth sees her as pathetic but all the other girls on the squad are mesmerized by her.  As Coach gathers her minions, Beth's position as most popular and most feared becomes shaky and it looks like she will go to any length to regain her status.  At the height of the season a death tests Addy and Beth's loyalty.  Yes, there is death in a book about cheerleading.

3 out of 5 stars  

3 on Thursday

Now that Jet Blue started flying to Savannah, there is a second flight option for Savannah/NYC travel.  Hip hip hooray!  When they announced the new route, they set up some inexpensive flights, which my parents immediately booked.  They were only here for a short while but it was a nice boost for my soul.  I start to go a little crazy if I go too long without seeing them and this was our first face-to-face contact since X-mas.

Background: Edison light bulbs at Craft give the restaurant a masculine feel

1. My parents and I saw Kinky Boots on Broadway.  I was a fan of the 2005 British film and thought it only got better as a musical.  Billy Porter definitely deserved his best actor Tony for portraying drag queen Lola, but I thought Annaleigh Ashford's performance as a quirky love interest was wonderful as well.  In case you're interested in taking in a show, I highly recommend this one.  The plot revolves around Charlie who has inherited his family's failing shoe factory.  In an effort to renew business he goes after a niche market: drag queens.  The book is written by Harvey Fierstein and the music and lyrics are by Cyndi Lauper.  Those are two writers/performers known for having fun with what they do and that is exactly what this show is.  This pic shows the inside of the Al Hirshfield Theater.  I love how theaters remain mostly unchanged over the years.  I only wish people liked to dress up more when they go.
2. The Morgan Library may not be as well known as the Met or the MoMA, but it actually has a great group of exhibits in a beautiful space.  We went to The Little Prince: A New York Story exhibition.  Though awareness of Le Petit Prince goes beyond the French classroom, most people don't know that it was actually written in New York.  Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry lived in New York during WWII and it was there that the book was first published.  Just before leaving to re-join the war, he dropped his manuscript along with first drafts at the door of a dear friend.  These papers, including a crumpled drawing that appears to have been dug from the trash are currently on display for the next month.  It is interesting to see the book's style progress as well as to understand the wartime backdrop that seeped into the work.  I urge you to check it out if you can.
3. While walking around SoHo my Mom spotted a shady door and swore she heard about "this place".  As we climbed through an area that was more graffiti than stairwell, there were rain forest sounds playing.  We made a right at the top of the stairs to find that my Mom was right and there was a store there.  Kiosk is a tiny room with an assembled collection of trinkets from a given country (we hit upon Greece).  I wouldn't make it a destination, but if you're by the Spring Street subway stop, check it out for your daily dose of quirk.

Craft

The mushrooms!  Oh, the mushrooms!  That's all I have heard for years as people have told me time and again how great Craft is.  I think people are just so delighted that a restaurant known for meat prepares a vegetarian dish so well.  I agree, the mushrooms were delicious, as were the simply roasted butterball potatoes.  Neither are items that should jump off the menu, but they were both elegant in their simplicity.  That said, the meat is as good as should be expected of a meat-centric restaurant.

I went to craft with a group of six for a work event so we took down a large chunk of the menu.  I did not realize the dishes were meant to be served family style, but once the waitress told us so, we decided our family's style was to try as much as possible.  For starters we had some oysters, scallops, the pork trotter with farm egg, and crispy bacon with yogurt.  The bacon and yogurt was my favorite of the bunch.  I was concerned it would be Greek yogurt topped with bacon bits but was happy to have pork belly with a creamy sauce.  For the main courses we had the striped bass, duck, short ribs, bacon wrapped venison (my favorite - if I could eat that once a week, my demeanor would likely improve immensely).  In addition to the mushrooms and potatoes, we also had the cauliflower, kale, and garlic risotto.  I found the risotto, so creamy and rich, to be the perfect complement to the meat entrées.  We ended the meal with the doughnuts, which came with a fudge and a coffee sauce.  The waiter pushed us to get two orders and when we saw the size of the dessert we were upset.  We had warned him we were already full and just wanted a bite of something sweet but he seemed to just want us to spend spend spend.  After complaining around the table that he sold us more than we needed, we ate both desserts in full.  I tip my hat to you, dear waiter, you recognized the pigs in us.

As we were leaving, the hostess handed us a chocolate chip scone for tomorrow's breakfast.  It's a touch I rarely see but one I love.  The food managed to be different without being revolutionary, all perfectly executed.  When I'm going for meat, I don't want anything crazy, I just want it to be cooked really really well.  There were a few unique touches (like the yogurt with the pork belly), but for the most part, the food was basic but rich.

Crunchy Salad with Turkey Cutlets

While I was at Trader Joe's last week, I saw a new bag peeking out among the lettuces.  The Cruciferous Crunch Collection is a melange of greens like kale, broccoli slaw, red and green cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.  Cruciferous reminds me Crucifictorious, Landry's band in Friday Night Lights, and that is a major reason why I purchased this salad mix.  Being the base of my quick and healthy dinner was more of a bonus.

What you'll notice about all those veggies is that they're all super crunchy.  You'll really be working the chompers as you go through that stuff.  Like with all other raw, crunchy salad bases I knew I would need a heavier, acid based dressing to break down the greens.  I went with Trader Joe's pear champagne vinaigrette partly because it was right next to the lettuce but also because it sounded yummy.  A sweet and tangy dressing always goes well with blue cheese so I picked up some gorgonzola as well.  To build out the rest of the salad I decided to stick with the crunchy theme.  I decided to add different types of crunch.  Not all crunch is created equal and you shouldn't go on cooking thinking it is.  I added a red bell pepper because it's crunchy but also juicy in a way.  I also added pumpkin seeds for the kind of crunch that shatters a bit when you bite down.

I topped the whole thing with turkey cutlets that I covered first with egg and then with seasoned panko (I used paprika and garlic powder) and then pan fried.  The turkey was already pounded super thin so it took just a moment to cook.  Being able to add fresh cooked protein to my salad in "a moment" is a real win, especially since I mostly decided to make salad for dinner because I only first got to the grocery store at 8 pm.  Turkey is not chicken (duh).  Chicken is the usual quick-cooking protein so it was nice to mix it up a bit.