Garlic

Everybody in NYC has their neighborhood slice place.  If you don't, it means your realtor lied to you and you're not actually living in New York.  I hope Minnesota is nice this time of year.

One of the pizza joints in my neighborhood is just a teensy bit nicer than normal.  It's not significantly different than what you would find elsewhere, but the floors are nicely tiled and it's too clean for massive eyesores of parmesan jugs.  I love the grimy pizza joint, but it's nice to have something a little cleaner every once in a while.  Along with the cleanliness at Garlic comes some great pizza toppings.  Don't get a slice from the one round pizza in the case - that's what they make for those silly doubters who are too afraid to try something new.  The rectangular pizzas are where it's at.

Have you heard of chicken bacon ranch pizza?  If you have, you're far more worldly than I am.  I'm a fan of that one but really love the buffalo chicken and the upside down (sauce on top of cheese) pizzas.  Those are the two I went with last night, though I was tempted by the artichoke and ricotta white pizza.

They stay open late and they have an iPhone app.  What more do you need?

3 on Thursday

It was so nice having Monday off for Columbus Day.  I know most people weren't so lucky so I was sure not to waste my good fortune.  It felt great to be so productive.  This week's background: the lamps on the wall at Public.

1. I spent this past weekend in Connecticut for Albert's sister's wedding.  The whole weekend was lovely, but the best part was the surprise of hand rolled cigars in the middle of the reception.  All the men were so happy.  It was a great touch...one I will probably steal one day.
2. I have been obsessed with Valley Nails ever since I saw what they could do in the way of nail art.  Looking at their Instagram is like falling down the rabbit hole.  I have wanted to get mine done for a while and just as I was about to suck it up and pay for it myself (these ridiculous nails don't come cheap - why would they?!) a rep offered to take me to celebrate my promotion.  Since I was going to a wedding I wanted to do something fun while still erring on the side of conservative.  I got a gel mani with light to hot pink ombre and a light glitter overlay.  The whole thing came to $70 (not including tip) so I don't even want to know how expensive some of the crazier designs are.  For a fun occasion, though, I think it's worth it.  
3. When I hear persimmon, I think the name for the color of a sweater found in a catalog.  I knew it was an actual thing but the details were hazy so when I saw a stack of them in Fairway with a description, I thought I might try it.  It eats like an pear but tastes like pumpkin/squash.  Not too bad!

Israeli Couscous with Zucchini, Spinach, and Ricotta

Here's a quick fix side dish idea for ya. Cook up some Israeli couscous and while you're doing that, start sautéing chopped zucchini in a pan with a little butter. When the zucchini is about halfway done, add one clove of chopped garlic and a bunch of fresh spinach. I also added some fresh thyme because I had it on hand. It's not necessary, but I happen to think it really added to the dish for minimal effort. When the veggies are done, your couscous should probably have finished up, too, so combine that in the pan as well. Now just fold in some fresh ricotta to make it nice and creamy. It won't look as pretty, but it will taste nice and comforting. Just be sure to salt throughout the process. 

This was one of those pantry clean out dishes, but it solved two problems for me: 1) I still got to feel like I was cooking when the main part of my meal was Fairway's [delicious] pre-made meatballs and 2) I got to try something new instead of pairing those meatballs with the expected spaghetti with marinara. 

Mighty Balls

I forgot tis the season for Madison Square Eats!  I happened to walk by right at lunch time and it just so happened that the stall I most wanted to try accepted credit cards.  This cash-free gal was in luck!

I had never heard of Mighty Balls before so that was the main draw.  They had tons of flavor options and the line was long - all good signs.  While they have several recommended combos, I decided to go rogue.  I ordered the pork meatballs on a hoagie with African onion sauce and spicy feta on top.  The sauce was sour so the spicy feta was a good choice to round it out.  I was surprised at how juicy the meatballs were.  After seeing a mass of them getting pressed on the griddle I really thought they would dry out.  I guess those guys really know what they're doing.

I took my messy sandwich into Madison Square Park where I could scarf on a bench in peace while people watching.  The sandwich was very filling and I washed it down with a big solo cup of Mighty Balls' fresh pomegranate lemonade.  I think the meatball shop may have the market cornered on brick and mortar meatball restaurants, but Mighty Balls is a great addition to the roving street fair scene.

McCrady's

You know it's fine dining when you don't even get a normal menu so I had a feeling I was in for a treat when we were handed a 4-course tasting menu at McCrady's.  At $65 per person, it's an indulgence, but we were on vacay so...what the hey!

The entrance to the landmarked tavern is in an alleyway and upon entry it's brick brick brick.  It looks like the kind of place revolutionaries sat drinking ale.  The atmosphere is anything but modern, which puts it more on the cozy side of the spectrum.  And since we were inching towards the Fall season, cozy was perfect.

Albert and I made a deal to order together with no repeats.  That way, with 4 choices for each course, we could try 8 of the 16 menu items.  It's not often I get to go to such a nice restaurant, especially not one that boosted its chef to James Beard Award status, so I wanted to make the most of it and taste as much as possible.

For course #1 we ordered the heirloom tomato salad.  It looked quite boring on the menu, but after the waitress talked it up we had to order it.  Glad we did because it was one of my two favorites of the night.  There was a thick buttermilk foam and some infused oil.  It was not nearly as simple as the menu description, but the taste itself was clean.  We also ordered the scallops with mushrooms and found them to be grilled to perfection.  The next course was the fish.  We got one trout and one snapper and landed on opposite teams as to which was better.  I would have to say the snapper with fennel and scuppernongs was the other of the two best dishes, but Albert would tell you that the trout with polenta and vegetables was better.  The meat course was a duo of pork with butterbeans and lamb that was wonderful but I can't remember its accompaniments.  I was too focused on eating it.  My mistake.  Albert's not a sweets guy so he wanted a cheese plate for dessert.  No argument here since cheese plates are my fave.  I particularly like the raspberry with black pepper sauce that went with one of them.  I ordered the frozen pear parfait and I'm pretty sure it was the best dessert at the table.  I've never had farro in a dessert (I haven't had it that much, period) but the crispy farro on top was like a nouveau granola.  It was like a panna cotta on top of chopped pears.  It was light and not too sweet.  Since I'm not a chocoholic, those are two qualities I look for in a dessert.

A meal like this is not one you can have all too often.  With four courses and a hefty price tag (particularly if you're drinking), it would be excessive if you ate like this every week.  But that's exactly what makes it special.

3 on Thursday

It's week 2 of 2 for the Lowcountry wedding themed "3 on Thursday."  I've been back for a week and a half but I still miss being home.  Part of that is missing the feeling of being swept up in the excitement of a wedding.  Andrew and Lee's wedding and reception was so beautiful.  I may one day have to steal their idea of hanging a chandelier outside.  For now I'll settle for using a pic of it as my background for today's post.  Lucky for me, I get to go to another wedding this weekend.  This one will be in Connecticut and I'm thinking much different from the one in Charleston, but it's pretty hard to hate on a wedding.

1. One of my favorite treats is boiled peanut.  It's a Lowcountry specialty - I don't even think you can find the right kind of peanuts in NYC - so I always try to get them when I'm home.  When I think boiled peanuts, I can see myself eating them dripping wet, prune fingers, hanging on the side of the pool.   They're only in season in the summer so I just barely squeezed them in on this trip.  Knowing it would be my last chance to get them for a while, I ate about four servings.
2. Andrew and Lee's wedding fell right in the middle of a big UGA game (vs. LSU).  Since most wedding attendees were diehard Georgia fans, there were plenty of people sneaking updates on their phones during the ceremony.  The nailbiter of a game was ending during the cocktail hour and somebody actually projected it onto the side of the building.  Only in Georgia...
3. In a small town like Savannah, the opening of Whole Foods became the event of the season.  It's the place to see and be seen so I had to go like all the other cool people.  While there, we picked up a full spread of snackies because whenever my Mom has a full house she loves to host a good happy hour.  We had all sorts of olives and pickled vegetables (the Savannah Whole Foods has a pickle bar - the first of it's kind, the cashier told us), pimento cheese, cheese and crackers, scuppernongs (a favorite, pronounced scoppa-nines), and of course, wine and beer.  

Salad with Honey Mustard Thyme Chicken

I was in the mood for a big hearty salad, the kind that's topped with chicken and serves as a full meal.  I picked an easy chicken recipe by making honey mustard (honey + dijon mustard) and adding thyme.  I poured it over a row of boneless skinless chicken breasts that were lying in a baking dish in a nice cozy row.  I used the chicken that was pounded thin because I knew it would cook up in an instant.

While the chicken was cooking, I made a bed of butter lettuce and added some bell pepper, tomato, and avocado.  I topped it all with Trader Joe's feta dressing, which is surprisingly light.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's, make your own chunky version by mixing plain greek yogurt with crumbled feta, olive oil, garlic, dill, and oregano.  Thin it out with a little buttermilk.  I haven't made it myself so I can't speak to the proportions.  Who knows - olive oil may not even be necessary, but I'm guessing those ingredients are a good place to start.

When I was writing it all out I didn't think this salad was much of a recipe.  After all, it doesn't seem particularly innovative.  BUT I've never put this combo together in a dish before (especially not with the thyme - glad I added that in there) nor have I seen it on tons of menus.  So maybe it does qualify as innovative.  Just because it's simple and seemingly boring doesn't mean it's not good.  And if you haven't thought about making a salad this way then I've done my job, haven't I?