Alewife

I've been to Alewife more than a couple times in the past few years, yet have never written about it. Full disclosure: Chad Wells, the chef at Alewife, has helped us out with more than a few recipes for our books, as well as information on invasive species in the Chesapeake for the upcoming one. He's a smart guy with a lot of passion for fishing and food, and is a fine chef to boot. And...he makes one of the best crab cakes in town--no lie--with actual local blue crab (Alewife is True Blue certified).

I work about two blocks from Alewife, and I love craft beer, yet I manage to avoid the place at lunchtime. (It helps that they're not open for lunch most of the week.) This is not to say that I haven't occasionally had a liquid lunch, but most often I go to Alewife to chat with Chad. Recently, however, I've found occasion to have dinner there. Twice in a month. Alewife just happens to be the most interesting restaurant within short walking distance of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a great place to have a beer or three and maybe a burger or something more exotic before taking in a game.

On my most recent trip, Mr Minx was my dining companion. He had never been and was eager to try a few beers and maybe the wild boar sliders or blue catfish tacos. Unfortunately for us, the restaurant had been hit by packs of rabid eaters and drinkers during the week, sucking most of the taps dry and devouring many menu items. "I'll have the [insert brewery name here] IPA, and she'll have the [insert other brewery name here] porter," was met by, "oh, sorry, we're out of that," more than once until I asked our waiter to just tell us what of the rather voluminous list of brews was still available.

Eventually we received our beers (Right Brain Fuzz Face peach ale for me, Union Perfecta pilsner for Mr Minx) and ordered some food: Thai peanut wings, brussels sprouts, egg rolls du jour, and a smoke burger to share.

I'd been craving wings and liked the idea of ones bathed in a spicy Thai-style sauce. These were good--well-cooked, not overly saucy or messy, and not overly spicy. Marinated carrots were a nice twist on the usual celery sticks, and a cilantro Sriracha sauce stood in for bleu cheese. I would have loved a handful of finely chopped peanuts on top, but  maybe the dude with the peanut allergy at the next table wouldn't have appreciated it.

Chad told us the eggrolls that day were filled with his mac and cheese, Buffalo-style. Sold! They were great--perfectly fried, with a filling of Chad's super creamy Palmyra cheddar, Gruyere, and Grana Padano-sauced rotelli pasta and little nuggets of hot-sauced chicken. They reminded me a bit of my friend Don's glorious deep-fried mac and cheese. Loved the Parm-tinged dipping sauce on the side, though the creamy eggrolls didn't really need it.

The Smoke Burger, an 11-ounce patty of local Roseda Beef topped with smoky stuff like applewood bacon, smoked Gouda, and chipotle aioli, plus Gruyere and caramelized onions, was perfect for sharing. It deserves every accolade it's received as the Best Burger in Baltimore. The meat was tender and juicy, perfectly medium, with just enough toppings. Even the brioche bun, which we usually hate because they always fall apart, worked perfectly. The accompanying duck fat fries dusted with rosemary were crisp and lovely. A great burger and fries combo.

We also had the tasty Brussels sprouts, simply pan-roasted with some bacon lardons and balsamic vinegar.

A few weeks earlier, my brother and I had pre-game nibbles that included the pork belly fries. Like the mac-and-cheese stuffed eggrolls, this is a perfect dish for someone planning to have more than a few drinks. The restaurant's customary duckfat fries are topped with mac-and-cheese, braised bbq pork belly, and pickled collard greens to cut the richness. It's a somewhat insane combination, but one that works very well, even for folks who aren't hitting the sauce.

We had the shrimp and grits (which is more like an app than an entree). Loved that the grits came in the form of crispy fried cakes. Also had the snakehead cakes, kinda like an invasive species version of Baltimore's famous coddie, served with a corn and bacon salad and dill avocado puree. (Somehow I deleted that photo. I'm sure it was blurry.) All delicious. (And if you want the recipe for the snakehead cakes, it'll be in our next book!)

All this rambling to say...wish it hadn't taken us so long to sit down and enjoy a full dinner at Alewife. Food's great, beer selection (when it hasn't been decimated) is really nice, and Chad's great, too. Go check it out, even if you have to buy Os tickets or see something at the Hippodrome (across the street) or Everyman (next door) theaters to give you an excuse.





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Collard Greens and Biscuits

Although I'm a big fan of gumbo, shrimp & grits, and the like, I don't cook a lot of Southern-style food at home. But on a recent trip to the grocery store, I noticed big bags of collards on sale and thought why not make a "mess o' greens" for dinner one night?

I had made greens twice before, but a dozen years ago by now. The first time, I used bundles of fresh collards which required stem stripping and thorough washing. The second time, I thought I'd get smart and buy frozen greens, which I assume had been de-stemmed. Wrong. Even after hours of cooking, chunks of stem retained their odd sharp crispness. It was like eating a bowl of razor blades.

The bagged greens should have been pre- cleaned and trimmed, but I still found tons of stem while giving them a bath. Bah. Better to buy whole greens and do it all from scratch. That said, they still tasted pretty great after several hours spent sharing a pot with three hamhocks and some spices.

Man, however, does not live by greens and hamhocks alone. Biscuits were also necessary to sop up all of that gorgeous "pot likker." And by biscuits, I mean drop biscuits with cheddar cheese and chives. And duck fat. There was a pint of duck fat left over from Thanksgiving dinner, and I put some of it to good use as a substitute for shortening in the biscuits.

Best biscuits I ever made. They were so tender and fluffy, they were practically floating off the table. It had to be the duck fat.

Collard Greens

3 smoked ham hocks

2 quarts water

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (I used Emeril's Essence)

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 lbs collard greens
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and add ham hocks and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour.

Wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center (they are tough). T Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and cut into a chiffonade Place greens in pot with meat; cook for 60 - 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Cheese Drop Biscuits

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup duck fat (you can use shortening)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in duck fat with a fork or your fingers. Stir in milk and cheese. Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes. Makes 6 fist-sized biscuits or 8-10 smaller ones.

Decadence

I should have taken a camera to What's to Eat Baltimore's "Drink for the Dogs" fundraiser at Crush Wednesday night. (Liz is walking in the 2010 March for the Animals in Druid Hill Park on April 18th. She's still looking for pack members, and failing that, donations! Please support Baltimore Happy Paws and the Maryland SPCA - a private, independent, non-kill shelter - by clicking here.) Not only did Mr Minx and I get to meet some fun new people, we also got to partake of a great buffet. And this being a food blog and all, I need to mention the food! There was spinach dip and tiny eggrolls, curried chicken on a stick with a fab peanut sauce, and sliders. There was also a nice spread of antipasto, including marinated vegetables, thick slices of mozzarella, prosciutto, and artichoke hearts. But the BEST thing was also the most decadent:

Duck fat fries topped with duck confit, candied pork belly, melted cheese, and truffle oil.

Un-*expletive*-believable! Decadent and filling and a meal in itself. Wish it was on the menu all the time.

Meat and Potatoes

I had just finished reading a selection about steak from Jeffrey Steingarten's It Must Have Been Something I Ate moments before Mr Minx and I went on our weekly trip to the grocery store. I was in the mood for red meat and though I knew from my reading that no cut of supermarket beef would be particularly satisfying, I threw a package of cheap bone-in "strip steaks" into the cart. (I use the quotes because judging by the shape and placement of the bone, they were only strip steaks by virtue of their long and narrow form.)

They were fried up in butter with some mushrooms and served with sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat. Yes, I said duck fat - we had about a cup of it leftover from Christmas dinner. OMG yum. Especially when the potatoes are dusted with a little Cajun seasoning (a.k.a homemade Emeril's Essence).

The steak itself, although lean, tasted well enough. It satisfied the urge to chew, but was gristle-free, unlike the NY strips we had at Ruth's Chris earlier in the year.

I also whipped up a little "steak sauce" with a bit of black bbq sauce and Worcestershire.

We prefaced this meaty meal with bowls of parsnip velouté. Not really velouté because there was no flour in it, but I just like saying the word. Velouté. Parsnips are my new favorite root vegetable and I want to put them in everything. Including velouté.

The recipe? I peeled three huge parsnips and cut them into chunks, placed the chunks in a pot with about 3 cups of water and one Knorr chicken bouillon cube and cooked them until tender. After it cooled, I pureed the lot of it in a blender, adding about a cup of milk (we had 1%) to assist in the blending. The puree went back into the pot with a scant cup of light cream, another cup of water, and another half bouillon cube. (If you have chicken stock on hand, by all means, use it! I had none.) Add more or less water and cream depending on the consistency you want to achieve. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed (mine needed no further seasoning).

I just so happened to have some diced, sauteed parsnip from a Petit Louis doggie bag, so that became my garnish, along with a few bits of scallion. Later in the week, I'll garnish the leftover soup with some bacon.

Ok - maybe "meat and root vegetables" would have been a better title for this post....