Best of 2015 - Part 2

We start off every year with a recount of some of the very best things we ate in the prior year. I had a slightly difficult time determining the best restaurant dishes from 2015, but home-cooking was off the charts, particularly in the first half of the year. Let's reminisce, shall we?

January

We started off the year adventurously by cooking octopus and serving it with cannelini beans and a smoked paprika vinaigrette. It was easy and delicious. I just wish I could buy larger octopi in a standard supermarket.

We had tried the always-on-the-menu butternut squash toasts at Cunningham's, and I wanted to replicate it at home. It was simple enough - the recipe is actually from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and is found in several places on teh Innernets. I think my homemade toasts were at least as good as the restaurant's, maybe even better, because I got to use up a winter squash that had been hanging around for a little too long and was serving more as a table ornament than a food product.

February

We had never tried freekeh (a roasted green wheat product) before, but we had some in the cupboard, waiting for the right recipe. It showed itself in the form of a rice pilaf flavored with grape leaves, sorta like a deconstructed dolma; I replaced the rice with the freekeh and was quite happy with the results. Lamb meatballs and oven roasted tomatoes completed the dish, which was hearty and satisfying.

In February, I also made spaetzle for the first time, flavored with sweet potato. A potato ricer was employed to make the pasta, as was a colander, strainer, sheet pan, large bowl, and several pots and pans. After browning the spaetzle, I topped it with sauteed onions, snails, cauliflower, mushrooms, and a ton of fresh parsley. The dish exceeded my expectations, and I remarked on Facebook that this had been an ambitious undertaking. Someone commented that it wasn't so ambitious; German housewives made spaetzle all the time. Thanks for attempting to rain on my parade, smug little fuck, but I'm not German, had never made these before, and it felt like I had cooked all day to get this relatively simple-seeming dish on the table. Worth it, though. It was, as you kids today like to say, awesome.

We make ribs fairly often - they're actually pretty simple, if you use Alton Brown's technique. I usually flavor them differently each time; this Korean version from February was the tastiest ever.

March

I really loved these muffins made with whole Meyer lemons, rind and all. They were moist and lemony, and smelled really beautiful. They froze well, too.

April

Gnocchi can be made from potatoes or from ricotta cheese. These delicious gluten-free babies are made mostly from spinach, with a little ricotta and oat flour to keep them together.

Roasted duck legs with winter squash puree. Yes.

July

Muhammara is a dip made with walnuts and bell peppers. Trader Joe's makes a version, but you can make it at home easily enough.

August

Mr Minx usually gets chocolate cake for his birthday. This year, I added about twice as much sour cream as normally called for to get a cake that was truly moist and needed no frosting.

September

I fell in love with chamomile ice cream at the Fancy Food Show last summer, so when Republic of Tea sent a sample can of  honey chamomile tea, I had to make gelato with it. Seems odd, sure, but it was fan-freaking-tastic.

November

Made by swapping out semi-sweet chips for white chocolate ones, these white brownies are better than any standard blondie.

I wasn't quite sure how a chicken pot pie flavored with jerk spices was going to turn out, but it was a big success, from biscuit to gravy.

December

Mr Minx has quite a way with potatoes. He's made several of these enormous fried potato cakes over the years, and I have to keep myself from eating the whole thing every time. And I'm not a big potato fan. Although not a latke, this one was just in time for Hanukkah.

Lots of good eats in 2015 - will there be as many in 2016? Stay tuned....



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Roy's Eat Creative Media Dinner

It's no secret that Mr Minx and I are big fans of Roy's and have been semi-regular patrons of the Baltimore branch since it opened 13 years ago. And while we're very happy to pay for our food at Roy's, it's even more fun to go when the food is on the house, as it was during a recent media dinner. The occasion for the dinner was to celebrate the launch of Roy's renewed culinary focus called Eat Creative, which showcases the very best of Pacific Rim cuisine.

Pacific Rim Cosmotini
(photo credit: Roy's)

We started the party at the bar with a round of Pacific Rim cosmotinis, a combination of blood orange, passion fruit, and ginger flavors with vodka. Once at our table, we were presented with a couple of the restaurant's new appetizers, including the misoyaki butterfish lettuce wraps, a twist on both traditional chicken lettuce wraps and the restaurant's famed misoyaki butterfish entree. We also got a taste of the new ebi roll, which adds coconut and cream cheese to the familiar tempura shrimp and avocado maki. It's served with dabs of habanero aioli and nitsume (eel sauce). We also sampled two items from Roy's bar menu, starting with the crispy pork belly buns, tender steamed Chinese bao containing crispy bits of pork belly, green apple slaw, and the sweet bbq-like Red Dragon sauce. While I think the buns themselves were a bit too large, the flavors and textures were appealing. Finally, we had bites of Roy's new Wagyu burger. A simple affair of juicy meat, caramelized onions, truffled mushrooms, a fried egg, and togarashi aioli, this burger is a contender for the Best in Town crown. Perhaps truffled mushrooms and eggs don't seem particularly simple to you, but none of the burger's toppings stood in the way of the main event: the meat itself. The accompanying onion rings, however, were, in a word, meh.

Misoyaki Butterfish Lettuce Wraps (photo credit: Roy's)

Close-up of Ebi Roll (photo credit: Roy's)

As an intermission, we each received our own Maui Wowie salad, a classic Roy's dish that was created at the Baltimore restaurant and served chain-wise.

Full-sized Lobster Pot Pie (see slide show for size we received) (photo credit: Roy's)

Alaea Salt-Crusted Bone-In Ribeye (photo credit: Roy's)

We then received an embarrassment of riches in the form of entrees: the 14-oz Alaea salt-crusted bone-in ribeye with peppercorn shoyu brandy sauce; a Maine lobster pot pie with potatoes, peas, honshimeji mushrooms, and pearl onions; and a tempura-battered whole snapper with a sweet chili sauce. And there were sides, too: truffled bacon mac & cheese with Thai basil bread crumbs; spicy Korean chili fried rice with scallions, cilantro, sesame, and egg; and a selection of over-sized tempura vegetables that included asparagus, broccolini, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms. The steak was a beautiful thing, pink, juicy and perfectly rested, with great flavor. I've always said that Roy's does land-based proteins as well as (or better than) the seafood for which they are most famous, and I stand by that. The lobster pot pie had a decidedly Thai twist with its coconut milk-based "gravy," and the proportion of lobster to everything else was generous. Also generous was the portion size, which we were surprised to find was a mere fraction of the normal portion size of this dish. In fact, all three of the entrees were on the huge side, which makes them particularly good for eating family-style with one's own ohana. The sides, also sized for sharing, were uniformly good. The mac and cheese was not the overly-decadent cream-fest that so many highfalutin' versions of this dish can be, and while I couldn't see the bacon, I could taste it. The tempura was light and crisp, and broccolini was a nice change from the usual common broccoli. My favorite was the Korean fried rice, which would have made a lovely entree on its own if topped with a fried egg.

Finally, dessert, which we wanted in theory but not in practice - we were so full! The classic melting chocolate souffle and pineapple upside down cake were as delicious as ever, and always a fine way to end a meal at Roy's.

During the evening, we also had the opportunity to meet the new Chef Partner at Baltimore's Roys, Matt Ellis, who comes to us from various Roy's in Florida. He's stepped into the big shoes of Opie Crooks and Rey Eugenio and seems to be filling them well. We also had a chat with Managing Partner Bryson Keens. He revealed something big that I think we all wish we had known earlier: Roy's offers shuttle service from your home to the restaurant and back. For locals as well as tourists! This means no worrying about parking or driving home after having too many Hawaiian martinis or Mai Tais!

The photos in this post are not ours, sadly, but the work of a professional photographer. The lighting wasn't the best that night (Roy's is on the dark side) so our photos aren't of the best quality. But you can check 'em out in the slideshow below.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

New Menu Items at Silo.5%

With its close proximity to Fort McHenry, Silo.5% Wine Bar in Locust Point wanted to offer a special menu for July which reflected the kinds of food and drink Francis Scott Key may have experienced at his favorite tavern. The result is their 1812-Inspired Menu available from July 4th through the 14th. I was invited to a sneak preview of the menu and its clear that Chef Scott Klein had a great deal of fun playing around with the local culinary favorites of the early 19th century.

We started off with a peppered venison jerky served with a side of dried fig chutney. Lest you think of jerky as those salty sticks on the convenience store counter, this jerky is mildly seasoned to preserve the subtle flavor of the venison, with the chutney adding a solid punch of figgy sweetness. Next up was the hot smoked rockfish, served with plain rice and pickled peas. The flaky fish is nicely smoky without overwhelming the palate, and the rice adds a textural element without competing with the fish. The pickled peas were new to me, and I was pleasantly surprised by their firm texture and slight tang.

Hot Smoked Rockfish - rice and pickled peas

On to the entrées, starting with salt-cured ham and crab. I chose to layer some of the ham and the sautéed crab onto the biscuit halves and eat it like an open-faced sandwich. The combination of the salty ham and the sweet crab worked well together, both because of their complimenting flavors and the contrasting textures. The succotash of seasonal vegetables added a bright contrast to what was becoming a rather protein heavy meal.

Salt-cured Ham and Sautéed Crab - buttermilk biscuits, seasonal succotash

For the meat-and-potato lovers, the pan-seared venison steak with roughly mashed potatoes and Rainwater red-eye gravy provides soul-warming comfort. The venison, which tends to be very lean, is expertly cooked to remain tender and juicy. The house-made molasses brown bread serves as a tasty sponge for the red-eye gravy, fortified with some Broadbent Rainwater Medeira. If you pair this entrée with a glass of Black Strap Grog, which tastes much like a gingerbread cookie, you may feel transported to the winter solstice, but who doesn't like a little Christmas in July?

Pan-seared Venison Steak - rustic mashed potatoes, Rainwater red-eye gravy,
and molasses brown bread

I was feeling a bit dubious about the sherry-braised rabbit pie since I'm not much on meat pies and most rabbit I've eaten has been too gamey for my taste, but this pie was a revelation. The crust was flaky but with a nice bite, the vegetables were tender, and the rabbit was succulent without any gaminess at all.

Sherry-braised Rabbit Pie - mire poix, potatoes, reduced braising liquid

Although I was quite full, I had to sample the dessert choices: apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream and rum & honey pecan pie with spiced clotted cream. Both were delicious, but I was especially impressed with the pecan pie. Opting for the more 19th century ingredient of honey rather than the modern corn syrup, this pie was less sweet and really highlighted the flavor of the pecans. Since unpasteurized cream is not available in the United States, the accompanying clotted cream was not as authentic as Chef Klein would have liked it to be, but it still offered a welcome touch of creaminess to cut the deep flavors of the pecan pie.

Along with the 1812-inspired dishes, the menu features several authentic-ish cocktails like the grog mentioned earlier. The drinks include the Hale Stone, with clear rye, brandy, and bruised mint; the Sangary, with gingerroot cider and Rainwater Madeira; and Nelson's Blood, a rum drink named after British Admiral Horatio Nelson. There's a story behind the name of the drink, but perhaps I should let the servers at Silo.5% let you in on that one. You can also partake of a wide selection of ciders and madieras.

Taking a stroll through Baltimore's culinary past was both enlightening and delicious. I never knew our forefathers ate so well.

Silo.5%
1200 Steuart Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
443-438-4044
http://silo.5winebar.com/

* The meal mentioned in this post was provided free of charge by the restaurant. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.



Posted on Minxeats.com.