Archive for July, 2007

While in Vancouver, BC I ate at Rare, a restaurant that themes its dishes on the concept of rare: from rare meat to rare ingredients. Service was excellent.

Our party of 4 decided to try the seasonal tasting menu in four courses.

First was an amuse bouche featuring smoked salmon.

It was good, but nothing spectacular. They told us more than once that this represented their concept, and what would follow. I became worried.

The menu was nice; it came customized for us with our name on it. They offered two tasting menus plus traditional entrées.

The most disappointing dish was the duck terrine. I am getting tired of having to spread things on toasts. And this one was a tad dry, and not spreadable. However, when combined with their beet salad, a little magic began to happen. The beet contribution was incredible, to an otherwise failed dish.

Next came a loin of halibut for 2 diners: this came well-seasoned, and quite delicious.

I opted for the pork, two ways: smokey on one, pulled and barbequed, on the other. This was the best dish, in my opinion, spicy, deep, and the flavors of this dish matched perfectly the spicy British Columbian Syrah we tried from their cellar.

What looks like moisture on the plate was a small bit of foam.

We all said later how we wished there had been 2 appetizers. instead, they gave us a “pre-dessert” then a dessert. The first was a blueberry fritter with a buttermilk ice cream. These were all fine, but not superlative. The fresh blueberries were plump and full-flavored, but I wanted something “more” out of the fritter.

The final dish combined some odd flavors: almond in the panna cotta, oregano, and a berry “salad.” This looked simple, but combined a lot of different (but well blended) flavors. We enjoyed this one a lot.

As I mentioned earlier, their Sandhill Syrah from the province was excellent. While Rare provided a quite enjoyable dining experience, I recommend it more for the quality of service and price, more than on the fortitude of the food alone.

I recently had lunch at the New York Deli on Cary Street in Richmond, Virginia.

Lunch service on a holiday was slow. I ordered the so-called Parmesan Sub with meatballs (an alternative is with chicken). While the platter was tasty, it was lackluster.

My biggest complaint was the sub itself. The picture says it all: this sub could not be eaten by itself; it was over-loaded with sauce, with overgrown-sized meatballs. I would prefer to see “openface” written in menu, and if it had said that, I might have opted for another dish.

The tomato sauce was bright tasting… it was overly red. Something funny going on there… I didn’t much care for their marinara. The fries were the best part: they were textured, salty, and delicious, despite being too oily and somehow poorly cooked (I’m guessing they were either cooked long before the sandwich arrived, or in too-cold of oil).

Too bad; my earlier visit to the NYD was a lot better (for dinner). You do get well-sized portions and the decor is much improved from their earlier days.

I recently saw the Pixar-Disney film, Ratatouille and was inspired to make the dish.

So I did.

Messy Chef Ratatouille

• Orange Pepper, chopped
• Green Pepper, chopped
• Eggplant, cubed
• Yellow Squash, sliced thin
• Zucchini, sliced thin
• 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed
• One sweet onion, large (halved; one half is for the sauce, one half is rough-chopped for the stew)
• One can plum tomatoes in sauce (San Marzano)
• Fresh parsley
• Italian Seasoning (dried)
• EVOO
• Salt, pepper

I served mine alongside couscous.

First, start the tomato sauce. Sauté onion and garlic with EVOO in a hot pan, and add cut tomatoes, with half the can of sauce. Discard seeds. Hate the seeds.

Cook down for 10-12 minutes, adding salt to help break-down the tomato. If you have extra eggplant, add a few pieces to thicken the sauce.

Pulse the sauce in a food processor, then add back the (now cold) pan. Thin-chop on a mandolin the green/yellow squash. Rough chop the other vegetables.

Layer the vegetables in a oven-proof dish, mixing in sauce, EVOO, and salt and pepper. Bake the casserole for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serve hot, over couscous. My recipe made too much for two people; I saved one portion with extra couscous for lunch, and reserved about 1/2 for a ratatouille soup later in the week. Many recipes say the flavor improves with a few days on the mixture.

As good as Remy’s served at Gustou’s?

After a week of rich eating, it was time for a good salad.

• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• Pepper-Jack cheese
• Soppresata, sliced
• Lemon Juice, pinch of sugar
• Maple-cured turkey, sliced
• Avocado, diced
• EVOO
• Fried onions

I combined the avocado with lemon juice and sugar. Then, I dressed the greens in the acid. After slicing the deli meats, I added them to the bowl, and coated everything well with olive oil and the lemon mixture. Add salt and pepper.

Plate the salad, and top with pre-packaged fried onions. Delicious. I served the salad alongside a stuffed zucchini.

Nothing better for looking up a recipe in the kitchen, right?