Archive for January, 2009

Tonight I tried something novel based on three variations I spied in Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s book, How to Eat Supper. She has a recipe for a summer tart with grapes that uses puff pastry dough as the base. This version became a little “mini-pizza.”

Taragon and a little mint (fresh) join sweet mini-tomatoes, salt, pepper, shallot, garlic, and mozzarella cheese. I would recommend using a less moist cheese next time, alongside dried tomatoes (not sun-dried, but 3-4 hours in a low oven would produce something less watery). Cooking the shallots and garlic in butter ahead of time, too, might be a good call.

The lunar year begins Monday in the U.S., Sunday in China. This is the year of the ox. To celebrate, we made some Asian dishes.

For dessert, we made the Ina Garten apple tart. Not Asian, I know, but it was requested and it was tasty. This time around we used puff pastry dough.

The rice cooker was used for course #4: fried rice.

This rice, with green peas, chinese sausage, and aromatics, was pretty good. Alongside was course #3, 5-spice baby-back ribs.

A glaze with sesame oil and honey added depth to the aromatic flavors in 5-spice powder.

The first two courses were tasty too, from the David Chang brussels sprouts with fish sauce/mint dressing to the Lantern-inspired pork dumplings with applewood smoked bacon.

We all had different “favorites,” so I think the meal was a success.

Happy New Year!

Today, after reading about many positive experiences to David Chang’s recipe for brussels sprouts, I thought I’d give them a try.

The basic idea is to roast them until they turn brown, mix them with a Thai-inspired dressing, then punch them up one notch with flavored puffed rice for crunch. Mint, cilantro, spice, and sweetness… a great combination for a cute little vegetable.

On the side was a veggie fried rice, complete with egg, peas, and broccoli, flavored with ginger, garlic, and mushroom-flavored soy sauce.

Tonight I made ziti, by request, but avoided the typical “baked” variety with lots of cheese and a heavy tomato sauce. Instead, we went into “puttanesca” territory by adding spicy chile flakes, capers, and Italian sausage alongside the diced tomatoes.

Details of making this dish can be found in this PDF document.

Located off Ridge Road in Richmond in the former location of Graffiti Grill is River’s Ridge Restaurant and Bar. On a Friday evening, the bar was in fact hopping with quite a crowd, while the dining room, adjacent, was far more tranquil. Diners ranged in age, many in their senior years, while bar drinkers were a younger, middle-aged crowd. The restaurant had recently been featured in a local mail/circular, and we decided to try it out.

With such good-sounding “starters,” we couldn’t pass up some favorites, such as short ribs and calamari. The calamari is a good test, and yes, they can fry good calamari here. The batter used was a little thicker than necessary, but it was tasty. This is a 2-or-more person appetizer. The crunchy coating and the (too) thick spicy dipping sauce would be great with a beer or sparkling wine.

The short ribs were tasty, but I didn’t much care for the presentation… with too much else on the plate, it wouldn’t have been a starter anymore. Portioned with some creamy polenta, it could have been a small entrée. You got 4 nice sized short ribs without bones. They weren’t “falling apart,” but they were tender and had a great flavor.

The half-roasted chicken is a very plentiful dish. Big pieces of chicken, ample roasted potatoes and other vegetables filled a plate. The chicken meat was well-spiced with herbs, but lacked adequate salt. The roasted vegetables were similar: needed more salt.

The veal special was a veal chop topped with crab meat. The crab was fine, but the mashed potatoes lacked real flavor and adequate fat for my taste (something creamier would have been ideal). The veal chop was good, but not stellar. Since I had made one two days earlier at home, I thought it would have been good to compare. Mine was thicker, easier to chew, and far more tender (and less well-done than the one at River’s Ridge).

We were stuffed at this point. Service was good at River’s Ridge. If smoke bothers you, you may not like the crowd at the bar. I’d like to return some time.

What I was disappointed with was the price of the special. The server told us the veal special was $22. When I compared that to the price of other entrées that sounded good (all above $20, but all less than $30), I chose the special because it sounded like a good deal.

When the bill game, whoops, it was $32. Sadly, I only discovered this after coming home. The dish I had would have been acceptable at $18. But for $32, you could do much better.

If you go, might I recommend the starters as small entrées? They also have a few soups and you can order salad to go with your regular entrée. This way, you might save room for dessert.

River’s Ridge has potential.