tammylc
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Posts posted by tammylc
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Actually, Tammy's case of wine was really a case of Izze - blackberry, pear, grapefruit and lemon. Sorry to get your hopes up. But really... it looks like the wine is completely covered!
And Klink's beef brisket was awesome.
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Last night we celebrated a friend's birthday with dinner at Zingerman's Roadhouse. Scott stopped by on his way home after work to get our name on the list, and we ended up being seated around 6:20. Eric got stuck in traffic, so he and I were a little late and didn't get there until abotu 6:40 or so (we were aiming for 6:30).
All in all, a _much_ better experience than last time! We didn't have to send anything back, service was attentive and prompt, and in true Zingerman's style, they went out of their way to make sure we were happy. We were initially seated at a corner booth, which really wasn't big enough for 6 adults (one very pregnant) and one energetic 3 year old. But at our request, they moved us to a bigger table as soon as one became available, and were really friendly and accomodating about the whole thing. So in general they do appear to be on the upswing. Drawbacks - really, really noisy. Like yelling to be heard across the table noisy. The hostess telling us that while she "had her eye on a couple of larger tables for us, the people at them were "camping," so it might be a little while." "Camping" is a not a word you should with your customers...
The food:
Appetizers: we split three apps around the table.
The fried green tomatoes were pretty standard, and overpriced at $7.50 for three tomato slices.
The cheese plate was really good - very generous portions and pretty good variety. It was supposed to have six varieties, but we only got five - Point Reyes Blue (nice, and this is from somebody (me) who doesn't like blue cheese), Quebec aged goat milk cheddar (I've had this before and it's quite good, very sharp), and two from Zingerman's creamery - the Bridgewater, which I can't find any information about online, but was a soft tangy farm cheese, and an aged goat's cheese, which was smooth and mild. I believe the fifth cheese was Midnight Moon, another goat cheese, because it certainly didn't taste like the "un-4-gettable cheddar" a Vermont raw milk cheddar aged for 4 years. It's possible that what I thought was the goat milk cheddar was actually the un-4-gettable, but I'm not certain because they weren't marked, and if they were explained, it was before I arrived. In any case, searching on Midnight Moon today brings up descriptions of a nutty quality, which the mystery cheese certainly had. I found it to be almost gruyere like. So - good cheese plate. Heavy on the goat cheese, however. I like goat cheese, so this wasn't a problem for me, but not a very balanced presentation. The plate also included some grapes, pecans, local honey, and bread crisps.
The last app we split were some raw oysters, which I did not partake of, given my current state. The malepeque were apparently much better than the kumamoto.
Soups: between the group of us, we tried 3 out of 4 soups on the menu.
Clam Chowder - Even though Eric said this was "only okay" on his last visit, that didn't prevent him from getting it again. I didn't hear anything to imply that it had improved between visits.
Beef Chuck Chili - with "hand cut Niman Ranch beef chuck in an anho chili broth with black beans." This was a dark brown bowl of chili. Excellent flavor, good texture on the meat. Spicy, but not too hot, maybe a touch of chocolate in there. Good bowl, assuming you don't think beans in chili is blasphemy, which I don't.
New Mexico Posole - made with Niman Ranch pork, roasted New Mexico green chilis and hominy. The favorite of the table, this was a _very_ spicy but extremely flavorful broth, filled with nummy bits of goodness. Really good soup, but probably too spicy for me to eat more than a couple spoonfuls of.
Only soup we didn't try was the New Orleans Gumbo. Maybe next time.
Entrees:
To no one's surprise, I managed to order the least roadhouse-esque item on the menu, the Braised Niman Ranch Lamb Shank. This was served in an ancho chili broth with New Mexico white corn hominy and mole verde. The broth was divine, flavorful without being hot. The mole verde packed a bit of a punch, but had a delightful tang to go with. And the lamb was awesome - tender and very flavorful.
Everybody else ordered more typical roadhouse food - ribs, pulled pork, grilled chicken, BBQ beef brisket, and dry aged top sirloin. Most everybody's dishes were served with mashed potatoes and sauteed greens as sides. The mashed potatoes were just astounding. I took a bit of somebody else's, and was just overwhelmed by the taste of... potato. Like really wonderfully intense, excellent potatoes. On further sampling, it was clear that there was a lot of butter and some cream in there too, but the potato flavor was just really dramatic. They use Yukon Golds, which are excellent mashing potatoes.
Since only Sue's dinner came with the "Fresh Green Bean Casserole with Wild Mushrooms and Onion Rings" and she wasn't willing to give hers up, I ordered a side to share around. General consensus - very good, but completely different from the standard American green bean casserole. Some things cannot be duplicated with fresh ingredients! See this week's Foodblog over in General Food Topics for more discussion on that very idea.
Everyone had good things to say about their dinners. The pulled pork was served dry (ie. no BBQ sauce) but still managed to be jucy and very flavorful. Similarly, Sue's chicken was excellent and moist. Eric thought the full rack of ribs was a little small, but given that all the meat is Niman Ranch, I'm attributing that to the lack of hormones and pigs grown to be gigantic, but completely lean and thus flavorless. The steak was good - Sarah's immediate reaction was that it was underdone from the medium rare she ordered it, but I disagree - it was pinkish-red and warm throughout, which to me spells medium-rare. A rare steak will be red in the middle and have a cool center. But she didn't regret eating it the way it was served and said it was "perfect." I thought it was pretty darn tasty too.
A note on portions - dinner portions are huge! 3 of us took home entire meals for the next day, and the others didn't bother taking home leftovers, but left vast amounts of sides on the plate. Typical American roadhouse portion sizes, that's for sure. Which as long as I remember to only eat half, is fine, although in general I prefer more reasonable portion sizes.
Dessert:
We tried a bunch of things - the warm apple tart, key lime pie, chocolate chess pie and black magic brownie sundae. All were fine, but nothing special.
</lj-cut>
Some random comments: The tea service was impressive, but the water was just tepid. The paper hand towels in the bathroom unfolded very large. Jon's comment - "You could wash your car with one of those." There's no kids menu, per se, but the waiter will tell you that they can do a kid's size burger or hot dog, or modify the amish chicken nuggets app to be kid friendly as a dinner (take off the honey mustard and hot sauce, add some french fries). And there's a kid's mac and cheese listed in the mac and cheese portion of the menu. The parents at the table were impressed that the kid's portion was a reasonable kid's size - too often they go to restaurants where the kid's portion is as big as the adult's!
Bottom line? Certainly a much better experience. I didn't stick around long enough to see the check - I was tired and came home to sleep while the rest were "camping" and chatting, but I suspect it was scary. Dinner did seem a slightly better value than lunch, especially if you can make two meals out of it! I think you can get a reasonably priced meal at the Roadhouse by splitting an entree and a couple of apps - that would be more than enough food for two people. Or just order an app and a couple of sides. The menu is not very vegetarian friendly at all - two apps, several salads, 1 "specialty entree" and 3 of the mac and cheeses on yesterday's menu were vegetarian, plus most of the side dishes. But not much variety within those choices, and no protein source other than cheese.
Will we go back? Yep, probably. It's right down the street, afterall. Hopefully the hub-bub will eventually die down and it will be possible to get dinner at a reasonable time without waiting for an hour. Even they've been surprised at how busy they've been, and you'd think they would've known what to expect! A lot of problems in the early days stemmed from them being crazy busy straight through from open to close, where they'd expected things to slow down some in the middle of the afternoon and leave time for prep. So they added a third full shift to work after close and prep for the next day.
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I've never smoked a prime rib. (They're also bringing a freshly-slaughtered duck, a rack of lamb, various sausages, & white bacon. And I don't know what else.)
OMG, that's a lot of meat. Better stick with vegetables for dinner tonight!
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I assumed there would be some non-alcoholic beverages... but these Izze things are really, really wonderful, so I thought I'd share the love.
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Looking forward to seeing you all. Afraid I won't be able to drink my share of the bourbon, et al... So I'm going to stop at Big Ten before heading out of town tomorrow and pick up some Izze - awesome carbonated fruit juice beverages in lemon, pear, blackberry and grapefruit. And a hunk of some interesting cheese - hopefully the triple cream from Burgundy if they have any left - it's the best cheese I've had in quite some time. If not, maybe some of this really intense cured Manchego. Or maybe both...
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The recipe says canned, I use frozen (french cut). I've tried making the much better for you and better tasting version (everything from scratch), no one liked it as well.
LOL! My experience has been the same. The popularity of (100% canned) GBC is mythical and mystical...
=R=
I like using fresh green beans, but that's as far as I'd go in from-scratching it. Campbell's Cream of Mushroom has its own indefineable taste that I certainly wouldn't attempt to duplicate. And the french fried onions - I'm not even sure I'd know where to start duplicating those!
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I didn't know about the green bean casserole topped with french fried onions, and smothered in cream of mushroom soup until I saw it on that FoodTV show, Top 5. I think the category that night was "Food Trends of the 70s" or something like that.
I actually don't think it sounds that horrible. I like cream of mushroom soup occasionally, and how can crispy fried onion pieces be bad?
It isn't that bad, actually. As far as cream of mushroom soup casseroles go anyway. It has lots of fat and lots of salt - how bad could it be (except for your arteries, of course).
On Top 5, I believe they used canned green beans in the casserole. Is this the way it's done, or can you use fresh green beans too? And would you blanch the green beans before covering them in the sauce--if you were to use fresh ones? (Maybe I'll make this for Christmas...) I've never seen the french fried onions in supermarkets up here though.The recipe on the onion can calls for canned green beans, and frozen can be substituted without making any changes. But I have made it a couple times with fresh green beans, and as you'd expect, it's much better. I sliced up and sauteed some crimini mushrooms and garlic to add in. When using fresh green beans, it's absolutely crucial to blanch first - otherwise it takes at least 90 minutes to cook (yes, I found this out the hard way).
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Ling, thanks for the blog.
What are traditional Canadian Thanksgiving foods? Is there anything that's different from American Thanksgiving foods?
Thanks!
I'm not Ling, but as a Canadian (ex-pat) I thought I'd chime in. Thanksgiving at my house was pretty indistinguishable from American Thanksgivings I've been to. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and an assortment of vegetables - sweet potato, turnip, corn, carrots (with brown sugar and butter), parsnips (also given the brown sugar and butter treatment), peas, whatever. Pumpkin pie and usually a cheesecake for dessert.
The one thing I'd never had or even heard of before I moved to the US was the quintessential Durkee's French Fried Onions green bean casserole. But the onions were available there (I know because my stepmom used them in some recipe she'd found in a cookbook), so perhaps that was just something that my family hadn't picked up, as opposed to something Canadians don't do as a general rule.
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I don't have a yellow polo shirt. Can I still come?
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Matthew/Alex: Where can I help out gastonomically? Your wish is my command.
I'd like a few people to work on veggie/carbs (desserts?) in the afternoon/early evening.
You can count me in on that too.
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Also, I had 2 slices of Dempster's whole grain toast (defrosted in the microwave, then toasted).
I find that I get fine results just throwing my bread directly from the freezer into the toaster.
Enjoying your blog, BTW, although it makes me want to send you food....
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i typically just look at ingredients - or when in doubt - go for clear or fruit-like beverages - except mountain dew and surge or whatnot.
Many (maybe even most) orange-flavored sodas in the US are caffeinated. And yes, I found this out the hard way (I have chronic insomnia and avoid caffeine as much as possible - except for chocolate, I love chocolate).
I'm originally from Canada, where it seems far fewer soft drinks have added caffeine - even Canadian Mountain Dew is uncaffeinated (leading many a surprised American visitor to ask "Then what's the point?"
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But, it probably won't make a difference. In Ann Arbor, Zingerman's is like "the emperor's new clothes"...people figure if they're spending this much, it MUST be good!
Generally I agree, but this place has been getting a lot of negative press. The Zingerman's bloom may be off the rose...
I'm going there Friday for a friend's birthday - hope my experience is better!
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Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thanks for tagging me. It was a lot of fun.
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I'll start with today, since I'm at my parents' house cooking Thanksgiving dinner.
Is it one of those recipes where the turkey has to simmer for a month?
Bruce
Canadian Thanksgiving, silly.
For a sophisticated world traveller, you're being awfully US-centric... :-)
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Last entry.
Eric and I had both worked hard today, so we decided to reward ourselves with dinner out. Eric was having a hankering for sushi, so then it was just a matter of deciding which Japanese restaurant to go to - Ann Arbor has several. Since I don't eat much raw fish (even less now), as long as they serve tempura and udon, they're all about the same to me. Eric decided on Fuji- not generally considered one of the top Japanese restaurants in town, but his favorite.
I had the tempura shrimp and vegetable appetizer as my dinner, accompanied by two pieces of unagi sushi (broiled BBQ eel). It was all very tasty, and I'm nicely full without being overstuffed. Which means I probably won't eat anything else tonight (never say never) and this is my last blog entry.
Thanks all - it's been a fun week! And as a bonus, I needed a food diary for my midwife appointment on Tuesday, and this has been a much more entertaining way of generating one!
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No exciting food so far for the last day of my blog. The usual for breakfast at 7:30 am. Around 10:30 I started complaining about the lack of lunch food in the house, but realizing the time, decided second breakfasts were in order and made a fried egg sandwich on Zingerman's farm bread. Today our roommate moved in, so I was watching a good friends' child while he helped with the moving party. It was also a community work day for my cohousing community, so said child and I went off to pick up litter from around the detention ponds and along the road. After more than an hour of that we were both pooped, so we came back inside for snacks. He had a plum and some orange juice, I had a couple wedges of cheese and some Squirt.
By the time we got back outside all of the other children had gone off with our childcare people, so he was really bummed and we spent some time unsuccessfully looking for them. But then the stuff unloading started, and after that there was pizza, so that seemed to make things better for him. Not so much for me - it was Cottage Inn pizza, which I mostly think is pretty nasty. But we haven't figured out what good pizza places deliver to the new house yet, and besides, I wasn't the one buying.
There's a community celebration going on right now, to celebrate the end of our first work day and one of our members birthdays. There's probably even cake, and maybe ice cream. But I'm not up for much more than lying on the couch right now!
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Upon finishing up all the painting, I went over to my friends house for dinner. I was in charge of picking up drinks and dessert, so got some Squirt (our collective favorite soda) and some cherry juice to drink, and a box of brownies and quart of Ben and Jerry's vanilla ice cream for dessert. Warm brownies with ice cream are my favorite dessert in the world.
But first there was dinner. We started with some tortilla chips with melted cheese and black beans for noshing while dinner was being prepared. Taking advantage of what will probably be one of the last beautiful days in Michigan, my hosts grilled up some buffalo burgers and two kinds of sausages - spicy chorizo and chicken and basil. And grilled asparagus, our collective favorite vegetable. Another person brought a salad - mixed greens with lettuce and scallions, tossed with a cilantro lime dressing and lots of freshly grated parmesan. Everything was really good, but took a _long_ time to prepare, so I was pretty hungry by the time it was ready, and the littlest member of our party (not counting the two babies in utero among the three women there) was overtired and prone to throwing temper tantrums.
While he was getting put to bed I mixed up and baked the brownies, and we ate them hot out of the oven with vanilla ice cream. Ambrosia.
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Chocolate Tasting Report
The chocolates were very tasty, and the fillings had a really unusual and delightful texture. After I'd tried them, I found the website (http://www.jubileechocolates.com/Meet_Chocolates.htm) and determined that I had the following: Glenn's Raspberry, Drew Elementary School Garden Mint, Coffee Whiskey, and Pistachi-oh!
I tried the mint first, and at first couldn't recognize what flavor it was. Then I realized that it tasted like fresh mint! Really unique and unusual. The raspberry was up next, and since I hadn't yet visited the website, I didn't peg it as raspberry, but did guess that it was some sort of intense fruit. Pistachi-oh! was easy to remember from the store, since it's the only one with a white chocolate filling, with bits of pistachios. Good, but the least interesting of the bunch (although the white chocolate was quite tasty and not overly sweet). Last was the Coffee Whiskey, which was pretty unmistakeable and nicely composed - not overwhelming in any of its elements. Good chocolate couverture on all four. And as I've said, the fillings had a really nice texture - they were all extremly smooth and caramel-like. I'll definitely buy these again.
I only ate half of each, and saved the other half for my hubbie. He thought the mint was weird, but really, really liked the Coffee Whiskey.
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Productive day. As I mentioned in my intro, my husband and I have recently moved into a new house and are still unpacking. One of the things that has prevented us from being done with it already is that we were unable to finish painting before we moved in. We got the main living space completely done. The den and our bedroom are done except for the trim. Wanting to stop being surrounded by boxes in the bedroom at least, I've dedicated today to getting the trim painted. So far I've masked all of the walls around the trim and put on the first coat. Around 4 I'll be able to start with the second coat.
I fortified myself for my day of activity with - what else? - frosted mini-wheats and skim milk. Stopped halfway through for a chocolate pudding. I almost managed to get it all done, but around 12:30 I had to stop to eat lunch - a Lean Cuisine cheese pizza. Actually pretty tasty, although my low wattage microwave took much longer to cook it than the package claimed. Had a glass of milk with lunch - looks like I'll be able to manage my four dairy servings today! Then I went back and finished the one window I hadn't managed to get to before my stomach demanded I take a break.
Now I'm waiting for paint to dry and resting, so I'm going to reward myself for a job well done with the chocolates I bought last night at Zingerman's. Report will follow.
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Never say never! ALthough, when I was pregnant, being too full was almost as bad as being hungry.
It absolutely is. I was really regretting pigging out the way I did last night.
And Ling - it has made me a little hungrier, but the big thing, is that I need to avoid being too full or too empty. If I get too hungry, I feel sick and hypoglycemic. So I try to eat something every two-three hours in order to avoid that state. But usually it's a smaller amount than I'd eat if it was just one meal out of three. Thus the splitting my lunch portion between early lunch and late lunch, etc.
And you've said the dreaded words "Don't tag me unless..." I think hearing about what a college student on a ghetto budget eats would be a nice change of pace. You're up for next week!
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Those tacos sound divine. A bit like carnitas, but spicier? Drooool....
At least one person I've taken there says that the marinade they use is actually pretty unique, and not standard Mexican. Which makes sense, since the restaurant is a doing a pan-Latin thing instead of being strictly mexican. Last night's special was Puerto Rican chicken, for example.
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You're right - "eating all the time" would have been more accurate.
And I know the "must eat now" feeling very well. Experienced it tonight, actually.
So, more blogging. Afternoon snack at work included a handful of pretzels (I wanted something salty after the sweetness of the gelato), and later a mini Almond Joy and a Hershey's nugget with toffee and almonds. I generally despise Hershey's chocolate, but the "extra creamy milk chocolate" they put in that particular item is actually palatable.
Then I headed over to a my soon-to-be housemate's house to help her pack. I collapsed on the bed utterly exhausted upon arriving, and realizing that my blood sugar was low, ate some "reheated and now tepid sweet potatoes fries." But food is food, and when you need it, most things taste good. And to be fair, I am a fan of sweet potato fries, although they do have a tendency to get overly brown when reheated.
We packed for a while, and then the "must eat now" feeling kicked in, so we wandered down to Sabor Latino. I was so hungry I pigged out on chips while waiting, but they're good chips, so that's not so bad. The pico de gallo/salsa that they serve with them is also great - lots of fresh cilantro and ripe tomato, just a little bit of heat. For dinner I got the only thing I ever get at Sabor, and the thing I was craving - three of their carne al pastor tacos. This is somewhat spicy marinated pork served on top of fresh corn tortillas, with lots of fresh cilantro and some onions, and a lime wedge to sprinkle on top. Mmmmm. Everyone I've ever recommended this taco to has loved it. To drink I had a _big_ glass of horchata - it's enough to be a meal in and of itself, so needless to say I was stuffed.
As we were leaving a couple got seated at the table next to us. I heard the man of the couple saying that he was going to get the combination plate so he could try a bunch of different things, so I spoke up to recommend to him that he choose the carne al pastor as his taco. He was skeptical at first, but I think my enthusiasm eventually won them over... (Although they were a rather surprised to be receiving dinner advice from a random stranger.)
On the walk back from dinner we stopped at Zingerman's so my companion could use the restroom. While she was doing that I perused the chocolate counter. They had several new chocolates, so I got one of each to bring home and try - I can't remember all the flavors, but there's one with whiskey and coffee, another with mint, and one with white chocolate and pistachios - I can't remember what's in the fourth one. I also tasted a little chocolate covered sunflower seed (tasty) and a chocolate covered corn piece (nasty). The thing I love about Zing is that you can taste _everything_ they sell. They didn't have a box of the corn pieces open for tasting, so I asked them to open one for me and they did. Very cool.
And I'm still so full I could burst, so that's probably it for food tonight!
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Couldn't get away with three eGullet weekends in a row, with stuff to do in a newly-bought condo. I'm going to Grand Rapids for the Heartlandfest next weekend, so I thought I'd better stay here, beat up contractors, and get utilities in order.
Ah, yes: and I need to hit Sam's and Binnie's for suitable wine offerings for Michiganders. Expensive...but fun.
See you at the Heartlandfest, LadyT. I'm looking forward to finally meeting some Egulleteers in real life!
But speaking of wine, can you look for a wine for me? I'll happily pay you for a couple/few bottles, if you can find it - no Michigan retailers carry it.
It's the Lucien Crochet Sancerre "Le Croix De Roy" bottling. The vintage I had and liked was the 2000, but that was a year ago and I suspect it's no longer the current bottling. No matter - whatever year is available would be fine. I had it at a dinner in Chicago and no Sancerre has held a candle to it since. Should be about $20/bottle.
The Heartland & Our Neighbors (October 17-19 )
in The Heartland: Dining
Posted
4:47 pm ET
Nero's drinking wine in a can. "It's 13.9!" she cries out from the kitchen. That's about the best thing you can say about it. That, and the cop in the car they passed on the way here assumed they were drinking one of those trendy coffee drinks.
(Tammy, with editing assistance from LadyT)