We went to the Copley Square farmer's market today after work. There is an amazing stand that's part Sienna Farms and part Sofra, which is an amazing middle eastern bakery in Cambridge. They have some of the most amazing produce; french breakfast radishes, fat heavy eggplants, skinny curvy eggplants, potatoes and chard of all different colors, beautiful pepper and leaks, and chicken of the woods mushrooms which I have seen in the wild but never for sale. I was blown away with the selection. They also had some amazing heirloom tomatoes. It looks like it's getting toward the end of the tomato season. Time to get your fill now!
So far this year we have made two tomato pies, grouper with a tomato vinaigrette, and countless salads and pastas and sanwiches. But tonight was our first caprese of the year. It's cliche and all, but I don't really care. It's really delicious when the tomatoes are at their prime.
A couple of weeks ago I was Spar's Sausage on Amherst St. and noticed a large jar of chocolate covered bacon on the counter. I had to try it considering my love of both.
As much as I love everything about Spar's, really everything they make is absolutely great. The bacon was one of the most foul things I have ever eaten. I have had bacon as a dessert before ie. (candied bacon, caramel corn with bits of rendered bacon) and loved it. But this stuff was totally inedible. The second piece ended up in the trash.
Just kidding, I could eat bacon with a side of bacon for breakfast. I did however make another vegetarian dish tonight. Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Quiche. This was my first quiche and I'm reasonably pleased with the results. I cheated a little bit with the dough and didn't let it rest before I baked it. It did shrink a tiny bit, but it still turned out flaky and delicious.
I used to hate quiche as a child, come to think of it I hated mushrooms as well. This dinner would not have been well received by me at age 8. I have a strange memory of quiche from 7th grade. In my English class there was some sort of contest. I don't recall the the contest but the prize was either a pizza party or a quiche party. I do like quiche but the pizza would probably still win out today.
So I ended up making the stuffed french toast last Sunday. I stuffed it with this
Blueberries with lime sugar and Brie.
Also I did another batch with Nutella and Red bananas. (thanks everyone for the suggestions), (@jenks how does the hollowed out bread thing work?)
It turned out pretty decent. When it comes to breakfast food though I really like Eggs Benedict. I love syrup on my bacon, but pancakes really suck. But the masses were satisfied, I think the Lambrusco helped.
So two weeks ago Elizabeth and I went to Cleveland just for the hell of it. Neither of us had ever been there and mostly we wanted to just take a quick trip out of Buffalo.
Cleveland reminds me of Buffalo
We went to two restaurants there. Plus a winery on the way. These are some of my favorite things we ate there. It's from the restaurant Greenhouse Tavern.
Top: House Made Fromage Blanc
Bottom: French Breakfast Radishes
We also went to this really awesome restaurant the night before ( sorry no pics) called Crop They have such a cool Sunday night deal. 3 course prix fixe for $25. You get your choice of entree, but everything else everyone gets. We ended up talking to the owner for a while. He a was a cool guy, from NY. Anyway, if you find yourself in Cleveland these are really fun places to check out. Great food, service and atmosphere.
Today we slept in and are making Vichyssoise and a Tomato Tart for dinner. I can't wait Im starving.
Last night after work I ventured off to Hertel ave for the first time and went to a place called the Sterling Place Tavern. This place is has a decent beer selection. It's the first place I have found Pilsner Urquell on tap in Buffalo. They also have quite a few Great Lakes Brewery beers on tap. The bottles they had looked pretty good too.
They have a small menu, consisting of pretty typical bar food. But the reason you should go is the Burgers. They are pretty spectacular. I ordered it medium rare figuring I would probably get it over done as most places do. But what arrived was a very thick perfectly done burger. The only thing I was shocked by is they don't have bacon for them, so I had sauteed mushrooms instead.
The bartenders were great there, service was very good. They don't take plastic there but the prices are pretty reasonable so bring a twenty and that should get you a couple beers, a burger and take care of the tip.
.JPG)
