Restaurant Review - The Friendly Toast

Do you remember that person who you used to go out with that everyone loved?  Everyone except you?

Oh, you liked them well enough.  They were perfectly nice.  All your friends and family absolutely adored them.  They loved them so much, they figured this person was for you.  And as hard as you tried…there was just something…missing.

That’s how I feel about the Friendly Toast.

Now granted, I have just gone for breakfast.  Maybe the rest of the menu works.

When you walk in, there is a very funky vibe.  For instance, there is a huge Barbie, cool things hanging on the walls, etc. And when you see the menu, you think there are going to be a lot of interesting flavor combinations.  My kind of place!

Well…it is…but it isn’t…exactly...

First, all of their pancakes, other than the pumpkin pancakes, can be made gluten free for $1.00 extra.  I think this is perfectly acceptable.  Being somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to pancakes, I ordered the blueberry pancakes.  They were good, don’t get me wrong.  Nothing wrong with them.  But I have tasted better at other places, including the pancakes Cathy makes.  Perhaps the King Cakes that are made with bananas, chocolate chips, and peanut butter are great.  They may well be.  You should try them if you like that sort of thing for breakfast.  Just not for me.

When you get past the griddle type of things, you come to some very interesting breakfast combinations.  I tried the Mexican Mashed Meal.  This is a combination of spicy mashed potatoes, chorizo, fried eggs, with chipotle sauce.  This is the kind of meal that I always go for.  And it was good.  Again, nothing wrong with it.  It just wasn’t something that would make me go back again and again.  In fact, as I was eating it, I was thinking how good this would be as separate components, because as much as I was hoping they would go together, it just didn’t work for me.

I have also tried the eggs benedict, as they allowed me to substitute a Glutino  English muffin for their own.  Again, it was good.  But…

I should add that the service has always been good.

I really want to love this place.  And when I get bored going to my normal breakfast spots, I’m sure I will go back to try things like the Costa Rican, or their famous Sklarmageddon.  I am hoping one of those dishes will make me fall in love with them. 

But for now, I just think we should be friends.

A Think Like A Chef Breakthrough!

I had originally intended this post to be a restaurant review.  I’m way behind on those.  But, I kind of had a “Think Like A Chef” breakthrough.

Last week, I was going to braise short ribs, but didn’t have the right ingredients, so instead, Cathy said, “Well, get a turkey breast and I’ll cook that.”  When I got to the store, the only turkey breasts they had were frozen.  That’s when the following conversation between me and myself took place:

 “Well, I guess I’ll just buy a cooked chicken later tonight.” 

“Wait a minute…what are you doing all these Think Like A Chef blogs for, if you aren’t going to use what you learn?  Cook something.”

“You don’t have a recipe.  Buy a cooked chicken.”

“What have I learned so far?  Mostly roasting.  I’ll roast a chicken.  I don’t need a recipe.”

“No recipe?  C’mon Mike….I mean….you can’t cook without a recipe.  Cook without a recipe??  You may as well ask Hubert Keller to hire you as his sous chef.”

“Now wait a minute.  I can’t actually ask Hubert Keller to be his sous chef…at best he’d make me a dishwasher, and I’m way too old to start a new career as a dishwasher, and anyway, I’m sure the pay isn’t very good.  But…I can actually roast a chicken without a recipe…so I’m gonna do that.”

And here are the results:

I bought a five pound chicken.  First step…into the cavity went thyme and rosemary.  That was the way Colicchio did it in the book, and the way I did it last time.  But I also decided to add half of a small onion, a couple of baby carrots and a small piece of celery as well.  My thought process here was that, many times I see people roast chickens on top of a mirepoix, so I thought, why not get some aromatics from them?

Next, trussing the chicken.  Not perfect…but better!

Next, dry the skin like crazy!  I think I went through ½ roll of paper towels drying the skin.

Then came the seasoning.  This time, I got under the skin and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  Also did the top of the bird.  Next, I browned the sides for seven minutes each, and then it went into a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes, before adding the butter/olive oil product, and basted occasionally.  Total cooking time in the oven was 75 minutes as this was a five pound bird.

Uhhh....I guess you can tell where we tried the skin...it was crispy!!

After I took it out, I steamed some broccoli, but left it ever so slightly crunchy.  Just to give it some mouth feel.

Then I plated the breast, leg, and broccoli and finished it with sea salt.

The skin was crispy.  (Cathy and I treated ourselves to a small piece.)  The chicken was incredibly juicy and full of flavor.  The broccoli was also a very good compliment to the chicken.

Success!

Now…onto those short ribs…

Think Like A Chef - Braised Haddock

The first step in braising haddock is to make the lemon rosemary vinaigrette.  The ingredients are pretty simple - just white vinegar, lemon juice, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  The main thing to remember when making vinaigrette is to whisk and drizzle in the EVOO slowly, so it doesn’t break.  Simple.

Step two was to prepare the Brussels sprouts.  I had a choice here.  I could save myself a bit of time and get the Brussels sprouts that were already in a bag, or I could take them off of this…branch?  I went with the branch.  First, the bagged Brussels sprouts really wouldn’t save me that much time, and quite frankly, the ones on the branch looked a heck of a lot fresher.

Isn't this cool?

I went with the Brussels sprouts because I had only had them once before, and didn’t like them, so I wanted to see if I could improve on what I had eaten.  Also, they are a fall / winter vegetable, so I thought it would be a good fit.  And, aside from all that, they are pretty healthy.  Low calorie, good amount of fiber, and they offer protection against prostate, colon, and endometrial cancers.  You can read about them on the “Nutrition and You” website here.

After taking them off the branch, you need to peal the outer leaves until the lighter green leaves appear.  Then, simply put some extra virgin olive oil on them, along with some Kosher salt and fresh pepper, and roast them in a 400 degree oven.  One note here:  Last time I roasted vegetables, you may remember I felt I used too much oil, because they came out greasy.  This time I only used 1½ tablespoons and it was the perfect amount.  I actually combined two recipes for this: a Paula Dean recipe and an Ina Garten recipe.

Now, as for the fish, the first step was roasting a red bell pepper, so I put it on the burner until the skin had started to burn and then I put it into a zip top bag, so the skin would loosen.  Then I took the skin off, cut off the top, took out the seeds, and then cut the pepper into strips.

Next, I peeled a lemon.  First time I ever did that, and it came out pretty good.  Then I cut the lemon into segments.

Now, as for the actual cooking, first I had to get the skin on the fish crispy, so I cooked it in a tablespoon of EVOO over medium heat.  3½ minutes later, the fish gave itself up and I took it out of the pan.  Quite frankly, I still don’t have the crispy skin thing right.  I need to keep working on that.

Then, I took the fish out, wiped the pan out, and let it cool slightly.  Then, in went the bell pepper and the lemon segments, and the lemon-rosemary vinaigrette, but just enough to come up the sides of the pepper strips.  Then I nestled the fish into the vinaigrette and brought the heat up to a simmer.  All the while, I was also turning the Brussels sprouts.

Two problems: First, the skin is not crispy. Second, corn starch got into the picture.

Time to eat.  First, I took out the Brussels sprouts and put them in a bowl.  They were a bit browner than I would have liked, but I looked at some videos of roasting Brussels sprouts on YouTube, and for the most part, they were brown and not green.  Not as attractive as I had hoped...I roasted them for 35 minutes…I think 30 would have been fine. Once in the bowl, I sprinkled some chopped lemon zest on them.

I plated the fish…one piece flat and then the second piece leaning up against it, and put the Brussels sprouts next to them.  I then poured a bit of the cooked vinaigrette, the lemon segments, and the bell pepper strips onto the fish.

How did everything taste?  Well, the fish was flakey and moist, but still was ever so slightly firm.  Definitely a nice lemony flavor, with just a little contrast from the bell pepper.  Cathy ate every bite, so I consider that a success.

As for the Brussels sprouts, I liked them.  They were a bit crunchy on the outside, and soft, but not mushy on the inside, with a slight lemon taste that came from the vinaigrette and the lemon zest.  Cathy however, was not a fan.  I would eat them again, but I don’t think I would go out of my way to eat them.  Still, I’m glad I tried them.

This meal was approximately 351 calories, 14.3 grams of fat of which all but 3 grams were from the EVOO, so it was good fat.

Think Like A Chef - Braising

In his book, Think Like A Chef, Tom Colicchio describes the taste of braised food as “…achingly rich, mellow flavors and meats so tender they melt in your mouth.”  He notes that braising is the integration of flavors, rather than emphasizing individual components.  Sounds good to me!

As he notes, braising is basically a combination of two main techniques.  First there is dry cooking in order to brown the food, then moist cooking where the food is transferred to a pot, and then cooked gently.

Colicchio also points out that braising expands your cooking repertoire quite a bit.  I think I see why.  You don’t simply braise in water, though I suppose you could.  You need a good flavor component to braise your food in, such as full flavored stock.

The thing that really attracted me to this book was this quote: “I like to teach braising, because I love the idea of a home cook walking the supermarket aisles and seeing each new item as an opportunity.  Instead of thinking, Pork shoulder?  What could I possibly do with that?  You’ll be thinking, “Aha, pork shoulder.  I’ll braise it, and maybe add a few parsnips and turnips…” Exactly the type of thing I am trying to learn to do!

The other thing Colicchio likes about braising is how it creates it’s own sauce.  He notes that the braising liquid, once it is reduced makes a simple, yet intense sauce.  He also points out that braised food is not neat food.

So here is the basic braising technique:

Brown the food. Add enough liquid to surround but not cover the food and transfer the food to an oven, uncovered at somewhere between 250 and 350 degrees. For fish, serve right away, for meats, you can serve right away, but it is better to let it sit in the fridge for a day or two in order to really develop the flavors.  (Kind of like the Bolognese dish from Anne Burrell that I make.  Really good after I make it, but 100 times better the second day…and third day…. and…you get the idea.)  Finally, reheat the braised meat.

Now, having gained a pound in the last couple of weeks, I decided to start with a more calorie friendly dish.  It seems that a lot of the braised dishes use high calorie/high fat proteins.  Because I can’t find red snapper anywhere, I am starting my braising education with haddock that braises in a rosemary-lemon vinaigrette, corn which I will finish in the braising liquid,   and roasted brussel sprouts that I will finish with lemon zest to marry all of the flavors.

We’ll see how I make out!