My trip to Cleveland, Part 1, The Westside Market!

A few weeks ago I entered a recipe in the Aetna Healthy Food Fight. I received notification that my recipe had been selected for the cook-off round in Cleveland to take place on September 25 and 26. My friend and fellow personal chef, Tami Mitchell, Akron’s own Dine In Diva, also had a recipe selected so I went for a visit and we had a great girl’s weekend!

I arrived on Friday afternoon and Tami took me to one of her most favorite places, The Westside Market. We walked through the doors and there were some nice stalls of produce vendors that reminded me a bit of our own Rochester Public Market, but it was neater and indoors which is a plus! But then….we entered the beautiful old market building that houses a mecca of gorgeous, wonderous ingredients! Isn’t it incredible?

We walked the aisles and I was amazed by the gorgeous meats, many which are butchered on site
and look at this fish… it is really unbelievable!

Tami’s clients are very lucky because she often shops there for their meals.

We also visited some vendors of herbs, nuts and seeds, grains and the Mediterranean market where I bought some pomegranate molasses and some dried kiwi. They had a great selection of grains and pastas, as well as European spices, juices and drinks. It was a fun shop to nose around in.

I fell in love with the Westside market and the next time I go to visit Tami in November, I am bringing my BIG cooler and bringing home some treats for my kitchen!

Next up…a trip to Lilly’s Chocolates for some awesome chocolate and wine and beer pairings!

Gourmet Pop Tarts!

OK, maybe not gourmet, but homemade and oh so much better than the ones from the box! These are a little labor intensive, but fun to share and really tasty so I think worth the effort for a special occasion!

Last weekend I enjoyed my yearly “chef retreat” with some of my dearest friends. Each year a new person or two joins the mix to add to the fun and this year I was so excited to meet chef Coco Jacobs from San Francisco. She always cooks the most amazing ethnic foods for her clients so I love her recipes, and she loves to bake!
While at the lake, she made these home made pop tarts to share for breakfast. They were adorable, and DELISH so I made my own for my family this week.
Coco uses an all butter pate sucre recipe, but I used the famous Foolproof Pie Dough, made with vodka that I discovered from America’s Test Kitchens. Love that dough! Make sure all the ingredients are really cold and that the pastry rests in the fridge for at least 30 minutes since it is a soft dough. It will be much easier to roll and pick up!

Coco suggested using a nice fruit conserve or cool jam vs. using fresh fruit like you do for a pie or tart because the fresh fruit is too juicy and needs to cook awhile to thicken which would be messy!

With the bounty of local blueberries, I made my own conserve and cooked 6 cups of blueberries with 1 heaping tablespoon of cornstarch, about 3/4 cup of sugar, a dusting of cinnamon and a good squeeze of lemon juice over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the berries had melted down and the sauce thickened. (This was enough for a double batch of pop tarts or a single batch and a family who cannot keep spoons out of the bowl, and some sundaes made with said filling over vanilla ice cream…) I let it cool while I made and chilled my pastry dough.

To assemble, divide the pastry into two rounds as you would for a pie, roll one half into a rectangle about 8″ x 16″ on a well floured board. You want the pastry thin because you will have two layers of it and you want to taste the filling!
Cut the rectangle into 4, 4″ strips (4″ x 8″) and transfer to a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. (This was the tricky part as my pastry was soft, and I considered rolling it directly on the parchment or Silpat next time.)
Place 2 Tb. of filling on the lower half, flip the top of the strip over to cover and then using a fork, crimp and seal them all the way around.

Bake at 400º for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To glaze, mix about 1 c. of confectioners sugar with 1/2 tsp. of almond extract (this flavor MAKES them!) and then a little dribble of milk to make a thick glaze. Coat each tart with glaze when they are cool and I used some colored sprinkles on mine, well, because Coco did! They are really cute!

This is really a “concept” recipe with plenty of room for creativity with fillings. I am hoping Coco may chime in here with suggestions to improve my technique, but I have to say thanks to one very cool lady for sharing such a fun and delicious treat with me! My family thanks you!
Please visit Coco’s website to learn more about her business!
http://www.flourgirlchef.com/

Dinner from Federal Hill with love!

When I take off for a few days to a new place, I am always looking for something fun to bring home. My 11-year old son always asks if I’ve brought something for him, and he’s usually non-plussed with my foodie finds, wishing instead for a toy or a trinket, but I think this time, even he liked my souvenir!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of going on a great foodie tour of Providence, RI with a few of my chef friends. We met early on Saturday morning on a gorgeous sunny day to tour the Italian neighborhood of Federal Hill with Chef Cindy Salvato.

Chef Cindy Salvato

Chef Salavato was an instructor at Johnson and Wales for many years and she was a wonderful guide for our tour. She had recently had knee surgery so she soldiered along on crutches, God bless her, and she shared with us the rich Italian culture of this small neighborhood on the hill that is full of gems! We got great information, enjoyed great humor and fabulous food tasting, and had a perfect tour guide! I highly recommend checking out Cindy’s tours if you are ever in Rhode Island.

We began at Antonelli’s which I posted about last week ( the little store on the square where you choose your own live chicken) which is where I got my fresh quail eggs. Then we moved on to Tony’s Colonial which was a fabulous little Italian market. It’s not a huge place, but the shelves are just full of wonderful little Italian gems. Artisanal pasta in all different shapes, rich tuna packed in oil, herbs, spices, incredible olive oils and balsamic vinegar, olives, jams, tomatoes… you name it! There was a deli counter with beautiful homemade “take out” and sausages and cheese. Oh it was wonderful!

Chef Salvato taught us about choosing REAL Italian ingredients that hold a special certification, Denominazione di Origine Protetta, or D.O.P. It’s not authentic unless it says D.O.P. on the label! We had an interesting discussion about San Marzano tomatoes and how even if the can says “San Marzano” they aren’t the real deal unless the D.O.P. symbol is on it.

Look for the D.O.P.!

Some of the SM tomatoes used by the Foodnetwork chefs are NOT the real deal, but are SM TYPE tomatoes that are grown in Florida not Italy. Be careful out there! (By the way, Wegmans has a store brand of San Marzano tomatoes, and they are indeed D.O.P.! That’s why we love Wegmans!)

Cindy also talked about the pasta making machines that make the pasta we consume here in the US and that the mass-produced pasta is fed through Teflon coated die so that the surfaces are smooth, but “artisanal” pasta is made with old fashioned bronze dies which are rough and give the pasta some rough surface area for the sauce to cling to. Sure enough, looking at the pastas at Tony’s they were rough and a bit craggy.

So on to my dinner connection to Federal Hill. After the tour, I went back to Tony’s Colonial to do a little shopping and came home with some great artisinal pastas including a bag of artichoke pasta! They are beautiful little green leaves of pasta flavored with artichoke. MMMMM!

A shrimp scampi-ish dish with an addition of sauteed shallots and a good handful of fresh basil was the perfect foil for my little artichoke leaves. The pasta cooked to perfectly al dente and had the mild earthy flavor of artichokes that really complimented the sweetness of the shrimp and the tart, bright lemon. The underside of each leave was mottled and bumpy which did hold the delicious lemony shrimp infused sauce…OH YUM! It was a 20-minute dinner from start to finish and so very satisfying! Luckily there is some left over for my lunch today!

In the end, it wasn’t a t-shirt or a plastic New England lobster that my son had hoped for, but the whole family enjoyed my little gift from Tony’s which of course is the whole point of bringing home a souvenir, right?

If you can go to a great Italian market, buy some artisanal pasta and check out the difference that the rough surface makes, but if you only have the brand name pasta, either way, you’ll enjoy this recipe!

Shrimp with Garlic, Shallot and Lemon over Artichoke Leaf Pasta
Serves: 6 servings
3/4 pound artichoke leaf pasta, orichietti or other flat shaped pasta
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup fresh Italian basil, chiffenade
zest of one medium lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
¼ c of dry sherry or dry white wine
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Prepare pasta per package instructions. Meanwhile prepare shrimp. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 2 minutes, then add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 3-5 minutes, stirring often. (Don’t cook the shrimp until they are done as you will finish cooking them with the pasta!) Remove from the heat, add wine or sherry, return to the heat and cook for one minute to cook off the alcohol. Then remove the pan from the heat and add the parsley, basil lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine. Keep the pan in the wings…it’s not done yet!
When the pasta is just cooked, drain it, reserving some of the pasta water, and add it to the skillet with the shrimp. Toss and continue cooking for one minute until the pasta is coated with the sauce and cooked to al dente. Add a bit of the pasta cooking water if needed to “loosen” the sauce if the pasta seems to absorb it quickly.

Always serve your pasta on a platter or a very shallow bowl so that the sauce doesn’t puddle to the bottom! Enjoy!

Visit Chef Cindy Salvato if you are ever in Rhode Island. She does several food tours. I guarantee you’ll have a great time!

Quail eggs, from bird to plate. A story of my dinner!

Dinner tonight was a real French bistro meal. Fried quail eggs with runny yolks atop a salad of mixed greens dressed in a fig vinaigrette with some blackberries and raspberries. A couple of slices of toasted buttered baguette and dinner was ready!

This dinner was very special tonight because of the story of my quail eggs which had their start over 300 miles from here in Providence, Rhode Island.

There was another fun gathering of personal chefs, this time in Providence. On Saturday morning, we did a walking foodie tour of Federal Hill, a great Italian neighborhood with much history and fabulous foodie finds! Our first stop was Antonelli’s market, where you can choose a live chicken to have butchered for dinner!

First stop, Antonelli's!

Yes, you really can choose your chicken ALIVE!

Here in New York state, I cannot fathom the health department allowing such a wonderful thing, but here in Providence, this store has sold live chickens for years. We entered a small store front that had a glass case with fresh chicken, eggs, another small case with some vegetables and a few shelves of snack foods. Not too much for a grocery store, but then again, it’s not what people come here for. While we were talking with the woman behind the counter, a family came in: mom, grandma and twin girls who looked to be about four years old. They politely walked behind our group and went through the curtains at the back of the shop which really piqued our interest. We followed the little group into the back room and it was truly amazing! The room was full of cages with groups of chickens and quail, ducks and I think even some rabbits, a group of men killing and butchering the birds to order and a group of about 15 people who were waiting for their dinner!

While I really couldn’t watch the actual killing of the chickens, it was fascinating to watch entire families, even small children, choosing a couple of live chickens, having them weighed, killed, plucked and butchered for them to take home in a matter of minutes. These folks KNOW where their dinner is coming from! These kids KNOW that chicken does not come sani-wrapped in styrofoam packages. It was really incredible, and to be honest, I didn’t stay long in the back room, because while I love the freshest of the fresh ingredients, watching it all was a bit overwhelming for me. I wasn’t raised a farm girl, that’s for sure!

When we went back to the storefront we learned that nothing goes to waste with those birds. Yolks (undeveloped eggs) are taken from the insides and sold in deli containers to boil into soups, feet are sold, and of course, the fresh meat is butchered and sold to customers.

I returned after the rest of our tour to get a container of quail eggs because I knew I had to bring them home for my family to try! They are so small and pretty and when you crack them to fry them up, they are just downright adorable!

A tiny bowl of tiny quail eggs!

7 eggs fit in my 10\

And so ended the eggs’ odyssey from Providence, RI to my plate here in Rochester, NY! They were delicious!

Easter Bread

When I was a little girl, we visited my grandparents (both sets) and all of our cousins who all lived near Pittsburgh, PA four or five times each year. I have many special memories of these trips and the people we visited, but this weekend, as every Easter weekend, I am really remembering my mom’s mother, my grandma Mary (Balog) Honnef.

That’s her on the right, circa 1965 at my baptism!

My grandparent’s house was an old place with an alley between theirs and their neighbor’s, creaky stairs, a sink with separate handles for hot and cold water and a tub with no shower! I remember that Grandma always had KDKA radio playing to hear the news or a ball game and she always had a cup of coffee (which was lots of milk with a splash of coffee, sort of the way I like it!) But the most vivid memory I have of my grandma was the smells at her house!
My grandma was fanatical about cleaning her place so her house always smelled like Clorox bleach (which she used to clean everything) and yeast! My grandma, until the day she died, baked bread twice a week. My grandma’s bread was rich and sturdy with a glossy crust and a perfect crumb. She used it at meals and for sandwiches, and while she never thought it was anything too special, she had neighbors pay her for a loaf each week because it was a real treat! Grandma made other delicious treats like nut rolls and iced poppy seed rolls, home made egg noodles that she rolled and cut by hand, but it was her bread and the smell of the yeast that are part of my permanent memory.
My grandma’s bread recipe was in her head…and her hands. She measured using a coffee cup and teaspoons, and she kneaded the dough until it was ready, she just knew from all her years of making it when exactly that was. One time my mom stood with her while she made bread, and measured the ingredients with accurate measures, transferring the coffee cup of flour to measuring cups, to try and capture the exact recipe. But try as she might, the bread was good, but it wasn’t grandma’s!
At Easter, grandma made a special bread. We call it Easter bread, but it’s nothing like the Italian version, but more like a Brioche. It’s rich and buttery with eggs, milk and sugar to make it just a bit sweet. This recipe we did get written and with tweaking and practice, I can now make a loaf of grandma’s Easter bread almost as good as I remember hers being!

I usually share my recipe at this point in my entries, but this is a recipe that I really can’t part with. It’s part of family lore and legend, and it’s one that my kids will have as their own secret recipe! (I think everyone should have at least one!)

A wonderful evening in the Seasonal Kitchen

For several years I have heard about Dick and Ginger of the Seasonal Kitchen here in Pittsford, NY. They offer cooking classes that are enormously popular with folks returning time and again to learn about and taste delicious dinners. Every personal chef is looking for that kind of success and such a devoted fan base! Well on Thursday night I was finally able to meet Dick and Ginger for myself, and I understood exactly why they have such devoted fans! What a fun evening we had.

Dick and Ginger of the Seasonal Kitchen

Their kitchen is cozy and looks like most folks’ kitchens, not industrial and slick, but full of life and memories from travels and friends. It was not a huge space and 8 of us sat at TV tables along the side of the room while another 8 sat at their kitchen table.
Ginger led our lesson giving tips and talking about our ingredients and Dick was her right-hand man. He was full of puns and humor, and very importantly he knows how to follow his wife’s directions They were really sweet together and obviously have a great time together doing what they do.
Our menu for the night has a South American flare and included pineapple mojitos, a delicious layered orange and olive salad, a really flavorful stew of Chorizo and black beans with sweet potatoes and mango (!) which was incredibly easy to make and so tasty! For dessert we had a decadent chocolate coffee cheesecake and I would have licked my plate clean if I’d been at home! It was so rich and creamy.
The two hours flew by, we sampled everything and enjoyed every bite and I am really looking forward to going again! Thanks Ginger and Dick!
(I apologize for the dark photos. It’s still winter here and it was dark at 7:30 pm!)

Layered Orange and Olive Salad

Chorizo and Black Bean Stew

Please visit the Seasonal Kitchen website!

Cook Whatcha Got Challenge Dinners #1 and #2

Our first challenge dinner was Monday, and yes I am posting today…Thursday. A visit from a lovely stomach bug de-railed the challenge for a few days, but I’m back in the kitchen and ready to tackle my pantry and freezer!

Monday was MLK day and my husband and kids were all home for the holiday. The kids all had basketball practice at different times during the day and I had promised my girls a shopping trip to use some gift cards that were burning holes in their animal print wallets so whatever dinner was had to be quick and easy to reheat for different meal times! Oh the joys of a busy household!

For Monday’s dinner I had some cooked chicken breast, a partial bag of Italian blend shredded cheese, and fresh basil. In my freezer was a small container of oven roasted tomatoes from the summer. It all came together in Chicken Parmesan Calzones!
I had the morning at home which gave me time to make some delicious whole wheat Italian bread dough. After an hour of rising time, it was beautiful!

I rolled the dough thinly, filled them sealed them and baked on my pizza stone. I cooled them quickly and put them into the fridge and everyone heated a calzone (or 2!) in the oven and helped themselves to a beautiful salad of Romaine, fennel and Navel oranges w/ an orange and shallot vinaigrette. It was quick and easy! there were a few calzones leftover that became the lunchbox envy of my kids friends!

Tonight’s challenge dinner had to be on the light side since I am just easing back into my kitchen. I have two partial boxes of Arborio rice in the pantry and that sounded so good today! In my freezer, I had a big bag of shrimp shells that I have been saving and adding to for awhile, as well as a bag of easy-peel uncooked shrimp and a partial bag of peas.

The recipe comes from a favorite cookbook of mine called ‘Risotto, More Than 120 Recipes for the Classic Rice Dish of Northern Italy’ by Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman. I bought this cookbook many years ago, loved it, used it and decided I could find recipes online or from my imagination, and then I sold it at a book sale or garage sale four or five years ago. STUPID! Oh how I missed that cookbook, it was a great inspiration for ingredients and when teaching people how to make risotto it is a great primer! So when I was in Boston to meet Chef Jacques Pepin, and I saw a copy for sale, I bought myself a new copy! My husband thinks I have some sort of pathological need to acquire cookbooks, but this one is one I really love and I am so glad to have it back!

So back to tonight’s recipe. First, I made a shrimp broth using all the shrimp shells, some onion, celery and parsley that I simmered slowly for about 20 minutes. I strained it and kept it warm to make my risotto.
Meanwhile I peeled my bag of shrimp (saving the peels to start my new bag for next time!).

Risotto is actually very easy to make, it just takes some time and patience. You MUST use Italian rice (Arborio or Carnaroli), it has a higher starch content which is what makes risotto…well, risotto! You wouldn’t use risotto to make sushi, nor should you use sticky rice or long grain rice or brown rice for risotto. It just doesn’t work!

You begin by heating the brodo (broth)to a low simmer. It must be hot to add to your rice so it cooks uniformly! Then you prepare the soffritto, the aromatics like onion, leek, peppers, celery which change according to your recipe. For the shrimp risotto, the soffritto is just onion and garlic in some butter and olive oil. Saute until soft and add the Arborio rice (riso) and cook it for a minute or two in the soffritto to coat it and begin to cook it. And finally, adding the hot brodo to the pan 1/2 cup at a time ( I use a soup ladle), simmering and stirring often. The trick is to wait until the liquid is almost completely absorbed before adding more broth. A true risotto takes about 18 minutes until the broth is absorbed. The ‘condimenti’ for tonight is shrimp and peas. Depending on your recipe the condimenti can be added at the beginning, middle or end of the recipe. In this case, the shrimp will go in about 12 minutes into the cooking time so it is just cooked through when the risotto is ready, and the thawed peas will go in about 2 minutes before it’s ready so that they are still vibrant green and have a good texture.

Depending on what you read, some authors suggest saving a small amount of broth until just before serving to insure creaminess, while others say to add a pat of very cold unsalted butter and some Parmesan cheese. I did both!

Ahh, this is comfort food at it’s best! All from my own pantry and freezer! We served this with a nice fresh salad and some rolls from the freezer that were reheated. It was a lovely dinner!

Take a minute to see what my chef friends are cooking for the challenge this week! Great ideas and recipes!
From Tami in Akron, Ohio who started it all!

From Charity in California

From Martha in Massachusetts

From Patti in New Hampshire

From Amy in New Jersey

An evening with Jacques Pepin

Since becoming a personal chef, I have been able to do many things that I never dreamed I’d be doing, and this week was a biggie! I was thrilled to be able to meet a personal hero of mine, Chef Jacques Pepin in Boston on Wednesday.

Boston University’s culinary program was founded by Chef Pepin (among others) and to celebrate the program’s 20th year he hosted “The Big Event” at BU. The event showcased talented chefs of the Boston area, from caterers to executive chefs at some of Boston’s best known restaurants, offering tastings of wonderful food and some wine tastings from local and regional wineries.

For this event, I took my mom on an adventure. Her birthday was this month and this was her gift. We made the 6 hour drive in pouring rain from Rochester to Boston, checked into our hotel in Brookline with just enough time to change our clothes and get to BU. The wind was really gusty and everyone arrived for the event with inside-out umbrellas and dripping wet, but nobody seemed to care. My mom and I met up with two of my personal chef friends, Laura Whalen and Martha Ulfelder for a spectacular evening!

Martha, Laura, me and mom!

The Event was held in a large gallery and the perimeter was lined with tables for tastings. We had some amazing raw oysters courtesy of Boston’s Legal Seafood which were absolutely the freshest oysters I have ever eaten. We even went back for seconds! The guys behind the table just kept shucking oysters for almost 3 hours and they had a line all night!

Mom enjoying her oyster!

We also sampled a delicious tuna tartare with Serrano chili- Cucumber salsa and Wasabi Creme Fraiche in these precious tiny martini glasses.

Tuna Tartare

The tartar was wonderful, but the glasses were a pain! (Several other tables featured the glasses too, but with hands full, and a tasting plate that was ours to keep for the evening, those glasses were just itching to slide off the plate and onto the floor!)

While making our way around the room we ran into Jack Bishop and Chris Kimball from America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

America's Test Kitchen Masters!

It was fun to meet these guys as I watch their show every weekend and love to use their recipes when I am cooking for my clients as I know they have been tested to the “endth degree.” I got an autographed copy of their current Holiday Entertaining magazine as a souvenier!

We continued around the room and found the booksellers from Jessica’s Biscuit with tables set up with a nice selection of cookbooks and food-lit books. I broke my “no new cookbook rule” (as if….) by purchasing a replacement of Risotto by Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman (I had sold it in a garage sale when we moved a few years back and have kicked myself several times for doing so. It’s a great little primer on risotto and I am happy to have it back on my shelves!) I also purchased another Judith Barrett cookbook called Fagioli, The Bean Cuisine of Italy that has some great hot and cold dishes using legumes. You know, I didn’t even realize that it was by the same author until just now! How funny! I think Judith Barrett and I have the same taste in food, and I’d love to talk with her about that sometime

We continued to eat and drink our way around the room (which now felt quite tropical from all the lights and bodies) and ran right into Mary Ann Esposito, another PBS favorite.

Mom with Mary Ann Esposito

. She’s such a nice lady!
And then…it happened. There he was walking right toward us! Jacques Pepin! My mother had brought her dog eared copy of La Technique, and I had my copy of Jacques and Julia, that are now both autographed by Chef Pepin, and he graciously posed for a picture with me.

Chef Jacques Pepin and me!

I didn’t get to talk with him long, but he was gracious and just as lovely as you’d expect. I was star struck to be sure! It was a great evening!

A delicious Viennese style dining experience on Seneca Lake!

This past weekend I had the great fun of meeting up with some of my personal chef friends at Seneca Lake again. It was a smaller group this time, and we met for lunch on Saturday.

Ladies who lunch!

We ate at Dano’s Heuriger on the east side of Seneca lake. A heuriger is like a small tavern in Austria or Vienna. They serve only a special local wine, that year’s vintage only, and simple foods served family style. I’ve been to Dano’s Heuriger before with Laura, and really enjoyed it. I tend to eat Mediterranean, Asian or classic American fare when I eat out, but Dano’s is very different and delicious from what we normally find around here. I do have German heritage in my pedigree, and this lunch was cause to embrace that!
Because we had a larger party, we were able to order a tasting menu called “The Chef’s Table” in order to sample many items. I think we were all surprised by the number of plates that were presented and the amount of food we consumed in our 3 hour lunch. That is right folks! 3 hours!
And yes it was due to the service, but I mean that in only the best possible way. We were allowed to sample and savor each course, drink our wine, chat and laugh, and never once were we hurried along. The staff was so welcoming and showed the greatest hospitality, it was a great place for our crew to meet!

Our fine chef for our adventure, Chef Dano Hutnik!

At Dano’s most of the dishes are very simple, beginning with spreads and salads. There are at least 8 different spreads to choose from, served with a basket of fresh crusty breads, and 9-10 different types of salad. A selection of spreads and salads along with some great wine is a meal in itself! We began with Liptauer spread (an Austrian house specialty which is made with Liptauer cheese, paprika and other spices), a Hotel Sacher spread, and a Pumpkin seed oil spread (which is my favorite!) Each of the spreads is similar to cream cheese in it’s consistency and you schmear them on the delicious bread. Oh my, very addicting!

Hotel Sacher, Liptauer and Pumpkin Seed Oil spreads

We were also served four of their salads including Large Bean, Celery Root Remoulade, Salsify, and a fresh Corn salad. The Large Bean is made with buttery butter beans in a light sweet and sour vinaigrette. It is by far my favorite here. The corn salad was very fresh and lightly seasoned. The celery root remoulade is crispy and creamy and the salsify salad is very unique. The salsify is very tender and mixed in with a creamy dressing as well. (Salsify is a root vegetable that is said to taste similar to oysters.)

Large bean and corn salads

Celery root remoulade and salsify salad.

We all sipped the heuriger wine ( a fresh wine, not aged) Berger Gruner Veltliner which is served in mugs instead of wine glasses.

Our main dishes and sides were plentiful. We were served some of the house made charcuterie including bratwurst, knockwurst and smoked Hungarian sausages, the country pate, and the Heuriger Eggplant. The sausuages were delicious, not too fatty, very flavorful and fresh. I am not usually a huge fan of pate ( I have a thing about offal~better known as innards…) , but had to admit it was tasty. We also had a vegetarian plate which was eggplant and tomatoes. I didn’t care for this dish as the tomatoes were very sweet, and as an Italian, it was just not right to my palate. Tomatoes should be a bit tart!

Knockwurst, Bratwurst and Smoked Hungarian sausage.

Country style pate

Our main courses included a succulent pork shank, and a piece of roast pork, a half of a small roast chicken and Wiener Schnitzel. Each was delicious, but my personal favorites were the pork shank meat that just fell off the bone, and the Wiener Schnitzel which was so crispy and tender. YUM!

Crispy Wiener Schnitzel

The dishes were made so much better by the spectacular sides that accompanied them! We were treated to silky mashed potatoes, house-made spatzle, sauerkraut and braised red cabbage. Again, not a huge fan of sauerkraut (bad memories of the smell when I got home from school when mom made it as a kid~ sorry mom) I was assured by the kraut lovers in the group that it was fabulous, especially when eaten with the mashed potatoes and pork! I loved the braised red cabbage, and will admit I have never had it before, but will definitely be serving it to my family. Soft and just a bit sweet, maybe cider? Whatever it was it was tasty! The spatzle were also a treat that I haven’t had since I was a kid. I don’t know why I never make them as they are simple, and I’ll be making them soon too!

Spatzle!

We ate and we ate and we ate some more, enjoying every last bite and still had a nice package of leftovers that I was delighted to bring home with me so my family could taste it all! We were so full that we couldn’t even think about any of the wonderful desserts (which for me is a rarity!) but the bread pudding that the next table over sure looked good… It’ll have to wait until next time I guess!
And here we are outside of Dano’s with a beautiful view of Seneca Lake behind us! We were fat and happy to be sure~ it was a great afternoon! Thanks Dano and crew for a memorable meal and a pleasurable afternoon! I’ll be back!

Well fed and happy!

Visit Dano’s website for more information!

Canning, pickling and preserving!

I remember being a kid and having to help my mom with canning every summer and fall. Peaches, pears, beans, corn, sometimes pickles, and tomatoes..oh the tomatoes! We’d be hot and sweaty (no central air in those days!) and standing for hours peeling and slicing, boiling and filling, processing and cleaning up! It seemed like it went on for days and days, but I appreciated the reward of the effort, especially in the winter, or when mom made sauce with those tomatoes.

When I got married, I still did tomatoes and occasionally pickles, but once the kids were born I gave it up due to lack of time, energy and sleep! I even gave away loads of canning jars because I was just so done with canning my own stuff! Sure I did strawberry jam each summer, but that was it. No more. Then last year it happened, I saw peaches at the public market and knew I had to save some to eat in January, and then tomatoes and peppers became salsa and before you knew it, I was back into canning and preserving my own food.

Part of the joy of canning and preserving is knowing that you have the best and freshest ingredients, picked hours before you buy it at the public market or farmer’s market. Part of the joy, if you are a recipe junkie like me, is finding recipes to try. Part of the joy is seeing all the beautiful colors in the jars, like jewels in the pantry just waiting for you. And of course, part of the joy is having a taste of summer in the dregs of our long Rochester winters.

Earlier this summer I made strawberry jam. (I always have to hide a half dozen jars as my son would eat it with a spoon!) I also made raspberry jam and a new strawberry/balsamic jam that I monkeyed with by adding some cayenne to (it’s great with goat cheese!). This week began the canning in earnest!

A trip to the Rochester Public Market on Tuesday yielded some beautiful pickling cucumbers. My kids and husband like dill sandwich slices so that is what I started with on Thursday. These were 1-day pickles, brined, rinsed, packed and soaking in pickling juice.
Friday found me elbow deep in tomatoes! I don’t can tomatoes for sauce anymore because I can find delicious organic Muir Glen tomatoes for sauces and stews and it’s a lot less work, BUT when I can get fresh Poblano peppers and Vidalia onions, I love to make salsa. I did it for the first time last year and the kids loved when I made cheese quesedillas for lunch and sent in a cup of homemade salsa. It was a quick and easy lunch and the salsa is so much better than anything you can buy in the store. I make it very mild and then add jalepenos when I open a jar for my husband and his friends.
Today brought another trip to the market (Can I say I love to go to the Rochester Public Market on Saturday! So many things to see and buy!) and today’s trip scored me peaches, more pickling cukes, blueberries and apples. The cukes are going to wait until Monday to make delicious icicle pickles that an old neighbor shared the recipe for. I haven’t made them in years but they are sweet and crisp and yummy, it’s a taste memory that is making me crave them! They need to soak in salted water for a week and I will be away next weekend so the first change of the brine will be on Monday when I get home. But the peaches were my project for today!
Peaches are one of my least favorite things to can but one of my favorite things to have in the pantry. The whole soaking to peel the skin, the slicing and syrup making to fill the jars. It’s a lot of steps and mess, and I only got 5 quart jars out of a half a bushel of peaches. BUT they are so delicious, much better than any canned product you can buy, so they will be a real treat this winter.
It’s been a busy week but very rewarding to see my jeweled jars filling up my counter before being moved to the pantry. (I like to look at them for a few days to enjoy the fruits of my labor… no pun intended.)
It’s been a busy week!

And I’m not done yet…. more peaches on Tuesday…. I just found a recipe for peach and habenero pepper jelly! And of course the icicle pickles, and if I can find figs, maybe some fig jam or fig pickles like my friend Tami made..check our her blog! Grocery Garden Gadget Girl.

To get started canning and preserving yourself, I recommend the Ball Blue Book that you will find wherever you buy canning jars (your local grocer or Walmart). And if you are looking for some more adventurous recipes try the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s got some great recipes to try….Berry Wine Jelly, or Plum Chutney, hmmm, maybe Sweet Pumpkin Pickles or wait! wait! Black forest Macaroon Conserve…