This day didn't start out too well for old Todd and I. Hungover in the worst possible way, stiff back from passing out on the floor the night before. But we had to get our stuff packed and head down to the docks where our barge was parked. We do our best to meet Europeans on time. After spending time with Germans, it's something we have come to understand well. There is no 5 minutes late. You are on time or you are rude! We got there with time to spare.
Saying barge sounds like it wasn't a nice boat. This wasn't the case. It was a very nice boat with more than accommodating cabins for us travelers. Had our own rooms, bathrooms and showers. The crew was awesome. They stocked the fridges with the kinds of beers they thought we would like and they prepared home cooked meals for us every day. Breakfast was a typical European spread of meats, yogurts, breads, cereals, juice, coffee, and tea. We were rarely on the boat for lunch, but dinners on the boat were awesome! They even prepared a few of their own special beer dinners for us with the food being specially paired to the beers. We couldn't have asked for a better crew. Our only complaint on the tour was that we actually didn't spend more time on the boat. I would have liked to have hung out with the crew late at night too and talked to them for a while during our down time.
So, we dropped our things off got settled in, and then headed off to Langendijk eetcafe. The gang went on a brewery tour and many many beer samples were had. Along the walls inside, is a massive collection of bottles. This one that looked like an Aunt Jemima Syrup bottle caught my eye.
We met up with Ron Pattinson and had a few drinks with him where he bestowed upon us a very rare beer. After that we walked back to the boat for our first dinner.
Dinner: Salad with boiled egg, oven potatoes with mixed veg and curried pineapple chicken.
Dessert: Strawberry fool.
Very easy day, a few others walked around the city some more. We took it easy and had a night cap in our cabin. Night cap provided by the pervious hotel we stayed at. They told us to do it too. Strangest thing, they thought we waited to long to check in. And because some loser was hassling the front desk trying to wiggle out of half of his hotel bills in front of us, the hotel decided to upgrade us to a huge suite. And naturally I spent the night on the floor! They told us everything was complimentary and to please feel free to take the minibar contents. I have never had that happen before, but I did it anyway. Proved useful at night on the boat.
Just wanted to post some fun food pics taken from my phone. Yeah, yeah. Some of these were taken with my old phone. Okay most of them were. But I have long since retired that phone. Bare with me as we go back into last summer with some of these pics.
Buttermilk fried chicken with mashed potatoes, sawmill pan gravy, and peas and corn. Look at those huge breasts in that first pic! Shit was banging yo!
Green Street: Fry of the day of Queso Fresco Taco and the Charcuterie of the day Pork Rillette.
Some awesome food blogger friends of mine, Chrystal and Amir, of the affable The Duo Dishes, recommended that I try their chicken adobo. Their version of the Filipino classic. I loved it so much I have been making it about once a week since I first found out about it. It's so easy and once you buy the ingredients it lasts you enough for four or five rounds of it not counting fresh ingredients like the scallions, chicken, and parsley.
4 chicken thighs (bone-in) 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 3 bay leaves 3 cloves garlic, minced 12 peppercorns, crushed 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil 1/4 cup water 1 cup chicken broth 1 1/2 cups rice 3 cups water 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced 1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut, minced 1/2 cup parsley, minced 4 scallions, chopped Kosher salt
** I used a bit more dark brown sugar for this and no parsley for the rice. I can't get small bushells of parsley at my grocery stores and I don't like buying it for small amounts in recipes only for the rest of it to be wasted. I know I should find other recipes to use it in but I don't cook every day. So I doubled up the scallions.
I marinated the chicken for 4 hours. You can marinate for 1 hour if you are short on time, but 4 hours is good. I also squeezed in 6 thighs with this recipes.
1. In a large bowl or flat dish, combine soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, brown sugar and bay leaves with chicken. Marinate for at least an hour or overnight.
2. When ready to cook, swirl a bit of olive oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, lay chicken thighs down, leaving marinade in the dish. Brown chicken on both sides, approximately 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Pour in marinade and chicken broth and cook until it begins to boil.
4. Once boiling, add chicken again and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes.
5. Whisk 1/4 cup water with cornstarch and add to chicken. Turn chicken pieces over, cover again and cook until juices run clear (approximately 6-9 minutes).
** I left the chicken cooking for about an hour all together and while the rice was cooking.
6. For rice, set 3 cups of water to boiling. Sprinkle a little salt into the water. When water begins to boil, add rice and cook according to directions. Once done, toss with scallions, parsley, ginger and coconut.
** I use 3 cups of chicken stock and butter for my rice. It's much more flavorful. I buy it in bulk at Costco and it's a great way to plow through it and have more flavorful dishes.
7. Serve chicken over chicken and drizzle with a little sauce.
I was sick and tired of beer dinners. Sick and tired of trying to come up with concepts for beer dinners. I had hosted a series of cool beer dinners in the past like the Aztec Beer Dinner, or Soul Food Brunch pairings, chocolate beer dinners, Russian beer dinners, even the now infamous Gallia Belgica.
All of those events were cool. No scratch that, they were amazing. But I now I am done with concepts or themes. I am done working with one sole brewer and only their line up of beers for beer dinners, and I am done with beer dinners that serve amazing food, but all anyone walks away with is, did they get enough of the geekiest beer being served that night.
I am through with coming up with beer dinners for beer geeks. A lot of them will never be satisfied and only want dinners that include full pours of Allagash Gargamel or something equally rare, they want the finest food to be served with it, and only want to pay $45 dollars max to be served like and eat like kings.
Sorry beer geeks, it's simply not about you anymore.
It's also not about the uber foodie either. I am frankly sick of them too. They don't have any idea about good craft beer (some of them anyway, not all of them), and they still turn their noses up at the idea that beer can be and is amazing with food.
Of course I am completely generalizing here, but you get the idea.
No Mas! No more creating dinners to suit other peoples needs. I wanted to create a series of dinners that highlight the things we love. From the restaurants, the chefs, the waitstaff, the style of food, and various beers. It may also include a wine versus beer tasting, a beer cocktail or spirit served with the meal, or even a beer battle itself!
The idea is to elevate the foodie to beer, and bring the beer geeks back down to reality with good solid beer and food offerings.
We had been discussing a possible beer dinner with Hungry Mother in Cambridge. A favorite restaurant who hadn't hosted a beer dinner before but was really contemplating the idea of working with us. I decided this was the right place to launch such an idea. Anyone who is local around here already knows Hungry Mother and how awesome they are. If you don't, drop whatever it is you are doing, shut your mouth, and go over there and have dinner immediately.
Their style is Appalachian-style southern food with local ingredients, and French techniques.
** When I say Appalachian, I mean App-il-lay-chin. The fine folks at HM will disagree with me until we are all blue in the face, but actually being from Virginia, and more the Appalachian Mountain chain extending way up into New England, I am right! Only in the deep corners of the south and the Blue Ridge Mountains do you call it "App-a-Latch-chan."
This is the kind of place that will serve you cheesy grits and bacon that will make your mama cry. They will serve it with a Hickory Dickel (Gingerale, George Dickel, a tiny hint of liquid smoke, and a bacon lardoon garnish. They will serve you a gorgeous country-style gnocchi with peas, mushrooms, and bacon, but serve you a Genesee Cream Ale with it. This is exactly our kind of place.
Together with Todd and Jason, myself, Alon and Rachel Munzer, Barry Maiden, John Kessen, and the various waitstaff and barkeeps, we created a fun menu to showcase the fun stuff Hungry Mother likes to create, and we all had a hand in picking our favorite beers for this menu. Beers that WE loved and it didn't have anything to do with whether they were super rare or super generic. It's all about what we love and what we wanted to share with our friends and patrons.
I want to highlight that at the very bottom of the menu listed all the things Hungry Mother loves.
Things We Love: BeerAdvocate, Deep Ellum, The Gallows, Carolina Chocolate Drops, East by Northeast, pizza, opera, Dylan & Mira, our lawyer, Jamison Farm, Tetris, Anson Mills, Eastern Standard, Muddy Pond sorghum, bourbon, hot dogs, Ridgeway Blue, rainbows and puppydogs, Kanye, days off, snood, golf, ukuleles, drinking, Strangeways Here We Come, (ex) data synapse, Joe-Joe's, Brazil, Hulu, bonfires on Wiborgs Beach, boo ya later.
We welcomed everyone to dinner with southern specialties of house made dilly beans, boiled peanuts, and homemade chips.
*Click to enlarge any image.
Great social foods to pick at and get introduced to your table. We sat a lot of people together in groups. The Dilly beans were spicy and tangy, the chips were crisp and addicting. I will take the word from everyone at the table that said the boiled peanuts were fantastic. They ate them all! I am a southerner who who doesn't care for boiled peanuts. I know, it's pure blasphemy. But it's a classic none the less and perfect for the table.
We also opened up with a beer cocktail of Campari, sorghum syrup, and Smuttynose Star Island single.
First course:
Miss Lewis' Tomato Aspic with Deviled Quail Egg and Bacon.
Beer: Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project American Darling, 7% abv
I think this was my favorite course. The aspic was soft and extremely flavorful with tomatoes. The deviled quails egg was cute and packed just the right amount of pop of creamy texture and flavor contrast for the beer. The bacon was just an awesome hint for the plate that tied every thing together. Really, who can deny a lovely piece of bacon? They should have had a piece of bacon on every course served for this dinner.
The beer was perfectly fresh, crisp, and delicious. Just a tad too hoppy for the aspic though. Not enough to clash, but while pilsners and lagers are excellent for tomatoes, the added hop bite of American darling, almost proved to be to much. But as a hop head, I never mind big hops.
HM always offers a pork plate of some sort. This was the perfect portion size for wonder flavors and two different variations of pork. Paired with the most classic beer for pork, Schlenkerla Marzen larger. Smoked beers are made for pork dishes. It's a simple pairing but packed full of flavor and proved during this dinner why we love it.
Third Course:
Catfish Caveach picholines, capers, poblanos.
Beer: Allagash White, 5.2% abv
Caveach is basically a method of pickling fish. It was fantastic catfish too. It had a lovely earthy rustic taste to it and the Allagash White really went perfectly with it. The tangy capers and vinegars tastes were smoothed out by the lovely and soft flavors of the wit bier. The soft texture and hearty flavors of the catfish were fantastic.
Fourth Course:
Shrimp and Grits with HM tasso, cornbread croutons, and rosemary.
Beer: Cape Ann Fishermans IPA, 5.5% abv
You can't have a real southern meal with out grits. HM always has a grit offering in some way. Shrimp and grits are a classic southern, soul food offering. These grits were slow cooked, creamy and deliciously buttery. The shrimp and sauce was extremely flavorful and worked well with the malty IPA. Malty and hops are good for rich sauces like this. I really didn't want this course to end.
Fifth Course:
Fried chicken picnic with "kohlslaw", compressed watermelon, and Texas Pete.
Beer: Narragansett vs. Genny Cream Ale
Yes! Yes, we did go there with fried chicken and cheap beer at a fancy beer dinner. Genny Cream Ale is a favorite of the HM staff, and Narragansett is a Todd favorite. We thought, why not battle them out and see which cheap beer is the favorite among crowd?
The best part of this was serving the chicken in paper baskets and the beer served in cans with paper cups on the tables. As soon as the beers were delivered, the cracking noises in sync around the room from the cans was amazing. It was super fun and had everyone engaged. I have never seen that many smiles for cheap beer in a long time. It goes to show you that there is a time and a lace for every beer. Only one person wasn't really thrilled with the cheap beer choices because he prefers Budweiser for his cheap beer of choice. I am a PBR girl myself, but I didn't let that stop me.
Before I announce the winner, lets talk about the food. Compressed watermelon? Yep vacuumed sealed so that all the juices compressed further into the melon. Sprinkled with salt to give it an awesome contrast to the insanely sweet and delicious melon. The "kohlslaw" was light and creamy and packed a delicate hit of flavors.
The fried chicken was perfectly southern. Juicy and that right bit of nearly burnt skin flavor. It tasted just like my mom's pan fried chicken and no one beats my mom's chicken! I was surprised to find out it was not pan fried. Close enough though. They deep fried it in a deep fryer but set the chicken high in the fryer like it was pan frying.
Winner: Narragansett!
But winner by a slim margin. The way it worked for me and a lot of people tended to agree was that the Genny Cream Ale was perfect right after the grits and worked extremely well with the "kohlslaw." But it was the 'Gansett that over took every thing by working perfectly with the watermelon and fried chicken.
Very fun course.
Sixth Course:
Pulled Jamison Lamb with hominy tortilla, corn and tomato chow chow.
Beer: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, 8% abv
Wonderfully tender lamb. Flavor explosion with the southwest-style flavors perfectly matched with the malty and bitter Hop Rod Rye. This was one of the best matched courses with the beer. Unfortunately this was also the course where we all realized that this we may have been in over our heads. We still had desserts and cheese coming!
Seventh Course:
Meadow Creek Grayson with green tomato and sour cherry jam, crystal malt, and house made beer bread.
Originally we had planned for the beer to be Cerise from Founders. The reason being is that that beer tastes exactly like cherry pie filling! Something so southern, and cherries were in perfect season. However, there was none available and I think it worked out for the better.
Cisco Cherry Woods was available. It too had a delicious cherry pie filling taste, but with a much more crisp and delightfully sour bite to it. Not too sour where it burns your throat going down. It was very enjoyable and delicious. I am not usually a fan of sour ales, but this is one I very much enjoyed and could drink more than one glass of.
The sour notes and carbonation cut right through the cow's milk cheese allowing for an excellent pairing.
The beer bread was homemade and soft and the sour cherry jam was actually pretty mild. I think most people were expecting more of a cherry pop to the jam, but it was soft and mild because of the green tomatoes. If if had been more sour, the beer and jam would have over powered the pairing. I really enjoyed the sweet little accent of the crystal malt sprinkled on the plate as well.
Eighth Course:
Chocolate cake, sorghum buttercream, Benne brittle.
Beer: Left Hand Milk Stout 5.2% abv
Yes!! Chocolate cake covered in chocolate. A sesame seed brittle on top and Left Hand Milk Stout served in coffee cups. I loved that detail. HM has such cool flare.
This cake was rich and balanced by a lovely sorghum buttercream filling. It was very reminiscent of a New England whoopie pie. Rich chocolate flavors, butter sesame brittle, and rich, bitter, chocolate-y beer.
When we realized we were in trouble with the lamb course, this surely sent us all over the edge. And we still had one more to go.
Taza is a local favorite of HM as it is with many local shops and restaurants. It's a natural fit for those shops and restaurants who keep it local and source ingredient from their area and local producers. I am personally not a huge fan of Taza Chocolate, but just for this once I didn't mind it. The cookies were soft, buttery, and had that perfect balance of salt by being topped with sea salt. Sweet and salty always works. The cookie dough covered up the flaws I normally find in Taza Chocolate.
The cocktail was a nice way to end the night. We were all so full and in full on food coma mode. The cocktail was soothing and settled our full bellies.
And there you have it. Hungry Mother's first beer dinner showcasing their favorite things with a combination of our favorite beers. From the details of the paper in the fired chicken course, to the mini mason jars filled with gorgeous tomato aspic, to the coffee cups filled with milk stout, they really knocked this one out of the park. For their first ever beer dinner, they really seemed to get it. Look for more events with BeerAdvocae and Hungry Mother in the future. I know I certainly can't wait to work with them again.
The idea that having a fun and a well received beer dinner without serving the most rare and geekiest of beers was made abundantly clear with the super fun fried chicken course. A successful event that proves we need to listen to ourselves more. Trust our own ideas and go with what we know works and what we love. It's up to you to come with us or not. As you can see, if you don't, you might be missing out on some really amazing food and some real good times.
After the Knighting ceremony of Todd and Jason Alstrom, Charlie Papazian, and Greg Koch by theKnighthood of the Brewers' Mash Staff (Belgian Brewers' Guild), we were invited to have lunch with Michel Moortgat of Duvel, the next day. We were told meet at a certain cafe and have some beers and then lunch.
We didn't know lunch was going to be such a fancy ordeal. I certainly didn't know as I showed up in capri pants with Chuck Taylor's on and no socks! My version causal and European casual should be explained in the fine print of all events we're invited to.
Also, in not being prepared for such an exquisite meal, this post is full of lame quality iPhone images. Had I known what we were in for, I surely would have brought my big camera with me. I did manage to get some fairly decent shots however. Enough that you will still be jealous and you will understand the general idea of how fantastic the meal really was.
We were then taken from the cafe to this gorgeous restaurant called Comme chez Soi.
It all began in 1926 when Georges Cuvelier, a brave inhabitant of the
southern Belgian Borinage region escaped the coal mines to open a small
restaurant in Brussels. A regular customer told him each visit : "Georges, in your restaurant we eat like at home." It did not take long for him to come up with the name "Comme chez Soi".
When the restaurant moved to its present location on Place Rouppe,
Georges Cuvelier's daughter married Louis Wynants, a pork-butcher from
the Flemish town of Tienen. Louis Wynants took the quality of the
kitchen to higher levels.
Their son was Pierre Wynants.
He studied at famous restaurants throughout Europe and met
Marie-Thérèse. From this union came two daughters, Laurence and
Véronique.
Laurence, the eldest, has married Lionel Rigolet, a young culinary talent who rapidly became a key element for the thouse.
The couple now has little Jessica and Loïc, a fifth generation...
They opened their famed private dining room to us, set in their kitchen to watch the chefs prepare the food and then serve it to us. On the walls were autographed placards from Leonardo DiCaprio, Catherine Deneuve, and Woody Allen to name a few.
We were given printed menus with the chef's signature on it. The lunch prepared for us was a sample from their regular menu only tweaked with beer.
We opened the lunch with pours of beers from Liefmans Kriek, and a new sweeter, fruitier, yet still tart Lambic from Liefmans. As well as being serves shrimp bites and mille-feuille of salmon.
Tiny, little shrimps rested in the center of these crispy rings. For such tiny shrimps, they packed quite a bit of flavor. Nice little decadent noshes with a very rich and fruity beer to kick things off.
Then we were served a trio of tastes. Melon sorbet, kriek gelatin, topped with Jamon Serrano or Jamon de Iberico. Don't quote me on the ham. It was a cured Jamon of some kind, but I didn't write down the exact name. Delicious non the less.
The center was a cool gazpacho with a prawn and cabbage topping. And the last taste was a cabbage roll with lamb. All fantastic with the Liefmans Kriek and the newer sweeter Kriek.
First course:
Marckerel fillet marinated with yuzu, squid salad with olive oil, and a coulis of sweet peppers.
Second Course:
Catfish with lemongrass, butternut mash, and baby carrot coulis.
Third Course:
Grilled chicken stuffed with shitake and tarragon and a Maredsous sauce.
Fourth Course:
Selection of Belgian and French cheeses with a beer glaze garnish. (Look at the detail in the beer glaze.)
Dessert Course:
Fruit Consomme with mint, and Kriek sorbet. (Kriek sorbet in a bath of fruit consomme with mint, a molding of fruit and gelatin with fruit leather on top, and a praline garnish.)
And last but not least, we were treated to "Delicacies" of Pate de Fruit, Chocolate filled with a soft passion fruit filling, housemade nougat, Macaroons, white chocolate, and filled micro pastries.
I would only be able to top a meal like this if I could return the favor for Michel Moortgat if I were to take him to Craigie on Main here in my neck of the woods. That's saying a lot.
This is the day I realized my camera was dying. The day I realized it's time to upgrade to a more professional type camera. Yellow pictures, blurry images with the setting set on still images. What a disaster, but I couldn't resist sharing this recipe.
I attended the 1st Annual FoodBuzz Blogger festival in the beginning of November last year. As part of the tons of swag we were given, I got a jar of this Mezzetta Napa Valley Homemade style pesto. Unfortunately it leaked all over my bag on the way home so I had a day or two use it.
I am not a huge pesto fan and I haven't really cooked with it before. So I searched the internet for a creamy chicken dish that I could add the pesto to. I found a very simple recipe from the FoodNetwork for Chicken in Parmesan chive cream sauce. This was the recipe I used for my base and then improvised the rest to make an awesome chicken pesto dish.
Forgive these pictures and pay attention to the recipe. You will want to make this. I cut out the chives and added a few different things to this recipe. Look for the asterisk to indicate what has been changed from the original recipe.
1 tbls olive oil 1/2 cup diced shallots 3 cloves of minced garlic 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 tsp dried thyme 2 bay leaves 1 1/2 cups heavy cream * 1/4 cup parmesan salt pepper * 1 6.25 oz jar of basil pesto * 10 large white mushrooms sliced * 1 cup of sundried tomatoes chopped * 1 pound of cooked bowtie pasta
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes stiring with a spoon.
Add chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until golden brown on all sides.
Add thyme and bay leaves and cook for one minute, or until fragrant.
Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer for 1 minute or until sauce has thickened. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked
through. Add parmesan cheese and simmer for 1 minute or until sauce has
thickened. Remove bay leaves.
Boil bowtie pasta and cook until pasta is tender. Drain the pasta and leave in pot. Add the entire jar of pesto, sliced mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes to the pasta. Pour on the creamy chicken from the skillet into the pot and stir well. Make sure all the pesto and cream sauce has coated everything.
Serve immediately in bowls with garlic bread.
The asterisk next to the parmesan is there because the recipe called for 1/4 cup, but I found that I needed a lot more than that. Start with the 1/4 cup and gradually add more as you need it. But allow it time to thicken before adding more so as you don't over do it. Just watch that you don't over cook the chicken while you wait for the cream sauce to thicken.
I realize this is my second post on dinner at Green Street, but I can't help it. It's my neighborhood bar and restaurant and I love this place. This is what a typical dinner at Green Street is like.
Braised short rib with citrus on a bed of creamed cabbage.
There was no
bone for the short rib which was fine with me since it only gets in the
way at presentation time anyway. The meat was so soft and rich. You
barely had to use your fork to cut a bit out of it. This should be an
entree portion. It tastes so amazing. And the creamed cabbage was so
soft and delicious. The orange added a good little pop to the dish.
House made franks and beans.
Oh man this was delicious! The beans were good and sweet. The franks were nice and soft and flavorful. The mustard added a nice tangy kick to balance the sweet from the beans. Not to mention mustard is classic with franks.
And now one of my favorites.
Chicken Schnitzel with brown butter, mashed potatoes and greens.
This is my absolute favorite. It's pan fried chicken schnitzel with brown butter perfectly fried and juicy. The potatoes are delicious and creamy underneath the chicken. And the greens with a light vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes and fennel add freshness to the dish. God I love the chicken schnitzel.
Macaroni and Cheese with bacon and tomatoes.
The mac'n'cheese is awesome. It's a bit pricey for mac'n'cheese, but its really creamy, rich and delicious. Plus it has bacon in it. Bacon makes the whole world go around, and makes something like this fantastic. It's so rich and delicious that it's hard to finish it all. But that's worth it to me. I want a meal that makes me satisfied and is filling. It's a great adult version of a kids classic.
After dinner, the owner Dylan Black surprised us with a rare beer offering.
A Russian Imperial Stout from Brouwerji De Molen in the Netherlands. 11% abv with a strong Belgian influence in nose and steel-y malty taste. Very big and rich but drinkable. Notes of toasted malts, vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. Nice little night cap from the dinner above.
Clearly you can seen why I keep writing about Green Street.
I have been told over and over by friends that I must check out Hash House A Go Go while in Las Vegas. Well, I went last week and it was the best thing ever. Apparently it is a California chain that has made it's way to Vegas.
This is my kind of place. The portions are insanely massive, and the food is completely amazing.
I started with one of their famous coffee drinks, The Smore's Mocha.
Just look at that sticky mass of coffee and burnt marshmallow mess. It was so delicious.
Then I asked about the Chicken and Waffles. I was told to order this monstrosity from friends who know I am soul food addict. I wasn't scuured until it came out.
As described from their website: Sage Fried Chicken with a hardwood smoked bacon waffle tower, hot maple caramel and fried leeks.It's 4 waffles with bacon cooked inside the waffle. And I am talking about a big crispy strip in each waffle. Two large pieces of fried chicken on top as well. It's unbelievable.
And just in case you are not sure how big this plate is, It's bigger than both of my hands fanned out. I found this image of some guy who looks horrified by the size of the plate while searching for a picture of the building and thought this was a good image to show you just how massive it is. I am in the second picture, a Twitpic my husband took with me in the background. Notice my hands in the second pic.
My husband looked and around and saw pancakes as round as basketballs. He decided to play it a little safer and get the smoked salmon skillet.
He wasn't let off the hook size wise. This thing was massive too and completely loaded with salmon. So many times with salmon you get the shaft on how much they give you. Not at Hash House A Go Go. They also had homemade jam on the table made with pears and strawberries for the biscuit. Nice touch.
And then I finished up with a double shot Bloody Mary. With pickled beans in it as well. I am starting to think that if there are no pickled beans for the Mary's, then they are probably not worth it. I love pickled beans so much and especially in Bloody Mary's.
Hash House also carried Stone. Todd drank a few Pale Ales and I was torn between the Bloody Mary and an Arrogant Bastard. With Las Vegas being a beer wasteland for the most part, any chance to get good craft beer should be taken advantage of. So not only can you get awesome food, but you can have an Arrogant Bastard with it too.
This place is off the beaten path from the strip. It will cost you just over 20 bucks in cab fare if you don't have a car. But there is a cool little brew pub with video poker down the street called Big Dog's. You can eat and then walk 2 blocks down, trust me you will need to walk after this meal, and play some video poker and wash it all down with some fairly decent beers. Big Dog's had a good Pumpkin Ale and a West Coast Style IPA on hand while we were there.
Whatever you do in Las Vegas, take the time out to visit Hash House A Go Go. Trust me.
Roasting a chicken is probably the easiest thing to do culinary wise. But since this was my first time roasting a chicken, I thought it was important to highlight it. A first is still a first after all.
Preheat oven to 375°. Remove gizzards from chicken and rinse the chicken in cold water. Trim any excess fat or skin.
Pat dry the chicken completely including inside cavity.
Loosen the skin carefully from the breast in preparation for spice rub.
Place chicken in 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chicken with salt . Take one lemon and cut it in half and squeeze the juice liberally all over the chicken. Sprinkle with pepper. The lightly coat the chicken with a quick drizzle of olive oil.
*You may leave halved lemons in the pan while roasting. I started to do that as some of the pictures indicate, but once I added the fingerling potatoes, I didn't have any room for them.
Mix chopped garlic, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl. Coat the top of the chicken, the insides of the chicken cavity, and inside the skin.
Stuff the inside of the chicken with a small handful of fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage. Take second lemon and zest the rind over the top of the chicken.
For the potatoes:
1 to 2 pounds of washed and sliced in half fingerling potatoes. Boil in salted water for a few minutes. Drain the water and toss in chopped garlic. Shake rigorously in pan with cover on top.
Add potatoes to the roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Lightly sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice from the second lemon you used for the zest.
Stick the pan in the oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes per pound. since my chicken was a little over 4 pounds, I roasted it for 2 hours. at the half way mark I rotated the pan from it's original position in the oven.
Once it is done roasting, use a thermometer to check the chicken and make sure it is at least 175 degrees. Check at a deep set bone to be sure. Then cover with foil for 15 minutes to prevent the moisture of the chicken leaving and drying out the breast. Once the juices are sealed, remove from pan for carving. Remove potatoes to serving dish.
Brussels Sprouts:
1 to 2 pounds of washed and stemmed sprouts.
1/2 stick of butter
1 tbls chopped garlic
1 tbls seasoned salt
Wash brussels sprouts and peel off any bad top layers of leaves. Cut the base stems off. Place sprouts in a pot of water with at 1 to 2 inches of water. Add, butter, garlic, and seasoned salt. Cook for 10 minutes until sprouts are al dente.
Carve chicken and plate. Serve with potatoes and brussels sprouts and potatoes.
I have to pat myself on the back for this one. Again while it may be super easy to roast a chicken, the breast meat came out perfectly juicy. I normally do not like white meat or breast meat on chicken or turkeys when roasted due to it always being dried out. I always prefer dark meat for the flavor and juiciness. This time I didn't have to worry about anything. The meat on the breast was nicely flavored and perfectly juicy.
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