Archive | November, 2009

The B-Spot – Michael Symon comes to Eton Place

by Jamie Ginsberg on 24. Nov, 2009 in Jamie Ginsberg

Tried the B-Spot on opening day during a holiday week. I went fearing the worst and was pleasantly surprised. The soft opening resulted in a minimal wait and good fast service. The burger menu looked exciting as did the sausages. I stuck with a Zorba Greek salad as that is more my style (hello Vegetarian). I could not get over the idea of ordering a morning star veggie burger. I have those in my freezer, why order one from the Iron Chef himself?

We got fries and onion rings for the table and they were delicious. The onion rings were crispy and breaded perfectly with a healthy dose of salt. The fries were thin cut and enjoyable to eat. We tried all of the sauces and what was initially kind of strange to me grew on me and I concluded they were all delicious, especially the house made hot sauce. I should have tried the pickled veggie bar, but that will give me a reason to return. The greek salad was refreshing and all of the ingredients were crispy. The dressing was well balanced and flavorful. The ladies seemed to enjoy their veggie burgers (blue cheese on top and the option of free bacon—Hello!).

The truth is I am thrilled to see a good restaurant at my local mall. I don’t drink beer or eat red meat…still I like to party and you know I keep it social. The B-Spot is a nice mix of both and I am grateful Michael Symon open up out East. Am I going to rush out to Lola or Lolita? No, I find them over-priced and I have had enough bad experiences to spend my money elsewhere. Will I go back to the BSpot, yeah it is priced appropriately and the food is good. Keep it simple, keep it real. Eat with your friends.

bspot

Note: Went for a second tasting last week. Started with the House made Chips and Parmesan Fondue, never met a fried potato I didn’t like, this was no exception. The chips were crisp and delicious, with the dip more enjoyable than the fries or onion rings from the previous visit. Nothing like 2 fat guys ordering tomato bisque with Blue cheese crumbled in to start the “meal.” The soup was smooth and rich, the cheese was the perfect contrast, opening the flavor. Scott got a Burger that looked out of control delicious. I went for the Salad with Portabello mushrooms. A little more substantial than the Greek and equally delicious. Also tried all of the pickled options. Truly enjoyed the pickles, one was thin sliced and crisp, the other was chunked and very spicy.  The “indoor” deck is open and the holiday crowds are on. Get there early and be prepared to wait.

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Yogurt Day

by susannahm on 18. Nov, 2009 in Susannah Michaels

A few years ago, I began eating yogurt and granola for breakfast. After a few months, those 32 ounce yogurt containers were really stacking up. If there’s anything I hate, it’s plastic waste. I reuse the containers for buying grains and nuts in bulk at the Co-op. But there’s only so many containers I can use, so I decided to stop buying yogurt and start making it.

Step one was finding a yogurt maker. I finally found one at Orange Tree Imports, a chichi kitchen store here in Madison. But you can just get one on Amazon too. It should cost about $25 and paying more will not necessarily get you a better appliance (I know because I got my sister a $50 one and I don’t think it works and it’s hard for her to tell me that).

After step one is accomplished, it’s pretty easy. Just follow the directions, which will probably tell you to heat 4 cups of milk (I do that in my big glass measuring cup in the microwave: 3 minutes, stir, 2 minutes, stir, 2 minutes, stir and remove), let it cool to 110-115 degrees, add two spoons of starter yogurt, put it in the machine overnight, which will keep it heated for those starter bacteria to work their magic, then refrigerate for a few hours before enjoying.

yogurttemp

yogovernight

My cousin Hortense has a yogurt each night after dinner and adds some dates to make it sweet, like a healthy dessert. Boy is that yummy.

yogwdates

The consistency of the homemade yogurt is lovely – silky and drippy, not gelatinous like store bought. Of course you can add all kinds of things to it. Add a little jam and you have fruit yogurt.

Meanwhile, I’ve stopped eating granola and yogurt at breakfast, and just eat my oats uncooked with milk, like muesli. But the granola was good in its day. Here’s a recipe:

Maple Nut Granola:
Mix: 4 cups thick rolled oats, 1/4 cup almonds, 1/8 cup sesame seeds, 1/8 sunflower seeds.
In a mixing cup mix: 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/8 cup oil, 1/4 cup honey.
Add the liquid to the oats and mix to coat well.
Spread it on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, stir it up. Bake for another 10 minutes or so. Be careful not to burn it. Once it’s brown, it’s already burnt, so err on the side of very very light brown.

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Galettes Bretonnes

by susannahm on 11. Nov, 2009 in Susannah Michaels

As you may know, my French cousin, Hortense, is living with me for three months, to improve her English. After two months, mission accomplished! Her English has gotten really good! She has one more month to learn a few more esoteric vocabulary words and continue sorting out her tenses.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch house in the suburbs, there has been some cooking going on. Mostly I do the cooking. Because it’s my house, because it’s my country, because I like to cook, because Hortense is busy learning English, because I love my own cooking, because I’m a control freak, I don’t know, I just do. But about once a week, Hortense cooks. After two months, I’d noticed a pattern. Just yesterday, I observed to my coworkers, “There seem to be four major ingredients in French cooking: potatoes, ham, eggs, and gruyère.” That night, as Hortense was using ham, eggs, and gruyère to make Galettes Bretonnes, she commented, “I think we use a lot of ham, eggs, and gruyère!” Oh my gosh! Did she overhear me in the lunch room earlier that day!? If we’d had some leftover cooked potatoes, they would have fit in perfectly with this dish, and then we would have been using all four major ingredients.

Let me start by saying, the galettes bretonnes were delicious and I will add them to my own repertoire and think of Hortense each time I make them.

In France, they buy the galettes, which are buckwheat crêpes, ready-made. I can see how this would be easier and faster. But we don’t have galettes in our stores, so Hortense made them from scratch. I didn’t have buckwheat flour on hand, so she used whole wheat. The recipe consists of flour, butter, eggs, milk, water, and salt. As she made the galettes, she caramelized some onions.

Hortense making Galettes Bretonnes

When the galettes were ready, she began assembling. Put a galette in a pan, sprinkle with grated gruyère, crack two eggs onto it, lay down some ham, if you want, add caramelized onions and some wedges of tomato. Now here’s the tricky part: you have to cook the thing, folding the large galette over, flipping it a few times so the eggs break and cook, shoving ingredients back in as they inevitably spill out. Don’t worry if it looks messy, that won’t affect the taste. The eggs shouldn’t be completely cooked, they should be moist and runny. Serve with a salad, and you have a really lovely meal. Now that I think of it, it’s basically a French version of the breakfast burrito or quesadilla. But I think the whole wheat, or buckwheat, element of the galette makes it all the more interesting.

The tricky business of cooking a galette

But wait! There’s more! With the leftover galettes, maybe the first ones you made which weren’t so perfect, you can make yourself some dessert. Put a galette in a pan, spread half of it with nutella. Add sliced almonds, banana, whatever you want. Fold the empty side onto the half with the goodies. Fold it again so it makes a triangle, serve and eat. Yum. Delicious. And you’ll feel like you’re on the streets of Paris at a crêpe stand.

Nutella and almond dessert galette

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