knife skills t wishes he had
t says: I’ve watched this video at least three times and have come to the conclusion that I gotta learn how to do this … without losing a finger …
Chocolate + Pop Rocks = ???
t says: Someone gave g a candy bar. I proceeded to eat the candy bar. Result: g didn’t get any. Oops! But to be fair, I did take a few days to eat it – she could have had some any time she wanted …
As you can see – there really is no way for me to communicate to you what this bar is called, who it’s made by, or even where it’s from (g tells me it’s from Israel – so says google, which pointed me to this blog). But I will tell you one thing: it had Pop Rocks in it (or at least something like Pop Rocks). That’s right – it had that sugary candy with the carbonation that pops/fizzes in your mouth.
Pop Rocks alone never actually tasted good to me, but I guess others and I liked it because it made fun noises – never mind that it never sounded as loud to anyone around you as it did to you while you were eating ’em. Fortunately, the chocolate bar was far better than straight-up Pop Rocks, as the chocolate was sweet and creamy. I did eat some for breakfast one day and it added a nice spring in my step for the morning. Good fun.
I guess my point of this post was to show you a wrapper so that if you ever come across this candy bar, you’ll buy it … and then share it with me …
Insomnia Cookies might keep me up at night.
t says: The other day I was feeling blue. There’s only one thing to do when you’re feeling blue … eat chocolate! I happened to spot an Insomnia Cookie Truck. Boom. Done deal. I swung by asked, “what’s the best ‘deluxe’ cookie you have?”. The dude replied, “the s’mores one.” I got one of those and one traditional chocolate chip (or chocolate chunk or whatever it is they call it).
Two giant cookies ... sitting in a tree ... k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
Someone took a bite out of my cookie! (It was me)
I dove into the s’mores cookie. Gotta say that it looked awesome. It felt awesome, too (nice and warm). But the taste was only … “ok”. Only ok?! That’s impossible! It’s chocolate and marshmallow and graham! I think it’s because the cookie, itself, was a little dry. And even though it was brown, the cookie didn’t taste super-chocolatey – I kept longing to encounter a chocolate chunk – that’s where the money was. I liked the deep, almost-dark chocolate flavor of the melty morsels. The graham cracker, although good in theory, really didn’t do much for me; the large pieces burst apart into chalky, dry crumbs (maybe they would have been better in the background of a moist-er cookie?). The marshmallow had a fun-to-chew stickiness about it – but some chunks were so large that I found myself chewing long after the rest of the cookie had disintegrated. It cost over $2 – I felt a little cheated.
I saved the other cookie for g. She came home and offered me a piece. Now THAT was a mighty fine cookie. The cookie was sweet (but not too sweet), moist, and studded with plenty of those chocolate morsels that I looked forward to in the cookie above. Mmmmm. Conclusion – when I see that truck again, I’ll be picking up some more plain ones – no question.
FriSatSun – so close but so far!
t says: Friday night rolled around and g and I lacked plans. It was time for date-night! But where to go – where to go? It was cold outside and we didn’t want to be bothered with a cab … so we instituted “dz Dining Requirements” – I’m coining the phrase right here, right now. As we scanned the list of neighborhood restaurants, we found one that fulfilled criteria numbers 1 through 4: FridaySaturdaySunday. And even though it was right around the block, we had never gone! And why not? I think it’s because every time we go online to check the menu, we get turned off by the silly pic and slogan on the website. We decided that tonight was the night to put that behind us.
10/2011, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. We walked in to a very very bizarre atmosphere. It had these mirrors all over the place, a chalkboard illuminated by blacklight, and weird murals (and I’m sure there were some other weird things there that escape my memory). We didn’t know if it was intentionally bizarre or if someone thought it was “cool”. Be that as it may, we took our seat, pulled out our bottle of wine (that’s right – NO corkage at FriSatSun – even though they sell alcohol! Buzinga! … and we’ve had it twice before – we like it a LOT), and got ready to eat. Bring on the food:
"Poached" asparagus
g ordered the aspargus appetizer. g liked it a lot, but I felt that the asparagus could have used a few more seconds poaching. I preferred the tomato-caper vinigarette which had a sourt-sweet-salt which was quite nice. I found myself eating it on the table bread (which, by the way, is delicious – crusty outside, soft inside). Overall, though, I felt like the dish was too much summer, and not really fall … which was the next dish:
butternut squash ravioli
A sucker for pasta, I of course picked out the ravioli. It smelled like a wonderful mix of hearty fall flavors – seeds, nuts, squash. Unfortunately, I found the dish to be quite mediocre. The ravioli’s dough was a bit dry/sticky and there wasn’t a whole lot of filling (but the little that was there was pretty good – a creamy butternut flavor) and the sauce was a little bland (I actually can’t remember what it was supposed to taste like … so I guess that makes it very bland). On the flip side, nothing tasted bad – it was just … too “subtle” for my taste. For example, when I think of butternut squash and pasta – I think of a mouthful of flavor more along the line of this risotto that we make.
salmon with rice and swiss chard
The grilled salmon and lemon creme fraiche was similarly mediocre. I take that back. The fish was cooked superbly – a beautiful texture. So … they mastered the hardest part of the dish (the fish cookery) … but missed out in other areas. The fish could have used more seasoning (salt, pepper, and maybe an herb or two), and the creme fraiche was on the weak side. The rice … straight-up bland. It boggled my mind – why would someone let this dish out of the kitchen? Then I got the answer: the Swiss chard. Mmmmmm. It made everything better. It brought in a salmon-worthy accompaniment and sang with our wine (the rice, on the other hand, was beyond repair). Was the resultant flavor worth a full 20-something-dollars? No. But, it was a sizable piece of fish that was cooked well – so I’d go as high as $19 (it is fish, after all …).
g's crabcake
I don’t have much to say about g’s crabcake because I only had one taste. From what I gather, the cake, itself, was a nice consistency and rich (g couldn’t imagine having to eat the two-cake “large” plate), but lacked oomph (noticing a pattern here?). BUT – the jicama slaw and mustardy sauce swooped in to the rescue. Tada! All better! g liked the dish just fine – and I liked the flavor combos more than those in my salmon. I think I’d like my crabcake a little more “crabby” (i.e. more obviously composed of crab – less filling), but, given the richness and accompanying flavors (and the size), I’d pay $19 for this dish, too … and that’s exactly how much it was! Woohoo!
After such sizable plates of food, g and I were both kind of full. As we stared at our wine, we realized that we still had a glass or two left. We obviously had to stick around for dessert, right? Having the larger sweet tooth, I was the one that had to decide our dessert fate. Molten chocolate cake was on the eerily-glowing blackboard (the blacklight, remember?). I figured why not? Plus, if we really finished the bottle of wine, then the dessert’s taste wouldn’t matter so much …
molten chocolate cake ... with whipped cream
This dessert was awesome. I’ll say my one quibble with it up front so I can go on gushing about it afterwards: yea, it could have been served warmer. There. Done. Now let’s talk about how delicious it was. The crusty outside gave way to moist cake and a thick, sweet, chocolate that you could eat with a fork (I hate it when it’s too liquid-y). I was about to say, “you know, this might be too sweet” but just put a forkful covered in some of the whipped cream … shazam! That was it! The whipped cream [to me] tasted unsweetened and it added a perfect balance and beautiful additional texture to the cake. Was it a simple “molten chocolate cake and whipped cream”? Sure. But it was a delicious, delicious guilty pleasure.
In summary, I’d say that FridaySaturdaySunday did a “good” job. Sure, nothing was particularly novel,but at least now I know that every bite should have a mix all of the components of the plate. Add on the reasonable portion size and that the excellence of the dessert and bread. Add on the fact that they’re BYO and have a bar. Add on the dzDD compliance. Voila. You have a restaurant that I’d be ok with going back to again in the future (maybe with dz?). Of course, I’d order something different (except the dessert … that’s staying the same) – but at least I’d come back!
Cochon makes a say: OMG
a says: OMG. Update for our post:
http://www.citypaper.net/blogs/mealticket/Weeknight-dealage-through-the-end-of-the-year-at-cochon.html
Oh, and when are we going back?
t says: Thursday?
g says: yippeee!
Fond Brings Back the PORK BELLY
t says: g and I went back to Fond with a bunch of peeps – it was the night they brought in their Fall menu. While we were excited from our past Fond experience, I was especially excited for the menu change, as it marked the return of their super-awesome, super-ridiculous PORK BELLY (remember: Pork Caps)! Because we had so many peeps, I’ve pooled together their reviews for you here. Sorry – not a whole lot of pictures, though (it was dark in there).
I will start off and post the wine list that I created for the night:
the wine list for the evening
smn says: SO MUCH FUN. Can we please do it again? Like soon? The restaurant was fantastic- welcoming staff, neat area of the city, cozy feeling inside. The food was equally fantastic. The amuse bouche [t says: I think it was some kind of root vegetable soup] made my mouth oh-so-happy. I could have had a whole bowl of it, along with more of the tasty olive bread! Speaking of bowls, the the cauliflower veloute was soooo good. Could have had more of that, too, even without the dollop of greek yogurt/saffron. My scallops were delish and cooked perfectly. Surprisingly, dessert didn’t blow me away. I didn’t love the passionfruit sauce, and without a sauce of some sort the mousse cake was just mousse cake. I loved every single glass of wine put in front of me- nicely done, t. I also sampled g’s short rib and kp’s PORK BELLY- yummo all around! As for dz, he also liked the amuse bouche, enjoyed his salad appetizer (in part because of the large portion size), and inhaled his tuna dish. One observation on my end is that Fond is lacking a solid vegetarian dish to round out the menu.
kp says: So here’s my take …
Re: Foie Gras App: The foie gras was expertly seared with a nice crunch leading to a nice creamy interior. The flavoring (a sweet accent of sweet potatoes, turnips and pecans) was a nice but a little overpowering and too sweet over the foie gras. Maybe just hint of next time would be much better, the carmelized were a little lost in the mix too.
PORK BELLY ... looks like a slab of meat, but it's so much more.
Re: Berkshire PORK BELLY: Holy crap- this thing was porktastic. One of the first times i have the PORK BELLY expertly crisped on the outside but the meat still easily falls apart- you could eat with a spoon. The escarole was nice cut to the fattiness of the meat and buttery sweet potatoes but I think there needs to be a more stronger cut to balance that fattiness. The sweet potatoes were the perfect accent of delicate sweetness to the meat and again was expertly prepared, it so well caramelized. PS If your really nice to the waiter they may offer Sirachi- which for one bite of the PORK is nice (but I love spice).
Re: Cannolis: These little cream filled delights were amazing and the brown butter apples and cider were just the perfect fall accent to bring to this dish. The pastry remained crunchilious the mascarpone filling was and airy delight!
t says: I went for the tuna crudo. Shocker, I know! We had a nice white, so I eschewed the escargots I normally go for in favor of the fish. Take a peek:
tuna over asian pear and sesame seeds
It was a delightful dish, with all the right flavors – but composition was a little off. I think it was because those sticks of pear were a little hard to eat and juggle on the same fork as the fish and the sauce. Great flavors, but just needed a better way to put it into my mouth.
Next up, I went for the PORK BELLY, as kp mentioned already above. It was every bit as delicious as I remember it from the past. Without a doubt the best piece of PIG you can get. It’s all about the contrast between the top crisp layer and the rest of the tender meat with just the right amount of fat (so I guess whoever’s providing them with PIG should also get credit). But I also agree with kp – it needs a little something else to brighten the plate. It’s kind of like making football players take ballet to keep them light on their feet – but come on – this is one helluva kick-ass football player nonetheless.
The surprise of the evening was the shortrib.
shortrib
The shortrib was g’s dish. I had some. HOLY. CRAP. I haven’t had a shortrib this good since the slab of shortrib included in Talula Garden’s beef duo. It was fall-apart-tender and glazed in that rich thick sauce. I can’t tell you what was in it, but what I can tell you is that if I go back, I’d actually not be able to choose between the shortrib or the PORK BELLY. But of course – there are worse things in life than being forced to choose between the two. I don’t recall the accompaniments (?Brussels sprouts? ?onion spatzle?), but like the PORK BELLY, I don’t recall there being much counterpoint to the rich lusciousness of cow meat.
In the end, I think everyone enjoyed their dishes at Fond. The apps and mains are done superbly well. For some dishes, all the right flavors are there, but maybe a dish here or there could use a little more tweaking in terms of composition/presentation. For others (i.e. the pork belly and shortrib), I don’t think you can find better cooked slabs of meat in Philly. Period. With a little bit of brightening, these are best-dish-dish-I-ever-had worthy (crazy good!). The desserts around the table were all thought of as “good”, but not really life-altering. They ended the meal on a sweet note which [I believe] is necessary, but I don’t think they’re going to change anyone’s life – but I’m not even sure if that’s a fair assessment – “ragging” on dessert because it wasn’t life-changing? Hmmm. I guess there are worse situations for Fond to be in …
I’m back, baby…
g says: t had taken over most of the dinner-making duties for the past couple of years as my work schedule became more challenging (read: i get home late and t is hungry before then). i very much appreciate him stepping up to the plate, but i do miss the meals i used to create when i was the first-string dinner-maker of our home — they were creative, they were delicious, and i plated each one with care (t interjects: my dishes are a little more … “rustic”)
now, t is a bit more busy and i am stepping back in when i am home early enough from my new(er) job. one such meal was the beauty shown below — rosemary lamb sausage (procured from an excursion to the italian market with a and v), sauteed with red bell peppers, spinach, apples, and cinnamon, served on a toasted roll and topped with fresh pecorino.
t says: she loves to add cinnamon to everything…
g says: shut up, t. cinnamon is delicious… (and very versatile!) this time i used the fancy china cinnamon that lr gave us as a gift. that’s right, there are different kinds — and i am all about finding out how many ways i can incorporate each of them into my diet!
anyway, this was a fantastic sandwich and i wanted to share. please feel free to use this idea to spice up your own weekday dinners.
lamb sausage sandwich
after dinner sneeze 