Roy Rides Again!

I have always been a big fan of Roy Rogers.  For some reason the pickles on the fixins bar are irresistible. And the fried chicken is really, really good.

There used to be a lot more of them around.  In fact as the number of stores began to dwindle - I wrote to the corporate offices to find out what was going on.  I came home from work one evening to find a message on my answering machine, with a long apology from someone in the corporate office.  It was a bit surreal.

My Roy Rogers intake these days is mostly limited to the rest areas on the New Jersey Turnpike.  But evidently, according to this story, the chain is trying to claw its way back.  I look forward to its triumphant return.

Save Christiano's!

I usually have several recipes ready to go (they're the easiest posts to write, of course), and I do have several lined up for the next few Mondays.  However, I learned over the weekend that a local landmark where I grew up is slated to close and, though likely futile, I'd like the opportunity to tell you about it, with the hopes that someone (Billy Joel?, a Syosset High School Class of 1985 alum in Hollywood, with some disposable income? - you know who you are.) can save this local institution.

Christiano's restaurant, reputed, though often disputed, to be the inspiration for Billy Joel's song, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is closing its doors after 55 years.  The restaurant, which is now owned by the Singh Hospitality Group, will close soon and be "reinvented" as another restaurant, though not an Italian one.

The restaurant has been an anchor in "town" ever since it opened in 1958.  Syosset residents have been going there for the pizza, the lasagne, the wine, and the atmosphere.  Just a few years ago, when I attempted to organize a high school class reunion - only a few of us were able to make it - but we went there, because it was the right place to go.

My sister had a boyfriend once, who one evening was in Christiano's having dinner when they spotted Billy Joel across the dining room.  He and his friend, knew they had to do something.  They finally decided to sign their autographs on a napkin and went over to Billy Joel and handed it to them, saying something to the effect of, "You're always signing autographs, so we thought you might like ours."  They then turned around and went back to their table.  Billy looked at the autographs, looked over at them, and then got up and went over to talk with them, saying, "I can't believe you guys did that.  That was pretty good."

My father, my siblings and I were at Christiano's a little more than seven years ago.  It was the final weeks of my mother's life (she passed away seven years ago today), and we wanted to all go out together.  We went to Christiano's because it was about family.

So, I was a little sad today on many levels.  I miss my mother.  A lot.  I'm also sad that I'm losing another piece of my youth that is being lost to time.  And I'm a little sad, because I also didn't know what to make for dinner tonight.  But we managed to eat something.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day - the commercial holiday to remind those of us in love that we can buy things for those we love.  Well, I don't need just one day for that - I can do that all the time.  I am very lucky to have Mrs. BA and I love her very much.  I often say that everyone should have what we have, if they did, the world would be a much better place.

We did not go out to eat tonight - it was taco night at the launchpad - though we will have pizza / movie night tomorrow night.  We did have crepes on Tuesday to celebrate Mardi Gras, so we're doing alright.

I found this list of "America's Best Historic Restaurants" a while back (on CNN).  I noted with some surprise that I had been to the first one on the list (it's the only one I've been to).  It's a great place for Washington people watching.

1. Old Ebbitt Grill - Washington DC
2. Keens Steakhouse - New York City
3. Canlis - Seattle
4. Pacific Dining Car - Los Angeles
5. Swan Oyster Depot - San Francisco
6. Jacob Wirth - Boston
7. Cisco's Restaurant Bakery - Austin
8. Commander's Palace - New Orleans (I keep meaning to go here when I'm in NOLA - maybe this year at SAA)
9. Calumet Fisheries - Chicago
10. Ralph's - Philadelphia

Following an outcry from smaller restaurants and cities - CNN came up with a "second helping" of historic restaurants.

1. Columbia - Tampa, FL
2. Louis' Lunch - New Haven, CT (allegedly the birthplace of the hamburger)
3. Samoa Cookhouse - Samoa, CA
4. Brookville Hotel - Abilene, KS
5. Shady Glen - Manchester, CT
6. Cold Spring Tavern - Santa Barbara, CA
7. Red Fox Inn and Tavern - Middleburg, VA
8. Al's Restaurant - St. Louis, MO
9. Chef Vola's - Atlantic City, NJ
10. The Bright Star - Bessemer, AL

"Can We Go Out to Eat?"

The title of this post is a frequent request of LBA and SoBA (they come by it honestly - I used to say the same thing to my mother all the time).  The Brave Astronaut clan doesn't eat out a lot - Friday is always pizza movie night of course - but that's take out.  We eat out maybe a couple of times a month.

On Thursday, I will travel to Richmond, VA for the Fall 2012 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference.  I will be on official travel so I will have a per diem to help with expenses for food.  Luckily none of the restaurants on the list below are in the capital city of the Commonwealth. And hey, what's up with Chicago? For the record, I have been to none of these restaurants.

The 25 Most Expensive Restaurants in America

#10.  Everest, Chicago (Average check: $546 / Cuisine: French / Prix fixe price: $110)

#9.   Daniel, New York City (Average check: $547 / Cuisine: French / Prix fixe price: $108)

#8.  Les Nomades, Chicago (Average check: $558 / Cuisine: French / Prix fixe price: $130)

#7.  Tru, Chicago (Average check: $558 / Cuisine: American Noveau / Prix fixe price: $145)

#6.  Melisse, Los Angeles (Average check: $576 / Cuisine: American Noveau / Prix fixe price: $150)

#5.  Charlie Trotter's, Chicago (Average check: $666 / Cuisine: American Noveau / Prix fixe price: $160)

#4.  Alinea, Chicago (Average check: $736 / Cuisine: American Noveau / Prix fixe price: $210)

#3.  Michael Mina, San Francisco (Average check: $844 / Cuisine: American Noveau / Prix fixe price: $115 (Tasting Menu))

#2.  Per Se, New York City (Average check: $883 / Cuisine: French / Prix fixe price: $295)

#1.  The French Laundry, Yountville, Calif. (Average check: $957 / Cuisine: French / Prix fixe price: $270)

Double Date Night

The DC area got to temperatures in the 70s again today - for the third day in a row - unprecedented weather. If I had not been sick earlier in the week, I might have "caught" something that would have kept me home today. As it is, Mrs. BA and I are in the midst of an unprecedented two-night event of our own. It's Double Date Night! Two Date Nights and Double Dates with two different couples!

Yesterday evening, our friend (Ed in Pittsburgh) and his lovely wife came for a visit. He had some meetings to attend to today and his wife took the opportunity to come along and visit with an old friend. They came without their children. When the plan developed, I immediately saw an opportunity for a date night. As you may know, it's Pizza / Movie night at the Launchpad and we asked one of our frequent attendees (and good friend) to think about looking after LBA and SoBA for the evening. She readily agreed - so Mr. and Mrs. BA are getting out to dinner tonight with Ed and Mrs. Ed. We have made a plan to go here for dinner. It is always good to see them and we are having a great time with them as we usually do (we went away for an anniversary weekend with them a few years ago, which was also a lot of fun.

Thursday also marked the birthday of Mrs. OSG and it was her desire to go out for a grown-up meal. Her hope was to go somewhere that did not have mac and cheese or hot dogs on the menu - and perhaps a place where people would bring us food - and somewhere where we might even be able to drink a little. Who were we to deny this birthday wish?! My [very kind] MIL gave Mrs. BA and I a gift card for dinner out at Christmas, with the added bonus of her being willing to babysit when we wanted to cash in. So we are doing just that. Our destination for Saturday night is this restaurant, where I have my eyes on the Coffee-cured Filet Mignon. I am pretty sure that Mrs. BA and Mr. OSG will be diving into an appetizer plate of the "Mountain of Blue Cheese Chips."

We have not been to Stoney River before and are certainly looking forward to it. As I have said before, I would go out all the time if my wallet and waistline could take it. And there is no lack of new places to go here in the DC area:

• All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings to Look Forward To (Part 1)
• All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings to Look Forward To (Part 2)
• Who We Missed: More Restaurants Opening in 2011
  

But wait there's more! Here's the bonus. My [extremely kind] MIL is in fact, babysitting, and is taking the boys to her house for Saturday night. So our second date night will allow us to have the house to ourselves. Although LBA does have a birthday party on Sunday so Mrs. BA will head out to get them in time for that. I need to go to the grocery store - and I would love to find a store that has one of these installed. As the post notes, there are plans to bring them to the US within the year.

Being a Regular / Boeuf Bourguignon

There is a man who lives up the street from OSG who embodies the definition of a "regular." Mr. Smith (really, that's his name) eats lunch everyday in the same place. Each evening you can find him and his wife eating at the local diner. Regular as clockwork. Are you a regular? Do you want to be? Grub Street offers some tips on how to be a regular (seen first on Kottke, of course).

I used to be a regular. Every Friday night my friends and I would descend upon the Syosset House diner and have something to eat before heading home for the evening. We had our own waitress (Jackie) and a regular seat in our favorite booth. There was another older gentleman who used to frequent the diner at the same time and we often sat with him while Jackie would take our orders and often talk with us during our stay. We were always greeted by the host with a friendly, "Hi guys!" before he would show us to our seats. Diners are like that, I think, by nature. If they're good, the experience is one to savor.

I would be a regular again. But when you show up now with two kids in tow, there is sometimes fear on the face on the host or hostess and the waitress may become concerned about her station getting disrupted. Not to mention that eating out is something that we do less frequently than when we were all unattached and let's say, more liquid in our assets.

Conference attendance is one of my remaining opportunities to try out restaurants in other cities (often unencumbered by children). Having toiled in the retail trenches and worked a job that also relied on tips (valet parking), I have a soft spot for waitstaff and will usually make sure they know that I will take care of them, provided they take care of me. When visiting a restaurant for the first time (or at a conference, with friends), I have a tendency to reward good service. However, my poor math skills nearly got us rubbed out at an SAA meeting several years ago in Boston. I went out to an Italian restaurant with OSG, Special K and another colleague in the North End. After the meal, the check arrived and we proceeded to divide it up according to what people had eaten and we collected funds to cover the check. We handed over the cash and sent it off. Moments later, the maitre d' / manager showed up at our table, asking, "Was there a problem? Is everything OK?" Confused, I told him there was no problem, we had had a great meal. So he asked, "I ask because you tipped very little on your meal." In doing the math, we had neglected to add a proper tip, coming up with only a few dollars over the check. Duly embarrassed, we all ponied up some more money to make up for our mistake, and left - quickly (so quickly that I seem to recall Special K walking into a tree - but that's a different story).

But enough about me. I know you're all here waiting for Monday's recipe. Here's one that might make an appearance at the Brave Astronaut launchpad this week (from the New York Times):

Boeuf Bourguignon
Adapted from “The Pleasures of Cooking for One,” by Judith Jones.

• 1 2-ounce chunk bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/4 pounds beef-stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/3 carrot, from the thick end, peeled and diced
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock
• Herb packet of 1/2 bay leaf; 1 large clove garlic, smashed; a handful of parsley stems; 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme; and 5 peppercorns, all tied in cheesecloth
• 3 or 4 baby onions or 4 (1-inch) pieces of leek
• 4 baby carrots, or the thin ends of larger ones
• 2 or 3 new potatoes
• French bread (optional)
  

1. Brown the bacon in a heavy 3 1/2-to-4-quart saucepan. When it has lightly browned, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a medium bowl, leaving the fat in the pan (ooh, fat, yum).

2. Pat the pieces of beef very dry with a paper towel, then season all over with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the pan, and when it’s hot, brown half the pieces of beef over medium-high heat on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the meat to the bowl of bacon. Brown the remaining beef and add to the same bowl.

3. Keep the pan over the heat and sauté the onion and carrot until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Return the meats to the pot, sprinkle with the flour, season with a pinch of salt and pour in the wine and stock. Tuck the herb packet into the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook at a bare simmer until tender, 2 hours or more.

4. Add the baby onions, baby carrots and potatoes, bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until tender when pierced with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve yourself 4 to 5 chunks of meat with all the vegetables and a good French bread to mop up the sauce. The dish benefits from sitting overnight in the refrigerator.

Serves 1 or 2.

[Baked] Potato Soup

Mrs. BA and I are big fans of the Baked Potato soup that we used to get at Houston's restaurant. (After a while, you could only get it at the Rockville location, where Tuesday is Baked Potato soup night). So what joy it was to find local Cheverly Chef Scott posting a great recipe for Potato Cheddar Soup. Enjoy!

Potato-Cheddar Soup

• 6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2lbs potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (about five medium potatoes)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 4 cloves of roasted garlic
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

1. Fry the bacon in a large pot until crispy and the fat has rendered out. Reserve bacon on a paper towel lined plate. Pour out all but one tablespoon of bacon fat.
2. Add the onions to the pot with the one tablespoon of bacon fat. Saute until tender and translucent. Add the fresh thyme, carrot and potatoes. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer, until the potatoes are fork tender. Prior to the next step, remove the stems of thyme.
3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a food processor or blender. Add the roasted garlic to the first batch of soup to be pureed. Process until smooth. If you would like some texture to the soup, other than silky smooth, don't process until fully smooth, leave some bits and pieces of potato.
4. Return the pureed soup to the pot and add the cheese and cream. Stir until the cheese is melted and the cream is incorporated. If you wish to thin the soup out, add some additional broth or cream. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve hot and garnish with the cooked bacon and if you have them, some fresh snipped chives.
   

NOTE: If you wish to make this soup vegetarian, skip the bacon. Just cook the onions in olive oil. And instead of chicken broth, use vegetable broth. For some additional flavor you could add about 1/2 a cup of beer. Also, if you don't have a food processor or blender, you can make this soup more rustic by mashing the tender potatoes and vegetables with a potato masher. You will have a hearty, textured soup that is a little less creamy and maybe a little more brothy.

God Save the Queen's Dinner

With Boxing Day just a few days ago, this is an appropriate time to throw out a good English recipe. Toward the end of October, Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema reviewed a new restaurant in the DC area, CommonWealth. You can get all the standard British pub fare there, but not Toad in the Hole, which was highlighted in a subsequent post to DCist later that week. That is one dish that I could get behind. From 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook.

Toad in the Hole

Ingredients

• 8 pork/beef or vegetarian sausages (get nice ones, you’ll thank yourself)
• 2 fresh eggs
• 125g plain (all-purpose) flour
• 150ml/5fl oz milk mixed with and 50ml water
• 1 tbsp mustard (I use Dijon)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons lard (LARD!), dripping or oil

To make the batter; whisk together eggs, flour, milk, water and mustard. Whisk it well so that it’s nice and smooth with no lumpy bits and it’s about the thickness of runny custard/cream of mushroom soup/double cream (pick a comparison you like). Season with salt and pepper. Set it aside to rest for at least half an hour. This is so that the flour absorbs the liquid properly and relaxes and the whole thing comes to room temperature.

Now get the oven nice and hot - 220C/450F/Gas mark 7. Put the sausages in the baking tray and stick them in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes without turning them over until the tops are brown. This means that you’ll have one brown side and one pale side.

Take the sausages out of the baking dish and set them aside. Put the lard into the baking tray and put it back in the oven. Wait 5 minutes or so until the fat is really, really hot and sizzling and then quickly remove from the oven and pour in the batter. It’ll sizzle pleasantly. Quickly pop the sausages in the batter, pale side up, and put it straight back into the hot oven.

Leave it for 25-30 minutes. Resist the temptation to open the oven door, the cold influx of air may make the batter collapse. After 25 minutes, it should be all puffed up and golden brown. Serve it immediately with some gravy and maybe some greens like peas or cabbage.

Wait - I Ate Here - How can that be?

America's hot new restaurant has been identified. I ate lunch here shortly after it opened. Now I want to go back. In honor of the restaurant's new honorific, here is a recipe I searched for on the Interwebs as its website does not feature any recipes. Harrumph. From Gothamist.

Mustard Dusted Skate with blood orange reduction, toasted sesame seeds
This is a relatively simple dish that you can get together in less than a half hour. Add a simple side salad, vegetable or maybe some rice or couscous and you’ll have a great meal without a lot of stress. Recipe serves two people.

Ingredient Shopping List

• 1.5 lb of skate fillet (on the bone is a good thing, see below)
• olive oil
• 2 blood oranges
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• Unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup of orange juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• bag of toasted sesame seeds

Notes on Buying Skate
You’ll most likely get a whole skate wing for two people. You can fillet it by slicing into two pieces very easily. This is also simple to do if you buy the skate with a bone. Your knife can easily cut right through it when making the fillets. It’s actually very easy and enjoyable to eat it off the bone as well.

Make Blood Orange Sauce
With a sharp pairing knife, slice the orange in quarters. Segment about half of the whole fruit and set aside for garnish. Peel the rest of the oranges and chop into small pieces.

Add chopped oranges, juices and a few of the remaining rinds to a small pan. Add ½ cup of orange juice to pan and bring to a boil. Add one tbsp of sugar, stir and reduce on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Reduce to half its original volume. The liquid should still be viscous and loose. Strain into a small bowl with a strainer. Set aside.

Make the Skate
Slice your skate into two fillets. Dry both pieces with paper towels thoroughly. Season one side of the fillets with salt, pepper and one tablespoon of the mustard powder per fillet. Spread and cover each evenly with the seasoning. Do the same for the other side of the fish.

Add about 1 tbsp of olive oil to a non stick pan. Place heat on high. Add a small pat of butter. After about a minute when the butter begins to foam, add the skate to the pan. Brown on one side for about 2 minutes, until charred and brown but not burned. Do the same for the other side.

Put oven on broil.

Add ¼ cup of orange juice to the hot pan and turn down the heat to medium. After two minutes, take the pan off the heat and place into the oven under the broiler. Let skate broil for 3-4 minutes. Turn the oven off and put a cover on the skate, letting it rest for another two minutes.

Finish the Dish
Rough chop the remaining blood orange segments, leaving a few whole. While you wait for the skate to finish cooking, place a few tablespoon of the warm sauce on the plate. Place blood orange pieces around the plate. Take the skate out of the oven and place on top of the sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the fillets. Salt and pepper the skate again. Add more of the sauce on the skate and serve immediately.

Ring Ding vs. Ding Dong. Discuss

This particular discussion made an appearance at the lunch table some time ago. Growing up, I was exposed more often than not to Drakes Cakes products, of which I believe the Ring Ding is the "flagship" of the line. Ring Dings used to come individually wrapped in in foil and there was an ongoing contest to see if you could get the foil off in one piece and then completely flatten it without ripping it. Ring Dings and their long caked cousin, the Yodel were mainstays in the lunch bags of my youth. I would still be eating them more often if I looked less like a Ring Ding. Luckily my son did not develop the sweet tooth his father has so he doesn't even look for them. He does have a salty tooth and will often come looking around if we are having potato chips and will ask in his little voice, "May I have another chip?" But I digress.

If you are looking for that gift for the Brave Astronaut that has everything, you can always go here and buy me a box of treats. There are few if any of the products found there that I wouldn't eat if put in front of me (except perhaps the Yankee Doodle, I'm not that fond of their chocolate cake, which would thereby extend to the Devil Dog).

The lunch table discussion revolved around the differences / similarities between Drakes products and Hostess products. Hostess is of course the company that provides the world with its Twinkie fix, which I may have also eaten my fair share of in my youth. Given their interminable shelf life, Twinkies and cockroaches may be the items that survive our decline. My parents have friends in Bermuda, where food prices are astronomical as everything has to be shipped in to the 26-mile long island. When they would visit, they would often pack a second suitcase of foodstuffs, including Twinkies for their children who had developed a taste for them in the states. I wonder what they would think of the now ubiquitous Fried Twinkie.

Hostess does offer a comparable alternative to the Ring Ding, known as the Ding Dong, in fact they counter with a similar alternative to the entire Drake's line (with the exception of the Drake's Funny Bone, which is a yodel filled with peanut butter). I will go on the record here that I prefer the Drake's line over Hostess, but I can't necessarily tell you why. I think it is just a factor of what one is used to and this is especially relevant in the area of "comfort foods." This is probably why I was sad to move to the DC are and not be able to find Wise products because of the glut of Utz products in the DC area.

The discussion above all leads to this blog post, which I read some time ago. It seems that a restaurant here in DC has begun offering the "Cking Ding" on their dessert menu. It occurs to me that Mrs. Brave Astronaut and I never did go out to dinner for our anniversary . . .

Update: Colorado Kitchen closed in June 2008.