Smooth operator

A recipe for you, courtesy of Quinn Lilly, for a fast breakfast treat for the whole family.  Here’s the “list*” of ingredients:

Lacking punctuation – it’s ice, milk not ice milk

Place together in blender and push the button.  Simple!

The chocolate mustache tells the tale.

Seeing as how we’re (finally) done with foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs, I imagine we’ll be modifying this recipe.  What will remain consistent is the absolute joy this boy gives to me.

*Some may call it a recipe, but Q prefers list.

Getting ramped up

Although I generally avoid trends, thinking them to be too cliched for my attention, I have to confess to being susceptible to trends when it comes to food – specifically vegetables.  Over the years, I’ve bought in to fiddlehead ferns and garlic scapes and jicama with varying degrees of commitment.  This year, I jumped onto the ramps wagon, although I didn’t make it to Hudson’s Ramp Fest last week,  and I’m suggesting that you do the same while you can.  The season will be over really soon and you’ll be left wondering and waiting until 2014 for your own taste of these lovely spring onions.  You can try your hand at foraging, but I was able to “source” the ones below the other night at Capital City Gastropub.  Get ‘em while you can!

Ramps with olive oil and a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt

Feasting my way around Freiburg

My flammkuchen

A big part of traveling, for me at least,  is the food.  I’ve seen some stuff written recently about Michelin starred restaurants in Germany, but that wasn’t what this trip was about.  No, this time with family was more focused on home-style cooking a la Deutschland.

Wandering around Freiburg’s Munsterplatz earned us a delicious sausage sandwich from Meister’s food truck.  Topped with beautifully browned onions and a dab of mustard, it was the perfect snack to tide us over until dinner.  Next time I’m in Germany I hope to schedule an entire day in Freiburg eating, beginning with strong coffee and pretzel rolls smeared with unsalted butter.  I hope to make lunch a leisurely enough event that it will effortlessly flow into the evening’s repast.  I think the best way to accomplish this lofty goal would be to begin at the Munsterplatz’s food trucks with some version of wurst, washed down, naturally, with a fine hefeweizen or two.

For dinner, I plan to wander down to the Markthalle (food court) and sample as many different offerings as humanly possible.  ”Food court” is a bit of a misnomer because this place is nothing like what you might find at Crossgates.

If the broom is out, they’re open!

It’s more like a German version of the restaurants at Eataly except the individual kiosks are each independent and devoted to an eclectic array of international cuisines.  There are tables and central gathering spots where one can enjoy a bite to eat and/or a drink and there is a bustling sense of activity akin to that of a bee hive. That’s where I want to be.

Unless, of course, I’ve got wheels and get a little outside of the city and find a Straussen or Broom restaurant.  We hit one of these last month in the Markgrafler wine region and thoroughly enjoyed the meal, the local wine and the cozy makeshift dining room in the winery’s tasting room.  I had the Flammkuchen and it was delicious – and perfect with the local wine!  Flammkuchen, or fire cake, is sort of like a pizza, but instead of tomato sauce, the top is spread with some sort of creamy yumminess.  I had mine with diced veggies and it was a satisfying yet not too heavy dinner.

All this food talk and I still haven’t shared any images of our traditional Black Forest breakfasts…until I get to it, imagine plates holding meats and cheeses accompanied by a basket of freshly baked breads and rolls.  Yes, save that thought and trust me, morning was definitely not anything to dread.

Superpowers!

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?  Nope.  More powerful than a locomotive?  Sometimes.  Proficient at getting a healthy, fast dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time?  Now you’re talking!  How about you?  What’s your superpower?

Taco Tuesday

Here’s my latest Moms@Work post.

Brunch and a bull ride

A couple of Sundays ago, I made it to the City Beer Hall for brunch.  I had no expectations going in other than to use my Living Social voucher and catch up with some friends.  I certainly did not expect the place to be so jammed with other wannabee brunch eaters and I most definitely did not expect to have a meal that was so completely satisfying.  Let me tell you everything…

Our group arrived piecemeal.  I was the first in and I got our name on the list for a table for 5 + a child.  The wait was approximately 25 minutes, a length of time which did not feel overly long.  Drinks were enjoyed by the bar and appetites were whetted by the passing plates of food.  When we sat down at one of the picnic style tables we were ready to sample a variety of the menu’s offerings. Here’s what we ended up with:

Gastro Salad – it may look a bit chaotic but it was really overwhelmingly delicious!

Challah bread French toast – yum!

Spinach & tomato omelete with home fries

Truffled mac n cheese

I failed to get photos of the Sliced Cajun Seasoned Hangar Steak  sandwich on grilled sourdough with stellar hand-cut fries and the adorably dubbed “Spit in the Eye,” but I assure you, they were pleasing to the eye and the belly.  Good stuff all around!  The only ever so slight misstep was the mac and cheese.  When it was initially delivered to our party the temperature was a bit lacking.  We brought the problem to a server’s attention (that’s what you do when there’s an issue with your food – you let them fix it) and it was returned to us a few minutes later piping hot and delicious.

At the risk of damning myself to an even longer wait next time I’m feeling brunch-ish, I’ll tell you this: from service to atmosphere to food and value, this place knocked it out of the park.  I’ll be back there in a couple of weeks (2/16) to photograph the Albany Boys and Girls’ Club Ride to Raise: Mechanical Bull Riding Competition.  Maybe I need to get there a little early to try the pulled pork sandwich.  Or the kale salad…

Creamy fettucine with leeks and bacon

My middle son and I have continued our monthly new recipe explorations, despite my not being more consistent about sharing our exploits with you all.  Last month we stepped away from Bon Appetit because everything was so damn holiday-centric and attempted Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragu, a recipe we found in Cucina Italiana.  Of course, in my typical half-assed fashion, there were some modifications…apparently pappardelle is not available in Price Chopper, so I substituted fettucine.  There was also a snafu with the wild boar, or cianghiale, as I like to call it, and we had to go with ground pork in its place – whatever.  I’m cooking for teenagers and a grade-schooler.  Picky and well-traveled they may be, incredibly discerning?  Not so much.  I didn’t take any photos of that meal, although it was tasty, because it wasn’t very visually appealing, in my opinion.  I would make it again, but would be tempted to add some color with maybe a bit of tomato or carrot or something.

Last night’s dinner was this keeper from Bon Appetit.  Again, I’d be inclined to add more vegetables, although the leeks were splendid.  Maybe asparagus or sweet baby peas?  Generally, though, this was an easy recipe, rich and creamy with the lovely sweetness of essentially carmelized leeks.  And bacon – don’t forget the bacon!  Skip the calorie count and console yourself with the knowledge that it’s damn cold out and winter is the time for a bit of pasta indulgence.  Winner!

Butter, olive oil and bacon…a close second holy trinity.

Leeks releasing flavor and fragrance.

The finished item – yum!