Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Veal Marsala

Froth Goes To Nicky's Thai Kitchen

So yesterday was Mrs. Froth's birthday, so we bundled up the kids and headed to Nicky's Thai Kitchen for a birthday meal!  Mrs. Froth and I had been here once before for lunch, and we liked it, but we weren't sure how the kids would react.  The Frothling is an adventurous eater, so we knew she's be fine, but Frothette is a very picky eater, and the Frothite is not quite 3 years old, so we weren't sure about her either.

Frothette played it safe with the chicken noodle soup, but she was amazed at the size of the tureen it came in.  Luckily, Frothite helped out!  Frothite chowed down on pork dumplings, so much so that we ordered another six which she eagerly devoured.  The Frothling ordered mixed seafood with snow peas, and Mrs. Froth enjoyed a plate of Param Chicken.  AS for me, I had the Shitake Duck.  When our pleasant waitress asked me how hot I wanted it, I told her "Thai hot."  It was searingly spicily delicious, but a cup of hot sake and some Thai beer tamed the flame.  I also had the squid appetizer, which was very tasty.

We spent $200 including the tip, but it was a wonderful feast, and there were plenty of leftovers.  I took my leftover duck and mushrooms and made a nice udon soup for lunch today. 

Pot Pie!

The Frothling and Frothette helped make a chicken pot pie for dinner tonight.  The Frothling cut up the vegetables, and Frothette helped stir.  The girls also helped with spooning the filling into the pie pan and putting the top crust on.  Everyone agreed it was delicious!

In Which I Attempt To Recreate an Ancient Roman Condiment

I've read a lot about garum, and how it differs from modern fish sauces.  I'm trying to recreate it.  Since I live in Pittsburgh, not known for extended periods of warm, dry, sunny weather, I decided to use a crock pot to simulate the southern Italian, north African climate.  Four pounds of whole sardines, a pound of canning/Kosher salt, and a few tablespoons of oregano and basil go into the pot! Now to let this cook down on a low setting for a few days.

Meatless Monday

I made a pasta, white bean, spinach and mushroom one-pot meal for Meatless Monday.  The spinach came from the garden, and there were hardly any leftovers.  Success!

Froth Goes To TJ Buffet Sushi and Grill

This place is foul. 

Before I get to the incredible nastiness of this place, some background: This place sits where the old Tokyo Sushi Buffet used to be, next to Best Buy on McKnight Road, and the Tokyo was great for sushi.  There was a massive u-shaped buffet, with sushi around 2/3rds of it, the sushi chefs in the middle cranking out many different varieties of sushi and sashimi.  There was a grill, and a pretty extensive buffet of your standard Asian buffet staples, but most everyone went there for the sushi.  Unfortunately, the Tokyo had recurring problems with its steam tables, and was cited several times by the Health Department for holding food at unsafe temperatures.  The problem would be corrected, but then several months later, the same thing, until the place abruptly closed over a year ago.  TJ's recently opened in its place.

When walking into TJ's, I was struck by an overpowering stench of fish.  Now I like fish, but this was not a "good" fish smell.  The sushi selection is miniscule, nothing like the old Tokyo buffet, and was dominated by imitation crab and cream cheese.  The spring rolls stank of old cabbage.  The squid was actually pretty good, not rubbery, but was coated with a raw-flour tasting batter.  The shell on shrimp was breaded before being fried, who the heck breads shell-on shrimp?  You just wind up peeling the breading off with the shell!  Ribs were fatty and tough.  Crawfish were mushy.  There were oysters and mussels on the raw bar, but given the off-putting fishy smell, I wasn't about to try them.  If you wanted beef, there was one choice, roast, and you have to carve it yourself.  There were two things I had here that were good.  The seaweed salad was fantastic, and the baby clams pretty good.  The rest of the buffet is your bog-standard Asian buffet stuff, poorly prepared and in tasteless sauces.  Oddly, the entire staff was Asian, except for the cook at the grille, who was Hispanic.  Now there's nothing wrong with a Hispanic chef/cook, even in an Asian restaurant, I just found it odd.  Verdict:  Not worth the trip.    

Three hours later, colon blow.  Avoid this place!

Froth Eats Ribs

 So I stopped by The Pitt Stop, a BBQ joint that opened awhile ago up in Bellevue that I've been meaning to try for awhile, and I really want to like it, but I just can't. I got a half-rack with the Korean sauce, and mac and cheese along with mashed red potatos for the sides. The best part of the meal were the potatos, quite tasty. The mac and cheese had very little cheese flavor, and a raw flour taste. The ribs were the biggest disappointment, the sauce had little flavor, and the ribs were badly overdone and as dry as the Griswald's Christmas turkey. 

Maybe I got them on a bad day, so perhaps I'll try them again, perhaps with a more traditional sauce.

No Meat? No Problem!

We've been doing the Meatless Monday thing for a few years now, and today, with it being cold and drizzly, I thought a nice lentil soup would hit the spot!

Super easy, all I did was saute a diced onion with some sliced carrots and celery until the onion was translucent, poured in 8 cups of vegetable stock, then followed with two cups of dry brown lentils, a drained and rinsed can of great northern beans, some tyme, salt and pepper, along with some reconstituted dried porcini mushrooms along with their strained soaking liquid, added a bay leaf, and simmered for 40 minutes until the lentils were cooked through.  Added a splash of lemon juice at the end, and we enjoyed it with bread and cheese!

Meatless Monday

Eggplant and chickpea stew!  Very tasty and very easy!

Cut one large or several small eggplants into cubes, toss with salt and let drain over sink for 30 minutes.  Rinse with cold water and dry on paper towels.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a deep pan.  Add one large sliced onion, and three cloves chopped garlic, heat until softened and translucent.

Add one teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon coriander, and one teaspoon cinnamon to pan, stir to combine.

Add eggplant.  Cook for five minutes.

Add one can diced tomatoes, and two cans drained chickpeas.  Stir until combined, add salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for twenty minutes.

Serve over cooked rice, couscous, or pasta.

Pot Roast

Along with homemade biscuits, roasted root vegetables, and green beans from the CSA.