Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations and Livingston, MT
Monday, August 24, 2009
Calories Combat Clouds, Ennui in Bozeman
It is no news flash that the weather was rainy and cool yesterday in Bozeman. In my opinion, there is nothing like prodigious amounts of butter, olive oil, and bacon to make one feel better on a cloudy day.
Nothing quite says "breakfast of champions" like a fresh (and warmed) croissant (from Sola Cafe) loaded up with two over-easy eggs, bacon, and a touch of havarti.
I continued the lipid-enhanced consumption through lunch. I spread a bit of my pesto on some leftover bread with a tomato slice (veggies!), Havarti, and crumbled bacon (leftover from the requisite "extra" made for breakfast).
For dinner we had pan-roasted chicken thighs served with (surprise!) pesto and orecchiette pasta along with a pureed soup of leftover roasted veggies. The soup was the star: earthy, good, and fully flavored thanks to the roasted peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and shallots. An olive oil toasted crouton with chevre crumbles topped the soup off nicely.
Jen's dessert of broiled figs, honey, mint and marscapone was tasty, fresh, and rich all at the same time.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Pesto & Havarti Stuffed Burgers w/ Crispy Speck
I stuffed the pesto inside a patty of ground beef with a slice of Havarti and topped it with crispy speck - and hey, a slice of tomato!
For the record, I also made a grilled ratatouille-of-sorts with charred and skinned peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and shallots as a side dish. While tasty, my execution could have been better. The veggies were flavorful but a touch over-cooked, in my opinion. A sprinkling of goat cheese and pine nuts did their part to enhance and put the finishing touch on the dish.
Back to the burger... These babies had some height to them. With a spoonful of pesto and the sliced havarti packed away like little bundles of joy, these burgers were just waiting for the heat of the grill to bring together a trinity of pesto/cheese/cow.
It's kind of fun, in a twisted kind of way, to push your friends just a bit with food. Teri wondered aloud how she would get her mouth around the towering concoction. Who doesn't love a challenge?
The whole burger package was kept moist with good quality 80/20 meat and the olive-oil based pesto. I'll take a little credit, however, for cooking these to pretty damn-near perfect (for this application) medium done-ness.
Emily shared a bottle of the Fess Parker's Frontier Red, Lot 82. This Rhone and Bordeaux mutt was clearly driven by the syrah, and it tasted good with the burgers. With 15.5% alcohol, however, one would be wise to let this one sit just a bit and blow off some of the blue flames that tend to linger in the glass.
Teri served a shot of Limincello along with her tasty dessert of shortbread cookies and Limencello-laced strawberry compote atop cream cheese. We decided a good description for the Limoncello could also double as a potential band name: Alcoholic Lemonheads.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Kagy & S. 3rd Goodness: Sola Cafe & Moberry
Today at Sola my double-espresso was pulled with care; the first two attempts by the barista were discarded (too fast?). The third shot takes its time and comes out with a nice head of crema. My espresso looked pretty in the white porcelain cup. Before we left the cafe, I picked up a bag of Crema Roasting's Espresso. I can't wait to get it into the grinder. I've been working my way through a bag of CR Dawn and I am eager to geek-out on the differences between these two varieties.
Next door to Sola, a new fro-yo joint has just opened its doors. Moberry, with its clean Ikea-esque interior, is anchored inside by a counter of colorful and fresh goodies to enhance your fro-yo experience. Fresh-n-tangy tasting frozen yogurt is offered in plain or green tea. Big, pretty pieces of fresh fruit and berries, nuts, even sugary breakfast cereals are available as toppings. I favor the plain yogurt, as it seems a bit tangy-er than the green tea variety. Today it was two orders of the plain. Jen loaded her's up with some big fat blackberries. The Cap-n-Crunch and green tea will have to wait for another day...
To add to the geographic excitement, a building permit on one of the empty suites next door indicates that "Lemongrass Thai" intends to open here.
A Thai restaurant in Bozeman? Maybe I don't have to move just yet...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Bad Free Pour Latte Attracts Scorn from Senator
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Delicious Monday Night Chow? Oh yes.
For a tasty first course, beets were roasted, chopped and combined with toasted pine nuts, olive oil, local goat cheese, and placed on top a crispy baguette slice.
Fresh peas were blanched, pureed, and combined with some half and half. A couple of local tomatoes, some garlic and some olive-oil-enhanced baguette croutons formed a quick panzanella salad.
Seven bucks worth of beef tenderloin (3/4 pound) was grilled, rested, and sliced. The beefy goodness rounded out the plate of veggie goodness. To finish it off, a red wine/balsamic reduction was drizzled on the plate.
On a Monday night this tasted like a million bucks.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Frost in Bozeman this Morning
Although my outdoor thermometer was reading closer to 34 degrees, frost was clearly visible on my deck.
Where are my gloves, my ear-band? Didn't I just put these things away just a few weeks ago?
I don't mind the cool air as I pedal my bike downtown this morning - especially after I hear that the temps are well into the 100s in Texas.
Friday, August 14, 2009
It's a Man-Eat-Dog World: Paulie's Hot Dogs
I had the distinct pleasure of introducing two Paulie's virgins to the hot dog experience today. My friends Mark and Teri signed on to the adventure with enthusiasm; Teri having gone so far to proclaim, "I want me some hot dog!" earlier in the week. Okay then.
Today, I decided to show off a bit in front of my friends and I ordered one of the larger, more indulgent and fully loaded varieties, the "Route 66". When this dog hits the table, your friends will be jealous. It is big. It is colorful. Most of the food groups are represented: chili, white cheddar, neon relish, onions, tomatoes, celery salt, and a pickle spear. Oh yea, I went for the "jumbo" instead of the lame-sounding "regular". I don't know about any of my readers, but I have had plenty of "regular" in my life, thank you.
Chomping through the layers of goodness while seeking the hot dog within, I played a tasty game of culinary "Where's Waldo". MMmmmm....find the doggy.....mmmmggglllll....
Mark and Teri order the more conservative "New York" (sauerkraut and brown mustard) and "Starter" (neon relish, onions, yellow mustard) dogs respectively.
Grunts of approval emanate from our booth. I was enjoying my indulgent dog so much that Teri and Mark snatched up my camera in an effort to capture the sick and hedonistic display of tube-meat bliss that was washing over my face.
In a moment of lipid-fueled creativity, Teri draws Snoopy on the chalkboard wall of the restaurant with the words, "Dogs are good". Yes, they are. Dogs ARE good.
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
Revenge of the Bike Nerds
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dinner Tonight: Flat Iron Steak with Chanterelles, Roasted Carrots and Potatoes
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Pasta with Chanterelles, Bacon & Pesto
For the record, this was delicious. Homemade pesto with bacon dressed up plain spaghetti. Topped with the orange-hued chanterelles that had been sauteed in butter and olive oil, this simple pasta dish boasted favor that belied the limited number of ingredients. Thanks to the foragers at All Things Italian for picking - and selling these gems of the fungal world.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Bruschetta, Nina Franco Prosecco and Raspberries
Leftover Steak Hash + Poached Eggs = Deliciousness
Julia Child, L-Town, and 2nd Street Bistro
We had been warned: don't go to this film hungry. Good advice, as the food-porn-shots of sizzling-butter-in-copper-cookware along with Meryl Streep's/Julia Child's yummy sounds will taunt you throughout the 123-minute run time.
Entertained, and now voraciously hungry, we escaped Sweet-Pea clogged Bozeman for our reserved table at the 2nd Street Bistro in the ever-charming Livingston.
A bottle of 2005 Savigny-Les-Beaune gets things started along with appetizers of moules frites and seared scallops. Jen's moules were bathed in a gloriously heady broth of garlic, parsley, and Pernod. The broth was so delicious that she asked for a spoon to dispatch the remnants once the moules were gone. Nicely seasoned and crispy fries did their job as broth delivery vehicles.
My scallops sported a particularly nice sear along with near perfect done-ness. They rested along-side a risotto of saffron and basil studded with crawfish tails. A drizzle of spicy oil rounded out the dish.
Entrees included a seafood stew of shrimp, calamari, salmon, muscles, and a classic steak frites.
Yet another enticing broth, this time with tomatoes, saffron, and fennel, was the backbone of the fish stew. It was an evening of aromas!
The steak frites utilized a flatiron cut and was sauced with a red-wine bernaise. This particular sauce is what American brown gravy aspires to be. Medium rare and well seasoned, the steak was as delicious as I wanted it to be. The fries once again mopped up wayward puddles of bernaise.
For dessert, it was a dark chocolate cherry tart and a bing-cherry cake. Chocolate-cherry-fudgey goodness was packed into a buttery shortbread crust. The delicious white cake took on a bit of a purple haze with the cherry-bits laced throughout. A delicious non-sequitur on each dessert plate was a stegosaurus-shaped crispy cookie that spoke in clear tones of butter and lavender. Yum.
I really enjoy 2nd Street and its classic bistro-ness along with a very thoughtful wine list. Loads of gems can be found on the wine list from some of my favorite regions: Burgundy and the Rhone. Just to show they care (or brag), the restaurant even sports an empty 1970 Margaux bottle as a vase in the men's bathroom.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Cherry Slab Pie IS your daddy
Thanks to smitten kitchen for the recipe. Thanks to Jen for baking it.
Monday, August 3, 2009
McLeod, MT: Road Kill Cafe
The beer glass, frosty; the elk, rare; the bar's dogs and kitten outnumber the staff of two. Both basking in their newlywed bliss, the proprietors show off their wedding photos as my ungulate of choice cooks away on the flames outside.
I catch up on ancient episodes of Law and (DUNK DUNK) Order on a tiny TV above the bar while I take on calories and enjoy the dim and swamp-cooled confines of the Road Kill.