Dungeon for Rent

The huge number of industrial buildings offered for lease got me thinking the other day. My small Floridian town is suffering from unemployment and idiotic government as much as any place, but there's enough money around for this idea: A Dungeon for Rent.

BDSM (bondage and discipline, submission and sadomasochism) verges on being mainstream thesedays. I presume it's the natural progression from the pornocization of society, but whatever I might think about that isn't going to stop me from making some jink from people's kink.

Big industrial buildings lend themselves to creatively designed dungeons. Mine would be decorated in black, mostly, of course, with blood-red highlights. Lighting would be cheap, as candles are the dungeonmaster's illumination of choice. There would be rooms with various kinds of whipping posts, crosses mostly, with simple shackles and chains for the primitive players. Special rooms with suspension devices are likely to be popular too. You can bring your own gags, crops and whips, or, for a fee, I'll provide you with rental punishment and restraint equipment.

As with the Japanese Love Hotels (some of which I understand now come with dungeons for rent) discretion would be the name of the game. Players in couples or groups would be kept apart by time or wall. And separate entrances and exits would keep them that way.

At Wombat's Dungeon World, no-one need know you like your love hog-tied and gagged in a dark, dripping den of depravity.





Delicious photo from here. The English are big into Dungeon Life, apparently. [link]

Keeping it Easy with Chicken Two Ways

Just because you want an easy-to-make meal doesn't mean you have to spend a lot or give up nutrition and flavor.

If you read the labels of prepared, canned, or frozen meals, you'll notice how much salt is added, not to mention additives with unpronounceable names. Learn a few seasoning tricks and one or two simple cooking techniques and you'll have a home cooked meal on the table in 30 minutes or less.

Adding a few herbs and spices makes an every day meal a treat. You can buy chicken parts or, to cut costs, cut up a whole chicken yourself. It's easy to do. Trimming off excess fat and skin ups the health-quotient.

Both dishes can be made ahead and reheated.

Garlic-Parsley Chicken Breasts

With one pan and practically no effort, you'll have a healthy meal on the table in 30 minutes. Serve the chicken sliced on top of buttered pasta, steamed rice, or roasted vegetables.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves, boned, skinned, washed, and dried
1/2 cup Italian parsley, washed, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon sweet butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in the saute pan. Dredge the chicken breasts in olive oil seasoned with sea salt and black pepper

Put the breasts in the heated pan, top with parsley and garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 30 minutes.

Slice the breasts and plate. Use a rubber spatula to remove the drippings, garlic, and parsley and spoon onto the slices before serving.

Mushroom-Vegetable Chicken Ragout

Braising takes a little more cooking time, but very little effort and it adds a lot of flavor. In only a few minutes the meat and vegetables lightly brown, bringing out their natural sweetness. Now all you have to do is add water or stock, simmer until tender, and you'll be serving your family the most delicious comfort food ever.

While the braise simmers, put on the timer. You're free to do whatever else you want. Play with the kids, watch a little TV, read a book, or coodle with your sweetie. When the timer goes off, call everyone to the dinner table, sit down and have a feast.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 chicken legs, skin removed, deboned, roughly chopped
2 chicken thighs, skin removed, deboned, roughly chopped
2 chicken wings, tips removed, cut apart at the joint
4 garlic cloves, skins removed, finely chopped
4 shallots or 1 medium yellow onion, peeled, roughly chopped
2 carrots, washed, peeled, cut into thick rounds
1 bunch parsley, washed, stems removed, finely chopped
1 large Yukon Gold potato, washed, cut into chunks
4 shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, thinly sliced

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan, season with sea salt and pepper, saute the chicken until lightly browned. Remove from the pan, drain on paper towels, set aside.

Saute the garlic, shallots, mushrooms, carrots, parsley, and potatoes until lightly browned. Return the chicken to the pan. Add 3 cups of water. Simmer for 45 minutes until the meat is tender. There should be 1 cup of broth. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Continue simmering another 10 minutes.

Serve with steamed spinach or broccoli.

Variations

Instead of using potatoes, serve over rice

Add spinach leaves

Add cut up celery

Home Made Matzo Ball Soup for Passover

Making Passover dinner takes a bit of planning, but it doesn't have to be a chore. If you're cooking for a big group, hand out assignments so you don't do all the work. If your kitchen is large enough, invite people over to help. Cooking the dinner with friends and family can be as much a part of a celebration as the meal itself.

Everyone wants to save money these days. But keeping an eye on food costs shouldn't mean cutting corners on quality and flavor. Avoid buying packaged or frozen meals and you'll be way ahead of the game. Besides saving money, you'll be eating healthier food.

For me it's not Passover without matzo ball soup. But soup is only as good as the stock. Canned and packaged chicken broth are very high in salt content and, in my opinion, have an unpleasant flavor. It's much better to make your own.

The broth can be made days ahead, kept in the refrigerator or even frozen. Also, when you buy the chicken, buy a whole one, preferably a free range or organic chicken, and cut it up yourself. Whole chickens cost under $2.00/pound, while chicken parts range from $3.50-$8.00/pound.

Cutting up a Chicken

If you haven't done it before, cutting apart a whole chicken is easier than you think. Having a sharp boning or chef's knife is essential.

To remove the wings, thighs, and legs, slice through the meat and separate at the joints. Cut the wings apart, reserving the tips for the stock. To debone the breasts, glide the knife along the side of the breast bone. As you cut, pull back the breast meat, continuing to slide the knife against the ribs.

For health reasons, I remove the skin and fat from the breasts, legs and thighs. Add the skin and fat to the stock. If you're going to debone the legs and thighs, add those bones to the stock as well.

Drizzle olive oil on the breasts, legs, thighs, and wings. Put them into an air tight container and refrigerate. If you want to freeze them, put the pieces into a Ziploc style plastic bag, squeeze out the air, seal, and freeze.

Here's another tip about freezing the chicken. When you put the pieces into the plastic bag, make sure they don't touch one another. That way, if you need only one piece, say a breast, you can leave the other pieces frozen until you need them.

Chicken Stock

When my mother and grandmother made chicken stock, they added onions, celery, and carrots to the water. I don't because I want the stock to taste of chicken. If I want other flavors, I add them later.

Yield: 2 quarts

Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

Skin, wing tips, carcass, and bones from one 4 1/2 pound chicken
4 quarts water

Method

Put the wing tips, skin, carcass, and bones into a large pot with the water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 60 minutes. Skim off and discard the foam. The volume will reduce by half.

Strain the stock. Pick off any meat from the carcass and reserve for later use in a salad or a chicken-vegetable soup. Discard the bones and skin.

Refrigerate overnight to easily remove the fat solids. If you're rushed for time and need the stock right away, float a slice of bread on top of the stock to absorb the fat.

The stock can be kept in the refrigerator in an air tight container for a day or two or in the freezer for months.

Matzo Ball Soup

Yield: 6-8 servings

Time: 30 minutes

For the matzo balls, we use a mix, but if you want to make them from scratch, Mark Bittman has a very good recipe.

Ingredients

1 box matzo ball mix (no soup), Manischewitz, Rokeach, or Streit's
Other ingredients per the directions on the packaged mix
2 quarts chicken stock

Method

Prepare the matzo balls per the directions on the box. Make them large or small as you like. Remember that the size of the matzo ball will double as it cooks in the salted water. 1 box of mix will make 24 small matzo balls or 12 large ones.

Put the chicken stock into a large pot. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the matzo balls from the salted water to the stock. Heat over a medium flame. Because the matzo balls are delicate, don't let the stock boil.

Serve hot.

In my next post I'll talk about what to do with all those wonderful chicken parts.

An intro to Newton Running

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Multisport Expo held over at MIT and attended a seminar on running form and biomechanics.   The talk was led by the co-founder of Newton Running Danny Abshire, Ian Adamson and Dr. Mark (I think this was his name?  I wasn't taking notes...  oops).   I haven't done reading on barefoot/chi/pose running styles, but apparently the idea of Newton running is similar.  That is, to run with a more natural footstrike.

What is a natural footstrike?   To get this idea, they suggesting taking off your shoes and trying to run.   Should you go and try this, you would notice that your footstrike is on your mid or forefoot.  Modern shoes have a heel lift (which are not actually beneficial for running) and are highly cushioned.  This promotes heel striking and by providing so much cushion, prevents feet from feeling the ground and weakens the foot/leg.   Hm, interesting...  go on.

Newton Running shoes have been designed to encourage a more natural running and allow you to land on your mid/forefoot safely.  While they mimic barefoot styles of running, they provide the right type of cushioning to enhance shock absorption and promote proper running form.

Now, if I had never had issues running, I wouldn't have even been at the seminar, let alone be intrigued by what they had to say.    But I've always had issues with running and alignment, various muscle tightness and aches that can't be explained.   For the past two years I haven't been able to manage more than 10-15miles in a week (which isn't necessarily a goal, but an observation).   I knew that something was still not quite right.

There's more science behind the shoe that you should take a look at if you're interested, especially their Action/Release Technology (based on Newton's 3rd law of motion) that's supposed to absorb and return energy back to you.    There's also a ton of information in this post (including the comments), and I'm sure much more elsewhere.

I would be remiss to not mention more about proper running form.   Newton has a lot of great videos on the topic, I'd recommend starting out there.   The idea is to land with your weight centered over your body mass (under the hips).   Instead of long strides and muscling through your stride, better form comes from short strides and quick leg turnover (or cadence).  Illustrated much better in the videos, you want a slight forward bend and to think lifting your foot off the ground at your hips instead of pushing off.    Does that make sense?

Why am I telling you all of this?   Well, I ended up getting fitted for a pair of Newton running shoes and I have 30 days to try them out.   Will they work?   I have no idea!   I was impressed right away at how they corrected my alignment, to show you this I learned how to use the timer on my camera!  In the image below, my feet are hip-width apart and I'm bending my knees, sort of going to a squat.  Barefoot you can see my knees go in, and my heels roll inward, causing my arches to collapse (ouch).  You can see how that is corrected in the Newtons (w/o orthotics), and I've included the shoes I'm currently running in (w/current orthotics)

(l to r):  barefoot, Newtons, Asics Nimbus w/eSoles

I'm going to follow their advice, starting out slow, running every other day and focusing on form.   We'll see how it goes, and I'll be back with weekly recaps to see if these shoes can work for me, or if they won't.   I have already talked to someone a Newton about my orthotics, and I'll have to try it out to determine whether or not I should still use them.   Remember, I'm not a doctor (well, that kind of doctor ;)), and am not telling you to go run barefoot!   I have not read all the research, and these ideas I'm sharing are not my own, I am simply sharing my experiences as I try out something new.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions, I can try to answer or at least point you in the right direction!   Have you tried barefoot/chi/pose running??

**Just so you know, I purchased these with my own $$ and will follow with weekly reviews based solely on my experiences! **

Dinner on the Table

A man of my acquaintance turned near bankruptcy into near billions. He works all the time. He calls his wife all the time, tells her he loves her all the time. There's not a second of the day she doesn't know where he is and what he's doing.

She receives Aston Martins on Valentine's Day. She takes summers in Bermuda. She writes cheques (big cheques) to any dopey political or social cause she wants.

But what she never does is have a hot meal waiting for her husband when he gets home after an eighteen hour day.

He orders in pizza. Or he stops for KFC. Or he just goes without.

The man licks her arse and grills her cheese, but she can't so much as fry him an egg. But I'm the only one unhappy about it.




Fried eggs and bacon from here [link]

Dental Nurse Daydream

Having spent all last week obsessing over a cracked tooth, I was reminded again of the peculiar relationship the (generally) women assistants/nurses/hygienists have with (oftentimes) male dentists. Lust can blossom over a gaping jaw and a whining drill, apparently.

The time I became aware of something more than professional courtesy between two these trained specialists was in my childhood. Dr Begley was the family dentist, a mild-mannered man with a moustache and an acerbic wit. Now I see that the jokes weren't for my benefit - they were for Louise, his beautiful blonde assistant.

I loved Louise, but I think Dr Begley was getting all the action. Plus I was only ten. She actually fit the mould of the chaste-but-slutty nurse, with the white dress, white hose and full bob. Maybe she modelled for bedroom attire catalogues in her spare time. In any case, she was all that and a bag of chips, and I think it wasn't coincidental that there was always a gap between the Doctor's appointments. Never did I ever see a patient waiting after me, nor someone limping out, sore and pale before me.

It's a guess, of course, but one can pick up much from subtle looks between man and woman when their faces are six inches away.

A dualistic nature pertains to these dental-office relationships. Not only does the competence of the assistant/nurse/hygienist need to be there, but they are also completely subservient to the god-dentist. My question is whether this extends to their romantic lives as well, or whether the demure woman turns domme when the last patient leaves for the day.






Nurse romance cover from here [link]

Updates

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Temperatures dropped here again so I stayed inside and got some work done on my blog...  what do you think??   Props to blogger for their updates, I was able to easily add some more columns to my layout and pages quite easily.

I finally got around to archiving my recipes (check the Cook tab up top).  Holy heck, have i done alot of cooking since I started this blog!!  Crazy.  And my fingers hurt from all this clicking and copying and pasting :/   I included not only my own, but links to original recipes that I've tried and talked about, so go check it out!  Hopefully this will be helpful for everyone? 

I also setup a page for triathlon-themed posts, so check out there for tips if you're interested in getting started!  Hopefully I'll pick out races for this year soon and post them there as well.  Any feedback on what you do/don't like with the new layout, or suggestions for how to improve the blog is more than welcome!

One note on some of my old posts...  I didn't realize that photos were stored in Picassa, and when you delete them from Picassa, they're gone.  Oops.  I have also deleted my trash since then, so I think they're gone for good.  It's (somewhat) ok since they were bad pictures, but I need to fix the posts.

One last thing before I get back to watching my alma mater kick some hockey booty...    it's pretty exciting, too ;)   I'm going to Italy this summer!!!   Who's got advice on where to go or travel tips??  I've got no plans as of yet besides a friend's wedding, so please hit me up with your favorite spots!

Thanks in advance, and enjoy the rest of the weekend :)  When my fingers rest up, I'll be typing up my first post on Newton Running.

All Single NYC Girls...

...and everyone else must read Snaf's post today. It's brilliant. [Here.]

She reviews Julie Klausner's book, thereby kicking off the Blogger Critics Network in fine style. Just as you'd expect of a sassy NYC dater.

The idea is for we bloggers to review books of interest to us: In our case, it's books about dating, sex and relationships.

My original review is here. (I Don't Care About Your Band by Julie Klausner)[link]




Photo of typical NYC single girl from here. [link]

Brussels and Breakfast

I'm (supposed to be) working on a presentation for work so I haven't spent much time in the kitchen (except to roast the butternut squash I ate for dinner... ), but I can point you to two good recipes! I mentioned that I had the best brussels sprouts EVER at the Foodbuzz Festival. Well, Chef Dennis Lee was gracious enough to share the recipe!! You can find it here, or check out an awesome step-by-step version at We Are Not Martha. I didn't find all of the appropriate ingredients, but I came close ;) Still a winner, and worth checking out your local markets!

Brussels Sprouts to die for ;)

The second was a breakfast cake I made while my parents were in town, flavored by the last of my Coconut Chai tea. Smelled great in the oven, and I think they enjoyed it as part of their breakfast! (edited to add: Mom and Dad added their thoughts in the comments below!) You can find the recipe here.

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake

I'm going to mix it up a bit in the upcoming weeks, to talk a little bit about these. Stay tuned!

Siege

A marriage or LTR might be done, over, cooked and stinking up the joint, but no-one is allowed to say so until one or other of the participants says it first.

This public defense of the widely held private opinion is the same mentality that those under siege take. Stalingrad in World War II springs to mind, or Boston in 1775/6.

Gradually the food runs short, so less and less to eat becomes acceptable. (Marriage equivalent: progressively less communication.)

Gradually the fuel runs short, so colder days and nights are taken for granted. (Marriage equivalent: sex becomes less frequent, more perfunctory.)

Gradually the participants daydream about better times, willing the reality to be different. (Marriage equivalent: resorting to drink or drugs or anonymous sex outside the relationship.)

To outside observers this is as obvious as Mick Jagger's lips. We know what's happening in the lives of those close to us nearly as soon as they do, and acknowledge it (out of their hearing) much sooner.

No-one outside a relationship can ever know all the ins-and-outs, but dispassionate onlookers have the advantage of perspective. Nature apparently sets us up to defend indefensible positions - or nearly indefensible, because although the Americans won the siege of Boston, the Germans failed to take Stalingrad. But do you really want to go through that kind of epic horror?[link]





Revolutionary War spy pic from here [link]

Fine Dining Southern Rhode Island Style

In recent posts, I described a trip to Rhode Island where I was introduced to a community of talented chefs who are making the state a go-to place for anyone who enjoys good food. I knew I would find good restaurants in Providence. What surprised me was the number of accomplished chefs working in the resort towns in the southern half of the state.

Newport is Rhode Island's best known tourist destination. Located on the southern tip of Aquidneck Island, the city is home to Cliff Walk and the world-famous mansions built at the end of the 19th century with their distinctive architecture and opulent details. Its sheltered harbor and many beaches make Newport a destination for anyone who enjoys sailing and water sports. The city is family-friendly as well, with dozens of affordable restaurants on Broadway and Bowen's Wharf in the harbor.

One Bellevue (One Bellevue Avenue, Newport, 401/847-3300) is located on Historic Hill, overlooking the harbor.

Chef Kevin Theile's menu changes with the seasons and emphasizes local produce and seafood. For him, "Local is a big deal. When people travel to New England, they're looking for seasonal New England seafood." So it's no surprise that most of the seafood on his menu is caught in nearby waters, including Maine lobsters, sole, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna, crab, clams, and oysters. As he proudly says, "Right off the docks, right out of the water," right onto your plate.

Chef Theile tells a story about a recent gastronome's tour of New York he took with his sous and banquet chefs. Most memorable, he said, was a meal at Mario Batali's Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca. An "awesome experience," he said, because they feasted on ingredients they love but could never serve at One Bellevue: head cheese, pigs' feet, lamb brains, rabbit, and goat. "Newport," he said, "is a tourist town, not a culinary scene and people want familiar food."

That was a refrain I heard frequently on my tour of the state. Rhode Island is a tourist destination and tourists enjoy food that doesn't challenge their culinary boundaries, but that doesn't stop chefs from occasionally pushing the envelope.

With his starters, Chef Theile hews closely to expectations with a seasonal menu. When I visited he featured fall ingredients: seared bay scallops with apple wood smoked bacon, crab cakes, autumn vegetable and roasted squash risotto with crispy Granny Smiths and Swiss chard, roasted butternut squash soup, New England clam chowder, caramelized Vidalia onion soup with Crispy bread and melted Gruyere cheese, warm spinach salad, classic Caesar salad, local oysters, and a shrimp cocktail. Eating any of these first courses and you know you're in Southern New England and you're happy.

The comfort food entrees follow familiar paths. The grilled Flat Iron steak with sour cream-chive potato pancakes, citrus glazed half chicken with pancetta whipped potatoes, or blackened pork tenderloin with barbecue pulled pork will satisfy all the meat-and-potato diners who want their food well-prepared and mouth-watering.

But for those who want some cross-cultural surprises, he offers Southern New England ingredients treated with a French and an Asian flair: grilled lobster accompanied with cipolini whipped potatoes and ginger sesame harciot vert, chili rubbed tuna with wasabi potatoes, apple and Swiss chard salad, and grilled shrimp and bay scallop pad Thai.

Located at the end of Cliff Walk and looking every bit like one of the nearby Newport Mansions, the Chanler Hotel (117 Memorial Boulevard, Newport, 401/847-2244) has 20 guest rooms furnished distinctively with European designs. No two rooms look alike. Meticulously detailed, all the rooms are luxurious, even the eccentrically appointed Gothic room with its dungeon-like design.

Taking up most of the ground floor, the Spiced Pear looks like the dining room of an exquisitely appointed Mediterranean villa. From its vantage point on the cliff, the restaurant has a sweeping view of the brilliantly blue water below. In the colder months, the dining room occupies a cozy room facing the open kitchen. In summer, diners can also sit outside in the covered patio and enjoy the cool breezes off Rhode Island Sound.

Executive Chef Kyle Ketchum describes his menu as "contemporary New England cuisine". If you love lobster, start with the lobster bisque, then go on to the delicately flavored butter poached Maine lobster, served with sweet creamed corn, English peas, and mushrooms. A chilled seafood plate has oysters sharing the plate with a shrimp cocktail. In the summer, local produce is featured in dishes like the heirloom tomatoes in a panzanella salad that includes tiny cubes of hearts of palm along with cucumber pearls and Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese.

Acknowledging that his guests do not live by seafood alone, chef Ketchum serves beautifully composed plates of American kobe beef with potato gratin, Moroccan glazed Muscovy duck breast with porcini mushrooms and sauteed spinach, kobe beef short ribs, and Berkshire pork with creamy Parmesan polenta.

His vegetarian tasting menu takes advantage of seasonally available local produce and includes a delicious chilled clear tomato gazpacho, chanterelle mushrooms with English peas and gnocchi, and risotto with truffles and sweet corn.

If you'll allow yourself the calories, chef Ketchum will delight your sweet tooth with the eye-pleasing Tahitian vanilla bean souffle or his acrobatic chocolate trio that couples a wedge of chocolate truffle cake, a dark chocolate terrine, and a pistachio and dark chocolate brownie with a Bailey's Irish cream float topped with whipped cream.

Twenty minutes from downtown Newport, the 35 room Castle Hill Inn & Resort (590 Ocean Drive, Newport, 888/466-1355) sits on a hill overlooking Narragansett Bay. The day we drove out to the restaurant, a rain storm pelted Ocean Drive, the solitary road that circles the island. The lobster skiffs that fish the waters had taken refuge in sheltered coves to avoid the storm.

The Inn looked all the more lovely and romantic in the rain.

The restaurant occupies the sun room of the converted mansion. Open on three sides to a view of the water, light poured in even on a rainy day. Chef Jonathan Cambra, like his fellow Rhode Island chefs, emphasizes local seafood and seasonal produce on his menu. The clams in his New England clam chowder and in the saute combining littlenecks with Portuguese sausage and fennel are from local waters, as are the raw Matunuck Farm oysters he tops with a Bloody Mary sorbet and black pepper gelee.

While the menu lists familiar dishes like bacon and eggs, a lobster roll, and a grilled cheese sandwich, chef Cambra prepares them with upgraded ingredients. The bacon is actually pork belly, the lobster roll uses a tarragon dressing instead of plain old mayo, and the grilled cheese is made with a selection of Narragansett Creamery cheeses on Sicilian bread. Even the hash he serves with his eggs isn't your cafe-variety hash. His is made with lobster.

Desserts come in all varieties. From Belgian chocolate tarts to napoleons, hot fudge sundays with homemade ice cream, banana splits, and a refreshing raspberry consomme.

My personal favorite was the artisan cheese tasting, with a well-chosen accompaniment of caramelized nuts, delicious honey, and apricot puree. By the time we finished lunch, the rain had stopped so we could take a walk on the expansive lawn. Looking across the Bay we could make out the mainland where we would be going next.

A trip to Rhode Island should always include a stop on Block Island. Ferries leave frequently from Point Judith and New London. Looking very much like a Norman Rockwell painting, Old Harbor is one of those rare places where time appears to have stopped. There are no high-rises here. Turn of the century four-story hotels like the National dominate the skyline. Walk a few blocks inland to Spring Street and you'll find Victorian houses that have become B&Bs like the Hotel Manisses and the 1661 Inn (Spring Street, Block Island, 401/466-2421).

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that there is only cafe-style food on the island. Among the dozens of local restaurants, Eli's (456 Chapel Street, Block island, 401/466-5230) is deservedly well-reviewed because the food is fresh, reasonably priced, and well-prepared. But the best place to eat on the island, bar none, is in the Hotel Manisses Restaurant (Hotel Manisses, Spring Street, Old Harbor, Block Island, 401/466-2421).

Chef Ross Audino takes local sourcing one step farther than his mainland colleagues. During the summer, 70% of his vegetables and 100% of his herbs come from the large garden behind the restaurant planted by Justin Abrams, the hotel's owner.

Because of the temperate island climate, chef Audino has fresh lettuce well into the fall. That is, he has lettuce until the week after Labor Day when, like clock-work every year, he wakes up to find that the local deer have descended on the garden and eaten what was left of the crop. Justin speculates that after Labor Day when most of the tourists leave, the deer feel its safe to come out of the hills to forage for food.

Not only are the blue fish, striped bass, clams, littlenecks, tuna, mussels, lobster, and swordfish served at the restaurant fished from local waters, but because Block Island is a tight-knit community, the chef knows the fishermen personally, like Joe Szabo, an old-timer who fishes for local swordfish.

The summertime dining room extends outside into a spacious brick lined patio that looks out on the herb garden at the back of the building. When the weather cools, diners happily stay inside, starting off with a drink at the bar and one of the appetizers: Maryland style crab cakes, tuna tartare with delicious cubes of extra firm fried tofu and ginger mayo on top of a wakame seaweed salad, grilled scallops with ratatouille, fried cod cheeks, and freshly shucked Moonstone oysters.

Chef Audino also puts the local seafood to excellent use in his entrees: gnocchi with lobster meat, pan roasted bass & local littlenecks, striped bass with spinach-shallot foam, and grilled swordfish with lobster mashed potatoes (yes, that's lobster-mashed potatoes and they are delicious).

The menu accommodates vegetarians with a grilled garlic, marinated tofu with house-made mozzarella. A beet salad configured into a tower of savory deliciousness, includes toasted almonds, sweetened mascarpone, and a reduced balsamic vinegar.

For meat-eaters, the menu is a lot of fun. A smoked beef brisket sandwich with crispy onion rings and a large plate of barbecued St. Louis ribs on a bed of jalapeno & cheddar spoon bread from the bistro menu are delicious. The ribs are full of flavor and, literally, finger-lickin' good because they are brined, dry rubbed, slow braised and then finished in high heat so the moist, nicely fatty meat gets a thin crust on top. The addition of a demi-glaze on the grilled Hereford filet mignon on the main menu creates a similar melt-in-your-mouth salty-sweetness and can be ordered either with mashed potatoes or the French fries which are fried with garlic cloves and rosemary leaves.

Desserts range from an apple crumble with an excellent nougat ice cream, carrot cake, Bailey's chocolate mousse flavored with Bailey's and whipped cream, a seven layer chocolate cake with mocha ganache, and a lemon cake with strawberry sauce. All of which were good, but I think that if I were going to leave room for anything, it would be for a couple more of the St. Louis ribs and a handful of those French fries.

Before you leave Rhode Island, you should make one more stop before you go home: the coastal city of Bristol.

Located on the eastern side of Narragansett Bay, mid-way between Providence and Newport, Bristol has small town charms, New England style. The small craft harbor is encircled by a bike and walking path. The small town shops remind you of a time before-we-had-malls.

Walking toward the harbor on State Street, you might pass by Persimmon (31 State Street, Bristol, 401/254-7474) without noticing the intimate, tastefully decorated dining room inside.

Opened in 2005 by chef Champe Speidel and his wife Lisa, Persimmon has gained a large following among tourists and locals, including chefs throughout the state. Working with local purveyors, like all Rhode Island fine dining chefs, chef Speidel's kitchen turns out exquisite plates of extraordinarily delicious food.

His attention to detail would rival any upscale restaurant in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. Reading widely in his hundreds of cookbooks, chef Speidel looks for techniques and flavor combinations that he believes will engage his customers. He explained that it is "really easy to get complacent in a small restaurant, but you have to push yourself, always try to do more."

The seasons energize his cooking.

Even though much of Bristol's business is summer tourism, the town is a bedroom community of commuters who work in Providence and Newport. Which means a year-round clientele supports his restaurant.

Challenging himself, he prints a new menu every day, featuring what's fresh and local. Keeping his menu in sync with the changing seasons means his customers look forward to the new ways he'll prepare ingredients with a short season, like asparagus, black bass, and tautog. For his loyal customers he balances favorites like the crispy skin Long Island duck breast with new dishes so he'll encourage them to come back several times a week.

When Champe and Lisa opened Persimmon, their goal was to create a small, cozy restaurant that emphasized high quality food and good but informal service.

Champe calls his menu "modern," but he could have as easily called it global, because he borrows freely from world cuisine and American traditional food. Highly skilled, his cooking is witty.

Eight years ago, Lisa took Champe to his first clambake on the beach. He loved the experience of a wood fire, freshly cooked clams, corn, lobster, potatoes, and chorizo. Wanting to recreate the experience back at the restaurant, he created the mini clambake, one of his most popular appetizer.

When the dish is presented at the table, the plate is covered by a glass dome. As the covering is lifted, a scented cloud of apple wood smoke is released and, for a moment just before you devour the sweetly flavored seafood and broth, you're transported back to a summertime beach where you don't have a care in the world.

One of the dishes I enjoyed the most and would have eagerly asked for seconds, was his "two-minute" ceviche of native razor clams, served with Vietnamese Kalamansi lime, chilies, and mint sauce. Never has a Southern New England clam been so well-served.

His menu includes some exquisitely prepared comfort foods. For those who can afford the fatty indulgence, he serves up a perfectly seared Hudson Valley foie gras with oven roasted figs dressed with a duck reduction and aged balsamic vinegar. For another appetizer, an egg slow cooked at precisely 143.6 degrees for one hour, shares an elegant bowl with sauteed hen-of-the-woods mushrooms flavored with a touch of curry oil.

Armed with an inventive imagination, he carefully shapes the flavor profiles of his dishes. Unlike many chefs who give clams and mussels a featured spotlight, chef Speidel uses shellfish as a flavor garnish, using their uniquely sweet-and-salty profile to enhance the qualities, as he did one night, of line caught Cox's Ledge cod wrapped in apple wood bacon and served in a chowder of razor and littleneck clams.

His Pan Seared South Dartmouth Boneless Pork Loin Chop is sweet and juicy, the meat's flavors all the more enhanced by the accompanying ragout of squash, fennel, turnips, and peaches. While he roasts his Long Island Duck Breast to glazed, crispy perfection, he prefers to cook his organic chicken cuit sous vide, giving the meat a velvety texture that is contrasted by the oven roasted potatoes and onions.

The dessert selections run from the delicate (Yogurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta with native Berries) to the sublime (Rich Chocolate Moussse with Dark Chocolate-Hazelnut Feuilletine and Carmel Ice Cream) to the familiar-though-decadent (Warm Peanut and Banana Cake with Banana Ice Cream, Caramel and Chocolate Sauces). All of which are wonderful. But I confess a simple plate of Berkshire Blue Cheese with a wedge of honeycomb dusted with fennel pollen stole my heart that night.

After having so many wonderful meals, and taking everything into account--the simple elegance of the dining room, Champe and Lisa Speidel's friendliness and charm, the execution and distinctive flavor profile of each and every dish--eating at Persimmon was my best experience on a very memorable trip.

For more about Rhode Island, please go to:

A Photo Gallery of Rhode Island
How Rhode Island Has Changed
Rhode Island Travel Gallery, New York Daily News

Rhode Island Renaissance: The Restaurants of Providence

Rhode Island Renaissance: Spotlight on Providence's Locavore Chefs

Amazing Pancakes

Sampson

I've been meaning to tell you about these pancakes... but with puppy sitting, my parents visiting, and some more dog sitting, I haven't had much blogging time. Didn't mean to hold out on you ;) And of course I have some more doggie photos for good measure!

Dante

So the recipe (found here) is for Kabocha Buckwheat pancakes. I don't know if it was the buckwheat flour, the spices (cardamom), or the combination of the two that put these over the top, but I was floored!!


While I didn't have buckwheat flour on hand, I did have some kasha (roasted buckwheat), which ground to a flour easily in my spice grinder (aka coffee grinder). I also used some kabocha I had already roasted (instead of grated fresh squash). I'm sure any other winter squash or sweet potato would work as well.


I can't wait to try more recipes using buckwheat flour... have you used it before? Or do you have any recommendations??

Friday Fluffer - Cooter Ice

BlueBabe's writing inspires me in many ways. Her post today [link] is about...well, let's just say that the guy she thought was a Pussy Aficionado turned out not to be.

I think her blog is restricted, but leave her a note here in comments, and she'll likely as not let you in the door of her amazing world.

In recognition of the fact that we can all learn more about some things, here's a link to the Cunnilingus Tutor's Top 50 ways to keep a lady happy.

CT's Top Fifty. [link]

As they say at the finest restaurants and the lowest diners: Enjoy!




Edit: BlueBabe requests you email her for access to her blog. It's totally worth it.

bluelovergirl1@aol.com

Happy pic from here [link]

Farmers' Market Fresh: Early Spring Tomatoes Roasted Whole or Sliced

Judging by the night time chill, it's still winter, Southern California style. But a walk through the local farmers' markets (the Wednesday Santa Monica and Sunday Pacific Palisades Farmers' Markets) and you'd think it was summertime. Just about everything you could want is in the market, with the exception of fresh corn and pluots.

One of my favorite recipes, and one of the easiest, uses early spring tomatoes to good advantage. Eaten raw, they aren't desirable, but roasted, they're delicious. Some farmers mark down their mottled and misshapen tomatoes so price is an added bonus.

Sliced Tomatoes Roasted with Garlic and Parsley

Use the roasted tomato slices as a side dish with grilled chicken breasts, meat, and seafood or in a salad of alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella, a variation on a classic Italian summer dish.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh large tomatoes, washed, pat dried

1 cup Italian parsley, leaves only, washed, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together the chopped parsley and garlic. Remove the remnants of th

e stem on top of the tomatoes, cut into 1/2" thick slices, lay on a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil on a baking tray, top with a sprinkling of parsley-garlic mix, drizzle with olive oil, and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Roast 30 minutes or until the tomatoes give off their liquid and the topping is lightly browned. Remove from the oven to cool on a baking rack. Use a rubber spatula to reserve the liquid on the baking tray.

Serve at room temperature.

Variations

Before serving, top with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Pour the roasting liquid, a mix of seasoned olive oil and tomato essence, onto the plate, then lay the tomato slices on top.

Arrange the slices on top of filets of fish, such as sole, halibut, or swordfish.

Roasted Whole Tomatoes

Keep this recipe for the summer when tomatoes improve in quality and come down even more in price. The technique is a winner any time of the year.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 90 minutes

Ingredients

3-4 pounds tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the end of the stem at the top of the tomato. Place all the tomatoes on a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil on a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle each tomato with olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Roast 90 minutes. When you remove the tomatoes from the oven you'll notice the accumulation of a clear liquid. A small portion of that is the seasoned olive oil. But mostly the liquid is given off by the tomato itself. That liquid or, let's be bold and call it "nectar", is pure essence-of-tomato. Save every drop.

At this point the tomatoes can be served whole as a side dish with grilled or roasted meats. They can also be peeled and chopped for a pasta or a braised meat dish like short ribs. Run them through a food mill and you have the beginnings of a delicious tomato sauce.

If you don't use all the tomatoes right away, they can be placed in an air-tight container and frozen for several months without damaging their flavor.

A final tip about tomato nectar. If you like mozzarella with tomatoes but this time of year the fresh tomatoes don't have enough flavor, drizzle the tomato nectar, slightly warmed, over slices of mozzarella. You're in for a treat.

Hot Clusters

Friends and acquaintances know that I had a stock reply to the the question:

Wombat, why did you leave Australia and emigrate to America?

I used to answer:

To find an American wife.

Perhaps it's my sense of humour, but my flip approach didn't ever work on the audience. Occasionally married guys would mutter:

Please. You can have mine.

I dropped that bit from the routine.

For some reason this thing about finding 'someone' features in conversations lately. Do I look like a need a woman to prop me up? Am I leaning? Do I look incomplete on my own? Is it last call for girlfriends?

Florida's the problem. Two kinds of single women inhabit my town.

1. The rich singles, who don't want to be 'A nurse or a purse.'

2. The not rich singles, who are looking for the (man)purse.

As a healthy, independent bloke neither of these archetypes holds any kind of appeal.

It's understood this is that kind of place. Men, therefore, and some women tell me of other cities they think would serve my purposes better. Lots mention Atlanta. Some (including ladies here at KnB) tell me the DC area is chock-full of lovelies. Honourable mentions include certain suburbs of Denver, New York City and coastal Southern California. (Hello Newport Beach!)

Single guys mention one place time and again. It pops up on internet searches and peripheral stuff like this [link]. Scottsdale, Arizona is the underground hottie capital of the United States. To think; a dry climate. What a wonderful change from Florida that would be.







Arizona Wildcats picture from here [link]

Green Goodness

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! And if you're in Massachusetts, Happy Evacuation Day!

I'm sharing a recipe today that, while may not be traditional Irish fare, is green :) My parents came to visit this past weekend, and I attempted to recreate the pistachio ice cream we had on vacation in Arizona. It may not have been spot-on, but it was still delicious!

Pistachio Gelato

Pistachio Gelato

Recipe by Shannon

Yield: ~2c

I'm calling it a gelato because it lacks the traditional custard base with heavy cream and eggs, but it's essentially a coconut milk ice cream. Cornstarch is used to thicken it a bit, and the coconut milk imparts a silky mouth feel. I left the texture from the ground pistachios, but feel free to strain it with cheesecloth before churning if you prefer a smoother texture.

150g shelled pistachios

65g turbinado sugar
1T milk (non-dairy if desired, or more coconut milk)

1 can coconut milk (I used light)
1/3c milk (non-dairy if desired, or more coconut milk)

2T cornstarch
1-2T honey

Combine pistachios and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to a fine powder. Add in a little milk so it becomes a paste (I just eye-balled 1T). Transfer pistachio paste to a small saucepan with coconut milk. Heat over low heat until the paste "dissolves" (to a smooth liquid). Whisk starch and 1/3c milk until dissolved. Add milk/starch mixture to coconut milk/pistachio mixture and continue to cook over med-low heat until the mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool a little bit. Transfer to a blender (I just used my stick blender) and add 1T honey. Blend, taste, and add more honey if desired. Refrigerate until cool (few hours or more), then churn according to the directions on your ice cream maker!

*Edited to add: I adjusted the recipe, as after Elina's question, I found this website detailing the strengths/weakness of different thickeners and wouldn't recommend using arrowroot if you're using dairy milk.

Who is your Secret Lover?

The answer is self-generating, but I wonder how our choice of partner would change if no-one else knew who they were, or what they looked like.

In other words, disregard the idea that you and your lover will ever be seen together in public. And no-one will ever know you're intimate and happily so with that person. How would that affect your ideal?

I imagine the social and familial acceptability of one's partner is worth somewhere between one quarter and one-half of the points. Accounting for such basic criteria doesn't strike me as something we do in western societies, because expectations lie at the lower end of the spectrum. But if you're from a culture in which you the individual are lesser, and the family and society are greater, their influence on your choice and thinking will be different.

To my mind, contemplating the way we think about this background sociopathy makes it easier to see where we're going. Perhaps an arranged marriage really is the best way, despite my desire to pick and choose.




Hitchcockian photo from here [link]