Now when it comes to gettin bread, I got the keys to the Bakery

Ok. It's been a while. I know. But I have a list of excuses. Travelling, two jobs, and really, cooking at home quite a bit have all but depleted my time. Among the many things I've been cooking (which I will save for later entries), one of the more interesting things I've been dabbling in is bread.
The first thing to note, when making yeast rising bread, is that there is a lot of downtime. The dough must proof, often times more than once, which results in about 3 hours total to make a loaf of any kind of bread. So here's what I've made from scratch.

Shabbat Shalom!

1. Challah. Yep, that eggy, fluffy, braided wunderbread that has really become a popular french toast option in many breakfast/brunch spots in town. I made it. And it came out dry and pretty flavorless. I attribute most of my mistakes to my mixing/kneading skills. Being a novice without a stand mixer really leads one to having to hone their dough skills. I'm getting better, but often times bread texture is a result of the kneading and mixing of ingredients. This is the recipe I used. Yup, I did the braiding myself.

2. Focaccia. This recipe leads to the best and easiest of the bunch. The end result kind of tastes like a Pizza Hut regular crust, but much better. The best part about Focaccia is that you can cover it with whatever you like. On the loaf pictured I divided it into three sections of toppings including salt, salt/pepper and Parmesan, and S/P, Parm, and shallots. Another major plus to this recipe is that it only take about one hour, start to finish.
3. French Bread. Earlier in the week, I had bought some quality salami from Pine Street Market (buy their bacon). Plain salami is tasty, but I really wanted a nice crusty loaf of French to round out my experience. Using this recipe, I came out with some very tasty, very crusty, but a little dry bread. Also, it's easy to ascertain in the photos that I used too much flower when rolling it.

4. Biscuits (sorry, I forgot to take photos). These are just too easy and too good not to make again. They were the perfect compliment to the fried chicken I made that evening and the recipe works very well. Probably too much flour in the initial batch if I had to tweak anything. Make sure you use your food processor to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
5. Cinnamon Rolls. From scratch. Lots of work went into Alton Brown's recipe. I skipped the cream cheese icing, and regret it now. The dough didn't rise enough (my fault) but these were very tasty but ever so tough. Also the cinnamon-sugar really became too gooey on the bottom of the pan and soaked into the bottom of the rolls. I haven't quite figured out how to prevent this in the future.
Really, bread making isn't that hard and the finished product can be particularly enjoyable. Just get your kneading/mixing techniques down and you should be set.

Gone Fishin' - Calumet Fisheries

Truth be told, I didn't stumble upon this place. I saw it, like many others, on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. On the show, it seemed like an intriguingly hidden spot with spectacular smoked fish. However, in the months since viewing the episode, I had completely forgotten about this place altogether. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was scouring Yelp for places to dine in Chicago, I noticed rave reviews for Calumet and images of Bourdain passing a half-eaten salmon steak to his Chicago guide came flooding back to me. And that's how we ended up at Calumet Fisheries.
Well, I make it sound much easier than it actually was - this was truly destination dining. Through a very long bus ride, a seemingly endless transfer, another bus-ride weaving in and out of a southern Chicago neighborhood, and a half mile walk in the snow, we finally ended up at this bridge-side shack to feast upon smoked fish (over 2 hours later).
The storefront of Calumet is kind of like a deli, except with fish being the product, not cold cuts. A large case proudly displays salmon steaks, smoked chub, and buckets of shrimp. To the right of the store they had their frying station. I had my mind set on the Salmon before we even got there but the friendly cook, Carlos, advised me to go with their garlic and peppercorn crusted salmon steaks rather than the plain variety. Kins went the route of smoked shrimp.
I was a little caught off guard by the fact that the Salmon was served cold. Seeing as how it's completely cooked, unlike lox, I expected it to be warm like barbecue after being smoked. The other surprise (although it shouldn't have been) was that the bones of the salmon were still in tact. Once I got over these two issues, I menacingly tore into the steak (avoiding the actual string used to hang the steak in the smoker) with my fingers popping the pulled morsels in my mouth. Carlos hooked me up with some hot sauce for the Salmon, but I found that it only took away from all the smokey flavor. My experience with smoked fish is severely limited, but I will be doing a comparison very soon between Rolling Bones' Salmon steaks and Calumet's.
The shrimp were darned good. As a non shrimp fan, I was happy that the smoking erased the real shrimp-like flavor that I normally have to avoid (even when fried). If anything, the shrimp tasted a bit like ham, but I would describe the flavor as solely unique to smoked shrimp. The fries were standard frozen issue, but freshly fried for each order which makes a huge difference.
I wish I could have tried some of their fried options, but alas there was only so much we could eat and take with us. Funnily enough, our cab driver for the ride back (yes, we weren't going to spend another 2 hours getting back) picked up some fried catfish for the road. After asking us why we travelled all the way out there and explaining to him all the blow-by-blow details of our adventure, he turned to us and said in his slavic accent, "Eh, it's not that special." Take that for what it's worth, but the catfish did look very, very good to me.
Pricing was fair, considering the size of the Salmon steak I ordered (enough for two), but it certainly seemed a little more pricey than it should be considering it was served cold in a non sit-down environment. While I really enjoyed the food, the travel time made our journey seem like a quest for the Holy Arc. For visitors of Chicago, I'd recommend skipping this hot spot because of the travel time involved. There are just too many other great options to spend so much time getting out there and back - at least without a car rental. However, I highly recommend locals and smoked fish fans alike make at least one trip to Calumet for an unusual and tasty treat.

Panozzo's! Me say Panozzo's! - Panozzo's Italian Market

Situated in a pretty tourist-heavy area, Panozzo's is anything but a tourist trap. This is the real deal - an Italian market with not only all the canned, bottled, and frozen goods you could possibly want, but also a full on deli/restaurant in the back. Shelves are stocked with polenta, pasta, sauces and even a pretty vast selection of gelato and Italian beverages.

The service was extremely friendly and we were greated out of the blistering cold with warm smiles and hospitatliy. When deciding what to order, the man behind the counter told us about each specific item in great detail and also offered us some rosemary ham to try. The ham was the best I've ever had. The rosemary flavor was so concentrated and evenly infused that the ham was simply sublime.

After some careful consideration, we settled on two items- the meatball sub and the Pane Ripiene. The meatball hero was just that - a HERO. With four massive meatballs, homemade sauce, fresh melted cheese, and pickled jalapenos all arranged on fresh crusty/soft bread, this sandwich was a force to be reckoned with. Each meatball is approximately the size of a cue ball. Fortunately, I brought my appetite and polished it off pretty handily (and messily). I marvelled in the fact that this sandwich was a mere $6.50. It could easily make two meals for most healthy or sane folks. The quality and flavors far exceeds any other meatball sandwich I've had, and the pickled jalapenos (menu says bell peppers) really were a unique and wonderfully complimentary touch.
The Pane Ripiene was another singular menu item that was unlike anything I'd had before. I would call it a sandwich, but they referred to it as a "stuffed-bread." Essentially, it was very crunchy but slightly sweet bread, hollowed out and stuffed with spicy sausage, cheese, and bell peppers. While I didn't find the sausage to be any spicier than mild renditions of tubed-meat, the stuffed-bread was melded perfection in both the flavor and texture department.

The stuffed-bread

The meal was from Panozzo's was so enjoyable that we hardly felt the frigid cold while feasting on our sandwiches in adjacent Grant Park. This is your Chicago stop for great, cheap sandwiches. Every box is a different variety of gelato.

You say goodbye and I say hello! - Please keep reading!

Well, it's been a long while. But I actually have a legitimate excuse. There's been the holidays, lots of cooking at home, and a short trip to Chicago over New Years. Not to worry however, everything is well documented and I'm going to get back into the swing of things right this instant. I will be reviewing a few Chicago eateries coming up and then move back to life in Atlanta - new restaurants and cooking at home. So look for many updates in the coming days!

Ra Ra Ri, Kick em' in the Knee - Ri Ra Irish Pub

Ri Ra, while on my radar, wasn't exactly a point of interest. I associated it with Ra Sushi (same building) and thought it would be more about the crowd/image and less about the food. But thankfully, my mom had hit it up and let me know that their Fish and Chips offering was far superior than most other renditions that Atlanta bars and restaurants attempt. So Kins and I put it to the test and were pleasantly surprised.

Ri Ra is a chain (of only about 11) but really puts out some high quality bar fare. They restore old Irish bars and accouterments and ship them over here to be reassembled in their American locations. That part is pretty neat and it's pretty hard to tell the difference between what's new and old in the bar. Interestingly enough, they also have shipped over quite a few Irish workers/servers and on both of my visits, we had one. The crowd was more Buckheady, but tolerable. I would probably avoid it on a weekend night, however.
The fish and chips are really terrific. It's the perfect blend of salty and crunchy. On our first visit, one order came with two whopping Haddock (much prefer this to the more common Cod) fillets. The fish was served over a bed of their house chips, which are fresh cut and fried. Also included was a homemade roumelade. I liked every part of the meal and for the $14 ($2 up-charge for the house chips) price tag, it's a very generous serving. Most people could get two meals out of it. Unfortunately on our second visit, the order had been reduced to one fillet of Haddock. I believe they still will typically give two, but we will have to go back to make sure of this.

I also had the Ri Ra Burger and it was mediocre at best. It wasn't consistently cooked through, the peppercorn seasoning really didn't do much, and the bun was entirely too big and tough to chew through. Also on our first trip, we offered complementary soda bread with Guinness-infused butter. It was a nice touch. We weren't as luck on our second go-round and they completely forgot this little freebie.

From now on, when I hear or think of fish and chips, Ri Ra is my choice. Even if the price was slightly higher (take note $18 cod F&C from Shed at Glenwood), it would be worth it.

Patty Cake Patty Cake - Bakeshop

Atlanta is getting some serious bakeries and I'm beginning to value this trend much more than the burger epidemic that is running rampant in our fair city. The Concentrics Restaurant group has opened the Bakeshop in the former location of Goldstar Bakery in Midtown. This prime location is ideal for another bakery and Bakeshop (yes that is the name of it) is going to do quite well in this spot.

I stopped in this past weekend and picked up a couple of pastries and a breakfast item. The inside of the place reminds me of Parish's (another Concentrics endeavor) Marketplace, but with a more modern, less cozy feel. Like Parish, the communal tables are present and inviting newspapers are strewn about. There is a narrow spot to order your food, peruse the pastry case, and look at bread-lined shelves. I imagine it's going to be quite the clusterfuck when it gets crowded.

Bakeshop got one strike from me right away - there were no prices on the menu. I really don't get the point of this and I was afraid that I would be leaving with a much lighter billfold than when I entered. Fortunately, despite the yuppie digs, the bakeshop was moderately priced.

Croissants seem to be somewhat of a speciality at the Bakeshop and they offer three kinds (plain, chocolate, and almond) along with a ham & gruyere croissant sandwich. Kins likened the croissants to Alon's (I've never had one) and I certainly thought they looked the part.

The chocolate one that I devoured was light, flaky, and thankfully not as greasy as many I've encountered. The chocolate unfortunately was lying a little right of center. I can't say it slowed me down, but I definitely didn't get chocolate in every bite.

Additionally I ordered the Eggs al Forno and frankly, wasn't too pleased with them. Granted, I didn't exactly know what I was ordering, but the breakfast item consisted of a slice of sourdough smothered in cheese, onions, red peppers, parmesan, and two eggs (one poached and one hard boiled). While I didn't really know what I was getting into when I ordered them, the two types of eggs were the opposite of what I was expecting, and I became turned off by the open-faced sandwich. Additionally, the peppers and onions were very haphazardly clumped together on opposite ends of the sandwich respectively. While I was warned, this little egg concoction took 15 minutes to make. Why?! Thank goodness for the aforementioned newspapers.

So Bakeshop gets my praise for their pastries and thus far, my jeers on their breakfast. However, with items like apple stuffed french toast, fried egg with BBQ pork on ciabatta, and a milk chocolate (would prefer dark) hazelnut sponge cake, I'll surely be back. Cheers to Concentrics on their rapidly expanding empire.

By the way, for those of you without economy defying incomes, my total for all 3 items was 12 bucks. Not cheap, but certainly not terrible for one of Atlanta's better bakeries.

Pizzeria Vesuvius Erupts into the Atlanta Pizza War

After getting word of a new pizza spot right around the corner from me, I immediately set out to try the joint tonight. Frankly the restaurant business is tough enough, but with a current pizza war (trailing only the burger war in growing restaurant numbers) going on in Atlanta, opening another pizza restaurant is a ballsy endeavor. Especially with pizza perfectionists, Antico Pizza, on the scene.

Vesuvius is located on Edgewood Avenue in the spot that formerly housed The Bureau. It's only been open for a week and isn't quite a well-oiled machine quite yet. In fact, they don’t even have a sign up. Right now, it's really just a long bar and about 8 or so 4-top tables. Additionally, they're only accepting cash for the time being. Vesuvius is still building some extra seating and while they are delivering (free), they are still setting up their radius.

I spoke with the pizzaiola for a bit while admiring their wood burning oven. He said that this oven is most similar to that of Sotto Sotto, and they run it at about 600 degrees normally and sometimes hit about 800 degrees for the larger pies. This blistering heat machine was made in Milan but was actually purchased from Shorty's when they updated their current one. The oven really creates a nice texture to the pie, both charred and roasted well. Additionally, it only took about 3 minutes for my pizzas to cook.

Pizzeria Vesuvias makes quite a bit of the less traditional, specialty pies so I opted for two of those. The Mauna Loa is their take on a Hawaiian – consisting of pineapple, applewood-smoked bacon, house-smoked ham, fresh tomato sauce, and mozzarella. This pizza is just OK. None of the ingredients’ flavor shows up distinctly and each bite leaves you longing for a stronger profile. Also, while the ham and bacon was plentiful, the pineapple was kept to a minimum only allowing for maybe one or two pieces per slice.The second pie was the Fuji. Consisting of roast pork, hoisin, cabbage, caramelized onion, chili flake, and scallion this pie was a winner. The pork was wonderfully tender and all of the other ingredients played off one another in a manner that doesn’t happen often on even the most creative of pizzas.

The crusts have a wonderful crispy, charred exterior but plenty of interior chew and pull to them. All of this I have to attribute to their beautiful oven. While the texture is perfect, the dough doesn’t have very much flavor. I feel like a little bit of salt could go a long way and really make their dough craveable.

Collectively, I really enjoyed the Vesuvias’s offerings and the price is right too. A medium pie runs around 10 or 11 bucks while a large will set you back 15 dollars - a very fair price for a very decent pizza. This is not Neapolitan pizza so there is no point in comparing it to Antico. OK I will, it’s not as good. But I’m glad it’s in the neighborhood as it gives me a very quick and tasty reason not to head back to Hemphill.