One of Doreen's famous Ginger Snap cookies
January 5, 2006
January 4, 2006
La Dolce Vita
Last night I was supposed to meet my lovely wife at Sorrento’s, an upscale Italian place on lower Westheimer for a Sue Lovell victory party. I, as usual, was working late. And since I have one heck of a commute home, was delayed. (small pun there. I work in Tom Delay’s congressional district. But we don’t live there)
Sorrento’s was packed by the time I got there, and they were just taking the food up to roust the folks out onto the street. I don’t particularly like being in crowds of strangers (and believe me, these people were stranger than most!) so my much better half suggested we leave. She gave Sue L a hug goodbye and we walked outside.
There are many, many restaurants in our neighborhood. The funny thing is that we seldom go out to dinner, but that is mostly because I like to cook. But whenever a new place opens up, we always are dying to try it.
And low and behold, that night (last night, 3 January, 2006) a brand new “Pizzeria & Enoteca” was opened. It is called Dolce Vita, which, someone counter intuitively, makes me think of Bob Dylan, not Fellini. But it is the “second growth” restaurant of famous Houston Chef Marco Wiles. His flagship is called DaMarco and is quite pricey. I have only eaten there a couple of times, but we have acquaintances that eat there ALL the time and love it.
But getting back to La Dolce Vita (which does not yet have a web site, or at least I can’t find it). We knew it was going to open last night, since we had stopped by there over the weekend and got the big boot. Now, we have been thrown out of better places than this, and with far less reason. The place was having sort of a soft opening, and we, of course stopped in. The bartender told us to come on in and have a drink, but then the General Manager (Ron) nicely told us that they were not yet prepared to open, let us eat a sliver of prosciutto, and gently steered us towards the door. Nicely done!
We were so impressed that we did indeed want to return. So since Doreen was done with her politicizing at Sue’s soiree, we hiked across the street to La Dolce Vita. (I’m getting there).
The place is an old house, formerly housing the Marrakesh House of Couscous. They shut down about six months ago, and the time was well spent in renovation. The place has a nice bar and some seating areas downstairs, and what I took to be the main seating area and the kitchen upstairs. We were seated at a small deuce, but it was fine for the simple meal we had imagined for ourselves.
The holidays were ones of great bounty for us. We cooked a goose, visited some friends on Christmas Day, and then had a New Year’s Eve party. Whew! So we have been eating and drinking more than usual. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to try something new.
So to move the narrative ahead, we decided to simply get a couple of pizzas (which we always split) and a bottle of wine. For the wine, we got a Piedmont Boschis, a nice smooth red wine that cost $30. I had never had one of these before and enjoyed it tremendously. For the pizzas, we got on Romana (cherry tomatoes, mozzarella , and anchovies) and one Salsiccia e Friarielle (Sausage, rapini, and pecorino).
The pizzas came out fast and they were very good. The size of a large dinner plate, with athin crispy crust that occasionally boiled over the toppings in a black blister. Just the way I like ‘em! Doreen isn’t too fond of sausage (she doesn’t like the fennel seed taste) but I enjoyed it. The anchovies were a bit of a disappointment in that they tasted like simple, salty, canned fish. I enjoy the subtleties of oil cured anchovies, but there were not really all that tasty. The S e F pizza was good with a small forest of rapini laid on thick.
We ended the evening with some gelato – they give you a three ball bowl. Doreen ordered Banana, Coffee, and Vanilla. All quite tasty.
Then, we walked back to our cars (since we had gone right to the victory party from work) and made our short way home.
(some of the other things on the menu that we want to try:
Patsas:
Orecchiette – escarole & sweet sausage
Paccheri – tomato, basil, reggiano
Spaghetti – calico e pepe
Bucatini – octopus, tomato, chillies
Spaghetti – clams and cecci
Gnocchi – al ragú
And various other pizzas.)
Sorrento’s was packed by the time I got there, and they were just taking the food up to roust the folks out onto the street. I don’t particularly like being in crowds of strangers (and believe me, these people were stranger than most!) so my much better half suggested we leave. She gave Sue L a hug goodbye and we walked outside.
There are many, many restaurants in our neighborhood. The funny thing is that we seldom go out to dinner, but that is mostly because I like to cook. But whenever a new place opens up, we always are dying to try it.
And low and behold, that night (last night, 3 January, 2006) a brand new “Pizzeria & Enoteca” was opened. It is called Dolce Vita, which, someone counter intuitively, makes me think of Bob Dylan, not Fellini. But it is the “second growth” restaurant of famous Houston Chef Marco Wiles. His flagship is called DaMarco and is quite pricey. I have only eaten there a couple of times, but we have acquaintances that eat there ALL the time and love it.
But getting back to La Dolce Vita (which does not yet have a web site, or at least I can’t find it). We knew it was going to open last night, since we had stopped by there over the weekend and got the big boot. Now, we have been thrown out of better places than this, and with far less reason. The place was having sort of a soft opening, and we, of course stopped in. The bartender told us to come on in and have a drink, but then the General Manager (Ron) nicely told us that they were not yet prepared to open, let us eat a sliver of prosciutto, and gently steered us towards the door. Nicely done!
We were so impressed that we did indeed want to return. So since Doreen was done with her politicizing at Sue’s soiree, we hiked across the street to La Dolce Vita. (I’m getting there).
The place is an old house, formerly housing the Marrakesh House of Couscous. They shut down about six months ago, and the time was well spent in renovation. The place has a nice bar and some seating areas downstairs, and what I took to be the main seating area and the kitchen upstairs. We were seated at a small deuce, but it was fine for the simple meal we had imagined for ourselves.
The holidays were ones of great bounty for us. We cooked a goose, visited some friends on Christmas Day, and then had a New Year’s Eve party. Whew! So we have been eating and drinking more than usual. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to try something new.
So to move the narrative ahead, we decided to simply get a couple of pizzas (which we always split) and a bottle of wine. For the wine, we got a Piedmont Boschis, a nice smooth red wine that cost $30. I had never had one of these before and enjoyed it tremendously. For the pizzas, we got on Romana (cherry tomatoes, mozzarella , and anchovies) and one Salsiccia e Friarielle (Sausage, rapini, and pecorino).
The pizzas came out fast and they were very good. The size of a large dinner plate, with athin crispy crust that occasionally boiled over the toppings in a black blister. Just the way I like ‘em! Doreen isn’t too fond of sausage (she doesn’t like the fennel seed taste) but I enjoyed it. The anchovies were a bit of a disappointment in that they tasted like simple, salty, canned fish. I enjoy the subtleties of oil cured anchovies, but there were not really all that tasty. The S e F pizza was good with a small forest of rapini laid on thick.
We ended the evening with some gelato – they give you a three ball bowl. Doreen ordered Banana, Coffee, and Vanilla. All quite tasty.
Then, we walked back to our cars (since we had gone right to the victory party from work) and made our short way home.
(some of the other things on the menu that we want to try:
Patsas:
Orecchiette – escarole & sweet sausage
Paccheri – tomato, basil, reggiano
Spaghetti – calico e pepe
Bucatini – octopus, tomato, chillies
Spaghetti – clams and cecci
Gnocchi – al ragú
And various other pizzas.)
January 3, 2006
December 31, 2005
December 30, 2005
Podcasts
Here is my opinion of Podcasts:
They are done by people who are too lazy to write anything down, and don’t know grammar.
I include the Slate/NPR podcasts in this denunciation.
Bums.
They are done by people who are too lazy to write anything down, and don’t know grammar.
I include the Slate/NPR podcasts in this denunciation.
Bums.
December 27, 2005
December 26, 2005
Christmas 2005
Christmas is a great holiday. You get to cook fancy meals, you have an excuse to drink expensive wine, and you get to buy presents. The stores are crowded, and the weather is usually beautiful. At least here in Houston.
But more than that, it is Doreen’s birthday! She had the good fortune to be born on Christmas day, and so the world celebrates with her.
I cooked another goose this year (I am trying to remember exactly how many geese I have cooked. The first one I cooked was back in the winter of 1980 - my first Christmas away from home on my own. My younger brother Matthew came down (I think he was 17 years old at the time) and I had invited a young student from Rice to join us as well. I had never cooked a goose before, but I use Graham Kerr’s recipe and it turned out great. Or at least that was my memory of that goose. That and the memory of the goose leg bone slowly being ground up in my garbage disposal. (Yes, I have always said that the garbage disposal (aka Fruit Grinder) was the most underutilized kitchen appliance. I have pt artichoke leaves (bad idea) corn husks (same) and any number of other organic matter down my garbage disposals in my lifetime. I have pretty much stopped that, as it causes all sorts of harm to the plumbing. Now, if given a choice, I throw kitchen waste into our neighbor’s back yard. But that is another story.)
I like cooking geese. Store bought geese, anyway. I have never cooked a wild goose. I am not sure if there would be a difference or not. The thing about geese is that there is a think layer of subcutaneous fat that you need to take care of is you want the meat to be juicy instead of greasy. In my younger days I did that by starting the goose in a very hot oven, pricking the skin and then turning the heat down to finish the bird at a lower temp. Now, thanks to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, I have a long and complicated routine I follow. Here is a sample:
For the goose, fill a large stock pot two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a rolling boil. Wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands, lower the goose neck end down into boiling water below. Submerge as much of the goose as possible until 'goose bumps' appear, about 1 minute. Repeat this process, tail end down first. Drain goose and dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels. Set goose, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.
And it gets more complicated from there. This year I used an apple/prune stuffing – sometimes I use a couscous/dried fruit (apricot, current) stuffing. The apple/pear is more traditional. The couscous is more interesting.
In addition to the goose and stuffing (the crispy skin of the goose is one of the pleasures of the season, I can assure you of that) we have red cabbage (another Graham Kerr recipe that is modified by Doreen based on her German heritage), Mashed potatoes, cauliflower gratin (to die for – a pound of butter, a pound of cheese, cream, nutmeg and you just can’t eat enough of this), little green peas (for green color to go with the red cabbage) and gravy.
We had a total of six people eating dinner with us this year, and we pretty much did in the goose. In spite of their size (this was a 12 pounder) geese don’t have much meat on them. We ended the meal with one of Trouta’s delicious marble pound cake, a tradition for Doreen’s birthday. We made some fudge sauce and had ice cream as well.
But more than that, it is Doreen’s birthday! She had the good fortune to be born on Christmas day, and so the world celebrates with her.
I cooked another goose this year (I am trying to remember exactly how many geese I have cooked. The first one I cooked was back in the winter of 1980 - my first Christmas away from home on my own. My younger brother Matthew came down (I think he was 17 years old at the time) and I had invited a young student from Rice to join us as well. I had never cooked a goose before, but I use Graham Kerr’s recipe and it turned out great. Or at least that was my memory of that goose. That and the memory of the goose leg bone slowly being ground up in my garbage disposal. (Yes, I have always said that the garbage disposal (aka Fruit Grinder) was the most underutilized kitchen appliance. I have pt artichoke leaves (bad idea) corn husks (same) and any number of other organic matter down my garbage disposals in my lifetime. I have pretty much stopped that, as it causes all sorts of harm to the plumbing. Now, if given a choice, I throw kitchen waste into our neighbor’s back yard. But that is another story.)
I like cooking geese. Store bought geese, anyway. I have never cooked a wild goose. I am not sure if there would be a difference or not. The thing about geese is that there is a think layer of subcutaneous fat that you need to take care of is you want the meat to be juicy instead of greasy. In my younger days I did that by starting the goose in a very hot oven, pricking the skin and then turning the heat down to finish the bird at a lower temp. Now, thanks to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, I have a long and complicated routine I follow. Here is a sample:
For the goose, fill a large stock pot two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a rolling boil. Wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands, lower the goose neck end down into boiling water below. Submerge as much of the goose as possible until 'goose bumps' appear, about 1 minute. Repeat this process, tail end down first. Drain goose and dry thoroughly, inside and out, with paper towels. Set goose, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.
And it gets more complicated from there. This year I used an apple/prune stuffing – sometimes I use a couscous/dried fruit (apricot, current) stuffing. The apple/pear is more traditional. The couscous is more interesting.
In addition to the goose and stuffing (the crispy skin of the goose is one of the pleasures of the season, I can assure you of that) we have red cabbage (another Graham Kerr recipe that is modified by Doreen based on her German heritage), Mashed potatoes, cauliflower gratin (to die for – a pound of butter, a pound of cheese, cream, nutmeg and you just can’t eat enough of this), little green peas (for green color to go with the red cabbage) and gravy.
We had a total of six people eating dinner with us this year, and we pretty much did in the goose. In spite of their size (this was a 12 pounder) geese don’t have much meat on them. We ended the meal with one of Trouta’s delicious marble pound cake, a tradition for Doreen’s birthday. We made some fudge sauce and had ice cream as well.
We had visions of sugar plums in out head that
December 24, 2005
December 17, 2005
'Queen of the Mountain Bootleggers' dies at age 101
'Queen of the Mountain Bootleggers' dies at age 101: "'Queen of the Mountain Bootleggers' "
December 14, 2005
December 8, 2005
The Downside of Caller ID
About the only downside of Caller ID that I am aware of is that people now call back any number that they don’t recognize or that doesn’t leave a message. What a waste of time! I mean, if I dial a wrong number, I now feel compelled to say something like “Oh, sorry. I dialed this number by mistake? Or I will get the inevitable call back that goes like this:
“Hello? Did someone call me?”
“It was a wrong number”
“Oh. Why did you call?”
Click.
I mean, what do they think? They won the lottery or something? Why don’t they push this natural curiosity into something useful other than dial up numbers you don’t recognize on your stinking telephone!
Jeez. No wonder I hate people.
“Hello? Did someone call me?”
“It was a wrong number”
“Oh. Why did you call?”
Click.
I mean, what do they think? They won the lottery or something? Why don’t they push this natural curiosity into something useful other than dial up numbers you don’t recognize on your stinking telephone!
Jeez. No wonder I hate people.
December 6, 2005
Another interesting study
So my other favorite beverage is good for you also:
Study finds coffee reduces liver risk - Yahoo! News
Another cup of Joe, please!
Study finds coffee reduces liver risk - Yahoo! News
Another cup of Joe, please!
Interesting study
The question is one of cause and effect:
Moderate drinkers show lower obesity risk - Yahoo! News
But I like the results.
Moderate drinkers show lower obesity risk - Yahoo! News
But I like the results.
December 4, 2005
December 1, 2005
I don't FEEL that old
Doreen and I were recently in a small French restaurant in a cold climate. Being a cold climate, we had to wear coats. We had a great meal with some good wine, and were leaving the place to go out back out into the cold weather.
As we were leaving, the attractive young coat check girl looked up at me and asked how tall I was. I smiled and said that I was 6’6” or 2 meters tall. I said I was a perfect in metric – 2 meters and 100 kg. (ok, I know that 6’6” isn’t exactly 2 meters. But the story is better that way)
She lookup at me wistfully and sighed – Oh! Do you have a son I might be able to date?
That was a low blow.
As we were leaving, the attractive young coat check girl looked up at me and asked how tall I was. I smiled and said that I was 6’6” or 2 meters tall. I said I was a perfect in metric – 2 meters and 100 kg. (ok, I know that 6’6” isn’t exactly 2 meters. But the story is better that way)
She lookup at me wistfully and sighed – Oh! Do you have a son I might be able to date?
That was a low blow.
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