Taco Casserole

This was a quicky, throw-together meal. We had all had a late lunch, and by dinner time I wanted something easy. This combo is one of my favorites: spicy, beans, cheese, veggies, viola. I'm not sure how everyone else felt about it, but I enjoyed it. And ate most of it.

Corn tortillas layerd with a mix of sauteed onion, black beans, corn, spinach and chipotle, topped with salsa, cheese and some black olives.

"Luck" of the Irish

A ventriloquist is telling Irish jokes in Davy Byrne's pub in Grafton Street, Dublin, when, O'Leary, an irate Irishman stands up shouting, 'You're making out we're all dumb and stupid. I oughtta punch you in the nose.'
'I'm sorry sir, I...........'
'Not you,' says O'Leary, 'I'm talking to that little fella on your knee.'


Brace yourself. I hate St. Patrick’s Day. As a near-vegetarian and an atheist, a day whose highlights are church and beef really does nothing for me. Not to mention the years of “Erin go Bra-less” taunts from classmates (and an unkind family member or two).


Somehow the corned beef became my responsibility this year. After some googling around (the Irish don't really eat Corned Beef and Cabbage!), I decided to go the way of the crock pot.


I was a bit worried about following a new recipe and ruining the holiday for everyone, but I think it turned out pretty well.

This was surprisingly simple to make.

Guinness Corned Beef: Open corned beef package and try not to vomit. This may actually be the most unappetizing food product out there. It looks like some hybrid tongue/liver/brain. Shudder. Rinse it well and trim off the obvious fat. Shudder.

Add brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup, don’t tell my Father) to the crock pot, and 1 bottle of Guinness. Place the roast in the pot, add the season packet and another bottle of Guinness, and then enough water to completely cover the meat.

I cooked it on high for 8 hours and voila. Served with the predictable boiled potatoes and carrots and sauteed cabbage.


Not too bad for my first go-round.

TGIF

Now, don't get me wrong. I love going to new restaurants, and I adore the food of those fancy-pants celebrity chef's. But, I am no food snob. Besides, who can actually afford to eat like a foodie all the time?


I can totally get down on a ballpark hotdog or Subway sandwich (with extra jalapenos of course).


That being said, our most recent date night was to....


TGI Fridays


Now, the first thing to love about Fridays is the bar.

And you can't go wrong with Potstickers.

Yes, yes, it's pork, but it's "pork", not pork. It's like an eggroll. It doesn't count.



Finally, we both tried something new off their "tapatizer" menu (seriously).



I had the Mediterranean skewer

Tzatziki!

And Dan had the Japanese Hibachi skewer with steak.

It may not be gourmet, but it hit the spot.


And, I think we did okay, health-wise. Our "tapatizers" had to at least be better then:

and, now I want a burger.

DBGB

Ding Dong.

Dan and I scored preview tickets to see The Book of Mormon, the new Broadway musical by the South Park guys, and since it was a matinee, it gave us an excuse go out to eat. Yes, yes, we're supposed to be saving money, which is why we picked celebrity chef Daniel Boulud's low key bistro, DBGB Kitchen and Bar, rather than his 3-Micheline star restaurant Daniel (sigh, poor us).

I really have no business liking this place. Boulud is a world-famous French chef, and French food really isn't my thing. More importantly, this place is basically an homage to all the things I don't eat. My god, there is a “Tête aux Pieds” (Head to Feet) section of the menu featuring such lovely offerings as tongue, tripe and crispy pig feet. I am not this brave.

But, DBGB is known for having some of New York's best sausage and burgers. And, since I long ago lost my vegetarian street cred (I like to think of myself as a meat-avoider), why the hell not.

To start things off, you need to know that this place has a killer beer menu . Seriously, this thing has a table of contents.

Dan started with a can of Siamese Twin Ale (Uncommon Brewers, CA) an organic ale with coriander, kaffir lime, lemongrass, and other thai spices.

and I started--and to be honest, finished with, this bitch was strong--the Warlord Imperial IPA (McNeill's Brewery, VT) a beast of an IPA, with caramel and slight notes of apricot.

DBGB has it's own beer "Sommelier", someone who opens and tastes each beer to make sure it is up to standards. Dan says this makes the place classy, I say it's no different than the beer tax I've been taking off my Dad's beers since I've been 13.


For dinner, we started with the Thai Sausage (pork, lemongrass and red curry links, served with green papaya, basil fried rice, chili sauce, and a quail egg).

Winning.


Then I had "Jims Matzoh Ball Soup"

This was my first Matzoh Ball Soup, so I can't really say how authentic it was, but it was pretty damn tasty.


I think Dan regretted not ordering the Fusilli with Octopus and Marrow at Marea, so he had to show me up by ordering the Beef Bone Marrow.

Yes, that is a bone (horf), served with katz's pastrami, watercress, pickled mustard seed and rye bread toast. I'm waiting on Dan to review this dish, because to me it tasted like beefy butter, and not exactly in a good way, but he swears it was fantastic.



We each ordered a burger, and went halfsies. Dan had the Frenchie (6 oz beef patty with confit pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote & morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun with cornichon, mustard & fries), which I found a bit salty,

and I had the Piggy (6 oz beef patty topped with housemade pulled pork, jalapeño mayonnaise & boston lettuce on a cheddar bun with mustard-vinegar slaw & fries)

which may have been the best burger I've ever eaten.

And, finally dessert.

I'm not really the biggest dessert fan, but after such a heavy, meaty meal, who can resist a Meyer Lemon-Poppy ice cream sunday?

(mascarpone & poppy ice cream, lemon cake bites, pomegranate jelly, candied meyer lemon peels).

Um, the cake bites, jelly and candied lemon peel were devine, but something else in there kinda tasted like feet (not that that stopped us from finishing it).


I really enjoyed DBGB. The restaurant itself is dark and loud and casual, but the food is very high quality. It is a tad spendy for burgers and beer, but totally worth it.

I've been sick

and too busy spreading my germs around (sorry) to post.

The week of Progresso soup and cheesey puffs didn't seem especially blog-worthy, but luckily I found an extra post I left floating around, and now am craving homemade soup.

This was lentil soup (with spinach and kielbasa) made in the crock pot, and served with the coolest friggen thing ever, beer bread!

(Max is totally trying to snake the beer bread)


Beer Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 3/4 tsp baking powder
3 pinches salt
(Of course the above could be replaced with 3 cups of self rising flour, if you happen to have it)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (12-ounce) bottle any beer (the darker the beer, the darker the bread)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and coat a 9x5-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add beer and stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.


I have a real post coming up, a good one, I promise!