Restaurant Review: Burlap

We tried North County's most talked-about new restaurant on Monday night--Burlap (sister to Seersucker, downtown San Diego), co-owned by celebrity chef Brian Malarkey. Though their grand opening is actually tonight, they have been in a "soft open" phase for the last couple weeks. Here are my thoughts: Decent food, decent service, but there are still a few kinks to work out...

Food: Chad ordered the Ribeye with Fois gras on top. Though the Fois gras was melt-in-your-mouth good, the steak was WAY overdone. He ordered rare, and what came out was more like medium-well. We sent the steak back...a few minutese later the server brought out the original peice of meat, cooked MORE. Our waiter immediately sent it back for us again, and the next steak that came out was not only MORE done than the first, but Chad had to seriously saw on it with his steak knife, and chew for a while before getting it down. He politely ate it, but mentioned to the waiter that it was still overdone.

The food delivery was ill-timed due to the fact that there are TWO different kitchens...one for small bites, and another for entrees. So if someone orders an entree, and another person orders a few different small bites AS an entree, each person's meal will come out at a different time. I ordered the spicy tuna and Korean ribs, and they arrived about 15-minutes after my husband's entree, and he was almost done when I started eating (or would have been had he not dealt with steak-drama).

Overall though, the food was pretty good--the spicy tuna was to die for; there was too much fat on the Korean ribs for my taste, but the sauce had a nice balance and zing. Dessert was A-MAZING...some kind of caramel cheesecake with peanuts sprinkled on top...I would go back just for that lovely treat. It was a nice blending of sweet and salty, without being to heavy or rich.

Service: Our awesome waiter did the right thing and not only gave us a free dessert, but he also didn't charge us for the $45 steak. He was very engaging, and took his job very seriously. There were a couple of tables that the staff seemed to swoon over, and co-owner chef Brian Malarkey personally delivered the entrees to those tables, so I'm assuming those were food critics or friends...?

Decor: Very vibey East-meets-the wild west...colorful Oriental masks and cowhide accents, which seems like a bizarre combo but it really works. The outdoor eating area features a Koi pond, cabana and a bamboo border to block the view of Del Mar Heights Blvd.

We'll definitely go back, but will most likely order something other than steak in the future. I'm very interested in the "pig roast" which apparently feeds 10-12 people and requires 72 hours notice!

A Moveable Feast...

How does a foodie move across the country?

I've started the arduous process of packing our house for a move from San Diego to Nashville. I've got boxes, bags and wrapping for every odd-shaped item we own, all to ensure safe and cushy transport in the back of a 26-foot truck. But what about all of my delicious foodie items I acquired here in lovely California? Unfortunately, The Container Store didn't have a "refrigerator packing set" among all their other fabulous goodies available to get you move-ready. Our fridge is pretty much a revolving door of produce, meats and dairy items that pass through on a weekly basis...no biggie there. But it's the various unique mustards, homemade salad dressings, a jar of mayo, mostly-full bottles of Worcestershire, soy, capers and green olives, tubes of wasabi and anchovy paste, five different kinds of hot sauce, etc., that are causing me concern. These are items we could "just buy" when we get to our destination, but really don't want to.

And then there's the freezer. It's a gold mine with two gorgeous pork tenderloins, several packs of chicken, Italian sausages, a cheesecake, bags and bags of frozen veggies, and endless jars of my homemade chicken and fish stocks (the real treasures)... So what's the best solution? Do we pack it all in a large chest filled with ice...or, is dry ice best? Or do we just go out with a bang, and eat like kings for the next three weeks? Hmm...dinner tonight may call for a soy and brown sugar-marinated pork tenderloin, with a little mustard sauce on the side. :) Let the brainstorming commence...there HAS to be a good solution.

To be continued...

Roast Chicken and Herb Risotto

One of my favorite ways to use Rosemary is in Risotto. And once you master the basics of great risotto, you can make a hundred variations based on the ingredients you have on-hand.

I used to stand at the stove, stirring for practically an hour to achieve the right texture. Little did I know, despite what most recipes will tell you, the actual rule of thumb with risotto is: once you've got all the ingredients added, cover it and leave it alone! But we'll get to that part in a minute...


Roast Chicken and Herb Risotto
2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
olive oil
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

3 Tbsp butter
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups chicken broth, heated
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs chopped fresh Rosemary
1 Tbs chopped fresh Parsley

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350. Rub the chicken breasts with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Place in a shallow dish and bake for 30-45 minutes, until done and juices run clear when cut. (Make the risotto while the chicken is cooking.) Remove from oven and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Pour chicken broth into a saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat. In a separate large saute pan (own with a lid) or a risotto pan, melt the butter over high heat and then add the rice. Saute over high heat for about a minute, stirring constantly, then turn down to medium-high and add the onion. Cook the onions and rice together, stirring constantly, until the onions are translucent--about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and wine, and cook, continuing to stir, until all liquid is absorbed. Add chicken broth to rice mixture, and stir to combine. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover, and turn heat down to Low. Cook for about 30 minutes--Do Not Stir! Check on the rice after 30-minutes and give a quick toss to make sure all liquid has been absorbed. If there is any liquid in the bottom of the pan cook another 5-10 minutes.

Stir Parmesan, salt and cracked pepper, chicken and herbs into the risotto; re-cover and cook for another 2 minutes over low heat. It should be tender and creamy.

Use this same formula for making almost any kind of risotto--simply exchange the herbs and chicken for other flavorings like saffron, sauteed mushrooms, roasted asparagus, shrimp, etc. Make it your own!

Still talking about Basil...

A few days ago I blogged about my herb garden--thankfully it's still thriving and beautiful, for now! However it sits, and hangs, just outside my kitchen window (which is almost always open) and occasionally I catch the faint scents of herbs mixed with ocean when the breeze passes through. It's a heavenly smell. And it inspires me to learn more about each herb and all of the varying uses of my little potted aromatics.

Today my focus is still on Basil -- a pretty basic necessity for most kitchens. If you're going to grow your own basil...(my mom has the greenest thumb ever, and taught me this) break the stalks off a few inches from the top when you see the small spike-flower clusters--they're a sign to the plant that it is time to stop producing a harvest, and it will become dormant if they are left on.

Otherwise, Basil is pretty low-maintenance. And what hostess wouldn't squeal with delight over receiving a potted Basil plant as a hostess gift? Do it yourself by cutting a 6-inch sprig from your own Basil plant, and removing the bottom layers of leaves. Place the stem in a long-neck bottle filled with water, and keep the water level high; the sprig will sprout roots within two weeks. Once you have some good roots growing, replant the sprig in a small pot, (or a cute, cleaned-out tin can, like I did here with my mint) with good potting soil. This makes a fun gift for your next dinner party with friends.

Basil is the main ingredient in the multi-use sauce, Pesto. Here's a pretty simple recipe I follow when making it from scratch.

Basic Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions: Place basil, pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice in food processor, and process until finely chopped. Then, with food processor running, slowly add olive oil, and salt and pepper, processing until smooth. Pour mixture into a bowl, and stir in Parmesan by hand, until well-blended. Serve. You can use an emulsion mixer or blender if you don't have a food processor.

Variations: Some people use walnuts instead of, or along with the pine nuts. You can also add some fresh mint or arugula. There really are a hundred ways to make your own Pesto--be as extravagant or simple as your available ingredients allow.

Ways to use Pesto: Of course we all know Pesto is delicious mixed into plain pasta noodles, but you can also add it to chopped tomatoes to make an easy Bruschetta topping; spread on a panini or other toasted sandwich; use in place of marinara sauce on pizza; add to a can of crushed tomatoes on the stove for instant pasta sauce; use as a marinade for chicken or fish, before grilling or roasting...endless. How do you use Pesto?


For those of you who LOVE Pesto (my bff Shanon), but may not want to go to the trouble of making your own from scratch every time you have a craving, check out Basiltops. I discovered this delightful specialty foods company at the local Solana Beach Farmers Market a few weeks ago, adn went home with their "Pesto Perfecto" after a taste-test. All I can say is mmmmmm. Their all-natural, artisan basil sauces and Pestos are grown and produced locally in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and sold in specialty stores in SoCal. The good news for all of you who DON'T live in this part of the country is that their also available online. Basiltops has over 20 variations, including several vegan options. Their product is vaccum sealed in these cute little bag-thingies (left), and can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 months.


Another fun way to use Basil is in making your own herb-infused water. Lemon-Basil water is not only refreshing--with just a hint of tang and sweetness--it takes 5 minutes to make. Just add a handfull of freshly picked and washed Basil, and a thinly sliced lemon to a pitcher of cold water, and refrigerate. Basil-Cucumber is another crisp combination, and fresh Mint is always a good idea when infusing water or iced tea with a little extra flavor; or you can try Lavender, etc. With little effort, and endless possible flavor combinations, impressing your guests is a little easier when you add a lovely pitcher of designer H2O to your tablescape.

Now, let's move on to my next herb-love, and one of my favorite names actually, Rosemary...

Two ways with bruschetta, and a recipe I borrowed from the Ivy

One of my great loves since moving to southern California are the beautiful and delicious heirloom tomatoes, available in all colors, year-round. There’s a farm nearby called Chino Farm that has an incredible vegetable stand featuring every color of heirloom tomato, and an inspiring selection of produce rarities. And nothing goes better with tomatoes than fresh basil...there are a million ways to pair them.

I like to use a simple mixture of a few (3-4 depending on size, about 2 cups) chopped heirloom tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, 2 Tbsp olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper, as a base for some of my favorite, and simplest dishes.

Bruschetta

Tomato/basil mixture (above)

4 pieces Ciabatta bread, thickly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, whole

Directions: Melt butter in olive oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Rub each piece of bread with the garlic clove on each side. When butter is melted and bubbly, add bread pieces to pan, and cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and toasted. Top with Tomato mixture and serve warm.

Try this creamy variation as well...

Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Tomato/Basil mixture

Sliced Baguette, 1-inch thick slices

Herbed Goat Cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet, put one tsp of store-bought goat cheese (with herbs) on each slice. Bake for 10 minutes or until bread is slightly toasted and cheese is spreadable; remove from oven. Using a knife, spread cheese out across bread pieces, and top with a spoonful of Tomato mixture.

Tomato Basil Rotini

I paid way too much for a meal just like this at LA's the Ivy a couple years ago; loved it, and have been making it as one of my staples ever since. Toss a carton of Bocconcini Mozzarella (bite-sized mozzarella) into your tomato/basil mixture, and pour the combination over fresh-cooked and strained whole-wheat Rotini noodles; mix it all up and add more salt and pepper to taste. The heat from the noodles will slowly melt the cheese, and you'll have a light, fresh take on a pasta dinner. This also works the next day as a refrigerated pasta salad.

The Birthday Herb Garden

I spent my birthday this week buying and potting herbs. I tried to grow a garden when we moved here last fall, but the soil is just weird. Well, it's basically just sand. And as excited as I was to live in southern California where produce can grow year-round, I managed to kill $300 worth of vegetable and herb plants within a couple of months.

As a dutiful gardener, I fertilized and mulched...I saved all my coffee grounds and collected other organic material to mix into the soil each week; I watered using a drip hose...did all the things that would have produced an abundant harvest back in Tennessee. But with all that effort, I got one dwarfed green bell pepper, a couple of grape tomatoes hanging on a yellowed stalk...and a green onion. My dog Sedona ate the squash plants and napped in the parsley. The basil died while we were away for Christmas, the rosemary never had a chance, and I might have a fledgling thyme sprig out there somewhere. My cilantro actually thrived, but took over most of the plants around it. Overall, it was a disaster. Successful gardening here has it's own set of rules, and I do not know them.

Not to be defeated--because I refuse to buy them from the store when they're so "easy" to grow--and because it was my birthday, and because it makes me happy to play with herbs, I loaded up at Armstrong Garden Center, and proceeded home to make a potted garden. Take that, crappy California soil.

This was much more fun than I'd anticipated. I used some pretty tomato cans I'd been saving, to pot the chives and mint. Just drilled a couple holes in the bottom of each, and used leftover lids from sour cream cartons as a base--they really brighten up my kitchen!




All the other herbs sit outside my kitchen door where there's ample afternoon sun. I even dangled a few of these guys from the balcony above using twine and galvanized pails. So far I believe the inventory consists of basil, thyme, rosemary, flat-leaf parsley, fennel, chives, oregano, sage, mint, and marjoram. And I threw in a few tomato plants in large pots for good measure. I have great memories of house-sitting for my parents back in TN and harvesting their little garden for them while they were gone...there's nothing like picking fresh tomatoes and basil, grown right on your patio, and mixing up some homemade pasta sauce.


I'm inspired by the herbs right now so I think I'll focus on them the next few days...starting with my favorite, Basil. What are your favorites?

To be continued...

Last day of Pot Roast Leftovers! Oven Baked Roast Beef Sandwich, with Horseradish Mayo

We've gone four days now, using leftovers from one original pot roast (cooked on Sunday morning), and have had lots of practice fancying them up along the way. This has been a huge money-saver, though I can't say I'm sad to be moving on to more interesting topics after today... What I can say is that I'm confident we are ending this pot roast adventure on a very, very high note!

This sandwich has to be in my Top 5 for favorite sandwich flavor combinations. We all know that beef + horseradish = a happy mouth, and the person who invented that pairing should be given a Nobel Prize. But the added basil and grilled veggies in this roast beef sandwich infuses it with just enough sweetness to round out the rich, salty flavors of beef and mayo. I can't wait for my husband to try this; I think he loves grilled onions & peppers more than anything else in the world (except me, of course).

Oven Baked Roast Beef Sandwich, with Horseradish Mayo
(per sandwich)
2 slices ciabatta bread
2 slices roast beef
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 sliced small onion
1 sliced red pepper
cracked pepper
sea salt
1 slice provolone cheese (or shredded mix of provolone, mozzarella, Parmesan)
Basil leaves
Horseradish Mayo (or, Aioli, for you sophisticated types), recipe follows

Directions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Saute onions and peppers in olive oil and butter over medium heat, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Add both bread slices to pan and cook 1 minute on each side, then set aside. You can add your roast beef to the pan too, just for a minute or so, to heat it up if it's been in the fridge. When onions and peppers are soft, and beef is warm, remove from heat and begin to build the sandwich. Spread each piece of bread with the mayo, then layer beef, onions & peppers, basil, cheese, then top with remaining piece of bread. Wrap with aluminum foil, and place in the oven, directly on the rack. Cook 10-12 minutes, just enough for cheese to melt.

Horseradish Mayo
(makes about 1/3 cup)
2 Tbsp Mayo
1 Tbsp plain yogurt
1 tsp prepared horseradish
1/3 tsp cracked pepper

Directions: Mix all ingredients well!

This would also be fantastic prepared as a Panini, if you have a Panini press.

AND, we're done with beef for a while...now, on to bigger and better things! Someone pass the pasta!