Valentine's Round-Up

We're staying in for Valentine's Day, but for those of you who want to spend the evening out on the town, consider one of these restaurants for your romantical feast. Open Table links take you directly to the restaurant's page on that site.

The French Kitchen
@ the Lord Baltimore Hotel
20 W Baltimore St
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 539-8400

Enjoy a special V-day menu on the 12th and 13th as well as the 14th (or all three days!) For $55 pp, diners can enjoy three courses, including such tasty morsels as shrimp bisque with citrus creme fraiche and brioche croutons, lobster imperial, duck Chesapeake, and pot de creme au chocolate for two (pour deux). You can add a glass of wine for $10, two glasses for $15. Reserve your spot via Open Table.

The hotel is also offering a romance package they're calling "A Royal Affair, Truly!" for $179 per night (Feb 12-15). It includes complimentary valet parking, champagne with keepsake flutes, and a $50 restaurant credit, as well as a room for two. Hotel reservations can be made online at www.lordbaltimorehotel.com.

B&O American Brasserie
@ the Kimpton Hotel
2 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201
(443) 692-6172

One can also have three delectable courses at the B&O. For $69 pp, choose from droolworthy dishes like oxtail agnolotti, Wagyu ribeye, and a pina colada sundae, flambeed tableside. $30 more will get you a wine pairing. Menu available from 2/12 - 2/14
Reservations via Open Table.

Prime Rib
@ Maryland Live! Casino
7002 Arundel Mills Circle #7777
Hanover, MD 21076

Their "Lover's Feast" includes an 8-oz Angus beef filet topped with blackened tuna, foie gras, and Beluga caviar, served with an 8-oz lobster tail. $150 pp, $250 per couple. Offered from 5:30pm - 10:30pm on Feb 14. Champagne (including Dom Perignon) and sparkling wines are half price. Reservations via Open Table.

Waterfront Kitchen
1417 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-864-0215

Executive chef Chris Amendola has created a three-course prix fixe menu for $65 pp, (wine pairing + $45) that includes winners like oysters on the half-shell with pickle mignonette (which we can attest to being very delicious), pan roasted rock fish (ditto), and decadent chocolate truffle cake. The special menu is available 2/12 - 2/14.
Reservations via Open Table.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

French Bread

Yeah, so my bread turned out a little wonky-looking. But it was otherwise successful, so I'm very happy!

As I've mentioned here before, I'm not big on bread baking. Not that I don't want to be a master baker (get your mind out of the gutter!), but I've had some bad luck in the past. The only bread that has come out successfully for me is the no knead stuff from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The recipes in that series of books is practically idiot-proof, and even my attempt at brioche came out spectacularly. But I don't necessarily want to wait for hours and hours or overnight to be able to make a loaf of bread. I want bread NOW.

Homemade bread isn't a NOW kind of proposition, but I did find a recipe that allowed me to produce a couple of loaves in less than two hours time. Because the bread was quick, it wasn't absolutely ideal - the crust wasn't hard and crunchy, but it did have some crispness. There were no air holes in the center, just fluffiness. But it wasn't tough and tasted pretty great with a smear of butter. And bone marrow. That's right - the whole reason I wanted the bread was to use as a base for a schmear of roasted bone marrow. Marrow and caramelized onions. Mmmm.

Easy French Bread

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water (100°-105°F)
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour

Place yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir in half the water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes until yeast bubbles. Add the remainder of the water, the salt, and 3 cups of flour. Turn on the mixer to low speed and beat until dough starts to come together, scraping down sides as needed. After 3 minutes, turn the speed up to medium and continue to beat dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 4 minutes more. If it seems too sticky, add some or all of the remaining flour. (I didn't need any of the extra flour.)

Remove dough from mixer bowl and form into a ball. Place in another bowl, dribble with a tiny bit of olive oil, and move the ball around in the oil to coat it. Cover bowl and allow dough to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and divide into two pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Roll up the dough, jelly-roll fashion, and pinch the seam closed. Place each on a parchment lined baking sheet dusted with a bit of flour or cornmeal. Cover dough and allow to rise an additional 30 minutes.

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 375°F. Place a second baking sheet on the center rack. Put a small baking pan off-center on the rack below it. After the second rising, remove cover and cut four diagonal slashes into the top of each loaf with a razor blade or very sharp knife. Slide the parchment from the baking sheet onto the hot sheet in the stove. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the small baking pan on the bottom rack to create steam.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when you thump on the bottoms. Or, take their temperature with an instant read thermometer - they should be done at 190°F.

Cool loaves on a wire rack.

Easy Bone Marrow with Caramelized Onions

1 large onion, diced
Olive oil
Salt
Butter
Marrow bones
Chopped parsley
Flaky sea salt

Cook the onion over medium heat in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once onion is softened, add a tablespoon or so of butter. Cook over medium low heat 30 minutes or so, until onions are very soft and brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place marrow bones on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove bones to a plate. Top with caramelized onions and a sprinkling of parsley. Serve on fresh bread with a pinch of sea salt on top.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Chocolate Lava Muffins

Back in the day, I was a big fan of Alton Brown's Good Eats, and watched it religiously regularly. And then I got tired of the schtick. I know! I'm probably angering a whole bunch of people by saying that, but hey - I get bored. (Yet I still watch CSI after umpty-nine years.) In any case, Mr Brown's legacy left me with at least two good recipes: his method for baby-back ribs has become my go-to; and I love his lava muffins.

Molten chocolate cake on a restaurant menu is often a sign there's no pastry chef in house. That, along with cheesecake, creme brulee, and key lime pie--they're all no brainers that even the most savory of chefs can throw together. And there's nothing wrong with any of them, of course, if they're made well. And all of them can be made fairly easily at home. The molten chocolate cake doesn't even take much time to make, and it uses ingredients that are probably already in every pantry: sugar, chocolate chips, eggs, and butter. And the portion controlled size makes for just the right hit of after-dinner chocolate.

Chocolate Lava Muffins (adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown)

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Butter, to coat muffin tin
Cocoa powder

Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds, remove from microwave and stir. If chocolate isn't sufficiently melted, heat it again for 15 seconds. Repeat if necessary until chocolate and butter and completely melted. Stir in the vanilla.

Combine sugar, flour, and salt. Blend into chocolate mixture. Add eggs one at a time, beating each until fully incorporated. Beat batter until creamy and light in color, about four minutes. Chill until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter six wells in a muffin tin. Dust with cocoa and shake out excess. Divide batter evenly among the wells. Bake for 10-11 minutes. The centers should still be quite moist.

Allow muffins to cool for a minute or two before unmolding. Loosen each with the blade of a knife run around the edges of the cake. Ease a tablespoon under each cake and gently lift out.

Serve with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Serves 6.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dining Out on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of the restaurant industry's biggest nights, and some notable local eateries are offering special menus.

Clementine's four-course Valentine's Day dinner is $50. I want to eat all of it, including the cauliflower and Gruyere bisque, smoked pork belly confit with spiked peanut sauce, and crispy potato-crusted halibut. Check out the menu here. Clementine is located at 5402 Harford Road in Hamilton. Call 410-444-1497 for reservations.

Cunningham's, the new Bagby Group restaurant in Towson, has a three-course Valentine's Day menu for $59 (wine pairings an additional $29). The special menu is here. A la carte items will also be available. Call the restaurant at 410-339-7730 to make a reservation. 1 Olympic Pl, Towson, MD 21204.

Fleet Street Kitchen is offering a $69 3-course seating from 5-7pm (menu here) and an $89 4-course second seating from 7:30 - 10:30pm (menu here). Fleet Street Kitchen is located in the old Bagby Furniture building at 1012 Fleet Street. Call 410-244-5830 for reservations.

Fork & Wrench is doing a four-course tasting menu for $60, excluding beverages, taxes, and gratuity. Selections include fricassee of escargot with a hazelnut flan, roast squab with Szechuan poached pears and chestnut gnocchi, foie gras wonton soup, and other tempting choices. The Fork and Wrench is located at 2322 Boston Street, Baltimore, MD 21224. Reservations can be made by calling 443-759-9360.

Waterfront Kitchen has a three-course menu priced at $69 ($99 with wine pairings). Menu items include roasted and stuffed marrow bones, cassoulet, and dark chocolate panna cotta. The whole menu can be viewed here. Reservations can be made by emailing info@waterfrontkitchen.com, visiting www.waterfrontkitchen.com or calling 443-681-5310. Waterfront Kitchen is located at 1417 Thames Street in Fells Point.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you eat something sweet today!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Fondue and Tarte Tatin

Once again, Mr Minx and I decided to avoid the crowds dining out on Valentines Day and cooked dinner at home. Earlier in the week I had received an e-mail from a cookware supply site that touted fondue pots and remembered that we had one at home that we had never used. I forwarded the e-mail to my hubby, "How about cheese fondue for Valentine's day?" Sounded good to him. And for dessert, he wanted something tart-like, in a crust. "We have lots of apples in the crisper," he added, to entice me. I had been wanting to try making tarte tatin for a while, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

First, the fondue. Rather than buying a whole bottle of kirsch just to use a couple of spoonsful in the traditional cheese fondue recipe, we used beer instead - about half a cup of Leinenkugel Fireside Nut Brown. The beer was brought to a boil and then several handsful of a combo of grated Emmental and Jarlsberg cheese was added (about 2/3 lb) which had first been tossed with about a tablespoon of cornstarch. The fondue pot we received several years back went unused - it needed fuel which we did not have and did not care to purchase at the moment. I did, however, have a mini crockpot, which worked just fine to keep the cheesy goodness warm.

For dippers, we used chunks of pumpernickel bread, baked potato wedges, chunks of salami, and poached shrimp. Spinach salad and cornichons added a nice bit of vinegary bite to balance the rich cheesiness.

As for dessert...the tart came out very well, except it was a bit juicy. I don't have a large cast iron skillet, so used our trusty oven-safe 9" non-stick. Because it's smaller, I used only 5 apples and most likely did not cut back enough on the amount of sugar. I probably could have crammed another apple in the pan though, since they shrunk quite a bit after they spent some time in the oven. Next time.... Tasted great though! And apart from peeling and quartering the apples, not really any effort at all.

Tarte Tatin (from Epicurious.com, with my parenthetical comments)

frozen puff pastry sheet (from a 17 1/4-ounce package)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
7 to 9 Gala apples (3 to 4 pounds), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored

Special equipment: a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet (but a 9" oven-safe non-stick skillet works just fine)

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Roll pastry sheet into a 10 1/2-inch square on a floured work surface with a floured rolling pin. Brush off excess flour and cut out a 10-inch round with a sharp knife, using a plate as a guide. Transfer round to a baking sheet and chill. (I just used the whole sheet of pastry, uncut, tucking in the corners. It was perfect.)

Spread butter thickly on bottom and side of skillet and pour sugar evenly over bottom. Arrange as many apples as will fit vertically on sugar, packing them tightly in concentric circles. Apples will stick up above rim of skillet.

Cook apples over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until juices are deep golden and bubbling, 18 to 25 minutes. Don't worry if juices color unevenly.

Put skillet in middle of oven over a piece of foil to catch any drips. Bake 20 minutes (apples will settle slightly), then remove from oven and lay pastry round over apples.

Bake tart until pastry is browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer skillet to a rack and cool at least 10 minutes.

Just before serving, invert a platter with lip over skillet and, using potholders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert tart onto platter. Replace any apples that stick to skillet. (Don't worry if there are black spots; they won't affect the flavor of the tart.) Brush any excess caramel from skillet over apples. Serve immediately.