Take 95 North to Paradise

Whenever we or my in-laws down the street, Kelly and Drew have mutual friends in town for the weekend, Sunday usually concludes the visit with brunch somewheres before company leaves town. A recent weekend ended as such, with our friends (basically honorary brother and sister to all of us) John and Marisa sticking around for Richmond’s favorite late-morning meal before heading back home.

The venue was decided in the sunroom unbeknownst to me whilst I lay well hungover in the living room. Kitchen 64 (http://www.kitchen64.com/hen64.com/) was the all-but-unanimous choice. Having never been a fan of their brunch menu, I’d have voted for 7-11 taquitos over our destination, but he who nurses a headache shant receive a vote in this house. With head throbbing, stomach rumbling, mouth grumbling, and face scowling, I apprehensively left the confines of my uncomfortable, though un-opinionated couch to drive to a restaurant I didn’t want to patronize.

Upon arrival I sat and scanned the menu as I’d done several times before, hoping as I’d hoped before to find something palatable. Having for some reason resigned myself to thinking only the brunch menu was being served, I again came up blank, sighing loud enough to be noticed.

“You know they’re serving lunch right now too diva.” Jamie mentioned with just a hint of the kindest sarcasm.

I reopened the menu and turned to the sandwich page. There, at the bottom of the section, I accomplished something Bono never could. I found what I was looking for…the 95 North.

Much better than anything Mathew Modine could get for $10 a la Full Metal Jacket, this elegant work of art is a site to behold, then consume for a man of any degree of sobriety. However if Kitchen 64 was my restaurant, I’d market this sandwich as the most effective of hangover cures the world over. Lying open-faced in perfect symmetry, a soft, warm sub roll plays the part of a king sized mattress for the stack of fresh beef resting atop it. The meat is blanketed with melted cheddar cheese and cole slaw, while throw pillows played by, wait for it; french fries adorn the bedspread. These are in turn topped by a sprinkling of diced tomatoes.

A tear rolled down my cheek as the creation was placed in front of me. As delicious as it was beautiful, I tore into it with knife and fork as my divaness precluded me to, until I’d taken enough off the top for a manly “pick the damn thing up” photo-op. I swallowed every bit of the sandwich with a smattering of pride as a chaser, knowing now the wonders of Kitchen 64 and their exquisite 95 North.

Carl's Frozen Custard

On a monthly date with Krissy and Sara, Kelly and I met them for dinner in downtown Fredericksburg at Kybecca Wine Bar http://kybeccawinebar.com/.  It was a cute little place and the food was delicious however over priced for the portion size.  They offer a tapas style selection so we shared a couple of their small plates including, the Ravioli Frito in a Bison Marinara, hummus and sweet pepper plate, house marinated olives, lentil salad, fried green tomatoes & a spicy aioli (sriracha maybe?) and the 4 cheese platter. My favorite was the cheese platter, specifically the Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor chèvre, so good!  Oh and we shared a bottle, or 2 of La Playa Sauvignon Blanc also very good!  In my opinion the other plates were decent as well but forgettable.


We decided to forgo dessert at the wine bar and headed over to Carl's (not a hard decision AT ALL!!) for some frozen custard.  Not just any custard but some of THE BEST!!  Even PBS and the Food Network has featured it as such. It's just so simple and creamy and good....it was just as amazing as I remembered!!!


http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrid=16449

Thanks to my lovely ice cream model and friend Sara.

Flavors of the 4th

We really embraced the All-American cookout this weekend, I mean we did it all, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, watermelon, potato chips, chicken wings (do they count?  they were grilled?), beer, I'm sure there was more as Zach typically cooks for a small country but there were 2 especially festive treats that we featured for my second favorite holiday ever...scones and cupcakes, yes rather non-traditional but red, white and blue so they counted.

For our Independence Day brunch Zach made chocolate chip scones and blueberry/cranberry scones (amongst a smörgåsbord of other things), the later being much more festive as they are appropriately representing our nation's colors and therefore pictured below.

SCONES

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

2 C flour

1/2 C (stick) butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 C sugar (replace with brown sugar for chocolate chips)

2/3 C buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C chocolate chips, fruit, whatever

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Stir in the chocolate chunks (or chips). In a small measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla extract and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the dough comes together (add more buttermilk if necessary). Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little of the sugar.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 8 scones.

Revised recipe from: http://www.joyofbaking.com/SconesChocChip.html#ixzz0t7c6VRv8

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!  What birthday is complete without cupcakes? 

I have to give Marisa credit for this one, she suggested the red, white and blue cupcakes...all you do is get a white cake mix, divide it into 3 bowls and dye one red, the other blue and leave one plain, spoon one of each color in the cupcake liner and mix it up with a toothpick.

We topped it with a buttercream frosting.  I just used the recipe from the powdered sugar bag (below) and topped it with blueberries from the Forest Hill Farmer's Market we picked up that morning http://www.themarketumbrella.com/ and strawberries.

Buttercream Frosting

1 - (1 lb.) pkg. powdered sugar (approx. 3 3/4 cups)

1/2 cup - butter or margarine, softened

3 to 4 tablespoons – milk (I used whipping cream)

1 teaspoon - vanilla

Combine in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, confectioners' sugar, butter, milk and vanilla.

Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

Makes enough to fill and frost 2-layer cake, 13x9x2-inch sheet cake, or 24 cupcakes.

Best Summer Herb...Basil

Our friends Brendan and Krista gave us our own potted herb garden as a house warming gift...nothing beats fresh herbs in your cooking!!!  We were so excited about it and had committed ourselves to nurturing this garden paying particular attention to the basil in order to fully benefit from it in the kitchen. Now I've been successful in the past with growing basil but considering my recent run with gardening (epic fail) we weren't expecting much. BUT with a lot of watering and google gardening advice our little basil plant is doing very well.

So well that we've already been able to enjoy it.  With our first harvest I made an awesome caprese salad (caprese salad is so easy it's always awesome), so fresh, so delicious, perfect for the summer.  I just stacked tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella, drizzled some olive oil on top with some salt and pepper and done.  You can always add balsamic vinegar but I wasn't feeling it.

I hope I am not getting ahead of myself but this looks like it's going to be a good basil crop, enough so that if you have any recipes using lots of basil or recommendations for preserving it I'd love to hear from you!