In response to Read Write Poem's prompt #107, based on this wonderful photo by Shane Gorski:

Caps cracked on the hour,
hazing aerosol incense
scribes work silently.
People fade with dawn’s light.
Illuminations remain.

(The other responses to this prompt are eye-opening, as are the comments.)

Ingredients

• meat, here 3 lbs, 11oz of venison neck
• 2 onions
• garlic, lots
• a cup of marmalade (apricot seems best)
• 3 tablespoons or so of Dijon mustard
• 12 oz or so of beer, or perhaps half as much wine plus some water or dark stock

The ingredients are rough, because exact quantities don't matter much. This is roughly what Nathan used for this roast. Use a beef roast if Bambi's not available. Pork will cook a little differently, but the same basic method holds. Also, the alcohol can be replaced by enough dark chicken or beef stock. Alcohol helps disolve and spread flavors that aren't soluble in water.

Preparation

Dice the onion and dump it in a slow cooker. Smash the garlic and stick it in cracks in the meat. Cover the meat with mustard and place it in the slow cooker. Cover the meat with marmalade. Pour in the liquids. Turn the slow cooker to low. Go to work, etc. Come home. Eat. If you expect fewer than, say, five hours between cooking and eating, turn the cooker to high for the first hour.

Variations

You can sear and brown the roast first if you don't mind washing an extra pan. Orange marmalade seems a bit strong, but we think pairing it with a bit of ginger would work well.

Good sides

Roast vegetables and rice (or quinoa, etc.). Here the vegetables are sweet potato, parsnips, and beets. To roast most vegetables, peel them and chop them into roughly the same size pieces. Toss them in olive oil, salt, and whatever spices you want (pepper, thyme). Roast in the oven at 350°F to 400°F for around an hour, tossing them every once in a while if you want more even browning. They're done when you can easily stick a fork in them.

I'd suggest beginners avoid beets. They're not difficult, but they could be messy and hence discouraging. There is plenty of information on roasting beets on-line.

1/10/2010

4/5 stars

Good place even with my bad, bad timing. I've only had pizza here. And only during the depths of winter, so far, far away from season for any of the ingredients. The pizza didn't suffer appreciably. The basil's scent was undiminished on the margherita, for example. The garlic on the knots could have been stronger, but I expect most people already would consider it spicy. The pizza's roughly a similar style to Antico (Neapolitan), but the two places don't compare directly. The ingredients, atmosphere, etc. are quite different. Quattro's pizza is quite good and stands on its own. I haven't tried the other dishes.

Our first trip, the service was fair. It was an off hour, and the coupon probably set up an expectation of being stiffed on the tip… The second trip saw astounding service from a different server. I had to use an expiring coupon meant for two people, so I ordered far, far too much. The waitress offered to delay one of the pizzas so I could take it home warm! I ended up eating both at once (*half* of both, ok, not the whole things) simply because I was impatient to taste them, but the offer was a great surprise.

Inside is a tad cramped. Somehow the servers move with ease. I stepped carefully. Outside looked great but was empty because of the below-freezing temperatures… I'm looking forward to visiting in the spring. Sad they don't have draft beer, but that's a minor point.

Yelp tags: Pizza

1/10/2010

4/5 stars

This certainly is a boutique with high prices, but that's part of the marketing. They're not targeting people who build their own raised beds or visit (real) farmer's markets regularly. They are, however, providing information and *stylish* options for people on the upper income scale to work good food into their landscaping options.

Towards that end, they have some very nicely constructed raised beds. The beds are bolted together from quality wood with a nicely shaped lip. These are beds that would fit right into a magazine gardenscape. They also have a small, focused variety of soils and natural fertilizers and even sell starter kits combining beds, seeds, tools, and soils.

More importantly (imho), they have compost items. Again, most of these are not meant for DIYers but for people who would rather spend money than time. If you want to get started with composting easily, they have bins that save turning effort, worm bins for vermiposting, some odd "automatic composter" for inside that kinda scares me, chickens (and a stylish mobile coop) for that style of composting, etc. The variety can help people remove artificial fertilizers from their landscaping regimen regardless of what's grown.

(I do wish there were an inexpensive worm bin program around here akin to the ones around the SF bay area. Vermiposting is a great option for apartment gardeners… And if you like to fish, you're raising excellent bait.)

While I rather doubt we'll be shopping here too often (we're more the DIY/cheap/seed saver types), the information they share seems good. I haven't attended any of their workshops, but definitely will be keeping track of what's offered. The folks at Farmer D (including Farmer D) were friendly and talkative. It'll be interesting to see how they grow.

Yelp tags: Local Flavor Food

1/16/2010

5/5 stars

I should be asleep. For some crazy reason, I keep twitching, bouncing, groaning, and otherwise not sleeping. I think it's the sugar. Possibly.

The event was great and pulled me in more than I expected. I'm not exactly a loud party person and have been a bit absurdly tense lately, but the venue & vibe allowed me to relax a bit. And the fabulous people, even if I pulled the "say hi then run off to find a potted plant" routine.

So yeah, Kathleen rocked it again!

Yelp tags: Local Flavor

1/17/2010

2/5 stars

ObPreface: I've only had the thin crust and never had delivery. There's not much to say about it. If this were a tiny pizza joint in the middle of nowhere, it'd be average. Ingredients have that frozen feel. I have nothing but good comments about the staff, however, always friendly.

If you need a pizza fix, you definitely could do worse. If you want to eat good pizza, you can do better. At least it isn't Poopy Johns.

Yelp tags: Pizza

1/18/2010

5/5 stars

Full disclosure: I *did* pay for my ticket, and I received more than my money's worth. I would never have known this was TBS's first event. The whole experience was very smooth and professional. This was a great way to sample many of Atlanta's bakeries. I likely wouldn't have known of Noon's desserts or Black Tie BBQ's great food.

We ended up with so many take-home, high-quality sweets we asked the bakers for advice on freezing them. The bakers and chefs were incredibly helpful and talkative, showing great pride in their work.

Black Tie's chicken was smoked perfectly. They made a point of serving without sauce so nothing would be hidden. And their bok choi, well, wow. Le Fais Do Do has a nifty space for events. Love'n Cupcakes worked around the weather and started the afternoon tour off with a delicious sugar rush. Their red velvet cupcake is just what one should be. The tour of the new West Egg digs has all of us looking forward to the move. Bakeshop? Wow. The spread was incredible and very high-quality. A bakery willing to serve croissants to reviewers is stating they know their work. The croissants were quite good, probably the best I've had commercially in the US, and the take-home gift still is waiting for breakfast toasting. Noon Midtown provided a great sampler and a teaser for their upcoming dinner service. The spiked coffee was much appreciated, too. Little Cake Bakery's consideration was incredible. Rather than serving us *more* sweets to eat right away, they gifted us with four cupcakes each. And, as I said, also helped us with freezing tips.

My only bit of sadness was being on the Cacao-less tour (I'm a chocolatier in the fantasy world of my imagination). And no one's creating fancy sugar work, but Atlanta's humidity does rather limit sugar structures. Thanks to Cadillac for providing scarily complicated but smooth riding vehicles.

Yelp tags: Local Flavor

1/18/2010

4/5 stars

Finally tried Varasano's. I'm not sure if it was the time of day & week, but the staff was great. Our server was very friendly… Heck, everyone was very friendly. We had our choice of seats, and everything was delivered right away. They had run out of many beers, but that's not too surprising on a holiday weekend that has seen *many* places run out of supplies.

The fresh salumi pizza is fantastic. Olives provide a neat salty undertone. I often hate olives, but these were a perfect accent to the meat. Nana's pizza is good. Not jaw-dropping, but quite good. I didn't upgrade to mozzarella di bufala; that would make a huge difference.

Yelp tags: Pizza

1/20/2010

4/5 stars

Ok, I'm only reviewing the food aspect… Catering involves much, much more than just the food, so remember my focus.

I, too, sampled their cooking through the SugarComa lunch. You'll notice a bit of an echo chamber here. But there is one item worth emphasis: the chicken.

There's a saying that you can judge a chef by their roast chicken. I'll generalize a bit for Black Tie. The quality of roasted, grilled, or smoked chicken speaks volumes towards an attention to technique. It is very easy to pass off mediocre chicken. Spencer and Neil demonstrated their mastery (with the caveat that this is typical chicken[1]). The chicken was juicy and flavorful. The combination of brine, rub, and smoke was perfect, and they knew it. The chicken was served bare, without sauce. They were intent on showing off their skill. They were successful. I'm very curious about their pork.

Now add to the masterful chicken a delightful almond bok choi… They are clever using bok choi. It's in the cabbage family along with broccoli, kale, turnips, and cauliflower, but to my tastes it leans far towards the broccoli flavor with sauteed kale texture. Bok choi is not what a traditionalist would expect, but it serves as a great side to smoked and barbecued meats.

The salmon was quite good and tasted like salmon. I love salmon (Pacific (all of 'em) and Atlantic (well, not as much as Pacific)), so I'm glad the spice did not overwhelm the fish. And the salad also was quite good. The salad was very, um, California, in a good way.

So Black Tie took inspiration from both coasts and demonstrated flexibility and flavor to a sampling event. They chose their dishes very well. If they carry the same attention to detail over to catering gigs, I suspect Black Tie Barbecue will please.

[1] "Typical" in the sense that this is typical, farmed chicken . Chicken that can roam and eat bugs and grass has a different character, and many people raised thinking meat comes in styrofoam from the freezer section would object to atypical chicken. Also, it wouldn't be affordable…

Yelp tags: Barbeque Caterers

1/25/2010

4/5 stars

I've only had my knives sharpened by them once, but I'm not planning on going elsewhere. I dropped off a mix of Global, Shun, and no-name western knives at Cook's Warehouse in the morning. They were ready for pick-up that evening. The blades were smooth and seemed angled well. They're holding their edges well (with appropriate steel use). Reasonable prices, no hassles, and sharp knives.

Yelp tags:

Yes, I roast. It's not difficult for a single person. I enjoy variety even with the same bean and same target. I don't necessarily enjoy variability outside my control, but I cope. Commercial roasters suffer customers' demands; home roasters play.

Today I roasted the last of my Ethiopian wet process Kebado to a decent City+. The profile spent a bit too long below first crack thanks to the cold weather, but the total roast was a decent length of time. I use a hood to pump up the temperature in cold weather. My hood (a cardboard box) only works when I use it, and I wasn't terribly eager this morning. My IR thermometer is more a guide than a direct reading…

That's all just fine, though. I want to enjoy, not produce.

Ethiopian coffees often take a day or two to reach their full flavor for me. I won't know about the delicate notes until tomorrow. But the coffee already makes me think of rose gardens in spring. Floral is an understatement.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. That's one of the joys of home roasting. I can play with my drink as well as my food.

1/31/2010

3/5 stars

Now that's better. Live music, relaxed atmosphere, and strong drinks. It's always interesting the difference in strength even when you order straight whiskey… Here, well, you'll be enjoying a single glass for a long time. And you can enjoy the music and a conversation.

Ash-tray smokey, but that's expected in a jazz club. We scored some comfortable seating, but there isn't much. Varied crowd. Interesting place, and I'd like to come back sometime when the jazz is less, um, smooth.

Yelp tags: Lounges

1/31/2010

3/5 stars

Hm. What should someone who is far, far away from the target market use to review a place? It's a club. It's too loud to meet people and talk unless you stand outside the bathrooms. The drinks (even straight) were moderate strength, but that could be explained by the open bar when we arrived.

What rescued the venue for me (other than the company): Live music and live performance. I have no idea if these will be regular items, but non-dead entertainment is always a plus. The band was an interesting mash-up group. It's difficult to explain, but they were a good, energetic party band.

On to the performance… A woman walked into the electronica (talk about dead music) area in a nicely out-of-place outfit. The fact that she didn't fit in already was a bonus. Then she started climbing a sash in the middle of the room. After a bit of setting up, she launched into a great aerial burlesque performance. Highly, highly unexpected. If you're going to be too loud to meet new people, the unexpected remains a way to attract a crowd. As does burlesque.

If I were single, this club might be more interesting. Happily monogamous, I'll likely only return if a group of friends is going.

Yelp tags: Dance Clubs Lounges