• Goat Cheese Tomato Baslsamic Crostini
• Mom’s NY Style Cheesecake
• Blackberry Custard Pie
• Traditional Adobo (Pork in Vinegar and Soy Sauce) w/ Yellow Rice and Black Beans
• Mom’s Potato Salad
• Orzo Salad with Spinach and Feta
• Turkish Kisir and Roasted Eggplant Salad
• Rory’s Ribs

The pears were drizzled with Lavender Honey from Mockingbird Meadows. You can buy it at her stand at the Worthington Farmers Market.

The cheeses that were on the cheese plate were Rogue River Blue, Cypress Grove Purple Haze, Brie with Rohini’s Medium Hot Cranberry Chutney, Rembrandt (Aged Gouda), and Port Salut. You can get Rogue River Blue at Curds and Whey at the North Market, and the Cypress Grove can be found practically anywhere (it’s on sale right now for $5.99 at the Whole Foods on Lane Ave). Brie and Port Salut can be found in any supermarket. The only place I’ve been able to find the Rembrandt locally is Giant Eagle. Rohini’s Chutney can be purchased on Saturday at the Worthington Farmers Market or Wednesdays at the Westerville Farmer’s Market.

I haven’t blogged about the fruit dip yet, but it’s a simple recipe - 1 box of Jello Vanilla Pudding mix to 1 small container of Cool Whip to 1 pint of sour cream. Mix it all together and chill overnight. I made my version low-fat/low-sugar by using light sour cream, Cool Whip Lite, and No Sugar Added Vanilla pudding.  The little yellow orbs that were on the fruit plate next to the grapes were ground cherries. I got them this past weekend at the North Market farmers market at the Wayward Seed Farms stand. The grape variety was Canadice, also available at the North Market Farmers Market at the Orchard of Bill and Vicky Thomas. The yellow fleshed watermelon is from Wish Well Farms (also North Market Farmers Market).

The variety of wine I poured was Piemonte Moscato 2005 and/or 2007. It’s currently my favorite wine. It’s available for $9.99/bottle at Grapes of Mirth in the North Market.

I hope this has answered any questions you all had about what was served. If you have any more, don’t hesitate to ask. I had a wonderful time, thank you everyone who came and brought something for making the party a success! (Anne, could I please have your yogurt cheese recipe? It was wonderful!)

The secret to making Philly steaks at home (you know, in Philly they just call them “cheesesteaks” because the Philly part is assumed) is having the right kind of meat, usually very thinly sliced top round. You can pay $4+ a pound at the butcher, or do like we do and go to the Mexican supermarket and get it for $2.49/lb. (for locals, we get ours at La Plaza Tapatia right behind Westland Mall). Slice up a bunch of onion (the more the better), and put a bit of oil in a pan and throw the onion in. When the onion is starting to soften, add the steak and cook until browned. Add plenty of salt and pepper and whatever other kinds of seasonings float your boat. Serve on a sub roll with whatever toppings you want (I like cheese, tomatoes, mayo and ketchup myself). If you want to shake it up a bit, there are several variations, like the pizza sub - use Italian seasonings while frying it up, mozzarella cheese, and pizza sauce. You can also add green peppers and/or mushrooms to the onion mix if that’s your thing. The possibilities are endless.

Now, there are some who say that a Philly steak isn’t authentic if it’s not an Amoroso’s roll. While I subscribe to that theory as well, they don’t sell Amoroso rolls around here so I use the super sub buns from Meijer. Not even close, but works in a pinch. Just wanted to mention that if you’re in the Delaware Valley area, look for Amoroso’s rolls if you can get them.

The weather has turned hot again. I was so enjoying the mild summer, even if my garden wasn’t. Hopefully the weather will hold out for tomorrow. One of the things I got this morning were some of those Canadice grapes from The Orchard of Bill and Vicky Thomas to go on the cheese board I’m putting together. Should be yummy.

One of the things that Alana was passing out the other night as an amuse bouche were ground cherries, right out of hand. We enjoyed these so much that we picked up a pint of them today from Wayward Seed Farms. I’m still not sure if I’m going to keep them all for myself or pass them around myself tomorrow. Should I share?

Heirloom tomatoes are everywhere and as much as I enjoy them, I prefer the cherry/grape varieties.

Also pretty much to be found everywhere was eggplant. Even though I stopped to admire these grafitti eggplant, I ended up getting a basket with 4 large eggplant in it for $2 instead.

And Mrs. Rhoads had beautiful golden raspberries, but I passed as I wouldn’t have been able to use them in the next couple of days, and it would have been a shame to let these gorgeous berries go to waste.

And at Wishwell Farms (I believe), I picked up a couple of these lilac peppers. They taste unusual - not sweet at all for some reason.

We didn’t get out of the North Market until 8:45, and really didn’t find much else at Worthington, unfortunately. At least not much stuff that I hadn’t already bought at the North Market. So no pics, as it was too crowded to really take any.

Ditto with Clintonville - we got there after 9:30, and there was a line 40-deep for peaches (needless to say, they ran out quickly), and navigating it was near impossible. After picking up my eggs (they were out of CNG by the time I got there, and only had cage-free left), and some yummy foccacia, I got out of there quickly.

I love the markets, but hate the crowds. Are there any secret gem markets that you all know about that has the same kind of selection, without the aggravation? And how was your trip to the market this morning? What did you get, and what’s on the menu for you?

We wanted someplace a little more “fancy” than normal, as Paul wanted to take me out to celebrate my birthday, but not someplace so fancy that we would feel the need to dress to the nines. In other words, we wanted good food in an unpretentious atmosphere, and from what I remembered from my experience in April, Alana’s fit the bill. We made reservations last week, early enough so that we could be seated on the patio.

I was feeling in the mood for a cocktail, so I ordered a Watermelon Lemonade w/ Vodka ($9) - a bit pricey, but very refreshing and went down smoothly because of the top shelf Grey Goose.

While we were waiting for that evening’s menu to be printed, we decided to split a cheese plate ($15), which included three different cheeses - a Cypress Grove Purple Haze goat cheese, which was incredibly creamy and tangy with just a bit of sweetness; a nice aged gouda, and my personal favorite, a marbled, brandy-washed and cured with grape must Rossini, which I plan on picking up at Curds and Whey at the earliest opportunity. Lovely selection of cheese, and all three complimented and contrasted with each other at the same time.

While we were waiting for our starters, our server brought out a basket of bread and some garlic and rosemary infused olive oil. I especially enjoyed the honey wheat bread, which was soft and hearty and sweet all at the same time.

Paul and I shared a couple of starters. Our first was probably the best risotto I’ve ever had, a Creamy Petit Herb and Goat Cheese Risotto ($8) with Brandywine tomatoes that made this dish stand out. Perfectly cooked, extremely filling, and it almost made me wish I had gone with the risotto as my entree rather than the lamb.

The other starter, Fried Green Tomatoes with Queso Fresco, Chorizo and Corn Vinaigrette ($8) was a celebration of all things seasonal right now - the spicy chorizo, crisp sweet corn, and slight vinegar tang of the vinaigrette offset the fried outer surface of the tomato nicely.

Paul ordered a bowl of Hot Yellow Jubilee Tomato Soup with Smoked Chicken, Queso Fresco and Tortilla Chips ($7), which I tried. This was my least favorite of the dishes. While it was a very credible chicken tortilla soup, the mildness and sweetness of the tomatoes got obliterated by the spice - it was good but didn’t stand out as any different from normal tortilla soup - certainly not enough to justify the high price for a smallish bowl. I guess we just expected something a little more…tomatoey.

For my entree, I chose the Peppercorn Smitten Rack of Lamb with Wilted Spinach, Roasted Baby Redskin Potatoes and Blackberry Demi-Glace ($22). While it was cooked well, and it tasted as it should, neither the portion size nor the dish itself knocked my socks off, as I had hoped it would. There had originally been a typo on the menu (it said $32 instead of the $22 it really was) - if the price had been the former rather than the latter, I would have felt a bit ripped off. At $22, however, it stung a lot less. I tend to eat protein heavy, and a rack of lamb consists of about 4 bites, tops. I was still a bit hungry after eating my main, unfortunately.

So I started digging into Paul’s, as he was finishing off the potatoes on my plate. He went with the Capellini with Crushed Tomatoes and Lump Crab ($20), which was perfectly cooked angel hair in a nice tomato broth - the menu indicated that the broth was truffled, but if it was, it was so subtle that I didn’t detect it at all. The angel hair was topped by nice chunks of lump crab meat, which we both enjoyed greatly.

For dessert, we shared one - he says it’s a Violet Orange Creme Brulee, I say it’s a Lavender Orange Creme Brulee ($8), which was so rich and creamy that it was almost ganache-like in texture. The flavorings were subtle, and worked very well in this particular dessert. It was paired with some of Jeni’s Strawberry Buttermilk ice cream, which was absolutely delicious.

While our budget couldn’t endure regular trips to Alana’s, it’s a nice place to go for a special occassion. Her attention to detail, and use of seasonal local ingredients is to be commended. Her strong area is appetizers, which we loved everything about. Overall, we enjoyed our experience, and eating on her beautiful patio which is one of my favorites in this city. We’ll certainly return again, at least once a season, to see what she’s doing next. Next time around, we’ll even consider opting for the degustation menu.

If you’d like to go: Alana’s Food and Wine, 2333 N. High Street, Columbus, OH, 614.294.6783

Wow, summer really is winding down now, isn’t it? Sadly, next week is the last week of One Local Summer, which seems to be over as quickly as it began. Is it just me or did summer just fly by? Why does winter seem to drag on, while summer is “blink and you’ll miss it”?

For this week’s edition of One Local Summer, I made a recipe that I’ve done previously, this time making it with as many local ingredients as possible. Making moussaka in late August/early September is starting to become something of a tradition around here. I was tempted to try a new recipe, but this one is just so good that I don’t even want to look for another. The kalamata olives in the sauce is what makes it special. You can find the recipe here. I kind of screwed up and made the non-modified version, but it still came out tasting pretty good, just way too meaty.

Local Ingredients:
Ground Lamb from Cota Farms (Cardington, OH), bought at Clintonville Farmers Market
Eggplant from Wish Well Farms (Bellfontaine, OH), bought at North Market Farmers Market
Potatoes and Onions from Pop & Judy’s Patch, bought at Worthington Farmer’s Market
Garlic from Little Wild Micro Farm (Westerville, OH), bought at Clintonville Farmers Market
Oregano and Basil from my backyard
Walnut Creek Butter (Ohio-based)
Snowville Creamery milk, bought at Clintonville Farmers Market
Eggs from 2 Silos (Mt. Gilead, OH), bought at Clintonville Farmers Market

Now I just need to start sourcing more Ohio staple items, and I’ll be set…

Italian Cream Cake
recipe courtesy Southern Living Magazine
serves 12

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flaked coconut

Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup chopped pecan, toasted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.
Add vanilla; beat until blended.

Combine flour and soda; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in coconut.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round baking cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool on wire racks. Spread Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium speed with and electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until smooth; stir in pecans.

He stole my picture of the rum cake I made last year, from this post. And the funny thing? After I made a comment about the pic on Haalo’s entry, my pic disappeared off of his site (without even a “by your leave” or apology - it’s OK since I hate insincere apologies anyway, and since he’s a serial content thief). Too bad for him that I took a screen shot of the offending entry on his site before posting the comment:

While I would expect this kind of nonsense from your run of the mill Google Ad spammer, I hate to say that I expected more from someone who is supposedly a Kansas City institution, and who obviously has more training than I do. You have an entire restaurant and staff at your disposal, ingredients to make your own awesome dishes, and you resort to stealing a recipe for rum cake that uses a boxed cake mix? Really?

With so much to lose (a restaurant, work w/ the media (a radio show, regular media coverage), I wonder about his motivations - is ganking a bunch of pictures from food bloggers really worth if it costs you your reputation, that you’ve obviously put a lot of work into building? I guess the one thing Jasper doesn’t realize is that us bloggers communicate virally - and in an industry where your business is affected by public perception, do you really want to earn a reputation as a talentless hack who can’t generate their own content? I didn’t think so.

So, to be honest, I’m more confused than pissed. And just wanted to give a heads up to any of you other food bloggers to check his archives and see if any of your pics have been ganked as well. I never thought mine would be, let alone be among the most excellent (and professional looking) ones he took from others.

PS - I guess fraud runs in the family, according to this document. Judging by the date, I can see the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree (looks like it’s dad, not Jr.) and he comes by his dishonesty honestly.

PPS - He’s made his blog “invite only” now - guess he wanted to get that baby offline before more examples of his photo theft came to light. Too bad there are cached pages floating around the internet, huh?

Another week, another edition of Bookmarked Recipes. This time around, a recipe for Beef Stroganoff I found on Simply Recipes. This is a good basic recipe - just needs some minor tweaking on seasoning to take it from good to great.

Traditional Beef Stroganoff
recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

6 Tbsp butter
1 pound of sandwich steaks (real ones, not pressed), cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips
1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder, to taste
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup of sour cream at room temperature

Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.

In the same pan, melt another 3 Tbsp of butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the tarragon on the mushrooms.

Reduce the heat to low and add the sour cream to the mushrooms. You may want to add a tablespoon or two of water to thin the sauce (or not). Mix in the sour cream thoroughly. Do not let it come to a simmer or boil or the sour cream will curdle. Stir in the beef and shallots. Add salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Serve immediately over egg noodles, fettucine, potatoes, or rice. (Potatoes, rice, and wheat-free pasta are wheat-free options.)

Serves 4.

I have got to say, I’m torn. The weather has been mild for the better part of the summer, and although it’s been perfect picnic weather, my garden (and local farms, too) have been suffering from poor growth this year. My poor tomatoes are just now starting to turn red. So produce has been a bit more pricey this year, but I’ve been able to eat my meals outside for the past couple of weeks. Like I said, I’m torn.

So I’ve been making a lot more picnic/cookout type dishes lately. This one is fashioned after the lovely salad of the same name at Hawa Russia, our local Russian restaurant. Great flavor, very unlike any other potato salad I’ve had. And the perfect thing to contribute to this month’s edition of Waiter, There’s Something in My…Picnic Recipes.

Salad Oliv’e
inspired by the dish at Hawa Russia

2 medium sized potatoes
1 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 medium sized cucumber, peeled
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 c. dill pickles
1 small ham steak
mayonnaise, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Boil potatoes in their skins, and when done (should still be slightly firm), allow to cool and peel skin off. Cut potato, cucumber, eggs, onion, pickles and ham into small cubes. Cut garlic very finely. Mix all together with peas and carrots, and then add mayonnaise to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So, not bad - I’ve tried most of the list, and am open to trying most of what I haven’t had. What about you?