Saturday night out

I turn 44 on Sunday. That being a sucky night of the week to celebrate anything, Brett's taking me to dinner Saturday night. I was told to choose anywhere I like, so I did (not McDonalds) and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also noticing a number of odd connections. Join me for a rambling, mildly interesting and ultimately pointless story all centering on one intersection in town won't you?

We're having dinner at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange at 20th and Main. They're having their first Rieger Invitational, a four course dinner prepared by chefs from four different restaurants in KC, Lawrence, St. Louis and Chicago.

This building is the parking lot where Port Fonda parks their Airstream and serves up Mexican street food every weekend. You know we love Port Fonda, The Facebook records a check-in for us nearly every weekend, and after drinks with my co-workers tonight I stopped for chilaquiles to soak up the scotch.

The restaurant is supposed to be very good, and in an old building called the Rieger Hotel. For years it was the Dixie Belle, KC's most infamous gay bar, with one of the nastiest (and frankly, most fun!) basements I've ever had a drink in.

The building was eventually bought and renovated with two very nice apartments upstairs and the restaurant space on the ground floor. The formerly filthy and scandalous basement was renovated (with industrial strength cleaners I'm sure) and became Ryan Mabee's speakeasy called Manifesto. There is also a two car garage off the back alley serving the larger (full 3rd floor/part of the 2nd floor plus the rooftop garden) apartment via both stairs and an elevator.

The building is currently for sale and you can see some photographs and the floor plans here. On the representing realtor's site the price is down to 1.85 million rather than the 2.1 on the information site. We toured the larger apartment on a downtown loft tour a few years ago. Its a beautiful renovation overall, although I think the fireplace in the main apartment is far too big, and the open shower in the master bath desperately needs floor to ceiling glass. The kitchen set up is a bit wonky for me, but it's nothing that couldn't be fixed. If I had a couple mil hanging around I could totally live there.

Except, and this is the final connection, it would kill me to pay the current owners anywhere near the list price. Who are they? I did some research and I believe it's the Omers. Yes, that wretched woman who's BMW convertible I yanked the bumper off while parking the Rover when I stopped to buy dog poop bags in Brookside.

Apparently they've moved to northern California where I hope she and her 325 continue to be battered by bad drivers and careless parkers. I'm sure the carrying costs aren't anything they can't handle, but I can't help but smile every time I see the For Sale sign. Yeah, the market's been hard, but what she's putting out into the world isn't doing her any favors either.

Its an Airstream with a tortilla press

Food trucks aren't a new phenomenon, but they are kind of new for Kansas City. I follow a few on the Facebook and Twitter, which is how most of them let everyone know where they'll be.

Tonight we tried Port Fonda, which was parked downtown doing their mexican street food.

Local and organic and handmade, from a vintage Airstream. I was kind of far down the street when I took this, you can't see Brett there in line asking if they had dessert (they didn't tonight).

Brett had the carnitas, I had the chicken livers and pipian rojo, all on handmade tortilla, washed down with Mexican Cokes. We both liked our dinner a lot and I'm already looking forward to going back. Its in the 50s tonight so we ate in the car. When it's warm enough to eat out on the sidewalk I bet its even better.

The other cool thing is that the Airstream has a chef's table. By reservation, groups of six can hang out in the trailer, watch the cooking as well as whatever's going on out on the street, have some drinks (byob) and fill up on a family style taco spread. We're trying to figure out the perfect occasion to give that a try.

My newest obsession

Apparently it's been at 51st and Main since August, but somehow until this weekend we'd missed Yogurtini. And I've been twice since Friday night.

When you walk in you're greeted by about 14 frozen yogurt machines. Each has two flavors and a swirl. Grab a cup, pick your yogurt, and slide on down to the topping bar. Nuts, fruit, cereal, crunched up candy, its all there. At the end are the sauces.

Top your yogurt as you like, weigh and pay. It's brilliant.

I was out for a bit this evening and surprised Brett by bring some home. I had the same thing I got Friday night: Dulce de leche yogurt, waffle cone pieces, slivered almonds, coconut, and caramel sauce.

For Brett: Chocolate/Vanilla swirl, brownie pieces, crushed peanuts, crushed cashews, crushed Kit-Kats, chocolate sauce.

If you don't have a Yogurtini near you check around, there are other franchises with similar concepts. I'm finding the array of choices and do-it-yourself construction irresistable. I'm totally thinking about going tomorrow for lunch.

Chili time

Every year on the Friday before Halloween my office has a chili cook-off. I don't usually participate because I have a policy about getting out of the office for lunch, but this year I was kind of in the mood for chili and thought what the hell.

I don't have a go-to chili recipe. I've always kind of thrown it together from what I have around, or I've seen a recipe somewhere and given it a shot. Nothing has wow'd me so far. So I went to my favorite recipe site, allrecipes.com, and picked the recipe with the highest score (5 stars) and most reviews (1794). It's called the Boilermaker Tailgate Chili.

We're still handicapped without a stove so browning meat in the electric skillet and moving to the crockpot was a little bit of a hassle, but the beans and tomatoes are easy from a can. Other than that it was just chopping vegetables and measuring spices (there are lots of ingredients), so it wasn't a horrible deal. I made it the evening before and tasted it before we went to bed. It was just okay. So just okay in fact, I left it at home on Friday and went out for lunch as usual.

That next evening, well, it was there so we warmed it up for dinner. And as is often the case, it was WAY better the next day. So if you don't have a favorite you might give it a shot, and here are a few tips:

-You want the bulk sausage, nothing in casing. Also, I like the rougher grind of the beef.

-I used one fewer can of beans for a total of three, and it was fine. Four would be too much.

-A half can of tomato paste worked just fine.

-I chop all the celery and peppers on the big side because I like them to stay firmer, and they did.

-A small can of chiles is fine if there are no fresh ones.

-Forget bacon bits, 3 pieces cooked crisp and crumbled is delicious.

-You do need the beer. Drink the other half while you cook!

-And finally, be generous with the spices. Rounded teaspoons beat level, although I eased off on the cayenne and thought it was spicy without being overwhelmingly hot.

If you give it a try let me know what you think.

Farmers Market

The last time I thought to go to the farmers market it was early summer, and there wasn't much there. Yesterday Brett and I were up early for the American Cancer Society's Bark for Life (my office participates), so after bringing Alex back home we ran down to the River Market for some vegetables.

We should do this all summer, I don't know why we don't think of it. All you see in the pictures, plus some lettuce and cilantro that are in the crisper and I don't think we spent ten bucks.

I need to undo my pants *photo update!*

Lobster cake
Sea bass & risotto

Snapper

Tenderloin

Lamb

Flourless chocolate cake & chocolate orange cheesecake

Brett and Rachel had a client who is a chef, and tonight he paid his bill with a dinner. Eleven of us gathered at Rachel's around 730pm. We started with a glass of prosecco and then enjoyed:

-Smoked lobster cake with a chipotle mayo and pickled jalepeno/onion/tomato salad.

-Chilean sea bass in a lobster cream sauce with asparagus truffle risotto.

-Snapper with a tomato gastrique and a tomato pineapple relish.

-Beef tenderloin (with a sauce I can't remember at the moment) and wild mushroom mashed potatoes.

-Rack of lamb in a goat cheese demi glace and roasted potatoes with roasted garlic and sauteed green onion.

-Flourless chocolate cake with liquored cherries and chocolate orange cheesecake.

There were wine pairings with each course and lots of laughter, and every single thing that was set in front of me was delicious. My ass is kicked, but in the best possible way.

Jedi masters

Sunday night Rachel had us over for dinner to celebrate her son's 4th birthday. His name is Jack and he's into Star Wars (among a number of other things) at the moment, so the light sabers Brett bought him (with light and sound effects!) were a huge hit.

Me blowing bubbles with the birthday boy's little sister

Popular with us was the sangria and the huge platter of grilled veggies, steak, chicken and fish we all enjoyed together before presents were opened.

Jack and Uncle Brett doing battle in between dinner and cake.

The meal was so good in fact, that I recreated it here at home tonight for Brett and I. We're still working on our pitcher of sangria. I was pleased with my mixed grill, but then I grilled some peaches to have over ice cream, and it kind of fell flat. The little doughnut peaches aren't optimal for grilling, lesson learned. Last night Rachel served the Chantilly Berry Cake from Whole Foods. Or as we like to call it, The Crack Cake. I'm generally opposed to store-bought birthday cakes (my mama had mad kitchen skills back in the day) but their berry cake with its whipped cream frosting is amazing.

MidMal recommends: Jack Gage American Tavern

Locals, especially those of you in the Plaza/Brookside neighborhoods, Brett and I enjoyed our dinner tonight at Jack Gage American Tavern at 50th and Main. In that stand alone brick building that has been everything from a gay bar to a chinese buffet.

It's a dark and casual atmosphere, and the staff is attentive without being intrusive. You can see the menu at the link above. Prices aren't shown, we had two call cocktails and two dinners and it was 40 before tip.

Brett had the Black & Bleu Burger and enjoyed it although he didn't think there was enough bleu. I had the Roadhouse Chicken, which is braised in a wine sauce with pearl onions and mushrooms, and comes with spatzle in brown butter. I thought the sauce was slightly strong, and the spatzle was a little salty, but overall enjoyed both.

Having had a blah breakfast at Ingredient (new, on the Plaza) this morning we hoped we'd like Jack Gage, and we both did. There are a few southern/soul dishes on the menu, and I'm looking forward to either shrimp and grits or chicken and waffles next time.

Basque chicken stew

One of the things I made on Crock Pot Weekend a couple weeks ago was a recipe I found called Basque Chicken Stew. I followed the recipe, well, as close as I follow any recipe, and it was just ok. Last Sunday I thought I'd try again as the weather refuses to warm up any and we've had enough intermittent snow or rain to make washing the car pointless.

When this batch was done I divided it up and froze it, and we pulled some out tonight for dinner. A couple of additions (capers and wine) made a difference so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 slices bacon, chopped
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut in 1 inch squares
1 green bell pepper, cut in 1 inch squares
1 bunch green onions, sliced into half inch sections, white and half the green part
4 chicken brest halves, cut into 1 inch dice
1 can (4 oz) sliced ripe olives
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried ground marjoram
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like kosher salt)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prep:

Heat olive oil in large skillet and saute bacon until browned. Add mushrooms, peppers, and onion and saute for another minute. Add vinegar (honestly I don't measure, I just pour what seems right) and cook one minute more, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Place chicken in the bottom of a 3.5 quart or larger slow cooker. (It seems like you might want to brown the chicken, but I didn't and it's fine) Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix. At this point I added a handful of capers and a big slosh of the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc we'd opened. I also added a bit more of the chicken broth since I'd opened the can and only used a quarter cup. Pour everything over the chicken and vegetables.

Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. I cooked on medium for between 5 and 6 hours, which also worked). We like it better reheated the next day, or frozen for later on.

King of the Crock Pot

With the hellish cold weather we've had all week, Kamikaze Chef (me) pulled out the electric skillet and the crock pot and went to work on comfort food.

So far we've had beef stew and chili. Today I made a basque chicken stew (tomatoes, red and green peppers, olives) that we'll have tomorrow. Currently in the pot for later this week is a beef and mushroom soup.

Who needs a stove?!

A Sunday Buzz

We were at loose ends today. We'd slept in, had breakfast, picked up the house and cleaned up ourselves. It was too hot to go to the workshop, and Brett didn't feel like going to his office, so we ran out south to Crate and Barrel to look at a couple things I'd seen in the catalog.

Nothing we had to have there, so we swung by Baby Gap to pick up a first birthday gift for Brett's god-daughter Maya. Being the good gay uncles we are we bought the cutest dress in the store, and a little cardigan that should make it work further into the fall.

Those errands out of the way, and a little too early for dinner, we needed a snack. JP Winebar is right there at 119th, so off we went.

This is exactly what a hot Sunday late-afternoon needs. One bottle of Riondo prosecco, and the Spain cheese flight. Three delicious cheeses on a bed of fruit, nuts, pickled vegetables and crackers.

It was likely the cause of my two hour nap when we got home, but I still heartily recommend.

Summer In a Bowl

My friend Rachel served a salsa at a party recently and I'm in love. She forgot to send me the recipe so I winged it and discovered that you really can taste and eyeball your way through it.

In a bowl combine:

1 can black beans, rinsed

3/4 bag of frozen white corn, or as much as looks like a good ratio of beans to corn

1/2 tub of grape tomatoes, sliced or quartered into bite size pieces

1 avocado, in half-inch dice

a good drizzle of your favorite olive oil

a few good shots of your favorite balsamic vinegar

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

I also add cilantro. I'm pretty heavy-handed because I love it, and use about a third of a bunch, roughly chopped. I know it's a polarizing herb so you can adjust as you prefer.

And finally I add garlic, and I think you can do that as you wish also. I used a dry garlic product my mom gave me (Pampered Chef's Garlic Garlic). It's got some other stuff in it, but I don't know what. Freshly minced would work fine I think. Do what you like until it tastes good.

As with most things, it's good immediately, but better after it sits for a day.

I have an old Shawnee Corn King bowl of my grandmother's that would be perfect for serving, but it's not quite big enough to hold a batch. eBay here I come.