SAT NIGHT AT THE ROOSEVELT IN CHURCH HILL

**this blog is not for restaurant reviews, that is not and has never been my scene. This post is not a review but a retelling of a great food experience.

Just when we are packing up to head deeper into the East side of things, a restaurant I could not have imagined up in my best “If only a restaurant like this would open up in my neighborhood..” day dream opens it’s doors.
The Roosevelt happens to be the third in a family of wonderful eating establishments opened by a woman I am proud to call a friend, but this one feels extra special to me for reasons beyond the respect and admiration I have for the proprietor.

Chef Lee Gregory of the Roosevelt is a Southern boy and his love for his region’s cuisine shines clear and true on this menu. I tried just a few dishes and each was homey, yet refined and intriguing. The Pimento Cheese had something special about it..(remoulade?) and the squash fritters tasted fresh and of sweet summer squash, not of fry oil dredged in dipping sauce, which is so often the case. Pan fried(!) gnocchi in a cheese sauce was the bad boy (read: you love him even though you know he’s oh so bad for you) of the table.
The special of Mahi and boiled peanuts stole my hungry belly’s heart. The desserts we tried were made in house, comforting and deeply flavorful without being too fussy. The place is beautifully airy and inviting and I am sure it will develop a kind of upwards of 30something bar scene. It’s definitely the type of spot where I could sit and nurse a drink and graze on Southern influenced bar snacks. There have been quite a few places opened in the last month here in town and I have high hopes for the restaurant scene in RVA. It’s obvious The Roosevelt is escalating the standard of casual eating in our city, I hope many places take the hint and follow along.

CH CH CH CH CH CH CHERRY IS SO……… VERY

Yesterday Whole Foods had a sale on (be still my heart!) CHERRIES. This never happens when I am there usually so I grabbed a bag and set to thinking about what to do with them. Cherry Ice Cream was in the lead (odd I have not made any ice cream yet this summer, I will have to remedy that!) with cherry lime syrup ( for rickeys, naturally) a close second. What did I ultimately decide on? On this 90 degree day?

Well I turned the oven to 500, of course and made a dough for cherry focaccia!
Pitting cherries is a real drag but after spending 20 minutes looking for a paper clip I went to the internet and read about using a decorating tip! Huzzah! Although in hindsight that was maybe not the greatest for the edge on my tip, but there is more where that came from. It was so easy, I have no issue making that particular tip designated cherry pitter.
I could write out a recipe but honestly all I did was make my usual dough, slather it in olive oil, lemon zest salt and some sugar and press in the cherries during the second rise.
Next time I will maybe add some ricotta and perhaps macerate the cherries in citrus a bit.

If you have not yet, get thee to some summer cherries, before their brief season is over!

PIMENTO AND PIG

Pimento Cheese meets Whoopie Pie

Although it looks like I took the last month off around here on the internet, I assure you there is no rest for the wicked and since I’ve last posted much has occurred.

This past week the darling Caroline Nuttall of Read Charlie wrote up a piece about all of the Pimento Cheeses of Charleston and included a bit about the film. You can read it here. Pimento Cheese is popping up everywhere outside the South, these days. Better hurry and get this film made before the backlash starts in- I met a chef who was working on a Pimento Cheese foam ?!?

Charleston is such a vibrant city. We enjoyed filming there and really loved eating there. If you want to see my eyes roll up in my head and start drooling just ask me about our eating excursions while there, like the cocktails at FIG and the dinner at Husk.

Speaking of great dinners, here in Richmond, I was honored to help contribute to the last course of a Suds and Sow dinner at Comfort. Chef Jason Alley and his team created a multi course dinner around a suckling pig, matched with beers from Athens’ Terrapin Brewery. Have you tried the Hopsecutioner?! Don’t walk, RUN!
From the starters of pork fat fried peanuts, and housemade rinds to the tender ribs and crispy jowl salad.. not to mention the whole hog tacos, it was a bacchanal of porcine delights. I made bacon fat and ginger whoopie pies that were filled with peanut butter cream and served with a citrus bacon jam. (Alas, I have no pictures so we’ll make do with the above savory Northern/Southern hybrid- The Pimento Cheese Whoopie Pie!)
It’s such a delight that area chefs in our city host events like this. There is a food scene here in Richmond, and we are lucky to have it, but it needs to advance and grow. Events like Suds and Sow help spread the word in our own community and beyond.

I have heard word that there is also a fledgling secret restaurant scene on the rise here in River City. If anyone needs any dessert items for such events please be in touch – I can keep a secret!

TO ALL THE DRINKS I’VE LOVED BEFORE

When I was a wee food punk growing up in Plymouth, MA there was an ice cream place called Peaceful Meadows. They made fresh ice cream and they had the cows out back to prove it. Coconut ice cream was my favorite flavor but what I really loved from there was not even a dairy sweet treat. It was a frosty drink called a Rickey.
At Peaceful Meadows they had an old fashioned Lime Rickey and a Raspberry Lime Rickey. Oh the, RASPBERRY LIME RICKEY! It must have been something to keep me from ordering ice cream and it was. Refreshing and tickley (they used super carbonated water) with a real raspberry syrup and lime, it was my true love, (next to Corey Feldman and Michael Jackson). Traditionally The Rickey is a lime based cocktail made with soda water and gin. Of course they were not slinging gin down at Peaceful Meadows, those teenage gals behind the counter were underage! I do think however that my adoration of the Lime Rickey gave way to what would be my preferred cocktail during my 20s- the Gin Gimlet.
Let’s get back to underage drinks. In an effort to cut down on the boozehounding around here, I have been thinking of lots of libations to enjoy this summer season (read: miserable-humid-mosquito-ridden-100 degree plus-weather).
Today I came up with this:

Cherry Ginger Lime Rickey
1 bottle of Blenheim’s Ginger Ale (make sure it is the spicy)
Half of a lime
Brandied cherries (I said cut down on the booze, not eliminate it! Now is a good time, by the way, to brandy up some fresh cherries at home for future use. Pit cherries, water+sugar+lemon zest+heat to a boil, add cherries, simmer for 5 min, remove from heat, add brandy, cool and jar. Boom.)
Angostura bitters
Great big beautiful ice cubes (shown here courtesy of the Maker’s Mark Ambassador Program)

Put ice in glass, put glass in freezer for a few minutes. Squeeze half a lime into glass, a couple shakes of bitters and pour on Blenheim. Stir. Spear brandied cherries and a lime wheel to garnish and serve.

Of course you could always throw in a splash of gin and I won’t tell on you.
What lovely beverage concoctions (boozy and non) are you planning on sippin on this summer? Do tell!

This song came out in 1984, definitely one of years that you’d likely find me at Peaceful Meadows slurpin on a Rickey.

HOT RAMPS, I LOVE YOU SO!

The Ramp craze has it’s devotees and detractors. They are so HOT right now (and not to be persnickety, have been in NYC for the last few years). It is one popular, stinky, and super delicious little allium still enjoying it’s day in the hip culinary trend sun.

Where I am here in central VA, one would think they’d be rampant (sorry).
Just a quick trek to a nearby forest and you are all set. Well, one would be wrong. I have searched high and low since late March and not one farmers market has had any to sell.
This past Monday, I popped into Farm to Family and my luck changed. I was a little put off as to how they were presented there, I am used to my ramps -greens attached…and not in plastic baggies. The farmers road is a hard one however, and I am not one to judge or to stare a gift ramp in the face for that matter. So home we went.
How best to use these ramps? We always put them into pasta, so that’s been done. Sometimes a quick saute for an appetizer is easy and fun. (We have yet to grill them I just realized, that would be spectacular, no doubt). I remembered a friend recently bragging about devouring some ramp concoction his mate brought back home from her shift at a local restaurant…and it hit me. RAMP BUTTER. He had mentioned ramp BUTTER.
How could I be so stupid!! The obvious answer to bringing any food obsession into the next phase of maniacal behavior; Turn it into a butter.

I softened a stick and a half of butter. I blanched the ramps you see pictured (put into boiling water for around 40 seconds, then plunge into an ice bath). I sliced them up and then in the mixer on low speed introduced them and some salt and pepper to the butter. Rolled up into some parchment and left to harden up in the fridge, this made an excellent gift last night for a friend.

I do wish the leaves had been left on, a bright green chiffonade would have enhanced the butter’s appearance and flavor of course. Leaves or not, I am not gonna lie, that was some tasty butter.
Perfect for fish, pasta, biscuits, popcorn, a baguette, a sandwich, anyplace butter goes! Onto a spoon and into your mouth! Also it gives ramps a nice little fatty home for a stay in the freezer ensuring that we can have ramp flavor well after the season is over.

How would you use ramps or ramp butter?

MOTHER’S DAY CAKE, AUDREY HORNE…. AND THE GERMS?

You are asking yourself, what do these things have in common? Or perhaps you don’t care. Either way!
Well, I got an order for a Mother’s Day cake. The name of the cake requested is Freshly Squeezed because it is a lemon cake featuring fresh lemon juice, curd and zest and because….. I love Audrey Horne. Freshly Squeezed for those of you who may not know, is her song. She is dancing to it here:

Once I finished the cake however, I gave it a lemon curd moat which reminded me of The Germs, Circle One.

I know the Germs circle is an electric blue, but you get the idea....

If you are just here for the cake and don’t give a hoot about Audrey or Darby Crash, the cake is lemon vanilla bean cake, filled with lemon curd and frosted with vanilla bean buttercream. It is great for mothers, Spring occasions and lemon enthusiasts.
In other news, Easter was lots of fun and also featured a lemon cake. Eating together in the sunshine and having a weenie roast was a wonderful way to spend the weekend with my wonderful pals.

GHOSTS OF EASTER PAST AND FUTURE!

Every year since let’s see… about 2002, my sweet friend Molly and I have had an Easter brunch. We are not religious either of us, but the ritual of getting together with friends in the Spring and sharing food is one that initially brought us together, starting what I know will be an epic lifelong friendship. I am so excited because she is coming in a week to keep our special holiday tradition alive!! Here are some pics from some past Easter celebrations.

HOMEMADE PEEPS

Epic Carrot Cake

Hot uncrossed buns

Easter gang

Molly N and her tortilla!!!

I have new tricks up my sleeve as well as new friends to invite for this year’s gathering and I am stoked!
So stay tuned to see how we celebrate Spring, Food Punk style!!