Roasted Pork Belly

Pork belly is something special.  Priced like dark meat chicken (which I prefer), you can get top quality pork for less than $4 per pound: pastured, raised without weird feed and drugs, local to your market, and super yummy.

The steps:

1. Score the fresh pork belly through the fat with a sharp knife
2. Mix up a rub.  The one featured here included fennel, cayenne, fresh garlic, parsley flakes, salt&pepper, and a generous amount of olive oil
3. Rub it all into those cuts
4. 15 minutes or so in a ~ 500 degree oven to get it crisping
5. An hour to two hours in the same oven ~ 325

When served there will be a serious mix of textures and flavors.  The flesh touching the pan will brown to a crunch; the meat will be tender and juicy; the fat will be soft.  If you prefer "cracklin'" fat, leave it in at 500 longer.

Farmer's Daughter

Located in a converted fuel station garage and at the inflection point where the "North Shore" fades into "North Chattanooga" on its way to becoming Hixson, the Farmer's Daughter has become a favorite spot for a fancy breakfast out of the house.



Their approach is very much in line with my family's current values for food: they source their primary ingredients locally, show a strong bias to sustainable and organic practices, and favor flavor in their preparation.

It may turn out that renovating old garages and gas stations into bars and restaurants is a short-lived fad, but some of the more interesting spots recently opened in Chattanooga are definitely making the most of the trend.

The ambiance inside is reasonably spare given the history of the building; the white walls and bare wood furniture maybe adds to the sense of "cleanliness" of the food.

I mentioned above that Farmer's Daughter has become a favorite breakfast spot for us - of the many times we have visited, all but one or two were before 9am.  The morning menu opens with a sausage and egg biscuit, and I've honestly not ever made it past that option.




This weekend, we decided to give their lunch offering a try.  On weekends, their midday menu is actually brunch focused, but they had a chili cheese hotdog as an "off menu" special, and that's what I chose.  This was an all beef affair, grown and processed at a local farm.  The chili involved some BBQ meat as well, and it was held together on a local bun.

They serve a small variety of local beer on tap, and on the Saturday we were there, all proceeds from the sale of one brew went to a local environmental charity's fund (that's the beer I had - for charity, of course).

I would be remiss not to mention that there is a coffee shop located within Farmer's Daughter, apparently run as a separate business but tightly integrated with the restaurant.  Copacetic Coffee would not be out of place in Brooklyn or Portland, and I mean that in a good way.  They are serious about their coffee, and the passion shows through.  The first time I saw their espresso choices and realized that they paired the milk from different dairies with the different drinks to optimize the flavor and experience of the coffee, I was a little intimidated.  But the coffee is nice, and the baristas are so darn friendly it all works out fine.

So go, check it out, enjoy your meal.  As much as I enjoyed lunch/brunch, I think breakfast will continue to be my family's favorite for this spot.

Beast + Barrel: round 1

I guess it has been a while since I wrote a reasonably formal review of a Chattanooga area eatery...I would like to blame that on circumstances and claim that there just haven't been any new or interesting options to review, but that wouldn't be fair or true.  I'm realizing now that there are actually a few new spots in town that deserve a write up, as well as a few familiar haunts that could stand a refreshed review.

So with a little prodding from my Facebook friends, I'll make a sincere effort to turn this blog back "on".

My family had a dinner plan last night that involved making a pizza at home.  But as they say, the "best laid pizzas of mice and men something something..."  Let's just say that it turned out to be a good night to dine out.  Chattanooga welcomed a new restaurant last week, and in a spot convenient to my office, so we elected to try it out.

I should interject that I have a soft rule on new restaurants...I like to give them some time to work out the kinks before try them out.  Several obvious exceptions to this rule come to mind, like when an actual friend of mine is the restauranteur and I go early and often to provide support, fill a seat, and offer constructive criticism.

With that rule in mind, I have titled this review "round 1" because I fully intend to pay the Beast + Barrel a second visit in a week or two and this review will focus primarily on some obvious "pros" and will leave the "cons" mostly aside for the time being.

The space: for folks familiar with Chattanooga's North Shore neighborhood, B+B is replacing a restaurant/bar called North Shore Grill.  They purported to be a crab/shellfish kind of place as I recall, but their real Raison d'être seemed to be as a place for men and women of a certain age to meet other men and women of a certain age.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but their offering did not really speak to my family's needs at this point in time.  To my eye, they have done little in the way of physical remodeling, but the space is comfortable and open, with nice views to kitchen.  We sat on a patio overlooking Coolidge Park with views to the Market Street bridge.


The food: they are calling themselves a smokehouse, and there were definitely some menu items in that vein (a bone marrow appetizer, rib entree...), but due to some opening week supply chain issues, we were not able to sample our first choices from the menu, so I'll hold comment on the food until round 2.
The drinks: this section of B+B's offering is an easy "pro": their cocktail menu is separated into pre-/post-dinner, specialty, and classic concoctions and all are at a price point that stand in sharp contrast to the opening cost strategy taken bye some other newish Chattanooga spots.  They also offer wine on tap - this is a revolution whose time has come.  Just like beer can be kept fresh with a well designed keg and tap system, and can consequently offer bars the opportunity to offer reasonable per drink prices on a variety of interesting brews, these (relatively) new wine systems help ease the per glass cost on fun wines.  Alas, our first choice from this menu was also not available last night...but we will try again.
One unqualified success for the evening?  They offer a smoked corn side item, and our little connoisseur cleaned the cob in a way that would have made his great-grandmother Bernice super proud (although she may have also had choice words about his hairstyle...).

Eggplant Parmesan

My grandmother Bernice, my dad's mom, used to love going to Olive Garden to eat their eggplant parm...to the extent that it became a bit of a family joke.  "Where should we take Grandmother to eat?"..."Olive Garden"..."What do you think she'll get there?"..."Eggplant parm"...

On our last trip to Costco they had these bags of baby eggplant, 4 to a bag, and they were so pretty under the warehouse lights that I knew I must have them.  And what can you do with eggplant besides parm?  (actually, we have another very tasty eggplant recipe, but it's still a variant of the parm)

 Yep.  We have all that.

 My wife lived in Italy for a year and is normally in charge of the pasta sauces and marinara in general, but tonight I took on the task.  San Marzano tomatoes are always a good place to start.

 I sliced up a couple of the baby eggies - these filets were a little less than 1/2 inch thick.  I salted them a bit to sweat on each side, and wiped away the sweat.  At the same time, I started some red onion and garlic in a sauce pan with olive oil and pasture butter, then chunked in the tomatoes to simmer a bit.

 For the eggplant, I dredged it in egg+milk+flour and fried it in hot canola oil.  Breadcrumbs are probably more authentic, and I had none!  So flour it was.  After a good bit of frying (an inserted fork pulled out cleanly), I set the 'plant on some paper towels to dry a bit, and grated some parmigiano reggiano on top.

 The sauce was all steamy and bubbly and garlicky.  I added some salt and pepper - a taste from the spoon revealed an unexpected sweetness!  (my wife reminded me about basil, so we dropped in some of these frozen basil herb nuggets we found at the organic grocery)

I warmed a baking dish a little and then ladled in a base layer of the sauce...

 ...and then the fried eggplant filets (they almost fit in the dish without overlapping).  Then I spooned some more sauce on top, added some slices of fresh mozzarella, and put it all in the oven to get warm and gooey.

And then it was time to serve it up!  While it may not compare well to the Olive Garden's version, ours turned out to be pretty tasty.

Aji - Collegdale Peruvian

[editor's note: this is a second attempt.  the first was composed on-phone, and when complete and submitted, the first attempt vanished into the aether.  argh.]

We have actually been to Aji a few times before, but I had not thought to blog about the experience.  That was an oversight, now to be corrected.

Collegedale is community near Chattanooga, wrapped around the campus for the Seventh Day Adventist Southern university.  It's a short drive from our neighborhood, and there is a nice walking path and playground there for some active family fun.  Collegedale's commercial development is primarily of the strip mall variety; as it turns out, strip malls are often allow small scale ethnic eateries to flourish.

Aji is focused on Peruvian foods, and is staffed by folks who appear to be of Peruvian extraction.  The space is simple, with maybe 8 tables, and is decorated with large format photos of llamas, people in Incan costume, and amazing mountain vistas.  The menu is biased to fish and veggie options (Seventh Day Ad.s are vegetarian); Aji is one of few places in the area to offer ceviche, and theirs is worth trying.

This day I opted for the Chicharron, freshly cut nuggets of fish rolled in a seasoned batter and fried.  The fish is served simply on a bed of lettuce and fried yucca, and topped with some lightly marinated onion.  On request, they brought me a side of a spicy red sauce for dipping.  My lunch was fantastic.

In likely deference to the 7DA's celebration of the Sabbath, Aji is closed on Saturdays.  Also, while they offer a splendid array of S. American fruit juice drinks, they do not offer beer or booze.

We like Aji and will return.  We also want to particularly support small, local options that offer food from outside the SE Tennessee mainstream.

212 Market

I've known about this spot for a while, and not just because they are perennial sponsors of the local public radio station.  One lovely prom night in the early 90s, my party checked in at 212, briefly, before heading across the street to TGI Fridays.  Those were simpler times.

Tonight, we got a seat on the upstairs patio, so we decided to stay for dinner.  212 focuses on fresh, local, and organic ingredients.  We knew the food would be up our alley.  Unfortunately, the space (the inside dining rooms and bar) have not changed since that night in the 90s...we won't hold it against the place, but they could really use a new paint job.

We opened with some cocktails (mine was called "honey badger", haha) and their pork belly appetizer.

(the pictures aren't great tonight - maybe a combination of the strong evening sun and the shadows, or maybe the terrible photographer?)

Both of us chose fish options off of the daily specials menu: she took the salmon and I chose trout.

Her salmon was lovely, and my trout dish was nice - I'll spare you that picture.

All in all, the dinner was well prepared and the service was nice.  I might think that 212 is still at a price point and atmosphere better suited for "special occasions", if not prom nights...

Totto Sushi

It was a dark and rainy night...so we went out for sushi.


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We had seen Totto on previous trips to Frazier Ave.  This new (apparently newer than Google's last streetview pass through) is between BrewHaus and Stone Cup coffee, two places that we like pretty well.

Chattanooga and sushi may not be a match made in heaven, given that the nearest coast is hundreds of miles away, and the nearest major airport, in Atlanta, is about a 2 hour drive down I-75...the point is that there is not a ready supply of super fresh seafood.

But all in all, dinner tonight was not a disappointment.  I generally defer the ordering of rolls to my wife, and she picked three diverse options and we tucked in.  The boy had some chicken fried rice, as well as some broccoli and sundry items taken from home.

One (positive?) thing that stuck out about Totto was the beer menu and pricing...they had a wide selection of bottled domestic and "Asian" beers, and the menu as well as several permanent looking signs around the room advertised the beers as "half price".  Indeed, they sold us 20 oz Kirin Ichibans for $3.75, which is roughly half of what we pay at our neighborhood Thai spot.  I worry what this scenario means for Totto in the long economic run...

Service was not a high point, although I would allow that maybe the one lady working the tables was having an off night...she did seem very preoccupied with her cell phone, but maybe when we try Totto again (and we will!), things might shake out a little differently.

Sorry for the lack of pics - working chopsticks with one hand, tending the boy with the other, and drinking 20 oz KI with the third leaves no hand for the camera!

Easy Bistro

Tonight was our second visit to the Bistro...the first was a birthday dinner without Baby, but tonight was the 3 of us plus a good friend recently moved back to town. I didn't get any pics tonight, but dinner was fantastic.

We adults started with cocktails, the boys with a Chattanooga whiskey, some aromatics, and bitters- they were a nice start. We also shared a fig mostardo and mozzarella app...this was a server recommendation and it came off fresh and light and a good way to ease into dinner.

For the entrees, we chose a bottle of a Super Tuscan. The wine list seemed a little pricey, with the least expensive bottles starting in the $30s...so the bottle we tool was a little expensive, but it was a very inoffensive red.

My special lady friend ordered a potato ravioli with some seasonal veggies. The boys both chose the steak frites- they serve the beef sliced and with some chilled herb butter.

The service was impressive. Often, when you are among the first seatings of the evening, you get the sense that the kitchen and wait staff aren't quite "on" yet, but the team tonight was top notch.

I'm not a dessert guy, but my dinner companions ARE. We had profiteroles, a pot de creme, and some coffee drinks (the beans sourced from Chattz down the street).

All told, it was a wonderful time, but at a price point that will prevent super frequent returns.

Market Street Tavern

First off, let me just say that I love love love (and appreciate) it when places that serve interesting beer and cocktails are proactive in telling you what they have on offer.

local meat, local beer, fancy cocktails - Oh My!

This place was apparently once located across the street, near Miller Plaza, but has been open at 809 Market St (the map points to the old address.  Google hasn't updated yet!) for a couple of months.  The space was nothing fancy, but was comfortable in a neighborhood bar kind of way.  The MST is a "sister bar" to one on the north shore, Tremont Tavern.  I had been there before, and they may have mentioned the Market St option, but it slipped my mind and we lived our lives unaware of this cozy spot for dinner and drink for far too long.

Earlier today I was on the Google looking for information on local supplies of grass-fed beef, and I ran across a review of MST, where some lucky diner had enjoyed a burger of locally raised meat...I called to make sure they were open, that they didn't allow smoking, and that adventurous toddler reviewers were welcome.  Check, check, check, and we three were off for a 6 pm dinner date.

I tried one of their signature cocktails, named for the building the MST now inhabits.  It was a blend of two rye whiskeys and some bitters - it was ok, but I would probably try something else next time.  The Lady chose a New Belgium shift tall boy, and the short boy chose high quality H20 and some whole milk.

Dinner was a pretty straightforward affair, and mi hijo was as patient as we can expect out of a 20 month old.  He got some mac&cheese (one of the evening specials was "pimp your mac", where you get a base of noodles+cheese and can add toppings, pizza style, to customize your plate.  He got noodles and cheese.)  My wife of 6 years chose the fried chicken, but subbed in some roasted brussel sprouts in place of fries, and I took the pulled pork, under slaw, and over cornbread.

The food was nice.  There were no real off notes, and we will go back.  It's not a place that I would bring my foodie friends to show off, but for a basic, comfortable meal sourced from high quality, local ingredients, this spot could well become a regular for us.

Niko's

Sometimes you miss one...it's right there, you see it, you think "oh, there's a place we haven't tried", and still, you just...miss it.

And so it was for Niko's for a couple of years.



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Like the name suggests, Niko's is on Chattanooga's southside, in the rapidly swankifying Southside development zone.  One of our family favorites, the Urban Stack gourmet hamburger emporium, is located just down the street, and a handful of other regular haunts are within a short walk.

But Niko's...we had seen it, but not visited.  Once, some number of years ago when we were but a young, unwed and un-childed couple of love birds, we had visited Chattanooga for a sleepover away from home and dined at a previous spot in the same space, called Southside Grill, if memory serves.  And that meal was fine, but maybe the fact that we had eaten inside those 4 walls allowed us to mark the space off as "done", even though the new place was, well, new.

At any rate, tonight after mowing the lawn I got an email from Open Table suggesting that I might be one reservation away from a new reward, so I checked out what might be available at 6 for a family of 2.5, and Niko's popped up.  A quick check of the menu suggested the Niko was likely a Greek dude, and we haven't had Greek in a while (since Chicago, TYVM), so I booked the table and off we went.

The space is nice, and there was ample street parking out front.  The hostess did not blink about us bringing a toddler in, although, to be fair, there were few diners to bother at that early hour.  Our server was a pro, and soon we were set up with drinks (a Dark&Stormy for me, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for the missus) and a special summer bruschetta.

We seem to have entered a new stage with the Little One.  He has more energy and less patience for fine dining these days, and it has become a challenge to keep him occupied while his Mama and I eat.  Pepper shakers and straws are good for about 48 seconds each.

Ultimately, we opted for "Greek-ish" options from the entree menu; she chose a "Farmer's Pie", which was basically a shepherd's pie kind of thing in filo dough (she says it was veggies and cheese).  I chose lamb chops with a mint pesto, couscous, and squash.

My dinner was fantastic.  The lamb was nicely done, although the overall dish needed a tough more seasoning.  Our server recommended a glass of Malbec to accompany the lamb, and it worked out well.

For a pre-tip check in the mid $70s, this was a great meal out, and it made me sorry that we had missed Niko's for so long.

St John's Meeting Place

We had a quick dinner out tonight, all three of us. I failed to take any pictures, but the dinner experience was mostly pleasant. 

The Meeting Place is a nuevo bistro concept, and is next door to its more fancy sibling St John's. 

The menu is printed daily, with drinks on one face and the food items on the other. There is a more robust, separate seasonal wine list.

The menu features a number of "small plates", salads, and a few entree sized options.

With ramps in season, they found their way into several plates. We started with fried ramps (they came out very tempura like), a shitake mushroom and goat cheese salad, and some cheese fries.  Yes, cheese fries. They were a hit with the boy.

Mi esposa had a Stella Artois and I tried one of their feature cocktails featuring gin and several citrus juices.

We should have called it done for the night, but there was a "chicken biscuit" item on the menu that was calling out to us...it was interesting, but maybe a little over done.

Overall, dinner was great, and both the space and the service added value. 

I would go back, maybe without the kid so the adults could linger a bit.

BrewHaus

Wow. New on the North Shore (open since September), tonight was my first exposure to their brats, kraut, and beer from a faucet. 

We 3 settled into a bier hall style trestle table and jumped in with a fried kraut ball appetizer.  The beer menu is long on local brews and short on lagers from Deutschland, but all come served in steins measured by the liter...so, Win!

I ordered an encased meat entrée, served with some home style potatoes, spaetzle, and sauteed veggies. Mein Frau took the wiener Schnitzel and similar sides.

The space was small and cozy, and the service was friendly and quick. 

The food tasted great, and all in the bill ran to $60 (1.5 liters of beer, app, 2 entrees)

Public House

I meant to take pictures in the tradition of obnoxious food bloggers everywhere, but I forgot...maybe I was distracted by my beautiful date.

We ditched the baby at my sister's and headed downtown to the Public House. Located in the boutique-ified new version of the Warehouse Row shops, the PH first came to my attention via their bar.

On a prior investigative trip to WR, and while amazed at the transformation from the outlet store offering of my youth, I came upon and was arrested by the sight of a swanky cocktail lounge called "the Social".  It may have just been because I had a kid hanging from me in a Bjorn, but on that day and at that moment, an upscale bar featuring handcrafted cocktails seemed absurdly adult...absurd in a way that I wanted to internalize.

Anyway, fast forward.  My sister offered last minute to watch our darling baby boy and I whipped out Open Table and found us a spot at PH. 

We did start in The Social and I had one of those handcrafted cocktails.  I forget what it was called, but it was a mix of light rum, grape, and house candied ginger.  It was delightful.  Mi amor had some pinot noir. Smiles all around. 

On to dinner.  The room was nice, with some clever design elements without being fussy or precious.  We started with a cheese plate and some bread (from local bakery Niedloves) and I jumped in on the pinot bandwagon for the remainder of mealtime. 

The entrée menu was a little surprising. The focus seemed to be gussied up comfort food, and if that theme had been communicated prior, I had missed it. They had pot roast, fried chicken, a steak option, grilled pork tenderloin ...and some fish dishes as well.  Many dishes featured grits. I chose the pork (grilled medium, with grits and sauteed kale) and she took the pot roast (also with kale and a fairly safe version of mashed potato) .

The food was well prepared and tasty, with a reasonable seasoning.  The service was professional and courteous, and we finished up with some apple fritters and a semifreddo (runny ice cream).

My date offered one of our best compliments: "this is a place we could bring out of town friends."

Asparagus

It happens every time - I eat a bunch of asparagus and then an hour later I think "what is that smell?"

Happy 6 months!

You are awesome!

Tilapia Tacos

We must be on a roll over here, cooking at home and making fun and fresh meals to boot.

Tonight, we made a new (to us) version of fish tacos. We cut up some tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, and added a splash of lime for some pico de gallo, and I blended up some more cilantro, with a good bit of garlic, salt, and some olive oil to make a sauce.

 We also sliced some fresh avocado and limes for additional layers of topping and depth of flavor.

The tilapia I seasoned with salt, pepper, and chili powder and browned in my cast iron pan (just a very little bit of olive oil in the pan), cooking for about 6 minutes total.

 The Fresh Market had some nice looking taco-sized tortillas in both yellow and white corn varieties, so I got some of both.

 The tacos came together well, and while a little messy to eat, I would definitely serve this meal to friends and family.  Between bites we discussed how some jalapenos or other spicy addition might be welcome for some.

I really like cooking at home when it works out this well.

Caprese and calamari

Tonight's fare may win the approval of our food friend Jeni Lee, or at least half of the dishes. 

I got some nice heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil for a nice caprese salad (finished with a little olive oil and pepper).

 To make this a meal, I also hand breaded and fried some calamari, dredged in some flour with paprika, chili powder, and garlic powder. Out of the oil, I added a little sea salt and ground pepper.

This was a great dinner, and fresh.

gas grill paella

A few years ago my sister and  traveled to Spain for the wedding of a friend.  She was married in a royal palace outside of Madrid, and it was beautiful as all weddings must be.  But for me, the real joy of the trip was seeing Madrid in the hands of a native.

We ate tapas at the best bars, and we dined with both our host family at their home and out at the most examplar restaurants they knew.  For one such dinner, we went out to a place famous for paella, and we dined in an inner courtyard under the open sky on paella and wine and friendly joy, and it was awesome.

Since that dinner I have thought of paella often and with strong feeling.  For the Christmas dinner we hosted this year, paella-style rice was one of our complementary courses.  Emboldened by that relative success, we thought this evening of doing a full-on paella for dinner, unburdened by guests and their tastes.

We elected to use the gas grill on the back deck, and we started with heating some olive oil in a paella pan.  When sufficiently hot, we added some raw (fresh, tail and shell on) shrimp and spanish-style chorizo.  Chorizo is awesome, and vegetarian should acknowledge it. 

After the shrimp were all pink and happy, we removed them to a bowl grill-side, and tossed in some chopped onions to simmer in the olive oil.  This took some time, which allowed for a refill on the homemade margaritas.  If you do not know how to make homemade margaritas, I weep for you.

Somewhere in the midst of cooking down the onions I added some salt, pepper, and paprika.  The hard core recipes call for Spanish style pimenton - you don't have that in your pantry, so use paprika.

This is the shrimp and chorizo, all cooked/warmed up, hanging out in a bowl by the grill waiting to be reintroduced to the juicy rice.

And speaking of, after the onions have softened a bit and begun to color, I added the rice, a can of diced tomatoes, and enough chicken stock to cover the rice.  At this point, the heat should be high enough to make the oil/rice/tomato mix bubble.

After 20 minutes or so, the liquid should have mostly bubbled away.  The secret of authentic paella is that rice should actually burn a little bit on the bottom - the crusty rice, soaked in shrimp juice, onion flavor, and chicken stock is super tasty.  Oh, and I forgot, we added some peas to the pan with the shrimp, etc.

We served the paella on the table in the pan, along with some sliced crusty bread.

It was awesome.

the lord of the (onion) rings

Today was not a great day at work.  But such days come to us all, and we can either sink into the gloom or turn on a lamp...

I had some time at home alone with my little guy this afternoon and decided to make the most of it.

The key to a happy life may be keeping your fry station all mise en place.

I had eggs, I had onion, I had milk, I had spices, and I had some cooking oil: I made onion rings.

The basic idea with frying battered foods is to coat the primary ingredient in something that will make a nice crunchy and/or flaky crust and leave what's inside cooked but mostly unbrowned.

In this case I used some half-and-half that was going unused, along with one egg for my wet ingredients, and some white flour, copious salt and pepper, and some chili powder for my dry ingredients.

Beyond that, it all comes down to getting the oil hot and not making too much of a mess in the kitchen.

Yummy.

I feel awful

Operation Falafel is a disaster, and I falafel about it.

This is apparently what happens when your falafel dough balls are not pre-chilled and/or the oil is not hot enough...the whole mixture just dissolves into a waste of time and spices.

It started with more promise; to make some tahini, I toasted sesame seeds and blended those together with some olive oil, onions, and spices.

The falafel dough seemed to be coming together well, also, with the beans all blended up with garlic and onion and even more spices.

This is what I salvaged...the tahini.  Now I just need to find some other dishes that go well with tahini!