Brasserie 292

About 2 weeks ago Mike was standing in the kitchen when he heard a gurgling noise coming from the sink. When he went over to check it out, he saw that water was backing up into the sink. Shit. So. after 2 rounds of Drain-o, we called Ron, our land lord. Well.... long story short, after 5 days, calls to 3 plumbers, and a snaking... our sink was finally fixed. During that time, we couldn't wash dishes - we had standing water in the sink and when we used the dishwasher it made matters worse. Ron, very kindly, bought us a gift certificate to Brasserie 292 when the whole thing was over.

Tuesday night we went to dinner there. When we arrived there was only one other table there. But as we sat the place started to fill. We both ordered drinks, a beer for Mike and a glass of rose for me.

When it came to ordering appetizers, I know exactly what Mike was going to order - before we even walked in. Onion soup. This one with sourdough, thyme and gruyere. Mike said that it was delicious and that he really enjoyed the sourdough bread. The onions were caramelized which made the soup nice and sweet. he was happy!

I ordered the Hudson Valley foie gras parfait. Which was a large ramekin of foie gras mousse topped with a sweet jam and served with sliced, toasted baguette. It was rich and creamy. The sweet topping helped cut the thick foie. 

 For his entree, Mike chose the Moroccan-spiced pork chop that was served with a creamy, cheesy polenta. He said that it was delicious, but that it was so large that he couldn't finish the whole thing. He loved the polenta too!

I chose one of the night's specials - a grilled swordfish with a cauliflower agrodolce sauce. The sweet and sour topping which included capers was so good. The fish was grilled perfectly. I was really pleased that I chose the special! Mike doesn't eat seafood, so it's always a treat when I order it out.

We were both full, but decided to go with a dessert anyway (what I can say, we're FFs). We went for a ricotta filled crepe with a salted caramel sauce. The sweet and creamy ricotta was so good with the salty, sweet sauce!

We really enjoyed our meal and will definitely be back. But this time, we have to thank Ron!

Global Palate Restaurant

About a week ago, Mike and I decided to finally try Global Palate Restaurant in West Park. We've driven past it a million times, heard from multiple people how good it was, and even have a friend who works there. But we had never stopped in, that is until last week. I had been hoping that my friend Anita would be working, but she had the night off. She deserved it and we still got great service.

We were seated at a table near the window of the main dining room - with several others near by. We both ordered drinks, a glass of rose for me and a peach sour for Mike (complete with fresh peaches).

For our appetizers, Mike ordered the Triple Mushroom and Pea Pot-stickers with a Soy-Scallion Dipping Sauce. He loved them.

I had a Romaine Salad with Fresh, "Super-Local" Blackberries and Blue Cheese. The blackberries were sweet and popped in my mouth. They were fantastic with the creamy, sharp blue cheese. And there were nice, large hunks of cheese!

For entrees, Mike had the Apple Butter Glazed Porterhouse Pork Chop with Scalloped Potatoes and Braised Local Cabbage. I asked Mike to describe his pork and he said "Oh, it was fucking delicious. Nice and tender". I couldn't taste it because of the apples, but I did have the potatoes which were perfect. And exactly what you want your scalloped potatoes to be!

I had Grilled Maine Lobster Smothered in Thai-Lime Dressing, Corn-Galangal Custard and a Warm Swiss Chard-Arugula Salad. The lobster and a nice char on it and the great taste from grill. The tart lime dressing helped cut the buttery richness of the lobster. The corn custard was smooth and sweet.

We decided to forgo traditional dessert and instead order the mini dessert martini trio. The bartender brought them out to us and told us how excited she was. She said she's made all of the drinks before, but that we were the first to get them as the trio. We must have really loved them, because we're struggling to remember the flavors! We are sure that one was a root beer float. It had a root beer schnapps, and homemade ice cream. The other two have been lost! But I know we were thrilled!

To say we loved this place would be an understatement. We had a really spectacular meal, with great service, handmade cocktails and had a great experience. Global Palate is now on the top of our list for go-to restaurants!

Simple Summer Lunch

Last weekend Mike and I needed an easy lunch in the midst of a very hot day. A Caprese salad fit the bill perfectly. Ripe tomatoes, fresh burrata cheese and purple and green basil from my garden all drizzled with good olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and black pepper.

Moxie Cupcake

If you live in the Mid-Hudson Valley and you don't know about Moxie Cupcake yet, you're really missing out! The New Paltz-based bakery makes unique and mouth-watering cupcakes with fresh, often local products.

Each month for our Goddess Girl Events we bring in a couple of dozen of these treats, and every month it's a struggle to keep my consumption down to just one!

I've always been a huge fan of their "Salt Away My Sugar" cupcake - rich chocolate cake made with caramel and topped with decadent chocolate buttercream, caramel and fleur de sel.

This month I tried their new Smores flavor - chocolate cake with with bid pieces of graham crackers mixed in and topped with bruleed marshmallow frosting!

Not only are Moxie cupcakes delectable, but I love that whenever possible they're using local ingredients! They're also really generous and frequently donate their cupcakes for good causes! This past October they donated towers of pink-frosted cupcakes for the Dyson Center at Vassar Brother's Medical Center to sell to raise money for cancer research!

Lest I become an FF, I must keep my Moxie addiction to a minimum. But you can be sure, that when I do eat them, I'm loving every moment of it!

Shh, don't tell, but I recently ate 2 of them before going to work out with my friend Melissa!

What's Your Beef?

What's Your Beef?
No, Mike wasn't being a jerk to his father when he asked that on Father's Day. He was asking if that's where he wanted to go for dinner.

What's Your Beef is a choose your own adventure steakhouse in Rumson, NJ where you not only choose your cut of steak, but also how many ounces you would like and how you would like it prepared.

When Mike, his father and I walked into the restaurant we knew we would have a bit of a wait, so we made our way to the bar for drinks. Beer for Mike, Scotch for his father and a Maker's Mark Manhattan for me.

We hadn't yet finished our drinks when our table was ready, so we brought them with us into the next room. The dining room as a few unusual features - the salad bar (and no, I don't typically dine in places with salad bars, but the steak here was worth it), a bread station and a butcher's counter.

Each diner goes to the butcher's counter to order their meal. Filet Mignon and NY Sirloin each cut to order and cut to your size preferences and priced by the ounce (10 oz. minimum), Prime Rib, large selections of sea food.... all with the sides of your choice. From there, you can get your salad as well as homemade bread, kept warm, which you cut yourself.

Each of us got the Prime Rib. And it was a good decision! The waitress brought our plates out to the table and we each had a large slab of prime rib with which we had all ordered a baked potato. 
The meat was so tender it all but melted in our mouths. We didn't need to steak knives placed on the table. We had a caddie of condiments placed on the center of the table, but there was no way I was having horseradish with this prime rib! It's favor was too good to change!

We were all too full to get dessert, so after dinner we headed back to Mike's father's house to watch a movie.


I have to say, Father's Day isn't typically my favorite day of the year - being estranged from my own father, it tends to just be an awkward day. But this year, I really enjoyed spending it with Mike and his father. Mike's dad and I got to talk a lot and get to know each other better. It was pretty cool to hear him brag about Mike, but even better that we got to spend some time chatting alone. Besides, what's better that good conversation with two great guys and fantastic beef?!

Kebabs!

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I made kebabs for dinner. As you know, we don't have a grill, but we do have a cast iron grill pan! And that's all we need for a great meal!

Mike marinated the chicken with garlic and lime and then we added tomatoes, green peppers, onion and mushrooms to the skewers.

I made a cold orzo salad with lemon, olive oil and parsley.

We dined outside with big glasses of rose. It was a perfect night! I really love when we get to spend time together in the kitchen, even if it is just as long as it takes to grill some chicken. We work well together when we're cooking and it is fun to create a meal with him.

Shuffle Home From Buffalo

Friday night, after driving home from Buffalo, Mike made me dinner after work. He hadn't been home in two days and had been driving for 5 hours, but still made me an amazing meal! Truth be told, I was ready to order in, because I was in no mood to cook, but this was a far better option!

Steaks seared on a cast iron pan. What's not to love about cooking steaks in cast iron? We don't have a grill (can't on the covered porch), and sure, we could have done it on our cast iron grill pan.... but sometimes the crust you get in the pan is ideal! And it definitely fit the bill Friday night.

Our sides included a tomato and red onion salad and smoked Gouda mashed potatoes.

Yes. Smoked Gouda fucking mashed potatoes. So stupidly good.

We enjoyed all of that with a great bottle of wine. And as we finished our meal out of the porch it began to rain. Sitting at the table, protected from the weather, we finished our wine, watched the rain and relaxed to the sound.