Snowed in Christmas Dinner

I don't have any pictures, but last night Mrs. Real Job and I celebrated Christmas together before we head to the Midwest to see our families. There was a blizzard outside (seriously, like a 20 inch snowstorm . . . crazy), so luckily I had all the supplies. For the first time, I made Chateaubriand, using whole beef tenderloin that I picked up at the grocery store. I’ve been wanting to make it for awhile, and it was a huge success. I attribute most of it to the digital meat thermometer that I bought at Thanksgiving. I could leave the oven closed and know for sure when my meat was at a perfect medium temperature. I also improved upon the truffle-parmesan mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving (potatoes, half and half, truffle butter, truffle oil, salt, and pepper). I think I achieved the flavors from the Rouge French Fries this time. I also made a sour mash gravy with shallots, beef stock, whiskey, butter, and fresh parsley, which was excellent. I've made this before with chicken stock, and it is the best gravy I've ever had.

I forgot to take pictures of the whole event because the food was going to get cold, but I wanted to share the adventure with you. If anyone wants to know how to make Chateaubriand, it is easy. Just brown the tenderloin in a pan on the stove and roast it in the over at 350 degrees. Then, let it rest before you cut it (you must let it rest for 10 minutes). Pretty simple, and very elegant.

To good food . . .

Christmas Candy Part I - Peppermint Bark

Over the past year, I've started to dabble in candy making. I wouldn't say I'm very good at it, but I'm working on it. As with everything, I like to try and make things that I eat at places or buy in stores. One of my favorite Christmas candies is Peppermint Bark (I'm a sucker for mint and chocolate). Last Christmas, in one of my first adventures into candy-making, I made some. While the flavors were good, I thought it could have been improved. So, I did some reading to try and eliminate the light-brown spotty look from appearing on the dark chocolate and to prevent the layers from splitting. I also used dark chocolate bars this year instead of dark chocolate chips.



Anyway, it turned out pretty well. The layers stayed together nicely, and so far the dark chocolate has kept its color (we'll see if this persists). It could have used some more peppermint flavor, though. I added some peppermint extract to the white chocolate, but I think it could have used some more.

Here's the final version:



In the next post, I will show off some candied oranges I've been making. It takes 2-3 weeks to make them, and I'm trying to perfect it. I'll let you know how it goes.

To good food . . .

Top Chef Recap

Has it really been so long since the last post. It's not easy to squeeze a blog post into everything else I have/want to do during the week. I'm going to take a new approach . . . shorter posts. We'll see how it works.

As you might presume by the fact that I have a food blog, I really love Top Chef. I've been a fan since season two, and it has really increased my knowledge of food and my desire to try new things. I considered doing a complete recap of the finale, but that didn't happen. I do, though, want to give you some final thoughts, along with a restaurant review.

From the first episode, Kevin (who looks like Yukon Cornelius from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) was my favorite "cheftestant," (he may be my favorite of all time) and I really thought he would win. I really liked his sophisticatedly simple approach to food, and I too love all things pork (no pig tattoo for me, though). I always thought Michael (the eventual winner) was the most creative chef by far, and Bryan (his brother) may have been the most technically precise chef. I also really liked Jen. (It didn't hurt that she works Philly.) It was disappointing to see Kevin lose, but I think he will be a star. If I'm ever in Atlanta, I must go to his restaurant and Richard Blais' (from season 4).

Speaking of Top Chef, Mrs. Real Job and I went to Jen's restaurant in Philadelphia - 10 Arts - the other day before seeing White Christmas at the Academy of Music (White Christmas, my favorite Christmas movie not called Christmas Vacation, was a great show). We had about 2 hours before the show started, so we went to 10 Arts without reservations and decided to dine in the huge lounge area in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the food was excellent, and the atmosphere was really fun. We ordered several items off the lounge menu (pretzels, mini fish burgers, mini burgers, wild boar prosciutto flat bread, and house salad). The prosciutto flat bread was the star - filled with flavor. The house salad, for being nothing more than romaine and a garlic vinaigrette, was also really good (though probably priced too high). Finally, we ordered the beignets, which were awesome.





In addition to the food, the drinks were fun and really great. I had the seasonal Old Fashioned (with seasonal fruits). The wife had the Ri-pear cocktail, which was one of the best cocktails I've ever had. The muddled pear (one of the most underrated fruits) was excellent. We also had a hot apple cider with Goldschlager, which made for a great cinnamon-apple flavored drink.

So, in an ode to Top Chef, I highly recommend 10 Arts. I’m not sure how the regular restaurant is, but the lounge would be a great place to meet friends for drinks and food. It has a big bar with flat screen TVs and some large lounge tables which allow for some privacy. Hopefully I’ll be able to review Kevin’s restaurant soon.

To good food . . .