Brunch at Char No. 4

Yesterday, Steve and I made a return trip to Char No. 4 for brunch. During my first trip, I enjoyed Char's dinner menu, and the brunch menu was just as meat-heavy and rich.

I mentioned the six-person booths but I didn't mention that the only other seating in the dining room besides the booths are two-tops running along one wall. When we arrived around 10:30-10:45, all the two-tops were full (there are only about six of them), but several booths were empty. I wasn't at all surprised when the hostess said a wait for a two-top would be 20 minutes but we could sit at the bar as the full brunch menu was available there. Now this irks me on one hand but on the other hand it makes sense. The irks comes from the feeling that as a customer, I should be seated if there is a table available. But the sensible thing is to hold booths for larger parties.

But eating at bars has never bothered me, so I gladly sat there rather than wait for a table in the dark back room. We were the first customers who had been relegated to the bar, but by the time we left, almost every bar stool was occupied and all the tables in the back were full.

We skipped the $16 fixed price brunch option (which doesn't include a mimosa or Bloody Mary like so many NYC brunches) and ordered single entrees. I got the cheesy bacon grits with poached egg, and Steve got the special hash of the day which was made from the same meat that they use for the hot beef link. We had an order of thick cut bacon and a biscuit on the side.

We both really enjoyed our food. The grits were wonderful - creamy, cheesy, just the right amount of seasoning, and studded with tiny pieces of delectable bacon. The eggs were sitting on top of the grits in a plain white bowl. Everything was topped with finely chopped scallions.

Steve's hash was delicious and full of flavor. There was a mustard sauce of some sort underneath the hash and it was topped with a poached egg. His was much more savory than my dish but we loved both.

The thick-cut bacon was just the same was what Donna had at dinner sans the black eyed peas. We only ate one strip and brought the other one home which I heated up in a skillet for breakfast this morning. The biscuit is more like a biscuit scone. It was good but not a light and fluffy traditional biscuit. It was served with a yummy apple "jam." It was really less like jam and more like chopped up baked apples with cinnamon and honey. It was hard to top the biscuit with the apples since they only wanted to fall off, but I ate them up with my fork.

Since we were sitting at the bar, we had a front row seat to watch the bartenders make up plenty of bourbon chipotle Bloody Marys for the more daring diners. They tried selling us one, but neither of us were in the mood for anything stronger than coffee. I asked what one drink was as I watched the bartender make it and he said it was a Horse Drawn Carriage. It had a shot of bourbon, pear cider, and lemon. Hmm, might have to try one of those someday.

We really enjoyed breakfast and will certainly go back. Cost was more expensive than the diner, and we didn't even have a brunch-time alcoholic drink, but well worth it. Delicious food a distinctive step away from typical brunch fare.

CHEESE!

Homemade mozzarella. I'm totally doing this. Now where am I going to find rennet? Thanks for the link, Susan H.!

Feedback is yummy.

Thanks to everyone who has already written back to me or posted comments about this new blog. Reka pointed me to two new links, which I've added. 101 Cookbooks looks FABULOUS! Caramel Cook looks good, but I noticed he hasn't posted in quite a while.

And in case you haven't already seen this sinful, bacon-concentrated-not-recommended-for-the-living item, Donna sent me the link to The Bacon Explosion. This was a topic of conversation Saturday night at dinner. I think Susan H. should have this at her wedding reception this fall!! Hahahaha!

The baked ziti I made last night was yummy but could have had more sauce and slightly less cheese filling. My large Pyrex baking dish was to the brink of overflowing. The best part is, it made so much that I don't have to cook dinner the rest of the week.

Quest for noodles

I went out today in the snow and accumulating slush on a mission - to find no boil lasagna noodles for the manicotti I'm making for dinner tonight. I went to five different markets and none of them had them. One of them didn't even have lasagna noodles. I'm disappointed, and I know Steve will be too since he requested the manicotti, but we'll have to make do with baked ziti instead. Sigh.

The no boil lasagna noodles are really a great secret to making easy, minimal mess, no ruined manicotti tubes manicotti. You don't have to boil the noodles, but they do need softened up a little bit. Then you take your filling and spread a little on the noodle, roll it up and put it in your prepped baking dish seam side down. It is so easy. Your fingers still get a little cheesy, but it eliminates most of the mess. I learned this little trick in CI.

My trek took me by A Cook's Companion, a kitchen supply store on Atlantic Avenue. (I couldn't find a website for the store.) Steve gave me a gift certificate to CC for Christmas, as well as Silpat. But the Silpat doesn't fit my baking sheets, so I need to exchange it. I took my GC and Silpat with me and wouldn't you know, Tuesday is the only day that CC is closed. Bummer.

Instead, I wandered into Book Court to see what was new there. Lovely bookshop with a resident, literary cat, Francis. He's a handsome and friendly tabby. After an hour of browsing children's, graphic novels, Brooklyn section, new fiction, and cooking, I walked out with two totally unnecessary cookbooks - Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food and Mario Batali's Molto Italiano. I also took a few photos of other books I'd like to get eventually, including a $50 cookbook/homage to Chanterelle. I ate at Chanterelle once. Donna took me there for my birthday. It was one of the most divine dining experiences I've ever had, and consequently, one of the most memorable birthday presents I've ever received. I can't wait for my second visit. I digress. I picked these two because they looked thorough, varied, and contained recipes for dishes that I would like to eat. The recipes are also seemingly straightforward and the ingredients don't look too out of this world to find. Plus, the Alice Waters book was a store bestseller so it was 20% off. The Mario book wasn't labeled as on sale, but rang up about 10% off. I'll take the savings!

Mario's book has three different methods for making gnocci. I love gnocci. The recipe I use now is a very simple and potato based. I've tried one ricotta gnocci recipe that I didn't like. But Mario has another one that I am eager to try. Like souffle, gnocci is a dish I want to perfect.

Now I'm home, drying off, and thinking about heating up some of the left over soup for lunch.

UPDATE 2/10/09: Yesterday, I had a leisurely stroll through Trader Joe's, and what did my wondering eyes behold? Why no-boil lasagna noodles, of course! As many of you know, I have a photographic memory for all products offered by Trader Joe's and there is no way I missed these noodles. I swear they weren't there last week when I was looking for them, which is entirely possible since TJ's is constantly changing their product line. But now I'm glad I know where to get them for only $2.69 a box.

Christmas Cookies in February

Over several weeks, I spent a lot of time gathering ingredients and baking dozens upon dozens of cookies. Since I had little money, I couldn't buy gifts, so I had the intention of sending these cookies out to family as their Christmas present. But things got a little off track. First, it turns out that even though I had enough time and money to make the cookies, I lacked funds to afford shipping on all of them. Second, I got off-track because Kitty got sick. And thirdly, when I did want to mail the cookies, I couldn't find any appropriately sized boxes. That's what I get for looking for boxes two days before Christmas.

So, apologies to all of you who were promised cookies and didn't get them. The cookies are still in my freezer, and after a taste test, appear to still be okay, so I hope to send them out. As you can see, I have more cookies than Steve and I could ever eat.

Contained in this freezer are:
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Chocolate Snowballs (aka Sarah's cookies)
Orange Chocolate Macaroons
Toll House Chocolate Chip
Ginger Snaps

While I was baking, periodically I remembered to take a picture of the progress. Here are a few for you.

Batter for the chocolate snowballs in my workhorse of a mixer.


Peanut butter cookies cooling.


Flour and sugar containers. These are from my grandpa's and according to Mom, her folks used to mix daiquiris in these. Almost an entire bag of flour will fit in one, and easily a whole bag of sugar.


I also love the new kitchen. It has so many cabinets I can have a dedicated baking pantry.

We have since bought a stainless steel island that will double as a dining table when needed. I could have used that surface space when I was baking!

Dinner - Thai-Style Chicken Soup

Last night, I tried out a new recipe, Thai-Style Chicken Soup, from a Cook's Illustrated (Jan/Feb 2007) issue. Usually, we love the CI recipes. They are very well written and the outcome is always delicious. Well, I was a little disappointed in this one.

Sure, this recipe called for lots of yummy coconut milk, cilantro, and lime juice - all things I love - but it was lacking some serious flavor. To make this soup accessible for the home cook, CI tested for the best substitutions for traditional Thai ingredients such as kaffir lime leaves, bird's eye chilies, galangal, and lemon grass. The recipe does include the lemon grass (3 stalks), but eliminates all the others with store-bought red curry paste. I bought the only red curry paste my grocery had, A Taste of Thai. Steve and I have tried the Taste of Thai green curry paste, only to add the entire jar because the directed amount to use was only a whisper of that green curry flavor.

With that in mind, I should have known that the called for two teaspoons of red curry paste would not be enough to satisfy our palates. But I like to prepare a first time recipe exactly as directed and then determine how I would change it to make it better.

So our soup wasn't spicy or flavorful enough. After we ate, we added a bunch more paste and brought it back up to a simmer. Will see how that changed the flavor when I have some for lunch today.

The other thing I didn't like about the recipe is that it has you strain out all the aromatic solids after simmering for 10 minutes. That's the shallots, cilantro, and lemon grass. The only "chunks" in the soup are mushrooms (which you know I don't like) and chicken. I would add some thinly sliced bamboo shoots and red peppers next time. I might also add some sliced ginger to the aromatics.

CI said to serve the soup as just soup, or to pour it over rice. We opted for the rice, which promptly soaked up a majority of the liquid.

I will say this about this recipe - it was one of the easiest and least time consuming ones I've made from Cook's. I think the prep work took more time than the cooking.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Needs additions and some tweaking to be the rich, flavorful, satisfying soup that we want it to be. I love lime and this calls for lots of lime, so that is one flavor that came shining through.

Dinner at Char No. 4

This past Saturday, I met up with the girls - Donna, Reka, Susan C., Susan K. - for drinks and dinner celebrating Reka's Newbery Honor and other awards. She edited several books that picked up ALA awards last Monday.

Reka is a Brooklyn resident. We live about 10 minutes walk from each other. Since it was her night, she wanted to stay in Brooklyn and wanted to stick to places in the vicinity of Smith Street. Well, lucky me, I live off of Smith Street, so I didn't have to venture far.

We settled on Clover Club for pre-dinner cocktails. For dinner, Char No. 4.

I'll start with Clover Club.

You step into the bar and it's a step back in time. The decor echoes smooth, sexy, stylings of a saloon in turn of the century Paris. One that would have served absinthe to Monet and Renoir. White hexagonal tile on the floor, paned front door, elegant and immense wooden bar, cozy booths, cushy love seats, beamed and aged mirrored ceilings, and a toasty fireplace. Not to mention the cave-dim lighting. The kind of lighting that makes everyone look good. I felt like my art-deco shoes were right in order and the French chanteuse and Louis Armstrong music was right on cue.

We sat in the back where the fireplace was. The cocktail menu is seasonal. Imagine that. Each cocktail is named and lists the half-dozen or so ingredients, many featuring fruits and herbs. Three of my friends had something gin based with muddled mint and cucumber, where I had a Carrea - anejo tequila, pear, pineapple, and jalapeno syrup. It was very very good and not nearly as sweet as I feared. The jalapeno was subtle rather than burn-your-tongue spicy. It added an earthy flavor to the drink. It was simply garnished with two paper thin pear slices. Served in an old fashioned coupe glass for an added touch of elegance and timelessness. I only had one drink, but my friends had two and our bill with tax and tip was a whopping $91. So this place isn't cheap, but it feels oooooh so good. I will definitely come back here to try more of the creative and re-imagined old fashioned drinks as well as sample some items from the appetizer list. No full menu here - just bar snacks. The offer a brunch on the weekends that is supposed to be pretty good.

Then we relocated half a block to Char No. 4. Char is a new place that has opened since I've been in Brooklyn. The exterior is painted a sort of raisin brown and the only thing announcing that it is a bar/restaurant is a brass plaque next to the door. It's easy to walk by it without even noticing it. Oh, but people have noticed. It's been written up in all kinds of NY publications and I'm glad we got to try it. The menu is small and seasonal. The claim to fame for the restaurant is the house cured and smoked meats. It's a sort of upscale, modern barbecue. The claim to fame for the bar is the wall of whiskeys and bourbons. All can be ordered in a one ounce tasting, which range from $2-$100. I'm not even sure if they have a full bar, but they do have some beers and wines as well as the hooch.

When we walked in, we were immediately salivating. The smell in the place is bacon and smoking meat. As Susan said, it's one of those smells that you want to ask your server what it is and to bring you an order of it. We settled into our six-person padded booth, and decided upon the menu. For the table we ordered the following appetizers: crab cakes (the special for the night), crispy cheese curds, and pork nuggets. Donna said, "We are not timid eaters." Pork nuggets - the chicken nugget's black sheep cousin - crispy fried, greasy pork nuggets served with a too-hot-for-me red horseradish sauce. The cheese curds are an upscale version of a fried mozzarella stick. The cheese was relatively tasteless, but they were cooked well - crispy and hot. The crab cakes, however, were splendid. We split them up, so I only had a half, but it was as delicious half. Filled with crab and just enough bread to bind it together, it was served on a layer of delicate, refreshing lemon aoli. Very well done.

For my main course, I ordered the BLT, which isn't your ordinary BLT. The "bacon" is really decadent pork belly which has been FRIED. Yes, it's a coronary on a plate. I didn't know it was going to be fried. The T and L part is actually a sort of warmed grape tomato and micro green salad that is on top of the pork belly. Served with house pickled mini-red bell peppers and onions, it was rich and filling. The bread was no bigger than regular sandwich bread, so it wasn't one of those overstuffed, gross sandwiches, but it was plenty. Washed it all down with a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Lager. This was beer food.

Others had: lamb pastrami (not a sandwich, just the meat, thank you), beef link (which was extremely phallic and we shared some immature giggles & remarks at it's expense) with onions and mustard potato salad, greens & squash, and the thick-cut bacon with black-eyed peas. I sampled everything. The lamb was really a standout - tender and flavorful. The bacon was divine - salty, fatty, meaty, and smoky. But not too much smoke so that it inhibited the other flavors from coming through. I was very impressed with the quality of all the meats knowing they were done in house.

We capped off the meal with one bowl of butter pecan ice cream with straight bourbon on it. Being not a bourbon fan, that was a little strong for me, but the ice cream was good.

Service was good. Our waitress seemed to be having as good a time as we were. She ran through every item on the menu with us and added her own comments about which ones were her favorites. Her comments changed what both of the Susan's ordered.

The dining area is in the back, the bar in the front. It was noisy back in the dining area as conversation bounced off the walls. Luckily, there was no music on in the back. It would have been unbearable if music had been on. We didn't hear the music in the bar until we were passing through on our way out. The place was packed by the time we left, which was around 9:30 Saturday night.

All in all, both Clover Club and Char No. 4 were very good and worth a trip back. With both of them a minute walk from my place, I know I'll be back with Steve for brunch (Char also has a brunch) or drinks.