Valentine's Day at Local ♡

Chef Tracy Miller's 7 Course Tasting Menu + The Dreamsicle Sundae -

• Brussel Sprouts Salad 
• Lentil Soup with Bitter Greens
• Pan Seared Maine Lobster Cake with Crispy Baby Beet, Carrot, and Frisee Slaw and Meyer Lemon Dill Cream 
• compliments of the Chef ~ Fresh Broccolini Soup
• Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras and House Made Texas Toast with Vanilla Bean Scented Blueberry Compote
• Grilled Grass Fed Tenderloin Filet with Horseradish Potato Mash, Baby Arugula Toss and Secret House Made Steak Sauce Reduction
• Seared Scallop with Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato 'Risotto' 
• Almond Cake with Blood Orange and Tangerine and House Made Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• Blood Orange Semifreddo and Shortbread Cookie aka The Dreamsicle Sundae

Happy Halloween

Last weekend I decided to throw a pumpkin themed party- complete with live music, pumpkin themed snacks, pumpkin treats and pumpkin carving.  We even had a pumpkin braised pork roast! 

I made pumpkin dip, pumpkin ginger cupcakes (still baking when I took this picture), Jack-o-lantern stuffed bell peppers, Bakerella's Pumpkin Pie Bites, ghost cucumber cream cheese sandwiches, and bat ham and muenster cheese sandwiches.  I am pretty sure everything tasted great because these little snacks didn't last long.

The pumpkin dip was served in a pumpkin of course! I served it with some thinly sliced apples and Terra sweet potato chips. 

Here's my little orange bell pepper jack-o-lanterns.  I just carved them like I would a pumpkin using a paring knife.  It was so much fun!

Here's my attempt at carving a cat pumpkin.
 

 

The pumpkin pie bites, fresh from the oven. 

 

This is Monsters and Animals. 

This is Disposable Music. 

You can listen to the sets from the show by visiting my boyfriend Ryan's music blog, SoundedLikeThis.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween!

Simple Pear Tart

This recipe calls for only a few ingredients, but it has a lot of flavor.  I made it the other night when Ryan and I were having a band from out of town stay at the house, and it was gone in seconds.  It's quick, easy and versatile because you can make it with almost any fruit!

Pear Tart with Almond Cream (makes about 12 pieces)

For the tart:
2-3 ripe pears (I used green Anjou pears, but any variety will do), sliced
1 package of frozen puff pastry, thawed
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

For the cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 drops almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Lightly flour a clean, flat surface to work on. Using a rolling pin, roll the puff pastry out until it is about ½ inch thick.  The pastry should be roughly a 9 x 12 inch rectangle.  Transfer the pastry to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Using a sharp knife, gently score a 1 inch border around the pastry without cutting all the way through.  This will create the edge of the tart.

Arrange pear slices directly onto the pastry dough, along the inside of the smaller rectangle  (I alternated the pears along the tart to create a shingle-like effect).

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the pears.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top of the pastry is golden brown and the pears are soft.

Simply whip the heavy cream with the sugar, cinnamon and almond extract.  Slice the tart into desired sizes, serve with the cream and enjoy!

Dallas Farmers Market

When I was little I always loved going to the farmers market with mom because I knew that I would get a lot of free food out of it!  Now that I'm older I've gained a new-found appreciation for the farmers market.

What's not to love?  You can literally drive up and park your car 5 feet away from a huge produce department.  I always have to remind myself to stick to the list after trying everything.  I'll always end up coming home with an extra bag of oranges or blueberries that I hadn't planned on buying.

 

When selecting your fruits or vegetables, be mindful of what you select.  The farmers market can be great, but be sure to shop around to make sure you are getting the best price, and the highest quality produce.  One time I thoughtlessly opted for a cheaper bag of corn and when I got home,  I opened the bag only to realize that the corn was spoiled.  Two dollars for 6 ears of corn may have been to good to be true. 

 

Dallas Farmers Market

1010 South Pearl Expressway

Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 939-2808

Hours: Sun-Sat 7am–6pm

Jimmy's Food Store

Jimmy's Food Store is my favorite place to go in Dallas for sandwiches.  I've tried almost every sandwich on the menu, but it's hard to cheat on my favorites.  I've found that I'll usually get the Muffaletta or the Italian Beef sandwich, but the Paninos and the Italian Stallion are great too.  Although if you have the time, or if you're smart enough to call ahead, you can get the Cuban.

Once you try this Cuban, you will forget that you had to wait for it.  It's my favorite Cuban sandwich in Dallas.  The slow roasted pork is so flavorful and tender, and the ham adds just the right amount of salt.  But I must warn you, if you aren't really in to spicy stuff, ask for the Mojo sauce on the side.  I like spicy food (a lot) and that stuff blows me away, so I opt to add just the right amount on my own.

The tasty sandwiches aren't the only amazing thing about Jimmy's.   It's also a gourmet grocery store  specializing in Italian imports and local foods.  I always kick myself when I end up buying my olive oil or Italian sausage at a grocery store chain.  They also sell homemade pastas, and a wide array of olives, cheeses, and peppers.

And of course, they have a great produce selection compiled of fruits, vegetables and herbs from local growers and the garden behind the store!

If you haven't been to Jimmy's before, I strongly urge you to go for lunch.  Browse the store while they make your sandwich and try a specialty soda or grab a Kinder Bueno bar.

Jimmy's Food Store
4901 Bryan Street (@ Fitzhugh)
Dallas, Tx 75206

Call 214-823-2104 15 minutes ahead to order the Cuban!

Deep Sushi

I must be on a sushi kick this month! Here's a snap of the yummy bento box I had for lunch at Deep Sushi with Gail.

 

I hadn't been to Deep Sushi in years, and I was pleasantly surprised that the food quality was still fantastic.  Everything was freshly prepared, and the service was great for a 12 o'clock lunch hour.  I really like that you can get quality sushi in Deep Ellum for a reasonable price, in a pleasant atmosphere.   Over it's 15 years of service this restaurant really has mastered the art of consistency.

Meddlesome Moth

I've been dreading this post.  I hate bashing a place, but Meddlesome Moth really let me down.  I was a little hesitant to try it out because of the mixed reviews I'd heard of the place.  Sometimes I don't get the best service at certain places.  I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm young (I'm 24), maybe it's because I have tattoos... which brings me to my first complaint about Meddlesome Moth.

We headed up to "The Moth" around 4:45, arriving around 5 o'clock.  As my boyfriend Ryan pulls up to the valet and I'm getting out, the valet guy comes over to my door and starts touching my arm while he tells me how much he likes my tattoo.  Okay- I've got this before, people like to touch tattoos for some reason (I don't get it).  So anyways, after already invading my space he goes even further by sticking his fingers under my shirt to see my entire tattoo.  This all in the span of about 4 or 5 seconds while I am getting out of my car.  I brush it (and him) off and decide to go in anyways. This is my first mistake and my first impression of Meddlesome Moth.  Not so great so far... but wait, it gets worse.

As we enter the restaurant, I'm attempting to forget my uncomfortable run in with the valet guy.  I notice that the place isn't very busy, and we were starving so I'm hoping we can get in and out for more than one reason.  We were seated at a booth close to the kitchen (which I liked) and I was beginning to relax.  So we ordered a couple beers and picked out our starters.

We ordered the Moth Balls and the Venison Tartare.  I chose the Moth Balls, because they claimed to be a "shoutout to The Spotted Pig in NYC".  The dish they are referring to (which is not listed on the MM menu) is the Sheep's Milk Ricotta Gnudi.  Last May my friend Gail and I went to The Spotted Pig and tried the dish that they are referring to.  I raved about it to Ryan, telling him how cheesy, buttery, salty and delicious it was.  It was like nothing I've ever tried before. 

Here's a photo of the original Spotted Pig Gnudi.

This is Meddlesome Moth's version.

They were different.  I won't go in too much detail about The Spotted Pig's Gnudi, because that would be another post.  But, if I hadn't tried The Spotted Pig's version (or if they hadn't referenced it) I probably would've liked Meddlesome Moth's just fine.  This dish just did not pay a very good homage to the famous New York eatery.  In addition to that, the dish was dry and room temperature.  The sauce was separating.  It was chewy.  I was disappointed... again.

We still had the Venison Tartare to try.  We chose this dish because Ryan and his father are avid game hunters and he grew up eating venison.  Usually, our freezer is full of different cuts, but we had never tried venison raw.  Ryan said he was game (pun intended) and we ordered it.

The tartare was served with gaufrette potatoes (thin homemade waffle cut chips).  This was probably my personal favorite part of our meal, if you could call what we had a meal.

To be honest, I wasn't really impressed with the presentation of this plate.  The green smear, the greasy paper bag, the way that they smushed the tartare into a cup and then plopped it on to the plate... what an abomination.  The only reason this was my favorite part of the meal is because the "Moth Balls" were such a dissatisfaction, and the rest of our meal never even showed up!

That's right, after finishing our appetizers, we ordered the sirloin "Meat Sticks" and the Creamed Corn.  After two beers and 45 minutes of waiting for meat and corn, we finally asked our waiter what was up.  We were told that it was the kitchen's fault and he could turn it in and it only takes 10 minutes to make!  He blamed it on the fact that we came in during a shift change period, and that the chefs must have been confused (personally, I didn't appreciate him blaming the kitchen).  We were pretty irate at this point and just told him to bring us our check.  We then noticed him walk over to the computer, and print off our check with just one touch of a button... seeming as if he hadn't had to remove items from the bill.  Meaning we waited around, hungry for 45 minutes for nothing.  When he brought us back our check, he never apologized and he didn't comp anything on our "meal".  This waiter just made us feel like it was our fault, like we came into the restaurant at a bad time or something.  He could have easily taken off a beer or something!  Especially since it was happy hour!!

I really wish I had more pictures and more positive things to say about this place, but it was 99% awful.  They have a great beer selection, but the service and food were poor.  I left feeling hungry, angry, and mistreated.  I do not recommend going there.