Oh Saturday! How fond I am of you in my memory!
Saturday was a day of firsts... I tried so many things I have never tried before and it was all so dreamy...
First of all... and I am a little embarrassed to say this... Saturday was the first time I've ever had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I don't know why, but I've never tried them... I guess I was a little weirded out by the idea of sweet and salty together... Maybe it was the idea of the textures that was holding me back... but I faced my fears (just like Kim from Real Housewives of Atlanta) and took a bite out of one... and the sky parted and God smiled on me... and it was good. Really, PB&J is awesome... I might try to make a more grown up version in these upcoming days but right now... kiddie versions rock.
After my PB&J discovery I prepped myself for a more grown up dinner at Woodfire Grill. I was a little scared about what I was going to be served... I tend to be a little picky when eating. I don't like lots of stuff and I am allergic to that fine dining wonder; MUSHROOMS! I swell up like Dumbo whenever I eat one...
Well... I've never liked scallops when they are small, but Saturday had me facing the biggest, juiciest, plumpest? scallops I've ever seen... and they were ok... I guess scallops is something I will never really like... One of the other delicious products that I've never had is quail. That little piece of poultry heaven. The preparation in that kitchen was amazing... It was delicious. Another thing wcich is kinda funny is I've lived in the South for close to 3.5 years now and I've never had corn grits and fried okra which makes me a bad bad bad southerner... Well... my issue with okra is that when I was growing up my dad had a garden full of it and I could never forget the sliminess of it and for some reason the thought of okra made me have a great gag reflex... Corn grits are just weird in my head so I try to stay away from them. Saturday changed it all. Yummy yummyness of delicious proportions.
The last thing which to me has to be one of the most incredible inventions came with dessert... wait for it CANDIED BACON, juicy thick, delicious CANDIED BACON... Heaven...
I am excited about trying soo many new things...
PS... I also have a newfound love for kale...
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Woodfire Grill
My name is Evy and I am a Top Chef junkie... I am such a junkie that I own the Top Chef cookbook and Wednesdays at 10:00 are sacred... In the spirit of my junkyness I decided to start trying out the restaurants that some of the cheftestants work in. This is limited to those restaurants in Atlanta or South Carolina. I started with Woodfire Grill, owned by Kevin Gillespie and YUM!!!
We decided to go with the 5 course tasting dinner and to me it was a great idea not knowing what we were going to get and tasting what the chef believes are his best recipes.
As soon as we were seated, we were given the amuse bouche... Fried Okra with garlic aioli. I hate okra and I totally despise Fried Okra (sorry Jennifer) but this was amazingly good. I was happy.
The tasting started with olive oil poached shrimp on a shrimp toast with microgreens and some type of aioli. It was divine, the shrimp felt like butter and to be honest I have never tasted such delicious and tasty shrimp. I was in heaven.
The second course was Pan-Seared Diver Scallop on top of a Lima Bean puree with Bacon Jus and Smoked House Bacon. I do not love the texture of Scallops, i find them chewy and weird but the taste was incredible. I still do not like scallops so this was my least favorite dish of the night. The puree was really good as was the Bacon, I found the bacon jus a little sweet but still amazing.
While we waited for the third course we were given an intermezzo... Green Beans. As you can see I sucked at paying attention at the name of this course. The green beans were good but they had too much acid which made them a little bitter.
The Third Course was my first OMG!!! It was roasted quail on top of peppered corn grits with raised greens. I've never had grits before and if they all taste like those ones I have been converted. They were delicious and amazing and a little piece of heaven, however they were nothing compared to the quail. HOLY JESUS! (not really trying to be blasphemous here) That quail tasted so incredible, so delicious, and so amazing that I was upset that my plate wasn't bigger. After it was over I kept wanting more.
Before the Fourth and Final Main Course we were given another Intermezzo to clean our palate. This was an orange sherbet. It was good, nothing earth shattering but good.
The Second OMG!!! came from the Fourth Course, Wood Fired Pork Loin with Dried Sherry Jus and Creamed Greens. The creamed kale was like butter in my mouth, it was tasty and delicious. The pork was stupendous with and without the sherry jus. Another piece of heaven... Ahhh... Just thinking about it now makes me happy...
The dessert course... OH Lord... The dessert Course, we were given different desserts. Manuel was given the moist chocolate cake. maple panna cotta. brown butter cream sauce.
chocolate ganache. toasted pecans. I was given the banana fritters. milk chocolate mousse. banana bavarian cream salted caramel. candied bacon. At first I was apprehensive... HOW DARE THEY NOT GIVE ME CHOCOLATE! but they gave me bacon and candied bacon which should be one of the wonders of the world. There are so many things that were right about that dessert that I can't even start mentioning them... Another thing that I want to say was that neither Manuel or I wanted to share our desserts... they were THAT good. The salted caramel was delicious and I really wanted to lick the plate afterwards... which might have been a little frowned upon but I did not care... I almost cried when a piece fell off the plate and into the mantel but I quickly applied the 5 second rule, there was no way I was going to let anything ANYTHING go to waste.
So in summary... Woodfire Grill is awesome and a great place for great food. My final grade is A+. Next in line... Probably Flip Burger but cannot disregard Eno and Pura Vida..
I am Evy and will still be a Top Chef junkie...
We decided to go with the 5 course tasting dinner and to me it was a great idea not knowing what we were going to get and tasting what the chef believes are his best recipes.
As soon as we were seated, we were given the amuse bouche... Fried Okra with garlic aioli. I hate okra and I totally despise Fried Okra (sorry Jennifer) but this was amazingly good. I was happy.
The tasting started with olive oil poached shrimp on a shrimp toast with microgreens and some type of aioli. It was divine, the shrimp felt like butter and to be honest I have never tasted such delicious and tasty shrimp. I was in heaven.
The second course was Pan-Seared Diver Scallop on top of a Lima Bean puree with Bacon Jus and Smoked House Bacon. I do not love the texture of Scallops, i find them chewy and weird but the taste was incredible. I still do not like scallops so this was my least favorite dish of the night. The puree was really good as was the Bacon, I found the bacon jus a little sweet but still amazing.
While we waited for the third course we were given an intermezzo... Green Beans. As you can see I sucked at paying attention at the name of this course. The green beans were good but they had too much acid which made them a little bitter.
The Third Course was my first OMG!!! It was roasted quail on top of peppered corn grits with raised greens. I've never had grits before and if they all taste like those ones I have been converted. They were delicious and amazing and a little piece of heaven, however they were nothing compared to the quail. HOLY JESUS! (not really trying to be blasphemous here) That quail tasted so incredible, so delicious, and so amazing that I was upset that my plate wasn't bigger. After it was over I kept wanting more.
Before the Fourth and Final Main Course we were given another Intermezzo to clean our palate. This was an orange sherbet. It was good, nothing earth shattering but good.
The Second OMG!!! came from the Fourth Course, Wood Fired Pork Loin with Dried Sherry Jus and Creamed Greens. The creamed kale was like butter in my mouth, it was tasty and delicious. The pork was stupendous with and without the sherry jus. Another piece of heaven... Ahhh... Just thinking about it now makes me happy...
The dessert course... OH Lord... The dessert Course, we were given different desserts. Manuel was given the moist chocolate cake. maple panna cotta. brown butter cream sauce.
chocolate ganache. toasted pecans. I was given the banana fritters. milk chocolate mousse. banana bavarian cream salted caramel. candied bacon. At first I was apprehensive... HOW DARE THEY NOT GIVE ME CHOCOLATE! but they gave me bacon and candied bacon which should be one of the wonders of the world. There are so many things that were right about that dessert that I can't even start mentioning them... Another thing that I want to say was that neither Manuel or I wanted to share our desserts... they were THAT good. The salted caramel was delicious and I really wanted to lick the plate afterwards... which might have been a little frowned upon but I did not care... I almost cried when a piece fell off the plate and into the mantel but I quickly applied the 5 second rule, there was no way I was going to let anything ANYTHING go to waste.
So in summary... Woodfire Grill is awesome and a great place for great food. My final grade is A+. Next in line... Probably Flip Burger but cannot disregard Eno and Pura Vida..
I am Evy and will still be a Top Chef junkie...
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