It’s not a myth: Melt is coming soon to Cleveland Heights!
…where the old Platinum Dreams club was on the corner of Cedar and Taylor:
Monthly Archives: September 2009
Sarah and I met some friends at #1 Phở (pronoucned “Fuh”) on Superior a few days ago. It was our first experience with phở (a Vietnamese soup), and we were not disappointed.
We started with the Goi Ga, a chicken and cabbage salad, and, as our friends told us, it was one of the best uses of cilantro one can find. Everything is tied together with a sharp, fresh vinegar dressing. Even Jonathan really liked it.
For our entrée we split a large phở ga (a small would have been fine), a chicken soup with thin rice noodles.
The best part is the condiments and sauces you add to the soup. It’s served with a large plate of bean sprouts, jalapenos, and fresh thai basil:
The soup also comes with a spicy red sauce and a smoked plum sauce (which was a bit like smoked hoisin). You can make your soup as hot or sweet as you’d like. I liked mine really hot, but Sarah preferred a milder version.
We got Jonathan some … continue reading
Only the herbs are doing well in our garden this year, and we have plenty of sage. I also happened to have some leftover heavy cream around and an orange, so I came up with this. It ended up being really good.
Orange, Sage and Honey Ice Cream
Makes 1 pint
¾ cup cream 1 cup milk 3–4 large strips orange peel 3–4 TB. coarsely chopped fresh sage pinch salt 1/3 cup honey 1 TB. Sugar 3 egg yolks
(1) Heat the milk, cream, orange peel, sage and salt together in a small saucepan until boiling. Remove from heat and let steep 20 minutes.
(2) Beat together egg yolks and sugar until thickened slightly, about 2–3 minutes. Gradually whisk in about half the cream mixture, then the honey, then the rest of the cream mixture.
(3) Return mixture to saucepan and heat on medium-low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened a bit and coats the back of a spoon, around 180–185 degrees.
(4) Strain mixture into … continue reading
Right Brain Brewery, located in Traverse City, Michigan, is the most exciting brewery I’ve ever visited. The establishment itself is unassuming, just a large room with a bar and some good, colorful original artwork on the walls. They also don’t have a full menu, just snacks including popcorn and a hummus platter.
The beers at this place are definitely not what you’d expect. I started with the vanilla sour barleywine, which was outstanding. One wouldn’t expect sourness and vanilla together, let alone in a beer, but they paired very well. Seeing my enthusiasm, the bartender offered me a free sample of their other barleywine, “The Exception” which includes pilsen malt, smoked malt, wheat, corn, local honey and maple syrup. Again, one wouldn’t necessarily expect this to work, but it did so beautifully with every flavor coming through distinctly.
Because I would be traveling back to Ohio in a couple days, I took a growler of the Ancho Chile Chocolate Porter … continue reading