Monthly Archives: January 2010

Holy Daze Barley Wine

January 23, 2010 | by Ben 1

A few months ago I said I’d blog on my version of Right Brain Brewery’s “The Exception,” a combination of pale malt, wheat malt, smoked malt, maple syrup, and honey. 

My version is probably around 10–12% ABV (“The Exception” is around 14+%) and is drinkable after a few months (before that the flavors are too harsh, and it tastes mostly of alcohol). Now on it’s fifth month, it’s extremely good and definitely the best beer I’ve ever brewed.

It’s also quite food friendly. I had it a few days ago with a chicken, bacon, avocado and balsamic marmalade sandwich based on a recipe from Tom Colicchio’s ‘wichcraft (the recipe is excerpted on amazon.com):

The sweetness and smoke went well with the bacon and marmalade. 

The recipe below adds grains of paradise to Right Brain’s stated ingredients, but these probably add a very minor flavor note considering how much other stuff is in this.

Holy Daze Barley Wine (after Right Brain Brewery’s “The Exception”)

6 lbs … continue reading

Fire, Winter 2010

January 20, 2010 | by Ben 3

We are huge fans of Fire Food and Drink. The atmosphere is upscale but also casual and contemporary, and the service is the perfect combination of friendly and flawless. The food is outstanding in both its complexity and utilization of local ingredients. It had been too long since we’d gone there, so we made a quick Saturday night reservation and brought Jonathan with us.

We started started with the cheese plate, which we all enjoyed. It included a cocoa inflused cheese, a beer infused goat cheese, a complex but not overwhelming blue cheese and an unbelievably sharp aged cheddar (our waitress accurately described it as reminiscent of bacon). Sarah and I liked all four, and Jonathan liked everything but the blue. For anyone interested, the cheeses are listed below:

We also ordered “Dr. Katz’s pickles,” which were a great combination of vinegar with subtle heat and sweetness.

Our meal also came with some good, hearty multigrain rolls. Even the olive oil stood out, and our waitress told us it was a Brazillian brand … continue reading

Schmidt’s Sausage Haus

January 17, 2010 | by Sarah 6

On a recent trip to Columbus we decided to make a stop at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus after seeing it featured on the Travel Channel’s Man V Food show. In general we are fans of sausage and I have German heritage so it sounded interesting.

The restaurant itself is kind of small and compartmentalized. The décor is rustic. The servers seemed to be primarily female and they were wearing German bar-maid dresses. We stopped by on a Saturday afternoon and found the restaurant pretty full, although we did not have to wait around for a table.

We browsed the sausage buffet, but it did not seem too fresh so Ben and I decided to share the sausage sampler and order a side of potato pancakes. We tried to convince Jonathan to order some sort of sausage, but he was more in a cheeseburger mood.

The Sausage sampler was plated on top of sauerkraut and served with a side of German potato salad and apple sauce. The German … continue reading

Superior Phở

January 7, 2010 | by Ben 6

We were in the mood for “something different” and Phở (Vietnamese Soup) fit the bill. We’d already been to #1 Phở, so we thought we’d try Superior Phở.

Superior Phở is in a plaza of sorts, and you can’t really get there unless you go in a back entrance, which is a bit hard to find. This place is very much worth finding, though.

We started with the shrimp rolls ($3.95), which were quite good. The peanut dipping sauce added a nice vinegar element as well. Jonathan also enjoyed these.

I ordered the Banh Mi pork sandwich ($3.95), which has been praised by Nancy Heller* and on the Cleveland Sandwich Board. It’s well worth ordering. The pâté adds a rich meatiness, and the jalapenos and other vegetables add sharpness and complexity. 

Comparisons to #1 Phở are inevitable, so we had to try the chicken phở ($6.45). The broth was notably fuller than that at #1 Phở, and we overall preferred this version. As with … continue reading

Dates, Beets, Scallops

January 5, 2010 | by Ben 4

We’ve been a bit lazy about cooking lately, so I set to work on making a nice home-cooked dinner.

The longest prep time was for the slow-roasted beets (from Michael Symon’s Live to Cook). They take over an hour in the oven, and that doesn’t include making the vinaigrette, etc. The combination of the beets, blue cheese and walnuts was exquisite, though, all heightened by the balsamic orange vinaigrette. In the words of Bridget Callahan, “ridonkalously” good.

I was the only one who really enjoyed the dates with pancetta, almonds and chillies (again, from Live to Cook). Jonathan tried a raw date earlier and really liked it, but his reaction to the dish was basically “why did you f&*% up my dates?” Sarah doesn’t like dates in any form. This left me with almost a half pound of dates to myself. The sweet / savory / spicy / herbal (from the pancetta) combination was truly elevating, and the chewiness of … continue reading