So we’ve been trying to stick to a budget lately, and part of the changes we’ve made include shopping for various household necessities at Aldi’s. Surprisingly, Aldi is a German company that owns Trader Joe’s. There are plenty of good imported foods there, including German sourdough rye bread and chocolate. We’ve tried a few of their dark chocolate bars, with mixed results. However there was one stand out, Choceur Dark Chocolate, which is made in the Bavarian Alps. It comes in a red package and is about $1.29 for a 5.29 oz bar (note that the price online including shipping is four times this). The chocolate is dark, but has some milk added so it has a really nice texture and is not too bitter.… continue reading
Here are some things food-related (and one not) that I’ve enjoyed lately:
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron — This is probably the best Dogfish beer I’ve had, and I’ve tried a lot of them. The flavor is complex, with plenty of sweetness, roasted malt flavor, hardwood (Palo Santo refers to the barrels), hops and carbonation. But, with all this going on, the beer is extremely well-balanced. Ratebeer.com gave it 98/100. I was a bit sad I’d bought only one of these.
Lilly Handmade Chocolates — I found the Palo Santo at Lilly, along with plenty of other interesting and hard-to-find beers and wines. The Vietnamese cinnamon and apple truffle I had for dessert was so intense that I’m glad I gave it more than one bite. And it went perfectly with the beer.
An Obsessed Chef — This blog is filled with philosophical musings and well-written stories of life “from behind the stove.” Chef Eric’s recent post, … continue reading
This weekend after another great dinner at the Tap House we decided to make a pit stop at Lilly Handmade Chocolates before heading home. We just made it in before they closed for the night. The store was nicely decorated–it reminded me of the choclatiers we have visited in NYC.
There was a nice selection of hand made chocolates available. There were some traditional flavor combinations like chocolate and peanut butter (one of my favorites) but there were quite a few non-traditional flavors as well. Ben tried the Heather (cayenne and dark chocolate, named after Heather Haviland of Lucky’s Café), the Mike (milk chocolate and bacon–named after guess who) and the Boozie Suzies (cherries soaked in kirsch and enrobed in dark chocolate). They were all flavorful and satisfying, especially the Boozie Suzies, which are much, much better than typical cherry-filled chocolates. Ben decided, though, that he isn’t likely to repeat the chocolate … continue reading
Ben and I have always shared an excitement for ethnic markets. When I was small my Mom used to take me to the European Import Store near the bratwurst stand at the West Side Market. I still need to have a requisite brat on a soft roll and make a stop into the import store, which will always be the “German Store” to me.
This week we discovered an Asian super market near Warrensville and 480. It was surprisingly large, very clean and well organized (the aisles had English labels). They had a huge amount of fresh Asian produce as well as lots of sauces, soups, noodles, tea, Asian cookware and tea pots. It was like taking a vacation to Asia without leaving town.
So, what is your favorite ethnic grocer, and why?… continue reading
We ate at the Whole Foods food bar tonight (a fairly frequent stop for us, especially considering the health factor and kid-friendliness), and I decided to have a couple of their truffles for dessert. They were unbelievably good. They get them from Pure Imagination Chocolatier in Columbus. I tried the Theobroma*, which is supposedly very popular in Columbus. The ganache is a subtle mix of cloves, nutmeg, black pepper and cayenne. It’s very flavorful, but the spiciness does not overwhelm the chocolate flavor.
I also tried the Honey Au Chocolate. Despite the dark chocolate filling, the truffle tasted very intensely of wildflower honey. The texture of both truffles was very smooth but not obnoxiously buttery. A gallery which includes both of the chocolates mentioned above can be found here.
These truffles are far more interesting than anything you’ll find at Godiva, and I’ll definitely be sampling more in the future.
* Theobroma is the … continue reading
Sarah and I tried grass-fed beef for the first time last night. We bought ground beef from the Cleveland Food Co-op and I made charcoal-grilled cheeseburgers. I was a bit worried while making them, as this was clearly hamburger, not ground sirlion, round or chuck. There was a lot of marbling, and the grind was course.
The burgers were excellent, though. The first word that came to Sarah’s mind to describe them was “clean.” Typically, after eating beef or some cheap potato chips, one can feel one’s mouth coated in a yucky kind of grease. That was not the case with these burgers, though. The flavor of fresh beef really came through, and even Jonathan seemed to like them more than regular burgers. The course grind also made them taste meatier than supermarket burgers. And, even if the fat content was a bit high, these only have 1/3 the saturated fat of corn-fed burgers, plus some of … continue reading
Today we went to Beachwood mall and found a new store called Teavana. It is a tea specialty store, they sell a bunch of different loose leaf teas and assorted tea accessories and sweeteners. What pulled us in initially was the Tea samples outside the store, we really enjoyed 2 out of the 3 that were being sampled and decided to purchase one of them. They sell their tea loose leaf in 2 ounce increments (they say you can get around 15 cups per 2 oz), and you can combine different flavors to get a custom blend. We purchased a combination of the Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls Flavored & Scented Green Tea and Rooibos Tropica Rooibos Tea . I liked the fruitiness of the rooibos, and I love Jasmine tea. Jonathan also liked this tea. The prices seem to vary quite a bit from around $4 per 2 oz to over $12 per 2 oz. I look forward going back when our tin is … continue reading