Hot Dish Review

In honor of Labor Day, I wanted to post something helpful for all you grillers. I’ve discovered Sommers Organic Extra Lean Burgers in the frozen meat department at Publix (or was it Kroger?), and they rock!

Each package contains four 1/4 lb burgers, individually wrapped for convenience. The cattle aren’t shot full of hormones to make them grow bigger faster or antibiotics to control the infections caused by feeding them corn. In fact, they are actually grass fed, like the burgers at Yeah! Burger.

I’m really happy that Americans are finally becoming aware of the dangers of antibiotics and hormones used in foods, and making educated choices about what they put into their mouths. The trendy organic, sustainable restaurants are making an impact. If you haven’t seen it already, please watch Food, Inc. It is amazing the shit our government allows to be put in food….nasty fillers, chemicals. All to protect big pharmaceutical companies that line their pockets. It’s disgusting.

Back to Sommers burgers. I’ve made a few in a skillet, about 3 minutes per side for a perfectly juicy medium burger. At only 130 calories per patty, they are as friendly to your waistline as they are to the environment. The nutritional breakdown is 25 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs.

I eat mine bunless on a bed of lettuce and tomato, with pepperjack and caramelized onions. What do you put on your burger? Try Sommers and tell me what you think!

Happy Labor Day!

With lines out the door every Summer, one might think the gelato at Paolo’s in the Virginia Highlands is an authentic taste of Italy. Paolo Dalla Zorza has indeed captured the atmosphere of so many tiny gelato shops in Europe, but I have often been disappointed with his product.

Having visited Europe on numerous occassions, I am a total gelato snob. When I’m in Germany I walk down to the gelato shop on the corner every freakin’ day. It has been owned and run by the same Italian family ever since I can remember. They go back to Italy in the Winter and return to the small town of Solms in the Spring to serve up authentic, amazing gelato.

Sometimes I think it’s the ingredients that make it impossible to duplicate here in the states. Other times I attribute the lack of authentic gelato here to the makers trying too hard to please the American palate with copious amounts of sugar and cream instead of milk. Then it’s ice cream, not gelato.

Paolo’s has enjoyed ten years of success due to its perfect location, a tiny space which is surely the lowest rent in the neighborhood, and the insurmountable draw of sugar to the kids on this very family-friendly street. There is now a second location in Charleston.

LC and I stopped in after our snack at Goin’ Coastal since it is right next door. It had been a couple of years so I was ready to give Paolo another chance to win me over.

Paolo’s offers authentic flavors like gianduia and zabione. My favorite is straciatella, basically vanilla with chocolate shavings. In Europe this simple composition takes on a more complex nuance, some intangible quality that makes it taste so much better there than it does in the U.S.

We ordered one waffle cup with a scoop of straciatella and one of espresso (I think). The texture of the espresso was too creamy, like regular ice cream, and also too sweet. I was quite pleased with the straciatella and I loved the edible cup!

His menu also includes crepes and creative treats like vanilla gelato extruded in strings and topped with strawberries. Called “spaghetti eis” in Germany, it’s a sweet take on the traditional pasta with marinara.

In Germany they use very small scoops pronounced “bellschen”. My regular order? “Ich moechte zwei baellchen von straciatella und eine von dem nuss, mit sahne bitte!” That’s straciatella and hazelnut with real whipped cream.

Seems like everyone’s in the gelato business these days. Whole Foods makes a totally bastardized version.

At least Paolo is trying to do something authentic, just wish it tasted a little more like the real thing.

1025 Virginia Avenue 404-607-0055

How do hotel restaurants do it? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, room service…..they constantly crank it out. Getting it done and doing it right, however, are two different things.

It is rare that I get the opportunity to have breakfast at a hotel in Atlanta. More often than not, hotel breakfasts find me in a foreign country like Spain, Mexico, or Brazil. However, after L and P’s wedding, the party continued until the wee hours at AltoRex, the rooftop lounge at the Palomar, after which everyone stumbled to their rooms. I didn’t have much time to enjoy the modern decor since most of my time there was spent asleep, wrapped up in the cloudlike duvet.

But not for long. My lucky ass had to get up early to go to work. But before I took off, LC joined me at Pacci for breakfast. It was 9:00am on a Sunday. Only two other tables were occupied. Handsome young servers greeted us with smiles. The coffee was smooth, and so was the service.

Pacci has a fun “Flip For Your Breakfast” menu. Guests that order off this only slightly abbreviated list get to call a coin toss after their meal by none other than Keira Moritz’ sous chef Aaron Love. Not only that, a portion of the cost of your meal goes to charity, regardless who pays. Classy.

One of my all-time favorite brunch items is eggs benedict. Pacci’s version is made with proscuitto, spinach, tomato slices, with the traditional Hollandaise on top of toasted English muffins. It didn’t come with anything on the side, which is fine with me. I’m not a fan of breakfast potatoes.

LC ordered two fried eggs with wheat toast. His meal did come with potatoes, but no bacon. We ordered a side to split….thick and chewy just the way I like it. If you are not lucky enough to be staying at the Palomar overnight, the bacon alone is worth the short drive for brunch!

My benedict was a solid rendition of the popular classic. I liked the slightly Italian touch with the substitution of prosciutto for the standard Canadian bacon.

It was time to try our luck with the toss of the coin. LC’s a gambler by nature so it was all or nothing. He called heads and our breakfast entrees were free! By this time several other members of the wedding party had made it downstairs to Pacci, just in time to witness LC’s lucky streak continue.

We both cleaned our plates before I sped off in the HotDish mobile. Pacci is in my Top Ten for a reason…..whatever time of day or night, they do it right!

866 W. Peachtree Street NW 678-412-2402

Having already had entirely too many margaritas at a wedding party, LC and I ended up at Goin’ Coastal, lured back by their addictive watermelon jalapeno margaritas. This time we sat at the bar for drinks and a snack.

My first impressions of Goin’ Coastal were mixed at best. Neither of our favorite dishes, the cheese grits or the cornbread pudding, contained seafood….an odd fact at a seafood restaurant.

So on our follow up visit, we decided to try one thing that we missed the first time, the crab cakes. Two fat cakes came on a bed of red pepper sauce and corn. They appeared to be slightly charred, but the flavor was anything but burnt. Lots of big chunks of crab meat and little filler made them a winner.

I couldn’t pass up a repeat visit with their stellar cornbread pudding. Baked in its own ramekin, it was delivered smoldering hot, straight out of the oven. I told LC it was too hot to eat but did he listen? No, he has a burnt tongue to prove it. The savory pudding manages to be dense and light at the same time with a touch of sweetness from the corn. Love it.

There are plenty of items on the menu I haven’t tried that may further redeem Goin’ Coastal. If nothing else, you can be sure I’ll be back for the watermelon jalapeno margaritas!

1021 Virginia Avenue 404-941-9117

As a follow-up to my post of Thomas’ sorry excuse for mini wheat bagels, I purchased a bag of Kroger’s mini cinnamon raisin bagels, one of the brands that I passed up the first time.

These bagels felt like bagels, promising the dense texture one expects. Plus, I love a hot toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with lots of butter….yum!

Each mini bagel has 100 calories. But I noticed that the size of the bagels varied quite a bit among the dozen bagels within the bag. The serving size states that it is 42 grams. Curious, I got out my scale and weighed a few of them.
Some were as small as 22 grams, but most were in the mid thirties.

I was surprised to read they have no fat. But there are a slew of preservatives and “dough conditioners”.

The conclusion? The texture and flavor are far superior to Thomas’ bagels. And I like the itty-bitty size, perfect for an (almost) guilt-free snack.

Farm to table is the hottest trend in dining. It’s funny because that’s how I grew up, eating vegetables right out of our garden. We would pick squash, beans, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and whatever else was ripe, and cook it for dinner that day. Now that’s sustainable, organic, and local!

Of course, there was a surplus of some vegetables. My Dad intentionally planted more green beans than we could eat so we could can them for the Winter. I have great memories of days spent stringing beans in the backyard under the big old apple tree with my Grandma.

She taught my Mom the art of canning. Using a pressure cooker and Mason jars, it was a Summer ritual. Years later, my parents still plant a garden every Spring. But with their time split between Tennessee, Helen, and Florida, they’ve downsized the plot, only planting the necessities.

But there were still enough green beans for my Mom to can a batch or two this year so I snagged a couple of cans. As delicious as always, I ate the whole jar by myself!

When anyone asks my opinion on the best new restaurant in Atlanta, I invariably say Miller Union. Not only for its cool yet comfortable atmosphere but for its fresher than fresh local produce and chef Satterfield’s creative takes on simple Southern dishes.

I fell in love with Miller Union on my first visit with B, seduced by the fragrant broth that surrounded clams in a big white bowl, lured in by the richness of an egg baked in celery cream, comforted by the warm embrace of a rustic pear tart. Yes, every dish we had was truly stellar.

That was in the Winter. In fact, it was snowing the night we dined there. I mention this for two reasons: my folly in judging any restaurant based upon one visit is becoming evident, and I simply don’t like Summer menus nearly as much as Fall ones.

With a first meeting like that, disillusionment was sure to follow. Common sense would tell you that multiple visits to a restaurant, or anywhere for that matter, affords a more rounded experience, and therefore allows one to make a qualified assessment of the food, the wine, the service, the scene. But me, I’m the idiot that falls in love on the first date. Then I find out he is unemployed, married, stupid, or all of the above.

My second date with MU didn’t go quite as well as our first. It started off promising with an exceptional blueberry cocktail called Tangled up in Blue. Wanting to introduce my friend BB to my new love, I had high hopes that they, too, would find affection for one another.

Seasonal menus like MU’s feature local produce so naturally one finds awesomeness like apples, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts in the Fall and Winter. Likewise, Summer menus are ripe with tomatoes, corn, and okra.

There is a special place in my heart for okra. I grew up eating fried okra just picked from the garden. My grandma, who was as Southern as poke salad, taught my Mom how to make it properly. Just like fried green tomatoes, I have a real disdain for improperly cooked fried okra.

But first things first. Seated at the bar, BB and I started off with a pork terrine served with pickled okra and their fantastic toasted bread. Not terrible although BB thinks he can find a comparable terrine at Publix.

The magical farm egg baked in celery cream also awaited my lips. I took a knife and pierced its soft yellow yolk, spreading the sublime mixture on the crispy sourdough. Pure heaven.

BB and I decided to split an entree. This is where things went downhill as we noted practically every dish featured corn and/or tomatoes. Fish and tomatoes don’t work for me so that automatically eliminated all the fish dishes. As we made our way down the list, we decided upon the chicken. And God help me if it didn’t come with tomatoes too, disguised as eggplant caponata! The dish was simply prepared. Too simple.

Our side of okra literally took me aback. Chefs deserve plenty of room for creativity. I don’t expect every Southern dish to be like my Grandma’s in Tennessee, as long as it’s good. Miller Union’s okra was not good. Whole okra with a thick beige coating (only flour, no cornmeal?) was neither delicious nor authentic. As BB and I nibbled on the deep fried vegetable, he noted how the batter “skin” could be pulled off. Unfortunately I had consumed several of them prior to this discovery.

Another cocktail was ordered and consumed. BB was on his second Pimm’s Cup.

Note: check out my method for making authentic fried okra by clicking here.

Southern desserts. For me, generally unappealling like the hideous traditional banana pudding or sugar bombs like pecan pie. Miller Union offers similar atrocities: coconut cream pie, lemon layer cake. Before eyeing the dessert list I bet my left forearm (yeah, I know that’s weird) that there would be at least one peach dessert on the menu, after all, what could be more seasonal than Georgia peaches?

There was just one, peach shortcake. If I could have chosen anything made with peaches, that would not have been it. So we opted for the two homemade ice creams of the day, ginger and caramel. I found the caramel so cloyingly sweet that I could barely eat it. BB liked it, however, I preferred the ginger. Neither compared to the ingenuity of the thyme, sage, and rosemary ice creams B and I sampled in the Winter.

I’m not going to break up with you MU. But I think we need some time apart, like maybe three or four months.

999 Brady Avenue NW 678-733-8550

The storms had passed, the sun was out….put me in the mood for a shot of tequila and some Mexican food!

LC and I met at Uncle Julio’s for a late lunch. We started with shots of Herradura Silver, shaken, with lime and salt. It’s my standard. Two margaritas to chase, plus chips, salsa, and guacamole….the ingredients for a fun Summer afternoon!

Uncle Julio’s chips are my favorite. They are extremely thin, so thin in fact, that they break when you are dipping them into anything. Whatever, I still think they are the best.

Salsa at Uncle Julio’s is very smoky with a little heat. I like it. Their guacamole is like mine, but with less cilantro and no jalapeno. We had a hankerin’ for heat so we got an order of grilled jalapenos on the side. Although I love cheese dip I never order it at Uncle Julio’s. It is orange….just too gringo for my taste.

More margaritas, on the rocks with salt. LC didn’t think they were strong enough so he got another shot to add to our drinks. By then, we were feelin’ alright.

Uncle Julio’s space is enormous. There is a whole upstairs that I’ve yet to explore. Coral, turquoise, and blue dominate, with a minimal amount of kitsch. With 16 locations nationally, mostly in Dallas and Washington DC, it is a chain, which probably explains much of the following flavorful yet somewhat generic “Mexican for the masses”.

We ordered the Guadalajara platter to share, with three bacon wrapped shrimp and a combo of chicken and beef fajitas. LC had his eye on those shrimp so he snatched one off the platter right away. They came with a garlicky sauce that neither of us cared for. Although they seemed to be soaked in butter, the huge shrimp (that’s an oxymoron!) were perfectly cooked but suffered from the wrapping of undercooked bacon. That seems to be a common issue with things wrapped in bacon….filet mignon, shrimp, scallops….the bacon is rarely cooked enough to render the fat, leaving it limp and practically inedible. It’s always a shame to waste bacon.

Our fajitas arrived without the necessary tortillas or the cheese and sour cream we requested. Sorta hard to make a fajita without a tortilla. After some time had passed LC told the bar manager, who in turn told the manager. We didn’t mean to get our server in trouble, but seriously, you gotta bring out all the shit required for fajitas when they are hot, right? The manager came out and kindly replaced the whole set-up, including the sides of beans and rice, then comp’d it. She was very professional and I felt that was a great way to handle the minor snafu. Not to mention, a good way to make sure we stayed and continued to drink! And we did.

Another round of margaritas please. LC and I dug into the fajitas. Some strips of the beef were tough, others tender. That’s what you get when it’s flank steak, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was cooked medium rather than well-done. We piled meat, grilled onions, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and more of the grilled jalapenos onto their exceptionally good flour tortillas. Both chicken and beef were well seasoned with a smoky grilled flavor but lacked sufficient kick.

The point is, we like spicy food, especially when it’s Mexican. However, many restaurants are hesitant to make their food too hot. Most folks can’t take the heat and they’re ruining it for the rest of us! Pussies.

1140 Hammond Drive 678-736-8260

Friday was my first TV appearance for Hot Dish Review! Having just celebrated a year of blogging, I was thrilled to be asked to do a segment on CBS Atlanta’s 4:00 news hour about inexpensive girls’ night out ideas.

Still in my studio make-up, B met me at Abattoir for a toast to my on-air interview. Arriving first, I was offered a seat at the bar by a kind gentleman. BS poured a glass of red while I waited. It was a hot day so I was thinking champagne or a refreshing white. Everyone’s talking about vinho verde these days so I asked for a taste. Light, clear, boring. BS was right, of course. I stuck with the red.

Seated beneath the famous bulb with the slaughterhouse hook, I snapped a couple of photos. Take a closer look and you’ll see a pair of rubber chickens in the rafters…..hilarious!

B arrived and we proceeded to chat and drink. Cheers! Yes, the hours leading up to the interview with Kim Fettig were nerve-jangling but once I was on set I had about two minutes to clip on my microphone and figure out how to weave the contraption between my blouse and cardigan to hide the wire.

A light dinner was in order. We ordered two cheeses, a goat and a blue, served with the perfect accompaniments of nuts and jams. Regretably, I can’t remember the fruits….fig perhaps? Maybe the other was apricot? As always, the baguette was crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, with a dish of unsalted butter. So simple. It’s amazing how most restaurants can’t even get this right. Quatrano always does.

B insisted on getting the fried chicken livers. I hate liver. When I was a kid I would cry when my Mom made liver. Regardless, they looked pretty and photographed well so I took a bite. At first the crispy coating had me fooled. I thought they were good, then I realized they tasted like….chicken livers. Funny how I love foie gras!

I ordered the babaganoush. It came with wafer thin toasted flatbread, a tiny jar of chutney, and another jar of pickled vegetables. The babaganoush was smooth and sublime, but not as smoky as I like, although the sweet chutney and vinegary veggies added another dimension to the dish that made it memorable.

As we finished off the bottle of wine I contemplated dessert options. There is always temptation at Abattoir.

1170 Howell Mill Road 404-892-3335

Ladies! Save the big bucks for Botox! Atlanta offers a variety of fun and inexpensive activities, here are a few of my favorites coming up:

Foodies & Fashionistas on Wednesday August 25th at Market at the W Hotel in Buckhead features some of Atlanta’s best boutiques showcasing the hottest Fall fashion trends while guests nibble on tasty morsels provided by Market. RSVP at rsvp@thereynoldsgroupinc.com by August 24th to receive a complimentary bellini when you arrive!

Piola in Midtown offers an on-going “apertivo” at their bar Monday through Friday from 6-9, with delicious Italian appetizers to get your evening off to a great (and free!) start. On Wednesdays only, starting at 7pm, ladies receive a bottomless glass of house red or white wine or sangria included in the purchase price of an entree or pizza.

Bluepointe’s Tuesday martini specials are practically an Atlanta tradition, but now they have stepped it up a notch with their new Half-Price Happy Hour Monday through Friday 4:30-7:30. Enjoy half-price appetizers and select wines and specialty cocktails for only $5.

If you can’t wait until next week, jump in your car right now and head over to Fontaine’s in the Virginia Highlands for half-price oysters, crab legs, and shrimp until 7pm tonight (Friday August 20th).

Back to work Monday got you stressed out? Grab a friend and go to Noche for all-u-can-eat tapas, only $10 and chill out with their dangerously inexpensive margaritas for just $3 each. Then call in sick on Tuesday!