Hot Dish Review

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

After a Valentine’s party at my office, I was a little down. Newly single (again!), I thought a light dinner served by a gorgeous bartender might help take my mind off of ST, so I headed to Abattoir.

Chef Hopkins changes the menu based upon what is available from local farmers, although there are several standards that have stuck, like the chicharrones. I guess pig skins aren’t too hard to come by at a restaurant that breaks down whole pigs on a regular basis!

Upon arrival I took a seat at the bar, happy to see BS was there. Having already started on cab at the party, he poured me a glass of red (was it the malbec?) as I perused the menu. A salad of lacinato kale with duck confit and farm egg vinaigrette caught my eye. BS confirmed it was awesome and recommended the valencay cheese served with a hot mini baguette from Star Provisions. Perfect.

Valencay is a smooth, dense mold-ripened cheese made of raw goat’s milk from the Loire Valley in France. It was paired with Marcona almonds and honeycomb. Sweet accompaniments with cheese are always my favorites.

The baguette reminded me of my bread debate with JR at Dinner Party last week. Although Star Provisions probably makes the best European-style baguettes in Atlanta, they don’t hold a candle to any baguette you can buy in Europe. Even the ones at the airport in Paris have that heavenly texture and flavor that is unmatched in the states.

Kale can be tough but the local lacinato kale Hopkins uses for this salad was tender, its slight bitterness balanced with a hint of sweetness in the dressing. A quartered hard boiled egg, paper-thin slices of radish, shreds of duck confit, and crisped bits of duck skin topped the greens. Just a terrific combination!

Another glass of wine, maybe the Louis Martini cab, and some light conversation was just what I needed! Thanks for lifting my spirits BS.

Valium will be my Valentine as I try to get some sleep on the flight to Brazil, then I’ll be romancing Rio!

While Jonathan was packaging up 50 loaves of bread and Brodie was putting multiple pastries and tarts in a box for me to take home my Mom called. She was watching a show on the seven deadly sins, the current segment was on Gluttony. Thanks Mom. Gluttony is my job, hell it’s even on my business card!

After a terrific lunch at Bakeshop, Jonathan St. Hilaire’s brick and mortar venture with the folks at Concentrics, I headed home with a haul of breads, pastries, and a mini quiche to sample. I needed back-up so I called my neighbor/roommate LG.

Once again, I put out some cheeses and unwrapped the breads….country sourdough, date walnut maple, a bacon baguette, a French baguette, and ciabatta. OK, so I exaggerated a little bit, it was only 5 not 50. We tried each one with some butter, cheese, and traditional accompaniments like dried figs, honey, almonds, and olives, and a bottle of Marquis Philips shiraz.

I liked the bacon baguette but the overwhelming favorite was the ciabatta. It was crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. I melted some gruyere on toasted slices this morning with my fried egg and bacon breakfast.

To be honest, the dominent flavor of the date walnut loaf was orange, which was a little baffling. I was expecting some chunks of dates and walnuts but could not find any. I think it will make a good bread pudding, however, and will post that experimental recipe when I get the urge to make it.

The quiche had a lot of an herb that I still am unsure of…..dried basil? It over-powered the delicate egg and cheese but was not a total failure. We devoured the flaky croissant with a smudge of almond paste inside. The chocolate graham tart had a thick pudding-like consistency topped with crunchy chocolate cookie crumbs, but I didn’t detect any graham.

Our favorite sweet? The pistachio apricot tart, with a flavor and texture reminiscent of marzipan, it was a real winner. And it was cute too…..green with the candied apricot on top, it looked like a sunny side-up egg.

My Mom’s call got me thinking about the seven deadly sins. What are the other six? With the New Year upon us I thought it would be wise to see if I was guilty of any so I googled them. The other six deadly sins are Vanity (check), Envy (check), Wrath (check), Greed (check), Sloth, and Lust (double check). I don’t know about you but I’m obviously going to hell.

So I took down my pagan Christmas tree and rewarded my effort with the remaining chocolate croissant. It was flaky and full of melted chocolate. Maybe I’ll make a BLT on the ciabatta for dinner. Honey, I’ve got bread for days, for weeks even….come on over and make yourself a samich!

Bakeshop 903 Peachtree Street 404-892-9322 www.bakeshopatl.com