Friday night was wing night at Big D's. I rarely deep fry so I was happy to catch an episode of Good Eats a while back where Alton Brown demonstrated his steamed-then-baked wing technique. It's the best alternative I've found for producing crispy baked wings without filling the entire house with smoke. I've used this technique several times and have adjusted cooking times and temperatures for my oven; I usually need 5-10 minutes more cooking time than the recipe calls for. For sauce, I went traditional - Franks hot sauce, butter, and garlic. Cannot go wrong with that!
On Saturday I competed in my second round of Iron Chef Brooklyn. With battle partner Cybele, we challenged reigning champs Jeff and Danielle in Battle Pork. As you might recall, Cybele and I fought valiantly but lost in our first battle - Battle Cheddar. Wizened and better prepared, we took our amateur cooking chops to new heights and sliced and diced our way to victory!
Cybele and I each prepared two dishes. Cybele started us off with a Cordon Bleu Tartlette. Her second dish (served third), was a traditional German sauerkraut with three types of pork sausages. For my first dish (served second), I prepared a Chinese style Mapo Tofu with mini pork meatballs. This dish packs a lot of heat so I served it with rice and a dry Asian beer.
My second dish (served fourth) was desert: candied and spiced Berkshire bacon, dipped in white chocolate, served over a coffee liqueur infused dark chocolate sauce, and garnished with maple glazed walnuts. A mouthful in words and real life!
Our competitors served a series of incredibly tasty sandwiches including a Banh Mi, a Cuban sandwich, and a BLT. Though each was delicious, the judges stated that our creativity and presentation pushed us over the top. For images and detailed descriptions of all of the dishes check out the the Iron Chef Brooklyn blog.
Though I stuffed my face with Jeff and Danielle's sandwiches during the battle, I was ready for another good meal later that night. Sachiko and I both had the urge for Italian so we headed to Smith Street in Carroll Gardens. I had a couple of places in mind but figured (rightly so), that once on Smith Street we'd have plenty of choices to consider. Savoia's dimly lit interior and menu that featured pastas as well as Neapolitan crust style pizzas won our business that night. We shared a decadent meat lasagna, and a mushroom pizza, and washed it down with a pricier than average (for Big D), but supremely tasty bottle of Italian red wine. Dinner for two, with the wine accounting for more than half the bill, came to $81 before tip. Savoia is located at 277 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
But wait, there's more. Brunch at Jane Sunday morning. See their menu here. You can't go wrong with any of it.
On Saturday I competed in my second round of Iron Chef Brooklyn. With battle partner Cybele, we challenged reigning champs Jeff and Danielle in Battle Pork. As you might recall, Cybele and I fought valiantly but lost in our first battle - Battle Cheddar. Wizened and better prepared, we took our amateur cooking chops to new heights and sliced and diced our way to victory!
Cybele and I each prepared two dishes. Cybele started us off with a Cordon Bleu Tartlette. Her second dish (served third), was a traditional German sauerkraut with three types of pork sausages. For my first dish (served second), I prepared a Chinese style Mapo Tofu with mini pork meatballs. This dish packs a lot of heat so I served it with rice and a dry Asian beer.
My second dish (served fourth) was desert: candied and spiced Berkshire bacon, dipped in white chocolate, served over a coffee liqueur infused dark chocolate sauce, and garnished with maple glazed walnuts. A mouthful in words and real life!
Our competitors served a series of incredibly tasty sandwiches including a Banh Mi, a Cuban sandwich, and a BLT. Though each was delicious, the judges stated that our creativity and presentation pushed us over the top. For images and detailed descriptions of all of the dishes check out the the Iron Chef Brooklyn blog.
Though I stuffed my face with Jeff and Danielle's sandwiches during the battle, I was ready for another good meal later that night. Sachiko and I both had the urge for Italian so we headed to Smith Street in Carroll Gardens. I had a couple of places in mind but figured (rightly so), that once on Smith Street we'd have plenty of choices to consider. Savoia's dimly lit interior and menu that featured pastas as well as Neapolitan crust style pizzas won our business that night. We shared a decadent meat lasagna, and a mushroom pizza, and washed it down with a pricier than average (for Big D), but supremely tasty bottle of Italian red wine. Dinner for two, with the wine accounting for more than half the bill, came to $81 before tip. Savoia is located at 277 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
But wait, there's more. Brunch at Jane Sunday morning. See their menu here. You can't go wrong with any of it.
Get out there and eat, people!
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