Dinner last night was a feast; it made me realize I need more Mediterranean food in my life. Four of us went to Fadi’s and decided to get sampler platters to split so we could try a little of everything. It was excellent. For $13.99, you should get the Ultimate Sampler. Go through the line and choose tasting portions of whatever you like: hummus, fresh and roasted veggies, salads, plus, you get one choice of meat. We split two samplers and added sides of rice and pita bread for dipping. We were, at first, unsure if just two plates were going to be enough for all of us, but it ended up being more than enough.
I loved getting to try tastes of everything. I don’t eat Mediterranean food very often, and when I do I tend to order the same thing. (Chicken Shawerma, anyone?) So this opportunity was a great one to try a broader range of dishes. One of the highlights? Their tabuli was so packed with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley, mint), it was completely green. Delicious. Cucumber, tomatoes, onions, mint and lemon juice made up a refreshing Lebanese salad that I could’ve eaten by the pint. Their hummus and baba ghanoush were tasty, but nothing out of the usual. A dish of spicy chicken was moist and very flavorful, accompanied by sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes. (My only caveat was that it wasn’t really spicy.) Roast potatoes are usually foolproof, and Fadi’s didn’t fall short. Their version was tossed in olive oil, coriander, and parsley(?). Strangely my favorite bite was the cauliflower. Yeah, you heard me. With all of those interesting, complex dishes, my favorite was roasted cauliflower. But you have to trust me on this. It’s buttery and a little spicy; it’s completely delicious. I asked my friend Matt to split his last floret with me. It’s that good.
Visit Fadi’s, try everything, and while we’re on the subject–what other Mediterranean restaurants would you recommend? I’ve heard great things about Kavala, but have yet to try. It’s high on the list though. Any other sugggestions?
3001 Knox St. #110 | Dallas, TX 75205
214.528.1800
(See site for other locations.)
This is less of a review and more of a diatribe. Hey Jack in the Box, it’s one thing to parade your burgers around on the side of big rigs or on your menu looking fantastic, and then deliver a kinda-sorta imitation of them when ordered in the store. But to pretend in the slightest that Jack’s tacos bear any resemblance to these two impostors pictured above from television spot, it’s as nsulting as it is preposterous. I don’t even have a problem with their tacos; for 99 cents they probably have the best cost-to-taste-ratio around. What I do have a problem with is with Jack’s advertisings team’s absolute disregard for factually representing the actual food items. It’s completely laughable. Anyone out there who’s ever had a taco from Jack in the Box should be up in arms. These tacos look so full: fresh lettuce, a slice of cheese, drizzled hot sauce and meat, all pressing to escape from the confines of the perfect shell. The reality is a far cry from this pictured perfection. A far, far cry.
Maybe the “at participating restaurants” sub-text means that these fantasy tacos are special and only certain restaurants have them. And by “certain restaurants” they mean the Jack in the Box that Santa Clause frequents at the North Pole or the one that Frodo and the Hobbits eat at in the Shire.
Night before last I wanted to make a special weeknight dinner as a surprise. As usual, I turned to the domestic goddess, Ina Garten, for some inspiration. If you follow her show, you know that she focuses a lot on chicken as a primary ingredient. I like this because it’s a really easy way to start a meal and she has so many ideas on how to make it different each time. Browse her top 100 recipes on the Food Network and you’ll see what I’m talking about; there’s a lot of chicken to be found!
For my menu, I chose her roasted chicken with herb goat cheese. I have really been in love with goat cheese lately and this recipe has received so many great comments on the site. It was delicious and so, so easy.
This was really a victory for me too. You might be surprised to find that, despite my love of cooking, I really hate handling meat. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve compromised a recipe by substituting whole or split chicken on the bone for boneless, skinless chicken breast. In my book, the less it resembles an animal, the better. However, I’ve really come to see this as a mini-food tragedy. Chefs go on and on about how roasting with the skin on leaves great flavor, that the bone keeps so much moisture in, so on.
So, slowly I’ve been working over that ooky feeling and this recipe was a big step. LOOK AT THE DIRECTIONS. Oh, yeah. It involves putting your hand underneath the skin to stuff it. You’re just there…touching meat. Whether or not this is a big deal to you, it shouldn’t matter because this chicken is awesome and so worth it.
(Oh and I promise, the next recipe will not be an Ina one. I do need to add something else to my repertoire!)
Chicken With Herb Goast Cheese from Barefoot Contessa
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 oz. goat cheese with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.. Cut 12 thick slices of the Montrachet and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast. Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Spent the evening just relaxing at the house and decided to make homemade caramel sauce for my ice cream! I was delicious and surprisingly really easy to make, especially considering I didn’t use a thermometer as suggested. I just judged it by color and it was fine. I have no idea why Ina’s recipe asks you to cool for four hours before serving; I definitely couldn’t wait that long. Twenty minutes in the fridge was perfect 
(Oh, and sorry about the iPhone pic. Brian is out of town, so I gotta make due!)
Caramel Sauce from Barefoot Contessa
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Mix the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don’t worry – the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.
Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.
So I just realized that if you don’t have dinners plans, there’s still time for you to make it to Cliff Cafe before they close tomorrow. Try the previously mentioned life-changing pork shanks; they’re spicy, sweet, and so tender, the meat literally falls away from the bone.
It might be a little cruel to fall in love, only to have it taken so quickly away, but it’s kinda poetic. Well, it’s at least the most poetic moment you’ll have concening pork shanks.
You’ve got till 9PM.
901 Fort Worth Ave. | Dallas, TX 75208
214.393.4141
Bittersweet news (that’s mostly bitter): Sidedish reported yesterday that Cliff Cafe will be closing its doors for a major overhaul. They’ll open again in September, redesigned and with a “brand-new concept.” While the press release Sidedish reposted didn’t mention any details about this new concept, Observer’s City of Ate blog reports it’s going to be an “semi-upscale barbecue joint.” Meh.
This could be an exciting development; it has the lure of the unknown. However, it’s a little disheartening because, well… I like Cliff Cafe. Their pork shanks will change your life (and I don’t even like pork). Looking back through our archives, I cannot believe we didn’t review them. Now it looks like we won’t get the chance. We’ll definitely check out the new restaurant, whatever it’s called then, and fill you in. Until September, we’re crossing our fingers…
Oh dear. I had just literally finished writing a review about ALO when I found out that they’re going to be closed for months because of a kitchen fire that happened Sunday! Looks like a visit from the little dish is just too hot to handle. (Bad joke.)
Anyway, we’re going to proceed with this post because a future visit to ALO is something worth marking on your calendar (apparently sometime during September)…
ALO is La Duni’s diffusion restaurant. They serve lighter fare (Merican and Peruvian street food) and were HIGHLY recommended by a friend a work. When I told her I was finally going, she gave me a list of about fifteen things to try.
You begin with an amuse-bouche: salty, spicy, baked Peruvian corn. (The closest thing to compare them to are fancy cornnuts.) Highly addictive, they were the perfect accompaniment to before-dinner drinks.
Now, there are two things that make me feel terribly uncouth: being baffled by a restaurant’s menu and mispronouncing a designer’s name (by day, I work in the fashion/retail industry).
A lot of time has passed since the first time I ordered french food or had to refer to Ann Demeulemeester. I’ve gained a sense of worldliness – a confidence in my grasp of basic ettiquette and culture. Yeah, the trip to Japan definitely shook that feeling because I walked around quite clueless for two weeks. But, I rationalize this because I wasn’t on home territory…or something.
Anyway, it took about four minutes of pouring over ALO’s menu to put me right back in that uncomfortable place of feeling unfamilar.
Their menu is split into sips, sides, bites (to begin), bites (to continue), and bites (to fill up). While some of that is self-explanitory, some of it was definitely not and the lack of English translations for entree titles didn’t help. To confuse matters, the subhead “share family style” is under every category.
Are we ordering large, family-style entrees? Or is this like Peruvian tapas? What’s a “tiradito” or a potato “causas?” What is going on here? (It was probably fatigue from my day at work or the mojitos I started with that complicated things, because my dinner companion wasn’t nearly as confused.)
Our server was very sweet and explained the situation. The bites (to begin) are lighter, but enough for two to share. Sides are served in family portions for about three to four people, depending on the appetite. The bites (to continue) and bites (to fill up) are the entrees, so to speak.
We ordered a lot, as much as we thought we could eat, and were disappointed that we couldn’t try more; there’s so much on the menu that’s enticing. The highlights of our meal were the beef picadillo tacos with well-seasoned meat, fresh cabbage, pineapple pico de gallo, and shredded jicama. The flautas weren’t out of the ordinary, but well executed.
A rich side of buttery corn rice proved to be an excellent recommendation from my friend at work, and she was right about another thing: you cannot stop by without having the yucca fries. Sprinkled with lime and dipped in salsa, they’re awesome.
It’s sad to think it’ll be months before we can have more because of the fire disaster, but as they put it so poetically on their site, “like a phoenix, [they] will rise again.”
4447 North Central Expressway | Dallas, TX 75205
214.520.9711
