Eating Omaha...Block 16

We were in the neighborhood a few weeks ago and decided to get some lunch somewhere new, for us.  Block 16 is a hard to describe burger joint? That somehow does not fit but the food was amazing. We split a burger and I ordered the Duck Duck Goose Fries.

The were fries topped with duck confit and a gooseberry gastric with mozzarella cheese. Brenda is not a duck fan so more for me. Yay, it was yummy. There are lots of things to explore on the menu and they have daily specials outline on Facebook. Love it.

Looking Back and Forward...

My second year as Mr. Claus brought a lot of new experiences for me. I was privileged to visit the NICU at Children’s Hospital here in Omaha and held a lot of very sick and recovering babies. Such an honor that these parents allowed me to intrude in their lives for a moment. Mackenzie took some great pics for Mom and Dad.

We extended the studio time this year to two days and had a lot of fun getting all those pics taken and then some showing up in our mail as Christmas cards. So fun and a little surreal. Made lots of new connections this year and got called out a lot in stores by young shoppers whose parents were a little embarrassed but what’s a kid to think when they see me out and about, usually wearing red?

I did a daycare one day. What a line up and great fun. 150 littles in 2 hours, it was a well oiled machine. A few Christmas parties hired me to appear and I was so thrilled with all the kiddies and their imagination and gift ideas.

Brenda and I are now considering the Santa Convention in August at Branson for grins. I joined the Santa network

Candied Bacon

1 pound of thick sliced bacon (we like peppered)
6 T brown sugar
2 t Dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Preheat oven 350
Line baking sheet with foil and arrange bacon slices.  Use the last few length wise across the top
Combine the ingredients and sprinkle the slices with the mixture. Just a dab here and there
Bake for 25. Minutes till dark golden brown but not burnt. Lay out bacon and cool till crisp.

Eating Omaha....Modern Love

We were honored to be guests at a celebration dinner for Caroline and Skye Page as they celebrated their nuptials at the courthouse Monday evening. while we were unfortunately unable to make the courthouse ceremony, we parked ourselves at happy hour at the reception venue and had a few cocktails.

Modern Love is a local vegan establishment, one of a few in Omaha but definitely on the higher end of the scale with offerings for the vegan community. My last visit there I was not so impressed but this time it was of our own choosing and I went with an open mind and sampled all the fare that was before me. The owner/chef is widely known for her creative menu.

The cocktails were great and I had a Bloody Mary before the guests arrive while Brenda enjoyed a Cosmopolitan. We perused the menu while drinking and found a few things interesting to try. My sister had just been there with her dinner club and was not happy at all but I was determined to find somethings that I would enjoy. They may have just hit an off night. As a carnivore, the menu is a little sparse of typical going out to eat fare so choose wisely. Brenda's advice was stick to a vegetable with little intervention. Sage advice.

For starters we had Mozzarella balls, deep fried which I loved. Brenda was a little so so but loved the nachos with cashew cheese which also filled the Mozzarella balls. The Spinach Artichoke dip was notable as well. I had a Portabella salad with avocado. It was delicious and the ranch dressing was tangy and a nice addition. It was a large salad and I brought half home.

Brenda opted for a Chik'n Fried Steak option and my taste of that was quite good. But if I'm going vegan then perhaps not going to try to imitate meat so much and stick with vegetable entrees.  The most impressive thing about the place is that the owner came to speak to our friend Emily, who has multiple food intolerances and made a specific dish for her based on her needs. It looked delicious with oyster mushrooms and a  pesto risotto with collards.  That's the kind of vegan I was looking for.

Desserts were well received by all for those who ordered but Caroliine's mother, Lori, had ordered a vegan vanilla and chocolate cake that hit the spot post dinner. Brenda had a cherry trifle that was delicious and Caroline's dad, David, sampled a bread pudding that looked great.

Honestly, its not the place I would choose if a choice was to be made. I am happy to go there for the needs of others but not a huge fan of a strict vegetable diet personally. If Caroline and Skye would like to go out with us then I would, of course come here again knowing there are quite a few things I can enjoy. On the upside my sugar was behaving well. Not a post prandial spike in sight and really a little low by evenings end. Could I go totally meat free? Maybe if I can have seafood and dairy?  I really miss my cheese and in our house its a condiment in all it's forms and flavors.

For a Monday night, the place was packed. I mean every table. Many thanks to the Barr's for such a nice evening and to the Page's for a lovely invite to their special day. Much love and happiness to the beautiful couple.

Our annual pilgrimage....

We have returned home from our annual Mexico tour, enjoying the weather and getting us ready for the long Nebraska winter.  Many things at the resort have improved, especially the meals, and a few things have sadly declined. There is almost a cult following at EPM now and several repeaters have established a bit of a hierarchy, reserving, but not using sitting spots and the petty stuff that happens when varying classes of people gather.
This year, I unintentionally made a sensation of sorts. The Huskers played on Saturday and I dressed in Husker fashion. With my beard it obviously looked like Santa had come to Mexico.

The upside was we met a few Nebraskans and became local celebs. This trip we met lots of people at the pool either my Husker hat or my white beard creating an ice breaker. We met a Canadian couple that were great to speak to and exchanged information with them to meet up again. John and Jennie Churcher are originally from South Africa and I think we could just sit for hours a listen to their accents. So much fun and so much in common. 

The foods have improved at EPM. My favorite was the duck at the Asian restaurant as well as the octopus at the Barcelona place. It’s funny but I was craving big taste tonight so I made our Dirty Shrimp recipe with pasta after all that great eating, I missed spiced food. It’s just nice to have some intense flavors again. The recipe is on the blog.

Eating Omaha...The Jewell

We had the pleasure of meeting up with our friends, the Choiniere’s this Friday with tickets to The Jewell, a jazz club in the downtown Marriott. We booked the early show as they have 2 a night and before the show, we had dinner there.

The menu is limited and pricey, I had a $18.00 hamburger and Brenda had a $10 slider appetizer for dinner. That, paired with a beer and 2 drinks and a very pricey charcuterie appetizer (cheese was extra)  came to a whopping $100.00 plus $20 tip and the cost of the show, $10 for each of us.

The service was great but the food was just okay and the jazz was rocking although not exactly our style of music. The set lasted about 45 minutes to an hour and we were back on the street by 9 pm.

I think this place has great potential but we are still scratching our heads about the bill, it just did not add up. Perhaps just drinks next time  but the cocktails ranged from $10 to $14. Domestic beer was $7 and wine was $10-14 dollars a pour. If dinner was a bit  more affordable we would like to do this more often. They have some great acts in the queue so perhaps just drinks and an appetizer?

Ricotta Dumplings...the experiment

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ricotta-dumplings-with-asparagus-and-green-garlic

So...above is the link to ricotta nirvana. I made these earlier but wasn’t happy with the texture because the ricotta was too wet. I had purchased a large tub for something else and had 2 cups leftover which I dried and drained to a crumbly consistency like the recipe called for. Since the cheese was going south I had to do something with it and I decided to just make the dumplings then freeze them and serve later. Let’s see how that goes!

Nice huh? The mix has to be just right and perfect little half moons fall off the tablespoon...now into the freezer.

A Post for Joel...

I tried to send Joel a jpeg of the icon he commissioned but he cannot open it where he is so I am posting it here for him to see.

Saturday Grillin...

Blueberry Cheesecake Gallette

Smoked Baby Backs. 

Brenda went to visit her folks and left me to my own devices this weekend. Mackenzie and Ben are working but Nick agreed to a rib dinner so I started early today to get a nice smoke on these baby backs with my new Weber grill. I decided this needed a real BBQ sauce of my own making so I pulled the recipe I needed from Cook’s Illustrated ‘Summer Grilling’ from 2011 for a simple pantry sauce I could throw together. It never disappoints.  

Quick Barbecue Sauce

1 medium onion peeled and quartered

1/4 c water

1 cup ketchup

5 tbls molasses

2 tbls cider vinegar

2 tbls Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbls Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke

1 teaspoon Hot Sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbls vegetable oil

1 med garlic clove pressed and minced

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

Process the onion and water in a food processor until it resembles slush. Pass through a strainer, pressing on the solids to get 1/2 cup liquid. Discard the pulp.

Whisk  the onion juice, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, liquid smoke, pepper sauce and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large non reactive sauce pan and add garlic, chili powder and cayenne. Cook about 30 seconds then add the ketchup mixture. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes till thickened and flavors are melded. Cool before using.  

For the Blueberry Cheesecake Gallette, I used this recipe:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/blueberry-cheesecake-galette-2269192

British Curry Sauce for Chips (French fries)

So, a while back we were in London and shared some great food experiences. One being chips and curry sauce at the local Fish and Chips shop. The sauce is common in Great Britain but not so much in the U.S. so I felt an urge to recreate it from several online recipes. Some very complex and some relatively easy. I went somewhere in the middle with this recipe. Only Mackenzie can tell us if it’s the real deal but it was awfully tasty on our fries tonight.

Here’s the link to the recipe

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chip-shop-curry-sauce

Dinner tonight was a Shrimp sandwich. Cold boiled shrimp on lightly toasted marble rye with a smear of cream cheese, a bit of cocktail sauce and lettuce. Brenda added someone guacamole to hers and I smeared a little mayo on mine. So delicious and light for this hot summer night with a side of hot crinkle fries and curry sauce to dip. Yum.