Athens' Finest

Going to Athens means one thing to me in terms of food- a golden bowl at The Grit. Even if you’re not a huge fan of tofu, I promise you'll love it prepared this way. I like mine with sautéed veggies added in and after a decade of ordering it with cheese, I realized I like it better without.



If you can’t make it to Athens, it's super easy to make yourself.

Golden Bowl (serves two, from The Grit Cookbook)

• One 15-oz block firm tofu
• Vegetable oil
• Soy sauce
• Nutritional yeast

1. Cut tofu into cubes slightly smaller than playing dice.
2. Lightly oil a non-stick skillet and place over high heat.
3. Allow oil to heat slightly and add tofu.
4. Saute, tossing with a non-metal spatula until evenly and lightly golden brown.
5. Sprinkle lightly with soy sauce, saute briefly to further brown tofu.
6. Remove from skillet, draining and discarding any excess fluid.
7. Rinse and wipe skillet dry, lightly oil and place it over high heat.
8. Allow oil to become very hot and add tofu.
9. Saute tofu, tossing with a non-metal spatula almost constantly until very
well browned.
10. Sprinkle with soy sauce to taste.
11. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast to coat tofu cubes and, tossing vigorously,
saute for a few seconds and remove from heat.

To make it a true Golden Bowl, serve over steamed brown rice.

TWO

Went to one of our old faves, TWO Urban Licks, a couple of weeks ago with two of our nearest and dearest.

I was very sad to see the pork brisket has left the menu, but the beef rib definitely filled the slow cooked, fall off the bone void…



and as always, their mac and cheese was delish.

Better late than never…

1/1/11- We had the quintessential southern fare that is supposed to bring you luck and money in the next year- collards, black-eyed peas and pork loin...



It was nice to get back in the kitchen, even if it didn’t take much effort.

BTW- if you're from the south (or you just appreciate flavorful, delicious food) and want to cut out all the fat but none of the flavor, I have one word for you- GOYA. Their jamon flavor packets are the best things ever.You can find it in your grocer’s international section with the Mexican foods.

Sake to me*

A friend of a friend of ours took us to a very cool restaurant one of our last nights in Tokyo. They are known for the food and sake pairs and this friend of a friend happens to know a lot about sake. It was a really cool experience to go beyond the hot sake at Rusans or the dreaded sake bombs and really get to appreciate sake for what it is meant to be- a delicate rice wine with as much depth, flavor and variation as the grape variety.

I loved, loved, loved the way it was served...





I dare any wine lover to give sake a fair shake and not be impressed.




*my inner dork could not resist!

we survived!

I swore up and down we wouldn't do it; I mean we have 2 mortgages.

Behold the deadly blowfish or fugu...




Although I was acutely aware of my throat and whether or not it was closing up on me, I did enjoy it. We had the sashmi (pictured) which was delicate in flavor and also some fried fugu, which tasted like fried chicken. Fried chicken that you need a license to prepare and one where the cops literally dispose of the liver because it's a lethal substance.

soba

We've yet to really get into the cold noodle thing, but I still think the way they are served is so pretty...

Um...

I have to say I was pretty offended...

The cold stuff- Japanese style

It's triangular, it's purple, it's sweet potato in flavor, so no, this isn't your average ice cream cone...



It was really delicious though. Getting an ice cream maker is at the top of the list when we move home. That and about 1 million other things.

Ryokan Meal

We stayed at a traditional Ryokan in Haikone. As part of the experience you eat dinner there at the hotel. After the tofu extravaganza at the monastery we were a bit worried.

When the lady came into our little paper walled room with this plate we were even more worried…



Then she walked in with two of these…



and all was right with the world.

After eating both plates, rice, udon noodles and all the veggies, we somehow in our gestures to tell her we were full, ordered two more plates of meat.

We were all in a beef coma and barely conscious when she opened the door the last time. We were so relieved to see it wasn't more meat that somehow we found room for the delightfully creamy pumpkin pudding that came for desert…

We'll be safe from vampires for years to come...

During a check for all things “Only in Japan” our Spaniard cohort came across "the garlic restaurant". Using garlic isn’t anything new, I know, but here it's the star ingredient, even the chairs were shaped like cloves of garlic.

You can smell the restaurant a mile before you get there and I’m sure people could smell us from a mile away after leaving.

The offered up an array of dishes spanning many different cuisines. We started with a chunk of the main stuff, roasted and served with a miso dipping sauce…



It was really good, but we all wanted bread to smear it on.

For our mains we decided to share and each picked a dish. We went with a Korean pebble pot dish (served in a stone pot so the rice gets crunchy), some sort of Asian beef and rice dish, pesto, carbonara and a garlic and cheese pizza…



Everything was delicious, but that pizza…that pizza was one of the best I've ever had.

Granted we’re all getting a little sick of rice these days, but it was seriously so good we ordered 2 more to split and plan on going back this week.

We had two great discoveries at the restaurant. One, crunchy fried slivers of garlic are a MUST for pizza and two, Panola hot sauce is the jam.



It seems that me and the Bestie aren't the only ones who love hot sauce with their pizza. Apparently it's always served alongside a slice. I've never seen this sauce in the States, but someone has got to find it and find it quick. Buy a case, I'll pay you back for it!