This week’s topics include beautiful steaks prepared by the Wannabe Foodie, making corn like my grandma, vacation food snobbery, chewing on a belt, a budding Francophile, a review of La Creperie in Colorado Springs, eating like a fat kid, and a foodie book recommendation.
What I’m working on? Cooking on vacation. Check out these beauties on the grill:
A side rant on how a steak should be cooked or ordered. If you order a filet or other nice cut, please order it rare, medium rare, or maybe (just maybe) medium. If you prefer your meat medium well or beyond, you might as well just order jerky or simply a belt to chew on. If nothing else, don’t order a good piece of meat as you’re just wasting your money. Order a sirloin, a piece of chuck, the aforementioned belt, or just get a burger and save the steaks for the grown ups. My preference – the rare side of medium rare for filets and New York strips, medium rare for sirloins, and medium rare to medium for ribeyes. The fat in ribeyes needs a little more time to start melting into yummy goodness.
Dining While on Vacation – Prior to a recent vacation, we had lots and lots of people recommending dining choices. Here’s an example of once such exchange. Unsolicited Advisor: “You’ve got to eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise!” Me: “Really?! We have one of those in Reno. Why would I go on vacation to eat at a chain we have in Reno?” Advisor: “But the food at that location is better.” Me: “Really? I’m pretty sure chains serve the same food at different locations.” Advisor: “No. The food is better at that location.” Me: “Have you eaten at the one in Reno?” Advisor: “No. I haven’t.”
I like to try new, local restaurants on vacation and not chain restaurants. I have no problem with chains, but I am not one of those travelers who needs to have the exact same food I can get at home. More on that in future blogs.
Restaurant Review – La Creperie, Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a tiny restaurant located on north Tejon in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. I found it one night as I was wandering around downtown in search of something different to eat and review. First, a disclosure is in order. Since visiting Paris a couple of years ago, I have become a minor Francophile. French food and wine is just that good. Say what you will about the French, Groundskeeper Willie, but they know how to eat and drink right.
La Creperie is a tiny restaurant with a lot of character. The dining room can’t seat more than 30-35 people and the kitchen can’t be bigger than 12 by 12. The salt shakers have big, chunky sea salt rather than boring table salt. As I sit down, I’m already thinking this is my kind of place. The waitress is very pleasant and prompt, with good food and wine recommendations.
The wine – Cotes du Rhone, Parallel 25, Jaboulet 2006. I heard her open the bottle to pour my first glass, so I knew it would need to open up, and it did. Good nose and flavor. A good, moderately priced example of what French wine is all about – complex but easy to drink with food. So many moderately priced American wines are hard to eat with food. Think fruit bomb Cabernet Sauvignon. I love big Cabs and Petite Syrahs, but you almost have to have a steak with blue cheese to compete with the wine. There’s something to be said about a wine that’s pleasant with most food, while not being sweet, weak, or watered down. I’d order this wine again and thoroughly enjoy it.
French Onion Soup – Yes, I know it’s a predictable thing to order, but I love a rich, hearty French onion soup. This soup had a nice, rich stock and wasn’t too salty. Nice soup, but not epic or particularly memorable.
Steak Au Poivre – For those of you who are unfamiliar with this dish, it’s a French dish that consists of a steak, traditionally filet mignon, coated with loosely cracked peppercorns and then seared in a pan. It’s served with a pan sauce made in the same pan. Mine came perfectly medium rare with a fantastic sauce brune, potatoes dauphinoise (think traditional French potatoes au gratin), and lightly steamed and seasoned whole green beans. The peppercorns, the rich sauce, and a perfectly cooked steak made for a sublime and fantastic dish.
Lemon crepe – I’m not a big dessert person. More often than not, I’d rather have a cocktail. But, great crepes are not something to be missed. I ordered a lemon crepe, which was served with a lemon butter sauce and little powdered sugar. Fabulous.
La Creperi is a great little restaurant and a true hidden gem in Colorado Springs. I look forward to bringing the Red there.
Best Food Line I’ve Heard in a While. From Blake the bartender at Jose Muldoon’s in Colorado Springs. Me – “What do you recommend on the menu?” Blake – “I like the combo platters because they have a lot of food. I like to eat like a fat kid.” Nice. Blake also makes a wicked margarita called the Alamo. Food at Jose’s is about what you’d expect and not worth a full review. If you have enough Alamo margaritas, you’ll probably think the food is great.
Foodie and Oenophile Book Recommendation - Knives at Dawn – the story of a Thomas Keller disciple competing at the 2009 Bocuse d'Or. Interesting read about the preparation for the competition. I particularly liked learning more about Thomas Keller, the owner and chef of the French Laundry. Did you know that Keller has no formal training and he’s arguably the best chef in the country?
WF
No comments:
Post a Comment