Adventures of a 30 Something

Big news around here…we have a new dachshund! Meet Sammy, our new boy. He is about two years old, loves cuddling on the couch, playing with squeaky toys, following Frank around the yard, and going on walks in the park. Mom, Dad, and big brother Frank are quite proud!

Sammy came from Diamond Dachshund Rescue of Texas, the same organization that rescued Frank. I can’t say enough about this group of dedicated volunteers and foster parents – they are an amazing group of people! If you are ever looking to add a pup to your family, definitely look into a rescue group. Rescued dogs are the best!

Finally, a weekend at home! Kyle and I decided to go out to dinner on a perfect Friday evening and wanted a patio. We decided to give the newly renovated and revamped Bin 555 a try – and loved every bite!

We started with a pitcher of red sangria. Perfectly refreshing. We ordered the serrano wrapped figs with blue cheese for an appetizer and they were creamy and heavenly. For dinner, Kyle ordered the black pepper meatballs with agnolotti and enjoyed it. I definitely ordered better (though with the intent to share) – I went with the menu of the day – sorrel soup, strawberry salad, fried chicken with french toast with blood orange maple syrup, and mascarpone and strawberries for dessert. SO amazing. Every dish. The chilled soup was bright and tart – even Kyle couldn’t stop eating. The salad was interesting with flowers and lovely berries. The chicken and french toast was really fabulous – this is an amazing dish, especially the french toast . Dessert was an awesome – the compressed strawberries had a fizzy flavor and the mascarpone cheese was almost like ice cream. To top everything off, the service and atmosphere were top notch. I can’t wait to spend more nights on the patio!

Amuse Bouche

Red Sangria

Serrano wrapped Figs

Chilled Sorrel Soup – how gorgeous is this dish?

Strawberry Salad

Black Pepper Meatballs

Fried Chicken and French Toast with Blood Orange Maple Syrup – fantabulous!!

Compressed Strawberries with Mascarpone Mousse

Next time you are in the mood for a fabulous patio and some of the best eats in San Antonio, check out Bin 555! And if you haven’t been in 2012, go see, and taste, the changes – I think you will love it!

Other Jason Dady Restaurant blog posts:

Tre Trattoria Downtown

Two Bros BBQ Market

The Lodge

Hi Friends! 

Sorry for the lack of posts lately…but I have been busy! In the last few weeks I interviewed for a new position at UTSA, was offered the position, and officially start on April 1st! I also took a group of 12 awesome students to OKC for spring break where we completed a series of community service projects and explored lots of the sights and eats of OKC. I then went to a professional conference in Hattiesburg, MS, went to Dallas for my awesome friend Liz’s baby shower, visited the Ft. Worth Japanese Tea Gardens, ate at Joe T’s for the first time, celebrated St. Patty’s Day, and took Frank to the Fest of Tails. I think I need a nap!

Celebrated Liz and her baby girl with friends in Dallas!

Visit to the Japanese Tea Gardens in Ft. Worth with Mom and Ed

First time to Joe T’s in Ft. Worth – so good!

Conference in Mississippi

Southern Miss

A quick visit with baby Carter and Kirby in OKC

Students on our OKC Spring Break trip

Pop’s on Route 66

Frank enjoying the bluebonnets

Fest of Tails

So that’s a bit of what I have been up to. Did anyone else’s March fly by? Happy spring!

Happy birthday Kyle!!

This year we celebrated early with a night at the beautiful Hotel Valencia. We had an amazing dinner at Citrus, followed by drinks at V-Bar and The Esquire. We then went to Sunday Brunch at Las Canarias in the La Mansion Del Rio hotel, soaking up the glorious weather and view of the Riverwalk. A pretty great weekend!

For dinner at Citrus, we started with crab cakes. They were absolutely fabulous! They came highly recommended by our excellent server. For the main dish, I ordered the grouper with pecan caramel sauce and Kyle had the antelope with spicy potatoes. They were both very good (the antelope was surprisingly lean and rich), though they were outshined by the appetizers and desserts. For dessert, Kyle ordered the hazelnut chocolate cheesecake. I ordered the plate of cheeses, something I have always been curious to do. The cake was fantastic, but the plate of cheeses was soooo good and so much fun! I love that each piece came with a tiny pairing. I definitely recommend giving Citrus a try!

Birthday Boy

The Top Chef Judges were here!

Crab Cake at Citrus

Grouper at Citrus

Antelope at Citrus

Plate of Cheeses at Citrus

After dinner we met up with Jaci and Joel at V-Bar, then went to The Esquire (see previous post). The Pimm’s Cup was so, so tasty. The pic below is of another great cocktail, the Philly Smash. I love the berries!

Philly Smash at The Esquire

We capped off the birthday party with the Champagne Brunch at Las Canarias. The weather was sunny in the mid-50s and we had a table right along the Riverwalk. They had 7+ stations set up throughout the restaurant with fresh seafood, prime rib, salads, breakfast items, cheeses, fruit, pastries, omelets, bananas foster, and  more! The spread was really amazing. The highlights for me were the duck confit gnocchi, croissant, fresh goat cheese, gorgeous raspberries and blackberries, mimosas, and, best of all, the bananas foster!

Plate #1. Isn’t the light gorgeous? I felt like we were in a Renior painting!

Cheers to my hubby! Happy birthday!

A few weeks ago, we set out to make tapas for a date night in. This is the second post in our 2012 series, Saturday Nights In! The Piquillo Peppers were the biggest hit and would make great party appetizers. Yum!

Piquillo Peppers with Goat Cheese

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Recipe

• Jarred piquillo peppers (5-8 depending on size)
• 8 oz goat cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lemon, juiced

Spanish Meatballs with Sauce

• 3/4 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

• 3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Mix together beef, parsley, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper. Roll into meatballs about 1.5 inches in size. Roll each ball in flour, then fry in a pan with a small amount of olive oil. Once meatballs are cook, remove from pan. In same pan, cook bell pepper and onion in olive oil. After 3-4 minutes, add tomatoes and paprika and cook for 10 minutes. Add the wine, and cook 3-4 minutes. Return meatballs to sauce and warm through. Serve hot!

These were good – I really liked the sauce, but it was a little chunky for Kyle. It would have been good as a blended sauce…

Spanish Cheese & Charcuterie Plate

• Spanish chorizo, sliced thin at deli
• Serrano ham, sliced thin at deli
• Valencia orange
• Olives
• Manchego cheese
• Spanish olive oil cheese (not sure what it was called, but so good! In cheese area of Central Market)
• Serve with sliced baguette or crackers

A couple of weekends ago, Kyle and I ventured down to Southtown’s newest hot spot: Feast. We loved it! 

It is shiny and trendy with sparkly lights and big chandeliers. We were seated right away, and ordered two King Cocktails. The low point of our experience was that it took about 15 minutes for our cocktails to arrive. Luckily, all of our plates came quickly and the service was outstanding. The drinks were strong and tasty. 

We started with grilled brussels sprouts with a dijon sauce – absolutely fantastic! We also had the ahi tuna tartar and were not as crazy about it. For round two we enjoyed the delicious lamb skewers with feta dip, and the jack cheese mac which was creamy and rich. We finished off with a rich chocolate cake with cherry ice cream and pistachio toffee  - a tasty end to a wonderful meal. Check out all of the menus here! It was fun to share several small plates. 

I definitely recommend giving Feast a try! We had great service and really good food overall – and it is a fun place for people watching. Cheers!

Amazing!!

I was inspired to come up with a grilled portobello dinner after finding gorgeous mushrooms at the Pearl Farmer’s Market (portobellos were from Kitchen Pride).

After searching around the internet for inspiration, I came up with the following – and they were really, really good:

Grilled Chorizo Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

• 4 large portobello mushrooms
• olive oil
• 8 oz Mexican chorizo (I use turkey chorizo)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 oz reduced fat cream cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar (low fat)
• 1.5 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 T grated parmesan

Wipe down mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Remove stems and scoop out dark brown gills from undersides of mushrooms. Coat mushrooms with olive oil. In a skillet, heat chorizo over medium heat for 6 minutes or so, adding garlic after 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and add cream cheese and cheddar, stirring until melted through. Add in spinach and stir in until wilted. Remove from heat and mix in bread crumbs.

Grill mushrooms stem side down for 4 minutes over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, turn over, and stuff with 1/4 of filling. Top off with 1/2T of grated parmesan. Grill for about 5 minutes. Serve with corn tortillas.

These are SOOOOO good! I can’t wait to make them again.

I flagged this in the February issue of Real Simple and made a few changes. I love coming home to an almost ready dinner in the slow cooker!

Chicken (Crock) Pot Pie

Adapted from Feb 2012 Real Simple Recipe

• 1.25-1.5# boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 10oz baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and chopped (or pre washed/sliced bagged)
• 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, chopped
• 1.5 cups baby carrots
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup fat free half & half
• kosher salt and pepper
• Crescent rolls or puff pastry, cooked in oven as directed (I used reduced fat crescent rolls – cooked them in flat triangles)

In a 6 quart slow cooker, combine onions, mushrooms, carrots, thyme, bay leaf, flour, and water. Place chicken thighs, seasoned with salt and pepper, on top. Cook on low for 7-8hours. 10 minutes before serving add fat free half & half, frozen peas, frozen green beans, and stir thoroughly. Serve in a bowl with a piece of pastry on top.

This was really good and loaded with veggies, with way less fat and salt than you could ever buy in the frozen section. The flat crescent rolls were super easy to prep and were great on top, giving it that pot pie taste. Enjoy!

For 2012, Kyle and I decided that we would try to do more date nights in, and decided to plan about one Saturday night a month with a fancier/more complex dinner than we normally would do at home. So this year I will have a Saturday Nights In! series, a contrast to last year’s Twelve Months of Dining.

For our first Saturday Night In, we decided to make cheese and chocolate soufflés, with recipes learned at Central Market Cooking School last year (check out post). They were so, so good and a lot of fun to finally make at home! They do take some time though, so count on a good amount of prep time in the kitchen. 

Cheese Soufflés

• 4 T butter (+ more for ramekins)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups cold milk (2% or higher)
• 3 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
• scant 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
• fresh ground nutmeg to taste
• pinch cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup grated Fontina
• 1/4 cup Parmesan (+ more for ramekins)

Chocolate Soufflés

• 4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 T butter (+ more for ramekins)é
• 1 T cream (2% milk worked fine)
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 1/8 cup sugar (+ more for ramekins)
• pinch cream of tartar

Butter and sugar two ramekins. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cream and heat to a boil, stirring. Remove pan from heat and add the chocolate, stirring constantly until melted. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the egg yolks. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch cream of tartar until they begin to stiffen. Add sugar and beat until stiff. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture 1/3 at a time. Divide the soufflé mixture between ramekins. Bake at 375° until they are puffed, about 20 minutes.  Makes 3-4 ramekins. Serve immediately. These are truly heavenly, and seem to hold their puff a little longer than the cheese (but not much, so eat quick!). Delicious!

As I mentioned in my Holiday recap post, Kyle and I invited friends and family over for a Holiday Happy Hour party a couple of days after Christmas. My sister-in-law April was in town and helped me make some fun appetizers and drinks. Here are a few favorites:

Caprese Salad Bites

I spotted these on Pinterest and they came from a blog called Terri’s Table. You can make as many as you want and it could not be easier!

• Basil leaves (washed and patted dry)
• Boccioni sized fresh mozzarella or larger pieces of fresh mozzarella cut into bite sized pieces (patted dry with paper towels)
• Grape tomatoes (washed)
• Toothpicks
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

String one end of a basil leaf onto a toothpick. Next add a mozzarella bite and a grape tomato. Then string the other end of the leaf. Spread on a platter and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Stuffed Mushrooms

These are April’s recipe and they went lighting fast so be sure to make a bunch!

• Baby bella or white mushrooms (cleaned and stems removed)
• Boursin cheese
• Cream cheese (low fat or fat free are fine)
• Parmesan cheese
• Red wine
• Red wine vinegar

Soak mushrooms in half red wine, half red wine vinegar for 1-2 hours. Mix equal parts Boursin and cream cheese (you only put a very small amount in each mushroom so it does not take a lot). Add a couple tablespoons of grated parmesan to the cheese mix. Stuff each mushroom with about a half teaspoon or so of the cheese mix. Bake at 300° for 20-30 minutes, until warmed through.

Sugar Bacon

This is my Mom’s recipe – she served it at brunches and parties and it is always a hit! I made little bite sized pieces for the appetizers and they were great.

• # bacon
• dark brown sugar

Pomegranate Cocktails

I wanted to have a Champagne cocktail and came up with this – it was super tasty and went quick! This amount makes about 1 pitcher:

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine
• 1/2 lime

Mix ingredients in a pitcher, adding the juice of half a lime and some lime slivers – serve over one or two ice cubes in a wine glass. Yum!

Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Vodka

• 1 can Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate Mix
• 64 oz milk
• Smirnoff Marshmallow Vodka, as desired

We prepped the hot chocolate mix according to directions with milk in a medium sized crock pot. Once hot, serve in mugs and allow guests to add a shot of Marshmallow Vodka as they wish. The really good hot chocolate mix made this! Really yummy and warm.

Our holiday happy hour was so much fun – thanks to all our friends and family who stopped by to celebrate.