Hartford Food

[Tyler] I went to Hartford, Connecticut last week for a conference. I'm back in the store today, and thought I'd share some of my food thoughts from the week.

I ate some great meals while I was in Hartford. Of course, I had to have sushi in the big city, which I did at a great little sushi and sake bar called Koji, located at 19 Asylum Street (yes, Hartford has a street called Asylum). I also ate at the Trumbull Kitchen (150 Trumbull Street). They bill themselves as American Continental -- yawn -- but I would call them an Asian fusion restaurant. If you're ever in Hartford, I'd definitely go to Trumbull Kitchen. Good food, good service, good wine list.

However, the meal that most inspired me to recreate the recipe at home was when some friends took me to Arugula in West Hartford (953 Farmington Avenue). Arugula serves Mediterranean fusion. It started several years ago as a lunch diner, and recently expanded to become a full-service restaurant.

The political landscape of the Mediterranean means that any restaurant billing itself as Mediterranean fusion will necessarily have some French influence (think of Shevek & Mi in Silver City). This was true of Arugula. So, I had the Duck Confit with Truffle Potatoes.

Duck confit is a duck leg preserved in spices and duck fat, and is not at all dry (as duck sometimes is), and Arugula served it with grilled arugula -- what else. However, the thing that truly inspired me was the truffle potatoes.

I often put Casina Rossa Truffle & Salt in our mashed potatoes, and Rob sometimes puts truffle salt in our hash browns. However, I'd never had potatoes quite like Arugula's. They cubed the potatoes very small (maybe eighth- or quarter-inch), and then pan fried them so they were crispy. Then they tossed them in salt and black truffle bits before serving. They were dee-licious, and I really think we can get the same effect with the Casina Rossa Truffle & Salt.

At any rate, we're going to be having duck confit, truffle potatoes, and grilled endive (I don't like arugula) at our house sometime soon. It'll be a quick, easy, and amazingly elegant meal.

Its not bowtie pasta!

Tyler said, "Let's have bowtie pasta for dinner."

Rob siad, "Okay - I'll get it."

Rob got this new pasta from the store instead. We topped it with san marzano tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, feta cheese. Super fast and easy.

Foglie d'Ulivo

Last night we started with a Cuervo Black Margherita in our Bodum Pavina Double Wall glasses. They were extra strong and extra good!

And then we enjoyed a new pasta at the store called Folgie d'Ulivo (Olive Leaves). Its a lightly spinached flavored pasta formed in the shape of olive leaves with a fantastic texture that grabs the sauce. Tyler made a simple sauce of our Lola brand tomatoes, some spices and finished it with a Cod fillet. We really enjoyed the pasta, and while its a tad bit pricey, its perfect for a special night.

Pastry Day at the Connoley's

[Rob] With our rare time off we both enjoy our different hobbies. Mine is pastries. Last night I made three winners:

Rose Panna Cotta with Rose Syrup (you can see in the pic that I didn't scimp on the vanilla).








Chestnut Olive Oil Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Cake and a 70% Chocolate Glaze.

What's interesting about this cake is that often times in high altitude our cakes turn our dry. This (and the previously posted cake) were super moist and light.












And finally, Lemon Rosemary Gateau-ettes. Lemon Rosemary Pastry Crust filled with Rosemary pastry cream - very yummy.

Alinea: More Complete Account, The End

[Tyler] The last course, and finally we got a chef's whisk -- one of Chef Achatz's signature serving contraptions. This was an upside-down whisk, stuck into a metal base, and used to hold a ball of gooey yumminess. The ball was meyer lemon, surrounded by caramel, stuck on a cinnamon stick and then deep-fried. Thanks to the preparation, the cinnamon released it's scent, infusing the dish.

We took the sticks out of the whisk, and ate the caramel like a lollypop.

And that was it.

Alinea: More Complete Account, Part 14

[Tyler] I call this course the S&M Course. The serving contraption was a long metal rod held at an angle by a heavy base, and pointing up at us like a thin robot . . . well . . . appendage. My first thought was that it might put an eye out if we weren't careful. To make matters worse, the server said, "This is intended to be eaten without your hands. Just lean forward and bite it off."

We leaned down and chomped the caked, and I was immediately impressed with the sensation of tiny little needles stabbing the roof of my mouth. The spun muscovado sugar tasted nice, but hurt. Really.

I was so taken by the crystalline spears puncturing my palate that I didn't even notice the licorice, anise, and orange flavors mentioned in the menu entry for this course. All-in-all, a mildly intriguing idea but not my cup of tea, kind of like S&M.

"And the chocolate course," said the server, "because every meal should have some chocolate." This was an extra-smooth chocolate ganache, served with passion fruit. I think it had a soy foam and lime flavors to accent the passion fruit.

One of the things we learned on this trip is that ganache can and should be very smooth. If you've never made a real ganache, it's a lot of work, and to find one as smooth as this one was pretty impressive. The chocolate tart we had at Vanille Pâtisserie also had a beautifully-smooth ganache in it. Thanks to these two experiences, Rob has a new idea of the perfection he wants to shoot for.

Alinea: More Complete Account, Part 13

[Tyler] This was the ice cream, or perhaps sorbet, course. The rectangular item was orange ice cream, but the most amazing flavor on the plate was the olive oil ice cream on the left. It was a little dab of whipped and frozen olive oil, with sugar and lots of vanilla (the gray color is from the vanilla seeds).

Our server said this was her favorite, and I can see why. Frozen olive oil sounds gross, but because of the kind of fat that's in olives, it doesn't get that stick-to-the-roof of your mouth texture that some cold fats do. Instead it was simply a nice, not-too-sweet, subtly nutty ice cream. It was also a good compliment to the orange. Think about how good orange-infused olive oil is, and you have a hint of how well they pair.

This was Rob's favorite dessert course. The white thing is a long ribbon of coconut, twisting in and out of the other elements on the plate. I don't really remember what all was in this dessert It actually seemed to me like too much was going on, and I couldn't concentrate on the different elements -- which is funny, because that's always my main complaint about Rob's desserts. "Focus on one element. Why do you have to throw in the kitchen sink?"

However, I do remember the grilled kiwi slices tucked under the coconut on the left-hand side. Grilling kiwi really brings out it's flavor, in case you ever want to try it at home.