August 16, 2013 Lunch – Vinaigrette Dinner – Marble Brewery Flies everywhere

August 16, 2013 Lunch – Vinaigrette  Dinner – Marble Brewery   Flies everywhere

I met Aaron Lohmann for lunch at Vinaigrette.  It was busy as usual and we had to wait about fifteen minutes for a table.   We were seated at a corner table that was pleasantly out of the way of people but not flies, which seem to me worst this summer that many years in the recent past.  Aaron and I are trying to lose weight, so we are eating lighter at lunch and Vinaigrette fits that bill.   Vinaigrette fits the bill, as it serves lovely creative salads with fresh ingredients.  I was torn between the French Frisée and the Cobb Salad.  We also each wanted some soup and a glass of wine.  I had not tried the Albarino and Aaron wanted to try the Pinot Grigio.  The waiter was great.  He was a middle aged man with a hyper-active attitude.  I discussed with him my concern with the last French Frisée, namely that the lardons were super fatty and salad greasy.  He answered, I know what you mean.  The frisee is a favorite of mine.  I said, “I will leave the choice to you.  I will take either the Cobb or the Frisee.  I also ordered a bowl of soup and Aaron ordered a cup of the soup of the day, Green Chili Clam Chowder and a Eat your Peas Salad with ½ of a tuna melt sandwich and we ordered the glasses of wine.  Our waiter ran off to the kitchen to place the order.

Here is a recipe for the Frisee Salad made the way I like it but with lots of lardons.

Recipes for Health from the NY Times

Frisée Salad With Poached Egg

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

 

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

 

 Published: January 5, 2010

This is inspired by a classic French country salad. The traditional dish includes thick-cut bacon, but this version is great without the meat. You can serve it as a starter, but I like to make a meal of it.

For the salad:

2 heads frisée, tender light green leaves only, washed and dried (about 6 cups), or 6 cups mixed baby lettuces, washed and dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon or chives
1 sweet red pepper, very thinly sliced
6 thin slices baguette or whole grain bread, toasted, rubbed with a cut clove of garlic and cut into squares
6 large or extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced or pureed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons walnut oil
1. Combine the lettuce, herbs, red pepper and croutons in a large bowl.
2. Poach the eggs. Fill a lidded frying pan with water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the water. One at a time, break the eggs into a teacup, then tip from the teacup into the pan (do this in batches if necessary). Immediately turn off the heat under the pan and cover tightly. Leave for four minutes. Lay a clean dish towel next to the pan, and using a slotted spoon or spatula, carefully remove the poached eggs from the water. Set on the towel to drain.
3. Whisk together the vinegars, salt, mustard and garlic. Whisk in the oil. Toss with the salad until thoroughly coated, and distribute among six salad plates. Top each serving with a poached egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with some thyme leaves and serve.
Yield: Serves six.
Advance preparation: You can poach the eggs up to a day ahead. Keep in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. Drain on a kitchen towel before assembling the salad. The lettuces can be washed and dried, and held in plastic bags in the refrigerator overnight.

Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Here is the  

The waiter returned in a few minutes with our glasses of wine and then in a few more minutes with our salads and a bucket of fresh bread and a carafe of olive oil, but not the soup. 

I said I did not want the soup and he brought Aaron the cup of soup that Aaron had ordered.  I tried it and it was very picante with chili flavor that irritated my throat made raw from coughing from the sinus infection, so I was glad the waiter had forgotten the soup.  

Although on a diet, the bread was irresistible.  We dipped pieces into the light olive oil.

The large bowl of Cobb salad was perfectly lovely, a large mound of greens and chunks of chicken, bacon bits, halved grape tomatoes, cheese, and avocado tossed with a creamy, not too vinegary salad dressing.  



 Aaron’s salad had lots of peas and greens and his tuna melt was thick with onions and tuna salad.   Aaron did not eat his soup either and our waiter graciously refused to charge us for the soup.


My impression of Vinaigrette is unchanged.  It has wonderful recipes for dressing and other sauces that are made by a master sous chef and its combinations of salad ingredients is creative.  I love its salad and wine bar concept.   We loved our lunch and decided to make it a monthly event.
Dinner

When Suzette arrived home after 5:00, she was tired and I had not made any plan for dinner.  She said she wanted to go out for dinner and I suggested thawing some shrimp and making shrimp scampi but she suggested a beer and street food at Marble Brewery.

I liked her idea a lot and we put the top down on her Cabrio and drove over to Marble Brewery at around 6:00 p.m.   Marble Brewery was crowded with folks and lots of dogs and there were two food trucks lined up near the southern entrance.  We checked both out.  One served hamburgers and the other served Mexican food.  We opted for the Mexican food truck because it had tortas.  Suzette ordered a carnitas torta ($7.00) and I ordered ½ lb. of barbacoa with onions and cilantro and tortillas ($6.00).  We were given a ticket stub and we then went inside the tap room. 

We asked the waiter behind the bar about several different beers and every time we mentioned a beer, he would take a small glass and pour a bit of beer into the glass and let us taste it.  This worked perfectly, because after the third or fourth taste we both decided to take a pint of the Irish Red Ale from the special menu of beers.  We took our pints and our ticket stub went back outside where there was a area filled with picnic tables and surrounded with a iron fence with a stage at one end where we soon found an open half table and sat down.  I went back to the food truck and fetched our plate of torta and plastic box filled with barbacoa, chopped onions and cilantro and I was handed a package of toasted tortillas.  Each dish had a small covered container of red chili sauce that was mild and delicious on both the torta and the barbacoa tacos. 

The lower picture is one-half of Suzette's carnitas torta lying on top of my 1/2 lb. of barbacoa in the plastic container.

We sat and enjoyed the cool evening with its slight breeze.  But the breeze was not strong enough to deter the flies from trying to get at the food.   They seems to be everywhere until Suzette seized a plastic covered  menu and began slapping at the lies as they alighted on the table.  She kept doing that until the flies stopped landing on the table in the area of our food.  Suzette said, “Flies do not like loud sounds, so the slapping action actually keeps them away.”  And she was right, we ate in relative peace after a few minutes of slapping.  At around 8:00 a band named Callas ???? started playing acoustic music.  The music ranged from old traditional ballads to Celtic and Irish tunes; perfect for our thoughts about Willy’s intended graduate school in Ireland.  I can now see myself in just such a pub in Ireland visiting him next year.   After we finished the Red ale, I got a double White and got Suzette a Lambert’s ale and we sat and sipped beer and listened to music.

Finally at around 9:00 we went home after some pleasant food, beer and music, we drove home.

Bon Appétit