Category Archives: On Eating Around

A quick list of food related Commentary, Rants & Raves

Some Home Cooking to get me back in practice (Part 1)

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IMG_2946 IMG_2951 IMG_2952After several weeks of vacation and a lot of work travel I haven’t been able to cook as much as I tend too. So when Paul got word about his promotion, it was a good reason to try out a few new recipes I have been waiting on.

First off was the Pineapple Upside-down cake; for some reason I had a craving for its sweet and gooey texture when I got back from Provincetown. I cheated some and used a Duncan Hines box as the starter (and they were recently on sale) along with canned Pineapple. The recipe I started with is below and my changes are in red.

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar [I prefer dark but light will do]
  • 1 can (20 oz.) pineapple slices, drained and lightly patted dry
  • 4 Maraschino cherries, halved [I forgot to buy them..]
  • 1 package Duncan Hines®  Signature Pineapple Cake Mix
  • 1 package (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling [I actually use coconut instant pudding – it adds a different yet subtle taste.]
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • pitch of salt

Intructions:

Now the cast Iron pan I use is larger than the one they recommend by an inch or two.. but that just means it won’t be a high

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Melt butter in 12-inch skillet with oven-proof handle or cast iron skillet. [Because I use a cast iron skillet, I actually put the pan in the oven while it heat up, then once hot, put in on the burner while I add the butter to melt]
  • Remove from heat. Evenly sprinkle with brown sugar.
  • Arrange pineapple slices on top of mixture and place cherries in center of each pineapple; set aside.
  • Combine cake mix, eggs, water, oil, salt, vanilla and instant pudding in large bowl.
  • Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. [Mixing by hand works perfectly fine as well]
  • Pour batter evenly over fruit in skillet.
  • Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. [My oven had the cake perfect at 42 minutes – but had I wanted a more well cooked top, I could have left it in longer.]
  • Cool cake completely on wire rack in the pan. While it cools the dome in the middle will sink down and flatten out.
  • Invert onto serving plate.

Now to kick this up a few notches – you could drizzle in rum over the cake while it is still warm.. I am just saying..

 

Angel Mornings @ Gifford House

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I have been lucky to have the generous tasting of these folks from the different locations in Ptown over the last few years – so was excited to check them out at the Gifford House in a traditional dinning room setting.

I am so glad we did. A great menu – actually pretty large by Ptown standards for breakfast fare. It’s not going to rock your socks off  “ambiance” wise – the room is basic to what it needs to be – but the flavor and food quality is where it is at. They make basic ingredients, taste the way they are supposed too and they invite you to “kick it up a notch” with the graceful punch of seasoning and combinations. From the egg scramble with sausage to the omelettes.. I could eat here every morning.imageCheck out the full image

menu. They are open 8am to 2pm and the entire Menu Served All Day

508-487-8600

 

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The Canteen is not to be overlooked

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Canteen was one of the suprises when they first opened in 2013 that has managed to keep it a favorite casual meal spot. With its rough and simple “shake-like chaos” to the incredible fresh and vibrant flavors – Canteen is always a perfect way to each and people watch. One of the signature dishes is the fried brussels sprouts. In fact that was was usually brings us in. They manage to do make the smoky, crispy and tender all at the same time. It’s like “vegetable crack”. 1001572_10201541924447545_1570023088_n-2

But on this trip it was all about the hot  “lobster roll”. While some folks prefer the cold kind blended with mayo – I much prefer my warm (barely cooked) and dressed with butter.  In this Canteen blew us away. Often time we here people refer lobster meat as being “sweet’. Generally it’s not and an imagebe rubbery and tough. Canteen manages to bring the sweetness out, kisses its with butter and lovingly scoop it into the grilled role. This is a “not to miss” dish.  Note: they have a back eating area that often time people miss.. so don’t be turned away if you don’t see seating in the front.

Check them out on Facebook or visit them on the web at thecanteenptown.com or Yelp

225 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA 02657

Open lunch and dinner
11 AM-11 PM
No reservations

Cafe Edwige

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With another show under our belt, and the night still early, we decided a later dinner at one of our favorite finds in P’town for the last several years was eating at Cafe Edwige. While pretty outstanding for breakfast/brunch – dinners offer a solid flavor profile with a simple and straight forward menu of options.

Not being overly hungry I went with the Cure All Kale Salad. Dressed with bacon and fresh toppings, this well portioned dish was good, but lacked sharpness in the dressing. Kale, being what it is, can often be a hard “nut to crack” raw. So my tastes run towards adding sharpness like lemons, limes or even hot pepper flakes or chili infused oils to balance to denseness of the leaves. I think it also lacked salt and pepper to my tastes. But I would still suggest you give it a try..

For our entrees, I opted for the Local Board; with an assortment of olives, cheese liver pate and bread. This was perfect for my dinner, but I would warn – the pate’s is hearty “liver” flavor and doesn’t disguise itself. Our other dish was the Filet Mignon.

OK – now this is where Edwige excels. It was literally, “melt in your mouth” good. Perfectly cooked, tender and well seasoned- this was the meat eaters orgasm of flavor.

More on them

333 Commercial Street  •  Upstairs
Provincetown, MA  02657
[email protected]     Contact:  508 . 487 . 4020

 

Cafe Heaven

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While always a good standard when we visit, Cafe Heaven with it’s new Bar area, has a new vibe to it, that definitely works. We stopped by for dinner one night and couldn’t have been happier. The food was dead on. We started with my favorite dish in most resturant’s – but one that I know is big enough here to serve as lunch or a lite supper. The Antipasto, nothing on it feels tossed on, cheap or low end. For dinner we went to basics with my having the Shrimp  & Grits; with aa sweet, sour, sticky glaze meets sauce spicy with chorizo and Paul jumped in with a broccoli & chicken penne pasta. Now Paul being Paul, the only comment I heard was; “it could use more broccoli”. Him and that green stuff.

I can honestly say these shots don’t do the dishes credit – so get you butt over to find out!

For more on Cafe Heaven:

199 Commercial St, Unit 10, Provincetown, MA 02657-2126, (508) 487-9639

 

Is it Thursday already?

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While the weather overall of the first week has been good – Thursday was one of the ones that started and ended with the sun yet not so overwhelmingly humid or hot.

But it did mean we had a few activities that would be perfect; the ride out to Race Point on the bikes, beach & Ssun time and of course then obligatory “Ice Cream” walk after dinner and yes – for those of you who follow me on Swarm, will notice that we did indeed eat again at Local 186. Paul opted for the El Guano Burger (hint -it had as egg on on, go figure) and I went with the Tuna, severed reformulated as a burger seared and laid on top of a scallion pancake. But were good – but El Guapo still takes the win for that meal.

But first – it all started with a little homemade breakfast.. in the “hmm what kitchen tools do I have to fake it with” kitchen. Part of the vacation fun is figuring out how to repurpose leftovers at the same time also use what ever utensils happen to be around. on some occasions – its been a real “how-dunnit”. But this yesterday mornings as well as this morning seemed to work. the secrete to the eggs with our lots of butter or cooking spray on a pan that has seen better years and no spatula is low heat. add what little butter you have, add the eggs first to form your layer, then add the toppings. Then let it heat  through slow. Once you notice it start to brown on the bottom – it should form a thin crust; bump the pan against your palm to loosen it and do the “flip”. The end result is it should do a flip of the entire “omelet”  and let it cook for a few more minutes and its done!

Later that night we walked down to the Nut House for an ice cream sunday (for Paul) and got presented with a new flavor; Burnt Carmel. One little sample had me, and I knew my reserve about eating dairy via ice cream which I almost always avoid was going on the window. Thank good need for my lactose pills. Of course I did use some moderation and went with the “kids cone” size and only had enough to satisfy my taste..

It ain’ t always pretty.. but it hits the spot!

 

Missed notes at Devon’s – but not ready to toss’em out yet..

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I have been a fan of Devon’s in both the old location and when they opened in this one. So was excited for dinner tonight. Now first off let me tell you the new look is great. its a quirky bit of glam in P’town.

When we first walked the the smell hits you. So many rich and diverse odors greet you, you can’t wait to jump on the menu. We started off with the Frisée Lettuce Caesar, and the Sweet + Spicy Coconut Curry Mussels which was slap your face good; for our main course we ordered the Grilled Hanger Steak, (w/Guajillo Vinaigrette, Cilantro Purée, Roasted Fingerlings, Tomato, Asparagus) and the Double-Cut Berkshire Pork Chop, (w/ Soft Polenta, Blackberry Gastrique, Rhubarb Jam, Asparagus).


On the plus side of the night – the smells and individual flavors of everything was great.

But... the timing out of the kitchen was off. The time between courses felt longer than I would have expected and since I was sitting the bar area I watched as my chop was up up under the warmer for almost 10 min before the steak was put up. This meant that my medium chop – was well on the way to dry (but still hot) by the time it was served to me. Luckily the sticky sweet glaze was so good – but I was disappointed that after such a long wait I didn’t finish my chop – it was simply too dry. The steak was good – perfectly done and the sides too perfection. Lord knows how many times a kitchen has managed to ruin asparagus – but they were dead on tonight.
To the waiter’s credit, he did offer us desserts on the house as an apology when I let him know, that because the timing was off – my dish was no longer medium etc. But we both declined, mostly because we were full enough and while the sweets coming out looked good – I wasn’t in much of a mood to wait any longer.

My recommendation – try it for yourself – It may have been simply an off night, mid week. So I am not ready to tank them – instead I would give them the benefit and chalk it up to an internal hiccup.

31 Bradford St, Provincetown, MA 02657-1351 (in the old Tip For Tops’n)

Getting down to the business of vacation.

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After a truly crazy last few months; traveling between San Francisco and Washington DC on the assignment I am on for the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues the last week of getting ready for our annual Provincetown vacation almost put me over the edge. Luckily the knowing that in a few short days we would once again be in one of our favorite places to essentially do little else than relax, eat, ride bikes, catch up for pals and in Paul’s case, sleep. But before I could leave; finish a few work projects, get the house cleaned, Dino had to be taken to Hightail, finished laundry, write the “house rules” up for a guest house-sitter and pack.

Getting an early start on Friday, I took off out of SFO on a 7:00 am Virgin flight, and while a crowded flight, it was essentially uneventful. I made sure I have my treats for the ride and enough juice on the Kindle Oasis that I recently acquired, with its extended batter cover – I was all set to go.

The nice thing about the west coast to east coast flight is that if you leave early enough, you can get in mid afternoon and have enough time to settle in. After getting my bag, I grabbed a cab over to meet Paul at the Residence Inn Marriott’s Downtown/Seaport facility. The renovated urban building, is clean, bright and well worth its hefty night fee – but its no more expensive than other hotels in the area. Figured I earned all those points, might as well get some use of them. We also found that by staying in Boston overnight – we can take the Saturday afternoon ferry to P’town and already be on the way to relaxing.

Once we got settled – the unspoken plan, is pizza! One of our favorites is Regina’s Pizza. This little, mad-house is not for the “faint of heart”. It’s busy, the wait staff robust and full of personality and the pies rock. The other best part is after, you get to walk the neighborhoods and hit some of the older Italian pastry shops for some regional fav’s I miss, not to mention the occasional “on no they didn’t” item…

One that we often stop at is Brova’s Bakery, with it’s wide assortment of cookies, cakes, and cannoli’s as well as savory treats like stromboli’s.

 

Waking up early, had a lazy morning with breakfast at Flour, and I stopped next door to check out the Bees Knees Supply company, we packed up and took a nice walk over to the ferry. Couldn’t ask for a better travel day – the weather in the east coast has been hot and sticky but it broke the other day and we lucked out with sunny, humidity in the 60’s and temps in the 80’s.

Once getting getting into P’town and checking in at the Fisherman’s Cove, our home away from home” for the next two weeks; we were unpacked, sorted out and “living” as if we hadn’t ever left. After running a few errands, like getting some “hair of the dog” coffee at Wired Puppy; we figured it a good time to eat before the crowds hit and we went with our old standard, Local 186 for burgers. Eating early meant that “someone” would be ready for an evening walk that was sure to include ice cream.

 

If you are interested in my  actual comments on the actual places; I generally review them in greater detail on my Yelp page and/or on Trip Advisor and when I can remember, I cross post here.

East Coast “Market Mall” meets Market Street

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Seems that Myriad Market Hall’s first vendors are in place and open for business. I stopped by on my way to Joe’s Barbershop for my usual saturday morning shave and had some extra time and (more importantly I found parking in front) so stopped in to check it out. 

Loved the space; it’s open and industrial meets an urban trendy type thing. Sorta reminds me of the old school classic  “indoor flea market stalls” gone hip (or hipster if you prefer). 

According to Inside Scoop , “the team behind the Myriad is Jordan Langer, Pete Glikshtern and Jeff Whitmore (Jones, Oddjob, Empire Room, the Midway). Rather than a glorified food hall, the inspiration for the project comes from places like New York’s Chelsea Market and market halls of Europe, where one can find a variety of small businesses under one roof.” Being a former east coaster; I got it immediately. 

The coffee offered at Cro was rich & dark, the crepes across the way were getting freshly wisked up as the coffee brewed. 

They have on deck craft cocktails (or take home cocktail kit) at Mrs. Jones and healthy snack options at it’s RAW Juice Bar, with more rolling in from Antonik’s BBQ, Church Street Flowers, and Gambrel and Co. Butcher opening in the coming weeks.

I’ll agree with the 2175 Market’s website on this; “Come, relax and enjoy the market hall vibe.”  Note: The do have a web site , but still seems to be under revision. 

Myriad Market Hall
2175 Market Street, San Francisco
Http://www.themyriad.com
http://www.2175market.com/