Tag Archives: appetizers

Easter 2012: Party at Mi Casa!

11 Apr

We have a great group of family friends that get together for every major holiday (every major excuse we can find to get together, more like it) to eat, drink, chat, laugh, play, and just enjoy each other. We all moved up to CT from Florida, so we have that common bond, even if all the parents don’t still work at the same company like they used to.

Oh that moment before a photo is taken...

You may have read recaps of past shindigs:

There we go! Can you find me?

My family decided to host the Easter get-together (because we knew there’d be one) at our house. Perhaps that’s what inspired me to become a chef for a day and contribute a dish!

Mr. Pereda contributed the above (delicious) Chilean Merlot.

I also enjoyed several small glasses of different wines, and even a sampled a few beers (more on that to come…)

Hanging out on the deck with my wine! Isn't the little glass cute?

I also got to hang out with my friend Andrea, who I hadn’t seen in forever. We’ve known each other since our sophomore year of high school, when we were seatmates in AP Bio (shudder…I was so bad at that class). Her boyfriend’s aunt lives in my neighborhood (I used to babysit for the family, small world right?) and the two of them were there for his family’s Easter party, so I asked them to stop by.

Andrea and her boyfriend enjoying a dessert at the end of the party!

My mom had some tasty apps set out and ready for our guests’ arrivals!

I know I have a lot of guac-lovin' readers!

The sweets were present from the beginning!

Our friends brought some good apps too!

Essential veggie/hummus plate - don't you just LOVE the colors?!

Mrs. Aubuchon's famous deviled eggs - I had one and it was all I could do to not fill up on them before dinner. AMAZING!

Time flew as I caught up with old friends and before I knew it, dinner was served.

My sister (right) leads a prayer.

Mashed potatoes and a cheesy corn casserole.

A mini-salad-bar on a plate of sorts, and a whole grain side salad!

Everyone dug in and was certainly hungry. We did not have that many leftovers, when you consider how much food we had!

Can you spy my mom overseeing it all?

We had many meats – grilled chicken and pork tenderloin! My mom accidentally bought 8 tenderloins instead of 6, so she froze 2 for our family to use later. Turns out she should’ve had my dad cook them all up…we ran out of meat completely!

My apologies to all non-meat-eating readers ;)

My mom used the rub I got in my last foodie pen pals box when prepping the meats – so thank you so much, Loy! It was delicious!

My FAVORITE dish of the party, prepared by my madre, was the amazing cold salmon platter above with dill, capers, asparagus, red onions, and tzatziki on the size. Meg, I know you’d have died over this. I did too. It was the only thing I had seconds of because it was the only thing I wanted seconds of, I just loved it so much!

First plate!

Damn sun ruined this shot, but I went for everything except the mashed potatoes and corn casserole (those make me too sleeeeepy).

People brought a seemingly endless supply of cupcakes! Cupcakes are cool but I can take them or leave them. I was more interested in one of the things pictured below…

Above left is some kind of berry crisp, but above right is Mrs. Aubuchon’s famous chocolate Coca-Cola cake. Yes, Coca-Cola is an ingredient! This is the only time you will find me consuming soda :-P I had one of those nice corner pieces (corners are the best!)

Great job, mama!

What a fun party – everyone had a blast and we only just finished the leftovers last night! Or shall I say, I only just finished them last night :-D oh, I also passed out after this thing at about 8:30PM. THANKS WINE.

Cupcakes – take them or leave them?

Pieces of cake – aren’t corners the best?!

What’s the best thing you ate on Easter Sunday? Even if you weren’t celebrating Easter!

My Favorite Restaurant

3 Apr

People often ask me what my favorite restaurant is, since I’m such a fanatic. It’s a fair question! And if you follow me on Twitter, you may know what the answer is, seeing as I’ve checked in there four times in the last two weeks (and I’m the Mayor :-D shut up, it matters).

If you guessed J. Gilbert’s, you are spot-on! I’ve done a full write-up on a visit (when they came out with a new menu) and have mentioned them countless times. I’m a big fan of tweeting every experience I have there too.

Swordfish, broccolini, baked potato.

When I first started visiting J. Gilbert’s, I’d order the same thing every single time – 6 oz. filet mignon, baked potato, and asparagus. Oh, along with their awesome sourdough bread.

The butter on the right is pastrami butter!

But then I became an adventurarian (genius term Heather came up with for my style of eating) and began to feel the need to get something different every single time. And that’s totally possible, thanks to the constantly-rotating selection of specials.

Jeff's latest special selection - 14 oz veal with a fig demi glace and lobster risotto!

I love taking friends to J. Gilbert’s because I KNOW they will love it, no matter what they order. However, there are certain things that are their specialty. When Jeff and I took our friend Kelly there a couple weeks ago, we helped her pick out a meal that was a sampler of what J. Gilbert’s does best, wood-fired steaks and seafood.

4oz filet, crab cake, lobster risotto, lobster mac n cheese.

The bar has an amazing atmosphere. I love going there to hang out and catch up with friends, or family. The bartenders are courteous and really fun to chat with. J. Gilbert’s boasts an extremely impressive wine collection, but their cocktails ain’t half bad either.

Lemon Basil Manhattan: Maker's Mark, lemon, basil, simple syrup, pure cane sugar.

The bar also has a great happy hour, including a Sunday option, from 4-8pm! I love Sundays at J. Gilbert’s. A nice way to wind down the weekend!

My favorite happy hour app, the chicken quesadilla.

Another happy hour option, filet mignon sliders with sweet potato shoestring fries.

My family celebrates almost every special occasion at J. Gilbert’s.

My parents and I recently had dinner there to celebrate my 23rd birthday. I went all out and ordered the rack of lamb.

My dad’s swordfish was a work of art (you may recognize it as the cover photo on the Cait Plus Ate Facebook page).

And I like to think of this picture of us from that night as a work of art too :)

When my Nana Connie came to visit, we took her to J. Gilbert’s TWICE!

Me, my mom, and Nana Connie at Sunday happy hour.

She enjoyed her filet and crab cakes (another first-timer, so I suggested she order that!) and I adored yet another new-to-me entree choice, the ahi tuna! One thing I don’t often switch up are my sides. I tend to gravitate towards a baked potato and asparagus almost every single time. Their baked potatoes are truly the best I’ve ever had. So much sea salt on the skin!

The weird dark thing in the upper left is actually the charred side of the other piece of tuna. YUM!

The waitstaff is very friendly and not at all annoyed (or seemingly not annoyed…) by my mom and I, who are chronic meal-modifiers (sauce on the side, tweaks like that).

A modified fish my mom ordered, grilled mahi mahi, sans sauce (it was on the side).

That’s great news for anyone like myself who loves to dine out frequently, but wants to do so in a health-conscious way. My mom and I also frequently ask for lighter sides like our baked potatoes and asparagus in place of heavier sides like mac n cheese or creamy risotto.

Sea scallops, a favorite of many of my friends and family.

But sometimes you have to go all-out and order a meal as-is, AKA as a chef designed it to be served and eaten, as my friend did above when he ordered the sea scallops!

Love/hate relationship with this huge wine list. So hard to choose!

So there you have it – now you know what my favorite restaurant is :) If you live in CT, I recommend heading over to J. Gilbert’s (make sure you have a reservation if it’s a holiday or weekend) for dinner, or even popping in for their happy hour if you’re looking for a cheaper way to enjoy their gourmet food.

You can also like them on Facebook to get exclusive, random surprise Facebook deals – or join their mailing list! You’ll get a free entree on your birthday, as well as a $15 off coupon right off the bat for signing up.

What’s your FAVORITE restaurant? Just one, no cheating!

Are you a meal-modifier when dining out like myself?

CW’s Chops ‘n Catch: Gerard Bertrand Wine Dinner

20 Mar

I had such a great experience at the first special Chops n Catch Dinner last month! I definitely knew I wanted to attend the next one, and was excited to find out that there would be another held in March, this time with focus on wine – sign me up! The wines were provided by Gerard Bertrand, a French winemaker that was recently voted European Winery of the Year.

Evan did not join in this time, but Jeff still was up for some wining and dining, even though he is not the biggest wine fan. Kudos to him for being adventurous!

With the dessert course...be patient, we'll get there.

I was running late but it was still “cocktail hour” time when I arrived. Jeff was a loyal foodie and waited for me before digging into, and by that I mean eating-in-one-bite, the first passed appetizer, the shiraz-braised shortrib.  I definitely suck because I didn’t take a photo. My camera was taking forever to get into the correct settings (I don’t even think I ever got it there) and I was impatient and wanted to dig in!

Just picture a bite of beautiful brown shortrib sitting on a silver spoon – at first I was confused as to why it was served that way, but got the reasoning once I finished the bite of meat and saw shiraz left pooled in the spoon. The app was VERY shiraz-braised, and I loved it. The presentation showed, along with the taste, just how much wine was used in the recipe. It was definitely the fruitiest shiraz I have EVER tried. I don’t think I would like drinking a glass of it, but with the meat, it tasted wonderful. I’m also sure there were other ingredients mixed in with it that made it taste fruitier than it would as a glass of wine alone.

We were soon poured our first glasses of wine (paired with that ever-important H2O) that were meant to be paired with the first course, but there was quite a delay between the pouring of the wine and that course being served, signaling the end of the “cocktail hour”. It was a little tough to hold back from drinking our wine, but we wanted to save it to have with the food, as it was meant to be drank. I would hope that at future Chops ‘n Catch dinners, the time period of passed appetizers would not be so long.

We also never received the second passed app, the blackened ahi tuna with cucumber relish. I mentioned this to our waiter, and after checking in the kitchen, he returned with a promise that he would bring one out to us after the first course, asparagus and goat cheese bisque with tri-colored cherry tomatoes, was served. Fine with me!

The bisque was really excellent, but Jeff and I both agreed it could have been presented better. I would have liked to see the tomatoes and asparagus stalk less “buried”, especially since the tomatoes’ interesting colors were essentially hidden under the thick soup. The taste was very impressive though. The goat cheese could have easily overpowered the asparagus, but both flavors were very well balanced and the soup was not too heavy like some bisques are.

It paired pretty well with the white wine pictured above, the Reserve Speciale Viognier. The hostesses from Gerard Bertrand called it fresh and floral. I liked this white because it was very dry. I’m not usually a white person but I was able to enjoy this one, it had notes of apricot but was not too sweet.

After the first course, just as the waiter promised, we were delivered the second pass appetizer, the blackened ahi tuna with cucumber relish. WOW. It was cooked perfectly, slight crispiness on the outside and nice and rare in the middle. The relish was so fresh!

The next wine was a red – yay! And a Pinot Noir too – double yay! The Reserve Speciale Pinot Noir is Gerard Bertrand’s best-seller in New England. It had a lot of soft fruit notes and though it wasn’t as robust or dry as I usually like my reds, I did enjoy it.

I definitely enjoyed the second course’s food component more though – BBQ pork belly with vinegar slaw and fried hot peppers. I LOVE PORK BELLY. It cut like butter and had nice crispy corners – those were my favorite bites. The slaw tasted just like the classic slaw that comes with all the burgers at Catsup & Mustard, one of Corey Wry’s other restaurants. The fried hot peppers were so good, but then again what fried anything isn’t good?

For the entree, we were given a choice of two entrees - housemade salt ‘n vinegar potato chip crusted crab cakes with sweet ‘n spicy broth or herb-seared boneless lamb loin with manchego cheese and potato croquette. For Jeff and I it was a no brainer - crab cakes all the way! The crab cake was served with the white pictured above, the Cremant de Limoux, a sparkling wine similar to champagne. Cremant is actually the original sparkling wine of France, and preceded champagne! The lamb was served with the above-pictured red, the Grand Terroir Tautavel, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan grapes. I love red blends because every one tastes unique and they often contain some of the less common grapes (I had only heard of Syrah in this blend, for example).

I actually ended up requesting that my crab cake entree be served with the red wine, because not only am I not a white wine person, but I am REALLY not a sparkling wine person. I have issues with carbonation (as in I usually can’t stand it). I know that may have “thrown off” the pairing, but I often drink red wine with my seafood. Jeff the not-wine-lover however, jumped at the chance to try a sparkling wine. He liked it, and I liked my red as well. Not so sure about how well it paired with the crab cake – didn’t pair badly, but just didn’t strike me as an interesting combination of flavors.

The crab cakes were so good though. While we were a little bummed that the crab cake was not completely encrusted in potato chips, as the entree’s title led us to believe, we were both extremely impressed by the abundance of crab (and subsequently, lack of filler, a good thing). The sweet ‘n spicy broth was indeed both sweet and spicy and had a great balance of the two flavors. I wish I had gotten to take a big potato chip encrusted bite of crab cake, but I got a similar effect when I had some of it with the potato chips at the same time, perched on top. Yummy!

Our favorite pairing was yet to come though! Dessert was a pistachio souffle and vanilla bean sauce served with vanilla ice cream, along with a glass of port-style dessert wine, Banyuls. I ADORE ports, and was so excited that the dessert wine wasn’t a sparkling white. It was so, so amazing with the ice cream. I just wanted to take a scoop of it, drown it in port, and eat that out of a bowl. The souffle was pretty awesome as well, but the port-ice cream combo stole the show. I didn’t want it to end!

It was another tasty experience at CW’s Chops ‘n Catch, and my calendar is already marked for their next event on Monday, April 30. I await the menu with bated breath!

Which course would you have wanted to try most?

Zafra Rum Bar – New Haven, CT

19 Mar

Remember nominations for Hartford Courant’s CT blog awards, the Websters, close this Wednesday 3/21!

Until I have time to blog about my visit with the amazing Heather of For the Love of Kale, check out her two posts on our endeavors :) Today I bring you a fantastic restaurant review!

I have written about Zafra before, because I visited and discovered the restaurant while on a Taste of New Haven tour of the Canal Quarter area of New Haven, CT. This place is the first rum bar in Connecticut and also the largest rum bar in the United States, with choice of over 125 different rums!

Cocktails on the left, rums on the right, and the rum menu has a back too!

During my inaugural visit I was blown away by the hospitality of the staff, especially Ed Zynko, the bar manager. Last Saturday I took another trip to Zafra, and was treated just as well, if not better. Ed even reserved spots at the bar for my friends and I to ensure that he would be taking care of us and showing us a good time.

We certainly felt special!

I ordered us a round of Ed’s famous mojitos immediately – one cannot visit Zafra without trying a 10 Cane Mojito, honestly the best I have ever had.

Ain't it pretty?

My companions for the evening were Joe and his brother, Chris, who I recently discovered is a fellow food, drink, and restaurant fanatic!

Joe and his mojito.

Me and Chris!

We perused the appetizers and decided to order a couple to share – the Cuban Dumplings and the Coconut Ceviche for 2.

When the menu said “beautifully arranged”, it was NOT kidding!

The Cuban Dumplings - inside of a coconut!

The dumplings were so yummy, especially with the inclusion of PICKLES, and the dipping sauce was tasty too. What a pretty arrangement!! These went VERY quickly between the three of us.

AAHHH! Look at that!

Yes, THAT is the Coconut Ceviche for 2. Oh goodness! You can’t tell from the photo, but it was even lit up from inside with a red light! The orange sauce on the wooden spoon was a chipotle sauce that was to DIE for, we had to ask for some more because Joe demolished it (he’s a condiment king). The seafood was amazing, just look at those HUGE shrimp, and the avocado paired with them was a nice touch. On the lower right you’ll see tostones, or green plantains, tucked into the white napkin. They were absolutely wonderful dipped in the chipotle sauce. I could have eaten a million more!

Chris was a big fan.

Time for another round of drinks – I learned about Ed’s famous and award-winning Caribbean Dream, made with egg whites, on the Taste of New Haven visit. It’s been called “vacation in a glass”, and though it is too sweet for my martini-loving taste buds, I knew Joe would be ALL about it.

He gets to work - this drink takes awhile to make.

Ed crafts a masterpiece.

The finished product, and a happy customer.

Just like I thought – Joe LOVED it! I did steal a sip or two ;-) and so did Chris, but his next drink was of the more dangerous variety.

Delicious, but indeed dangerous, the Jamaican Motherfucker (yup, that’s the name) has a bite to it that indicates that it’s one powerful beverage. Ed declared it to be the strongest drink on the menu. I helped Chris finish some of this. After all, didn’t want to leave him to handle it alone, right? :-D

Ed and his partner in crime working on drinks.

Doesn’t that sugar-rimmed martini look mighty tasty?

Ed prepares a Captain Jack Sparrow - notice the concentration.

Captain Jack (Pyrat Rum XO Reserve, pineapple, passion fruit, and lime juices, and blue curacao) is ready to be consumed, and Ed makes like a blur to go make the next drink.

Joe headed out for the evening, and Chris and I decided to order two entrees to share so that we could try as many things as possible. We did a bit of surf and a bit of turf. First up, the Lechon Asado: slow-roasted pork (marinated 24 hours), sauteed onions, white rice, black beans, a broiled yucca.

The pork was beyond excellent, Chris and I could not stop raving about it. The 24-hour marinading DEFINITELY makes a difference. I also adored the yucca. It was my first time having it! The black beans were very good (I’m a fanatic when it comes to those). I left the rice alone because I’m just not a rice person – so boring compared to the many other interesting, flavorful eats!

As for the surf, we went with Jumbo Diver Scallops: pan-seared scallops, black beans, and maduros (sweet plantains).

Again, I left the rice alone and the beans were yummy. The scallops were cooked very well, but I got a few crunchy bites – Chris guessed it was leftover sand? I’ve heard that it’s very difficult to get scallops completely cleaned of it. Not sure, but they were still nice and juicy and seasoned very well! I was all OVER the sweet plantains, I just love them.

If you’re a vegetarian and wish to visit Zafra, you’re in luck – there are plenty of options on the menu that you can still enjoy! Just check out the Latin Caprese below, made with fresh mozz, roasted red peppers, tomato, cilantro oil, and balsamic vinegar:

Zafra regular Colin, owner of Taste of New Haven, was kind enough to let me snap this photo of his meal.

Ed insisted that Chris and I try one of his favorite drinks to make, an espresso martini, AKA a java chip frap with alcohol! Well, we had to have dessert in some form, right?

He started by lining a martini glass with chocolate syrup – I already liked where this was going.

I could hardly wait to take the first sip!

Chris and I LOVED this. Four thumbs up total! Unfortunately we could not finish it because a) we were full and b) we both had to drive over 45 minutes to get to our respective homes.

We had an amazing time at Zafra and I couldn’t be happier about my new-found love for New Haven and its restaurant scene. Just goes to show you that you need to experience something before you can judge it – no longer do I think of this city as “shoot-em-up New Haven”. No, now I see it for the diverse, exciting hotspot that it is, with tons to offer in terms of food, drinks, sights, and history!

Thank you Ed, and all of Zafra’s staff, for a fun and delicious night!

Have you ever been to a rum bar or tried Cuban food and/or drinks?

Have you ever realized that you were judging something without experiencing it first? Once you experienced it, what was your take? Did your opinion change?

Wordless Wednesday: Saturday Night Glastonbury Barhop

15 Feb

Note: I don’t count photo captions (or this note) as words ;-) Home sick today and don’t feel much like writing!

Sakura Garden happy hour red + free strawberry daiquiri shot

Another free shot - mango

Joe's happy hour California roll

Rooftop 120 martini menu

Dark n stormier, sparkler, pickle martini

Sourdough grilled cheese + french onion soup

Margherita flatbread

Plan B

Are there any places in your town to bar/restaurant-hop?

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