December Decadence

 

In case you hadn’t noticed by today’s 25 degree thermometer reading, Cleveland’s not-so-friendly winter is officially upon us. Which before Christmas, is just fine in my book. Extra cold weather makes warm homes cozier, fire places brighter and bottomless glasses of red wine seem necessary for survival. Days are best spent hibernating – cooking and eating delicious food. Which is exactly what we did this weekend!

On Friday, a late night steak dinner – fillet decked out with a to die for mushroom sherry sauce, which this mushroom aficionado could not. stop. eating. Plus spicy-sweet roast sweet potatoes to really warm our insides. We realized after sitting down to eat that our plates were most definitely missing anything green. But never mind, it was Friday and I think that means vegetables are out and wine is most definitely in :).

 

Saturday we enjoyed a fun day out in Ohio City and at the Westside Market, all dressed up and looking lovely for Christmas. We gathered ingredients for that evening’s dinner: Rachael Ray’s Umami Chicken Stew, had a little lunch at Great Lakes (and a Christmas Ale?) and did some present shopping at the Made in the 216 Holiday Shoppe. I loved it! Local gifts are the best gifts, I say.

Later, dinner was delicious – overflowing with all kinds of unique umami flavors. Leftovers are plentiful.

And finally, a lush Sunday night dinner of Short Ribs and Homemade Dumplings. The short ribs were fall-off-the-fork tender and the dumplings chewy gooey perfection. I could eat a million.

Then we *tried* to make Christmas cookies and I almost made myself cry. Lessons learned include: ‘Quit while you’re ahead’ and ‘Good cooks are not always good bakers’. Oh well – just a little something to keep that foodie ego in check :).

A lovely start to a month of December decadence to come.

xo Beth   

Rachael Ray: The Winner Is…

And the winner is… #6!

Congratulations Sarah @ Cooker Girl. Two complimentary tickets to see Rachael Ray on December 14th and signed WEEK IN A DAY books are all yours. Please email me with your full name and the full name of your guest. And I’ll see you the night of the show!

Thanks to all who entered. For more information, see event info.

xo Beth

Moroccan Meatballs with Eggs: Rachael Ray Ticket Giveaway

How gorgeous is that.

One of many gorgeous recipes to be found in Rachael Ray’s new cookbook, Week in a Day. The book contains more than two hundred recipes that help you prepare five nights’ worth of meals in a single day. A good idea, right? And while flipping through, I could hardly choose which to sample for this post. I see a lot of recipes from this lovely book in our future dinner plans.

Anyway, the recipe was wonderful but I’m sure you don’t care as much about what I ate last night as what you can do in a couple of weeks. Rachael is coming to Cleveland!

Joseph-Beth Booksellers & The Rocky River Public Library present
New York Times Bestselling Author
RACHAEL RAY
And her new cookbook, Week in a Day

Saturday, December 14, 7:00 PM

(Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Rocky River High School Auditorium
20951 Detroit Road, Rocky River, Ohio 44116

And I have two tickets and two books to give away to a lucky reader. Three ways to enter:

1. Leave me a comment with your favorite easy weekday dinner.

2. Follow Craveable Cleveland on Twitter and comment letting me know

3. Follow Craveable Cleveland on Instagram and comment letting me know

If you’re already following, you can say so. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Winner will be announced December 6th. Best of luck!

xo Beth

Thank you to Atria Books for the information/invitations. Opinions are of course, all my own.

Pumpkin Pie Pregame

Almost more fun than Thanksgiving day itself, the days that fall just before and after. Skipping out of work early, greeting out of town family and friends as they arrive back home, sharing good meals and lots of laughter over special occasion bottles of wine.

Like Wednesday night’s bottle of Kokomo Pinot Noir, purchased during our May vacation to Sonoma. It was my favorite Pinot of the trip, so I brought a bottle home for my dad on Father’s day. Just as delicious as I could recall! A Pinot that paired nicely with our main, a Lamb Tagine.

And finally, a Thanksgiving Eve pumpkin pie pregame – because there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing (right?). We actually cheated here, although I’m very glad we did. As no one would volunteer to be the maker of this year’s pie, Mr. Heinen’s himself (or maybe one of his baker elves) made this one for us to enjoy at home. And it really was pumpkin pie perfection! We may never go the homemade route again. Which I think is okay because you can’t do it all, all the time now can you?

And in case that’s not enough, a ritual post-dinner voyage to The Brew Kettle for a few delicious craft brews and lots of catching up.

Oh the holidays… I love it all.

xo Beth

Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake

Happy Thanksgiving! And here’s to the many lucky things we have to be thankful for.

We’ve got a delicious bird and all of it’s trimmings to look forward to later – but first, we’re going to need to fuel up for this most important day of cooking.

Of course in anticipation of what’s to come, we can hardly settle for an ordinary breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. We’ll need something to share – delicious and decadent but not too rich. We’ll get to too rich later :).

So this morning, I took inspiration from a favorite baked oatmeal recipe and added an Autumnal twist.

Adapted from Maple Nut Baked Oatmeal by Eat Live Run

Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake

• 2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• Generous shake of cinnamon (plus more for serving)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk (plus more for serving)
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 cup Ohio maple syrup (plus more for serving)
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.

In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup and pumpkin. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well. Pour finished mixture into greased pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes until bake is golden brown along the edges.

Serve cut into squares, drizzled with milk and syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon. If you’re feeling especially decadent (and I always do), a blob of cream from last night’s pumpkin pie dessert will do nicely.

Serves Six

And enjoy, with the ones you feel most thankful for.

xo Beth

Fat Cats

I have a new restauranty love that I’ve just got to share. Well, new to me and potentially some of you – Fat Cats has actually been around for years. 

Although when left in charge of the restaurant selection I’m always tempted to default to what I know and love, this Friday we were feeling adventurous. And so after a little research I chose Fat Cats, named by Bon Apetit magazine one of the best neighborhood restaurants in the country. Can’t argue that!

And now, I can see why. Casual cozy atmosphere with a gorgeous view of downtown, friendly service and scrumptious food. All in all our party of four enjoyed:

Appetizers: Butternut Squash Hummus and Charcuterie

(my) Entree: Shrimp with Red Curry – carrot, shiitake, zucchini, butternut squash ravioli, lime

Desserts: Morning Dew Apple Pie with cheddar crust and Lemon Crème Brulee

And a lovely bottle of Malbec to match.

Unique little twists on fairly common dishes – my favorite kind of menu. And the right amount of food, so we could taste lots without leaving stuffed. So now Fat Cats has quickly become one of my new choice restaurants in town. Let’s meet for dinner soon :).  

xo Beth

The Things I Love

Well, well, here come the holidays. Unlike some people, I don’t mind a little Christmas before Thanksgiving. Christmastime is beautiful and magical and happy and I see no problem with pulling a little of that inspiration into life prior to indulging in a Thanksgiving feast.

The holidays are lovely because, among other reasons, they’re a wonderful reminder to slow down and enjoy the things you love and often forget about. Like Indian Food? Oh yes. 

I just adore Indian food, such flavor! And it reminds me of our family in England because we all know how much those crazy Brits love their Indian takeaway. So I was very happy to give Cafe Tandoor a try the other night. Rich Butter Chicken, spicy Tandoori Lamb Masala, fluffy Saffron Rice and pillow soft naan. Indian food heaven.

And breakfast! Like a really solid, leisurely long breakfast with friends who make you laugh.

I’d heard Horseshoe Casino’s breakfast buffet was quite the fancy feast and the rumors are true indeed. We’re only talking weekday breakfast here and it was an epic spread. Fresh and warm too, which we’ve got to expect from any good meal.  Plus $3 mimosas! Who says no to that. Bring your stretchy pants, plan for a nap – casino brunch is not the fanciest of brunches, but it sure is fun :). 

And finally, a really good beer. I love craft beer although often ignore it since I also happen to love good wine and cocktails too (help). But happily Streat Burger leaves you with no choice, as beer is their only alcohol offering. But with a 99 Bottles of Beer menu, that’s quite alright! If you like (real) ginger ale then this Spiced Orange Ginger Beer by Crabbie’s has to be one of the best things I’ve tasted of late. What a refreshingly spicy brew!

Just an eclectic mix of a few of The Things I Love (and often forget). Happy *almost* Holidays dear reader.

xo Beth

Eastside, Westside

I love you Fall, please don’t go. Sadly, time seems to be flying, although not surprising given all that’s going on lately. My very best friend Emily and her two adorable boys are in town for two weeks. I’m dog sitting on the Eastside, but cruising back to the Westside every day to see Em. And back again! This is when a teleportation device sure would come in handy.

But I won’t complain about life being full of people and plans because that’s never a bad thing at all. Plus, all this back and forth allows for the best of both sides of town to find their way into my snack and mealtime rituals :).

On the Eastside: I read Cleveland Magazine’s ‘Best of Cleveland’ issue recently and of course took note of all of the Bests that I needed to check out for myself. Admittedly, they were all food-centric. Above you’ll see one of those delightful treats, a Katz Diner homemade pop tart. This one filled with cinnamon sugar, although I hear they come in a variety of flavors. Is it bad to admit I still love store bought pop tarts? Although I haven’t had one in a few years. This was of course much different and way better than that – so very adorable too. A more worthy splurge!

On the Westside: Smitten Kitchen’s Apple Slab Pie, made by the talented Emily herself. Filled with apples from Mapleside after a daytime visit this week. You’ll see the view from the farm at the very top of this post and I think I love Ohio a little more every time I look back at that picture. We have the very best Falls for sure.

Also of note, Big Fun for nostalgic toy shopping with the kiddos, Piccadilly for the most wonderful fro yo in C-town (I say), Brew Kettle for some delicious craft beer and catch up conversations and two very delicious meals at Em’s brother’s restaurant, Spice. Eastside, Westside, I love it all. The drive is not so hot but the people on either end are more than worth it. The food’s pretty good too :).

xo Beth

Superior Pho

For a few weeks there, Cleveland had such a lovely Fall. Bright and sunny and it almost felt like Spring. I’ll take it. But then just like that, we were hit with rain and grayness and this morning – snow! Mother Nature is on fast forward lately.

But rain and snow are not so bad when they inspire coziness, especially cozy dishes. Like soup! Light yet filling, warming and comforting. And with so many variations, you can almost never get bored. Above, a delicious chicken noodle soup sans recipe. There was enough for several days of enjoyment, only a certain scatterbrain left it on the stove overnight. That was a lot of beautiful soup down the drain :(.

But nevermind, for it gave us a chance to try Superior Pho for lunch the following afternoon. And that was a very good move.

All in all, we tasted:

Banh mi thit – Vietnamese sandwich on a crispy French roll with homemade pate, roasted pork, cucumber, fresh herbs and mayonnaise sauce.

Goi cuon – Summer rolls with shrimp, fresh herbs, vermicelli noodles, wrapped in rice paper skin, served with peanut sauce.

Pho tai chin – noodle soup with well done brisket and eye-roundsteak.

The Banh Mi was fantastic, a great combination of flavors packed inside crispy soft French bread. Summer Rolls are Summer Rolls, fresh and light. I love them, especially dipped in that dreamy peanut sauce. And Pho, served quick and piping hot, packed full of tasty meat and soft noodles. Topped with plenty of Sriracha, guaranteed to make your nose run run :).

So yes! Superior Pho, a bit hard to find although very easy to enjoy. A soupy few days for sure.

xo Beth

Birthday Feasting

 

October is a big month for my family as my mum and sister enjoy birthdays just a few days apart. So this past weekend called for a joint celebration, mostly in the form of lots of togetherness and (delicious) food. Louisa trekked home from DC, I made breakfast, my mum lunch and my dad dinner. Happy Birthday(s) indeed!

We began our Saturday with Eat, Live, Run’s Maple Nut Baked Oatmeal which is the stuff my breakfasty dreams are made of. I love breakfast, I have a lot. Especially delicious once cut into squares, dropped into bowls and drizzled with maple syrup and cream. Oh yes, happy Fall.

Although my dad is an incredible cook, for me there is one recipe that tops them all. In that case, I request it every Fall. And this Fall, my mum took over. Delia Smith’s Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Melting Cheese. I mean, pumpkin soup is amazing in most any form but this soup takes the cake for sure. Once served, little hunks of gruyere are dropped into each bowl, which is then topped with homemade croutons, fresh parsley, creme fraiche and another sprinkle of cheese. As you pull each delicious spoonful out of your bowl, little hunks of melty cheese come too, for a savory-sweet-creamy-rich-Autumn overload. It is heaven.

And finally, Jamie Oliver’s Upside Down Fish Pie. Served with lots of white wine and followed by one very giant carrot cake for dessert (the birthday girls’ favorite), compliments of our dear friend Kate.

A delicious Saturday! Our little family, good food, good wine, good friends, lots of presents and lots of laughter. How much fun is that.

xo Beth