The Spotty Dog Books and Ale: A perfect combination

Following a beautiful Labor Day weekend in upstate NY (and then waiting a week to settle in to teaching again) I am devoting the next two posts to a spotlight on Hudson series. The first locale to be reviewed is the Spotty Dog. The Spotty Dog is both an independent book store as well as a local bar and lounge. Since this is a culinary blog, I won’t linger on the literary aspect of this establishment but it is worth noting that the combination creates an intellectual bar crowd (something missing in many of the drinking venues of NYC).

Once you move past the entrance and become comfortable viewing shelves of books to your right and a bar lining the left you may focus on the beers on tap. Should you be like me and a fan of microbreweries, you will be pleasantly surprised by the local and relatively unknown (but very delicious) beer selection.

Like many bars, most of the food items are not prepared on site but as we discovered with their cheese plate, they are prepared by other unique establishments in the area.

In short a combination of books and beer provides an intellectual backdrop enabling literary curiosity while deepening your brewery knowledge.

The Ranking (for an explanation, see “Ranking Key”):

Drinks: 3 Straws (with good prices and a unique selection were I a resident of Hudson this would be my local bar).

Price: $$traw: Moderate (I’ll be honest I don’t remember the specific costs but the final check was far for what we ordered).

Atmosphere: With the growing emphasis on family items the atmosphere can seem somewhat contradictory. I can’t say its not a little weird to be sipping a beer with a baby crawling on the floor behind you ready for a change.

Overall: 3 Straws. A great Hudson establishment and an icon of the goodness that comes from the locally owned.

The Details:

Website: http://www.thespottydog.com/blog/

Location: 440 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534

Phone: (518) 671-6006

Reservation: No need.

Dress: Casual.

Hours:

Monday- Thursday: 10:00am- 6:00pm

Friday-Saturday: 10:00am- 9:00pm

Sunday: 12:00pm- 6:00pm

It’s like the NY Times read my mind…

And here is their hummus recipe.

Taken directly from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/health/nutrition/10recipehealth.html?ref=nutrition

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Published: September 8, 2009

Hummus is a great filling for a vegetarian wrap. You can buy hummus in many grocery stores, but nothing can beat hummus you make at home. It takes no time at all to make this version with canned chickpeas.

For the hummus:

1 to 2 garlic cloves, to taste; halved, green shoots removed

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt to taste

3 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste

2 to 3 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt, as needed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons sesame tahini

For each wrap:

1 large flour tortilla or whole wheat wrap

2 leaves romaine lettuce, ribs cut away

1/8 red pepper, cut into thin strips

2 tablespoons cucumber, cut in julienne

Fresh mint leaves (optional)

1. Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and drop in the garlic cloves. Process until they are chopped and adhere to the sides of the bowl. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, and process until very smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.

2. For each wrap, warm a large flour tortilla for about 10 seconds in the microwave or over a burner, just until flexible. Lay it on your work surface and cover with lettuce leaves, leaving a two-inch border all the way around. Place 3 heaped tablespoons hummus (about 1/4 cup) on top of the lettuce on the bottom half of the tortilla. Top with the red pepper, the cucumber and a few leaves of mint if desired.

3. Fold the bottom edge of the tortilla over the filling. Fold in the sides, then roll up, squeezing the tortilla so that the roll is compact. Place the roll on a piece of plastic wrap. Fold in the sides of the plastic over the ends of the wrap, and roll up tightly to secure. Refrigerate for at least five minutes and for as long as 24 hours.

Yield: 1 3/4 cups hummus. Enough for six or seven wraps.

Advance preparation: The hummus will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator. It will become more pungent. The wrap can be made a day ahead.

“How I came to actually enjoy the turkey burger”

Quentin Bacon for realsimple.com

Here’s a guest post from Sam Richman, a foodie originally from PA:

Hello, coffee straws?  Thanks for having me on.  Long time listener, first time caller.

I have just eaten maybe the most delicious cheeseburger of my entire life.  Seriously.  And it was made of…turkey.

Alright, look.  Let me clear this off the table from the onset.  I love food.  That’s why I’m here.  The other thing I want to say is that I love the art of the cheeseburger.  Yes, it’s an art.  And when it comes to cheeseburgers, I’m something of a traditionalist.  I like ‘em simple.  I like ‘em classic.  I like the burger part of the burger, the beef, I like that thick, juicy, as rare as possible.  I like the bun warm, thick to absorb all the burger juice.  I don’t like adding superfluous and unnecessary accoutrements.   Ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion.  Maybe bacon.  MAYBE chili, on occasion.  But sprouts? Avocado? Spare me.  When cooking the beef, the only seasoning you need is salt.  Like I said, I keep it simple.

With all that being said, with the fat beef patty, the salt, the bacon, you can safely assume I’m not known for being the healthiest of eaters.   And I used to not be.  But then I found out I have high cholesterol.*

So with that discovery, I had to make some necessary changes to my diet – namely the usual cutting back on saturated and trans fats.  And this was, at first, a tragedy to a burger lover like me.  The first day I went to the Safeway and trudged back with a pound and a half of ground turkey, I felt ashamed.  I felt like I was betraying my tongue and stomach.  I felt like the good part of my life was over.  And the first turkey burger I made was disaster.  I made the patty as thick as I usually did with beef – about three-quarters of an inch.  I seasoned it with salt.  I went through the motions as I would with beef.  But I ignored one simple truth:  Turkey ain’t beef.

As I’ve mentioned, I like my burgers rare.  And you can do that with beef.  But not with turkey, lest you face salmonella.  So to get a ¾ inch turkey patty cooked the whole way through, it takes TIME.  And during that time, the outside cooks to a burnt, crispy disgusting crust that tastes awful and the middle tastes like turkey, which is definitively NOT how a burger should taste.  So after that first attempt, I swore off turkey burgers.

So how, you may be asking, did I come to think that a turkey burger was, perhaps, the most delicious burger I’ve ever eaten?  Read on.

First and foremost, you have to break the seasoning rule.  So far I’ve found two alternatives that have turned out excellent.  The past few times I’ve made the ultimate turkey burger, I’ve seasoned about ¼ pound of ground turkey liberally with Fresh Ground Garlic Sea Salt (McCormick), Fresh Ground Peppercorns (I like the McCormick Peppercorn Medley Grinder – but my spice rack may be a topic for another blog), and then mash up both of those spices pretty well through the meat.  Once you have that done, I like to mix up about a tablespoon of Sriracha into the meat, which gives it a little bit of a kick and adds some extra spice as it cooks.  Don’t do this with any cuts or open sores on your hands…. Seems obvious but I learned the hard way.

Your other option, and this was the one I stumbled on today, was I picked up a little container of McCormick “Smoky Sweet Pepper Seasoning Blend” while browsing through the spices at Safeway.  If you season your meat liberally with this stuff, it makes your turkey burger simply delicious.  The blend, basically a mix of onion, salt, tomato, peppers, garlic, and paprika, gives the burger, a wonderful, peppery, garlicky, smokiness that, even though I cooked it in a skillet, tasted almost grilled over open coals.  I highly recommend picking up (or even making) some of this stuff.  Even though I’ve only used it for this purpose, I can’t wait to try it on chicken, shrimp, etc. in the future.

That being said, the other discovery I’ve made is that the best way to do this is to make two thin patties and double up.  Easiest way to do this is just after you’ve spiced up your meat, divide it into two equally-sized portions and shape them like meatballs.  Throw your meatballs into a cast-iron skillet, let them sizzle for a minute or so, then take a spatula and flatten them out.  I like about ¼ inch thick.  Let them sizzle and cook through, about 2 minutes per side, throw on some cheese, let it melt, and throw those bad boys on a bun.  I like to top simply, with ketchup and sriracha and then go to town.

I should also add, that if you use the Smoky Sweet Pepper Seasoning and then top with Sriracha, you get a whole bunch of phenomenal pepper flavors playing together – the hot from the Sriracha, the Smoky and Sweet from the Seasoning.  It brought great joy to my taste buds, and I’m looking forward to doing it again.

* I may not actually have high cholesterol.  Official lab results are pending.

Make Your Own Hummus

www.sabra.com

Last night I was scraping the bottom of my giant sabra hummus container from Costco with some celery and had a realization…I am sick of Sabra.  I go through phases of hummus because I eat so much — I switch between Trader Joe’s hummus (with tahini…not as creamy, more chickpea-y) and Sabra (much more creamy, but with more stabilizers and oil).  Whenever I get sick of one, I switch to the other.  Right now, though, I’m sick of both! So, I’ve decided to make my own.  Last night I bought some tahini, lemons, and plan to make my own next week.  I will post pictures and the recipe I use — most likely I’ll just make my own, with chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, some basil, maybe some sundried tomatoes or roasted red peppers. Do any of you have good recipes?  Send them my way if you do, and I will try them out, as well.

Tuesday Poll: Which App Do You Use?

I recently published a post on the relatively new Near+now app for the iPhone which acts like Pandora but for dining establishments near you. Today I installed Where onto my iPhone and am beginning to figure it out. The poll for this Tuesday, the first day of September is: Which iPhone app do you use when it comes to finding places to eat?

I personally use a few: OpenTable, Urbanspoon, AroundMe, Near+now, and WHERE.

What do you use? And though for me this is a question of iPhone apps it doesn’t necessarily have to be for everyone else.

Who Are You Marketing?

In college I focused my studies on comparative literature and though now I teach 7^th grade science, my desire to compare still comes out every now and then. This time I can’t help but question the latest advertising campaign by Starbucks. Ironically I am at a Starbucks while I write this using their free wifi when you register a Starbucks Card, but that is beside the point. The campaign in question consists of two sentence print ads in which Starbucks makes a bold statement regarding the quality of their product and concludes by introducing a change making it even better.

Naturally a company is going to suggest that their product is superior, after all they are in the business of selling. But in this particular case it is in the style of the ad that I become confused, almost offended. The ad is printed in a style as if to suggest it was printed on the side of a burlap sack (presumably one used to carry their superior coffee beans). Use such an image invokes a near organic sense in the consumer, the burlap sack being an image of the naturally, locally, and environmentally farmed product. Clearly the use of such an image is to counter the empirical image Starbucks has become known for. But in the humility of a burlap sack, the arrogance of the phrase is printed. This is the problem.

Now in preparing for this post I did some research on the ad campaign. The Times reported on it in May in the context that it was both a counter to the McDonalds ad campaigns as well as an introduction to the internet generation. Normally I wouldn’t care to comment on these ads, and if I did I would have done it back when they were advertising an ad search via Twitter and Facebook, but I’ve seen too many of them recently to let it go unsaid that these ads are overly arrogant and pretentious. Starbucks needs to make its coffee good again before it can say it’s the best again.

I won’t try to speak for my generation, but for me and my friends, the way to advertise to us is not by suggesting you are both genuine and yet arrogant about coffee. But I guess that is their idea: We know coffee better than anyone and that’s why we’re the best. In the end I am curious to see if this ad campaign will work, I’d like to believe that our generation is more concerned with the sustainability and humility of our providers and not their quality assumptions. But then again we are the generation that birthed the hipsters.

*all photos courtesy of starbucks.com

Open City

This is the second place I ever went after moving to Woodley Park, and subsequently went approximately fifteen times in the course of maybe just three weeks.  And, I think you see where this is going…but I got Open City-ed out.   After a dinner there in January, I imposed a ban on Open City, and didn’t return there until May.  For me,  I think this was one of the longest bans I’ve ever been able to sustain!  I can’t ever diet, but boy can I ignore a restaurant.

Here’s the rundown on what I’ve eaten there…I recommend it first for Brunch, but it is always pretty crowded, dinner is always an acceptable option.  They have  a full bar and their menu stays the same throughout the day.  I think there are other interesting places for brunch around D.C., however, so as long as you don’t spend all your time there you should be good to go.

Vegetable Omelet: Mushrooms, broccoli, diced tomatoes and Swiss cheese

Got it with egg whites, was good but with a little too much cheese.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

A good comfort choice.

Veggie Burger

An excellent choice, comes with thick fries and would be my go-to choice.

Julienned Vegetable Pizza : Zucchini, squash, carrots, basil pesto, shaved parmesan & mozzarella

Wasn’t my favorite.  The julienned veggies didn’t have much taste and distracted from the pizza.  We did get it without cheese, but I would have liked larger slices of zucchini instead of tiny slices that tasted pretty watery.

Mussels: With garlic, parsley and lemon

These were good…we questioned why they had mussels, but decided to eat them anyway.  They were actually really good — the broth had a great savory taste…but they charged us for extra bread to sop up the liquid.

The tea is good, and there is a large selection, though it is slightly overpriced for how much hot water you get in the tea pot.  Coffee comes in a large mug so you never need a refill, though you will have to ask for splenda specifically or go grab it from the take out area.  For wine, I recommend the Independent Producers (a red).

The Ranking (for explanation, see “Review Key”):

Food: 3 Straws (A reliable brunch choice for the Woodley Park).

Price: $traws, Average ($12-18 depending on whether you order a latte, coffee, brunch, etc).

Atmosphere: Casual

Overall: 3 Straws (A place I will return to — granted it’s one of the only good brunch places in Woodley Park).

The Details:

www.opencitydc.com

2331 Calvert St NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 332-2331

Hours:

Mon-Fri 6 am-midnight, Sat-Sun 6 am-1 am

Tuesday Poll: What is the BEST Frozen Yogurt Company?

So we’re a day late but not a dollar short for this Tuesday Poll. I needed that dollar when buying my frozen yogurt at Pinkberry. It was in this purchase of a delicious (and I guess somewhat nutritious) dessert that I began pondering the question of the frozen yogurt competition. It wasn’t too long ago that the Tasti D-lite franchise near me closed its doors and reopened as The Lite Choice. But then came my most recent visit down to DC this past weekend where I was fortunate enough to sample TangySweet. Anyway what this all comes down to is the poll question: Which company is the BEST?

I’m not going to pretend to answer this easily but as for my two cents on the matter, I think Pinkberry actually is the best considering the freshness and topping options. But its downfall is its outrageous price, with that consideration I may pick Tasti. But then again you get what you pay for and nothing tops that fresh taste of Pinkberry. Nothing.

Ducale: It Won’t Stay Empty For Long.

In the B. R. Guest dominated area surrounding the American Museum of Natural History it’s hard for a new restaurant to get a start. It would seem that that is the explanation for the scarcity of patrons when I dined at Ducale. But it could also be its location, on the south west corner of 79^th and Columbus, where an older restaurant establishment boasted a cigar bar on the second floor (which smelled like it was on the first) and a bad concept of how much bread to order per evening (always running out). After dinning there three times now I can attest to the fact that it is not their food that keeps patrons away. I always find it interesting to observe crowd mentalities, where diners would rather wait thirty to forty minutes outside Ocean Grill than be seated right away at Ducale (those followers are missing out).

Ducale features a more authentic upscale Italian menu including grilled (not fried) calamari, bronzino, and spaghetti with mozzarella di bufala. I have yet to try their pizzas but from a far they appear to be styled after the true Italian thin crust, brick oven style. The staff is very accommodating (even for complicated, substituting dieters) and the atmosphere is pleasant (though a little misguided between the music and the photos, they don’t really match up).

Overall if you are looking to dine on the Upper West Side and are game to try some place new, give it to Ducale.

The Ranking (for explanation, see “Review Key”):

Food: 3 Straws (A reliable Italian choice for the neighborhood).

Price: $$$traws, Average ($40-50 depending on whether you order pasta or entrée dishes).

Atmosphere: Casual and welcoming (The staff is very accommodating).

Overall: 3 Straws (A place I will return to).

The Details:

Website: N/A

Location: 392 Columbus Ave, at 79^th street.

Phone: (212) 787-7150

Reservation: No need. But they are on Opentable.

Dress: Casual.

Hours:

Daily: 11:00am- 11:00pm

Yogurtland

NEW favorite Yogurt place — Yogurtland.  In DC, all the yogurt is “someone does it for you and charges you 6 dollars for plain yogurt with one piece of fruit and a chocolate chip” — I’m looking at you SweetGreen, Mr. Yogato, YogiBerry and Cali Yogurt.  Typically, in Arizona, everything is cheaper — but not necessarily better. However, in the case of frozen yogurt, it is not only cheaper, but much, much, much better.

Yogurtland.com

Yogurtland Yogurt - yogurtland.com

First of all, it’s .30 cents an oz.  Second of all, it’s do it yourself, with at least 10 flavors.  I filled mine up pretty tall and only had to pay 2.30, which is unheard of in DC…and what’s more, I LIKED IT.  I am never tempted to get frozen yogurt by myself in DC because it’s boring and costs more money than I make in an hour.  But, Yogurtland combines the trends that are happening across the country (comeon DC, I hate to keep on ragging you, but why do we not have our own do it yourself place? Or do we? Comment me if we do) and the inexpensiveness of Scottsdale (relatively, of course) in one. Overall, it’s my pick of the summer…kudos to Yogurtland.