The Salty Pig

Last week, after living at my place for way to long, my neighbors, L and R, and Nick and I finally went out to dinner!  It was beyond long over due.  Rather than staying local, when I suggested The Salty Pig, somewhere I was eager to try, they were more than willing to come be taste-testers as well.  The Salty Pig is in the same location as Six Burner and before that, Firefly.  I know Six Burner had some exhaust issues, but that is definitely no longer an issue.  They completely re-did the space to make way for The Salty Pig.  You enter through the patio space and walk down into the area that is dominated by the bar and kitchen with plenty of tables scattered around the area.  The space is modern but still warm, and feels like a place you want to hang out in for awhile.

After being seated, we placed some drinks orders.  The Salty Pig has a large beer menu of some good craft beers, and they are more than willing to offer up a tasting glass so you're sure of your selection.  For liquor drinks, while they do not have a full liquor license, they do have a cordial license, so they offer up a variety of fun cocktails as well as flavored vodkas, etc.  The full liquor license is not missed.

The menu at The Salty Pig can be broken into two halves, with the first being a combination of meats from the pig (obviously!), cheese and some garnishes.  The other half is your more traditional appetizer and entree section.  To begin, the four of us made a selection of meats and cheeses and a few garnishes.

Yummy platter of goodness

For meats, we went with a prosciutto, a porchetta, a soppressata and a ham.  For cheeses we ordered a pecorino, a sheep's milk, and a cheese that tasted like Cheddar but wasn't actually a Cheddar.  The names of what we got are not on the menu online, which is why I am not being very exact about this.  Also, I must say our server helped make some (most) recommendations, which were actually my favorites of the plate.  

Michelle Bertstein's!

As it starts to get cooler here in Boston, it is hard to believe I was complaining about the super hot and humid weather in Florida a month ago!  On our last day in Florida, before we needed to be at the airport, Nick's mother suggested getting brunch at Michelle Bernstein's restaurant at the Omphoy.  Chef Michelle Bernstein  is one of the guest judges on Top Chef that the contestants always fawn over so I could not wait. Although, I must admit it took seeing a picture of her before I remembered who she was.  They do bring in a lot of talent on that show!

The View!

The other reason that this was a good pick is because of the location.  The Omphoy is a sleek and modern boutique hotel on Palm Beach island, and the restaurant has a patio that is right on the beach looking out directly on the water.  Unfortunately, when we arrived it was a downpour, so we opted to sit inside in the terrace room, but we still had incredible views.  There was a great contrast between the dark wooden tables, chairs and floors and the beautiful blue cushions.

Fruit Crisp!

When Nick moved in last year,  Ina Garten also moved into our condo.  He brought along a bunch of her cookbooks and set up the DVR to record her show.  However, she has proven to be a great resource on many occasions.  Even better, her show has taught me a lot of good basics (that I probably should have already known!).  So when I needed a good basic recipe for a crisp, I looked no further than at Ina!

Ina Garten

In our CSA for two weeks we got a ton of plums, ground cherries and apples.  Having already made the Plum Clafoutis and the Ground Cherry Pie, I was looking for something different.  I figured a crisp was a great way to combine a lot of these fresh fruits.  Even better, we had a friend's house to go to that evening with plenty of hungry mouths to feed.

Fruit Crisp

A Rustic Potato and Onion Tartlet

Like I said, we have been getting tons of potatoes in our CSA, and rather than just making mashed potatoes over and over again (even though they are so good!) we have been trying to be creative.  When Nick said he found a recipe for a Rustic Potato and Caramelized Onion Tart I was completely sold and could not wait for dinner!

Dinner is served!

This recipe had a lot of moving parts going on...

Neiman Marcus $250 Cookies

Before I even moved out on my own, I knew I wanted to have my own recipe box just like my Mom's.  Even more, I wanted all of the delicious recipes I had grown up with, made with loving care (among other things) by my mother.  So, for about a week I sorted and copied loads of recipes to give my recipe box a good start.  My mom actually gave me some of the recipe cards written by both of my grandmothers, as well as one of my great grandmother (who I never met!).  There's plenty of nostalgia every time I go searching for something to make.

One of the recipes I copied was the Neiman Marcus Cookie.  This was not something we happened to make often at all, but I always loved the ingredients.  I think we never made them due to the number of the ingredients - we were always missing something.  Because Nick and I have been doing some cookie testing for our wedding, I figured it was a good time to bring this recipe back into the rotation.  The name comes from the actual Neiman Marcus department store.  Turns out this is their signature chocolate chip cookie that people always ask and rave about.  Having never heard about it from anywhere other than my mother's recipe box, I will take their word for it!  There is a story on the internet that says the reason this recipe got out was because the store over-charged ($250 rather than the $2.50) for a single cookie, but many claim that its false.  Regardless of how the recipe got out - I am just happy its out there because these are some delicious cookies!

Neiman Marcus Cookies

Corn and Potato Chowder

For a while in our CSA we were getting more corn and potatoes than we knew what to do with!  I know I shouldn't complain, but when you have 8 ears of corn and 15 potatoes and only 2 people, something needs to be done.  So turning to Gojee, I plugged in the vegetables I had on hand and stumbled upon this corn and potato chowder that looked relatively light and pretty simple to make.

Potato and Corn Chowder

I set out all of ingredients and hoped it would all turn out OK.  While it was not too difficult, there were quite a few ingredients involved.

The Ingredients