Waterfront Kitchen, Baltimore

I had lunch at the recently opened Waterfront Kitchen, located in a Living Classrooms building in Fells Point, featuring local and seasonal cuisine.
We started with warm farmer's cheese flan as an appetizer. Consisting of goat cheese and egg, the flan was light, delicate and delcious. It came with toasted squash seeds, a schmear of Hubbard squash, and a frisée salad with pickled fennel.
For my main, I had the head-on Marvesta Farm shrimp poached in a tasty tomato nage on a bed of, not grits, but mashed celery root with some boudin blanc chunks. I left no shell or head uneaten.

My friend opted for the vegetable sandwich, which was composed of a grilled cauliflower "steak", roasted mushrooms, and these great pickle brussel sprout leaves on toasted whole wheat. It was a pretty hearty sandwich.
We shared dessert, a chocolate pate, topped with candied fennel sprinkles, creme anglais, cranberry sorbet and a lace tuile. It looked like a hostess cupcake, but the chocolate was smooth and rich through and through.

1417 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD
(443)681-5310

Corner BYOB in Baltimore

On the Avenue in Hampden in Baltimore, a new restaurant, Corner BYOB, opened in the last few months, and I stopped in for an early dinner one evening a few weeks ago. The chef, Bernard Dehaene, from Brussels, previously cooked at a Belgian place called Mannequin Pis in Olney, and I had heard that his new venture had a more adventurous menu. When I was seated, one of the days specials included kangaroo tenderloin, but I was immediately attracted to the boudin noir and the just in soft shell crab.
The crab arrived first on a bed of fiddlehead ferns. This started truly captured the local and seasonal spirit of the area. The crab was fantastic, just simply pan fried with no battering at all, and it paired wonderfully with the fiddleheads.
My second starter was the boudin noir on a bed of mash and topped with a whole grain mustard. The texture was creamy and the flavor was nice and earthy. I think Corner won me over with just this dish alone.
For my entree, I had the Veal Orloff, a veal that starts braised, then is topped with mushrooms and bacon, and finished in the oven. It's then smothered with a béchamel sauce. I liked it, but the star of the meal was the blood sausage.
I was too stuffed to try dessert, but I hope to return soon.

850 W. 36th St.
Baltimore, MD
(443)869-5075

One Night in Phoenix with Skillet Doux

I had one night in Phoenix last month, and I made sure to hook up with my good friend and talented food blogger, Skillet Doux. I brought along a nice care package of zongzi from Grace Garden for him, and he took me on a little tour of the food scene in Phoenix.

We started the evening at FnB (Food & Beverage) in Old Scottsdale, a fantastic place that specializes in seasonal food, and in particular, vegetables.
First up was fried zucchini with mint and chilis, a simple dish executed so well, I could have eaten this all night.
The second dish was roasted eggplant topped with yogurt, pomegranate and za'atar spices.

When I saw there was a dish with lamb's tongue on the menu, I knew we had to get that. It was a salad that also had rye bread, green beans and cherry tomatoes.
We also ordered the shishito peppers, tuna confit and anchovy. Both were light and simple, yet so satisfying.
We rounded out the meal with roasted quail on a bed of couscous, butternut, basil & toasted seeds. It was perfectly prepared. With just this sampling of the FnB menu, I would say it was one of my most memorable meals this year.



Our next stop was Nogales Hot Dogs for Sonoran hot dogs. They are served on a fluffy steamed bun, and the hot dog is wrapped in bacon, served with pinto beans and topped with mayo, onions, and tomatoes. I added some mushrooms and queso cheese onto mine.
With a Jarritos and a pickled jalapeno, this is a perfect late night snack.



Our last stop was at Posh, a fine dining place, for their weekly Thursday night staff meal. On this night a lot of staff from various area restaurants show up for small bites and drink specials.
We had an Arizona version of scrapple & eggs. Chef told me that the scrapple is made by a local butcher. I think it was actually made of better parts of the pig, and it was not spiced the Pennsylvania Dutch way. At least the eggs were delicious with the green chili sauce.
The second item was creamy duck confit crepes. It was nice and rich.
My favorite was the preparation of foie torchon brulee. It went well with my drink, named The Interesting Cocktail which was made of Blanco Tequila, Aperol, Creme de Cacao, lemon juice, and grapefruit.
It would be good to assume I was totally stuffed and ready to roll to bed by the end of the night's dining through Skillet Doux's Phoenix scene.


FnB
7133 E Stetson Dr.
Scottsdale, AZ
(480)425-9463

Nogales Hot Dogs
1945 E Indian School Rd
Phoenix, AZ
(602)527-0208

Posh
7167 E. Rancho Vista Dr. Suite 111
Scotsdale AZ
(480)663-7674

Cooking Morels

Right now is the season for morel mushrooms. I have several friends in the Midwest who have their own secret spots to find these delicious mushrooms, but since they are not as easy to find here on the East Coast, we have to order them. Thanks to Gubeen who ordered a batch from Wisconsin, I got a small share of morels for myself.



After cleaning the morels of dirt and some critters like ants, I love how easy they are to prepare. I tried a recipe using bacon that was really good.
My preference is still using just butter to cook up the morels, followed by a splash of white wine. The flavor is just so good in these morels, that you don't need to do a whole lot to enjoy them.