Grateful Palate Leaves my Appetite Grateful!

Everything about Grateful Palate, from the fabulously cozy overstuffed seats to the dim-lit ambiance to the incredible food left me wanting more. My husband and I snagged a last minute reservation at Grateful Palate in Ft. Lauderdale last Saturday evening and couldn't wait to hear if all of the hype around this place was really worth it, and we found out that it absolutely was. Besides the fact that we became best friends with our over the top friendly server, we will most definitely be coming back for more.

After we had been sitting for a few moments, we were greeted by the sommelier. He was a down to earth guy with a real knowledge of the wine list. Yes, we enjoy a nice glass or two of wine with our meal, but we don't wish to spend more than $30-40 for it. Along with our server, the two of them came up with a fabulous French bottle of white wine called  Roche du Lune that not only fit the bill perfectly, but complimented our meal spectacularly.

When it came time to order, we were sure we were going to have the SeaBass and the Truffle Mac n Cheese special of the evening, and after we chatted with our server we ended up ordering the Scallops and the Duck Breast as our main courses with a small side of the Mac N Cheese as well as the Thai Beef and Conch Slider appetizers.

 The Thai Beef appetizer, served with cold marinated vegetables and Udon Noodles, was nothing spectacular but it quenched my taste for medium rare beef and tangy Udon Noodles. There was little to no heat in the dish, but the flavors were still enticing.

The Conch Sliders, served between two plantain cakes, were a highlight. The conch inside was prepared with a sweet and tangy sauce that made the flavors pop. The plantain chips were soft, and maintained in tact with each bite, making the slider extremely easy to eat.

  One of my frequent critiques when I order scallops at any restaurant is the "chewiness" of the scallops. Yes, a scallop is inherently chewy because that's the way nature made scallops, but a good chef can limit the "chewiness" of scallops, leaving their natural flavor to really shine through. At Grateful Palate, the chef did just that. These scallops were prepared to perfection. They tasted incredibly fresh, minimally chewy, and extremely large. When it comes to scallops I very rarely leave behind any, because they are such small portions. However, at Grateful Palate, these scallops were so big that I left almost half of an entire scallop for Carl to finish off. They were delectable in every sense of the word. I highly recommend these to any scallop enthusiast.

 Carl ordered the duck  breast. Let me first state, I am hit or miss when it comes to enjoying duck. I have had duck several times and it has gone 50/50 as far as my like for it. Let's just say that when Carl ordered the duck I was a little bit upset because I didn't think I would like it. Boy was I wrong! This duck was prepared impeccably. Each taste had a consistency more reminiscent of a filet than of poultry. The true flavor of the duck was a highlight, although the way in which the duck was prepared left a sweet aftertaste. It almost tasted like a breakfast sausage suited up for dinner. It was served atop a mixture of squash and zucchini. I had to apologize to Carl for taking so much of his dinner, as it was irresistible.

Our server, as I mentioned before, was fabulous. We heard her mention the truffle Mac 'n Cheese with shrimp special of the evening and our mouths immediately began watering. However, Mac'n Cheese is always a tough main course. It's so rich, especially once truffle is thrown in, and we worried it would simply be too rich for a main course. Our server told us she'd be happy to bring a side portion of the Mac 'n Cheese so we could at least taste it. We happily agreed, and both laughed about how the side of macaroni and cheese would likely set us back $12. When we got the bill, the server had charged us less than $5.00 for the side dish. We were thrilled, because not only was the price right but the creamy Mascarpone cheese mixed with the truffle flavor made this Mac 'N Cheese some of the best "fancy" macaroni and cheese I have ever tasted. I wish I could contract The Grateful Palate to make me Truffle Mac 'N Cheese every week to eat alongside my dinners at home!

Anyone looking for a wonderfully prepared meal at a middle of the road price should definitely make a reservation at the Grateful Palate located on 17th street just east of the 17th street bridge. It's perfect for a romantic date night, but it's also perfect for a night with the girls to enjoy some wonderful dining. 

Food for Thought

If you are one of the millions of people under the impression that Jews don't exist in the great state of Texas, I don't fault you! However, just to clear up the misconception, they do exist! Mind you, the Jews that exist in Texas may be different than the Jews you know living in the Northeast, down in Florida, or out west in California. The Jews in Texas are a little more "Texas" (for lack of a better adjective) than all the other Jews you may know. Especially those Jews who grew up in small city Texas, like my mother's family who grew up in Bay City, or my father's family who grew up in El Paso!  Similar to the Jews who landed in the Northeast, the Jews who  landed in Texas tried their best to assimilate into the American culture that surrounded them. No, you may not find these Jews carrying around NRA membership cards, but you will find them totin' the occassional gun out on the ranch for sport. The Jews in Texas did not open up delis, but they were merchants and working men. When the second World War began, they were quick to sign up for military service. Both of my grandfathers, and all of my great uncles enlisted in the service. Many of them were stationed abroad, and some of them even flew fighter jets to represent the great country that they called home. However, many of them were first or second generation Americans, and they weren't so quick to give up their food and their traditions from the "old country". Like many Jews in America, life revolved around the dinner table. Shabbat dinners and holiday dinners were not only a time for family to come together, but they were a time for family to cook up recipes they brought from Eastern Europe. These recipes were carried down from generation to generation, and even today in 2012, many of these recipes still define who we are as a people. This Passover (or Easter), I hope you enjoy recipes that your family has passed down from generation to generation, and remember that the food you eat is as much a part of your family history as the relatives that surround you. 

Weiner Goulash

The following recipe is an old recipe from my great Nanny Rose. She was my Great Grandfather Papa Joe's second wife. Nanny Rose was originally from Hungary. Here is her recipe for Weiner Goulash:

* 1-2 lbs kosher weiners

* 1 large Onion- diced

* 6 cloves of garlic

* 3-4 lbs potatoes- diced

* 1 lb carrots- diced

* 8 oz sliced mushrooms

* 3 stalks celery- diced

* 1 small green pepper- diced

Directions:

* Cut weiners in small pieces and saute in oil until lightly browned

* Add the diced onion and the diced garlic cloves and continue to saute with weiners until the onions are transparent in color

* Add the freshly diced potatoes, diced carrots, sliced mushrooms, diced celery and diced green peppers- saute

* After all vegetable are thoroughly cooked through, season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika.

The Passover "Yellow Stuff"

I am a fond believer that the Jews had a strong hand in creating heart-disease. No, I don't mean this in some sort of anti-Zionist plot to shove blame onto the Jewish people. I believe this because I have now seen and heard the ways that the bubbies used to prepare food for the zaydies and the kids! More chicken fat goes into these recipes than I care to truly admit. However, when butter or lard is off limits, these bubbies wanted to make sure the flavor was still there. There was no "dieting" in this house! The best way to insure taste was, indeed, schmaltz! Or, as we would call it in English, rendered chicken fat! Any Ashkenazi Jew who wasn't born yesterday knows about schmaltz.

The recipe for the "Yellow Stuff", as my Bay City relatives so fondly call it, is a glorified recipe for egg salad. This was a favorite amongst my grandparents, but it was also a favorite of my great grandfather Papa Joe.  They would spread it on top of matzah. I was happy to find out that several of my relatives continue to make their own version of the "Yellow Stuff" for their families today! This is the version that will translate best into a "heart healthy" America of today:
* 4 Hard Boiled Eggs
* 1/2 sweet onion- diced very fine

You will need 1 wooden Bowl and 1 chopper. Chop the two together until it holds together on a piece of Matzah. After Passover, enjoy it on a piece of Rye Bread like my Papa Joe liked it. Add salt for taste.

Now, I realize that recipe seems simple. That is because my cousin Mirl gave me the recipe from 2012. Let's rewind back in time to Bay City in the 50s. The recipe looked more like this:

* 4 Hard Boiled Eggs
* 1/2 Sweet Onion- diced very fine
* 2 tablespoons chicken shmaltz
* A few pieces of crumbled gribeness (chicken skin that has been fried and fried in the process of obtaining the schmaltz)
* Small cut up pieces of chicken liver

Once all of the ingredients are blended together, the egg salad will properly spread  on top of a piece of matzah.

It's up to you to decide how you wold prefer to make your "Yellow Stuff" today. Just remember, although the ingredients may sound scary or foreign to you, doesn't mean they aren't tasty!

Passover: A Trip Down Memory Lane

With Passover rapidly approaching, I invite you all to join my family and me in a trip down memory lane. This will be my first Passover as a married woman as well as my first ever Passover where I will not be celebrating the first night's seder with my immediate family. Subsequently, I will not have access to the food I love so dearly every Passover.  My favorite Passover staples are my mother's sweet charoset, her fluffy matzah balls the size of my fist that float her soup, and her homemade chrane that I put on top of everything! My father and I could eat my mother's horseradish by the spoonful!

Because I'll be missing some of my beloved favorite Passover treats this year, I am dedicating myself to truly doing it up for my husband. I want him to be able to experience the flavors and the memories that I cherish so dearly. In order to do that, I had to have a long drawn out conversation over the telephone with my mother in which she had to verbally tell me all of her knowledge and tricks as it relates to preparing these Passover dishes. In tradition with Jewish cooking, her recipes are generations-old and have verbally been passed down from mother to daughter. My mother, and her mother, and her mother's mother, never seemed to want to write down their recipes! Rather, they showed their daughters how to painstakingly hand grind the horse radish, render the schmaltz, and cook up the golden chicken broth. This leads me to another memory I have of watching my mother prepare the treats for every Passover Seder I can remember. As she pulls out her Cuisinart to begin making the Charoset, she loudly announces to me "Now come over and watch me do this so you can remember how to do it when I'm dead and gone!" My reply is always "Mom, I'm never going to remember exactly how you do this, why don't you write it down while you're still around?" It is an annual back and forth that we share. Strangely enough, I've watched her prepare the Charoset so many times that I do indeed remember how to do it! Thankfully though, she is still around to coach me on how to prepare it correctly. As a result of her annual Charoset demonstrations,  I intend to make the delicious Charoset for my husband this year.  Mind you, she has called me a few times just to remind me to be sure to hold off on the walnuts and use pecans instead. You see, walnuts did not grow in Bay City, Texas where my mother grew up, and the pecans are what makes her charoset special.

After spending what seemed like an hour on the telephone with my mother obtaining all of her knowledge as it relates to Passover recipes, I got the idea to approach my uncle and cousins from my mother's side of the family to find out their fondest Passover recipes and memories. You see, I grew up very differently than my mother's family. We did not keep a kosher household, our seders were (relatively) short, and there is hardly a Passover I can remember when my entire family "kept Pesach" for the duration of the holiday. However, in Bay City, Texas, where my mother's family practically made up the entire Jewish population, Passovers were quite different. From what I hear, they were epic! My great grandfather Papa Joe was the patriarch of the family, with three sons who all married and had children. The family was thick as thieves, and their Passover meals were not to be taken lightly. A special set of Passover dishes was used, one set for milk, and one set for meat. Heaven forbid the hired help would accidentally set a piece of brisket on the plate meant for dairy my Great Grandfather Papa Joe would have a fit the size of Texas (or so I hear). All the wives would spend hours cooking up special meals for their husbands and children to make sure they were full and content.

Since this is my first Passover as a married woman, I felt it was important to reach out to my extended family to learn about the ways they celebrate Passover with their families today. I also found it equally as important to find out which recipes they carried out of Bay City, Texas and have been serving ever since!

The next few posts will be dedicated to the wonderful memories that poured into my inbox after my request to my family. It is my hope that through these entries you may see a few of your family's memories in mine. It is also my  hope that maybe, just maybe,  of these Passover recipes will inspire you to create your own Passover memories this year.