Happy Birthday to Me!

Birthday Booty!

Thursday was my birthday, and as you can see in the photo, my wife has been reading this blog closer than I'd thought. What a surprise!

Thanks, Gretchen, for topping off a good day!

The Raven's Club's new fare

My wife, Gretchen, and I joined friends at The Ravens Club in downtown Ann Arbor.  They specialize in "classic cocktails" and have gourmet eats to compliment the cocktails.  I ordered a Hemingway Daquiri, made with overproof Rum and grapefruit that was simply delicious and refreshing.  Gretchen ordered a Dark N Stormy, made with some hair-growing ginger beer and rum that was equally delicious and had serious staying power.  We had a homemade chorizo and cornbread appetizer (served with a sunny-side-up egg on top!) while one of the other couples ordered a cheese plate, which came with...a homemade pickle.  Slightly sweet, with visible dill leaves and mustard seed.  Very good crunch, probably an 8 out of 10 on the McClure's crunch scale (my benchmark for crunchy pickles).  Since it wasn't my plate and was only offered a taste, it wasn't a very extensive taste test.

Our waitress was surprised (tickled?) when Gretchen mentioned (bragged?) to her that I write a blog about pickles and that the Ravens Club should consider getting these things more prominently on the menu.  The waitress went back and apparently talked to a manager and a bit later, they both came out with an impromptu pickle plate!

The Ravens Club impromptu Pickle Plate,
with one of their homemade sweet dills,
pickled red onion and
pickled jalepeño peppers.

The plate was explained as something they were considering including as part of their regular appetizer menu.  It included half of one of their sweet dills, some pickled red onion and pickled jalepeño peppers.

Sweet Dills.  As you can see, they're a pretty rustic-looking pickle, but with lots of mustard seed and dill clinging to the pickle.  What you see is a half-pickle, but the edges sorta curl a bit due to the loss of some water during the pickling period in the middle of the cucumber itself.  There's no "musty" taste to these, so they seem like they're a vinegar pickle.  The brine obviously has some sugar in it to give it a very lightly sweet flavor.  If you combined a fresh dill pickle with a bread'n'butter sweet, you might have a good idea of the flavor.  The manager gave me the card of the managing partner with the chef's name and the manager's name and contact info on it, and invited me to inquire about the recipe...I think it'd be interesting to know what they did with them.

Pickled Onion. Next to pickles, onion is one of my very most-favorite flavors, so combining them in a pickled onion draws me in like moths to a light.  Crunchy, and full of onion flavor, the flavors have been tempered by what seems to be the same brine that the pickles use, minus the dill and mustard seed.  Sweet, crunchy, savory all combine to create... yummy!

Pickled Jalepeño peppers.  These looked like pretty ordinary jalepeños, but like the onion, they were pickled in the lightly sweet Ravens Club brine.  Heat was a concern, but it was largely dependent on how many seeds the slice of pepper had...the more seeds, the hotter it was.  Some in our party, who grabbed pieces that had very few said that it was not that hot at all and the pepper flavor blended nicely to produce a nice "kick" after the crunchy-sweet pepper taste.  If you picked up a piece with more seeds, you still get the crunchy-sweet pepper taste, but the heat really lingered on past your bite.  All in all, a nice contrast to the onion and pickle choices.

Needless to say, we had a great time at The Ravens Club, with its wood, brass & leather "old money" cozy feel, eclectic cuisine and upscale cocktails and spirits.  Prices are a little higher than we were prepared for, but the food and drinks were prepared with care and served in a cordial and professional manner suiting the mood of the establishment.

Thanks are well-deserved for Chef Frank Federan, Jon Tipton the General Manager and our fine waitress, Lizzy!

The Ravens Club
207 S. Main Street * Ann Arbor, Michigan * 48104 * 734-223-7132
http://www.theravensclub.com

Farmer's Garden by Vlasic - Zesty Garlic Chips

Farmer's Garden Zesty Garlic Chips

I've seen Vlasic's new Farmer's Garden at Kroger for a few weeks now, and some friends had their Deli Dills (very yummy), so being the zesty-heat fanatic, I dove into a jar of their Zesty Garlic Chips variety.

As you can see, the appearance of the jar is very "homey", as if granny canned these babies last summer.  The mix in the bottom is a combination of ripe banana peppers, crinkle-cut carrots and chunks of garlic.  The chunks of pickle are pretty thick cut, and while not as crisp as a McClure's dill varieties (my crunch "standard"), these are probably middle-of-the-road: some crunch close to the edges, but much softer in the middle.
The brine is mild and reasonable, and frankly, what I'd expect from an experienced national company like Vlasic.
Finally, what I've been saving until last, the pickle flavor: GARLIC!!!  These are very tasty, very garlicky pickles, and while they're "zesty", they're not a hot variety--just full of well-rounded flavor.  Yes, there's some pepper taste to them, surely to qualify as "zesty", but they're a happy kind of zip, not menacing.
The only thing I didn't like about these was the fact that I'm going to have to wait to taste the yummy goodies at the bottom of the jar!  Its reminiscent of the toy in the box of breakfast cereal, and as an adult, positively maddening.
Great job, Vlasic!  Keep 'em coming!

Safie's visits Brighton CostCo!

They actually let me near the table...

Happy New Year and welcome to 2013!!  Hard to believe this is the 4th year I've been doing this blog.

While on a routine CostCo run, we ran across a sample table where Safie's was giving out samples of all of their varieties of pickled goodies.  Safie's Specialty Foods is a Michigan company located in Mt. Clemens, a northeast suburb of Detroit, and has special weekends at CostCo and sells regularly at area stores such as Meijer and Whole Foods.  

Pickled Beets.  These are our first experience with Safie's, which we tasted at Detroit's famous Eastern Market farmer's market.  Wow!  Perfect blend of sweet and sour and not mushy or vinegary like some pickled beets can get.  Sometimes pickled beet recipes have heavy doses of cinnamon or other single flavors--not Safie's--the balance of spices and flavors are really good.  My only gripe is that the pieces are pretty big and can be difficult to get out of the jar!  From there, they seem to make it into your mouth just fine, although smaller cut size would help.

Hot & Zesty Garden Mix.  Pickled cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower and yellow peppers with some heat thrown in .  Like all of Safie's offerings, the vinegar taste is just right, as compared to cross-town rival, McClure's, which can be very bitey.  The cauliflower was still firm and just this side of crunchy...perfection.

Pickled Asparagus.  Asparagus is a Michigan favorite, as it grows wherever you find wet but sandy spots all over the state.  Pickled asparagus is a great way to enjoy it year round, and Safie's did a fine job.  Not too much spicing, and just the right vinegar lets the subtle flavor of the asparagus come through.  Safie's uses relatively young asparagus, so you get none of the big, nasty fibrous chunks that are sometimes served.  And again, its still firm enough to have a little crunch.

Dill Pickle Beans.  Safie's makes 2 varieties, regular and Hot & Tangy.  They only had the regular variety this weekend.  In a nutshell, nice crunch, great flavor and good vinegar strength.  Gotta get me some of the Hot & Tangy...

Old-Fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles.  A nice amount of sweet and lots of "goodies" in the jar make these very tasty, and everything you'd expect out of something labeled "Old-Fashioned".  Nice crunch, too...sometimes B&B pickles can be pretty mushy.

Deli-Style Dill Pickles.  The dill and garlic flavors really come through in these.  They weren't as crisp as I'd have expected, but the flavor was really nice.  The jars on their website are alot more colorful and appetizing than what they served at the table, so I'm not sure I was getting their absolute best to sample...nonetheless, flavor was still very good.

Safie's has a bunch of other jarred goodies in their product line.  If you get a chance, you gotta check out this gem of the Great Lakes state.  Do NOT pass up the pickled beets--they're positively perfect and the best I've ever tasted.