Platinum Blue

Platinum Blue is a Sushi/Martini bar located at Park Place Dunwoody. We had the pleasure of hanging out at Platinum Blue a few weeks ago, along with a bunch of old friends.

This restaurant has one of the widest Sushi menus I've ever seen. If it's sushi you will definitely find it here - everything from the ubiquitous California roll to the more exotic Rainbow & Caterpillar roll. Between six of us we ordered a variety of sushi that included a tuna based Shizzle Mizzle and the Platinum Blue House special. It was all extraordinarily delicious. Most importantly, they serve commendable vegetarian fare as well.

We also enjoyed some well made martinis and complimentary rice puffs.

If you're a sushi lover, you gotta go check this one out.

Mesa Grill by Bobby Flay

This restaurant review is definitely the star of my blog! We had the pure pleasure of dining at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill during our unforgettable weekend at Las Vegas. Mesa Grill is at Cesar’s Palace and is everything I’d dreamt it to be. Why wouldn’t it be – it’s Bobby Flay after all!

SK loves South Western food – Mexican & other Latin American flavors. Mesa Grill, for that reason, had been a much awaited treat. We began with an appetizer of Bobby Flay’s special queso and blue chips. They also served us a complimentary assortment of breads – broccoli, cinnamon, cheese. SK had the house margarita and I had a glass of Rose wine.

For the entrée, SK ordered a sweet potato and chicken concoction from the brunch menu while I had grilled salmon. Both entrees came in a bed of sinfully delightful sauces and aiolis.


Finally, we topped it all off with a Banana cream pudding.

Thank you, Iron Chef America.

Bistro VG

For my brithday, SK wined and dined me at a little French restaurant tucked someplace between Marietta & Alpharetta. The place is called Bistro VG. Elegant, romantic & finger-licking good come to mind.

I ordered a glass of very rich port wine, to begin with. I've suddenly developed a strong liking to Port. The heady goodness gets me each time! It was rather late and we chose to have our entrees right away. Of course, we were served complimentary crispy, breadsticks and a mound of butter. For the main course, I ordered clams with linguine and mushrooms while SK ordered a sweet pea ravioli.

The food was heavenly and our evening wonderful. Thanks husband.

Below is a picture of mah food!

Flip

Flip Burger Boutique is a fashionable burger joint at Howell Mill Road. The tag line simply states "Fine Dining between Two Buns". I couldn't have said it better myself. Flip serves gourmet burgers from Butcher's Cut to Chorizo and Crab. The variety of burgers is unparalled. Every burger is served with a delectable assortment of condiments and sauces. They also have an impressive spread of sides - from the traditional onion rings to the rare tempura okra.

Flip is burger heaven. If you like thick juicy patties, yummalicious spreads and quick lunch service right in the heart of midtown Atlanta, then Flip is the place to be.

High Tea

It's not worth writing down a recipe when all you've done is stuffed pastry sheets with cheese.

But yeah, we had "High Tea" yesterday - Cheese puffs, hummus sandwiches & masala chai.

Kheema Pav

Bombay is famous for every kind and variation of 'pav' dishes. The best known is, of course, the pav bhaji. But you also have usal/misal pav, wada pav, dabeli (a spicy pomegranate mix stuffed in pav) and kheema pav!

True Bombay style Kheema pav will be soaking in oil, tongue-on-fire spicy and oh so delicious! I had to tone my kheema down unfortunately - can't afford to use that much oil! I had left-over buns from the BBQ party last week.

Method:
I tava-warmed the bun bread, stuffed it with kheema and added a ring of tomato and onions to it.

That was our Sunday lunch - talk about quick fixes, huh!

YEAH! Burger

Yeah! Burger is a classy burger joint in Atlanta's art district, somewhere between Northyards & Howell Mill. We discovered it quite by accident, while scrounging for a quick lunch yesterday. So what’s different in Yeah! Burger?

Well, to begin with, you create your own burger. You choose a patty – there’s veggie, turkey breast, grilled chicken, beef and bison meat to choose from. Yes you heard right, they serve a lean, juicy bison meat patty! You then pick a bun – white, wheat and a couple of other options. Once you have the bread out of the way, you proceed to choose toppings (from a smorgasbord of at least 10 different kinds – including caramelized Vidalia onions). Finally, you pick a sauce. I chose a delicious roasted garlic aioli.

So that’s Yeah! Burger for you. They also have an assortment of sides – ranging from the classic French fry to onion rings and more. They have a larger outdoor patio and indoor seating as well – the roominess a necessity for the throng during lunch hours from all the offices nearby.

Go check it out.

Turkey Meatloaf

I made a meatloaf for the first time yesterday. I followed a simple recipe which turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:
. 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped onion & carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chili sauce
. 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Form mixture into a loaf and pat dry.

Bake for 30 minutes or until center is no longer pink. Top with additional chilli sauce or ketchup when serving if desired.

Aamras Puri

Aamras Puri is a wonderful Maharashtrian dish - the humble puri paired with ripe, sweet mango pulp. Mum was here, and to my good fortune, she prepared aamras puri & 'bhaji' one afternoon.

Ingredients:
Alphonso Mangoes- 6
200 gms powdered Sugar
1/2 litre Milk

How to make aamras:
• Wash mangoes.
• Peel and cut into small pieces.
• Keep the seeds aside in a little water.
• Grind the mango pieces in a mixer and strain the juice.
• Mix sugar in the cold milk and add to the mango juice.
• Add water for required consistency.
• Serve chilled with puri.

Lip smacking delicious! Thanks Mom.

Caramel Flan

I tried this Food Network receipe last weekend. It's a slight variation from EMERIL'S Khalua Flan.

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 Tbs vanilla
1 Tsp nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until it starts to melt. Lower the heat and cook until caramelized to a golden brown.

Pour into a baking dish and swirl caramel so it coats the dish evenly.

Place the dish in a larger pan and add hot water to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the condensed and evaporated milks vanilla, nutmeg and whisk well again. Pour into the dish, over the hardened caramel. Bake until set and just firm in the center, about an hour.

Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

To serve, run a knife around the rim of the dish. Place a serving platter on top of the flan and gently flip over. Lift away the mold. Voila, you have yourself a flan

The Taste Of Columbia

I picked up this book at the library a few weeks ago. I chose this one because it looked so original. Unlike most recipe book covers, it didn't have dainty table settings and elaborately garnished meals. I’m glad I did, for I learnt a little about a cuisine that I knew nothing of.

Columbian food is a blend of African and European cuisines. It is very heavy on meat – other than recipes for beef & pork, the book had an abundance of unusual food like rabbit meatloaf, baked fowl and oxtail stew! I also noticed that many recipes called for a ‘blood broth’ of sorts. While this may seem repulsive to many, in Columbia, it is apparently not unusual to simmer food in blood! One meat that was conspicuous by its absence was chicken.

Potatoes, in many variations, are also a staple in the Columbian diet. That and Arepas. Arepas are a kind of bread made with corn flour, synonymous with this country’s cuisine. The book also had an entire section devoted to guavas, with at least 5 different recipes! I learnt that this sweet fruit reached Columbia and India via Spain.

Another oft used food is the plantain. This doesn’t surprise me because the plantain has influenced almost all parts of South America. One recipe that particularly caught my eye is the ‘Platano asado con queso’. Plantain with cheese. That being said, I have decided to read up on any one country’s cuisine every month and try a recipe.

If I can do this for a whole year, imagine how well-informed I could be!

Three Bean Chili

RG dished out this mouth-watering vegetarian three bean chili at the superbowl last month. It was so delicious, that even I, a self-confessed meat lover, had to have the recipe.

This recipe, she says, is straight out of Rachael Ray's collection on Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/veg-head-three-bean-chili-recipe/index.html

Ingredients
2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) olive or vegetable oil
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock/broth
1 (32- ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can black beans
1 (14-ounce) can dark red kidney beans
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne hot pepper sauce, several drops
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans

Toppings:
8 ounces (2 cups shredded) spicy monterey jack or smoked cheddar
Chopped scallions, whites and greens
Diced fresh seeded plum tomato
Blue and red corn tortilla chips or black bean tortilla chips, for dipping
Directions
Over moderate heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, and garlic. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables. Deglaze pan with beer or broth, add tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and stirring to combine.

Season chili with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. Thicken chili by stirring in refried beans. Simmer over low heat about 5 to 10 minutes longer, then serve up bowls of chili and top with shredded cheese, scallions, and tomatoes. Place bowls on charger plates piled with assorted tortilla chips.

It was super-spicy so anyone with a low threshold for heat tolerance should scale back on the cayenne hot pepper sauce.

Alongside is a picture of the chili, simmering in the crock pot.

Can't wait to try this out myself, or maybe I should pop back at RG's!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a Betty Crocker Recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained
9 cherries without stems, if desired
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.

2. In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

10 Degrees South

10 Degrees South is a delightfully sinful South African restaurant on Roswell Road, Atlanta. Sinful because it burnt a small hole in SK’s pocket, delightful because the whole evening was just so pleasing. We were at 10 Degrees South last Saturday to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I give SK full points for being different.

South African cuisine is primarily French with infusions of other European, Malaysian and Indian favors. The menu was so delectable. It even boasted a dozen escargots! We decided to veer of course and tried a dry South African wine. We paired this with a mildly spiced chicken liver on pita bread. For the main course, we had some super succulent lamb chops and Indian chicken curry.

10 Degrees South can be anything you want it to be. The open bar at the far end with a large lounge area is perfect for big groups of friends. The mid-section of this restaurant is rather intimate and tailored to couples. The entrance opens into a salon, with ample spread out tables for groups of 4-6. The ambience was earthy yet refined. That’s how I’d describe it.

I had a great evening. Thanks SK. Happy One.

Cafe Istanbul

Cafe Istanbul is a little Turkish haven, somewhere in East Atlanta. To call it a restaurant would be doing this fine, Middle-Eastern Mecca a grave injustice. For Café Istanbul is so much more! The succulent kebobs strike the right note with all those who visit but it’s the ambience – the traditional floor seating, dim ornate lamps, pots and earthenware that authentically decorate every wall, the belly dancing, thick Turkish rugs that trim the walls and cover every inch of the floor and the ubiquitous hookah, that make Café Istanbul an out of the ordinary experience.

We took M&S here, while they were visiting Atlanta. I tried a pomegranate martini and absolutely loved it. They sure do know their alcohol here, that’s all I can say. SK downed a couple of cold Turkish beers. We ordered a sampler from the appetizer menu. The couscous salad, the hummus and the baba ghanoush were my favorite. For the main course, we split a couple of plates of lamb & chicken kebobs. This was served with fragrant jasmine rice.

The highlight of the whole evening though was the apple flavored hookahs that we ordered and the gyrating belly dancer. Ah! To have that figure and fluidity! SK, of course, was a sport and went up and did his version of the shimmy shake with her.

I give this place a big G star.

Happy Birthday SK

Today is my darling SK's 30th birthday. I baked him a simple Devil's Chocolate Cake. While I would have much rather baked him something more flamboyant, I must confess that I'm no pastry chef. So a two tiered chocolate cake, straight out of a box, in a heart shaped mould it is. I did use some chocolate frosting and for a amateur like me, the outcome was pretty good.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy.