Where to Eat - Out the Door (Bush St.)

I've long been obsessed with Out the Door's wonton soup - it comes with pig cracklings sprinkled in! The last time I went with my brother for dinner I promised myself I would try some new stuff. PS - The Bush St. location has an unexpectedly awesome brunch.

Out the Door has my favorite peanut sauce in the city so we started with the old standby - shrimp and pork springrolls. I could literally eat these everyday. I promise here's where the repetition ends.

We felt like some dumplings so we tried the hue dumplings next. Filled with mung bean, scallion oil and spicy soy. The wrappers were a little gummy for my taste but the filling was delicious. I would definitely get these again.

We saw the above fried squid being delivered to another table and decided to order it because it looked so good. The squid was lightly battered and fried, which I always like over heavily battered and fried. I like to actually taste the squid. The pairing with grilled pineapple was interesting and actually really delicious. The sweetness was set off with some hot peppers. As of now it is my favorite new fried squid in the city.

We had the dirty girl farm roasted cauliflower with red onion, roasted chilies and sweet soy. This was kind of bland for me. It's possible that it fell a little flat because I compare all cauliflower to Delfina's with chili, capers, and breadcrumbs. It's hard to stand up to that! From now on I will be sticking to the hodo soy beanery tofu sides.

I ordered the clam and sausage soup for my main. It was really tasty. In fact my brother took the leftover broth home with him! It was heavy on the yellow and green onion so keep that in mind if you're on a date. All in all trying some new dishes paid off. Maybe I'll keep branching out.

Where to Eat - Beast and the Hare

I took Andrew here last year for his birthday and we had an awesome meal. Great oysters and I could eat the avocado toast with boquerones everyday. I recently went back with my brother and had another solid meal.

Since I was with Chris we obviously started with a selection of the house charcuterie. Of the impressive 13 options we chose the coppa - pork shoulder with smoked pimenton and garlic, nduja - semi cured and smoked with paprika, cardamom and garlic, and rillette - whipped pork shoulder with chilies and fennel. It came with house made pickles and toasted bread. My favorite, as always, were the pickled veggies followed by the nduja. It was like a cross between chorizo and pepperoni - two of my loves in life. The copa was also great - super flavorful and not too fatty. I wasn't super into the rillette, but whipped meats and I have a complicated relationship.

Next we had the skewered quail with cranberry greens, gremolata and yogurt. This is one of those things I would never think to get unless my brother pointed it out and I was happy he did. The almonds and yogurt with the beans and quail were such an interesting combination of flavor and texture. The beans were a little under but not starchy so I didn't mind. The quail was cooked perfectly too.

My brother got the fried chicken and waffle with maple syrup and beastmo' hot sauce. It looked great and he said it was. I got the fresh ground burger with agrodolce onions, tomato aioli and Kennebec fries. I added the beechar's flagship cheddar. It was good but certainly not the best burger I've had around town. Perhaps this is because I didn't order it with foie gras option? For as just alright the burger was the fries made up for it. Crunchy and delicious, I easily ate them all. The tomato aioli just tasted like pretentious ketchup though.

DIY Pantry Staples - Yogurt Cheese

I've made yogurt cheese before. It's super simple - you just drain Greek yogurt in a small strainer lined with cheese cloth or a paper towel. I was never completely impressed with the taste until I tried my sister's batch. She had added fresh herbs from her garden and other tasty ingredients to elevate it. So obvious!

I had some leftover yogurt and after straining added garlic, lemon, olive oil, and a Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Base from Penzeys Spice - A mix of salt, bell peppers, garlic, onion, pepper, parsley, thyme and basil. The results were delicious! Try with your own favorites and while you're at it look up Penzeys.