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Meatless Monday: Mac & Cheese with a View

When it comes to eating meatless one day a week, hungry diners are out of excuses. Do yourself a favor. While trend-worshippers flock to Senate Pub on Vine Street for pumped up street grub and urban chatter, take an evening to check out the View in East Walnut Hills. Stephens Restaurant Group has seized control of the Edgecliff Room — formerly owned by Martin and Marilyn Wade of Local 127 — and have revamped both the name and the menu.

You may be dining next to a slightly more mature crowd (it’s located in the towering Edgecliff condos on Victory Parkway), but who cares when the restaurant’s backdrop is a sprawling panoramic of the Ohio River Valley? Instead of elbowing for a bar stool, you can easily score a table here overlooking a stretched out horizon dotted with twinkling city lights.

The View’s mac and cheese – before/after – photography by Courtney Tsitouris.

And fancy hotdogs and duck fat fries got nothin’ on the fever-inducing, down home goodness of the View’s mac and cheese. It’s an angry, bubbling mess of elbow macaroni, butter and cream topped with a hit of herbed breadcrumbs. It comes in a piping hot casserole dish with brown baked sides that will singe the tips of your fingers. As you break its surface with a spoon, two types of cheddar cheese hiss and scream and a wave of steam forms curlicues in the air.

But watch out kids, this one is for the pesce-vegetarians. Beneath the velvety blanket of cream and pasta, lump crabmeat marries an exotic twirl of truffle essence. If your mother and a young whippersnapper chef got together, this is the homespun decadence they’d come up with. It’s Sunday supper on crack — soul food with the complicated, evocative bend of revved-up ingredients. For just ten dollars, even red-blooded meat lovers will be hard pressed to find this much comfort and flavor packed on a plate.

It’s the “classic with a twist” style that Alfio Gulisano — the same chef behind Bella Luna — hopes to implement throughout the rest of his menu. The View may not be a fully baked concept yet (other dishes like the grilled cheese with onions fell short of such transcendent musings), but he’s making his point. In a time of glorified bar food and kicked-up bistro classics, Gulisano shows Cincinnati that he’s coming out with guns blazing.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is an ongoing series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of Cincinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.
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Meatless Monday: Terry’s Turf Club burger is no laughing matter

I am a recovering vegetarian. That doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the four-years I restrained from meat or that I am unnecessarily self-righteous about it, either. It just means that when it comes to ordering vegetarian food at a restaurant, I know a thing or two about how to do it right.

It also means that I’ve heard every vegetarian joke under the sun. I’m still slapping my knee over the ever sarcastic, “Hey, I think there was bacon in that soup you just ate!” variety. In fact, I’ve heard so many of these quips, I’m completely immune to their underlying maliciousness. To the clever jokesters, to the “I just ate a vegetarian” bumper sticker collectors and to the rest of the haters, this one’s for you.

Terry’s Turf Club shitake burger photos taken by Courtney Tsitouris.

It’s the Terry’s Turf Club shitake burger – a non-meat selection that tastes as good as any meat-centered burger you ever ate. Call for whatever toppings you like and have it capped off with a big, fat wallop of roasted red pepper and goat cheese sauce. I tried to count the layers in it – I think it came to about seven – but the idea is that it’s enormous. It’s the kind of no-nonsense, no-rules attached, go-get-some sweatpants, you’re gonna’ feel it tomorrow sort of burger that will have you clutching your heart for sweet mercy.

And when you get the first creamy, hearty, savory bite in your mouth, you won’t be able to stop until it’s gone. The blend of goat cheese and roasted red pepper in the sauce is genius and the way it slides so effortlessly down the side of the burger is wicked. If you have any wits about you, you’ll have the guys in the back grill your onions so that they become caramelized and sweet. I’m so in love with this thing that the thought of someone talking bad about it sends me into a protective fit – as if my own mother were being insulted.

The concept of Meatless Monday is to skip meat for just one day a week. Will you be able to go to Terry’s and pass up the ground beef burger option in favor of the shitake one? Maybe. Maybe not. The answer to this question relies on a lot of things – your experiences and your feelings about meat in the context of our political, environmental and social climate. Ultimately, whatever you decide is fine – it’s your choice and you should own it. Just don’t say it’s a lack of delicious options that blocked your way.

Say what you will about vegetarians, just don’t say anything bad about this towering, dripping, flavor-packed stack of burger heaven. Cause nobody talks smack about my momma’.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is an ongoing series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of Cincinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.
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Meatless Monday: Potato Hash with Mushrooms and a Fried Egg

As a 10 year old, visiting my grandparents for the weekend was the equivalent of traveling to a foreign country. At four in the morning, when the moon was full and I was fairly certain it was still the middle of the night, I would roll over in bed to the sound of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen. The smell of bacon often came next, followed by the sizzle of potatoes in hot oil. I certainly wasn’t an early riser back then, but inevitably I would rub my eyes and wonder out into the kitchen.

My grandpa would be perched at the breakfast table, reading the paper with his thick-rimmed glasses resting on the very tip of his nose. He was a man’s man; he drove a truck for a living, brewed his own beer and lived for Notre Dame football. But in the morning light, he was a softie.

“C’mon, kid,” he’d say, as he’d pat the seat cushion next to him. I’d slide into that mustard yellow booth and together we’d watch my grandma, spatula in hand, fry eggs and potatoes over her tiny 1950’s stove.

Potato Hash with Mushrooms and a Fried Egg photographs by Courtney Tsitouris.

She was by no means a fancy cook. Her breakfasts involved straightforward, simple ingredients. But her fried potatoes were world class. Her trick was keeping them in the skillet, undisturbed, until a deep, golden crust developed on the outside. Then she’d stir them with a wooden spoon, mixing them with the crackling, salty bits that collected on the bottom of the pan. Those pieces were like hardened flavor bombs – the more they cooked, the deeper and more delicious they became. I still think about them, almost two decades later.

I’ve used her method for frying potatoes a lot over the years as a base for more involved dishes. What I really love to do is mix them with a bunch of onions that are cooked over low heat until they’re amber colored and sweet like candy. I like to add diced red bell pepper and minced garlic, too. I mix in sautéed chanterelle mushrooms for an earthy note and finish the dish with – and this is the one of the best parts – crumbled goat cheese. As the cheese melts ever so slightly on top of the hot vegetables, I top the whole thing with a fried egg (view full recipe).

The first time I served this dish to my mom as a main course, she did a lot of ooohing and aaahing. We discussed, far longer than necessary, its surprising complexity and how every lovely forkful was so different than the last. But we also did a lot of talking about grandma – about that old kitchen, about how she used to wake up in the dark and cook breakfast and about how she loved good, honest food. She may not have been a gourmet cook but she sure made a mean potato. And now, so can you.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is an ongoing series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of Cincinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.
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Meatless Monday: Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

I have a tendency to remember the big details in life but to forget the small ones. Recently I woke up from a night’s sleep to find that I had not only neglected to lock the front door, but I had also forgotten to close it. Which explained both the freezing living room and the little ledge of snow piled inside my entry way.

In a quest to become the kind of person that always remembers to water the houseplants, I’ve been relying on quite a few to-do lists lately. Last Monday, somewhere between “fill gas tank” and “figure out why phone is buzzing,” I’m happy to say that I added “make risotto recipe.”

It’s just a torn, crinkled scrap of paper stained with droplets of stock and splashes of olive oil. But for me, the recipe is pure gold (download recipe here). I jotted it down from Gourmet Magazine years ago and adapted it along the way – adding my own twists to vegetables and adjusting the ratio of stock and rice to suit my taste.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto photos by Courtney Tsitouris.

The idea is to add a small amount of warm broth to a pot of Arborio rice over medium heat. When the rice swells and becomes absorbed with liquid, add more broth and wait for it to soak in. Repeat this process until the natural starches in the rice are released and the mixture becomes miraculously creamy. Luscious, even.

The sweet, concentrated flavor in the recipe comes from roasting diced butternut squash in the oven for an hour or so and then adding it to the rice at the end. It’s a wonderfully tender, homey accent and virtually any vegetable can be substituted with the same result.

The step that creates body and texture, the one that makes the dish better than your neighbor’s version (but don’t tell them I said that) comes at the end. When the mixture is creamy but still a bit loose and the rice still has some chew to it, add a handful of good quality cheese plus two tablespoons of butter and stir until everything is melted together and glistening. The result is nothing short of heaven.

I adore its rich flavor and the way it glides across the plate but still maintains structure. I love the way it becomes impressive enough for a dinner party but is hearty and simple enough for a cold Monday night. I dare say, in its spell-casting wonder, this risotto might even help you sleep better.

Just remember to shut the front door before bed.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is a new series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of CIncinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.
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Meatless Mondays: Getting Saucy at Riverside Korean Restaurant

“What’s in this incredible sauce?” I innocently asked the waitress. In response, she threw her head back and cackled the way people do when they know something but have no intention of letting you in on the secret. Clearly, it was going to take more than a sweet smile to get this woman to talk, but more on that later.

The dish I was asking about was the Mae Un Du Bu Bok Um ($14.95) at Riverside Korean Restaurant – a tofu and vegetable stir fry that had me reeling from the first bite.

“Reeling?” you ask. Yes, if that’s what you would call me clutching my heart and repeating the word “wow” over and over again. My husband ordered the Dolsot Bibim Bab ($15.95), a popular rice and vegetable entree that’s served in a hot, stone bowl and topped with a fried egg at the last minute. His food was delicious, but it was the stir fry that had me threatening to storm the kitchen so that I might steal the recipe.

Mae Un Du Bu Bok Um dish from Riverside Korean Restaurant – photo by Courtney Tsitouris.

First of all, the food looked as beautiful as it tasted. A stack of perfectly julienned vegetables – pan-fried and obviously lovingly cared for — wrapped around each other in a glistening, messy swirl of color. The tofu was so soft it looked more like melted cheese than a soy product.

And then there was that pool of sauce. The sauce whose recipe I tried to weasel out of the waitress, the sauce I’d probably eat on my breakfast cereal if I could. It entrenched the fried cabbage, long hot peppers, and vegetables with sweetness first and then heat.

People who write about food love to talk about umami, the mysterious fifth taste said to be found in many soy sauce related dishes. I’ve never been one to notice, but in this sauce, the savory sensation overwhelmed me in a lingering, almost haunting manner.

Banchan sides from Riverside Korean Restaurant – photo by Courtney Tsitouris.

I proved to be a particularly poor dining companion when the banchan arrived. The half dozen or so complimentary small bites were, as my husband tried to tell me, meant to be shared alongside the meal. But sharing was difficult when the sweet, honey potatoes melted so quickly in my mouth and the spicy kimchi was so finger-licking good. Each one, more visually sophisticated than the next became a carnival of flavor and a fun counterpoint to the main course.

After all of our plates were empty and our bellies were full, I thought I’d give it another go with the waitress. “So, this is a soy based sauce, right?” I asked her in a hopeful tone. “Yes,” she said, “soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and some other ingredients.” Her voice trailed off as she made way back to the kitchen. I guess that was going to have to do for now.

Riverside Korean Restaurant is at 512 Madison Avenue in Covington (map). Make reservations at (859) 291-1484.

‘Meatless Mondays’ is a new series on UrbanCincy that explores one of the recommendations of CIncinnati’s Climate Protection Action Plan (aka Green Cincinnati Plan) – try to go meatless one day a week. UrbanCincy’s ‘Meatless Mondays’ series is written and photographed by Courtney Tsitouris who is a cook, designer and author of www.epi-ventures.com, a blog about dining in and dining out in Cincinnati.