The Kitchen

I'm finally getting around to detailing our meal at The Kitchen in Boulder. While both were excellent, I preferred our meal at Black Cat.

The Kitchen had a very warm atmosphere with lots of wood and high ceilings. I got the corresponding wine flight with our meal, which was delicous too. We shared all of the food in our courses and had:

First Course:
Roasted Bone Marrow with parsley & caper salad - yep, I tried it! It was very rich and I loved the parsley/capers that went with it. But it was probably a bit much for someone who doesn't really eat beef to jump back on the cow with.
Celeriac Soup with Truffled Mushrooms - this was good, but didn't really excite me. I wasn't a fan of the grainy texture. B loved it though, especially the mushrooms.

Second Course:
Roasted Heirloom Squash with Chickpeas, spelt, Cilantro, Tahini Yogurt: Again, B really loved this. I thought it was good, but it was a bit too much like the mexican goulashes I made in my vegetarian days.
Grilled Mackerel with Mashed Potatoes, Spinach, capers & Lemon: This was decent, but didn't excite me or B. The mackerel was quite oily.

Third Course:
Pot O' Chocolate with cream- how can you go wrong? This was amazing, of course. It came with a little pitcher of cream, but it definitely wasn't needed. After putting it on my first bite, I didn't use the cream again.
Yogurt panna cotta with grapefruit - Absolutely delicious! It went fantastically with the dessert wine I had.

Recipe Reviews

We like to try new recipes in our house, and have been particularly busy with them this last week--particularly last weekend. Some were a hit, some not so much. So here's what we tried (click on the recipe title for the link to the recipe):

Bouchon Simple Roast Chicken: This was the BEST roast chicken I've ever had! Actually it might even be better than the roast chicken I had at Bouchon. Three ingredients, that's right! It was so amazingly easy. We did not truss the chicken, because we didn't have any kitchen twine. The chicken was so flavorful and moist and we picked at that carcass for a long time.

Cheese Ravioli: We got this recipe from a Family Fun cookbook and let Miles pick the recipe out. The boys loved making it. However, I would highly advise against making it, unless you have a pasta machine. We did not and it was incredibly difficult to roll out and I still didn't get it rolled out enough. The boys thought the ravioli were great (which is all that counted in this case), but they were really thick and the pasta was tough. I won't try this recipe again, unless I get a pasta maker someday.

Pumpkin Cupcakes: I finally got around to making the pumpkin cupcakes that I posted about ages ago. The icing on these was really unique and tangy, made from buttermilk and apple cider vinegar. If I made them again, I'd definitely cut the cloves by at least half--it was way too strong. It makes a lot of cupcakes and they aren't as good later. The frosting kind of "wept" overnight. I think I'll try a new recipe next time.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi: These were pretty tasty. J loved them. M thought they looked "weird." Go figure. They'll definitely stay in occasional rotation. We served them with chicken and apple sausage, which was a good combo. A very hearty meal.

Black Cat Review

Shit, who am I kidding, I don't know how to review a restaurant. But I like to remember meals and this is the best place to get it down for posterity.

Black Cat is a tiny little place with a cool atmosphere. We were seated right by the kitchen, which is open so you can watch the cooks cooking. I liked that (especially since one of the yunguns was hot!), but the temperature was pretty hot too and I got bumped by servers a couple of times, plus had to listen in while one server conveyed some complaints to the chef. The chef was friendly, which was cool. I don't get to say hello to the chef often.

We started off with a beer for B and some kind of lemon martini for me. I had the
apple and lovage soup with duck confit, which was amazing. Just a little sweet and yummy yummy duck. It was my favorite dish of the evening. B had the seafood quenelle with buttered lentils and chardonnay, which he liked very much. We shared all of the dishes and we both liked both of these, but I preferred the soup and he preferred the seafood, so I guess we ordered correctly.

I had planned on ordering the gnocchi for my entree, but luckily my server warned me that it had beef in it. Guess I should have realized since it was a bolognaise. And I'm not much of a beef eater. So I had the crisp potato rosti with spaghetti squash, apples and riesling. I thought it was a little greasy and too "hashbrown-y," not necessarily in the good way. It was good, but my least favorite dish of the night. B had the confit pork shoulder with goat cheese polenta, black pepper, and pumpkin. It was good too, but also not the best I've had. We both decided that we could have eaten just apps and desserts that night and been happier without the entrees. I had a glass of Cara Mia Prosecco with dinner. I recently got a bottle of this stuff. Affordable and delicious! So I was happy to get a glass of it.


For dessert I had chocolate pot de crème with citron and whipped cream. Heavenly! But then chocolate pot de crème is one of my absolute favorite desserts (I recently got one from Whole Foods and it was awesome too). B had the Shaker pear cake with caramel ice cream and nutmeg, which was also delicious. With dessert I had a French dessert wine. I wish I knew what it was, but it was not listed on their wine list and our server was not very knowledgeable about wines. I should have asked her to write the name down. Something with "lapin" or "les pins"/"lepin" in the name?

Afterwards we stopped at a Scottish bar, which turned out to be quite cheesy, but I had a yummy glass of scotch (I think it was Balvenie) and had fun watching an older woman there by herself hit on the hot, young bartender.

It was a fun evening. And tonight we'll do it again at The Kitchen! And guess what the dessert offering is? Pot O'Chocolate! Yippee!

Just In Time for the Holidays

So not only is it going to be the start of "The Holidays" in 1 week, when I eat like a pig and gain at LEAST 5 pounds. But my gym also doesn't offer any more noon time classes for a month. Then on top of that, I go to my endocrinologist this week, only to find out that my thyroid levels are too high and I need to lower my dosage, which means I will gain weight from that.

Can a girl getting a fucking break?

So I'm thinking about not lowering my dosage until after the holidays. Would that be terrible? What do you think?

I'm Gonna Be HUGE

I'll report back later on our trip to Black Cat. We just got another opportunity for a sitter on Friday night and are headed back to Boulder for First Bite Boulder. This time we're headed to The Kitchen, another place I've been wanting to try. They not only feature a seasonal menu, but go above and beyond with their "eco practices."

Here is the prix fixe menu for the night. We'll be going to the regular Kitchen (not "upstairs"). I think I'm going to have to try the bone marrow. I've heard so many times about how wonderful it is. But that's a big step for a former vegetarian, who still eats almost no beef! Time to expand my horizons.

Finally!

I finally got a chance to work on the layout of this blog and added some widgets and gadgets to the side bar. I'm quite pleased with what I've done so far!

Conversations with a 4 Year Old

Bitchilla: You sure have a cute butt.
CuteKid: And I have a cute pen is.
CuteKid: Because it's so little.
CuteKid: And sticky.
Bitchilla: Well...(suppressing laughter) It must be sweaty.
CuteKid: Yes, I'm sweaty ALL over.

Note: a key word has been changed to hopefully avoid internet perverts.