Every now and then I like to ask you, reader, a question. And my question, after this lovely Memorial Day weekend, is this: what was the best thing you ate this weekend? No, not the 2nd best thing, the BEST thing. Tell us about it, will you?
98 thoughts on “What was the best thing you ate this weekend?”
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Crabcake at Market Table. YUM.
Smoked salmon ceasar salad.
The secret? I smoked the salmon myself. I *love* using my smoker.
We had smoked salmon ceasar salad, smoked chicken, grilled chicken w/ traditional barbecue sauce (for those who don’t like smoked) and grilled corn. The appetizer was smoked Italian sausages with the aforementioned barbecue sauce.
And beer. Lots of beer.
It was a good weekend.
Best thing I ate this weekend had nothing to do with the steaks we grilled yesterday. It was the black beans and yellow rice with plantains I fell on at Versailles on La Cienega here in L.A. OMG. Little death-style happiness with every bite. If only they’d had the egg I requested, fried, on top. But the waiter looked at me like I’d requested a bowling ball. Oh well. Next time I’ll bring my own.
I went out to eat for my birthday on Saturday to this Italian place I’d been wanting to try. It was hands down the best Italian food I have ever had, and I’ve eaten Italian in NYC and all over the U.S. It’s what I imagine Italy to be like. My lord, it was awesome. Crab ravioli, lamb chops and penne with tomato sauce that tasted far beyond what I knew tomato sauce was capable of. Wow.
Adapted Anglo Italian Trifle from Nigella Lawson.. (Cherries!) with amaretto liqueur .. awesome…
My Chinese chicken salad, probably. It’s a close tie between that and the red curry potato salad I made on Sunday night and am still enjoying with nearly every meal.
It’s a tie between the famous Nutella ice cream recipe and my first grilled swordfish kebabs of the year – marinated in lemon juice, Worcestershire, olive oil, and soy sauce. Delicious!
An amazing burger. Angus beef, Gorgonzola cheese, baby spinach, red onion, bacon, mayonnaise. AMAZING.
Pulled pork plate with collards, slaw, and corn bread at Daddy D’s in Atlanta washed down with cold beer. Bliss!
I ate at The Keg and had the most amazingly decadent grilled chicken with shrimp and scallops in a creamy creole season… and garlic mashed potatoes. And? the first good glass of iced tea i’ve had in arizona. ever.
Went to Blackbird in Chicago and ate fantastic food all around. But the best had to be the appetizer I ate…confit of suckling pig with fresh hummus, baby artichokes preserved lemon and pork rinds. Yup, I said pork rinds.
Hands down, the hot chocolate at L.A. Burdick’s in Harvard Square.
How could a liquid be the best thing I’d eaten all weekend? If you have to ask, you haven’t tried it, though it is clearly the best in the world. One of the many reasons is that the refrigerated leftovers will re-solidify into a divine mousse like consistency. Finally, a hot chocolate you can sink your teeth into.
http://www.teaandfood.blogspot.com
The entire meal at Perilla in Greenwich.. In particular the Cheeks of the day, which happened to be venison..
This was the tops of our Memorial Day weekend, which included visits to Bar Americain and Craftsteak
DJ’s Boudain… grilled till the casing is crispy… ZOMG… heaven in a tube… sigh
burgers on the grill for memorial day – ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, sesame bun. classic American!
my syrian mother-in-law initiated me into the halls of arab wifehood. we spent a whole afternoon sharing stories, making a big batch of kibbe – wheat dough stuffed with ground meat and nuts. delish!
After eating possibly every meal out for the past 4 months, my bar-study-induced frugality of time made me buy sandwich fixings and I made, yesterday, the most delicious sandwich ever. Even better than my favorite deli.
Crusty French bread, toasted, whole grain mustard, extra sharp cheddar cheese, red onion slices, tomato slices, arugula, thin slices of prosciutto and a slice of roasted turkey. All smushed together and cut in half. SOO satisfying, especially because my sandwiches for the week are going to end up costing me 1/3 of what I would have paid at the deli – and I ‘m discovering that going out during lunch rush, waiting in line, etc, is actually a bigger time suck than making the lunch from scratch. (Still haven’t figured out how to make the line at Whole Foods move more quickly, so I’m ignoring the hour it takes me to do grocery shopping for the week).
But yea, I can’t wait until the next day’s lunch about 4 minutes after finishing my sandwich :)
I made pulled pork tacos this weekend. I posted the recipe here: http://northsidefood.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-say-taco-you-say-taco.html
homemade vanilla bean tapioca pudding
Well it wasn’t a long weekend for us up here in Canada. That was last weekend.
But I did take Friday off so I had my own long weekend to celebrate :-)
Anyway, the best thing I had was this absolutely amazing pasta at a tiny but famous italian place in Victoria, BC. It was italian sausage, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and green pepper in a very spicy marinara atop penne. Pretty standard italian fare but definitely one of the best I’ve had.
Check it out: http://www.emenus.ca/Pagliaccis/
definitely some homemade pasta from the French Laundry Cookbook
Sushi #55 at Sakura,St.Paul, MN.
The best!!!
hazelnut brown butter cake from Sunday Supper at Lucques.
have you made it yet, Adam? I think you need to!
nothing fancy over here – did a lot of grilling out at @ friends’ places during the weekend, so not much cooking or eating out for me. do smores count, as they were eaten while sitting around a bonfire and drinking, which is just about my favorite thing ever?
we did go to the local annual asian festival, where I had a few plates of delicious food, the best being a variety of indian curries and a mango lassi. and then i saw some sumo wrestlers.
clearly, it was a high-class weekend for me. :)
home smoked bbq pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and onion rings….YUM
I made lots of spring-y things this weekend- fried baby artichokes with lemon, ramp/leek/spinach soup with pancetta, creme caramel, roasted banana ice cream, Rancho Gordo canellini beans with cherry tomatoes, black olives, and caramelized onions…writing this, I am struggling to choose. Although it might be the oatmeal I had with brown sugar and rhubarb compote.
I went to Kansas with my girlfriend and ate at Jack Stack BBQ. We had burnt ends, beans, huge onion rings, and some blackened prime rib. Great BBQ.
My sis-in-law had a bbq on Sunday and while the bbq brisket was great… the frozen peanut butter pie was the absolute best thing all weekend long!
For lunch on Sunday, my husband grilled rib-eye steaks on a charcoal grill. They were SO perfect and so tender I could cut them with a fork! It would’ve been fit for the President! We didn’t even need A1 sauce… they were dancing with flavor. Looking forward to more of them this summer! Mmmmmmm!!!!!
Chocolate croissant bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream, from MILK on Beverly Blvd in L.A. To. Die. For.
Tough one, I was in London AND Paris this weekend….
The scallop amuse boushe(sp?) at Fifteeen in London
Scotch Beef at Simpsons in the Strand (london)
or my duck and potato pancake at Le Coupe Chou in Paris.
one of those three…Sorry, I cheated, but you’re allowed to cheat when you’re in both London and Paris in 1 weekend!
Definitely the French wedding cupcake that I ate on Saturday at North Market in Columbus, Ohio. The cake was semi-sweet and moist, the frosting was rich with butter and had just the slightest Neufchatel tang. I should have purchased two. Or ten.
It’s a tie, does that break the rules? On Sunday it was homemade guacamole, which I slathered on corn tortillas from Tortillaleria on Eastern Ave. in Baltimore. On Monday just-as-perfect bison enchiladas were served.
Pork Belly at Fette Sau in Williamsburg. Closely followed by Korean Fried Chicken at Bonchon and a Pastrami sandwich from Katz… it was a rough weekend on my poor heart…
A hamburger at Palena in DC. Every bit as good as you’ve heard. It even trumped everything we had at Minibar the next night.
Corn on the cob that was surprisingly fresh & tender. Yummy!
Chocolate bread pudding from the Dessert Truck in NYC.
The best thing I ate this weekend was a turkey burger lovingly crafted by my immensely talented boyfriend. Not to brag, but he put onions, garlic, rosemary, smoked paprika, and parsley in the mix, and made sure they were cooked enough to be safe but still juicy. I’m so lucky.
I typically don’t like hot dogs, but we picked up these all-natural grass fed beef hot dogs from the farmer’s market. I tried to find decent hot dog buns, but alas, I had to go with el cheapo. In spite of the cheap bread, the dogs were absolutely delicious when slathered with the best quality, spiciest Dijon mustard I could find. Heavenly!
I made this cherry cornmeal upside-down cake to take up to a cookout at my husband’s parents’ home in Connecticut – it was super tasty and a big crowd pleaser! Yum, cherries. Definitely the best bite of the weekend, although I did also have some grilled pork chops with peach salsa that were mighty delicious.
Our appetizer: warm asparagus still crisp, buffalo mozzarella, sliced fresh strawberries. Dressed with a sharp & fruity blueberry vinegar. Seasoned with coarse pepper & coarse sea salt. Served with crisp, thin toasts.
If you are fortunate enough to live in San Francisco try the original at Yabbies. Made with goat cheese & dressed with lemon oil (which is can only be had in cleaning products here in NJ).
the tasting menu @craft in la.
decadent birthday dinner.
Apple pie at the top of Mount Palomar at Mothers Kitchen. Mmmmm. It helped that it was bloody freezing and I’d ridden my bike up it (5500ft)
I had a great oxtail at the UCLA Jazz Reggae festival
http://fooddestination.blogspot.com/2008/05/ucla-reggae-fesitval.html
Stone-grilled beefsteak strips (Swiss way of grilling at home/indoor, using the Raclette machine) with homemade sunflower oil mayonnaise (garlic, with a pinch mustard and curry). Scrumptious!!!
Cheers,
Rosa
Even though I’m in Switzerland, I’ll include Monday as part of my weekend since I’m missing out on the holiday back home in Boston.
Monday night I had straussensteak for dinner. Translation – ostrich steak. It was served with buttered egg noodles and sauteed green beans, cararots, broccoli and cauliflower. The steak was more tender than filet mignon, and full of flavor. It truly was the best meal of my weekend!
Spigola–sea bass–in Alghero on the island of Sardinia. It had just been caught, and was simply prepared, tender, delicious… The ocean view as I ate didn’t exactly detract from the experience, either.
My daughter in law and I put together a dish that turned out to be very good. In the middle of the casserole dish was a whole chicken with olive oil, garlic salt and herbs de Provence on the skin. We surrounded it with risotto on which we poured chicken stock and white wine, brussels sprouts, carrots, onions and garlic. We baked it about two hours and had to add a little more liquid to the rice. It turned out really tasty.
I made Liege waffles for my parents. It was the first time I had ever made them after tasting them on a trip to Europe and they turned out fantastic. They were nice and sugary thanks to the pearl sugar and nice and rich thanks to all of the butter. It’s a good thing I was persistent in my search for pearl sugar. It took me two years, but I finally found some for sale in a Cub Foods in MN.
Best thing to eat: Homemade Stuffed Cabbages
Best thing to drink: Morgan Creek St. Wenceslaus Wine. Yay for Minnesota wine! :)
My son is in the Marine Corps and was home on Liberty so of course we cooked his favorite foods….the best was the country style ribs with a brown sugar, garlic and paprika rub basted with homemade bbq sauce…to DIE for!
Good Dog burger, half pound house ground sirloin, stuffed with Roquefort, topped with caramelized onions and served on toasted brioche at Good Dog in Philadelphia.
mmmmm – that would have to be the mushroom risottoand grilled prawns in a peach glaze that i made on saturday – my stomach rumbled even just thinking about it!
mmmmm – that would have to be the mushroom risottoand grilled prawns in a peach glaze that i made on saturday – my stomach rumbled even just thinking about it!
The first corn on the cob this year, with lots of butter– it was sweet and tender and tasted like summer.
Chorizo scramble and a coffee float for Sunday brunch at Blue Willow in Tucson, AZ. Yes, coffee float – ice cream for breakfast!
I happened to be in Las Vegas this weekend on a great restaurant binge, so it’s pretty had to say. But I think the waffles I had Friday morning at Bouchon were perhaps the best thing I’ve eaten for a very long time. Also notable was the bacon, for which I am not sure there is an equal.
No Memorial Day in the Netherlands, but I did have some good food this weekend. The BEST was my friend’s homemade rhubarb cake!
The uber-chocolate World Peace Cookies (Dorie Greenspan/Pierre Hermé recipe) I made for my cousin’s barbecue on Sunday. Actually, I’m renaming them World War cookies, since they seem to invoke murder in everyone’s heart, as soon as they see someone else eating the last one.
But my beloved would say it was the “urban barbecue” I made for him on Monday: slow-cooker baby back ribs, creamiest sharp cheddar mac ‘n’ cheese, collard and mustard greens with ramps/green garlic and fruitwood smoked bacon…
We also set up the smoker this weekend. Best thing out of it was definitely the pulled pork with some sweet spicy BBQ sauce. We also did a varietty of ribs, both dry and wet. The jerk ribs were a pick hit!
Would have to be a tie between the spicy soft shell crab that my husband cooked on Friday night or the cornish hens grilled with a spice rub and coated with a ginger maple glaze (also created by my incredible cook of a husband!)
I am interested in the food culture of your country. And I support your site. If there is time, please come in my site. From Japan
http://food-soybean.blogspot.com/
the cherry coconut macaroon tart that heidi swanson recently highlighted on 101 cookbooks… it was the perfect ending to a warm and summery gathering with friends on the roof of my brooklyn apartment.
the cherry coconut macaroon tart that heidi swanson recently highlighted on 101 cookbooks… it was the perfect ending to a warm and summery gathering with friends on the roof of my brooklyn apartment.
An ear of sweet corn dusted with chili powder, fresh off my grill :)
Best thing, hands down, was dinner at The Good Fork in Red Hook, Brooklyn on Friday night. Everything was incredible, beautifully presented, reasonable portions, perfect atmosphere. I can’t say enough. Pork dumplings, halibut w/ mushroom ragout and white bean puree, duck with red wine and lentils, and I wanted to eat everything else.
Caroline’s Pouding Choumer from the PDC cookbook! Hello Maple and Creamy goodness!!!
Memorial Day weekend for me has nothing to do with hotdogs and hamburgers, but instead marks the first local Greek Festival of the season, where I eat until I’m silly. Like most towns, we do not have ANY really good Greek places and the few that exist churn out overprocessed and/or cheap food that is nothing like the Greek cuisine I was raised on. At these festivals, the women of the respective church hosting the festivities cook their hearts out to provide for everyone over the long weekend. We usually visit at least twice. Different festivals are known by those who frequent them to have a different “best” item – at this festival, it’s their stuffed grape leaves (dolmathes) and is the only time I ever break my “no commercially processed ground beef) rule each year.
Items I consumed with relish inluded:
Many, many grape leaves
Many, many spanikopita and tyropita (cheese) triangles
Oven roasted potatoes
Souvlaki
Roasted quarter chicken
Greek salad
Greek style green beans (in tomato sauce)
Greek beer
Finished of course with the obligatory baklava.
Riiiiiiibs that my hubby made with a cactus salad that my friend made.
A pizza with figs, gorgonzola, and “truffled honey” (which we assumed was made by introducing bees to truffles)
Onigiri (rice balls) from Cafe Zaiya. The spicy tuna and shrimp tempura varieties are SO good. Followed them up with a pair of Beard Papa cream puffs. Pure heaven.
Treasures from the Union Sq. green market:
• Spaghetti with caramelized ramp bulbs and wilted ramp leaves
• Roasted beets with homemade horseradish creme fraiche
• Simple and amazing organic salad greens with a 3-citrus vinaigrette and broccoli rabe blossoms
• Pavlovas with home-whipped creme and rhubarb-strawberry nectar
• Frittata with spring garlic, leftover ramps and bacon
Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews.
The recipe can be found here … http://tinyurl.com/5d6d5e.
It’s the yummiest broccoli dish I’ve ever
tasted!
Homemade California Rolls. The secret is the “special glue” made from equal parts masago (smelt roe), Japanese kewpie mayonnaise and chopped scallions. The other ingredients were cucumber, fake crab meat, daikon sprouts, avocado, sesame and poppy seeds, sushi rice and the nori wrapper.
I made two extra rolls and had them for lunch on Tuesday. Better than a sandwich.
I put together a rough web page with recipes for sushi. Actually making the rolls does take some practice though.
http://morch.us/sushi/
That’s a tough one. I would like to say the open faced pulled pork sandwiches with cuban mojo, pickled red onions and monterrey jack cheese I made. However, I think I might have to crown the winner as the ridiculous amount of traditional greek pastries I ate at the Greek Festival this weekend in New Orleans. It’s almost impossible to find them here outside of this weekend or for Greek Easter.
Camping in West Virginia:
– corn on the cob, husks pulled back and kernels slightly chargrilled over fire, slathered w/butter
– roasted marshmallows over fire w/cup of hot chocolate
– quesadillas filled with oozy cheese and peppers and onions, cooked over the fire and topped with homemade guac and salsa
– veggie burgers cooked over the fire and topped with crisp lettuce, juicy tomato, and fire-roasted portobellos, squished between toasted buns
– everything tastes amazing cooked over a campfire!
I made homemade chocolate ice cream. It’s now officially been renamed… Crack. Check it out:
http://www.spicedish.typepad.com
I had horse sashimi in Tokyo with green garlic and ginger. And it was GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
my husband and I grill baby back ribs, sooo yummy. I made corn on the cob and grilled potatoes with shallots, garlic and thyme, finished off with cheddar cheese. That was the best thing I had all weekend!!
Fig Frangipane Tart with Almond Crust on Sunday afternoon, homemade by Mom.
WOW
Pork shoulder that my hubby smoked on Monday. Having the leftovers tonight in pork fajitas.
On Monday, my husband cooked strip steaks perfectly on the Big Green Egg and I contributed with a “beurre de Maison” consisting of butter, home-roasted garlic and Gorgonzola cheese. Heavenly! The leftovers made for very fine sandwiches today as well!
A warm, puffy funnel cake covered in cinnamon & powdered sugar and not too disgustingly greasy… at the Ski To Sea Festival in Bellingham, WA. I thought I didn’t even like funnel cakes but apparently I do.
A perfectly pan seared hamburger. Topped with 3 cheeses. And a runny fried egg.
Oh yes.
The best thing I ate this weekend was a pork shoulder that was smoked for nine hours, potato salad with bacon, homemade coleslaw, and my late grandmother’s Celebration congealed salad.
Red braised fatty pork whose succulent juices became a succulent pan sauce
Best thing I had over the Memorial Day weekend was burgers I made with pork & beef that incorporated pineapples, ginger and green onions. Juicy, good balance of sweet and sour, just an overall great burger.
brownies from a recipe in the back of gourmet– 2 cups suger, 2 sticks butter and 5 eggs– how can that be bad? finally a great brownie recipe!
brownies from a recipe in the back of gourmet– 2 cups suger, 2 sticks butter and 5 eggs– how can that be bad? finally a great brownie recipe!
Homemade basil lime coconut sorbet. I ate the entire thing and had to make another. oops. It was good.
Skate with crispy garlic chips and caper lemon butter from Mon Ami Gabi (a Lettuce Entertain You joint!), along with a simple butter lettuce & shaved vegetable salad with lemon, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt.
The best thing I ate this weekend was a smoked and barbecued rack of homemade mango and habanero loin back ribs with a homemade Sriracha barbecue sauce. We served it with fresh mango salsa, marinated corn salad, rhubarb cream cheese pie and homemade strawberry ice cream. Beat that!
Cantonese-style whole fried black sea bass from Brooklyn Fish Camp.
Hmm…but the chicken apple sausages from Russo’s that I grilled on my roof on Sunday were a very close second.
Home made (by me) guacamole… a year ago if you told me I would not only enjoy guacamole but I would be making it myslef I would have told you you were crazy.
a nutella & banana panini….good God it was delicious!! it satisified the craving for something gooey & chocolate.
it required another 30 minutes on the treadmill but it was more than worth it!!!
a nutella & banana panini….good God it was delicious!! it satisified the craving for something gooey & chocolate.
it required another 30 minutes on the treadmill but it was more than worth it!!!
a chai ice tea (tavalon) from Le Petit Belge, in Union Square, with tasty Macarons
the ice tea was REFRESHING .
Squash gazpacho at Fat Hen on John’s Island, SC, and pizza at Lil’ Mama’s, Folly Beach, SC.