Sub Rosa Bakery

Style: Bakery

My Rating: 5/5 stars

Website: http://www.subrosabakery.com/

Likes: Rustic feel, sturdy wooden boards and stoneware pottery used to plate items, best coffee I have ever had, wood fired oven

Dislikes: Someone stole the tips out of the jar when we were there

There is nothing better than starting a day off having breakfast with friends. When the breakfast turns out to be a wood fired pastry, the best gets an extreme upgrade.

Two of my fellow vacationing teacher friends gladly helped me cross this excursion off of my bucket list for this summer. We met at Sub Rosa Bakery for brunch, and were charmed by the calming rustic environment and earnest smell of baking bread floating around us.

I ordered the Manchego and Fig Croissant, a sweet treat with savory undertones. Although the pastry had a burnt looking quality to it, the soft and flaky croissant had a buttery taste that I haven’t had since I visited bakeries in New York. The taste is what matters to me.  In addition, I had an amazing cup of dark roasted coffee to compliment my breakfast. They have their own signature Sub Rosa blend, created by Lamplighter coffee down the street, which had nutty and chocolate undertones.

My friends also tried the Chilled Turnip and Dill Soup. The smooth soup had a clean finish with a soft dill taste, which was not overpowering. It was served in these adorable stoneware bowls on top of bread boards.

I was so impressed with our experience that I took two different pastries home with me under the assumption that I would give them to my husband who had been at work. They managed to stay intact until his arrival, but I definitely took a few bites once my husband began his snack. One was a Salami and Gruyere Croissant, savory with the addicting meat and cheese combination.  The other was the Pain au Chbuckocolat, filled with a deep and bitter chocolate. 

This was a most successful summer bucket list excursion, and I look forward to returning to this bakery soon. 

Zucchini Pasta with Dill Pesto

I am growing an apartment porch garden this summer for the first time. This means that I am continuing to learn new things, something I always dedicate my summers to. I am finding that gardening is fun, but a little challenging because there are so many judgment calls. The beautiful thing about my situation, is that I have friends who garden and are gracious to give me tips.

The other day I posted some pictures about my garden growing. My friend and colleague Lindsay mentioned that I should trim my dill because it was beginning to seed. This way, the more I prune, the more it will grow. After watching a video on how to prune dill on Youtube, I went outside to my porch and I pruned. 

Taking my beautiful green dill back to the kitchen, I stared at my trash can and thought that I could not throw it away. After a quick brainstorm and a look at my produce, I decided to make a pesto using dill. This was a risky decision because I have not even made basil pesto before and am saving it for a summer bucket list moment.

Pesto needs a significant amount of at least one herb, nuts, and some liquid. In a rummage through the pantry, I found almonds, a lemon, olive oil, and chicken broth. My inner Italian said, “Bada bing!”

Texture was a big test while I was making my pesto experiment. After my first run with the food processor, I found that the almonds made it too much like putty. So I added more lemon juice, which made it too citrusy. In the end, I used more chicken broth to get the desired balanced texture and taste.

Recipe for Zucchini Pasta with Dill Pesto
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients
1/8 cup whole almonds
1 Tbsp garlic, divided
1 cup fresh dill
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup chicken broth (or more to depending on desired texture)
Juice of one lemon
2 zuchinni, sliced in thin rounds
Parmesan Cheese to taste
4 cups cooked farfalle (bow tie) pasta (I used half a box of Barilla)

Method

1. Using a food processor, grind the almonds to a thick dust.

2. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic, the dill, ground black pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and chicken broth to the mixture. Blend the mixture, adding more chicken broth if needed to achieve desired paste thickness. 

3. When pesto is finished, heat teaspoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and heat until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the zucchini rounds and cook just until soft, about 3-4 minutes. 

4. Place pasta in a large bowl and use a slotted spoon to transfer the zucchini to the pasta. Then, pour the pesto over the pasta mixture and gently mix the ingredients together. If the pasta gets too sticky, add a little olive oil to loosen. 

5. Serve the pasta with parmesan cheese, black pepper, and salt. 

Braised Sweet Red Cabbage

I love it when I have leftover vegetables and I get to play around and make a new dish. I had made some BBQ chicken in the crockpot to eat on with my school closing schedule and my husband’s erratic police schedule. I had some leftover red cabbage in the crisping drawer in the fridge that I needed to use. So I thought about making a side out of the cabbage to go with the BBQ. 

The BBQ sauce is sweet, so I wanted to do a tangy sweet cabbage. Originally, I wanted to use it and make a slaw. I looked up some inspirational recipes online and settled for Red Cabbage Slaw by the Food Network Kitchens. When I tasted the dressing to go on the slaw, I didn’t like it. The vinegar was too heavy for my taste. But, I had this otherwise beautiful dressing and I chose to braise the cabbage with it instead, and rendering the vinegar to a more mild state.

As the cabbage cooked, I snuck pieces from the pan and tasted a tart sweetness, inspiring me to add some fennel seed and craisins. The end result ended up being a warm cabbage, similar to pickled German cabbage, with a touch more sugar and crispy texture.



Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons Sugar
½ head Red Cabbage, chopped to 1/2 inch thick pieces
1 Tablespoon fennel seed
½ cup Craisins
Salt to taste

Method

1. To make the sauce, whisk together the oil, vinegar, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved and oil and vinegar no longer separate.

2. Heat 2 Tablespoons of sauce in a skillet on medium high heat.

3. Add the cabbage, then carefully pour the rest of the sauce over the cabbage. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes.

4. Add the fennel, Craisins, and salt and continue cooking until cabbage reaches the desired tenderness and the sauce has evaporated into the cabbage. 

Buz and Ned's BBQ

Style: Barbeque
My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Website: http://buzandneds.com/ 

Likes: Southern Industrial Décor, Huge cool ceiling fan in the dining room, availability of craft beer, good blues background music

Dislikes: Small portions, availability of sandwiches and ribs only, price is expensive for what is served, only one type of house sauce, sides were dry- including coleslaw and macaroni and cheese!

I went through food withdrawal moving to the South from New York. I missed things like bagels, Italian Rainbow cookies, and knish. However, quality barbeque has always been an easy cure to my ailment. I love to go to Red, Hot, and Blue in Williamsburg, and delve into pulled chicken and choose which sauce I want to put on it. Then, I like picking a different sauce for my brisket, and a third for my sausage. 
I had heard such wonderful things about Buz and Ned’s in Richmond. When they opened a rather large place on Broad st., I became determined to try it out. People around town seemed to adore their BBQ, and I felt like I was missing out. 

When my husband and I pulled up to the restaurant in the middle of the afternoon, I was impressed by the décor. It was chic southern industrial look, with rusted oil can sculptures and a chicken with a Spanish sign. The restaurant continued with an enthusiastic low key feel when we walked through the door and were greeted with same blues and banjo music. 

When we went to order from the chalkboard menu, we were instantly disappointed. Where is the loose meat? Do they have sausage? What about bone-in meat that is not a rack of ribs? There was only a choice of ribs or sandwiches. 

I ordered a sandwich, thinking I could take the meat off of the bun. However, when my chicken and pork combo came out, there was such little meat on the bun that I felt compelled to eat the entire thing so I had something to fill my stomach. They only had one sauce, which I felt tasted fine, but my husband thought had too much vinegar. I will admit that the meat was very tasty as it was, with a nice flavor due to the smoking process. However, the hush puppies were nothing out of the ordinary, and the onion rings had a tasty beer batter, but no dipping sauce to complement. As a result, I felt myself drinking a lot of water because the meal was so dry.

My husband ordered the pork and beef combo with macaroni and cheese and the potato salad. The macaroni was not creamy, but baked dry and chewy. It came with two sandwiches, each with the same amount of meat that mine had. However, the price for the meat and the mediocre sides seemed a few dollars higher than I would have paid for it.

Overall, Buz and Neds is a fun place to go for an overpriced beer and a bbq sandwich. It has a great atmosphere and friendly service. However, if I am truly hungry for bbq, I am going to go elsewhere.