Dinner for the Girls: One WIN, One Lose

When I go home for lunch I usually turn on the Food Network. That time of day brings me Barefoot Contessa who I enjoy watching despite the over dramatized additions of her friends. (Way too forced and unrealistic.)

A few weeks ago I caught an episode in which she was hosting a dinner party and a few of the dishes could be prepped ahead of time. Seemed like a good score for me since I would be hosting a group of ladies to my house during the school week.

I strayed from preparing the entire menu but decided on the Arugula with Parmesan and the Rosemary Polenta. For the protein I chose her Engagement Chicken and for dessert a buddy of mine sent a blog post to me for a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and glaze (smart friend who knows my love of any chocolate/peanut butter combo).

I was SO disappointed in the Rosemary Polenta. It seemed everything was going well until the time I cut and placed in the pan. They completely feel apart. I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. I went back to read the comments and realized I wasn’t alone in my failure. It made for a really lousy presentation even though it tasted good. The recipe went straight into the trash.

The Engagement Chicken turned out well. The sauce seemed a bit off and when I went back to look it appears I forgot to add the chicken stock. Oops. I guess that is what happens when you continue to cook after drinking a few glasses of wine and are preoccupied with failing polenta.

The Arugula salad with Parmesan was really simple to put together and quite good. But the overall show stopper of the evening was the cake. I loved the blog post and the recipe modification; she was spot on about the softness of the cake and lessening the chocolate amount for the glaze so it would spread better. It really was a super cake!

Which I guess was good to end on a positive note; however I will have to host these ladies again to make up for the disastrous polenta.

Savor, Low-Country Cuisine

Yesterday was an exciting food day for me. I was introduced to a new restaurant I had never heard of in Virginia Beach, Savor. The excitement grew as I explored their website, Facebook page and Twitter account preparing myself for what I would order that evening for dinner.

Savor is located in Great Neck Village and offers “low country cuisine.” Vibrant flavors of southern cuisine known for its French, Spanish, Caribbean and African influence.

Ham & egg sweet potato biscuits

I walked in HOOOOONGRY so I planned to cover the spectrum from appetizers through dessert. For our appetizer we ordered the mini ham and egg sweet potato biscuits with black pepper maple butter; and fried green tomato napoleon with tomatoes (duh), crab cake and mozzarella and low country sauce. This girl doesn’t usually like tomatoes but I have to try everything once and I was actually surprised at how yummy this dish was. I guess it is true, if you fry anything it simply tastes better. As for the ham biscuits – pause – appreciative sigh. Those suckers were BANGIN’. Yes, I just used bangin’. I asked the waitress to have an order delivered to my house every morning for breakfast for the rest of my life. Alas, I woke up this morning and my request was denied. (It’s noon and I’m STARVING.)

For my entrée I ordered the low-country shrimp and grits. I felt like I just had to, perhaps positioning myself as the shrimp and grit expect for Hampton Roads. The rest of the table ordered the Savor eetouffee with crawfish, trinity, species, low-country gravy and saffron rice; and the Savor’s award winning crab cake with candied yam collard green stack and honey pecan remoulade. My dish was the best, score me for another out-order award. The eetouffee was good, really spicy. The judgment on the crab cakes was that they aren’t so “award winning.” The candied yams were super, sweet and delish, more of a dessert than a side dish which is a good way for anyone to enjoy their vegetables.

Low-country shrimp and grits

I was disappointed to find that the Pour Amore which is 20 layers of French crepes with pasty cream was unavailable for dessert. Upon the waitress’ recommendation we went with the white chocolate blueberry bread pudding with amaretto almond crème anglaise and found that a most delightful way to end our southern charmed meal.

I think Savor is new and may be working through a few opening/growing pains. Service was pleasant but a little slow; however it won’t stop me from going back again. It is a small place so you may want to consider reservations, especially for the weekends. It was pretty full on a Thursday night.

More excitement from yesterday included the realization that I have a “foodie friend.” How sweet right? I feel like I’m a pre-schooler on the first day and have shyly walked into class with the fortunate luck of having a little girl walk up and befriend me. Sure I have friends that love to eat but a “foodie friend” is one of those who knows and looks for the out-of-the-ordinary places to eat, watches the same food related shows as me and in this case – she actually takes charge to order the appetizers or group shares for the table. Usually that is my role. But it’s cool to have a “foodie friend.”

Since this weekend is father’s day I’ve suggested to my own very sweet pa that we try Savor’s brunch. More Savor news to come if that comes to fruition.