Once again, Atlanta area food bloggers are invited to get together in a casual, informal environment, grab a bite to eat and get to know each other. This isn’t limited to just food bloggers – we’ve got some devoted followers and food fanatics that hang out with us online and you’re welcome too.

This is a free, informal gathering. We’re trying out Eventbrite to see if we can have a better handle on how many people will show up. Please SIGN UP HERE if you think you’ll attend – let me know if you have to cancel (I don’t make reservations, but it will help the restaurant out if I can let them know how many people will be there).

The Where

This time up: Colombian! We’re going to La Casona. The only downside I’ve found to this place is that they close kind of early (around 8PM). The upside is the food – a great introduction to Colombian if it’s your first time. La Casona also serves beer and aguardiente!

The Fine Print

The is an open social gathering. There is very little planning, no management and no control. The meeting place is public – the environment is what it is. When I did the first dinner I posted a few rules (some people told me they were pretty harsh), but they were intended to minimize the discomfort of meeting strangers in a strange environment. They don’t all apply here, and I’ve softened them for this “eat up” but some are common sense.

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. If you haven’t been to La Casona before (or you aren’t familiar with Colombian food, or you don’t speak Spanish), it may be a bit confusing/overwhelming. Don’t worry – the proprietors are friendly and some of us may be able to help – a bit.
2. Big one here – pay for your own food (BRING CASH!). I’m not providing food, etc. I’m just looking to meet people with some common ground! This event is Dutch. My previous rule was: “If you show up and forget to bring cash – you work it out with the owners/cops – I don’t know you.” You know, as a group we’d probably help you out, but don’t put your new friends in that position… BRING CASH! The restaurant accepts cards, but don’t make them run a bunch of small transactions. Just bring cash and make it easy on everyone.
3. Please – no whining. If you like the place and the food (and I hope you do), great. Even better – write about it. If you hate it – enjoy the company and help me pick out a different place for the next one!

More cold, rainy weather in Atlanta means more comfort food. And nothing spells comfort like a 6 million degree stone bowl with a side of chili paste. Dolsot bibimbap (mixed rice in a stone bowl) was a distant memory that I needed to refresh.

Woo Nam Jeong served a couple of banchan I wasn’t familiar with – apple salad, and seaweed with apple (surprisingly tasty).

Duk mandu gook (Rice cake and dumpling cake) was light and chock full of rice cakes (duk) – would have preferred a few extra mandu…

Dinner was finished with bowls of soonjungwa (saenggang cha?), a cold tea of ginger, cinnamon, honey and pine nuts with dried persimmon.

Woo Nam Jeong
Stone Bowl House
5953 Buford Hwy
Atlanta, GA 30340-1375

Wow, I just noticed that I have a lot of posts that I started and never completed (I have a few dating back to last summer….). Between a cold and a few deadlines, my updates kind of dropped off here, so I’ll try to catch up and get some of these pushed out.

This is one of those meals spawned by a fast run through the grocery store (Kroger, I believe) – I didn’t have much time and I definitely didn’t have any patience for the shopping cart demolition derby that goes on around rush hour. It being winter, greens are in season (mustard, kale, collards, etc.) and the giant mountain that had just been stocked caught my eye. The mustard greens looked fresh, so that was the start. Mustard is a strong, peppery green – even a little bitter. It can overpower your pallet, so I think it needs to be served with things that have enough flavor to stand on their own – salmon seemed a good choice.

The salmon was rubbed with a paste of minced ginger, Madras curry paste and a bit of salt and pepper, and then pan seared in a bit of olive oil and butter. After cooking, I let the salmon rest and cooked off a bit more butter for a beurre noisette (brown butter).

Greens are easy to prepare. Trim them of any tough stalks, chop them coarsely and toss in a sink of cold water to wash (greens always have a lot of sand and mud in them).  Put about a tablespoon of oil in a large pot, toss in a chopped onion, a clove or two of garlic and some kind of chili (serrano, jalapeno, sambal oelek, etc.). After the onion has sautéed for a bit, add the greens. I also like to throw in a smoked ham hock for flavor (these are cheap and you can freeze them to have on hand any time – added bonus is eating the hock when the greens are done…).  A bit of salt and pepper, then add just enough water to come to the top of the greens. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat simmer – I’ve gone anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Cooking time is really driven by how tough your greens are -  other than that it just intensifies the flavor of the liquid (pot liquor).

Yes, that was in my house when I moved in – I replaced it with a vintage Jenn-air…

OK, some of you may have noticed a new item in the sidebar titled “DinnerBell Twitter Feed”, just below the “About” link. At this point it’s just an experiment – meaning it could work out well and lead to wonderful things, or it could go terribly wrong and somebody could lose a limb.

The first thing to note, is that I’m a Twitter hater. Can’t stand it, think it’s stupid. I’ve spent enough time on it, around it and in it for that to be a well thought out statement, not a flippant remark. But, here I am trying it again.

OK, on to the the NOT well thought out idea (honest – I couldn’t have spent more than about 4-5 minutes thinking about this. To this point, this post has taken longer to write that the consideration I put into this).

I’ve set up a Twitter account called DinnerBell. The experiment is that (on occasion) when I get hungry and feel like searching out some ethnic food, I’m going to post to Twitter a time and location. You’re welcome to meet me there, post back a better/alternate place, etc.

This being an ill-thought out/ill-advised idea, I’m making up a few rules as I type this. This is supposed to be a fun, social idea – the following isn’t meant to sound harsh, but we’re all strangers so, if you decide to participate/show up:

ME:

1. I will post enough info for you to figure out where a place is (full name of restaurant, maybe street name – can’t promise a full address – Google is your friend).
2. I’ll try to post 30 minutes to an hour in advance – maybe more.
3. I carry no cash or valuables.
4. I’ll typically post lunch or dinner, occasionally late night – breakfast will be rare (I like to get up when the sun is warm).
5. I will probably change/break the rules, etc. as I go along – but I’ll try to let everyone know.
6. I reserve the right to back-out/cancel at the last minute. That doesn’t mean you have to.
7. I have nothing to prove. I’m not out for “weird” food experiences. If I’m eating pig skin/ears or jellyfish – it’s because I like it – it’s not to impress.
8. I am not tech support for Twitter, WordPress or the Internet in general.

YOU:

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. When you try a new restaurant, either know what you’re getting into or be willing to suspend certain inhibitions (NOTE: common sense should never be suspended). Ethnic menus are rarely translated well, and rarely will your server be able to translate any better. Go for it or try something else. (e.g., Grabbed Lamb – the dish was traditionally eaten with the hands, get it?; Pig Funckle – that’s a typo – should be Knuckle; Egg with Person – your guess is as good as mine).
2. No whining. I’m not responsible for your experience. If you like a place, great. If you hate it, too bad.
3. Pay for your own food. If you show up and forget to bring cash – you work it out with the owners/cops – I don’t know you.
4. Don’t be (too) creepy. I understand that everybody can be a little weird, but come on…
5. Don’t be an asshole. (Actually, it’s a free country – you can be all the asshole you want – just keep it to yourself or sit at another table). ** I should clarify what I mean by this. Reference item #1. Show a bit of respect to the people preparing and serving your food. Don’t make particular demands, and if you order something that’s not what you expect – grin and bear it – you might like it. Otherwise, share it with others or take it home to the dog.
6. If you don’t like/agree with any of the above – find a different sandbox to play in.

If you’re a Twitter user and want to play along – just follow DinnerBell. If you’re NOT a Twitter user, I’m making the assumption that a) you can read, and b) you know to put the round block in the round hole. You should be able to figure this out. If you follow DinnerBell (and are not a spammer), I’ll follow you back.

One of the difficulties with a lot of the online recipes that I find appealing is that they focus on some pretty high-end and/or refined ingredients. Unfortunately, my schedule (and oftentimes, my budget) doesn’t allow me to spend half a day wondering farmer’s markets for heirloom vegetables and handmade sausages. Be that as it may, one of the lessons I’ve learned is that a good recipe will stand on it’s own, even when substituting more pedestrian elements.

Case in point – I recently stumbled across a recipe for Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Sage Sausage & Baby Leeks over at Food Rockz. As much as I love heirlooms – good luck finding them. Whole Foods had a variety pack of small ones for 9 kajillion dollars (no price, so I assume the worse) – I ended up at Kroger, looking for the biggest, least abused I could find. The main downside is that the Kroger tomatoes are relatively flavorless. No baby leeks either, but WF did have some smaller, less wooden ones in the bin. Pork sausage with sage was only to be found at Kroger (and it was definitely not artisinal or made from smiling, happy pigs raised in hammocks).

I’m sure the end result was not as flavorful as the original recipe, but for a quick meal on Halloween, it’s a hard one to beat. Definitely will be trying this again when I run across some good heirlooms…

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This has to be one of the best pasta sauces I’ve ever made – no recipe, nothing fancy – it just lets the ingredients speak.

• 1/2 lb pork belly, cut into lardons (about 1/4 strips – skin and all)
• 1/2 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 or 6 Roma tomatoes – I combined canned and fresh (a little overripe is best)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Basil
• Parsley
• Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper

Saute the pork in a pan until it’s brown and starting to get crispy. Remove the pork, but leave the fat in the pan (there won’t be too much – I had about a tablespoon). Saute the garlic and onion in the fat. Once the onion becomes translucent, then add the tomatoes and herbs, salt and pepper and a bit of sugar.I let it simmer for a few minutes, then added the pork while the pasta was cooking.

After about 5 minutes, most of the liquid from the tomatoes had reduced down, so I added 1/2 cup of chicken stock (homemade) to thin it out. TIP: Taste constantly – as the liquids reduce and flavors concentrate you need to pay attention so you can compensate – too acid, add more sugar, etc. I always finish off the pasta in the pan with the sauce. Cook it till right before al dente, then add it in. The liquid in the sauce will complete the cooking and some of the flavours will be absorbed into the pasta. Also, some of the starch from the pasta water will help thicken the sauce (don’t drain the pasta – lift it out of the water with tongs or a pasta insert – it’s OK to bring some of the cooking water along). Do a final taste for salt right after you add the pasta (remember, you’re supposed to have salt in your pasta water…).
Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

OK, this is a new topic. Splurge on a hunk of real cheese – never, ever buy that dried out grit in the green can. Also, notice that I didn’t say “fresh” parmigiano – I hate it when recipes call it that. It’s aged for 12 months, so “fresh” just doesn’t make sense. And, if possible, try to get a hunk that has some rind on it – this is the most fragrant part of the wheel and has the best flavour (don’t worry, the rind won’t go to waste – you can use it in soups, etc.) [end cheese rant]

Finally, with warm weather, we get some decent produce. It’s hard to believe coming from a hardcore carnivore, but the first thought I had on seeing fresh green beans in the market today was, “That’s dinner.” Just roasted green beans with smoked sea salt.

A bit of olive oil, 450° oven, 20 minutes until they shrivel and brown and sprinkle with salt. Simple, fast and incredible.