Espresso Style Recommends: Irish Pub, Constanta, Romania

I recently visited the Irish Pub in Constanta, Romania, my home town. It has long had a reputation for being one of the best places to eat in town. The relative notoriety and high standards are possible to uphold because of two reasons, in my opinion: one is that they are a franchise and therefor have to maintain a good joint and second because the notoriety of the brand is such that they attract a large number of people from out of town (note, the capital city, Bucharest) and, more important, expats and western business people.

That being said, let's get to the food and drink. We were a party of four, located in the non smoking area (not entirely separate, but good enough) for a semi festive lunch.

I arrived first and ordered an espresso.

First gold star they get for the attention of the waitress who asked me if i wanted my espresso normal or stretto (I already asked for a short one). So far, so good. The water was given as asked, not too cold, and served in nice tall glasses.

Then, when everybody was at the table we were served some fresh baked buns with Lupark (premium brand) butter. They were sooo good! We just ate them right away so I didn't have time for photos.

When it was time to eat, we ordered and the food was brought to us in reasonable time. We started with some salmon crostini, served with a generous helping of green salad, onions and tomato, dressed with a yogurt sauce.  It was good, regarding both taste and presentation.

The others had some eggplant dip and a lovely looking pumpkin cream soup with croutons that I never tasted.

For the main course I ordered a leg of duck (comfit) with orange and blood orange sauce. It was good, the meat fell wright off the bone and the little slices of orange were cut professionally and served without the little skins. The sauce a little too sweet, but ... who am I to complain. On the side were gratinated potatoes, cut in thin slices.

The misses had some carbonara, made with penne as a special request (in the menu were spaghetti) which she said was a little salty from all the parmesan cheese, but very tasty otherwise.

 The other couple had a roll of chicken meat with salmon in the middle (oddly tasting, strong fish taste, nice enough) with mashed potatoes and a serving of pasta with sea food and red sauce.

For desert we went for a chocolate and sour cherry roulade. That was good as long as you only had two teaspoons of it, otherwise it got too sweet.

Anyway, the place gets 4 (out of 5) stars for the food quality, and 4 as well for the service and atmosphere. The chairs were comfortable for eating and lounging (that tends to be a problem in some other places), the hall was populated enough not to feel lonely but not jam packed. The bar was well maned and worked fast and good. The waitress and helpers were also fast and polite and knew the menu. Smiles are important and we received them in proper moderation.
Not the least, the music was good (lounge style instrumental) and not too loud. I was told that it shifts towards a higher  bpm and volume in the evening. They have their own DJ. 

I recommend Irish Pub in Constanta with all confidence.

Tetsuya Ishida

Signaling the great (and disturbing) work of painter Tetsuya Ishida.

Quantum Levitation

Come the f...on! Quantum Levitation? Hell yeah!

Mushroom Soup

This is another adaptation recipe from Jamie Oliver's Cookbook Jamie's Dinners. In the soup chapter he gives us a mix mushrooms cream soup with at least three different kinds of mushrooms in it. It's a cream soup with some whole bits in it, too. The idea to make it came to me from the great loaf of bread that I just baked the other day. I could just imagine sinking a torn bit of bread in the mushroomy broth/cream and biting out of it!

INGREDIENTS:

• about 500 to 700 gr. mushrooms of as many types as you can find (wild ones are unbeatable in the taste dept. and porcini are the next best thing; I used two types of champignon - white and brown, and a third Chanterelle mushrooms);
• one large onion;
• few tablespoons olive oil;
• 2 cloves garlic;
• 1 inch cube butter;
• 1 liter water or chicken stock;
• salt, pepper, time, fresh parsley.

HOW TO MAKE:

Heat up some olive oil and the butter in a pan and add the onion (chopped fine). Add salt and then throw in the mushrooms cut into medium pieces (about 1 inch). Stir them around and add the finely chopped garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Stir and notice the mushrooms start to leak a lot of liquid. Add the time and cook on medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated (about 10 minutes). Don't burn anything. Add water or stock to cover and boil another 20 minutes. 

At this point use a hand blender to cream at least half the soup. The other half or quarter of the mushrooms you put aside and add them back into the pot after blending the rest. The proportions are up to you. I personally like to feel the whole bits of meaty mushrooms in the bowl.

Bring to a last boil, taste and adjust for condiments, then turn off the heat. Now add the fresh parsley, chopped. You can serve it in heated bowls with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil over it, and maybe some sour cream. Jamie Oliver's recipe calls for two tablespoons of mascarpone cheese mixed into the soup. I thought it would make it to rich and fatty so I didn't use it.

Good bread is a must. A little toasted slice of country bread makes the perfect addition to the hot bowl of mushroom soup. Enjoy!

Green Pea Chicken Stew

In our kitchen it's a habit to make and eat this stew every month or two months just because we enjoy it, it's easy to make, it's made with available ingreds and both me and my wife have known it all our lives.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 to 1 kg. green peas (fresh, frozen or canned);
• few tablespoons vegetable oil;
• 1 medium onion;
• 1/2 to 1 carrot;
• any 4 or 5 pieces of chicken (works with pork, veal);
• 1/2 can crushed tomatoes;
• salt, pepper, fresh dill, parsley, time, stock.

HOW TO MAKE:

Chop up the onion in a medium dice, and do the same with the carrot. Add the oil in a pot and sote the onion and carrot on a small heat untill tender and sweet. A little salt in the beginning helps the process. Stir often. After about 5 to 15 minutes, depending on your patience, add the chicken pieces and cover with stock (I used tap water). Bring it to a simmer and skim off the eventual foam that may form on top. Let it simmer for about half an hour more and then add the peas. If the peas are fresh or frozen, boil the stew for another half hour. If you use canned peas, 15 minutes will do, as they are already boiled. Also add less salt in this case.

Season it with salt, pepper, a little time.At the end (last 5 minutes of cooking) add half a can crushed tomatoes. Wright at the end add the fresh dill, chopped.

If the consistency of the stew isn't thick enough just add a spoonful of white flour dissolved in a cup of liquid from the pot. Ad it in a slow poor and stir continuously. It will instantly thicken the stew.

Remember: dill wright at the end, as you turn off the heat. Enjoy! 

 

Tomato Cheese Salad (Not Caprese)

When you want to throw together a quick tomato salad  as a side dish for meat or for eating just like that with a slice of good bread, then consider this version that uses a different kind of cheese than the well known mozzarella and spring onions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 medium tomatoes (as ripe as you can find);
• a few spring onions;
• crumbly white cheese;
• extra virgin olive oil;
• salt and pepper to taste.

HOW TO MAKE:

Cut the tomatoes discarding the green part where they were attached to the stem. Cut the spring onions as a medium chop. I did it o a diagonal, for looks. Brake the cheese into bite size bits and top the salad with them. Add the olive oil (about a spoonful per tomato or less) and season with salt and pepper. If the cheese is already salty (which it should be) use more pepper then salt. Mix well to get a nice sauce of olive oil, tomato juice, black pepper and little bits of cheese.

Now, about the cheese, use what you like but it would be better if it was a crumbly kind, not a soft creamy kind. Usually, the crumbly cheeses are a little tangy and fermented as well as salty. I used a so called "kneaded cheese" or "barrel cheese" from the Romanian mountains in the Sibiu region (notorious for the sheep growing).

Design Bathroom in Tropical House

Check out this magnificent tropical retreat. The design is great in my opinion, because it blends stylish furniture, paintings and other pieces with the classic feel of the old house creating the optimal balance of studied simplicity. I hope that whole sentence made sense! Anyway, great house. And what about that bathroom!

It's all in the current issue of the Lonny Magazine.