Cincinnati Pizza Quest- Ramundo's

Having tried many pizzas while living in a metropolitan city back in the day, pizza holds a special place in my heart. I don't eat it often but once in a while I get a craving for a damn good slice of the pie. One day when Liz of get in mah belly and I were trying to name one good pizza place in Cincinnati and couldn't, we knew we had a major undertaking at hand. We agreed to start a blogging project, for ourselves and for other Cincinnatians that feel the same way about pizza in the Queen city. And that's how Cincinnati Pizza Quest was born. The idea is to try a new pizza joint, mostly locally and independently owned, each month and blog about them. We will rate the sauce, crust, cheese, topping(s) and overall pizza on a 1- 5 scale, 5 being the best. Ambiance and service will not be rated but we will share any positives or negatives for either of those.

Our January pick was Ramundo's Pizzeria in Mount Lookout. I never knew this place existed until Liz mentioned it. After walking in, it's obvious the majority of their business comes from carry out and delivery. There were two high tables to grab a quick bite to eat and a large, long kitchen behind the counter. The service was amicable; they let us stand at the register counter to eat our hot-out-of-the-oven pizzas since the two tables were taken. There is also outdoor seating for those nice weather days.

Overall I thought my pizza was good, nothing exceptional but good. I give their sauce 3.5 out of 5. It was well flavored with spices and not sweet, a definite plus for me. The sauce was voted best sauce in 2006. The crust was a 2. I ordered the New York Style crust because I like to be able to fold my pizza in one hand and sadly their crust fell apart when folded. It was also bland in taste. My one topping (pepperoni) was a 3.5; tasty but a little disappointing with the greasy oil. Liz' cheese pizza on the other hand won me over. I give it 4.5 because it was properly seasoned with salt and oregano. The oregano stood out in each bite. The husband's supreme on regular (non new york style) crust tasted pretty good as well. We favored the thickness of his crust over our own.

the regular crust

Ramundo's is a hole in the wall and that's part of their charm. Even though the crust on mine didn't taste great, the sauce, cheese pizza and the service are worth returning for. Ramundo's gets 3 slices.

Snow storm = Happy Stock Making days

We’ve been hit with snow storms (on two separate occasions) in the last two weeks. You could even call them the blizzard(s) of 2009 since many companies closed down shop and we were all confined to the house. A bad thing? I don't think so. It's usually dreadful for most but I had an opportunity to sleep in, and cook wonderful meals all day.

Before I started the actual cooking, I made chicken stock for the first time. Yes, first time for a self proclaimed foodie and aspiring chef.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Olive Oil
1 bay leaf
6 whole black peppercorns
1 whole onion, cut into large cubes
2 celery ribs, washed and cut into large cubes
2 carrots, peeled and cut into large cubes
2 garlic cloves, cut in half
Chicken Carcass from a whole chicken or various drumstick and thigh bones (save poultry bones and/or carcasses after meals to make stock; they can be frozen for up to 6 months)
Water

Add olive oil (enough so the vegetables don't stick) to a large pot on medium heat, add the chopped onions, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Saute for 2 minutes then add celery and carrots. Saute for few more minutes, or until the vegetables are brown around the edges. Add chicken carcass and stir to combine. Cook for 2-4 minutes. Add enough water to cover. Turn up the heat to high to bring the liquid to boil. When bubbling on top, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 1 – 1 ½ hours. Skim the fat from the top.

I omitted salt so I can add precise amount of it in a recipe.

When it cools, pour the liquid in another large pot using a strainer. This step is to separate the vegetables and spices from the liquid. Using a wooden spoon, press the vegetables to release any unstrained liquid.
Pour the liquid one more time through a fine sieve to remove any solids.

Pour the stock in freezer friendly containers and freeze for up to 5 months. The stock can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

I used some that night for Mexican paella, refrigerated 2 cups for Hoppin’ John and froze rest of the stock. It was so easy to make that I have decided to make my own stock rather than buy pre-made. Try it, it’s rewarding and comforting.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup or not....

I had a head of cauliflower in my fridge, calling my name, when I found this recipe for Cream of Cauliflower Soup on epicurious. I hate to say it but it's been difficult to write about this soup. We both had such high hopes for it beacuse we made it on a blistery cold winter night, with saffron and diced onions and cream. And it doesn't get much fancier than saffron in this house...

Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Saffron - copied from epicurious

2 cups water
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon coarsely crumbled saffron threads
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 pounds cauliflower, cut into1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup half and half
Thinly sliced fresh chives

Combine 2 cups water and 2 cups low-salt chicken broth in medium saucepan. Bring mixture just to simmer. Remove from heat. Add saffron threads. Cover and steep 20 minutes.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-low heat. Add chopped onions and sauté until very tender but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add cauliflower pieces; stir to coat. Add saffron broth. Bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until cauliflower pieces are tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree cauliflower mixture in food processor until smooth. Transfer cauliflower puree to large saucepan. Stir in half and half and bring to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.) Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with sliced fresh chives and serve.

Like one of the reviewers said it was an okay soup that was bland and did not have hopes for seconds.

This one's going in the “tried it and didn’t care for it” file and leave it there. I believe it can be improved but with a bad taste in my mouth from the first round, I am going to leave the testing up to someone else.

The soup was so bad, even the picture looks awful; not really, it's just a terrible picture taken in the dark by the iPhone.

G Baileys in Mason

It was a double date night with dinner and a movie. We were debating between couple restaurants (new and old) in Mason before an 8pm show. As I was waiting for the husband to come home from work, I discovered G. Bailey’s opened in Encore’s old location and serves brick oven pizza. I’d been to Encore once for dinner long time ago and remembered leaving happy and buzzed; the chocolate martini was delightful. I also learned G Baileys is owned by the owners of the Golden Lamb and we’ve dined there for Valentine’s Day and loved it.

Every so often, I get a craving for pizza and this was the night. After arriving at 6:30, our party of four was seated 15 minutes later- not bad for a Friday night. (They only take reservations for party of 8 or more). There are plenty of booths and tables for seating. They have a large wine cooler housed close to the kitchen (the friend said this is from the Encore days). Overall the appearance is pleasant, with a dash of suburban restaurant attempting to be upscale.

For first course, I ordered “their version” of the chicken noodle soup and someone else got an insalata capresse. The soup was very salty. The server offered another bowl and informed me the second bowl would be from the same pot; I kindly refused. The insalata capresse, on the other hand, was magnificent; perfectly dressed and seasoned.

(my sad attempt at taking a picture of the pizza, discreetly, with an iPhone)

For dinner three of us ordered pizzas and one ordered halibut with vegetables. The pizzas arrived soon after the first course plates were cleared. The pizzas are small with 6- 8 slices. My grilled chicken pizza tasted all right, nothing extraordinary. The crust was thin (my preferred style) but it tasted doughy and lacked a bold oven grilled flavor. The toppings were bland, lacked salt and garlic, and unfortunately with a bad crust made for an okay pizza. I was disappointed in their attempt at brick oven style pizza. Maybe because growing up, we regularly ate at a local joint that cranked out more pizzas from their brick oven than you can shake a stick at. So even if I had higher expectations others in the party agreed the pizza lacked substance. The halibut, a main course, is served with a three tier salad and potatoes. The tiered serving style was fun and unique; it came with herbed cottage cheese, onions and a variety of peppers and the basics of a mixed green salad. The cottage cheese with fresh herbs was a hit; a simple and brilliant idea that I’ll use at home. The halibut guy didn’t complain or rave about the fish or the potatoes so I assume they were good but not memorable.

They have other dishes on the menu like roasted chicken, pork tenderloin, pasta and sandwiches that may be worth trying. This place is still new to the restaurant scene in Mason so hopefully they’ll fix the glitches soon.

The movie? Doubt. It’s definitely worthy of the award nominations. We saw the play at Cincinnati Playhouse and preferred that over the big screen. To no one’s surprise…

Biscuits and Gravy with friends in the New Year

One of many new traditions for 2009 is to cook simple brunches, often. Keeping in tune with that, we invited couple friends over for brunch on New Year’s day weekend. At first I wasn’t sure about the menu and when I suggested biscuits and gravy, the friend said her husband loved biscuits and gravy. Since my husband loves them too, biscuits and gravy would be our first cooked meal with friends in 2009.

Maybe you can help me figure out my husband’s obsession with biscuits and gravy. It’s a southern dish that probably got its start in an older woman’s kitchen. On a lazy Sunday morning, this woman woke up to leftover biscuits from the previous night’s (fried chicken and biscuits) dinner and had preserved sausage links from the meat season. Hypothetical scenario that could be true, will you please just play along? So with a cup of milk, flour, salt and pepper she invented gravy for the biscuits, served them to the family and called it a day. I bet she had an easy morning that morning compared to all the other days she’d spent peeling and grating potatoes for the hash, or deep frying catfish or better yet frying balls of dough and sprinkling sugar on them.


Like that woman, I also had a lazy start to the morning. I first made the dough for biscuits, following Alton Brown’s recipe. I’d seen him make these with his grandma in one episode and knew I had to try them.

Alton Brown’s Biscuits (not pictured; those biscuits are from before Alton gave me a wonderful lesson on biscuit making. From a previous life, I guess you can say)

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening – I used vegetable shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. (The recipe states the measurements make 12 biscuits and unfortunately mine only yielded 6. I made another batch of dough for more. Or my cutter may have been too big. (I used a water glass since I don’t have the 2 inch cutter. I’ve learned my lesson.) After baking the biscuits, I realized the water glass proportion made giant biscuits. Something was a mistake on my part). Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes. (I baked mine for 30 because they were giant biscuits). Other than fixing my cutting measurements, I wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe. The gravy’s real simple too.

Sausage Gravy

Vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter, divided (use for turkey sausage or lean pork sausage)
1 lb sausage- ground or links, remove casing if using links. (Ground turkey or pork is fine; until recently, I’ve bought ground turkey tubes (in the frozen foods isle) but since the start of the CSA, we’ve been on a pork kick. And by we I really just mean the husband.) Make sure the ingredients consist of water and meat, nothing else!
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups of milk, room temperature
Salt
Freshly ground pepper, lots of it

Add oil (one coat) and 2 tablespoons of butter (if using) to a large pan on medium heat. When the butter melts, drop in the ground sausage. Break up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon as soon as it hits the pan. I like small to medium sized chunks (pictured). Season with salt and pepper. As the meat cooks, the color changes from pink to gray. When the meat is about 60 percent cooked, add the flour, and combine so most of the meat is coated with flour. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until there is a nutty aroma from the pan. (When flour is raw it doesn’t smell like anything, and when it’s cooked, it releases nutty smells.) Stir in milk and bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency. Stir in the last 2 tablespoons of butter, taste, season with salt and pepper, if necessary and serve over baked biscuits.

Actually, my husband was born and brought up in India and didn’t know a thing about biscuits and gravy. His definition of biscuits is the American cookie and gravy is the sauce that comes with an Indian vegetable or meat dish that’s scooped up with naan or rice. Why a grown Indian man goes ga-ga for southern style biscuits and gravy- I don’t know, but I do know that when they are on our menu, he’s like a kid in the candy store. Regardless, I think these satisfied the cravings of both husbands, and wives.