Goat Cheese, Leek, Chanterelle, Pear Pizza.....

The other day I was reviewing a few blogs on my favorites.  

The toast, pictured below, looked wonderful and

I thought it would adapt well to a pizza. 

It did, sort of….

 I thought the combination of

 strong earthy, sweet, sour flavors would be fun. 

Unfortunately, the earthiness of the mushrooms

and the sweetness of the leeks

 were overshadowed by the pear

(I added it raw)

and the goat cheese.

Plus I think it needed more salt.

http://www.happyolks.com/leek-pear-chanterelle-toasts/

Ingredients….

Leeks, pear, goat cheese, cipollini onions …

Chanterelle/ girolle mushrooms

sautéing with cipollini onions

Leeks.....

Topped with goat cheese

followed by

mushroom leek mix and fresh pears…

I think the toasts look better.......

Oh well, the best ……

a casa fox........"a rustic refuge from the busy city streets with a Latin twist"........

On Black Friday my wife and I with two friends took the train to NYC
 to have lunch at a young hip small trendy restaurant
on the Lower East Side. 

Fortunately, LES is not a Black Friday mecca. 

But at hip and trendy there was an hour and a half
wait for seats at communal tables.

Sorry hip or not……

We left and noticed what turned out to be a charming
 Latin American restaurant around the corner.
The chef/owner/waitress also turned out to be charming and lots of fun….
But it was nearly empty. 

Well, rather than walking and walking we said ok……..
They had sangria, beer and empanadas...
Not a bad start
It is located at

173 Orchard Street
Between Houston and Stanton

http://acasafox.com/
The next five pictures are from Facebook...

 The pictures below I shot.......

They sell thier own brand of...

chipotle mayonnaise and spicy picante sauce

I should have purchased some...

Next time.....

I ordered the empanada sampler....
One each of....
Pulled pork + caramelized onion

Chorizo + aged Manchego

Queso blanco

Herb chicken + olive

Spiced beef + tomato

Portobello + smoked Gouda

with

Chipotle mayonnaise

I liked the pork and the chorizo best....

My friend and my wife/best friend....

Tostones (Fried Plantains) with chipotle mayo,

avocado and heart of palm salad with lemon,

portabella and smoked Gouda empanada,

pastel de carne (kind of a ground beef shepherd’s pie)…….

All were very good…..

A beer from Barcelona Spain….

with tostones

A Costa Rican beer…..

Guess we liked the

sangria, chunky guacamole,
 pico de gallo,

black bean molido
 and

plantain chips....

And the chocolate banana filled empanadas

with dulce de leche (caramel)…..

For Ken..........

My best friend/twin/soul mate/partner in food adventures/
pizza buddy past away recently.….
He is a friend who will always make me smile…….

I miss him and his pizza night....

An open house for any friend/child/lost soul/

his kids friends-minus his kids sometimes /anyone,who needed a home

and his wonderful thin crusts…..

 In the memory of our fun times..... 

   This is an adaptation of his tomato brie pizza...

Roasted tomatoes, brie, speck, yellow grape tomatoes and arugula.  

Squash me..............

  Sage, Vermont maple syrup roasted squash, glazed pecans,

apple chicken sausage (sorry no turkey),

 craisins, mozzarella, parsley....

  Caramelized onions…..

Ready to Bake.....

 Baked and ready for more  herbs......

Topped with fresh parsley, craisins, glazed pecans and sage....

Clam Bake ...........Pizza.......

Sautéed corn and garlic in bacon fat

Chopped clams, bacon, parsley and scallions

 Baked.........
 topped with scallions, parsley and dusted
with chipotle chili pepper

Cut.......

Lindengracht Market, Amsterdam.........

Each Saturday, 232 market stands are built along the whole street.

Lindenmarkt - originally just a Jordaan neighborhood market, existing since 1895 and since 1922 it is so called day market – it is open up into the late afternoon hours.

Today, together with the nearby Farmer’s Market on the Nordermarkt, (both open on Saturday);
Lindenmarkt is probably the best food market in Amsterdam.

Taken in front of a used record store

 between the two markets.....