I need to hang out in Parma more often. All kinds of great places to go.

When I met Bắc at the Velvet Tango Room a few months ago, he said that his goal was to create a place where you can get an appetizer, a drink and a dinner for around $20. He did a good job. The menu is structured in such a way that you’ve got an array of options that meets this goal, and an equal array for a diner who wants to shell out a bit more. There’s even a custom cocktail menu (most run around $7), and $2 PBR’s that are $1.50 during happy hour.

I wanted to get everything on the menu, but whittled it down to the Banh Mi sandwich ($8) or the pad thai ($11). The Banh Mi sandwich sounds delicious, so I’ll get that next time I go there. I got the pad thai, “family-hot”, and since Bắc’s family is in the kitchen making the food, this was hot. Also, since Bắc’s family is in the kitchen, the hotness was such that it enhanced rather than overpowered the flavor of the pad thai. The spring roll appetizer ($5) was also amazing. Fried just enough, but not greasy, the internal bits were chopped finely enough that you didn’t pull them all out when you took a bite, and the roll had enough tensile strength that it didn’t disintegrate once one end was bitten off.

Look, I can’t emphasize enough that Bắc’s family is in the kitchen making the food. So we’re talking generations-old family recipes here.

Since today is Chinese New Year, we were even served complimentary coconut jien duy (a sesame seed dumpling) after dinner.

Bắc hits all of the restaurant sweet spots. Go there.

• 4 batches of Art of Darkness Brownies
• 3 batches of chocolate-dipped pretzel rods
• 12 pounds of fudge (soon to be 16)
• 4 batches of 7-layer bars
• a dozen Best of 2009 CDs

The place would be called The WTF BBQ. It would serve trompe-l’œil food. Mexican spaghetti made with corn noodles, chorizo meatballs and chipotle tomato sauce. Mediterranean tacos made with kibbee and fattoush. The pulled pork is fish. Cheeseburger pizza. You get the idea.

I am a genius.

• 1# kielbasa, sliced
• 1 box frozen pierogies
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 8 oz. frozen corn
• 2 T. butter

Recipe

1. Put the butter in a 13x9 inch casserole dish and stick it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°
2. Prep the other ingredients, and toss them together in a large mixing bowl.
3. When the butter is melted, remove from the oven and make sure the bottom of the dish is fully coated.
4. Put the pierogies in the dish.
5. Layer the other stuff on top.
6. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 40–50 minutes.

Brown Bag Burgers near Great Boredom Mall is another tasty little eatery with a mural on the wall. Although their burgers aren’t the Best in Cleveland, they are the exact perfect size for eating, leaving you full but not stuffed, satiated, not begging for more. That’s a hard balance to strike.

Pecan Pie v. 1.2

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 C. sugar
• ½ t. salt
• 1/3 C. melted butter
• 1 C. fake maple syrup
• 1 C. finely chopped pecans for mix
• whole pecans for topping the pie
• 1 t. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Mix everything together in a medium mixing bowl.
Line a 9″ pie pan with the dough and bake for 5 minutes at 450°; remove and change oven to 375°.
Pour pie mixture into crust.
Cover entire top with whole pecans.
Bake for around 45 minutes.

I found the Apple and Tart Cherry pie recipe on Epicurious, posted there from Bon Apétit’s November 1997 issue. Cardamom was a great and interesting spice to use, a first time for me. Although it looks like mouse crap when you de-pod it, it smells delicious after it has been sufficiently pestled and will be often added to my hot chocolate this winter.

• 3 C. gnocchi
• 11 oz. broccoli florets
• 6 T. olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 t. chili oil
• 1 12-14oz can artichoke hearts, drained
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 T. fresh Italian parsley, chopped [garnish]
• grated Parmesan to taste

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until the gnocchi is al dente. Add the broccoli for the last 3 minutes, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and chili oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and sauté the garlic for 1 minute.
3. Add the pasta, broccoli, and artichoke hearts and cook for 2 minutes until hot.
4. Season and sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan.
5. Chow down.

Gone in sixty seconds.

The bike ride downtown was uphill and into the wind both ways, but fun nonetheless. As long as the weather keeps, I’ll be that jackass on a bike in dress clothes. Tremonter and Drupal are giving me a big headache. It’s a piece of crap program, but as far as I can tell its the only one out there that sorta does all the things I want it to. Unfortunately, whenever they upgrade the version, it breaks all the third party stuff. WordPress, how I love thee.