October Specials at Bear

Photo credit: Bradley Hawks

Loving all the attention Bear has been getting lately through their interesting foodie collaborations and most recently through a nice piece in this month's Edible Queens, I was happy to see that they've got interesting food specials this month.  With all that hype, which the restaurant lives up to, it's nice to know that they're mixing things up and offering some great deals for people to come in and enjoy their food.  Here are this month's specials:

October Specials at Bear:

Wednesdays
$18 - Include 2 house pork sausages, sauerkraut, smashed potatoes and a pumpkin pie.  All this also comes with an ice cold Yuengling beer

Tuesday - Friday
$25 - 3-course dinner special

Saturday/Sunday
$15 - brunch includes coffee, toast and your choice of entree

Bear - 12-14 31st Avenue, Long Island City NY 11106
917.396.4939
N/Q Train to Broadway
www.bearnyc.com

Fridge Clean-Out Pasta

I’ve been on the road so much lately, that it’s been a while since I’ve made a home cooked meal, and quite frankly, I miss that. Right before our Cali trip, I was eager to get rid of a few things in the fridge and the pantry, so I made my own version of what I call the “fridge clean-out pasta.” Basically consisting of a few random ingredients that surprisingly paired well together, I created a dish that my dining companions coined as “restaurant quality.” They may have just been being kind, but I must admit that it was tasty. Here’s the recipe, which you can change around based on what you have in the house.

Fooditka’s Fridge Clean-Out Pasta

Ingredients (serves 3)
1 package of whole wheat pasta, such as spaghetti
1 cup of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 pieces of Calabresa Brazilian sausage (or any sausage you have on hand), chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
2 big handfuls of basil
1 large garlic clove
Pine nuts or pumpkin seeds
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Sautee onion in a large non-stick skillet with olive oil, until softened. Add mushrooms and sausage, season lightly with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, or until slightly browned. Add the tomatoes at the very end, until slightly softened.

In the meantime, make the pesto. Place the basil and the garlic clove in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add olive oil and the nuts or pumpkin seeds, until the mixture has a creamy consistency.

Combine the pasta with the cooked veggies and add the pesto. Feel free to add a ½ cup of pasta water to form a sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with a fresh basil sprig.

Fridge Clean-Up Pasta

Since Dan and I are leaving for vacation soon, I'm trying to be as resourceful as I can with the items still left in our fridge.  Whipping up this "fridge clean-up" pasta dish, it did a good job of tiding us over while at the same time using lots of left over veggies and some Brazilian pork sausage too, for some protein.  I harvested my basil plants too, as you can see and picked off all their leaves to create a quick, homemade pesto.  Hope you enjoy it as well, and make your own personal renditions.

Fridge Clean-Up Pasta 

Ingredients (serves 3)

For the pasta:
1 lb of whole wheat spaghetti pasta
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Small handful of kalamata olives, halved
1 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 medium sized link of pork sausage, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped

For the pesto:
2 cups of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
Pine nuts or pumpkin seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Directions:
Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.

Sautee the onions, sausage and the mushrooms together.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  Sautee until all the ingredients are golden brown and then add the tomatoes and olives and cook for another 5 minutes until the tomatoes just soften.

In the meantime, prepare the pesto by putting all the ingredients into a food processor and pulsing it until it's well combined and forms a paste.

Add the pasta directly into the sauteed medley and toss well.  Add in the pesto and combine again, adding in a bit of pasta water to smooth it out as needed.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Porkfest at Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden is Back

It's been quite a while since Porkfest has come around to Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, but it's officially back this weekend and I wanted to tell you all about it.  Attending this event a while back, and loving it, I recommend it to all you hard core pork lovers who will relish in a special pork enhanced menu.  Expect Eastern European specialties such as pork & barley soup, pork goulash, a breaded and fried pork cutlet and more.  Dessert will not be porky but still delicious.  Here's more info:

Friday, February 17th - 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. (featuring a live band)
Saturday, February 18th - noon to 11 p.m.
Sunday, February 19th - noon to 10 p.m.

If you choose to order ahead of time and take stuff home, you can get:

Jiternice/white sausage...$5/piece
Kroupova Jelita/blood sausage and barley...$5/piece
Tlacenka/head cheese...$10/lb

Hope to see you there!

Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden - 29-19 24th Avenue, Astoria NY 11102
718.274.4925
N/Q Train to Astoria Blvd 
www.bohemianhall.com