Writings on Wicked Wednesday

So it's been too long since my last post but then again I'm sure you're all dealing with the withdrawal....how, I'm not sure. I couldn't.

So today's will be an attempt at concise cohesion - we'll see how it goes....

Firstly, last Saturday my date and I descended upon Thunder Bay Grille in north Davenport on Hwy 61/Brady St. Admitedly I have friends who work for HOA restaurant group which also owns Johnny's in Moline and the famed Iowa Machine Shed, but that didn't skew my inaugural blog post of Johnny's nor will this review.

Let me say at this point, if you have not been to Thunder Bay in the last year or so, you should go. The interior decor, especially the bar area, has been vastly and tastefully updated and is now hip, exciting, and energetic - not found in many places locally.

To summarize the food, here's what we chose:

Cedar plank salmon with wild rice pilaf and Apricot dijon glazed bone-in pork chop (one or two chops) with yukon gold garlic mash. In a nutshell, it was all quite nice and very tasty. The basic executions were spot on - the salmon was moist, flaky, NOT overcooked/dry and the cedar crust was spot on. Even better was the pork; after judging a pork competition a few months ago I've seen the Good, the Bad, and the downright Hideous. This pork chop, thick with the bone in, was Beautiful; nicely pink to an acceptable medium rare and with a nicely done sear to lock in flavor. The sweetness of the apricot with the herbal heat of the mustard played very well together. As one who loves to experiment with sauces and combinations I found this nicely done. If I were to add anything to that appraisal it would be that some herbaceousness ala sage or rosemary perhaps would've added a welcoming earthyness to the glaze. All in all, you should check it out if you have not. While it's not fine dining, its menu and look are rustic and urban renewal epitomized - judge for yourself.

As for tonight's menu, simply put here's what you missed:

Maple bourbon glaze (infused with butter, brown sugar, honey, rendered bacon and cayenne pepper) reduced down and served upon bacon wrapped whole sage and herb breast of chicken, accompanied by bacon fat-rendered asparagus with hollandaise and rosemary cottage fries.

A few thoughts:

As we all know, anything with bacon is AWE-some. Adding basic flavor profiles like maple and brown sugar are no brainers. A little bourbon - actually more than a little bourbon - some honey, and a pinch or two of cayenne give it a bit more dimension. Other liquors like brandy could work as well. Rendering the bacon in the sauce reduction provided a savory element that, well, just F'ing works.
One thing with which I would experiment is adding some apricot to the mix or in place of the honey, just for an added flavor profile, and reduce the amount of maple syrup.

I could go on about hollandaise and the greatness of French Mother Sauces but that's for another time. After all I did say I'd be concise and cohesive.

Oops guess not. Damn. Better luck next time.

Read on friends, and bon appetit.