Roast Beef with Corn Bread

The recreated plate from our very own le réfectoire de sharpe, inspired by...


...a fine bistro in downtown Providence.

To be fair, the original featured a lovely blueberry compote instead of grape jelly; it wasn't actually roast beef it was foie; and the "cornbread" was actually a buttery toasted brioche.

But all that aside, this humble re-make didn't end up tasting all that bad. With a little creativity and a lot of free time we hope you'll find that playing with food can be fun, and might occasionally yield edible results.

Roast Beef with Corn Bread

2 packets of grape jelly
1 slice of roast beef
1 slice of cornbread
1 peach
1 pat of butter
1 tablespoon of honey
salad greens, for garnish

Mix the grape jelly up in a small bowl. Using a fork and/or your fingers, make a smear of grape jelly on a plate. Arrange the roast beef on top. Cut the cornbread into a circular disk using an empty cup and place next to the roast beef. Crumble the rest of the cornbread and sprinkle crumbs on the plate.

To make the peaches, slice a peach into a small bowl. Add butter and honey, and microwave for 1-2 minutes or until peaches are soft and butter and sugar has dissolved. Arrange peach slices on top of cornbread.

Garnish with small salad greens.

Brant's Ziti with Bacon and Peas

We received this fantastic recipe from Brant Hoffman, who put it together using V-dub ingredients!

Looking for some home-style, hearty, pseudo-Italian food? Look no further than the the savory flavors of this delectable, colorful creation...

Brant's Ziti with Bacon and Peas
1 bowl full of Ziti
1/2 ladle of Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup of cooked peas
2 teaspoons bacon bits
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
Pepper

Put the ziti (or any pasta of your choice really) in a bowl. Add the Alfredo sauce, peas, and bacon bits. Mix until toppings are evenly distributed. Transfer to a plate, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese and add pepper to taste.

Olive Oil Ice Cream Sundae

There's a delicious ice cream shop in San Francisco called BiRite Creamery. It has quality ice cream AND soft serve, and their caramel sauce is incredible...teetering on the brink of amazing flavor complexity and bitter burnt-ness. They have something called "Sam's Sundae" which combines chocolate ice cream, fruity olive oil, sea salt, and whipped cream. We've never tried it, but the idea of olive oil on ice cream has been fascinating to us. This sundae, created by Yanqiang Tan, combines oilve oil with the signature Ratty vanilla soft serve and rice krispies. The flavors of the olive oil and ice cream complement each other fabulously. Don't trust us, try it for yourself.

Olive Oil Ice Cream Sundae

by Yanqiang Tan

1 3.5 second swirl of vanilla ice soft serve

1 split second drizzle of olive oil

1 sprinkle of rice krispies

1. Get ice cream.

2. Drizzle with olive oil.

3. Sprinkle with rice krispies.

Charlesfield Wannabe Sandwich

The Ivy Room is such a classy place to eat lunch. Everyone has his or her favorite sandwich. For us, the clear winner is the Charlesfield. Don't let those Waterman lovers tell you otherwise. The combination of mushrooms, melted muenster cheese, tangy horseradish mayo, and a generous pile of Boar's Head roast beef make this sandwich perfectly saliva-inducing. We wouldn't change a thing about it...except maybe try to recreate it at the Ratty!

Charlesfield Wannabe Sandwich

created by Yanqiang Tan

2 slices pumpernickle bread

2 Tbsp mayo (can substitute horseradish sauce, or thousand island dressing)

2 slices meunster cheese

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup sliced roast beef

1 lettuce leaf

3 tomato slices

1. Put beef, mushrooms, and cheese in a neat stack on a small plate, and nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese is just melted.

2. Spread mayo on both slices of bread.

3. Layer the bread with the beef, lettuce, and tomato.

4. Cut in half and devour.