The Century House

The other night the whole family (unfortunately minus Jordan) was together and decided to head out in the middle of a severe thunder storm and pouring rain to go to dinner at The Century House; located at 997 State Route 9 in Cohoes, NY.  The Century House is a hotel, restaurant, and banquet hall that has been around for 220 years on the same original plot of land.

In all of my years living in upstate NY I have driven by this place hundreds of times and never thought to go there for dinner - mostly because it appears as more of a banquet hall than a restaurant. I was definitely curious about what it had to offer, and excited to try it. Obviously on our way there it went from sprinkling to a straight downpour, which clearly didn't let up by the time we arrived... and did we bring umbrellas? nope. Needless to say, even with our 10 ft run from the car to shelter we all got pretty soaked.

Once we finally got inside and waited for my mom to make her big escape from the car we shook off and headed to our table. My first impression of the restaurant was that it was a little dated on the inside. It was just something about the dark wooden chairs, and the very dim lighting, it seemed homey but almost log cabin like. There was live entertainment so the volume was on the louder side, but not as bad as 677 Prime. The restaurant was pretty crowded which surprised me, and it remained crowded for the duration of our dinner. This restaurant definitely has a bit of an older crowd (there was a woman celebrating her 97th birthday that night) so if you are looking for a trendier spot this might not be for you.

Our waitress came by to take our drink orders, and we perused the menus. For appetizer's my dad ordered the French Onion Soup, I ordered the White Asparagus Soup of the day, and my mom ordered the Century House Wedge Salad.

White Asparagus Soup

The white asparagus soup was absolutely delicious. The texture of the soup was extremely pleasing, and the portion was just enough that I actual finished the whole bowl. The asparagus flavor really came through without being too overpowering.

Classic French Onion Soup

The french onion soup was a traditional french onion soup with tons of that creamy crunchy cheese on top - my dad really enjoyed it.

Wedge Salad

The salad was iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, shaved red onion, cracked black pepper, pancetta crisp and avocado ranch dressing. My mom enjoyed her wedge salad, but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the presentation at all. First of all - too many red onions and not enough pancetta (or BACON).... Also, the cucumbers are all different sizes, and why is the dressing on the opposite side of the plate? Definitely not my favorite presentation for this kind of salad.

For dinner, I ordered the Peppered Hudson Valley Margret Duck Breast, My dad and Kayla ordered the Light House Shore Dinner, and my mom ordered the Veal Oscar.

Peppered Duck

The duck was crusted with both black and pink peppercorns, served with a smoked blackberry duck sauce and a crackling and confit wild rice cake.

I enjoyed the duck, however it was a little too dry. I asked for the duck to be served medium rare, and I was hoping for more pink on the inside. The sauce was nice, but there was a lot of it, and it tasted more like BBQ sauce than blackberry, but overall I enjoyed the consistency of it. The cake was okay, I had a few bites of it but it just didn't make me want to keep eating it. I'm disappointed because I love duck and it's hard to find it cooked in this manor (usually it's served as a whole breast), so I was really looking forward to it - I just wish it was juicier.

Light House Shore Dinner

The Light House Shore Dinner was broiled lobster, pan seared scallops, crab stuffed jumbo shrimp, and whipped potatoes with veg. This dish missed the mark a little. The scallops were pretty good, but the potato was bland and it just didn't seem like a great plate of seafood. My dad seemed to enjoy, it for the most part, but my sister wasn't really a big fan. I think her and I have become seafood snobs after living in Boston and being around great, fresh seafood all the time, but at the same token I don't think restaurants should serve an entire seafood dish unless they can deliver.

My mom's Veal Oscar was veal scaloppini, poached asparagus, topped with lobster and scrap meat, a hollondaise sauce, and whipped potatoes. 

The asparagus was done nicely, and had a beautiful green shade that added nice color to the dish. The overall flavor of this dish was nice, however I found the veal to be a little dry. I think this is because it was such a thin cut of veal that it would be almost impossible not to overcook it. My mom seemed to enjoy the majority of the dish though. 

Finally for dessert we ordered the Baked Alaska. It was a coconut sponge cake, with a passion fruit sorbet center, with torched swiss meringue and fruit coulis. The presentation was very appealing, but it just wasn't my favorite. My mom liked it, however the whole texture of the dish seemed a little off - for me personally. I will say that I would never order this type of dessert, simply because it's not really my cup of tea, so it may be a win for others ... just not for this girl. 

I have to say that I'm kind of disappointed with the way this review turned out... but I think my family needs to take some of the blame. One of my big issues is the number of entrees on this menu. There are so many different choices that I think the restaurant set themselves up for failure. I can tell from my asparagus soup that there are definitely some hidden gems in this menu, and I think this was a case of poor ordering. If I were to do it again I would love to go back and try the pot pie, and perhaps the potato wrapped cod, and maybe even the lamb. I think that this restaurant has some amazing things on the menu (my dad insists because he's gone there for lunch on several occasions and loved it) and I would like to dine here again before I completely write them off. 

The real highlight of the night was probably the fact that there was a wedding going on at the same time, so the drunken characters that ended up in the bathroom were pretty entertaining. All and all it was just great spending time with my family, and although the food didn't quite live up to my expectations, the conversation and good times did. 

On a side note, at the end of the meal we were informed by our waitress that for every meal we ate tonight, they would be donating a meal to the regional food bank. I think that is more than enough of a reason to enjoy a meal at The Century House. 

Sunday Night Dinner

One of my favorite things about being home is having family dinners. Although you never know what you're going to get, or what's going to come out of Uncle A's mouth, it's still such a great time. This Sunday we all had dinner together and it was, yet again, another great meal. Along with the original five of us, Uncle A joined us for dinner, as well as Chris (Kayla's boyfriend), who fled Manhattan for the weekend, and as a result had his train cancelled on both Sunday and Monday.... thanks Irene.

For dinner we prepared stuffed veal, cauliflower gratin, beef meatballs, buttery spinach, tortellini, broccoli rabe, tomato sauce, and creme brulee. Yes, my family eats a lot - food equals love.

Although most of my mom's recipes are originals, or family recipes, the veal was inspired by a Food Network one by Catherine Scorsese "Stuffed Breast of Veal." The only difference was that we used Gruyere cheese instead of Locatelli.

I wont bother retyping the recipe, but I strongly recommend you check it out because it was amazingly delicious and super tender.

My mom and I have both made many different variations of meatballs, and this time we used just ground beef, egg, parmesan cheese, and day old Italian bread. Although these were tasty, I really prefer meatballs that are half beef and half veal - I feel that the taste and texture are much lighter and more "airy."

For the broccoli rabes we did a simple saute with garlic and evoo, and for the spinach we again did a simple saute in some garlic, cream and lots of butter. The way I prefer to cook is simple, but still great flavor. I love vegetables, and therefore I feel if you cook them correctly you don't need to mask their flavors with cheeses, etc (although I heart cheese).




Note: These two dishes can be done towards the end of the overall preparation because neither take very long to cook.


The main star of the night was, hands down, the cauliflower gratin. For this we used the following ingredients:
Cauliflower
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup of gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
Breadcrumbs
Nutmeg
s + p




We began by boiling the cauliflower for 5 to 7 minutes until it was cooked, but still firm. While the cauliflower cooked, we started melting about 1/2 a stick of butter, and added flour to it to create a roux (you should add about 3 tablespoons of flour, and stir it together with the butter for about 2 - 3 minutes).

Next, add 2 cups of hot milk to the roux, and whisk the mixture until it comes to boil and becomes thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and add the cheeses (1/2 cup of each), s+p, and nutmeg (just a little for seasoning).

Using a baking dish (roughly 8 x 11) pour some of the cheese mix into the pan, add the cauliflower, and add the rest of the mixture over the cauliflower. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and more cheese and butter, if desired.

The gratin will bake at a 375 degree oven for roughly 20 - 30 minutes.

Look at how creamy and delicious is looks - I can't believe I'm going to say this, but after having cauliflower gratin, I prefer it to potato gratin. Even though it's still smothered in cheese, it just feels healthier - it's all in my head but whatever.

Obviously Rutherford family dinner is not complete without fresh tomato sauce. This time instead of using sausage my mom used some of the extra ground beef. I think I prefer having sausage in my sauce, but they are both very different flavors - it just depends if you want a more mild sauce or if you prefer the intense flavor of Italian sausage. Regardless of what you use, always cook the meat before adding it into the sauce - this ensures that you won't end up with raw meat in your sauce - not a crowd pleasure. One of these days I will dedicate a full post to my homemade sauce, but for now I'll just go through the basics - canned tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, ground beef, and lots of TLC.

I should mention that as all of this wonderful cooking was happening, hurricane Irene was wreaking havoc all over the neighborhood.

We will be cleaning leaves out of pool for the rest of the week.

Well maybe not havoc... but things still got pretty messy.

Our neighbors spent the whole day today sawing this tree apart.

So one of the things we were super excited for was Jordan's (my littler brother) creme brulee. Here's something you need to know about my brother and sister.... they are both pyros. Seriously, anything fire related they get giddy over. So, when they found the creme brulee kit in the kitchen cabinet it was game, set, match.

As my brother began making the creme brulee, my mother started setting the table.

Where there's food - there's Kelly.

So for the creme brulee Jordan used:
1 c of heavy cream
1 c of milk
1/4 vanilla bean, split
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 c sugar
brown sugar

Heat heavy cream, milk, and vanilla bean in a pot with the vanilla bean, and let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for about 10 minutes, then scrape the bean seeds into the mixture.

With a mixer, combine the eggs and sugar, and gradually add the cream mixture. After everything is incorporated, strain and skim the foam off of the top.

Lay out ramekins into a big baking pan, add about 4 oz of mixture into each one, and then pour water into the baking pan so that it goes about half way up the ramekins. Bake the creme brulee for 25 - 30 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

Remove and let cool for a bit, sprinkle with brown sugar and use the blow torch to create the caramelization on top.

Something you need to know about Jordan, aside from the fact that he's a pyro, is that he has a very methodical mind, and in theory, would make a great baker because he follows directions to a T. Unfortunately there was either something wrong with this recipe, or he just didn't let it cook long enough, because the brulee never set, and it was just too watery...

Too cocky for his own good - they looked great, but they were a big watery mess underneath... jokes on you J. 

Make sure to cook the creme brulee long enough so that it is basically set before you take it out of the oven.

Kelly still wanted some...

As the wine flowed at dinner the conversation got more and more hilarious... I'm not sure what Uncle A said to Chris, but clearly it was something borderline inappropriate.... or completely inappropriate.

Chris and Uncle A enjoying some wine with their cookies... who needs milk?

For the pasta, all we did was boil some tortellini, and serve the sauce over it - quick and simple.

Also, I'm not sure why I don't have a picture of it, but my mom used the left over ingredients from the veal, put everything into a baking dish, added some more cheese on top, and baked it quick in the oven as an additional side dish. It really helped to tie everything together - even though it reminded me of eating what the dog eats - fyi, my mom makes our dog fresh chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes and carrots for dinner. Diva dog.

I can't stress enough that my family cooks way too much food, all of the time, and a lot of the things I wrote about just now can be stand alone dishes. If you're in a rush, meatballs are quick and easy to make, and pair great with just a simple red sauce and some pasta. If you have more time I definitely recommend the veal, it was a little on the fatty side, but it was so great. 

 Kelly will literally beg until there isn't any food left on the table, and everyone has left the kitchen... gotta respect her dedication.

Until next time!