#26 - RPM Italian Restaurant, Chicago, IL

Julie and Wendy arrived in Chicago Saturday afternoon for our mini Purdue reunion.  We hadn't seen each other in years, so we spent the first hour catching up and getting ready for the evening.  Even though our conversations were now work, kids, and husbands, it felt like we were still back in college, getting ready for a night on the town.  Julie had brought lots of pictures from the Club Lutz parties in college, and they immediately took us back those 20 years.

From the time we planned this trip, Cristin had been raving about RPM Italian Restaurant. It's partially owned by Bill & Giuliana Rancic, and is located in Chicago's River North neighborhood. 

 We tried to go on Friday night, and it did not work out well because the whole restaurant was jam packed. It was at least a 90 minute wait for a table, and you could barely even walk through the bar area to look for open bar seating. We weren't letting that happen a second time, so on Saturday we arrived at 6pm.  It worked out perfectly too, because the hotel to RPM was a 5 minute walk, and then another 5 minutes to Tim's condo for the party. There was a short wait in the main dining room, but when we saw open seating in the bar area we sat there.  

The restaurant is beautiful, with exposed ceilings, lots of floor-to-ceiling windows, white chairs and black tables. 

Photo courtesy of Ricco Rocca
The menu features a lot of small, shareable plates. I love that, because you can try several dishes. It's not a huge menu, but they do offer quite a few options, including appetizers, both hot and cold antipasti, homemade pastas, and entrees.

We started with both types of bread...fresh homemade ricotta with semolina toast


and truffle garlic bread


The ricotta was phenomenal. So light and fluffy. I had never had super fresh ricotta before and, just like everything else, fresh makes such a significant difference. There is really nothing like it. Yes, it was just sitting in that oil, but the oil infused beautiful flavor into the ricotta.  When the bread ran out I kept eating the ricotta plain, but we then ordered more bread. The garlic bread was fantastic as well.  There were herbs baked into the bread, but it was the fresh herbs on top, as well as the truffle and garlic, that brought out such an intensely wonderful flavor.

The appetizer special was fried squash blossoms


I've never had them before, and was a little leery so I let the others try it first.  They all said it was delicious, so I dove in...and they were right. The blossoms very lightly fried, and the sauce was delicious. 

Next we got prime beef meatballs


These meatballs were amazing. I love the presentation in the skillet, and the freshly grated parmesan added a wonderful bite to the sauce. The sauce itself was homemade and excellent.

The signature dish is Mama DePandi's Bucatini Pomodoro


Probably some of the best pasta I've ever had.  The tomato sauce is absolute heaven.  I know pasta is pasta, but I swear the shape changes the taste.  Maybe it's that some shapes absorb sauce better.  Who knows.  Point is, I must go and find some bucatini.  I actually found the recipe on Pinterest, but I'm afraid to make it cause I know it won't taste the same.  But I guess since I won't be back in Chicago any time soon, I may try it...in a few months.

For dessert, we had the Tartufo


I just realized I forgot to take a picture, so this is the one from the website.  It's hazelnut gelato with a chocolate shell...in other words, heaven.  I don't even think you need to guess, I could have torn through that thing all by myself.

Will I go back?  There is absolutely no question about that. Everything about our experience was fantastic. Even though there are thousands of restaurants in Chicago, this one is on my list for my next trip.

at

#25 - Food Life, Chicago, IL

It was about 11AM Saturday morning when Cristin and I got up.  I can't remember the last time I had slept that late, and it was great to not have to set an alarm clock.  Cristin wanted to do some shopping, to find something to wear for the reunion that night.  I wasn't planning to buy a thing.  Three stores and lots of money later, I had 3 bags of clothes, and Cristin had nothing.  But I did get a few shirts I could wear for gameday, so that made it all worth it.

We hadn't eaten breakfast, so by 1:30 I was starving.  We decided to go to the food court at Water Tower Place, a huge shopping center in downtown Chicago.  When Cristin and I were freshmen, we spent spring break in Chicago and we met Walter Payton at that mall.  He was just randomly hanging out, waiting on a friend who was in the store.  He was so friendly, and chatted with us for about 15 minutes.  And of course, it was the one day of the whole trip that I didn't have my camera.

Food Life is the food court at Water Tower Place. Most food courts are kind of like an open-air market, where you walk around to the different food counters to pick where you want to eat; order & pay, and then find a place to sit and eat.  At Food Life, you wait in line to get into the food court area, are seated by a hostess, and provided with a charge card.  Once inside you can choose from 13 different food counters.  You place your order at the counter and they charge the amount to your card.  If you want a drink, they charge that too and you get whatever you want to drink at one of the beverage stations.  When you're all done, you pay for the meal as you're leaving the food court.

I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed.  Since we had bags, Cristin waited while I went and ordered.  In hindsight, I should have taken the bags with me so we could both go at the same time, because it took a little while to walk around and decide what I wanted, and so Cristin was just sitting there waiting.  I didn't want to eat too much, because we were having an early dinner. But I was also absolutely starving.  I decided on the stir-fry station, basically a mongolian BBQ.  I did beef tenderloin with lots of veggies, teriyaki sauce, and brown rice.

I made sure to over-fill the bowl with veggies, having learned my lesson at Ghengis Grill.  The stir-fry was delicious.  It was too much rice, so I only ate about half of it. 

Will I go back?  Now that I understand the process, yes!  If you know what kind of food you want, it works really easily.  I think it would help if they had a list of the different options at the entrance, so you have an idea of what's available. 

at

#24 - Quartino Ristorante - Chicago, IL

I went to Chicago last weekend for a mini reunion of some of my Purdue friends.  I would normally never go out of town so close to the first home game, but I hadn't seen some of these people in 20 years, so I knew I had to make an exception.  Plus, Chicago is one of my all-time favorite cities.  I love it there in the summer, but the winters are brutal. 

I went to Purdue for 3 semesters out of high school.  In a nutshell:  applied because there was no fee; went there cause my choices were Purdue or go to Maryland and live at home; partied a LOT; and flunked out.  I was devastated at first, but everything happens for a reason, and I probably wouldn't be where I am today if I had stayed.  I met some amazing friends during my short stint in West Lafayette.  Six of us who were suitemates as freshmen are still friends today.   Not as close, due to life, marriage, kids, distance, work, etc.  But whenever we do get together, we have a great time.

Friday night, after we checked into the hotel we decided to grab some dinner.  There's about a million options in downtown.  We tried to go to RPM, a restaurant recently opened by Juliana Rancic and her husband.  Well, a new trendy restaurant in Chicago on a Friday night means it's going to be packed.  We got there at 8:30PM, and it was still a 3 hour wait just to be seated in the dining room.  It was open seating in the bar, but that was absolutely jam packed as well.  We made 2 laps around the bar just in case, with no luck.  So we went to Quartino, just a couple short blocks away.

The wait was only about 20 minutes for the dining room, but we found a table in the bar area right away.  My phone was almost dead, so I wasn't able to take any pictures, but I did find a few on the website.  Quartino does small, shareable plates.   Cristin was having a "proseco weekend" so of course she had a glass of that...I decided to start with a glass of the Rioja, a Spanish red wine.  It was light and really good

For dinner, we did several plates and shared them.  My phone was almost dead so I couldn't take pictures, but found these online.  
Polenta Fries
Pappardelle al Sugo di Manzo Tuscan Pasta Ribbons
with Braised Beef Tomato Sauce
Shrimp Risotto (Zucchini & Sun-Dried Tomatoes)
I had never had polenta fries before.  But really, pretty much anything fried is going to be good!  And it was.  It was served with a red bell pepper salsa that was really tasty.  The pappardelle dish was excellent.  The pasta was fresh and homemade.  The shrimp risotto was okay.  It might have been because when the risotto arrived we were deep in conversation and didn't eat it right away.  Cristin said it definitely wasn't as good as she had eaten there before.  But the rest of the meal was excellent.
at

#23 - Fox & Hound, Oklahoma City OK

A couple years ago I decided to start hand-delivering tickets to suiteholders in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Enid.  Just the OKC & Tulsa deliveries constitute over half of the ticket packages.  Most important, it's a great personal touch point and the suiteholders really appreciate me delivering them in person.  Some pro teams take players on the deliveries.  I could probably do that in Stillwater, but I don't think Coach Gundy would be too fired up about players missing a full day of pre-season camp to deliver tickets outside of the local area.  Also, the suite tickets are heavy, and therefore expensive to ship--even with driving and an overnight hotel stay, it's about 2/3 of the cost.  But again, you can't put a cost on that personal interaction.  Some I'll just drop and go after a few minutes; others we'll sit and chat for up to 30 minutes. 

After a full day of deliveries, it was time for some dinner.  We decided to go to Fox & Hound, since it was right next to the hotel and I had never been there before.  We sat in the bar area, to watch one of the 18 million TV's.  I didn't notice until about 10 minutes in that you could smoke in the bar area.  But the ceilings are super high, so the smoke went straight up and when we left we didn't smell like smoke at all.

I started with a blackberry long island iced tea (LIT).  Normally LIT's have a serious punch, and one is more than enough with dinner.  Not sure if the bartender was holding back or what, but there was a lot more juice than anything else.  I was more than a little disappointed, especially since there were signs all over about this great "drink special". 

I decided to go with the grilled salmon
Salmon seasoned with Cajun spice, then grilled and topped with poblano sauce, fresh tomatoes and green onions. Served with our spicy jambalaya rice.
The salmon was good, but a little over-cooked.  The poblano sauce added a little heat, but not too much.  The spicy jambalaya rice, on the other hand, had a serious kick.  It was a little too much kick...it overpowered the rice, and all I could think about was how spicy it was, and not about the flavor. 

Will I go back?  Yes.  I definitely wasn't wow'd by the overall experience, but I want to give it another chance.  I considered several other things on the menu before choosing the salmon, so I want to give them a try.



at

My Chef's Hat - Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions

I've never really been a fan of white meat chicken.  It always seems very dry and over-cooked.  I much prefer the leg & thigh meat, as it has a lot more flavor and stays very moist.  I know dark meat is higher in calories, but to me it's worth it. 

I've found that using chicken thighs is a perfect substitute for the breast because the cooking time is about the same.  I found what looked like a really delicious recipe on Pinterest...Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions and decided to try it out.

As soon as I read the menu I made a few adjustments to lighten it up.  I caramelized the onions in just a tiny bit of Smart Balance.   To brown the chicken I used a combo of margarine and Smart Balance instead of butter, and also cut back on the amount.  I did a combo of heavy cream and half-and-half for the cream sauce.  I also made some egg noodles to complete the dish.

Here is the official version

And here's my version:

In a word...yummy!  The sauce had a rich flavor, but really didn't feel super heavy.  The caramelized onions added a great depth of flavor, along with the balsamic vinegar.  I made extra of the sauce, and it was perfect over the egg noodles.

Will I make it again?  Definitely!  I plan to lighten it up more too:  Pam to caramelize the onions, all half-and-half for the sauce, and only Smart Balance to brown the chicken.  I'll also reduce some white wine before adding the chicken broth, to add even more flavor.
Recipe found on Peace Love and Low Carb
at

Repeats with a Twist...El Palomino, Stillwater, OK

The night before my parents left I was getting suite tickets ready to ship out the next day.  The previous night I had been at work until almost midnight, but I really didn't want to do that again, especially since I still needed to pack for my trip to Chicago.  So my parents came to the office about 6 to help me package everything. We had a great assembly line going, and finished in less than 3 hours.  We decided to grab some dinner at El Palomino.  We had tried to go there on Sunday, but didn't realize that it closed early.

The hardest part with Palomino--and really any Mexican place--is the chips.  They're so addictive, and they appear at the table within seconds of sitting down.  Palomino has this awesome hot salsa, but they must have put in double the peppers because it was scorching.  Our server then brought us a couple others to try.  I can't remember what the first one was...it was okay, but not really my thing.  The other was a green tomatillo salsa that's served warm, and was absolutely fabulous.  My mom was really good and hardly ate any of the chips.  My dad and I tore through the rest of the basket.

I don't normally eat seafood at a Mexican restaurant, but it was late so I figured why not.  So I went with the salmon veracruz
Grilled Salmon topped with Shrimp and Crab Meat in a White Wine and Cilantro Garlic Butter Sauce, served with grilled Vegetables and Palomino Red Rice.
Wow, it was really delicious!  It was a huge piece of salmon, much more than I expected.  The crab meat wasn't very good, but I had pretty much prepared myself for that.  Next time I would just skip the crab.  Usually with a dish like this the shrimp would be small, but they were very big.  The butter sauce was very good, and not overpowering or heavy.  The grilled zucchini was tender-crisp awesome.  The rice was good and had a very interesting flavor.  I can't find the ingredients anywhere, but it reminded me kind of like a casserole, with rice, red beans, corn, and some other stuff. 

I wish I hadn't eaten so many chips, because I could barely finish my meal.  I had to take a couple of breaks to be able to eat all the salmon and shrimp.  I tried, but eventually had to give up on the zucchini and rice.  Note to self...next time I'm ordering this dish, don't eat so many chips!

at

#22 - Ghengis Grill, Oklahoma City, OK

I'm a pretty big fan of Mongolian stir-fry. There's tons to choose from...types of protein, all kinds of veggies, sauces, and even the type of starch. Sometimes they'll make it in front of you, but regardless they always make it fresh, and you know exactly what's in it.  Once again, it's a place that would do really well in Stillwater.

My parents and I were in Oklahoma City running errands, and we decided to go to Ghengis Grill for lunch.  The one in OKC is pretty new, no more than maybe 6 months old, on Memorial right next to Best Buy.  I had never been there before...when I was in Dallas back in May I went to one, but they had a smoking section, and I don't do restaurants where you can smoke unless there's a completely separate room. 

Since none of us had ever been there before, the waiter took us on a "tour" of the restaurant and explained how the whole process worked.  Everything was really well laid out, and I liked that you could serve yourself...unlike other Mongolian stir fry places I had been to where the staff did it for you. 

I went with the chicken, a little of the Cajun seasoning, the dragon sauce, and brown rice. And a whole bunch of veggies.  Once you fill your bowl, you give it to the cooks, sit back down at your table, and the servers bring it out

Our server had said we should pile the bowl with veggies because they cook down a lot. I thought I did, but clearly it wasn't enough because I felt like there weren't nearly enough once it came to the table. But at that point it was too late.

But even so, it was absolutely delicious!  My parents took longer than me to decide what they wanted so our meals came at separate times.  Not too far apart, but I was already more than a few bites in before they were served. 

Will I go back?  Definitely!  The food is hot, fresh and delicious.  And it's one of those places where you could eat there every day for a month and never get exactly the same thing twice. 


at

Repeats with a Twist - Gage's Steakhouse, Guthrie, OK

I've realized that when people want to celebrate in Guthrie with good food, they go to Gage's Steakhouse.  It's in the basement of a building in the center of downtown.  The first time I went I thought that was kind of weird to be in the basement, but it's very spacious, and being down there is a pretty cool atmosphere.  The down side to having to walk down the steps is that they're the metal ones like you go up/down to get onto the small airplanes, so every step your heels get caught...but thankfully they covered it with carpet, so problem solved!  There's an elevator, but I'd much rather take the challenge of the steps...

A couple weeks ago I met a group of friends to celebrate AJ's birthday.  I don't get down to Guthrie as often as I would like, so it was a great opportunity to spend time with everyone.  We started with drinks in the bar area, and our massive long table was right there as well.

We started with several orders of the deep fried tobacco onions, as we enjoyed our drinks and perused the menu.  They're prepared exactly how I like...thinly sliced, breaded, and fried. 

I hadn't had a good steak in quite a while, so I decided to treat myself.  I probably should have split with someone, but Delmonico is probably my favorite cut of meat, so sharing just wasn't even an option. 

Now, before I go any further, a caveat...we had a very large group, about 25 of us.  It's not easy to prepare meals for that many people, especially when just about everyone had something different.  My dish wasn't as hot as I would normally like.  I don't need it scalding, but it was almost lukewarm.  Shannon said his dish was the same.  So that was disappointing.  But, I have also been there with a much smaller group of about 8, and it was perfect.

On the flip side, even though the temperature wasn't ideal, the food was fantastic, as always.  The meat was cooked perfectly, the asparagus was tender-crisp, and the potato had a lot of flavor.  I didn't eat the carrots, but I rarely eat cooked carrots unless they're mixed with other stuff.  I only ate a little of the tobacco onions, but that's because I had a bunch during the appetizer course. 

Will I go back?  No question!  It's one of my favorite places in Guthrie, and I always have a good time when I go.  
at

Repeats with a Twist - Nhinja Sushi, Oklahoma City , OK

My mom refuses to try sushi.  I've explained that it's not all raw, it's very fresh, and that she would really enjoy it. But nothing...she won't even consider it.  But, since I was driving as we ran errands in OKC and I was craving sushi, I decided we would go to Nhinja Sushi & Wok.  That way my parents could get the wok items, and I could satisfy my sushi craving.

I tried to remember what I had gotten the first time, to no avail.  I then tried to look up the blog post on my phone, but it wasn't cooperating and I couldn't get the phone to show me the blog posts that far back.  So I gave up and just went ahead and ordered things I thought I hadn't gotten last time.

We started with an order of the edamame.  I forgot to take a picture...it was good, and perfectly cooked.  Just the way it should be.  It was also a lot less salty than the one we had a Pearl's.

I went with the Nhinja and Thunder rolls.
Nhinja:(L)  Salmon, cream cheese,jalapeno,scallions, spicy mayo, sesameseeds, (tempura)
Thunder: (R) Tempura shrimp,avocado,toppedw/crabsticks,spicy mayo
First and most importantly, I was quite impressed with myself since I didn't order either of these the first time.  I was a little worried the Nhinja would be really spicy, since it had both jalapenos and spicy mayo.  But the cream cheese cut the spiciness, and all I tasted was the great flavor.  The Thunder roll is very good too.  It would be even better if they used real crab, but I know that won't happen here, so no point in even complaining about it.

My parents both got the Classic Broccoli wok dish with tofu.
Classic Broccoli with tofu:  broccoli,carrots, ginger, signature house soy garlic
I am very impressed with how much food you get in the wok menu items for about $8.  You definitely won't leave hungry, and the veggies are cooked perfectly tender-crisp.  I've never been a fan of tofu.  To me, it has absolutely no flavor, and I don't like the texture.  I've tried it once or twice, but it did absolutely nothing for me.  I decided to give it another shot from my dad's plate, and was actually pleasantly surprised.  I wouldn't order it for myself, but I could eat a piece or two off a friend's plate. 

Will I go back?  Well of course, since I've already gone back once since my first visit in June!  The food comes out quickly, and it's hot and clearly freshly cooked.  I'm gonna go with a wok dish next time, just because.

 
at

Repeats with a Twist - Pearl's Oyster Bar, Oklahoma City, OK

Okay, so by now you know a couple things...a) I really like seafood, but b) Oklahoma isn't known for seafood.  However, there are a few places I've found where I will go specifically for fish.  One of those is Pearl's Oyster Bar.  It's got great outdoor seating, a really good Sunday brunch, and daily specials that change quite often.  I've never been there for happy hour, but have heard it's a great spot for a cocktail as well.  Pearl's is part of a restaurant group that also includes Crabtown, Pearls' Fish House, and Trapper's Fishcamp & Grill.  Their menu looks awfully similar to Pappadeaux.  Not in the actual items, but the text font and setup looks like they either stole the idea from each other, or it's all part of the same restaurant group but they just don't tell you.

My parents were flying into town last Friday evening, so rather than drive back to Stillwater, I decided to just stop at Pearl's, since it's on the way and it's got a wide selection of seafood entrees.  I had called earlier in the day to make a reservation, only to find out they don't accept them.  I was a little leery, because I knew on Friday night it would be packed.  But my parent's flight was delayed, so we didn't even get there until about 9.  It was still crowded, but we were seated immediately. 

My mom doesn't eat calamari, but I ordered it for my dad and me anyway.  We also got an order of the smokey edamame. 


The calamari was hot, fresh and delicious.  It was also breaded, the way I really like it. The edamame was good, but too salty.  I think my fingers swelled to twice the size by the time we were done.  I would suggest they put half the salt, and it would still be very good.

 I usually don't add a salad, especially when we start with an appetizer, but I was hungry and needed some greens in my life. So I went with the house salad 

 The salad was really good, especially with the fried onions on top.  

 Sea bass is one of my favorite fish. It's a little heavier than other whitefish, but I aboslutely love the texture and flavor. Wal Mart, of all places, used to sell frozen chilean sea bass that was fantastic broiled with just a little salt, pepper, olive oil and lightly breaded on top. But I guess there were some overall issues with how sea bass was caught, so most places stopped selling and/or serving it. Recently it's started coming back to both stores and restaurants, but I haven't seen it at Wal Mart.

Pearl's has a new chilean sea bass dish on the menu, so I decided to try it.
GRILLED AND SERVED OVER SAUTEED VEGGIES WITH OUR LEMON PARSLEY SAUCE
The bass was delicious.  I think it was a tad overdone, but the fish is naturally oily so it helped to retain the flavor.  The lemon sauce was a great compliment, but not overpowering at all.  I never thought I would say this, but the veggies were actually my favorite part of the dish!  They were tender-crisp, very fresh, and absolutely amazing.  I'm assuming they were sauteed in the lemon-parsley sauce.  I could have easily eaten another plate of just the veggies...again, something I never thought would ever come out of my mouth.

Will I go back?  Definitely!  I've eaten here several times and never been disappointed.  The service is good, and their staff are very knowledgeable about the different items on the menu. 


at

My Chef's Hat - Baked General Tso's Chicken

I'm a huge fan of Chinese food.  I could probably eat it every day.  It used to be that you get full fast, and are hungry again in a couple hours.   But thankfully they finally stopped using MSG, so that doesn't really happen anymore.  For a long time General Tso's chicken was my favorite dish, but it's a lot of breading, and it's fried, and I'm pretty sure there's not much healthy in the dish.  I've tried to branch out recently, and eat more dishes that don't rely so much on frying. 

I don't make too many Asian dishes at home, because I never feel like I can do it right.  But after my wonderful experience at Cafe 88, I decided it really couldn't be too hard, especially if I could find something that I could sautee, grill or bake, instead of fry.  Pinterest came through again, with a Low Fat Baked General Tso's Chicken recipe.

After reading a few of the reviews I made extra sauce, so I could put it over the rice.  I know brown rice is better for you. I usually ask for it when I eat out, but when I make it at home it tastes too mealy, so I mix it with white rice. 

Here's the official version:

And here's my version on my first attempt:

Okay, I can admit it...in the looks department, it's an epic fail.  But it tastes fantastic!! The sauce was spicy and absolutely delicious. 

I already know what I need to adjust.  I didn't make enough of the sugar/water mixture, and I didn't let it cook down long enough to become like a caramel sauce.  I also didn't have any cornstarch, so it didn't thicken up at all.  I tried using a little flour, but that didn't work.

Will I make it again?  Obviously!!  I'm determined to get the sauce right, and I absolutely love the flavor.

 Here is my next attempt, which clearly is much better

Recipe found on Rock Recipes

at

Repeats with a Twist - Boneyard Grill, Guthrie, OK

Guthrie has become one of my favorite towns in Oklahoma.  Partly because I've made some amazing friends who call Guthrie home, but also because it's a small town with lots of history.  I've also run two races there as part of The See Spot Run...my second 5K last year, and my first 10K this summer.  The race benefits the Free to Live Animal Sanctuary, and was founded in memory of Chris Cowden, who was tragically killed in a motorcyle accident in 2008.  His sister Suzanne, along with the rest of his family, put on a fantastic event every summer, and I'm so blessed to be a part of it.

One of my favorite restaurants in Guthrie used to be Geno's Chop House, in downtown Guthrie.  They had an awesome Sunday brunch.  It closed a couple years ago.  Boneyard Grill is another restaurant my dear friend AJ introduced me to last winter.  It's a local restaurant, serving up good home cooking.  I was meeting Dean there on Monday, and promptly went to the location where it had been, on South Division, only to find an empty parking lot and a sign on the door...it had moved to the old Geno's location. 

I'm trying to drink lots more water.  It's good for you, and it helps to fill you up.  But when I asked the waitress, she said she didn't recommend it, because it had been looking kinda yellow.  Not a good sign.  She said she'd been drinking the tea all day and it was fine, so I went with that.  I'm not a big tea drinker.  Usually the sweet is overly sweet, and the unsweet needs about 100 packets of sugar to taste good.  So I went with the sweet/unsweet mix and it was pretty tasty.

We started with salads.  I didn't take a picture cause they were just your basic starter salad.  I did get the blue cheese dressing, because it's homemade.  It's really good.  Not Jerry's Seafood good, but not much is.

Their special of the night was a teriyaki ribeye...marinated in a teriyaki sauce, grilled, and topped with a pineapple chutney.  We split the steak, and shared two sides...angel hair fried onions and sweet potato fries


The steak was awesome.  It was very well cooked, and the teriyaki glaze added a wonderful sweet flavor.  The chutney had a definite kick, and I wasn't expecting that.  The spice was a little too much by itself, but eating it with the meat mellowed the flavor.  Don't get me wrong, the chutney was awesome, just spicier than I expected.  I would definitely get it again.

The onion straws were okay, but I definitely prefer ones that are breaded instead of battered.  With such thinly sliced onions, the batter is overpowering and that's all you taste.  The sweet potato fries were really good and were the perfect thickness. 

Will I go back?  Definitely! 


at

My Chef's Hat - Old Charleston Style Shrimp & Grits

Growing up, I never ate grits.  Not sure why, but I always just thought they wouldn't taste good.  When I worked at Maryland, I traveled to the away games with the team and we always made at least one trip per year to North Carolina.  Well, grits are basically a staple down there, and I tried my first bowl at the hotel buffet for breakfast.  My friends suggested I add butter and salt, to add some flavor.  I did it, tried it, and fell in love.  I went from never eating it, to always looking for it on a breakfast buffet.  I bought some as well, and make it for breakfast quite often.  Not the quick-cooking grits, mind you.  I go with the regular, 20-minute grits. Every time I make them I think of the movie "My Cousin Vinnie". 

I've had shrimp & grits a few times at restaurants, but never tackled making it myself.  You would think it would be so simple, but I always shied away from it.  Sunday night I found a recipe for Old Charleston Style Shrimp & Grits, and I decided to go for it. 

The recipe calls for half-and-half to make the grits, but I've never done that before, and saw no point in starting now.  I went looking for andouille sausage at the grocery store but, as you can imagine, it's pretty hard to find in Stillwater.  So I went with lite smoked sausage instead.  One thing I still have a lot of issues with is making a roux.  I can melt the margarine just fine, but once I add the flour it never looks like those chefs on TV.  Not sure if that affects the outcome or not. 

Here's the official version:

And here's my version...

Wow, it was really awesome!  I used a little too much margarine--especially since I added some to the grits at the end--but I use Smart Balance Light, so I was way better off than if I'd used real margarine or butter.  The shrimp got a kick from the cayenne, but it wasn't overpowering.  I think I forgot to add the worchestershire sauce, but honestly I didn't notice until I re-read the recipe for this blog entry. 

Will I make it again?  Of course!  It's easy to make, delicious, and pretty filling for a shrimp-based dish.  I'll cut back a little on the margarine, and make sure to add the worchestershire. 


Recipe found on AllRecipes.com
at

#21 - Cafe 88, Stillwater, OK

I hadn't seen Jamea since before I left for my conference in Minneapolis, so we decided to meet up for dinner last week.  You would think with not a huge selection of restaurants in Stillwater that picking a place to eat would be easy.  But whether it's lunch with co-workers or dinner with friends, it always takes us a while to decide.  So I racked my brain, and came up with Cafe 88.  Neither of us had ever been there, but I've heard nothing but good things from friends who swear by it...so the decision was made. 

It's a small restaurant, about a block from campus.  If you don't know to look for it, you'll probably drive right past it.  One of their most popular items is bubble tea.  I've heard it's good, but I wasn't feeling quite that adventurous.  And besides, I had the entire menu to peruse. While the restaurant itself was small, the menu was pretty big. 

What caught our eye almost immediately was that several of the standard Asian entrees are grilled, rather than fried. 

Jamea got the grilled sesame chicken

And I got the grilled orange chicken

All entrees come with rice, a fried egg, and veggies.  I don't know if it was because it was almost closing time or what, but our "veggies" consisted of one piece of broccoli each. 

Oh my these were so good!!  Using the grilled chicken didn't take away from the flavor at all.  I've found that sometimes at other Asian restaurants you get stuck with the smaller fried pieces that end up being more breading than anything else.  Well in these dishes, all you got with each piece was chicken deliciousness.  The fried egg was an interesting addition, but I don't think it added anything to the dish.  Next time I'll skip it.

Will I go back?  Definitely!!  The food comes out fast, fresh and hot.  Besides, there's lots of other things on the menu that I want to try.  And who knows, I may give in and try out the bubble tea. 

at

My Chef's Hat - Spicy Thai Noodles

After 10 straight days of eating out, I was really looking forward to cooking again.  And of course cooking means getting back to my goal of one new menu item per week.  Work was pretty busy the whole week so I really didn't have time to search for new menu items.  But last Saturday was really the last Saturday I had with no commitments the whole weekend, so I figured it was the perfect time to find a new recipe.

Once again, Pinterest came through with Spicy Thai Noodles.  I love spicy, and I love noodles so it seemed like a given.  But I needed some protein, so I made extra sauce, cut up some chicken, marinated it in the sauce, grilled it, and tossed it in with the noodles.  I also didn't have peanuts, but I did have bean sprouts, so I tossed those in for some additional texture.  I didn't have linguine, so I used fettucini but I don't think the type of pasta matters.

Here's the official version

And here's my version...

It was really good!  The sauce was spicy, but not overpowering.  I think I went a little overboard with the spring onions and carrots, but that's okay.  Adding the grilled chicken, especially after marinating it, was a perfect accompaniment.  I think it would be good with steak or shrimp too.  I've never been a huge fan of peanuts in a cooked dish, but I may try it next time just to see what it does.

 I made this again the other day. I still didn't have linguine, so I went with fettucini again and also added a few more vegetables

Will I make it again?  Definitely!  It's quick and easy, and delicious. 


Recipe found on A Small Snippet

Shared On


at

Repeats with a Twist - Noodles & Company

Saturday was the last day of my vacation back in Maryland.  My dad and I were running a few final errands, and of course we also needed some lunch.  Since we were near College Park, we decided to go to Noodles & Company.  It's yet another of those places that would do really well in Stillwater, or any college town for that matter.  It's inexpensive, fresh, and the food is good. 

I hadn't remembered seeing one anywhere in Oklahoma, and when I checked online, I was right.  However, there are 2 in Wichita and one in Lawrence.  Looking at the map, there's lots of places they could expand into, and I think they need to get on the ball and do that.

As usual, I have a couple of staple meals whenever I go...Pasta Fresca and Pesto Cavatappi.  There's basically 3 types of pastas--Mediterranean, Asian and American.  And they've actually added numerous items since the last time I visited, including salads and sandwiches.  What I really like is that all the pasta comes meatless, and you can add chicken, shrimp, steak or tofu.  So there really is something for everyone.

Since I had stuck with the Mediterranean menu for so long I decided to branch off to the Asian side this time around.  I went with the Japanese Pan Noodles, and topped it with marinated steak, since that was what they recommended.
Caramelized udon noodles in a sweet soy sauce, broccoli, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, Asian sprouts, black sesame and cilantro
I had never tried udon noodles before...I am officially now a fan. They're chewier than regular pasta, but I really like the texture and taste.  The whole dish was really delicious.  They now offer 2 bowl sizes, and since I hadn't eaten breakfast, of course I went with the large.  But it wasn't huge, and was still smaller than a regular plate you would get at a lot of restaurants. 

There's lots of new places to try in Wichita, but next time I'm there I may need to go back to my old standby, and try out a different item on the menu.



at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)