#43 - Frankie's Sports Bar, Dallas, TX

Last week was OSU's spring break.  I was shocked my first year when I found out that OSU does not close campus at all during spring break...so basically unless you're a student or professor, you have to use vacation days...I call BS on that.  When I was at Maryland, we got 2 days off.  3 years ago the NCAA tournament started on St. Patty's Day, so I took the day off to watch games and drink green beer.  After that I just started taking Wednesday-Friday off, to give myself a long weekend.  This year I decided to go visit friends in Dallas rather than just sit on my couch. 

I drove down Thursday morning, and met my friend Jared for funtivities.  We met officially I think 3 years ago at our Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD) conference.  We immediately hit it off, and have become great friends.  Even though we live just a couple hours apart, we don't see each other nearly as much as we should.  He did come to the OSU football game vs. Texas in 2011 and wrote a great article about our away game activities.  He had to work Thursday morning, but just for me, he got up and started working at 6am so he could play for the afternoon...and that's why I love him!

We met his friend Jack at Frankie's Sports Bar.  They've got 3 locations, and we went to the one downtown, on McKinney Ave.  It was packed when we arrived, with lots of guys in suits but just as many people just in casual wear.  Pretty sure the guys in suits were playing hooky for a while, watching opening day of the NCAA tourney.  Frankie's has tons of TV's, a great outdoor patio, and some lounge seating inside with big comfy couches. I can imagine that it's a great place to watch games all year long.  We actually looked at using Frankie's as our official party headquarters for the bowl game.  Jack had already ordered a bucket of beer, so although I'm not really a beer person, I decided to just go with it. 

I wanted to eat a healthy lunch...I really did.  However, Jared and Jack ordered 30 wings, and when they arrived, that completely ruined that plan.  I forgot to take a picture, but that's probably because my mouth was watering from the smell of the wings.  All the wings are named after football-related things.  They ordered the 49'ers (teriyaki), Lemon Julius Peppers (naked with mild & zesty lemon pepper spices), and I think Walter Payton's (spicy with a touch of "Sweetness").  The lemon pepper was my favorite after just one bite.  The spices were so delicious, and I didn't have wing sauce all over me. But don't get me wrong, the other wings were really good as well.  The wings are huge, very meaty, and according to the menu, never frozen.  Those are 3 huge plusses for me.  The only down side to the wings is when we got to the bottom, there was a puddle of grease down there.  I did, however, find a picture online

I'm a huge fan of fried pickles.  Probably my all-time favorite are the ones at Louie's, but I decided to give these a shot as well.  I did have to think about it for a little bit, because they are called "OU Fried Pickles".  They were good, but really salty...too salty in fact.  That did detract from the taste just a little, but not enough to make us stop eating them. 

The last thing we ordered were the Wisconsin Badger Balls, in honor of our ALSD friend Blair.  I did take a picture of these, because I wanted to send it to Blair.  But my phone wasn't cooperating (big surprise)

I like the fact that they were cheese curds, instead of cheese sticks.  I usually prefer breaded, but these were still really good.    And quite honestly they were the least greasy of all our items.

Would I go back?  Definitely!  I really want to try something a lot healthier on the menu, and I think it would be fun to  just go and spend a few happy hours there.

UPDATE:  The McKinney Ave location has closed, but the Fort Worth and Lewisville locations are still there.

My Chef's Hat - Quinoa Taco Salad

About 3 years ago I decided to cook more with fresh herbs.  Dry herbs are easy and always handy, but I was buying the big containers and never use them enough, so they lose their punch over time.  Fresh herbs add so much more flavor to any dish you add them to.  I was buying them at the grocery store, and they're really not expensive.  But I was running into the same issue of not using them fast enough and then they get really gross and slimy. 

Next step was to buy some seeds and plant them.  My dad has a super green thumb, and my parents' back yard looks like a local farm.  Me, on the other hand, not so much.  The problem with growing stuff from seeds is that I have no patience, and got annoyed that they weren't growing as fast as I thought they should, so I was still buying it at the store, waiting for my plants to thrive.  Big fat waste of my time and energy.

Last year I was at Lowe's in early March, and noticed all sorts of herbs and veggies that were already established plants!  Yes, I realize they're a lot more expensive than seeds, but you also get to use them immediately.  I planted them in pots, and as soon as it was warm enough, put them outside to get more sun and that natural water, better known as rain. That was great until it was into the 90's in May, and my poor plants didn't stand a chance, even in the shade.  And I was clearly too dumb to move them back inside before they all died

This past weekend I went to Lowe's and stocked up on basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano, parsley and rosemary.  I'll put them outside again when it warms up, but the second the thermostat hits 90, they're coming back in for the summer. 

Why am I telling this super long story about herbs?  Well, now that I have an entire herb garden in my dining area, I'm on a mission to find lots recipes that use fresh herbs.  I learned the hard way last year that if you don't clip herbs like basil and cilantro regularly, they won't survive very long. 

Tonight I was looking to make quinoa for dinner, but wasn't feeling any of the recipes I had already made or new ones I'd already found.  So after a little searching I found Quinoa Taco Salad.  It's full of ingredients that I love and looked really good. 

Here's the recipe picture:

And here's my version:

This was really, really good!  The flavors all worked perfectly together.  I juiced half a lime, and for that size portion it was perfect.   I'd never thought of avocado as a good accompaniement to quinoa, but it definitely was. 

I didn't have any lettuce, and I also needed some green veggies in there, so I tossed in some baby spinach.  The recipe calls for cilantro or parsley, and since I've already got some cilantro I needed to clip, I used that.  The recipe calls for olive oil "as needed".  I used about a teaspoon, and that was more than enough. 

When you put it on a plate it takes over the whole plate and looks like a ton of food, but it's really not.  Will I make it again?  Without a doubt!!


Recipe found on Gluten Free Goddess

#42 - 801 Chop House, Kansas City, MO

Kansas City is known for a lot of things, and steak is pretty high up there on the list.  And steak is absolutely one of my favorite meals of all time.  Ribeye is definitley my favorite cut.  I know it's fattier than other cuts, but to me that just means more flavor. 

When I was a kid, my mom always made me get my meat well done.  Fast food burgers, steak, you name it... we had to request them well done, and she would send it back if it wasn't.  I'm sure we fully offended more than a couple of chefs in nicer restaurants by sending it back, but she didn't care.  Between that and not letting me eat the skin on fried chicken, I feel like I was severely scarred as a child. 

It took me a long time to get away from the well done meat.  By the time I was old enough to go to fast food places on my own I stopped requesting it.  And it took until probably my very early 20's to go to medium well on steaks.  Eventually I moved to medium, and that's as under-cooked as I'll go.  I can't imagine eating rare or medium rare meat.  My mom still looks at me kinda funny when I order a medium steak, but I've assured her that I won't do anything less than that so I think she's okay. 

The past couple of years I've been lucky enough to be a guest of the men's basketball team at dinner the first night we arrived at the tournament.  Last year we all slipped into a food coma after dinner at Fogo de Chao.  This year, 801 Chop House was the destination.  I had never been before, but had heard great things, so I was excited to check it out. 

For starters, we got 3 appetizers:  fried calamari, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and Maryland jumbo lump crab cakes.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.  But all 3 were absolutely fantastic. 

This is one of those upscale restaurants where everything is a la carte...nothing "comes with" your steak.  Speaking of steak, that's almost the only protein on the menu.  They do offer a veal chop, a pork chop, and a lamb chop, as well as chicken.  But seriously...I'm not going to a great steak house to have any of that.  They don't even have salmon on the menu, but they do offer it. 

I started with the Caesar salad

Our waitress asked if I wanted the anchovies.  I didn't really know what she meant so I said "yes".  The LAST thing I was expecting was 2 anchovies on top of my salad.  I'm not quite that adventurous, so I put those off to the side and enjoyed the rest of my salad.  It was delicious, not over-dressed, and I really liked the big parmesan chip on the side. 

I went with the 16-ounce ribeye.  I momentarily thought about the 24-oz bone-in, but decided that would just be gluttonous.  I don't usually do any fancy preparations on my steak, but I used the excuse of not having eaten in days to try the bone marrow butter bath.  I've never had bone marrow butter, but our waitress said it was really good and decadent

Decadent is an understatement with that bath!  It truly enhanced the flavor of my steak.  Howver, I think it was too  much.  I should have asked for it on the side, but oh well.  I was only able to finish about half my steak...something I don't think I've ever done in my entire life.  And it made me very sad. 

We decided to get a couple of sides for the table to share, and went with the lobster mac & cheese and the green beans

Ummm....yes, those are big old pieces of lobster right in the midst of the mac & cheese.  Wow, that was absolutely fantastic!!  And they used the cavatappi pasta, my favorite shape.  I'm convinced that made it taste even better.

I thought we should get at least one thing remotely healthy, so that's why we picked green beans.  So what if they're sauteed with caramelized onions and chunks of bacon??  Fabulous.

When the waitress came around asking about dessert, I should have run.  But I decided to take a look anyways, just in case.  My first choice was the grand marnier souffle, but it takes about 30 minutes to prepare.  So then my next choice was the chocolate lava cake...but that takes about 10 minutes to prepare.  So I decided to be good and skip it altogther.   A few minutes later the team was leaving, but I had to wait to pay for my wine.  While I waited, the server brought out the Trio of Sorbets that one of the managers had ordered to go.  Since they were already gone, I figured I couldn't let it go to waste...

What a fantastic way to end the meal!  The sorbet was homemade, and absolutely fantastic.  It was pear, mixed berry, and I can't remember the 3rd one.  They were very light and extremely refreshing. 

Will I go back?  Definitely!  But I'll make sure to be a little smarter and not try to eat out the entire restaurant. 

Repeats with a Twist - Ruby Tuesday, Olathe, KS

About 10 days ago I woke up at 4am, with my stomach feeling super icky.  I wasn't nauseus, but I could tell my intestines weren't really happy with me.  I tried to go work out, hoping it would help...poor decision, because I was back home on the couch about 30 minutes later.  Long story short, I felt icky all weekend and didn't eat anything at all Friday or Saturday.  Sunday I ate a little pasta around lunchtime, but really that didn't help or hurt.  Finally on Monday I forced myself to eat some crackers, because the next day I was leaving for the Big 12 tournament, which would mean lots of good food and beverages.  Plus I just needed to eat!  I'm sure my body was hating me for not having any nutrients whatsoever for 3 days. 

Tuesday morning I left home bright and early and headed to Kansas City for the tournament.  I still wasn't hungry, but again knew I needed to get back on the food track.  I finally was a little hungry by the time I hit Olathe, which is about 15 minutes from KC.  I wanted something pretty light, because we were going out for a big steak dinner later.  As I was checking the GPS for options, I came across Ruby Tuesday.  I love the salad bar there. It's got lots of options, it's always fresh, and it's not expensive.  Sold.

I don't often brag on waiters, but Dave was really good!  He definitely knew his stuff.  I asked a couple of questions and he knew the answers instantly.  He checked on me periodically but didn't hover and didn't try to push any items on me.  I really wanted to try the shrimp fondue appetizer that he offered at the start, but decided that probably wouldn't be the best decision as my first full meal.

My original plan was to just get the salad bar and be happy with that.  However, for just $1 more I could do a Fresh Combination, and that included the salad bar.  So I started with the salad:

As you can see I piled my plate as high as I could without items falling off the side...mixed greens, broccoli, mushrooms, red onion, carrots, edamame, egg, and their famous croutons (made from dark rye bread).  I used their balsamic vinaigrette dressing, which is really delicious.  The croutons were really good...crisp on the outside and still soft on the inside.  I usually like them crunchy all around, but the flavor was excellent. 

As I enjoyed my salad, Dave appeared with these little bites of deliciousness.  They were really good, and small, and flavored really nicely with herbs, so it wasn't like it was going to wreck your meal.  They had some fancy name but I can't rememeber what it was. 

And then came the spicy fish tacos, without the cheese or sour cream.

Grilled fresh and filled with lettuce, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, and cilantro.
Finished with a drizzle of spicy ranch for a kick to your taste buds

These were so good!!  The spicy ranch definitely had a major kick, as did the fish.  The main reason I got the tacos is because it was grilled, and it was awesome.  The menu says it's a "drizzle" of the ranch, but whoever made the tacos definitley didn't understand the concept of a drizzle, cause it was way too much.  Next time I would ask for it on the side.  I only ended up eating one of the tortillas.  Partly because I was pretty full from all the food, but also because the ranch was basically soaking through them and it was just easier to eat it with a fork.

Will I go back?  Well, I don't know where there's a Ruby Tuesday in Oklahoma, but if I'm near one when I'm hungry, then yes!  The salad bar alone is worth the trip.

My Chef's Hat: Sesame Ginger Sweet Teriyaki Salmon with Garlic Quinoa Stir-fry

A couple weeks ago I knew I wanted salmon, and had a couple recipe ideas in mind, but couldn't decide which one.  I've made a bunch, but also have many others on Pinterest that I've saved to my recipes file, but hadn't tried yet.  On Sunday mornings I usually sit down and plan out my meals for the upcoming week.  I can figure out what new recipes to try, and it also helps me to know what I need to get at the grocery store. 

Sometimes I go onto Pinterest to print out the recipe and something else catches my eye instead, and it always looks better than the original recipe I was planning to make.  And other times I'm just not feeling what I was originally going to make...so I get back onto Pinterest to find something better. 

I found a cute Pinterst project to create a recipe book.  I need to sit down and make the book, and maybe it will help me not be so wishy-washy.  But...do I do all the recipes I've pinned, or just the ones I've made and liked?  Decisions, decisions.

So, back to my recipe.  I had decided to make one type of salmon for dinner, and just happened to be on Pinterest to look at other stuff...lo and behold, I came across Sesame ginger sweet teriyaki salmon with garlic quinoa stir fry.  I had already planned to make quinoa either that night or the next day, and when I came across this recipe I figured it was the best of both worlds...and it looked really awesome.

Here's the recipe picture:

And here's my version:

I also made it with shrimp:

This was uh-mazing!!  Clearly my sauce didn't turn out nearly as deliciously dark and glaze-like as the recipe picture.  I used regular teriyaki sauce, as the recipe called for, but I think she might have used a teriyaki glaze to get that color.  But honestly, it was absolutley delicious so I really couldn't complain. 

I also had a problem getting the veggies as nice and charred as hers.  I always worry about burning the garlic under a high heat--trust me, it stinks, and then the whole dish tastes awful--but the unfortunate compromise was uncharred veggies.  But just like the salmon, the veggies tasted awesome.  Maybe next time I'll cook the veggies on a super high heat to get them charred, and then scale back the heat and add the garlic and ginger. 

Will I make this again?  I already have!!  And next time I go shopping I'm buying a bottle of the teriyaki glaze so I can try it with that. 


Recipe found on Ambitious Kitchen

My Chef's Hat - Turkey Burger with Broccoli Slaw

When it comes to turkey, I'm the same as I am with chicken...definitely a dark meat girl.  As far as I'm concerned, white meat turkey is even more dry than white meat chicken, and that's not a good thing.  When I was a kid my parents and I went to a family friend's home for an annual Thanksgiving dinner.  In addition to the tons and tons of side dishes and desserts and the obligatory turkey, there were always extra turkey legs, and that was fantastic.

Fast forward a bunch of years, and I started getting into ground turkey.  Even though it's white meat, I can add enough moisture and herbs and other stuff to make it very tasty.  I've got a couple of go-to recipes that use ground turkey that I really like.  A regular burger is one of my favorite things in the world, but let's face it, it's usually pretty unhealthy.  So about a year ago I started buying frozen turkey burgers and cooking those on the grill.  They're delicious and pretty healthy, but about a month ago I figured...there's no reason I can't make these from scratch.  That way I'll know exactly what goes in them, and it will be less expensive.

Fast forward again to today, when I had found a pretty basic recipe for a turkey burger.  When I make burgers at home I'll usually match it with tater tots or sweet potato fries.  They're both healthier than regular fries, mainly because I bake them in the oven actually only make one serving rather than the restaurant version of a serving.  But in this instance, I decided to go with a broccoli slaw instead. 

And here's my version:

The turkey burger has so much flavor!  The recipe calls for parsley (or any herbs of your choice); I didn't have parsley so I used cilantro instead.  In reality you could probably do a mixture of different herbs and get a little different flavor each time.  I was out of spinach (what I usually use with a turkey burger) so I went with romaine lettuce.  I also threw a couple of mushrooms on the grill while the burger cooked, and then also added avocado, goat cheese, and mustard.  I would also usually add grilled onions, but they're already part of the burger patty.  Next time I'm gonna grill the onions first, and then add them to the patty mixture. 

The broccoli slaw was delicious too....very filling and very light.  My bagged slaw came with broccoli, carrots and radishes.  I was out of cucumbers, and forgot to add chopped celery.  I've never actually used celery salt so I'm not sure what it would have done to the flavor.  And I hate buying a whole container of a seasoning to just use it once or twice, so clearly it wasn't part of the final product.  The dressing was good, but I think I made too much.  So next time I definitely need to cut back.  The bag of slaw said that 1.25 cups was a serving.  I only did 1 cup, and that was tons of slaw.  But that's okay because it was delicious. 

Will I make these again?  No doubt.  I think the broccoli slaw would go well with so many different types of sandwiches.  And I'm looking forward to experimenting with different herbs for the turkey burger.


Turkey burger recipe found on Use Real Butter

Broccoli slaw recipe found on Citronlimette