Cracker Barrel

As a pre-dinner snack, we stopped off at Dunkin' donuts. I was so psyched because I was completely in the mood for a jelly donut. Powdered. It was great. Only thing is, half of it landed on my fleece and on my jeans. Yes, the danger with eating jelly donuts is the possible gob factor messing you up. And it did me. I still have a very visible stain on my jeans. I think it was strawberry jelly. Anyway, I saw Hunt's ketchup packages for the first time there. I thought it was cool. I hope Hunt's makes a bigger name for itself in ketchup. I want to see Heinz' sweat a little. And, for no reason.

Cracker Barrel. We were starving. It was past 9p. I flipped through the menu and nothing was popping out at me. So when it came time to order, I just asked Steve to order me what he was having. He had one of their combination meals. Breakfast meal. Chicken fried steak with white gravy, biscuits, hash browns (shredded), over easy eggs, and grits. Steve also had a side of mac n cheese, I passed.

The meal was sufficient. Didn't win any culinary awards, but it was good. I decided that I don't love chicken fried steak. Steve does. That's why I started ordering them. But maybe it's just Cracker Barrel's that I don't love. It's very crunchy on the outside with tender'ish meat on the inside. It's like a cube steak texture. And the gravy. Too much but too little. Meaning. They give you a lot of it but it's like missing necessary flavor. There's a little smokiness to it from I suppose bacon but it's not a well, developed flavor. It's a little pasty. The hash brown potatoes weren't too bad. They were eh. I gave one of my eggs to Steve. And the rest of my hash browns. I was eating my grits plain whereas Steve makes his like his dad used to - butter, salt & pepper. It's good. He's made it for me at home that way before. But last night, I was needing at least one thing on my plate not to be heavily seasoned. The iced tea, unsweetened, was refreshing but could've been colder and with more ice.

We were too full for dessert. We usually split a short stack. And they give you warmed syrup and stuff. Yum. I like their pancakes cause they're literally fried. You can see and taste the diffference. When I first started out making pancakes, I used a little butter in the pan and produced a similar product. I started doing it dry after my grandmother gave me a mini lesson on how to flip pancakes. I love watching the bubbles forming along the edges and that immediate rise that hits when it's flipped over with some gusto. I think most diners prep it dry so when I get Cracker Barrel pancakes, they're extra yummy and good.

We hit the candy store afterwards. They have a great little shop. We went to the one in Fishkill, NY. In the spirit of halloween, we got tons of candy. We split this thing called a Pecan roll. Nougat rolled in pecans. It's light and sweet and pretty darn good. Steve was psyched cause we found him baked beans. Boston baked beans. I've had them before but I didn't think it was anything special. I found BB Bats. They updated the packaging but I always have trouble believing that they still exist whenever I stumble across some. I remember pulling my teeth out with these things. They are so sticky and so chewy. I split one with Sid last night. I know I shouldn't be giving him this junk. But as I say to Steve when he complains. I tell him, just as I expand his culinary horizons, I want to do the same for Sid. So he gets a taste of what I'm having. A little taste. Even if it's bad. Except for obvious things like chocolate and onions. Alrighty. I'm rambling! Oh we also had those orange jelly candies rolled in granulated sugar. (The ones that look like an orange segment.) And jelly belly jelly beans. I didn't love those. Too many different flavors combining weirdly in my mouth. Treat yourself right, Happy Halloween and Eat Something Good!

Cracker Barrel
4 Merritt Blvd
Fishkill, NY 12524

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Rotisserie Chicken

I don't know if I've told you this recently, but I attacked a bird savagely last week with my bare hands. A large, rotisserie chicken chicken flavored with honey. It was a pretty good sized bird. They charged $7.50 for it but I was under the impression that it was $8.99. I would've bought it at that price. I made an excuse to myself that maybe chickens were getting expensive too to rationalize this totally unnecessary purchase. Nothing was going to stop me from getting my little bird to the table.

This eating of food with the bear hands. I'm totally cool with for things such as pizza, french fries (though sometimes I fork those), burgers, sandwiches, hand held appetizers...and such. But for a whole rotisserie chicken? When I do this it's because I'm repeating what my mother has done all her life. She used tear those things up like crazy. And what used to make me upset is that she'd only eat the dark meat. And then for some unknown reason, she'd shred (pull into long strands) the breast meat and not eat it. I couldn't eat it after she'd done that. So I'm somewhat disgusted with myself for having this attack.

I open the box. I have to sigh. It's not always a site of beauty - all these dead things. I look at its breasts. They look succulent. I tear a piece off. It's eh. And I really wanted a good wing on a bird. I got severely overcooked ones. They were inedible. The leg & thigh were alright. Moist. Tender. A little sticky. The skin, though no longer crispy, still had a tremendous amount of flavor to it. Yes, I ate me some skin last night. Post savage attack - half a bird left. (Ok, maybe a little less than a half of a bird left.) Still, a large portion (perhaps even 2) for the Widney. He enjoys his chicken as much as the next animal will. Ok. Now. Using your bare hands (and you have my blessings), Be barbaric and Eat Something Good!

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China Garden

We ordered chinese food last night. And we got it delivered. Totally easy night. I got something I haven't had in a couple of years. General Tsao's Chicken with brown rice and an egg roll. Steve had the shrimp chow mein with white rice and fried noodles. And a shrimp roll. Oh, we both got soups as well. He got wonton; I got hot and sour.

Whenever we went out for chinese, my father would start by pointing to each of us and asking if we wanted soup. There was no question as to what kind of soup it was because he always ordered the same thing. Hot & sour. Anyway, mine wasn't great last night. The best parts were the pieces of pork. I actually ate the soup after I'd eaten everything else.

The General's chicken. Eh. I should've ordered something else. The pieces of chicken were like overfried and dried out. Some pieces were okay but a lot wasn't. The itty bitty pieces were alright because they were crispy. The sauce was a little spicier than I remember it being. I always picture a sweet kinda sauce. The egg roll was good. I only wished it were a little bigger and had more filling. I'm pretty sure Steve enjoyed his meal. He's ordered it twice before and didn't complain about it. I reminded him of that last night while he was having trouble figuring out what to get. My fortune was retarded. The cookie was good. I washed all this muck down with diet coke. Ah...Eat Something Good!

China Garden
980 S Lake Blvd
Mahopac, NY 10541

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Boca Chik'n

We haven't had boca burgers in a couple of months. During the summer and while we were trying to be healthy, we ate a whole bunch of them. Then the last time around, Steve decided that he didn't really like them anymore. (We were off of our diet at that point.) He said they have an aftertaste. True, they are a little weird in flavor but I didn't mind their texture. It was almost meat-like. And I like meat. So we have a few boxes in the 'fridge that'll probably go untouched for a long while.

But last night I had the Boca chik'n patties as a sandwich on whole wheat pita with lettuce and mayo. They weren't bad. The texture isn't exactly reminiscent of chicken. It's more like a fake crab - not the imitation crab stick kind. But as a sandwich, I think it gets away with it. I got the plain kind not the spicy. Though I like the spicy ones. They have a little kick to them. Steve had a toasted multigrain bagel with butter and reduced fat cream cheese. Then I remembered that we had leftover beef bourginon. Yes, we hit that hard! It was still sooo delicious. (I didn't even give Sid any.) *oink* Steve said that if there were a little more herb flavor in it, he'd say it's restaurant quality. I did add thyme as the recipe called for - but next time I'll need to add a little more. We only had a little left. I wonder if potency decreases with time. It probably does but how much time? Need a food scientist. And I bet the scientist would tell you to Eat Something Good!

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Beef Bourginon

I tried a new recipe last night. Steve stumbled across it. We were lured by the red wine in it. I used to make beef stew with plenty of veggies using wine. So, this recipe. First, I had to cut up the sirloin steak into 2" pieces. Then I had to slice up some bacon. To cook. I threw in onions and mushrooms (sliced) into butter and fried them a little and set them aside. Then I added the bacon to the same pot. Once you pull the crispy pieces out, you brown the meat. The recipe didn't specify whether to set the meat aside while adding flour to thicken the sauce. I did that cause I wanted it to be nicely browned all over. Then I added the meat back in and hit it with red wine, water, tomato paste, thyme and a little s&p. After an hour or so, you add the mushroom & onion mixture back into the stew. I forgot to re-add the crisped bacon bits so it wasn't exactly as the recipe called for. Really, the recipe wasn't very good. I was skeptical of the dish because of it. And it made one critical error. Tomato paste was listed among the ingredients, yet when you read the directions - there was no mention of it. Fortuately, it wasn't too hard to figure out what to do. The recipe suggested serving the dish with rice or noodles. I decided to make mashed potatoes. I used butter, half & half and cream cheese.

The verdict. We both loved it. Things always have a bit of a sophisticated flavor when using wine or other alcohol. Even beer, I think. The mashed potatoes were a little on the dry side but because the gravy was so plentiful and delicious, it wasn't a big deal. I also used white potatoes to make them cause they were around. I don't think it makes the best mashing potato. Next time I'm gonna use the usual russet potato and regular stew meat instead of sirloin. I use stew meat to make goulash and it tastes even better in my opinion. It also cuts costs. We have some leftover and we're going to have it as an appetizer before dinner tonight. Alrighty, I hope you guys have a good day and Eat Something Good!

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Junk Food Spree

I ate nothing nutritious last night. We didn't exactly have a real dinner. On our way to visit someone in the hospital, we stopped off at a gas station. She wanted a magazine. They didn't have much of a selection in the way of literature, however, this little place has a large selection of goodies. First, I had Nemo's chocolate pudding cake. Every time we go to that gas station, I get one. Then I spotted the Twinkies. I haven't had one in years. Many years. Many, many years. It was...not as good as I remember. And I don't recall a lemon ee taste to it. It's light. Maybe I imagined it. Next course. Toffifay. I used to eat them when I was a kid. They're not easy to find around here. I so enjoy those things. I also had one of Steve's peanut chews and Lay's potato chips. We did manage to grab a slice while we were out. No frills. Very little sauce. I put garlic powder and too much hot red pepper flakes on them. The slice was in need of flavor. The red pepper flakes were in giant containers with big holes and that's why too much came out. I wondered to myself how many times a day this happened and if the pizza guy cared. From the look of the place, he probably didn't. Anyway, it's Saturday! Eat Something Good!

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McDonald's Hashbrowns

I have a friend. He eats more McDonald's than anyone I know. Most days he goes there for breakfast and then may have lunch or dinner there later in the day. He goes there so much that he gets special orders from there. Like if he's having a sausage mcmuffin with egg, he'll ask for the folded omlette instead of the regular eggs it normally comes with. Lately he's been eating big mac's like crazy trying to collect monopoly game pieces. He's too funny.

Anyway, about Mcdonald's hashbrowns. Steve encouraged me to put my hash brown directly on my egg mcmuffin or sausage mcmuffin with egg. Those are my two favorites. It changes the sandwich experience and adds something to it. So now in delis, we order bacon, egg & cheese sandwiches (on rolls) with a hashbrown on it. We had one yesterday from the Corner Store Deli. (It's not actually on a corner but a side street.) It was pretty darn good. I actually like the hashbrowns form McDonald's better. Steve and I had the exact same sandwich! Sometimes Steve gets good ideas. The only thing that never won me over was tuna noodle casserole. I've acquired a taste for most other things. Okay folks, it's time for me to go and Eat Something Good!

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Greek Salad with Chicken

Last night I made Greek Salad with Chicken. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a greek salad. It was more of a mish mosh. The only things that made it greek were the feta cheese and stuffed vine leaves. We bought it at a Indian grocery. Usually I buy stuffed grape leaves. More like the greek kind. These tasted similar and perhaps they were grape leaves though they didn't specify which is weird. So the salad. It consisted of a european salad bag thing, thinly sliced red onion, grated carrots, crumbled feta cheese, stuffed vine leaves, spanish manzanilla olives (would have preferred kalamata), and I think that's it for the veggies. Oh, I also grated some lemon zest over the whole thing. Notice how I completely forgot two main ingredients: cucumber and tomato. When have you ever seen a greek salad without them? I never have. Oh well.

For the dressing, I took Maille dijon mustard and mixed it with red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, sugar in the raw, oregano and s&p. The sugar cut the tartness which is exactly what I need when I'm working with red vine vinegar. It's super acidic tasting to me. Major pucker factor.

The chicken part. Olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, s&p. White wine during cooking. I baked it for 25 minutes at a 350F. It turned out perfect. I'm getting much better at cooking chicken. Well, using the oven I am. I still tend to kill it stovetop or grilling outdoors. I cut the chicken into good size but bite sized (for a fairly big mouth...hehehe) pieces and put it on top of the greens and vegetables. Then I tossed the whole thing in the red wine vinegar dressing.

The verdict. We both enjoyed the salad. The carrots and the sugar in the dressing leant a slightly sweet taste to the overall salad. And the olives added a nice salty, juicy burst. We felt healthy last night. Steve got stuffed. I ate one big plateful and that was enough. (It was a pretty big plateful.) Sid got some chicken too and he scarfed it up. Ok, do like we do and Eat Something Good!

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Chan's Garden

Last night we had to go to the laundromat to dry our clothes. Yes, the dryer is still broken. Anyway, we decided to grab some cheap chinese food while we waited. This take out place opened up several years ago. I remember they were renovating for quite some time. When they finally opened, cars were swarmed in the parking lot. It seems as though we weren't the only ones curious about it. So we got food. We didn't love it so we never ordered from there again. We get delivery from the one across town that we have better luck with.

So last night we had a fried food feast. I had an eggroll and four chicken wings with pork fried rice. Steve had a shrimp roll, fried shrimp and french fries. I thought it was pretty good. The wings were very plain which I liked. And the egg roll was really good. It was what a cheap eggroll should be. Crispy, super hot and the last few bites should be a little greasy. That's how me and Steve like them. I didn't try one of his shrimps though I should have. It looked like they used medium-sized ones. The breading was dark brown. The fries were crinkle cut and good. My fried rice wasn't at all greasy. Not even at the bottom. It surprised me. All in all, the dinner was okay. It fed our starving bellies. Later guys. Eat Something Good!

Chan's Garden
54 Secor Rd
Mahopac, NY 10541

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Pulled Chicken Salad

It was soup & sandwiches last night. We didn't have any cooked chicken lying around so I had to cook some up. I decided to bake it cause I think it cooks more evenly then. I seasoned the boneless breasts with olive oil (and I almost always mean extra virgin), garlic powder, tarragon and s&p. As it was cooking, I hit it generously with white wine. White wine goes so nicely with tarragon in my opinion. Ok, I baked the chicken for like 20-25 minutes on 350F. Once cooked, I used two forks to pull the meat apart. It was nice and tender. Some juices formed in the sheet pan I was preparing the chicken on. I smothered the pulled chicken in it before I transfered it to a bowl. Then I added mayo (almost always Hellmann's), Maille dijon mustard, a hint more tarragon (would've loved fresh for this but dried sufficed) and a bit more salt. I served it on sesame seed rolls that I'd heated in the oven. It gave the crust a very slight crisp and the inside was nice and warm. It would've been nice to have some celery and carrot, finely diced for this salad but I didn't have any on hand.

On the side, I heated up a can of Progresso Italian-style wedding soup. They're the ones with the little meatballs with pasta in chicken broth. I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but we used to like Progresso Chickarina soup. The ingredients were similar. I'm still shopping for soup ideas and I'm spacing. Oh well, it'll come when it's ready.

The dinner was a success. We both really, really enjoyed the sandwich. Again, the finely diced veggies would've been nice but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. And believe me, it was a fat, satisfying sandwich. Steve actually put a slice of american cheese on his sandwich. I'm sure it was good. I just didn't go for it because I was overwhelmed by the very same cheese the night before. For dessert, I had a few pieces of no sugar added canned pears (store brand). I guess that was sorta healthy'ish. Alright guys, don't forget to take a break and Eat Something Good!

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Steak burgers

When we go to our little local market (about a mile away), we usually get their ground chuck. I love it when Steve orders, he calls it chopped meat. I'm not sure why I get such a kick out of it. I always ask for the ground chuck. Anyway, off to the side they have prepackaged burgers. Steak burgers as it's written on the package. We were psyched all day long thinking about dinner. We had them very simply. Pan fried with american cheese and ketchup (also mayo for him.) Both on fresh kaiser rolls. The burgers were pretty big as were the rolls. They were poofier than usual. Still good.

On the side, we had Kay and Ray potato chips. Sometimes our little market carries strange, unusual products. We never see these anywhere else and they only get them once in a while there. The special thing about these chips are that they're fried in lard. Yes, you heard correctly. Lard. They are dark brown, thin and lightly salted. We were addicted to them when they first came out. They're even darker than Cape Cod Russet Brown (?) potato chips. I love those as well too. Maybe even more.

The verdict on the burger. Well, Steve couldn't stop apologizing for overcooking the burgers. He commented that not one drop of juice came out of it. That was true but I didn't think it was as bad as he made it out to be. He's done far more damage as I have in the past. And for some reason, I wasn't liking that he put so much cheese on it. On three bites, the center ones, I was overwhelmed with the flavor of Land O' Lakes yellow american cheese. I kept telling myself that that's about how much cheese I'd be eating if it were a grilled cheese sandwich and that made it a little better. It didn't occur to me to just take some of it off and feed it to Sid. About the chips, I mentioned that the Kay & Ray potato chips were thin. I didn't mention that they are possibly the thinnest potato chip I've ever had. Unfortunately you pay a small price for that. It settles during shipping and breaks up into smaller pieces more than regular chips. Nonetheless, they were a nice side to the burgers. See you guys later and Eat Something Good!

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Moroccan Chicken with Lemon & Olives

Steve and I gave this dish two very high thumbs up. As per Steve "it was delicious, absaf*ckalutely delicious". I made a few modifications to the recipe as I didn't have the right ingredients on hand. They called for one ingredient that I didnt' have. Actually I've never even heard of it before. Preserved lemon. From what I can gather, it's supposedly salty. And this recipe also called for using a cut up whole chicken not boneless breasts as I'd prepared. All other ingredients were on board. And there were certainly a lot of ingredients.

Here goes. Combine all spices (paprika, ground cumin, ground ginger, tumeric (first time working with it), cinnamon and black pepper.) Roll chicken in spice mixture and let sit for one hour. To make long steps shorter, I cooked the first side of the chicken on medium heat with diced onions and minced garlic. Lid closed. Fifteen minutes later I flipped the breasts and added green olives (spanish manzanilla - with pimiento), raisins and lemon zest instead of preserved lemon. Then I added a little water and let it simmer for a 1/2 hour. Right before serving, I tossed the dish in fresh cilantro and curly parsley. I wanted the milder parsley to really show off the cilantro. I served this over basmati rice made from water only. No salt. No stock.

There's proof that this dish is as good as we're making it to be. I actually overcooked the chicken and it was still that delicious. The spices give the chicken a beautiful golden brown color. Steve was visually pleased with this dish as was I. Steve had a second piece. What initially drew me to this dish was the cinnamon. I love the flavor of cinnamon used in savory ways. I used to make a dish called porcupines years ago. I think it was from the Joy of Cooking. Anyway, they're these mini meat patties rolled in raw rice then cooked in a tomato based sauce. I used ground turkey though beef would be just as delicious. Not sure when I started adding cinnamon to the sauce but it made the dish ten times better. It made it interesting and the taste was pleasing. So for years now I've been searching for a nice cinnamon using dish. And this one caught my eye. I also thought the raisins (which become soft and less sweet when cooked in the broth) would go nicely with it. And of course you can't ignore how delicious green olives are. In your mouth, a sea of flavors some sweet and then Bam! Salty, briny green olives. Mmmm...makes you want to Eat Something Good!

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Tuna-Rosemary Pasta

Very mixed reviews for this one. Last night for dinner, I made tuna-rosemary pasta (thin linguine). To some, this dish may sound disgusting. To me, it doesn't sound so bad but it sounds better in Italian. Something al' tonnato (sp?). So the dish exists, I didn't make it up. Actually the person who taught me the basics of Hungarian goulash taught me how to make this dish as well. It's a very simple dish. All you need is dried rosemary, garlic, tomato sauce (we used our homemade sauce) and the main ingredient: tuna packed in olive oil. Heat oil. Sautee garlic and rosemary. Add sauce. Add tuna. Heat through.

I happen to like this dish. I haven't had it in like fifteen years but it crept up in my mind from time to time. Steve's verdict. I'd have to say that he hated it. He definitely doesn't want that one in the rotation. As for myself, I'll be having the leftovers for lunch. Oh, I served it with escarole sauteed in olive oil, red wine vinegar, white wine and nutmeg. I didn't cook it enough for Steve. He couldn't eat that either. I do agree that it needed to be cooked a little longer, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me of the texture of a good kimchi (korean pickled/fermented cabbage).

In my mind, last night was a dinner bomb because Steve didn't enjoy it. I feel responsible to cook him or anyone a good meal. I want to see and hear satisfaction and perhaps even delight. I feel good knowing that a good meal was had. (But ya know, dinner bombs will occur from time to time so I'm not too discouraged.) Be nice to yourself today and Eat Something Good!

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Epstein's

You won't find real butter or cheese for that burger here, but you definitely won't miss it. Last night we were lured into Epstein's (kosher restaurant) for a simple hot dog. When the hostess seated us, I changed my mind about the hot dog and went for something I've enjoyed in the past. I had a hot open faced beef brisket sandwich with brown gravy and french fries. After Steve heard my order, he changed his mind on his own order and got what I got.

Whenever you go to Epstein's, they bring you pickles (2 kinds: one very garlicky and one salty and without much of a vinegar zing), fresh cole slaw (it's very slightly sweet and creamy like it'd just been made), and mini latkes (potato pancakes). These, usually good, weren't so good last night but we ate them anyways.

The beef brisket. Steve loved it. I thought it was pretty good but it could've used more gravy. And I thought the meat was just slighty dry. Steve said that's how it's supposed to be - that I was thinking about roast beef instead. *shrug* All I know is that I can't even come close to calling it succulent. Oh, the sandwich was served open on rye.

The fries. Love them. Many of the fries, medium cut (a little bigger than the size of Wendy's fries) lack crispiness. But that's the great part about it. They're still awesome. Every once in a while you get a fry with a little crisp and it's like rewarding to eat. The fries are dense and meaty but not too meaty.

To drink, I had what I always get here. One can of Dr. Brown's diet cream soda. Yum! Steve got Dr. Brown's celery soda. I have no idea how he can drink the stuff. It's ucky. It may, however, be interesting to make a fizzy bloody mary with it.

For dessert, we got a small container of assorted rugeluch (sp?). They were not dry but not as moist as some are. I wonder if they're moist because they don't bake them enough. I don't know. These were pretty good. I enjoyed them. Ok guys, do like I do and Eat something good!

Epstein's Kosher Delicatessen
387 N Central Ave
Hartsdale, NY 10530

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Asiago Cheese Omlette

I was feeling uninspired last night so I made a trash meal. I made omlettes. Steve & I differ on cooking methods. He tends to let the omlette just sit there, (not touching it) until the top sets up enough to put the cheese on. The result tends be a well cooked omlette. Browned on the bottom. I've eaten plenty of them over the years. When I make it, I slowly stir the eggs around. Then I swirl it around the pan by literally picking the pan up and tilting it this way and that to redistribute the liquidy, uncooked egg that sits on top. I lower the heat and let it cook slowly as not to burn the bottom. Half the time, when I'm not feeling incredibly lazy, I put a little foil tent over it very loosely. Sometimes it's a hit; sometimes it's a miss.

These were three egg omlettes. I used plenty of butter making them. I like asiago cheese, I was gonna add some sauteed tomatoes to it but I got lazy. Actually, I thought we had to be somewhere so I was rushing. I served them with hash browns (the McDonald's kind) - only these were store brand, a little bigger and actually crisped up nicely in the oven. (Though they were darker in color than theirs.) Previously, Steve fried them in oil. I know I don't make the wisest food choices in the world, but frying already fried potatoes made me feel like - uhh, not good. Something like veins busting. Anyway, I also made whole wheat toast (Pepperidge Farms farmhouse bread) with plenty of butter again. I don't know why the heck I was using so much butter last night. And it's been me trying to get us back on track. Hmmm. So that was dinner last night.

The verdict. The omelette was somewhat greasy (from all the butter) but it tasted good. Asiago cheese melts nicely. And its flavor is really good. I really like it. I can't put my finger on what I like about it but I'll keep researching it. Ie: Gobble, gobble! The problem with the asiago cheese is that it almost overwhelmed the flavor of the omelette (the eggs). (Perhaps I used a little too much.) That's where the whole wheat toast came in. Steve likes to cut off a piece of omelette and place it on the toast. Then he folds it in half and takes a bite. He encourages me to do it all the time. The first time I did it, I didn't fold the toast. I placed a bite size piece on the corner of the toast and took a bite. I enjoyed that very much and continue to do it today. But I only do it at home for some reason. I eat my toast separately in diners. The hash browns were very crispy and very doable. Steve & I were quite surprised. He was convinced that baking them wouldn't produce a nice crunch. Mmmm, I love breakfast foods at dinner. I even do pancakes! I hope I gave you some nice ideas so that you can Eat Something Good!

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Campbell's Cream of Mushroom

We had some leftover egg noodles from goulash night. So Steve and I brainstormed about what we could possibly do with it. He requested dishes like turkey tetrazzini and chicken a la king. I don't recall having ever eaten either of them except that I do fantasize about turkey tetrazzini around Thanksgiving time. We decided to do something like chicken a la king. I read one very easy recipe that included cream of chicken soup. I've cooked with canned condensed soups before but I was never that fond of it. At best, it was edible and okay I guess. I came across more complicated versions of the dish but Steve poo pooed it and wanted the easy dish with the condensed soup.

So I went to CVS to pick up some stuff and I went to their food aisle. All I saw was cream of mushroom soup and decided to go with that. (I didn't feel like making a second trip to the grocery store.) Mushrooms were an ingredient in many of the recipes I looked at. So, with chicken a la king in mind I made something. In a medium sauce pan I added the soup with white wine, chicken stock and dried thyme. I sauteed chicken (small'ish pieces) in a heavy skillet (what we call our everyday pan) and added the sauce to it. Finally, I added some frozen peas.

I could taste the wine and chicken stock within the thick but not too thick sauce. And the egg noodles mixed in perfectly with the dish and that made me happy because it didn't go to waste. It went to my waist instead. Ha! Okay, so that wasn't very funny. To go with this meal, I made a simple spring mix salad with grape tomatoes and sliced red onion. I had it with fat free thousand island dressing. Steve passed on the salad and had a second serving of the chicken dish. Overall I was happy with the meal. Eat something good!

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Meatball Inconsistency

I took Steve to the place that had great meatballs. It's in Yonker's NY. He hesitated a little but because I spoke so highly of it - he decided to give it a try. And oh my gosh. I was so embarrassed. The parm sucked. The meatballs were overcooked. Hard and a little dry. I was upset. This happened once before. I raved about Sal's pizza in Mamaroneck, NY and the day I took Steve there - the pizza was horrible. Soggy even. Again, I don't know what happened. Anyway, Steve always talks about consistency. We avoid many pizzerias in the area fearing that 'it won't be good this time'. And too many times we're proven correct in thinking so. We feel so rewarded when it's right on. So the meatball fiasco - what the heck happened to them? On a more positive note, their regular slice was very good and Steve said their white slice was excellent. So take my reviews with a grain of salt. It's always possible that the back up cook is there ruining business. Eat something good!

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the Blazer Pub

We drove for 45 minutes last night for a part for the pellet stove when there was a place 15 minutes away. Steve tries to be loyal to small, mom & pop businesses. He dislikes the large, mile a minute talking, sale, sale, sales people. Anyway, we got the part and decided to grab a bite as it was getting late. We had dinner after 9p.

This pub serves great burgers. They're often rated one of the best burgers in the area. I got one with swiss and bacon. Steve ordered the Blazer burger which came with lettuce, tomato, bacon, american cheese and fried onions. They put a good amount of fried onions on it so he gave me some. It was too much for one burger. Their onions were nicely fried with some "burnt" pieces. The burger was a little hard to eat. The meat patty itself is about an inch thick. And then with the stuff on top, it gets even taller. I must note that when it first appeared, it looked a little small. But when I picked it up and saw how thick it was and how heavy it was - I new I'd be sated. The fries, (which you have to order separately) are different from your typical fries. These were obviously hand cut wedges (and unevenly cut I might add.) They fry them beyond golden brown. It's a darker brown. They have a little crispiness to them on the outside. On the inside, it's a dense, meaty potato. This is one of those places that charges for each little item separately. There's a charge for lettuce and tomato even. And cole slaw which typically comes with a burger at a diner. But it's okay simply because this is a place that only does burgers and sandwiches and appetizers that include yummy buffalo wings.

We started with them. Steve wasn't loving the idea but I pressed on cause I really wanted them. And I thought they were delicious. The wings were good sized. Steve thought they were way big. I didn't think so. The buffalo sauce had just the right amount of heat for me. Not too hot but definitely not mild. Steve liked them but he didn't think they were anything to write home about. I have to admit that my taste buds are a little off these days as I'm feeling under the weather. Anyway, I washed the meal down with some diet coke (no beer for us last night) and I was content. I want you guys to feel content today so Eat something good!

The Blazer Pub
Route 22
Purdys, NY 10578

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Hungarian Goulash

I slaved away at the stove yesterday. I made hungarian goulash. It's one of Steve's top 3 favorite dishes. I always save this dish for the fall and winter. I seldom make it in warm weather. Well I suppose most people don't do stews during the summer. Anyway, this one's really simple. Few ingredients. The basic goulash is just stew meat (my store prepackages hunks of meat (i think chuck) and labels it as 'stew meat'), lotsa yellow onions, tomato juice, paprika and s&p. Sautee the meat in a heavy pot with a combo of butter and olive oil. Get it nice and browned and set aside. To the drippings, add the onions and let it cook down good. Throw meat back in, cover with tomato juice and add paprika and s&p. Simmer for three hours.

You wouldn't believe how yummy the stuff is. I swear. The meat breaks down til it's fork tender and the sauce takes on a delicious beef and tomato flavor. A buttery tomato flavor if you can imagine that. Some goulash recipes call for veggies. I throw them in at the last 1/2 hour of cooking. I usually throw in chunks of potatoes (with the skin on), one green pepper cut into strips and Steve's favorite part, the zucchini cut into thick'ish rounds. I serve the goulash atop extra broad egg noodles. This dish is a winner if you have the time to keep an eye on it. Eat Something Good!

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Coconut Curry Chicken

Last night I tried a new recipe. After I downloaded it I saw that it was a Rachel Ray recipe. I've never tried one of her recipes. Actually, I'm not sure why I picked this one. I've only had Thai coconut curry once and I don't remember loving it. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I would've had it more than once. It wasn't a hard recipe which was good cause I was unfamiliar with some of the ingredients. It was my first time working with Chinese 5 spice powder.

She had you tossing your chicken strips in it with some s&p. Then the curry. It was cooked for a minute with olive oil. Next add the coconut milk and reduce by half. After you cook up the chicken strips you add the coconut curry part. It was served over rice.

Steve liked it but I had a problem with it. I expected it to be sweet for some reason. This is where it got tricky. Steve grabbed unsweetened coconut milk and the recipe didn't specify whether it should be sweetened or unsweetened. I have a feeling it might've been sweetened. At least that's what I wanted. As I was eating it, I hit it with a little granulated sugar. It helped. I kept adding a little more at a time. Steve didn't follow my lead. He was content with it as is. That made me feel a little better but it didn't solve my problem. Next time I make this dish I'm going to use sweetened coconut milk and add peas. That'd be nice. I cooked the chicken good though. It was tender, not overcooked. Sometimes I kill chicken. I completely overdo it til the point it's barely edible. It's that salmonella fear. Again, I may make this dish again but only with the minor changes. The sauce was thick and smooth. That was the enticing part. Okay folks, Eat Something Good!

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Siddin' in a Chair

This just cracks me up. His highness likes to sit in a chair. He just started doing it this past year. I really like it when he does . It makes me feel like taking out my best dinnerware and feeding him prime rib. Or filet mignon. Or my favorite, NY Strip. Of course I'd picture him eating it daintily with a fork & knife. He may even say 'pardon me but do you have any grey poupon?' (Commercial from the 80's.) Anyway, it was not my intention to talk food in this blog. This is actually just a totally spontaneous blog dedicated to my darling Sid because Steve caught the moment on camera. I usually have a million and one 'guess what he did today' stories but nothing comes to mind right now. Here are some of his nicknames. His full name (as engraved on his tag) is Sidney. But we usually call him Sid. Additionally he goes by: Wid, the Wid, Widdles, Diddles, Siddles, Sidney Didney Doo Dah (Steve made that one up), Widney, Widinator (also Steve's) and occasionally expletives followed by 'Sid'. Okies. Feed your dog something good!

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Swanson's Swedish Meatballs

It was frozen food night yesterday. My mother used to buy these swanson dinners. The small ones. Not a full meal. This was back in the day that frozen foods came in tin (or whatever metal it was) trays. One side had meatballs in brown gravy and one side had mashed potatoes with some butter on it. Or something that mimicked butter. My mom has an aversion to ovens. Everything she cooks (which she seldom does) is stove top. Everything. And half the time it's fried. Anyway, she used to take the metal tray of food and heat it directly on the burner. Gas. Yes, with flames and all. Tell me how crazy that is.

So the swedish meatballs. I got them hoping they'd be like the ones my mom used to get but they weren't. I might have to say that they were better. It was Stouffer's (regular) swedish meatballs with pasta (fettuccine) in a sour cream sauce. I actually really enjoyed it after I hit it with some salt. Well, as you might have figured, one was not enough to satisfy my hunger. The next one I had I got out of the healthy section. They push it as being all natural but not low in calories. They were, however, low in calories. Only 170kcals. It was called Ethnic Gourmet which made me laugh a little. Don't know why exactly. Anyway, it was chicken tandoori with spinach served with brown rice with peas. Even though I wasn't really in the mood for indian food, it was good. They were pretty sparing with the chicken and it didn't quite meet my expectations for a good tandoori. I've only had it fresh from the tandoori oven with that oven ee flavor. The rest was good. The rice with peas surprised me a little. It wasn't at all wet or mushy. And though the super dark green color of spinach in indian foods sometimes frightens me, it always tastes pretty good.

Steve's selections were as follows. They were both Banquet Select Recipes. One was a smothered burrito served with rice and beans and the other was an enchilada combo meal. I tasted both. They were edible though I would never buy it again for myself. Steve was really digging it though. He liked the smothered burrito better than the enchilada.

We grazed all afternoon on bad for you things like pop tarts, kettle corn, chocolate...Things of that nature. Whatever you do today, Eat something good!

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IHOP

Yes the International House of Pancakes. That is where we had dinner last night. It'd been like over a year. Maybe more. I almost always get the same thing when I go there. The breakfast sampler. Two eggs, two bacon strip, two sausage links, two pieces of ham, 2 hashbrowns and two fluffy buttermilk pancakes. That's what Steve had. I strayed from the norm and got an actual non breakfast item. I don't know where this choice came from but I ordered a patty melt. Ya know, a burger with american cheese and fried onions grilled on rye. The last time I had one was over two years ago. For Steve's breakfast sampler, they usually give you hashbrowns - the kind McDonald's has, but this time they gave him the shredded kind. I like them but only when they're well done. And that was the problem with it, Steve always likes his home fries/ hash browns well done. My patty melt was very good. I was sorta surprised with it being IHOP and all. Steve loved it. I gave him some. The fries were good too.

For dessert, we had crepes. I had a strawberry crepe with cream cheese - it came with whipped cream on top too. Steve had an apple cinnamon crepe. They were both pretty good but I liked mine better because, as with my cheesecakes, I like strawberries with crepes. I like savory crepes as well. But they never seem to fill me up. Reminder: Eat Something Good!

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Mohegan Diner

Early on in my relationship with Steve, we frequented the Mohegan diner. We had to drive a little further than the diner closer to us, but the Mohegan's food is much better. I remember blogging about how diner prices are rising but portions getting a little smaller. Steve and I were nearly shocked when we saw the prices of even appetizers. Like up to and over $10.

The food. We were going to get our Mediterranean salad with steak. We've had it many times in our past failed attempts to eat healthier. I know, red meat - not healthy. We were just glad it had something green in it. Hehehe. Anyway, the best part is the taramasalata. I'd never had it before: I'd never heard of it before. Fortunately Steve's Greek side came in handy and he knew what it was. It's like fish eggs, perhaps salmon based on its color mixed into a very smooth, creamy and fluffy mashed potato. It's texture is so light that I didn't even think potatoes were involved at all. I kept thinking that it was some sort of whipped dairy product. Yeah.

When the waitress came to take our order one of my default choices came out of my mouth. I ordered the Kos Island wrap which is a hot wrap with grilled, marinated chicken, feta cheese and spinach. I had it once before and had a positive experience so out of my mouth it came when pressed. I got french fries for it. It didn't come with fries. Tell me how crazy that is in a diner not to serve fries with sandwich type things. Their fries were good. Steak cut wedges with the skin on. Steve commented that they didn't give me very many fries but I actually couldn't finish them. Steve even had some. Steve, planning on ordering that salad, decided to change his mind after he'd heard my order and got a regular stand by meal. I can't tell you how many times he's ordered a cheeseburger (no fries) and 2 eggs over with well done home fries and toast. He said the home fries were good. I could see the golden brown crust on the top layer of fries. His burger looked even a little too medium for me. Nearly rare. That was weird because after we'd ordered Steve realized she didn't ask him how he'd like his burger done. And we had a conversation about how it doesn't matter what you say cause it always comes out well done. I offered to give my half wrap to Steve and that I'd eat the burger because he gets upset if things aren't cooked enough. He's not a well done guy. He's a medium to medium well guy. I'm a medium girl myself (occasionally medium rare). He didn't say anything to me regarding the offer and happily tore into his burger. I think that meant he was liking it. To imagine, I wanted an appetizer before this meal too. We passed only because they were ridiculously expensive. And I had intentions to eat strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

Well, I was so full that I passed on dessert. Then Steve convinced me to get it so we could split it but he wanted chocolate cheesecake. I wasn't keen on the idea for some reason. I feared it wouldn't be chocolately enough. Diner desserts are usually just okay. Then we agreed on getting a plain slice. When the waitress came back, he ordered cheesecake...with strawberries! :) That made me so happy and Steve and I inhaled it. We needed that blast of sweet. We had dinner past 9p and I hadn't eaten anything all day. I think I just made the kcal cut off. Phew. Have a nice Saturday and Eat something good!

Mohegan Diner
1888 E Main St
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547

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Frankie & Augie'z Pizza

Steve's friend raved to him about a new ristorante & pizzeria in town. It's called Frankie and Augie'z. It's right near the Pork Store where I get nice raviolis sometimes. Anyway, we felt like we were cheating on Gigi's (our favorite pizzeria). And we were especially because the pizza slices, meatball calzone and pepperoni roll were, gasp, ok I won't say it but I'll say that they were definitely with a capital "D" - on par with Gigi's. The old man from there would probably get really upset if he knew we'd betrayed him.

The slice, not as thin as G's, and not quite that thin at all was great. It was crunchy, crispy and the dough had a good, pleasing strong flavor. The calzone. The meatballs are thicker and better quality. They're also substantially bigger. And Steve says this place uses the kinda mozzarella he likes. It's pretty gooey and thick'ish. Ya know how some pizza cheeses are too soft meaning not gooey. You don't get that satisfying pull. And they tend to be less flavorful as well. Except for a little salt, I thought the calzone was pretty darn good. And I took one bite of my pepperoni roll. (Cause I was stuffed - they have "heftier" slices.) It was good and used about the same amount of pepperoni G's uses. Their sauce. It's awesome. Steve says it tasted like ours. Now I don't know if ours is quite as good but let's use the phrase again, it's on par. How hope you have a positive pizza experience today. Eat Something Good!


Frankie & Augie'z Ristorante and Pizzeria
3673 Hill Blvd
Jefferson Valley, NY 10535

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Chicken "Parm"

I tried a repeat of the lo-cal oven fried chicken. I used thinly sliced chicken. I forgot one critical step. I forgot to dip the chicken in dressing before rolling them in bread crumbs. I don't actually roll them, I shake em up in a bag. Much easier. Less to clean up. I put our homemade sauce from batch #3 or #2 (don't recall) on top of the chicken and then hit it with provolone cheese. It melted quite nicely. I served it with freshly cut broccoli that I nuked with a wet (very) paper towel over it. And we had leftover shells that I heat up in a frying pan with a little olive oil and magic sauce. I put a fresh chiffonade of basil on top of both the chicken and the shells.

So, the dinner. It didn't turn out terrible but there was a major flaw. Firstly, I don't know if it's supposed to, but it wasn't crispy or crunchy. What was "edible" of it was really very good. But! A big but. There was a problem with texture. The outer two inches were fine. Maybe even three but the center portion was a little too tender if that's possible. I kept checking to make sure it wasn't pink and it wasn't. Though afterwards I felt as though I could've possibly poisoned Steve as well as myself. Back to food. Aside from the middle of the chicken mishap, it was a good dinner. If I only could curb my thoughts of possibly having poisoned someone. The broccoli was perfect as per Steve and the cooked shells were good. The sauce adhered to the shells nicely. And the olive oil loosened it up just a bit.

Food. Yum. Eat Something Good!

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