Posts Tagged ‘Food at Home’
Too much serious talk lately. Let’s lighten things up by talking about food. I’ve been eating good lately. Maybe a little too good. I don’t want to step on that scale until I fast and exercise some! I cooked some chicken breasts on the grill the other day. Also grilled some poblanos, tomatillos and onion to make a green sauce. Fill ed up some corn tortillas, topped it with Cotija cheese, fresh chopped cilantro and it was great. Had lobster tail for dinner on our 33rd wedding anniversary. Traditional meal with baked potato, asparagus and melted butter. Had a Wedge Salad before that. Wedge of iceberg lettuce, bacon, blue cheese dressing, tomato and a little red onion. Very tasty. Took the leftover lobster and chopped it up and mixed it with my version of elote. I grilled some corn on the cob. Cut off the kernels. Mixed it with some lime juice, mayo, cilantro pesto, and Cotija cheese. Added a little celery and some chopped up grilled veggies from the other nigh. Stuffed it all in a corn tortilla and loved it! I had a hankering for turtles (the candy not the soup) the other night. Made some caramel sauce, chilled it, put it over chopped walnuts, topped that with chocolate ganache, chilled it and they were delicious! But the caramel ran if I didn’t keep them chilled. So, a couple nights later, I made ice cream added the chopped up turtles to it and man, was that great! It was great. Went over to a neighbors house for dinner. He made pork tenderloin three ways, had sweet potatoes with pistachios, a very al dente green been salad, and a Jezebel sauce. Somebody else brought Chicken Liver Pate for appetizer and I brought Crepes Suzette for dessert. There was also Angel Food cake cupcakes with Raspberry cream frosting.
Again, been living it up too good lately. Time to fast and exercise, and then, get on the scale!
When my wife and I first came to Sedona 14 years ago, we stayed at the Los Abrigados Resort and ate at Joey Bistro several times. We fell in love with Sedona and bought a home here. Since this was our second home we weren’t able to have very long stays until recently. So over the years, we have eaten at Joey Bistro maybe 6 or 7 times. But you know what? Never had a bad meal there, in fact I think they’re among the best meals I have had in Sedona! The food is great and the service by the well trained staff is always perfect. The ambiance is one of a kind with all the pictures of people named Joe or Joey hanging on the walls and from the ceiling, the fireplace going, Christmas lights visible through the windows, white table cloths, shimmering tableware and large wine glasses on the tables, the bar in the corner looks like a place where the “Rat Pack” would hang out. Its “Old School”. All together it puts you in a mood for something special. So, with such great expectations, did they deliver?
Oh yeah baby, deliver they did! Another fabulous meal from Joey Bistro with great service from our waiter Chris and the team of bus people that were always present. Before we even ordered we had waters and bread on the table. We ordered a couple drinks to start out. They were delivered right away and were very tasty. We sipped, ate some warm bread dipped in herbed olive oil while we perused the menu. Its a pretty big menu leaning to the Italian side of things, so it took us a while to zero in on what we wanted. I love Caesar Salads, so we ordered that to start. My wife ordered the Shrimp Scampi and I ordered the Veal Picatta. Then my wife checked out the wine list and ordered two glasses of wine that went with each of our dinners. She’s good at that!
OK, so now the food starts arriving. Our waiter overheard that my wife and I were going to share the salad, so he had it split in the kitchen for us so we didn’t have to pass it around at the table. Didn’t expect that, so that was very nice. The Caesar dressing I make is a little creamier and a little heavier on the anchovy, but this was a delicious version none the less. Lots of Parmesan cheese with more freshly grated on top at the table with lots of garlic croutons. The romaine was very fresh and crispy and the large Parmesan crisp was delicious too!
Next came our entrees. They looked gorgeous. My wife’s Shrimp Scampi came with a huge mound of linguine surrounded by at least seven jumbo shrimp. My wife’s only problem was she thought there should have been a little more sauce. My dish had three nice portions of Veal smothered in Wine Sauce with lots of Capers (I love Capers), a Potato Garlic Cake (love garlic) and a saute of fresh Carrot, Broccoli and Cauliflower (love sauteed veggies). I took my first bite and reached for the salt shaker. That’s why restaurants put salt shakers on the table. I use to cook in my restaurant light on the salt too, so no problem for me. I took another bite, but something was still missing? A light bulb went off and we asked a bus boy for some lemon slices. A little lemon juice on both dishes and we were in seventh heaven. What can I say? We like these dishes with more than just a hint of lemon. All easily fixed! Bravo Joey Bistro! Another fantastic meal and the wines my wife selected went perfect with them.
Now usually when we have this much food, we usually skip or share a dessert. But when I saw the Creme Brulee on the dessert platter that was brought to us by our waiter Chris, I wanted that whole serving of dessert! So, my wife got one too! It was the best Creme Brulee I’ve had in a long time! Maybe since the time I was making it in my restaurant! I savored each of the four fresh berries on top of the crispy caramelized sugar, and underneath, the creamiest, smoothest custard you can imagine. Sipped with a little Grand Marnier, it was the perfect end to a perfect meal. Thank you Chef Jedidiah Jones. I hope I spelled that right?
Joey Bistro is located in the Los Abrigados Resort just south of the Y in Sedona. Their number is (928) 204-5639. They open at 5pm Thursday through Sunday for dinner. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday.
P.S. You know what? I wrote this whole review and didn’t think about this until later, but I didn’t mention anything about prices or “value” for the buck spent. Our dinner for two cost $110 without the tip. That’s two drinks, two glasses of wine, an after dinner drink, one salad, two entrees and two desserts. The entrees themselves were in the mid to high twenties. Considering the whole dinning experience, mentioning price never occurred to me because it was well worth it!
I haven’t been talking a lot lately about what I’ve been eating at home. I bought the smoked salmon at Costco, pretty good price. I bought the jalapeno cheese bagels at Safeway in Sedona for $1.99 for a bag of 6. Not bad. So I’m eating a pretty good sandwich with great fresh ingredients for under a dollar. I just had a smoked salmon bagel sandwich out. The bagel was stale and the salmon was ok and it cost me $7.95. But the ambiance was great! While I was at Safeway, I also bought some London Broil. The normal price for the package I picked out was $21, but it was on sale and the price was $8. That was quite a mark down, and it was a lot of meat! I marinated the first London Broil in red wine for about 4 hours, grill it, sliced it. It was good, but when I cook the next piece I would like to turn out a little more tender. I remember eating a London Broil sandwich at a restaurant in downtown Chicago that was absolutely delicious. I want to recreate that sandwich. So, the next piece of London Broil I’m going to tenderize it and marinate longer. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I’ve smoked some pork shoulders. Talk about a lot of good, tasty meat for a fair price. I made some tamales with the left over pork. Bought 5 lbs of masa at Food City in Cottonwood. That’s a lot of tamales! I made about 40 of them. I also did some chili rellenoes for a Uno de Mayo party. Oh yeah, I hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot with this one. Again, its Costco. I bought a pack of 7 four ounce lamb chops for $14. That’s right! Two bucks a chop, nice and thick cut. And boy were they delicious! I just seasoned them with salt and pepper and grilled them. Again, delicious. They were Australian, but I did not get any of that gamy taste from them like you did in the old days. Also, a big bag of fresh asparagus, again from Costco. Thick stems, grilled some, boiled some. Fantastic! The grilled batch, I put a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil on. Nice.
So, what have you been cooking lately?
That’s right! A bakery has great burgers. My wife and I were waiting for our car to be serviced across the street, so we went to get lunch at Desert Flower Bakery and Bistro. Its in Oak Creek on 179. Lots of outdoor tables, you can’t miss it. The burger meat was very tasty, charred but perfectly medium. Served on a Ciabatta bun with tomato, red onion and a small organic greens salad with a little toasted sesame oil on it. It was very satisfying and just right for the both of us. We split lots of lunches and this was a perfect portion.
I’ve created a “Bring the Bistro Home” video series and now have it available on DVD format. It makes the perfect gift or get it for yourself! The first DVD includes the videos for Burgundy Beef, Beef Braised in Beer (Tender Tasty Beef on the menu), Horseradish Encrusted Salmon, Shrimp Albear, New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp and Potatoes Dauphinois. These were big favorites at the Bistro and the recipes have been downsized for home preparation.
Going to have a breakfast buffet party this coming Sunday. Quiche (crustless and with crust), 3 grain pancakes, omelets, crepes Suzette, potatoes, peppers, onions, tomatoes, bacon, sausage, chicken sausage, grilled steak, moles sauce, corn tortillas, mole sauce, bran muffins, corn muffins, wheat toast, champagne, orange juice, virgin Marys, vodka, fresh fruit and avocados. What else? I don’t know! If I run out of something, I’ll make something else! Pictures to follow!
My wife and I are going to a chili cook off party tonight. I’ve got my entrees all set and ready to go! Earlier in the week I smoked a pork shoulder and beef brisket. I took the Pork, sliced it up and added it to my own BBQ Sauce made with ketchup, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar to name just the major taste ingredients (besides the chili powder, cayenne, cumin and garam masala!). So that’s one chili, Smoked BBQ Pork Chili, sounds good and it tastes good too! Then there’s the smoked beef brisket chili and also a turkey chili. All of them have tomatoes, peppers, onion, white beans and black beans and ground up chipotles in Adobo Sauce to give it some heat. They all taste great, but the Smoked BBQ Pork Chili is my favorite. Topped with some cheddar cheese and raw green onion, its just outstanding. I’ll let you know how everybody at the party likes them. Later.
When we opened our restaurant back in the early 90s, the search was on for the perfect coffee to serve our customers. After tasting many brands and brews, we decided on Illy Cafe. And it turned out to be a good decision because our customers loved the espressos, cappuccinos, lattes and the brewed coffee that we made using Illy Cafe! To this day at home, we have our own little cappuccino machine and we have our lattes using Illy Cafe coffee! Its delicious!
I bought my first Cuisinart food processor back in the early 80s. My wife and I had lots of parties and did all the cooking. We still have a few parties every now and then and still do all the cooking. I hate to think of trying to do all that work without a food processor. My wife and I were at one of the Food and Wine Events in Aspen, Colorado one year and we went to a conference that had Julia Child as one of the speakers. The panel of speakers was asked by the moderator, “What is the most important piece of equipment in your kitchen?” Julia Child was the first to respond and she said “That would be me!”. Everybody laughed their butts off. Julia Child was serious, but I think there was a general consensus among the speakers that the food processor had changed everything.
I had carpal tunnel problems from years of tapping on a keyboard as a computer programmer. When I opened my restaurant I wanted to make breads and pastas from scratch. Kneading for me was a very painful process. So, I developed a number of bread and pasta recipes where I made the dough in the food processor and then took out and kneaded it for just a minute to get them gluten strands nicely formed. This saved me from the pain of extensive kneading. Plus all the other things that your food processor can do for you like grating, slicing, making salad dressings, bread crumbs, pesto and a myriad of other things. I think its the most important piece of equipment in the kitchen (besides me, of course!).
Yes, Hummus! Don’t ya just love it? Its a spread made with garbanzo beans processed with sesame seed paste (Tahini), lemon juice, cumin, garlic, salt a little olive oil and water. You can eat it with just a pita warmed and toasted. Or how about those deliciously healthy Terra Chips made of different root vegetables? But it doesn’t stop there. How about hummus spread in a pita pocket, then fill the pita with a variety of vegetables, cooked or raw? Add some chicken or turkey strips, or some grilled strips of portabello mushrooms. Instead of in a pita pocket, use flatbread. Use it as a healthy sandwich spread instead of mayo and/or ketchup. So how does one make this stuff. Well, here’s how I do it.
Ingredients:
- 1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed - This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein and Copper, and a very good source of Folate and Manganese.
- 2 cloves garlic – Lowers triglycerides, risks of cancer, heart disease and stroke
- 1/4 cup sesame paste (Tahini) – This food is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Phosphorus, Copper and Manganese.
- 2 tsps cumin - It is a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Phosphorus, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Manganese.
- Juice from half a lemon - It is also a good source of Folate and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C which helps prevent cancer and heart disease.
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil – low in Cholesterol and Sodium, helps lower risks of cancers and heart disease
Procedure:
Put the garlic in a food processor and process until finely minced. Add the garbanzo beans, sesame paste, cumin, lemon juice, water and salt. Turn the food processor on and while running add the olive oil.
How to serve:
What we did in our restaurant was put an 8 ounce portion of hummus in a glass cup, drizzle a little olive oil on it and dust it with some smoked paprika. It looked pretty and tasted great. We served it with two grilled pitas cut into eight pieces each, or with Terra Chips or a combination of the two. We would also create sandwich specials that were usually vegetarian in nature. Some were grilled vegetable sandwiches, portobello mushroom sandwiches, or a combination, usually in a toasted pita pocket that was coated with some of the hummus. Of course, if customers wanted they could add grilled chicken strips, shrimp or turkey to these sandwiches. And since hummus is a Middle Eastern thing, serving a sandwich made with it with a side of a cold couscous salad with golden raisins, toasted pine nuts, cilantro, coriander, currants, dried apricots was incredible good and authentic! Enjoy!