FoodieCuisine.com

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Lettuce Wrap

I made a quick and simple dinner the other night that had lots of flavor but very few calories.  It was so good my wife had it again the next night, which is a rare occasion since she rarely eats leftovers.

The meal consists of chicken, vegetables, and a Korean BBQ sauce, all wrapped in lettuce.  By wrapping the chicken in lettuce, you experience tacos but without the calories in tortillas.

Ingredients (Makes 8 Wraps)

• 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 2 fresh yellow squash
• 1/2 white onion
• Korean BBQ sauce (I used Spicy Bulgogi Korean BBQ Sauce from JayOne)
• 1″ piece fresh ginger
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 head butter lettuce
• Salt and pepper

Prep

Trim the chicken thighs of any fat and dice.  Wash and dice the onion and squash.  Wash, peel, and finely dice the giner and jalapeno.

Cooking

Heat the oil on High in a large skillet until it starts to smoke.

Carefully add in the chicken and let brown.

Use a spatula to turn it while browning.

Once it is browned on all sides, add the Korean BBQ sauce (about 3 Tablespoons worth.)

Cook for 2-3 minutes and add all of the vegetables.

Continue to cook until the onions are translucent and the squash is softened (about 10 minutes.)

Add salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Putting it Together

Place two complete leaves of lettuce on a plate and place 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the middle.  Roll together like a burrito and serve.  Each person will usually eat 2-3 wraps.  Enjoy!

BBQ Salmon

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

I was in Lake Buena Vista, Florida a few weeks ago and had to grab a quick business lunch while we waited for a meeting.  The hotel area has a Bahama Breeze Island Grille in it, and although it is a chain restaurant, it looked appealing enough to peak my interest.

The interior of Bahama Breeze is a cross between a Chili’s and a darker version of Olive Garden.  They offer a variety of food all based on an Island theme, ranging from chicken, steak, and seafood.

I ordered the BBQ salmon which is a filet of salmon topped with BBQ sauce and sided with fried plantains and a sweet potato puree.  My food arrived quickly and the plate was quite large, plenty for lunch.  The BBQ sauce was a bit on the sweet side but had a lot of flavor to it and paired well with the salmon.  The salmon filet was cooked well and tasted fresh.

I really enjoyed the side items as they helped complete the entire experience and worked well together.  The food was not out of this world great, but it was good enough and met my expectations.  I will not go out of my way to eat at Bahama Breeze, but if I am nearby, I can see going back again in the future.

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Stuffed Chicken with Cheese, on Fresh Pasta

I made stuffed chicken for my mother-in-law for her birthday dinner and then again for more family on Christmas Eve.  Both times everyone really enjoyed the dinner and so here I present it to you!  It is not as complicated as it sounds once you get the hang of things.

For the stuffing

• Mix the goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, tarragon, and garlic in a large bowl.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Prep for the chicken

• Whisk 1 egg per chicken breast in a large bowl.  Set aside.
• Blend a full load of French bread in a food processor until it forms fine crumbs.
• Place the crumbs in a large bowl.

For each chicken breast (make as many or as few as you want)

• Place a chicken breast in a large gallon-sized baggie.  Use a meat tenderizer (hammer) to flatten the chicken breast until it is thin (about twice the size.)
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Place 1-2 Tablespoons of the stuffing on the end of chicken breast.
• Roll the chicken breast tightly.
• Dredge the chicken roll in flour and shake off excess flour.
• Dip the chicken roll into the egg mixture and coat evenly.
• Dredge the chicken roll into the bread crumb mixture, coat evenly, and place on the wire rack.

Cooking the chicken

• Heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat a large pot of vegetable oil to 360 degrees F.
• Fry each chicken roll for 2-3 minutes, rotating as it brown, until brown on each side.
• Remove each chicken roll and place on a cookie sheet.
• Once all of the chicken is fried, place the cookie sheet in the oven for 15-30 minutes depending on your oven.
• Use a thermometer to check the chicken and remove it from the oven when the internal temp, at the thickest point on each roll, reaches 145 degrees F.
• Remove the sheet from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes (it will continue to cook as it rests.)
• Slice each chicken roll into 4-5 pieces and serve.
• Top with grated Asiago cheese for extra flavor.

I served the chicken with fresh angel hair pasta and a homemade mushroom alfredo sauce.  Enjoy!

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Custom Boat of Sushi

Happy New Years for 2012!  I have several reviews and articles ready for the new year and hope you enjoy them all.  As a small virtual taste, I had dinner at Amura Chop House in Orlando, Florida a few weeks ago.

They call it a chop house due to the steaks you can order but we had a large boat of sushi and several seafood appetizers.

We ordered a few of the Red Tuna Tataki ($12.99) appetizers which consists of several thin slices of tuna, topped with a spicy garlic based ponzu sauce.

The tuna was very tender and fresh and the sauce had an immense amount of flavor.  Although the appetizer is large, they were all gone within a few minutes.  I highly recommend it.

For our main course we ordered several sushi rolls and nigiri.  Among the nigiri I really enjoyed the Uni ($8.99).  It had the earthy flavor I am used to in Sea Urchin and was very smooth.

The favorite sushi roll among the table was the Tokyo Roll ($12.98) which contains rice, Crab, Eel, Tempura Shrimp, and Avocado.  We ordered a few for the table and not a single piece was left.  The roll is slightly-warm, which I really like, and the sauces were sweet, sour, and savory at the same time.  A wonderful combination.

Other notable pieces were the smoked salmon nigiri, the tamago nigiri, and the futomaki roll.  All were very fresh and nicely done.

I suggest you give them a try if you are in the area.  There are many great sushi restaurants out there and Amura is a worthy choice.

Restaurant Row
7785 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 370-0007

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

1905 Salad & Cuban Sandwich

The Columbia Restaurant was founded in 1905 in Celebration, Florida by Casimiro Hernandez Sr. and has been serving Cuban-style food ever since.

The interior is very interesting with a mix of Colonial architecture and modern style.  I really enjoyed looking around the room at the various pictures on the walls and decorations.

I went the other day for a business lunch and heard how the 1905 salad was the item to order.  I also heard how the Cuban sandwich is a great item.  Not content to settle on just one item, I ordered the combination of half a Cuban sandwich and half of the 1905 salad.

Before lunch arrived they served warm homemade bread with butter which was crusty yet soft in the center.  It was not recently baked but tasted great, especially with the table butter provided.  Lunch showed up a while later and looked amazing.

The salad reminded me of the one served at The Faded Rose in Little Rock, Arkansas as it was pre-tossed with a zesty dressing akin to a olive-oil-vinegar combination.  The salad had lots of toppings with it and is something I could see ordering again.  I really liked the crunch of the lettuce with the oil and acidity of the dressing.

The sandwich was quite tasty with ham and cheese which was melted perfectly.  The ham was flavorful and not too salty and the bread was crunchy yet soft enough for a sandwich.  Overall I really enjoyed the sandwich and recommend it.

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Fulton's Crab House

I had the pleasure of eating at Fulton’s Crab House in Downtown Disney the other week and really enjoyed the experience.  Downtown Disney is open to the public (no tickets required) and they have several restaurants and other venues for people of all ages.

Fulton’s is built to look like a giant river-boat and comes complete with wood interiors and a nice “Imagineered” look and feel.  The restaurant is welcoming and dark and has plenty of room, although we were seated a bit tightly next to another group.

Our table ordered the Fried Calamari for an appetizer and I ordered the Blue Crab Cakes for my entree.  The calamari came out quickly and was fried well with a nice kick from the basil and tomato sauce.  I wish the order was larger given how fast our table ate it!

Our entrees came out around 20 minutes later and my crab cakes looked great with the side of a mustard-based sauce.  They were full of lump crab meat and were quite tender.  I enjoyed the hint of lemon on them and would order them again in the future.

Overall I had a great time and really enjoyed the visit.  There are quite a few familys around Downtown Disney but I had no problems even though I was there on business.  I recommend you give them a try.

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

The Terrace on the Greens, most recently renamed to The Terrace Mediterranean Kitchen, has been a foundation restaurant in Little Rock spanning multiple decades.  They have moved from the Breckenridge Mall, to a location behind Chili’s, to the location where Jason’s Deli is, to where they are now.  Although the location has changed, and the owner once, the food has never suffered and they still have the best babaganoush, hummus, and lunch specials around town.

Jerry Baracat sold the restaurant to his ex-wife Teri not too long ago and she remodeled the place right after the purchase.  I was worried the food would change but went for lunch the other day and was pleasantly surprised that all of my favorites are still on the menu.  There are a few new items, and the appetizer portions are a tad smaller, but the food tasted great.

I ordered the Gyro Sandwich, hold the onions and tomatoes, but add feta, along with the appetizer sampler consisting of babaganoush and , hummus.  My wife had the same thing and our total bill came out to about $24 with our iced tea.  They have many Mediterranean dishes on the menu including chicken piccata, soups, salads, other sandwiches, and several lunch items including beef tenderloin.

The interior is as small as before but is very comforting and I like the new design.  They now have a bar you can sit at, for more total seating, and the place was packed.  Teri was very welcoming of course and the wait-staff brought our drinks and food quickly.

As I said before, the food tasted great with the hummus having a nice bite to it, not mealy like most other places, and the babaganoush was wonderful (my favorite item they have.)  The gyro sandwiches were full of gyro meat and I really enjoy their pita bread.  Overall our lunch was one of the best I have had in Little Rock and I will be back in the near future.

Filet with Herbed Butter

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Have you ever wondered why the steaks at steak houses taste so great?  Do you want an easy way to improve the flavor of the meals you cook without a lot of extra work?  If you answered yes to either of these questions, herbed butter may be in your future.

Herbed butter is nothing more than butter which has been infused with the flavor of one or more spices.  Fresh herbs are typically used with butter and the resulting flavor is a wonderful addition to just about any food.

Steak houses place a slice of herbed butter on top of steaks when they are done.  By the time it reaches the table, the butter has melted and the herbs add an extra layer of flavor.  They use many other methods of course, but herbed butter can be one of them.  You can do the same thing by placing a slice on chicken fresh out of the oven, or fish fresh from the grill.

You can also used herbed butter on vegetables as it enhances most things (except dessert.)  Moderation is the key as butter has calories, but a little can go a long ways.

So, how do you make it?  It’s quite simple really.  Buy some fresh herbs, a good butter, plastic wrap, and get to work.

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter (not margarine)
• 2 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12″ x 12″ section plastic wrap

Steps

1. Let the butter sit out, overnight, to reach room temperature
2. Mince the fresh herbs
3. Mince the garlic
4. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
5. Stir until completely integrated
6. Spread the plastic
7. Mound butter in middle
8. Form as a log in the middle
9. Roll the plastic
10. Wrap over both ends to seal
11. Put in the refrigerator for 4 hours or more

Usage

1.  Use a sharp knife and cut a quarter-inch slice off of the edge
2. Discard the plastic
3. Place on steak, chicken, vegetables, etc.

I suggest trying different herbs such as Tarragon, Basil, or Thyme.  You also can add different spices such as paprika, cayenne, or even cardamom.

Butter before Rolling

Rolled Butter