FoodieCuisine.com

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

B.B. Kings Restaurant & Blues Club

We went to Memphis, Tennessee, for my wife’s birthday and spent a night at the Peabody Hotel while we were there.  I can’t say that we ate anything that was outstanding but we did enjoy a nice dessert on Beale Street. 

It was raining and we happened to find ourselves seeking shelter under the awning of B.B. Kings Restaurant and Blues Club.  After listening to the sales pitch from the door-man to come inside, we did.  We paid the $5 cover charge ($10 for the both of us) and tried to find a table.  After about 15 minutes a group got up and we attempted to sit down. 

I say “attempted” because the very rude waitress told us we couldn’t sit at a table unless we were ordering a full meal.  Considering we weren’t told this when paying the cover charge I went back to the cashier to request a refund.  I fully expected a “debate” to ensue but was pleasantly surprised when the she escorted us around the club looking for a table.  She eventually found a previously reserved table and gave it to us.

The music started about this time (8pm EST) and the place started filling up quickly.  While we enjoyed the band our waiter came by and I ordered the Banana Bread Pudding ($5.99.)  The menu states that the desert takes 15 minutes or so to cook but we weren’t in any hurry.  We also ordered a beer (for my wife) and iced tea for myself.  After about 10 minutes the desert came out and it was the best thing we had in Memphis on our entire trip.  It wasn’t too hot and had a great flavor to it.  If anything I may have warmed it some more but overall I was very happy with it.  If you find yourself on Beale Street in Memphis, I recommend stopping by B.B. Kings to have some of the dessert.

B.B. King’s Blues Club – Memphis
143 Beale Street
Memphis, TN 38103
901-524-KING (5464)

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Imusa Victoria Cast Iron Tortilla Press, 6-1/2-Inch

I recieved the tortilla press I ordered from Amazon.com yesterday.  I bought it to make my own flour and corn tortillas and have read that you can making amazing tortillas at home.  I can’t wait to try it and will post the results here!

For those wondering, I bought the Imusa Victoria Cast Iron Tortilla Press, 6-1/2-Inch model.  I thought about the 10″ model but want to save on the calories in the tortillas I make and 6.5″ will work just fine for tacos.

The following is the technique I read about on how to do this over at http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/flour_tortilla_recipe.html.  I added the part about the tortilla press since I’m not going to be rolling them by hand.

The Recipe

• 2 cups of white flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup warm water

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine the warm water and oil.

Add the water/oil mixture to the flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time and mix the dough with a fork.

Once the water is mixed in, add another tablespoon of water and repeat the process until all the water is mixed into the dough.  The dough will be sticky.

Kneading The Dough

Lightly flour a wooden cutting board and knead the dough.  Kneading is done by pushing the dough with the heals and palms of both hands down onto the board. Fold the dough back onto itself, give a quarter turn and push again with the palms and heels of your hands. Just repeat the process of pressing, folding and turning for about 4 or 5 minutes. Add a dusting of flour when the dough gets sticky.

If the dough sticks to the cutting board while kneading, scrape up the dough and dust the board with a little flour and continue kneading.  Eventually the stickiness will go away and you will have a nice smooth dough.

Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with a damp towel or damp paper towel. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into golf-ball-size balls by pinching off the dough with your thumb and fore finger. Form each ball into a nice ball shape.

Place the balls on a flat dish making sure they don’t touch each other and cover with the damp cloth.  Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes.

Pressing the Tortillas

To use your tortilla press, put down a sheet of wax paper on each side and then cover the paper with a sheet of plastic.  I cut zip-loc bags to shape for my efforts.  You then put a golf-ball sized piece of dough in the center and press down very hard with the  tortilla press.  The resulting tortilla should peel away easily from the plastic and be ready for cooking.

Cooking The Tortillas

Once you have pressed the tortilla, place it on a preheated skillet. You don’t need to add any oil or butter. Cook the tortilla for about 30 seconds. You will notice brown spots all over your tortilla. Flip it over and cook an additional 30 seconds.  Don’t over cook it as you want the tortilla to be nice and soft.  Keep your tortillas warm by covering them in a towel on a plate or in a tortilla warmer.

Storing Tortillas

Tortillas are best eaten hot right off the griddle, but you can refrigerate and freeze them too.  If you freeze the tortillas, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag. When you are ready to use them, first thaw at room temperature and then wrap them in foil and place them in a 250 degree oven for a 10 to 15 minutes.

I don’t recommend microwaving them as this tends to toughen them.  So try your hand at some homemade flour tortillas. It’s really pretty easy and I think you will be delighted by the results.

 

 By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Zaza's Pizza - Picture by Shannon Sturgis

My son wanted to have a brick-oven pizza at Zaza’s in the Heights so I happily obliged.  We have been to Zaza’s a few times in the past and it is worth revisiting.  I had never approached the place from a critics standpoint and looked forward to the experience.

I took my two boys with me at Noon on Sunday for pizza and salad.  Zaza’s is a very casual pizza place located behind what used to be the Heights Theater.  It is owned and operated by two owners, Scott McGehee and John Beachboard.  They happen to be the originators of Boulevard Bread Company and Zaza’s is the latest creation.  I recently read that they are going national with the store and have made business arrangements to form a chain out of it.  Very impressive.

They have an upstairs, downstairs, and a outside eating area.  There aren’t many tables, and they are almost always full, but people move in an out quickly.  You order your food by going through a marked line that is close to the entrance.  You can request any of the salads, pizzas, or subs from the menu board or ask to have one made with the exact toppings you want.  This is where you can go crazy as there are many items to be had on a pizza, salad, or sub (sandwich.)  The salads are huge and my oldest son had the chicken Caesar salad.  His salad had large chunks of chicken in it with fresh shaved Parmesan cheese mixed in.  The salads are made while you order them and my son was able to take it with him to our table.

I ordered their standard pepperoni pizza for my youngest son and the house-made Italian sausage pizza for myself.  I had sun-dried tomatoes and feta added to my pizza to enhance the flavor a bit.  The pizzas are all cooked in their large brick oven and are done within just a few minutes.  They are very thin, but not crispy.  It’s hard to describe but if you have ever had brick oven pizza you will instantly recognize the food.

You pay after you place your order and proceed to the drink area to fill up your sodas, water, or tea.  You also pick up your plates, napkins, and utensils in the drink area.  They have a gelato counter for when you want  to order dessert.  Gelato is more akin to a sorbet than ice-cream and has a light flavor.  I haven’t had the gelato at Zaza’s; therefore, I can’t comment on how good (or bad) it is.  Maybe next time. 🙂

We sat upstairs and waited for our food to come out.  I watched the patrons down below and also paid attention to the pizza makers putting the food together.  As I watched them make the pizzas I did notice that they use very little sauce and slices of cheese.  They also only cover about half of the pizza with toppings.  I used to work at a pizza restaurant and this is a bit puzzling as I’m used to pizza toppings that cover everything.  You would think that at around $11 a pizza they could afford more toppings.

There are about seven tables upstairs and a couple of televisions in view to watch.  There is also a setup of Guitar Hero on one wall to keep kids entertained.  The tables are casual and are accompanied by plastic chairs.  We did have to ask them to turn the air conditioner off as it gets very cold upstairs.  I’m guessing that the kitchen staff are plenty warm and keep it turned down since this is the second time in a row I’ve had to ask for the place to be warmer.  They complied and within about fifteen minutes our food was delivered to our table.

I first tried the pepperoni pizza which is made with fresh mozzarella, basil, large pieces of pepperoni, and large slivers of sliced Parmesan cheese.  The tomato sauce had a very nice flavor to it and I could taste the basil clearly.  The dough is chewy but not too much so.  The pepperoni tasted good and I loved the Parmesan cheese shavings.  The pizza was a little on the salty side and after it cooled down it felt greasy.  You can expect a lighter tasting pizza from Zaza’s given the style (brick oven) and lack of toppings.  Due to the lack of toppings I had to make an effort to obtain a slice with pepperoni or Parmesan on it.  Overall the ingredients tasted very fresh and the pizza was far and above better than what I would expect from a chain store.

Next up I had the Italian Sausage pizza.  It had sun-dried tomatoes and feta added to it as I mentioned earlier.  The Italian Sausage pizza comes with arugula, sliced Parmesan cheese, red sauce, green bell peppers, and a few other cheeses.  It had a great taste to it and I really enjoyed it.  The only thing I would change is to add more ingredients.  On more than one slice I had to move toppings around to have one of everything.

Overall, they have good fresh brick oven pizza and huge salads.  Their pizza could use more toppings and they need to keep the salt in check.  Chains like Pizza Hut pale in comparison to the quality of Zaza’s and that is something they should be proud of.  I know I’ll be going back.

5600 Kavanaugh Blvd.
Little Rock, Arkansas
10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday
10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday 
Noon-7 p.m Sunday

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Batter Blaster

Normally I would never try a product like the Batter Blaster™ but my mother bought a can for me and deposited it in my refrigerator.  I made brunch for Easter Sunday and decided to add some pancakes to my little buffet.   Batter Blaster is described on their website as:

With its unique, pressurized, patent pending process, Batter Blaster™ makes organic light and fluffy pancakes and light and crisp waffles in minutes! And while breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it’s also the most skipped meal. Batter Blaster is fast, easy and fun for the whole family. Batter Blaster makes breakfast a blast!

If you have ever used whipped cream in a can then you will be right at home with Batter Blaster.  If you haven’t used whipped cream in a can, crawl out from under that rock.  After you free yourself from the rock you can operate the can by holding it inverted above a hot griddle and pressing against the nozzle to release the batter. 

For my tests I heated my All-Clad Griddle to 400 degrees.  Once the griddle was hot on both sides I squeezed out enough batter to create a circle about 3 inches across and made six pancakes.  I let the batter heat up and form bubbles throughout.  The first thing I noticed is how the batter is darker and less natural looking than what I mix.  Batter Blaster claims it is organic and the ingredients are quite natural, but it had an unnatural look to it.  Undeterred, I let the batter cook and flipped the pancakes once there were plenty of bubbles present.  The pancakes cooked very quickly, much faster than my mix does.  After just a few total minutes the pancakes were ready to be removed from the griddle.

Maple Grove Farms Pure Maple Syrup

I removed the pancakes from the griddle, and topped them with spray butter and Maple Grove Farms Pure Maple Syrup.  I linked to the syrup company because their maple syrup was the highest one rated by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine and tastes great.  I bought it after reading the comparison they did and have been purchasing it ever since.  If you don’t have it in your cupboard I suggest you pick it up the next time you are at the grocery store.

So how did they taste?  The syrup was great as usual but the pancakes were less than stellar in the flavor department.  They were rubbery in texture and reminded me of the ones you get at McDonald’s.  I suspect they use a batter dispenser of sorts at McDonald’s although I’m sure they don’t pay for a brand name mixture like Batter Blaster. 

Batter Blaster Nutrition

The pancakes didn’t have much flavor and had the consistency of something you would expect out of a can.  Comparing them to my own pancakes is like comparing cheese in a can to aged Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.  If you don’t know how to make your own pancake mix, I suggest learning.  While it’s super easy to use a can of mix like with Batter Blaster, they just don’t taste right or have the right texture to them.  I appreciate the effort that went into the invention and respect the people who made it.  It’s just not something I plan on ever using again personally.

The pancakes made with Batter Blaster are low in calories and sit well on the nutrition front.  I am very impressed that they didn’t inject tons of fat or calories into the mix and they deserve kudos for that.  Most food of convenience is laden with fat and this group bucks that trend.

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Food Network Magazine - April 2010

I subscribe to the Food Network Magazine and in the April 2010 issue they have an article written by Con Poulos that is devoted to different kinds of Macaroni and Cheese dishes.  They have recipes for Spring Shells and Cheese, Triple-Cheese Spirals, Noodle Kugel, Mini Mac and Shrooms, and Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese.  

This past Easter Holiday I decided to make the Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese for my family.  I didn’t think too far ahead about doing this and forgot to pick up the rotisserie chicken at the store.  Thankfully, my step-father picked one up for me on his way over.  The only choices they had were a BBQ Sauced one and a Lemon-Pepper one, so I went with the BBQ Sauce chicken. 

The recipe is somewhat simple but takes longer than the advertised 35 minutes to make.  On your first go I’d recommend setting aside an hour to prep it and another 50 minutes to cook and cool it.  I expect that you will get much faster at making it the second time around. 

The ingredients:

• 7 Tbsp butter
• 1 pound macaroni
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (1 whole chicken)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

If you read the magazine article you will notice that I modified the recipe a little.  I prefer more garlic and also like more blue cheese than was originally called for.  I preheated my oven to 400 degrees and sprayed a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with butter spray.  I also brought a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta.  The recipe calls for the oven to be set at 350 degrees but I have found that most professional kitchen based recipes expect the oven to operate at a higher temperature than you typically realize at home.  Due to this I usually increase the temperature on recipes I know are from non-home kitchens. 

While the water was coming up to a boil I sauteed my onions and celery in a skillet on high with 3 tablespoons of butter.  When the onions were soft, I added the shredded chicken and garlic and stirred it all together to cook for 2 minutes.  After the 2 minute mark I added the hot sauce and simmered the entire mixture for a few minutes.  Once it was cooked I turned off the heat and set the mixture aside. 

The Result - Mmmmm Gooood

By this time the water was boiling so I put the pasta in and set the timer for 8 minutes.  I was using spiral macaroni but it doesn’t really matter what shape you choose. 

With the pasta in the water I heated a large metal sauce pan on high and melted 2 tablespoons of butter in it.  I stirred in the flour and mustard and mixed until it was smooth.  I then whisked in the half-and-half and added the remaining 1/2 cup of hot sauce.  I let it cook until thickened, about 2 minutes and then turned the heat down to medium.  I slowly added the cubed cheddar cheese, a few cubes at a time, while stirring to prevent scorching.  Finally I added in the pepper jack cheese and the sour cream and stirred until the mixture was smooth, about 5 minutes.

When the time was up on the pasta, I poured the pasta into a strainer and strained the liquid away.  I then reserved the pasta in the strainer and set it aside for assembly.  To assemble the dish I put half of the macaroni in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  I then topped the macaroni with the chicken mixture and another layer of macaroni.  I then poured the cheese sauce over the top layer of macaroni.  I was careful to do this as the dish was very full by the time everything was added and I still needed some room for the crumb topping. 

While the cheese mixture settled on the top, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter.  I mixed the melted butter in a bowl with the panko bread crumbs, blue cheese, and parsley.  Finally I sprinkled the mixture over the macaroni and baked the entire thing for 40 minutes.  Once it was done I removed it from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes to cool. 

Final Thoughts

I really liked the recipe and enjoyed the changes I made to it as well.  The next time around I will add more hot sauce as it lacked the kick I like.  I’d probably add a tsp of salt too.  You could lighten it up by using 2% cheese, low-fat sour cream, and maybe even buttermilk instead of half-and-half.  I’d have to try the buttermilk idea though to see what it does to the flavor profile.  It may turn out okay given the tartness of the blue cheese.  Let me know if you try it!

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

The Pantry

My wife and I joined three of our long time friends (one a husband/wife couple) for dinner at The Pantry in Little Rock, Arkansas last night.  We had not planned on going out to eat there but were hungry after leaving our friend’s 40th Birthday Party (Happy 40th Shane!).  We showed up at around 7:30pm and were told there would be a twenty minute wait.  Not too bad, especially given the multi-hour long waits you can experience in larger metropolitan areas.  We took our seats and proceeded to wait.

After about forty-five minutes we got the impression that they had forgotten us.  One of our group members complained and we were seated within just a few minutes.  Something tells me they did indeed forget us.  Anyways, on with the show.  I really enjoy the decor of the restaurant as it has nice warm colors and feels very inviting.  I forgot to mention earlier that the waiting / bar area was very nice and had a few tables to eat at.  It appeared to have a nice bar as well.  The place has been completely overhauled from before when it was Gypsy’s Restaurant.  The structure and layout is still the same but nothing else is.

As it turns out, we picked probably the worst night to review the restaurant.  We were seated next to an 18-top table.  For the non-restaurant speakers out there that means a table that had 18-seats or people at it.  Look at the picture I posted above and notice the wall on the right side.  A group had pushed together all the chairs and tables on that side of the restaurant to form one long table full of people.  They were also insanely loud.  I think the libations may have blocked their hearing canals given how loud they were.  The restaurant staff even had to partially shut the doors towards the back of the restaurant to block some of the noise from the back room.  Unfortunately, we were in the corner in the same room with the loud group and had nowhere to go.  I understand enjoying a good time, but at some point you need to listen to how loud the group you are in is and assist in reducing the noise output.  I’ve done this many times when in large groups and it’s an easy and courteous thing to do.  If the group is being too loud, point it out to your group and tell them to lower their voices some.

The Pantry's Board Appetizer

Now on to the service and the food.  We had a friendly waitress who was attentive to us given the rather large distraction next to us.  We received our drinks and placed our appetizer order after about ten minutes.  I prefer to place drink orders right away, along with appetizer orders, but gave them some slack given the circumstances.  I ordered The Pantry’s Board ($16.75) for the entire table to share.  It’s a meat and cheese board complete with Smoked Pork, House Made Pate, Italian Ham, Feta Cheese, Kalamata Olives, Toasted Bread, and what appeared to be homemade bratwurst.  The pate is made from chicken livers and had a nice flavor to it.  The bratwurst was the most tender bratwurst I’ve ever had and was very well cooked.  The only problem I had with the bratwurst was that it lacked a spice kick.  I expected more spice to it given how well it was prepared and was a little disappointed in that category.  The cheese was, well, cheese.  The smoked pork was too smoky tasting for my liking and was a bit dry.  Overall, I give the appetizer high marks though and would order it again.

In addition to the Pantry’s Board we also ordered (2) orders of Truffled Deviled Eggs ($4.95 per order.)  You receive (4) small half-eggs per order which is why we ordered (2) of them.  The deviled eggs are made out of small eggs, and are sliced on the bottom so that they stand up well on the board they bring them out on.  The eggs have the deviled mix in the middle as you would expect and are topped with a small Parmesan cheese crisp.  I ended up eating (3) of the eggs, way too many for me, but somebody had to do it and they were too good to let go to waste.  Of everything I had for dinner the deviled eggs were the best choice.  I would definitely order them again and recommend you try them out if you visit.

We finished off the appetizers and then waited for our entrees.  We ended up waiting half an hour or so, which is too long to wait between courses.  You typically should wait no more than ten to fifteen minutes at a restaurant.  They have to turn tables to make money after all and they don’t need you sitting around any longer than you have to.  The entrees all arrived, with the roasted pork shoulder coming last, and we dug in.

I had given up on ordering lasagna at restaurants because I am always disappointed.  My family has lasagna every Christmas, instead of Turkey, and I look forward to it all year.  My grandfather used to make the lasagna and since he passed away my grandmother has taken over for him.  They were both kind enough to share the family recipe secret with me several years ago though and now, on occasion, I make my own pan of lasagna.  The lasagna takes (2) days to complete though and is quite expensive to make; therefore, I only make it once or twice a year.  The point here is that the lasagna I get for Christmas or that I make myself tastes much better than anything I can buy at a restaurant.  But, this time I heard how much the staff at The Pantry likes the lasagna, and the menu says it uses homemade pasta.  I love homemade pasta, and it’s such a rare thing to find in Arkansas that I had to order the Lasagna al Forno ($12.50) for my entree.  So how was it?  Did the world break out in peace and song after I ate it?  Turn on the news and you will find otherwise unfortunately.  The lasagna was well baked, and had a good flavor to it, it just lacked the punch I expected.  It kind of reminds me of the bratwurst.  It looks like it should be good, and has all of the textures done right, and appears homemade, but it lacks kick or spice.  Maybe the chef is going after more generic palates?  The pasta did taste fresh, which gives them high marks in my book.  Overall it tasted good, it just wasn’t great.  Would I order it again?  Probably not, but then again, I’m very picky when it comes to lasagna.  It was better than some of the other dishes we received though.  Read on for more info on those.

My wife ordered the NY Strip ($24.95) and asked for it to come Medium Rare.  Interestingly enough, steak is very simple to cook but is also very easy to mess up.  Most of the restaurants I have been to don’t know how to cook a steak properly.  And the ones that do know how, are inconsistent.  Sometimes it has a perfect crust with tender red meat in the middle.  Other times you have no crust at all, or even worse, it’s overcooked.  The stars were in alignment this time around though as the steak was cooked perfectly!  It could have been trimmed more and was not a super high grade of meat, but then again, we didn’t expect a US Prime steak either.  It had seasoning applied very well and tasted great with the addition of melted butter on top.  I wouldn’t have changed anything with it, except maybe use a higher grade of meat.  But, like I said, for the price you can’t expect US Prime or better.  I would order it in the future.

Our friend ordered the special of the night, called the Rustic Bowl ($15.00 but price varies.)  It changes every week or so and this time it was a shrimp dish with tomatoes, tarragon, green beans, and some other flavors.  It looked and tasted like shrimp with marinara sauce except the tarragon gave it a sweet flavor I wouldn’t expect in a marinara sauce.  It tasted okay but wasn’t anything special.  I’m a little perplexed as to what the chef was thinking as the dish was missing something.  Maybe they should have tossed it with a fresh angel hair pasta?  It was seasoned well but I wouldn’t order that particular special again.  I hear it changes every week though so I’d have to see what it is the next time I visit.  And yes, I do plan on going back.

Our other friend had the Wiener Schnitzel ($11.95).  Schnitzel is fried pork and has its origins in Austria.  The Wiener Schnitzel was served with potatoes and lemon.  He was going to order the Jager Schnitzel, which is promised to be smothered in a mushroom gravy, but was steered towards the Wiener Schnitzel by the waitress and our friend who recommended the place.  I really wish he would have gotten the Jager Schnitzel though.  The Wiener Schnitzel looked great and was very tender.  It lacked any spice though and was extremely bland.  I would never order it again unless they promised to change the spice characteristics.  It was the strangest thing, and seems to carry the reoccurring theme of the restaurant.  The pork was fried perfectly and was tender.  The sides that came with it were good too. In the end, it was under spiced and lacked much flavor and that is a foul ball in the food world.  He did order a side of potato dumplings with cabbage and onions.  They tasted okay, although uneventful.  If you were really hungry I could see ordering them, but they were not something I would order in the future.

Last but not least, our third friend had ordered the Roasted Pork Shoulder ($11.95).  The dish is exactly what you would expect and was served with Czech potato dumplings and braised red cabbage.  The pork tasted great and was very tender.  It had a great spice flavor to it and although was very basic, is something I would order again.  It’s funny that I don’t have much to say about this dish but it was good and there isn’t much I would change on it.  Of all of the entrees, this one was my favorite and I recommend it. 

We also ordered a Goat Cheese Flatbread ($10.95) to split with the group.  It would have been too much food but we did order dinner with this article in mind.  I had to take one for the team and order a variety of things….It’s a tough job but someone has to do it!  I expected a flat pizza of sorts with goat cheese, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and olive oil.  What we received though was a burnt square of flatbread, with a few dollops of goat cheese, some onions, and no mushrooms to be seen.  There was however a large mound of salad in the middle with cucumbers.  The cheese and other toppings did not come close to covering the flatbread.  If I would have ordered the flatbread as a main entree I probably would have asked for a refund.  It was that bad.  I have no idea how the taste was supposed to be but my bread was so burnt and hard that I couldn’t enjoy the food.  Adding the salad in the middle to a piece did help by adding some much needed moisture, but the flavor profile was all wrong.  I never plan on ordering a flatbread again and was very disappointed with their execution of the dish.  The unfortunate part here, outside of them not getting money from me again on the dish, was that is sounded great.  The flavors would work together and would taste great if  it was executed properly.  Burnt bread and too few toppings do not equal proper execution though.  Never again on this one.

By the end of dinner we had spent two and half hours as the restaurant and were hoarse from trying to yell to talk to one another.  The very loud group next to us left about (5) minutes before we did and the restaurant let out a sigh of relief when they exited.  At least it was good to hear from the other tables that they were just as annoyed as us.  The restaurant staff also apologized extensively and recognized the problem.  I can’t think of much they could have done about it though.  They do have  a private dinning room but it had regular patrons in it.  

The tab for my wife and I’s portion came to $80 USD which is very reasonable given the amount of food we had.  My wife had two glasses of wine in that amount of time and I had a glass of iced-tea.  While there were some misfires, I really enjoyed the Pantry Board, the Deviled Eggs, and the Roasted Pork and may go back in the future for those.

The Pantry
(501) 353 – 1875
11401 Rodney Parham
Little Rock, AR 72212

Lunch:  Mon-Fri  11-4 
Dinner:  Mon-Sat  4-Midnight 
Bar:  Mon-Sat  4-till 

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Ultimate Recipe Showdown

Ultime Recipe Showdown is in its 3rd season now and is a fun show to watch that is hosted by Guy Fieri.  Guy also hosts the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show I wrote about here as well as his own cooking show.

They do two rounds on each show and whoever scores the highest overall in either round is crowned the winner of $25,000 USD. 

They call the first round the signature round and allow the contestants one hour to cook their signature dish.  The second round is called the speed round and the cooks are given just thirty minutes to cook their dish.  Each week they focus on a different subject: Comfort Food, Party Food, Hot & Spicy, Burgers, Cakes & Desserts and Hometown Favorites.  The latest episode focused on Hot & Spicy food.

In each round the contestants can score up to 100 points and whoever has the highest score at the end of the show wins the prize.  This means they can win either from scoring the highest with their signature dish or they can win by scoring the highest on the speed round.  The two rounds are not added together and operate independant of each other.  There is only one prize though, and it’s given at the end of the show.

Chipotle Rubbed Steak Tacos Mole with Chipotle Cream and Guacamole

There are three judges from the food world on the show and they give the scores for each dish.  So far I like listening to their feedback and appreciate what they have to say.  On the last show the only thing I disagreed with was their negative remarks about one cook using a pre-made ingredient (buffalo wing sauce.) 

While I’m a firm believer in making things yourself, this negative comment hit me with a bit of inconsistency.  On a recent episode of URS where they featured comfort food, a contestant used pre-made hot sauce in their buffalo chicken mac and cheese recipe.  The judges didn’t get on her case about it but they did on this episode for the guy making Blazing Buffalo Bites.  They need to take a stance and stick to it.

The latest episode, featuring Hot & Spicy food, had a winner with the Chipotle Rubbed Steak Tacos Mole with Chipotle Cream and Guacamole recipe.  They looked really good and I look forward to trying the recipe out myself.  I may switch out the protein with chicken to save on calories though.  Mole is as complicated, if not more so, than a good curry so cooking a good one it in a short time is interesting to say the least.  

I also want to try out the Spicy Shrimp and Pork Meatballs with Rujak Sauce.  The recipe mixes shrimp (low-fat content) and pork (high fat content) which should make for an interesting combination.  I expect that the pork will add some much needed fat to the dish and the shrimp will lighten up things as well.  One of the judges mentioned this fact as well which echoed exactly what I was thinking.

I look forward to each episode of the rather short season for this show and believe you will enjoy it as well.  Check it out!

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Caviar

I just read on the wire this morning (the Internet actually) that food fraud continues to be a problem and is growing with globalization. We trade everything in the world pretty much now and food tops the list. Food fraud has been going on since before our great’s were even alive but it impacts us all.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

The expensive “sheep’s milk” cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow’s milk. And a jar of “Sturgeon caviar” was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish.

Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price.

And last year, a Fairfax man was convicted of selling 10 million pounds of cheap, frozen catfish fillets from Vietnam as much more expensive grouper, red snapper and flounder. The fish was bought by national chain retailers, wholesalers and food service companies, and ended up on dinner plates across the country.

If you are a restauranteur be sure to double-check the products you receive.  It seems the best way to combat this problem will be for the buyers to be super vigilant and catch the offenders at delivery time.

Check out the original article over at the Washington Post.