Zucchini Bread

Being unemployed is difficult. I have no motivation to leave the house. Or the couch. I'm very depressed. 

One way i've been using to combat my depression and loneliness is to bake a loaf of zucchini bread! I've never actually had zucchini bread before so I was intrigued by it. What does it taste like? Is it sweet? Is it savory? Does it simply taste like zucchini? 

Zucchini Bread 

2 small zucchinis, grated 

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 tbs baking soda

1/2 tbs baking powder 

1/2 tbs ground cinnamon

1/3 C walnuts

1/3 C oil 

2 eggs 

3/4 C sugar 

3 Tbsp apple sauce 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Grate zucchini and squeeze out any excess liquid. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon). 

In a separate large bowl, cream oil, eggs, sugar and applesauce using a hand mixer. 

Mix together wet and dry ingredients, fold in zucchini and walnuts. 

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until it can be stabbed with wooden objects and come out clean. 

Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, take out of loaf pan and let cool for an additional 20 minutes. 

Raleigh Slump

I have not cooked a meal for myself and Nate in about 3 weeks. I am going stir crazy! I never thought I would tire of eating out but I definitely have. All the barbecue, fried chicken and burgers have  left me feeling jaded and I miss getting my hands dirty. 

Luckily, yesterday Nate and I went to the State Farmers Market just up the road from our apartment! This glorious market is open year-round, has plenty of vendors selling produce, meat, cheese, jams and bread, and is affordable. Great, huh? 

The farmers market gave me inspiration to make Eggplant Parmesan. 

I began by making my marinara sauce: 

Marinara Sauce 

5 large tomatoes, blanched and seeded

1/4 C olive oil

7 cloves garlic, peeled and slivered 

1/4 tbs oregano

1/4 tbs Italian seasoning

1/4 tbs basil 

1/2 tbs crushed red pepper flakes 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 C water

1/2 C dry red wine

To blanch: 

Blanching tomatoes is pretty easy, just time consuming. 

Over high heat, bring 3-4 C water to a boil. Once boiling, place tomatoes in water for 30 seconds. 

Promptly remove from water and shock in ice bath. Using a knife, remove the stem and make a small hole. 

Remove the skin, the blanching will make this very easy. 

Using a sieve over a bowl or liquid measuring cup, gently squeeze the tomato to collect the juice. 

Quarter the tomato. 

Told you it was easy peasy, just makes a big mess and takes a long time. I don't blame you if you want to replace fresh tomatoes for a 24 oz can of crushed tomatoes. 

In a deep skillet over medium heat, heat garlic until it sizzles, DO NOT let it brown. 

Add in the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes or so. 

Add in seasons, tomato paste, water and wine. Continue to cook for at least 1 1/2 hours to really get  rid of the raw tomato flavor. Add more water if necessary. 

Eggplant Parmesan 

2 1/2 - 3 C marinara sauce 

1 large Eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick rounds  

1 egg

2 Tbsp water 

1 C Italian breadcrumbs 

1 C Parmesan cheese

1 C mozzarella cheese, or in my case, fresh raw milk farmers cheese (it's delicious!) 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a bowl, combine egg and water. Place breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Dredge eggplant in egg and coat with breadcrumbs. 

Place dredged eggplant slices on a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack. Bake for 15 minutes per side. 

Once eggplant is baked, you will begin layering your Parmesan. 

In a casserole dish, I used my trusty 9X9, coated with cooking spray, place a thin layer of sauce. Begin layering eggplant, sauce and cheeses. Repeat until all eggplant is gone. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for 30 minutes at 375. For a bubbly top bake for 5-7 minutes under the broiler. 

It was very nice to feel useful in the kitchen again and make food that makes my tummy, my heart and my husband very happy. Now, off to wash the mountain of dishes in the sink! 

Beasley's Chicken and Honey

So we've been in Raleigh for almost 3 weeks now and things have been a little rocky. I have yet to find employment, despite my best efforts but there are silver linings in moving 2,000 miles from my home of 22 years:

1) I get to reinvent my living situation. Our apartment is slowly coming together and looking like an actual home. We have curtains in the bedroom and bought our first couch and recliner for our living room so our apartment is actually furnished now (yay).

2) Lots and lots of new restaurants to try out and review!! 

One of these new restaurants is Beasley's Chicken + Honey, located at 237 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601. 

I am picky about my fried chicken. There is a fine line between crispy and juicy and soggy and greasy. I don't know how Beasley's does it, but this chicken is sublime. If eating copious amounts of fried chicken wouldn't make me gargantuan and put a massive strain on my wallet, I would eat here daily. 

Decor: good, you know I'm a sucker for the modernist movement! Exposed pipes, woods, lots of metal. One if the best things about Beasley's is the extremely large family-style table in the middle of the resturant. 

Food appearance: excellent! Food was plated on silver trays, drinks in varying sizes of mason jars and all chicken coated in honey. 

Food taste: excellent! Everything on their menu (chalked behind the bar and on the celing) sounded divine! Southern classics like fried 1/4 fried chicken, chicken and waffles, pimento macaroni and cheese , roasted beets, and on Saturday and Sunday a brunch menu is offered with accompanying drinks. I ordered the chicken biscuit! A beautifully crispy and golden brown chicken breast atop a fluffy and buttery biscuit with honey, Dijon mustard and house-pickled green tomatoes. The pickled tomatoes coupled with the sweet honey and salty and buttery chicken made for a perfect meal. I paired my chicken biscuit with the creamy, cheesy and decadent pimento macaroni and cheese. Nate ordered the quarter fried chicken with roasted beets. The fried chicken was perfect and the beets were beets. 

Service: excellent, perhaps it's just the southern hospitality but I truly felt welcomed into this resturant. I was greeted at the door, greeted at the bar where we sat, and was checked up on frequently. 

Cleanliness: good. Resturant was clean, bathrooms were clean, tables were bussed quickly. 

Total: 13/15 

I would go back to Beasley's Chicken + Honey in a heartbeat! Chicken was incredible, macaroni and cheese was incredible and the other menu items and drinks looked and sounded fantastic. 

Bergey's Breadbasket

After a day at the beach what does one want? Sandwiches and ice cream with a petting zoo? Definitely! 

Sissy took me to one of her and the kid's favorite places, Bergey's Breadbasket located at 2207 Mt Pleasant Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23322. 

This place is great for several reasons: 

1. They have a petting zoo! They have baby goats, baby piggies, sheep, chickens and roosters, cows and Pygmy Donkeys all of which are great for children (and excitable 22-year-olds) and it's all free but it is 25 cents to feed and you can donate if you wish. 

2. All the bakery items and ice cream are made in-house. The small cottage resturant smells heavenly. 

3. What isn't made in-house comes from Mennonite or Amish farms in the Virginia area. Who doesn't love supporting their local economy?! 

4. You can buy their meat, cheese, bread and other items to enjoy at home! Plus they have a discount rack with day-old bread for a fraction of what a loaf costs. I got an adorable mini loaf of bread (it's unlabeled so I'm not exactly sure what variety) for $1.39! 

Decor: good, the small cottage resturant is a nod to a simpler time. No fuss or frills, lots of florals, wicker and woods. It's basically the cutest cottage you've ever seen that also sells food. 

Food appearance: good, nothing fancy but I love that a lot of the ingredients are made there, even the peanut butter and jelly! 

Food taste: excellent, I don't know how they did it, but they managed to make the tastiest veggie sandwich I've ever had (with veggies from their very own farm on their housemade wheat bread. And of course I had to sample their ice cream. It is basically custard because it's so creamy and flavors change daily. I tried the cookies n' cream (delicious), vanilla (tasty), and black raspberry (so much berry flavor you'd think you were eating a handful). 

Service: good, the staff working there (mainly students) was friendly and helpful. 

Cleanliness: good, no trash or recyclables left out despite the fact the resturant was busy. 

Total: 11/15 

I would recommend Bergey's Breadbasket to anyone and everyone! It's fun for adults and kids alike plus the food and ice cream are sublime! 

Pirate's Cove Restaurant

One of the best things about moving to North Carolina is that my oldest sister, "sissy" is only 3 hours away in Virginia! So after spending 48 hours in Raleigh, I packed up my car and headed off to Virginia Beach for a visit. 

After meeting my niece and catching up with my nephews, we went to dinner at Pirate's Cove Resturant, located at 109 Gainsborough Square, Chesapeake, VA 23320. 

Pirate's Cove was rated number 5 on Trip Advisor for Chesapeake and has won numerous awards for their dishes. 

Decor: good, it was the perfect mix of tacky and classy. While there was a giant wooden pirate greeting you at the door, the booths were dark wood and the napkins were cloth. It was family-friendly but you could go for a date night. 

Food appearance: good, attention and care when dishes were plated however any sauce came in a plastic cup with a lid. 

Food taste: good, we decided to try their award winning crab cake appetizer and I can definitely see why it was award winning! I have never had a crab cake that was almost all crab! It was flaky, buttery, delicious and came with tartar sauce, which I normally don't like but it was sweeter than a normal tartar and complimented the freshly squeezed lemon juice in the cake. They also had a delicious cocktail sauce that was very horseradish-y. I ordered the tuna steak sandwich which I was disappointed to learn they would not cook any less than medium. The flavors were still good though. 

Service: poor, our waitress was a little rude and not very attentive. 

Cleanliness: poor, there was gum stuck under our table and some straw wrappers in the floor. 

Total: 8/15 

Well, the crab cake was utterly fabulous but the rest was not. I do not understand why this Resturant was so highly rated personally, but don't let me sway your opinion. 

Ole Time Barbecue

I love Carolina barbecue! I have never cared much for the slathered sauces of Texas or the rubs of Memphis but boy do I love the vinegar soaked pulled pork of North Carolina! 

Nate read about a barbecue joint that was very highly rated so we decided to check it out and I can honestly say, readers that this is one of the best places I've had pulled pork in my entire life!! 

Ole Time Barbecue, located at 6309 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC 27606, may be next to a trailer park but the barbecue waiting inside for you is worth it! 

Decor: good, walking into the small restaurant is almost like walking into grandma's house. Kitschy wooden signs cover the walls ("kiss the cook", etc.) as well as pictures of the employees and owner's family. We decided to sit at their bar (the stools even had plaques for frequent regulars) and we could watch everything going on in the kitchen adjacent. 

Food appearance: good, who doesn't love the sight of fried chicken and barbecue on a plate? However, not much finesse is added but who really needs it? 

Food taste: excellent. After being seated and given our drinks, we were served a basket of hush puppies which were then doused with a generous portion of Ole Time's signature hot sauce. It was the vinegar-based sauce I absolutely adore with extra spice, it was absolutely delicious and available for purchase. I after looking through their rather large menu, I decided on the pork sandwich combo (sandwich, side and a drink) with my side being fried okra. The pork was tender and flavorful (even before I added the hot sauce) and the okra was in a light cornmeal breaking and fried to a perfect golden brown. Nate decided to get the pulled pork with collard greens and macaroni and cheese. I admit I do not care for collard greens so I did not try those but the macaroni was creamy, buttery and fantastic. 

Service: excellent! Our waitress was very friendly and welcomed us as if we were old friends. 

Cleanliness: good, the restaurant was clean and orderly. 

Total: 12/15 

If you like good food, fast service and friendly atmospheres then go to Ole Time Barbecue! You will not leave hungry or disappointed. 

Mitch's Tavern

We arrived in our new city on Monday night (last week) and after 27 hours of driving with cats (I definitely don't recommend it) and an hour and a half of wading through the moving boxes in our new apartment I was craving a beer, air conditioning, and food. Luckily, Mich's Tavern has all three! And according to a certain nuclear engineering student I know, is also "the place" to go if you're a Nuke-E. 

Mitch's Tavern is located at 2426 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC 27607, conveniently across the street from North Carolina State University. They have local beers on tap, but my personal favorite cheap beer, Yuengling, was on special for $2.75/pint and how could I possibly pass up that deal?! 

Decor: good, Mitch's Tavern is decorated like most pubs. Dark wood tables and booths, low lighting, beer steins and signs on the walls. Very run-of-the-mill. 

Food appearance: good, you can tell there is a degree of attention to detail rather than food being plopped onto the plate. I thought it was a nice touch the food being served on silver platters. 

Food taste: good, we started with the pretzels with mustard which, when ordered, gave me visions of doughy soft pretzels with housemade mustard. However, that is not what we got. We were instead given a basket of regular pretzels from a bag and some spicy brown mustard cups. For obvious reasons, I became skeptical of this bar's culinary ability. When it came time for me to sample my pulled pork sandwich and slaw I was pleasantly surprised. The pork was a little lacking in flavor but once I poured on the deliciously vinegar-y Carolina BBQ sauce all mishaps were forgiven. The slaw, however, was a different story. The slaw was sweet, far too creamy and I did not care for it one bit. Nate ordered the gumbo which was divine. I would go back for the gumbo alone, as well as the affordability. 

Service: good, it was a rather busy Monday night yet our server regularly checked on us and refilled our drinks quickly. 

Cleanliness: good, restaurant was clean. 

 

Total: 10/15 

All-in-all, Mitch's Tavern is your typical college bar. A place to meet up with friends and have an affordable meal and a place to meet new people and have some local brews. 

Last Burger in New Mexico

Well readers, the time came (and went) and I have left my beloved Sandia Mountains for North Carolina. It is a major culture shock and I'm completely disoriented as I do not have mountains or familiarity to guide me. 

As a last hooray, Nate and I went to one of the best greasy spoon restaurants (in my humble opinion) for a green chile cheeseburger. 

Griff's. Griff's is located at 8516 Central Ave, SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108. Please don't let the surrounding area fool you, it may look a little rough around the edges but step inside this non-assuming restaurant for the best green chile cheese burger that has ever graced your mouth. 

Decor: poor, there really isn't any decor at all. The booths are red uncomfortable wood and the tables are deeply scratched. 

Food appearance: poor, food is served on red plastic trays and burgers are wrapped in wax paper. 

Food taste: excellent! Their menu is pretty limited, basically burgers and fries but definitely go for a burger with green chile! There is a reason that Griff's has been in business for over 50 years and it's not the atmosphere! 

Service: excellent, staff is friendly and efficient. This is a counter-service/drive thru restaurant so the staff has to be quick to keep up with the demand. 

Cleanliness: excellent, despite the lunch rush the restaurant was clean and free of trash. 

Total: 11/15 

Taste is definitely where it's at when it comes to Griff's. The restaurant is in a rough and tumble neighborhood, the decor is nonexistent but the food is absolutely sublime. 

Let's Go Round Two

As I wrote last week, I'm preparing for a cook test and focusing on Spicy Shrimp and Polenta Cakes. 

Last night I invited over Brandon, Ashley and Cheyenne to be my taste testers (lucky people, huh?) and improved upon last week's recipe. 

Once again, I started with the polenta. 

Polenta: 

3 C water

1 C yellow corn meal

1 tbsp salt 

1 tbsp pepper 

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter 

1 Tbsp butter 

In a pot over medium-high heat, bring water to boil. Once water is boiling, salt the water and slowly wisk in corn meal. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to whisk until corn meal thickens. Season with pepper and add in butter. 

Pour into large flat dish and smooth over top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Once the polenta is cooled enough to cut with a cookie cutter, heat 1 Tbsp butter in a skillet over medium heat. The point here is to make a crust on the polenta cakes and to get a golden brown color. 

While I was waiting for the water to boil I began to devein and shell the shrimp. As before, it took forever. 

Spicy Shrimp: 

1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined 

1 tbsp salt and pepper

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 

1 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

2 Tbsp butter 

Marinate shrimp with all the ingredients and place in fridge for 20-30 minutes 

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and cook shrimp 3 minutes per side. Remember, "c" for cooked. Remove shrimp from pan but leave the pan over the heat. 

I decided to scrap the vegetable stock idea and instead opted for a sauce using the pan drippings.

Shrimp Sauce: 

1 small shallot, minced 

1 Tbsp butter 

1/4 C white wine ($4 Chardonnay) 

1 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper 

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Using the shrimp pan, complete with drippings, add in butter and minced shallot. Once shallot begins to soften, deglaze the pan with white wine and season with salt and pepper. Once the sauce begins to come together, whisk in flour to thicken. 

To plate: 

One of the comments I got last week was the color was too bland, to fix this I simply added a couple shakes of cayenne pepper and parsley before serving. 

These changes were well received and I definitely encourage you all to try this recipe, it's simple but has a fancy feel to it. 

An Albuquerque Tradition

Yesterday Nate and I went to an Albuquerque institution: Frontier Resturant. Frontier is known very well to university students (it sits directly across the street from the campus bookstore), Albuquerque natives (comfort food for a reasonable price), and those who have maybe had a few too many and need some greasy food. 

Frontier Resturant is located at 2400 Central Ave, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106. We ate here yesterday for nostalgia purpose, I remember stopping in here when I was a kid to grab a hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll after seeing a symphony performance at Pope Joy Hall at the University of New Mexico or going as a freshman in college and grabbing a bite on a Sunday morning. Nate remembers coming here with his parents when he first arrived in Albuquerque 4 years ago (and eating with them there every visit since) and he also remembers going there for a burger or burrito in between classes. 

Decor: good. Frontier is kitschy in every sense of the word. The walls of the 4 large dining rooms are adorned with everything from John Wayne paintings and paintings of western scenes to framed Brian Urlacher jerseys. However, one of the best things about Frontier is you can truly come as you are. You are eating side-by-side with men in business suits, college students in sweat pants and homeless men down on their luck wanting a good meal. 

Food taste: good. I have found that Frontier is kind of hit or miss for me so I tend to order standbys: breakfast burrito and a cinnamon roll. The breakfast burrito is stuffed with eggs, chile, potatoes and cheese all wrapped up in a house made flour tortilla (packs of which are available for purchase). The cinnamon roll is sweet, cinnamon-y and drowned in about a stick of butter, what could possibly be better?! 

Food appearance: poor. There is no presentation value to speak of but the food is so good you won't care. 

Cleanliness: good. Since the resturant is so high-volume, tables are turned over quickly and there is constantly 1-2 employees walking around cleaning. 

Service: excellent. After walking up and ordering, you only have to wait at most 10 minutes for your number to be called. Staff is efficient and friendly. 

Total: 10/15

Frontier Resturant is a stop everyone should make when they visit Albuquerque. It's perfect for people watching, meeting a study group, getting greasy food after a long night, or just getting no fuss or frills food. Try the cinnamon rolls, readers! While your waistline may hate you, your mouth and stomach will be in love at first bite.