Glenwood Grill

Hello again, readers! Hope you're enjoying the first few days of summer! Last night Nate and I went out on a date (have I mentioned you need to date your spouse?)! I researched places to eat and settled on Glenwood Grill because it was local, used regionally sourced ingredients and was highly reviewed. 

Glenwood Grill is located at 2603 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27608. 

We dressed up and drove over. When we pulled up I was a little disappointed to find it was in a strip mall-setting. However I remained hopeful that it would be good. I will admit I felt a little over dressed for the crowd that was there at 7 PM: I was wearing a dress and Nate was in a sport coat; most patrons were not as nice as we were. But still, I remained optimistic. 

Decor: excellent. The restaurant was very small but also intimate. The lighting was very low with candles and flowers on every table, it was extremely romantic. Even the bathrooms were elegant!  

Food appearance: excellent! Food was plated well and looked as appetizing as it tasted.

Food taste: excellent! We began with the Poached Mussels; they were poached with shallots, cream and heaven for all I know! They were so delicate and flavorful it was hard for me to share them with Nate at all. The mussels were served with pieces of crusty bread which was topped with cheese and garlic. 

Nate ordered the Martinated Grilled Mahi Mahi, served on a sweet corn and grit cake with a warm salad of a

artichoke and jumbo lump crab meat and a spinach and ham vinegarette! Every piece was artfully composed and married like a match made in heaven. 

I ordered the Seared Shetland Islands Salmon off the A La Carte menu. The salmon was tender and juicy with the most crisp skin I've ever had on a fish before. My salmon came with an arugula salad with Granny Smith apples, chopped walnuts, blue cheese and a balsamic reduction; is there anything better? 

We ended our meal with a Grand Marnier Creme Brûlée topped with berry compote. The Creme Brûlée was so decadent and sweet with the subtle flavor of Grand Marnier. 

Service: excellent! Our server was friendly, attentive and really strove to make our experience a positive one. 

Cleanliness: excellent! Everything was spotless and beautiful. 

Total: 15/15 

A perfect score for Glenwood Grill! I would recommend this place to anyone for a date night, so romantic, so delicious, and definitely somewhere you'll want to visit over and over again! 

The Rockford

Last weekend my best friend Casey came to visit! We spent the week eating and drinking and enjoying each other's company. We also decided to celebrate her birthday (a week early). 

To celebrate I planned a full day of activities for us beginning with a lunch at The Rockford. 

The Rockford is located at 320 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27603. 

We walked up the stairs to find ourselves in the middle of the dining room with a bar to our right. We were greeted and taken outside to their adorable patio. The patio had 3 tables and a beautiful view of Glenwood Avenue. Thankfully it was also a sunny day so the temperature was perfect. I also noticed small planters on the railing of the patio where fresh herbs were growing. 

Decor: good. The Rockford has a very minimalist atmosphere. There is some art adorning the walls but they definitely let their food do the talking. If you get the chance to dine there and it's a sunny day, opt for the patio. 

Food appearance: good. There is definitely attention to detail! And while the food is American and southern fare, it is played in gourmet style. 

Food taste: excellent! The food tasted so incredible! 

We began with the Pimento Cheese Mini appetizer; house made pimento cheese, crispy bacon, and tomato slices on small marble rye toasts. Every flavor shined and left you wanting more! Definitely give it a try! 

Casey ordered the Shrimp Po' Boy, which was excellent. The shrimp were gigantic first of all and perfectly fried so they were crisp on the outside yet tender and juicy on the inside. The remoulade was spicy with the freshness of citrus. She paired her sandwich with a house salad with ceasar dressing. 

I ordered the Avocado Spinach Wrap; vocado, spinach, red pepper, tomato, fresh lime, habanero cheddar cheese, jalapeño-cilantro tortilla and chipotle aioli. The wrap was fresh and flavorful but so dry! It was desperately needing a side of aioli or something. Every bite was delicious but left me very thirsty. I paired my wrap with a house salad with their house made citrus honey mustard vinegarette, which may have been the most flavorful salad dressing I've ever had in my life! Seriously, I would've drank it with a straw it was that delicious! 

Service: good. The only reason I would give this a "good" and not "excellent" is because I'm not exactly sure who our server actually was. We had two servers coming to our table throughout the meal and they didn't seem to be communicating with each other at all. This resulted in getting double the to go boxes, answering the same questions twice and not knowing who was getting the tip. Frankly it was just a little awkward. 

Cleanliness: excellent. Everything was clean, servers looked well-groomed, and tables were turned over so fast you wouldn't even know there had been people sitting in them. 

Total: 12/15

I would definitely go back to The Rockford in a heartbeat! The items on the menu all sounded phenomenal and I cannot wait to go and try them! 

Calumet Fisheries, Inc.

This past weekend Nate and I visited Chicago to celebrate Nate's grandmother's birthday. We, unfortunately, were only in Chicago from Friday morning until Sunday evening so there was a lot to pack into a small amount of time. 

On Sunday, Nate's mother gave us a tour around the neighborhood she grew up in, this ended in a trip to Calumet Fisheries located at 3259 E. 95th Street, Chicago, IL 60617. It is located directly next to a bridge that raises and lowers to allow boats to pass by. 

Despite the...you can't even really call it a "resturant"; it's more of a fish market that sells cooked fish, anyway, despite its outward appearance this market is famous in the culinary world. They prepare food in only two ways - fried and smoked. Their smoker is located next to the main building and fills the air with a fantastic nostalgic odor remniscent of a campsite cookout.  

Decor: poor. This space is absolutely tiny. You walk into the market and have a case of smoked fish staring you in the face and about 5 feet of space between the counter and the door so, yeah, it's small. The walls are adorned with multiple awards, signed celebrity head shots, newspaper articles, etc. There is no seating inside (or outside when we went) but luckily there was a small grassy area located not too far away from the bridge. 

Food appearance: poor. The fish is just fried, put into a paper boat, and served with a plastic fork in a paper bag, but hey, what can you expect from a place that has absolutely no seating? 

Food taste: good. I will say this: I dislike fried fish. Most of the time it's flavorless (except for the grease flavor), it's greasy as all get out, has a horrifically tough texture, and is typically not worth the calories; BUT that is not the case at Calumet Fisheries. I ordered the fried scallops and I have to tell you, they may have been the most tender scallops I've ever eaten. They were buttery, silky and had the fantastic "fishy" taste I adore. All fried fish dinners are accompanied with French fries, which were beautifully crisp; hot sauce, it tasted similar to Texas Pete sauce (maybe it was, who knows); and coleslaw. I typically don't eat coleslaw because the mayonnaise overpowers any other flavors but this was not the case here. The cabbage was still crunchy and the flavor of the vegetable really shone through. 

Service: good. The guys behind the counter were friendly enough. My only complaint would be they seemed a tad unorganized with orders. You ordered from one guy, told your order to another guy, and paid yet another guy. 

Cleanliness: excellent. The store was spotless, however I suppose with the small size and the following the business has gained it has to maintain excellent cleanliness. 

Total: 9/15

The neighborhood in which the Calumwnt Fishery is located leaves much to be desired, although according to Mama Hart has been steadily improving since she was a child. 

Mama Hart purchased some smoked fish which we ate for dinner. The pepper and garlic salmon was phenominal and made me ache for a bagel with plain cream cheese (is there anything better than a lox and bagel?); the white fish was buttery in texture but didn't have any of the great smoky flavor the salmon had. The smoked shrimp was just a little disappointing all around. Not smoky, not tender and had a very odd spice flavor that none of us found palatable. 

Despite its shortcomings, I'd eagerly return to Calument Fisheries, Inc. for more fried scallops and smoked salmon. 

Hummus

Hi readers, sorry for going AWOL for the last few months, a lot has been happening in my life lately. To begin, I got a new job back in January as a hostess in a sushi bar so that takes up the majority of my time, I was accepted into culinary school and will be attending in the fall (yay me!), and Nate and I have been settling into our new home town nicely. 

I've been on a diet for about 20 years and one of my favorite (healthy) snacks is hummus. It's just so versatile; spread it on a pita, on a cracker, with veggies, on chicken, basically you can put it on anything and it'll be fantastic. My main complaint about it however, is that it's so damn expensive! For a small tub of plain ol' hummus you're paying $4 or $5! So how do I combat this? Well, this afternoon I tried (and succeeded) in making hummus. 

Hummus 

1 can garbanzo beans, drained 

1/3 C tahini 

1 garlic clove 

Juice of 1/2 a lemon 

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste 

2 Tbsp pesto (optional) 

In your trusty food processor, basically pour everything in until the texture is right. You may need to add a little more oil if the texture is too chunky. 

Now hummus is also fun because you can add anything to it. I happened to have an open jar of pesto in the fridge (I did a mass inventory of what was overstaying it's welcome in my fridge today, and this pesto made the list). I added in a couple tablespoons and pulsed the blender and voila! Beautiful pesto hummus. 

So I have never made hummus before but I must say, this recipe ended in fantastic results. 

The texture was creamy and the flavors were a spot on for hummus. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, readers and I'll try to post more! 

Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce

It's the last day of 2015, readers! I hope 2015 treated you well and that 2016 treats you even better! 

Last night I made my final home-cooked meal of 2015 courtesy of my second culinary influence: Ree Drummond. I swear readers, her newest cook book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime is fantastic! You all need to pick up a copy for yourself and then gift a copy to all your friends and family. 

This dinner was quick, easy and only used one skillet! Who doesn't love an easy cleanup? 

Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce 

4 chicken breasts, sliced in half 

Salt and pepper 

2 Tbsp olive oil 

2 Tbsp butter 

3 garlic cloves 

1 C brandy, white wine or chicken broth

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard 

1 Tbsp stone ground mustard 

1/2 C chicken broth 

1/3 C heavy cream 

Chopped parsley, for garnish 

I only used 2 chicken breasts so I halved the recipe. 

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. 

In a cast iron skillet (man mine has been getting a lot of use the last couple days), heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 3 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate. 

Add minced garlic to skillet and stir it around so it won't brown. 

Cut off the heat and add the brandy, wine or chicken stock. I used a Pino Grigio. 

Turn the heat back to medium-high and stir. The liquid will bubble and deglaze the pan. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half, should take about 3 minutes. 

Add the mustards (yummy!). Whisk them around and let them bubble. 

Pour in the chicken broth and whisk the sauce. 

Pour in the cream, season with salt and pepper (mine only needed pepper). 

Pour over chicken breasts and add a sprinkling of parsley. 

The sauce had the great vinegar bite of mustard, the richness from the cream and paired so well with the crisp and juicy chicken. Oh Ree, you did it again! 

There was some leftover sauce in the pan and I had some frozen broccoli in the freezer so I dropped the heat down to medium, threw the broccoli in, stirred it around in the sauce and steamed it for 5 minutes. I also solved my no-lid-big-enough problem! I took a piece of aluminum foil and covered the skillet. 

I also had some Parmesan couscous in the pantry that came with us from Albuquerque so I paired that as well. 

This whole meal was absolutely sublime! Seriously, try this ASAP! 

I hope you spend the final day of 2015 well and stay safe out there, readers! 

Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

There are two culinary authorities I look up to: Julia Child and Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman. 

As of Christmas, I now own all of the publications (cookbooks and non-fiction) that Ree Drummond has released; the most recent being The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime. This cookbook is filled with dinner recipes, everything from soup and breakfast-for-dinner to freezer meals and even 16-minute meals! Seriously, who doesn't have 16 minutes to make dinner? It takes longer to order a pizza for delivery. 

It's day 2 of sticking to my New Year's Resolution, that's probably some sort of record. I should probably consult the Guinness people on this because I think I'm entitled to a full-page article for my great accomplishment. Anywho, for tonight's home cooked meal I looked for inspiration in my new (and quickly becoming my favorite) cookbook: The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime by Ree Drummond published 2015. 

Black Bean Burgers

2 cans seasoned black beans, drained 

1 C Italian bread crumbs

1/4 C grated onion 

1 egg

Salt and pepper, to taste 

1/2 tsp chili powder 

A few dashes of hot sauce, I used Frank's Red Hot sauce 

2 Tbsp butter 

2 Tbsp olive oil 

Hamburger buns, for serving 

Sliced cheese, for serving 

Mash black beans in a medium bowl using a potato masher. The recipe calls for a fork but I quickly abandoned that idea and traded it out for the masher. The key is to not over-mash. There should still be some texture to the beans. 

Add in the breadcrumbs, onion, egg and spices and stir until combined. 

Add in hot sauce of your choice and let sit for 5 minutes. 

Form the patties to be slightly larger than the buns, the patties do not shrink during cooking. 

The cookbook says this recipe yields 4 patties, however I would even say it could make as many as 8. The patties themselves were large and dense. 

Melt butter over medium-low heat and add in oil. Cook patties for 5 minutes or until a brown crust forms (yum!). Carefully flip the patty, top with cheese of your choice and cook for another 5 minutes or until heated through. Use a lid to assist in melting cheese, if necessary. 

Unfortunately I don't have a lid big enough to cover my cast iron skillet so my cheese was not as melty as I would've liked (sad life). 

These burgers were absolutely delicious and so simple to make! I cannot believe it! I also loved how moist they were. I've noticed that black bean and other non-meat patties can be very dry and fall apart but that definitely wasn't these! Oh my gosh I'm already dreaming of the next time I can eat these burgers. 

I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of ALL of Ree Drummond's cookbooks as they are all phenomenal. 

To accompany these fantastic burgers (seriously, I'm still drooling over here) I decided to make some sweet potato fries. Now call me picky but I believe sweet potatoes are sweet enough on their own and therefore I don't like to add anything else sweet. It's too overpowering, so I try to pair sweet potatoes with spicy or smoky flavors. 

Sweet Potato Fries

2 sweet potatoes, washed and peeled 

4 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste 

1/2 tsp smoky paprika 

Fill a medium-sized bowl with tap water. After peeling the potatoes, cut the potatoes into wedges. Place the wedges into the water for at least 3 hours. This step may sound strange but it really helps to cut the starch in the potatoes and help them cook a little faster. 

After letting the potatoes soak, preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Toss potatoes in 2 Tbsp olive oil and spices. 

Coat a baking sheet with the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil.  

Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes after 15. 

I served these potatoes with sriracha-spiked ketchup. 

This meal was absolutely amazing and I definitely think everyone should try them as soon as absolutely possible. 

Huge thank you to my mother-in-law for the cookbook and to Ree Drummond for producing such amazing recipes for me to try! 

Feta Crusted Salmon and Cauliflower Steaks

Well readers, we arrived in Raleigh at 1:30 AM today, went to sleep at 3:00 AM and woke up at 10:30 AM. To say I'm beat is an understatement. However, to try to counteract all the decadent, fatty, hearty, full-of-love meals that Nate's parents treated us to, and to begin my New Year's resolution (to make more home cooked meals for my husband) I decided to make something I saw while watching the Food Network. 

Nate and I don't have cable television. If we can't pick it up on our rabbit ears or see it on Netflix we don't watch it, so while watching Food Network at my in-laws' I came across Valerie Bertinelli's  cooking show. 

During this particular episode, Valerie was preparing a meal for last-minute guests. She made salmon and bread but what really caught my eye was she made cauliflower steaks with a crunchy topping.  

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts 

1 head cauliflower 

Olive oil 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

2 tablespoons sliced almonds (because I had them on hand and couldn't find the pine nuts at the store) 

1/4 C golden raisins 

1 Tbsp butter 

1/4 C fresh parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried because you don't wanna buy fresh) 

Preheat oven to 425. Clean cauliflower and cut the head vertically into 1/2 inch thick steaks. You will only get about 3 whole steaks out of a head. 

Drizzle olive oil onto a baking sheet and place steaks (and smaller florets) onto sheet and season both sides with salt and pepper. 

Bake for 20 minutes, flip after 10 minutes. 

While your cauliflower is roasting away, toast almonds (or pine nuts) in a medium skillet over medium heat until brown. Add in raisins and butter. Coat almonds and raisins in butter and cook over medium heat until raisins begin to plump up. Stir in parsley and remove from heat. 

Spoon onto roasted cauliflower. 

The cauliflower was crisp, flavorful and definitely filling. I wish I had made more (and had more stomach to put it in) 

I served this fantastic side with salmon. It has been so long since I have made salmon which, frankly is insane because it's healthy, it's delicious and it's so easy to make! 

This recipe I found using the Food Network In The Kitchen app. 

Feta Crusted Salmon 

2 2 oz salmon fillets 

Fresh thyme 

Olive oil 

1/2 lemon 

Salt and pepper, to taste

8 oz feta cheese 

3 oz white wine 

Preheat oven to 375. Place thyme in the bottom of a baking dish. 

Wash salmon and dry using paper towels. Coat both sides of the salmon with olive oil and lemon juice. Salt and pepper the meat side and crumble fresh feta cheese. Pour wine into the baking dish. 

Bake for 25 minutes.  

The salmon was flaky, tender and full of flavor. I would suggest garnishing with a wedge of lemon to bring out the freshness of the fish. 

The entire meal took about 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish and was most definitely one I will put into my regular dinner rotation and highly encourage you all to do the same! Enjoy, readers!