Review - Lloyd Taco Truck

I absolutely love food, if you couldn't tell. The amazing thing about food trucks is that they bring quality gourmet-style food, to various locations, at street food prices.

Take Lloyd, for instance - they provide links to distributors, so that you can see where your food comes from, and they strive to provide farm raised meats, locally grown (when they seasonally can) vegetables, and hormone free products.  All while bringing this food to you at a cost that rivals fast food restaurants!

Now, locally, food trucks have found some resistance.  The brick and mortars feel that the food trucks take their business, that they have such lower overhead, how can they compete?  My feeling is this - if you have good food, why worry?  Food trucks provide options - people would just as likely not go to a sit down restaurant because they can go get fast food, instead - same concept.  Cheaper (albeit not as good or good for you as a food truck) and quicker - and they likely have a lower overhead due to being part of a corporate franchise.  If you are going to complain about a food truck, then you may as well complain about the next corporate drive through restaurant that opens up across the street.

I love most of the locally owned brick and mortars in Buffalo, and I love food trucks.  So here is my feeling on how brick and mortars should view the food trucks.  Are they competition? Yes, but competition is healthy.  The food trucks allow patrons to not only have decisions, but to have better decisions - and just maybe that will make for a better community as a whole. Let's take a stand to get away from the double hamburger (I suppose it's beef, but is it really?) and Large fry society we live in, together. Even if it means a little competing... I know I will still enjoy a sit down restaurant, and the occasional food truck visit.

Ok, so to the food.

I ordered a chicken and a fish taco.  Rocket sauce on both? Oh, yes.  Delightfully flavorful and spicy, the rocket sauce reminds me of a liquid mole sauce with chili pepper spicy flavor - I may be wrong, but whatever it is, it is delicious!

My tacos came without the pickled onions - not by choice.  This is a small complaint, because the meats were seasoned perfectly!  The cool crunch of the shredded cabbage (and radish on the fish taco!) and mild flavor of the corn tacos was outstanding paired next to the seasoned chicken and fried crunch of the fish. I seriously could not stop eating until the last bite was gone.

Two tacos were plenty of food for me, I suspect people with a larger appetite should go for a burrito.

So, Lloyd is here, and it is delicious!  I look forward to the next time I cross paths with Buffalo's first food truck - they have this cooking in a box thing down to a science!

Review - Dock at The Bay (Banquet)

Tuesday was my sister's pinning ceremony, as she begins her graduation from her Surgical Technology program.  I am so proud of her I am just gushing!  2013 is proving to be a giant year for our family!

The pinning ceremony took place at a well known local restaurant called Dock at the Bay.  The restaurant is known for their menu; however this would the first time I ate off their banquet menu.

My favorite thing by far was the bruschetta offered as part of the hors d'oeuvres.  With three different kinds offered (traditional tomato, red pepper and spinach), there was something for everyone - or in my case everything for someone.  They were not overly salty, and the freshness of the ingredients shown through.  Additionally, their vegetable tray included summer squash and zucchini - which I had never thought of to eat raw, but it was refreshing and delightful!

The main meal included a salad, pasta (baked ziti), roasted chicken and roast beef on weck sliders.  I tried everything but the chicken, which I just couldn't eat from being stuffed from all of my other food!

The salad and the pasta weren't stand out, but they were fresh and tasted good, what you would expect from any banquet.  The sliders were out of this world!  Perfectly cooked on a mini Kimmelweck bun, and served with a nice, hot horseradish - for those not from Buffalo, a Kimmelweck bun is salted on top and has caraway seeds sprinkled on the salt, and it is the quintessential piece of a roast beef on weck sandwich!

To wrap things up, I have to mention that while the banquet room was out dated, the water front views of Lake Erie and the cheery staff service made up for it.  Additionally, I get headaches from many wines out there, but I was pleased that their house Cabernet was smooth, and left my head feeling quite alright!

In a nutshell, I would have no worries about Dock at the Bay catering an event.  If you were hosting a wedding or another more formal event, I would opt for chair covers to help update the look - that aside, Dock at the Bay offers a lovely menu and outstanding views, sure to help make any event memorable!

In finale, congrats to my sister, and her classmates, Surgical Technology Graduates of 2013!!

Open Face Fried Bologna Breakfast Sandwich

So, it has been a while since I have posted a blog entry - simply because the 'Blogger' app was a little buggy.... But I am back in action, for better or for worse.

This simple breakfast takes a Western New York staple and turns it into a yummy morning taste of heaven!

Fried bologna sandwiches are everywhere - from diners, to ball parks, to mom's kitchen. Typically served up on a hard roll and smothered with Weber's mustard, this simple lunch meat turns into a tasty treat to die for!

What you need:

Note - this is a per sandwich recipe

Olive oil - approximately 1-2 tspn

3 slices of bologna

Diced onion - approximately 1/8 to 1/4 cup

Slice of rye bread (any bread may substitute)

Weber's Horseradish Mustard (if you are in a region that does not have Webers, any yellow mustard will do).

One egg

In a small pan, warm half of the olive oil. When oil is hot, add the bologna (i like to cut mine into small squares) and onion. Fry to desired texture - I like my onions well caramelized and my bologna crispy. Meanwhile, toast bread.

In a separate pan, heat remaining olive oil. Crack open egg and fry. You can prepare the egg any way you like.

Plate the bread, butter if you desire. Top with bologna mixture. Spread desired amount of mustard. Top with the egg.

Enjoy eating this breakfasty twist on a WNY classic!

Review - Taste

My mother and I both had off the Monday after Thanksgiving, so we did what any mother and daughter would do with the Holidays looming ahead... We packed up and went Christmas Shopping.

We went to the 'Made in the USA' store in Elma, then took a jaunt to East Aurora, NY. East Aurora is just one of the most nostalgic places to shop, with Main Street decorated for the holidays, friendly shop staff and one of the oldest and largest 5&10 stores still operating, Vidler's. It is literally like taking a step into another era.

When we had enough of the shops and bought gifts (some for ourselves) to our hearts content, we stopped at a small coffee shop and cafe that we both just adore, a place called Taste. The scene is warm, with a touch of Hollywood, as each seat in the place offers a perfect view of faces like Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin painted outside of the windows on the side of the building facing the cafe. Instead of numbers or names being called out when your food is ready, you are assigned a name of a Hollywood star. We had the pleasure of dining with Ellen DeGeneres that day. Additionally, regular menu items shout out to WNY and East Aurora history and landmarks, such as the Moo-o-o-g, a roast beef sandwich named for the aerospace engineering firm located in Elma.

We ordered the 'Stuffing the Bird,' a seasonal sandwich that is basically Thanksgiving in a sandwich; turkey, cornbread stuffing and cranberry-orange chutney piled high on a sesame bagel. The flavors of the savory and sweet are fantastic on this sandwich. My only critique was that last year it was served on a bread (if memory serves me well, it was a multi grain or wheat bread), which I feel lent better to the flavors of the sandwich. That said, it was still a wonderful sandwich, and one was plenty for the both of us.

Additionally, I ordered a cup of the Stuffed Pepper soup. Stuffed sweet peppers is one of my mother's staple dishes, and this soup was like her stuffed peppers in Soup form, from the flavorful sweet peppers and tomato soup broth to the pleasantly seasoned beef and rice. The soup was served hot, and tasted exactly like 'mom makes.'

Taste is a place that will not disappoint, and while there are plenty of high quality restaurants in East Aurora, each with their own distinct flavor and personality, Taste is quirky, yummy, and great for a quicker bite. I hardly ever go to East Aurora without a stop here.

Sherry Spiced Cranberries

As I started to cook more and more, there were a few things that I found so easy I was shocked that people didn't just make them. For instance, cranberry sauce is so easy - you buy a bag of cranberries, add sugar and water according to the bag and cook until the cranberries burst - cool to the desired temp (I personally like them still warm, some people like them cooled and refrigerated) and then serve.

This is a slightly different dish - in which you can season as much or as little as you want - feel free to adjust the amounts of spices to your desired taste. For instance, if you don't like curry? Leave that out.

What you need:

1 bag (approx 2 cups) fresh cranberries

1/2 cup dry cooking sherry

1 & 1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

Approx 1/4 teaspoon of the following:

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Curry Powder

Combine the ingredients into a medium size sauce pot. Cook on low until the cranberries burst. Allow to cool to desired temperature. It takes about 5-10 minutes, so don't turn your back too long!

See? Easy!

You can substitute the sherry with whiskey, bourbon or wine. If you use wine you may want to use 2 cups of wine and no water, or 1 cup water, 1 cup wine. A dry red will work best with the flavors in this dish.

With the spices, start out with a little and add more if you want - for instance, curry is powerful and a little goes a long way in this type of dish!

I personally love the way the smokiness of the curry intensifies the 'bite' of the sherry.

Enjoy, and please feel free to comment!

Easy Chicken and Fennel bake

This is such an easy main dish, but it will seem like you took ages making it! It's tasty, and is nice enough for a dinner party, but easy enough for a weeknight!

Here is what you need:

4 chicken breasts

Salt and pepper, to season

One fennel bulb, tops removed and sliced.

One large apple, cored and sliced

One medium onion, sliced

1/4 cup apple cider

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts in baking dish. Salt and pepper to season chicken. Top with fennel, apple and onion slices.

Add the apple cider and vinegar to the dish - note that if you don't have cider, you can use apple juice. Also, any vinegar will do if you don't have apple cider vinegar.

Drizzle olive oil on any exposed fennel, onion and apple slices (ie: any that is not covered by liquid)

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Enjoy!

This meal can also be made using citrus fruits (lemon/lemon juice, orange/orange juice) or pears (pear/pear juice or cider). Both flavors will complement the anise flavor of the fennel!

Good ol' Polish cuisine - Slow Cooker Pork And Sauerkraut

So, when winter hits, my body totally wants and loves the Polish food I grew up with - funny that I hated most of it growing up....

Sauerkraut was one of my most hated foods as a kid - I mean I loathed when my mom would cook with it because the house smelled of cabbage, and I couldn't possibly fathom putting it in my mouth.

But as they often do, tastes develop and change, and sauerkraut in almost any form is pretty much one of my favorite foods. So why wouldn't I love Pork and Sauerkraut slow cooked into tender juicy goodness?

It takes all of ten minutes to prep and can cook while you work - and it is fantastic! So here is how to enjoy this staple of Polish (and German) cooking!

What you need:

Approximately 1 lb Pork Loin Chops or Pork Tenderloin

2 - 12 oz cans sauerkraut

1/4 cup red wine or cider vinegar

Salt and pepper

Place the pork in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper (you can also add Caraway Seeds)

Cover with sauerkraut. Add vinegar.

Cook on low for 7-8 hrs.

Serve with green beans, potatoes, corn, perogis - the possibilities are endless!!