Just want to send a quick post. I have been traveling a bunch, what else is new, and I was in a hotel in Texas for breakfast before heading to work. I ordered an omelet at the omelet station. Before he was finished making my western omelet I noticed he had a waffle iron. The last homemade waffle I had was on the ship. They always made perfectly round and crispy waffles. With that in mind, I ended up ordering one. When he put it on my plate I couldn’t believe the shape. Only in Texas! Oh and yes, they go big in Texas, I could only finish southern Texas.

I wish he put the waffle on my plate so Texas was facing the right way.

I have recently been in Cincinnati and my co workers and I were headed to the Red and Giants game on a rainy Tuesday night. We decided to get some food before the game instead of eating hot dogs all night. We stopped off at Local 127 and was not sure what we were getting into but there was a giant pig in the middle of the restaurant. That is always a good sign.

We ordered a bunch of stuff for the table and based everything on the waiters recommendations and the pork dishes. We were a little disappointed at the recommendations we went with. It was not the taste of the food but a lot of the apps had the same type of sauce and taste with different dishes. I just want to highlight our favorite small plate and large plate. Here is how it went down

Our favorite of the small plates was the Roasted Beets with Prosciutto, Goat Cheese, Crispy Shallots, and Red Wine Reduction seen above. It had such a good taste to it mixing the beets and goat cheese. They nailed that dish.

Our favorite of the large plates was the Porkopolis which includes White Bean Ragout, Wilted Cabbage, Bacon-Tomato Jam, and Red Wine Reduction. With a name like Porkopolis how could it be bad. There was different pork tastes in each bite and I liked how it laid on a bed of white beans.

The one large plate that tasted good but through us for a loop was the Meat Loaf Mac & Cheese with Squash, Mushroom Gravy, and House Made Ketchup. It was more of a meat loaf dish than a mac and cheese dish. The noodles were all under the meat loaf and not that much of it. In the picture you can even see any noodles. We never got the taste of the squash in the dish. The meat loaf had some great taste but I guess our expectations were more of a mac and cheese dish than a meat loaf dish.

We were so stuffed that after dinner we went to the game and made it by the 5th inning. It was so wet and we were so full we walked in watched an inning and left. I actually have know idea who won the game. I’m a Yankee fan so it really doesn’t matter.

This morning I woke up with a craving for a burger. I have not had one in a while and it is typically a staple in my food regiment. I was by myself for the day and wanted to go to a spot in my neighborhood that I’ve always wanted to want try but never get a chance to go. We all have a place like that in our neighborhood. Today was my day to go after it. The place I am referring to is Petey’s Burgers. I am glad I finally got off my butt and made it there. Petey’s burger concept originally come from Southern California and was brought over to Astoria (and now also in Long Island City) where the owner, Petey is originally from. These burgers are made fresh and delicious. They have a small to the point menu which I like. It doesn’t give you the headache of having to decide from 15 different burgers. I went with a standard cheeseburger and had them grill the onions. It’s a great mix of softness, burger and melted cheese. The way a burger should taste. I made one mistake when I ordered. I should have went for the double cheeseburger. That is what I’ll devour next time I head to Petey’s.

I also ordered their Greek Veggie Burger. I usually don’t even think about veggie burgers but I read a write up about how great the Greek Veggie Burger was so I had to check out the hype. It was equally delicious. There is a lot of spinach, mushrooms, onions in that patty so all you vegetarians don’t think for a second you can’t go to Petey’s with your carnivorous friends. For you carnivores that like to be a little healthy and order a side salad to get a little greens with a meal, at Petey’s, you can order Veggie Burger on the side as your, in quotes, side salad. What a great way to get your greens. Oh and I would double patty that too.

I had some work in Minneapolis recently and after a long day the team decided on steaks for dinner. Murray’s is one of the more known steak houses as well as one of the last family owned in the twin cities. Our waitress was wonderful, she has been there 40 years and her husband who is the butcher has been there 35 years. That is a long time of delicious beef. The team and I indulged into a few appetizers before we ordered our steaks. Shrimp wrapped in bacon, escargot, and mac & cheese followed by caesar salads. I liked how all of that came before we ordered our steaks. Maybe it is a “just-in-case-you’re-full-already-and-don’t-want-to-order-the-steaks or as many steaks” idea. It’s a good way to not waste good meat. However, this did not stop us from getting our meat. We ordered the ribeye, porterhouse and I shared the strip sirloin for two. The steak for two was huge. It came about 2.5 inches thick and was sliced for you at the table. All the steaks were cooked with a dry rub and the spices were perfect. The steaks were perfectly cooked and complemented with the fresh horseradish and sauteed mushrooms. See above and below.

Ribeye

Porterhouse

New orleans is a town filled with great people, great music, and even better food. It is such a great town to eat your way through. One of the more popular dishes to eat in New Orleans is the Po-Boy Sandwich. There are many po-boys to choose from along with many place to choose from to get your po-boy. The southerner and her family joined me at one of the more famous restaurants for po-boys at Mother’s. If you have never been make sure you get their on a week day when the line may not be out the door and down the street. I have been to New Orleans a few times and I love a good Oyster Po-Boy. Mother’s does it right as seen above. There is so many Oysters falling out of the sandwich mixed with a great sauce to make it a great sandwich. I don’t even like raw oysters but when fried and put between two pieces of bread, I can’t say no.

Since someone else was getting the Oyster Po-Boy I wanted to get something different. I usually go for some sort of shellfish Po-Boy but this time I when with the Famous Ferdi Special. This sandwich is Mother’s baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, see below. This was a great mixture of meats and the gravy gave the meats the perfect moisture and taste.

We also could not resist a Shrimp Po-Boy. I’m kind of known for making sure everyone in the party orders something different so we can all have a try. I just think that is the best way to get the real feel of the food at a restaurant and everyone is satisfied. When I dine alone it’s tough for me. I want to order so many things.

I knew Jay did a post on Chicago’s deep dish pizza but I didn’t realize jays post was at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. His post was called Pizzacake. I did my own take on my first Deep Dish Pizza while I was in Chicago recently. Jay and I have similar taste when it come’s to our pizza.   Sorry Chicago good but not the best!

Last Saturday Anthony and I were privileged to be invited, for our third year, to the annual Best Wings in Brooklyn competition hosted at Red Star Bar. This year we took a different approach. We decided to get a little clever with how we showed you each wing we are about to critique. We wanted to give them all an equal chance to shine and to do that we needed to devise a way to put all the contestants on a level playing field. We thought our skewer idea was a pretty cool way to achieve this goal plus, it allowed us to create the awesome frankenwing lead image above.

The contestants were back in force this year with a few newcomers in the mix. As usual, the line extended all the way down Greenpoint Ave. curving around the corner to Franklin at moments. That’s a long block and with the addition of some big boy wind gusts the wing loving line stood strong (500 deep at least) to get a FREE taste of Brooklyn’s best.

We thankfully tackled the competition and avoided the wind pre-doors allowing us a less crowded Red Star to chat, taste and shoot these luscious flappers. So without further preamble here are the contenders, our thoughts and, at the end, a video revealing our favorites.

Mulholland’s

Ant: This wing was good and I kind of wish I had another wing to give it a fare chance. This was a dry rub wing that had a great crunch to it when you bit into it. The flavor was good but they come in 4th for the day.

J.: A pretty wing. One with a solid crust but had that odd breaded texture. Not that that’s bad but it pulls it a bit away from the pure Buffalo style.

Lonestar Sports Bar and Grill

Ant: This is a mix of a BBQ and Chipolte Wing. These are really tasty, very meaty, and have good crunch. They are a close 3rd for me this year.

J.: Ant summed it up well, the hot and sweet mix arrested your tongue in a very unique way causing a delightful confusion.

Red Star Bar

Ant: The Rasberry Wings at Red Star Bar are fantastic. Last year they had me at first bit. They have it all, great sauce, big meat, good crunch.

J.: One of last year’s favorites and a neighborhood staple. The raspberry sauce is always a nice surprise. Loving classic Buffalo style can be a curse for me BUT I appreciate a wing that plays on the original. A sweet raspberry sauce instead of a butter and red hot is a nice twist. I always love Red Star’s name sake.

The Bean Post

Ant: Love this Wing. The Bayou Wing is a little spicy, big meat and made in southern confort. They get me every year. The flavors they make their wings with bring a different type of wing to this challenge. I know I’m getting a good wing at Bean Post

J.: Meaty! Moist! Booze! Need I say more. Ohh, but I will. Bean Post came back this year with a SoCo wing. This is again a play on the classic Buffalo but with a great twist on the sauce. If there is a wing in this competition I could eat weekly, it would be this one. Get to Bay Ridge immediately!

Life Cafe

Ant: Life Cafe didn’t tell us much about the wing other than it was a brewed buffalo wing. It was ok for me. There really was no flare to the wing for me unlike some of the other shops.

J.: Last year’s big winner was not that successful for me either. Priding themselves on their sauce, which is amazing, it didn’t set them apart enough or nail the classic Buffalo. I think the goal in a competition like this is to make the BEST classic wing or twist it up enough that Buffalo doesn’t even enter your mind.

Bonnie’s Grill

Ant: I wish Bonnie’s grill had stepped it up a bit. They brought your classic medium and hot wing. Good wings with that classic taste.

J.: Ant hit it on the head. My suggestion. Change nothing except the chicken you use. Go BIGGER and BETTER. You’ll own us next year.

Brooklyn Wings

Ant: The Brooklyn Wing Lady’s were fun to be around and their wings were tasty. This was an Asian fusion wing with some good flavors on an average size wing. I liked the glaze and the color of the wing. Two of the Lady’s were from Panama and would not give up any secret ingredients. We tried to pry it out of them but they wouldn’t give it up.

J.: This wing did jump out as different and has a good story. Story helps believe it or not but I found them a touch dry and left wanting more of the unique flavors. Some flavors were just a hint and I had to work too hard to find them all.

Super Wings

Ant: The ginger buff that won the compitition the 1st year made it back for the 3rd year. They are always a good combo of great sauce, good spice and flavor. They also brought a Pinapple Jerk which was a bit spicy as well. I liked the cook of the wing but I need more sauce to win me over.

J.: I disagree with Ant on this one. I liked the lack of sauce on the pineapple jerk. Part of a great carribean dish is mixing hot spice with sweet fruit and this wing succeeded in doing that perfectly.

So…What’s the best?

The Judges Fav

Our lovely judges panel centered by my good friend Liza chose Super Wings as this years grand champion. That’s two out of three for the Crown Heights crew. The crowd favorite was Red Star’s Raspberry wing. Not a bad thing for our hosts. Nice work Eric and crew.

Our Fav

For those without video viewing ability, we both hands down deemed The Bean Post the winner this year. Now get off dial up and order some broadband.

I’ve been traveling a lot….what a surprise, and when I got home my refrigorator was quite empty. So I decided to make some breakfast for dinner. I wanted to take it up a notch and make a hardy egg sandwich. I started off by sautéing diced onions and peppers in some olive oil and salt. Wanted to make sure they were lightly browned. In a bowl I mixed 2 large eggs, 1 large egg white, shredded cheddar, diced swiss, hot sauce, black pepper and paprika. After I mixed and dumped that in I started the grilled cheese bread. While I was cooking the southerner was making a BLT. I used her bacon pan with all the bacon grease to make my grill cheese. I started by buttering both sides of the bread and put them in the pan soaking up some of the bacon juices and then put a slice of american cheese on both pieces and covered them to melt the cheese. It cooked really fast but by the time I was done the eggs were done as well. On a plate I left the grilled cheese open faced and put a layer of eggs on both sides. On one egg I topped with green pesto and the other with ketchup. Both were light layers. I then made a peppered fried egg over easy placed that in the middle of the sandwich and topped it with the ketchup half. When you cut through the middle the yolk oozes out. It was so delicious.

For desert I made black and blueberry pancakes with bananas and walnuts. The trick is to dice it all up nice and fine then dump it all into your pancake mix. The pancake mix will look purple. It will come out tasting the berry’s all throughout the pancake. Top it with a little butter and hot syrup and you’re good to go.

If you know anything about how our family celebrates the holidays it is not like your ordinary family holiday. No, our holidays is packed with a ridiculous amount of food. Basically, if there is 10 people coming to eat we cook for 30. What do you expect, were Italian and we like to eat our delicious food more than just one day. We eat it over the course of a week, sometimes more. For instance, for dessert we made 15 different christmas cookies. Some of them were made 3x the regular recipe amount. Lets put it this way, picture your family dining room table that seats about 8. Now picture that entire table filled with tins of christmas cookies some 2 or 3 tins high. Oh and by the way, we also had a few cakes to make things interesting. Here is the rundown of the homemade goodness:

Black and White

Butter Horn

Pignoli Cookie

Long Walnut Cookie

Chocolate Filled Cookies

Tortalina

Rainbow Cookie

Chocolate Brownie Cookie

Peanutbutter Cookie

Gumdrop Cookie

Cherry Cookie

Butterfly Cookie

Butter Cookie

Pistachio Cherry Biscotti

I mentioned earlier that we had 15 different cookies but if you were counting I only have pictures of 14. There was a new comer to the christmas cookies this year. The Ricotta Minicakes and they were such a hit that they were all eaten before I could take a picture of it. I guess everyone was curious about the new cookie and they were really good so they went fast. No worries, I’m sure they will make it to christmas again next year.