The best orange juice available in the refrigerator section of the grocery store, and quite possibly the best orange juice known to man. Perfectly sweet, perfectly juicy and perfectly delicious. This orange juice captures the flavor of a fresh squeezed orange better than any packaged orange juice I’ve ever tasted.
By the way, am I the only one that thinks fresh “squozen” would actually sound better than fresh squeezed? If only it were a word ; )
One day about a year ago we were flipping mindlessly through the channels and happened upon this little cinematic treasure. We caught the show midway through, and had no idea what the premise was, but warmed in minutes to the snarky, sarcastic, cynical, and funny-without-trying nature of the host. Before the episode had ended our series record was in place and we have religiously joined Anthony on his trips to interesting and far away places ever since. In No Reservations, food and travel are seamlessly combined to create a very interesting, entertaining, and engrossing little show. There are far too many memorable moments and locations to mention individually, however, the Turkish bathhouse scene in Uzbekistan is nearly unforgettable.
I fell in love with sweet corn cake after sampling it at the local El Torito. It’s surprising I could build such an affinity for it – considering the way they tease you with their tiny portions. In any case, I figured that if I ever really wanted to taste the delicious nectar that was sweet sweet corn cake, I had probably better just learn to make it myself.
I searched the internet for a respectable recipe and landed upon a variant of this one at allrecipes.com. I tweaked the recipe – mostly out of necessity (i.e. lack of ingredients on hand), and personally I think my version is just as good and quite a bit easier to make.
Suggestions: This goes great with just about any Tex-Mex type dish, but a personal favorite at our house is to add sweet corn cake directly into the tortilla with the other regular fajita ingredients.
SWEET SWEET CORN CAKE
6 Tbsp. Butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp Cornmeal
2 Tbsp Water
1 Can Creamed Corn
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
In medium bowl beat butter and cornmeal til creamy, add remaining ingredients and stir til thoroughly combined. Pour batter into ungreased 8×8 inch baking dish. Place pan into a 9×13 inch baking dish that is filled 1/3 of the way with water. Bake in a preheated over at 350 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes. (If cake doesn’t seem to be getting done fast enough, remove from water bath.) Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. A regular ice cream scoop makes a nice delivery system and a pleasantly shaped portion.
I usually try to avoid shilling for companies such as Starbucks, who obviously already have that marketing and addictive consumerism thing figured out; but I decided to make an exception in this case, and mainly because the Frappuccino Ice Cream bar offers such a wonderful way to get your treat on, without adding so much thunder to your thighs.
This fine frozen treasure has only around 100 calories; and for that small price, you find yourself with a remarkably satisfying little dessert that takes cares of coffee, chocolate, and sugar cravings all in one ice cold melty bite.
Asian Chicken Salad on Keebler Club Cracker
A variation of this unusually simple-for-how-delicious-it-is recipe was discovered on the side of a Keebler Club Crackers box. I used my creative license to modify the original recipe to increase flavor and flexibility.
Super Tasty Asian Chicken Salad
1/3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Black Pepper
3-1/2 cups cooked, chopped Chicken Breast
2 cups chopped Red Bell Pepper
1/2 cup sliced Green Onions (2 bunches)
1 cup chopped Tomatoes
2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds (more if using for garnish)
Spinach Leaves (9 ounce bag if creating salad, less if using only for crackers)
Keebler Club Crackers
In small bowl stir together mayonnaise, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. In medium bowl toss together chicken, bell pepper and onions. Add mayonnaise mixture, toss to coat. Gently fold in tomatoes and sesame seeds. Chill before serving with Keebler Club Crackers or on a bed of fresh Spinach. Makes about 7 cups.
Over 15 years ago I had my first brush with the Chili’s experience. That was the day I discovered my new favorite dish — individually crafted, perfectly balanced Chicken Nachos.
Years later I fell upon my new, new favorite Chili’s dish; the Grilled Chicken Caribbean Salad: Marinated Caribbean chicken, fresh pico de gallo, juicy pineapple, mandarin oranges and crispy tortilla strips. Served with honey-lime dressing.
More recently I had become very fond of the Heart Healthy Grilled Chicken Sandwich found in the Guiltless Grill section of their menu. The rather simple, but satisfying sandwich is served with black beans and quite possibly the best seasonal steamed vegetables on planet Earth.
If you find yourself confused and wondering why I would possibly offer a downgrade after positively describing several of Chili’s entrees? Well, I have my reasons:
a) To my dismay and horror, the Caribbean Chicken Salad has been inexplicably removed from their recently remodeled menu.
b) The Chicken Nachos are M.I.A themselves; sure, you can add chicken to their regular nachos, but actual Chicken Nachos is no longer a menu item — and the new variation simply pales in comparison to the old.
c) The last time I ordered their well-known-for-supposedly-being-good Chicken Fajitas, I’m pretty sure someone forgot to season the chicken. I can only assume that I was accidentally served the Amish-Mex version.
d) On a recent trip to Chili’s with my brother, we both ordered a burger, mine medium, his well done (seriously, who orders well done?). In any case, 3/4 of the way through my super dry over cooked burger, I realized that our waitress had given me his jerky on a bun without bothering to notice.
e) When I realized the Caribbean Salad had met an untimely death, I gave the Southwestern Cobb a chance at bat. Let’s just say it struck out miserably, on all counts.
f) And lastly, the interrogation lamps they have hanging over their booths have seared my retinas exactly one too many times.
Will I ever revisit the newly downgraded Chili’s? Sure, perhaps in desperation; after all, they do still offer the Guiltless Chicken Sandwich, and one hell of a fine Diet Coke with Lemon.
Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
The way to a thick and creamy smoothie is to use frozen fruit, not ice, to achieve a desired thickness. You can buy frozen fruit at the grocery store, or freeze it yourself. Cut or break fruit such as bananas and peaches into pieces no larger than a strawberry before freezing — otherwise you may learn the hard way, as I did, that blender blades really do have their limitations.
The following smoothie recipe is a great way for kids and adults alike to get fruit, dairy, and protein all in one delicious gulp.
Fruit and Peanut Butter Smoothie
3 small frozen bananas, or 1-1/2 cups of frozen strawberries, peach or otherwise
8 ounce container of Yogurt (Vanilla or any other complimentary flavor)
1- 1/2 cups Milk
1/4 cup Peanut Butter (optional)
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend on high til smooth. Add extra milk if you find the smoothie to be too thick. Makes about 3 cups.
Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Hard Shell
Sure, you might be unnerved when the counter person unleashes their rapid fire barrage of topping questions, but when done right, the Chipotle Chicken Taco (hard or soft shell), will rarely disappoint.
The Perfect Taco: Hard Shell, Chicken, both corn and mild salsa, sour cream, cheese and lettuce.
The Perfect Side: Chips and Guacamole — for the money, possibly the best guacamole in show business.
The Perfect Drink: Sprite with 2 lemon wedges.
Perfectly mixed fountain drink are super delightful, but remarkably hard to come by.
Why don’t all fountain drinks taste alike? Drink manufacturers could surely fool proof the mixing process — since they obviously do not, consumers are left with either overly syrupy drinks, or overly carbonated drinks, or in the worst case scenario, drinks that taste like more than one flavor (i.e. Root Beer flavored diet Pepsi).
Although human error is surely to blame, water is another factor that determines the quality of the fountain drink. Take a road trip through rural parts of the country (where well water reigns) and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Finding a good fountain drink. At the height of my soda binging era, I knew exactly which soda dispensers within a 20 mile radius had quality fountain drinks. In my experience, fountain drinks at fast food restaurants, movie theaters, and amusement parks are almost always terrible and should be avoided.
Convenience stores typically do a good job, and can be counted on to deliver a pretty decent mix, often heavy on the carbonation, but I can definitely handle that.
Chain restaurants such as Chili’s, Famous Dave’s and El Torito are by far the most consistent when it comes to fountain drink quality. Sure, you’ll find yourself at the mercy of the waitress to get your glass filled 6 times during your visit, but if you are a true soda connoisseur, it’s well worth the inconvenience.
Other Things to Consider: Fountain drinks offered in paper cups are always better than plastic cups. When you get to the bottom 1/3 of your plastic cup, look for a weird taste, you’ll be sure to find it.
Lastly, in my experience, Pepsi products typically taste better than Coke, with Mountain Dew being the #1 most consistently best mixed. Special mentions go out to Sprite, 7-Up, Root Beer and Orange Soda (apparently Cola drinks are just easier to screw up).
The Fountain Drink Re-Mix. The availability of self serve fountain drinks has done a lot to improve the control the consumer has over their finished product. If you can’t find an existing quality fountain drink, take it into your own hands to create one. Try these time tested mix-ups:
50% Diet Pepsi + 50% Mountain Dew (super tasty)
25% Orange Soda + 75% Diet Cola (oddly refreshing)
50% Diet Cola + 50% Regular Cola (when trying to cut calories, but don’t want to cut all the flavor)
50% Sprite + 50% Cola (try increasing the Sprite ratio gradually to painlessly kick a bad caffeine habit)
Mini-Hamburger Served on Dinner Roll w/ Fries
Thick juicy hamburgers are actually quite easy to make at home and have the potential to please the most discriminating audiences. As a matter of fact, during a recent visit, my food finicky brother actually referred to one of my burgers as “restaurant quality”. (sweet!)
The following recipe is suitable for at least four people and possibly up to 6 depending on size, thickness and group appetite.
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs or uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup of any combination of flavorful condiments or sauces — (i.e. Mustard, Ketchup, Chili Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Horseradish, Sweet Pickle Relish, Dressing or Marinade). You can also throw in various herbs and spices as desired.
Mixing: The key to adding sauce is to make sure you don’t over do it. Pay attention to the consistency of the hamburger mixture — you want it to remain stiff enough to hold a good shape, while also adding as much sauce as possible. Do keep in mind that the sauce addition process is a delicate balance, if you over kill on the sauce, you’ll end up with a meatloaf sandwich.
Molding: Shape the hamburgers slightly larger than the bun to allow for standard burger shinkage. Thickness should be close to 3/4 an inch.
Cooking: In my experience broiling is easier and leaves the burgers with more of their own delicious juices; especially if you cover the broiling pan with tin foil, which is what I do — however, if you have an aversion to fat and like to scrub pans, omit the foil.
Cook Time: Mini Burgers (as shown) should be broiled on high for 5 minutes per side, larger burgers would be 6 – 8 minutes per side.
Topping suggestions: grilled onions (practically a must), avocados, tomatoes, bacon, pickles or relish, lettuce, peppers, dressing, mayo, pineapple, ketchup, and mustard.
Side Dish Tip:
French Fry Suggestions: If using the frozen grocery store variety, pre-cook fries for just over half of their required baking time, then move them to the lower rack of the oven while broiling your burgers. While building your burgers, broil the fries for 3 – 5 minutes longer to add a crispy shell.
Fry Sauce: Construct with equal parts of either mayo and ketchup or mayo and chili sauce.
