Fried Rice

There are a couple recipes I make when I don't know what else to make. One is fried rice, TBG's fave.  I am not Asian, and have never taken a cooking class or anything else so this is just my version.  I love to have leftovers for work so I make a lot when I make it. I also have a really big skillet which helps.  I have never tried to make this in a wok or anything else.  I have tried to make this healthier with brown rice but it's just not as good.  I have also used low sodium soy sauce, but ended up just using more.

Serves 4-5

4c white rice (better if it's leftover or sits on the stove awhile)

2 tbls canola oil

1 tbs sesame oil (optional)

3 cloves garlic (I use more, but we really like garlic!)

1-2 tbls grated ginger depending on your taste

5 eggs

1 large chicken breast

1-2 c of whatever veggies I have around; peas, baby corn, carrots, zucchini, mung bean sprouts...

soy sauce (I use almost a whole bottle every time)

Heat the canola oil, add garlic and ginger.  Tip: freeze the ginger to make grating easier. Saute for 1-2 min then add chicken. While the chicken is browning add the sesame oil if using, and about a tablespoon of soy sauce. If using a veggie that needs cooked longer like carrots or zucchini add now too. I usually add the peas or bean sprouts right before the rice. When everything is cooked add the rice and stir well. If the rice looks dry you can add more oil or a couple slabs of butter. There are two ways to do the eggs, you can scramble them then pour them into the rice, or break them into the pan then scramble. I do not like to dirty extra dishes so I move the rice to the side then break and scramble the eggs right there. Really up to you. Add enough soy sauce to make the whole thing wet, stir well. Let cook another 1-2 min then serve with more soy sauce. TBG also adds Sriacha if you like it spicy.

Hope you enjoy, leave me a comment if you have any questions.  Thanks!

Beer Haus - Akron

The Beer Haus is located in the Merriman Valley in the old Coopers building.  There is plenty of parking, and the resturant is pretty big.  There are pool tables, arcade games, and lots of TVs.  The menu is nice and small with burgers and german style food.  We started with the prezel sticks and sourkraut bites.  The pretzels were good, but needed a cheese sauce.  They came with butter and mustard.  The mustard was pretty good, it was whole grain, not the yellow stadium mustard.  The sourkraut bites also came with the mustard.  They were fried and had bits of corned beef inside.  The bites were pretty good but didn't taste freshly made.  I ordered the Beer BBQ Burger.  It has provolone cheese, beer BBQ sauce, and fried onions.  It was ok, not great, just ok.  I probably wouldn't order it again.  Nothing stood out as especially flavorful.  The onion rings gave it a good crunch, but made it hard to eat.  The fries were too thick, which made them too soft, but I like mine crispy.  TBG got the Atomic Bratwurst which is jalapeno stuffed, and bacon wrapped with a sriacha aioli.  He said it was also just ok.  He expected more.  The beer list was pretty good.  TBG loves the large mugs for the draft beers.  The service was average.  I would reccommed this place only if you want to play games and drink beer.  The food wasn't really worth going for. 

Service____ 6 Chipps

Food____4 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____7 Chipps

Wine List____4 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

Luigi's - Akron

Luigi's is located in the Northside area of Akron.  There is almost always a wait to get inside.  If you don't mind standing outside talking to people in line then this is the place for you.  I hate waiting for food, but have on occasion.  This time we went early and while it was cold out; no wait!  We always start our meal with a salad with cheese, but I forgot to take a pic!  Sorry.  It is not a huge salad, but they put plenty of mozzerella cheese on top.  The dressing is also really good; they almost put too much, so if you don't like a lot ask for it on the side.  TBG loves the Bianco pizza so we got one of those.  It has 3 different types of cheese and an alfredo sauce.  It is good, but I still like the regular cheese pizza better.  The crust is a little on the thicker side, but tastes good.  The cheese is great and they put plenty on.  The sauce is almost too much for me, but it is not bitter, and also not too sweet.  It goes perfectly with the rest of the pizza.  We got mushrooms on half, and pepperoni in the other half of our second pizza.  The mushrooms were not canned, but fresh cut and good.  The service is always good even when they are busy.  The atmosphere is just like you would expect from an old Italian restaurant.  It could probably use some updating, but that doesn't take away from the experience.  There is a small wine and beer list.  I would recommend Luigi's for just about anyone and anytime.

Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____3 Chipps

Wine List____4 Chipps

Value____7 Chipps

Bricco - Akron

We have been going to Bricco for years.  It is located in downtown Akron with not much parking.  This time it was cold so I valet parked.  The menu has not changed in the years we have been going but it must not need to.  The food is always of good quality.  Mon and Tues have retail wine night and the wine list is fairly long.  This time we started with the meat and cheese tray.  TBG was not impressed, he said it looked like they just grabbed whatever they had in the back and put it on a platter.  We also got the calamari with peppers which I almost forgot to take a picture of.  I promise it looked better when they brought it out.  It was good like always.  It's never rubbery and has chorizo in it too.  We ordered 2 pizzas for the table.  The first is the tenderloin pizza with boursin.  It's wonderful.  This is the pizza that started us eating boursin at home. You can see from the picture that the tenderloin is perfectly cooked.  There isn't too much sauce and the crust is good as well.  The second pizza was the chorizo pizza with sriracha on top.  It was also good and you can see there are large hunks of sausage on the pizza.  The pizzas are also a pretty good size.  There was only 3 of us, but we left with about half a pizza.  The server this time was kinda slow and not real friendly, but I do not remember this being the norm at Bricco.  Usually there is local artwork on the walls in the bar, but this time there was still (old) Christmas decorations up.  The atmosphere otherwise is nice.  There is a back room for parties, and fun booths in the dinning area.  We usually sit at one of the large tables in the bar area surrounded by brick walls and windows looking out into Main street. The beer list is as good as the wine list, offering craft beers, and the prices are reasonable for the ingredients offered here.  Bricco is good for Happy Hour, or a nice dinner out.

Service____ 6 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____8 Chipps

Beer List____8 Chipps

Wine List____8 Chipps

Value____7 Chipps

Battiste & Dupree Cajun Grill - South Euclid

Battiste & Dupree is located in a strip mall a quarter mile from Cedar Rd in South Euclid.  There is a small parking lot in the front.  It opens at 5:00 and seats about 20 people.  The decor is all things New Orleans and a few plaques from local papers.  The windows are lined with beads.  The bathrooms are kept locked with the chef/owner/host/bartender/server holding the key.  We were recommended this place by someone who goes often, and expected a slow authentic southern experience.  We made reservations since there were 6 of us arriving at this small restaurant.  We arrived a few min early and had to wait for a couple to leave so we could put 2 tables together.  We waited 15 min for water and menus.  We waited another 15 min to order our apps and beers.  The place was not full at this point, only about 5 other people there.  They did have a fun selection of beer, carrying Abita beer from New Orleans.  We tried a few and were never offered more during the rest of our stay.  I personally drink a lot when I am eating spicy cajun food and was disappointed I did not get a refills of water or beer.  The first appetizer to come out was the Cajun Fried Dill Pickles.  They were awesome, I loved the cajun spices on the perfectly fried pickles. There was plenty of them to share, but we did not get plates so all had to eat off the center one.  About 20 min later our other app came out.  We got the sampler platter with ribs, wings, jambalaya, coleslaw, and fried fish bites.  The ribs were tough, wing sauce tasty, jambalaya pretty good, coleslaw different and fish bites good and fun.  We really wanted to try the rest of the food.  We caught the guys attention and asked if we could order our food.  He told us to wait a minute.  We waited 30, then got his attention again and asked for the check.  We were in the restaurant 1.75 hours and had not even ordered our food.  In the mean time though we got lectures on not putting our purses on the ground (no hooks were provided) because we would get bed bugs (are they in the restaurant??), locking the door after we go to the bathroom, removing my phone from the table (which I use to blog while eating), and being patient because he was only one man.  I think almost 2 hours without even ordering entrees is patient enough.  It's not like there was a live band or entertaining server to keep us there.  He was not apologetic about us leaving without eating, just said sorry that "it didn't work out".  The bill was $60 and we left hungry and thirsty.  By the time we left all the tables were full and most did not have food or water.  It's sad because the food was good and there aren't many Cajun places around.  I know TBG won't be going back.

Service____ 2 Chipps

Food____7 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____6 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____2 Chipps

Cupcakes!

Ever since I got my Kitchen Aid a year ago I have been making lots of cupcakes.  I don't have the confidence yet to come up with my own, but I thought I would share a few of my favorite recipes.

Big Breakfast!

The most popular, and the beginning of it all is the French Toast.  When I tried the Big Breakfast from Main Street Cupcakes I knew I had to figure out how to make it.  I found this from Life is better with cake. These are pretty easy to make and everyone loves them.  This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes.  I use maple syrup for the frosting so I don't have to buy maple extract.  NOTE: 1c Cake flour = 1c - 2tbsp all purpose flour + 2tbsp cornstarch.

Soo Pretty!  (photo from Brown Eyed Baker)

Next is the Limoncello cupcakes from Brown Eyed Baker.  They are filled with lemon curd.  These are a little bit more work but soo worth it.  They are better the next day after all the lemon has mellowed and really seeped into the cupcakes.  Perfect for a refreshing summer snack.  We make our own Limoncello so this is a great way to showcase this great drink.











Another, more recent find (thanks to Pintrest!) is the Cookie Dough Cupcake!  Who doesn't love cookie dough??  These cupcakes are even better than I expected.  They take a little while to make, but aren't hard.  There is a ball of (safe to eat) cookie dough in the middle!











Any recommendations for cupcakes I should try??

Arnie's Standing Room Only - Akron

TBG and I met at Arnie's for lunch during the week.  Arnie's is located on busy Market St, but there is a large parking lot in the back.  We were the only people in the restaurant this day.  It was a decent size inside and has a nice patio in the front for the nicer weather.  There is also a sitting area with a fireplace if you are just hanging out.  The menu is small, mostly sandwiches.  TBG got a Turkey Reuben which has coleslaw instead of kraut.  He did not care for it, said everything tasted cheap.  The side is a bag of chips and a pickle.  He was still hungry when we were done.  I got a roast beef sandwich with mushrooms and onions.  It was ok, nothing stood out but I wasn't as disappointed as TBG.  The chips came with a dill dip that was a little plain, but I used it anyway.  The prices were a little high for the small amount of food and a bag of chips.  The happy hour beverage prices seemed pretty good.  The service was not great even though we were the only ones there.  She never asked us how our food was and really only came around when she felt like it.  I would recommend coming here for a few drinks, but not for the food or the service. 

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____5 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____5 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____5 Chipps