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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Enchilada Recipe

 
I got this recipe from the Pillsbury Casserole book.  I don't usually make things with so many pre-made ingredients, but this is delicious.  Make a lot because it is even better left over!  I shred my chicken, but if you don't have the time you can cube it like the original recipe says.  This time I used wheat tortillas to make it a little heathier.  I usually end up buying the larger tortillas, so I make less than 12 or make more of the fillings. 


Serving size is 2 enchiladas, makes 6 servings
3 cups cooked chicken
3/4c Buffalo wing sauce
1 cup sour cream ranch dip
3 cups Cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
green onions
12 - 6" tortillas


Grease a 13x9" pan and preheat the oven to 350.


To make shredded chicken, boil a pot of water and add chicken.  Cook for about 20 min or untill the chicken is not pink inside anymore. Take it out and shred with a fork holding the hot meat with tongs or another fork. Stir the chicken into the wing sauce.  


In a seperate bowl mix the soup, dip, and onions together to make a sauce for the inside of the enchildas.  Save a good amount of the sauce for the top so the tortillas do not dry out in the oven.  I set up a station to make filling each tortilla quick and easy.  Save some of the cheese for the top also.  Once filled, roll each tortilla and place seam down into the pan.  Spread the sauce on top when pan is filled then cover with aluminum foil.  Cook for 35-40 min or until hot and bubbly.  Take the foil off, add the cheese, green onions and cook for another 5 min.  Serve warm with a side of hot sauce!  Start to finish this dish takes a little while, but the chicken could be cooked the night before.  The enchiladas could even be put together ahead of time and kept in the fridge.  All in all, this is a fairly easy dish for how good it is!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Product review and Recipe - Peach Sorbet


July is National Ice Cream month, it's also TBG's Birthday.  He got the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker for his birthday so we will be reviewing it here and sharing the recipe.  One if his favorite fruits is peach, so I decided to make the Raspberry Sorbet from the recipe book substituting peach for the raspberry.  I chose sorbet because I already had the ingrediants in the house, and it seemed like the easiest.  If it doesn't come out I can say for sure it wasn't the recipe!







Peach Sorbet

Serving size 1/2c, makes 10 servings

2 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
pinch of salt
4 cups frozen peaches, thawed
I started with making a simple syrup in a medium saucepan.  Add the syrup to the fruit with the salt.  I then used the immersion blender to make a smooth mixture.  After transferring to a airtight container I refrigerated for 2 hours.  Make sure the freezer bowl is completey frozen.  Then turn the machine on and pour the fruit mixture in the top.  The frozen treat starts to pull together and freeze almost immediately.  Mix for 15-20 min and voila!  Sorbet!  If you want it thicker, throw it in the freezer for an hour or so.  The first time I tried to make sorbet, I only froze the bowl for 7 hours.  I shook it and it sounded frozen, but my sorbet never froze, or got any thicker.  Fail!  I put it in the freezer anyway, but it never really got a nice texture.  This time I had the bowl in the freezer for a couple days.  The book does recommend keeping it in the freezer at all times so you are always ready for a frozen treat.  The machine itself is very easy to use.  The bowl is not big, but big enough for a family.  If I was making ice cream for a party, I would start a week early, or buy another bowl.  An extra bowl is $30 on cusinart.com.  I can't wait to try something more difficult like frozen yogurt or ice cream!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Marcelita's - Hudson/Twinsburg

Marcelita's is located near the Hudson Twinsburg border on RT 91.  There is a large parking lot and lots of seating.  The front of the menu told the story of Marcelita's.  It started on the same location in a shack many years ago and is still in the "family".  The menu was pretty typical of a Mexican restaurant.  The salsa was average, but did taste freshly made.  I got the wet pork burrito with Texan sauce, chihuahua cheese and sour cream.  It was very tasty and the perfect size.  The Texan sauce was kind of like a BBQ, but with Mexican spices, it was very good.  TBG got the special which was chicken enchiladas with refried beans and rice.  He said it was good, but liked my burrito better.  The beer list was decent, with the expected Mexican beers.  The bar was a nice size, and separate from the rest of the family friendly restaurant.  Our server was nice, and the food came fast, but they were not busy that night.  The price was not bad for a family night out, and there are always coupons in the local books.


Service____ 7 Chipps
Food____7 Chipps
Atmosphere____7 Chipps
Beer List____6 Chipps
Wine List____4 Chipps
Value____7 Chipps

 Marcelita's Mexican on Urbanspoon

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Yours Truly - Hudson


Yours Truly is located on RT 91 in Hudson just South of First and Main.  They have their own large parking lot.  The decor is old fashioned, but everything is clean.  The whole atmoshere comes off more like home, then hole-in-the-wall.  We have been here a couple times but this paticular time was for breakfast.  They have a nice selection of healthy, not so healthy, and cheap staples.  TBG got the Kill it Skillet, a sausage skillet.  He said it was good, but not the best he has ever had.  The ingredients were quality and cooked well.  I got the oatmeal.  It was way too big and came with raisens, walnuts, brown sugar, and strawberries.  I enjoyed it for a change from the usual greasy big breakfast.  The oatmeal was cooked well and the toppings were perfect.  I probably would have eaten more if I had more toppings, but I am glad I didn't.  The service was good even though we were there on Father's Day and they were very busy.  I would reccomend this place for a quick bite that doesn't break the bank. 

Service____ 8 Chipps
Food____6 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____0 Chipps
Wine List____0 Chipps
Value____7 Chipps
 Yours Truly on Urbanspoon

Thursday, June 21, 2012

D'Agnese's Tomato Grill - Hudson

Located at First and Main in Hudson there is not direct parking for Tomato Grill, but plenty around.  We went for lunch and it was not very crowded.  TBG and I decided to split a pizza even though the menu had a lot of good options.  We definitely plan on going back to try more of the menu.  The service was a little slow, it took a long time for her to take our order and to bring our check.  The pizza did not take a long time though.  We ordered the sausage and peppers pizza.  It was very good.  There were cherry and banana peppers, onions and sausage.  There was the right amount of sauce and the cust was nice and thin but not like a cracker.  The atmosphere was almost like an upscale resturant, but a little more relaxed.  The decor was colorful and the wait staff wore black.  The bar was average sized and looked to have a nice selection of wine and martinis.  We sat by a window and were able to watch people shopping.   I would recommend the pizza and can't wait to try more of the menu. 



Service____ 6 Chipps
Food____7 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____4 Chipps
Wine List____5 Chipps
Value____6 Chipps


D'Agnese's Tomato Grill on Urbanspoon

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Dave's Cosmic Subs - Hudson

Located on Main St in downtown Hudson, Dave's is a small sub shop decorated like the 60's/70's.  I didn't think a whole lot of it when TBG suggested we go there.  A sub is a sub right?  I was wrong.  These subs are great.  The bread is a very tasty crusty Italian.  They say the Dave's Cosmic sauce is Italian, but it's zestier and creamier than most Italian dressings.  We liked it, but you can get it on the side if you are unsure.  Every sandwich comes with a homemade pickle.  They even sell the pickles by the jar if you really like them.  It took a little while to make the sandwiches even though they didn't seem to be busy.  TBG got Dave's San Fran.  It has turkey and capicola and is served hot.  I got a Grateful Dave which is turkey with avocado and alfalfa sprouts.  We both really liked our sandwiches.  I thought it price was a little high but that is ok every once in a while.  We have already been back.




Service____ 6 Chipps
Food____8 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____0 Chipps
Wine List____0 Chipps
Value____7 Chipps


  Dave's Cosmic Subs on Urbanspoon

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Crave - Akron

Crave is conveniently located in downtown Akron across from the Art museum parking garage.  Parking is free after 6:00pm during the week and all day on weekends.  The restaurant is fairly big with a large bar area in the middle.  The atmosphere is almost like a club, kinda dark and trendy but comfortable.  The beer and wine lists were about average.  There were a decent amount of craft brews on tap, but I expected that from this upscale local resturant.  The menu had so many great sounding things it was hard for me to choose.  I met a friend there so I did not have TBG to finish my food.  (I took it home and he finished it anyway!)  We started with the short rib and potato stuffed samosas with a cilantro pesto.  They were great.  There wasn't as much short rib as I hoped, but the sauces were great and the somosa was cooked perfectly.  For dinner I got the steak wrap with peppered bacon, chihuahua cheese and a smoked cumin and bay leaf aoili.  It was simple but very good.  The steak was cut thin and was tender. I didn't really taste the aoili, but the wrap was nice and moist.  My wrap also came with a side salad.  It was a good mix of lettuces.  I got the house dressing which was a maple pomegrante.  I was not impressed, it was too watery and I couldn't taste the pomegrante.  My friend got the corn flake crusted chicken sandwith with manchego cheese, caramelized onions, mustard BBQ and smoked paprika sauce.  She got sweet potato fries with her sandwich and they were great.  They were thicker than most, but had a nice sweet crunch on the outside with fluffy potato on the inside.  I would definately reccommend going to Crave if you are out in Akron.  Right around the corner is Musica and Rubber City Clothing, so make a whole day of it!

Service____ 6 Chipps
Food____7 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____5 Chipps
Wine List____5 Chipps
Value____7 Chipps


Crave on Urbanspoon