A Pleasant Surprise

If someone invites you to a bar in a college town, you're likely going to expect burgers, nachos, wings, etc.  If so, The Headkeeper in Greensburg, PA will come as an absolute shock.  The first thing that most guys will notice will be the wall of beer.  To quote our bartender, it's an "adult candy store."  But don't waste your time even thinking about beer until after you peruse the menu.  How often do you see words like balsamic reduction or truffle oil on a bar menu, especially in a town that is home to four different colleges and a variety of trade schools?

My friends and I were absolutely thrilled when we saw the menu, and we had some trouble deciding what to order, so we decided to each get something different and let each other try them.  The first thing we had was prosciutto-wrapped roast asparagus with a balsamic reduction.  While the asparagus was properly cooked, and the prosciutto was nice and crispy, the key here was the tips of the asparagus.  They had crisped up during the cooking and tasted of roast pumpkin seeds.  The effect, especially with a bit of the balsamic reduction, was delicious.

Next up was a five-spice pork tenderloin with chipotle beurre-blanc.   This item was suggested by our bartender.  I haven't used five-spice in a couple of years, and never would have paired it with chipotle, but man did it work.  The pork was succulent, the spices just right, and it was all balanced well, no one flavor overpowering the rest.

Last up was my favorite, which also happened to be my first exposure to truffle oil.  Petite filet mignon, medium rare, with crisp straw fries drizzled with truffle oil.  The presentation was great, as you can see.  These straw fries weren't just on the plate as a side, but were part of the presentation and taste of the dish.  Unlike I often see, the fries were actually crisp and flavorful.  The steak itself was seasoned and cooked excellently, and the truffle oil just capped it all off.

All in all, these are better dishes than I've gotten in expensive and upscale restaurants for a lot more money.  Good recipes, well executed, and great presentation.  All with the little touches that separate a chef from a cook.  Definitely stop by the Headkeeper if you're ever in Greensburg.

Burrito Casserole

I know that a lot of my readers are mothers who are always looking for a recipe that is simple but tasty and healthy, to allow them time to chase their kids and still know that they're feeding them right.  Another whole group of you are single working people who are interested in dishes that can be made on the weekend and then frozen in single servings to warm up later in the week.  This one works for both of you.  Like most casseroles, it's not the most photogenic thing in the world though, so I couldn't get a picture I liked.  You'll just have to imagine it.  Until you make it yourself, of course.

Burrito Casserole 

1 cup white rice
1 can tomato soup
1 pound ground beef (or other cooked meat)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp mexican oregano
1 tsp cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 package taco seasoning
1 can sweet corn
1 can Rotel tomatoes with diced chiles
1 can of black beans, drained

Preheat oven to 350F

1.  Wash the rice and put in 9x13 casserole dish. Add fluid from tomatoes to the tomato soup, and if necessary, add enough liquid from the corn to make 2 cups, add then add this all to the casserole dish.

2.  Brown the ground beef with garlic, oregano, cilantro and onions.  Then cook the meat in the taco seasoning according to package instructions.  Add to casserole dish.

3.  Add the tomatoes, corn and beans to casserole dish, and mix everything together. Top with shredded cheese.

4.  Cover with foil, and cook for one hour at 350. Remove foil, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until fluid is absorbed and rice is tender.

5.  Enjoy! 

Note:  If you use something besides ground beef (cooked round steak works GREAT), then you can of course skip the browning step.  Just put the meat, seasonings, garlic and onion in saucepan with the taco seasoning and follow the instructions from the taco seasoning packet.

A Foodie Review

Every time I've been in Pittsburgh, my foodie friends have asked whether or not I've been by Primanti Brothers yet.  For those who don't watch the Food Network or the Travel Channel, Primanti Brothers is a famous restaurant here in Pittsburgh.  They are known for their sandwiches, which are huge concoctions with everything on them, completed by a handful of french fries. 

Heading up to the door, you can hear music playing.  They had the radio tuned to a classic rock station, which is always a plus in my book.  Heading inside, you see a sandwich counter on the right for carryout orders, a bar area on left, and then regular restaurant seating past a wall behind the bar.  In general, other than the sandwich counter, it looked just like any neighborhood sports bar. 

The hostess came over and sat me, and then a minute or two later my waitress came by to get my order.  Being the person I am, I had already looked at their menu online and knew what I was going to get.  I ordered the Pitts-Burgher Cheese Steak sandwich, which is labeled on menu as their #2 best seller and has the top and most prominent position in the sandwich section of the menu (I forgot to ask what the #1 was).  This consists of a sirloin beef patty, provolone cheese, fries, cole slaw, and tomatoes on fresh italian bread. On my waitress' suggestion, I also added onions to the sandwich. 

As you would expect in a sports bar, there were several big screen TVs around the room showing various games.  As a nod to their position as a food destination, there was also one TV that was tuned to Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel.  I didn't have much time to watch TV though, as my order came out surprisingly quickly.

As you can see from the picture, this is one massive sandwich.   You might think that this was done just for the sake of notoriety, or in interest of being different.  I certainly thought so when I first saw these sandwiches on television, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The combination of the saltiness and starch from the fries, with the sour/sweet vinegar cole slaw and the sweetness of the tomatoes made for a great compliment to the grilled meat.  The meat itself was a rather typical grilled sirloin patty, but had just the right amount of salt and tasted great.  The tang and sweetness of the onions completed it all perfectly. 

Now, would I eat at Primanti brothers every day?  Certainly not.  This single sandwich was a huge meal.  Do I recommend that everyone try it at least once?  Absolutely.  Besides just being a well known food icon, this was a very good, very reasonably priced experience.  I highly recommend that anyone coming through the Pittsburgh area stop at one of the Primanti's locations and try one of their sandwiches.

Rabbit-Mushroom Risotto

Rabbit-Mushroom Risotto

4 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 large onion, medium dice
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups rice
2 cups champagne
1.5 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup cooked rabbit (or chicken), cut into bite size pieces
salt
pepper


1. Heat the stock in an electric teapot set on low.
2. In a large pan, heat 2tbsp of olive oil and the first 2tbsp of butter. Add onion and mushrooms and cook for fifteen minutes on medium-low, taking care not to let the onion to brown.
3. Turn heat up to high and add rice. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. The rice should be coated with the oil/butter mixture during this process. 
4. Carefully add champagne, rosemary and thyme. Cook until champagne is almost all absorbed, stirring continuously
5. Turn heat down to medium-low and add 1/2 cup of stock and the salt.  Continue stirring the rice as it cooks, as this helps release the starch, which makes the risotto creamy.
6. Continue adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously until the stock is absorbed.  Do not add the next batch of stock until previous addition has been absorbed
7.  Once all stock has been added, and you taste rice to ensure that it's properly cooked, remove from heat.  Stir in remaining butter, rabbit, and parmesan, as well as salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
8.  Enjoy!

Something New - A Review

My lovely wife has been telling me for a while now that I should start doing restaurant reviews as part of the blog.  We don't eat out often, so I kept putting it off, but I'm finally giving in and admitting that it is a good idea.  I figured the most appropriate place to start was with a review of the restaurant where we had our wedding reception just recently. 

Salutos Italian Restaurant- Gurnee

This is one of those places I'd driven past countless times, but never actually been in the restaurant.  I asked my sister to find a place for our dinner/reception after the wedding, and she chose Salutos.  I'm glad she did, as it was a great experience.

As soon as we walked in, we had several people congratulate us on our wedding. The staff seemed genuinely happy and friendly, and that always is a nice way to start an experience at a new restaurant.  The menu itself is pretty typical of what you would expect in an Italian restaurant.  While not cheap, everything was reasonably priced. The wine options were nice and reasonable too.

As our group began to order, a couple of people chose the Steak Salutos.  This dish uses their special sauce, which is not to everyone's taste, so our waitress brought out samples for everyone at the table to try.  This allowed the people who had ordered it to decide if they wanted to change their order (I couldn't tell what all was in the sauce, but I really enjoyed it personally, though I ordered something else).  No one changed their order though.

I ordered the Shrimp Alla Frankie.  This dish has shrimp (tail-on), artichokes and olives in olive oil over angel hair pasta.  The sauce had a nice bit of zip, and the pasta, while not perfectly al dente, was not soggy.  Portions were definitely on the larger side.  We also had brought along our wedding cake, and our waitress was more than happy to put the cake in the fridge while we ate our meal, and then bring it out and cut and serve for us.

Overall, we were very happy with the whole experience.  At the end of a long week, and the most important night of our life, it would have been easy for things to go badly at the restaurant and have things end on a sour note.  Everything went great though, and Salutos is definitely on our list of restaurants we will continue to go to.