Quick Nosh

Little nosh needed after the Wine Maniacs open house.....

Weissgerbers Golden Mast

Seared snails with a garlic shallot butter, sizzling hot with toasted baguettes. YUM




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Crepes......

At FUZZY'S!!!!!!!

Fresh banana Crepes with a homemade secret "Yum Yum" sauce & whipped cream.

This will be a new special on the breakfast menu...


You can now get their daily specials texted to you.... Stop in and ask to be on the list!

Pat's and Kathy

Holy crap!!!! just posted on Pat's Ribs Facebook!!!!


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D Mo's Dinner

Last night my friend Chrissy and I stopped by D Mo's for some much needed girl talk and dinner. She had never been to D Mo's so it was fun to take her there and show here what "newer" restaurants Waukesha has to offer (she's been living in DC for the past year). We selected a bottle of wine and started with the calimari appetizer and it also includes some shrimp.






For dinner I was in the mood for some sort of seafood pasta dish, but the Mac & Cheese was calling my name as well.... So I asked if could have my own creation. Stacey, awesome waitress, checked with the chef and to my delight made me my own Lobster Mac and Cheese (I guess it helps to know the owner, Tony ;) ). It was AWESOME!!! Penne pasta, chunks of lobster, a rich cheese sauce and topped with more cheese, breadcrumbs and baked!!! Chrissy and I loved it.





Chrissy was eyeing up the gnocchi with pulled pork and shaved parmesan.





Another excellent dish, I'm glad she shared a few bites with me! It is the perfect comfort food. The warm potato gnocchi was the perfect base for the pork and the parmesan added a bit of cheesy saltiness. I can't wait to have it again.


So, the bottom line...... Check out D Mo's at the Clarke Hotel in downtown Waukesha for an awesome dinner!
There are also great nightly food and drink specials.

No Need to Drive to Milwaukee for AMAZING Food

It is not often that people find themselves driving down Hwy 83 to Genesee Depot, "The Depot" as I call it, but I get to go to this great little unincorporated town several days a week for work.

There are six places to eat in Genesse Depot as well as a bakery, all in less than a half mile strip of Hwy 83. I believe peoe flock to this little town because of the great food being produced by great people, people who care about quality & their customers.

When it comes to fine dining the Union House is amazing! I went there recently for dinner and was blown away by the food and service.

Owners, since 1989, Curt and Patty Robinson work along side their amazing staff to not only create excellent food, but a wonderful experience. When you walk in you are greeted by smiling faces, the aroma of the evenings specials floating through the air, and an old world ambiance that cannot be conjured by a new restaurant.


Here is a recount of the evening:
(sorry for the poor photos)

Old fashioned: I like a Southern Comfort Sweet; for this they use homemade bitters, fresh oranges, white soda(Sprite), tonic and add a cinnamon stick. An excellent way to start the evening.

Beer.... They have a great selection on tap, but the Old Engine Oil caught my eye. A Black Scottish Ale, heavier than a Guinness, full of amazing flavors... I can see only drinking one or two of these in an evening due to it's richness.





Wine.... Curt is an amazing resource when it comes to wine, so naturally we asked him for advice. We are mostly red wine fans, Merlot to be more specific. Also, I mentioned that I do not enjoy overly sweet or fruity wine, and if it's too oaky I will also shy away from it. His suggested the 2005 Silverado Merlot and he was spot on! The wine complimented the multiple courses we enjoyed and will now be on my permanent radar at other restaurants and when I got to purchase wine.

For starters we had a Double Creme Brie wrapped and baked in puff pastry and served with fresh raspberry puree, a wonderful classic appetizer. The brie was rich and buttery and perfectly melted in the center with out the pastry getting overly browned, something I seem to fail at.

For the second course I had the Arugula salad with fresh strawberries, pine nuts, goat cheese, and their homemade vinegarette.
The salad was very fresh, not too much dressing and they strawberries were a perfect sweetness to the tart arugula and goat cheese. The pine nuts were a great textural addition to the salad and offered a buttery overtone in each bite.

My husband thoroughly enjoyed the Triple Topped French Onion Soup. (As you may recall last month I blogged and raved about my own french onion soup.... well let me tell you this knocks the socks off my mine.) Union Houses' soup had a unique flavor I cannot put my finger on, what am I missing in my own soup?? I will have to talk to Chef John about it this afternoon and poke around for secret information. Needless to say if you go to the Union House you have to order the soup, you will be using their fresh warm bread to sop up every last micron of broth!

Entrees:

Hickory Smoked Bacon Wrapped Choice Fillet with a Saute of Wild Mushrooms and a Dauphinoise Potato

The best steak I have ever had.... Tender, juicy, awesome flavor, cooked to a perfect medium rare! It was hard to share even a bite with anyone!!

There was also a side of grilled asparagus, also cooked perfectly! I am not a fan of mushy vegetables, I like a bite to my asparagus. I asked how it was prepared and it was a simple salt, pepper, and grill!! If all vegetables tasted this great I would live on them!!!

Yeah, Holy Cow Yum!





We also dined on a Seafood and Artichoke Risotto. The perfectly cooked diver sea scallops, shrimp, and Maryland Blue crab, gave this dish amazing layers of flavors. The artichokes added yet another layer to the seafood medley as well another level of texture.


Finally desert, a trio of homemade morsels....


This was an amazing dinner!! Words cannot describe how excellent everything was.

You must go and try it for yourself!!! And you can take me if you want!

Thank you Union House.

Spanakopita aka Greek Spinach Pie

I love Spanakopita. I love it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I love it as a passed appetizer at a party, as a side dish, or as an entree, so it's about time I learn how to make it!!

I made it for the first time Thursday night. Followed a Cook's Illustrated recipe, liked it but didn't love it (though others did).

I decided to try it again to and also make it a bit healthier; I can see it being a great new addition to my normal dinner routine.

Here is my version of Spanakopita.

Step 1. Thaw a package of frozen phyllo dough in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 4-5 hours.

Step 2. Take 3 bags of fresh baby spinach and place in large glass mixing bowl.






Place in the microwave for 7 minutes on high with a plate on top.







Step 3. Start the rest of the filling. In a large mixing bowl, mix 2 eggs, 16oz's of fat free crumbled feta (which is on sale this week at the Pick), 1/2c of fat free cottage cheese, 3 cloves of minced/pressed garlic, 1/2 tsp frah grated nutmeg, half a 4oz container of the fresh dill and mint, you can get in the produce section of the grocery store, rough chopped, 1/2 of a lemons juice and zest, salt, & fresh cracked black pepper.





Step 4. Squeeze all the water out of the wilted spinach. I place it in a colander and press it with my hands. Once "dry" add to the filling and incorporate into filling.

Step 5. Preheat oven to 350. Grab your largest glass or metal baking pan, most likely it's a 9x13. Cut parchment paper to a size that is 2 inches larger than the pan, 11x15 for instance. (this will help in the removal of the "pie" once baked)

Step 6. Unroll the phyllo very carefully, treat it like your Grandma's favorite glass Christmas ornament. Place a damp kitchen towel over it to keep moist. If it does crack no big deal, I'll show you my solution for that.

Step 7. Place one sheet of phyllo in the pan. Lightly spray it with a butter flavor kitchen spray, I used a garlic butter spray from work, but any butter spray or real melted butter will work. Repeat this process 6 times!!! Building a nice base for your filling.

Step 8. Evenly distribute the filling onto the phyllo leaving 3/4 of an inch border.






Step 9. Repeat step 7 with all the remaining phyllo, approximately 12 sheets. And if you have broken sheets save them for the top, I place them on top in a free form artistic fashion and throw some dill on top for appearance.





Finally, bake at 350 for aprox 25 minutes or until golden brown.








Let cool and remove from the pan by pulling the parchment paper up on each side.

Cut into desired portions, I found a pizza cutter makes a great "knife" for this pie. I serve it hot or cold.

Overall this was fairy easy to make. It's healthy too, it is half veggies, right?? :)

Enjoy!

Chicken Saltimbocca

When I can't think of anything creative to make for dinner I make chicken, maybe some rice or pasta to go with it and a veggie....needless to say it's getting a bit boring. This recipe I found in Cooks Illustrated rekindled my past love for chicken.

Chicken Saltimbocca is a twist on the Italian classic Veal Saltimbocca.

Ingredients:

1/4 C flour
Ground pepper
4 thin boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets (I will tell you more about this)
1 4oz pack of fresh sage
4 slices if prosciutto
4tbs evoo
1 1/4 C dry vermouth or white wine
1/2 lemons juice and a little zest
4 tbs butter, cubed
Salt

Ok here are my version of their instructions.

First things first, if you can't find the chicken cutlets don't worry, we can make them!

Just buy regular fresh chicken breasts. Trim excess fat on the sides and square off the tapered end.


Carefully cut them on their side at the thickest part and butterfly them open, do not cut all the way through.





There you have it, mock chicken cutlets.

Next up, place the flour and some ground pepper in a shallow pan and lightly flour the chicken.


Rough chop the fresh sage, and get the prosciutto out.

Get the oil in your skillet hot.

Take some sage and press it onto one side of the chicken and press the prosciutto on top if that.


Preheat the oven to 200.

Here's the hard part.

When the oil is hot you need to place the chicken in the pan prosciutto side down without it all falling apart. Some people toothpick the prosciutto to the chicken, but that seems like a pain.


So I quickly and carefully (because the oil is hot) threw them in the pan and hoped for the best. Three out of the four where perfect, the forth wasn't as pretty but tasted fine in the end.

Cook them 3-4 min on each side and then transfer to a sheet pan and place in the oven to keep warm.


Place the wine in the still hot skillet and simmer until it reduces to about 3/4 cup. Add lemon juice and zest. Simmer another minute or so and add butter.



Place the chicken back in the skillet prosciutto side up and place with the lid on in the oven for 10 min.



And there you have it, a new wonderful chicken dish that can easily be made after a long day at work!


Note: I made fresh asparagus as well, start the water boiling at the time of starting the sauce and it all should finish at he same time.

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FYI J. Lotti's Burger of the Month

Just had a sample bite.....








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My review of Roots..... http://www.rootsmilwaukee.com

A few entries back I spoke highly of Hinterland's pork belly appetizer.... Well scratch that review and drive 1.8 miles North to Roots!!!!

After a long day I headed to another restaurant on the Milwaukee Area Top 30 List that I've been wanting to try. (published Sept. 13th in the Journal Sentinal)

The meal was excellent!
The service however was a bit lacking, we will get to that later.


Let's start from the beginning.... Parking was easy, even with the 6ft snow banks!

The host was delightful, he asked questions about our previous experience at Roots, which we had none, spoke highly of several menu items he enjoyed, and gave us several seating options; excellent service in my eyes.
The waitress however seemed rushed, a bit distracted, (there were only 3 or 4 other tables), and didn't seem to know the nightly specials or tap beers, annoying.

We told her we were just doing several apps and beers. She gave us time to review the menu and took our beer order but forgot the waters, no big deal, yet.

Complementary snacks were brought out, pickled vegetables, spicy dried chick peas, and a herb popcorn. The veggies were the best of the three.

Next up apps. We decided on the House Charcuterie with
handmade mustards, pickles & preserves and BBQ Pork Belly with beer battered oysters, Carolina vinegar sauce, and mizuna greens.

We were in pork belly heaven!!!








The pork was crispy, chewy, juicy, had a slight smokey bacon flavor and the oysters melted in your mouth! The sauce was a light citrus aioli. If only you could dice up the pork and put it on a bun, best sandwich ever!

Next up the charcuterie.

Charcuterie (pronounced /ʃɑrˌkuːtəˈriː/, /ʃɑrˈkuːtəri/; French: [ʃaʁkytʁi], from chair 'flesh' and cuit 'cooked') is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork.cCharcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire. Originally intended as a way to preserve meats before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes.










Another hit. There was a homemade pear jam on the plate that worked well with the saltier meats. A homemade mustard that was outstanding!!! And plenty of crackers and crusty bread to make this a meal. Note: the meats are all made in house and the selections do change on a daily basis.

At this point in the meal we needed another beverage or two... The service was a bit lacking. After returning with a beverage she did offer dessert.

Vegan Panna Cotta was the clear choice for us.

Panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is generally from the Northern Italian region of Piemonte, although it is eaten all over Italy, where it is served with wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce or fruit coulis. It is not known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts. Earlier recipes for the dish used boiled fish bones in place of gelatin; sugar, later a main ingredient, would not have been widely available as it was an expensive imported commodity. After years this treat evolved into what is now a gelatin dessert, flavored with vanilla and topped with fruit or spices, and served chilled.










It was served with cinnamon and sugar coated plantains, mixed berries, raisins, and a raspberry purée.

But service issues.....Waitstaff 101: if you take an empty glass off a table, offer a refill or suggest coffee with dessert, something!! We had to ask for an Irish Coffee after the dessert arrived. And it was mediocre once it arrived. To top it off there was a small problem with the check. We got over it quickly.


The meal was the shining star at the end of a long day. I look forward to going back and will let you know how my second experience plays out.

http://www.rootsmilwaukee.com

First Waukesha Foodie Dinner

I have to be honest, I debated for several weeks about whether or not I should attend the foodie dinner that George ("too kool or just a fool" blogger), was setting up. I knew I would be going into it not knowing anyone, I had never been to Peking House, and the menu posted on George's blog was a bit intimidating, the whole thing felt much like a blind date.
I am happy to report I met awesome people and sampled about 15 amazing dishes!

Here was the menu George had posted on his blog several weeks ago:

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE:

P.11 Pork intestine and Pork Blood Cake-Spicy

P.24 Stir-fried Kidneys


IN NAME ONLY

(Ants Up a Tree)

(Clay pot with Lion's Head)

(Mad Woman's Tofu)-Spicy


SAFE FOR NON MEAT EATERS

V.24 Peapod Leafs with Garlic sauce

V.03 String Bean Szechuan Style-Spicy


REGULAR STUFF

A04 Sliced Tender Pork with Garlic Sauce

A06 Unusual Seasoning Chicken-Appetizer-Spicy

H02 Seafood Tofu Casserole

And I think there might have been more!!! I tried everything, when in Rome.....









In this photo is the "ants up a tree" a cellophane style noodle with bits of pork (ants) scattered throughout. Pea leaves with garlic, simple and excellent! And a bit of the seafood stew(soup) that wasn't on the planned menu. It was spicy, packed full of catfish, shrimp, scallops, and I believe squid. This dish was a favorite amongst the group as well.









Seafood/Fish stew.










Seafood Tofu casserole.

This is the end of my photos of food, as a newbie to the group I didn't want to be the obnoxious photo happy girl, next time I'll be more prepared.

The other menu items were also excellent as well.

The kidneys were very tender and mixed very well with the spicy sauce from the mad woman tofu (my favorite dish).

I was a huge fan of the green beans as well. We did manage to finish all of them :) and the pea leaves.

There was also a chicken dish, I was too full to try anything else, but people seemed to enjoy it.

The final surprise was the dessert, red bean balls.



















A yummy warm, sweet paste like ball with red bean paste in the middle and coated with sesame seeds and deep fried!!! Oh yes these rocked!

Brien, a local blogger, also took photos of the evening which I look forward to seeing. He ended the night with a fireworks display! I'm sure onlookers from the restaurant thought we were crazy, but it was a perfect ending!!!
















How will the D Mo's foodie dinner top this evening?? Time will tell.
Thank you again George for starting this dinner group!!!

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Dinner at Hinterland

I had an AWESOME dinner at The Hinterland, 222 E Erie, Milwaukee,www.hinterlandbeer.com.
It's a foodie heaven! Instead of entrees we ordered 4 apps.

Seared Pork Belly with a green papaya slaw.








Veal Sweetbreads with a great salad of bean shoots and ricebeans.









An excellent Hungarian sausage with a thick whole grain mustard and potatoes.








And the best scallops I have ever had!!!








Also the brew their own beer, I had a sampler flight.

I would rate the service 3.5 stars and the food 4 (if I had the authority to give out stars).

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Open for dinner??

If you feel the need to get out of the house and have some great food i know for sure the following places are open :) .

Fuzzy's
Gen 5
Taylor's Peoples Park
J Lotti's
In Cahoots in Genesse Depot



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Snow Day @ Fuzzy's

This afternoon I had an awesome lunch at Fuzzy's. I know there has been a lot of discussion amongst Waukesha bloggers about their burgers, but I wasn't in the mood. So, I had the French Dip and added sautéed mushrooms and subbed homemade pasta salad. Holy yum. It was the perfect lupper (not quite lunch, not quite supper) meal. My friend Jen and i also decided to try their homemade haystack onion rings, super great, I don't know where you can get anything like them in town. Gina was an awesome waitress as always and made sure we had enough food and drinks several times.

We left around 5 pm, not due to the snow, but due to the fact that there were people standing around waiting for tables!!!!






And yes they WILL be open tomorrow!!!





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Location:E Main St,Waukesha,United States

Snow Day 2

Ok here is where we left off from yesterday.

Shape the dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 11/2" balls for large cookies - smaller are fine too.
Roll the balls thoroughly in sugar, place on ungreased cookie trays. The cookies spread out during baking, so don't crowd them. Bake 15 minutes. Cool for a minute, then remove from cookie sheets. Store in an airtight container for crispy cookies, or in a regular cookie jar for chewy cookies.

This recipe was excellent and easy!




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