Vegan Slow cooker layered tamale pie

Tonight's dinner was vegan slow cooker tamale pie.  What is that you ask?  Well it is a vegan spin on tamale cooked in a slow cooker (crock pot) topped with cheese.  Corn tortillas is used to make layers and to thicken up the pie.  Spicy, healthy and loaded with flavor.  After plating vegan sour cream, avocado and diced scallions are put on top.  We added a spoon of salsa as well.  Eat it with chips or right out of the bowl.  My only problem with it was I was able to eat more of it.  Don't eat a large lunch before otherwise you will have the same problem.  Would I eat this again..Yes and I will be for lunch tomorrow.  Letting it sit over night will allow the flavors to blend making it even better.   Thanks for reading, God bless and see you all at the table.

Bread and butter

This is a short one sorry readers.  Fresh out of the oven bread. It is one of the things in my plate if I was to pick a death row meal.

Second time and a first

Well this is the first time I am posting about a place for the second time. The Varsity in the Amish Market.  I raved last time about their mac and cheese and pit beef. Well this time they topped it. Mac and Cheese with lump crab meat, old bay season and bread crumbs on top. Amazing. The portion was enough for two but being the hog I am I ate it all. This place is a must if you are in the area. My second review is for the Firehouse Grill in Littlestown Pa. I had their chip beef and gravy over toast with fried potatoes. Not to salty, thick and very tasty.  Price was great as well. The potatoes were great. Cooked with onions and browned up very nicely. Would I eat there again. Sure would. As for the Varsity, it is not a matter of if I will eat there again it is a matter of when. Not soon enough for me. God bless, thanks for reading and see you at the diner.

Farmers market delight

On a suggestion from a friend (thanks Adam) I went to the Amish Market of Hanover Pa for lunch. He said one of the stands had the best Mac and Cheese he has ever had.  So of course I had to find out for myself. I did a quick walk through of the market and saw some great looking foods but I was there for one thing. After finding the Varsity Fine Delicatessen where they have pit beef, subs, soups and sides I sat at the bar and ordered. The beef smelled so good as did the pork and other dishes cooking. The waitress came over and I ordered the combo plater of a pit sandwich, a side and a drink. I got the mac and cheese as my side. Watching them cook was great entertainment. As I started taking pictures I was busted by the owner so I introduce myself. He was super friendly and even let me behind the counter to take a close up of his cooking. The meat is done outside but the stove is where mac and cheese was. Each order was to order. He did not like letting it get old and stale so each order was pan heated. Three cheese and 5 seasons one of which was garlic. The pit beef was cooked perfect for me, rare. The side was amazing. So creamy and steaming hot. Large elbow noodles, a great amount of cheese and seasoned perfect. If you ever go please give them your business. Also the Susquehannock Fruits and Vegetables. They have everything pickled. I got peach butter, horseradish mustard and pickled spicy garlic cloves. The last is amazing. Never had them before and I think I am going to have to hide them from myself or I will eat the entire jar. Would I go back. You got that right. If I could I would eat there every weekend. God bless, thanks for reading, support local and see you at the markets. http://amish-markets.com 

Sliders from a food truck

The other day I got a chance that I rarely get. To eat from a food truck. I take advantage of situations like that when they come up. 

https://m.facebook.com/pages/Upslidedown-Dave/117827391737507?id=117827391737507&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&_rdr 

Up Slide Down was outside my office and I had to go. Their menu was very simple so decisions were easy. I got the American classic and the Buffalo chicken sliders. The burger was topped with tomato, cheese, coleslaw, fried onion rods and condiments. Topped with pickles and a yellow cherry tomato. Great taste, juicy and not over filling. The buffalo chicken had the coleslaw and topped with the tomato. Not too spicy and again not too filling. Service was great and Dave was very personable. I recommend if you are in the area and see them go for it. You will not be disappointed. God bless, thanks for reading and see you inline at the next food truck adventure.

The do's and don'ts of Pizza

Now remember this is all my opinion and may not be what you think at all.  But this is my blog not yours. Lets start out with the first layer, the crust.  It must be fresh. None of this frozen dough or premade crust.  La Bellas in Littlestown does this right with fresh dough. http://www.ltownlabellas.com/ If you are ever in town and want a good slice along with many other Italian dishes please visit.  No they are not paying me.  Cooking it.  I think the dough should be cooked a little before toppings even start to touch it.  First off the sauce will just saturate the crust if you put it down on raw dough. With a slight crust to it the sauce and other toppings will not make it all soggy and make for a longer cooking time and overcooking the toppings.  On with the toppings.  The sauce can not be too sweet or too runny. Sweet sauce is good but over sweet will take away from the other flavors of the toppings and make it harder to eat.  It will be like eating a dessert and that is not what you are going for when eating a pizza.  A fresh sauce is ideal.  I try to make mine from scratch and use tomatoes and add my own spices.  I can limit the amount of salt as well. Making the pizza too salty has the same effect as too sweet.  Also it makes you want to drink more during and later.  Not a good idea.Cheese.  Here is where we will probably agree.  Fresh cheese of your choice.  Mine is always mozzarella and nothing else. Some of you out there like multiple cheeses and that is fine in your house on your pizza but not mine.  I want the stringy white cheese that makes it so good.  If I can have a ball of it and slice it myself that would be perfect but most of the time that is not possible so I have to go with the bagged cheese.  Now here is where you all will get mad at me. So if you want to stop right now i understand.  Veggies are alright on pizza.  The basic for me.  Onions if they are browned before not while cooking.  Again you will over cook the pizza trying not to have under cooked onions.  Some of you like all the peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and other viggies on top. Leave them off.  Mushrooms are just gross.  They have a bizarre texture and it does not go well with pizza.  peppers just ruin the flavor of the pizza.  they are so overpowering that you never taste anything else.  Now don't get me wrong.  I like veggies just not all them on my pizza.  On to the meat.  Leave off the sausage. Way too much grease. It gives me heart burn and acid re flux.  You already have it with the cheese and too much of it is not a good thing.  Pepperoni is about the same for me as sausage.  If it is on the pizza i can pull it off and be fine with it.  I would rather not have to do that because i lose cheese doing it.  Precooked bacon is a great thing but not too much. Yes precook your bacon.  Floppy bacon will only add to the grease.  By precooking it you can drain the grease and have the awesome crispy texture. Yeah I said it, not too much.  same reason as the sausage, too much grease. Shrimp and other sea foods.  I love it on my pizza.  it all must be precooked at least a little and preseasoned but only a little.  Too much seasoning will ruin the flavor of the pizza. Anchovies can be added only if they are alone.  They are so salty that you should limit the amount on top.  2 per slice max.  it is up to you for any other toppings.  I would leave most everything off my pizza and just add a little of my favorites. Spread it out on top. You don't need a topping in every mouth full.  Cooking the pizza.  Ideal way is in a brick oven heated by wood.  I like the char black power on the bottom.  speed cooking one in an electric oven is most of the pizza joints way to do it so when you have one cooked in a brick oven you will never want to eat it any other way.  I even grilled the pizza on the gas grill.  Not the same effect as wood but you can add wet wood chips to your grill to give it the smokey flavor. Crust must be crispy on the outside and not too burnt in the middle.  Turning the pizza should be done to get the over all equal cook.  if you slice a pizza and pick up said slice and it flops down and your toppings fall off into your lap you cooked it wrong.  you should be able to bend and hear the crust break along the edge and fold the pizza slice.  I might have left off a few things and you might have thought of a few things.  If that is the case please comment and let me know.  What toppings do you like on your pizza?  Did I offend any of you and your tastes in pizza?  God bless all of you, thanks for reading and see you at the table. For pictures of a real pizza please refer to my blog on Pepe's Pizza and check out their website. http://www.pepespizzeria.com/

Pizza night

Friday night I made Ellen and I a deep dish Bisquick pizza. Hers was vegan and mine was not. They are so easy to make and very filling. The pans I used were two 9 inch cake pans. I coated them with a little flower so the crust would not stick. The sauce was home made as well as the crust. Ellen's was topped with onions and broccoli with vegan cheese. Mine just was regular mozzarella and some garlic. 20 minute cook time and very little clean up. I recommend it if you have picky eaters in the house and they want their own pizza. Also I can imagine kids would love to make their own pizza and add toppings. Hope you all try it. God bless, eat well and see you at the table.

French toast

This mornings breakfast was made possible by Hannah and First Baptist Church of Littlestown.
Two pieces of thick sliced fresh bread, one egg, milk and a good coating in the hot pan of Downey's cinnamon honey butter.  It does not take long for two great tasting pieces of French toast to come out perfect. Sad thing is it took longer to cook than it did for me to eat it. Moist fresh bread and the butter complimented one another very nicely. So when you are in the mood for a great slice of French toast you either have to fly to France or dream of mine because there is no topping this one. God bless, Merry Christmas and see you at the table.

Vegans and omnivores unite.

"Meat loaf" is what was on the menu two nights ago. Ellen made lintel loaf with potatoes and carrots along with a fresh loaf of bread. Close your eyes and take a bite and you will not be able to tell the difference. There was onions and cloves of garlic cook in with everything. She had it in the crock pot all day. Would I eat it again. Sure would and will be tonight for dinner. I am thinking I might slice it and fry it in a pan and make a sandwich out if it. How does that sound?  Great now I want to eat and I am stuck at work and it is just going to get worse after the next review. In your home town or travels you have had pizza and on that very rare occasion you were lucky enough to have PIZZA. You all know what I am talking about. That slice of pie that makes you break your two piece rule. Well I had the pleasure to have such a PIZZA. Well to be honest I had a slice from three different pies. All these pizzas were cooked in a huge brick oven that dwarfed other ovens I have seen. Slice one was a roasted chicken pizza. Slice two was shrimp and slice three was roasted red pepper. We also had a sausage pie but I did not try that one. I should have thinking back. Oh well my loss. The chicken was outstanding. Not some cubed chicken pieces but roasted in the oven and cut from the bone white meat chicken. The sauce was not too sweet. Both the sauce and the cheese were over the nomad amounts you would get in other restaurants. I like a lot of sauce so this made me happy. The shrimp were not three baby shrimp to a slice. They were medium size and all over the pie. Not a bite passed your lips that did not have one. Oh and the garlic. A good amount on top and made it taste like a shrimp scampi.  The red pepper slice was my least favorite but good none the less. The crust on all of them was very crispy and you got the black ash on your fingers when you held it. Ask for extra napkins even though you will catch yourself licking your fingers. Now you are asking where this place it and what is its name.  Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana est. 1925. It is located on Wooster St. New Haven Connecticut. http://pepespizzeria.com/  If you ever get there make sure it is early. Parking is tight but this guy, with a lot of Jason squared luck we got a front spot which never happens and never will again. Will I eat there again. I really hope so. That's it for this review. God bless, thanks for reading and good luck with getting a parking spot. 

Here fishy fishy

Tonights appetizer was all for me. Thanks to the Biba's who gave me three salmon steaks. I had pan seared salmon. I seasoned it with some garlic and onion powder, a few pinches of salt, fresh cracked black pepper and wasabi. With the burner on high and just a teaspoon of olive oil it did not take long (four minutes) and I was eating an awesome piece of fish. It just melted in my mouth. For those who enjoy it you know what I am talking about. For those of you who don't oh well more for me. God bless, thanks for reading and see you at the table.