Restaurant Recreations: Fiesta Time Mexican Grill

Happy Monday guys!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I know we did!  It was Andy's first official weekend off and he says it felt great!  He's already been told after his 1st week at the new job that he's doing a great job, so he's in high spirits!  I'm still so proud of my little grown up! =)

Anyway, it's been a while since I've done a review so I thought I'd take a crack at it.

On the outside, Fiesta Time in Oldham County looks likes any old Mexican restaurant.  Beer and tequila neon signs filling the windows,  sombreros a-plenty, and margaritas in every corner.  As traditional as it gets, right?  Well, that's what I thought going in anyway.

We walked in at a decent hour, maybe 8:30ish.  The servers seemed to "rush" us a little bit.  The sign on the door said they close at 11pm so I didn't understand why that was happening.  But we continued on, blindly.

We ordered the typical Mexican fare, Andy getting some fajita quesadilla of some sort and I opted for the Combo #2 (a taco, an enchilada, and a chalupa).  We also ordered some nachos for an appetizer and it was just a little lack-luster to even get into.

So what about our food?  I think we were so famished we ate it with no complaints.  But looking back, I have a few key points:

- Not all Mexican restaurants are the same - and Fiesta Time proves it... and not in a good way
- I could have made this at home.
- I did make this at home... and it was 100x more delicious.

Honestly, I wasn't impressed.  Andy's fajita quesadilla was unimpressive (although he seems to disagree and said it was pretty good, but maybe I'm just a snob), and my combo, was well... let's just say I've had better things at Taco Bell (I know, I know - that was harsh).

Bad cell phone pictures irk me - so I apologize.

So, first thing I set out to do?  Recreate this sucker!  So let's see how it went...




Ingredients:

Tacos:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb. shredded chicken & beef (I had leftover grilled meats from this meal)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
soft tortillas, warmed

Enchiladas:

1 cup salsa verde
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, shredded
5-6 soft tortillas

Chalupas:

1 cup masa harina flour
1/2 cup water
vegetable oil, for frying
Filling from tacos, above
sour cream, optional

For the taco filling, heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Saute onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes or so.  Add in garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne, salt, and pepper.  Stir until fragrant, about a minute.

Stir in the shredded chicken and beef (you could definitely just use a pound of ground beef if you wanted, but I had all those leftovers, I couldn't let them go to waste).  Heat until warmed, about 4-5 minutes.

Add in tomato sauce, chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Use to fill soft taco shells and top chalupa (recipe below).

For enchiladas, preheat oven to 350F.  Heat a small to medium-sized skillet (large enough to fit soft tortilla in) under high heat and add a thin later of vegetable oil, just enough to coat the pan.

Heat tortillas in oil, one at a time, for about 10-15 seconds, just on one side.  Transfer tortillas to a paper towel-lined plate.  This ensures the tortillas are easier to work with and fold tightly.

Grease a small (maybe 8 x 10) casserole dish.  One by one, place a good amount of both cheese in the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place snuggly in casserole dish.  Top with salsa verde and any remaining cheeses.

Bake in oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to brown on top.  Broil for 1-2 minutes to crisp up even more, if desired.


To make chalupas, combine water and masa harina until dough forms.  Form dough into 4 patties, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pan under medium high to high heat.  You'll know when the oil is ready when a piece of dough sizzles when you place it in there.

Fry each chalupa for about 3-5 minutes (or until golden on both sides) and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to dry.  Top chalupas with filling from above and sour cream.

No lettuce or tomatoes in the house = a not so colorful picture, but hey... it tasted pretty darn good!

So yeah, needless to say, this produces a lot of food.  So make sure you have company.  Or a large family.  Or a big appetite.

My verdict?  I think my "unauthentic" Mexican Combo #2 far-outweighed Fiesta Time's "authentic" Mexican Combo #2.  From now on, I'll stick to my around-town favorites like El Mundo, El Caporal, or El Torasco.  Do we see a trend here?  I don't know, but my hypothesis is that if it doesn't start with "El", it may not be all that. =)

Have a great Monday guys and I'll see you tomorrow!

Restaurant Recreations: The Tilted Kilt

Okay, let's get one thing straight.  I like Hooters.  The restaurant (get your mind out of the gutter).  You know, with the women in the short orange shorts, and tons of beer.  And wings.  While I don't frequent the place on a regular basis, I can say that they get my business every now and then.  Plus, they have a really good burger - I know, you've all just disowned me.  And I realize that this post isn't about Hooters, but I'll get back to that point in just a moment.

The Tilted Kilt over on Dutchman's Ln. (it used to be Ernesto's) can be summed up in just a few words.  Tacky. Irish. Version. Of. Hooters.  Girls in plaid skirts, school girl shirts tied just below their knockers, exposing their (not-so-attractive) stomachs.  Yeah, to half-drunken men - this is paradise.  To a 25 year old woman, just looking for a quick and cheap meal... not so appealing.

In fact, the first thing Andy said to me when we walked in - "Including you, there's only 3 chicks in here, not counting the ones that actually work here."  Great, I can see this going well.  Almost tempted to leave, (the place was PACKED - the Louisville vs. Ohio game was on - which is one pro to this place is that there are TV's EVERYWHERE, so it's a sports fan's paradise) we thought we'd stick it out for the food.  And we were hungry and desperate.

First of all, it took forever for someone to even talk to us.  I kept telling Andy it was because of my estrogen-empowered self, and if I was of the opposite sex, then we would have been waited on promptly.  But 20 minutes after being seated, we finally had our drink order taken from us.  I don't know about you, but I need to be spoken to at least 5 minutes after being seated.

Anyway, I decided to order the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Salad and Andy got some behemoth of a burger.  I find that ordering a salad with some chicken is always a safe bet.  Well, almost always.  This is what I was served.

Can anybody find the chicken in there?  That was my first response.  If I knew I would be getting skimped on the chicken, I wouldn't have ordered it.  I don't know, maybe I'm just high maintenance, but when chicken comes before salad in the title, I expect to have a decent amount of it.  I knew after looking at this that I would definitely be recreating it.  And definitely doing a damn fine job of it.

Moral of the story?  Stick to Hooters.  There's usually an even man to woman ratio, the food is better, and unfortunately also, the girls are a tad more attractive - if you're into that sort of thing =)




So let's get to this amazing salad... the one that I made.

Ingredients:

Fried Chicken:
Adapted from Simply Recipes


2 large chicken breasts, each cut in half
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, divided
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper
2 cups vegetable oil

Salad:


2-3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 navel orange, peeled and sliced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
ranch dressing, optional

In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, onion, parsley, thyme, tarragon, paprika, and 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  Mix together and submerge chicken breasts.  Cover and let sit in fridge for about 8 hours (I put mine together in the morning before work and it was perfect timing).

Remove chicken from buttermilk and set aside on a plate.

In a shallow dish, combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, remaining 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.

Dredge chicken in flour mixture and coat well.  Set aside.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the vegetable oil under medium high heat.  You'll know it's hot enough when a bit of flour sizzles quickly when added.

Add 2 chicken breast halves at a time and fry for about 7-9 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Place cooked chicken on paper towel-lined plate and cover with foil.  Repeat with remaining 2 chicken breast halves.

To assemble the salad, combine the romaine lettuce, tomato, and navel orange.  Toss well.  Slice up chicken and place atop lettuce.  Drizzle ranch (I know, I should have made my own, but honestly, I have this ridiculously large tub of ranch in my fridge - a Sam's Club purchase, of course - that is in need of being used) over salad and enjoy!

So what do you guys think?  Which salad would you rather have?  

Now this is what I call a proper Buttermilk Chicken Salad.  This is a proper amount of chicken.  And the plate was just so colorful and vibrant, I couldn't help but smile the entire time I was eating it.  Enjoy your Wednesday guys!  And if you haven't checked it out yet, I've got the first giveaway on the blog here.

The Marketplace Restaurant: Recreated

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Remember a couple weeks ago when I said I wanted to go out and recreate restaurant meals as well as review them?  I'm a little late on delivering on that, aren't I?

Instead of making excuses, I'm going to get right into it.  I had a lot of fun with this one, and can't wait to do many, many more!

The Review

Source

 Marketplace Restaurant is in downtown Louisville, in Theater Square.  It's a cozy little place that had a fun little jazz band playing on a Friday night.  It wasn't too busy, maybe only 4 or 5 parties in the whole place, but you could tell everyone was having a good time.

The service was very friendly and the server was very informative on many of the dishes.  It was definitely hard to choose, because everything sounded so delicious.

We tend to judge a place by their calamari, so of course, we had to order theirs.  It was a buttermilk fried calamari and it was crispy and delicious.  The calamari itself was perfectly cooked, just the right texture.  The sauce they paired with it was a Sweet Chili-Lime sauce.  While I love sweet chili sauce with calamari, I wasn't too too crazy about the lime, but then again, it was a different twist and I like that.

For our mains, Andy chose to go with a Curry Seared Scallop.  He enjoyed it for the most part, but said that it didn't offer much contrast in the dish as a whole.  After a few bites, it just got boring.  I thought it was a good idea in concept, but execution was just so-so.

I'm still not used to the whole, "taking pictures in restaurants" kind of thing =)

 I chose to go with the Market Fish of the Day, which was a Swordfish steak w/ risotto cakes and braised vegetables with a cherry reduction.  Now this was pretty tasty.  I don't normally like swordfish, but this was great.  Perfectly cooked and the risotto cakes were absolutely delicious.  The dish as a whole was beautiful in presentation and taste.

Of course, we always have to go for dessert.  In this case, it was a brownie with some fresh vanilla bean ice cream.  Sometimes the simple things are just right.  This was a perfect end to the meal.

All in all, I'd say our experience here was great.  Lovely atmosphere, attentive service, and pretty good food!

And now... what did I recreate?

Well, I decided to do my dish, but instead of hunting around for some swordfish, I would use the bounty of salmon that we had just acquired.

At first, I was hesitant with choosing the salmon, because the Flavor Bible had no record of salmon and cherries going together, and because I trust the Flavor Bible almost more than I trust the actual Bible, I was a little scared.  But I said "to hell with it" and pressed on anyway.  And boy, am I glad I did.

So without further ado... my recreation of The Marketplace Restaurant's Market Fish of the Day (with the use of salmon instead of swordfish)


Ingredients:

Risotto Cakes:

salt and pepper, to taste
1 box Risotto mix (yeah, I took a shortcut here - I used a Parmesan/Garlic blend)
2 large eggs
small handful of chives, minced    

3/4 to 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
olive oil

Make risotto according to package directions.  Let cool to room temperature.

Mix risotto with eggs and chives.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover mixture with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 250 F.

Spread the panko in a shallow dish. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. 

Form patties out of the cooled risotto mixture. 

Place patties in panko and turn to coat.

Working in batches, add patties to skillet and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until the risotto cakes are crisp and nicely browned.  Place finished cakes on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and keep warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Continue cooking in batches, adding oil as necessary, until all the cakes are fried. Serve hot.

Cherry Reduction:

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 large shallot, minced

1/2 cup red wine
1 & 1/2 cups frozen cherries

1 tablespoon honey
salt, to taste
pinch of sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add shallot and saute for about 2-3 minutes, or until starting to soften.  Season with a pinch of salt and sugar.

Add cherries, wine, and honey.  Simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until mixture is thickened.

Whisk in remaining tablespoon of butter until incorporated.  Set sauce aside, until needed.

Sauteed Zucchini & Spinach

1 large zucchini, sliced
1 cup spinach
salt and pepper
splash or two of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
squeeze of half a lemon

Heat a large skillet until medium high heat.  Add olive oil.  

Once oil is shimmering, add zucchini and saute for about 2-3 minutes.  Then add spinach and cook until just wilted.  

Season with salt and pepper.  Add a splash of balsamic, if you'd like.  Finish off by squeezing some fresh lemon juice on top.

Salmon:


2 6 oz. salmon fillets
salt and pepper, to taste

Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper.


Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add salmon, skin side down.  Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Flip over and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until opaque throughout.

Phew.  That was one long winded post.  What's my verdict?  Well, there were pros and cons to both dishes, mine and the actual restaurant's.  

I definitely now believe I can add the pairing of salmon and cherries in my Flavor Bible notes.  I loved the salmon a tad bit more than the swordfish.  However, my little addition of the balsamic to my veggies, it sort of overpowered or "felt out of place" in the whole composition of the dish.  I would have been great as a side all by itself, but along with the salmon and cakes, it just didn't quite "fit".  

I definitely feel that if your looking for a restaurant quality meal (I know it's sort of late to do it for Valentine's Day), this would be it.  Who knows... maybe it'll be on my restaurant menu one day? =) 

Hope you all have a great rest of your day, and I promise tomorrow's post will be much much shorter!

Palermo Viejo: 1st Restaurant Review!

Andy and I eat out once a week.  Fridays, usually.  It's just our way of having a "date night," but at the same time, allowing us to not do the cooking, for once.  We need a break sometimes, right?

And we don't just eat out anywhere.  We like to test our palettes with something delicious, preferably supporting the local restaurants!  Olive Garden and O'Charley's just don't do it for this girl (it's just my inner food snob, I guess!, but I look at it as, I can make most of those dishes at chain restaurants, and I can make them better... so why waste the money?)

On my birthday, Mallory, one of the pharmacists I work with, made the kind gesture of getting me a gift card to a restaurant Andy and I had been wanting to go to for quite some time - the Argentinian restaurant, Palermo Viejo.  We were not disappointed.  And you'll definitely have to excuse the poor photos - I wasn't about to bring my bulky Nikon with me, and so the cell phone would have to do!  I really need to invest in a pocket digital!  Maybe Christmas??

We had made reservations and our table was not quite ready when we got there, so we sat at the bar for a drink.  The atmosphere was definitely great, the interior design was beautiful - I would have never guessed it would have been that nice inside from the outside of the restaurant!

The bartender quickly attended to our orders - I ordered a Sweaty Betty. (quite possibly my new favorite beer!)  It's a blonde ale from the Denver Brewing Company and it was delicious.  Now, only if I can find it in town somewhere!  And Andy had his drink of choice - whiskey with a splash of ginger ale.

Delicious!

The wooden menus were a nice touch!

Our table was ready within a few minutes and we happily made our way to a table in front of the open kitchen.  I absolutely love open kitchens in restaurants.  It gives the diner a chance to see what goes on and with an open fire grill... it was quite entertaining!

The pre-birthday boy!

Love open kitchens!

 We ordered an appetizer of quesos which was a cheese plate that included Reggianito, Sharp Cheddar, Port Salut, Havarti, Gorgonzola, Grapes, and Olives.  It was definitely different from our normal appetizer choices, but the cheeses were definitely delicious!  We also had some delicious fresh bread, and the butter served along with it, was fresh, soft, and delicious!

Gotta love a cheese plate

While perusing the menu, we couldn't decide what we wanted, so we decided to get the La Completa - a shared dinner which included 2 pieces, each, of Housemade Chorizo, Short Ribs, Flank Steak, Sweet Breads, Chicken Breasts, Pork Tenderloin, and Fries.  They were out of Short Ribs, so we received an extra two pieces of flank steak as a replacement.  With the exception of the chorizo being a little bit on the dry side, for my taste anyway, everything was delicious.  The meat was juicy, I LOVED the sweetbreads (if you look past what they actually are, you'll love them too!), and the authentic chimichurri served alongside the meal was fantastic!

That was a TON of meat!  Love how they presented it on a mini grill too!

A TON of fries

Even got a simply delicious salad!

So after using our $40 gift card from Mal (thanks pal!), our total came to about $36.  So around $75-80 for 2 drinks, an appetizer, and a large entree (we had tons of leftovers!), that's not too bad in my book!  If you're in the Louisville area or know anyone that is... I highly suggest Palermo!

Rating: 4.5/5