Bottletree Bakery

My wife and I had been wanting to go to this place for a while. We had heard how great the food is and we had even tasted the coffee before. But this fine Saturday we finally got the chance to dine at the Bottletree. We set out on our destination a little later due to some unforeseen circumstances. However, when we arrived Abbye immediately fell in love with the atmosphere. It is very homey and eclectic with missed matched tables and is adorned with random signs and paintings and pictures. We chose to sit at the bar which we later found out that it was the original bar in the building and it is over forty years old. we also discovered that this bakery used to be an old bus stop. We came in for a snack to hold us over till a friend finished his meeting, so we didn't get to try everything we feasted our eyes on. The one thing we did get to try was the breakfast focaccia. To say the least it was amazing. it had cheese, bacon, and egg. the focaccia bread was not to greasy, crispy on the outside, but moist in the middle... hmmm!!! The staff at the bakery were attentive and polite. They often refreshed our coffee and even gave us some bread as we departed. This is a one in million kinds of place. We concluded by the end of the snack that The Bottletree Bakery would definitely be a place we would frequent if lived in or even near Oxford.

Enchiladas....

Well, the other night I was in the mood for something full of flavor and with mexican components... the result was an enchiladas casserole of sort. I, my wife, and friends well know when I cook I tend to vary from a recipe a good deal. We found a recipe in an old recipe book that Abbye had from her high school days. I won't bore you with the full details of the recipe from the book, but i will attempt to guide you through my process of cooking.

The recipe called for ground beef, but i substituted chicken. All I had was chicken on the bone so I boiled it and deboned it. I also put plenty of spices in the water to attempt to flavor the chicken. Next the original recipe called for refried beans, and I much prefer blacks beans so you can guess what I did. I mixed the chicken and beans with a sauce concocted from fresh cilantro, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper, jalapenos, chili powder, and a taste of sesame oil. I pureed this concoction in a food processor and all three (chicken, beans, and sauce) in a pan to warm everything through and make sure each component got aquatinted with each other.

Next, I spooned this mixture into soft tortilla shells, gave them a simple roll and placed them in a greased casserole pan. Following this I poured a mixture of Velveeta pepper jack (16oz), sour cream (8oz), and maybe 2 oz of milk mixed that and poured on top of the rolled enchiladas. Next I drizzled a tomatillo or salsa verde sauce on top of everything and place it in a 350 degree oven till it started to bubble. I served this with more sour cream, salsa, and chips fro scooping up anything left behind.

I have to say as humbly as possible that it was pretty tasty... maybe the only i would like to try is adding some Rotel to either cheese topping mixture or even the enchilada stuffing.

here a picture of the finished product

(hand model: Matthew Clark)

Hot Wings

Most commonly chicken wings are deeep fried and smothered in a vinegar based cayenne pepper sauce. They are believed to have first been served with bleu cheese dressing, but now it is comon to find ranch with them and of course celery and carrots. You may have heard them called buffalo wings and wondered why, well it's because the "buffalo" came from New York, as in the city Bufflao, New York. Like the controversy over whose is better there is also a bit controversy about the orgin of these crispy snacks. Here are the four most reputable courtesy of wikipedia...

1.

One story is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar, located at 1047 Main Street (between North Street and Best Street) in Buffalo, New York, United States on October 3, 1964, by Teressa Belissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband Frank. Upon the unannounced, late-night arrival of their son, Dominic, with several of his friends from college, Teressa needed a fast and easy snack to present to her hungry guests. It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings (normally thrown away or reserved for stock) and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce. While the wings were deep frying, Teressa decided to serve left over celery sticks with blue cheese to her son and his friends to tide them over.

2.

A second version, as told by Dominic Bellisimo (Frank and Teressa's son) to The New Yorker reporter Calvin Trillin in 1980, stated: "It was Friday night in the bar in Buffalo, New York and since people were buying a lot of drinks he wanted to do something nice for them at midnight when the mostly Catholicpatrons would be able to eat meat again." He stated that it was his mother, Teressa, who came up with the idea of chicken wing

3.

The third version of the origin involved a mis-delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar's spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank Bellisimo says that he asked Teressa to do something with them

4.

The fourth version has nothing to do with the Bellisimos or the Anchor Bar. Calvin Trillin stated in his 1980 New Yorker article that a man namedJohn Young also claimed credit for serving chicken wings in a special "mambo sauce". Chicken wings in mambo sauce became the specialty at his Buffalo restaurant in the mid-1960s. Young had registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthousebefore leaving Buffalo in 1970.

Hot wings also known as, but rarely referred to as "flats", and are a thing of controversy and discussions in Memphis. Many people claim to have great wings, some even claim to have the best. For most establishments I believe it's a marketing ploy much like the scene from Will Ferrell's Elf, (the scene with the world's best cup of coffee). Their is one place in Memphis that has the slogan of "the best damn hot wings". This place is Ching's Wings. This place is loved by its patrons and is an experience when you go... I have to admit that Chings is my favorite place in the city to get a good hot wing. This place is classic because of the location. It is right next to a weave store and a barber shop, which in my mind signifies the quality in itself. Let's be truthful here our African-American brothers and sisters don't stand for subpar food, as we so often do. For them it's all about the food and for us it's a combination of food quality and atmosphere, and many times atmosphere is more important. Chings surely has great food and depending on your style of decor it has a nice atmosphere. The walls are adorned with many of the city's patrons and you're sure to catch up on your ESPN while in the establishment. As far as the food goes they have simple and unique flavors. the wings come in seasoned, honey-gold,regular hot, medium hot, and suicide! The seasoned wings are my favorite and I get them every time. They also put the same seasoning on their fries. If you go you have to try the G-street punch or the Orange Mound punch, it's part of the experience. The owner's name is Lafayette and he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He always has a smile on his face and eager to accommodate your needs. Needless to say one of the gems of the Memphis food scene a little off the beaten path, but definitely worth a visit.

Brother Junipers

Today I had breakfast at a local Memphis favorite. Even on a Tuesday morning this place was buzzing with many different types of people; businessmen talking about a new venture, lawyers talking about the current economy, and even a few pastors discussing theology. Brother Junipers is a rare and eclectic place. It’s rare in the sense that people from all walks of life are patrons here and they are all willing to wait for a seat. The reason they are willing to wait is not because they have the most comfortable seats, but rather the food is amazing. It’s eclectic because the food variety will please many, but yet simple at the same time and you will many types of people on any given day.

Let me expound on this description of the “amazingness”. The menu is both simple and creative. The foodie and the pauper alike can fond a dish to please their palette. You can be pleased with a simple meat, egg, and bread dish, or you can have waffles or pancakes. They also have two specialties sure to excite any foodie, which are open-faced omelets (a huge pile of ingredient goodness atop an egg scrambled like an omelets not folded. The other specialty is my personal favorite the potato dishes! Brother Junipers has a signature side item called home fries which are basically crispy cubed potatoes, which are scrumptious, even by their lonesome. They take these home fries and cover them with the same or similar pile of goodness. They are also sure to have a couple of specials of the day.

Brother Junipers uses as fresh as possible ingredients (as the menu says) that include, but of course not limited to, lamb, chorizo, spinach, feta, Swiss cheese, chipotle avocado spread, and even delectable black beans. This morning I conquered a potato dish called the Pacific North Western, which has feta, spinach, cheddar, ham, and because I love their black beans (which are cooked with dill) I added them. To say the least this dish was stood true to my made up term “amazingness” as Brother Junipers always seems to deliver.

As if that was not enough reason to go the staff is everything you would want in a staff; attentive, polite, and efficient. They really work as a team. Their service each others tables and as a former server I know how huge team work is in this setting. The owner/manager is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet in any profession. You don’t even have to talk to him long to tell what kind of person he is and what kind of establishment he runs. To sum things up Brother Junipers is one of a kind.

Christmas Ham

As apart of this blog I also want to write about dishes that I have prepared and cooked myself. I want to blog about this for the sake of collaboration and passing good recipes along. This entry is long overdue seeing how the title is Christmas ham. But, everybody said I should blog about my ham, and by everybody I mean Abbye and my parents. But, none the less I will proceed.

On christmas we had a big group of people over and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a pre-prepared ham, plus I have always really wanted to cook my own. When I cook I tend to go overboard with flavor and spice, but I call it being creative. I have to remember that my palette is broader than most. I really wanted to try an espresso chile glaze, but I sided against it because I wanted everyone to enjoy it.

Here is the ingredients you'll need

• 9-pound (or so) ham, bone-in, scored 1/4-inch deep in a diamond pattern
• 10-15 cinnamon sticks
• oranges, lemons, and limes cut into slices (to put on the cinnamon sticks)
• 10 bay leaves
• black pepper
• One 13-ounce jar orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch ground cloves

Here are the directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the ham, cut side down, in a large roasting pan. Insert the cinnamon sticks partially into the scored ham at even intervals. Skewer 1 orange slice 1 lime slice, and 1 lemon slice onto each cinnamon stick and push the slices down so that they fit snugly against the ham. Tuck the bay leaves around the fruit slices. Sprinkle the ham with the black pepper. Bake the ham, uncovered, until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 4-6 hours. Baste the ham with the glaze during the last hour of cooking.

Make the glaze when the ham first goes into the oven: Combine the marmalade, brown sugar, orange juice, water, hot sauce, ginger, and cloves in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until mixture reduces to a glaze consistency and coats the back of a spoon. If you don't have ground cloves you can also stick whole cloves into the ham itself.

The best part of making this ham for me was scoring the ham in a diamond pattern. when the ham came out of the oven the scored edges were the perfect crispness and he hot sauce added just enough spice to the citrus. The ham was moist and tender and the citrus flavor was great. It also made for a good breakfast ham the next day. Needless to say it was fun to cook the ham and everyone loved it and it looked pretty goodtoo. Here are some pictures to look at.

Had too...

I thought when I started this blog i wouldn't slam any establishments. And I guess that I am not really slamming a restaurant here, just one item. Before I go any further I must say that I am a big fan of Blue Coast Burritos. I love the different flavor tortillas they have the chipotle honey mustard is fantastic. I love that they steam they tortillas instead of pressing them, it holds together better. Most places don't have extras like olives, cucumbers, and even a choice between regular or spicy chicken. Another thing that most places don't have is fish tacos... there's good reason for that. It is hard to have a good fish taco dish.

In my opinion the ideal fish taco would have smoky grilled fish of some sort, maybe tilapia or redfish. But a frozen, fried, cod is the first ingredient of a recipe for a tasteless entree. I have to admit I kind of cringed when I saw the guy throw the fish into the fryer. I thought about telling him to scratch that order, but the fish was already down and if there is one thing that I don't like more than a poorly thought dish it is wasting food. So, i decided to forego my better judgement and give a shot. I convinced myself in a mere matter of seconds that I could try them and put to rest my wondering of whether the Blue Coast fish tacos were worth the time.

When my meal had come i was really ready to eat because everyone else was about half way through their meal. I unwrapped the first taco and bit into only to be disgusted by mayonnaise, my personally nemesis in the food world, The line cook sold it to me as "baja sauce", but all my taste buds could pick out was mayo. I also felt that the dish was lacking ingredients all it came with was cabbage, a bit of tomatillo salsa, and the mayo-baja sauce. I had to put more salsa, mainly to cover up the mayo and I would have loved to had some pico de gallo on it which i feel like is an integral part of fish tacos.

You can guess by my previous words and descriptions what my conclusion will be, but I will say just to confirm it, the fish tacos at Blue Coast are not worth the money or the time. Stick with a burrito or a salad which are both excellent dishes by the way. If you like honey mustard you really should give theirs a try, it's awesome.

I am going to Mexico this summer and I am told we will have the best fish tacos during the trip, so I'll be sure to write a blog about them after the trip. Till then happy hunting for food that inspires you...

Chicken and Waffles revisted

This is a short post because I have already posted a bit about the history and story of this delectable dish. However, I have found an authentic place to eat the dish. It's called Mrs. Polly's on Beale and has the mascot of a chicken (go figure, eh).

My dad and I went to a concert at The New Daisy and after the concert we were looking for a little late night grub and as we were walking down the street my eyes got a sign featuring non other than Chicken Waffles. So if you're ever in Memphis and have craving for Chicken and Waffles go to Beale street and eat at Mrs. Polly's. also ask for Mellissa, she was an excellent waitress. Just go before 9 on the weekdays because the doors will be closed if you don't. Enjoy.