blog re-birth: The No-Chain Challenge

Foodie for Hire: a clever blog name, if my opinion counts for anything. Almost two years ago, my husband Jeff created this blog, in hopes to write about great restaurants, as well as some of his own food creations, complete with pictorial proof. (aka: he was gonna take a pictures of it.)

Alas, he doesn't have the most time for writing and now he has a job that doesn't allow space for it either. We think, though, that Foodie for Hire can still live on, in the hands of me - the partner, the wife, the one who loves to write: the one named Abbye. (with some writing from Mr. Jeffersby, Matthew Clark's affectionate name for him.)

"No-Chain Challenge"

What is this, you ask? It's the product of hours on the snowy/icy roads between the foothills of Tennessee and the Mighty Mississippi (Memphis-town). "Hey, why don't we commit to local-only restaurants and write about it?" And here we are.

We've been giving this a try for about one month now, but here we are, putting it into type and calling it a "go".

Why a "No-Chain Challenge"? Because there are so many good reasons to choose local. [Often] fresh ingredients, owners who know your city (and after only a few visits, your name and favorite drink), and good live, local music. And there are so many more reasons. Perfect? No way! Will there be some who we choose not to dine with for the long haul? I'm sure.

But overall, we think we're going to discover some pretty great reasons to choose local restaurants (and local everything else, too).

Tonight's local eatery of choice: Three Angels Diner.

Mere blocks from our house, we'll be joining a handful of our closest friends here tonight. We'll let you know how it goes...

In the meantime, may all your dinner tables be filled with good food, great friends, and loads of laughter.

Cafe Berlin

Well for those of you who don't know, along with trying new foods and New establishments I also enjoy music. My wife is a grand singer/songwriter and I play various types of drums and percussion. We enjoy traveling with a friend of ours; Matthew Clark(who is the hand model in the post about burritos). We especially enjoy playing in peoples homes. We call this event a house concert. We get to share meals and stories with people who care more about people and others lives than what is on the top 40s chart.

We recently set out on a 6 hour road trip to Columbia Missouri. We left on a friday around noon and returned by 6pm Saturday. It was quit a quick trip, but worth every moment. We enjoy listening to books on cd when we venture for long durations of time such as these. I find that listening to these books on cd gives me a break from music and oddly, I am more alert when driving. I think it is because I am such a music fan I check out sometimes and get into the music when no one is engaging me. On this particular trip we listened to Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", of course read by the author. It's really the only way to listen to a book. we had a blast visiting our friends and playing for them and their friends. Though the trip was quick the time was well spent with our friends Eric Papp and Bethany Lindaman. These are great people with a love for music and food, but even more Love for Christ.

Every time I trek new terrain I put forth a valiant effort to dine somewhere where I have never tasted the culinary flavor. So being that Columbia was a college town I knew there had to be some great independent cafes or bistros. And since we were visiting college friends I knew they would not let me down. We asked our friends what a good place would be to savour the local flavor and they suggested Cafe Berlin.

http://www.myspace.com/cafeberlin

This place was great!! The patrons were quite an eclectic group of folk. There were school teachers, college students, business men, and hippies alike. Cafe Berlin has something for everyone. The names of the dishes are half the experience of dining there. They had names like "the starving artist" and "anonymous tacos". They even make a breakfast burrito out of a pancake.

Brilliant!!!

They also used a lot of organic, all natural and/or local products, which of course, my wife loved!! They also have a collection of various coffee mugs and plates that people have lost a love for, but Cafe Berlin redeems them for use for their patrons.

Some friends got pancakes with apples, sausage, and red onions on them. Now this combination is unlikely and probably under appreciated. It is however a fantastic surprise to those that dare to try it. The saltiness of the sausage counters the sweetness of the syrup and apples. The onion when sauteed breaks down and a sweetness comes out that goes well with the dish. It was great.

On this Saturday morning I tried the Carey Burrito. Not sure where the name refers to, but it was surely not a disappointment. It a flour tortilla shell wrapped around scrambled eggs, feta, roasted potatoes, apples and cilantro. It was served with a side of tzatziki. Tzatziki is a greek herbed yogurt sauce commonly found in a gyro. The Carey burrito was amazing! It was fresh and the clean taste of the cilantro complimented all the components of the dish. The sauce was a nice cool addition. I especially liked the tzatziki on a bite with mostly potatoes. My beverage of choice to wash the burrito down was an espresso drink dawning the name "Dirty Hippie" which is a chai latte with espresso. Hmmmmmm... unlikely again, but not disappointing.

If you ever find yourself in Columbia, Mo you should make it a point to dine at Cafe Berlin.

Great food. Great Service. Fantastic establishment.

Reconciliation with everything on it

I had lunch today with a fairly new friend. He's a great guy who has chosen to live in the inner city and fight for reconciliation in this city and in the lives of troubled teens. I simply wanted to get to know this guy a bit better and as a foodie I always think that there is no better way than to break bead with another. When attempting to decide our culinary destination I asked if he had any particular craving and He mentioned Roxie's Grocery, I obliged, and we set out. He had told me that it kind of a secret and to me that translates into a great hole-in-the-wall place that never disappoints.

Roxie's is definitely a place thats holds true to this assumption. When we walked into the establishment The lighting was very dimly lit and there wasn't much organization. Some of the coolers didn't work and the others didn't work that well. Items for sale behind the counter had been in the same spot for months or possibly years. It was a classic old tyme grocery. I loved it. We got the Roxie special which is a burger, seasoned fries, and a "pop". The crinkle cut fries were cooked a bit too much, but hey, that happens to the best of them. The drink was Strawberry Fanta or "red drank" to some. The burger however was fantastic. we ordered them with everything (which is lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, ketchup, mustard, and mayo). It was seasoned quite well with plenty of pepper in the mix. Some would find this to be a bit much, but for me it was right on spot. The bun was toasted with butter on the griddle which always adds the perfect amount of crunch to the sandwich. The burger was big and hearty. It was incredible to say the least and the price the same; right under 11.50 for both of us. you can't beat that anywhere in town.

The thing that kind of took me by surprise was the fellow patrons/loiterers at Roxie's. We were the only ones of caucasian ethnicity and I assumed that we may get a few looks from our fellow dinners. But everyone was extremely nice they greeted us and told where to find the waste basket and napkins. The thing that really blew me away happened when our napkins flew down the sidewalk. A guy who was sitting in a chair got up and retrieved us fresh napkins and said "though you want some clean ones". I was slightly blown away.

How many people would do that for anyone of any color in a Wendy's in east memphis?

I believe that it is small things like this along with things like moving back into urban neighborhoods that will bring reconciliation to racially divided city like Memphis.

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.