Recipe: Wonton Walnut Ravioli

My mom got me a subscription to Taste of Home Magazine which I love getting.  It has such a variety of recipes in it that are all pretty realistic to make at home yourself.  Some cooking magazines have recipes that have odd ingredients or way too many ingredients that I would never actually make them.  I have really been wanting to make homemade pasta because I never have before; however, I do not have a stand mixer and many recipes I've seen require a stand mixer.  Then, I came across this recipe and thought this would be great to try!  After making it, I have to say, it took a little bit longer than most dishes I make, but it was DELICIOUS!  My husband LOVED it, he said it was his favorite meal of the year :)  I think after making it more than once, it won't take as long either.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup half and half cream
40 wonton wrappers
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 Tbsp. marinara sauce
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tsp. minced fresh sage

First, place squash on a greased baking pan.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring once.  Cool slightly.

Next, place the cream and squash in a food processor and process until pureed.  Spoon 1 Tbsp. of mixture in  the center of a wonton wrapper.  Keep the wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.  Moisten edges with egg and top with another wonton wrapper.  Pinch the edges to seal, pressing around filling to remove air pockets.

I luckily had Ross helping me out, because he then attacked the next step.  Get a pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook the ravioli in batches for 30-60 seconds or until they float.  Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm.  I have to say, Ross did a great job with his task!

Last thing you do, place the butter and marinara in a microwave safe boil.  Cover and heat on high for 2 minutes or until heated through.  Stir as needed.  Stir in the walnuts.  Serve atop the ravioli and sprinkle with sage.

I added some crushed red pepper as well, which is always a nice touch, in my opinion.  Overall, this was really easy!  It has a couple steps, but it really wasn't hard at all!  The recipe says that you can buy chopped, fresh butternut squash, but I don't know where it is.  It didn't take that long to peel and chop though.

Like I said before this turned out fantastic!  The sweet, nutty flavor of the squash was a nice complement with the marinara and walnuts and the sage was a great herb to top it off with.  I will definitely be making this again, and I think you could even play around with different spices to add to this, but I really wouldn't change a thing!
~Kate

P.S.  I have to say for Ross....who loves palindromes, "Wonton, notnow"

Review: Gabby's Brunch

Like I said in one of my more recent posts, Ross and I have been enjoying Saturday or Sunday brunch.  On a most recent Sunday, I googled "brunch Cincinnati" to try to come up with somewhere new.  Half Day Cafe in Wyoming was listed in the top ten.  I checked out the website and made the decision--we were headed to Wyoming.  I really don't have much reason to go to this neck of the woods, but it's only about 15 minutes from my house.  Now--you are probably wondering why the title of this is called "Gabby's" when I planned to go to Half Day Cafe.  Well, as we spotted the restaurant on the corner of Wyoming Ave, and began to park, we realized it was CLOSED.  WTF?!  A brunch place closed on a Sunday!?  I was not happy. Especially because I  had looked at the hours of the restaurant and it did not say anything about being closed on Sundays.  Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Well, we headed down the business district of Wyoming and saw the only other restaurant on that street offers brunch.  Gabby's Cafe.  I had been her before for dinner and was really pleased with that, so we decided to give it a try.  (Check out my previous post for dinner information).

We arrived around 10:30 or so and there weren't many tables seated. We were taken to the back room near the bar and were the only ones in that area.  That was fine, but it just didn't feel very warm and inviting for a "brunch" place, it was still a "bar".  There was jazz-type music playing which was really kind of annoying.  I like jazz fine, but not in this setting on a Sunday morning.

The hostess gave us the brunch and lunch menus.  We both definitely wanted breakfast food, so we looked that menu over.  There weren't a TON of choices, but enough to choose from and a daily special.  The menu items were all pretty standard breakfast choices, omelettes, pancakes, breakfast burrito, and combos.  I decided to try the three cheese omelette and added onion and tomato which was served with breakfast potatoes and toast.  Ross ordered the "6 for 6" which was two eggs, two pancakes, and two pieces of bacon for $6.

We both sipped on our coffee which was pretty good and very hot until our meals arrived.  I'm just gonna say it--I didn't really care for my meal at all.  I thought the omelette was overcooked and the potatoes were not cooked enough at all.  The toast was fine, but the server didn't come back to check on use until our meal was half over and I wanted some jelly for the dry toast.  After she brought the jelly, she did a nice job of keeping our drinks filled and such.

Ross wasn't very impressed with his food either.  I thought the pancakes looked overdone.  He didn't care for the bacon, it was too "flaky".  He thought the eggs were fine.

Overall, I wouldn't go back to Gabby's for brunch at all.  I'd rather have a muffin from Starbucks.  I just didn't think the food was good and hated the ambiance for a Sunday breakfast.  When we walked back into the main dining area, it was more full with families and seemed a bit more inviting than the bar area.  I WOULD go back for lunch or dinner, however.
~Kate

Food: 1.5
Service: 2
Overall Experience: 1.5

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

I try to make at least one different recipe every week to mix up some of my favorites.  One thing that I always like but forget about a lot is stuffed peppers.  My mom and I were walking a week or so back when she mentioned they were having that for dinner.  It stuck in my head, so I got the ingredients to make it a couple days later.  There are many varieties of stuffed peppers, and I think I have made different ones every time I've made them.  You really can put almost anything you want in a stuffed pepper, but here are the ingredients I used:

Ingredients:  (I didn't put measurements because you really just put the amount you like or need)
Bell pepper, I got one red and one yellow (I don't really care for the green as much, it's worth the extra $.75 or so to buy the other ones in my opinion)
Brown rice
Chicken Apple Sausage, (I use aidell's sausages which I think are fantastic! I have used them in many recipes, they are less fat and I love the flavor of the apple with the sausage).
onion (red or white)
salsa
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, lite
black beans
cumin
crushed red pepper

Directions:
1.  I first cut the tops of my peppers off.  Make sure you have a large enough hole at the top to stuff the pepper, but not too large to take off a lot of the pepper.  I also sliced just a little bit off the bottoms to let the pepper stand more easily in the baking dish.

2. Per my dad's advice, I put the peppers in a pot of boiling water to soften them up for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook rice according to package.
3. In a medium hot saute pan, I sauteed onion with garlic and about a half or third of an orange bell pepper I had in the fridge.  I added the chicken sausage and cooked until all items were browned.  Once they were brown, I added the rice and stirred it all together. At this point, you could add any spices you like! As I've said before, I love spicy food, so I dashed some crushed red pepper and cumin.

4.  Next, I spread a bit of salsa on the bottom of my baking dish, set the peppers in, and began to stuff.  I put the rice mixture in first, about one third-half full.  Then added some black beans, about a 1/4 cup or so of salsa, and topped it all with the cheese.

5.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  Keep an eye on it and take them out once the cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown on the edges.

I thought these turned out great and Ross really liked them as well.  They are pretty standard stuffed peppers for the most part, and remember you can always put any ingredients you want. I like that these are pretty low-calorie as well; if you are counting/watching your calories, use lite cheese, and you don't really have to use a lot on top either.   My dad uses hamburger meat instead of sausage.  You can use any veggies, white rice, no rice, corn, etc.  I also dashed mine with a little bit of hot sauce also, gotta have some kick!  Hope you enjoy!
~Kate

Review: Bellevue Bistro

Ross and I have recently been enjoying Saturday or Sunday brunch.  We typically just go somewhere close to home, but I occasionally am able to talk him into trying some new places that are a bit further away.  I have read a couple blogs or reviews about Bellevue Bistro located on Fairfield Ave. in the heart of downtown Bellevue, KY. I really like this area of Bellevue.  It's a cute little town with a lot of character and appeal.  I'd like to go down here on an afternoon and check out some of the shops and other places it has to offer.

 Of all the information I had read, I remembered hearing that you need to get here fairly early because it fills up fast.  We headed out on a Saturday morning around 9:30 or 10:00 and did not have any problem.  The little bistro has a small town feel with an eclectic charm.  There are a couple wooden tables in the middle of the room and a wall with a booth bench and tables.  Some drink and daily specials were written behind a counter on a chalkboard.

Ross and I nestled in the corner near a window.  Our waitress greeted us and took our drink orders.  I felt like a coffee, but then I saw that they had a drink that was half coffee and half hot chocolate, this sounded awesome!  (It is called the Bistro Cafe for $2.25). There was also a Sangria drink, Mimosa, and other "eye openers" as they refer to on their menu.  Ross was satisfied with water this morning.

As I looked over the menu, I also looked around at some of our neighbors who were enjoying their meals.  The couple next to us both seemed pleased with their breakfast and even began to tell us how good their dishes were.  They were very friendly!

Bellevue Bistro has a variety of Benedict specials, and Eggs Benedict is one of my favorite breakfast dishes ever!  After debating between two specialty benedicts, I opted for the Kentucky Hot Brown Benedict, consisting of bacon, turkey, tomatoes, crab, cheddarjack, and hollandaise which is served over fresh made biscuits and eggs.   Ross decided to get the Sausage Biscuit sandwich with two fried eggs served on a biscuit and served with a side of Rosemary Potatoes.

After chatting with the friendly couple next to us and discussing what the rest of our day was going to entail, our dishes arrived.  My meal sounded very decadent on the menu, but I have to say it wasn't too much at all.  I liked the mix of all the ingredients; however, I would have preferred less cheese and more hollandaise.  The crab was a unique addition to a breakfast dish for me and I really liked this meal overall.  The biscuit was soft and I loved the tomatoes for a bit of sweetness to the dish.  I really couldn't taste much bacon or hollandaise though, and I think more of that sauce would have made this a more memorable breakfast.

Ross' really enjoyed his sandwich. I didn't try the sandwich, but I did have the potatoes and have to say they were amazing!  Some of the best breakfast potatoes I have had in a long time.  There was just enough hint of rosemary and they were cooked perfectly.  I hate when you get under-cooked potatoes, which seems to happen a lot when you are having breakfast/brunch.  Ross loved these as well and asked why I don't make these at home :)

This quaint little bistro is a great neighborhood dining experience.  There are many other dishes I'd love to go back and try. There are sandwiches and salads for lunch that I'm sure are just as good as the breakfast and everything is fairly priced.  I forgot to mention service--it was fine!  Unfortunately, I do think it could have been a little better.  We had two different servers which was great; however, no one really checked on us after our food was delivered until we were finished eating, and they weren't really all that busy.  It didn't really impact my overall feel of the restaurant, but I do think that aspect could be improved.  Check it out! I hope to go back again soon!
~Kate

Food: 3.5
Service: 2
Overall Experience: 3

Recipe: Chicken Taco Chili

If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet, I recommend it. It's a fun website that is essentially a virtual bulletin board that allows you to create various boards in different categories based on your interests. You can then share your boards with friends. Kris pinned this recipe not too long ago and I thought it looked delicious! It is for Chicken Taco Chili and was originally on another blog, called Photo A Day, so thanks to her for sharing!   This recipe was very easy and was great on a cold, windy day.  I made it on my day off, so I was able to put it together during the day and just eat it when we were hungry.

Ingredients: (Serves about 10)
1 onion, chopped
1 16 oz. can black beans
1 16 oz. can kidney beans
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
10 oz. package of frozen corn
2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with chiles
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 oz. (3) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
chili peppers, chopped (optional)
chopped fresh cilantro

First, combine the beans, onion, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, cumin and chili powder in a slow cooker.

Place the chicken on top of ingredients.

Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.  About a half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to the slow cooker.

Last thing you do is serve and enjoy!  I topped mine with low fat sour cream and a bit of skim mozzarella cheese.

This turned out really great!  Ross really liked it as well.  Some things to note: I only used two chicken breasts, and it was PLENTY of chicken.  I really don't think I would have done any more than that.  I also used 1 large can of diced tomatoes and just added some chopped chili peppers myself.  I like my food spicy, so I put some crushed red pepper and hot sauce in my chili as well.

This was a great slow cooker meal.  However, I think many slow cookers are different.  I cooked mine on high for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours and it was ready.  I have burnt things in the past using a slow cooker, believe it or not, so I recommend using your judgement!  There are lots of things you could add and change to this recipe according to your liking.  Enjoy!
~Kate

Recipe: Raspberry Salsa Black Bean Dip

This is a recipe that my mother-in-law makes that is one of my absolute favorites! It's a great snack to make for a party or gathering and is always a crowd-pleaser.  It's so easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup to 1 cup of red onion, chopped
1 jar of raspberry salsa
1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
tortilla chips

This is so simple.  Get a glass baking pan, or other dish that can go in the oven.  Place the black beans on the bottom of the pan.  Next, slice pieces of cream cheese and layer on top of the black beans.

Pour the salsa over, layer the onion on top of the salsa, then top with the cheese.  You can refrigerate this until you are ready to bake it if you'd like to make it ahead of time.  When you are ready for the dip, put in the oven on 400 for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve with chips and enjoy!

I absolutely love this!  It's a great alternative to a regular salsa or taco dip.  (Sorry, forgot to take a picture after it baked), You can also use any kind of salsa you'd like, but I think raspberry is the best.  I have actually had a hard time finding raspberry salsa around here.  My mother-in-law has given me a couple jars because it is easier to find in Zanesville; however, I did see it at the Newtown Food Market one day.  I have looked at Kroger, Trader Joe's, and IGA and have had no luck, so if anyone knows where else you can find raspberry salsa, please share!

Enjoy!
~Kate

Review: Quaker Steak and Lube

One thing I have always thought of when somebody mentions Quaker Steak & Lube is fancy, decked out cars or motorcycles.  I remember while living in Columbus seeing this restaurant, and there was ALWAYS dozens of old cars that had been refurbished or rows and rows of motorcycles.  Needless to say, I really never heard much about this place and didn't know anything about it, until recently.  There aren't really any locations really close to my house, which is why I have never gone.

Over Christmas Break, my co-worker, Michelle and I talked about meeting up for dinner and drinks.  She lives in Harrison, which is a good 30 minutes from my house, so we were trying to think of a place to go that is half-way between her place and mine.  We decided that somewhere on Colerain Ave. would be a good middle spot, so we decided to try Quaker Steak.  This location is off Colerain Ave. but you can't really see it from the street. You can see it from I-275 though.

We went on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was packed!  There were groups of teens, adults, families, and couples.  A wide variety of people.  The restaurant as a whole is loaded with decor. The theme of the restaurant is cars and racing.   The walls and ceilings are covered with this decor, which was actually really cool!    Michelle and I brought our husbands, so the four of us had a drink before deciding what to order.  They do have a good selection of beers on tap and bottled beers.

The menu was fairly large.  There is a selection of pretty standard appetizers with the "car" theme names, such as the "Four Wheeler" and "Stick Shifters".  There are flatbreads, salads, ribs, steaks, shrimp, burgers, sandwiches, and of course, wings.  This menu was too big in my opinion. It just kept going.  They are known for their wings, so I would think they could put more focus on that part of the menu.  Tuesday night was all-you-can-eat wing night, which may have been part of the reason it was so packed.  My husband decided to go for the wing special, Michelle just wanted an appetizer of soft pretzels, Jimmy got wings, and I went with the grilled chicken tenders and broccoli.

Michelle's pretzels were okay.  They seemed like the frozen soft pretzels you can buy at the grocery store and pop in the microwave, not really anything special.  She just thought the cheese was okay also. We have definitely had way better pretzels and cheese before.

Ross first order of wings he ordered with "Hot" flavored sauce.  He thought the sauce was pretty good.   After the "hot" he ordered wings with "Arizona Ranch" sauce that he didn't care for as much.  These wings also were more dried out and didn't have very much sauce.  It looked like they had been sitting under a hot lamp or something.  When you get the all-you-can-eat special, your first order of wings comes out with 8 (I think) and fries, then you could order more in smaller amounts after.  I tried the wings, and overall, I didn't think they were that good.  They were dried out, didn't have that much meat compared to other wings I've had, and they didn't give enough sauce at all.

Jimmy had ordered boneless wings.  Well, the waitress brought out bone-in wings, so he had to wait and have the correct order brought out.  This was quickly fixed and wasn't a big deal; however, he had hardly any sauce on his boneless wings too.  He had to ask for more sauce and wasn't impressed overall.  

My grilled chicken was fine.  I had ordered the "Golden Garlic" sauce, which was fine, but once again, there wasn't very much on it.  I couldn't really get a good flavor of the sauce because there wasn't very much on them at all.  The broccoli was good!  Can't really mess that up too badly.

After another drink or two, we left feeling very full but not loving our meals.  Service was fine as a whole.  Quaker Steak seems like it could be a fun place to go and watch sporting events or gather as a group, but I wouldn't be going for the food. For a place that claims to have the "Best Wings in the U.S.A." I expected much better.  They also state that you can mix sauces to make your own, but when you can't even taste the little sauce they put on it, I don't know why you would bother.  They really should focus more on doing a couple things better and get rid of half the menu, it was just way too much.
~Kate

Food: 2
Service: 2.5
Overall Experience: 2.5

Welcome 2012~! and a Review: Teak Thai Cuisine

Sorry it has been awhile since we have posted.  We both have been busy (somewhat) and have somewhat neglected the blog! We hope you still continue to keep checking in with new posts in the year to come.  We hope all our readers had a great holiday season filled with great family, friends, and of course, great food!   Kris is still working on her computer status, so unfortunately, she is still a bit out of commission, BUT we will still hope to provide some great recipes and reviews.  As I forge on this year of 2012, I am hoping to try some new dishes at home, as well as try some new restaurants as well.  If anyone has any suggestions of places to try, or recipes to share, please feel free to share! We'd love to hear from you!   Now, on to one of my most recent outings to a restaurant: Teak!


It has become a tradition that my husband and I go to see a Christmas Carol at Playhouse in the Park during Christmas time. We got tickets again this year and planned to do dinner beforehand. We thought about the options in Mt. Adams, and like I said in my last post, I don't really feel like there are a ton of options. However, we hadn't been to Teak in a long time, so we decided to go there before the show.

Teak Thai Cuisine is located on St. Gregory St. in Mt. Adams right down the street from Tavern on the Hill and the Wine Cellar (the best bar in Mt. Adams in my opinion). There is a small parking a lot across the street that has a few spots;otherwise you have to look for street parking which could be difficult.

Walking into Teak, I immediately have a feeling of being in a tranquil space. There is the option of eating in the upstairs dining room, outdoors, near the bar, or in a small dining room near the bar area. I have sat outside before and love that area. We obviously didn't sit outside this night. I had sat upstairs before but not down, so we chose to sit in the lower dining area which is more like a lounge area. There is a lot of exposed brick in Teak which I love, as well as greenery giving it a warm and serene feel.

Picture of the sushi bar area.

Teak specializes in Thai cuisine and was voted "Best Thai Restaurant" in City Beat magazine. I have had many dishes here before, mostly some of their Stir fry and noodle dishes. This night we wanted something we hadn't had here before, so we decided to share a cup of hot and sour mushroom soup and some sushi rolls.

We ordered a crab stick, (2 for $4), Spicy Tuna Roll, Mt. Adams Roll, Salmon Tempura Roll, and the last one, I honestly cannot remember, sorry! Needless to say, we had plenty of food for two people. The soup came out first and it was very good! It had plenty of mushrooms and just enough kick to add to the "sour" taste.

Our sushi order wasn't far behind. The plate was full of our rolls and crab sticks. The crab stick was placed atop a small square of white sticky rice and partly wrapped in a sushi roll. I really enjoyed these! I thought the crab was very fresh and a nice size. As for the sushi, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. One of the rolls was wrapped in a fried tempura, but this roll as a whole tasted overdone. The Spicy Tuna Roll was mine and Ross' favorite, simple, but good! The other two rolls had great ingredients, but we were underwhelmed. We both agreed we have had better sushi at other restaurants.

Service was fine. Nothing bad but nothing extraordinary either. I feel most Thai restaurants focus more on food than service. I would recommend going to Teak, but to get some of their specialty dishes, stir fry, or noodles.
~Kate

Food: 2.5
Service: 2
Overall Experience:2.5