Recipe: Chicken Gyros

I have always really enjoyed Mediterrean food, but besides store-bought hummus, it's not usually something I make at home. Recently, I decided to try my hand at making chicken gyros, and it was a success! I looked up a few different recipes and came up with one that was pretty healthy and delicious!

Ingredients (Servings: 2)
For tzatziki sauce:
2-3 oz. Greek yogurt, plain (a little less than half of a standard 6 oz Chobani yogurt container)
1/8 cup cucumber, very finely diced 
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp dill
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice (from about a quarter of a lemon)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil 
For chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp Greek yogurt, plain
Fresh lemon juice (from about a half of a lemon)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dill
Salt and pepper
For assembling:
2 pitas (I used whole wheat)
Feta cheese
Kalamata Olives, chopped
Tomatoes, diced (I prefer roma)

I know this seems like a lot of ingredients, but a lot of them are spices and vinegars that you probably already have on hand. I actually only had to buy a couple things to make these.

To start, mix together all the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Once combined, add the chicken to the bowl and make sure each piece is completely coated. Cover and refrigerate it for 30 - 60 minutes.

Once that is complete, assemble the tzatziki sauce by mixing together all the ingredients in a bowl. It helps if you can let this sit in the refrigerator for a little bit while the flavors marry. My tzatziki sauce was actually better the second day because the flavors had melded together more.

When the chicken is finished marinading, transfer it to a skillet over medium heat. While the chicken is cooking, toast the whole wheat pitas just so they're slightly crispy and warm. I put mine in the toaster oven for a few minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, place half the chicken on to each pita. Top with feta cheese, kalamata olives, the tzatziki sauce, and diced tomatoes. I served it with a delicious Greek salad with similar toppings as the gyro.  

Here is the final plate....good for you and delicious! Enjoy!

~ Kris

Recipe: Hot Pizza Dip

For parties and get-togethers, I love dips.  Pretty much any and every dip I typically like.  I recently had some friends over for a game night and wanted to make a couple appetizers.  I went with two that I had made before and knew were good but I wanted to try something new as well.  The first two appetizers I planned were cold, so I wanted something warm and I wanted something a bit more savory.  After perusing the web for a couple minutes, I went to one of my favorite food websites, allrecipes.com.  There I found this recipe for Pizza Dip. I always like to check out the reviews because people often give other tips and honest opinions about whether or not it is good.  This dip had only good reviews, so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened 

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup pizza sauce

2 tbsp. chopped green bell pepper 

2 oz. pepperoni sausage, chopped

2 tbsp. black olive

Tortilla chips for serving

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese with dried spices.  Here is where you can use a low-fat or reduced fat cream cheese if you want, and I just eye-balled the measurements.  

Spread the mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese on top of mixture.

Spread the pizza sauce all over the top.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and top with green pepper and pepperoni.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so, or until all the cheese is melted and bubbling.  

I just used regular slices of pepperoni and cut them up and I don't like olives so I didn't use them. You could really use any kind of pizza toppings you would like for this dip.  This turned out really great!  We served it with tortilla chips but you could probably serve it with some sort bread, like a baguette as well.  I liked the tortilla because it was a bit salty and crunchy with the dip. 

Everyone really liked this!  My friend even said, "this is the new Skyline Dip!" haha, so I guess that means he liked it!  

Recipe: Homemade Pizza with Wheat Crust

I LOVE pizza.  I haven't really had many kinds of pizza that I didn't like.  Many people have asked me what is my favorite, and I really can't decide.  There are so many that I like!  I have been wanting to make pizza at home more and experiment with different toppings and crusts.  Awhile back I tried a mix for a dough from Kroger that I didn't really care for.  It was too thin and hard to roll out.  I've seen different dough at Trader Joe's in their refrigerated section that looked good and was only about $1 a piece, so I thought I'd give that a try.  You really can't beat a dollar for the dough.  I opted for the whole wheat dough to see if we would like it, got the sauce from Trader Joe's as well, and we went with more traditional toppings this night.

First, I put our pizza stone in the oven and pre-heated the oven to the directions on the bag of dough.  Next, I sauteed some red onion and mushrooms with garlic and olive oil.  I had some apple chicken sausage in the fridge, so I chopped some of that up and sauteed that in the pan as well.

 I put Ross in charge of the dough.  He used to work at a pizza place in high school, so he likes to re-live his old job :)  When working with this dough, you want to be sure you use a good floured surface so it doesn't stick to the counter.

He rolled it out to the best circle shape he could get.

The instructions on the dough bag said to put on your sauce and toppings on the dough then bake.  So we added our sauce, sprinkled some oregano,Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder in the sauce, added our shredded mozzarella, and then our toppings on last.  I like to buy the blocks of cheese and shred it myself with a grater, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I like it better in many recipes this way.  We put the sausage, onion, mushrooms, and added some banana peppers as well.

We sprinkled the pizza stone with corn meal before we put the pizza on to bake.  Then we popped it in the oven.  We ended up baking the pizza for longer than it suggested of 10-12 minutes.  Ross and I actually were having a bit of a debate about it.  I thought it was finished around 15 minutes or so, but he was thinking that the dough didn't look finished.  We ended up baking it for about 20 minutes or so and it turned out pretty crispy.  It wasn't over-done, but I think 15 minutes would have been a bit better.

All in all, we really liked this pizza.  If you have been nervous to try wheat crust, don't be! We could barely tell a difference at all.  More pizza nights will be in our future with hopes of more variety of toppings :)

~Kate

Recipe: Fettuccine with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce

Many of those who frequently read our blog know that we have been using Pinterest frequently and getting great ideas for recipes!  A recipe I recently made had many people pin it because it sounds and looks delicious!  This was from Cooking Channel's Ellie Krieger who often makes lighter versions of dishes, which I thought was great because I wanted some pasta.  This was very easy (which is often a requirement for me) and ended up being fantastic!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
1 (16 oz.) jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, or a 6 oz. block
1 pound whole wheat fettuccine
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. chopped parsley

All of these ingredients are very easy to find and serves 4.

I always first get my pasta water boiling when I make pasta to get that going.  As that was heating up, you next heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic and  saute until soft, about 10 minutes or so.  Add the roasted peppers and saute until heated through.

Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Next, place the mixture in a food processor with the stock and all but 2 tbsp. of feta cheese.  Process until smooth and combined, about 30 seconds.  Cook pasta and drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.  Toss the pasta with sauce, adding one tablespoon of pasta water if needed.  I didn't end up needing any of the pasta water.  The sauce should cling nicely to the pasta. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley and feta.

I didn't have parsley but did have sage so I topped with sage and it was a nice seasoning.

This recipe turned out really great!  There was a lot of extra sauce since I made it for two people, but I liked the flavor of the garlic with the roasted red peppers and Ross really enjoyed this meal also, he said he wouldn't have changed a thing!  I thought it would be good to add a protein, such as chicken, or even other veggies, but we were pleased with it the way it was.  Thanks again to Pinterest and Cooking Channel.com!

~Kate

Review: Rock Bottom Brewery

A few weeks ago, Kate, her husband Ross and I went out to dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery at Fountain Square. Ross gave us the parameters that he wanted good beer and somewhere downtown, so Kate and I decided on Rock Bottom Brewery (our other choice being Nicholson's).

After parking at the Fountain Square garage, we made our way up to the restaurant, where we were told there would be an 1.5 hour wait so we headed to the bar, of course. I am not at all adventurous when it comes to beers. I wish I was but I just don't like very many of them. I was in the mood for beer but wasn't familiar with any of their handcrafted brews, so the bartender recommended the Kolsch. It was pretty good - similar to a Bud Light which was good with me. Ross had the Brown Bear Ale and Kate went with the Red Ale. They were both happy with their choices as well!

A couple beers later, it was finally our turn to sit down, and we were famished. We decided to get an order of the Ballpark Pretzels with jalapeno spinach dip to hold us over. The pretzels are brushed with ale and topped with salt. They were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, and they paired really well with our beers and the spicy jalapeno spinach dip. Nothing fancy, but they were good.

For our entrees, I decided to order the fish tacos, Ross ordered the sirloin, and Kate got the roasted vegetable pizza.

I always find it a little risky to order a steak at a place like Rock Bottom, but Ross was confident in his decision and said it was actually pretty good. The sides were just okay. The broccoli was steamed and pretty plain (which Ross liked) and he was not impressed by the mashed potatoes.

I was pleased with my cajun fish tacos as well. I liked that each taco had a hard taco shell and a soft tortilla shell. The blackened fish had a spicy kick to it and went well with the cajun remoulade. The sides were just okay. The black beans had way too many scallions and the rice was a little dry.

Kate's roasted vegetable pizza looked delicious! If I wasn't so full from my own meal, I would have definitely snagged a piece of this. She had to take a few pieces home with her because it was so big. I like that they weren't skimpy on the vegetables. It was loaded with mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, peppers, onions, zucchini, mozzarella and feta cheese. The base was a sun-dried tomato pesto. Kate was happy with her decision.

While no one was overly impressed by their meal, we all thought everything was good. Nothing to write home about but decent food, which is what we were expecting from Rock Bottom. The service on the other hand was below standard. One would think that after waiting for almost 2 hours to be seated, the service after we sat down would be exceptional, especially because we noticed a ton of empty tables after we were seated. If I were the server, I would have started out by apologizing for the wait, and then do what I could to get things done quickly. That did not happen. Things seemed to move at a snail's pace, and the only times we saw our server were when she took our order (after a long wait), and when she gave us our bill. Someone else got our drinks and brought us our food (which I understand is a common restaurant practice so your food doesn't get cold). No one really checked in on us, asked us about dessert, etc. I definitely wasn't impressed with the service.

Overall, the experience was just "okay". The food was pretty standard and the service sub-par. It won't make it on to my favorites list anytime soon. If I go back, it would be for the great location and diverse menu. Even the pickiest of eaters could find something at Rock Bottom.

~Kris

Food: 3
Service: 2
Overall: 2.5

Review: Abigail Street

A few weeks ago, my friend Lauren and I went on another one of our dinner dates. Along with Kate, she's always been my "go-to" person for trying new restaurants. She loves it as much as I do!

On this particular Friday night, we decided to try Abigail Street, the new-ish restaurant that opened next to Senate in Over-the-Rhine's Gateway Quarter. It's owned by the same people as Senate but has a completely different concept. It's a tapas style, Mediterranean restaurant with wine on tap, which was a completely new concept for me. Lauren and I both ordered a glass of the Cabernet on tap. While it certainly tasted great, it was a little bit pricey for my restricted budget. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm still not sure it was worth the price. 

Abigail Street is in a long and narrow space and is set up similar to Senate, but it has a cozier feel to it. It has a somewhat rustic yet modern vibe - complete opposite styles but that's the best way I can describe it. There are modern, funky light bulb-like light fixtures, yet there's exposed brick and beautiful hardwood. Dishes are served on various mis-matched antique china pieces, which I thought was a cool touch that added to the rustic feel.

After drooling over the menu for at least ten minutes, we finally decided on several dishes we wanted to try(with a little help from our server). The marinated olives were the first thing to come out. These were a great way to start out the meal. As you can see from the photo, there were large green olives, kalamata olives and another smaller olive similar to a kalamata. The olives were marinated in a really good, sweet olive oil, coriander, cumin, garlic and cilantro. My favorite part was the marcona almonds that were mixed in with the olives. They added the perfect bit of crunchy texture. I only wish the olives were served with some crusty bread to sop up the delicious marinade!

Next up was my absolute favorite dish - the "batata" (aka potatoes) . The picture does not do this one justice! They were absolutely AMAZING! I could have eaten these all day. With all the toppings on them, they look like they would be mushy...but they weren't. The potatoes were crispy and browned perfectly. They had a strong lemon flavor as well as coriander, lots of garlic and paprika. I would go back to Abigail Street just for these!

And the food just kept coming! Next up were the chorizo stuffed dates covered in tomato sauce. These were really good! I loved the combination of the spicy chorizo and sweet dates. Again, I wish I would have had some crusty bread to dip in the yummy sauce.  :)  After the batata, these were my second favorite!

There are a few different seafood dishes on the menu, and Lauren and I wanted to be sure to try at least one so we went with the cod. The cod was cooked perfectly, but the flavors of the dish weren't as developed as I had hoped they would be. It was served in a light tomato broth, topped with chick peas and served over a grain, which is escaping my memory at the moment but looks like maybe farro. The cod was easily the least memorable of the dishes we tried. I would try something else next time.

I was super excited to try the gnocchi, which was topped with pistachios, duck, peas and mushrooms. The pillowy gnocchi were made really well and not too dense. The crunchy pistachios were a great textural addition to the dish, and the mushrooms added a nice earthiness to the plate. While this was definitely better than the cod, for some reason, I expected it to be better. It was good but not great.

Lauren and I were both pretty full from all the food we had devoured but we managed to make room for dessert...funny how that always happens! "I'm so full, I can't eat another bite" somehow turns into "Well, maybe just something sweet for dessert."  :) I think their most popular dessert is the baklava, but I am not a big fan of baklava in general so Lauren and I ordered the churros. What's not to like about fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and dunked in warm chocolate sauce??? Need I say more? Delish!

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Abigail Street. The cozy, eclectic atmosphere is buzzing with people sharing and enjoying great food and wine. Our server was attentive but not over-bearing, and he made good suggestions. I will definitely go back to Abigail Street, although when I'm in OTR I feel guilty not eating at A Tavola; it's still my favorite! :)

~Kris

Food: 4
Service: 4.5
Overall: 4

Recipe: Spicy Crockpot Meatballs

This is one of the first recipes I ever made in a crockpot.  I remember it was while I was in Grad School and living in Oakley with Ross.  We decided to have people over one night for a "game night" and I wanted to make something that was a bit more substantial that I could prepare ahead of time.  I searched online and found this recipe for Crockpot Meatballs.  They were a hit!  My cousin Jenny was over along with my brother, sister-in-law and some friends, and they all loved them.  Jenny even took some home in a mug for the car ride :)

I got the recipe here and have used it many times since then and it has always been a favorite of family and friends.  I made them for the Superbowl Party and once again, everyone seemed pleased with them!

Ingredients:
3 to 4 dozen small meatballs, such as 2 packages Aidell's Chicken & Turkey Chipotle Meatballs (I just use the Kroger brand frozen Swedish or Homestyle Meatballs)
1 jar of apple jelly
1 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce (really any flavor you would like works)
2 poblano chile peppers, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
dash garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. chipotle chile powder
1/2 tsp. ancho chile powder

These are extremely simple.  All you do is put the meatballs in, add the ingredients and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  That's it!  How easy is that?  AND they are really delicious!

You don't have to use these recipes exact either.  I sometimes use jalapeno peppers if I have them on hand or any other seasoning you would like to add.  I put crushed red pepper, Southwest Chipotle seasoning, and a little more than a dash of garlic powder.

Enjoy!
~Kate

Girls Who Grub Turns One!

Girls Who Grub is officially one year old today! Time sure does fly when you're having fun!!

Kate and I wrote our first post at my Super Bowl party last year on Sunday, February 6. We sat on the couch with a laptop (and plates of food, of course) while everyone else watched the game, and we could not have been happier! It's been such a fun year to share our food experiences with all of you. Thanks for reading and commenting! We look forward to the year ahead for more reviews and recipes!

Here are a few stats from the past year....we've had 129 posts, 80 reviews, 42 recipes and 16 guest blogs. We hope to have that many and more in year two!    

Thanks again for your continued support! Keep reading and sharing your feedback!

~Kate and Kris

Review: Tony's

I recently had one of the best dining experiences I've had in a really long time! Granted, I haven't been out to eat very much lately, but I was more than impressed by the food, service and experience I had at Tony's. I went on a Saturday evening with my aunt, which was my second time dining there and her first. My boss at work turned me on to Tony's Steakhouse about a year ago after he raved about how amazing it was and that the steak is better than Jeff Ruby's. That got my attention because I love Jeff Ruby's! 

Tony Ricci is the owner of Tony's and, according to their website, has worked in upscale dining for over 25 years. I know he was previously the general manager at Jeff Ruby's Precinct for a very long time, and he has certainly taken his knowledge and experiences from there to create a fantastic restaurant of his own!  

When my aunt and I arrived for our 6:30 reservations, the restaurant was already starting to fill up, and there was a crowd forming at the bar. You instantly get a good vibe when you walk in the door. They have such a warm and inviting atmosphere. I love that you can see the chef's cooking in the kitchen and the servers pulling their orders. Soft, classical music (think Frank Sinatra) plays in the background. A jazz band was setting up near the bar a little later in the evening. While some may describe Tony's as a "fancy" restaurant, it doesn't feel stuffy or cold like other "fancy" restaurants.

We were seated right away by a friendly hostess and a server immediately came over to fill our waters. Then our main server came over to fill us in on that nights specials, take our drink orders and give us bread and butter. The butter is topped with a crunchy garlic salt that is delicious. I couldn't get enough!

My aunt and I both decided to order the filet mignon. It came with a choice of mashed or baked potatoes and a salad, which is a great value for only $34. I chose the caesar salad based on the recommendation from our server. She said the homemade caesar dressing is amazing, and she was right! For a simple salad, it was quite delicious! There was a small hint of flavor from the anchovies, but not too overbearing, which is my fear with homemade caesar dressing. I broke the Parmesan crisp into pieces and sprinkled it over the top of the salad, and it added the perfect crunch and flavor to the salad.

My aunt went with the wedge salad, which was an iceberg wedge with ranch or blue cheese dressing (she chose ranch), bacon and tomatoes. This looked delicious as well, and she really enjoyed it!

After another piece of bread and butter, our entrees made their way to the table. I chose to get the mashed potatoes (which I forgot to take a photo of) with my filet. It was such a treat to have homemade mashed potatoes. They were creamy and garlicky and yummmmy, although we had so much food I could hardly eat them.

My filet was outstanding. I ordered it "medium rare plus" and it was cooked to perfection. I ordered it Oscar style, which comes with crab meat, bernaise sauce and asparagus. This is my favorite way to order a filet! My only complaint was that there were a few shells still on the crab meat. This was disappointing, but the filet with the bernaise sauce was out of this world delish and made up for that little snafu!

Oscar style filet - sorry it's sideways! Wouldn't let me flip it around!

My aunt ordered her steak "medium plus" and hers was cooked to perfection as well. On our way to dinner, she was telling me how she likes a lot of pink and no red in her steak and no restaurants ever get it right. I was glad Tony's got it right for her! She ordered hers with a side of mushrooms and the baked potato. I've had the baked potato before, and it is delicious. As you can tell from the picture, it's huge, and it's covered with garlic and salt and served with butter. Seriously...what's not to like??

Halfway through our dinner, we saw my boss (ironically, the same one who originally told me about Tony's) across the restaurant and chit chatted with him for a few minutes. After we finished our entrees, our server came over and told us that my boss wanted to treat us to dessert. What a great surprise! Although we were stuffed to the gills, we managed to make room for a couple desserts. Usually there are only one or two things on a dessert menu that I like (usually the ones with chocolate!), but the dessert menu is quite extensive at Tony's. It was the toughest decision of the night! Tony's mother makes homemade tiramisu and cannolis at her home and brings them to the restaurant. Last time I went to Tony's, I had the cannolis and they were amazing, but I wanted to try something different this time. I decided to get the pot de creme. This chocolatey, custard dish was rich and delicious and was topped with whipped cream and strawberries. It tasted like the inside of a chocolate truffle. I'd highly recommend for chocolate lovers, although I'd suggest sharing because it is super duper rich. We were so excited about dessert, we forgot to take photos! L

My aunt got the vanilla bean creme brulee, which was also amazing. It was much lighter than the pot de creme so we shared the two and they balanced each other out perfectly. It was crunchy on top and smooth and creamy inside. It was served room tempeture, which I like. Sometimes creme brulee is served chilled, and I don't like that as much. Sorry again for no photos!

To wrap up this really long post...I think it's clear that I would highly recommend dining at Tony's! The whole experience, from the service, to the ambiance, to the food is outstanding! Our server was amazing...she was friendly and attentive and made great recommendations. And both times I've been to the restaurant, Tony is there and he greets every single table and asks how your server is doing and how the food is. It is such a nice touch and makes you feel "special" - as cheesy as that sounds! I will most certainly be back!

~Kris

Food: 5
Service: 5
Overall: 5