Kate’s Chicken Noodle Soup

So this past weekend, Kate tried my Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, but added her own touch. This is why I love sharing recipes because you get different variations of your classics. See how hers turned out.

Brynn was hungry so we gave her a green onion until the soup was ready. Crazy baby to eat a green onion the way she did.

Kate’s Chicken Soup: Kate added Acini di Peppe pasta (which resembles tiny balls) and grated Parmesan cheese. Sometimes bite-sized noodles are better allowing you to get the perfect bite with every spoonful. Kate acquired these ingredients from her mother in law. I didn’t realize how good Parmesan cheese was in chicken noodle soup, but it’s my new thing! It gives it a nice subtle salty flavor. Thanks to the Bentley women! Well done Kate.

View my recipe here https://eatfooddetroit.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/chicken-noodle-soup/

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Cracker Barrel

After Janet and I’s 5K ( Scope it Out to support Colon Cancer) this past Saturday we decided to celebrate at Cracker Barrel in Belleville. Cracker Barrel Restaurants are strategically located off of highways and you can usually catch them while taking a break from road tripping. We are oh so lucky to have a few located in MI: Belleville, Monroe, Brighton, and Roseville. If you love home cooking, everything that reminds you of your Granny and makes you feel all warm inside, Cracker Barrel is the place to go. There also is an “Old County Store” at every restaurant filled with everything from taffy to holiday decorations.

My favorite is the Chicken Fried Chicken, but this time I was feeling like breakfast.

Sunrise Sampler: Two Eggs* cooked to order with Grits, Sawmill Gravy and Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits along with real Butter and the best Preserves, Jam n’ Apple Butter available. Served with Fried Apples, Hashbrown Casserole and a sampling of Smoked Sausage, Country Ham and Thick-Sliced Bacon. The Hashbrown casserole has cheese and onions and is delicious. The fried apples are warm, sweet, and mouth-watering. The Jam n’ Apple Butter is reminds me of something my Grandparents would make and its so comforting on a biscuit. This basically is everything I could ever ask for in a breakfast.

If you’re used to IHOP or your local coney island for breakfast, that’s fine. I’m not knocking it, but seriously eat at Crack Barrel. It’s reasonably priced, delicious, and you get to play the Triangle Peg Game! And if you don’t know what I’m referring to, it’s time to pay a visit to Crack Barrel.

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Chicken Noodle Soup

I wanted to share with everyone my easy chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s great comfort food if you’re sick, cold, or just want a quick serving of vegetables. I made a pot today for Ma since she was feeling under the weather.

Ingredients

1 small white onion

5-10 green onions (I like a lot)

1-2 chicken leg quarters

1 large carrot

1 stalk of celery (with leafy tops)

3 tablespoons of fresh (or dry) parsley

2-3 cans of chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube (if desired)

8-16 ounces of water

Salt & pepper to taste

2-3 handfuls of noodles of choice (egg noodles are my favorite)

Steps

In a large pot add broth and water and turn on medium heat. While waiting for liquid to boil, dice ingredients and add to pot.  Add chicken (chicken with a bone in adds more flavor), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep on a low boil until chicken is fork tender and cooked through (at least 20 min if chicken is thawed). If you boil too hard, it will boil out some of the liquid. Once chicken is cooked, remove from pot and let cool. Remove chicken from bone and add back to pot. I shred with a fork and dice up large pieces. Add noodles and cook for another 5 min or until noodles are tender. Keep in mind the noodles will absorb a lot of the liquid, so if you like more broth, add less noodles or a little more water/broth. For every two cans of broth I add, I will match a can of water. You should fill up a pot 3/4 way with all the ingredients in. Taste and add salt/pepper if needed.

Tip: Throwing in a bouillon cube adds more flavor. The longer you let the ingredients come together, the better it will taste.

Substitution: Add any other vegetables you like or rice.

I really love soups because all you have to do is toss all the ingredients in and let it whirl! The hardest part is chopping and in this case, removing the chicken from the bone.

Enjoy!

Please share your favorite homemade recipe.

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Treat Dreams

Located on Woodward Ave in Downtown Ferndale, Treat Dreams is a local favorite scooping out some wild and crazy flavors. Mac and Cheese, Chocolate Covered Potato Chip, & Brown Sugar Ham are just a few of the homemade flavors this ice cream shop is whipping up. The flavors change so stop in to see what’s on the menu.

Raspberry Jalapeno: I tried a sample and it was sweet and spicy, but the jalapeno just wasn’t doing it for me. I think sweet goes better with Habanero Pepper, rather than Jalapeno.

Sunday Breakfast: Maple ice cream with pieces of bacon and waffle. Josh got it in a milkshake which was a good move, but after a while it wasn’t cold anymore. The maple ice cream was delicious, but the bacon tasted more like bacon bits then the real thing and became soggy about halfway through. Props to the idea!

Salted Carmel & Butterbeer Sundae: The Butterbeer was a combo of butterscotch ice cream and Vernors flavored ice cream. The Butterbeer was sweet and delicious. I’m not huge on butterscotch, but the Vernor’s seemed to balance it out making it not super sweet.

The Salted Carmel was terrible! I’ve had Salted Carmel flavored frozen yogurt @ Yogurtopia & a Salted Carmel Mocha Frapp @ Starbucks and both were tasty, This ice cream was so bitter it tasted as though I took a swig of OJ after brushing my teeth. I get the whole sweet compliments salty deal, but this was just straight up bitterness. I ate about half of it trying trick myself into liking it, and it still didn’t work.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t try the Chocolate Covered Potato Chip ice cream, but there’s always next time. With all the weird and wacky flavors there are bound to be a couple I wasn’t a fan of, but I will definitely be back.  I’m just dying to know what the heck Mac & Cheese ice cream tastes like! If you are sick of the same old boring ice cream, check out Treat Dreams for some different, interesting flavors.

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Roman Village Cafe

Antonio’s Cusina Italiana has a sister restaurant located on Dix Rd. in Dearborn, Roman Village Cafe.  If you love Antonio’s, Roman Village is serving all your Italian favorites. I decided to take Josh there for Sweetest Day.

We started off with the garlicy, buttery fresh bread with Alfredo dipping sauce: The bread is amazing and the Alfredo was not salty like Olive Garden’s  is.

Tortellini Alla Panna: Cheese filled tortellini prepared with peas and ham in a rich cream sauce. The tortellini was tender and the sauce was a little bland. The ham was good, but it seemed as though it was ripped up pieces of deli ham.

I went with the famous Chicken Antonio (previously featured). Lightly battered chicken breast topped with melted Provolone cheese and white sauce. Delicious! I highly recommend this dish.

The food was good, but Antonio’s seems to be my favorite. I did like that we only waited about 20 min @ 7:30 pm on Saturday and the service was great. We also didn’t really like was that Roman Village Cafe was a little bright. Normally, when we go out to an Italian restaurant, we expect it to be dimly lit, creating a romantic ambiance.

Josh surprised me with some sweets (what a Sweetie)! He just wouldn’t tell me where he got them.

Chocolate Covered Bacon: Sweet meets salty. I thought the bacon would have that bacon-bit fake flavor, but it tasted like the bacon I made for breakfast this past weekend. Very interesting!

(The pieces broke during transportation).

Butterfinger Dipped Pretzel & Chocolate with Cashews: Who doesn’t love a pretzel wrapped candy bar? The salt from the pretzel balances out the sweetness from the chocolate and peanut buttery Butterfinger! The chocolate with cashews was creamy and fresh. It didn’t taste like your average Hershey Bar. You could really taste the quality.

The night was awesome and we have a lot of fun. Thanks Baby for the best Sweetest Day! ❤

Happy Birthday Monica!

Yesterday I went over to Amanda’s to celebrate her sister, Monica’s Birthday. It was a pizza and cupcake party and I felt like a kid again. The pizza was courtesy of Little Caesars and the cupcakes were homemade and decorated by the girls!

Happy Birthday Monica, my sister from another mister. I love you!

 

Parmesan Crusted Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Chef Judy style!

Spicy, cheesy, and comforting!

Sometimes it’s refreshing to know that you’re not the only one who makes a mean Cajun Chicken Alfredo dish. 😉

For my recipe, visit http://detroit-food.tumblr.com/post/27789669478/cajun-chicken-alfredo

Tip: For Parmesan crusted chicken: coat chicken breast with Parmesan bread crumbs.

Add your favorite cheese (pictured above with Cheddar).

Campus Martius for Lunch!

One thing I love about working in the heart of Downtown Detroit is being so close to Campus Martius Park. Check them out for live music, the Beach Bar & Grille, sunbathing in the sand, and great food. Janet and I decided to try out some of the “food shack’s” posted up and serving up awesome lunch deals 10 am to 2 pm.

Margherita pizza from Rollin’ Stone Wood Fired Pizza (These guys are literally rolling a pizza over an oven and making some mean pies).

It only took about 5 min and this cheesy, ooey, gooey, yet crispy crusted masterpiece was handed to me. You can really taste the freshness. Good job guys!

I tried to snag a close up…disregard the dude sitting in front of the food truck where the pizza oven is located.

People’s Pierogi Collective

Served with a kielbasa link and a scoop of sour kraut (pucker up!) for only $6

Potato & Cheese: Classic and fulfilling

Cheese: Traditional and satisfying

Spinach: Cheesy, rich filling.

Being the Polish girl that I am, of course I had to check em out. Peoples Pierogi’s are dishing out really delicious, authentic favorites.

I was sad to see that the food shacks were taken down to prepare for the Jazz Festival this Labor Day weekend.  You can still catch the food trucks during lunchtime so you can experience them for yourself.  There’s also tons of food choices for the Jazz Festival so take a trip and check em out. Support Food Trucks!

Orchid Thai

My brother Jason loves Thai, so he’s been bugging me to try out Orchid Thai on Monroe St. in Downtown Detroit. Orchid Thai is jamming for lunch, but we stopped in for dinner.

Tom Yung Gai: Minced chicken, mushroom, tomato, and green onion, in a savory hot and sour broth. Not too bad, but I’m not a huge lover of hot and sour soup. Nice chili taste, but not overwhelming.

Yam Neau: Sliced BBQ Beef, cucumber, green onion, minced white onion, celery, and lettuce mixed in a house lime dressing. Jason’s favorite! Crisp, crunchy, and refreshing. The dressing is spicy yet sour from the house vinaigrette. Perfect if you’re looking for a hearty meal, while trying to keep that girlish figure!

Drunken Noodles (Chicken): Large rice noodles stir fried with egg, onions, bean sprout, bell pepper, and basil. Be careful with the spice when eating Thai food. The noodles were rich and delicious, but very spicy (I ordered “Medium”). The noodles were light, yet chewy and full of flavor.

Fry rice curry: Egg fried rice with carrot, peas, onions, pineapple, tomato, and cashew. I added Chicken. Jason recommended this dish even though I told him I don’t care for curry. The rice was moist and flavorful, and the sweetness from the pineapple paired well with the saltiness from the cashew. I could’ve done without the curry, but when eaten with the Spicy Chicken it was a tasty side dish.

Spicy Chicken Breast: Breaded chicken breast stir fried with onions in a sweet and sour sauce. My favorite! Rich, sweet, and thick sauce covered crispy, moist chicken. This dish reminded me of the Thai version of General Tso Chicken and it was perfectly cooked!

If you love Thai food and want to try a good authentic Thai place, stop in and visit Orchid Thai. They don’t have a website, but they don’t need one. Everyone raves about this restaurant and I see why: Mouth watering food (and eye watering depending on the spice), generous portions, and great service. Next time you’re in the area, see what all the buzz is about and experience flavor for yourself.

Texas de Brazil

For my birthday I received a “Buy one get one free” dinner @ the Brazilian steakhouse, so Josh and I decided to check it out.

Tip: Signing up for restaurant and company e-mail clubs usually promises good benefits.

First, you have your choice of a very, unique salad bar including a plethora of different artisan cheeses and meats, pickled garden mix, and herb olives. Not to mention your greens, and cold salads. I was a little disappointed because there wasn’t your typical toppings like egg, peas, or craisins. I do give props for not having the same old boring salad items that you can get anywhere, but there are some favorites I would’ve kept. However, they did have sushi: California rolls!

Once we were done with our salads, our server brought over fresh plates and we flipped over our “tokens” to green. (Green means: Go meat)! The endless offerings of red meat were a little overwhelming, but still an awesome experience. My favorite was the filet Mignon, which was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. And it melted in my mouth like butter. (Pictured: Filet Mignon is that juicy, pinkish, little nugget in the middle).

The unlimited meats were served with sides of garlic mashed potatoes, cheese rolls (a little doughy in the middle), candied bananas (bananas topped with brown sugar and caramelized til golden), and white rice, black beans, or soup (available at the salad bar). The bananas were really good, but just a little too sweet to eat too much.

Parmesan Chicken and Flank Steak: The chicken we didn’t care for too much, but the flank steak was thin and moist.

Parmesan Pork and Bacon wrapped filet Mignon. The Pork was juicy, but tasted like a pork chop (I’m not a big fan). The bacon wrapped steak was amazing and everything you hope for!

To be honest, I expected more out of Texas de Brazil. The restaurant was gorgeous and the service was good. I’m just not a huge red meat eater and I found all the steak to be very salty. I also thought the salad bar would have more options because the web site stated there were 50-60 items (didn’t seem like).

For the price, I would not return. Josh and I actually left feeling a little hungry, but there’s only so much steak our bodies can take. Besides, I also can’t eat that much at one time. Personally, I’m a girl that likes balance.  If you’re a carnivore and want to indulge in a never ending buffet of delicious meat, then Texas de Brazil is the place for you! There is something empowering about flipping over a single “token” and being served endless meat right at your table.