The Standards at Dontino's

I was talking to my friend Tom one day and told him I was craving Dontino's and would he like to go with me sometime.  Turns out, he'd never been.  How could this be?   It's classic Akron.  So we made a plan and off we went.

Dontino's is located at 555 E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave. in Akron.  It's been in operation since 1930, just like the sign says.

You're not going to a sophisticated meal when you go to Dontino's.  You're going for some hearty classic Italian food.  And that's exactly what I got, starting with the salad.

 

I always loved that beet that they put on top the salad.  It's a nice little extra in an otherwise standard salad.  And being as the Italian dressing is the only one made in house, I went for that.  Could have used some cheese, and once we sprinkled on some of the Parmesan from the table on it, it definitely improved.

Next up for me was Chicken Parmesan with a side of pasta.  Homemade pasta is a little extra but I was willing to shell it out.  

Tom took this picture, and you can clearly see the difference between my little Nikon Coolpix and his fancy schmancy camera.  It almost looks 3D!  I think I need an upgrade.  Anyway, good sauce, good pasta, good chicken.  And quite a hearty portion.   I actually took half of my chicken cutlet home.  I do love homemade pasta.  I should really start making it more.  But fine, you know why I don't?  Because I have this damn bump on my counter.  The whole counter, all the way around it,  has the bump.  I don't know what the purpose of it is, all I know is I hate that damn bump.  The bump hinders everything from chopping to yes, making pasta.  Because I cannot attach the pasta maker to the counter because of the freakin bump!

You asked.

Thinking about dessert, we found that none of the desserts were made in house.  That was a little disappointing but we opted to split a piece of chocolate peanut butter pie anyway (another Tom picture).

It was good, kind of rich and a bit dense but quite frankly you can get this pie anywhere.  We might as well have been at Applebee's given the creativity here.  Give me a homemade Tiramisu any day!

So dinner was good, classic, nothing special but still tasty.  I certainly will go back to Dontino's.  The prices are good, the place is nice and doggone it, they put a beet on the salad!

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

B-Spot, Again?

Yes again.  Seriously, if you've been there you'd want to talk about how good it is too!  So let's just start at the beginning.  I had plans on that day to go to The Lockview in Akron with my friend Lynn, a pretty darn good place in it's own right.  But I also happen to have been sick for most of the week and when I called my doctor that day to get a prescription sent in, she wanted to see me in person.  So I called Lynn up with a proposal.... come with me to see my doctor in Beachwood and then we can go to Penzy's, Trader Joe's and B-Spot for lunch (Whole Foods if we have time).  The reply I got was "Sold!" 

Sitting and waiting in the doctors office was pure torture. I just couldn't wait to get to B-Spot and sink my teeth into one of Michael Symon's deliciously juicy burgers!  But we prevailed and as soon as we got out of there we headed straight for B-Spot!  For a Thursday afternoon around 3:45 pm, it was pretty crowded but we were able to get right in.  And the first thing I saw upon walking in the door was a blackboard with the daily special on it.  I took a photo of it, but unfortunately the photo doesn't want to come out of my phone.  So I will just tell you, it said, "The Muffaletta Burger:  Ham, Salami, Provolone Cheese, Mayo, Muffaletta."

Now it was my turn to say, "Sold!"  There was no way on earth I wasn't getting this.  I don't care that I have bronchitis and was just given a 10 day course of antibiotics.  I don't care that my cough is so bad that I have to drink some vile grapey cough medicine.  All I know is when I see the world Muffaletta, I'm in!  So that is what I ordered.  Lynn decided to give the Pulled Pork a try.  And really, can you go wrong with pulled pork?  I don't think so!  The menu described it as pulled pork with avocado, cheddar, Carolina style BBQ, grilled onion.  Lynn ordered it minus the avocado.  We also ordered the chips, which the menu describes as chips with Parmesan fondue and rosemary.  And this is what we got:

This is seriously a big mound of homemade chips, plenty for 2 or more, way too much for one.  The dip is warm and cheesy and with a nice hint of rosemary.  I could have made those chips my meal.  They were so good!

And then came my burger.  Oh yes, my Muffaletta burger!   I've had Muffaletta burgers before, at the Hamburger Festival and they've been pretty good.  But this, this is from a whole new stratosphere of burgers.  Feast your eyes on this thing of beauty....

 

Can you stand it!?  Nothing I can say can really describe how insanely good this is.  Everything was perfection.  The custom blended beef that B-Spot uses is just amazing.  The flavor, the seasoning, how it's cooked, it's all perfection.  And then to have it topped with ham, salami, provolone and olive salad?  Fuggedaboutit!   It's the single best burger experience ever.  And I don't say that lightly.  

But the pulled pork was certainly not to be overlooked here!   

It was piled super high and was tender, moist and delicious.  The onions added a nice sweetness and the array of sauces on the table were fun to try out.  I ended up taking half my burger home and Lynn bought a bratwurst to take home.  No matter how full you are when you leave B-Spot, you just want to keep eating, it's so good!  

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Lunching at One Red Door

Getting together for lunch with my friend Cindy always proves to be an exercise in delicious.  Rarely do we ever end up at a place where I think, "no way, never again" and this was no exception.  We decided on one of the newer places at First and Main in Hudson, Ohio called One Red Door. 

It's a really nice looking place, somewhat masculine with all the wood and brick, but really nice.

 
Dare I say, when we started looking at the menu, we went a little crazy!   There was so much on it we both wanted.  So for starters we settled on the Warm Marinated Olives for $4.00 (I had these at a restaurant in Philadelphia last month and went crazy for them!) and the Butternut Squash Soup for $7.00. 

Warm olives.  Who would of thunk it!   I love olives anyway, and they aren't much different tasting when they are warmed but they are soft and warm and oh so lovely.   And the soup.... are you kidding me?   The Butternut Squash Soup had just the right amount of sweetness with some smokiness from the bacon that was cooked in it.  And then it had these sort of gingerbread croutons on top.  Delish!  In fact, we ordered one bowl and had them split it in half so we could share it and it was just the right amount that way.

Cindy couldn't decide between a pizza and a salad so she got both!  The salad of poached Bartlett pears with field greens, blue cheese, spiced hazelnuts and a hazelnut vinaigrette had me at spiced hazelnuts.   I'm not generally a fan of blue cheese, and they certainly did not skimp on it in this salad, made me a believer.  The salad was a very generous size for $7.00

And then the pizza.   Cindy chose a Lobster pizza... butter poached lobster with wilted spinach, pearl onion confit, fontina cheese and tarragon for $14. 

I'm not a seafood person and I really hate tarragon, but look at that!  I had to try it.  I just took one little bite because I have an entree coming too and we'd already had bread, olives, soup and salad.  The pizza was out of this world!!!   The crust was perfect, the balance of flavors insane and happily I didn't even taste the tarragon.   

And now, my lunch... Chef's Burger for $11.  I love a burger.  I can eat a good burger anytime, anywhere.  And the best burger I have had to date was from Michael Symon's B-Spot.  It's still the best burger, but this one is not to be dismissed!   The Chef's Burger is Ohio grass fed beef cooked however you want it (I always chose medium) with crispy shallots, melted brie cheese with date and applewood smoked bacon aioli on the side.  It's served with house made chips and has lettuce and tomato on the side.  

This burger was a thing of beauty.  I cannot say one bad thing about it.  The meat was juicy and flavorful, the brie and crispy shallots were just different enough from regular old onions and American cheese to make this burger different and that date and bacon aioli!  Fuggedaboutit!!   I've died and gone to burger heaven!   I would so go back for that burger.  Even though there is so much more on the menu I want to try, I might not be able to resist the allure of this, the only burger on the menu.  Honestly, they don't need another. 

 

Can you stand it!?   Damn, when am I going to be in Hudson again?    One Red Door is located at 49 Village Way, Hudson Ohio.  The phone number is (330) 342-DOOR.  

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Russo's Part Creole Part Italian All Good!

It was a long time coming.  Nick and I had been wanting to go to Russo's for some time.  We even had a $25 gift card burning a hole in the sock drawer.  So we finally bit the bullet and decided to go on October 30, our 17th anniversary.  Russo's reputation has been great from the get go and it's really close to where we live.  Why had it taken so long for us to go!?  It doesn't matter now, it's all in the past.  Russo's we love you!

 

We had a 7:00 pm reservation in the dining room.  Russo's offers bar seating but they go fast because right behind the bar is the kitchen and you can watch the chaos and magic happen right in front of your eyes.  So since we were unable to get a bar seat, we got a table near the bar and were able to see some of the magic.  

I knew before we even got there that I had to have the Arancini appetizer.  I had them last year when Russo's had a booth up at Taste of Hudson and they were incredible!   In fact, it's a dish I've been wanting to make myself but have never gotten around to it.  Someday!   In case you're unfamiliar, arancini are balls of saffron risotto with either a meat or cheese filling in the middle, then they are breaded and deep fried.  Russo's describes their arancini as follows:  Rice Balls Flavored with Saffron and Stuffed with Mozzarella, Meat and Vegetables, then Breaded and Fried.  Served with Pomodoro Sauce.

Oh, I can feel your jealousy!   And yes, they are as good as they look!

But I have to admit, $8.99 for 3 arancini seems a bit steep to me, delicious as they are.  But while perusing the menu and the specials, I happened upon something that I love far too much and had to have.  Right at the top of the nightly specials, there it was... roasted garlic heads served with a basket of bread and at $3.50, this was the bargain of the night!   I had this before, many years ago when I was in Massachusetts for a friends wedding.  The restaurant we went to for the rehearsal dinner, Vinny Testa's, served roasted heads of garlic floating in a seasoned olive oil and a basket of bread.  I swore that if I ever owned a restaurant I was going to do this!  It's the best thing ever.  So I was more than thrilled to see this on Russo's menu.   You get your roasted garlic with a little shrimp fork so you can dig the cloves out of the head and spread them on your bread.  Oh yes, I died and went to garlic heaven!

Quite honestly, I could have made this my meal and been perfectly content.  But alas, more deliciousness was to come!  We both ordered specials that night and started off the main event with a simple salad that was beautifully and perfectly dressed. 

I ordered half an almost fully boned roasted chicken in a tangy sauce with garlic mashed potatoes and twice dipped onion rings for $22.99.

It was incredibly delicious.  Seasoned and sauced to perfection, tender, juicy and full of flavor.  I seriously don't think I ever had as succulent a piece of chicken as this.  And after the arancini and my bread coma, I ended up bringing most of it home.  Mmmm Russo's leftovers.

Nick also ordered a special, his was a large cut grilled pork chop on a bed of squash puree with collard greens in a sugar cane sauce for $26.99.

Everything was gorgeous and perfect.  The collards were tender and flavorful.  The pork was cooked to absolute juicy perfection.  The squash puree was delicious and beautifully balanced.

Our final bill without any drinks, just water, was $66.53.  Russo's is not a place we will frequent, but oh yes we will be back!   Sadly, Russo's no longer serves lunch, but if you're in or around Peninsula, Ohio at dinner time, I highly suggest you give them a try.  Russo's is located at 4895 State Road
Peninsula, OH 44264 and their phone number is (330) 923-2665.

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Spanawhatta?

A long time ago, I made Spanakopita.  It was good and all, but I never made it again.  For some reason I got the idea in my head that I needed to make it again and I just couldn't rest until I did.  Well, ok, I could rest, but it did fester.  In case you don't know, Spanakopita is a Greek spinach and other good stuff, stuffed into phyllo dough.  I started out with a half of a sweet onion.  My onion was really big, so I think I probably actually used a third of it.  Chop the onion and cook slowly with about a Tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.  You don't want them to brown, just to cook through until they are translucent and fragrant.

I used two packages of frozen chopped spinach.  You can use fresh and cook it, but for my money, frozen is the way to go.  Just defrost them, and then squeeze squeeze squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.  The best way to do this is to take a clean dish towel (I used one that is already green, pretty smart huh?  ha).  I put the thawed spinach in the middle of the towel and then pull the ends up and start twisting and squeezing.  A ton of water will come out.  Make sure you get as much as possible or your Spanakopita will be soggy and who wants that?  No one.  After you get it all squeezed, put it in a bowl and fluff it up with a fork.

To the spinach add a half cup of chopped flat leaf parsley.  I still have it in my garden, going strong!

And about two Tablespoons or so of chopped mint.  Also still going strong in my garden!

Then add a cup of crumbled Feta cheese.  Mmmm, feta!   Feta is kind of salty so you probably don't want to add too much extra salt to this mixture.  But add some.  Maybe about a teaspoon.  

I also added about 5 grinds from my pepper mill and a good 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg.  It definitely makes a difference so don't skip the nutmeg!

 

Mix it all with one beaten egg to hold it all together and now it's time to for the phyllo dough.  I'm not going to lie to you, phyllo is a giant pain in the ass. It's so fragile and delicate and needs special care.  When you unwrap your thawed out phyllo, make sure you have a damp towel to place over the top of it while you're not using it.  Phyllo will dry out in seconds and as soon as it does, you're done.  There is no going back.   Take the sheets and cut them down the middle, lengthwise.  Brush the dough, carefully, with melted butter and then place about 1/3 cup of the spinach mixture at the top of one of the rows and off to one side.  Either side, it doesn't matter, we're just going to fold these babies up anyway. 

I used between 2 and 3 sheets of phyllo each.  One was too thin.  Fold them end over end, kind of like a flag is folded, so they end up looking like a triangle.

Brush the outside with melted butter and then bake for 20 minutes at 350 or until golden brown.

Enjoy!!!   They were really really good.  And quite frankly, I don't love spinach cooked.  I'd rather have it raw.  So who knows why I wanted to make them so bad.  But I'm glad I did!  They rocked!

καλά τρόφιμα οι φίλοι μου

The Fab Food Show is Coming!

It's only a few short weeks away so don't forget to get your tickets for the Fabulous Food Show!  This year the show has added a new seminar on food writing and Laura Taxel (author of one of my fave books, Cleveland Ethnic Eats) wrote in to tell me about it.  Laura, along with writing coach Dianne Jacob (author of Will Write for Food) are leading workshops on both Friday and Saturday morning, November 12 and 13.  The seminar will teach you tips and give you guidance on getting started, doing it well and how to not only get readers but how to get published.  Each session is 2 hours, with a cost of $50 (that includes all day admission to the show).  Tickets must be purchased in advance.  Friday's event is for chefs and professionals.  Saturday's event is for the general public.  For more information, check out the Seminar website.

Chocolately Peanut Buttery Goodness

The two most perfect foods, together.  I do it a lot.  I can't resist.  Peanut butter and chocolate need to be together in any way, shape or form.  In this incarnation, it's chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting. 

Start out with any chocolate cupcake recipe you like.  I happen to have buttermilk in my fridge and wanted to use it up, so I used a standard buttermilk chocolate cupcake recipe.  Start with a stick of butter, softened and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in your mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.

Once it's fluffy, add 2 eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.   Then beat in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

You will also need to combine 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup of water.   Then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture.  In other words, add some dry then some wet, some dry and some wet, until all ingredients are incorporated.  Then fill your cupcake cups 2/3 the way full and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (make sure your toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean). 

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a rack.

While the cupcakes cool, it's time to make this kick ass icing!  You will need an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and a stick of butter, both softened, to start.

Beat until smooth and creamy.  When you have a nice smooth butter/cream cheese mixture, add 1/2 cup of peanut butter.   You can use creamy or chunky, but natural is probably not a good idea because of the oils.  Beat in the peanut butter then add 1 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar.   Beat until fully incorporated.

Ice cupcakes however the heck you want, but I suggest you load it on!   This frosting is all kinds of yum and you don't want to short change yourself.  Although, I suspect the leftovers might be pretty yummy on just about anything... toast, a bagel, a spoon, a hubcap, whatever.  And feel free to add a bit extra peanut butter if you want.  Personally, I think next time I make it I'm going to up it to 3/4 cup.

Money shot!

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Ingredient lists - Cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter