La Tolteca--Wilkes-Barre, PA

Originally posted on October 15, 2011

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Last night, Tom and I decided to spend a little of our Ren-Faire money stash on a decent dinner that had nothing to do with Truck Stops or had "All You Can Eat" in the title. We drove down the mountain into the Wyoming Valley area for some delicious Mexican food.

Mexican is my favorite genre of food. A decent salsa makes me giddy. Sadly, most chain restaurants can't produce a decent handmade salsa. You can usually tell that the product was canned or frozen. La Tolteca very obviously makes ALL of their food from scratch, or closer to scratch than say...Chili's. Not picking on anyone in particular, although every time I've tried to use Chili's as a Tex-Mex substitute, the fajitas have been dry and the guacamole substandard. But then again, you don't walk into an Applebee's and expect top notch Italian food. So whattaya gonna do?

Every customer is greeted with the standard chips and salsa while the wait staff gets the drink order. However, La Tolteca adds a personal spin to this grazing staple with what I can only describe as Mexican Mayonnaise. At first I thought it was seasoned sour cream. I just looked at the menu and don't even see a listing for it. It's sorta tangy and spicy and smooth all at the same time. I steer clear, just based on the fact that the thought of mayo altogether makes me want to hurl. I always order guacamole as an extra dipping selection. This guacamole rocked my world. I could clearly taste that the avocados were ripe, the lime juice was fresh and the cilantro was plentiful. Three quality ingredients that will make me order a larger portion next time (so I'm not desperately scraping the dish, hoping for one last taste).



Halfway through our bowl of chips, the dinners arrived. Tom ordered the carnitas, slow roasted pork and all the fixins to make said meat into delicious burritos.



I ordered my usual Steak Fajitas, which I am currently finishing off, cold out of a take-out box (don't judge me!). I can't help it that the portions are GINORMOUS.



THAT is a regular-sized order. It comes with 3 warm flour tortillas. I overstuffed all three and continued picking at the fillings until I could barely move. (Shameless plug for my Florida folks: Los Mariachis on Ulmerton is the Pinellas county equivalent, in my opinion!)

Growing lethargic, we asked for a box and the next logical thing. Dessert. Now I was ALL FOR ordering one dessert and splitting it. But I don't earn the living, and when Tom says, "Bring us a Xanga and a Choco-Taco," how can I refuse?

The Choco-Taco is exactly as you'd expect (this was HIS dessert of choice, by the way):


But you may be wondering what a Xanga is...

It's almost pornographic, I can't even believe I'm typing this.

Imagine a Mexican pastry, like a very thin fried dough crepe covered in cinnamon and sugar, wrapped burrito-style around, what can only be described as, very fluffy cheesecake filling. Cut it in half, put a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle, cover the plate in whipped cream (not Cool Whip) and drizzle it with chocolate and caramel syrups (don't forget the cherry!). And what the heck...some rainbow sprinkles. It's a diabetic nightmare, I know. But...Oh. My. God.



If you happen to be in the area, check it out. And for anyone wishing to drool over the menu, here you go:

http://latoltecawb.com/wilkes-barre-pa-mexican-restaurant-menu.htm

I'm really enjoying writing the food blogs, so be ready for quite a few more of these, hopefully on a weekly basis!

Grotto Pizza--Wilkes-Barre, PA

I'm in the process of cleaning out my travel blog.  I don't do much traveling these days and the blog has sat stagnant for quite a while.  This review was posted on December 10, 2012.

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It's the most...wonderful?...time of the year!

This weekend, Tom and I decided to foolishly step foot into the mall.  We were hoping to pick up a Back to the Future themed Christmas ornament from Hallmark, and possibly a "we're married" ornament for our tree.  What would normally be a simple in-and-out job ended in frustration and disappointment.

Time for some therapy thru comfort food!


(Picture borrowed from Google Images)

We drove a short distance to Grotto Pizza, a decent-sized Pizzaria and Italian Eatery in the Wyoming-Valley Mall parking lot.  I had mixed feelings about going here because:  #1, we didn't discuss where we were going; #2, I've never been here before; and #3, I wasn't really in the mood for pizza.

I quickly pushed my inner-Grinch aside as we passed the gelato display!


(Picture borrowed from Google Images)

I immediately started memorizing the menu, trying to figure out what I'd be ordering today, and then what I'd plan to try in the future.  There are few things better than Mom & Pop restaurants!

Tom mentioned that the Grottoboli was excellent, but decided on getting the Chicken Parmesan sub instead.  I pretended to be undecided at that point, secretly deciding to order the Grottoboli.  We also decided to split an order of calamari as an appetizer.

Grotto's calamari puts Olive Garden's to shame!


Sure, it's only served with marinara for dipping (I LOVE Olive Garden's creamy peppercorn dipping sauce), but the actual calamari makes up for it.  Each piece was cooked to perfection.  So many times I've gone to Olive Garden and had the batter gooey and falling off of the calamari because it's undercooked.  And to make this appetizer even more delicious, the marinara seemed to be fresh.  Or at least not canned!

The definition of self-control is being able to take a picture of the food before starting to eat it :)

About 5 minutes after the basket was empty, our entrees arrived:

Tom's "usual" Chicken Parmesan sub:

This is only half because there was no self-control once the food arrived...

And my Grotto-boli:

Again, this is only half because I needed to make room on the plate.  It's a stromboli made of hame, pepperoni and capicola with sweet peppers and onions, smothered in mozzarella cheese.  And of course, that yummy marinara dipping sauce again!  I could only eat half, then took the other half home to have the next day.

As stuffed as we were, we decided to split a cup of the gelato.  Since Tom had never had Pistachio ice cream before, that's the flavor I chose.  I detected a hint of cocoa powder in with the pistachio, which is never a bad thing.


It really was a tiny scoop, served with a tiny spoon, but the flavor and consistency of the gelato made up for the small portion. It was the perfect end to this meal!

We paid around $30 total.
As always, I'm including the link to the restaurant.  It seems that their full menu isn't included, but the address, phone number and take-out menu are available.

http://www.grottopizzapa.com/index.html

For all of my "faithful followers" who have been waiting a year for another blog post...I've decided to start updating once a week.  I deleted my Bucket List blogs and will be including the pictures and stories of those experiences over the next year!

Campbell's Go Soup

Happy Spring, everyone!

I'm anxiously awaiting its actual arrival.  It may say Spring on the calendar, but in Northeast Pennsylvania, the snow is still falling.  Even as I type this blog.

And what's better than a warm bowl of soup on a snowy day?

Usually I'd show you all how to make your own soup from scratch, but this week I decided to do a product review!  My husband and I are gearing up for a trip to visit family in Florida, so I'm doing multiple things at once.  And since this is my first time trying this product, I figured now would be a great time to do my first product review.

To be honest, I wouldn't normally buy this product.  I'm very frugal and at our local supermarket, Campbell's Go Soup retails at $2.79 per pouch.  I'll usually get whatever is on sale:  Progresso cans at 4/$5 (with a $1 off coupon), Campbell's Condensed Soup at 10/$10 (with two $1 off 5 cans coupons), or I skip the aisle all together.  And besides, the packaging is different and therefore...a little off-putting.  Or at least intimidating.

But here's what happened:  I belong to Coupons.com, and this week they featured $1 off of 1 pouch coupons.  I printed two.  None of the other soups were on sale this week so I decided, what the heck.  Let's try it.



I picked up the Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda and the Spicy Chorizo & Pulled Chicken with Black Beans.  Definitely not the typical soup flavors!  I'll normally grab for chicken noodle, chicken & rice, cream of chicken.  Chicken Chicken Chicken!  I need some variety!

Today, I chose the Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda.  I vented the pouch on one side and placed it directly into the microwave as instructed.  The liquid in the package popped and sizzled as it cooked, but didn't overflow.  After letting it sit for a minute, I pulled the pouch out of the microwave, holding the Cool Touch handles that are labeled on each side of the packaging.  Then I poured it right into my bowl and gave it a quick stir.




Doesn't look too fancy, right?  It resembles Progresso's Tomato Basil soup.  So the proof is in the taste.

Long story short, I'm licking the bowl clean in between sentences.  The Gouda is very subtle, not at all overpowering.  There are chunks of pepper and visible spices throughout, and several times I bit into pepper seeds, which makes the soup even more enjoyable.  The portions were appropriate, although this particular soup had WAY more fat content than I prefer (15g per serving, 2 servings per pouch).

Giving Campbell's Go Soup a shot has made me a little more comfortable with "pouched" foods.  It seems like the grocery industry is slowly moving in this direction, and I should be open-minded about it.  This is a great example about how a food shouldn't be judged by its packaging.

If you'd like to give it a try, head over to http://www.coupons.com and print out a few coupons!  There are currently 6 different flavors available:

• Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas
• Golden Lentil with Madras Curry
• Coconut Curry with Chicken & Shiitake Mushrooms
• Chicken & Quinoa with Poblano Chiles
• Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda
• Spicy Chorizo & Pulled Chicken with Black Beans

You can also check out the Campbell's Go Website for Nutritional information:  http://www.campbellsgo.com/tagged/gonutritional

Next week, we'll be in Florida.  But the week after that, look for my New England Clam Chowder recipe!  Made from scratch, pretty simple and less expensive than you'd probably expect!

The Bananas Foster

I know it has only been a day or so since my last post, but I figured I owed you all a little extra after my absence!

I like to keep things simple.  Not many people have the time necessary to complete an Iron Chef challenge when they make their meals, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy 5-star food!

This dessert is an excellent example of a quick and easy luxury.  It'll take 15 minutes or less to make and you'll end up wanting to lick the bowl clean.  There is NO shame in that.  Trust me!  I've been there.  Last night.

What you'll need:

• 1 stick of salted or unsalted butter, both work well
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar, light or dark, doesn't matter
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup of dark rum
• 1 shot of any flaming liqueur, I use 99 Bananas
• Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

You MUST make this is a stainless skillet.  Do NOT use nonstick pans.  Not sure about cast iron, but...yeah, no, just use a stainless skillet.  It works!

Start by preparing the bananas.  Once you get the butter/sugar mixture going, you won't be able to step away safely.  Peel each banana and cut them in half.  Then split each half lengthwise.  Kinda difficult to describe properly, but they'll look like this:



Honestly, you can cut them up however you want, but the smaller the pieces, the faster they'll cook.  Not necessarily the best thing.  You'll end up with alcoholic baby food if you cook the bananas too long.

Next, melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat.  Once the butter has completely melted, add the brown sugar and stir to break up any clumps.  You should keep stirring to prevent the mixture from overflowing, since it will bubble and foam.



Add the sliced bananas and make sure they lay flat.  Spoon the sauce over the top as they cook.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side, continuing to spoon the sauce over the bananas.  They'll start looking crusty as the caramelized sugar will cling to the bananas.




And now here's the fun part!  Pour in about 1/4 cup of dark rum and a shot of flaming liqueur.

IF YOU'RE COOKING ON A GAS RANGE, TURN IT OFF NOW!

I completely forgot to turn off my stove last night...and consequently, I have no cool "look at the flames" picture for this blog.  And I finished off my bottle of 99 Bananas with this batch, so I couldn't make an extra batch just for effect.

With a kitchen match or grill lighter, set the mixture on fire.  Hold the pan with an oven mitt and gently shake the pan to help the flame eat up all the alcohol, and the flame will go out on its own.  If you see a sheen of blue in the pan, keep gently shaking, that's fire.

If you happen to forget to turn off the gas when you do this, your flame will NOT go out and will probably end up scorching anything 2-3 feet above the pan.  Like a vent.  Or a cabinet.  Or your eyebrows.

Immediately spoon the bananas and sauce over a bowl of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt!



And there you have it, one of my favorite guilty pleasure desserts.  Quick and easy and oh so delicious!

I...have no clue what I'll be cooking next.  So I've decided to take suggestions or requests!  Feel free to comment on my blog and tell me what you want to see me cook--especially if you have that certain dish that's causing you problems!

The Hummus

What a long, horrible, lonely month it has been!  Our neighbors decided to stop being so generous with their WiFi and put their internet on lock-down.  So we had to pull some strings and cut through a lot of red tape, but we're back online!

Thirty days of no internet kept me surprisingly busy.  I spent the majority of my time going through a very large box of recipes that I've clipped from newspapers, magazines and various food packages.  I've also been able to cook a bit more than usual.  I won't lie, I got inventive.

As promised, I decided to share my hummus (and pita chips!) recipe with you all.  I made this several times since my last blog and have found a few variations that are sure to fit your taste preferences (assuming you like hummus and pita chips, that is).



Starting with the pita chips, preheat your oven to 425°F and line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil.  Spray each foil-lined cookie sheet with cookie spray and set aside.

I usually make 2 full batches (1 batch is a pack of 4 pita bread).  Cut each pita into 8 wedges as shown in the picture below:



Arrange the wedges evenly on the cookie sheet so that they're not overlapping at all.  Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil (I didn't have olive oil, corn oil worked just as well), 2 tablespoons dried basil and about 1 tablespoon garlic salt.



Brush the spiced oil over the top of each wedge on the cookie sheet.  Pop the first sheet into the oven and leave in for about 7 minutes (7 is my magic number with this recipe, but I learned I can only do one sheet at a time or else the chips don't come out very crispy).



After 7 minutes, remove the cookie sheet and replace with the next batch. Continue rotating the sheets in this manner. The chips don't need to cool on the cookie sheet, they can be removed immediately to a large bowl.  I store mine in gallon Ziploc baggies.  Experiment with different flavors by getting whole wheat pitas or adding Parmesan cheese to the oil mixture.

Next up, make the hummus.  This is by far the easiest part of the whole post.



To make a single batch of hummus, you'll need one 15 ounce can of Garbanzo Beans (also known as chickpeas), 1 large clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic salt and oregano.  I made Tom an extra special batch with sun dried tomatoes, which is just an extra ingredient to the original recipe.


In a blender container, dump in the whole can of garbanzo beans.  It seems watery in the end, but it will thicken up in the fridge.  Peel and slice the garlic and throw it in the blender.  Add lemon juice, oil, garlic salt and oregano and blend until creamy.  Pour into a Tupperware container and refrigerate for at least an hour.

So, some Frugalista math:
If you go to the grocery store, you can get a 10 ounce container of  hummus for $2.50 on sale.  A bag of pita chips goes for $4 or more.

My hummus came out to cost me $1.50 for 30 ounces, the pita chips $3 for the equivalent of 4 bags of Stacy's or Athenos' brand.

The only difference between mine and theirs?  I don't use tahini, or sesame seed paste.  And I really can't tell much of a difference in taste.  And I saved over $20!  A very low fat solution to mid-day munchies.

Next week I'm going to teach you all how to make one of my favorite desserts:  Bananas Foster.  Such a simple recipe that utilizes ingredients you probably have laying around your kitchen!

The Sweet Tea

Aaaaaaaand, we're back.

Maybe.

I've been dealing with horrible internet connection for the past couple of days and a blip in my routine, so I'm not sure if this post is early, late or on time.  But here it is!

Due to a lack of fundage and creativity this week, you get my super special Southern Sweet Tea recipe.

In my opinion...better than Farmer's, better than McDonalds, better than Sonny's.  Maybe I'm just tooting my own horn here.



There are SO many different ways to make tea.  My Mom always made ours on the stove in a large saucepan.  I used to make it with an Iced Tea Maker.  But these days, I'm finding that this way is easiest for me.  It's also the closest that I've gotten to copying my Mom's recipe.

The 3 ingredients you'll need:

• Orange Pekoe & Pekoe Black Tea bags (Lipton, Luzianne, Store Brand, doesn't matter)
• Sugar
• Water

Start by filling a tea kettle with as much water as it can hold without overflowing.  Set it on the stove over high heat.  We all know I have zero patience waiting for water to boil, so do that before you do anything else.


Put tea bags in the bottom of a 2-quart, heat-proof pitcher.  If they are family-size tea bags, you'll need 3; if they are individual cup tea bags, you'll need 8, as shown above.


Next, add the sugar (see how mine covers the tea bags?).  Of course, it'll be your preference on how much you use.  I recommend anywhere from 1/2 cup to a full cup.  I use a full cup because we like it SWEET.  Cavity sweet!  You may also use the Splenda/Equal/Sweet n Low equivalent, or leave it unsweetened.

Once the kettle has started to whistle, pour the boiling water into the pitcher all the way up to just under the spout.  Let the pitcher sit for a bit, at least 20 minutes (this batch sat for a whole Glee episode, about 45 minutes).


Once the brewing process is complete, the tea bags should be a little cooler and easier to handle.  Take a long handled spoon and scoop the bags out.  Squeeze them into the pitcher (that's the concentrated tea flavor!) before throwing them in the garbage.  Now take the spoon and stir, concentrating on the bottom of the pitcher.  The sugar on the bottom turns into a sugar-syrup when mixed with the boiling water, so you want that mixed into the freshly brewed tea on the top.

And there you have it!  A southern staple (although I've seen plenty of country boys up here walking around with their half-gallons of tea, names written in permanent marker on the jugs)!

Next week, I'm going to reveal my newest recipe:  homemade hummus!  I'll show you how to make 30+ ounces of garlic-flavored hummus for less than half the price of the 10 ounce containers that you pay $3 a piece for!

The Alfredo

Welcome back to another exciting adventure of "How Much Flour Can Alicia Get on her Shirt before Realizing that Cheree Bought Her an Apron?"

This week, I'm going to show you guys how to make my very awesome, and probably pretty fattening, Alfredo sauce.  I stumbled upon a few recipes similar to this while looking for an Olive Garden copy cat.

My Alfredo adventure began at Borders *sniffle.*  I was browsing the discounted cookbooks when I happened upon "Entertaining with the Sopranos."

Not sure why I picked it up, other than the fact that it's pretty unique.  This book introduced me to bechamel sauce (basically a white sauce, sans cheese).  After many failed attempts over a few years, I scouted the web.  Took some notes, and this is what I came up with as the "perfect" Alfredo sauce.

 
Here are your main ingredients:

• Angel hair pasta
• Cooking oil (most people will recommend olive oil, but all I had was vegetable oil)
• Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (Romano is shown)
• Cloves of garlic--I used 4 because I LOVE garlic and am getting over a cold
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• Flour (not shown)
• Parsley (not shown)
• Garlic salt (not shown)

Start by filling your pasta pot with water and setting it on high.  There's nothing I hate more than waiting for water to boil so I can drop my pasta.  Apparently at a high altitude and on a gas stove, the wait is even longer.

Meanwhile, start popping your garlic.  Yes.  Pop your garlic.  Pull the the desired number of cloves from your bulb, lay them on a flat surface, place a butcher's knife over the top and CAREFULLY smack it with the palm of your hand.  (Thank you, Nicole!)  The clove will smash and the skin will easily peel away.

Cut those cloves in half and put them through a garlic press.



This little gadget has saved me a lot of time and energy dicing fresh garlic.

In a non-stick skillet, swirl the oil once around the pan (I did twice for this recipe and it came out a little oily), and add a stick of butter.  Set the pan on the stove over medium-high heat and wait for the butter to melt a little bit before adding the garlic.



Let the garlic cook until the butter melts all the way.  Don't let it get brown!  I salt my garlic...not sure why...but it tastes good.  Stir with a rubber spatula to spread it out over the pan.

Next, sprinkle a handful of flour into the pan and quickly stir with the spatula.  We're making a garlicky version of the bechamel, also known as a Roux.




This is why my recipe is a little different from the others--you MUST use oil AND butter to prevent the flour from clumping as it cooks.  If it does start clumping, turn your heat down a little bit and we'll take care of that issue in the next step.



Add about 1/2 cup of milk.  I'm totally guessing here, as I don't measure.  I started with about 1/4 cup, then my sauce clumped, so I added a bit more.  As soon as this mixture is borderline between soupy and clumpy (hopefully more soupy than clumpy), add half the container of Parmesan.  Sprinkle the mixture with pepper, garlic salt and parsley and mix thoroughly.



Now that your sauce is done, hopefully your water is boiling or has already started boiling.  One of the reasons I love Angel Hair Pasta is the fact that it cooks in half the time of regular spaghetti.  Drop the pasta, cook as you normally would, drain it and put it back in the pot it was cooking in.  Pour the sauce over the top and mix well.

Voila!



My dinner tonight!  That I've been eating throughout this post!  This recipe will make at least 2 servings (yay leftovers for me!) and you can always increase the quantities for bigger portions.  Tom and I will eat this as a side, or as a main dish mixed with sauteed shrimp.

Thanks for reading; hopefully next week I'll remember to teach you guys how to make my sweet tea!