Chef Debbie Says: You Really Expect "ME" to Eat at a Gas Station?

Last weekend I went down to Maggie Valley to visit my dearest friend Beth Brown, her darling husband Kenny and some of my favorite doggies in the world: Heidi, Oscar and Charlie Brown.

I arrive in Maggie with a full cooler with enough delectable treats to feed half of the state: center cut filets, two big slabs of meaty baby back ribs and lots of juicy Amish chicken breasts. Oh, and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. Parmesan, Sicilian Jack, Danish Blue and Honey Goat. All this for just 3 people for just 3 days!

Beth says she wants to take me to a new favorite restaurant for lunch. I'm game. She's a foodie, Kenny is a foodie and if they say it's good, then it must be.

Oh, one minor detail... this restaurant is in the back of a gas station. And it's in a tiny town 45 minutes away.

Say whaaaat? You want to take me to a gas station restaurant? I'm secretly thinking they might have been away from city life a little too long...

Being the good sport that I am, I "graciously" agree to try the gas station restaurant with the slightly pretentious name of Caffé REL.

Well, Caffé REL put this snotty city girl in her place!

It was nothing like I expected. A charming little restaurant that would fit anywhere on the Champs~Élysées, the extensive menu featured delicacies such as:

Lamb Lollies ~ Rosemary rubbed lamb lollipops finished with shallot scallion Madera sauce

Snails & Tails ~ Helix snails and crawfish tail meat sautéed in butter with portabella mushrooms, Glace De Viande, fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, sherry and fresh cream... and then it's finished with a homemade puff pastry braid

French Blue Bâtard ~ Blue crab claw meat sautéed in butter with shallots, garlic, scallions and capers served on French bread, topped with Parmesan cheese and then baked hot and bubbly.

Not only was lunch simply amazing but when the server inquired about dessert, I ~ of course ~ suggested we "share" one. I naively asked which of the desserts on the extensive list was made in house... too many for me to keep track of.

After much discussion and debate, we decided on the Lemon & Strawberry Cake ~ delicate yellow cake with homemade strawberry jam in between the layers and then iced with an amazing lemon curd icing. Oh, and served with a fabulous whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream.

I didn't want to leave the table and "laughingly" suggested we just order wine and keep the table until dinner.

So next time a foodie friend suggests lunch at the gas station, hope and pray they're talking about a road trip to Franklin, NC.

Chef Debbie's Spoiled Brat Vacation Update

Spoiled brat is back, and back with a vengeance!

Whew! It's been a long time since spoiled brat has made an appearance and I was afraid she was gone for good...

This is the view from our balcony. The trees directly below us are full of hummingbirds and I love sitting outside in the afternoon visiting with Bacchus and watching the hummers zip by.

Yesterday we went to the Phoenix Botanical Garden and they are featuring an amazing Chihuly exhibit spaced all throughout the catci. His work has been carefully placed to enhance the natural beauty, grace and color of the surroundings.

I took 200+ photos of the catci, flowers and butterflies.

Here's one of the Chihuly glass exhibits and it's over 30' tall. Unbelievable! I'm can't imagine how they shipped some of these pieces. I can barely get a dozen wine glasses from point A to point B without breaking some!

So sweet husband and I just got back from dinner at Meritage Steak House. We skipped lunch so we could eat there and we still couldn't finish our entrées.

Dinner was prix fixes with soup, salad or cheese course, main entrée with starch and roasted asparagus and a choice of 7~layer chocolate cake or crème brûlée.

I had the smoked prime rib (every bit of 14oz which I couldn't even begin to finish) and it came with the most sinful sour cream~blue cheese~horseradish cream, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. Maple crème brûlée to finish dinner ~ cuz you just have to have something sweet at the end of a meal.

Tomorrow is another day in paradise. Up around 6:00 a.m.

Funny how I don't complain about getting up here at 6:00 a.m. to walk for 60 minutes while at home getting up that early going to work is, well, just work!

So tomorrow morning. Walk 60 minutes. Chef prepared breakfast. Pool for a couple of hours. Shade for weenie red head Debbie. Downtown Scottsdale for lunch and pop into a few shops. Back to the hotel to clean up and dinner at Radio Milano here in Phoenix.

Just another day in paradise.

Chef Debbie Has Gas Issues!

So. I really don't endorse products or services.

Unless it's a family owned small business grocer, butcher or farm market. Like my buddy, De Stewart, at Herbs & Spice located in historic Findlay Market.

But.

bigg's has introduced a new customer incentive program called bigg's Pump Perks®.

The incentive program has only been in effect for two weeks. And, this is THE BEST customer incentive program they could have ever devised for ME.

For every $10 you spend, you receive .01 (one cent) off of 20 gallons of gas at Sunoco. And, then there are the incentive items. Purchase certain items and receive an additional .01~.15 cents off PER GALLON of gas.

Last week, the first week of the program, I bought my normal weekly client groceries on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Had to fill up on Thursday morning.

Gas was $1.77/gallon. I paid $1.02/gallon for 20 gallons.

Not bad. In fact, after the last couple of years, paying just $1.02/gallon for gas is down right freaking great.

Today gas was $1.95/gallon. I paid $0.019 ~ yes, less then 2 cents per gallon ~ for 20 gallons.

In other words, I paid a mere 38 cents for 20 gallons of gas today.

Finally, it's more than a job going to the grocery store.

And when you drive something as big as the Yummy~mobile, paying less than 2 cents per gallon of gas is a really really good thing!

The down side of this program? I can't ever travel again. Imagine paying full price for a gallon of gas!

Yes. Spoiled brat is back.

Oh, by the way.

Look for a familiar smiling Chef face in this weekend's bigg's Pump Perks® weekly newspaper ads.

Chef Debbie Hits the Jackpot(s)

So sweet husband took me to Las Vegas for a few days for my birthday last month.

I know. You're saying "But spoiled brat didn't you just go on vacation for, like, two weeks to Puerto Vallarta?"

Well, yes, I did. But that was months and months (OK maybe just five months ago) but it seems like a really long time ago and I really needed a birthday vacation.

So many of you've heard my video poker stories over the years and I'm sure even though you know me, you take the stories with a grain of salt.

Gotta tell you, if I heard those stories, I'd wonder too. So I decided to take photos of my jackpots ~ when I remembered.

And there were many times I didn't remember ~ or, rather, when the champagne made me forget.  

These are the jackpots I won during the first two days of my birthday vacation because I got sick and spent four entire days in bed.

But. Thinking about it. Four days doing nothing but sleeping and reading IS a vacation right there.

Lest you think that I spent my entire vacation sleeping, drinking or in front of the video poker machine, I did manage to get to a couple of very good restaurants. Besides our standard stop at Mon Ami Gabi for steak au poivre for sweet husband and filet and a couple of French 75 martinis for me, we ate at a wonderful little restaurant in The Venetian called Tia Toretto.

I typically don't order dessert after dinner but I always look at the dessert menu before anything else ~ well, except maybe not before ordering a glass of wine. But when I saw the dessert tray at Tia Toretto, I had to have dessert. The trouble was deciding which one to have!

All of their desserts are homemade and offered on that evening's tray ~ from the top around clockwise: Apple Cheesecake; Macadamia Tiramisu; Flourless Almond Chocolate Cake; Strawberry and Pistachio Torte; White Chocolate and Orange Layer Cake; Custard Filled Chocolate Covered Longjohn; White Chocolate and Pistachio Torte; Bitter Orange Chocolate Ganache Covered Chocolate Mousse. Yummy!

I had the Apple Cheesecake ~ it sounds boring but it was amazing! Thin slices of apples were painted with a raspberry glaze and then shaped into the rose design all around a creamy apple flavored cheesecake filling. Very simple but oh so good. Along with a glass of 20~year old Port, this restaurant was a Winner!

Still Searching for the Perfect ManMar Recipe

All is just about perfect in my little sliver of paradise.

Sitting on the balcony overlooking the bay, glass of wine by my side, our trip to Puerto Vallarta has been everything and more we’ve hoped it would be. Our resort is in the middle of the bay, about half way in between downtown PV and Bucerias, surrounded on 3 sides by mountains and jungle. For the first week, we didn’t do much more than eat, sip ManMars and take a nap every day.

We’ve spent the last couple of days exploring downtown PV, wandering the flea market, stopping every block or so to sample another $1 margarita, or just to sit and watch the people go by.

We found a great bar/restaurant overlooking the boardwalk called The Cheeky Monkey. We were initially intrigued by the $1 margarita sign advertising “Cheap, Chilly, Cheeky” margs so we decided to stop and check it out. Expecting a thimble~full of tequila~less ritas, we were surprised when jumbo margaritas with a good punch of tequila were delivered. And, then the monkey visited. Or, should I say, he jumped into Tim’s arms. Several margaritas later we sadly bid the monkey a fond adios.

We found another great restaurant off the beaten path where the daily special was $25 including soup or salad and a large glass of wine. Can’t go too wrong there, right? Sweet husband didn’t have the daily special, feasting instead on mustard glazed mahi. Fabulous! Jorge urged me to have the especial du dai and I begged for the recipe.

Below is the recipe for Cinnamon Shrimp. Or, at least I think it’s the recipe. It’s as close as I could understand with Jorge's broken English and my non~Spanish. I’ll try this when I get home and if it needs modifications, I’ll let you know.

I could get used to this!

Margaritas, mountains, dolphins in the bay every morning, star~filled skies every night and the sound of the ocean waves crashing right below me.

Today’s Spanish lesson ~ dos por uno Corona, quarto por dos margarita. These two phrases are very important if you find yourself at happy hour. Fortunately happy hour translates in every language and I’m heading down to partake now.

Adios!

Jorge’s Cinnamon Shrimp
butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 shallots, finely minced
3T sugar
1 bottle red wine ~ recommend dry red from Chile
1/2T cinnamon
Sesame seeds, toasted
Sauté shallots in red wine until soft. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Do not burn. Add sugar and cook, stirring, until melted. Add red wine and cinnamon. Cover with foil or tight fitting lid and simmer 45 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat. Strain, cool and keep refrigerated for up to 7 days.
Sauté fresh shrimp in olive oil until barely cooked. Remove from heat and toss in warmed sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

I recommend serving this with coconut, lime and cilantro rice, sautéed fresh veggies and a large glass of red wine. This sauce would also be wonderful served over salmon or with pork or chicken.

Recipes, Margaritas and Fun in Puerto Vallarta

Hola mes amigos!

Sweet husband Tim and I are in Puerto Vallarta for two weeks and I’m on the mission to find the perfect mango margarita. We arrived Thursday afternoon to perfect blue skies, 80 degrees, sunshine and an ocean view that is breathtaking.

Spoiled brat that I am, we moved up to a top floor corner suite with a wrap-around balcony. And, there was nothing wrong with our original two bedroom suite ~ it just didn’t have as good of a view. I mean, let’s face it, if you’re going to spend two entire weeks looking at something, it should “something.”

So I’ve tried mango margaritas (ManMars) in quite a few bars so far and the winner right now is Claudio’s in Bucerias. It’s a little hole in the beach about a 25~30 minute walk from our resort but their ManMars are sweet and tart, with lots of mango and lots of tequila.

We stumbled on Claudio’s quite by accident. Sweet husband wanted to walk down the beach to the market. Spoiled brat needed to stop, rest and have a margarita. Well, more have a margarita than anything else. Viola! Claudio’s to the rescue. We enjoyed their ManMars so much that after we marketed, we went back for more! While on our second ManMars visit, we sampled what I called “Great Green Garlic Goop” more commonly known to the locals as Green Jalapeno Dip.

Amazing. Outstanding. Awesome. Wow. Yummy!

Here’s the recipe for Claudio’s Great Green Garlic Goop:

4 heads garlic
1 large jalapeno, top, ribs and seeds removed
1/4c onion, chopped
1/4c vinegar
1/2c olive oil
Cut the tops off the heads of garlic. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic cloves on foil squares, top with olive oil, twist tightly closed and place on baking sheet. Roast 25~35 minutes or until garlic cloves are soft. Let cool.
Squeeze roasted garlic out of heads and into food processor. Add jalapeno and onion. Pulse until finely chopped. Add vinegar and blend until smooth. With food processor running, add olive oil in a slow, steady stream until garlic goop begins to emulsify. You may not use the entire 1/2c of oil. This should be the consistency of a runny mayonnaise. Serve with warm pita wedges.

This Spanish language thing is a breeze ~ tequila, enchilada, amigo, si, dos mango margaritas. More Spanish lessons in the days to come.

Champagne with The Beach Boys

So back to last Thursday. Great friend Kristy invited sweet husband Tim and me to the grand opening of The Savannah Center. The Savannah Center is a multi~gazillion dollar conference center slash reception hall slash private party hall in West Chester.

Kristy said it's going to be a great party and one we can't miss. And Kristy knows parties.

I hadn't even heard of it. Needless to say, if I'd pull my head out of the oven once in a while maybe I'd know what's going on in the world.

So we get all dressed up and you know how much I love to do that (sarcasm intended). Makeup, high heels, blow~dried hair, little party purse which holds no more than the requisite tip money and business cards.

We arrive at the Center and immediately after we walk through the door there are servers in black tie with trays of champagne. Whoohoo! My kind of party!

Long story short. Open bar with top shelf everything all night, so many different buffet stations that I lost count, a sushi bar, a beef tenderloin bar, raw bar and a dessert station that was so beautiful it could make you cry. Even with the masses of people who were invited, I never had to wait in line for anything ~ that's how many servers, bartenders and food stations they had set up. Saw tons of old friends and acquaintances. Funny how I haven't seen many of them in a long while but they all knew I was a Certified Personal Chef and owner of Yummy~issimo! Personal Chef Service.

And if that's not enough reason to have a great time, there was a private concert by The Beach Boys. Now knowing spoiled brat for a long time, Kristy had VIP tix for sweet husband and me. That meant a private "meet~n~greet" with the BBs with 2nd row seats for the concert. Well when the concert started, Mike Love invited the first few rows to come up to stand by the stage.

Yep. Spoiled brat. Front row, dead center champagne glass in hand.

What a way to spend a Thursday!