Athena Cafe - Restaurant Review 6

Greek cuisine is by far one of my favorites.  I have always been drawn to Mediterranean flavors; olives, oregano, feta cheese, lemons... These are a few of my favorite things.  I adore pita, and the combination of cucumbers and tomatoes.  Greek yogurt is versatile and the base of one of my favorite sauces.  I am constantly on the hunt for new Greek restaurants.
Last week I was in the mood for a Gyro, and I also wanted to try a new place.  I have some great apps on my iPhone that help me find restaurants in the area, complete with pictures, recommended dishes, and directions.  Using this technology I was able to find Athena Cafe, located in Altamonte Springs, FL.  There were some very good reviews posted online, so off I went.
I was warmly greeted, and I thought the service was fast, and friendly.  My waitress, Crystal, was on top of things, and gave me ample time to peruse the menu but what was ready to take my order as soon as I decided.  I ended up choosing one of their dinner combos, which in my case was a traditional gyro with a Greek side salad.
My salad came out first.  It had fresh romaine, white onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, pepperoncinis, olives, feta cheese, and the best thing ever about Greek salads, potato salad.  It may sound odd to have potato salad with a green salad but there is something about the combination that is absolutely magical.  The only ingredients missing that would have completed this for me would have been beets and chickpeas, which are in my favorite Greek salad ever at Mr. Souvlaki in Tarpon Springs, FL.  The great thing about the salad here at Athena Cafe was that every table had a bottle of the dressing.  To me this is great, because you can put as much or as little as you like.
My gyro came out next.  I am picky when it comes to my gyros, traditionally they come on a fresh warm pita with meat, sauce, onions, and tomatoes, and some places also add lettuce.  I prefer my gyro with only the meat and sauce, sometimes with onion as well.  On this visit I did opt for onions to be added to my meat and sauce.  By the way, the meat on gyros is traditionally a lamb and beef mixture, cooked on a spit and then the meat is shaved off.  Yum!  My gyro was good, but not great.  I would leave off the onion next time, because it was in big chunks which is not my favorite thing.  Also, the meat seemed to be one of those prepackaged gyro meats as opposed to the fresh, just shaved off the spit meat I adore at Mr, Souvlaki.  But the pita on the sandwich was delicious, and I did enjoy the tzatziki (the traditional cucumber yogurt sauce).  
Overall, my experience at Athena Cafe was a decent one.  The food was good (although next time I'm hoping for something a little better, I'll probably try a new dish), the service was excellent, the prices were reasonable, and I thought the restaurant was clean and bright.

Picture View-Coconut Custard Pie

Ingredients



Custard




Custard in pie crust



Blind-baked Crust



Coconut Custard Pie - We Made Room For Dessert 3

Even though the title of this blog is No Room For Dessert, occasionally we do make room for dessert. I do like sweets, but in moderation.  Also, I am more of a cook then a pastry/dessert maker, hence the name of the blog.
This week's recipe is embracing the sweeter side of life.  I had a can of sweetened condensed milk laying around, and wanted to make something new.  I searched for recipes that used this ingredient and saw several pie recipes.  I already had pie dough in the freezer, and a bag of flaked coconut, so I went with a recipe for Coconut Custard Pie.
I encountered some difficulties making this pie, not because of the recipe (which is VERY easy to follow), but probably because of my baking jinx.  Either way, the pie was delicious when it was done, and I feel like I learned a few things along the way.  I'll note my issues and possible solutions along the way in the recipe.
 Coconut Custard Pie
Ingredients:
1 9inch refrigerated pie dough (or make your own dough)
1 1/4 cups hot water
3 large eggs
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup flaked coconut, untoasted
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
*optional 1/2 tsp coconut extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.  Bake pie crust 8 minutes; cool slightly. It is helpful to use pie weights during this process, or a couple cups of dried beans (placed over foil or parchment paper).  My crust shrank down and lost some shape during this blind-bake process, probably due to the fact that I did not use weights or beans.
Beat eggs well in a medium bowl. Add sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, salt and nutmeg (and coconut extract, if using); mix well. Add water in slowly, a quarter of a cup at a time, stirring very well.  My custard was not as smooth as I would have liked it to be, and I think that was because I didn't temper the eggs with the water correctly.
Next, Stir in untoasted coconut. Pour custard mixture into crust. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; bake an additional 25 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool.
We ate the pie while it was still warm (only 30 minutes out of the oven) and it was yummy.  This pie tastes great, warm or cold.  I would recommend leftovers be kept in the refrigerator, because of the eggs in the recipe.
Enjoy! 

Mom's Mac N Cheese - Home Cooked Recipe 32

One of my favorite dishes from my childhood is the macaroni and cheese my mom used to make. When I moved out on my own, it was one of the first recipes I asked her to send me. It is very simple to make, and I've gotten many compliments on it. As with almost every recipe I make, I have made a few small adjustments to suit my taste. Recipes are merely a guide, you should always adjust them to your own specific tastes.
Mom's Mac N Cheese
Ingredients:
16oz elbow macaroni
2 cans Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup
Milk (fill 1 of the empty soup cans with milk)
16oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs (my mom used regular breadcrumbs, I now like using panko breadcrumbs that I've crushed with a rolling pin)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp ground mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste (I like LOTS of pepper!)
Dash of cayenne
Dash of smoked paprika

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cook elbow macaroni in salted, boiling water for 10 mins. You don't want to overcook your macaroni because it will continue cooking in the cheese sauce while baking. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. When onions are soft season with mustard, cayenne, paprika, salt, and pepper. Turn heat to low and then add both cans of soup and 1 can of milk. Whisk together well. Drain macaroni. Add back into pot. Stir in cheese soup mixture. Add half of grated cheddar and stir well. Grease baking dish (with butter or cooking spray). Pour macaroni into baking dish. Top with other half of grated cheddar. Mix breadcrumbs with 1 tablespoon of melted butter then sprinkle over cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Special Travel Post - Chicago Food

During memorial day weekend I went up to Chicago, IL for 5 days to participate in a national dart tournament,  (In case you didn't know, my other hobby besides being a foodie is playing darts competitively.)  I was excited to go because I have been dying to try some of the great dishes I hear about that come out of the Chicago area.
I had three main items on my list that I wanted to try while I was in town.  The first was a Chicago-style hot dog.  Spending part of my childhood in NY has made me slightly snobbish in what I like on my hot dogs, but I wanted the full Chicago hot dog experience.  The second item on my list was and Italian Beef sandwich.  I see them all the time on Food Network and have been waiting to try a traditional one.  The last item on my list was deep dish pizza.  My time in NY has also made me partial to NY-style pizza, but every once in a while I do like a good deep dish pie.
Unfortunately, I did not get to try one item on my list.  I did not end up having time to get a deep dish pizza.  However, I did try a regular cheese pizza from a local place.  We ordered Sarpino's pizza in our hotel room one night.  We ordered one large cheese pizza, and it came with pepperoncini's (which I adore).  It was a good pizza, a little bit of a thicker crust than we're used to in FL, with just the right amount of sauce and lots of yummy cheese.  Not bad for a middle of the night meal.  You can find them online at Sarpino's Pizza.
I did get to try an Italian Beef sandwich and WOW was it good!  Even better than I had imagined.  My friend and I stopped at a local place called Bob-O's Hot Dogs.  They have been a Chicago legend since the 1950's.  I ordered 2 Italian Beef sandwiches, 1 for me, 1 for my boyfriend.  I opted to get both with hot giardiniera, since I happen to love giardiniera, and most of the the food specials on TV I see serve there Italian Beef's with it.  The friend that I was with ordered the Chili Cheese Fries, and something called a Pizza Puff.  The puff looked basically like a folded up piece of pizza that was deep fried.  The order of fries was HUGE, and worth their $4 price tag.  Oh, but those sandwiches!  My bf said it was one of the best sandwiches he's had in a long time, and I had to agree.  I could probably eat one at least a couple of times a week.  They were large sandwiches, served on french bread, piled high with homemade Italtian Beef.  Dipped in aus jus, they were moist and tender, and the spicy giardiniera on top just made them perfect.  I would definitely recommend anyone to order them if they're in the area.  Yum!  You can find more info about Bob-O's at Bob-O's Hot Dogs.
The last thing I tried was a Chicago-style hot dog.  On our way back out, we had lunch at the airport at a place called Gold Coast Dogs.  I opted for a cher-grilled hot dog, Chicago-style, which included yellow mustard, bright green relish, onions, a tomato slice, a pickle spear, sports peppers, and celery salt.  Being the hot dog snob I am I didn't know if I'd like it, but it was really good!  The peppers were a little on the spicy side for me and I ended up picking a lot of them off, but other than that I really enjoyed my Chicago-style hot dog.  My bf also got one, but he did the jumbo dog, Chicago-style.  You can find more info about Gold Coast Dogs at GCD.
I also want to mention that we made a trip to White Castle as well.  We don't have them in FL, but we do have a similar place in FL called Krystal's.  There is something magical about tiny cheeseburgers!
The next time I get to Chicago I will find myself a deep dish pizza, and I also hope to try Italian Beef sandwiches from other locations as well.  In addition, I'm going to do some more research on native Chicago foods, and try them as well.

Sarpino's Pizza

Cheeseburgers and Fries from White Castle

White Castle Cheeseburger

White Castle

Bob-O's Hot Dogs

Chili Cheese Fries from Bob-O's Hot Dogs

Italian Beef w/giardiniera from Bob-O's

Side view of Italian Beef

Jumbo Chicago-style Dog from Gold Coast Dogs

Char-grilled Chicago-style dog from Gold Coast Dogs