Goodstock Roasted Mushroom Soup

January 6, 2020

Put together some Goodstock Roasted Mushroom Soup for lunch and it was delicious! Added some bacon, chive, and croutons too!

Oyster Stew

November 20, 2019

My recipe is wholly inspired by Chef Bobby Huber, a very popular chef in my region who has unfortunately passed. I only really remember eating oyster stew from cans previously, so experiencing his for the first time was a real eye opener. Afterwards I would order it whenever I saw it on a menu, but always compared it to Bobby’s.

I don’t serve mine with mashed potatoes as his was, but don’t let that stop you from adding them!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Shallots, chopped
1 cup Corn (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup Celery, finely chopped
1/8 tsp hot sauce (I use Speedy’s whenever I get a chance)
8 strips Bacon, chopped
1 cup Chicken Stock
A couple splashes of White Vermouth
1/2 to 1 tsp of Salt
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 tbsp fresh chives or green onions, chopped
1/2 tbsp of Celery Leaves, chopped (optional)
24 large oysters, shucked; with liquor

Directions

Add the butter, shallots, celery, hot sauce, and bacon and cook med-high till the corn starts to pop.

Immediately add the chicken stock, vermouth, and salt; let mixture reduce by half.

Add cream and chives (or green onions) and bring to boil for approximately 1 minute.

Add oysters and reserved liquor, let it boil for another minute then remove from heat. Serve when ready!

Monday Night - You Guessed it, Ramen Night!

February 19, 2018

Another Monday night, another run to The Stockpot for Ramen Night! Shelby made some oatmeal at home that she fancied up by adding shrimp, bacon, and some other good stuff! She tried the new Speedy's #47 Barbados Ghost Sauce Jimmy gave us at the Old Beach Farmer's Market this past Saturday too!

Tom Kha

January 20, 2016

Tom Kha is something I've been around my whole life - that's not the same thing as saying I've been eating it my whole life mind you. If you keep up with me and have read stuff I've written in the past, I wasn't into Thai food much when I was a kid. I do remember how the house would smell when my mother, who is Thai, was using the mortar and pestle to crush Thai Chilis, garlic, and lemongrass.

Delicious!

Those peppers though...the heat could kill you! Seriously. My mom would grow them by the acre and you better believe she was using them too. My first experience eating her beautiful food made me gun shy for years. Then before you know it, Shelby and I were married and off on our own. Boxes of Potato Au Gratin, cheap cuts and that nice Army E-4 pay had us on a affordable diet for years. I'm not knocking it, seriously. I go to Ollie's and pass the rows of boxed spuds, pasta, and Hamburger Helper and think about the good ole lean years. I wouldn't trade a minute of them.

I was talking about soup right?

Anyway...Tom Kha is good. You'll like it and I'm going to show you how to do it. The photo up top has seafood in it obviously. You can do that if you like, the seafood version of this dish is called Tom Kha Talay. Tom Kha is usually made with chicken though, that version (below) is called Tom Kha Gai.

The recipe I put together isn't so much different than most you'll find out there. It's primary components consist of this: Galangal, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Lemongrass and Coconut Milk.

Galangalangawhat?

Galangal has nothing to do with that M.I.A. song, it is a root known as the Thai ginger. You might see it sold in the stores as "Baby Thai Ginger" but please don't confuse it with ginger. Galangal and ginger taste totally different and if you make this soup without galangal it's not really Tom Kha (which translates into "galangal soup" basically.) That being said, you can make it with the ginger we're familiar with if you're in pinch, it just won't taste exactly as it should. It'll be still be good, but different. Galangal can be bought fresh or frozen in your local Asian market. Ask the someone behind the counter to help you out if you're having a hard time finding it.

Let's make some soup! Here's what you need to make Tom Kha at home.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Coconut Milk
3 large Kaffir lime leaves
1 Lemongrass, large stalk, trimmed
2 Thai Chilis
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Yellow Onion, minced
1 Package of mushrooms shiitake/oyster preferred, approx 8 oz., chopped
2 Tbsp Galangal, slivered
1 Lime, large
3 Tbsp Fish Sauce
3 Cups of Chicken Stock
Cilantro to Garnish
Optional: Thai Chili Powder

Before You Start:

Important! Do not boil the coconut milk. If you boil the coconut milk at a high temperature, it will not remain emulsified and the fat will separate from the liquid. Just like what happens to butter when it is heated at high temperatures.
You can use chicken or seafood (shrimp, mussels, squid, etc...) with this recipe. Eat what you like!
Chop up everything you need to put in the soup. I like to cut my galangal up in small, thin slivers. I do this so it can stay in the soup and not be strained out. Most recipes will have you remove or strain the galangal after the first phase of their recipes, I like to keep it in the soup. Getting a little bite of the root, almost crunchy, almost nutty, is great. If you prefer not to have it in, just slice it in larger pieces then strain before you add your chicken or seafood.
Trim the lemongrass taking off any rough or brown bits. It a lot of recipes you would only use the white, fleshy part of the lemongrass. The reason is because it it easier to eat, we're not eating the lemongrass it's being steeped in the broth essentially. I'll admit to finely cutting up some lemon grass and leaving it in the soup when the mood hits me.
Crush the lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, and Thai chilis. Use your pestle, a muddler or back of a heavy spoon to open up them up to release flavor. Remove chili seeds if you don't want it too hot.
I do not remove all of the aromatics from the stock pot before I add the meat, but I do before I add the coconut milk.
Chili powder can be added for more flavor, this is optional.

Directions:

Add the chicken stock, sugar, onion, Kaffir lime leaves, Thai chilis, lemongrass and galangal to a medium sized stock pot. Bring to a rolling boil for about 10 minutes.
Add mushrooms, continue to boil for about 8-10 minutes to cook mushrooms.
At this time if you wish to remove large pieces of aromatics (Kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, chili, galangal) do so after the mushrooms are done.
Add your chicken or seafood now, cook for about 10 minutes in the boiling broth. Remove any foam that might float to the top of the broth.
After the meat is cooked through, pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice, lower heat to a light simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with cilantro and lime wedges and maybe have a little more fish sauce on hand.

This is pretty easy to make and after a couple of tries it'll be a breeze. We use leftover chicken sometimes, if we do it doesn't need boiling as long. Just lower the heat to a simmer, cook for the same amount of time as you would the raw. Continue to follow the directions.

Enjoy!

Virginia Beach Restaurant Week 2015 - Ammos for Lunch

January 15, 2015

Shelby messaged me yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to Ammos Authentic Greek Cuisine off Great Neck Rd. for lunch. Her co-worker said she wouldn't mind checking it out—cool—we haven't been either! It's Virginia Beach Restaurant Week and they were participating in the $10 lunch special.

I remember being at Yiannis Wine Shop last year and Yiannis said I had to check out the Greek place across the street. He said the food was very good and authentic, I assumed he knew what he was talking about since he was from Cypress. Yiannis even offered to pay for dinner if Shelby and I went to check it out. I declined his generous offer and promised that I would check it out. Sadly it took me several months but we finally made it and we weren't disappointed.

I met Shelby and her friends Crystal, Laura and Jonathan who were already seated. There were supposed to be 6 of us but one of them couldn't make it, no worries though, seating was readily available for them when walked in arrived. Our server, Adriyan, promptly offered water and asked if we wanted anything else to drink. The Restaurant Week menus were on the table, we checked out what was being offered.

We were given choices for two courses, here's what was being offered:

First Course

Choice of Dip (tzatziki, melitzanosalata, taramosalata, scordalia, tirokafteri or hummus)
Spanakopita
Cup of Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo or Lentil Soup

Second Course

Gyro or Chicken Pita with Fries
Small Greek Salad with Gyro or Grilled Chicken
Mediterranean Pasta

Melitzanosalatawas with Pita — Melitzanosalatawas with Pita

I already knew Shelby would go for the Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, she loves that stuff. I saw a Greek version of Baba Ganoush called Melitzanosalatawas available with the pita so I ordered that. Crystal, affectionately known as “Turd” had the Lemon Chicken Orzo too, Laura took the Spanakopita and Jonathan had a cup of Lentil Soup. Adriyan was a great help explaining what was available and what might be the best bet when ordering courses. She told us the Lemon Chicken Orzo is on the normal menu, but the Lentil Soup was a special for Restaurant Week. I think that had Jonathan lean towards the lentil which he ultimately ordered.

Adriyan went over the our second course options and I decided I'd go with the Chicken Gyro since Shelby was ordering the Greek Salad with Gyro. Laura and Jonathan both went with the traditional gyros plates and Crystal had the Mediterranean Pasta. After heading back to put in our orders she quickly returned with our first course meals. My Melitzanosalatawas was served with a generous amount of soft pita for dipping. I liked the texture and it had plenty of garlic, which I love. I don't know if Shelby will later when we were home though. I didn't get to try the soups but the feedback was good. I was snapping photos of peoples plates but didn't get a shot of Laura's Spanakopita, she had already ate half of it!

Before we could finish out the first course the second came to the table. The portions were good and everything smelled great. My Gyros plate came with fries so I started picking at them. I have a tendency to always eat my fries first—I have no idea why, been doing it since I was a kid. I pinched off a piece of the grilled chicken in my pita and it was cooked perfectly. Moist, a little grill char on the outside and seasoned nicely. The sauce and vegetables in the pita wrap blended well and I didn't have a problem finishing the whole thing. Shelby's salad looked good and she was getting into the feta cheese and olives. The gyros meat on the salad was the same in the Gyros meals and it was standard fair, what you would find in most Greek restaurants. Crystal seemed to be enjoying her pasta which had sun dried tomatoes, capers, onions, olives and a few other things including a white win garlic sauce.

All in all it was a good meal and the service was great. I'd like to come back and hit the regular menu for a proper dinner sometime. I love lamb and I bet they have a couple of great plates with it. Their Restaurant Week dinner menu does have a braised lamb on it, so maybe that's an option? Maybe next time, we try to head to different restaurants during Virginia Beach Restaurant Week to try places that are new to us.

Can't wait to see where we end up next!

Take-out Dinner Tonight - Pho

November 5, 2013

We've been on a Pho (phở) kick this year, usually going to a place not too far from the house called Pho 79. With the cooler weather it's especially easy to pick-up something like this for dinner.

Shelby and I will split an order, so I pick up #4 Phở Tái, Nam, Gâu. Honestly, I have no idea if that is spelled correctly or what it translates into but I gave it go (copied and pasted from their site.) It's the broth with round steak, flank, and brisket. The beef is cooked when you get it. Some pho places we've been to serve the meat raw and the hot broth cooks it in the bowl. If I order in restaurant, I'll get the tendon and tripe in addition to the beef cuts.

I'll ask for extra sauces and vegetables, which they'll give you at no extra charge, and another container of broth. The extra broth is only $3. Sometimes I'll pick extra mint or Thai basil from our garden if it's available and cut up a little extra onion.

Driving home with it in the car makes me hungry. The whole car is filled with the smell of savory broth, I can't wait to open it.

Pho Night Bonus: Pretty sky tonight on the drive home.

Thom Kha at Thai Arroy

October 19, 2013

Ten Top Take-out

September 16, 2013

Tried something new at The Ten Top last night and was blown away by one of the items we ordered: Crab Bisque! So far my favorite crab soup is the She-Crab Soup served at Mannino’s, but after having the Crab Bisque from Ten Top, I’ll have to re-evaluate my rankings. Guess this means a trip to Mannino’s ;)

The Meatloaf Sandwich I had was very good too. We were trying to figure out how they made the meatloaf, bell peppers in the mix was good.

i<3food

5th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic

May 9, 2013

I can’t believe I didn’t post some of these photos here! Sorry! A few weeks ago we attended the 5th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic in Virginia Beach, VA. There were 19 completing restaurants working for a Critic’s and People’s choice award. If you check out the close-up shot just above you’ll see this years winner — Mannino’s. Here are the results:

2013 Winners

Critics’ Choice Award

1st Place: Mannino’s Italian Bistro

2nd Place: Blue Pete’s Restaurant

3rd Place: Murphy’s Irish Pub

Honorable Mentions: Lynnhaven Fish House, Passion the Restaurant, and Tradewinds

Peoples’ Choice Award

1st Place: Mannino’s Italian Bistro

2nd Place: Rockafeller’s Restaurant

3rd Place: Blue Pete’s Restaurant

Honorable Mentions: Freemason Abbey Restaurant, Murphy’s Irish Pub, and Sofia’s at the North End

I really think Whole Foods should have placed, I was honestly surprised that they didn’t even get a mention. Better luck next year guys, everyone did a great job! Can’t wait.

Pho 79 at Hilltop

May 5, 2013

Phở 79 at Hilltop, Virginia Beach, VA. We ordered the Bún bò xào - Stir fried lemongrass beef with vermicelli and Phố đặc biệt - flank steak, brisket, soft tendon, and tripe. People keep asking why my phở was so red. I put everything in it :)

i<3food