Birdtown Cafe in Robbinsdale

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We are always looking for an interesting place to go for breakfast, close to home. I was very excited to see, a few weeks ago, Birdtown Cafe open on the main drag in Robbinsdale which is just minutes from our house. 
I had the opportunity to try out the breakfast menu finally, last weekend, when my parents were in town. I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive, taking them to a new place without having "previewed" it myself. And, I tried to at least look at the menu online, but only found a Facebook page and two Yelp reviews. I was on my own... 
The interior of the restaurant is nice and clean, simple. On entry, I noticed an enormous cinnamon roll in the display case, which I pointed out to my mother. She loves these, but decided maybe not this day. We were seated prompted, everything was fine, the server even took the ribbing my dad always gives the servers wherever we go! 
The menu is pretty standard diner fare, nothing exotic, except for something called a "Fill-it Skillet: Challenge", an eating contest we weren't ready to partake in this day. My husband chose Eggs Benedict, because, well, it's his favorite thing for breakfast, and I chose Cinnamon French Toast. 

Eggs Benedict from Birdtown

The meal was served very quickly, which was nice on a Saturday morning at 10am, as we expected it to be a longer wait. 
So, the Eggs Benedict. The hollandaise, although difficult to tell whether it was made from scratch. The eggs were perfectly cooked, and Canadian bacon was a nice slice, in proportion with the rest of the serving size. Ray thought the English muffins were a little tough, and wish he had another options than hash browns for a side. Actually, this is a common issue at breakfast establishments. Does everything have to come with hash browns ? At any rate, they were hash browns, cooked well, a successful breakfast dish. 

Cinnamon French Toast

The real star was this Cinnamon French Toast. I hesitate to call it that, because it was one of the GIANT cinnamon rolls from the front bakery case, sliced, lightly battered, and fried. It was delicious, and didn't need syrup at all. And the portion size was enormous! I ate one piece, let everyone else at the table have a taste, and still took some home. My husband loves French Toast, and he thinks this is the best he has ever had. 
The Birdtown is open for breakfast and lunch, but according to their Facebook page, they will open for dinner September 10th. I am interested enough to try it, but we will definitely be back for the French Toast. https://www.facebook.com/BirdtownCafe

The Pizza Delivery Debacle

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Or, "My Punishment for Ordering Pizza" 
We rarely do this. At least in recent history. But, on a Thursday night, after a long day at work, where I sustained a minor injury due to my own clumsiness, my husband suggest we order pizza to be delivered. I succumbed, against my better judgement. We discuss who we should call, because we live in something of a pizza delivery wasteland, where the only options are chains, so we attempt to select the best of the worst...Sarpino's. 
We used to order Sarpino's when we did order delivery pizza, and it wasn't bad, and their service was decent. We stopped about a year ago when all that changed. We suspected this particular franchise might be under new management, which caused the quality and service to go downhill. It happens. we just started making pizzas on the grill, and we like them a lot. But, on this ill-fated day, we decide to give them a second chance. 
Sarpino's has an online ordering system that gives you updates on the status of your order. Very cool, except that it sets an expectation of when your dinner should arrive. We received an email at 7:11 stating our pizza was "out for delivery." In my world, that means in the driver's car, on the way to my house. And in the past, that usually meant he was at our house in 10-15 minutes. So, tick, tock.... 
Thirty minutes pass, then forty...we start peeking out the door, wondering if the delivery driver is at the wrong house. I am just about to call the store, when we hear a knock. Hooray ! Pizza ! My husband answers the door, takes the credit card slip from the driver, and asks "So, what happened, that it took 45 minutes to get here ?" The driver, stands there, stunned. Ray signs the slip, and asks, "Has the pizza been riding around in the car for 45 minutes?" The driver then says "Just give me the receipt!" grabs it, and the pizza, jumps in his car and drives away. Huh ? 
We stand there, stunned. What just happened? Our pizza took 45 minutes to get to our house from a storefront 10 minutes away, and now we stand here, credit card charged, and no pizza. I call the store, ask to speak to the manager. A nice, young man, by the name of Alex, comes on the line. I explain what happened, and Alex says, "I don't why he took the pizza." OK, me neither. I ask that he make sure our credit card doesn't get charged, and ask if he can explain why it would take 45 minutes for a pizza to get to our house from his shop. Alex tries to explain that the email is automatic (of course it is), and that just because it goes out, doesn't mean the driver actually left with the pizza. This makes no sense to me. 
I tell Alex we have a problem now, because we have now been waiting over 2 hours, we have no dinner, and we're upset. He offers to send the driver back to the house with the pizza, but quite frankly I don't want a pizza that has been sitting now for well over an hour, nor do I want to wait another hour for a fresh one. I tell him just make sure the card isn't charged, and email me confirmation of this (which he claims he can't do). Again, he offers to have the driver bring out the receipt. I don't want this driver anywhere near my house, he wasn't scared when he left here, he was ANGRY! So, we agree the best course of action is just to leave it at that. 
We order another pizza, from another place, and the waiting begins again. Approximately 45 minutes later, there is a knock on the door, and we think it is our fresh, new pizza from the newly selected restaurant. No, it is someone from Sarpino's ! A nice, more mature gentleman presents us with a pizza and a gift certificate and says, "Alex would like you to have this, with our compliments" and leaves. I am stunned. It was a nice gesture, yes. But now we have another pizza on the way. We are ravenous by this point, so we open the box, and each take a slice. It's horrible tasting, undercooked,  and slimy. And at some point, Ray looks at me and says, "You know, they might be angry with us, and messed with this pizza in some way." We both put down the slices of pizza and grimace. And now we have a gift certificate for a place we really have no interest in patronizing again. 
The whole experience kind of put us off pizza in general. We had a ton of left over pizza this morning as I left for work, my original plan being to take some for lunch. I couldn't stomach it, but I am not sure if it was the actual pizza or the experience that made me feel that way. 

Palak Paneer

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I think I could be addicted to paneer. I wanted to learn to make it from scratch, but we didn't have time to do that, and I found this GIANT package of it at the store, so I used it to recreate one of my favorite Indian dishes. 
Palak is sort of a spinach stew, and I really love spinach. When I told my husband I was going to make this, he said I better make a big batch, because he loves it too. So, I apologize in advance for the enormous proportions here, but it freezes beautifully, and I am looking forward to pulling it out of the freezer later on, and enjoying it again. Palak Paneer1 two pound package paneer, cut into cubes1/4 cup butter, divided 1 large onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespooons ginger, minced 1 serrano chili, minced 1 tablespoon cumin 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/4 teaspoon cloves 1  14 ounce can fire roasted, chopped tomatoes1/2 cup water1 pound fresh baby spinach1 six ounce container greek yogurtIn a large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Brown the paneer cubes until golden on all sides, and remove from pan. Add remaining butter to the pan, and saute onions, garlic, ginger and serrano pepper until soft. Add spices and cook until spices are toasted. Add tomatoes and water, and about half of the spinach. Cook spinach down, and add remaining spinach. Continue to cook until spinach is soft. Using an immersion blender, blend the stew until somewhat smooth, but still has some texture. Add yogurt, and stir paneer back into pan. Let simmer until paneer is warmed through. 

Smoked Pork Tacos

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This is the second holiday we have spent firing up the smoker, and experimenting with smoked meats. I really love pushing my creativity, coming up with new combinations of brine, rub and smoke. For the pork this round, I decided to bring in a simple combination of molasses, salt and water, and make the rub the real star. We used pecan and cherry to smoke. I didn't take the pork to the complete "pulled pork" stage, and left it to medium temperature. This left me with the good, smoked flavor, but the texture of a nice pork roast. For these tacos, I topped these with a simple jicama slaw, and some quesadilla cheese. They were perfect! 
Smoked Pork Tacos
For the pork:
One 5-8 pound pork butt (shoulder)
3 quarts water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
3/4 cup molasses
The night before you are ready to smoke, mix together the water, salt and molasses. Place the pork butt in the mixture, and refrigerate overnight.

Rub mixture:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon ground garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
In the morning, remove the meat from the brine, and pat dry. Generously rub the seasoning mixture all over the pork butt. Smoke for 10-12 hours at 200-225 degrees, until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 180-185 degrees. Remove from heat and let rest for 30 minutes.

Check out the smoke ring on that baby!

For the jicama slaw:
1 medium sized jicama, cut into matchsticks
1 small red pepper, diced finely
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Mix vegetables and cilantro together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

To assemble tacos:
6 small flour tortillas, warmed
6 ounces quesadilla cheese
Smoked pork, diced
Jicama slaw
Salsa of your choice
Place meat on tortillas, add toppings as desired. Enjoy!

Pastrami from Scratch

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Grilled Pastrami Sandwich

We made corned beef from scratch earlier this year for St. Patrick's Day, and specifically saved one with the intention of smoking one for pastrami. I had never tried this before, but I love a good pastrami sandwich. How hard could it be ?
Turns out, fairly simple, and really decadent. I put quite a bit of pepper on the outside of this one, because that is how I like pastrami when I purchase it. We smoked this slow along with all of our other goodies on Labor Day, and I had a hard time keeping my hands off it, as it was the first item off the smoker. 
You could use a store bought corned beef for this recipe as well. The real key here is to soak the corned beef in water for at least two hours prior to getting it on the smoker. You will want to remove some of the salt in which it was originally brined. 
Pastrami from Scratch1 4 to 5 pound corned beef 4 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper (not too finely ground) 2 tablespoons ground coriander 1 tablespoon whole coriander 2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons garlic powder 2 tablespoons onion powder1 tablespoon dried thyme 1 cup apple juice, plus more for basting Soak the corned beef in water for at least two hours. Remove from water and pat dry. Combine all spices, and generously rub into the corned beef. Place meat on smoker, and smoke at 200-225 degrees for 6-8 hours, until meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Place meat in an aluminum pan, add 1 cup of apple juice, and cover with foil. Place back onto the smoker, and smoke an additional hour or more, until internal temperature is 165. Remove from smoker, and from pan, and let it cool completely. Refrigerate overnight before slicing (if you can stand it!). 
For the sandwich: 4 slices pumpernickel bread 4 slices swiss cheese 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon fresh horseradish 8 ounces sliced homemade pastrami 2 tablespoons butter Mix together the mayonnaise and horseradish, and spread on one side of the slices of bread. Place a piece of cheese on each piece of bread. Divide meat in half, and place on one piece of bread, top with the other. Melt half of the butter in a pan, and place sandwich in the pan. Spread remaining butter on top of the sandwiches while they are cooking. Flip when they are brown, and brown the other side. Slice in half and serve. 

Smoked Chicken Quesadillas

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This could technically be an addition to the 'Chopped Refrigerator Challenge" Hall of Fame, since we had smoked chicken from Labor Day, but that shouldn't really count as a left over, since we specifically smoked a lot of meats to eat all week long, and freeze for future use. I love the whole smoked chickens, we used to go to a Hutterite Farmers Market twice a year near my home town twice a year to stock up on them. One of my favorite preparations was always smoked chicken salad sandwiches, which may make an appearance here later this week. I had some avocado just about to turn in the refrigerator, so I needed to make something with those, and salsa fresca is our favorite way to use those up. With the leftover tortillas from fish tacos, quesadillas seemed like a smart transition.

Smoked Chicken Quesadillas 
To smoke the chicken:
2 whole chickens, about 5 pounds each
3 quarts water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup pickling spice
Combine these ingredients together, and immerse chickens in the brine. Let soak overnight. Remove from brine in the morning and pat dry.

For the rub:
2 tablespoons lemon pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
Mix spices together and rub chickens thoroughly with spice mixture. Place on smoker, and smoke at 200-225 for 6-8 hours until meat reaches an internal temperature of 185. Remove from heat and let rest for 30 minutes.

For the quesadillas:
1 cup smoked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup queso fresco
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 tortillas

For the salsa fresca:
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, diced finely
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Toss all the ingredients in a bowl just before you are ready to serve.

To assemble the quesadillas, place one tortilla on your board. place half the queso fresco on it, then half the chicken. Top with half the cheddar cheese, and another tortilla. Repeat for a second quesadilla. Heat a small non-stick spray pan and brush lightly with olive oil. Toast the quesadillas lightly on each side until warmed through, and cheese is melted. Place on a serving plate, cut in quarters, and top with salsa fresca.

Maple Bacon Apple Crisp

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I'm not competitive...hehehe....

I really am ! I love entering bake offs, chili cook offs, you name it ! And when I saw the Kingfield Farmers Market had an apple bake off, I wanted to enter, because I make a really awesome apple crisp. But I needed to kick it up a notch, to win, of course ! And I didn't...

But, I was so pleased with the recipe, I am posting it anyway! Maybe a little too adventurous for the folks at the Kingfield Farmers Market, but I would make it again in a heartbeat!

Maple Bacon Apple Crisp


For the apple base: 3 large Granny Smith Apples, peeled and diced 3 large Minnesota Zestar apples, peeled and diced1 cup Minnesota maple syrup 6 ounces dried cranberries ¼ cup all purpose flour1 tablespoon Saigon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmegMix together and place in a 9 by 13 pan coated with butter.
For the topping: 1 cup salted butter 2 ½ cups old fashioned oats¾ cup all purpose flour ¾ cup dark brown sugar1 tablespoon Saigon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 pound good, smoked bacon, fried crispy and diced intosmall pieces Mix all ingredients together until crumbly. Bakeat 375 degrees  45-60 minutes until brownon top and bubbly. Let rest 10-15 minutes, before serving warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream.