Eating Out: Buzzard Billy's

We were attending the final Iowa Barnstormers Arena football game of the season in downtown Des Moines with Jo's sister Michelle and her husband, Terry. Where to eat? We decided on a place that has been in Des Moines for many years, and is just down the street from Wells Fargo arena (where the game is played). Let's check out Buzzard Billy's!

Buzzard Billy's serves "the best of authentic New Orleans and American cuisine". What's not to like about that? Get some good food and a few beers, then walk up to the game. 

Now, Buzzard Billy's has a huge menu. From appetizers, wings, soups, salads, dinners, and sandwiches, I count 92 different choices!  While trying to decide what to eat, we choose the "Cajun Nachos" for an appetizer. 

                                 Cajun   Nachos

Certainly a great way to start the night..."Corn tortilla chips smothered in cheese sauce, topped with a spicy Cajun sausage blend, mozzarella cheese, banana peppers and fresh pico de gallo." It comes with salsa and sour cream on the side.  The serving size is huge!


While I was drinking a beer, Jo opted for the "Category 5 Hurricane", a New Orleans legend. It must have been pretty good, because she told me we need to learn how to make these at home.


                                  Category 5 Hurricane

After much thought, we finally decided on what to eat for dinner. Terry likes spicy burgers, so he chose the Swamp Thing..."A 1/2 lb. Certified Angus Beef topped with coleslaw, Creole honey mustard, jalapeno bacon and Jalapeno Muenster cheese, served on a jalapeno bun."

                                   Swamp  Thing

He said it was good, but he would have like some more spice on it. Those are sweet potato fries on the side.

I chose the "Louisiana Purchase"...Fried crawfish, Fried Alligator Tail & Fried Oysters served with Creole Honey Mustard, cocktail sauce, Remoulade and Tartar sauce. It comes with French fries, hushpuppies and coleslaw.

                                Louisiana  Purchase

The crawfish were good.  The fried gator and the oysters were pretty small and mostly breading. Fries were thick and good. Great taste on the coleslaw, but it was room temperature. Coleslaw is one thing I think needs to be served cold. I'll probably pass on this one next time and go with the dinner Jo got...Chicken Tchoupitoulas.  "A fresh chicken breast seasoned with Cajun spices and grilled, served over a hash of diced fried potatoes, ham, mushrooms and green onions. Topped off with a New Orleans Barnaise Sauce".


                             Chicken Tchoupitoulas

Chicken was cooked perfectly, the ham was excellent, and the sauce brought it all together. Very tasty. And the corn side dish was very different, but very tasty...although it could have been hotter (spicier AND temperature).

Michelle opted for the fried gator strips with sweet potato fries...

                                                                Fried  Gator 

Dinners are in the $12-$20 range. Our food took quite a while to get to the table, but the place was getting busy with people coming in before the game.

After dinner, a short walk up the hill to Wells Fargo Arena for the game. The Barnstormers lost...again.

But we had a fun night, and some good food at a restaurant we'd never tried before. We liked Buzzard Billy's, although it didn't necessarily "knock our socks off". It will probably warrant another visit in the future...and I can guarantee that visit will include the Cajun nachos and the Chicken Tchoupitoulas!

Cheye's Summer Green Bean Salad

Yesterday I got to spend the day with my sister and niece.  We are getting together again today for a family reunion.  Since they are staying in a hotel for the night, we got to talking about what we were bringing.  My niece, Cheyenne, loves to cook.  She told us that she wanted to make a green bean salad.  Without a kitchen it would be difficult.  So as a wonderful aunt, I offered to make it.

I asked her to tell me the recipe and she ended up typing the ingredients into my phone so I could make it. She is John's kind of cook, because there were only amounts and instructions to add spices till it tasted right. So in Cheye's honor, here is her salad.  Hope she likes it!

We started with fresh green beans.  I love fresh green beans so much!  The difference from canned ones is night and day.  It is almost as if they aren't the same vegetable.

I don't have a shot of us cutting off the ends.  I had a pile of them and was cutting them one by one and John so diplomatically asked if that was how I was doing all of them.  Next thing I know another knife appears and he is chopping five at a time.  So efficient!

We blanched the green beans.  Cheye said they have to be al dente!  And then asked if I knew what al dente meant.  (She was a culinary student!)  I assured her I knew and put John in charge.  We boiled the water and then dipped them in for a short bath...maybe a minute.

After they cooked, (we did it in two batches), we put them in an ice bath to cool down fast and stop the cooking.

John had already fried up the bacon.  Everything is better with bacon.

Cheye had me sold on this recipe as soon as she said bacon!

We added a combination of Miracle Whip and mayo.  After tasting it, I would probably just do mayo.  It was a little sweet for my taste.  Cheye said we could use either.

Add the bacon.

Then we seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.  It is hard to tell when you are shaking it out. 

John folded it carefully to keep the beans whole.  This was about a pound of beans which looked like a lot at the store, but we could have made three times as much with no extra trouble.  Next time!

Here it is ready to cool down and take to the reunion!  Hope I made it right Cheyenne!!!

Guacamole

EASY Guacamole

I love guacamole. I still think about when I was in Cancun about 15 years ago, and for dinner one night it was a buffet of Mexican food. And on that line of food was a tub full of about 20 gallons of guacamole. Heaven....

I've read lots of guacamole recipes and thought they seemed too difficult, and didn't contain one of my favorite ingredients that I consider a MUST for Guac...fresh garlic.

So here is a very easy recipe for an awesome tasting guacamole. Get lots of chips, because this stuff rocks!

Here are the ingredients...

We'll just make a small bowl today, so we'll need:

2 avocados

1/2 cup of salsa

5 cloves of garlic

A couple shakes of Cumin

A couple shakes of salt

Some Lime juice

Start by de-pitting the avocados...

Then peel the skin off the avocado....

Put the avocado in the bowl and spray on some lime juice for flavor AND to keep it from turning brown

(Probably about a Tablespoon or so)

Mash up those avocados with a big fork. It doesn't have to be real creamy...some chunks are fine.

Now, those beautiful cloves of garlic. I always cut the stem end off...don't want stems in my food!

Time for a frosty beverage break! Today, it's a Blue Hawaiian. Tasty!

Chop up the garlic with the handy chopper for a nice dice.

Add the garlic to the smashed up avocado. Get every last bit out of the chopper!

Next in is the 1/2 cup of salsa. Any kind is fine.

Now, just a couple shakes of cumin...

And a couple pinches of salt...

Now, mix & mash it all together.

Have a chip handy so you can dig in and give it a try.

Season with a little more salt or cumin or lime, if needed. Otherwise, just get some chips on a plate and get yourself a heaping pile of guacamole.  Enjoy!

Salsa: Not The Dance!

About ten years ago there was a potluck at my job.  Someone brought a bowl of salsa.  It was really more like a pico de gallo, but he called it salsa and that is what I call it. 

It was so good that I kept going back for more.  Finally I asked for the recipe and stopped on the way home for the ingredients.  John came home to find me making food. After he fell over and I revived him, he tried it.

He liked it, too. A new favorite was born. 

We decided to blog about it after we started, so there isn't an ingredient stack picture.  But you will see the parts.  There isn't really a recipe, but you know when it is right.

You start with tomatoes.  I like the Roma for this.  They are meaty without too much juice.  Once you get things mixing, there is a lot of juice.

I strain the chopped tomatoes to cut down on the liquid. 

The first time I made this I used a food processor. That is what the recipe told me to do!  I am a recipe girl.  That is why I enjoy baking.  You add the ingredients in the right order and the correct measurements and you have success.  John likes to experiment.  We later got the Vidalia Onion Chopper and it saved us.  It chops them just right.  We love a gadget!

We add peppers.  A couple of green ones and a yellow one.  It makes a colorful salsa. 

Then we add a red onion.  I don't know why they call it a red onion.  It is really more purple.

Then John minces up the garlic. We buy garlic in bulk.  No vampires coming to our house.

Then there are olives.  I don't like olives.  I really don't like olives.  Not black ones.  Not green ones.  When I got the recipe and saw olives, I was shocked.  I tried to make it without them and something critical was missing.  So I added them and it was right.  It is the only thing I like olives in.  John chops them up super small so I can't see them.  Isn't he nice?

We add cilantro  It gives it a really fresh flavor.  I actually prefer the dried cilantro for this.  I have used fresh and it really changed the taste.

Lots of lime juice.  We use about half of one of those little fake limes. 

Then we add salt and pepper.  With all the tomatoes, it takes a lot.  We haven't been eating much salt lately so I thought I'd added too much at first, but it was better after adding another tomato. 

The last thing you add is the avocado.  You need to mix all the other ingredients and get it all tasting right before you add the avocado, so it doesn't get all smooshed up.  Dice up the avocado and fold it in.

It does take some testing to make sure it is right.  At a point all of it magically comes together.  The flavors are so fresh.  It is summertime in a bowl.

We have to taste it to make sure it is perfect.  Scoops were made for this salsa.

We also got new mixing bowls...perfect for holding fresh salsa. This stuff is so good it will always all get eaten at potlucks or big dinners, so make sure you save a little so you can have some for yourself!

Homemade Granola

I always thought granola was something that only hippies and hikers ate. I discovered it's actually pretty good if you don't put stuff like raisins in it! Here's what Jo & I do to make homemade granola. It's very healthy and lasts quite a while. And for us older folks, it packs a good supply of fiber! :)
Our ingredients...

Our dog, Stevie, is anxious for anything that might fall on the floor. Gotta keep it clean!

We start by whisking up about half a cup of egg whites. This will help mix everything up, and put a nice crispy, brown coating on the finished granola. We also add about 1/2 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of applesauce.

Continue whisking and add about 1/4 cup of Splenda and some cinnamon (about 1-2 Tablespoons).

We also like the extra crunch and fiber provided by about 1/2 cup of rinsed quinoa.

Flax seed is another thing we like to add to the granola.  About 1/2 a cup.

For the quick oats, we add enough to get them evenly coated...probably 7 cups.

And almonds. Not the roasted, salted kind. The whole, raw almonds found with the baking products. I love raw almonds, and they are at their most healthy state when raw. They always remind me of Christmas at my Grandma's house, because she always had raw almonds in the shell in the mixed nut bowl. You had to use nutcrackers to get them open.

We like adding some raw coconut as well. Then spread it all out in a large pan (spray it with Pam non-stick spray...we use a deep-dish pizza pan). It may take 2 pans. Spread it thin enough so it will brown all the way thru.

Bake at 400 degrees until it starts browning on the bottom. Then...

Cut into sections so it's easy to flip. Flip them over and return to the oven for a few minutes to finish browning. Take out of the oven and let cool. Then break it up and store in ziploc bags. It stays well for a couple weeks.