A Taste of Thai in T-Town

Bangkok Kitchen
582 Dussel Dr. Maumee, OH
419-897-7777


One of my favorite evenings in Toledo involves a large table at Bangkok Kitchen and an ecclectic group of people sharing dishes, passing hot tea and laughing together.

Our host is a glass artist and metalsmith with an international reputation both for her work and vivacious personality (www.labinostudio.com). Among her friends, she is known for being a great chef and an exceptional hostess. Thai night is always full of surprises...

Last night, she brought the "Stump" family. We toasted their reunion and the coming new year with a chilled bottle of blanc de blancs champagne. I was delighted to recognize one of the Stumps as my favorite, former yoga instructor. I was so sad when she and her family moved out of town. Her husband is an accomplished painter (www.jasonnikel.net) . Her brother, a talented chef based in Jackson Hole. I was in heaven. This is my idea of perfect dining companions. In one conversation I was learning about using coffee grounds as part of a seasoning rub for seared elk...in the next we were talking about the permanent collection at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY. I was totally blissed out!

The assorted dishes flew fast and furious around the table. Laab, drunken noodles, curries, spring rolls, more spicy cold salads, steamed fish, roasted duck and more. 15 people, at least a dozen dishes, and it ended up costing $14.00/person with tip. This is just another joy of Thai night.

Get a nice group of friends and head over to Bangkok Kitchen for sensory overload. If your only experience of Thai food is a plate of greasy, tasteless Pad Thai noodles - ask for help. The waitstaff knows the menu well and will be able to help you broaden your horizons with more interesting and authentically Thai flavors...thai basil, lemon grass, cilantro, red chili pepper, and curry.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Oo-La-La, Rugelach!

Happy Chanukah, Toledo!

In honor of the festival of lights and the annual cookie exchange with my book group, I decided to take on a few rugelach recipes. Rugelach literally means “little horn”. The first recipe, comes from Joan Nathan, the best of Jewish cookbook authors. The second comes from Martha Stewart, the woman who provides America with the best of everything.

Rugelach is not as easy to prepare as it is to pronounce. Yes, it rhymes with oo-la-la. The dough is a combination of 8 oz of cream cheese and two sticks of butter with a little bit of flour to hold it together. It is creamy, sinful, and delicious. If it is done right, it melts in your mouth. However, if you’ve ever worked with butter and cream cheese, or tried to make a homemade pie crust, you probably know the challenges associated with this type of dough. If not, suffice it to say that butter and cheese melt easily and render the combination a sticky goo.

After whipping up each of the doughs, I had to refrigerate them. Martha Stewart recommended waiting six hours for the dough to chill. Joan Nathan, clearly the superior chef in this instance, only has to wait an hour. While waiting, I decided to shave my Scharfen Berger chocolate for the chocolate rugelach. At the end of an hour I pulled out the dough and found that it was too warm and too gooey for me to handle. Joan Nathan has probably been making rugelach for 50 years and is willing to ice her hands to create perfect pastry. I am a complete novice and a bit of a wimp. I chose to give the dough 24 hours to chill thoroughly and begged my Mom to let me use her kitchen. She has top of the line appliances and yards of granite counter tops. I needed any advantage I could find for success with this project.

For those of you who are blessed to have granite countertops as a decorative touch to an unused kitchen, I urge you to try out a rugelach recipe or anything involving filo dough to see the benefits for which you paid dearly. Some luxuries are very practical.

Sunday afternoon, I went to my Mom’s kitchen to make the batches. I decided to use the Joan Nathan dough to make the traditional rugelach “little horn” shape. This was more challenging than I expected. While the dough was cool enough for me to handle it easily, rolling it into a perfect circle to cut identically sized wedges was a little more stressful. After the first two batches, I realized that my circles would never be symmetrical. The easiest solution was to cut the circle in half and then use a pizza wheel to cut each wedge with an even 1 ½ inch outer edge. Perfection. Once I made this adjustment, the batches turned out with identically sized cookies. Presentation still counts in the world of cookie baking.

The Martha Stewart recipe worked somewhat differently. I had to roll the pastry into 8” x 12” rectangles, add the filling, and then roll the pastry into a long roll for baking. This was a helluvalot easier than the “little horn” method. I ended up using her apricot jam, dried currant, walnut and cinnamin filling for three of the rolls. I had leftover chocolate from the Joan Nathan recipe and decided to try this shape with chocolate and pecans…just to see if I preferred one dough over the other.

In the end, the Martha Stewart rolls look fabulous…but the Joan Nathan dough tastes much better. For a novice, I would suggest using the Joan Nathan dough and the Martha Stewart fillings.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Sushi in Suburbia

I'm not sure when, or even how, it happened but Sushi has taken a huge turn to the West and gone completely mainstream. In an effort to seduce the Midwestern palate, Japanese sushi chefs have developed a variety of maki rolls to suit even the most sushi-shy of Midwesterners. Cream cheese, artificial crab meat, and even "Tasuda Age" (fried chicken nuggets) are now part of this hybrid cuisine. "McMaki Rolls" must be in product development as I type this.

Restaurant Pacific
7629 Sylvania Avenue
Sylvania, Ohio 43560
419-841-8484

Upon entering Restaurant Pacific, it is clear that the restaurant is designed to appeal to the masses. It features bright yellow walls adorned with flat screen tvs that display looping videos of tropical fish swimming in their natural habitat. The videos are mesmerizing, and I couldn't help but stare at the walls while waiting for my dining companion.

In an effort to sample the menu, we ordered the "House Dinner for Two" ($29.95). This is described as "Our famous boat dinner for two, now served with chef special Sashimi, Sushi Roll, Vegetables Tempura, Lobster Tail, Teriyaki Steak, Seaweed Salad and daily side in boat style dish. In addtion, it also includes miso soup, house salad, Yakisoba and choice of ice cream."

The first dish is the Yakisoba. These are cold soba noodles in a peanut sauce. The sauce is rather salty and somewhat bland. We were both underwhelmed with the first course. The miso soup and house salad are standard Midwestern sushi house fare. I'll never really know how a bibb lettuce salad coated with an orange, ginger, and rice wine vinegar dressing made it to the Midwest sushi house menu, but it is wildly popular in this town. The miso soup is hot and predictably pleasant.

As soon as we finished the starters, the infamous boat dinner for two docked at our table. The boat is beautiful. Each piece is artfully arranged and the presentation is certainly Japanese. One of the unique features of the meal is a boiled lobster tail filled with teriyaki grilled chunks of lobster meat. While I found the meat to be a bit dry and chewy, my dining companion had no trouble finishing the remaining pieces. She was equally pleased with the assortment of tempura vegatables. I managed to find a couple of small pieces of sushi grade tuna in the tip of the boat and promptly devoured them.

Surely there is a place for a Japanese restaurant that serves Americanized dishes. Judging by the crowd that night, and the number of stir fry dishes on the menu, this is what Toledo wants.

If you are looking for "Sushi light" this is a lovely restaurant with a great mix of Americanized Japanese and Chinese dishes. It is probably a good place for family dining as well. The cooked dishes outnumber the sushi dishes about 8:1 so it may be a great place for someone who has never tried Japanese cuisine of any kind.

For now, I will continue my quest to find a sensuous plate of sashimi in Toledo, Ohio (hira giri, please). In the meantime, there's always NYC....

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Any Given Sunday

Another Sunday night and I'm hoping to clean out my fridge of the week's leftovers. Tonight, I'm bringing back the notorious "Sunday Salad". Today's random assortment of produce and seasonings includes:

romaine lettuce
skinned and grilled chicken breasts
black bean corn salsa (Trader's Joe's Fresh Salsa)
shredded sharp cheddar
tomatoes
red pepper chopped avocado
sliced leeks (no green onions available!)
a few tablespoons of Marzetti's Southwest Dressing

chopped cilantro

a few white corn chips (for crunch!)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and toss before serving. Nothing fancy, just a quick easy combination of the leftovers in my kitchen and an easy Sunday dinner is prepared.

Ole!

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Another Reason to Go Organic

You've heard the news: Ecoli found in Spinach is killing people...or, at the very least, giving a few people a bad case of diarrhea.

In the last 24 hours I've witnessed wide spread panic in the food service industry. Last night, I ordered an Italian chop salad and was advised that spinach containing dishes would not be served. It took me about 5 minutes to convince the waitress that the Italian chop contains arugula, radiccio, and romaine lettuce (rather than spinach). This morning, I went to a breakfast meeting and was greeted at the door of a local egg cafe with a sign that read: "In response to the ecoli warning, we will not be serving spinach in this restaurant".

In all honesty, I never really considered spinach to be such a staple of fine dining.

Prior to going to the breakfast meeting, I was pleased to wake up and hear on NPR that Organic Spinach is not likely to be affected by this bacteria. From All Things Considered:

All Things Considered, September 18, 2006 · The California produce company that's been linked to a widening nationwide E. coli outbreak is at odds with the Food and Drug Administration over what's causing the illness. Natural Selection Foods said Monday that its organic spinach has been cleared as the source of outbreak. But government health inspectors disputed the company's claim and said nothing has been ruled out. I recommend tapping the link and learning all about the ins and outs of ecoli and spinach.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6098858

I'm not an alarmist by nature. I happen to have a recycled plastic container filled with triple washed organic spinach in my fridge right now. I also happened to eat a chopped tomato, cucumber, garlic and balsamic vinaigrette salad decorated with a chiffonade of organic spinach with my dinner tonight. 3 hours later and I'm still doing fine.

No hang gliding, high speed motorcycle riding, or repelling necessary to validate my zest for life. I'll just whip up a mushroom, spinach and jarlsberg omelet in the morning. But, just to be safe, I'll wear a helmet and "Go Organic".

NB, Since publishing this article there have been several deaths linked to the ecoli bacteria. I deeply regret making light of this situation and extend an apology to anyone reading this after these deaths occured.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

A Slice of Heaven

On Thursday night, I went to the Ball Park to watch the Mudhens. Munching on peanuts and sipping a beer was not enough to keep me going. After the game, I split a piece of salmon and some crab cakes with a friend. This was still not enough food for me. So a little later, I met up with other pals at a local watering hole and found out about another new secret in Toledo...

Home Slice
28 S St. Clair Street
419-724-PIES
Downtown Delivery is free ($10 minimum order)
Toledo, OH

This is an original, New York style pizzeria. It is furnished with just a few sticky tables and chairs with a clear view of the pizza ovens behind the counter. This is not a place for a romantic date. This is a place to quench a late night appetite and soak up some of the deadly toxins in your tummy. Regardless, it's exactly what I remember from college on the East Coast...a real slice of NY "Za" in a simple pizzeria. In college it was $3 for three slices or $3 for 2 slices and a soda. Yes, "soda" is the term that is still used in the East for what Midwesterners commonly refer to as "pop".

The price has changed but nothing beats a skinny, bubbling pizza crust with hot mozzarella and sweet tomato sauce. A true "slice" is always served on a plain, white Dixie paper plate. The paper pulp soaks up some of the cheese grease. Plastic or china wouldn't work. I always liked to add a dash of garlic powder, a sprinkle of dried basil and a few of the crushed red peppers available in disposable plastic shakers on the counter of "NY ZA" in Hamilton, NY. I didn't see these at Home Slice, but I wasn't looking either. I was too much in awe of the properly shaped slice, its consistency and the wonderful smells around me.

The beauty in a slice of Za is that the crust is thin enough so that you can fold the slice in half to eat it. This serves the purpose of keeping all the cheese grease in one place and preventing the diner from burning his/her mouth on the bubbling cheese. Somehow, the crust manages to cool off just enough between the oven and the service counter to spare the roof of your mouth. Leave the slice open, and you risk spending a week playing with the raw, hanging flesh on the roof of your mouth.

It is still the perfect antidote to an empty stomach and one too many pints of cheap beer. Upstairs is another throw back to my college days, the skinny bar. The space is long and narrow with elbow high tables and plenty of bar stools. It is the ideal setting for not-so-serious beer drinking. We hung out long enough to hear a set of cover tunes from a cute guitar player who was not afraid to use his notes to sing lyrics written before he was born. He added to the charm of the place, really.

I will definitely go back soon in yet another attempt to recapture lost youth with heavy drinking and the joys of a hot slice of fresh Za.

N.B., On the 5th year anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, sharing a little slice of New York within Toledo is a small recognition of the simple pleasures of life that we so often take for granted.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Rhodes Garden Fresh Market

Every once in awhile, I stumble upon a hidden treasure in Toledo. A few weeks ago, it was Rhodes' Garden Fresh Market. In all honesty, it has probably been around since before I was born. But I missed it. The worst part is that I lived within walking distance of this fine produce oasis for almost two years. It is on a busy road, hidden behind a chain link fence and tons of outdoor garden supplies. I always assumed it was a nursery. But, thanks to the Food Momiac...www.foodmomiac.com, I now know better!

The beauty of Rhodes' is the fresh produce and special labels to designate locally grown products. Apparently, government assistance programs for seniors and WIC favor locally grown produce. This is refreshing news. It also affords Rhodes' to have a large selection of these delicacies.

On my first visit, I stuck to the local products and managed to bring home a few pounds of Catawba Island free stone peaches, some healthy looking broccoli, Michigan blueberries, a pint of raspberries, and some vine ripened tomatoes. The peaches and raspberries were transformed into a fresh baked pie. The rest became a part of a very healthy week of menus at my apartment.

Today, I went back to Rhodes' and picked up some leeks, fresh basil, more of the succulent vine ripened tomatoes, and a nice compliment of locally grown berries. Recipes to follow.

Rhodes' Garden Fresh
4171 Monroe Street
Toledo, OH 43606

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“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

A Semi-Sweet Secret

This secret is probably not going to make the headlines, but I love chocolate. DARK CHOCOLATE. I always have a bag of semi-sweet morsels in my freezer for weekly cravings. A quick handful is usually enough to quench this desire.

Monday night I went shopping for a hostess gift at Churchill's, a locally owned gourmet grocery store on Salisbury Road. While I managed to pick up a lovely bottle of Cote du Rhone, I also decided to check out the chocolate aisle in the name of "blogging research". I found a great selection of baking and eating chocolates. European, South American and eco-friendly brands are available. But I honed in on the Scharffen Berger and managed to walk out of the store with a 9.7 oz box of semisweet, 62% cacao, pure dark chocolate.

Scharffen Berger is very special chocolate. It has not been around very long. Founded in 1996 by wine and champagne maker John Scharffenberger and physician turned chocolatier Robert Steinberg, it is the first American chocolate manufacturer founded in the last fifty years. However, it is consistently rated as one of the best cooking chocolates on the market for its properties when tempered.

Terrific! Great to know!

I make chocolate souffles on rare occasions. Usually as a finale for a small dinner party. I still haven't tackled a recipe for pot de creme. The box clearly says, "perfect for baking & eating". So I can just eat it, right?

I barely made it through the party that night. I was there for three hours, drinking wine, laughing and eating as little as possible. After three hours, I couldn't wait another minute and graciously exited. I was able to make it back to the privacy of my own home before ripping open the box and nibbling on this giant bar of chocolate heaven.

I managed to consume about an ounce of chocolate during the first sitting.

I feel great. I feel happy. I feel patriotic eating premiere American chocolate. I feel like a crazed lunatic who gave up a social occasion to sit quietly by herself and savor a new box of chocolate.

I need to keep my semi-sweet secret to myself.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

BananaRama

I must admit that I have a unique relationship with the banana, and it's NOT sexual. As a small child, I collected bananas...Specifically glass, wood, pottery, limoges, kitchen utensils, magnets, ceramic jars, just about anything shaped like a banana or with a banana on it. There are no monkeys in this collection. Something about the sunny yellow color of a banana and the fact that they are shaped like a smile really appeals (horrible pun!) to me. Now that you know someone who collects banana crafts you will start seeing them everywhere. My collection of nearly 60 bananas is now carefully wrapped and boxed. As an adult, it's just too weird to keep around the house. The last time I had it displayed, circa 1994, my boyfriend at the time called it "quaint". Needless to say, that relationship lasted for awhile.

It's been a very long time since I've let any bananas get brown. Usually, I slice them up on a bowl of Grape Nuts or put them on toast with cream cheese and cinnamon. This week was one of those weeks. So I mashed them with a fork and whipped up a loaf of banana bread. This is an old recipe from my Mom who swears that the sour cream is what keeps the bread moist. She also throws in a little lemon juice so the bananas don't turn totally brown. I recommend slathering a slice with cream cheese or canned chocolate frosting (Yup, I said "canned". Duncan Hines is best!) before eating.

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 cup (or one stick) of sweet butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. mashed bananas
2 tbs. sour cream
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Work the butter until soft, then work in the sugar, a little at a time, until smooth. Beat eggs, one at a time, add the vanilla, lemon juice and bananas. Stir into the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Last of all, mix in the nuts. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick tested in the center of the loaf comes out dry. Remove from pan and cool on a rack. Cut in thin slices and serve.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Argeeleh Adventure

One of the most wonderful gourmet experiences is to have a meal in someone else's home. There is nothing else quite like the love and attention most people place on cooking for friends and family. I am blessed to have friends from a variety of backgrounds and truly enjoy the opportunity to sample cuisines from around the world and immerse myself in the experience.

Last Sunday, I got to join my friend Nancy's family for what she termed, "A Big Fat Lebanese Birthday Party". This involved several dozen of her relatives and an enormous buffet of Middle Eastern delicacies. I volunteered to be the photographer for the day as a chance to meet everyone and capture this fun afternoon (btw: My flickr sight is clogged with 50+ photos from the party...so stick to the links on this one!)

Her mother spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen! She only left once...to watch her grandson open his birthday gifts.

The menu included...

Boiled fava beans lightly salted and served with lemon wedges. I think this is the Lebanese equivalent of Edamame.

Lubia: Green beans and tomatos. I don't have a recipe, but it appears that the tomatoes and green beans are stewed and then chilled before serving.

Fatoosh: The super salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, a tart vinaigrette with sumac and topped with fried pita chips.

Tabooli: A great salad of parsley, tomatoes, cracked barley and another great vinaigrette.

Hommos: Chick peas, garlic, tahini, and olive oil blended into a heavenly spread.

Shish Tawook: Mostly grilled chicken that was marinated in tahini

Shish Kafta: My Wasband refers to these as "donkey dicks". Not a very nice way of describing such a scrumptious blend of ground lamb and spices, shaped according to his description, and baked to meatloaf consistency.

Fatayer: These are little square or triangle shaped pies that hold either ground and seasoned lamb, spinach and pine nuts, or cheese. I love them. Often they are lined up like little soldiers on a serving tray, which makes them look particularly smart, and they are delicious.

Rice: My friend's family serves their rice pilaf with corn in it. Yummy.

Baked Kibbe: More ground lamb shaped into mini footballs and fried. Somehow they managed to conceal a few pine nuts in the center of each little orb.

It didn't end with the buffet. Once dinner seemed to be officially over, the pastries started flying on large silver trays...variations of baklava and others that I couldn't name but had no trouble trying...then came the Turkish Coffee...served from small pots into demi-tasse.


That's when they broke out the Argeelah. Each pipe was stuffed with fresh tobacco leaves that had been stewed in rose water and/or apple essence. It took me a few tries to learn how to puff on the Argeelah without inhaling the smoke and choking. Once I got it, I was unstoppable!

I, of course, had to pause to ask for a lesson in Argeelah etiquette. I learned:

- Hold the hose and mouthpiece with your right hand, as the left hand is viewed as being unclean in some cultures.
- When passing the mouthpiece, pass it with your right hand, and make sure the face of the mouthpiece is facing you. If the mouthpiece is facing the recipient, this can be viewed as a sign of disrespect.
- When lighting the coal, hold it in midair with the tongs. It should spark for a few seconds. After the coal has finished sparking place it back down on top of the tobacco.

Got it? So there I was, sipping Turkish Coffee and joyously puffing on the Argeelah. If I could have learned a little Arabic you would have come upon the scene and thought I was part of this wonderful family.

Just when I thought I couldn't take on anything else, trays of fresh cut fruit arrived at the table. It's summer, so they had watermelon, pineapple and yellow cherries.

As the sun started to set behind the house, I departed with a flurry of hearty handshakes and cheek kisses (Left, Right, Left! Three quick kisses in each good-bye) feeling very full and very loved.

The good news: The family owns the Middle East Market on 2222 North Reynolds Road. Many of Nancy's family members work there and cook there. I will be using the Market to cater a meal for one of my customers next week and reliving this fabulous, sensuous experience - minus the Argeelah.

N.B., I am not insensitive to the timing of this article and the current crisis in Lebanon. Keep in mind that the afternoon included intimate stories from one of the family members present who had to flee the country with her children as the military conflict began. In addition, there was an ongoing broadcast of a Lebanese news station via satellite television.

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“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Red, White & Blue Breakfast

As long as I can remember, my family has celebrated the July 4 holiday with a "Red, White & Blue Breakfast". Complete with hand flags and other table accessories, the "Red, White & Blue Breakfast" was something that my older brother and I took very seriously.

Early on my Dad made the decision that bananas would be the only means of portraying white in breakfast foods. Red could be raspberries or strawberries. Blue was only blueberries. But the decision to forego whipped cream in favor of bananas was out of respect for me...a true banana lover.

Some years, we had pancakes filled with each of the three patriotic fruits. Like the crisp lines of Old Glory, it is not appropriate to mix different fruit in a single pancake. One strawberry pancake. One blueberry pancake. One banana pancake. The three were stacked high and held in place with an American Flag toothpick. Other years, we ventured to waffles. Same rules for mixing fruit. At one point, we hit the crepe craze and my Dad used the back side of a Revereware saute pan as a crepe maker. We quickly determined that crepes were somehow un-American, and went back to the pancake and waffle staples in future years.

Decorations were an essential part of the holiday. In addition to the standard flag waving outside our home, my Mom scouted for table favors, placemats, napkins and other accessories to strike a festive mood. One year, after seeing the movie 1776, my brother and I decided to create our own fife and drum band using an empty paper towel roll as a fife and a coffee can as a drum. We both wore the appropriate colors, including a bright red pair of swim goggles on my brother and a hand towel as a head scarf. We marched through the kitchen to entertain our parents. I will try to find that photo for this article. It is priceless!

Another year, I think it was the year that Christopher Reeve played Superman in the blockbuster movie, I dressed up as "Super Four" and jumped off of our kitchen countertops wearing a blue towel as a cape. Again, using items around the house, a costume was born.

I still look forward to the "Red, White and Blue" breakfast and hope that at some point I can pass this festive tradition on to my niece and nephew who live far away from me.

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“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Cool as a cup of cucumber dill soup!

Humidity is the one thing that characterizes summer in Northwest Ohio. Hot, sunny, sticky days. Those from the South may laugh at these claims, but everything is relative. I grew up in a house without air conditioning. 90 degrees with 80 percent humidity for at least a full month. I remember my family going to the movies or just hanging out in the freezer aisle of a local grocery store to cool off. I also have laughable memories of trying to get to sleep with the rumbling sound of an attic fan and an ice cube melting in my belly button.

It's late June in Toledo, and we're already there. Thank goodness for central air.

Tonight I'm meeting up with my book group and bringing a tureen of Cold Cucumber Soup. Once again, this is someone else's recipe. This time from the Moosewood Cookbook: A classic vegetarian cookbook published in 1977 by Mollie Katzen and friends. Published by 10 Speed Press, it is "compiled, edited, illustrated and hand-lettered by Mollie Katzen". The worn, dog eared pages and Mollie's tidy handwriting make it feel like a gift from a friend.

Chilled Cucumber Yogurt Soup

4 cups peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber
2 cups water
2 cups yogurt*
1 clove garlic
several fresh mint leaves
1 tbs. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dill weed
chopped scallions or chives

Puree everything together in the blender (save the scallions for garnish).

I use 2 whole cloves of garlic, 1 tbs. fresh dillweed (instead of 1/4 tsp. dried), and use Fage yogurt for this recipe. It isn't too big of a deviation from the original, but I like the extra creaminess that comes from using Fage and I can never get enough garlic in anything.

I typically ladle the soup into chilled mugs or bowls and garnish with a whole mint leaf and chopped up scallions and dill.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasscitygourmet/186744341/

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Variety is The Spice of Life

A spice rack says more about a cook than a trip to the medicine cabinet says about a bachelor.

My new kitchen is a galley kitchen. There just isn't enough space in the cabinets to store my spice jars so that I may read them and grab what I need in a hurry. Elevation between rows is critical, and the built in shelves that can't be moved are a real hindrance.

I ended up putting my spice rack on a counter, next to the stove. Handy for cooking, but probably a bit intimidating for visitors. I am proud to report that there are 39 jars of herbs, spices and other seasonings on this rack. Starting with Whole Alspice (back left) and ending with Fancy White Pepper (front right), this is what I affectionately refer to as the "A" Team.

The "A" Team ranges from the ordinary: Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, and Parsley Flakes. To the obscure: Spanish Mancha Saffron Strands, Ground Moroccan Coriander and Ground Szechuan Pepper. The Moroccan Coriander label will tempt you with, "..hints of orange, anise and cumin lend depth to savory and sweet recipes". The Saffron Strands are worthless without a hot bath. I learned in a cooking class at The Greenbrier that the best way to cull both flavor and color from Saffron is to put a splash of white wine in the hot water. It works. I've used the Saffron water in Milanese Risotto and as a stock for cooking white rice.

I've read that you shouldn't keep spices for more than a few months. I do my best, on occasion, to clean out the jars and replace the contents with more freshly dried herbs. Yet, the fact remains that these are no more than dehydrated plant life with no stamped expiration dates. So I ask myself, how stale could they really get?

There are three members of the "A" Team that don't sit on the rack: 1) The olive oil. I keep mine carefully stored in a hand painted glass bottle with a whiskey pour top. I feel very talented pouring without a drip. 2) My rock salt and whole peppercorn grinders. This is yet another affectation for a wanna-be chef and 3) A small ceramic canister of kosher salt that has a Barbie sized wooden spoon attached to it.

Then there is the "B" Team. These are stored in the cabinet above the counter. They include things like pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, sesame seeds, dehydrated oyster and shiitake mushrooms and baking essentials. These are all great to have around when you don't feel like shopping but want to whip up something really tasty. However, I don't reach for these things every day, so they are stored off the counter. The "B" Team also includes spices I don't want anyone to know that I have...

No, I'm not talking about Spanish Fly here.

I'm talking about pre-fab rubs, pastes and marinades (a.k.a "RPMs"). A dear friend of mine, who is an outstanding cook, refers to RPMs as "cheaters". On occasion, the Glass City Gourmet will grab a jar of the Trader Joe's "21 Seasoning Salute" instead of creating her own masterpiece. Ditto for "Old Bay Seasoning", "Herbs de Provence", and the ever popular "Lawry's Salt". Sometimes, I'll even buy an overpriced marinade that was mass produced for a celebrity chef. No matter how good, or how beautifully packaged it may be...it will remain part of the "B" Team. When I use it in a recipe and take it to a someone's house, I always add a pinch of something to try and disguise it. I try not to admit that some portion of my offering came from a jar. I can't bring myself to do it. I hope you are thinking, "I'm sure that doesn't happen very often, does it?". Not really. I'm not very good at being dishonest. Even if I tried to lie about my ingredients, my closest friends would be able to identify the offending "cheater" and lovingly give me a hard time for pretending it was my own creation.

"Cheaters" aside, the beauty of my spice rack is it's efficiency. With all this on hand, it is a rare occasion that I need to buy spices for any recipe I might choose to prepare.

If variety truly is the spice of life, the Glass City Gourmet is one spicy gal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasscitygourmet/171652660/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasscitygourmet/171652661/


“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Bang! Bang! Chicken Salad

Bang! Bang! Chicken Salad is a close cousin of Dan Dan Noodles, a dish named for the sound of Chinese street vendors banging their metal pots to attract attention to themselves and sell their noodle dishes. If you like the Ameri-Thai combination of peanuts and chilis as well as the summer flavor of fresh mint and cilantro, you will love this recipe.

I have to admit, this is a derivative of a fine recipe by Nigella Lawson from her cookbook, FEAST: Food to Celebrate Life. If you don't own it, buy it. She's hip, she's smart, she's beautiful and she inherently understands the connection between food, love and sensuality. Although I've never heard her say anything about sex, some of her photos are downright erotic.

On to the recipe:

Bang! Bang! Salad Dressing

2 tsp. peanut oil
3 tbs. smooth peanut butter
2 tbs. Chinese chili bean sauce*
1 tbs. superfine sugar
1 tbs. light soy sauce**
1 1/2 tbs. Chinese black vinegar***
2 tbs. water

*A blend of chili and fermented broad beans, a.k.a Toban Djan, not likely to be available at your local mega-grocery chain. Get to an Asian grocery store. Look at the labels carefully, it's easy to accidentally pick up "bean sauce", which does not taste the same.
** I prefer to use light soy sauce. It contains less sodium than regular soy sauce. You will get the sodium from other ingredients anyway...
***Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is an OK substitute.

For the salad:
3 c. cold shredded chicken (About 4-5 half breasts)
1 medium head of iceberg lettuce (6 cups finely shredded)
1/2 c. fresh cilantro (chopped)
1/2 c. fresh mint (chopped)
4 oz. cucumber
4 scallions
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

To make the dressing: heat the oil in a small saucepan to release the peanut flavor. Let it cool and pour it into a medium sized bowl. While it is cooling, put the saucepan back on a low temperature burner, with whatever peanut oil remains, and add the sesames to toast them to a golden brown color. Cool the toasted sesames on a plate and store in an airtight container or plastic bag. Now that the oil is cool, you can add all of the other dressing ingredients (not the toasted sesames!) and stir or whisk it until it is smooth. Refrigerate. Will still be good for at least a week.

Bake the chicken breasts until they are full cooked. Let them cool. Then use the back of a fork to shred them. Toss in a small bowl with 4-5 tbs. of the Bang! Bang! dressing and store until ready to serve the salad.

Arrange the shredded lettuce over the base of a large flat plate, or in a deep and wide salad bowl. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and mint everywhere. Drip 4-5 tablespoons of the Bang! Bang! dressing over the lettuce and herbs. Place the shredded chicken mix as a row up the center of the lettuce and herb mix. Peel, seed and chop up the cucumber into matchstick sized pieces. Prepare the scallions by removing most of the bland green part and the roots at the white end. Then slice each scallion in half, the long way, and slice again and again until you have shreds of white scallion. Spread scallions and cucumbers over the salad. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

...Bang! Bang! It's ready to present to your family or guests. Show everyone your glorious creation, toss and serve.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasscitygourmet/171652658/

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Bistro Wasabi

Bistro Wasabi
3150 Chappel Drive
Perrysburg, OH 43551
419-872-1988

Bistro Wasabi is an oasis of local sophistication in the midst of a synthetic culture shopping area. Tucked on a side street of "Levis Commons", Bistro Wasabi offers an eclectic mix of Japanese sushi house favorites, Asian fusion creations, and the Toledo staple of steaks and chicken. Chef John Kim, formerly of the Toledo based Fujiyama, shines in this Zen-like ambiance.

During my first visit, I dined with "the girls" on assorted Maki rolls ($5-$18 per roll), the seaweed salad ($6), and a spring roll ($10). The seaweed salad was a delicate mix of seaweed, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, curly & crispy rice noodles and a gentle rice wine vinaigrette. My dining companions were surprised, but pleased, with the addition of small pieces of red onions in this salad. The spring roll, wrapped in rice paper, was served chilled and featured julienned vegetables with shrimp, as well as two unique dipping sauces. One was a spicy, vibrant red Southwest chipotle pepper sauce and the other a hot and sweet combination of orange marmalade and chili peppers. If this is how Wasabi Bistro does fusion...I want more!

I returned within the week for lunch with other friends. This time I ordered the "3-Course Lunch Express" ($15/four options) to sample more of the sushi. The miso soup was pleasant, the Asian salad luscious, and the nagiri zushi did not disappoint me. While I prefer to eat sashimi as hira giri (big, perfectly cut, unadorned pieces of fish), the nagiri zushi alternative was excellent (Nagiri zushi literally means "squeezed sushi" and is sashimi pressed onto a small, oval rice ball often with a small amount of wasabi between the rice and the fish.). I am anxious to return and see if hira giri may be requested.

My companions ordered the Teriyaki sampler ($9) appetizer that included marinated and grilled skewers of chicken, beef and shrimp and a perfect cylinder of the richest mashed potatoes I have ever tasted. Although I detest mashed potatoes in fine dining establishments, the heavy cream and butter ladden treat on our table sent my chopsticks flying while I used my fork.

In the interest of additional research, I also sampled the "Sosun Steak Hoggie" ($9), as well as the Sapporo maki roll ($6) and spicy tuna rolls ($10) on the plates of my friends. The hoggie tasted like a Teriyaki version of a Philly cheese steak and certainly offers an acceptable alternative to those who don't care for sushi.

On both visits, my friends noticed that the menu is void of iced green tea or the ubiquitous, non-alcoholic "ginger-beer" favored in Asian fusion restaurants. I inquired with the owner, who assured me these options are being investigated. However, the restaurant features a full bar with both an ample wine and sake list.

As for the decor, it is a simple combination of hardwood floors, Japanese screens, and contemporary furniture. With museum white walls, a zinc bar and subtle blue neon accents, it has a "Sex and the City" feel. The space is extremely loud when the restaurant is full. The walled off sushi bar may offer a more quiet place for intimate dining. Although my table mates on both visits felt that the mostly black and white interior could use a bigger splash of color and some cieling or wall fabric to absorb some of the noise, everyone agreed that Bistro Wasabi is a welcome addition to an otherwise predictable mix of chain restaurants.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Buried in Boxes

The sound of packing tape unrolling is a squeak, squeak, squeak. Sometimes I forget to leave myself a neat end and then it's nearly impossible to get the roll started again. Maybe it's old tape that got left in a hot trunk for too long, but when the piece I'm trying to use sticks to the roll...the trouble begins. I find myself using a fingernail to pry up a corner and ending up with shreds of tape rolling off of the dispenser after I've lost a clean end. Almost like an oversized roll of toilet paper in a public bathroom, it's hard to recover from shreds of tape. Around and around you wind the darned thing and you still get shreds, or a triangular piece of tape that won't spread to the full width of the roll.

Tonight I'm packing up cookbooks. This is as painful as packing the kitchen was. So many memories of recipes gone well and total failures... There are the two three ring binders with the original Craig Claiborne newsletters. My grandmother saved every issue that was ever published. I wonder how they'd do on Antiques Road Show? Next is my paperback Moosewood Cookbook, literally printed from handwritten recipes, that is always accompanied by The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest, its cousin with more sophisticated artwork and typeface. The Joy of Cooking is still a handy reference tool for comfort foods like tuna noodle casserole, homemade lemonade, and chicken divan. I often use it when I'm crafting my own recipes just to confirm oven temperature or cooking time for more standard fare. The Silver Palate Cookbook is totally tattered. So many great recipes for entertaining in this one. Many things that I can whip up early in the day and then pop into the oven right before the guests arrive. There is a rice dish with lots of chopped vegetables, slivered almonds, raisins, chicken stock and cinnamin that goes great with lamb and creates a welcoming smell when guests arrive.

I also have the original New York Times International Cookbook, another book snatched from grandmother, this one is personally inscribed by Craig Claiborne...the spine is cracked, the pages yellowed, and there are identifiable stains next to certain well loved recipes (think: curry stains near the curry recipes).

I'm so sentimental when it comes to my kitchen and its essential tools. I could talk about these cookbooks and favorite recipes within them for hours...another day. Back to my boxes, please.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Wrapped for Shipping

I'm moving into a new space. As excited as I am to start another chapter of my life, packing boxes is always emotional. It's probably no surprise that I started in the kitchen. I need to make sure that everything I want and need is ready to go with me. Certain pieces, left unused recently, bring back great memories.

Last night I packed up my cast iron skillet. This heavily seasoned piece was a gift from my grandmother. A French blue 11" Le Creuset skillet with a lid, the set probably weighs ten pounds. I'm not sure how she used it. But on one of her own moves, she offered it to me and I accepted without any hesitation. Right before the gift, I had come back from a trip to the Greenbrier and attended a cooking class that featured salmon fillets seared on a cast iron skillet. I couldn't wait to use hers for the first time. The salmon was marvelous! Shortly thereafter, Hunter brought back rainbow trout from Colorado and they were equally delicious. Before packing it away, I gave the skillet a final and tender wipe with a few drops of vegetable oil for good luck and added protection during the move.

I also can't part with my Toaster Oven. I'm not even sure that this piece of equipment is legal anymore. There's nothing better for making a baked potato with a really crispy skin than a Toaster Oven. I also love to heat up pita sandwiches in it. Cheese always melts gently while the pita becomes super crispy. This is something that microwaves can't do. Ditto for using the "top brown only" feature on a tuna melt. The tuna salad stays cool, the muffin stays crisp, but the cheese oozes. Have you ever had a decent tuna melt that came out of a microwave? I didn't think so. There is nothing more gratifying than serving someone a treat from the Toaster Oven...especially, someone skeptical of the device.

Enough typing for now as I go back to my boxes...

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Dinner at Rosie's Italian Grille

Rosie's Italian Grille
606 North McCord Road
Toledo, OH 43615


Since 1983, the Barone family has operated Rosie's in Toledo. Originally, a family style pizzeria known for "hot mamma bread" and rectangular thick crust pizza, Rosie's had three locations and even a frozen foods line in local grocery stores. Times have changed. While the original pizzeria on Sylvania Avenue remains Rosie's Italian Grille on McCord Road takes a swift turn from pizzeria to trattoria as executive Chef, Chris DeWart, attempts to create a more authentic Italian menu in Toledo.

For purists, Toledo offers few options for true Italian cuisine. Chef DeWart comes to Rosie's from Ciao and a stint as an executive chef for Dana Corporation. The menu at Rosie's Italian Grille features Florida grouper and yellow tail snapper with a choice of eight tempting preparations. I chose the grouper ($23) with "tomato caper salsa", as it seemed closest to Mediterranean cuisine. It was both light and delicious. Pasta's range from baked rigatoni ($14) to a seafood with mushrooms pasta ($20) featuring shrimp, scallops, fresh mushrooms, asparagus, capers and white wine. Rosie's still allows diners to choose their own pasta shape to accompany the selection of sauces. Carne includes a stuffed bell pepper with an undefined "meat blend", rice and tomato sauce ($16) as well as New Zealand baby lamp chops ($22), and a 14 oz. veal porterhouse ($27).

My party was particularly pleased with the Caprese salad appetizer and noted that the mozzerella was as fresh as the sliced tomatoes and basil leaves. We inhaled the Zingerman's bread on the table, eagerly mopping up the balsamic vinaigrette remaining on our Caprese plate. While many of the entrees are creative departures from an Italian menu, Chef DeWart manages to avoid the themed chain restaurant cliche of serving some version of garlic mashed potatoes with the selection of carne. The list of optional side dishes includes sauteed spinach ($5), an Italian classic. For hometown traditionalists, Rosie's signature pizzas and "hot momma bread" are still on the menu. When we learned that none of the desserts were made in-house, we opted for coffee and cappucino. The dessert list includes tiramisu ($4), key lime pie ($4), cannoli ($3) and some form of chocolate cake ($4).

The McCord Road building is completely redone and includes an intimate bar with brightly colored Venetian style glass lighting and Thursday through Saturday night, features live music. We appreciated the subdued volume of a talented Jazz trio. The main dining room is comfortable, with simple booths, tables and quietly tasteful decor. It also features a lovely ceramic tiled fireplace but the wall mural and institutional cieling tiles are tacky remnants from the pizza parlor days. With the new Rosie's patio in clear view, I could easily imagine myself dining al fresco during the summer months.

The wait staff was pleasant, but unknowledgable about the menu or proper wine service. The waitress asked, "Have you ever had this wine before?" in lieu of pouring a small taste for me to check for the condition of this particular bottle. With this preface, it is probably no surprise that she flopped the bottle onto my glass as she poured it.

In spite of the need to increase the transition to fine dining with more service staff training, this is a bold departure from the old Rosie's and, with such an ambitious chef and sous chef, it should continue to become more refined as the menu evolves.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

It's a bird, it's a plane...

No, it's SUPER WHISK!

I will readily admit that I love my whisk and deem it a superhero of the kitchen. There is nothing that makes an amateur chef feel more classically trained than the sound of steel wires beating against a chilled metal bowl in an effort to make homemade whipped cream.

My whisk, probably made by OXO, sits quietly in my ceramic tool vase on the edge of my stove. Like Clark Kent, no one really notices the wisk until it is ready for action. Or, when it is put to work whipping up eggs for a fluffy omelette, whisking eggs and sugar together for a "Super" confection, or preparing egg whites for use in a souffle.

Alas, every superhero is subject to a form of Kryptonite! Oxidation is the enemy of the whisk. Whether it comes from being put back in its storage container before it is really dry, or from hanging out in a drawer with unsavory wet tools, rust is hard to avoid. A trip through the dishwasher is not always the best cure. When it happens to my whisk, I gently wipe it down with a wet scouring pad and rinse with hot water to return it to its original stainless steel gleam.

At the risk of sounding like a sexual cliche, bigger is better with whisks. I'm not sure why mini-whisks were developed. Other than looking really cute, they are hard to hold and make it difficult to make anything really fluffy.

If you don't already own one, I urge you to buy a big whisk and fight the forces of evil by tackling a recipe for chocolate souffle.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Panko, thank you.

I don't know why, but to me, "panko" sounds like someone having a hard time saying, "thank you". Or, maybe it sounds like a sneeze? Perhaps the correct response to the word should just be, "bless you".

Regardless, panko is Japanese bread crumbs. Available at most Asian markets, it is basically coarse white bread crumbs that are much lighter than traditional European or American bread crumbs.

Tonight, the Glass City Gourmet attempts to use Spiced Panko Bread Crumbs on salmon filets for a quick and tasty dinner.

The recipe for Spiced Panko Bread Crumbs comes from "Simply Ming" by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm. A list of ingredients follows:

4 cups panko

2 tbs. dried thyme

2 tbs. dried basil

1 tbs. powdered ginger

1 tbs. coarsely gound black pepper

1 tablespoon ancho chile powder or regular chile powder.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Use or store.

I cut the recipe in half and stored the left over mix in an airtight plastic container. Hopefully, I'll come up with more and more uses. Tonight, I dredged salmon fillets through flour, dipped them in a beaten egg, and then coated them in the Spiced Panko. I placed them on a greased baking sheet and baked for 10 minutes at 325F. This left me with medium rare salmon fillets (my personal preference) and a lightly browned panko crust.

While the fillets were cooking, I dropped a half dozen frozen gyoza into my bamboo steamer and let the steam do the work. Then, I tossed a small salad of mixed greens and broccoli coleslaw with a soy ginger vinaigrette dressing (Ok, I cheated and used Newman's Own here). The Glass City Gourmet is not above buying prepared ingredients from time to time.

Arrigato. This meal looked great on the plate and tasted terrific. Total prep time: 20 minutes from start to finish. My very hungry husband got a little upset when I decided to photograph his plate for my blog. "Listen, Martha Stewart. A man's gotta eat!" Perhaps I'm taking this blogging too seriously. . .

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Sunday Salad

7:30pm. My husband and I are snuggling on the couch watching 60 Minutes and he whispers in my ear, "whasfordinner?".

"I don't know. Let me go downstairs and whip something together."

I amble down to our kitchen and open the fridge. A week's worth of leftovers and new groceries from today stare back at me. Without hesitation, I decide to make "Sunday Salad". This is a dish that takes the best leftovers from the week and fresh mixed greens and veggies to make a hearty meal.

This batch of Sunday salad includes:

Mixed greens
grilled fennel (leftover from Wednesday night)
red skin potato salad (leftover from Tuesday night/burger night)
broccoli coleslaw mix (fresh from grocery shopping today)
haricot verts (from the freezer/quickly defrosted in a bowl of cool water)
chopped red onion
chopped red bell pepper
fresh snipped parsley leaves

The red skin potato salad defines the dish. Small chunks of potatoes with their skins, chopped egg, chopped celery and white onion, parsley, dijon mustard and a small amount of sour cream. Tossing the salad with a little bit of homemade honey dijon dressing makes this a real treat. There is nothing that makes a salad hearty quite like chunks of potatoes and hard boiled eggs.

I pair this with fresh grilled shrimp and a side of reheated brown basmati rice and we have a meal, here.

20 minutes prep time...and just enough time to clean the dishes before watching the Soprano's.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

You say, "Tuna" and I say "Tonno"...

Another day, another item on the "New Calcium Diet" that I can't find at my local grocery store. To honor some outdated health trend, the Cincinnati based mega-grocery chain only stocks tuna packed in water. For the "jump start" to this diet, otherwise known as three days of protein and calcium loading, I have to suffer through cans of tuna packed in water as my protein hearty lunch. In all honesty, it was the first time I'd ever eaten tuna straight out of the can. Dr. Klauer offers helpful tips along the way. I followed her advise to grind whole peppercorns over the tuna and squeeze lemon wedges on top of it and found that this killed the strong odor coming out of the can.

Fortunately, there is an Italian wholesale distributer with a small retail market in Toledo called "Sofo's". There I found a few lovely cans of "Tonno" packed in olive oil. This made the lunches bearable. More taste and a firm texture.

The tonno is ready and available for my tavolo.

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Fage 0% Yogurt

My husband is dieting again and in defiance of his latest fad diet I bought myself what I percieve to be a more sensible diet book. I am not really in need of weight loss. I oscillate 5-7 pounds up or down every year. No one knows the difference except me. The size 8 pants get loose, the size 8 pants get snug in the waist.

He's following "Body for Life", a book lined with 2" x 2" photos of regular people who moved from soft and average to six pack abs and thin. This is not a diet for the Glass City Gourmet to follow. While he's eating six meals a day, including powdered shakes and protein bars, I rebel. If this house must be on a diet, I will pick a diet with meals I can tolerate. Myoplex shakes and Myoplex bars are not real food. Sorry, "Body for Life". This stuff is disgusting.

I complimented my loving mate on his drive to reshape his body, and bought a copy of "How the Rich Get Thin: Park Avenue's Top Diet Doctor Reveals the Secrets to Losing Weight and Feeling Great" by Jana Klauer, M.D. Like the Scarsdale diet and the Beverly Hills diet before it, this promises to be something that the Glass City Gourmet can take on as a culinary challenge and enjoy.

Day 1. I can't find Fage Yogurt in the Glass City. I substitute plain Stoneyfield Organic yogurt, which has a faint yellow color. In spite of the code date, it tastes sour and it seems very runny to me. I sneak a few extra calories and improve the 1 cup snack with a drop of vanilla and a few toasted, slivered almonds.

Week 2: Fortunately, Trader Joe's is in nearby Ann Arbor. Trader Joe's is a haven, or perhaps a heaven, for the Glass City gourmet. Oh, no. This is my first entry and I'm already sourcing in Ann Arbor? I must find Fage in Toledo or sacrifice my purpose...In the meantime, I left a message with the only Greek citizen I know to find out how to pronounce Fage properly.

However you say it, Fage Yogurt is museum white, mild flavored, and the consistency of sour cream. WOW!!! Long live the "New Calcium Diet" and Fage Yogurt. No need to add anything to this lovely treat.

PS 4/7/06: Sweet Success...Fage yogurt available in 7oz containers at the locally owned Italian market!

“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

Glass City Gourmet

April 2006
Toledo, OH

Toledo is more than the Mud Hens, Tony Packo's, and the birthplace of Gloria Steinem. A city of approximately 304,000, Toledo is small enough for me to bump into someone I know every time I leave the house but large enough to have one of everything (Ex., A single skyscraper in our downtown view, one Vietnamese restaurant, one world class museum, etc.). Maybe this is an exaggeration, in some cases we have two or even a few, but it is a point I frequently make to natives who have never lived anywhere else and are apt to complain.

Urban legend states that Toledo has more chain restaurants per capita than any other comparably sized town in the United States. Toledo is also alleged to be a "testing ground" for new menu items for national chain restaurants. I have no proof to substantiate either of these claims. But ask anyone from Toledo who remembers "McRibs" or recalls seeing more than 31 flavors at the Baskin-Robbins and they will share similar stories.

This is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to eat, cook, diet and entertain with flair and whimsy in a place that offers many challenges. I encourage you to read on, as the Glass City Gourmet attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the "Glass City Gourmet".