Looking for a good sandwich shop?

If you are looking for a great hot sandwich in the Tampa Bay area I would suggest going to Louis Pappas or Lennys subs. Louis Pappas in an awesome little chain restaurant that has amazing food. They have a large menu that offers Greek food and Greek spin-offs of classic dishes. I love their Steak sandwich and their mojo pork sandwich. Their meet is so flavorful and perfectly cooked. The steak sandwich comes with some of the best au jus I've ever had with a steak sandwich. The same thing goes for the pork sandwich, they serve it with this amazing pork au jus that puts the sandwich on a different level. The bread at Louis Pappas must be home made because it is so airy and fluffy and adds a really nice quality to their sandwiches. A lovely plus is that these are very fairly priced sandwiches and the portions are large.

Lenny's Subs is also a chain restaurant but they don't serve chain quality food, they serve top notch hot and cold sandwiches. I personally always go for their Philly cheese steak. They serve their subs in a variety of sizes, but I go for the whopping 15" sub, but they have other smaller sizes available. Their Philly cheese steak is so good, they use fresh in house baked bread, and you can hear your meat being chopped up on the flat top in the back which adds to the experience. What i really love about this Philly cheese steak is that they have turned the melting of the cheese into the meat into an art form. Their meat and cheese are somehow magically combined into this oozey and gooey yumminess that cranks up the flavor on this sandwich to a ten.

So if you are in the mood for a great sandwich I would really recommend either of these restaurants.

There are several locations of these two restaurants so just google map them and find the ones closest to you!!

Cast Iron Bourbon Ribeye Steak

I truly believe the best and easiest way to cook a steak is in a pan, and a cast iron pan is the best pan to use but you can use other types of pans. Searing the steak and cooking it in butter and olive oil not only locks in the juices of the steak but allows the steak to form a beautiful and flavorful crust. This is a really quick and easy recipe and you will never want to grill a steak ever again.

Ingredients:
Ribeye
2 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
1/4 cup of bourbon

Cooking Instructions:

Seasoning the steak is key in this recipe. Make sure the steak is room temperature, the meat soaks up the flavor and cooks more evenly when the meat is not cold. Liberally apply salt garlic powder and pepper to both sides of the steak. Allow the steak to sit and soak up the seasoning while you add the olive oil to the cast iron pan. Bring the pan up to a high temperature, you want the pan to be very hot initially so the oil is hot and will sear the steak immediately. Once the pan and oil are hot place the steak in the pan, but make sure you are laying the steak down away from you as to avoid being splashed by hot oil. This cooking process is very simple but you cannot leave the stove once you lay the steak down. You need to keep your full attention on the steak. Cook the steak for 3-4 minutes on each side. Only flip the steak once, let the steak sear for 3-4 minutes of one side, and then flip and let the other side sear for 3-4 minutes. Once you flip your steak, now add the butter to the pan and reduce the heat to medium as to not burn the butter. With a table spoon, you want to ladle the melted butter and and oil over the steak, allowing the steak to soak up all that yummy flavor. After doing this to both sides of the steak, remove the steak and let sit. Bring the pan back up to high heat and add the 1/4 cup of bourbon to the pan and constantly stir the liquid to make sure the butter, oil, and bourbon mix. Once the bourbon has been cooked down and the alcohol has been significantly reduced pour the sauce over the steak and enjoy this amazing meal.


photos to come after this post!! I am having a steak night with a few friends of mine so I will post photos of in action cooking.

Restaurant Business

So its official, my Uncle Eddie has opened up a fine dining Italian restaurant called Uncle Eddies Ristorante that I will be working  in over the summer. I am going to be working under the tutelage of head chef Anthony and I will be posting a ton of posts of behind the scenes look ins of the kitchen experience and all of the recipes that chef Anthony and I will be working to create new and exciting recipes to serve in the restaurant.

One day brine Lemon and Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1whole chicken (or parts of you prefer) 

2 lemons

4 Rosemary branches 

Salt 

Pepper

Fresh Garlic 

EVOO

Brine Instructions:

Put chicken in a large pot

Fill pot with water to fully cover chicken 

Cut squeeze and place one lemon in pot 

Add two chopped Rosemary twigs 

Add two tablespoons of olive oil 

Add 1/2 cup of salt 

I know that a 1/2 cup of salt sounds alike a lot but the brining process requires a high salt content to help break down the meat fibers and allow for the meat to soak in more flavor. 

Cover the pot with cling wrap and let sit in the fridge for 24hrs.

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350

Remove chicken from brine and place in a roasting tray 

Add 2-3 chopped garlic cloves 

Pepper the chicken lightly 

Chop and add 2 Rosemary twiggs 

Lightly drizzle EVOO on chicken 

Add lemon juice from 2nd lemon 

Cover roasting pan with parchment paper and aluminum foil and cook for an hour and thirty minutes.

And it's ready to enjoy.

Pepperoni Pizza Tomato Bisque

Pepperoni Pizza Tomato Bisque 

This was a really fun and easy recipe that not only tastes great but looks pretty cool as well.

Ingredients: 

1 can of crushed Tomatoes 

2 can of Tomato Sauce 

1 package of Pepperoni

3-4 cloves of garlic (adjust to your garlic tolerance)

Fresh Basil

4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Italian bread

Grated Mozzarella 

Grated Parmigiana Reggiano 

Prep:

Open The Cans of Tomatoes (saves time later)

Chop garlic

Chop Basil

Cut half of Pepperoni in the package into 1/2 pieces 

Tomato Sauce Cooking Instructions:

Heat a medium sized sauce pot with EVOO on HIGH

Once oil is hot, reduce meat to MEDIUM and add garlic and cut pieces of pepperoni into pot 

stir constantly to prevent burning 

once the garlic has a nice golden brown color add Crushed Tomatoes 

Let cook for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally

once the crushed tomatoes have cooked down a bit ADD the Tomato Sauce  

Add salt and Pepper to your liking 

Place Lid on Pot and reduce heat to Simmer and let sit for 20 min

Final Preparation:

In an oven safe soup bowls ladle the Tomato Soup 3/4 of the way
Place a 1/2 inch slice of Italian bread on top of the soup
place a copious amount of cheese on top of the bread
put remaining pepperoni on top of the cheese
Cook in 400 degree oven for 4-5 minutes or until top looks like a Pizza

Enjoy this cool and tasty recipe    

Recipes, Reviews, and Rants

I have been kicking around the idea of making a blog based around food and cooking for a while now. I'm not really sure what finally pushed me to actually go through with it, but I am excited.

To give a bit of an overview of my "blog" (I really hate that word), I want to be able to share recipes that I have come up with, give honest reviews of restaurants and local eateries that I visit, and occasionally I might decide to strongly express my feelings, both positive and negative about food related subjects, but I promise I will never get political or touch on any sort of topics that my mother taught me not to bring up at the dinner table. Thanks Mom!

So I hope you enjoy