Harvest season is here and we are finally reaping the rewards of our vegetable garden.  So far we have picked a half-dozen or so tomatoes as well as tons of kale.  The kale is used to feed Amstel, our pet rabbit, while we have really enjoyed the tomatoes.  There is nothing quite like a fresh tomato.  So far we had BLT sandwiches last week, and I made a delicious Arrabbiata pasta sauce last night with the remaining tomatoes.  The recipe I followed was one that I have used many times before, but I substituted all fresh tomatoes instead of the can.  I think it turned out the best yet.  I’m still holding out hope for some green peppers, jalapenos, and squash before colder temperatures set it, but I’m not sure it is going to happen.  Next year I may have to move the garden to a different location.

Yesterday was our two-year wedding anniversary.  To celebrate we choose a restaurant that we hadn’t been to before, Gumbo’s Louisiana Style Cafe.  It didn’t hurt that I had bought a coupon a couple of months ago from LivingSocial (similar to Groupon) that gave us $50 of food for the $25 the coupon cost.  We had a couple of other ideas for dinner, but those restaurants were all closed on Mondays.  Anyway, we arrived between six and six-thirty to find Gumbo’s mostly empty.  Again this might be due to it being a Monday, but I was a little surprised.  We were seated at a nice booth table and service was very quick.

We had already decided to try some gumbo before ordering meals.  Kim went with the chicken and sausage, while I ordered the red beans and rice.  Both of these were delicious, though I’d give a slight edge to the chicken and sausage gumbo.  The red beans and rice were fairly typical, but not that it’s a bad thing.  Our server was excellent, suggesting other beers when the one I had chosen was out of stock, as well as voicing her opinion during the crucial entrée selection.  Kim decided to have the pistachio crusted Mahi, which is served over roasted shallot jalapeno cream sauce, topped with sautéed crabmeat and grilled asparagus spears.  Our server commented that this was her favorite.  I decided to have the blackened chicken pasta, typically served over tomato basil sauce.  However, the server recommended that I order it with the mushroom bacon garlic sauce, which I did.  Both of our choices were delicious.  Well I’m assuming Kim’s was delicious, as I didn’t try it, but she did finish the entire piece of fish.  I was glad that I switched the sauce on my pasta, as I thoroughly enjoyed every last bite.

So the food was very good, the price wasn’t overly high, and the service was excellent. I’d definitely recommend this restaurant to any fans of creole food.

We spent a considerable amount of time dining out over the weekend.  Saturday evening was no exception, when we decided to try the nearby Mecca Grill.  This Lebanese restaurant appeared to get mostly favorable reviews, minus one or two that mentioned very slow service.  After dining here I can agree with the service being extra slow, but the food was so good that I nearly forgot about the service.  We arrived around eight in the evening to find one server outside on the patio chatting with a couple of customers, along with one or two tables of people inside.  We walked in and didn’t know if we should seat ourselves or not, but a man who appeared to be the owner came out soon enough and asked us to sit where we liked.

The owner was not only serving as the cook and dishwasher for the evening, but also as baby sitter for what appeared to be his grade school aged son.  Needless to say, he had his hands full, so the slow service from him was understandable.  However, the whole experience could have been much better had the server who was sitting on the patio actually was doing his job.  Eventually he did help out, but at that point it was already too late.  Anyway, back to the food.  We started with some humus, which was served with plenty of warm pita bread.  Kim ordered the vegetarian plate, while I went with the falafel plate.  Both of these were excellent selections!  Their falafel were perfect, as was the baba ganoush and tabouleh.  We were given even more pita bread with our meals that we filled with various ingredients before eating.

If you do decide to try this restaurant, be sure to allot plenty of time for the experience.  Though it was slow, the service was friendly, and the food was definitely worth the wait.

To kick of the weekend Kim and I walked over to The Local Daylight Diner (2217 East Mississippi), a place we had visited once before back at the beginning of July.  On that visit, I recall ordering lunch as it was getting late in the morning.  I enjoyed the chicken salad sandwich very much, and Kim really enjoyed the crème brûlée oatmeal that she ordered.  We both tried different items on this weekend’s visit.  I went with the mini Belgian waffles, which are served with a mixed berry compote and fresh whipped cream.  I also ordered the signature hash browns, which are covered in green chile and cheese.  Kim decided to have an egg sandwich with pepper jack cheese and soyrizo.

Once again the food was great!  I would absolutely order the mini Belgian waffles again, and while I did enjoy the signature hash browns somewhat, I would have preferred a little more of a spice to the green chile.  Kim remarked that she enjoyed her egg sandwich, but that she should have ordered the egg over hard, as it was very runny upon arrival.  The service isn’t the most speedy in the world, but they were definitely busy on our latest visit.  There wasn’t an open table both inside or outside on the small patio.  This newly opened diner must be doing something right, and we will definitely be back in the future.

While my dad was in town, we also took a drive up to Fort Collins to visit both Odell and New Belgium Brewing Companies.  We stopped at Odell first where we sampled twelve different brews (all the regular beers and a flight of pilot brews as well) and then took a very nice tour of their facility.  Despite producing some of my favorite brews, I had never taken a tour and I was glad to finally check that off the list.  Our second stop was at New Belgium, where reservations are now accepted for tours.  I didn’t realize that before my dad’s visit, but we decided to stop anyway and have a few tastes.  The waitlist was pretty long for the tours, if there were even any no-shows, so we took the three free sample chips each and headed inside to taste some brews.  Next time I will have to plan ahead for any visitors who want to head up north for the tours.

The real highlight of this trip occurred on the way up as we took a small detour over to Lyons, Colorado for lunch at the Oskar Blues Grill & Brew.  I’ve driven past this restaurant numerous times on our way to and from Rocky Mountain National Park, and have always wanted to stop in.  I figured with my dad in town, this was a perfect opportunity to stop in.  We arrived on a quiet Wednesday afternoon and were immediately seated at a booth by the windows.  I had my dad sample Dale’s Pale Ale first (another of my favorites), while I opted for the One-Nut Brown Ale.  For lunch I decided to try the Turkey Reuben, while my dad picked the Pulled Pork Sandwich, and Kim opted for the Chicken Avocado.  The definite highlight was the Chicken Avocado served grilled with bacon, lettuce, tomato, swiss, and guacamole on naan bread.  Also delicious were the side of Texas Toothpicks, deep-fried slices of onions and jalapeno, along with the rest of the meals.  I didn’t hear any complaints as we nearly cleared all of our plates.  I definitely hope to stop again on our next trip through Lyons.

For breakfast on Sunday, Kim and I headed to the Krameria Cafe.  I think she found it through a brunch suggestion in her email, and after checking it out online we decided to give it a shot.  It was a little further from our house than we typically drive for breakfast, but they did advertise the best breakfast in Denver on their website.  We arrived to find a mostly deserted restaurant save for a few tables of people inside and one out on the patio.  Not exactly what I expected to see from the self-proclaimed best breakfast spot.  We were seated right away and looked over the menu while we waited for a server.  Well we waited and waited.  Finally Kim caught the attention of one of the servers, who immediately apologized and took our order, after we had sat there for ten to fifteen minutes.

Fortunately the food came out really fast.  I was starving, and a little under the weather from the previous night’s pub crawl, so this made me happy.  I don’t think I could have waited much longer for food.  If I remember correctly, Kim had an omelette of some sort.  While I ordered the biscuits and gravy (on the “sides” portion of the menu) along with some hash browns.  Immediately I was thrown off by the lack of sausage in the gravy, but at least it appeared to be homemade.  It was okay, but definitely not the best biscuits and gravy in town, that title belongs to Lucille’s.  The side of hash browns was an entire plate of potatoes, which helps explain the nearly $4 price tag.  Again, not the best food in town.  I think Kim pretty much agreed with me as far as the food goes.  The service ended up being good, but I doubt we ever go back as the food just didn’t cut it.

After work on Friday I had a craving for some pizza.  Kim and I decided to try something new and found Fuhgidabowdit Pizzeria over near the University of Denver.  At first I wasn’t too sure of our decision after walking into a small and dingy restaurant.  I was expecting more than just a few tables and chairs and order from the counter service.  We quickly looked over the menu and decided to start with some garlic knots and also to split the Venetian Pizza with Ricotta, Spinach, Mozzarella, and Marinara sauce.  We were told that there weren’t any knots ready, so it would take time to prepare.  I’m glad we decided to wait for them to be prepared fresh as they were very good and were served with a large cup of marinara.

Our pizza came out shortly after the garlic knots, and was a large 18″ pie that was cooked perfectly.  This is New York style pizza with huge slices and rather thin crust.  Our choice in pizza turned out to be pretty unique and also really delicious.  One of the two employees commented that one of the owners came up with this pizza on his own and that he thought it tasted a lot like lasagna.  He was definitely right about the ricotta and marinara blending together to give a lasagna taste.  The huge pizza was more than enough and we ended up taking half of it home.

Despite my thoughts on the physical restaurant, the food is great, and the service was excellent.  I’m sure it’s much busier when school is in session at DU, but it was a perfect quiet night out for the two of us.

Last night Kim and I prepared a corn on the cob recipe from a book I mentioned earlier titled Patio Daddy-O at the Grill. I highly recommend the book as everything we have tried has been full of flavor and relatively easy to prepare.  Here is the recipe:

The cure for fresh corn fatigue: Char the ears in their husks, strip them naked, then roll them in soft butter spiked with basil and lemon.  For a final flourish, hit the glistening rows with a  flurry of grated Parmesan.

• 6 ears corn, husks on
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil for the grill
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Soak the corn in a large bowl of water for 1 hour (so the husks don’t catch fire).
2. Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or preheat a gas or electric grill to medium-high.
3. In a small bowl, mix the butter with the lemon juice and basil, and season with salt and pepper.  Spread out the butter in a 1/4-inch-thick layer in the center of a large plate or baking sheet and set aside.
4. Brush the grill grate with vegetable oil.  Grill the corn, turning often, until the husks are evenly charred all over, 25 to 30 minutes.  Carefully peel back the corn husks, but leave them attached to the cobs.  Discard the corn silk and use the husks as handles.  Roll the corn in the softened butter, and top with Parmesan cheese.  Server immediately.

We only prepared half of the recipe, and used only 2 tablespoons of butter.  That seemed to be enough butter for us and we left the remaining butter mix ingredients at their full six serving amounts.  We didn’t have lemon juice so we used lime juice instead.  The results were delicious!

To kick off the long holiday weekend Kim and I ventured out for dinner on Friday evening.  She was craving something spicy, so we consulted the latest 5280 magazine’s Top of the Town and decided to head to the editors’ choice for Indian Restaurants, which is creatively named India’s Restaurant.  Fortunately, as we would soon realize, the food is much better than the name and the location of this restaurant.  It is situated in a suburban strip mall and shares an entrance with a discount movie theater.  That doesn’t exactly scream authentic, but we soon were treated to some of the best Indian food I have ever had.

We started with the Shahi Bhajia, Crisp deep-fried vegetable fritters.  The variety of vegetables were all good, but I especially liked the broccoli.  And for dinner Kim went with the  Ticca Saag, Boneless tandoori chicken diced and cooked in a spinach and cream sauce.  I chose the Malai Koftam, Indian vegetable and cheese balls in a delicately spiced curry.  We both ordered the meals to be prepared to the medium spice level.  Even this came with a warning the server that it would be, “hot like jalapeno.”  We shared both dishes and I can admit that the Ticca Saag was definitely spicy and there was no way we could have eaten it prepared hot, but the Malai Koftam was not as spicy, though that could be intentional.

Both dishes were excellent and I would order each again, but with so many choices on the menu I’m sure we would try something else the next time.  We also ordered a side of garlic nan with our meals, which was also very good.  My only complaint would be that each entrée was only served with a small dish of rice.  I prefer much more rice to help balance the heat if needed.  I’m sure we could have asked for more rice, but instead we prepared some of our own at home to go with the leftovers for today’s lunches.  It was just as good reheated as it was when we first had it a few days ago.

I started off the weekend with back-to-back appearances at the Irish Snug.  I’m no stranger to this restaurant as it has become our latest Bengals bar in town, after the Bears fans reclaimed Wyman’s.  I rode my bike up to the Snug on Friday after work to meet some friends for happy hour.  They have a great two-for-one deal on draft beers during happy hour, including a couple of special brews from the Tommyknocker Brewery up in Idaho Springs.  I would definitely recommend the Naked Tinker beer over the 5 Lamps Lager.  Neither of them are outstanding, but at two-for-one prices, they are hard to pass up.  Also on the happy hour menu are a variety of small plates.  I’d recommend the jalapeno poppers, curry chips (slightly messy), or the soft shell tacos.  Our group had nearly all the happy hour food items on the menu and I didn’t hear any complaints.

After Friday happy hour, I ventured back to the Snug on Saturday afternoon to watch the World Cup game, dragging Kim along to watch.  I’m glad we ate before we arrived Saturday, as they were only serving a limited menu after getting slammed during the USA and England match a couple of weeks ago.  They were serving their fish and chips, which always seems like a popular staple of the menu.  Rather than wasting time with food I concentrated on a couple of Guinness and the game on TV.  Speaking of TV, they bar is loaded with many of them throughout the two floors, all of great quality.  It’s a wonderful place to watch a game, unfortunately the same could not be said for the results of the game on TV that day.