The past couple of years my strategy for the Taste of Cincinnati has been to show up early to try to avoid the large evening crowds. The hard part in doing so is that the temperatures can sometime be really warm in the early afternoon, such as this year. In the end we only made it for about an hour and a half, but I was still able to sample most of what I had wanted to try.

First up this year was the fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Strasse Haus in Covington. This was the “Best of Taste” in the appetizer category. My mom found this right away and I stole a bite of it after letting it cool. It really was delicious, and this comes from someone who wasn’t a big peanut butter and jelly kid growing up. It would be a little hard to actually share as an appetizer (and I don’t even see it on their menu) but it was good nonetheless.

Strasse Haus - Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly

Next was an item on my agenda, du jours  black bean burrito, the “Best of Taste” winner in the vegetarian entrée category. This restaurant operates inside the Gateway One building on  Elsinore Ave. It appears that there is an affiliation with the former Courtyard Cafe. Anyway this burrito was excellent! I was really surprised at how much flavor was involved with what appeared to be a rather standard vegetarian dish.

Du Jours - Black Bean Burrito

From there we headed down toward the food truck area at the far east end. Food trucks were a new addition this year, though only three of them were on site (plus Queen City Cookies and Cold Stone for dessert). The three were Pizza Bomba, Cafe de Wheels, and Taco Azul. Since I had already had the other two, I decided to try a slice from Pizza Bomba.

Pizza Bomba

My brother recommended the mac and cheese pizza to me, which he had the day prior and really enjoyed. However that seemed a little heavy for the hot afternoon. Instead I went with a slice of pepperoni. After a couple of minutes wait my slice was ready for me to eat. The crust is made on the truck, cooked perfectly, and tastes wonderful. The small pepperoni slices were abundant and tasted great, as did the cheese and sauce. I really enjoyed this slice of pizza and hope to find their truck again soon.

Pizza Bomba - Spot-On Pepperoni

At this point we were all getting hot and decided to move on, but not before I stopped to try the new Rondos from LaRosa’s. According to their Facebook page, “Rondos are the pizza version of the cinnamon roll.” This was not my first time having pepperoni rolls, as they were a favorite of our at Wyman’s #5 in Denver. And while not as great as Wyman’s version, the Rondos were good. The spinach Rondos won an Award of Excellence.

LaRosa's - Pepperoni Rondos

Overall it was another successful visit to the Taste of Cincinnati!

A weekend visit to a friend’s house in Terrace Park left us searching for somewhere to get some fresh sandwiches for carry out. Enter Miami Market to the rescue! It was a bit out-of-the-way, but there is very few options on Route 50 between Hyde Park and Terrace Park. Fortunately the sandwiches from the Miami Market more than made up for the extra drive time.

Outside Miami Market

From the outside the Miami Market just looks like a typical roadside carry out spot for snacks and drinks. But you will quickly notice the outside seating areas and even a sign indicating where to find their drive thru window.

Inside Miami Market

Once inside you will still find a small selection of snacks and drinks, but around the opposite corner is the real treat of this little shop. At this counter you can find a new hot plate special every day along with made to order sandwiches, including some grilled varieties. I also noticed some pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw, etc. in the display case.

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad

Once I saw the cranberry walnut chicken salad in the case I knew that was what I was going to be eating. I had wanted to get it on a  Servatti’s pretzel bun but they were out, so I went with light rye instead. It was delicious! And as an added bonus it cost less than $5. They also have a plain chicken salad that our friend had and seemed to really enjoy. If it weren’t so far from home, Miami Market would be one of my regular stops for lunch.

Finding new recipes is really easy with the internet, but I still like sharing some of the really good ones that I find. My latest finds are a spicy roasted broccolini quinoa salad and cowboy mashed potatoes. The broccolini quinoa salad was sent to me by my friend Aaron after he read my last entry on broccolini. After preparing his recipes (full directions at the bottom of the post) I have to admit that his is much better than my last attempt. I especially like that goat cheese addition to the quinoa.

I discovered the recipe for cowboy mashed potatoes  after realizing that I had some unused red potatoes along with some Yukon gold too. This recipe combines both potato varieties with some other vegetables to make a rather unique dish. I wouldn’t say that I liked them better than the garlic mashed potatoes that I usually prepare, but they were still good.

Dinner Plate

Spicy Roasted Broccolini Quinoa Salad

Prep Time:  15 mins |  Cook Time:  30 mins |  Servings:  1 serving |  Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch broccolini, stalks trimmed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1–2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cut the broccolini into bite-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 inches.

3. Place broccolini on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze the lemon over the raw broccolini and season with salt, pepper and the red pepper flakes. Toss to make sure each piece is coated.

4. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until stalks are tender and the heads of the broccolini are just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.

5. In a medium-sized pot, combine the quinoa and vegetable stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let the quinoa cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

6. Once the quinoa is fully cooked, fluff with a fork, and toss in the roasted broccolini, crumbled goat cheese and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

This past Saturday night was a date night for my wife and I. We had a party to attend later in the evening, so we took advantage of my in-laws watching our son and headed out to dinner, just the two of us. Originally I had wanted to try something downtown that I wouldn’t want to drag our son to, but with a Reds game that night most of the places I had in mind were quickly filling up. Instead we headed over the river to Covington to see what we could find.

Outside Chez Nora

Once we hit the  historic MainStrasse Village with all the outdoor dining we parked the car and wandered over to Chez Nora. An employee inside the restaurant told us we were welcome to select our own table outside, so we sat at a table right on Main Street where we could hear the music that was being played on the plaza across the street. Our server arrived before long and took our drink order. Despite not being very knowledgeable about their beer selections, he was very familiar with the food menu.

Bread Basket

After placing our orders, a basket of fresh and warm bread was dropped off. We were told that it did have pistachios in it, which was great for us, but also would probably be beneficial to anyone with a food allergy. The bread was great, and our server offered to get us a second basket, but we were trying to save room for our meals.

Dinner Salad

My entrée included a side and I chose the dinner salad, which did not cost extra. It’s always frustrating when a restaurant tries to charge extra for a side salad instead of another side dish. The mix of greens was fresh, but otherwise the salad was very standard.

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

For dinner I chose the chicken and sausage jambalaya ($13 with a side). It arrived before I could even finish eating my salad and was very hot! The amount of meat in the dish was excellent, as it appeared nearly an entire  Andouille sausage was included in addition to a whole chicken breast. The portion was large and the chicken was very tender. Unfortunately I could have used a little more spice. A bottle of  Tabasco  was provided, but I would have preferred to have the heat already packed inside. With that said the flavor combination was good and I ate nearly the entire dish.

Crab Cake Appetizer

My wife went with the signature crab cake appetizer ($14) – a  delicious blend of jumbo lump and claw crab meat, served with their rémoulade sauce. I don’t eat much seafood so I did not have a bite of her dish but she made several remarks to just how good the crab cakes were. The crab cake dinner is also available for $21 and includes two sides. I’m not sure if the dinner is two or more crab cakes, but my guess is two.

Overall we had a great dining experience at Chez Nora. The food was good to great, service was quick and friendly, and the outdoor tables in the neighborhood are hard to beat.

Outside Hyde Park Pizzeria

This past Friday evening my wife and I were in the mood for a walk with our 16 month old son. We decided to take a stroll down to East Hyde Park and to stop in at the Hyde Park Pizzeria  on Erie Avenue. We get coupons for their pizza fairly regularly in the mail, but had never given it a try. I was originally thinking of getting a pizza to go, but they do have a few tables inside so we decided to dine in. There are no alcoholic beverages for sale, just bottled and canned drinks along with a water cooler.

Time To Draw

The woman at the counter was staying plenty busy taking down delivery orders, which seemed to happen at least once every few minutes. However after taking our order she did find the time to track down some dry erase markers and allowed our son to draw all over the menu wall while we waited for our food to be cooked. Our choice was a large Hawaiian with the standard  pineapple and ham, along with extra sauce and extra cheese ($16.75).

Hawaiian Pizza

Our pizza arrived steaming hot from the kitchen fairly quickly. We had to let it cool down for several minutes as it must have been just pulled out of the oven. The appearance was great and there was plenty of pineapple, though it could have used a little more ham. The cheese and crust were well cooked. Unfortunately once I was able to taste the pizza I thought the sauce was really bland and dry. The toppings all tasted good, but I think the crust was again a little plain.

I really wanted to like this pizza but it was just okay, I would eat it again but only if I was already in the neighborhood. There are other places close to home that I would rather order from. However our service was wonderful! And the menu is really large (both in number of items offered and the amount of space it takes up on the inside wall) so I would likely try something like a hoagie or calzone on a future visit to see how it compares with the pizza.

It occurred to  me last night while eating a paella dish prepared with both black and green olives that a year ago I wouldn’t have dreamt of eating such a thing. Up until recently I avoided olives like the plague. Though I still haven’t eaten them whole on their own (who does that?), they are no longer a must avoid ingredient.

It was at this time that I realized that pizza is a gateway food. If it weren’t for so many veggie topper pizzas I probably would have never tried olives.  The same reasoning can be applied to my mushroom eating habits. Years ago I never touched them. Now I don’t mind eating a dish of sautéed mushrooms. And this all started as trying them on a pizza. I wonder what else pizza will trick me into trying next?

On our third attempt to grab some food at ZZ’s Pizza my wife and I were finally successful. Just a couple of weeks ago, we found out the hard way that they don’t open until 3pm on Sunday’s. And on another visit, the tiny restaurant was a little too crowded for our already overwhelmed one year old son. If there is one problem with ZZ’s it is definitely the size and layout of the restaurant space. The bar counter is useless except for the servers who  occasionally  use it to pour drinks. And nearly every table inside is a  high-top, which can be troubling for any young children.

Inside ZZ's Pizza

Fortunately that is where all of my complaints will end. Our service was excellent and the food was very good. We were using a Groupon that provided 2 side salads of our choice as well as any signature 12″ pizza on the menu. I chose the wedge salad –  iceberg  lettuce wedge with sliced Roma tomatoes, crispy bacon, house  Parmesan  dressing, and topped with gorgonzola cheese. (Normally $4.50). It was delicious! I’ve had salads like this in other restaurants before, but this has to be my favorite of the bunch.

Wedge Salad

My wife decided to have the Caesar salad –  crisp romaine lettuce tossed with Caesar dressing and topped with Parmesan cheese and croutons ($3.50). I only had one bite of her salad but again it was good. I think I have to give the edge to the wedge, but since they are pretty different it all depends on your mood.

Caesar Salad

We had a tough time choosing between all the different signature pizzas, but eventually settled on the Primavara –  artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, olives & pizza sauce with provolone & mozzarella cheese on whole wheat crust ($16 for 12″). This gourmet style pizza was topped with plenty of very fresh ingredients. The whole wheat crust was thinner than I was expecting it to be, but it’s flavor was great. The sauce was savory with just a bit of spice to it. I really enjoyed the pizza.

Primavara Pizza

It will be hard for us to visit this current restaurant space often with our son, but hopefully I can get carry out in the future or we can make it a date night destination. The food is definitely worthy of a return visit.

I haven’t always liked mushrooms, so I’m somewhat new to cooking with them. I realized I had some leftover cremini mushrooms last night, and with little else to go with them, I found a fairly basic recipe for them (minus the port).

Start Of Cooking

Since we didn’t have any port lying around, and I didn’t want to open any bottles of dry red wine, I just used a little pinot grigio that was already opened. The results were pretty tasty! Though I would like to try this again with a wine of the red variety.

Finished Product

According to Google, “Izzy’s  is a  Cincinnati  tradition, serving the World’s Greatest Reubens and one heck of a Potato Pancake.” My wife is a big fan of theirs, and I have to admit that I’ve only recently started eating at Izzy’s. I guess since I’ve never really eaten red meat, corned beef was never a big draw for me. Fortunately I’ve discovered there are a few items on the Izzy’s menu not involving beef that are worth a try.

My wife and I stumbled upon their newest locations in Madisonville over the weekend. Our son was sound asleep in the car, so we were looking for something we could easily pick-up and eat while running errands. Fortunately this location is equipped with a drive-thru window. It does take a little time to prepare your order, compared to other drive-thrus, but the food is worth the wait.

The Suzzy

My wife and I decided to split sandwiches. First up is The Suzzy –  Izzy’s oven roasted turkey breast topped with a special recipe of cranberry orange relish, cream cheese and lettuce on a toasted sourdough roll served with a potato pancake ($7.89). There was a large slab of cream cheese in between layers of turkey, so don’t think you are being too healthy when ordering this sandwich. However the taste was great, and I really liked the sourdough roll that it was served on.

Turkey Reuben

Our other sandwich is a favorite of ours, the Turkey  Reuben  –  Izzy’s oven roasted turkey breast topped with sweet-n-sour cole slaw, melted imported Swiss cheese, and a smear of Izzy’s special dressing on our own rye roll also served with a potato pancake ($7.99). If you enjoy turkey  Reubens, you will definitely love this sandwich. The roll is a little thicker than traditional rye bread, but it is packed full of tasty ingredients. The potato pancakes are also very good, though I could have used a little ketchup for mine. Each sandwich is also served with dill pickle chips on the side.

I got a new grill from my family for Christmas and I’ve just started using it frequently. My brother and his girlfriend got me some grilling accessories for my birthday, including a pizza grilling kit. Friday evening was the perfect night for grilling in the backyard. So  I heated up the grill to 400 degrees with my new pizza stone already in place. I then prepared a homemade pizza using this wonderful homemade sauce  that I’ve been using for years. I topped the pizza with mushroom, green pepper, and onion. It cooked for about 20 minutes and the results were delicious!