Mom's Spareribs

So far I have only blogged about restaurants that I have enjoyed, I feel I need to tell about all my experiences with wonderful food. What better way to start a new category than with my favorite dish ever? This has and most likely will always be my favorite dinner. It is my mom's recipe for spareribs.
I will lay out the recipe word-for-word, but keep in mind that I think part of what makes this dish magical is my mom's eye for picking out the raw ribs. I can't speak for how her experience helps her choose the right ribs, and trust me I have asked her. She doesn't think she has any special gift, but I do. Another key to this dish is the quantity of sauce. I believe the recipe for the sauce must be at least doubled, if not tripled. It is so good, you will want to smother your steamed rice with it! As for the steamed rice, that is key too. As my mom says, "Don't use minute rice. Take the time to do it right."
Here is the recipe verbatim:

3 lbs. country-style ribs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup vinegar (apple)
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped onion (or equivalent in dehydrated onion flakes)
2 tbsp. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

"Brown ribs in large pan in oven, 425 degrees F for 45 minutes. Drain fat. Meanwhile, make the sauce, cooking until thick and glossy. Salt and pepper the ribs to taste and pour half over the ribs. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn ribs, cover with remaining sauce and bake another 30 minutes. If ribs are thick or very meaty, cover with foil and continue to bake another 30 to 45 minutes for added tenderness. Double the sauce recipe for more than one cake-pan full of ribs. Best served with steamed rice and your favorite vegetable."

Below is a picture of the goodness from my mom's own hand, this last Fathers' Day!

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse

I don't find myself at high-end steakhouses often, but I was introduced to Del Frisco's lunch menu one day for a business meeting. I was told to not even bother looking at the menu, just to "get the burger". On their lunch menu only is the Prime Cheeseburger, which is a 10 oz. Prime Beef Burger with cheddar cheese (you can substitute Swiss or blue cheese), lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and pickles, served with french fries or skillet potato chips. The price is $13. Everything else on the menu is what I would call expensive, and is probably very tasty as well, but I'm here to tell you that this burger is the best tasting burger I have ever eaten! The prime beef itself explodes with juiciness, and has a salty-like taste to it as well, which is right up my alley. For $13 you can't excuse yourself from trying this burger if you find yourself near a Del Frisco's. Although this burger is only on the lunch menu, I have been told that you can get it any time, if you sit at the bar.

It looks like they have 9 locations, all in larger cities: Fort Worth, Houston, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Dallas, and Boston. So far I can only speak for the location in Denver. The atmosphere is nice, although higher-end, business / business casual attire., but I don't think they have set rules. I went in today in a polo and jeans and didn't get thrown out.

For the price and the taste of this burger, I give it five solid stars. I don't think it is possible to beat this burger!
Web Site: http://delfriscos.com

Godfather's Pizza

Being a "nationwide" chain, I would usually not review this pizza, but it is nowhere to be found in my home state of Colorado any more. When I was a child, there used to be one in my home town of Loveland, but they went away a long time ago. Years later when I moved to Dayton, Ohio, I found one in that area. There are now two in the Dayton area.

When I was able to go back to a Godfather's Pizza after possibly 25 years, I was impressed. Their huge amounts of cheese is very tasty, almost like they add salt to it. I usually don't like a thicker crust, but I like theirs a lot. They pride themselves in a great crust. The photos below show a "Classic Combo", which includes beef, sausage, pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, and onions. This is my favorite pizza at Godfather's. They also make gluten-free crusts for those who are interested.
Web Site: http://godfathers.com/

Skyline Chili

One of my favorite foods when traveling to the Dayton, Ohio area is Skyline Chili. It isn't the usual chili that you would think of, it is "Cincinnati-style" chili, which doesn't usually have beans in it, but is beef and a mixture of special spices (I think there is a hint of cinnamon in there). They serve the chili as "Ways", a 3-Way being chili on top of spaghetti noodles, and a huge heap of shredded cheddar cheese on top. A 4-Way adds either diced onions or red beans. A 5-Way adds both onions and beans. They also serve the chili on top of "coneys" (small hot dogs). They add seasonal "extreme" cheese, which is habienero cheese, with quite a "kick", that I love. I usually get a regular 3-Way and a chili-cheese coney, both with "extreme" cheese if available. It is very tasty. I would recommend taking them up on the offer for a bib, as the sauce tends to get on your shirt as you eat, even if you're careful.

Skyline is based out of Cincinnati, and can be found in maybe a 100-mile radius out from there. I have heard that you can purchase Skyline chili in a can at King Soopers/ Krogers, but haven't really looked. I'm sure it isn't quite the same as the restaurant, but it's worth a try. Don't judge until you've had it at the restaurant though. I give this taste a full 5 stars!
Web Site: http://skylinechili.com/

Marion's Piazza

Dayton, Ohio is home of another of my favorite pizza restaurants called Marion's Piazza. I have been to two of the eight locations around Dayton: Centerville and Beavercreek. Both were the same, with a nice "old Italian courtyard" atmosphere, and great pizza. Almost every time I go, I get their "Super Cheese" pizza, which includes pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions, green peppers, and "mounds of cheese". One of the unique things about Marion's is their sausage, which is more finely crumbled than usual. Their sauce is on the sweet side, and they mound their toppings from edge to edge, which I love. I can't really explain why the pizza is so good, but the picture below says it all for me.

This restaurant is a local favorite for many people, and is a popular gathering place for sports teams, families, etc. Marion's has a couple of drawbacks in my opinion, though. First, it is cash only. No credit/debit cards, or checks. The prices are a bit on the high side, a small Super Cheese being around $13. Also it is so popular, that sometimes it takes a long time to get food or to find a place to sit. I suppose that is a good testament to their quality. They do claim to have been voted Dayton's best pizza, but a few places claim the same thing. This is definitely in my top five, and a must-have when I go to Dayton. I give this pizza a solid four stars.
Web Site: http://www.marionspiazza.com/

Donato's Pizza

I know it has been a while since I posted. My travels have taken me to places recently where no blog-worthy food is available. Fortunately this week, I have a real treat! My travels have taken me back to Dayton, Ohio, where my bio explains I moved from two years ago. I didn't have many pictures from my favorite food in the Dayton area, but am here all this week. I am trying to hit all my absolute favorite places while I am here.

Yesterday for lunch I chose Donato's Pizza. This pizza chain started in Columbus, Ohio in the 1960's. It seems to be localized to Ohio, and is quite unique. This is one of my favorite Dayton area pizzas, mainly because of its "edge to edge" topping philosophy. When I'm in the mood, I like deep dish as well, but most of the time I don't prefer a lot of crust, and like my toppings more. This is the case with Donato's. They also have a couple of unique flavors that I love. Their "Founder's Favorite" is my favorite, being a total meat pizza but with the addition of banana peppers, which really add a nice taste to the sausage, ham, bacon, and pepperoni. My other favorite is just a cheese pizza. There is something special about the seasoning they add to their cheese pizza, and they use provolone cheese, which gives it a different taste than the usual mozzarella.

If you find yourself thinking about edge-to-edge toppings pizza when you are in Ohio, give Donato's a try. I would put it in my top 5 favorite pizzas.
Web Site: www.donatos.com

 

Fourleaf Chopped Salads

I have been meaning to review this place for a while, but didn't have any photos until today. I guess you can know that a place is good when I eat my food before taking pictures!
I don't consider myself a big salad buff, but a friend turned me on to Fourleaf about a year ago, and it has become one of my favorite lunch spots when I am home at the office. It is a salad restaurant, where the salad chefs make your salad to order for you. There is a base menu with many different pre-determined recipes for great salads, such as Buffalo Chicken, BBQ Chicken, South Western, Steakhouse, and many others. You can always get creative and build your own creation, though. The one shown in the first photo below is a romaine and spinach mix with avocado, bacon, double steak, cheddar, tomatoes, croutons, and Italian dressing. What I like best about the salads here is that they gather all the ingredients in your bowl, then dump it all out at the end on a cutting board, and chop it all up into bite size pieces, then scoop it all into a mixing bowl and add your dressing. They mix it all up so that when they put it in the serving bowl, every bite you take has dressing on it and is full of flavor. They have a great variety of ingredients and dressings, all of which that I have tried so far are delicious. They have two sizes of bowls, small and large. A small is plenty of food for just about anyone. You always get a free freshly baked bread stick with every salad.
The location itself is a bit hard to find, and not right out in the open for all to see. Word of mouth about their delicious salads and great service has caused this to be a very busy place, though. It is always busy for lunch every day, but you get your salads quickly none the less. Finding a seat is the only hard part. If you're in the Greenwood Village area of South East Denver, you must stop by and check this place out!
Location:  6840 South Dallas Way (near Arapahoe & Clinton) Greenwood Village, CO 80112
Web site: http://fourleafchoppedsalads.blogspot.com/