Flamestone American Grill

So this past Friday night, my friends Erica and Rudy and I went to Flamestone American Grill. It's located in Oldsmar, so it was quite a drive. I wasn't really sure what to expect at first; however, I know I've heard of the place before. Of course, I immediately looked them up online when Erica suggested that we went there for dinner. We both like knowing what to crave for, as she puts it.

They use a natural method of cooking over fire and stone. What could be better than that. Of course, being that it's a Friday, and it was a really long week, I immediately looked at the wine list. Amazingly enough, they had quite a selection.

By the time we drove there, we were all starving. So we couldn't wait! Rudy of course ordered a bottle of wine. Our very knowledgeable waiter recommended the Kaiken Ultra Malbec from Argentina....and it was a very good recommendation! It was very smooth for a Malbec. We all truly enjoyed it.

So our waiter brought us bread, and it was fresh from the oven, served with garlic butter! He then of course went through the specials for the evening, and I thought from looking at the menu earlier in the day, I was sure I wanted to try one of the flatbreads...but then he mentioned the Sesame crusted Grouper, served over a bed of pineapple rice with herbs and topped with curry lemon sauce! Well, I knew that I needed to try that. I'm glad I did, because it was AMAZING! Of course, dinner with Erica almost always includes dessert, so we had the S'mores! It was great because they had the marshmallows already on a stick for you, and the chocolate is melted into the Graham crackers, which sorrounded a small pot with steno to create the fire. Not only was it really good, it was also quite fun! We also ordered capuccino and it came in a bowl sized cup served with rock sugar candy on a stick.

Needless to say, we were all very impressed with the food, the presentation, and amazingly enough the service, which is rather hard to come by these days.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Ravioili w/ Sage Brown Butter Sauce

I came up with this because I had some frozen Spinach and Butternut Squash in the freezer that I wasn't sure what to do with. I also had a tub of Ricotta Cheese in the fridge, which I didn't want to go to waste. Then I remembered one of Giaida's recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioili w/ brown butter sauce. It looked simple enough to make, so here's my version of it.

What you need for the Ravioili:

1 pint of Ricotta Cheese

1 box of frozen Spinach

1 box of frozen Butternut Squash

Clove of garlic (minced)

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 tsp. Olive oil

1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Lemon zest (1 tsp.)

1 package of Wonton wrappers

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Place a teaspoonful of filling on each wraper and fold the edges. It is really up to you how big you want your Ravioili. Since the Wonton wrappers are quite thin, I suggest cooking them quickly in boiling water, or steaming them. Approximately 2 to 3 minutes is perfect.

For the Sage Brown Butter Sauce, you will need the following:

3 Tbsp. of butter

1 Tbsp. Olive oil

Fresh Sage leaves (1 to 5, depending on your taste)

Place the butter, olive oil and sage leaves on a cold pan. Let it brown on medium heat. Once the butter is brown, spoon over the cooked ravioilis. As a topper, I used caramelized onions. It was delicious!

Bowled

One of the things I like about living in St. Pete is the convenience and the neighborly feel about it. There are quite a few restaurants that just give you that casual feel, but are able to offer good food. One of those restaurants is becoming a regular for me, Bowled. It’s a small restaurant in a little plaza off 4th Street North. Very casual, the staff is always friendly, and the food is quite good. They certainly offer variety in their menu, and as for the name sake, they have items in the menu that are served in large bowls.

This was actually my third time at Bowled, and I must admit, the first time I went, I wasn’t that impressed with what I ordered, but then, I went back for breakfast one weekend and the food was great. This time, my friend and I had dinner and I had the Crab Cake. What I liked about the crab cake is that it had a lot of meat, not just stuffing to make it seem meaty. My friend had the Chicken and Portobello Cannelloni, which was covered in cheesy goodness. I admit, I think I liked his food better. Needless to say, Bowled is just one of those places that you go to for a nice casual dinner and you know you will have something good.

Savannah's Cafe

My friend Erica and I tried this trendy southern cafe in downtown St. Petersburg last night. I've heard so many good things about this place, and well, we thought we should try it. We're both very glad that we did. The food was amazing, and the service was excellent. Our waiter was quite attentive, and I'm sorry, but that's hard to come by in the Tampa Bay area. The atmosphere is very downhome like, but quite contemporary at the same time. It does give you that old Savannah feel.

For appetizers, we tried the Fried Green Tomatoes with roasted red pepper puree and topped with goat cheese mixed with pecans. The combination of flavors worked really well together. We also tried to Lobster Ravioli that was poached in lime butter sauce with a splash of tequila. I really could have made a meal out of this one. It was fantastic.


For our entree, we had the Candied Pecan Encrusted Grouper, which laid on a bed of sweet potato salad, with crispy beets and candied cranberries, sprinkled with a sweet balsamic vinaigrette. The fish was fresh and again, they know how to combine their flavors well. We did have a side of Fried Okra just to try, I have to say, I've never been a big fan of Okra, but Erika enjoyed it.


And finally, the dessert! We had this wonderful chocolate mouse on top of candied pecans, drizzled in caramel sauce, need I say more! It was heavenly!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. The atmosphere was great, the food was excellent, and the service was wonderful.

Homemade Pizza

I invited some friends over for dinner this past weekend, and I was at a loss as far as what to serve since a couple of them are slightly picky about their food. So I had this idea- make your own Pizza dinner. It was actually really simple. I bought premade pizza dough at the grocery store. As far as toppings, well, I bought several types of cheeses, spinach, really good pepperoni, Prosciutto Ham, fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, baby portabellos, and everyone got to make their own pizza. Simply line up the ingredients for everyone, roll out the dough, and have everyone add whatever they want on top. Make sure you have several pizza pans or have several personal size pizza pans.

For dessert, I figured I'd make a Pizza dessert, which was very simple- Gorgonzola Cheese, Apples, and Cinnamon sugar. This is very easy to make, and make a great dessert or breakfast. Simply roll out a pizza dough, then sprinkle a good amount of cinnamon sugar on top, then put a layer of granny smith apples that have been sliced, sprinkle some gorgonzola cheese on top, then more cinnamon sugar. Next, place a few pieces of cubed butter over the top then bake at 400 degrees until it's a little bubbly and the cheese is slightly melted.

Not only was the food great, it made a really interactive dinner party- everyone enjoyed making their personalized pizza.

Amelita's Spanish/Cuban Cafe

So I had lunch at this hole in the wall place on Saturday called Amelita's. It's a small cuban cafe. The cafe is in a little plaza of 62nd Avenue and 2nd Street North in St. Petersburg FL. They recently just opened in this location. The atmosphere needs a lot of work. Not a lot going on. The food was good, but I've had far better cuban food, but the cuban coffee was excellent.

We had Roasted Pork with a side of Yellow Rice and Fried Plantains. The pork was nice and tender, could use a little side of Mojo sauce. The yellow rice was a little on the greasy side but it had flavor. We also ordered a cuban sandwich, which had a good amount of ham in it. I liked how it didn't have an abundance of mayo and mustard.

I would definitely go back to have coffee, and perhaps try something else on the menu, if I'm ever in the mood for cuban food and don't want to drive too far.

Whitehouse Fruit Farm

During my visit to Ohio, my best friend took me to a place called Whitehouse Fruit Farm (located in Canfield). I love this place! What could be better than fresh home-grown produce. All local products, freshly baked goods (you must try the cinnamom apple donut and the homemade fudge) from the bakery, the Deli offers local Ohio meats and cheeses. They carry all local products including my favorite coffee, Mitch's.

So we were on a mission to find things for our Sunday brunch. We found fresh Zucchinis and Blueberries! So we made a Frittata with the Zucchini, and waffles with the Blueberries.

The Frittata was very simple...this is Abby's adaptation of Williams-Sonoma's Zucchini Frittata w/ Goat Cheese. Since Abby is unable to eat goat cheese until after her pregnancy, we used Mozarella cheese as a substitute.

You will need the following:

10 eggs

A pinch of salt

1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 to 3 small zucchini (slice 1/8 inch thick)

2 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves

2 tbsp. fresh parsley (or dried)

4 oz. mozarella cheese

Whisk the eggs and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a deep frittata pan, melt 1 tbsp. of the butter over medium heat . Once melted, add the zucchini and sprinkle with a little more salt. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the oregano and parsley and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add the eggs, quickly and lightly stir the eggs in a small circular motion to combine them with the zucchini. Using a spatula, gently lift the cooked edges to allow the uncooked edges to flow underneath. Sprinkle the cheese on the frittata and do not stir. Reduce the heat to low and cook without stirring for about 4 to 5 minutes.

In the shallow frittata pan, melt the remaining butter over medium heat. Place the shallow pan upside down on top of the deep pan and flip the frittata into the shallow pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered for about 3 minutes. Remove the top pan and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. If you don't have a frittata pan, you can simply put the pan in the oven once you have sprinkled the cheese.

Lift the frittata slowly from the pan and transfer to a plate. Wait about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. This is great for dinner also with some bread and wine! Enjoy!

http://www.whitehousefruitfarm.com/

Youngstown, Ohio

I visited my best friend this past weekend in Ohio and that always means great company and excellent food. The first evening we were there, they took me to a place called Rosetta Stone Cafe and Wine Bar in the heart of downtown Youngstown Ohio.

In line with the community's effort to change its image, the city government along with the universtiy (Youngstown State University), has organized an urban renewal project titled Youngstown 2010, which makes this an up and coming city. Part of its redevelopment is to attract more business in the area. With the redevelopment in progress, small businesses are starting to develop.

Rosetta Stone Cafe and Wine Bar is just one of the new and upcoming restaurants in the heart of the downtown district. Offers a modern american cuisine and live music. My friends and I had a wonderful meal and the live music was a plus.

We tried the hungarian hot peppers as one of our appetizers, and it was wonderful with their freshly baked artisan bread. The hot peppers were drizzled with the oil it was cooked in and sprinkled with some herbs. Be careful cause it can catch your mouth on fire.

We also had the coconut prawns with some sort of pineapple salsa on top of aioili. That was excellent.

For my entree, I had the Zesty Seafood Kettle, which included jumbo prawns, scallops, mussels, clams, on top of angel hair pasta and a wonderfully seasoned marinara sauce. Their seafood are flown in everyday and are quite fresh.

The dessert was amazing! We had the Chocolate Walnut Cheesecake and Creme Brulee with Blackberries, which are seasonal. It was to die for!

http://www.rosettastonecafe.com/index.html

About Me

Hello! I'm Riza and my friends and I decided that I should start blogging about my eating adventures. I am a total foodie, just like many of you out there. I enjoy having my friends and family over for a great dinner, or eating out. I do like trying new places that I've never been before, and of course the old time favorites. But rest assured that I will try something different on the menu each time.

All my friends know that my day revolves around what I will eat (yes, I am already thinking about lunch and dinner, and it's 8:30 a.m.) What can I say, I grew up in the kitchen watching my grandmother, mom, and nanny cooking amazing meals.

This idea started since we all are some sort of food/restaurant critics, but I don't really want this to be a rating type of blog...just simply my experience with my meals, whether at a restaurant or at home.

I live in St. Petersburg FL, I'm loving it! I do like traveling everywhere of course and the meals are what I look forward to, especially when I visit a new place.