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!