Food Lush

Hidden Gem: Museum of Appalachia Restaurant

by Elissa

This year, we spent Christmas with my husband's family in southeastern Kentucky. It's a 9-10 hour drive from our home in DC, and we were traveling with a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Fortunately my worst fears were unrealized and the kids did great in the car. On the way there we drove through the night and they slept most of the way. But on the trip home, we decided to risk driving during daylight hours.

Our strategy was influenced by this article I read on Serious Eats about the excellent restaurant at the Museum of Appalachia. The museum is just outside Knoxville, Tennessee, a little over an hour from my in-laws' house and on our way back to DC.  We decided to begin our journey mid-morning and stop at the museum for a visit and lunch before continuing on our way.

The museum itself is certainly worth a visit: it features a bunch of historic cabins and other structures that contain lots of interesting artifacts. The kids especially loved the free-ranging peacocks wandering the grounds and the live banjo music that was featured in one of the cabins. But the lunch we ate at the museum restaurant would have been worth a special trip.

Pictured above is homemade vegetable soup with cornbread and a vegetable platter of pinto beans, buttered corn, and fried apples (my daughter and I shared this). The restaurant serves a hot lunch from 11 to 2 every day. In addition to sandwiches and hot dogs, they offer at least one entree and a dizzying number of vegetable sides. You can tell that this food is made with love, and the atmosphere is really charming. Here is my son enjoying his chicken and broccoli casserole in front of the cozy fireplace:

And my daughter enjoyed her lunch in this adorable vintage high chair:

We got a large quantity of delicious food that handily fed the four of us for only $25 (the fast-food dinner we got at Wendy's later the same day cost the same amount). My only regret is that we didn't end up getting dessert--the post-church lunch rush led to a line at the counter, and we were in a hurry to get home. But given our regular travels to this part of the country I know we will get back to the Museum of Appalachia sometime soon.

If you live near Knoxville or ever find yourself in the vicinity, don't miss this special place for a delicious meal.

Maui Eats: Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop

By Julie

While we were planning our trip to Maui, our local paper happened to run a spread on the island, including a list of their favorite places to eat. One of those spots was Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, which we noticed on our drive to the hotel from the airport, and we made a note to check it out.

Leoda’s is a tiny little restaurant on the side of the road that winds from central Maui to the western side of the island. They have a terrific selection of sandwiches and burgers, but where they really shine is with their pies, both sweet and savory. I tried the mushroom pie for lunch, as I’m in love with anything that contains mushrooms and cheese, and it did not disappoint. The crust was a dense, flaky, buttery wrapping around the flavorful filling, and while it’s billed as a hand held pie, I highly recommend using a fork. My husband would also like to add that his ahi tuna sandwich (a special of the day) was one of the top meals he had the whole week. (I took a bite, and he’s not wrong.)

But if you do nothing else on a visit to Maui, please got to Leoda’s for the macadamia nut chocolate praline pie. I mean, just look at this –

 

It is simply the very best pie I have ever tasted, and pumpkin pie and I have been best buds for a long time. This is so spectacular that I’m going to describe it in detail.  The pie starts with a chocolate cookie crumb crust and is filled with chocolate custard that is both airy and fudgy. The whipped cream topping is dusted with macadamia nut chunks and shaved chocolate. And then there’s the surprise in the middle.  Between the chocolate and the crust is a hidden layer of praline caramel that makes eating this dessert a mind blowing experience. We spent a good portion of the rest of our trip trying to figure out ways to bring home this pie is vast quantities. We failed, but it gives us good reason to go back as soon as possible.

For Maui, this place is reasonably priced and oh so delicious. I’m sure if we’d gone there earlier in the trip, we would have gone back every day. No matter where you’re staying on the island, this is a place you need to check out.

{Photo Credit: yelp.com}

Maui Eats: Longhi's

By Julie

We ate a lot of fantastic food in Maui, a trip we took to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, but I’d like to start with a restaurant where we began and where we finished: Longhi’s. My parents suggested this place, and I’d read about it, so we knew we’d have to give it a try.

Longhi’s is billed as an Italian restaurant, but we never have Italian food there, so I can’t comment. The food looked delicious though, so I don’t think it would be a poor choice.  However, I can recommend both dessert and breakfast. On our second night (the first lost in a sea of jet lag), we hit Longhi’s for their famed macadamia nut pie.  Beware, the pie alone cost $10.50. At that price, it needed to be spectacular.  And it was.  The pie brought to mind more traditional pecan pie, but with a ton of macadamias in place of the pecans. It was arm and gooey and full of nutty crunch that contrasted beautifully with the vanilla ice cream served on the side. What a great way to kick off our vacation. I just wish I had remembered to take a picture before we devoured it.

Then, on our last morning, we returned, having read that their banana macadamia nut pancakes were some of the best on the island (are you sensing a theme here?), and I made a beeline for this signature dish. This is what arrived at my table:

So pretty. I am not normally one to go for so much banana, but combined with the fluffy flapjacks, snowfall of nuts, and the coconut syrup so good I would bathe in it, the dish was magical. That enormous pile of pancakes? Finished. By me. With only a tiny assist from my husband, who would also like to give a big thumbs up to the chef’s daily quiche offering.

There are two locations in the major tourist areas of Maui, and one in Honolulu, so if you’re headed to the islands, you can definitely find the fine folks at Longhi’s. Seriously, go. Especially for breakfast. That was my favorite.

I’d also like to add that at the time of our trip, Longhi’s was offering 15% off through the Maui Dining App (for iPhone and iPad). Even if you don’t go to Longhi’s there were several other terrific places listing discounts there, so check it out for free.

{Photo Credits: longhis.com and me}

On My Foodie Life List: Outstanding in the Field

By Jennie

I have a couple of things on my Foodie Life List that are 1) Very Grand and 2) Very Expensive. Food Pipe Dreams, basically. For instance, eating at Le Bernardin is one. Oh, pricey, pricey Eric Riipert-cooked food, I would never regret you. Drinking champagne in Champagne, France is another. (I imagine the glass of champagne wouldn't be nearly as expensive as GETTING TO FRANCE.)

The one I'd like to showcase today, though, is buying a ticket and enjoying a meal through Outstanding in the Field. This is a traveling event that reconnects diners with the land around them, by hosting a meal on a farm or in a field very close to where the meal's ingredients come from. "A roving, culinary adventure," the website calls it. I love this idea, no matter how overpriced or overhyped it may seem to be. I just plain love it. (The STUNNING pictures help that love, admittedly.)

(Photo from outstandinginthefield.com)

Each ticket seems to be about $180-250, which is A LOT, I know. The food looks outstanding, though, and the scenery looks outstanding (in nearly every stop), and outstanding is in the name afterall, but I've never been able to rationalize pulling the trigger on a ticket. There are multiple stops each year in Texas, too, so the opportunity is in my (metaphorical) backyard. The cost usually includes wine, a multiple-course dinner menu, and a tour of the area.

The 2013 dates haven't been announced yet (they seem to announce on the first day of spring, so we have until March to wait), but I'll eagerly see where they'll be and hope that ~$200 will float down with "fulfill your foodie fantasy" attached to it.

In the meantime, there is a cookbook.

What's on YOUR foodie life list?

Mother's Restaurant, New Orleans

by Tara

Have you ever had the World's Best Ham? You're missing out. I had some the other day.*

At The Blathering I went on a "ham date" with some lovely ladies to Mother's Restaurant, a delightfully hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Restaurant Row in New Orleans, LA.

I ordered the Famous Ferdi Special because it is famous. And also because I wasn't sure what debris was and I was feeling adventurous (it's the stuff that falls off the meat while it's roasting). So I had a Po' Boy sandwich of the World's Best Ham, plus roast beef, debris, and gravy. The bread had creole and yellow mustard, and I added tabasco. So good. SO good. (I got the 2/3 size and couldn't finish it.)

Then I also ordered some fries and it was a huge order and I barely ate any because my sandwich was so good. They were also good, though!

I didn't try the World's Best Bloody Mary, but Maura said that it was, indeed, very good.

Photos by me. Of delicious food. Right before I inhaled it.

*"You did it! Congratulations! World's best [ham]! Great job, everybody! It's great to be here." -Buddy the Elf

Have you ever eaten the World's Best Anything?

Herbsaint: the key to New Orleans-style cocktails

by Katie

Like many other Food Lush and Style Lush writers, I was fortunate enough to spend the past weekend hanging out in New Orleans. And one of my favorite things to do in New Orleans is drink.

Wait. That sounds bad. Well whatever, it's true. If you can see beyond the neon-colored jello shots and the hurricaines-from-a-mix from Bourbon Street, New Orleans has a great and storied cocktail culture, and I always like to take advantage while I'm in town.

I could go on and on about my favorite cocktail bars, and what I drink at each, but instead I thought I'd highlight a common element in many classic New Orleans cocktails: Herbsaint.

(picture from: wormwoodsociety.org)

Herbsaint is a green, anise-flavored spirit that was actually created in New Orleans. It was originally used as a substitute for absinthe, which for nearly 100 years was banned in the United States and Europe for its supposed hallucenogenic properties. Absinthe has had a renaissance and is widely available again, but most absinthes are from artisan producers and can be quite expensive, so Herbsaint is still often used as a substitute.

Arguably the most famous New Orleans cocktail, the Sazerac, uses a rinse of Herbsaint in the glass that gets poured out before the rest of the booze is poured in- infusing the whole drink with a subtle herbal flavor that's really delicious. I drank several Herbsaint-using sazeracs this weekend, and give them an enthusiastic thumbs up.

A slightly lesser-known but also delicious New Orleans cocktail that features Herbsaint is the corpse reviver. There are as many recipes for corpse revivers as there are bartenders, but here's one very close to the one I drank at the Carousel Bar this weekend. It was delicious.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. Lillet Blanc (a french aperetif wine flavored with citrus peels- a worth addition to any bar)
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 dash Herbsaint

Shake all ingredients over ice; strain into a cocktail glass

Austrian Treats

by Elissa

I have a wonderful friend from Austria named Helene--she helped to raise me and my sisters and is like a second mother. Whenever she would travel back to Austria to visit her family, she would bring back her favorite sweets to share with us. I got the chance to visit her recently and she gave me a stash of two of my favorite things.

The first might be my favorite store-bought cookie of all time: Manner Schnitten.

They feature crisp wafers and layers of hazelnut chocolate cream. If you like Nutella, you really need to seek them out. Unfortunately they can be hard to track down. I have occasionally found them at European specialty shops, and you can buy a 12-pack from Amazon (although it will set you back $30 once you add in shipping). And Helene will tell you that the Manner Schnitten here are never as fresh as the ones you get in Austria. So I guess the real solution is to head to Austria.

The other Austrian confection that I can't get enough of is Mozartkugeln.

In addition to the portrait of the composer on the wrapper, these chocolates feature a marzipan center, a layer of nougat, and a thick layer of dark chocolate. Sadly, these are also often pricey and hard to find (if you're willing to pay a 17 euro shipping fee, check out austriangrocery.com).

Anyone else share my love of these delicacies? Please share your favorite source in the comments.

Worth a Taste: Ancient Peaks Winery

By Dani

A few months ago, at my beloved San Clemente Wine Company, I tasted Ancient Peaks Zinfandel and loved it. I mean, I'm not the kind of girl who can instantly declare a wine to be laced with gentle leathery notes and flavors of ripe succotash, but I know good wine when I taste it. I like to think that I am (slowly) getting better picking out more flavors than "mmmm delicious, more please!"

All that to say, the Ancient Peaks Zinfandel was one of those wines that you have with a meal and you actually remember. So, when the Hubs and I were driving through Central California a few weekends ago and I saw their winery, I made him turn the car around right then and there, so we could taste away.

The tasting room is small and spare, and the tastings are cheap ($5 for five tastings, refunded if you buy a bottle). The sommeliers behind the bar are knowledgeable and friendly and, of course, the wine is SO good. Most of it is reasonably priced too, we wound up purchasing a bottle of Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon for about $30 total.

The shop and vineyard is in the little town of Santa Margarita, so it's kind of out of the way, but if you're ever in Central California it's definitely worth stopping in. We didn't have time to try it, but we heard there's also a zipline on the vineyard, which could be really entertaining--especially after a robust tasting.

(Photos courtesy of me and my phone. Cute place, right?)

New Favorite Pizza: Santucci's, Philadelphia, PA

by Maura

My favorite food of all time is pizza. I am not necessarily a pizza snob; I'll eat cardboard with marinara and cheese. However, I am always on the lookout for better delivery pizza. A few weeks ago, Will ordered us pizza while I was on my drive home from work. I expected one of the three pizza places we usually rotate through: traditional, round, mediocre. Instead, I came home to an entirely different pizza experience: square, cheese on the bottom, delicious.

(Image credit: Santucci's Original Square Pizza)

I absolutely love Santucci's pizza. We have eaten this pizza at least three (or four) times since the first time. The crust is thin, but not too thin, the sauce is absolutely delicious -- the best pizza sauce I've ever had. This pizza also reheats beautifully, which is important, since I can't eat a whole pizza in one night. (I've tried.)

If you are visiting Philadelphia and want to dine in at this fine pizza establishment, you will find them around the corner from the Italian Market, so you can eat your fill of pizza and top it off with a cannoli or gelati!

Santucci's has five other locations, too.

What is your favorite local pizza joint?

Where to Eat in Boerne, TX

By Erica H.

Okay, so maybe Boerne (population 10,000) isn't currently in your list of Top Ten Dream Destinations or even Top One Hundred Dream Destinations or, likely, Cities You've Ever Heard Of. But trust me when I say that you could find yourself in much worse spots than the Texas Hill Country in the month of October. With its mild fall weather, local wineries, quaint main streets and predominantly German heritage, the area offers a number of pleasant daytrips from Austin or San Antonio. Boerne is among these, a little slice of Oktoberfest and a smaller alternative to popular spots such as Fredericksburg. Some of us appreciate the cozy feel of a small-town atmosphere! Some of us also, ahem, have in-laws there.

Right: you caught me. My time spent is Boerne is not 100% optional. But it has given me a chance to suss out some pleasant places to take in refreshment while taking advantage of free grandparent babysitting.

1. The Dodging Duck Brewhaus and Restaurant. This brewery opened shortly before my husband and I started dating, and I'm not saying it alone has kept us together, but it hasn't done us any harm. It's always nice to sit on the patio with a pint (or a sampler!) and dip everything I can get my hands on into their cranberry mustard.

It's not all bar food, though! If you're feeling a little less indulgent, you can always get a veggie sandwich. With a side of veggies. (To go with your beer sampler.)

2. Bear Moon Bakery and Cafe. Here's how popular this restaurant is: we went for a late lunch this weekend, and the place was completely packed. At 3:00 pm on a Sunday. They ran out of cauliflower soup while we were there! And here's the reason: it's delicious. Grab a pastry and coffee or sit down for a beer and a sandwich. I went for one of the Oktoberfest specials--a bratwurst and kraut with tomato jam and a side of cauliflower soup (sorry other patrons, too slow) and was happy as a clam.

3. Broken Stone Pizza Co. The order-in option. A cut above chain deliveries, and they offer local cheesecake to boot.

4. Fancy fare: my mother-in-law recommends Cypress Grille for nicer dining in-town, and Welfare Cafe a few miles out.

5. My in-laws also like an Italian restaurant that they cannot remember the name of. (Sorry.)

6. And finally, check out PO PO if you want to see where my husband washed dishes in high school.