It's difficult for me to get out to new restaurants because of our family's schedule, but a weekend brunch is a pretty easy one to pull off. The only thing better than brunch is a boozy one, so I was stoked when I heard Chappy's was starting weekend brunches. Craft beers would be a great change from the usual mimosas that accompany that not-quite-breakfast meal.

My sister, my Dear Prudence and I embarked upon Chappy's that day with big hongries (and some thirsties for cold ones). I'd been daydreaming about the praline bacon, and the order is around half a pound (it's actually considered an entree). It was a bit difficult to find something on the smaller side to go along with that as the menu is limited, so I opted for a biscuit & gravy. Both the other gals went for chicken and waffles, one with regular syrup and one with spicy syrup. All of the food was amazing - but for a sissy like me, the gravy was too damn spicy. I've never seen red pepper used in gravy before, and I grew up eating biscuit & gravy every weekend in two different households (my own and my grandma's), as well as occasionally at friends' homes, but never encountered it. It was just too much. The biscuits were great and the gravy had a good texture, but it was inedible for me. Also,  it's nearly impossible to take an appetizing photo of sausage gravy - so I won't subject you to it. Just trust that it's as big as advertised.



The praline bacon was a great balance of sweet and salty, and a level of doneness that would appeal to anyone - not chewy like bubblegum, not super crispy (probably due to the saturation of the sugars).


Just perfect. It was big enough that someone with a small appetite could easily get away with ordering just that and an egg or two.

Our waitress was top notch (never had bad service there) and she knew all about their beer choices, even recommending a few beers that taste great when mixed half & half together. So many brunch options are popping up around Dayton, but I'd definitely do another brunch here just to order my own chicken and waffles. And if you're a fan of spicy, their Big A** Biscuit and Gravy is right up your alley.


4.5 out of 5 sporks!

You're probbaly figuring out by now that I have a ton of back-logged reviews.  congratulations! You're very intuitive.  Your mother says so. On another morning when Lil FvF was with the grandparents, we decided to finally get around to trying Lucky's for brunch. We get in a bad habit of always wanting to go to Golden Nugget, so our breakfast and brunch wishlist is long.  Blind Bob's menu always looks great, but for personal reasons, I don't eat there.  Lucky's brunch menu is on the smaller side, which isn't always a bad thing - plus they offered gluten-free banana bread French toast.  Score!

Well, not so fast.  It was just alright.  It was very mealy, which can be expected from g/f items, so I can't place that blame on the recipe or the cook.  I didn't taste the slightest hint of banana, either. The density inside and crunchy outside were tops, but the overall texture and taste was just off.  I got a little bit of both the maple breakfast sausage and smoked bacon, both of which were excellent.  The eggs were just eggs.  Nicely cooked, but by no means fluffy.

Mr. FvF really enjoyed his chorizo breakfast tacos, but the "home fries" went to waste because they'd been cooked with peppers and onions (not noted on the menu), both of which he can't stand.

Our server had an almost empty house, with only us and one other party of drunken ladies brunching, but she was pretty out to lunch the whole time.  We had to go to the bar and ask for refills and had no flatware on our table when our food came.

Reasonably priced, free lot parking, bloody mary bar and perfect meats give them a lot of aces, but they need to offer a few more better-executed options to keep us coming back.

I have never been a fan of mushrooms themselves, but if you put mushroom sauce or cream of mushroom soup in something, I'm immediately interested.  The rich flavor of it has always been really comforting to me, which likely leads back to this dish that my mom always made when I was a kid.

I love using ramekins for tiny casseroles, especially when the recipe makes four. That way we have portion-controlled entrees for two nights. I tried this recipe first using lightly buttered (frozen & thawed) hash browns on the bottom of each dish, but it just didn't fit with the rest of the ingredients.  Since the wild rice always worked so well in my mom's casserole, I went back to that for the base of this one. Mr. FvF and I both agreed it was the perfect amendment to an already great recipe.  Here's what you'll need...



1/2 lb sage sausage, crumbled and browned
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup frozen peas & carrots, thawed
1/4 C cream or milk
1 pkg long grain & wild rice, OR 1 1/2 cups frozen hash browns, thawed
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 C panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

I love a good short cut, and the Uncle Ben's microwavable long grain & wild rice is just as good as the stuff you have to cook yourself.  90 seconds and it's done.  Either way, line your ramekins with about 1/4 cup of the rice and press it down in the bottom and slightly up the sides with a spatula or spoon.
Once your sausage is cooked, crumbled and drained, mix it with the soup, milk and veggies.  Peas and carrots work really well, but I also threw in some fresh spinach.  And of course, if I were cooking these for myself, I'd throw in some sauteed onion as well.

Divvy this mixture up over the rice, then mix together your melted butter and bread crumbs and divvy that up over all four dishes as well.  Bake for 20 minutes or so at 350.

The wheel turning and burger stuffing never ends at Chez FvF.  I'd been rolling around the idea of a brie burger after something I saw on Food Network, and would not be stopped until I made one that lived up to the expectations in my head.  Luckily, I got in on the first try - because frankly, sometimes I give up easily - even with all this big talk.

You all know how assy I can be about BBQ, having found very little to write home about either here in Ohio, or in our travels.  On our recent trips to Kentucky and Tennessee, I wasn't even interested in trying out an of the local barbecue joints, because it seemed it was always a disappointment. Dry brisket, fake smoke flavor, and shitty sides.

About a year ago, a business acquaintance of mine left his post at a prominent local company to start up a BBQ joint with his wife and her family in Englewood.  It would be called Company 7 BBQ, after the majority of family starting this venture, who are all fire and EMS workers.  I kept in touch for a while and kept promising to make it up there to try it, and letting loose that I had a secret life as a food blogger.  Life has a way with making things slip your mind, so come this summer, I still hadn't made it to Englewood to try Company 7.  One night that cooking at home sounded too labor intensive, we headed north to check it out, based on the recent recommendation of a friend.

I was hoping to see my friend, but I figured since he was one of the head honchos, it'd be tough to catch him on the floor. Wrong!  We hadn't been seated for two minutes before he popped behind the bar and started filling drinks.  Come to find out later, the guy who brought our food out and chatted Mr. FvF about Texas BBQ was another owner, his father-in-law.  You can tell that the presence of owners and management keeps this place running pretty smoothly.  They had live bands on one side, a room full of full bellies on the other, apparently a buffet in the back, a full bar and still a little room to grow.  I'm not familiar with the area, so I'm not sure what this place used to be, but the size of it certainly surprised me (insert "that's what she said" joke).

Perusing the menu and the table-toppers presented some info I was happy to see.  Something along the lines of "When we run out of a meat - that's it. We won't have any more until the next day, because we smoke it for 18 hours."  After deciding that neither of us wanted to pick just one meat, we both got a two-meat combo, which comes with two sides and a cheese muffin. I chose pulled pork and brisket, and the Mister got pulled pork and smoked sausage.  We also threw in a last minute order of smoked chicken wings, for little other reason than the price was right.  I don't normally care for wings at all, but...
I obviously had no problems polishing half of this order off.  They were super crispy, likely smoked then maybe flash fried - and not too greasy. They come naked, because C7 already has six of their signature sauces on the table (no sugar added and painfully hot sauces also made in-house are available for the asking). I didn't use the sauce on my wings, but tried them all via finger-lickin' method (very scientific) before our entrees arrived.  Chief Smokey and Lieutenant Tangy were definitely the front runners for me, though they were all pretty good.  I was hoping I wouldn't even need the sauces, though. You know the rules.  Good BBQ doesn't need sauce. 


He's really the expert here, so I'll defer to him for comment.  From the desk of Mr. FvF:
It's really good - very sweet & spicy.  Close to Kruez's, but not the same as Black's.

The pulled pork was probably some of the best I've had in a restaurant.

• 
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 lb lean ground beef (or lamb)
• 2/3 lb hot Italian sausage
• 2/3 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 carrot, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 1 rib of celery, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• large pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I used pinot noir)
• 1 C whole milk 
• 2 C chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp minced basil 
• For the ricotta mixture:
• 2 C fresh ricotta*
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp minced basil (fresh)
• 1 tbsp minced oregano (fresh)

You might remember me mentioning a few weeks back that we had dinner at Las Piramides and loved every second of it. Mr. FvF, especially, had a huge hard-on for the Chorizo Pollo he ordered. It's really only three basic ingredients, so I figured I'd give a whirl of recreating it in our own kitchen. Here's what you'll need (serves two, multiply as needed):

I was always pretty spoiled as a kid, having very resourceful parents who could cook up a storm. I never had store-bought soup, beans, or preserves until I moved out after high school. As anyone else who's been this privileged and spoiled will tell you, your first can of of soup or jar of jam is a severely rude awakening. Nobody makes it like mom does. If you're smart, you'll learn to make it like mom does, from scratch. I've pretty much mastered all of those homemade soups that I crave by now - from Pa FvF's chili to Ma FvF's devilishly rich and creamy potato soup. I figured it's time to make my own soup from scratch with no recipe and no help. I wanted something involving cannelini beans, spinach and sweet sausage, and probably some tiny pasta for the Mister. It's a lot like Italian Wedding soup, with the addition of white beans and using straight sausage instead of meatballs. Hence, Tuscan Wedding Soup. Here's what you'll need:

1 lb sweet (or mild or hot, if you prefer) Italian sausage*
2 cups chopped spinach**
1 yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 32 oz carton chicken broth
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
2 cups small pasta (I used shells), cooked and drained
*I used links and cut them up, but you could just as easily used bulk and crumble it.
** Use fresh, not frozen. You can thank me later.

Cook your sausages however you normally cook them. I added about 1/4 inch of water to a dutch oven and let them brown for about 15 minutes over medium heat, then sliced'em up. Add a little olive oil to a small stock pot over medium heat, then add your onions and garlic. Once they start to soften, add the chopped spinach and beans, then throw the sausage back in the last few minutes to get it a nice, rustic brown. Plus, the fat will help the veggies cook down. Add all of your chicken broth, then seasonings and give it a good stir. Bring it to a near-boil, then back down to simmer and let it simmer for at least one hour. Add your cooked pasta and let it all come to temperature, then you're all set. Like most soups, the longer you can let it simmer, the better the flavor will be.

I don't mind patting myself on the back here, this was fantastic. Even for all the veggies in it, it got a 9 out of 10 from Mr. FvF - an esteemed list which normally only includes steak and stromboli. I topped it with an asiago-romano-parm blend, but it's absolutely fine on it's own. Also, if I had it to do over, I think I might go with a harder, aged parmesan.

Ever wonder how you can get the great taste of tamales without going to Mexico, or even worse, Trader Joe's? Food vs. Face has the solution! On accident!
Last month we had some spicy breakfast sausage over at Mr. FvF's mother's and he loved the hell out of it, so I wanted to make something dinner-y with it when we got back to civilization. I figured it would be super tasty, but I never put two and two together that it's basically deconstructed tamales, without the fuss of the husk. Not hooked yet? It's Crock Pot recipe. Just set it and forget it! Wait, that's dentures. Or super glue. Whatever. You only have to do real cooking for like, 5 minutes.

Tamale Tumble
1 lb/1 roll spicy pork sausage
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can corn w/peppers
1 can diced tomatoes w/chiles
2/3 C yellow cornmeal
1 C milk
1 egg, beaten
1 C shredded cheese

Crumble and brown sausage in a skillet and drain. No worries if it's not completely done, because it's going to cook for 6 more hours. Spray your crock with cooking spray and dump the sausage in. Add the tomatoes, corn and taco seasoning and stir well. In a small bowl, mix the milk, cornmeal and beaten egg and pour that into the crock, then give it another good stir. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, then add cheese to the top and cover for another 5 minutes so it melts.

After our big fail-fest of a dinner last night, we headed to the home our BFF and neighbor, Evil Josh. We uncorked some wine and cracked open some beers and he showed me the new game he'd picked up at the book store called Foodie Fight. I won't front like I know *everything* about food, so I'll definitely lose - but so will everyone but our friend Billiam. Every once in a while, I can tolerate losing, as long as I have fun doing it.

After several porch drinks, we decided we needed something in our belly's. EJ first busted out some Triscuits and sharp white cheddar, but then decided to grill up the Gyulai that he'd picked up from Jungle Jim's International Market. Gyulai (pronounced you-lie) is a traditional spicy, smoked Hungarian sausage that's on the drier end of cased sausages and has a perfectly crispy skin when grilled. They were, needless to say, nomtastic. I'm quite a sissy with heat, so I think if I were buying them myself, I'd get the milder version.

Not to be outdone, EJ came up with a grand finale that was the perfect end in a tour of "How to obtain diabetes" - fried peeps. But, peeps fried in butter would be elementary. So, use that fried peep as a garnish on some rocky road ice cream. Now we're talkin'!

This was a first attempt, so they weren't perfect, but if you got a bite that had been perfectly caramelized, it was like striking gold. Next time, we'll try it with all the same elements, except either with a scolding hot pan, or even a flambe torch.

Sunday meals are a thing of decadence and gluttony in my family, and this didn't change once I built my own little nest. There's none of that popcorn for dinner or eat-whatever's-around mess. It's a big to do - even if you go out for a meal on a Sunday, it has to measure up. Yesterday we celebrated our anniversary, yet again, with food. I picked up some great looking pepperoni and whole wheat pizza dough at Trader Joe's (more to come on that tip later) and already had the rest of the set-up. Here's what you'll need for making two strombolis the size of your arm, or four reasonably-sized portions.

Pizza Dough*
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 pkg pepperoni, about a cup
2-3 Italian sausage links, cooked and cut into coins
1/2 C fresh baby spinach
2 cloves minced garlic
olive oil
red pepper flakes

*Trader Joe's pizza dough is a hell of a deal for 99 cents per bag, and it freezes well, too.

Preheat the oven to 350 and get all of your fillings ready to go before you start with the dough. Also, make sure you let the dough sit at room temp for about 20 minutes first. This makes it a lot easier to work with.
Once it's closer to room temp, flour either a cutting board or a clean counter top very well. Stretch the dough first with your hands by using a method I call the steering wheel, where you work the dough with both hands on a circular motion like you're making a sharp turn. You don't have to literally stretch it, it will just start to stretch itself. Once you have it thinned out a bit, use a floured rolling pin and roll it out on the cutting board to get it as thin as you'd like. Once you're there, cut it into as many rectangles as you'll need for the size you're making.

I found it's best to start with smaller ingredients, then go bigger towards the top. So, first put down a little olive oil, red pepper flakes and garlic, then pile on the spinach, pepperoni, Italian sausage and cheese - all close to one side. Take the blank side of dough and fold it over the stuffing, making a seam on the other side. If you're not convinced it won't fall apart, press the edges with a fork like you would a turnover or pocket pie to seal it. Cut a 1" slit in the top of the dough about every 2" so it doesn't essplode in the oven. Brush the top with a little olive oil (or egg wash, if you're going more for looks than flavor) and season it with some garlic powder and rosemary. If you've got cornmeal on hand, you can also dust the bottom of the stromboli with that to add texture - a lot of pizza joints do that.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the crust doesn't give when you tap it. I felt it was missing something, so I made some herbed garlic butter to drizzle over the tops before serving.
Needless to say, this was the kind of meal that reassured Mr. FvF that he's marrying up.

I'd been on a serious kick of not really cooking lately. Going to cookouts, dining out for birthday dinners, and crock-potting pork shoulder, which doesn't seem much like cooking as far as effort and labor. After all these days of laziness, I wanted something super easy, and also wanted to make use of the bulk sage sausage Pa FvF had brought me (what? I'm the baby! There doesn't have to be a reason for gifts). I had some staples in the pantry, like egg noodles, mushrooms and beef broth. A bright light appeared and the gods of food appeared and said unto me, "Flip mode! Flip mode is the greatest!" So, I decided to switch it up and make stroganoff with sausage. And the gods of laziness and deliciousness, they did weep.

Sausage Stroganoff
1 lb bulk sausage (you could use about any kind, but I don't advise a breakfast blend)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can sliced mushrooms (or 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced)
1 C beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 C sour cream
1/2 big bag or 8 oz egg noodles

Cook and crumble the sausage over medium, then blot with paper towels to drain. If you have a good quality bulk sausage, it should be relatively lean. Stir in your beef broth, mushrooms, soup and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat & stir in the sour cream. Serve over hot noodles, maybe garnish with some green onion if you have it on-hand.

I can't take credit for this recipe, because it's really my mom's infinite culinary wisdom. A few years back, when I had just graduated from boiling macaroni to cooking meat to the point where it was still recognizable (shamefully, I didn't really start cooking until about 5 years ago), mom made me an apron for Christmas, accompanied by a cookbook with all of our favorite family recipes. Dad's chili, broccoli cornbread, pumpkin roll - you name it, it was in there. Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice casserole was always one of my favorite incredibly comforting meals that my mom made when she wasn't busy taking me to the ER for eating bees and stuffing pennies into my nose (seriously).

Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice Casserole
1 whole chicken breast, boiled and shredded
1 lb sage sausage, cooked & crumbled
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 box instant long grain & wild rice
1 small jar of mushrooms, sliced
1 small jar of diced pimentos

Combine all of your ingredients and pour them into a 10x10 glass baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes at 350. It's that easy.
One of the things I've always been meaning to do with this is take the leftovers, reheat it on the stove top with some chicken broth and make soup out of it. We still have a bit leftover, so if I remember to do that, I'll let you know how it turns out.

I was perusing the webbernets trying to find a few new things to bust out of our recent dinner rut, and realized I had plenty of chicken and beef recipes, but *gasp!* no pork! This simply would not do. I decided to take an idea from Jesse from Man-B-Que and adapt it for meatballs. See, he has this killer idea of taking the shit you like ON burgers and putting it IN burgers. So, I took all of the things I like to put in pasta and put it IN the meatball. As per usual, I didn't measure much of anything, but this recipe should yield pretty similar results.


Confetti Meatballs

1 lb bulk (ground) Italian sausage
3 tbsp finely diced green onions
1-2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced (sun-dried tomatoes would work great, too)
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Combine all of the ingredients and mix well (with your hands, you big sissy - get acquainted with your meat!). Form into 6-8 balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly oiled. I know what you're thinking - only six meat wads? These meatballs were designed to be enjoyed on their own, not as a condiment to pasta. Anyhow, bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees.

















And yes, they taste as delicious as they look.