Have you noticed that over the past couple of years, “Fast Food” has become slower and slower???? Is it just me???

I remember when you were in and out of the driv-thru in under 3 min, and if they did not have your food ready, they just made you pull forward, and bring it out to you when it was ready. Now days, you sit and wait at the window, while they make your food….and in return tick off the people behind you….lol

Now I understand that fast food menus have become larger and larger, and you can pretty much order anything you want, but come on all ready! This is suppost to be fast food, with the key word here being FAST!!!

The other day, the wife and I went to McDonalds, order simple things on the menu, and I kid-you-not, we sat at the window for almost 10 mins! No it was not a lunch rush hour time, but a normal time that you would think, that you could get in and out FAST!

Another thing, most fast food places now run registers, that have pictures of the dam food on them! Why oh why are you still getting my order messed up????? There is a freaking picture right in front of you!!!!

Yesterday, the wife and I where in Liberty Tx, and just happened to stop at the KFC there. It was @12:45pm, and we both ordered the same…Grilled Chicken wraps…..4 min later, her wrap was ready, and the guy, who looked to be the manager, told me that mine would be up shortly because they had to drop more chicken! Really, no one could see that you only had 1 chicken peice left, and thought to make more???? Oh and to top it all off, they made us Crispy chicken wraps (which, when you’re paying money to a doctor to help you lose weight and every calorie counts, is a distressing mistake)!!!!! Again you have a dam picture in front of you!!!!

Ok so I feel better now! If you have a rant about fast food, please send it to me!

Thanks for reading

Eat Well!

 

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Typically I’m woken up early on Sunday mornings by my two youngest asking if they can play Xbox….today was no exception…..would love to sleep in, but they are kids….

Today we decided to do French Toast with bacon…..yummmmmm…

I love to experiment when I cook, I think it makes things better when add a spice here, take something out there, and this morning was no exception!

Now I usally just make cinnamon French toast, but this moring I decided to add a little brown sugar…..I was hopping for a nice sugar taste, with out having to use powder sugar, considering we were out of it! lol

It all came out wonderfully, added in some wonderfully thick bacon, that to my surprise did not shrink up as it was cooked! Hate bacon that does that…makes me feel like I have been cheated…..lol

So what I did learn this morning is that I needed to add more brown sugar…..just could not taste it this time around…..lol

I think the next time, I will be placing bacon between two slices of french toast, and cooking them up!!!!!  I will let you all know how it turns out!!!!

Eat Well!

 

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Here is the review:

Walked in and I must say that the outside of the resturant, pays the inside no respect! Very nice and quaint inside, all tables, no booths, a lot of nice decor on the inside.

We were seated by a very nice waitress, and found ourselves to be the only ones there, mind you it was 2:30pm…so most people had already done their lunches for the day….lol

Bread was brought to the table, nice, soft and warm…had a good flavor to it also…

Looking over the menu, they cover pretty much all the bases, from chicken dishes, to pizzas, including hot and cold subs. Prices seem to stay in the $7.00-$15.00 range, and they do advertise a $5.95 lunch special, but I think we were past the lunch special time….lol

I ended up ordering the Chicken Murphy, which is a wonderfully prepared dish of mushrooms, artichoke hearts, onions, and jalapenos, all covered in a Sherry Wine Pink Sauce, which coats a bed of Angle Hair pasta, and does so very nicely.  Now please understand that I am in no way a fan of mushrooms….I will eat them if I dont see them, but other then that, please keep them away! Well I decided to be a little adventurous, and dug into this massive plate of pasta and chicken! The very first bite, exploded with flavors from all over the place! The sauce was perfect, the chicken just right, and when mixed the the artichoke hearts, the mushrooms were wonderful!

I was completely amazed by this dish! I think the sauce made this dish over the top! I would have eaten it with out the sauce, but I am sooooo glad that I did not have to!

For those that are not into jalapenos, dont worry, you can see them, so you can eat around them! They help to give this dish a wonderful flavor, and a nice little kick!

The wife ordered the Chicken Tuscany, which is chicken topped with Ham & Mozzarella in a Sherry Wine Sauce, encompassing a bed of Angle Hair pasta….the dish looked great!!!! I did not try it, but did not hear any complaints from her!

Top: Chicken Tuscany  Bottom: Chicken Murphy

Half way through our lunch, I had to ask our waitress about the chef. Turns out that the chef who prepared our lunch, is in his 20′s and according to her, has been cooking for sometime. Well here’s  hoping he stays cooking, because my dish alone, would make me search him out!!!! Reminds me, I need to get that guy’s name! lol

We will be heading back there, because there is a lot on this menu that I want to wrap my taste buds around!!!!!

Thanks for reading…..BCFC

Eat Well!

 

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Tonight at the BCFC house, it was the wife and myself  cooking…now I must tell you that with the right spices, and prepration, even a cheap or “low cost” ( not to offend anyone…lol) steak can be grilled to perfection! Tonight we did the steak, salad, and cheese and bacon covered baked potatoes ( wifes specialty).

The steak was cooked up on the grill, after receiving a rub down with Cajun Heritage’s ” Cajun Blast Seasoned Rub .

Now we prefer to use Tony Chachere’s      for our rubs, but thought that we would try something different tonight. Not what I would consider alot of “Cajun” flavor in the Cajun Blast, but that is for another day.

Now most would agree that there is nothing like the smell of a steak on the grill, and today in South East Texas, was the perfect day to grill….not to hot, not to humid, just right if I do say so…..

So with dinner made, and the table set, we sat down to hammer away at the bounty on the table! Now I am a steak and potatoes kinda guy, but a couple of years ago, somewhere in Las Vegas, I found myself with a “steak salad” in front of me…..What’s this, steak on my salad?! Could this be???? A unheathly red meat lying at peace on a beautiful bed of crisp letuce, with croutons, carrots, red onions….Have I died and gone to Heaven, I asked myself……nope just went to a resturant….lol

So tonight was my steak salad night…..and I must tell you that even though we used a low cost steak, with the flavor of the grill filling evey bite of the steak, and the freshness of the salad, mix in a little zesty italian dressing…..well all I can say is that we did not have to spend $60.00 at a resturant, to have a great dinner….           

If you have not tried a steak salad, I say give it a shot….it may just suprise you!!!!

Thanks for reading…..

BCFC

The place is New York Style Pizza and Pasta, located in Vidor Tx….on the feeder road, heading from Vidor to Orange. Every time I’ve driven by the parking lot has always been packed. I feel that a packed parking lot is a good indication of how the place is, and this was once again proven to me tonight!

Now I must tell you that my thoughts of what this pizza joint would look like, well they were wrong! You walk in, and it’s a very elegant setting…not shirt and tie elegant, just a very nicely done interior. There are 3 levels of seating, with the 3rd level being in a gondola boat….its a nice touch I must say.

We did not have to wait to be seated, and the waitress was right there to take our drink order. As we looked over the menu, I realized that this is much more then a pizza joint….pasta….espreso bar….and the pricing…..well 18″ extra larger with up to 8 toppings…. $15.95. Beat that Dominos……lol

We ordered the chesse sticks as an appetizer, and they were out with in 5 to 10 mins, and fresh baked bread was also brought to the table, with butter and an olive oil dipping sauce…very very good!

The pizza arrived next, it looked great, and tasted great also. Only thing that was missing was the sausage that we ordered on it, and our waitress did offer to take the pie back, or to bring out a side of sausage, we decided to just eat it it the way it was.

The crust was wonderful, and light, easily foldable while eating, ss is the way I like to eat my pizza. Sauce was nice, and not over bearing on the pie. As my youngest son said… “this pizza is so good, that its blowing my mind!” Well I could not disagree! This was a great pie!

After the pie was gone, we ordered a single slice of the “Triple Chocolate Cake” for the kids, and well to say the least it was gone! It did take our youngest about 10 min to decide if he was going to eat it, due to the fact that he wanted chessecake…..lol

Listen folks, if you want a good pie, then this is the place you need to go to! After spending 10 years in the pizza industry, this was wonderful! We soooo can’t wait to go there again, to try their pasta!!!!!!

Now with that being said I must tell you that there is a new place on Green Ave, that I must say is a GREAT place!!!

It is in the the old KFC place….great food, good prices, and I think you get what you pay for!

The wife and I went to this place for lunch, I had the chicken burrito, which was covered in a red sauce, loaded with cheese, and with the rice and beans, a complete meal! Very tasty, this was not your typical  meal that you get at Casa Ole, this was great!!! Filled me right up!

The wife had the beef tacos, and I almost took them away from her!!!! They looked GREAT! She said they where great, and I would take her word for it!

One of the great things is a large menu, and great prices, sodas come in a bottle, or can, great staff, and I will sooooooooo be back!

The name of the place is Salsitos

YOU NEED TO CHECK THEM OUT!!!!!!

So, went to PKs Grill on Strickland, here in Orange. I must say that I have been looking forward to going there since they opened.

Here is the low down…

We got there around 2:30pm. We were greeted by an extremely friendly lady, believe she may have been the owner, or the manager. We were promptly seated, and drink orders were taken. The restaurant itself is set up very nicely; seems very “small town” elegant. No booth seating, all tables. We were seated at the only table that did not have any place settings…little over sight I’m sure…lol

The menu was a good mix of cajun seafood, and light soup and salads. Problem is that the pricing is fairly high. Lowest price on the “Lunch Menu” was $4.95 for a cup of soup. Most dishes on their lunch menu ranged from $8.95 to over $10.00 plus your drink.

I was so happy however to see “Fish Tacos” on the menu, until I was told that they no longer served them, and they just had not gotten around to taking them off the menu! Hmmmmmm….not good if you ask me.

Myself and the wife both went with the half sandwich and soup combo. She ordered the BLT with a House Salad, and I the Steak sandwich with the Seafood Gumbo.

The blt looked good, until my wife found avocado on it…which the menu did not mention and she truly hates. Salad did look very good, house salad,  had all kinds of good stuff in it from mushrooms to apples.  No cheese though…lol

I was very disappointed in the steak sandwich….the meat was not tough, nor tender, it did however not require a fork or knife to cut. I could not taste any season on the meat, may have been masked by the grilled onions, or the mayo/mustard combo. The roll it came on was extremely soft, and very nice for the sandwich.  The sea food gumbo, was nothing but a bowl of what I can only call as “fish flavored water,” so not like any gumbo I have ever eaten before.

So aside for the pleasent staff, and nice resturant setting, I would have to say that if this place is still around in 6 months to a year, I would be extremely surprised!                

On the the “Collar scale” this is a hands down…3 to 3 1/2 collars.

GREAT FOOD!!!!!!!

Price was great…$4.95 per pound of boiled crawfish

GREAT taste…..wonderful service.

Now, this is a little place on 16th St, in Orange….If you LOVE crawfish, you NEED to check this place out!!!  We dropped $16.oo on 3 pounds, and worth every dam penny!!!! WE WILL BE BACK! Over and over again!

Keith and Regina Boudreaux, who are from Vinton La. way to go!!! Nothing like a little Cajun cooking!

Thank you for bring your crawfish here!!!!!

I’m asking all that read this, and are in the area, go see them and try it out!

Store was clean, and employees uniforms where clean also.

Aside from the one lady, over all, I would give the visit a 4 out of 5 collars!

I do promise all my readers a 100% unbiased look at the restaurants that I take my family to. I will look at everything I possibly can, and give you all a “blue-collar” opinion.

Some will like what I have to say, others wont…I welcome all to reply to anything that I post…that is why this is here!

Thank you for reading this, and following in the future!

yours truly,

The Bluecollarfoodcritic