A Mix of Food Offerings…

FYI…I’m not sure if anyone really follows the progression of one of our trips but just in case, here’s an update regarding the trip we took to Natchez, Waco, Fort Worth and then up into Oklahoma…where my posts on the trip just stopped. 

Unhappily my external hard drive crashed and I lost about 600 photos from the rest of that trip.  We had gone on to visit The Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile and Restaurant in Pawhuska Oklahoma (Excellent Stop!), plus a lot of history there and along the way to our son’s home in Omaha.  Then there were a number of restaurants in Omaha as well as a nifty museum…then onto visit Laurie’s family in St. Louis… Such is life.  Recovery efforts failed so I’ve moved on to other topics.

After reviewing my recent photos I decided that it was time to put together a grouping of food photos that I hadn’t used in any other context…

Happily, we now have 2 very good and reliable restaurants serving Asian cuisine in our area.   This was my Beef and Broccoli entrée ($10.75) from a recent visit to China Pearl Restaurant in Farragut Tennessee.  Accompanied by a big bowl of rice, this big portion of quality Chinese food is a good bang for the buck.  China Pearl also does a good job of kicking up the spice level to meet my desired ‘heat’ level. 

Laurie went for China Pearl’s Imperial Chicken with mushrooms. ($10.50) She was very happy, partially because due to my dietary quirks, she rarely gets to have mushrooms at home. 

China Pearl is located in the Kroger Shopping Plaza at 115 Brooklawn Street in Farragut Tennessee.  Phone: 865-966-6936.  Their website is at http://www.chinapearlknoxville.com/.

Moving on… This simple but attractive and creative appetizer was featured at a recent wine tasting/dining gathering at our home.  Our friends Dick and Susan brought this endive, bean sprout, cream cheese and salmon offering to the party.  It tasted as good as it looked!

This 'beast' was the largest prime rib roast we’d ever purchased.  After telling the butcher at Fresh Market that we needed a prime rib roast for 4…with 2 diners being true carnivores…and that I’d like some leftovers, this giant hunk of beef was the result.  We may have 'overbought'...

Laurie prepared the roast with a mixture of Amish butter, a little mustard and a blend of spices and herbs rubbed over the whole roast before roasting.

When we removed “the beast” from the oven after roasting, this was what it looked like… My mouth was watering even before I began carving!

Our goal was medium rare and that’s what Laurie achieved!  Our guests, Lynn (super carnivore!) and George loved this prime rib.  Lynn and I managed to have seconds…although not quite as large portions as this one.

After our 'light little' prime rib dinner, we just had to have dessert!  We’d purchased this big fruit tart at Fresh Market along with that prime rib.  This treat looks healthy…sort of…and it was very tasty!  Laurie and I had leftovers from this for 2 more meals…

When we have company, we usually purchase the meat and breads at Fresh Market.  Both the meat counter and baked goods are hard to beat in the Knoxville area.  The Fresh Market in Farragut Tennessee is located at 11535 Kingston Pike.  Phone: 865-671-3377.  The company web site for Fresh Market is at https://www.thefreshmarket.com/.

There is nothing like great leftovers.  Some items such as casseroles, pastas and, in this case, prime rib, actually improve with age.  This leftover prime rib just popped with rich flavor.  We paired it with some leftover mashed potatoes and gravy, bread from Fresh Market and roasted corn leftover from our wine tasting party.  Thanks to Larry and Bev for the corn!

Laurie and I agreed that this was the very best prime rib that we’ve ever enjoyed!

Even after a prime rib sandwich for lunch, I still had one end of that roast to play with.  I also had some leftover roasted potatoes so I decided to make up a simple prime rib hash using onion flakes, garlic and pepper.  My error with this creation was cutting the prime rib up into such small pieces.  While it was tasty, the flavor of the beef was somewhat muted…

Looking back at the prime rib purchase, the cost per meal wasn’t too terrible.  Four people for dinner, a nice dinner for Laurie and me, a prime rib sandwich for me and the hash…lots of meals served!   

I’m not really into commercials and as you’ve noticed, I don’t have ads on my blog site.  The main reason I avoid them is that once committed, it would feel like a job every time I wrote something to post on my site…and after all, I’m retired and enjoying it!

Nevertheless, I do like to share information about stores, restaurants and food products.  The photo above is a photo of our favorite commercially available lasagna…hot and ready to go on our dining room table in about and hour or so.  To be honest, we’ve only had one homemade lasagna in the last 8 years that was tastier than this one.

And here is that pre-packaged lasagna!  It’s Costco’s Kirkland brand All Natural Italian Sausage and Beef Lasagna.  A tray of Kirkland’s lasagna weighs 3 lbs. and it can easily feed 4 people.  There are 2 trays of lasagna in each pack.  The lasagna is cooked from frozen and it can be microwaved.  We always bake it in the oven so we can brown it up and enhance the flavor.

On a recent visit to Thai Bistro in Loudon Tennessee, I decided to try the Golden Triangle appetizer. ($6.00) This appetizer consists of ground chicken with Thai herbs wrapped in wonton skins and then deep fried and served with a homemade sweet and sour sauce.  I will admit that they were just OK…and not the best that Thai Bistro has to offer.   

However, both Laurie and I agree that Thai Bistro’s Crab Rangoon appetizer ($6.00) is one of the best of its type that we’ve had anywhere…and she’s a ‘connoisseur’ when it comes Crab Rangoon!

On another occasion, Laurie decided to order the Mongolian Beef for her entrée. ($10.00) The beef was stir fried with snow peas, mushrooms, baby corn and onions and it’s served in a light brown sauce.  Laurie requested “Thai heat level 3” and it was perfect for her.

This has pretty much been my standard entrée at Thai Bistro.  It’s General Tso’s Chicken with Broccoli. ($10.00) Of course, all entrees are served with plentiful amounts of rice on the side.  I’ve now raised my personal Thai Heat Level from a 4 to a 5, which makes my head sweat…and that is always my spicy food goal! 

On our most recent visit to Thai Bistro, I decided to try the Fried Dumpling appetizer. ($8.00) They were stuffed with chicken, pork and shrimp and they tasted every bit as good as they looked!  I ordered some spicy Thai paste on the side to ‘heat’ up these dumplings…

Thai Bistro has become a popular local dining venue.  We’ve been there several times recently despite the fact that because we’re always looking for something new and outstanding, we rarely visit the same restaurant more than 4 times a year… On this particular occasion we were joined by friends.  From the left: Laurie, Jodie, Holly, Joel and Morrie. 

Thai Bistro is located at 222 Lakeside Plaza near Tellico Village in Loudon Tennessee.  Phone: 865-657-6440.  Website: https://www.thaibistrotellico.com/.

Just click on any of these photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to whet your appetite!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave