Corner Bakery Cafe

As you know, Bowling Green has 100s of restaurants to choose from and bakeries are becoming one of the more frequent finds. Corner Bakery Cafe opened up this year, taking over the lot of the late Beijing Chinese buffet that was once shaped like a boat.

This restaurant, which features breakfast, pasta, soup, salad, sandwiches, and baked goods, was founded in 1991 (the year I was born). Their BG location is currently their only KY location.

A couple of weeks after it opened, Mom and I decided to check it out for breakfast one Saturday.

It was crowded when we got there, making it hard to find a table, but there were only a couple of people in front of us at the register. We beat the 9am BG breakfast rush.

After we both ordered and squeezed into tables, we set our sticks with numbers on said table and waited for our food. The staff works very efficiently at Corner Bakery, finding most tables with ease and constantly moving about to see that tables stayed clean.

We were both excited when our food arrived.

I picked the Smoked Bacon and Cheddar Panini with a side of breakfast potatoes. Mine was really simple–bacon and cheese on sourdough bread hot and fresh off the grill. The eggs were the perfect fluffy texture while the bacon was good and crisp, but not over cooked. The cheese and crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, bread tied it all together. And the potatoes…they just might have been my favorite part about the whole meal!

Mom got the Anaheim Scramble with harvest toast and breakfast potatoes; she agreed with me about the potatoes being fabulous. We both also really liked her toast, which was a great multigrain with a nutty depth of flavor. She also really enjoyed her scrambled eggs (and she’s picky about her eggs) that came mixed with bacon, tomatoes, green onions, cheddar cheese, and avocado.

Since I had already had coffee that morning, I resisted the temptation to intake more sugar and caffeine and stuck with a glass of water. Mom ordered tea and was disappointed when they delivered a hot cup of water and a tea bag; she’d been expecting something made in house.

I see a return trip in our future, especially since I still need to try something from that tantalizing bakery case! We did buy Grandma a blueberry muffin and my husband a ginormous cinnamon roll, but I didn’t get the chance to try either of these. I really want one of their peanut butter whoopie pies.

But I don’t see this becoming a weekly breakfast place for us. The only reason I say that is because they are a bit pricy. But they have excellent food and it’s a wonderful splurge.

 

Cheesy Sausage and Potato Pie

At some point last month or the month before, one of the grocery stores I frequent had Johnsville ground Italian sausage on sale, so I decided that I wanted to try making something new. Did you know that the Johnsonville website has a bunch of great recipes?

I decided that I wanted to try this wonderful-looking savory pie.

Sometimes the bonus result of new recipes, a bonus for me at least, is the fact that I get to buy new cooking supplies! In this case, I needed a pie pan. I also got to work Pillsbury’s refrigerated pie crust for the first time.

This recipe is very easy, but the fact that it has to be baked for an hour means that I don’t consider it a good choice for a week night meal.

After lining the bottom of your pie pan with one pie crust and trimming the edges, you fill it with ground Italian sausage, frozen potatoes, shredded cheese, cream of potato soup, and some spices. Then, you carefully layer the other crust on top and trim it. Make sure to cut some slits into the top so that your pie doesn’t explode in the oven!

I used some onion powder in place of actual onion and accidently used a smaller can of soup than was called for. Otherwise, I stuck to their recipe.

Kevin and I both really enjoyed this. Not only was it tasty, but it was filling and huge, which meant we had the rare occurrence of leftovers. This pie is dense with plenty of sausage and potato goodness to each bite and a creaminess from the cheese and soup to tie it all in. Using a bigger can of soup might have added to the texture, but we didn’t really miss it.

The crust was great too. It was really easy to use and cooked up crunchy yet tender. I’d like to make a sweet pie with it at some point.

Cheesy Sausage and Potato Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground Italian sausage (I used mild)
• 2 cups frozen, diced potatoes
• 1 cup green onion, sliced (or 1/2 tbs onion powder)
• 1 10.75 ounce can of cream of potato soup
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground sage
• 2 pie crusts, 9 inches

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown and drain sausage.
3. Mix all of the ingredients for your filling.
4. Place on pie shell inside of pie pan, pressing against sides and bottom. Trim off excess.
5. Add filling mixture and then place second crust on top. Trim off excess.
6. Press edges with a fork to seal and cut slits on top of the pie.
7. Bake for 1 hour and let stand 15 minutes before baking.

Cracker Barrel

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before, but breakfast is my favorite! Most days, I could be happy having breakfast three meals a day. Mom and I go out for breakfast every Saturday after our Weight Watchers meeting, but otherwise I’m eating breakfast at home.

Last Monday, I woke up with the stomach bug, so my relationship with food wasn’t normal. I went back to work on Tuesday, but I didn’t consider my belly “normal” until Thursday.

When we went out Wednesday night, Mom thought that breakfast food might be a little gentler on my stomach than the butter chicken she had previously planned on making. We decided on Cracker Barrel because we haven’t been there for a long time since it’s on the other end of town.

Now, Cracker Barrel does have non-breakfast food options, but when I go to a restaurant that specializes in breakfast, you can pretty much guarantee that that’s what I’m having.

There’s something specific that I get practically every single time that I go there, but I always peruse their menu and I have tried a couple of other things. Part of me really wants to try their chicken and dumplings and their eggs-in-the-basket, but I know I’d miss my usual.

My usual being a country ham and cheddar omelet with hashbrown casserole.

I know that’s something really simple and that omelets aren’t even on the menu, but they make them just right! You can choose from country or honey ham and I’ve always preferred the salty kind (because I love my arteries…). The eggs are thin and cooked just right and they stuff it full of chunks of ham and melty cheese!

And the hashbrown casserole…I could eat a giant bowl of that and be happy! I love hash browns in most forms, but there’s something about they way they make–chewy and tender and crunchy with so much flavor.

Mom decided to pick something off of the non-breakfast menu and went with meatloaf. She had hashbrown casserole, fried okra, and fried apples as her sides. She shared everything but the fried okra because I don’t like okra. The meatloaf was great–wonderful flavor and texture and how can you go wrong with something like fried apples?

If you haven’t tried this casserole, you’re missing out. If you follow the link attached to the picture of casserole, it’ll take you to a page with a recipe of their version of this dish.

And don’t forget to check out their store and the rocking chairs outside!

Gnnochi

I love cooking, but that doesn’t mean that I always feel like it when I get home after working all day. So, sometimes (read: a vast majority of the time), I’ll try to throw together something fast and simple. Much of the time, this means using something out of a can or box.

At one point last month, this meant finally trying out the box of Delallo Gnocchi that I had found at the grocery. I’ve had gnocchi before in Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi Veronese and, more recently, at Portobello in Downtown Disney. There, they serve gnocchi with “Nona’s Sunday pork ragu” and it was fabulous!

For those of you who might have never had gnocchi, they’re potato dumplings. I.e. little pasta dumplings of goodness…

I decided to make mine with Prego’s Roasted Garlic Parmesan sauce. Because who doesn’t like cheese and potatoes?

And, remember when I said this was easy? All this meal required was boiling the gnocchi, draining them, and then pouring the sauce into the pot.

It was beautiful.

I decided to put parmesan on top of mine–because I’m a cheese fiend. Also, there was some pepperoni in the fridge so I sprinkled some of those on my plate as well.

See? Isn’t it lovely?

The one thing that made me sad about this dish is that there wasn’t quite enough food for both of us. I think that one box would be enough for two people with normal size appetites. But if one, or both of you, has a bigger appetite (like my husband), you might not have enough food to leave both of you feeling full.

I love this because it has great flavor and texture, it’s simple to make, and a great variation on pasta night.

Pillsbury Pizza Crust

A while ago, one of my friends at work told me about Pillsbury’s pizza crust, so I had to try it. Their pizza crusts can be found with their biscuits and crescent rolls and comes in Artisan, Classic, and Thin. I went with classic.

Besides my can of dough (and one extra in case it didn’t make enough food), I bought some mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and pizza sauce. We own a pizza pan, but I decided to use a cookie sheet and make a rectangular pizza instead.

The dough came out of the can easily and spread out with minimal stretching. It did tear a little bit but I was able to push the dough back together.

Then, per the directions, I prebaked the dough. When it came out, I put some sauce and cheese on it and then had Kevin cover it in pepperoni. Then it made a return trip to the oven.

As you can see in the above picture, some of the outer edges got a little overdone. But the center pieces were lovely!

The dough was soft and chewy with a slightly sweet taste that complimented our chosen toppings. Look at that army of pepperoni…

Pillsbury has some awesome products and this is one that I would highly recommend! Just make sure that you watch it while it bakes, especially towards the end–you want a golden brown crust. Not a dark brown, rather crunchy crust. I think I’ll make some mini pizzas with the brownie pan that my mom got me with the other can that I have.

 

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Unlike the vast majority of Americans, I didn’t make a turkey or even the typical feast on Thanksgiving. Instead, I prepared a little precooked ham, some homemade mashed potatoes, frozen bread sticks, and a little can of creamed corn.

It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was good.

Cooking Note: When heating up a precooked ham, put in a baking dish with about a half cup of water and cover with foil. Then put it in the oven for around 30 minutes. I put mine in for 20 minutes and it was lukewarm to cold by the time we sat down to eat it.

But we also wound up with a lot of leftover ham. Ham for days isn’t a bad thing because, well, I like ham and I like eating leftovers; having leftovers is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t eat a lot of leftovers.

This brought me to the dilemma of how to make ham and potatoes more appealing for him so that all of it would get eaten.

Yesterday, I remembered that I had bought a two pack of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. I also remembered that it seems like there’s a very real possibility that everything tastes good when stuffed in a crescent roll.

Except, perhaps, things like gummy bears.

So, when I got home, I told my husband that I was planning on putting cheese and ham in some crescent rolls.

In response, he said, “what about the potatoes?”

Hmmm…what about the potatoes, indeed?

After popping open one container of roll dough, I decided to leave them in twos. Two crescent rolls left attached = one square/rectangle that is easier to stuff.

When doing this, try to make sure that you press the seams together to try to prevent food from escaping while it’s baking.

After setting the oven to preheat at 375 degrees, I filled each with two small spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, which I sprinkled with salt and pepper; a pinch of mild cheddar cheese; and ripped up pieces of ham.

I put these on a baking sheet lined with Reynolds Parchment Paper and then baked them for what wound up being a total of 12 minutes.

These were super tasty, but still a little doughy. So, in the future, I think I’ll bake them for 15 minutes instead. Also, I think it would be good to mix up chopped up ham and shredded cheese into the mashed potatoes to use to stuff the rolls instead of just layering them like I did.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• Precooked ham; I didn’t have the honey variety
• Shredded cheese; I used mild cheddar
• Already prepared mashed potatoes
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and use as your work surface. Once you’ve opened the crescent rolls you’ll find that 2 rolls together create a square/rectangle. Spread these out and pinch the seams that connect the two together
3. In a bowl, gently mix together the rest of the ingredients
4. Using a spoon place portions of your filling into the middle of your squares of crescent dough. Then, fold the ends of the dough together and over the filling so that there aren’t any openings
5. Bake for about 15 minutes depending on your oven

Cooking Note: As you can tell, I didn’t really measure anything when I made this the other day. Use however much and whatever type of ham and cheese and potatoes you want. Also, one pack of crescent rolls yields 4 pockets of ham goodness.

The next time that I make these, I don’t think I’m going to use potatoes. I’m going to see what happens with just ham and cheese.

Chuys

3260 Ken Bale Blvd, Bowling Green, KY 42103

(270) 796-2999                                        Menu

This is one of my favorite restaurants in BG, and, if I’m craving Mexican food, this is where I want to go. Yes, it is Tex Mex, so maybe some of you wouldn’t put it in the same category as El Mazatlan or Garcia’s (both good restaurants), but I do.

My mom also adores this place, so we go there together often. My husband, on the other hand, has decided that he hates the place and will not go there with me. Ever.

This is due in part to the fact that he thinks the way this restaurant is decorated is crazy and stupid.

But, I think the main factor is the very first experience we (my not-yet-hubby, our moms, and I) had at Chuy’s shortly after it opened in BG. His mom had a taco salad, which she enjoyed. The rest of us had their “Famous ‘Big as Yo’ Face’ Burritos”. I’m not sure how on earth they got famous because, well, they’re not that good.

At the time, I didn’t really care for their (amazing) made in house tortillas and my burrito seemed to be nothing but a heap of bean paste wrapped in one. There was hardly any meat or cheese and it was just…sad.

But their tortilla chips were awesome. That, and the fact that my mom-in-law enjoyed her salad, are probably the only factors that brought three out of four of us back to this restaurant.

Atmosphere

As I mentioned before, the theme and decorating of this tex-mex restaurant is very interesting. It’s one of those things that you just need to see for yourself.

One of the first things you’ll probably notice when you walk into the dining area is the fact that there are big, metal palm trees that stretch from floor to ceiling. In another dining room off to the side, the ceiling is decorated with all different hub caps.

One thing you really need to check out in the main dining area is the glassed in room where you can sometimes see people hand making tortillas. That’s always fun to stop and watch.

There’s also a big room with close-able doors, which I assume is for parties, an outside deck area, and the bar. If you go into the bar area, they have a tortilla chip and dip bar in the trunk of a car.

Service

Mom and I have always had excellent service here.

I don’t remember ever having a server who wasn’t kind, knowledgeable, and professional. They’re always quick to greet you with a smile and a basket of tortilla chips.

And the food is typically brought out very quickly.

Food

I’ve already told you what I thought of the burritos…it seemed like my chicken and cheese burritos was nothing but a slab of bean paste. Tasty, right?

One of the things that I love about this restaurant is the cornucopia of salsa choices. I’m not saying that I’ve sampled all of them—I’ve only tried a few actually. But it was here that I discovered one of my favorite sauces—creamy jalapeno. It-is-the-best-stuff-ever. As soon as the server brings us chips and takes our drink order, we also ask for creamy jalapeno. Yes, it can be spicy (especially if the peppers they used to make it are a particularly hot bunch), but my mom (who doesn’t like spicy food) also really enjoys this stuff.

This sauce also goes on my favorite thing to get, which I get most every time I go here: custom enchiladas. I get two chicken and cheese enchiladas with a side of Mexican rice and re-fried beans and creamy jalapeno sauce (which actually looks pretty similar to the above picture, but with a different sauce). The sauce goes all over the enchiladas and even gets mixed into my rice.

I envision the creation of a dish that consists of nothing but rice, chicken, cheese, and creamy jalapeno sauce….drool worthy…

I’ve also enjoyed their chuychanga and chicken flautas. I like the former better, but they’re both pretty good, especially with creamy jalapeno sauce. But my favorite is still the custom enchiladas.

The chuychanga is “a fried flour tortilla with fresh, oven roasted chicken, cheese, cilantro & green chiles, garnished with sour cream and your choice of sauce.” I’ve had this several times, but, besides the fact that it makes me sad I didn’t get my usual, it’s also a little on the unhealthy, artery clogging side. So this is an occasional splurge.

And the chicken flautas are “homemade corn tortillas filled with freshly- roasted, hand-pulled chicken, rolled, fried and drizzled with our smoky, red chipotle sauce.” I’ve had this one twice, if I remember correctly. I really enjoyed it the first time, but the last time that I had it, it was rather burnt and the chicken was try, so I haven’t had it since. I might need to give it another try though.

Mom typically gets their fajitas because, well, she loves fajitas and Chuy’s does them really well. It’s a big hot plate of grilled chicken and vegetables, another plate with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole, and a container of tortillas to put all the noms on. We always know our food is coming because of that sizzling plate of chicken and veggies.

Now, they have it set up where you can buy a serving for either one or two people. One time, for some unknown reason, the server brought Mom the serving for two. And it’s massive. This is something that’s plenty to split, if you eat with someone who also enjoys fajitas.

Return Trip?

Of course! There will be many, many return trips for delicious Tex-Mex food, great service, and creamy jalapeno sauce.

Spicy Sausage Meatballs

This is the appetizer that I made for dinner tonight, the one that I shared before and after oven photos of. Now, they’re called “spicy,” but I didn’t include the spicy ingredients because two out of the four of us don’t do spicy foods.

These were super tasty, but slightly high maintenance. It takes a little while to make sure that the sausage mixture is well blended; I suggest using a larger bowl to have more room to do so.

Ingredients

1 pound Owens Hot Sausage (I used Mild Tennessee Pride sausage)

2 cups Bisquick

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, Monterrey jack, or mixed

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 tablespoon dreid parsley

2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno, chopped (I didn’t include this)

2 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands.

Form into 1 inch balls and place them on baking sheets, leaving some space between them so you can turn them over.

Bake 15 minutes and then turn them over. Bake an additional 15 minutes and transfer to serving dish. (This depends on how hot your oven gets; I cooked mine for 12 minutes, flipped them, and then cooked for another 12 minutes).

If you have leftovers, they are good reheated in the microwave.

Cheesy Chicken and Pasta Casserole

This was also super delicious! But my boyfriend said it had too much cheese, while I secretly thought that it could always use more cheese…

Ingredients

8oz medium pasta shells, uncooked

no-stick cooking spray

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper = 1 medium bell pepper (I didn’t include this)

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (I didn’t use this)

1 15oz can tomato sauce (since I didn’t use the above, I put extra sauce on the top of the casserole to make sure it wasn’t dry)

1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese, divided (I think it would be nice to use just a bag of mozzerela)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt.

Meanwhile, spray 8×8” baking disk with cooking spray.

Spray large skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sprinkle with garlic powder. Cook 2-3 minutes and then add bell pepper. Cook until pepper is tender and chicken is no longer pink in centers.

Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, 3/4 cup cheese, and cooked pasta.

Transfer mixture to prepared dish and sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake 15 minutes or until cheese melts and mixture is bubbly.

Source: Walmart Meal Solutions magazine in the paper.

Crab Filled Crescent Wontons

These are super delicious and super easy to make. My family and I scarfed them down.

Since one member of our dinner party can’t get here until 6:00 pm, the rest of us get hungry waiting until dinner time. So, I thought that I’d make appetizers this weekend.

Ingredients

1 8oz tube crescent roll dough

3oz cream cheese, softened (I missed the “softened” part, so it took lots and lots of stirring to get the filling to the consistency that I wanted it to be)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup cooked crabmeat, chopped (I used lump crabmeat, which I haven’t had before, and it was amazing quality)

2 green onions, chopped (I didn’t include this because, well, I don’t like onions)

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I put 1/4 teaspoon, but couldn’t taste it at all; on the other hand, everybody could tell it was there, so it depends on your spice tolerance)

salt and pepper, to taste (I didn’t put this in there either)

Directions

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, or put parchment paper on your cookie sheet like I did.

Unroll the dough on your work surface. Pinch seams to seal them up, and roll with a rolling pin to create an even rectangle. Cut the rectangle into 6×4 rows to make 24 squares.

Mix cream cheese, mayo, crabmeat, onion, red pepper, and salt and pepper (if you want the later two).

Divide crab mixture evenly among the squares, dropping it by spoonfuls that are 1/2 inch from one corner of each square.

Starting with the same corner, fold dough over filling, and tuck end tightly underneath filling; continue rolling to within 1/2 inch of opposite corner. Roll opposite corner of dough over roll; press to seal. Don’t be disappointed if your wontons don’t look like wontons; mine were tasty pockets.

Place on cookie sheet and brush with egg white, if desired. (I didn’t do the later).

Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from cookie sheet.

Serve warm.

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