When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...that's Renaldo's

Reet Says Eat many times over the years at Renaldo's Apizza & Pasta, where a smiling Renaldo always greets our pickup orders with a Hello, Rita. The restaurant recently received a favorable review in the Hartford Courant, which said, in part:

A dozen booths make up the simple restaurant that even on a Sunday night was hopping with patrons picking up to-go orders, and others settling in for a meal. "It doesn't look like much from the outside. It's not the Waldorf Astoria, but we have good food and decent prices," explains owner Christopher Quiroga, a former corrections officer who purchased the place from Renaldo Riccitelli about six years ago.

"Renaldo still works here and he gave me the recipes along with the place when I bought it," explained Quiroga. "We don't give out the recipes, but nearly everything we do here is from scratch." I could tell. The sauce was sweet, obviously from good products, fresh herbs and hours of simmering. Breads, including the grinder rolls, were crisp on the outside and light on the inside, indicative of homemade. - complete review

Located at 378 N. Main St., Southington, CT 860-621-6005

Sharon Mirisola's Chicken 'N Rice 'N Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli

2 cups Success Rice (I guess Minute Rice doesn't make it!)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 stick butter or margarine

1 16 oz jar Cheez Whiz

1 can Durkee fried onions

2 cups of of cooked chicken (cubed)

Prepare:

cook/strain broccoli

cook rice (not sure how long?)

mix cheez whiz, soup & softened butter (using a mixer)

add cooked chicken, broccoli and rice, mix with a spoon

bake mixture in oven @ 350 degrees

top with the fried onions and bake additional 15 minutes

Emilio's for Reet's birthday (yeah, it's open)

Dimly lit, tables close together, Italian music coming from the speakers....and an owner who appears at your table to play the ACCORDIAN for you! I'm a sucker for atmosphere. WE dined out for Reet's birthday; yes, WE, the waitress included herself in our party when asking if WE were ready to order. Annoying, but well-meaning. And WE liked the reincarnation of Giovanni's very much. Jonathan claimed his lasagna was not the equal of Pagliacci's, but good. My Something-All-Emilio was a seafood mixture with spinach and a white wine sauce over linguini. Very nice. (Bonus! If you get just the right seat, you can peer across the street into Blockbuster to pick out your after-dinner flick.)

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Coming soon: Italian-style food in the old tradition By Jesse D. Smolin, Record-Journal staff

SOUTHINGTON — Emilio Gutic can feel the warmth of candles flickering on the tables, he can hear soft Italian music playing from the speakers, he can taste his homemade food as he eats with his guests and he can see his father, Mario, burst in from the kitchen to play a sonata on his accordion at Emilio's Italian Ristorante. - complete article

Judy & Her Sisters (and Reet) wow the Southington Apple Harvest Festival with their fancypants (the booth)!

The Harvest Honeys display their wares (and some mighty tasty cookies as well) at the 37th annual Southington Apple Harvest Festival. However, the Honeys were admonished by Festival Arts & Crafts officials for calling those who chose not to buy fancypants cookies "cheap bastards and trailer trash sluts."

An eye-pleasing fancypants display

fancypants bakery 153 washington street walpole, ma 02032 Web site email

Spicy Garden Pasta from Rozella Bogasian

Ingredients:
1 lb. penne or pasta
4 ripe plum tomatos (approx 3/4 lb.) cut into half-inch dice (go for snake eyes)
1/3 cup virgin olive oil (discuss definition of virgin)
1/4 cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons of chopped mint
1/4 cup of basil, cut in chiffonade
1 clove of minced garlic (1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon of capers
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Prepare:
Boil water to cook pasta; when boiling, add salt to water and cook pasta according to package directions
Dice tomatos and place in a large, heat-resistant bowl.
Add oil, herbs, capers, peppers and garlic. Stir to combine.
Drain pasta when cooked and add to bowl of ingredients. Stir to combine.
Add the cheese and mix thoroughly.
May be served warm or cold.

Suggested music - For this refreshing dish, grab a nice vino and listen to The Manhattan Transfer's Vocalese, a wonderful tribute to Jon Hendricks.

Friday lunch at The Clam with Johnny Gumbo

"You eat yet?"
"Nope."
"Pick you up in fifteen."

It's Friday noon. Perfect time to review the week and prospective weekend with Gumbo over a brewski and some lunch at Sam's. We choose the bar and each pull up a stool. Real men don't do sundecks. Not being real men, we sometimes do.

Topics discussed over a couple Bass Ales, one Philly cheese and one chicken wrap:

Center Street rumors - Tonic has been sold and will become a sports bar; Brickhouse/Gorilla Joe's will reopen shortly as the "Groggy Frog" and will go after the young professional crowd (yeah, right);

What year will Emilio's open shortly in?

The new seafood place on Eden Avenue not a keeper

Apple Fest crunch time; things looking pretty good; some good music entertainment coming in

Gulp, gulp......we're outta here!

German brews world's strongest beer

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German brewer has concocted what he says is the world's strongest beer, a potent drink with an alcohol content of 25.4 percent that is served in a shot glass. "Everyone who has tried it is enthusiastic. It tastes like a quirky mixture of beer and sherry," said Bavarian brewer Harald Schneider.

Schneider, who lives in southern Germany where beer is a tradition, said his beer fermented for 12 weeks for an alcohol content twice that of Germany's other strongest beers. "People will only be able to drink two or three glasses, otherwise they'll drop like flies," he said.

Schneider expects the holders of the world's strongest beer, the Boston Beer Company, to put up a fight. "I'm pretty sure the Americans have something up their sleeve."

Musings on Malt
Bill Brand's Beer Blog

History's A Favorite At The Bristol Diner - Customers Eat Up Displays

by Jonathan Shugarts, Courant Staff Writer

BRISTOL -- Gary Wyrebek likes to tell a story about James Levins, who came into his diner one day. As Levins sat eating his lunch, he recognized the picture of Rochelle Oliver, Miss Bristol from 1963, that was on display above the seat in one of the booths. Wyrebek said Levins called him over to the table.

"What made you want to put this up here?" Wyrebek remembers Levins asking. "Her hair reminds me of my mother," Wyrebek responded. Levins said, "That's my wife, and I haven't seen that photo in 40 years." - complete review

Happy 4th!!!!!!

Send Reet some of your favorites!

Hamburger America - a film documentary

By ROGER CATLIN, Courant TV Critic
Film website

Hamburgers - and their odd regional permutations - will grill at countless U.S. barbecues this Independence Day weekend, and Sundance Channel will honor the occurrence with the July Fourth TV debut of the documentary "Hamburger America," in which this state figures prominently.

Two of the eight burger joints profiled in George Motz's film are in Connecticut. Not only does it feature New Haven's famous Louis' Lunch, which has long boasted of being the birthplace of the hamburger in 1900, but the film also highlights the steamed cheeseburgers served at Ted's Restaurant in Meriden since 1959. - Complete article

Ted's Restaurant, Meriden, CT

Louis' Lunch, New Haven, CT

The film also includes a visit to the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, made famous in the "Saturday Night Live" sketch for John Belushi's "cheezeborger, cheezeborger, cheezeborger!"

Restaurant visit: Tonic

I want to like this place hidden halfway down Center Street, but it is the successor to a number of breakfast spots (Coach's, Joe's, Uncle Tony's) and, unfortunately, some ghosts remain. Originally billed as a seafood restaurant in the planning stages, the spot is now all over the place in style and cuisine. The bar (pictured here) is nicely done; high tables at the front allow you to look out onto the Center Street activity. And the rebel eyesore appliance store, Gladchuk's, has closed!!!!!

The problem is three-fold:

1. The facade is DREADFUL, not even an attempt to upgrade the tired storefront look, 
2. The main dinning area (as it is referred to on the website) is bland beyond belief; I'm all for understatement, but this is depressing, 
3. The food is....forgettable. An inexperienced server asked our 60th birthday boy how his Mahi-Mahi special was, and upon hearing that it was fine (a lie, it was mediocre), proceeded to gush that it was a new thing for the chef (he had been working on it for a month) and that Gene was the first one to have it. Wonderfully reassuring!

Suggestion: Go for drinks, appetizers and a ballgame and sit at the open front end. Hey, isn't that Johnny Gumbo walking down Center???? 

St. Patrick's Day

The first ever St Patrick's Day celebration in America happened in 1737 in Boston, and the city still boasts one of the USA's biggest St Patrick's Day parties. The annual parade begins from Broadway at the MBTA Station and goes to Andrew Square, boasting floats, fancy dress and all the usual hullabaloo we've come to associate with this quintessential Irish celebration. Expect marching bands and pipe bands from all over North America. St Patrick's Day is one of the only national holidays celebrated outside its native land - a clear indication of the Irish influence thoughout the world and especially in the USA

Half a mile from the county fair
And the rain keep pourin' down
Me and Billy standin' there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of a fishin' rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin' wet
With our backs against the fence
"It Stoned Me", Van Morrison


Irish Soda Bread from Food Network.com

Recipe courtesy Brother Rick Curry, The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, HaperPerennial, 1995

(brilliant idea: before starting, pour/consume a pint of Guinness)

5 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups mixed light and dark raisins, soaked in water for 15 to 20 minutes and drained
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, slightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter 2 (9 by 5-inch) bread pans.
Stir together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in the butter and mix very thoroughly with your hands until it gets grainy. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.

Add the buttermilk and egg to the flour mixture. Stir until well moistened. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in the pans.

Bake for 1 hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Cool in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Suggested music: Tough one here, for you can go in a number of directions. Start with the Irish Tenors' "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"; then Jonathan suggests you pick up the pace with some loud, rowdy punk from south Boston's Dropkick Murphys; next, taste the exquisite offerings of the Chieftains; then finish off with THE Man, Van Morrison, who, in my not-so-humble opinion, is fantastic (ok, a little impersonal) in concert, despite what Keith and Vin may say. OMG!!!! I almost forgot the talented, Pope-bashing Sinead O'Connor!

Oh, and reward yourself for such culinary and musical taste with another pint of Guinness. Brilliant!!!!

Alligator Sauce Piquante by Michael Gowland

Preparation Time 1-1/2 hours
Serves 8

2 lbs farm-raised alligator tail meat, cleaned
(ed. note: I may be talking out of school here, but once you've wrestled (rassled) and killed the alligator, isn't the rest kinda anti-climactic? Or maybe it's just me. Proceed......)
3-5 t blackened seasoning blend
4 oz butter
2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 t garlic, chopped
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 dried oregano
1/2 dried thyme
1 T crushed red pepper
5 t Blackened seasoning blend
1 bay leaf
1 t brown sugar
6 oz beer
1 can tomato sauce
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 T corn starch dissolved in a little cold water (optional)

Place a dry cast iron skillet on high heat. Season the cleaned alligator with blackened seasoning and sear on both sides in the very hot iron skillet. You may also prepare the meat on a barbecue grill. When the meat is cool, cut into cubes.

In a 6-qt Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic over medium high heat. Add the dry seasonings, Worchester sauce, brown sugar and stir. Add the beer and bring to a boil. Add the tomato sauce and turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cubed alligator meat and cook for an additional 40 minutes. Taste to correct the seasonings, add the corn starch slurry (add slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps) if needed to thicken the sauce and finish by adding the green onions.

Serve with white rice. Enjoy.

Suggested music: Dr. John from his Gris Gris album would compliment this nicely.

Final comment: It is rumored that deep in the Everglades there exists a comparable recipe for "Unsuspecting Sunbather Sauce Piquante" by Wallace Gator

Chili today.....

Texas Chili - The main differences between Texas chili recipes and those other chili recipes is that "real" Texas chili has no beans and the main ingredient, after the meat, is chili peppers - whether chopped, diced, powdered, or liquified. Oh, and Texas chili just tastes better. More...

$20,000 prize-winning chili - here; more chili recipes from pepperfool.com

quote of the day: "Chili should be hot as hell and make you have to fart like a racehorse."

Where's the beef?
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A diner at a Wendy's fast food restaurant in San Jose, CA found a human finger in a bowl of chili prepared by the chain, local officials said on Wednesday. - story...

Have a good one....

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme....

Fat Tuesday At AJ's -Save the date, February 8th. The Southington Rotary Club will host a Mardi Gras evening of hot jazz with interesting food and wine as a fundraiser for the Rotary Foundation. More...

God, it's cold outside; how about a nice chili recipe to warm us up!

It's a Bundt and it's a beauty! - H. David Dalquist, creator of the aluminum Bundt pan, the top-selling cake pan in the world, has died at 86. More...

Brunch Sausage Bread

Ingredients:
1 roll Spicy Jimmy Dean Sausage
8 oz. package cream cheese
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

Prepare:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium size skillet, brown sausage. Drain fat and add in cream
cheese. Stir until completely blended.

On a greased cookie sheet, spread out 1 can of crescent rolls,
pinching together to make "crust".

Spoon sausage mixture over crescent rolls just to 3/4 of an inch away from the edge.

Unroll the other package of crescent rolls. Make a crust for the top and
pinch the bottom and top halves together to form a pouch.

Cook 10-12 minutes or according to the directions on the crescent rolls.

Serve warm.

Note: if you are a wuss and don't like spicy things, you can use regular sausage instead.

Suggested music: Well, "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean is what Reet has been known to hum about the house. She won't give the reason.

Judi's layered Sopranos appetizer

Ingredients: 3 pkg. crescent rolls 1/2 lb. salami 1/2 lb. ham 1/2 lb. pepperoni(large) 1/2 lb. provolone 7 eggs (mix well and add grated cheese) 1 jar roasted peppers

Furio Giunta

Prepare:
Grease 9"X13" or larger pan.
Layer 1 1/2 cans crescent rolls on bottom (seal seams).
Layer salami, ham, pepperoni, provolone. Add egg mixture and then peppers.
Layer rest of crescent rolls on top.
Brush egg on top of rolls.
Bake 350* for 1 hour or less.


When Judi wants to impress a Soprano, she whips up this tasty treat and he's, shall we say, BADA BING!

Suggested music: forego "Theme from the Godfather" and throw on some vintage Eddie Fisher singing "Oh, My Pa-Pa"

Super Bowl meatballs in beer sauce

Sauce ingredients:

12 oz Teresa (pronounced Terrraaaaza) Heinz Kerry ketchup (it's a tad bitter)

12 oz chili sauce

12 oz beer (flat, perhaps your favorite right out of the can)

Meatballs ingredients:

3 lb ground beef

1 small onion, chopped and sautied

2 eggs (over easy, wheat toast with little jam thingies, home fries, coffee)

3 slices of bread, soaked in beer

salt 'n pepa
My man is smooth like Barry, and his voice got bass
A body like Arnold with a Denzel face

Prepare:

mix meatball ingredients; roll into bite-size pieces (no jokes, ladies)

bake for 20 minutes, drain

combine sauce ingredients and add meatballs; simmer (if YOU are simmering at this point because significant other is a lazy bastard/bitch, take a deep breath and a sip of that flat beer)

Reet Sez: I use my crockpot to simmer all for several hours. Do not hesitate to use any meatball recipe or prepared meatballs. This can be made ahead and reheated; LEFTOVERS MAKE GREAT MEATBALL GRINDERS!!!

Suggested music: your favorite team's fight song or be groovin' about the kitchen to Whatta Man by Salt 'N Pepa

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

From the entire management and staff here at REET SAYS EAT, we wish everyone a delicious 2005.