More Breakfasts From Mrs. J's Restaurant

Having been perplexed by the strange biscuits during my last visit to Mrs. J's Restaurant in downtown Orrville, Ohio, I found myself again in need of sustenance on a Sunday morning. Preferring to give my business to a local mom and pop place rather than a national chain, I decided to give Mrs. J's another go. When I arrived at 9 AM on Sunday morning, while the place was definitely hopping, there were still three or four booths still open. As with my first visit, it wasn't apparent whether I was supposed to wait to be seated or simply seat myself. Fortunately, another couple walked into the restaurant at the same time as I did and immediately sat themselves. Trying to fit into the crowd, I did the same.

After a few minutes, my server stopped by with a glass of water and some much needed coffee:

Between the food I had eaten last time and what appeared on the breakfast portion of the menu, it surprised me a bit when I spied packets of Sugar In The Raw sitting in the sweetener holder:

Since I had tried (and not particularly cared for) the sausage gravy over biscuits the last time, I decided to try out something else on the menu today. I wasn't feeling the love for carbs this morning, so my menu choices were simplified down to one food group: eggs. Fine, an omelet it was! While there were only a couple of specific omelettes listed, you could essentially build one to order if you chose.

Not wanting to go the route of building my own, I decided on the Western Omelet:

With my omelet, I had my choice of breads for toast; I chose wheat bread. Overall, I'd say that my breakfast today was average. Nothing in particular was wrong with it, but neither did it endear me to Mrs. J's in such a way that I would swayed to return if I didn't already happen to be in the area. Everything was hot and tasted appropriate (crunchy for the toast, tender for the eggs). The filling of American cheese, ham, and onions was nicely heated through and weren't overly salty. The only oddity I noticed was that at one end of my omelet, it was seasoned. At the other, no seasoning whatsoever. My server was attentive without being obtrusive when it came to refilling my breakfast beverages as well as checking in on me.

On my second visit for this entry, I was bound and determined to try something a little more substantial and carb-laden. During my previous meal, I noticed something on the menu called the "Pancake Sandwich." Intrigued about this interesting sounding dish, I finally decided to order it for today's breakfast. After a bit of a delay (it was Sunday during peak breakfast hours), this finally arrived at my table with maple-flavored syrup:

This was a short stack of pancakes with two strips of crispy bacon between them and finally topped with a single egg cooked to my prefernce; I chose sunny side up. As somewhat expected, the egg had been served unseasoned. I added some salt and pepper and ate the egg first. It was cooked well and the yolk was nice and runny. After finishing the egg, I skipped the cup of margarine and went straight for the maple-flavored syrup instead. The bacon and pancakes were cooked thoroughly, and the syrup added a bit of sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the bacon.

Overall, today's dish was a decent breakfast. I think what I've come to terms with over my trio of visits is that Mrs. J's serves a basic, no frills breakfast menu. While the biscuits in my original review were a bit off-putting, everything since then has been good, but not great. That being said, the price has ALWAYS been right. My pancake sandwich today cost a mere $4.35 and it was quite filling. Looking around me, I noticed lots of families and friends who were out for Sunday breakfast and some great conversation. I have no qualms about continuing to recommend Mrs. J's if you live in the Orrville area. While the food might not be particularly inventive, every small community needs a place like Mrs. J's and Orrville is well served by this simple eatery.

Kitchen Challenge: Warm Sweet Potato Salad

I make no bones about it: The sweet potato salad at Fat Casual BBQ is magnificent. With its combination of creamy and tender sweet potatoes, the fabulousness from the smoky bacon, and the amazingly tart dressing, I've said it before and I will say it again ... they really have a winner! Done in the style of a traditional warm German potato salad, I decided a few weeks ago to try my hand at making something similar, but with my own twist. I chose not to document my previous attempt because I was simply playing around in the kitchen, unsure of the final result. However, it turned out so well that I decided to recreate it today in order to serve it with dinner tonight for my grandmother and myself.

Being that today was the last outdoor market for the Howe Meadow Farmers Market (don't worry, the indoor market starts in just two weeks), I was curious to see what I could scrounge up from the vendors today. After my customary stop at Humble Pie Baking Company for my Ohio pumpkin pie (I'm getting a start on Thanksgiving early this year), I asked proprietor and friend Diane Sikorski if anyone at the market today was selling sweet potatoes. She directed me a few tents down where I found an abundance of multi-hued tubers just waiting to be bagged up. I also looked for onions, another of the few primary ingredients in the salad, but alas, I found none. Fortunately, on my way out, I spotted some gorgeous looking leeks and decided to substitute one for the other since they have such a similar taste.

I then stopped at the Giant Eagle supermarket closest to my grandmother's condominium to pick up the final few ingredients: bacon and fresh tarragon. Fortunately, Giant Eagle has started carrying nitrate-free bacon, so I picked up a 12 ounce package of that (you could certainly use regular bacon, too, but be aware that it usually comes in 16 ounce packages). While there was a single lone box of fresh tarragon in the herb section, it looked absolutely pathetic; "fresh" was not an adjective I would've used to describe it. As it turned out, just below the box of tarragon were plenty of boxes of fresh chervil (which has a similar anise flavor). After a quick search for the freshest looking box, I was out the door and back at grandma's, unpacking my goodies.

Here were the basic ingredients for the salad:

For the salad, I needed:

2 pounds of sweet potatoes (or yams)

1 large onion (or 2 good sized leeks, cleaned), diced

12 ounces bacon

1 package fresh tarragon (or chervil), chopped

Warm bacon dressing

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To prep the sweet potatoes, I simply peeled them with a vegetable peeler and cut them into bite-sized pieces. I attempted to make them all a similar size so that they would finish cooking at the same time. For the bacon, I stuck the entire package in the freezer for about ten minutes to firm up the meat. This allowed me to quickly and easily slice across the strips without the bacon fat fighting with the knife:

I placed the sweet potatoes into a pot of salted boiling water, turned it down to a simmer and cooked them until a paring knife could be inserted and removed easily. I made sure to keep the water at a gentle simmer so that the potatoes didn't break up as they cooked.

I then drained the potatoes and kept them aside in a large mixing bowl. At the same time that the potatoes were cooking, I started to cook the bacon in a large saute pan which had been pre-heating over a medium heat. The point of cooking the bacon was not only to get it crispy, but also to render out all of that wonderful bacon fat that I would use for the bacon vinaigrette.

After the bacon was nicely crisped, I used a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the pan while leaving the drippings behind. After the bacon was removed, I poured most of the bacon fat from the pan into a small glass dish (don't use plastic or it might melt) and reserved about 2 tablespoons of the fat in the pan. I then added the diced onions (or leeks) and a healthy pinch of salt and freshly cracked pepper (remember, bacon fat can be salty, so be judicious) and sauteed them until they were translucent and soft.

Here was a shot of the reserved bacon bits and the small bowl of lovely bacon fat from which I built the dressing for the salad:

At this point my sweet potatoes, bacon, and leeks were cooked completely. To the cooked potatoes already in a large boil, I scraped in the contents of my saute pan and added about 3/4 of the crispy bacon bits:

I next turned my attention to the warm bacon dressing. Here were the ingredients necessary (except for the chervil ... somehow that managed to get in the shot, too):

For the dressing, I needed:

1/3 cup bacon fat

1/3 cup sherry vinegar (red or white wine would also work well)

1 fat spoonful of Dijon mustard

1-2 teaspoon honey

salt and pepper to taste (be careful with the salt as the bacon fat can be salty)

The goal for the vinaigrette was balance: sweet, salty, smoky, and tangy. Use my numbers as a jumping off point for how you prefer it. Place the contents into a small mason jar and give it a good shake, or do what I did and simply whisked them together in a mixing bowl. With the dressing finished, I added all of it to the bowl with the potatoes, onions/leeks, and bacon. I then threw in a handful of chopped tarragon (chervil) and with a large wooden spoon, GENTLY tossed the mixture to combine. Because the sweet potatoes only absorbed some of the seasoning from the salted boiling water, I needed to adjust the salt and pepper to get the final salad where it needed to be.

Here was a shot of the finished salad, tossed to perfection:

Et voila! You are done and can happily serve this right away (to what I am sure will be a very eager and hungry crowd), or you can let the flavors sit and marry overnight in the refrigerator. I would, however, let it at least come to room temperature before serving it the next day. This will easily make between 4 and 6 servings, depending on how hungry your guests are and what else you are serving.

Tonight we paired the warm sweet potato salad with some homemade Sloppy Joes (or, as my friend Judy suggested, Untidy Josephs) and a nice cup of mixed fruit:

And, of course, I couldn't leave you stranded without the gratuitous close-up shot of just the potato salad:

Bon appetit!

eGullet Heartland Gathering: Sunday Brunch

The last official event of this year's 2010 eGullet Heartland Gathering in Ann Arbor, Michigan was to be held at Zingerman's Roadhouse. The Zingerman's brand has many food-related establishments under its umbrella and the Roadhouse seems to be the one place to bring all of the other brands under one roof and serve them to the public in a restaurant setting. The last time the Gathering had been in Ann Arbor (which just so happened to be the first Gathering I had ever attended), the weekend had been finished off with a brunch at the Roadhouse. I was eager to return again and sample the food one more time.

Zingerman's Roadhouse was located at 2501 Jackson Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 and can be reached at 734-663-3663. Parking was available outside the restaurant in the lot surrounding the building.

Here was a shot of the front of the restaurant:


Once inside, I was shown to our table and when I sat down, I noticed the pre-printed menu sitting at each diner's location. The difference this time around versus the last was that today's brunch had a theme: Everything's Better with Bacon. Instead of just selecting dishes off the regular menu, co-founder Ari Weinzweig had put together a five course bacon tasting menu for our little intrepid band of foodies.

Here was a shot of the menu today (one of the courses was a surprise course and not listed on the menu):


Our server today, Shea, walked around and efficiently filled everyone's drink orders. Knowing that the Zingerman's brand also included a coffee roasting facility, I felt it would be more than acceptable to order a cup of decaffeinated coffee:


The coffee was bitter, rich, and complex all at the same time. It was the perfect accompaniment to the sweet components of this morning's brunch.

The first dish we would be served today was a simple plate with four strips of bacon on it:


It was at this point that Ari joined us at the table and began to explain the four pieces of meat currently in front of us.

* At the left was a piece of bacon from Sam Edwards. The pork used was of a Berkshire variety that was free range and dry cured in salt before being smoked using green hickory wood.

* Second from the left was a bacon from Allen Benton in eastern Tennessee. It was also a Berkshire variety pig and while the most meaty, it was also the most heavily smoked, spending several days in the smoker with hickory wood smoke after being dry cured.

* Second from the right was a bacon from Nueske's in Wisconsin. It was done using a wet cure made from water, salt, and sugar. Wet cures are traditionally done in cooler, wetter climates and dry cures are typically done in hotter, drier climates.

* At the right was a piece of Arkansas peppered bacon from the Schlosser family. It was also wet cured using brown sugar.

I tasted each as Ari went over a description of the curing and smoking process of each. As Ari pointed out, each was an excellent piece of bacon, but each had its own personality. Where one type might pair well with something delicate like fish (i.e., the first variety), others would definitely only stand up to something much heartier (i.e., the second variety). Just based on the boldness of the smoke flavor, I really liked the second sample, the Allen Benton bacon. Some people might think it was too smoky, but it really reminded me of camping out when I was a young child. The other bacons were good, but that one was superb.

After our bacon tasting, the next two courses appeared at our table on the same plate:


On the left was the "Grits and Bits Waffle" and to the right was the "Pimento Cheese & Peppered Bacon Scrambled Eggs." Let's take a closer look.

First, the Grits and Bits Waffle:


These were waffles that actually had bits of Anson Mill's organic grits in the waffle batter itself and was topped with Vermont white cheddar cheese and applewood smoked bacon. Accompanying the dish were small pitchers of Ralph Snow's Michigan maple syrup. I tried the dish sans syrup and while interesting, it didn't quite feel like a breakfast dish without the addition of a little maple syrup. Not so much syrup that the sweetness destroyed the delicate balance of flavors, but just enough to get that sweet / salty combination just right. I think what surprised me the most was that I could really taste the "corniness" from the grits inside the waffle batter. The bacon and cheese served as a source of saltiness, but amazingly, neither was too overpowering.

On the opposite side of the plate were the pimento cheese and peppered bacon scrambled eggs:


The pimento cheese was a homemade concoction consisting of Grafton two-year-old cheddar cheese, mayonnaise and pimentos and was scrambled into eggs with some of the Arkansas peppered bacon. Personally, I've never had pimento cheese before, but I have to say that I could taste each of the unique flavors that made up Zingerman's version, including the creaminess of the mayonnaise. Again, it was a very well balanced dish and the salt and pepperiness already present in the bacon meant that this needed no additional seasoning at all.

The next dish up on our tasting menu was the "Biscuits and Chocolate Bacon Gravy":


As Ari would tell us as this was being served, the tradition of using cocoa powder is quite old, about one hundred and twenty-five years, from the Appalachian region of the country. Since chocolate was too labor intensive to move into the mountains, it wasn't until cocoa powder became available that this incredibly regional dish became popular for family and special occasion dinners. Essentially a bacon gravy that had been studded with large amounts of cocoa powder, the resulting gravy was ladled over Zingerman's homemade buttermilk biscuits and topped off with just a few crumbled bits of the applewood smoked bacon.

How was this rather unique dish? It was actually pretty good. It wasn't particularly sweet, but at the same time I wouldn't call it entirely savory either. It had the consistency of a fudge sauce, but the smokiness from the bacon cut through to let you know that this wasn't exactly a topper for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's probably not something I would crave on a regular basis, but at the same time I found the flavor combination fascinating.

When we thought we had finished, Ari had one final dish for us to try:


This was a small dish of maple bacon gelato that they had whipped up just for the occasion. A small scoop, it was the perfect way to end our decidedly savory brunch today. The maple flavor was quite strong and balanced nicely with the saltiness and smokiness from the bacon pieces embedded in the gelato. I don't know that I would order this from a gelateria if I was just looking for something cold to cool me down on a hot day, but as a finisher to our bacon brunch, I think this did an admirable job.

While I decided not to include Zingerman's Roadhouse's regular brunch menu in this write-up because we didn't actually eat anything off of it, I will say that their commitment to quality ingredients does pay off with exceptional flavor on the plate. That being said, expect to pay a bit more for dishes here because of that fact. The prices aren't outrageous, but if the ultimate expression of a dish isn't your cup of tea, then the Roadhouse might not be for you. That being said, the place was packed from the moment we got there to the moment we left, so clearly they are doing something right.

From my two visits, I can definitely recommend that you give Zingerman's Roadhouse restaurant a try if you happen to live in or are driving through Ann Arbor, Michigan. The food might be a little on the pricey side, but you will be getting quality local ingredients and premier artisan products that are expertly prepared and quite delicious to eat. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. [Ed. Note: Although my old English teacher might rephrase that as "For what you pay, you get." She hated dangling prepositions.]

Breakfast At A Burger Joint?

I will freely admit to eating at the Hamburger Station whenever I am in the mood for a slider or two. The fact that there is a location so close to where I live in neighboring Ellet (a suburb of Akron), the burgers fresh taste and the homemade fried onion rings and mushrooms are just some of the reasons why I return on a somewhat regular basis. When I first wrote about them in my comparison to the national chain White Castle, based on signs I saw in the store, I knew that they also served breakfast. However, until today, I had simply assumed that "breakfast" meant the same type of fast food individually wrapped breakfast sandwiches available at other national fast food chains.

Since I was in the area during an early morning Saturday, I decided to stop by and check them out. I pulled into the parking lot, walked in the side door and was immediately greeted by an employee. I thought this a little odd at first until she asked me if I was here for dine-in or take-out. It was only then that I noticed that the normally barren white tables had place mats on them complete with napkins and silverware. Additionally, baskets of half-and-half and a small carrier of jams and jellies adorned each table.

As I sat down at my table, I noticed the daily special being advertised on a small placard:


What surprised me even more was when my server handed me a printed menu:


For a place that primarily served sliders and chicken wings during lunch and dinner time, I was quite amazed by the selection that was available for breakfast. Essentially during breakfast hours, the kitchen staff were transformed into short-order cooks, preparing pancakes and omelettes to customer's demands. After looking through the menu, I began to realize that a lot of the ingredients used to create the dinner-time sandwiches (such as the Italian sausage) were also being used to fuel the breakfast menu, too.

My server started my meal by bringing me a cup of decaf and a glass of water to my table:


The coffee was decent enough, especially given the location. It certainly wasn't the best cup of decaf I've ever had, but a little sugar helped to control the bitterness of the brew.

Having given the menu careful consideration, I decided to go with something simple: an order of the buttermilk pancakes and a side of bacon. It seemed bizarre listening to other customers order food cooked to specific temperatures, like eggs over medium, especially considering that during dinner hours, everything came out of the kitchen at only one preparation, done.

I sat at my table and sipped my coffee and soon my breakfast arrived:


At $3.69, these pancakes were fresh, hot, fluffy and had just the slightest tang from the buttermilk. I didn't notice if these were available as a short stack (meaning two instead of three), but these three pancakes were enough to fill me up and the price was quite reasonable.

Along with my pancakes came my side of bacon:


The bacon was decent enough. There were small bits of burned spots on various strips, most likely coming from not scraping the grill of previously fried bacon or sausage patties before putting my strips down. The bacon itself was of nominal quality and pretty much standard for diner fare. I would've gladly paid the same amount of money for three better quality bacon strips than four average ones, but given that I was being served bacon cooked to order at this burger joint was still a bit amazing to me.

Along with my breakfast came a basket of butter pats and a container full of syrup:


I was happy to see actual pats of butter instead of margarine and while the syrup was definitely sweet, I highly doubt that the Hamburger Station had any problem serving me syrup that was maple-flavored and sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. While I certainly don't expect real maple syrup at these prices, I know that there are some nationally produced syrups that are actually made using sugar instead of HFCS. Some might argue that you are simply substituting one form of sugar for another, but if given the choice, I will always pick the naturally occurring substance over the chemically created one (and yes, I do realize that most commercially created sugar is whitened through chemical bleaching).

In the end, my meal came to slightly over $7 and while I think that there are some other breakfast joints that far surpass the Hamburger Station in quality (such as Flury's Cafe, Golden Goose, and Twig's Diner just to name three), none of those are just down the street from where I live. If I am out and about running errands in that part of town, I would be happy to return again for a breakfast here rather than at one of the national fast food restaurants that seem to litter the surrounding landscape. If you are looking for the absolute best in breakfast foods, however, you'll definitely want to give this breakfast joint a pass in favor of some of the others I have mentioned.

Cincinnati Trip, Part II

After our uneventful stay at a very nice Extended Stay America hotel, my traveling companion and I made our way over to the house of the theater friends who had starred in the production of 1776 we saw last night. Brunch was in order and our hostess was to regale us with her mother's world famous French Toast. Err, pancakes. Err, French Toast. Let me explain.

Normally French Toast is made by soaking day old slices of bread in a custard and then grilled in butter. Pancakes are a mixture of flour, baking soda (or powder), milk, eggs, oil, salt and a little sugar that are griddled in butter. Fundamental difference, no? Our hostess's mother discovered back in her college days that if she combined the methods, you get something totally new. She made a pancake batter with some cinnamon and nutmeg and then dipped slices of bread into the batter and griddled them like French toast. What you end up with is something totally unique, a hybrid that is better than the sum of the parts.

We started with some lovely mimosas while the bacon was being griddled. Once all of the components were ready, we sat down to a feast. Beside the fabulous French Pancakes, we had some lovely crispy bacon (my favorite kind) and scrambled eggs with peppers and mushrooms. A shot of my plate sans syrup:


This was so yummy, I had to have a couple extra strips of that crispy bacon and several more slices of the French Pancakes. We hated to say good-bye, but everyone seemed to have other commitments today that we needed to fulfill, so we were off. But we'll be back soon.