Little Rooster Bread Company
O-862 Luce Street SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49534
616-735-3805

http://www.littlerooster.net/

This is the bread that I buy from Kingma’s Market. It costs more than your typical grocery store mass-produced bread like Butternut, Wonder, or Aunt Millie’s but this is an instance where you definitely do get what you pay for.

My particular favorite is their fermented multi-grain. This bread is a prerequisite for a bacon and eggs breakfast in our house. It is a nice full-bodied bread with a light airy texture and does not disintegrate or taste like tree bark when toasted, like some other multi-grain and whole wheat breads we have tried.

The list of ingredients does not require a science degree to interpret, either: Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Mineral-Rich Well Water, Organic Corn Meal, Organic Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats, Local Raw Honey, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Wheat Bran, Sea Salt, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, and Natural Enzymes.

Not bad for an ingredient lineup.  The fermented baking method and quality of ingredients really present themselves in the rich flavor of the bread.

Kingma’s Market is the only market I have seen it, but there may be more. Check it out, it is the next best thing to baking it yourself.

Le Kabob
4022 Alpine Ave. NW
Comstock Park, MI  49321
616-647-9727

Today, I decided that coworker Tim and I needed to check out Le Kabob on Alpine for lunch.  I am very happy that we did.  This is definitely a first class Halal restaurant.

This particular location has been haunted with short-lived Thai restaurants that were hit or miss.  If Le Kabob can keep up this record, it will be all hits.

First, they serve up a free basket of naan and thoom (garlic spread).  Tasty first bites.

Then our soups came out.  I had the lamb chili which was a very simple chili with kidney beans, ground lamb, and a seasoned broth.  Simple but VERY good.

Then the entree.  I went with the shish kafta with grilled vegetables.  The meat was cooked to perfection, well-seasoned, with the right amount of crisp sear on the outside and soft flavorful meaty goodness on the inside.  Everything tasted like it just came off a campfire out back.

Honestly, we were contemplating alerting the ambulance service and sticking around for seconds, thirds, maybe fourths…

If you get into Middle Eastern/Halal food, please PLEASE do yourself a favor and check this place out.  This is the type of restaurant that we need to keep around.  Awesome small international food establishment.

Almost Cuban

While picking up some stuff for dinner at the in-laws tonight, I decided to grab ingredients for a quick lunch.  Again, one of the markets of choice for me is Kingma’s Market on Plainfield Ave.  Everything here came from the market.

Ingredients:

• Homemade BBQ pork
• Cappocola Ham (A cross between Prosciutto and Soppressata)
• Wisconsin Swiss cheese
• Homemade local dill pickle (sliced)
• Locally baked slider rolls
• Brown spicy mustard

Directions:

1. Put ingredients on roll and eat.
2. Enjoy

Chipotle Tacos

Here is a quick and easy little taco seasoning mix recipe that I whipped up last night.  Without the chipotle and adobo, it tastes quite like the store-bought packets of taco seasoning.  With the chipotle and adobo, it elevates to awesome.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
• 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Cook meat of choice (chicken, pork, beef, etc) over medium heat until fully cooked.  Drain fat from pan
2. Add all ingredients to pan and bring to a boil
3. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and mixture is thickened
4. Serve with ingredients of your choice.

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

I felt compelled to do a complete meal from scratch with no recipe. Rekindle the creativity in the kitchen as I have been slacking lately. This is the result. I served this with oven-baked chicken and some Italian bread spread with roasted garlic cloves and olive oil.

Cook the pasta to taste.  I prefer to cook mine al dente, which for a good pasta should be about 10-12 minutes.

Sauce recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 red bell peppers (3 smaller or two larger)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup pecarino romano cheese, shredded
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp butter, chopped into smaller cubes
• 6-7 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Roast red peppers in oven or over direct fire, remove skin and seeds when done.
2. Heat large sauce pan and toast pine nuts until golden brown, shaking or stirring frequently to prevent them from burning.
3. In same pan, heat olive oil and saute onions until they start to brown.
4. While onions are cooking, combine peppers, pine nuts, cheese, and parsley in blender and blend until smooth.
5. Once onions start to brown, stir in white wine (I used chardonnay), lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add heavy cream and simmer for about 5 more minutes minutes.
7. Add pepper/pine nut mix and ceyenne pepper.
8. Add butter and stir until dissolved.
9. Add mushrooms and continue to cook on low for another 5 minutes.
10. Toss with prepared pasta, adding salt and pepper to taste. I also shredded a little extra pecarino cheese over the pasta when served.

This is one of those times where I wish I had a restaurant where I could create my own things and enter into contests like this.

I am a HUGE fan of the sandwich. I just hope that whatever sandwich is chosen, that it reflects the spirit of Grand Rapids and not just a tasty sandwich. I can make a MEAN Cubano, but I would not call it a Grandwich.

http://www.downtowngr.org/grandwich/

I guarantee you, when the public sampling and voting of the top 10 happens, I plan on being there.

Good luck contestants, do us proud!

I am not sure of the regularity I will post, or exactly what I will post, but I can guarantee it will be great foodie material.  Links, recipes, reviews, photos, etc.