Restaurant Review: College Park's Brake Pad

After you spend some time in the sweltering heat walking through the elementary school you attended forty years ago (I’m ignoring that number and so should you),  and driving around a bit to see where you lived and played for your entire childhood you build up a powerful thirst and hunger.

Rather than returning to home base, the Mister and I remained in our hometown area and decided to eat in College Park….right down from the church where we were married and adjacent…..within hollering distance….. to the high school I graduated from.   In fact, I could see the Ivy covered main gate for the school from the parking lot.

Home…..

We stopped in at Brake Pad Restaurant and Bar…..a spot more familiar to us as the service station at the corner of Rugby Avenue and Main Street in downtown College Park.   Nowadays the cars are in the parking lot and folks sit in the bays where mechanics once worked. 

  

No, it wasn’t my first time to Brake Pad….I’ve just been remiss about a review.

When we arrived Sunday afternoon the patio was half full, and there was standing room only at the bar as most folks were watching the Braves play.   Many of the tables inside were full, but we managed to find in the back.  I was so tired I was glad to slide into my chair and suck down a Coke.   The waitress quickly brought me another.

The full menu can be seen at the website.   Everything I’ve had from the menu has been great.

This particular trip we order the Chicharrones to start with.   The menu states they have chili lime seasoning, but we didn’t really taste it…..no matter, they were still damn good!

Now, fried pork skins are nothing new.  This Georgia girl grew up on them, but this is the first time I was able to eat them right out of the oil.    They still smacked and spit at us as our waitress placed the basket on the table…..Heck, they still made noises as I was devouring them. 

Yes, I will have them again, but might have to order a basket just for me.

The Mister ordered the Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger which might have been a special or a new addition to the menu because I don’t see it online.    He raved over it.

I order the Steak Tacos and they were superb.   They were served with the expected lettuce and tomato as well as chipotle aioli and some sour cream on the side.   Tortilla chips and some of the best salsa I’ve had in a quite a while found their way onto my plate, too.  The salsa was so good I may order some salsa and chips to go along with our order of Chicharrones the next time I head over to Brake Pad…..which will be soon!

Summer Fruit Salad

Long ago and in a land far, far away I worked as a paralegal.  I ran the firm for an attorney who never came in the office until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, had lovely lunches out every day, and was able to hire a great staff who did most of the typing leaving me to do what I loved at the time….research and writing briefs.   One of my favorite places to have lunch was Cashin’s at Merchant’s Walk.    I loved their salads but was more in love with their poppy seed dressing.   It was great on a salad or their chicken fingers.

I miss Jack Cashin’s restaurant…..so very much.   When I noticed this salad called for poppy seed dressing I had to dry it.

Plus, it’s just lovely to look at.

1 cup bottled poppy seed dressing
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 avocados, thinly sliced
4 cups loosely packed arugula
2 cups halved seedless green grapes
1 mango, julienned
1 cup diced fresh strawberries
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk together dressing and grated ginger in a large bowl.  Cut avocado slices in half crosswise; gently toss with dressing mixture.  Add arugula and remaining ingredients; gently toss to coat.  Serve immediately.

8-10 appetizer servings

Chicken and Tortellini Salad

I saw this in a Southern Living magazine and it looked intriguing.  

I mean seriously…..chicken, and tortellini?   You can’t go wrong.

….and I didn’t.  It was good.  Very good, except for the flat leaf parsley.   Very attractive in the salad, and perhaps I’m just becoming a little old lady, but the texture of the parsley was a little difficult to eat.  

I’m thinking next time I’ll cut the amount of parsley down…..and perhaps add in some salad greens such as arugula or romaine.

Try it for yourself and see what you think….

2 (8 oz.) packages refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
½ cup olive oil
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
½ cup thinly sliced green onions
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare tortellini according to package directions.  

Process olive oil and next 4 ingredients in a blender until smooth. 

Toss olive oil mixture with tortellini, chicken, and next 3 ingredients.  

Add salt and pepper to taste.

12 to 15 appetizer servings.

Banana Pudding

Rachel decided to make her boyfriend a wonderfu dessert for his birthday this past Sunday.  It was her first try with this dish...no help from mom, and it looked fantastic. 

She used my Pampered Chef batter bowl to put the pudding in.  It withstands the heat of the oven for the meringue to brown and has a tight-fitting lid to store the leftovers in the fridge.

Way to go Rachel!!!

1/3 cup All Purpose Flour

Dash Salt

2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 (14 oz.) can fat free condensed milk

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups sliced bananas, divided

45 vanilla wafers

4 large egg whites, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flour and salt in medium saucepan.  Gradually stir in low-fat and condensed milk and yolks, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 8 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Arrange 1 cup banana slices in a 2-quart baking dish.

Spoon 1/3 pudding mixture over bananas; top with 15 vanilla wafers.  Repeat layers once; top with remaining bananas and pudding. 

Arrange remaining 15 wafers around inside edge of dish.   Gently push wafers into pudding.

Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy.  Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved (2-4 minutes).

Spread meringue over pudding, sealing to edge of dish.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

Let cool at least 30 minutes.

Flour Sack Towels.....a Great Find!

This past weekend I visited the Hydrangea Festival in Douglasville, Georgia. I don’t garden, but there was still plenty to see and do from the garden tours, flower show, ladies’ tea, and the festival market.

You can see a few of my pictures from the festival here and my article at Douglasville Patch leading up to the festival along with a link to the festival site here.

I picked up these wonderful flour sack towels at the market from Jazzy Arts and artist Robert Rodenberger. Give his site a look-see here. I love his colors and simple lines.

The information he encloses with his flour sack towels states: The flour sack towel is a legendary and essential tool of the kitchen. They're called flour sack towels because the tightly woven cotton fabric was used to hold flour from the mid 1800s through the 1950s and then repurposed into towels, bedding and clothing by resourceful women.

They are used for many culinary purposes such as drying dishes, soaking up spills, microwave cooking, keeping salad fresh for hours, lining bread baskets, polishing and drying glassware without streaking, dusting, etc.

Flour sack towels are very soft and lint free, extremely absorbent, and they launder amazingly well. Any imperfections are unique characteristics of the handmade towel and truely get better with every use. Those towels are eco-friendly and are 100% American made.

Growing up I can remember sleeping on my grandmother's flour sack sheets. They were so soft.....

I can't wait to use my new....old towels!

Suddenly......When You Need a Little Salad

So….it’s been a long and hot day full of lots to do, and the time approaches to prepare dinner.

What do you do?

Sometimes I rely on one of those boxed pasta meals like Suddenly Salad to help me along. I add some fresh veggies and a little chicken. Dinner is then just a pot of boiling water away.

First, I prepare the pasta per the box directions. While it’s cooking I slice up a green and red pepper.



I open a can of diced tomatoes and dump them into a colander. I rinse them well, and let them drain. I chop half an onion, slice a bunch of green onions and then I add a teaspoon of minced garlic.



I dump in the diced tomatoes and chop up some fresh broccoli and cauliflower.



I stir the veggies up with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and by this time the pasta is done. I drain it……and rinse it with cool water.



I dump the pasta in with the veggies along with some chopped chicken. I use the bagged chicken you can find at the store from Tyson or Perdue.



Stir well. Pair with some Tuscan Garlic bread toast and a nice glass of white wine and you have an instant dinner without getting the kitchen too hot!

Steak Spaghetti

Every now and then I need a dish I can fix with very little effort. I like this dish because it uses staple items I generally have on hand – spaghetti, onions, tomatoes, and garlic.

It’s a great use for leftover steak Dear Daughter and I might bring home from a restaurant visit. For example, we had dinner at Ted’s Sunday night for my mother-in-law’s dinner out. I only had 1/3 of my steak and Dear Daughter brought home a substantial piece as well.

We both had ordered Delmonico Steaks……I trimmed them a bit and then sliced up the meat. Of course, if you don’t have steak leftovers you can prepare one quickly and slice it. You only need one Strip or one Delmonico steak.



I added a little olive oil to a non-stick skillet along with approximately two tablespoons minced garlic and one chopped medium onion…..I use Vidalia onions. I sauté the onions and garlic for a little bit and add some black pepper and a pinch of salt.



In the meantime I get a pot of water on the stove so that I can prepare a package of spaghetti noodles according to the package directions.

I open two cans of chopped tomatoes…..the Italian kind are best. I drain a little liquid off one can and the other can I drained entirely. Mix the tomatoes in the skillet with the onion and garlic mixture. Saute another five minutes. Of course you can use fresh tomatoes……4-5.



Add the sliced steak and stir until the meat is heated through.



Serve the steak mixture over spaghetti along with some Parmesan Cheese and a slice of your favorite bread.