Bridgeway Family Restaurant - Breakfast Sandwich

     After having to wait in the waiting room at LabCorp for three hours while Christine had her glucose test done, we were starving. I could have eaten something before we went but because she couldn't have anything to eat I didn't think it was fair. In order to keep us from buying out the entire grocery store, we decided to grab some breakfast before shopping. The Bridgeway Family Restaurant is a diner in Smyrna that we pass everyday on the way to the school, a place we've been a handful of time. We like it for a variety of reasons, the food is decent, the portions are huge, and the prices are great. We've often escaped with a bill under $20. As you probably know by now, I’m a sucker for sandwiches especially breakfast sandwiches. Seeing as I hadn't tried theirs’ yet I figured this would be a great opportunity for a review. For $6.25 you get a big sandwich and half of a plate of crispy home fries.

     We both ordered the exact same sandwich. Our options for bread were white, wheat, or rye. We both went with rye but you can also get it on an English muffin, hard roll, or bagel for an additional charge. For cheese we got American and as our meat we chose bacon. Sausage or scrapple are also available. We both agreed that these were some of the best breakfast sandwiches we've ever had. My only issue was the bread could have been toasted a bit longer. But that didn't detract from the deliciousness of this sandwich. The bacon was thick and crispy and not too greasy. Instead of one fried egg there were two which really “beefed” up the sandwich. A couple slices of melted American cheese kept everything together after each bite. The fact that it didn't need any seasoning was a huge plus. It probably wasn't the healthiest thing to order but it sure was great. The home fries are wonderful as well. Thinly slices potatoes are cooked on a flat top grill until crispy. A lot of times when ordering these at diners or other breakfast places the potatoes are soft or uncooked. If you look close, you can see their crispy outsides in the picture.

Rating: Delectable – Great. Just Great.

Sliders Three Ways

     For our weekly meal with Matt, I decided to make sliders and salt potatoes. On the way home I decided I wouldn’t pick up salt potatoes and that we had a ton of chips to eat instead. But while at work I decided to make sliders three different ways. So the meal turned into sliders three ways and a variety of chips. I came up with cheddar/bacon and American/pickle for the sliders quickly but the third style took a bit of thinking. The problem with sliders is they can’t hold much because of their size to whatever you do choose to top them with, needs to be small or cut down to fit on top. Ultimately I decided to go with mozzarella/pizza sauce. I wanted to add pepperoni as well but I didn’t have any at home. I ended up with three sliders of each variety for a total of nine. Here are the ingredients if you want to try making any of these:

Slider buns

1 pound 80/20 ground beef

Salt and pepper

½ cup cheddar cheese

2 strips bacon, crumbles

½ cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup pizza sauce

1 ½ slices American cheese

3 pickle slices

     Cook the bacon in a pan first and crumble it up, set this aside. While the bacon cooks, toast the insides of the top and bottom buns in a pan or on a griddle until golden brown. Place them open on each plate to make transferring the burgers to the buns easier. Take the ground beef and roll it into golf ball sized balls and then press them to about 1 inch in thickness. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the tops of the burgers and then add them top side down into the pan and then sprinkle more salt and pepper on the other side. Let them cook on a medium high heat for about 2 minutes and then flip them over. Immediately start topping these with the cheeses, dividing the amount listed over the three sliders. I add an ice cube to the pan and cover it with a large bowl, this helps melt the cheese quickly. Cook it this way for another two minute and they will be in between medium well and well. Obviously cook them for less time if you want them a little less done. Move them burgers to the buns and top with the other ingredient. I got them ready on the counter beforehand so I could finish them up quickly.

     It was nice to have a variety of smaller burgers because I normally get bored with the same taste throughout a larger burger. We all liked each burger but there was some discussion on which was the favorite. Christine liked the American cheese with pickle on top while Matt and I were both taken with the mozzarella and pizza sauce burger. The cheddar bacon burger was good but we’ve all had it before, so the sauce topped one was the star of the night. If it had just been tomato sauce I don’t think the burger would have been as good. But because I used left over pizza sauce from the pizza we had the night before, I think that made a huge difference. If you read my post about the pizza you might remember me saying I’d eat that sauce with a spoon, so I think the sauce is just that good to make the burger be great. I don’t know if I could eat a whole burger with those toppings but there is only one way to find out.

Rating: Yummy - Three burgers were three times the fun.

Fried Rice and Cheese Wontons

     After weeks of procrastination over making fried rice each week for dinner, I finally made it and a ton of it because I was feeding three guests. As a side dish I made cheese wontons for the first time. I made the rice the night before because it stops the rice from becoming mushy when cooked a second time. I use jasmine rice which is long grain Thai rice but basmati rice is also a good rice to use when making fried rice. So to make this dish, the first step is to cook the rice as directed on the package the night before. Once it is done cooking, allow it to cool in a large bowl and then put it in the refrigerator, covered. I use the recipe on the back of the Kikkoman fried rice seasoning packet. Since I made two batches of rice, I double everything in the recipe including a second packet of seasoning. Here is what you need for a single batch:

3 cups cold cooked rice

1 egg

2 strips thick cut bacon (Substitute other meats if you choose)

3 scallions (green onion) chopped

1 packet Kikkoman fried rice seasoning

2 tablespoons water

Soy sauce for seasoning

     Since the directions are on the back of one of the ingredients, I’m not going to go into how to make the rice but I will tell you how it came out later in this post. Now to the cheese wontons, usually there is crab meat mixed into these but I omitted it. Here is what you will need for my recipe for cheese wontons:

8oz softened cream cheese

3 scallions (green onion) chopped

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

1 package wonton wrappers

Egg whites from one large egg

Oil for frying (Don’t Use Vegetable)

Sweet and sour sauce for dipping

     Before you do anything, put the oil in a deep pan or pot and turn the heat on. You are looking to get the oil to about 350 to 400 degrees. Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and place it in the center of a wonton wrapper. Take two fingers, dip them in the egg white, and spread them along the edges of the wrapper. Fold over one corner across the top of the mixture top the opposite corner. Pull the other two corners up to meet the already combined corners and then you’ll have one done. Repeat this process until the cream cheese mixture is gone. I place the wontons on a paper towel until I’m done. Christine’s cousin, sister, and sister’s boyfriend came over during the tedious process of making these homemade cheese wontons so they had to wait a little while before we ate. Once the oil is up to temperature, begin placing these in the oil a few at a time until golden brown. Let them drain on some paper towels and serve them with sweet and sour sauce to dip in.

     The rice was good but not the best that I have made. I chalk it up to making a double batch all at once. The stars of the meal, at least in my eyes, were the cheese wontons. They cooked pretty evenly for not being able to use my new deep fryer. They were crunchy and didn’t taste greasy like they sometimes do when ordered out. Christine commented that they were cream cheesier than from an actual Chinese restaurant which she enjoyed. For a first try, they came out well and I will definitely be making them again. Overall a good meal that I mill make in the future.

Rating: Yummy - I can't wait to perfect these dishes.

Eggs In A Basket

     This dish has many names: toad in a hole, egg in a frame, cowboy eggs and eggs in a basket just to name a few. It has always been, by far, my favorite breakfast dish ever since I was a little kid. I’ve made it numerous times since I’ve been out on my own and I think I’ve finally perfected the art of making it. On Sunday morning, I think they came out as close to perfect as one could possibly make them. If you like fried eggs, no matter how hard you want them cooked, this is a nice change from just eggs and toast on a plate. Here is what you’ll need:

Spreadable butter

Butter spray

Slices of sandwich bread

Eggs

Salt & Pepper to taste

Shot Glass

     I didn’t list amounts for the butter, eggs, or the bread because it depends on how many you are making. This recipe follows a 1:1 ratio so if you want one egg in a basket then you need one slice of bread, one egg, and enough butter to butter both sides of the bread. If you are making more than one, I suggest buttering both sides of all the slices of bread you are going to use. Using the shot glass cut out the center of each slice and set aside. Heat up a large pan on medium heat and liberally coat with non stick butter spray. When making more than two or three, re-spray the pan after every couple of slices. Once the pan is heated, place the bread flat on the pan and crack the egg into the hole. Cook the egg for one to two minutes, just enough to get a spatula under the egg, then flip it over so the bread lays flat and continue cooking to the doneness you are looking for. While you are cooking the egg in the bread, places the small cut out pieces in the pan as well, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides.

     I made six slices, two of which I accidentally cooked to over hard while tending to the bacon I was making on a griddle. The other four came out over medium, which is how I wanted them. Over medium gives you the piece of mind that the egg white has cooked throughly while still giving you some yolk to dip the crispy circle toasts in. Each slice was golden brown and had a crunchy buttery taste. With a little bit of salt and pepper, there's nothing better.

Rating: Delectable - My favorite breakfast...what can I say.

Cheddar Bacon Burgers

     High temperatures cause me to cook out of the grill because there is no way I’m using my oven. I will use the stove top but don’t really like doing that either. Matt was headed over for his weekly meal with us and he chose burgers from the list I gave him. I’ve found quite a few burger recipes online that I want to try and this one is one of them. Bacon cheddar burgers that incorporate horseradish and a few spices caught my eye a few months ago but decided to wait until it was grilling weather to try them out. Here is the recipe for those of you out there who enjoy a good burger:

1 pound ground beef (I use 80/20)

½ cup real bacon pieces

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

4 hamburger buns

     I made only two changes to the recipe: 1) I only used ¼ cup bacon pieces because that is all I had and 2) I made 3 burgers instead of 4 because there was just the three of us. To prepare the burgers, add all the ingredients except the buns into a mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined; I use my hands to ensure this happens. Shape into patties and place the patties on a plate to go out to the grill. You might notice that the patties are barely being held together once you’d shaped them. Once they begin to cook, they should bind together enough to keep from falling apart. Spray the grill with some nonstick spray and cook the burgers for five minutes or so on each side, or until cooked to your preference.

     To go with the burgers, I boiled up some salt potatoes and served them with butter. I garnished my burger with a pickle slice, lettuce, and a squeeze of mustard and ketchup. After the first bite I knew this was the best burger I’ve made thus far. The burgers made up of beef tenderloin that I made a few weeks ago were very juicy but I like my burgers with tons of different flavors. These burgers definitely had that and none of the ingredients stole the show. The bacon, cheddar, and horseradish melded well together and gave the burger a smoky taste. Matt said there was the perfect amount of bacon and he liked the horseradish despite not normally liking the taste of it. Christine and Matt both finished theirs and I ate about ¾ of mine before stopping. I get tired of thick burgers about half way through even though I loved the taste of this specific one. I will definitely be making these again and next time maybe I’ll step up the bacon to see how that works out.

Rating: Delectable - Best burgers yet.

Baked Potato Soup

Click Here For The Recipe

     Let me begin by saying, this recipe is a true brothy soup and not the thick verison like you would get in a restaurant. I made this recipe this past Sunday night when I was having my brother and father over for dinner. Because the recipe only makes 4 servings and a serving isn't filling enough to be a meal, I doubled the recipe and made cheddar garlic biscuits to go with it.

     In a pan I cooked a half of a pound of diced bacon until it became crispy. I reserved the bacon drippings and put the cooked bacon in a bowl and set that aside. Now because I double the recipe, I needed to use a pot instead of just making it in the pan that the bacon cooked in like the instructions call for. I pretty much followed the recipe as stated but made one change in an effort to thicken the soup since it seemed to liquidy to me. I stirred in just under two cups of shredded cheddar cheese right before I served it. This thickened the soup up just enough so it wasn't too watery. I let everyone garnish their soup with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and bacon to their liking.

Rating: Yummy -  Even though this soup was a little on the watery side, everyone really enjoyed it.