Orange Table Scottsdale.....Review

Tucked away in the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall is a bright and cheery cafe called Orange Table. The concept is breakfast, lunch & barista bar. The food is "fresh & made to order".

I was recently invited to dine at Orange Table and although it's quite a distance from my house I couldn't resist. I would much rather drive an hour for quality food than eat at the mega chains that abound in my neighborhood. So off we went, my husband and I, to enjoy lunch and a late afternoon coffee.

I was very impressed with my Greek salad. It was piled high with veggies,  feta cheese, and olives. I know what your thinking:  a salad is a salad. What really made this salad special was the house made dressing. It was the perfect balance of oil and vinegar mixed with fresh herbs that could be seen growing on the patio garden.

My husband got the "Rustler".... a grilled chicken breast sandwich topped with provolone, local bacon and made from scratch BBQ sauce.   He said both the BBQ sauce and the bacon made this sandwich one of the better ones he's had.

The real treat came after lunch served in a short martini glass.  The "shakerto" is an Italian inspired iced coffee drink shaken with cream and a hint of orange.  Not quite as frosty as the ones we had on the Amalfi Coast but equally delicious.

Orange Table is a nice little repreive from all of the restaurant chains found around the area. The freshness and quality of food makes it well worth the drive for me.

Presto Pasta Night #237

Happy Friday and welcome to this week's Presto Pasta Night #237 round-up.  Let's get started:

First up we have Penne con la Zucca or Penne with Pumpkin submitted by Deb from Kahakai Kitchen.  This makes a perfect meal for the cool fall weather that's upon us.

Patsy from Family, Friends and Food submitted this yummy recipe for Slow Cooked Sweet Sausage & Tomato Sauce. 

Up next Abby from Eat the Right Stuff tempts us with her vegetarian dish Orecchiette with Aubergine, Courgette, & Breadcrumbs

Inspired by what was in her fridge Tandy from Lavender and Lime put together this wonderful  Broccoli Farfalline.

How about a bowl of this steamy Curried Soup submitted by Juli at Pictures of all My Princesses.

Not a fan of brussel sprouts I think Jen from Smoky Wok might be able to change your mind with her recipe for Shrimp & Brussel Sprouts Fettucine

Next up is Marcella Hazan's Simple Tomato Sauce submitted by the mother and daughter team over at Equal Opportunity Kitchen.

Everything about this dish says...warm me up.  Fettucine with Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Feta Cheese was submitted by Jamie Cookin' with Moxie.

German & Greek Mac & Cheese is brought to us by Clarion over at Preventing Culinary Amnesia

Finally my submission: Pasta with Sausage & Peas

A big Thank You to everyone that participated.   Next week PPN #238 is being hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast

Send your entries to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday November 3

Piccolo Sogno Chicago....Review

I found out the hard way that getting dinner reservations in Chicago is not an easy feat. I tried for Girl & The Goat but there's a 3 month wait.  I attempted the Bedford but not a seat was to be had....the same with the Publican and so the story goes. When, at the last minute, I was able to secure us a table for 3 at Piccolo Sogno for 8:30pm on a Sunday I jumped on it.

I had read several good reviews about this place on ChowHound so I was pretty excited to get a reservation. I'll admit though I had second thoughts as the cab driver came to a stop in front of this West River establishment. Not much to look at from the outside...almost unnoticeable actually. But my fears where put to rest as we entered the main dining room.  The exposed brick walls and beautiful crown molding gave off a sort of rustic yet elegant feel.  They say the back patio is perfect for a romantic dinner but unfortunately I didn't make it out there.

Upon being seated we were immediately brought a small basket of bread; which included these amazing anise bread sticks. The flavor reminded me of the Italian bakeries from my youth. The ones that made cookies oozing with anise. But I'm digressing.

Back to our meal...we started with the house antipasto platter which was a chef selection of roasted veggies, hand sliced Proscuitto and pecorino cheese. Although it looked and tasted delicious I don't think this was the best option for splitting between three people. Variety was large but portions were small.

I'll admit that I had decided on my entree before we even left the hotel. I had glanced at the menu and noticed they had pasta with wild boar ragu...at that point nothing else really mattered. I'm a huge wild boar fan so when I see it on a menu it's pretty positive that's what I'll order.

Even though my boar was extra delicious I was barely able to put a dent into the large portion I received. My husband's milk braised pork shank was probably the biggest piece of pork I'd ever seen and it was so tender it fell right off the bone tender. It was accompanied by braised kale mixed with pancetta and perfectly mashed potatoes. Our dining companion ordered the salmon pasta special which he assured me was equally delicious.
 

 For dessert we shared the molten chocolate hazelnut cake served with hazelnut ice cream....though I thought it could have been slightly more creamier for a lava cake it was still extremely yummy.
 

 
All in all it was a great meal and I think we were all happy to have gotten such a wonderful last minute reservation in a city were reservations are very hard to come by.

Piccolo Sogno
464 North Halsted St # 1
Chicago, IL 60642-7687

Pasta with Sausage & Peas...I'm Hosting Presto Pasta Nights

By the time you read this I will be in Chicago, wandering around the windy city, hopefully eating some great food. But I wanted to let you know that I will be hosting Presto Pasta Nights on Friday, Oct. 28th 2011.

So you don't know what Presto Pasta Night is?  Let me explain. PPN, as it's commonly referred to, is the brain child of Ruth Daniels from Once Upon a Feast. It's a blog event that focuses on...you guessed it: Pasta!

How can you take part in this wonderful event?   It's easy.  Cook up some pasta, blog about it and then send me a link to your post by Thursday, Oct. 27th. (theresa@foodhuntersguide.com)  I will add your post to the round up that will go live here on Friday morning. 

Easy Peasy...and speaking of peas.  Here's a nice pasta recipe to get you thinking.

Pasta with Sausage & Peas

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 Italian sausage links

1 garlic clove, sliced thin

1 cup frozen peas

Fresh mint, chopped

½ lb. pasta

1 tbsp.  tomato paste

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Remove sausage from casing and crumble.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente.

 Add sausage to oil and cook until brown.  Add garlic, paste and crushed red pepper to pan in 3 separate piles. Cook until brown and fragrant then mix together.Season with salt and pepper.

Add peas and a small amount of pasta water to the sausage mixture and cook for about 3 minutes.  When the pasta is cooked add to pan and mix.  Top with a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh chopped mint.

Timo Wine Bar on Central....Review

Open just a little over 3 weeks Timo Wine Bar is a nice laid back dining spot in Central Phoenix. The space, formerly owned by Bomberos, has been updated slightly to add a rather nice bar area and a wood fire oven.  Bomberos patio fans fear not they left the awesome outdoor eating area intact.

My friend and I,  needing to catch up on some girl talk,  decided to meet at this little gem of a place for an early mid week dinner and couldn't have been happier.  The sunset menu is composed of mostly shareable items with a few sandwiches, salads and flat bread pizzas included. All of the bread used is made in house and cooked in the wood oven; which to me is a big Yum!

Although they offer a happy hour;  specials are limited to one $3 cheese of the day  and a handful of $5 wines.  Since we were there we decided to take advantage and try that days cheese offering; a mild cheddar encrusted in espresso powder & lavender drizzled with balsamic vinegar.    Interesting combination of flavors and a nice portion for $3:  but both my friend and I agreed it wouldn't be something we'd rush out to buy.

 

Next we decided to share a bruschetta board and the eggplant dip; what the waitress told us were two wonderful choices.  You get to pick 3 toppings for your bruschetta.  We opted for the roasted tomato with olives and triple cream brie, the spicy coppa with burrata cheese and a layer of house made pesto and the thinly sliced fresh figs and green apples also accompanied by triple cream brie. After tasting all 3 my friend and I both agreed that the roasted tomato was by far our favorite.

 The eggplant dip, as they refer to it, was more like a caponata if you ask me. It was served up nicely with some goat cheese,  black olives,  tomato & onion slices and some warm crostini; all drizzled lightly with olive oil. Wonderful presentation and absolutely delicious.

 

Portions are nice size and definitely promote sharing. Unfortunately neither of us had saved room for the wood fired peach cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream that we kept seeing go by.  Maybe on our next visit.  I know I'll be going back to Timo soon.

Timo Wine Bar

8801 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85020

(602) 354-3846

www.timocentral.com