As I’ve said often before, one of the things I like most about my job is getting to meet people, finding out a little about them, and finding new places to eat, go, do, see, etc.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer came in before Christmas and I was the one who got to wait on him.

In the course of the conversation, I asked what he did for a living, and he replied that he was  a restaurateur.

He, and his wife own Another Broken Egg Cafe at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta’s Buckhead district.

As a breakfast junkie, I had to check it out.

So, this Sunday, again, as luck would have it, I was actually off from work, and decided to take that special someone along for brunch.

Now, as you all know, I’m a Waffle House kinda guy, and fancy breakfast food is usually something I don’t do.  Seriously, one egg, one piece of toast, and seventeen gallons of coffee, and I’m good.

But…this place is just way too cool to pass UP.

And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.  There was a 35 minute wait.  Now, for Atlantans, that’s nothing, for folks like me who live in the suburgatory we call Gwinnett County, Georgia, that’s a life time.  Just like most places, the weekends are the busiest.  The wait during the week isn’t so long.

But, again, it was worth the wait.

Every thing there is charming and beyond.  The Copper Top table, the rustic floors, the French attitude, and why not, one of the owners is named Mignon, and frankly, the only thing Frenchier than that is, well, not much really.

But, back to the restaurant.  They have “starters”, translation:  appetizers.  We tried the Black Berry Grits.

“Black Berry Grits!”, you scream, “Grits are for butter, salt, and pepper.”

Well, not any more, Buford, so get with the program.  They were AWESOME.  Creamy, HOT, and covered in steaming Blackberries, they were a filling “starter” that has to be shared.

With over 100 items on the menu, I was hard pressed to settle on one, but waistline, workout, and walking in mind, I did.

I had Eggs Benedict Blackstone.

Again, AWESOME.

Their menu describes it this way ” An English muffin topped with grilled tomatoes, two medium poached eggs, creamy Hollandaise, and a baked bacon crunch and chives.”

I describe it as delicious.  Two perfectly poached pullet pellets smothered in a rich and yummy sauce and covered with BAKED bacon.  (BTW, Baked Bacon is THE only way to go, less grease, no splatter, easier clean UP, better taste, etc.)

There were home fries on the side as well.  The best thing about the taters was that they weren’t greasy, didn’t leave a pool on the plate, and were perfectly done.

Yes, I know, I need a better camera…hello Ricoh and the rest, where are you?

Seriously, the pictures don’t do them justice, but the menu does, so click HERE if you want to see it.

There’s lots of meat on the menu, but all the crazy-assed, pork and beef eschewing scary people vegetarians out there need not worry, they have a menu section for you as well.  It’s an all inclusive restaurant!

I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Why is he talking about a local restaurant, when his blog is an International phenomenon?”

Well, Just Another Broken Egg isn’t only in the ATL.

They have locations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and soon to be in Tennessee and North Carolina!

So, all my fans in Austin can check it out and let me know what they think.

The restaurant is open from 7AM til 2PM, seats at least 100 people, has a FULL BAR, so Sam can bring his mom and dad! They also have a room that looked like the perfect place for a Bridal Shower luncheon.  There’s a giant screen TV showing Tom and Jerry cartoons, so it’s kid friendly, and the playoffs were on the tubes over the bar.

Parking isn’t too bad…for Atlanta…and I recommend that you park as far away as you can, since you’re gonna need to walk it off anyway…the portions are healthy – or maybe my Cardiologist would say un-healthy!

Frankly, if you don’t go away full and happy, there’s just no hope for you!

Check it out.

*I am NOT being compensated for this post, I paid the check, left a tip, and was glad to be there!

Live and learn.

They come from Yorkshire in England, and are a staple at a place called Betty’s Tea Room.

I looked over a few recipes, and found one that was pretty good, but they wanted $24.95 for an autographed copy.

So, I kept looking.  Here’s one that sounds good.

3 Tablespoons of Orange Juice.

1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour.

½ teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

1 stick Unsalted Butter.  Not right out of the fridge, let it sit out a while.

1/3 Cup Sugar

Zest of One Orange

1/3 Cup of Currants

¼ Cup of Milk.

12 Dried Tart Cherries (or maraschino cherries or dried cranberries)

18 roasted Almond Slices

About 2 Tablespoons Cane Sugar if you want them glittery and sweeter, and who doesn’t?

Then you have to…

Preheat Oven to 400° F.  The dried cherries should be put in a small bowl with the OJ.  Unarm him first.  This will plump UP the cherries, set them aside for a while.

Mix all dry ingredients together:  flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut in butter until crumbly.  It should look lumpy.

Add sugar, orange zest, currants and milk. Then shape dough into a ball.

Roll out dough until about ½ inch thick.  Clean and flour the surface first!

Use a biscuit cutter to cut out dough circles.  Mom always used an old empty can to cut her biscuits.

Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  UP is a firm believer in parchment paper.

If you want to,  brush each cut out with a little orange juice to help brown them UP.

Sprinkle each cookie with sugar.  Hence the glitter!

Add 2 cherries as eyes, and 3 almonds for teeth to give the fat rascal a face!

Depending on your oven, and only you know it well, bake for about 20 minutes.

This should make about six.  And I now realize that six is a paltry number for the work involved.  Where the heck is Betty’s Tea Room anyway?

Papa John himself wasn’t available for comment, but word on the street is he’s pretty hot about it!

The local yokels, both Domino’s Managers, Sean Everett Davidson and Bryan David Sullivan have been in lock UP since their arrest last week.  They were booked on – duh – arson charges!

The Lake City Police say the motive was competition.  With the rival out of the way, folks craving the Italian Pie would be willing to wait 30 minutes or more for a Dominos.

Maybe the local school board should look into teaching business courses.

The Papa John’s was gutted in the Oct. 20 fire.

The Police report they are still looking for the “ignition” device that started the blaze.  My guess is that Beavis and Butthead dropped a joint on the way out, and the place went UP in smoke!

Sane people don’t do stuff like this.  They were just plain stupid or have smoked themselves stupid.

And it was bad enough that the only pizza choices in Lake City were Dominos and Papa John’s, seriously people, someone needs to open UP a real pizza parlor in that town.

Most of the Pizza choices in the South are terrible anyway.  There are no Marion’s, no Don’s Pizza, no La Rosa’s either!

Having lived in the South for 34 years my quest for good pizza has been unending and unsuccessful.  One would think with all the Yankees we have here in Georgia,  a good pizza recipe would have come down in a Carpetbag somewhere along the way.  We’ve tried them all, and frankly, we’ve ended UP making our own.

None of this box stuff or frozen pizza dough, we start from the bottom UP.

Over the years we’ve experimented with toppings; we’ve made BLT pizzas, Buffalo Wing Pizzas*, and more, but we generally come back to the Original Italian Pie we learned to love at Wampler’s out on Route 4.

When Wampler’s went away, we got our pizza and subs from The Party Supply, but alas, that’s gone as well. Actually the last time I drove by, the place had been converted back into a house!

Well, at least Don’s is still there!  Minus Ann of course.

If I were in Germantown, I’d call Don’s!  But, since I’m not, I make my own.

So, if you’re looking for easy, good home-made pizza dough, here goes:

Mix the following in a small bowl and set aside:

¼ cup of warm water – warm, not too hot.

½ tsp. sugar

1 pkg. dry yeast

In a large bowl or food processor, add:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

yeast mixture, see above

mix well

Then add:

1 ¼ cups warm water

2 T. extra virgin olive oil (none of that slutty stuff!)

Mix until very smooth

And add:

2 more cups of flour.

Mix until dough forms a soft ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Divide and freeze half of the dough, unless you’re making more than one pizza

Place the remaining dough in a draft free place – I use the oven and leave the light on just like Motel 6.  Let it double in size, this will take about an hour.  (And no, there’s no pill to make it double faster!)

Punch dough down and form into a pancake shape with your hands.  Please wash your hands first!

Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza stone or, if you’ve never been to a Pampered Chef party, your metal pizza sheet.  (If you’ve never heard of Pampered Chef, come out of your cave and ask around…seriously, go UP to a stranger, they’ll KNOW!)

Add pizza sauce – your choice – add toppings and bake @ 400 – 425 degrees for 12-18 minutes!

Enjoy!

*The Buffalo Wing Pizza is made with chicken, not WINGS!  That would be a tad hard to eat.  We use celery, bleu cheese, and ranch dressing as the sauce…it’s pretty good.

Have fun with the kiddies, dress UP, eat a lot of candy, and let yourself go!

My favorite Halloween Treat is “Candy Corn and Peanuts” mixed!

It tastes like a Pay-Day Candy bar, and is easy to make.

Buy a bag of candy corn, buy a jar of peanuts, dump together, stir, and enjoy!

That’s the opening line from an article this past week on “The Week”, an online publication.

No kidding, cruel and unusual. 

How about GROSS!

And people get mad at me because I won’t eat in a Chinese restaurant where I can’t see the kitchen.

The leading nabobs of Jinhau City, China have decided to put down the ginsu knives and end the six  hundred year old tradition of cooking and eating dogs.  The tradition started the Ming dynasty…you know, the one with all the pretty vases…gross and grace all in one ruling dynasty.

Supposedly, a Ming leader was trying to invade Jinhua and killed all the dogs so that their barking wouldn’t alert the city fathers.  To celebrate the invasion, the Mings whipped UP some Mu Shu Mutt and served it around town.  Thus, a tradition was born.

You know, during the War of Northern Aggression, when Vicksburg was under siege, the Vicksburgians ate rats to stay alive, and I for darn sure don’t remember any ads hyping UP the Vicksburg Rat Festival, do you?

But, alas, the tradition stuck in China.  As many as 10,ooo dogs would be slaughtered each year at the festival and served UP in many ways. 

Apparently, as the world becomes more and more PC, and the Chinese realize they aren’t they only people on earth, some of the locals have said “Just say no to Fido” and called for a halt to the festival.

Doggie dining is – thank goodness – not as big in China as it used to be, but the Chinese Astronauts did eat dog while in space!  But dog ownership has increased in China, where it was once banned as a “borgeois habit” during the cultural revolution.  And I’m guessin’ that when little Yang Min and Mong Toy came home from school and Spot was missing from the dog house and that chicken leg looked awfully familiar, the shit hit the fan!

Not every one is happy that the festival is ending.  Some of the locals felt that since it was passed from generation to generation, it should remain as part of the culture.  Quaint it ain’t, if you ask me, and while we’re on that passing things along topic;  senility, imbicility, lunacy, and other ‘ilities’ are passed along too.

Frankly, this festival going away will make people happier than the end of panty-hose!

So, the dogs are resting easy in Jinhua City, but the cat on the corner is watching it’s back!

Oprah’s favorite Television Doc, Dr. Oz is under fire from the FDA and moms everywhere for causing fear and dread in the hearts and minds of moms everywhere regarding the…wait for it…dangers of apple juice.

Well, my kids are goners!

Oz, the top TV doc, said on his Fox show last week, that testing by a New Jersey lab had found what he suggested were troubling levels of arsenic in many brands of juice.

New Jersey, BTW has the most toxic dumps in America, I’m sure there’s no correlation.  But, it does make one go “hmmmm.”

The FDA, which I’m sure we all trust implicitly, said its own tests show ‘no such thing’.  They even tested some of the same juice batches Oz’s study used.

One part of the FDA’s statement says, “There is no evidence of any public health risk from drinking these juices.”, with the stamp of a foot!

The shit hit the fan flap escalated Thursday, when Oz’s former medical school classmate and former BFF, Dr. Richard Besser poo-poohed him on ABC’s “Good Morning America”.

Besser said, Ozzie’s “extremely irresponsible” report was akin to “yelling ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater.”

OK, that might be a bit harsh.

Besser was running the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before the lure of more cash dragged him away from the ATL to join ABC news.

As I’ve reported before, arsenic is naturally present in water, air, food and soil. 

According to the FDA, organic arsenic passes through the body quickly and is essentially harmless. Inorganic arsenic — the type found in pesticides — can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

I, for one, would not run out and spend a lot of cash having my kids pet scanned, but if you’re a worry-wart, that’s an option.

The big beef:  “The Dr. Oz Show” did not break down the type when it tested several dozen juice samples for total arsenic. As a result, the FDA said the results are misleading.

Translation, they didn’t do it the government way, i.e. the right way.

Furthermore, the agency’s own tests found far lower total arsenic levels from one of the same juice batches the Oz show tested — 2 to 6 parts per billion of arsenic versus the 36 that Oz’s show had claimed.

OK, maybe Oz’s testers are newbies.  Or, maybe the FDA’s testers can’t count.  I for one, would think it hard to count all those parts, and it seems to me that counting to a billion would take a while.

In a letter published on the Oz show’s website, Nestle, who’s Gerber Juicy Juice was tested,  said it told the program’s producer in advance that the method the show’s lab used was intended for testing waste water, not fruit juice, and “therefore their results would be unreliable at best.”

The FDA, in a huff, sent a letter prior to the show being aired, and threatened to post its findings and the letters online if the program proceeded.

Oz, undaunted, went ahead.

The Oz website version says, “American apple juice is made from apple concentrate, 60 percent of which is imported from China.”

The show tested three dozen samples from five brands, and Oz claimed that 10 had more arsenic than the limit allowed in drinking water — 10 parts per billion.

The FDA claims that the arsenic in water tends to be inorganic, which justifies the strict regulations. 

Organic arsenic is what is usually found in food and juices. Tests by thousands of labs and researchers conducted over the last 20 years show apple juice typically has fewer than 10 parts per billion total arsenic.

Oprah’s moved on to other venues, and the TV hounds are all clawing the top spot on daytime TV left by her departure.

Sensationalism?

Probably.

Tim Sullivan, a spokesman for Oz’s show, said in an interview: “We don’t think the show is irresponsible. We think the public has a right to know what’s in their foods.”

I’ll have to agree that the public has a right to know what’s in their foods, and I’ll add that Dr. Oz needs to check his data before airing a show just for ratings.

Oz also said, “There’s no question in my mind folks can continue drinking apple juice. … There have been no cases at all of kids being harmed by elevated levels of arsenic, and the kinds of numbers we are talking about are not high enough to cause acute injury,” he said.

He said he was concerned instead about the possible ill effects from drinking apple juice for many years.

Ok, now I’m confused.

Is it good or bad?

Even Dr. Oz doesn’t know.  And we’re really not in Kansas anymore, Toto, are we?

The crowd makes it faster, “funner”, and it makes for a lot of good memories.

While I was in college in Chattanooga, TN in the late 70s, TLW discovered a recipe that she felt was sure fired to get me to eat my broccoli.

And it was.

Broccoli Ham Roll-UPs became a favorite of ours pre-parenthood and a huge favorite of the kids as well.  Now that they are both living elsewhere, every time I make them, I post it on Facebook and they always respond with “jealous”.

The recipe came from a Good Housekeeping Magazine.  The article was entitle “30 Minute Meal”. 

And we thought Rachel Ray thought that one UP!! 

We’ve changed it over the years and made it our own.  The original called for canned ham – expensive!!, and Grands biscuits – expensive!!  We started using left over ham and the less expensive Pillsbury canned biscuits.  And we added the Cheese Sauce ourselves.

Our children, Shelby and Donovan  , started helping out in the kitchen as soon as they could.  From rolling out the biscuits to grating the cheese, they pitched in.  It was one of, if not their favorite meal.

So, here goes.  A Brads’ family recipe, memory, and money saver that feeds four.

Broccoli Ham Roll UPs

What you’ll need

For the BHRs:

About 10 oz. leftover ham, chopped well.  I use the food processor, I’m lazy that way.  (You can use deli ham, canned ham, left over Christmas ham…really it all works!)

1 can (10 count) biscuits.  The cheaper the better.

1 box frozen broccoli spears.  Buy it on sale.

For the Sauce:

3 tsp butter

2 tbsp flour

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 to 1 and ½ cups cheese, grated.

Pre-heat oven to 375 (forget the directions on the can, we’re not doing that.)

Cook broccoli in microwave as directed, maybe 1 or 2 minutes LESS than recommended.

Roll out each biscuit into ovals.  The kids can help, they love it and you can teach them to clean up the mess as they go also!

Take about an ounce of ham and 1 broccoli spear cut in half long ways, and place on each flat oval biscuit.  Roll UP, place on a cooking stone or cookie sheet.  (I’m a big stone fan, so I use that.)

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes at 375.  Again, this is a departure from the directions, so you may want to watch your product to make sure it doesn’t get too brown.

While they are cooking, make the cheese sauce.  It should all come out at the same time.

You start by melting the butter on LOW heat.

Then you add your flour, salt, and pepper  to make a roux.

Once the flour-butter mixture is bubbly and smooth, add 1 cup of milk.  Stir constantly, bring to a boil, and allow to thicken.  This could take up to 5 or more minutes.  Keep the heat low, and follow the Betty Crocker Recipe for “white sauce” on page 356.

When it boils (which it may never do) or thickens, remove from heat and add cheese and stir.

It should look similar to this.

Add cheese, and stir until smooth.

Place two on each plate and cover with cheese sauce to your liking.

You won’t have to holler for dinner twice, and they’ll want it often.

But, alas, while on vacation last week, there was no Waffle House in sight, and being really hungry on Friday morning, and needing coffee badly, I stopped at another breakfast shop.

I’ll not mention any names, but Waffle’s isn’t their specialty. 

My order was pretty simple, like I’ve said before, I’m a creature of habit.

Scrambled eggs with cheese, wheat toast, and since I was starving, I went out on a limb and ordered sausage.

When the waitress placed the plate in front of me, I was sure it was someone else’s order.

The eggs were scrambled and toast was wheat.

But, the hash-browns and the bacon gave me pause.

I didn’t order them.

And I ordered cheese in my eggs.  There was none.

And there was no butter on the toast, and the jelly was strawberry, and I remember saying, “Anything but strawberry.”

Sorry, I just don’t like it.

I indicated politely, that my plate wasn’t what I ordered.

She could not have been more surprised. 

Now, I’m sure it wasn’t someone else’s order as there were only two other people there…now I know why…and both of them were eating.  Probably not what they ordered, but they were eating anyway.

When I told her that A. I didn’t order bacon, and B. I didn’t want hash-browns, and C. I wanted butter on my toast, she looked completely surprised.

Completely.

Perplexed even.

As in, really, really surprised.

I indicated that I wanted what I ordered, and again, she was surprised.  The look of exasperation was one for the record books.

After a small argument with the cook, he agreed to fry UP some sausage.

She came back with a the same plate.  No butter, and a melted piece of cheese on top of the eggs. 

Sorry, but that’s just not what cheese eggs are supposed to look like!

Again, she was surprised when I answered with a “No, thanks.” to her question of , “Do you want the bacon anyway, while you wait for your sausage.”

My third request for butter was met with a scowl.

Breakfast just shouldn’t be this hard.

And cheese eggs should have cheese IN them, not on top of them.

And toast needs butter.

Frankly, I was beginning to look around for my heart doctor!

When she brought the sausage patties, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’d ordered links.

Next time, I’ll just drive further.  There has to be a Waffle House down the road.

But not this time.

Purple Rain Restaurant and Lounge is a new restaurant near the Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, GA.

Duluth, you may remember, stole NCR away from Dayton and disrupted thousands of lives and trashed a 100 years of history is the new home of NCR.

Purple Rain is different for Gwinnett County.  It’s a tapas restaurant.  There is some “infusion”, different spices, different foods, different combinations.  All beautifully prepared and presented on geometric stark white dishes.  The linens are black…or maybe purple, very dark purple…it was dark in there.

First of all, there’s a dress code!

Yikes, how did that happen.  No flip flops, no athletic wear, no baggy shorts, etc. 

Very classy, and very refreshing.

But, they let me in anyway.  Hey, it was early.

The power was off at home, the entire neighborhood as a matter of fact, darn those summer storms.

I couldn’t cook, didn’t want to open the fridge, and well, I didn’t want to cook anyway.  So, on my way to Steak and Shake, I passed Purple Rain. 

So, I turned around and stopped in.

What a beautiful place.

The countertop of the bar changes colors constantly, the furniture is elegant, very modern, very classy.

The wait staff, all in black, very sleek, very trendy, very sexy.

The food, really different, and really good.

The menu includes:  

Morroccan Yucca Fries – spiced yucca, roasted garlic, parsley, lemon essence, and tomato chutney.

Camarones Tacos – grilled shrimp, pineapple pico de gallo, and mango habaner creme fraiche.

Crispy Pig Ears – yes, you heard me – fried pig ears, sweet cherry pepper, and sweet lime chili sauce.

Pork Belly – Korean braised pork belly, house made cucumber, napa cabbage kimchee, and dried red pepper thread.

Lamb Gyro – Lamb, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce and grilled pita bread.

And for the un-daring of you, beef sliders and chicken sliders.

Those are the appetizers.

Entree items include, paella for two, pan roasted duck breast, NOLA shrimp and grits (that’s New Orleans Lousiana) and again, for the totally un-daring – filet mignon.

Amazingly, the prices are great too.

I had the shrimp tacos and a glass of sweet tea – this is Georgia afterall, and I’m not that brave!

Ok, so the cell phone picture didn’t turn out so great!  But, they were excellent.

Frankly, I can’t wait to go back…and I’ll know to dress better!

If you’re in the area, check it out!

It sucked.

It was a disaster.

No one liked it.

They went back to the original recipe…supposedly.

Frankly, Coca Cola hasn’t tasted the same since they screwed UP the original in the last century.

Well, hand it to Frito Lay to do the same thing to Tostitos.

Whole Grain Tostitos!!

WTF?

Imagine my disappointment at the sUPer-market Saturday when I looked for good old corn chips.

I was in the mood for a Taco Salad.

Felt domestic, and decided to make one.

With the cart loaded to the rim with taco trimmings, the last thing on the list was Tostitos.

Because I like the brand, I like the corn taste, and I wanted them.

But, alas, no regualr chips.

There were ones with a hint of lime.

Artisan chips with chipotle, red pepper, basil, and who knows what else.

And all of them were made with WHOLE GRAIN!

So, Frito-Lay, if the earth shoe wearing bra burning tofu eating health nazis are badgering you about your product, please listen to a voice from the other side.  We’re tired of people telling us what’s good for us.

Taco chips are bad for you, we know that, we like that, so stop the maddness, bring the REAL ones back!  Because, in Gwinnett County, GA, there are enough Carnecerias, Bodegas, and Mexican Food Stores for me to find REAL ones.