Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, Naperville, Illinois

We have been in the Chicago area several times but have never had Chicago style deep dish pizza. This pizza is quite a bit different than the New York style pizza we are used to. We decided to try the Chicago style pizza on this trip so asked the valet for a recommendation. Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in Naperville, Illinois came highly recommended as being one of the best there is. So were were off to Naperville on a side trip.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

Naperville is a small, river port community located about 30 miles southwest from downtown Chicago. It was about a half hour drive from Joliet, Illinois where we stayed the first night. Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is located in the old Naperville fire hall. During the warmer weather the two original garage doors open onto outdoor patios with the main restaurant located on the main floor of the old fire hall. The atmosphere is quite pleasant with the staff being some of the friendliest you will ever meet. Our waiter Gino went over and above to ensure our visit was enjoyable!

Gino Serves the Pizza

We ordered the The Lou medium deep dish pan pizza with spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms for $17.25. With drinks and taxes our total bill came to $24.75 which wasn't bad without gratituity.

The pizza came in a 12 - inch deep sided pan from which our very friendly waiter, Gino served a slice each as we were ready for more. Now that is service! He really did make our dining experience very pleasant. I will say kudos to Gino for being an extemely good waiter who cares about those he is waiting on. Lou Malnati's is indeed lucky to have a waiter like this! He even took a picture of us with our camera so I have a nice memento of our visit that will surely make a wonderful scrapbooking layout.

A Slice

The crust definitely was different from New York style pizza. It was crispy on the bottom as well as the sides with the top of the pizza crust curling over just slightly. The pizza was loaded with some of the best tasting mozzarella cheese I've ever tasted! A knife and fork was a must as there was no way the pizza slices could have been without them.

Now the following is not meant to be refective of Lou Malnati's or Gino's great service because trust me this place is worth going to if you like Chicago style pizza. We had heard a lot about this style of pizza so were expecting something a bit more but can't put our finger on it although my husband came closest in the problem was the crust. It gets a full two thumbs up as far as flavour goes! While the flavour was top notch it was the texture of the crust that can be best describes as somewhat thin, cake like but extra crusty, curling over the top a bit. It definitely is a different type of crust than thin or regular crust New York style pizza. Good but differents!

Union Station Buffet, Harrah's Casino, Joliet, Illinois

Casinos are one of the best places to find a good value for food dollars if you know what you are looking for. They are also one of the best places to find some fairly high end, gourmet style dining to well beyond. The nice thing about eating at casinos is you can get from the low end to the high end to everything end eating without ever gambling so it becomes a matter of what you are willing to spend and the dining experience you want. In general most larger casinos have an excellent quality when it comes to buffets making them a frugal choice for eating out.

Union Street Station

During our travels we stopped at Harah's Joliet Hotel & Casino. Harrah's Joliet Hotel & Casino is located at 151 North Joliet Street, Joliet, IL. There is both self and valet parking. The hotel sports lovely, spacious rooms with excellent room service. What will really stand out immediately about this resort is the friendly atmosphere! I would have to rate this resort as one of the friendliest you will ever visit. I will note that this is a smoke-free resort something my husband and I really appreciate.

Union Station Buffet is located on the same level as the gaming floor but outside of the gaming floor. You can visit Union Station without going through the gaming floor as well. Union Station is well laid out with a nice choice of foods including salad bar and deserts. The price was $24.95 each so well within the average for an all you can eat buffet price.

Clams & Crawfish

When it comes to buffets I try to get pictures of foods I have not presented before on this blog. That doesn't always happen but I do try. There was a gorgeous looking clam and crawfish dish on the buffet. The colours were so bright and bckoning that I just had to try it!

The clams and crawfish were cooked to perfection with just a lovely hint of the south for seasonings. I took a huge scoop with a side of marinated mushrooms and rice. I definitely would like to try duplicating the clams and crawfish dish at home. We can get clams in the local grocery stores but I have seldom seen crawfish however if one knows where to look crawfish can be had for free. During one camping trip one of our kids practically filled a cooler with crawfish something the local racoons greatly appreciated which is a great story that perhaps I will share another time. At any rate I'm doing a bit of scouting for a nice supply of local crawfish to recreate this tasty dish.
Cherries Jubilee

Most casino buffets have an amazing array of desserts! I'm not a huge dessert fan myself preferring to end my meal with a little fresh fruit however my husband has not problem pointing out all the good dessert finds. I actually spotted this dessert, cherries jubilee. The tantilizingly sweet tangy aroma mingled with the eyes' delight. I just had to try a small scoop. It did not fail to delight! The cherries jubilee was warm, sweet, tangy and aromatic with a nice bit of light crust that my husband said went nicely with a bit of vanilla ice cream although I had mine without the ice cream. It was still quite good!

Arlene's Truck Stop, Battle Creek, Michigan (with recipes)

I've mentioned before that when we are on road trips we often stop at truck stops for meals. The reason being truck stops tend to have good coffee and excellent home style cooking. Now you can't stop at just any truck stop. The quality of the coffee and food is directly related to how busy the parking lot is. The busier the parking lot the better the truck stop! My husband is very good at finding the excellent truck stops. We've yet to eat at one that hasn't had good food thanks to his well tuned sixth sense.

Arlene's Truck Stop

Arlene's Truck Stop is located at 4647 Columbia Ave. in Battle Creek, Michigan just off of I-94 on exit 92 to the right about a quarter of a mile up the road. The truck stop is quite busy but not fancy. There is a rather small tuck shop with the basics, mainly snack type foods. Fuel is available and there is ample parking for larger rigs. The restaurant is small and quite non-descript but the food is excellent. The home style food portions are large but low priced. A bottomless cup of coffee was $1.50 each. The service was fast and friendly, well above average. You definitely will not be leaving this truck stop hungry!

Country Fried Steak

My husband ordered the country fried steak ($7.59) with American fries, 2 poached eggs and white toast. Country fried steak is easily made at home. It is simply a thin cut of tenderized cube steak or round steak coated in fried chicken coating (eg. Homemade Shake & Bake Coating Mix) or seasoned flour then pan fried. It is usually topped with country gravy. Country (white) gravy is extremely easy to make and quite versatile. It is basically a thicker, seasoned white sauce. You can kick it up a notch by turning white gravy into sausage or bacon gravy. Here's how I make sausage gravy. You can substitute a good quality bacon cut across the slices to form bacon pieces for the sausage.

Sausage Gravy

4 breakfast sausage links or small pattie slices
2 c whole milk
2 tbsp unbleached flour
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the sausage links until cooked through, breaking them up as they fry. When the sausage is nicely browned and resembles the texture of crumbled ground beef remove from the heat. Drain the sausage reserving 2 tbsp of fat. Mix about ¼ c of the milk into the flour in a separate bowl to form a smooth slurry. Return the frypan to a medium heat. Pour in the rest of the milk. Heat while stirring constantly until milk comes to the scald stage (just starting to boil). While stirring pour the flour slurry into the milk and continue stirring and cooking until the mixture thickens to desired consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in the crumbled sausage. Season as desired with salt and pepper if desired.

Eggs Sunny Side Up

I ordered the ultimate breakfast ($5.79) with ham, 2 eggs sunny side up, hash browns and whole wheat toast. I think every restaurant serves some type of potatoes with their egg breakfast however what is a bit confusing is the terminology used to describe the potatoes. The term American fries was used to describe those included in my husband's meal. However, these are often called home fries or even country cuts. I had hash browns with mine but quite often if you order hash browns you end up with something almost like a semi-mashed home fries or actual home fries or something that looks like strands of French fries cut across to form little cubes of potatoes. These hash browns were the shredded variety and they are quite easy to duplicate at home. Do not be tempted to stir these hash browns while cooking as they will get gluey. Here's my method.

Hash Browns (shredded)

1 - 2 large baking potatoes (eg. Yukon Gold, Russet)

Shred the potatoes. Rinse to remove extra starch. Place the shredded potatoes in a tea towel and press out as much moisture as possible. Pour enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of your frypan. Heat a frypan on medium high. Pour the shredded potatoes into the pan in a shallow layer, about ½- inch thick. Let them cook without disruption for 3 minutes or until just golden brown. Carefully flip and repeat. Remove from pan and serve seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Freezer Organization

Use colour coded plastic baskets to help organize your freezer. For example all pre-cooked foods can go in green baskets while all uncooked beef goes in blue baskets or whatever colour code you can relate to. Colour coding gives to an immediate visual when looking for something in your freezer.