Coralville Courier

Enjoy a classic Mediterranean area dish, great for brunch!

By Filiz Thayer 

Tunisian Shakshouka - An egg, potato and tomato dish, with garlic and basil.  

Ingredients:

- One medium onion, finely chopped
- One clove of garlic, finely chopped (minced from a jar works fine too)
- Small bunch of basil (optional), finely chopped
- Three medium sized potatoes, diced
- Three medium tomatoes, diced (canned works fine too)
- Four eggs
- One tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flake (optional) 

Directions:  In a large frying pan, sauté onion until lightly browned, then add the garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes.  Cover and simmer over low heat for about 25 minutes.  Remove the cover and break your eggs over the surface, then stir gently to break the yolks slightly.  Add the basil and red pepper flake (optional).  Cover and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until the eggs are set.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Excellent served on a wedge of pita bread!

Quick, easy, simple

Need a quick lunch?  Check out the Coralville Hy-Vee.  They grill up some pretty tasty fare at the entrance to the store, offering up hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst and grilled chicken.

More convenient than a line at some fast food drive-thru, the simplicity of walking up for a quick hot dog or brat is perfect for a lunch hour that includes running some errands.  

Chips, sodas, bottled water, a condiment bar and very reasonable prices make this a lunch stop worth looking into.

The Hy-Vee to go grill gets 4 stars.

 

Hy-Vee.com

1914 8th St
Coralville, IA 52241

(319) 351-5523‎

(800) 928-2274‎

 

Mike's Spicy Chicken Rub

For diehards such as myself who grill even if a foot of snow is on the ground, I'm pleased to announce that the weather is finally and consistently decent enough - grilling season has arrived in Iowa! 

To kick things off here's a recipe with a kick!

1 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

This is a great dry rub with a little influence from Turkey.  Apply it to your favorite cut of chicken for grilling.  I usually put it on about four hours prior to firing things up.   

Grilling tip:  Don't put cold chicken or steak on the grill!  Take your meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to grilling, it will cook more evenly and have better flavor.

Filiz's Thumbprint Cookies

by Filiz Thayer

Thumbprint cookies are a classic and making them is a family fun activity, especially on these chilly Iowa winter nights!  Who wants to venture outside when it's -25 degrees?

You’ll need:

• Cooking spray
• ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup or 1 stick vegetable shortening or margarine
• 3 large eggs, separated
• ¼  cup  water
• 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups  finely chopped nuts, any kind
• 1 cup jam, any flavor 
   
  Preheat oven to 350 F. Adjust rack to the middle position. Spray two cookie sheets with no-stick spray. Beat the brown sugar and shortening in a mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add egg yolks, water, vanilla and salt; beat until well combined. Add flour on low speed until well blended. Beat egg whites in a shallow bowl until foamy. Place nuts in a separate shallow bowl. Divide dough into equal portions (around 48). Form into balls by rolling between your palms. Dip each dough ball into egg whites, then roll into the nuts and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb (kids love this part), make a rounded indentation in the top of each cookie. Bake cookies for 10 minutes; remove from oven. It may be necessary to press the indentation once again. Fill each cookie with a teaspoon of jam. Return cookies to oven; bake another 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven; allow cookies to cool on baking sheet.
  

Comfort Food: Banana Cake

by Filiz Thayer

If you're in the mood to do a bit of baking, this is a great little recipe.  And warm banana cake/bread just out of the oven with a little butter on top..... Yummy! 

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 stick margarine – room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe and smashed bananas
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup or any kind of jam or marmalade
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup any kind of nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Mix sugars and margarine until creamy.  Add eggs, mix.  Add maple syrup or favorite jam, mix.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nuts or chocolate (optional) and mix.  Oil and flour your baking pan (11x13) and pour mixture into it.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake about 25 to 30 minutes.

Coralville Huhot Exceeds Expectations

If you're craving some oriental style food, visit the Huhot Mongolian Grill.  The nice thing about Huhot is that it's not your typical warming lamps and steam tables kind of buffet.  You pick up a bowl and fill it with your choice of frozen beef, chicken, pork, or shrimp, noodles, and a large assortments of raw vegetables.  Then you get to choose what kind of sauces and oil to mix with your stir fry.  Hand off your concoction to one of the chefs, watch him Mongolian Grill it up and in minutes you're sitting down to a pleasant meal.

You can mix and match your meal and it's fun for the kids.  Go with a standard Broccoli Beef, or create some spicy chicken of your own doing (doom?).  You can skip the meat and go tofu with veggies if you like, after all, in this place you're only limited by your own imagination and curiosity. 

The Coralville Huhot appears to be well managed.  The place was neat, clean, orderly, the staff all polite and energetic.  Our waiter always kept our glasses filled; asked how everything was; cleared our table of 1st round plates (2 rounds was VERY filling).  The manager stopped by to see if we enjoyed our meal.  To sum, all 'i's were dotted and 't's crossed, and done with a smile.

The Huhot is NOT your typical buffet and scores five stars!  

Huhot Mongolian Grill

www.huhot.com

917 25th Ave
Coralville, IA 52241
(319) 358-9100

Texas based Dickey's Barbecue to open restaurant in Coralville

Serving up hickory smoked barbecue for over 60 years, Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. is opening up a new store November 11 in Coralville.

Dickey's Barbecue Pit is located at 2500 Corridor Way, Suite 2, nestled in the same area as Buffalo Wild Wings and the Texas Roadhouse, just off Highway 965.

About Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants

Founded in 1941, Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants began in Dallas with a single goal – “Serve the best tastin’ barbecue imaginable, just the way people like it. And don’t make ‘em wait too long to get it.” More than 60 years later, Dickey’s is now the fastest growing barbecue chain in the country and is rapidly becoming the largest franchising concept in its category serving some of the best mouth waterin’, lip smackin’, great tastin’ barbecue in the United States. Beginning with an aggressive growth strategy and proven business model, and since implementing its proprietary five revenue streams for business growth, Dickey’s is on track to double its locations in 2008. Currently, Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants can be found in more than 15 states with 90 locations nationwide. For more information on partnering with Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants in any location, call (866) 340-6188 or visit www.dickeys.com/franchise.aspx. Dickey’s: Slow cooked. Served fast.

   

Family Night at Three Samurai Japanese Restaurant

Excellent food, Teppanyaki cooking and an entertaining chef make for a fun evening!

If you're not familiar with the art of Teppanyaki, its tabletop grilling.  You sit and watch as the chef taps salt/pepper shakers and cooking utensils on the flat top grill, tossing and juggling them in the air as he prepares your food right there in front of you. 

The soups, steak, chicken, veggies and shrimp were all superb.  Not only does the Three Samurai prepare amazing food, but they provide incredible entertainment as well.  Table guests enjoyed flaming onion volcanoes, spatula tossed broccoli aimed into willing patrons mouths, and various other acrobatic acts and jokes from the chef.

Providing excellent food and family fun, the Three Samurai Japanese Restaurant is a must do.  Prices were reasonable, with the 'dinner & show' tab for a family of five coming in at about $100.00.  The only slight downer was a waitress that was not as attentive as she could have been.  It took two requests each time to get something like a water refill, we attributed it to the busy night.

The Three Samurai Japanese Restaurant scores four out of five stars.

They're located at:  1801 2nd St, #200, Coralville, IA 52241, call 319-337-3340 for reservations

Elegant Relaxation

If you're looking for a nice, quiet, fine dining experience, make a reservation at Cafe Z.

Owner and chef David Zaghloul is very talented and all his fantastic creations melt in your mouth. 

The following cuisine was sampled, and it was all outstanding:

• Insalata Caprese - Fresh Mozzarella cheese & tomatoes, Mediterranean olives, basil, olive oil, & balsamic vinegar. Served with baguette bread.
• Seared sea scallops with truffle scented polenta, house vegetables and blackberry glaze
• Fillet Mignon seared to perfection served with Gold Yukon potatoes and black truffle sauce
• Seared lamb loin & black truffle sauce
• Creme Brulee

David also offers a very nice selection of wines.  So whether it's a romantic evening for two, or simply some relaxation, good conversation and great tastes planned with a couple of friends - check out Cafe Z, which rates 5 stars!

Cafe Z, 1705 S. 1st Ave Ste A, Iowa City, IA 52240.  Reservations can be made by calling (319) 338-1738 or email at coach@inav.net

Hardees: Best quick breakfast in town

If you're looking for a quick, tasty breakfast that's easy on the wallet, check out Hardees.  They have a lot of variety on their menu, to include a low carb breakfast bowl that packs in a belly full of flavor.

The drive thru was quick - as a drive-thru should be - the service was polite and friendly.  Those are traits that aren't so common in fast food chains these days.

Hardees in Coralville scores four out of five stars!

Hardees is located at:  107 2nd St, Coralville, IA. 52241

PH: (319) 354-4275