Oven-Braised Beef with Tomato Sauce and Garlic

Wonderfully simple, blessedly inexpensive (chuck roast), totally scrumptious—an absolute keeper if you're an omnivore. And perfect for a chilly evening. On the side we had sauteed kale dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and a bottle of Valpolicella!

Oven-Braised Beef with Tomato Sauce and Garlic
From The Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl

From the headnote to the recipe: "When you serve the beef, you can either squeeze the garlic pulp out of the skins beforehand or let your guests do it themselves."

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
1 (3- to 3 1/2-pound) boneless beef chuck roast, rolled and tied
1 head garlic, separated into cloves but left unpeeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Accompaniment: cooked orzo (We had gnocchi instead; see my notes below.)

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 300 °F.

Coarsely chop tomatoes, with their juice, in a food processor. Put roast in an ovenproof 4- to 5-quart heavy pot or a casserole dish with a lid, pour tomatoes over it, and scatter garlic around it. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and braise in oven until very tender, 3 to 4 hours.

Remove string and discard. Cut roast into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve with sauce, orzo, and garlic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I used one of our Le Creuset French ovens for this dish; can't get much heavier than that, and of course the whole thing can go into the oven.

Also, I had some very late tomatoes from farmer's market hanging around, so I cut about 5 of those up by hand (they were good-sized tomatoes) and cooked them down a bit in a medium saucepan instead of using canned. Nothing against canned tomatoes; I just needed to use the fresh ones before they went bad.

Our chuck roast was around 2 1/4 pounds, and I cooked the roast about 2 1/2 hours. When it was done and on the cutting board, I squeezed the garlic out of the cloves and mashed it into the tomato sauce.

And instead of serving the roast with orzo, I boiled up a package of ready-made potato gnocchi I'd gotten at the Art Mart in Urbana (the brand is Cucina Viva). They took just a few minutes to boil, and they were quite light and pillowy—not gummy or heavy. Terrific with the sauce.

Lastly: After I took the photo I said to myself, this dish would be even more wonderful with fresh lemon and garlic. So I whipped out the Microplane and the Zyliss, zested some lemon peel and pressed some garlic, and sprinkled both over the top of the beef and gnocchi (almost a gremolata, but without parsley). Mamma mia! The topping took the dish to new heights.

The Turkey Makeover

A person cannot live on day-old pumpkin pie alone. Thus, in honor of the day after Thanksgiving, I'm dusting off a few of the recipes involving leftover turkey that I've had on this blog, and I've got links to some other sites where you'll find MANY more. From the Southern United States to Mexico to Italy and India, these recipes span the globe. Hope you see (and eat) something you like.

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This Mexican stew is probably my favorite way to use leftover turkey. I saw Dave Lieberman make it on his cooking show back in 2006, and I've made it every year since. The stew has wonderful flavor from mild peppers, oregano, cumin, and cilantro, and the lime juice provides a bright note as well as a shot of vitamin C. If you top it with sour cream and avocado, so much the better.

Update: later the same day . . . I made this stew for lunch today and was very thankful for everything, but especially for taste buds, all over again. 

I dialed up the heat quite a bit, using two—or was it three—fresh cayenne peppers and two small green chili peppers that I think were serranos (thanks, Blue Moon!). The rice I put in this time was La Preferida pearl rice (get it at Schnucks or the Mexican groceries around C-U), and I'm endorsing it here and now as the best rice to use. The plump little grains gave the stew great  body.

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And this turkey Tetrazzini was also terrific. The original recipe, from Jamie Oliver, called for chicken, but obviously it's a great vehicle for leftover turkey as well. Oh, and mushrooms, white wine, cream, Parmesan cheese, and spaghetti as well. You have a little cream left over from yesterday, right?

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Going Indian style, with a curry, was another good idea. It's a coconut-milk curry, so it's creamy and fragrant, and you get your greens at the same time—a complete meal in a bowl once you add rice. The recipe for this turkey and spinach curry came from an article by Mark Bittman titled "The Turkey That Went to India." Love that title.

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More options:

• Check out the 80 million recipes in About.com's Southern Food section. 
• The Food Network site has ideas for reusing everything from the turkey to the sweet potatoes.
• Epicurious has recipes for salads, soups, sandwiches/wraps, and even turkey chilaquiles. Now why didn't I think of that?
• Simply Recipes also has lots of great ideas, including chilaquiles (again with the chiliaquiles!), gumbo, and tacos. 
• Ooh, and how about this Thai noodle salad with turkey and shrimp? What a great idea from Coconut & Lime.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I'm re-posting this from the archives (it's originally from 2007), because it has Thanksgiving ideas and recipes in it that you may be interested in. Plus, I like to look back and remember. I've added some updates and photos to the post from this year's event, which I'm getting a head start on. 

Once again in 2010, we got a turkey from Triple S Farm (but only a 12-pounder). It's funny, because I found this recipe on Epicurious just now and thought, how great that sounds! And then I re-read this post and realized that we had done almost the same thing all by our little selves. Used the same herbs, anyway. This time I'm going to try the "dry brining" ahead of time as per the Epicurious recipe. And how about that shallot-Dijon gravy? Can't wait.

As I was lying in bed this morning, I realized that I did not go out of the house even once yesterday. I'd thought I would go out for a walk at some point, but it never happened. And it's not that we had a house full of people! There just never seemed to be time. I just barely got in a shower, while the turkey was resting after being roasted.

I'd decided to make a pumpkin pie rather than buying one. And then of course one has to get the turkey ready for the oven. And I wanted to have some pimento cheese around to snack on. And—well, you know. It just all adds up. None of the dishes I made were fussy, or gourmet; I wanted everything to be pretty straightforward. Roasted turkey—obviously. Mashed potatoes (I put in cream, butter, and horseradish). Green beans with toasted hazelnuts. Cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie. That was it.

We bought an organic, truly free-range turkey from Stan this year. It's amazing how different it looked from the Butterballs we've gotten in the past. The skin had a pattern of sort of V-shaped marks in it from the plucking of the feathers, and here and there were the stubs of feathers that hadn't all quite been pulled out.  

Update 2010: Our 12-pounder this year has no stubs of feathers at all; it seems smoother and "cleaner," possibly because it's so much smaller. Here's a shot of it.

Our method was to wash the 17-pounder inside and out, pat it dry, and fill the cavity with salt, pepper, garlic cloves, halved lemons and an orange, and a big bunch of a mixture of fresh thyme, sage, and parsley. Then we melted a stick of butter and mixed in chopped herbs (the same ones we put in the cavity) and rubbed most of that over the outside. Finally, we soaked a piece of cheesecloth in the rest of the melted butter that had been mixed with a little chicken broth and laid that over the breast of the turkey. We roasted it at 325 °F for about 4 1/2 hours.

I'm telling you—Keith and I both agreed that it was probably the best damned turkey we have ever made, maybe ever eaten. I have to believe that the fact that it was locally raised and very fresh had a lot to do with how good it was. I'd heard that organic turkeys, not having as much fat, can be dry or something. That was definitely not the case with this one. It was moist, juicy, and had a fabulous flavor.

Update 2010: Decided to follow the Epicurious recipe, except I used fresh herbs (3 times as much as of the dried indicated—thanks for the fresh sage, AS!). I used lemon thyme instead of regular, since I had it. Look at the beautiful herb-salt mixture. Which has now been rubbed into the birdie, inside and out. OK, back to 2007.

While the turkey was roasting, I simmered the neck, heart, and giblets in water to which I added a stalk of celery, a carrot, a leek, whole peppercorns, and a fresh bay leaf. After the turkey was out of the oven, I put the roasting pan on top of the stove and whisked flour into the drippings. I added the stock and let it thicken a bit, then finished it off with a touch of heavy cream. I know that seems elementary to you, but I've never been a big gravy maker and so I was quite delighted with the smooth and tasty result. The rich-tasting turkey stock made it extra-good. I just wish I'd put some chopped fresh sage into it at the end. (Oh, and I love my new Fiestaware gravy boat. Keith picked it up on Wednesday because he is just that kind of a guy.)I adore cranberry sauce, and this year I tried a recipe from Bon Appétit magazine. I was really attracted to the recipe because it had port wine in it, which I'm also very fond of.

Cranberry Sauce with Port and Cinnamon
From Bon Appétit, November 2007 issue

1 cup ruby Port
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 cup dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)
1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Bring Port and cinnamon sticks to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and simmer mixture 5 minutes.

Add dried cranberries to saucepan; simmer until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add fresh cranberries, the water, and the sugar; bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until cranberry sauce thickens and is darker in color and berries collapse, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Transfer sauce to a bowl; cool. Discard cinnamon sticks.

Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
And here's the pumpkin pie recipe. I wanted to use a shortcrust, because I love the fact that you just dump everything into the processor and it basically rolls itself into a ball, presto. I made sure to keep the dough chilled at every stage, and it paid off; the crust puffed up and was nicely flaky. Update 2010: I may try making a crust with my homemade LARD this year.

So there you have it; another Thanksgiving. As we were eating (and drinking a bottle of Beaujolais nouveau), we did feel incredibly lucky and grateful, and we both expressed a wish that everyone could be eating the truly delicious dinner we were enjoying (we're very modest). I hope you did.And today, of course, there are the turkey sandwiches. Almost the main reason to roast the turkey in the first place. White bread is a must. Gravy—check. Lettuce, tomato, mayo, salt, and pepper—of course. Not so for my dear husband (again with the yellow mustard!).

Have a very happy and delicious Thanksgiving 2010! And even if you don't celebrate the holiday—a roast turkey dinner is a wonderful thing any time of year. ~Lisa

Food Poetry 15: Gravy, and a Meditation on Thanksgiving

Turkey day is almost upon us, and I know what you're probably thinking about: Should I roast, grill, or fry the bird? Should I stuff it or bake the dressing on the side? Does everyone have to be subjected to Auntie M's Cranberry Surprise, or can I tell her I'll make the cranberry sauce this year?! How many pies should I make? Do I have enough serving dishes?

Or perhaps there are other things on your mind. Maybe you're wondering how you're going to make it through the day this year without the loved one you miss so much. Or if it's possible to keep the thinly veiled criticism and simmering resentment (not to mention bitter recrimination) that often crops up between family members out of the dining room and off the table. Possibly you're worrying over how to handle that perennial question about when you're going to finish your thesis, or get married, or have a baby.

Or you might be trying to find a way to resolve, once again, the inevitable argument over whether you'll spend the day with your parents or your partner's, or the one about whether your kids will spend the day with you or with your ex.

If you're single and of a certain temperament, you might be thinking of a story to concoct for well-meaning acquaintances who find out that you're not going to be with family and say, "Why don't you come to our house? We're already having 20 people over—one more would be no problem!", when you'd really rather be alone. Or with family that's too far away to visit, or is no more.

Ringing any holiday bells for you? You're in good company. Not everyone's Thanksgiving resembles the Norman Rockwell version in the picture, and I think many of us fall into the trap of feeling either somehow inferior or totally left out if ours doesn't look that way, or if we have mixed feelings about it. While Rockwell was certainly presenting an ideal (he's quoted as saying "I paint life as I would like it to be"), the image isn't titled "Freedom from Family Strife" or even "The Typical American Family." We can look at "Freedom from Want" (the painting's actual title) as a portrayal of the incredible good fortune, which so many of us enjoy in this country, of simply having plenty to eat. We don't have to lay a lot of extra stuff on the holiday about the way it's "supposed" to be.

Whatever situation you find yourself in this Thanksgiving—whether you're making a pot of chili and eating it by yourself, going to an Italian restaurant with a couple of good friends, donating your time at a dinner for those less fortunate, or pulling out that turkey roaster and filling pie crusts for a large family gathering—I wish you a day full of comforting food that you can be thankful for.

And speaking of the food, last year I found a Thanksgiving-related poem to share, and so it is again this time. Poet Barbara Crooker paints a delicious picture in words of the traditional American meal by focusing on one of its most-loved components. Enjoy.

GRAVY

To make good gravy, you must be patient,
let the juice settle to the bottom, let the fat
float to the top in all its golden light. Skim
it with a thin spoon, take its measure. Equal
it with flour, sprinkle with salt, speckle
with pepper.  Stir constantly in the roasting pan,
making figure eights with a wooden spoon.
Scrape off strips of skin, bits of meat; incorporate
them in the mixture, like a difficult uncle
or the lonely neighbor invited out of duty.
Keep stirring.  Hand the wooden baton
to one of your daughters; it's time for her
to start learning this music, the bubble and
seethe as it plays the score.  One minute
at the boil, then almost like magic, it's gravy,
a rich velvet brown.  Thin it with broth,
stir in chopped giblets, then pour into
its little boat, waiting with mouth open.
Take up your forks, slide potatoes, stuffing,
gravy, into your mouth, hum under your breath.
Oh, the holy family of gravy, all those
little odd bits and pieces, the parts that could
be discarded, but aren't; instead, transformed
into a warm brown blanket that makes
delicious every thing it covers.

–By Barbara Crooker, from Line Dance, published by Word Press in 2008. Reprinted with the kind permission of the author.

Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe

Seems like people either love blue cheese or they hate it; if you're a lover, I think you'll appreciate this recipe, which comes from the book New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant. What I like about it is that it doesn't have mayonnaise in it like some other recipes I've seen do. Although I love mayo, I think that it can bog down a blue-cheese dressing. This Moosewood version is light and fresh and really lets the cheese flavor come through. It reminds me of a blue-cheese dressing I had years ago on maybe the best salad I've ever eaten.

In the summer of my junior year in high school in North Hollywood, California, my best friend and I had a routine: Lie by the pool at her condo complex all morning and try to become as tan as possible, then head over to a restaurant called Hidden Health on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City for lunch. Natural-foods restaurants were a fairly new idea then, and what made us go into Hidden Health I can't imagine, because our normal summer diet included many cans of TaB and boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Probably we thought we were eating healthy and "lo-cal."

We would each order the HH special salad. That salad was a revelation to me. I don't recall everything that was in it, but there must have been lettuce (not iceberg, you can be sure), and there was spinach and shredded carrots and (raw) beets, cucumbers, sprouts, sunflower seeds, tomatoes—kind of the kitchen sink. And the whole thing was covered with a thick and chunky blue-cheese dressing that was out of this world. Healthy the salads may have been, but with that dressing? Definitely not low-calorie. Even so, I can taste in memory how delicious it was to this very day.

The Moosewood dressing is reminiscent of the one I had so long ago at Hidden Health. A simple salad of fresh spinach from the farmers' market with this dressing on it is a thing of beauty. Somehow the flavors of the spinach and the cheese just seem made for each other.

Warning: This dressing is so good you may be tempted to drink it as a beverage.

Blue Cheese Dressing
From New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant, by the Moosewood Collective

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
6 ounces blue cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup milk

Blend all ingredients except one-third of the blue cheese in a blender or food processor. Crumble remaining blue cheese and stir it into the dressing.

Will stay fresh for 4 or 5 days covered in the refrigerator. Try it as a dip as well as on salads.

Yields a generous 2 1/2 cups of dressing.

Note: I hadn't made this dressing for quite a long time, and while the flavor was fabulous, I found the consistency thin (much too thin to be used as a dip as suggested in the recipe). If you make the dressing, I suggest that you do what I'm going to do next time: Use half the amount of milk suggested (i.e., a quarter-cup instead of a half-cup) and see how that goes. I also think that instead of blending the dressing, you could just mix it up in a bowl with a whisk. I might have over-blended it, which would also have contributed to the thinness.

I used Black River Blue cheese in the dressing, which I bought at the Art Mart in Urbana. It's a lovely cheese that's very creamy, with a rather mild blue-cheese flavor. You'll also find a good selection of blue cheeses at any number of other local purveyors around town; World Harvest International Foods has various kinds as do Sun Singer and Cheese and Crackers in Champaign.

This post is dedicated to my old friend LT, with many thanks for the memories.

Breakfast at the Courier Cafe

The Courier Cafe in downtown Urbana is celebrating 30 years in operation this week. I've been meaning to do a write-up on it for ages and have taken numerous photos there over the past couple of years, but I never got a post together. When I saw the anniversary announcement I realized it had to be done now.

The Courier serves lunch and dinner as well as breakfast, but the morning meal is what I'll focus on here. Be aware, though, if you're not already, that you can get great sandwiches, burgers, salads (this place introduced C-U to the salad bar), soups, and desserts at the cafe as well. The breads used for the sandwiches and the burger buns are made from scratch daily. Ditto for the soups and chili. And the salad bar has a fine selection of always-fresh ingredients.

When you eat breakfast at the Courier, you can get anything from a toasted bagel with cream cheese to steak and eggs to a Spanish omelette to biscuits with gravy. Here are some of the things we've tried from the wake-up menu.

First off, take a look at the homemade biscuits, will you? Have you ever seen biscuits that tall?

For your main course, you might try Ham and Scrams ($6.75), which is just what you'd think: ham and scrambled eggs. It comes with a side of made-from-scratch hashed browns and toast.

Or maybe you'd rather go with the Courier's own corned-beef hash. I love this stuff, myself. My dad used to heat up cans of Mary Kitchen roast-beef and corned-beef hash for us when I was a kid, so it's a sentimental favorite. The Courier's hash bears no resemblance (a very good thing) to the canned variety; it's just delicious. Here it's pictured with mushrooms, but you can ask for it without if you're a purist. As you can see, I got the eggs that go with scrambled, but you can have fried eggs on top of the hash if you want.

I've also tried the Courier Breakfast ($7.25). With two eggs, hashed browns, toast, and three fat sausages, it's far too much food for one person, but who can resist? The link sausages are out of this world.

The Courier Breakfast plate is worth looking at again, don't you think? This is the Keith version, with over-easy eggs and Tabasco. Why are we not there right now? You can check out the full breakfast menu on the Courier's Web site.

Thirty years ago, the cafe took over the building that once housed the Courier newspaper, and as you can see in this shot from the holiday season last year, they keep the memory of that paper alive.

They also keep alive, via the wonderful old-time gumball machine, the memory of the first eating establishment my sister took me to when I arrived in C-U in 1980. Does anyone else remember Bubby and Zadie's? It was in the basement of a building on Green St., in the heart of Campustown, as I recall. Think bagels, yum.

The Courier Cafe, with its many antiques (such as lights from old Pullman railway cars in the booths, as pictured above), cozy atmosphere, great service, and delicious, made-from-scratch food, is a gem we're very lucky to have in Champaign-Urbana. Take the whole family. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Happy anniversary, Courier Cafe! Long may you reign.

The cafe's 30th-anniversary party begins today and continues through November 21. Here are some of the celebratory goings-on at the cafe this week:

• Special 30th-anniversary Courier T-shirts
• Daily drawings for free T-shirts
• Roll-back pricing to 1980 (e.g., $.40 coffee)
• Free fish sandwiches on Friday
• Hand-dipped shake specials
• Daily menu discounts
• $1.79 cheeseburgers
• And more!

As you can see, it should be a fun (and easy-on-the-wallet) week. If you have a chance, stop in and help the staff at the Courier do up the anniversary in style.

The Courier Cafe
111 North Race Street
Urbana, IL
217-328-1811
Open Sunday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to midnight
Courier Web site

Quick Bite: Pizza at Timpone's

[Update 11/15/10: The Serious Eats article The United States of Pizza: Illinois (Beyond Chicago Edition) has been published; C-U and CT are in it. Thanks, Daniel!]

Daniel Zemans, who writes for Serious Eats and is putting together a piece on the best pizzas in Illinois (there's already a Chicago edition; he's going to do the rest of the state next), asked me the other day where I like to go for pizza-pie in Champaign-Urbana. Which made me realize that there's a gaping pizza void on this blog. I've talked about Vinny's, which is my New-York-style fave, and I mentioned the delicious pizza I had at the Bread Company once, but that's about it. For some reason I've not said a word about an old love up to now, so here goes.

I started eating Timpone's pizza in 1980. Not at the current Timpone's restaurant (which didn't exist at that time) but at the Jolly Roger, a neighborhood Italian place that was owned by the same family. I worked as a waitress at the Jolly Roger, and I even made pizzas there a few times. That is, I put pizzas together and baked them—I didn't make the dough (that was done every morning in the basement by a fellow named Nick, who would come upstairs into the kitchen at the start of the lunch shift covered in flour), and I didn't make the sauce, but I sometimes helped out at, ahem, the last stage of production.

Other restaurant staff and I would often share a pizza after our shifts. The standard "special" at the Jolly was sausage and mushroom. That was fine, but my personal favorite was bacon and onion. As I remember it, the pieces of bacon went onto the pizza raw and then would cook in the pizza oven. Thus, instead of the bacon being all hard and dry when the pizza was done, it was sort of soft, and some of the fat would still be white. And the bacon grease flavored the pizza so incredibly. Oh, my, what a scrumptious thing that was.

The Jolly Roger is no more (it was located behind what is now the Black Dog Smoke and Ale House in Urbana). But you can still get a version of the pizza served there at Timpone's restaurant on Goodwin. Raymond Timpone, Sr., started making pizza in C-U in 1947 at a takeout-and-delivery place on the U of I campus, which is why it's called "the original Campustown pizza" on the menu at Timpone's today. Chef Ray Timpone, Jr., keeps the tradition alive.

This month, as they do on a regular basis, Timpone's is running a great lunch-time special: You purchase a personal-sized pizza (for whatever the cost of the pizza you order is (I believe they run from something like $7 to $12 depending on the toppings), and you get either a house or a Caesar salad free. Thus, for 10 bucks I had a yummy Caesar salad and the special pizza of the day (pepperoni, house-made sausage, and mushrooms) there this week. Let's take another look at it, shall we?

Size-wise, you're right—this ain't the Family Pleaser. This pizza is smallish—but it's all for you. And with the addition of the FREE side salad, it's not only a fabulous deal but one that will fill you up "but good." Go ahead and treat yourself!

I've written about Timpone's before; once about a birthday dinner I had there and again when Keith and I went last New Year's Eve, but it was time to give the pizza proper respect. If you like thin-crust pizza, you must try it.

Timpone's
710 South Goodwin Ave. (on campus, just south of Krannert Center)
Urbana, IL
217-344-7619

The pizza-salad combo special runs Monday-Friday through November during lunch hours only (11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.). You can get a pizza at dinner-time, too, but the special is only available at lunch.

Timpone's is also on Facebook.

Derald's Diner Now Open on Campus

If you detect the aroma of something delicious frying near the corner of First and Green streets, that's because it is. Yes, friends: Derald's, up to now mostly mobile purveyors of fine grilled and fried foods, has opened a stationary eatery in the space formerly occupied by Ye Olde Doughnut Shoppe and Noe's BBQ. Though officially within the boundaries of Campustown, and thus handy for UI students, this is a location that will be easy for those of us who live and work off campus to frequent as well.

Having bought the recipe from the former owners, Derald's is turning out a variety of made-from-scratch doughnuts daily and is delivering them at the crack of dawn to a number of locations around C-U in addition to selling them at the diner.

Personally, I'm not a regular doughnut eater, so that aspect of the business, while undoubtedly an addition to the Derald's repertoire that will be popular with many, doesn't do all that much for me. What does do it for me are the sandwiches. Derald's makes both breakfast and lunch versions, and you can get either type at any time of day (and almost 24/7; see hours below).

Late on one of the first mornings the diner was open for business, I met Seth Fein (of Smile Politely fame) there to check the situation out. As you can see, the interior has been remodeled and it's adorable, all black and white with red accents.

The brand-spankin'-new cushiony stools are very comfy. Plenty of natural light from the many large windows makes for a warm and cozy spot to perch in. There's a T.V. in one corner, and we watched a bit of the Purdue-Wisconsin football game while we were there.

You can sit at a small counter facing the order area, and there's also counter space all along the windows so you can keep track of the action on the street. There are no tables, and we counted only six stools, but the owner told this reporter that he plans to bring in two more. There's enough counter space for even more stools than that, but because there's no public restroom, eight is the maximum officially sanctioned number. Seating is therefore limited, but obviously DD will be a popular grab-and-go (or call-in-your-order-then-grab-and-go) destination.

The menu here is almost exactly the same as at the Derald's trucks. As you can see, there are nine breakfast sandwiches to choose from; five chicken; eight kinds of burgers; pulled pork and "New Hampshire BBQ" (the pulled pork with coleslaw on top); plus grilled ham or turkey and Swiss on rye. There's also something called the Rachel: That's grilled turkey and Swiss topped with coleslaw and served on rye. On special right now is the double cheeseburger with fries (5 bucks gets you both).

I'd never had any of Derald's breakfast fare, so I tried the bacon, egg, and cheese croissant ($4). I ordered it with lettuce and mayo (other sandwich toppings and condiments include tomato, onions, pickles, hot sauce, ketchup, and mustard). The croissant was very fresh and the whole sandwich was warm and wonderful.You can get the breakfast sandwiches on a burger bun, a bagel, or an English muffin as well as on a croissant.

Seth went with the highly touted—and with good reason—fried fish sandwich. I neglected to visually document that one; however, there's a photo of it in my 2008 review of Derald's truck, and you can also see and read about it in Seth's announcement from last month about the diner's opening. Furthermore, the diner serves very good French fries (which aren't available at the trucks), so you can have fish and chips if you want to.

The following day, Keith and I tried more breakfast sandwiches, and we got them to go. He had the sausage, egg, and cheese on a croissant ($4), and that one is very highly recommended. The sausage was moist and spicy and flavorful, really delicious.

I had ham, egg, and cheese on a regular bun ($3.25). Me being me, I got it with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and (as you can tell by the smudges on the bun) hot sauce. That was a nice sandwich, as well, though it paled a little after I'd had a bite of the sausage one.

And then, the same day, we had lunch from DD as well. The things I am forced to do for this blog! Keith got the double cheeseburger with fries special ($5). Two very thin beef patties with cheese made a pretty good burger; not the best in town by any means, but tasty, and you can't beat the price. Be sure to ask for any toppings or condiments you want on the burger; Keith didn't think to, and the person who answered the phone at Derald's didn't mention it, so the burger had only the meat and cheese on it. The hand-cut fries were fabulous—crispy and well seasoned.

And I had fish for lunch, so here's a photo after all. This sandwich contains more fish than you ever thought possible (you can't see it all in the photo), hand-breaded, crisp and light outside, tender and juicy inside. I asked for it in my usual way: with the bun toasted and with hot sauce, tartar sauce, vinegar, and onions (the onions, vinegar, and tartar sauce are standard, but you have to ask for the toasted bun and the hot sauce if you want them). I wish that Derald's sliced the onions more thinly, but thick is the way they slice them, so OK.

If you're a vegetarian, the only thing I can say to you is egg and cheese sandwich and fries. If you're a vegan, forget about it. As you can tell, this is really a carnivore (and pescavore) kind of a place.

[Update 11/18/10: Derald's left a comment noting that new vegetarian items have been added to the menu: a black-bean burger, a garden patty, and a veggie omelette sandwich. So have at it, veggie-heads! You can also ask for all egg whites on breakfast sandwiches. ~Lisa]

Along with coffee, Derald's offers sodas, all kinds of juice drinks (including V-8), milk, and chocolate milk.

In sum, DD is a sweet little spot that I urge you to try if you like basic, made-fresh, classic American fast food. I'm thrilled that Eric—the man behind Derald's (the business is named for Eric's uncle, who started the biz 32 years ago)—has opened in a location that, when I get a craving, is much more convenient for me to get to than the trucks are.

Derald's Diner
Corner of First and Green Streets
Champaign, IL
217-359-3311
Open 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily; orders may be phoned in.
Parking is available in a small, private lot out front.

Golden Harbor Authentic Chinese Cuisine

Food—Chinese, with Taiwanese specialties
Drink—Tea, sodas
Location—Just south of downtown Champaign
Average price for an entree—$10
Atmosphere—Very bright and open, almost cafeteria-like
Service—Helpful
Patio seating—No
Vegetarian-friendly—Yes
Child-friendly—Yes
Reservations—Accepted

This review has been a long time in coming. The reason for that is that I really found it difficult to get my head around this place. For one thing, the menu is simply overwhelming (there must be hundreds of dishes listed on it). You take a look at its many pages and your head starts spinning. For another, the majority of the dishes are not the ones you'll see on most Chinese-restaurant menus around C-U (e.g., clams in black-bean sauce, Taiwan crispy salt chicken, lamb with spicy satay sauce, stir-fried snow pea leaves, etc., etc., etc.).

Here's a shot of the menu that's posted on the wall near the entrance. If you read Chinese, this is the menu for you. If not, this menu has been translated and is available in English in printed form at the counter.

I've eaten at GH now many times. The first few times I went, it was so busy you couldn't believe it. The ordering line was practically out the door. People were everywhere, and the kitchen was having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

Now that the restaurant has been open for about 5 months, things are running much more smoothly. It's still a very busy place, but I haven't experienced the sometimes lengthy waits that I did at first.

Some people have told me that they were put off by the ordering system. I hear you. What happens is that you go up to the counter and grab a number on a stand to identify your table, a menu, a pad, and a pen. You pick a table, peruse the menu, and decide what you want. Then you write your table number and the names of the dishes and their numbers on the pad. You take the pad back to the counter, place your order with the counter person (this will most likely be a woman named Tina, who will be very happy to explain what various dishes are like), and pay. (GH has this wacky system where they can only take one credit/debit card per table, so if you're going with a group and you want to pay separately, I recommend taking cash. That way each person can pay for his or her own meal.) You then return to your table and wait for your meal to come to you.

The ordering/paying system takes some getting used to, but after several visits, and especially after the crush of people had died down somewhat, I found it to be no big deal. You just kind of have to find a way to make it work for you.

And it's worth it. I haven't been knocked out by every single dish I've had here, but they've all been tasty. And the dishes I've found to be favorites are REALLY DELICIOUS. Let's look at some of them, shall we?

First of all, there's the crispy tofu ($9.99), which everyone who's been to any of the restaurants that the family who owns this place has run in the past will say you must not miss. I concur.

I also recommend a dish I had the last time I visited GH; it's called Fish Fillet w/Hot Bean Sauce on the menu ($13.50). 

Also a must are the Salt & Pepper Shiitake mushrooms ($11.99). Yes, those are crispy slices of jalapeno peppers in the mix. So delicious. And here I'll say that I don't think this dish is listed on the English menu; most of the menu items on the Chinese menu that's posted on the wall have been translated, but it seems that not all of them were. So if you don't see this on the menu, just ask for it at the counter.

The fried chicken with basil is another standout. Crispy pieces of boneless chicken and crunchy basil, not to be missed.

If you like clams, do try the tender Clams in Black Bean Sauce ($14.99). I've had Singapore Clams as well, and they were also great, but you have to like spicy food if you order those.

And speaking of shellfish, the Prawns with XO Sauce was fabulous, too (at $17.50, this is the priciest dish I've had at GH). I had never heard of XO sauce before eating at this restaurant. Look at the nice thick slices of garlic in there. Wow.

If you're a lover of duck, try Fire Duck ($14.99). It sounds like it would be spicy, but I don't remember it being so, just crispy outside and tender inside and in a light and delectable sauce. You can see it at the bottom left of the photo above.

Lastly, I must tell you about the pork buns ($14.99). This dish may also be one that didn't make it onto the English menu, but if it appeals to you at all, please ask for it right away. You get a steamer full of tender buns that open in the middle. You also get a plate of slices of pork belly and one filled with cilantro, crushed peanuts, and house-pickled vegetables. Open a bun, lay on a slice of pork, the herb, some peanuts, and some veggies, and there you have it—Chinese tacos!

Yes, the food here is pricey. Furthermore, it really seems best suited for large-ish groups, because portions are big and if you go with a group you can order a bunch of dishes, enjoy the variety, and split the cost. Thus, if you go on your own or with, say, just one other person, be prepared to take a lot of food home.

That said, I'm going to throw something else at you: In addition to the very large menu, there is also a small printed menu that lists dishes familiar to people who aren't used to the more authentic Chinese preparations. Dishes like sweet and sour chicken, beef with broccoli, and so on. If I remember correctly, you can choose small or large sizes of those dishes, making them good for one or two people. Here's a shot of one such dish; this was beef with mushrooms.

And here's the aforementioned sweet and sour chicken. I don't know if you can tell, but these entrees are served on smaller plates; the prices are lower, accordingly.

You can have as much hot tea as you want for free when you eat at GH (you get it yourself from large pots at the back of the dining room). And of course plenty of steamed rice comes with most dishes (excepting the noodle ones). There are not wait-people, per se; as I noted, you place your order at the counter, but then someone will bring out plates, napkins, chopsticks, and fortune cookies and will deliver your food. You can either clear your own table or you can pay a small charge to have it cleared for you.

Golden Harbor Authentic Chinese Cuisine
505 South Neil Street (in Royal Plaza)
Champaign, IL
217-398-8988
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. (8:30 on Sundays). The restaurant is closed on Mondays.