The Sauced Chef

Beet and Onion Pinky Pancakes

Big bowl

Whisk

Big Frying Pan

Big Spoon or ladle

1 large Spanish onion (diced)

1 large beet (roasted and cubed)

1 tbsp sugar

2 cups pancake mix (that’s right, a mix!)

1 cup water

8 oz cooking oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup Sauce Lab #5: Lemon-Beet-Thyme Vinaigrette

1 cup maple syrup

1. In a large bowl whisk water and pancake mix until combined
2. Heat up frying pan, add 1/2 butter and oil and caramelize the onions (this means not very much stirring! Let the onions get sweet and brown)
3. Add the sugar to the carmelized onions, try to coat every onion
4. Add **cubed beets and caramelized onions to pancake batter and mix thoroughly (watch it turn pink!)
5. Add remaining oil and butter to pan and fry up them pancakes
6. Mix maple syrup and Sauce Lab #5 for a sweet and tangy delight to compliment the pancakes
7. Serve it!

** Roasting beets takes a long time and I would roast a whole bunch of them for later use. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and add the beets (skin on) and roast for about 2 hours or until the skin is tender.  Place in freezer for a half hour, remove and peel and cube.

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Sauce Lab #5: Lemon-Thyme-Beet Vinaigrette

food processor

1/2 cup beet juice (or you can puree 1/4 of a roasted beet)

3 tbsp lemon zest

3 tbsp FRESH thyme

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp vanilla balsamic (or regular balsamic w/ vanilla extract added)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

3/4 cup salad oil

 S/P TT

1. Add everything but the oil and S/P to the food processor and blend
2. While the food processor is blending slowly pour in the oil (depending on your oilyness preference, you may want to add more oil)
3. Season with S/P till it reaches that tasty pinnacle of zest

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El Panorama

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

www.elpanorama.com

 El Panorama is located in downtown Puerto Vallarta and presents on the most breathtaking views I’ve ever witnessed. Make sure that you dine outside on the terrace level. 

 
Get Sauced:  2 out of 4

El Panorama presents a large selection of typical Mexican style tropical drinks (margaritas, pina coladas, daiquiris, etc) that were extremely delicious.  For a gourmet restaurant the wine list was a bit lax, not featuring some of the typical French staples one expects to see.  The beer and liquor menu was mediorce (although my wife disagrees), it would have been nice to see some micro-brews and a wider selection of scotch.

The Sauce: 4 out of 4

We had the Chateaubriand for two, which was prepared and served table-side with classic Bearnaise sauce.  It was divine! The sauce complimented the perfectly cooked meat and oblique cut carrots perfectly, it was thick and delicious, but not too overpowering. Luxury and decadence at its best! Also prepared table-side was Ceasar salad, the dressing was sharp, peppery, creamy and cheesy with a subtle anchovy bite at the finish.  Couldn’t have asked for more in preparation, texture or flavor.

The Reduction: +2 Ambiance +1 Customer Service for  9 out of 10

This is a Sauced Chef first! I awarded an extra credit point for ambiance! I have never dined anywhere with such a breathtaking view of the surroundings.  An elegant terrace with a magnificent view of the rolling city surrounded by the mysterious jungle.  A mariachi/pan flute band that put us in annals of a contrived travel magazine setting, it didn’t feel real, but it was!  We were treated like American royalty! The servers were quick (almost too quick) to clear our waters and debris.  They brought out a massive bottle of good tequila and we were awarded complimentary shots whenever we wanted.  The table-side preparation was flawless, fluid and beautifully presented.  You MUST go here once in your life! 

P.S. Happy Anniversary Dustin and Beth!

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The Detroit Beer Company

Detroit, MI

www.detroitbeerco.com

Whether having some grub before watching the Lions lose or guzzling down a beer before a ballet, the DBC is the perfect place to start your Detroit adventure. The DBC has a great location with ample (and relatively cheap) parking less than one block away. 

 Get Sauced: 4 out of 4

The DBC offers a wide variety of creative, tasty and uniquely different taps brewed in house.  They boast 3 beers that have won awards at the Great American Beer Festival.  Their brewer (Kevin Rodger) also experiments with “seasonal taps” ensuring frequent guests or “mug clubbers” will have a beer variety every time they walk-in (even Norm would be proud!). They have an impressive wine list for those weirdos who would go to a brewery and actually order wine, alongside a creative martini list boasting top shelf products. My favorite beer is also their most decorated beer, The Detroit Dwarf.  Getting its name from a spooky Detroit legend, the Dwarf offers a distinct balance between hops and malt, with a rich texture and earthy aftertaste. 

The Sauce: 2 out of 4

In the spirit of the great American spaghetti Western, this portion of the review is a case of the good, the bad and THE UGLY!

The Good; the BBQ sauce! More tang than sweet, with a great vinegar bite and a peppery, spicy finish.  I could drink a bucket of this stuff.

The Bad; not enough BBQ sauce! I sampled two dishes, one of them was the meatloaf sandwich with the amazing sauce.  The problem was that I would have never found out how good the sauce was if I hadn’t specifically ordered a side of it.  The sauce was so engulfed by the onions, meat and bread, it barely contributed to the flavor of the sandwich   I’m not sure if this is a case of the chef trying to save $$$ or just a poorly portioned plate, but the sauce was almost non-existent.  If it were me serving this dish, I would include a side of BBQ sauce as standard on the plate. It’s SO GOOD!

The UGLY; the Farfalle Caprese! Do not order this dish!I was expecting a hot take on one of my favorite cold summertime snacks, the Caprese salad. Instead, I received warm pasta soup with mushy tomatoes and random half-melted parmesan blobs! A cold Caprese salad consists of fresh basil, crisp tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil, salt and pepper.  This warm pasta version didn’t come anywhere close to the mark.  This dish was wrong on so many levels! Firstly, why put parmesan cheese in this? It vastly overpowered the wee bit of basil in the dish and eliminated any flavor subtlety. Secondly, why not dice the tomatoes to hide their mushiness? The cherry tomatoes were just cut in half.  Warm and mushy tomatoes cut in half don’t offer flavor to the sauce and provide an unappetizing mouthfeel. Finally, the SAUCE! It literally looked liked some weird version of chicken noodle soup! It was that watery! Why not blend in some light cream with the mozzarella and thicken it? If it was high noon, I’d shoot this pasta right in its mushy balls!

The Reduction: +/- Customer Service and + 1/2 Ambiance  for  6 1/2 out of 10

The customer service was not great but it wasn’t terrible either.  I asked the server if the pasta was normally this watery (in a nice way, of course!) and she adamantly told me “yes”. I wondered if she would get the hint from my couched inference.  She didn’t.

The ambiance is aesthetically cool! Two stories with a decent view of downtown Detroit.  The really annoying thing that I couldn’t get over is that one of the seemingly new flat-screen TV’s (there are many, btw) was broken.  The feed for the football game keep on choppily jumping around, along with the sound.  This TV just so happened to be right smack-dab in my line of vision.  It was like a train-wreck, I couldn’t look away.

Overall, I think it was a case of bad luck.  Watching the other dishes come out, they looked much better than the pasta dish.  I think I may have ordered the worst thing on the menu.  The TV thing was annoying, but I’m sure that will be fixed or is already fixed.  I’d go there again just for the wonderful beer!

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