Introduction

                                                                   

Hi guys this is my first post for this blog. Included in this introduction will be the the objective of this blog as well as my credentials for writing this blog. First of all, I am writing this blog as a celebration of my Italian culture, we love food. In my blog I will be giving you recipes to recreate some of the finer Italian recipes from restaurants around central Iowa. I will give you the price it costs to make these recipes from home as well as how much it costs at the given restaurant. I will also compare the taste of their food vs. the food I create. I am qualified to do this because I've worked in a restaurant for 5 years, giving me the ability to decipher what ingredients go into the food as well as how to make it better. All my ingredients will be purchased from your typical supermarket or grocery store. Hopefully you come away from this blog a smarter food consumer and gain a few good restaurants to try.

The Latin King Restaurant

The Latin King is regarded as the premier Italian restaurant in the Iowa. It is a staple of the culture in Des Moines and a testament to the Italian culture that thrives in Des Moines. While moving over the menu, the Chicken Spedini caught my eye. It was a breaded chicken served in a garlic wine sauce. Once I tried it, I immediately knew why The Latin King was known as the best. Once again, I had big shoes to fill in order to come close to recreating this masterpiece. I started by going to the supermarket, in this case it was Dahls. While looking for the proper chicken to complete this meal, I saw that they exclusively sold the same chicken as the Latin King. I decided to buy this since it was the same quality as they used in the restaurant. The hard part was making the sauce, whenever you are trying to recreate a sauce you have to do a lot of guess and testing. When I finally perfected this I only used two ingredients, fresh garlic which costs about .95 cents and olive oil which costs 2.60 cents. You first have to chop the garlic clove, cook it for about 2 minutes in a skillet, then put it 4 cups of  of olive oil and it is ready. You need to then bake the chicken at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. When you take the chicken out, put it on a plate, drizzle the mixed olive oil over the chicken and serve. When I tasted my own, I was impressed, the taste is very similar and at a cost of only 5.50 cents compared to 18.95 at Latin King, I have to tell you to do it yourself.

Noahs Arc Restaurant

Noahs Arc is located in the downtown district of Des Moines, Iowa. This restaurant is well known across Iowa and the midwest for upwards of forty years. This popularity has achieved through their pizza. They serve a 14 inch thin crust pizza for 12.50. The pizza has a great tangy marinara sauce as well as a thin layer of stringy mozzarella cheese and a thin crispy crust. This was a project I have been looking forward to because I have had this pizza before and it is one of my favorite restaurants. So 12.50 is a hard price to beat for pizza because the cost of cheese and the price of making a good crust is terribly expensive. When I started this process, I thought I could make a better pizza for a better price, but midway through my pizza making and buying I realized I couldnt. Being a novice trying to make a pizza crust comparable to Noahs's Arc seemed impossible, not to mention expensive. I tried three different techniques to make the crust, none of them coming close to Noahs. After trying to recreate this pizza, I have no recipe, no answer for Noah's Arc. With a failed attempt at hand, I would strongly urge you go and try the pizza at Noah's Arc, not only would it be cheaper, it would save you the headache of trying to recreate the impossible.

Tumea and Sons Restaurant

Another restaurant and another decision for this trial I used Tumea and Sons. This is another tiny, family owned restaurant on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa. This restaurant is what you think of when you imagine the old days of the mob and where they hung out. Since I was at a place with so much history, I decided to stay with a traditional Italian meal, Mostacholi. This simple Italian dish is comprised of Penne Rigate noodles, red sauce and mozzarella cheese. What makes their dish different than anybody else's is the sauce. It is a spicy sauce with a smokey flavor. To make this I had to do a little experimenting with the sauce, and this is the recipe that came closest to Tumea and Sons Mostacholi: Dining for one, you will need 1 6 ounce can of Contadina Tomato paste which costs 55 cents, you mix and heat that with 1 8 ounces can of Hunts tomato sauce with basil, oregano and garlic which costs One dollar and five cents. Once you mix these together, heat them until hot enough to serve. As you are waiting for this, boil a sauce pan full of water, then put 1 box of Penne Rigate noodles, which cost one dollar and five cents, in that water and boil until soft. Once both of these steps are done, mix the sauce and noodles, put them in a casserole dish and cover it with shredded mozzarella cheese which costs one dollar. Put this in the oven at 375 degrees until the cheese melts. Once the cheese melts, pull the food out of the oven, dish out and enjoy. My take on this dish is that it is cheap, a seemingly easy five minute meal that which anyone can make. My problem is that duplicating Tumea and Sons sauce is near impossible to duplicate. That is why I am telling  you to go experience the food at Tumeas, their red sauce cant be outdone and at 12.95 cents for salad, bread and Mostacholi it is expensive, but the taste is way better at Tumeas.

Barattas Restaurant

This restaurant I have decided to test out this time was Barattas. It is located in Des Moines, tucked into a quiet predominately Italian neighborhood. There was a very good overall vibe, good for a date night or a private party. The menu was quite diverse in comparison to most other italian restaurants, while scanning I decided on an item that looked a little different than the usual spaghetti and meatballs. It was called Cajun Chicken Pasta and came with a choice of soup or salad and fresh bread. The bread and soup were just the usual, nothing too special about them. When I got my meal I was surprised, it had a very spicy taste as well as good flavor. After eating it, I asked the waitress what was in it and she told me. Now came my test, can I make this dish to taste as good or better while keeping the price below Barattas price of 18.95? First, you need the supplies list, one can of alfredo sauce, 1 pound of penne pasta, 1 small can of tones cajun seasoning and 1 boneless skinless chicken breast. The first thing I did was cook the chicken breast, it needs to be put in the oven at 325 for about 20-25 minutes, make sure it isnt pink still. While cooking the chicken, I poured the alfredo sauce in a skillet and just let it heat up. Then I boiled water in a pot and cooked the noodles. Once the chicken was done, I cut it into small squares and put it in the sauce with some cajun seasoning. When you do this, you need to put enough seasoning in so that the sauce is spicy enough for you, but not too spicy. Once you stir the sauce and chicken together and it is hot, drain the water from the noodles and pour the sauce and chicken in. Stir the noodles and sauce together and viola! You have cajun chicken pasta. Your recipe should taste just as good as it did at the restaurant, but what about the price? It cost me 7 dollars and 83 cents to create the main dish, add soup and bread and you should still be under Barattas price. My take on this restaurant, you can do it better yourself for less.