Tag Archives: french toast

Prestige Diner: New Providence, NJ

7 Mar

I grew up going to the Prestige Diner in New Providence, NJ after every important life event.  At that point in my life, “important life events” consisted mainly of dance recitals, play performances, group dates, and teen dances.

But I’ve stumbled back in a few times over the years, and while it has had a face lift a few times over, it is still almost exactly the same as it was 20 years ago. I’m pretty sure the hostesses and waitresses haven’t changed. And the menu certainly has not shrunk.

A classic Jersey diner can mean many things to many people, but there is one consistency across them all: hundreds of menu options. Just check out the menu for the Prestige. That’s 30 SECTIONS of food!

So it shouldn’t be at all surprising that the family ordered from many different sections.

Including this waffle with ice cream (I think it was actually the Oreo waffle!)

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A burger

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Some French Toast

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A side of bacon and eggs

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An open-faced chicken parm

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Some crispy Jersey fries (all you need is cheese and gravy to make some Disco Fries!)

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And a club sandwich

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As far as diners go, Prestige has got it all and it’s all pretty good quality. It’s everything a diner should be. No more. And no less. It’s not a gourmet meal by any regard, but it sure is a solid diner. With great memories.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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Recipes with Homemade Bread: Grilled Cheese and French Toast

17 Apr

It was very exciting to have finally successfully made bread.  We gave one loaf away to friends, but that still left us with more bread that we could eat between the 2 of us.  So… it was time to come up with some meals that included bread.  Which led me directly to grilled cheese and French toast.

Grilled cheese was up first.  I browned some shallots in butter first.

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Then I sliced some apples very thin and layered it up with Gruyere and the shallots and placed each sandwich in a pan with hot butter to brown up.

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The bread was browning but the cheese wasn’t quite melting  yet… so I turned the heat down and let ’em melt.

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And melt they did.  

Boy were these good!  The sharp cheese combined with the sweet apples and shallots made for an incredible grilled cheese sammie.  The homemade bread browned up nicely and maintained a crunch on the outside with some fluff on the inside.

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Next morning it was French toast time.  I actually realized that I hadn’t made French toast in quite some time, and really didn’t remember exactly what to do.  One thing I always disliked about French toast at restaurants is when it is nicely browned on the outside  but still tastes like normal bread on the inside.  I decided that if I really buried these slices in the egg and cinnamon mixture and left it for a while to absorb, that should do the trick.  Problem is, the bread was so fresh and fluffy that it started to fall apart.  Damn.  Had to just make do.

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They browned up really nicely and tasted great… on the outside.

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The inside was still lacking in the flavor… so I vowed to learn a better way.

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It was just a few days later that I saw a perfect “How To” from America’s Test Kitchen. Turns out, if you bake the bread first to dry it out, that solves the problem that I saw and helps it absorb the right amount but not be soggy. (Here is their recipe)

Next time!

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Atlanta Nomming: R. Thomas Deluxe Grill

7 Mar

My last Atlanta Nom with Mark and Sara took us to R. Thomas Deluxe Grill.  I was amused to see that the owner loved parrots so much that he had cages of them around his restaurant…

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His entrance…

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His waiting area…

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And on his menu.

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He was definitely a parrot fan!  The story as I remember it was that this place was originally very small, but grew so much in popularity that they wound up putting a (very green) tent with heat lamps outside for the patrons.  The tent was so green that it actually made everything inside glow green.

 

 

It was a pretty cool space.

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I started with the “Blue Moon” Yerba Mate (which was free with a Four Square special!)  It tasted like it could cure just about anything, and was delicious to boot!

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Mark went with the french toast (which was buttery and delicious).

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With the smashed potatoes and (delicious) gravy.

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Sara showed more great self control and got the seaweed salad.  (Man I wish I could eat like that!)

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I went with the Benedict Thomas.  It was on nine grain toast (that was way too tough to cut through, sadly) and homemade hollandaise (which was missing something).  I got it with ham which was delicious, and the poached eggs were perfect.  I wanted to like this more.

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I even tried to get an action shot!

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Sara ordered a slice of the vegan cake (which was HUGE!) and I was shocked that not only was it good for vegan dessert, it was just good!

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Overall, I think this place was fun, but they could definitely use a little influx of seasoning.  And the parrots are fun.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

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