On the Market.

Metro! announced in their newsletter today that they will be offering daily “Cash Crash Lunches.”

In these trying economic times, we know that even enjoying a good lunch can be difficult. In that spirit, we’d like to invite you to join us for our daily “Cash Crunch Lunch” specials. We feature a daily $7 lunch special, such as our grilled prime sirloin salad with buttermilk dressing and golden pommes frittes. We’ve also added an heirloom tomato BLT to our hugely successful $6 sandwich menu, compliments of farmer Tim Belcher from Rolling Meadows Farms on the City Market.

You may also be interested in their Sunday early dinner specials where you can enjoy a 3-course European-style boutique dinner from 5-7pm for $20. Or try out their new Fresh Shots menu which contains freshly juiced fruits mixed with Absolut vodka. These drinks are refreshing without being sugary and sweet. They have seven flavors to choose from: Blueberry-Watermelon, Strawberry-Orange, Citrus Orange-Lemon-Lime, Blackberry-Lemon, Bing cherry-Orange, Cucumber-Ginger, and
Cantaloupe.

So the other night it was my turn to make dinner as it was Adam’s turn to take Cody to soccer practice. It was also the end of the pay period which meant the pantry was down to zero. The only thing left was spaghetti and Adam generally is not fond of the stuff. He tolerates it only because me and the boy like it. So, I decided to do something a little different from the norm and make baked spaghetti. Truth be told I’m not the best of cooks. I’d also never made baked spaghetti before because I always hated it as a kid. But I gave it go anyway working with what I had and creating my own recipe off a basic one I found on the internet. And, better yet, it includes products from the Roanoke City Market!

Here’s what I used:

12 oz. Heartland Naturals Spaghetti

1 lb. Sandy River Pork Hot Sausage (Grab some on the Roanoke City Market on Saturdays.)

24 oz. Jar Bertolli Five Cheese Spaghetti Sauce with Asiago and Fontina Cheeses (For a “wetter” spaghetti use an extra half to full jar of sauce.)

Dash of Red Pepper Flakes

Dash of Fresh Oregano and Basil (Purchase an herb pot from Rolling Meadows Farms for fresh herbs all year.)

Dash of Garlic Powder

3 scallions, chopped

Parmesan cheese

Sargento Swiss Cheese Slices

Here’s how I made it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the sausage in a pan adding scallions about halfway through. In the meantime, bring water to a bowl and cook spaghetti 11 minutes. Drain both spaghetti and sausage.

Add spices to taste to sausage and mix well. Then combine spaghetti, sausage, and sauce in bowl and mix well. Pour into a 9×13 baking dish and spread evenly. Cover the spaghetti with parmesan cheese, then go back and cover the dish with a package of swiss cheese slices.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until heated through.

The result?

My husband liked it, Cody liked it, and I actually liked it! It was a little spicy which made it extra tasty and was great leftover the next day!

Thursday, April 24th starting a 7 p.m. will be The Blues BBQ Co.’s first Bourbon Dinner featuring Knob Creek. Special guest and Whiskey Professor, Bernie Lubbers, will be giving our guests an educational presentation of Knob Creek, as well as personalizing labels for those who bring in their own bottle. The cost is only $95 per ticket and is to include a five course dinner cooked in the featured bourbon, 5 in-house specialty drinks and the presentation by Bernie Lubbers. Seating is limited to 50 guests so call or stop by to reserve your seat today! The phone number is (540) 344-LOVE.

Additionally, Blues BBQ sauces are bottled and ready for sale! They are offering “Blue Carolina,” “Grumpy Yellow,” & “Sneaky Heat.” Pricing is $5 per jar, $9 for 2, or $12 for 3. Bring a little LOVE to your own kitchen!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Trio Bistro-Bar-Bottle has been around for quite a while, and Rebecca and I have enjoyed dining there on occasion, especially when we were in the mood for a great glass of wine to go with the meal. However, Trio has seen fit to hire a new chef, change up their menu, and get down to their southern roots. Trio now caters to those favorites from your childhood, like say, fried green tomatoes. And let me tell you, these are not the maters your grandma would make you eat either. I would literally make this appetizer my main meal it is so mouthwatering. Imagine, nicely corn meal breaded and fried green tomatoes, slightly covered in a bit of gorganzola cheese, some pancetta, and a balsamic reduction drizzled over ever so finely. The balsamic offset the bite of the tomatoes quite well, and the addition of the cheese and pork, well, who doesn’t love bacon with everything? Simply scrumptious. Rebecca tried a grilled fig and prosciutto salad with a pancetta and lavender dressing. I had a small taste, and it was absolutely wonderful. For my main course I gave the crabcakes a go. These arrived beautifully prepared, with an apple vinegar slaw, and rice and beans. The cakes were generously filled with crab, and had just enough spice to be flavorful, but not overloaded so that it covered the flavor of the meaty goodness inside. The slaw was wonderful, with enough vinegar astringency to offset the sweetness of the apples. While I’m not a great fan of rice, the rice and beans were wonderfully flavored, and I found myself enjoying it thoroughly. Rebecca ordered the honey glazed quail, not sure what to expect since she has never experienced the small foul before. It had a nice spicy crawfish stuffing, and was piled on a flavorful risotto. I have to say that the combination of flavors was amazing, and although Rebecca didn’t finish her meal, it wasn’t due to not loving the dish, she simply just didn’t have any more room. I on the other hand decided to pig out, and ordered dessert. Rebecca and I had discussed what could possibly be southern enough to make the new desert menu, and we were pleasantly surprised to see some classic southern favorites, such as bread pudding, and my personal favorite, pecan pie. Now, this was a Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie with a brown sugar whipped cream, as described on the menu, so it made it even more appealing to me. Let’s just say I was hooked from the first bite. Overall, the menu works well, and it definitely is something that anyone, yankee or southerner, should enjoy. Call (540) 904-5887 for reservations.

Lindsey Nair’s blog - Fridge Magnet - recently had a post on restaurant service. Comments were taken and one reader recommended Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill as a restaurant with top notch service. So I took that reader’s suggestion and ran with it. Despite my fellow market vendor, Brian, believing it’s really nothing more than a bar that reminds him of a cafeteria - he must be on drugs, truly, though of course he’s never actually EATEN there - they do serve quite a tasty line up for dinner with dishes like Prime Rib, St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs, and Angus Steaks along with starters that include Baked Brie, Portabella Brushetta, and Mini Crab Cakes which are new to the menu. Adam - my geeky, yet gruff hubby - and I took the opportunity to eat at Martin’s last night.

Our dinner started with a fabulous server named Suzi, who I will give credit right off for earning every penny of her tip. She was not only courteous and attentive, but had that great knack for predicting our needs beforehand - a gift that too many servers seem to lack nowadays. We promptly ordered the Baked Brie to wet our appetite. The Brie was delicious and came with an assortment of fruit, bread, and marinara sauce topped with parmesan. It’s definitely worth having if you decide to stop in yourself. Adam and I cleaned up the plate on this dish.

As for the actual meal, I ordered a Caesar Salad and a half rack of the St. Louis Style Ribs with Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce. After having received some soggy, just plain bad salads from other restaurants, I was truly impressed with Martin’s Caesar Salad. The lettuce was nice and crisp, the croutons were good, and there was just the right amount dressing that not only tasted great, but was obviously made with real anchovies. And the ribs? Oh my god. Wonderful. They were oh so tender and very tasty - some of the best I’ve had in a very long time. The only other ribs in the area that I know of that come close are those at Brambleton Deli. And even then, there’s no comparison.

Adam ordered the Western Burger for his dinner. Which is kind of funny as our friends Jake and Lisa from our Wii nights showed up at Martin’s not five minutes after we did, and Jake ordered the Western Burger as well. Both Adam and Jake ordered a medium burger, and both Adam and Jake got a medium cooked burger. Which personally for us is a miracle as it seems no matter where Adam goes the burger is never cooked medium despite what he asked for. Also, coincidentally, Jake and Adam considered the new Bourbon Glazed Angus NY Strip. As Adam’s burger was cooked to perfection, we’re going back so he can try the Strip next go round. Anyhow, the Western was stacked with what looked to be between 1/3lb. and 1/2lb. of meat along with smoked bacon, cheddar, and a jumbo fried onion Ring that held in the BBQ sauce. Adam could barely get his mouth around it, and ended up finishing most of it with a fork. He couldn’t even eat the whole thing as he amazingly ran out of room in that stomach of his. He was also pleased with the fries as they were not only tasty, but crisp, and everything came straight out of the kitchen nice and piping hot.

For dessert, Lisa, at her table a few spots up, enjoyed the Chocolate Lava which she described as super rich and definitely the “decadent” dessert Martin’s describes it as. Adam and I enjoyed after dinner Martinis. I had a Godiva Martini made with Godiva Chocolate Liquors, and Adam gave the Wild Berry Martini which sort of shocked me. He’s normally a beer man and comes across as very gruff and man-like, yet he completely fell for this *cough* girly, blue drink. *snicker.* And geez, how could a Godiva Martini not rock my world? Even better, they weren’t stingy with the alcohol.

Anyhow, we loved the food and we loved the service. Our bill was under $50 and we left full and happy. What’s more, Martin’s has officially replaced 202 Market as my favorite all time restaurant. So we just have to go back now and try everything else on the menu.

Martin’s, by the way, also serves lunch. I read on their website that they will deliver if you work downtown so guess what I’m having for lunch this coming week! They are located at 431 1st behind the Texas Tavern at the corner of Luck and 1st, and you can call (540) 985-6278 for reservations or more information. Hope to see you there!

I had my second ever go at the Chef’s Tasting Menu at 202 Market on Friday night. Chef Chad Scott had just changed all five menu items and we were the first to give it a try. This time my son, Cody who’s ten, was also along for the culinary experience. I have to say I was incredibly pleased with the new offerings. Every dish was wonderful, and the Tasting Menu now lists the wines available with each course should you choose the optional wine pairing.

Our dinner started with a complimentary amuse-bouche, or “mouth amusement.” Our one bite teaser was referred to as green eggs and ham - a tiny bit of egg with a green pesto sauce and a slice of ham delicately arranged on a saucer. Cody loved it! We all did in fact, but Cody refused to drink any tea after this sampling for fear of losing the delicious flavor still lingering in his mouth.

The first course of the tasting was the Hamachi Tartare with summer melon and wasabi granita. It was very good. My first experience with tartare was 202’s Tuna Tartare during my first tasting experience and I fell in love with it. Normally not a fan of fish, this is one dish I would go back for even if it isn’t technically cooked. (It took me a while to get over that little detail.) Right now you’ll find the Big Eye Tuna Tartare & Crudo on 202 Market’s menu under the starters. As for the Hamachi Tartare, you’ll have to go with tasting menu to give it a try. However, if you like to cook, you also have the option trying these recipes for Tuna Tartare and Hamachi Tartare.

The second course was a Seared Scallop with mango, prosciutto, passion fruit, and about ten other compatible flavors. This dish was just amazing. I ate the scallop with a slice of mango and prosciutto smeared in the different sauces that artfully splattered the plate. Cody and I’s favorite sauce was the banana, while Adam - my husband - preferred the other offerings which included pesto, ketchup and passion fruit. Normally, I am not a big fan of scallops, but I ate this one with gusto. It’s no wonder 202 Market is now touting they have the best scallops in Roanoke.

The third course was Bacon and Eggs - sous vide egg with parmigian cheese biscuit, smoked bacon, and truffle suds. The egg, which is basically very slowly poached using a vacuum-bag technique, comes whole so it almost looks like a hard boiled egg, but with a much different texture. While this dish was also a tasty addition to the meal, it was probably my least favorite, but mostly because I just don’t like egg yolk.

Beef was next on the menu. Delicious and oh so tender it was served with smoked yukon gold potatoes and nicoise vegetables. Everything about this dish was incredible, and despite the beef being cooked medium - I’m generally a well done kind of girl - I had no complaints about this dish that I’d describe as nothing less than perfect.

Last, but surely not least, was dessert which consisted of Tahitian Vanilla Panna Cotta, blackberry caramel, and progressive flavors and textures. Basically Adam and I were served a mini coffee flavored milkshake with a vanilla liquor - Cody had to skip out on this part of the dish - and a plate of panna cotta with chocolate, caramel, and other yummy flavors perfect for pleasing your sweet tooth.

In the end I was not at all disappointed with this tasting, and I highly recommend you give the Chef’s Tasting Menu a try for yourself. Even Cody loved it. So much in fact he let the Chef know that he was even better than Top Chef - he and Adam often watch this show together - and the Chef in return let Cody know how cool he thought he was for actually giving the tasting menu a go rather than insisting on a fast food cheeseburger. The Tasting Menu, by the way, is $58 a person for parties of two or more, entire tables only. You can tack on the wine pairing for an additional $22.

In addition to the new Tasting Menu, 202 Market has made several other changes as well. Every Sunday night at 8pm you can listen to live jazz by local musician Cyrus Pace. He’s very talented and always pleasing to hear. Cyrus, who is also the brother of 202 Market’s assistant manager James, is also the new sound manager for the restaurant.

Furthermore, the stage wall at 202 now boasts fun facts about the current staff before the band takes the stage so you can learn all about who’s who with fun facts. For example, server Alyssa is an avid gamer and a huge fan of Mario Kart, while the General Manager used to know Elvis. Also, 202 Market is now offering 202 Market Trivia every Tuesday night starting at 9pm.

If you’ve been downtown recently you may have also noticed the new tables outside of 202 Market for outdoor dining. I’m also told that lunch will be the new thing beginning in August. Something along the lines of ten offerings for ten dollars in ten minutes. I can’t wait to try lunch there, though I’m also keen on trying the Mushroom Tempura that recently made its way onto their menu.

Should you need any more reason to visit 202, just last week the Roanoke Times gave this fine dining establishment a 5-star review - the highest praise they offer.

To learn more about Chef Chad Scott, be sure to pick up a free copy of this month’s issue of Bella Magazine. Downtown you can easily find an issue in both Good Things on the Market and Little Dipper.

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