Caprese Salad

As it gets hotter I'm always looking for something to eat that will refresh without stuffing. This classic salad is just right for a warm summer evening listening to the quail and enjoying a beautiful Arizona sunset with my wife of 31 years. Add a good, cold, crisp Chennin Blanc and who knows?

Caprese Salad

I’ve added the balsamic vinegar to this, I like the extra sweet bite. This salad is great either way.

8 OZ Water Buffalo Milk Mozzarella, sliced thin

3 Large Plum or any “garden fresh”, Tomatoes, sliced thin and salted lightly

1/2 C Fresh basil, finely chopped

Fruity olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt

1. On a serving plate, arrange the mozzarella and tomatoes in circles, exposing at least half of the slices...a slice of tomato then a slice of mozzarella then a slice of tomato, and so on. Sprinkle with salt, basil, olive oil and then balsamic vinegar. Let stand for 10 minutes and serve with a good red wine.

2. Serves 6-8.

Restaurant Reviews a Big hit!

Okay, as usual I check the statistics page for this blog at lest one time a day. By coincident, I’ve done two restaurant reviews in the past few days. My page hits went through the roof. About five times the amount of hits I get on other subjects. So this tells me that you, the readers, like it when Kathy and I review a restaurant.

If you live in the Phoenix metro, or surrounding areas, and would like for us to take a look at a restaurant, that you feel is above average, let us know. Or if you are looking for a new place to enjoy a specific type of cuisine, leave a comment asking. We’ve lived here for just under fifty years each and if we don’t know where to find what you are looking for I’m sure that one of our readers or friends will. Also if you want more of any other subject that we are working on, tell us.

Thanks for reading and please keep sharing our work.

Warmly,

Mad Coyote Joe

Cave Creek Coffee Co. New Breakfast Menu

If you live in the north valley (Phoenix) and haven’t been to The Cave Creek Coffee Company, or as it’s known by the locals “C4”, then you’re missing one of the best coffee shops around. Their food is great but what C4 is really about is atmosphere. The front porch is a haven for talk, good coffee and a view of small town life, here in the Sonoran desert. It was taken over by Todd and Rose Newman about five or six years ago. They have really worked to make it a wonderful place for coffee in the morning and delicious, light bistro fare along with great wines in the evening. A while back they decided on increasing the size and output of their kitchen, which gets us to the new breakfast menu (http://cavecreekcoffee.com/images/breakfest_menu.pdf ).

I am the worst person in the world to go to breakfast with. The reason is I’m quite picky about breakfast. It's simple and when done right, my favorite meal. However I know how I want everything on the plate done. If anything is off, I just don’t want to eat, and I won’t wait for my toast to come back toasted or for my bacon to be crisped up a bit because the rest of the breakfast is then cold… picky, picky, picky!

Being that I have coffee at C4 several times a week I often have a breakfast burrito. They are quite good but I ask for more potato than egg and less cheese, picky. The girls that take my order know me and they just smile and tell the cook, “It’s for Joe!”

This morning I saw they have a new Breakfast Menu. I settled on the Eggs Benedict. First the plate was beautiful, sliced orange and apples along with eggs poached perfectly topped with fresh made hollandaise sauce. I took my first bite and what I found was a combination of the light smokiness of the ham along with a surprising little bite of cayenne in the hollandaise sauce. The cayenne was balanced very lightly against the lemon and butter. This was a great plate of eggs benedict. I asked to talk with the chef. I wanted to tell her how good my breakfast was Chef Erin came out and we chatted about the sauce. She uses just a little cayenne and a few drops of Tabasco. This girl can cook! While I had my coffee several friends dropped by and had breakfast, everything looked good and everybody was quite pleased with their breakfast! Drop by soon you won’t be sorry! 6033 E. Cave Creek Rd.