Bru Burger

I've heard some really great things about Bru Burger downtown. Last night was the perfect night to test it out: coming off a long day filled with cold, dreary rain, a burger and beer seemed the perfect combo to warm our tummies on date night:)

Its in the old spot that used to occupy Elements on Mass Ave, right there by the Starbucks.

The space inside looks great. A little trendier than your typical burger joint (okay, a lot) but hey, its Mass Ave. Exposed brick walls, dark wood booths, flat screens here and there and a very polished look overall with an awesome (and very busy) bar. We got a table right away, despite the busyness.

Their menu is pretty simple--burgers and the occasional sandwich. They do have some "regular" kind of burgers like patty melts and such, but the chef burgers are where its at. There's everything from turkey burgers on wheat to ahi tuna burgers on multi-grain to veggie burgers to good ole' beef with cheese and fixings.

Ted got the Blazing Saddles burger. We were immersed in conversation the entire meal and I forgot to pay too much attention to the exact toppings he had, but they were spicy and included diced jalepenos. How's that for accuracy? He said it was tasty and cooked well, but his bottom bun got a little soggy.

I got the Provencal. I'm a sucker for Provencal versions of almost anything (Brugge's Provencal mussels? dang) and this burger was no exception. Basil aioli, mushrooms and herbed goat cheese made it SO GOOD. Highly recommend this one.

A "plus" was that our burgers were actually cooked to the degree we ordered them. Its almost like a formality when restaurants these days ask how you want your burger cooked because no matter what we say, they all inevitably come out well done. This was the perfect medium. Woo hoo! A downside was that while delicious, its a bit on the pricey side for burgers. Most ran about $10, which isn't terrible--especially for the quality of burgers and their toppings--but for this price I would assume they would come with a side. But you have to pay for sides of fries and onion rings ($2 and $3, respectively). The fries were crispy and came with a really nice house made sweet ketchup, but I would have been happier if they came with the burger. C'mon.

So there you have it. The Bru Burger lowdown. I fully intend to revisit and check out more of their menu in the future. You can also check out their Facebook page here. I'm sure this place will be HOPPIN' come Super Bowl weekend!

Shrimp and Grits

It was a lazy MLK day around here, topped off with an easy dinner. We made shrimp and grits. I was inspired to make it when I read a magazine article about Geechie Boy Mill in South Carolina, who stone grinds their grits to a perfect consistency. I ordered a bag from their website for $5. Nothing like getting grits in your mailbox.

Of course I grew up eating a ton of grits. What I did not grow up eating was shrimp and grits. That dish is Lowcountry business, but I was happy to try it! It was easy....boil the grits in water and add salt and butter at the end. Sometimes you get grits that are too small and it ends up being soupy and gross, but the grind on these made them chunky and really rather impressive as far as grits go:) I used Paula Deen's recipe because c'mon....she's the queen! Most of the recipes I found used yellow grits, but I've always been a white girl (sorry, I had to;)

I stirred in grated sharp cheddar and followed Paula's recipe, although I also used Creole seasoning in mine that gave it a kick I would have missed otherwise. If you've got it (creole, cajun, something like that) I recommend using it.


The finished product was surprisingly tasty and complex for such an easy dish! Bacon was a nice addition. I have a ton of grits left I think this recipe will get a workout for dinner. Order a bag and try it out!

Insomnia Cookies

This post will be short and sweet. And I'm serious about the sweet.

Insomnia Cookies just opened on Broad Ripple Ave. Have you seen it yet? It's pretty tiny. It's a franchise that has stores in towns with nearby colleges (or so it looks from their locations). They have cookies, brownies, ice cream and milk and they DELIVER. That's the fun part! Yeah, yeah, yeah....cookies are great. But cookies at your DOORSTEP are really great. They start delivering at 7pm and stop at 2:30am. Perhaps they were aiming for the college crowd with these hours, but inadvertently may have hit the parent crowd (sometimes hostage in their own homes after kids' bedtimes). At any rate, I ordered several varieties and wasn't disappointed. They were warm when they arrived, thick, and chewy. We got the Peanut Butter Chocolate (with Reeses!), Chocolate Chunk, Double Chocolate Mint, and S'mores Deluxe. We had our own milk but its nice to know they'll bring it if you're out.

I forgot to ask if they deliver just the dough. That would be dangerous indeed.

Madeleines

Well, that was nice long break! Where did the end/beginning of the year go?! It's been a great few weeks hanging out with family, and now its back to the grind. Here are a couple of things that make the grind a little easier:

Our kitchen received this for Christmas....

And this!

The kids and I take lots of walks to our favorite coffee shop, and since they don't drink coffee yet, they always gobble up a package of madeleines. Lucky for us, they come in packs of 3, so there's one for each of us. Unless my husband comes, in which case someone is screwed. I love these little French cookies because they're so light and spongy and pair so well with coffee. But, they total $3.19. When even the cashier pointed out this absurdity the last time I bought them, I knew it was time to start making them at home. They have very few ingredients. So I pushed aside my self-doubt about baking and asked for a madeline pan for Christmas, which our aunt indulged us in:)

The batter is EASY. Here's the recipe I followed. When something has a ton of melted butter in it, its bound to be good. It makes the batter pretty wet, but you want it that way.


I cooked them a minute or two less than the recipe calls for and they turned out great. Plus, you get a lot more than 3 for a lot less than $3! My kids ate a lot of them, although when I cornered my son and asked if he liked Mommy's or the coffee shop's better (in a tone that suggested there was indeed a correct answer), he said, "They're fine, but I like the coffee shop ones." Sigh.

With some help from the Keurig, I was able to recreate our coffee shop order in my kitchen. And I was happy.