The Mighty Pub Sub!

When I first moved to Atlanta, I was a bit weary of Publix supermarkets. As a life long Krogerer, I didn't see the point in going to another store that charged slightly more than what I paid at Kroger. As time went by, I slowly warmed to the store, mostly because I live within walking distance of my neighborhood Publix. I mainly visit Publix when I need to pick up a few things and don't feel like driving 5 minutes to my local Kroger store.

One day, many years ago, I happened into the Publix deli department and decided to order a sandwich. From what I could see, there was little different between the Publix sandwich station and a Subway or Quizno's sandwich shop. The real differences didn't become apperent until I got home and took my first bite of the sandwich. For whatever similarities exist between the physical appearance of these stores, the differences between the products could not be more evident. I was at that point a convert. I am nothing short of a fanatic when it comes to the MIGHTY PUB SUB!!!

Let me begin with the bread. Like many other sub shops, Publix bakes their own bread. However, the similarities really end there. Publix's sub rolls originally came in white and wheat varieties, but have recently added a third multi-grain option. All of the rolls are excellent, but I consider myself a purist and tend to order the white sub roll. The roll itself has an excellent crust, crisp and hard. The interior of the roll is quite soft and does a nice job of soaking up any condiments that one might decide to add. The only complaint that I might have with the rolls is that the bottoms are heavily coated with corn meal. I understand that this is to aid in reducing sticking in the oven, but sometimes it becomes overwhelming. I will occasionally have to brush off the excess corn meal lest I end up with my mouth being torn apart like I just finished off a whole box of Capn' Crunch. All things considered, I would take a Publix sub roll over the soft and flimsy rolls you get at the other stores any day.

Although bread selection is important, the real meat of the issue when dealing with a sub is, of course, the meat. In terms of selection, some may consider Publix to be limited. They offer several standard meats and bound salads for their sandwiches. Ham, turkey, roast beef, and tuna salad are all present. They offer some variety with there Italian sub with it's traditional Italian deli meats, Genoa Salami and Capicolla. Over the years, they have made efforts to add new meat options, such as a hot Philly Cheesesteak or chicken tenders. I doubt they will ever venture out into the realm of true deli meats. I don't foresee purchasing a pastrami and tongue on rye at Pubix any time in the future.

Even with such limited meat selections, there is no shortage on quality. Offering both their house brand deli meats as well as Boar's Head meat (for a small surcharge), the quality of their deli meats far exceeds that found in many franchise sub shops. Being able to taste each individual meat in a sandwich is a right that Subway had convinced me was a privilege. It took my first trip to Publix to make me understand just how wrong they were.

The quality doesn't simply stop at the meat, the toppings that Publix offers are also top notch. You won't find anything fancy, just the old stand-bys, but they are all of good quality. Tomatoes have flavor, pickles are crisp, hot peppers are scorching hot, and sweet peppers are sweet and earthy. I tend to order a small salad on my sandwich, getting it with "the works." To say that you don't get your money's worth, is simply out of the question. Between the bread, meat, and toppings, a footlong sub could easily top 3 lbs. The things are huge.

In addition to putting out a quality product, they also focus on the intangibles. Service is key at Publix, and it shows in the deli department. Sandwiches are made quickly and with a smile. They even go so far as to individually wrap each half of a footlong, knowing that you'll probably end up saving half for later. All in all, they are really great sandwiches, and I imagine that I will come back with a few critiques in the future. I really can't go too long without having a Pub Sub.

Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Honey Glazed Corn and Peppers

Summertime is the right time to hit up the grill. This is an easy recipe that I put together for summertime grilling. There is some marinading time, but outside of that, you can produce this in less than an hour. I made this recipe, as with many of my recipes, with an eye on a healthy diet.

Balsamic Grilled Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp minced sweet peppers

2 tbsp dried onion flakes

1 tsp crushed red pepper flake

1. Place chicken breasts in a large casserole dish.

2. Mix vinegar, oil, garlic, sweet peppers, onion and pepper flakes in a medium mixing bowl until combined.

3. Cover chicken with oil and vinegar mixture.

4. Allow chicken to marinate for 2-3 hours turning chicken every 1/2 hour.

5. After marinating, pat chicken dry and season each breast with salt and pepper.

6. Grill chicken breast over high heat until the chicken reaches 160 degrees F.

7. Allow chicken to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Honey Glazed Corn and Peppers

10 oz. corn

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1 tsp jalapeno pepper, minced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp clover honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat saute pan over high heat and add olive oil.

2. Add peppers and onions and saute over high heat for 2-3 minutes or until onions begin to soften.

3. Add corn and mix through. Saute for 2-3 minutes to heat through.

4. Add honey and mix through. Saute for 60 seconds to remove moisture and begin to caramelize sugars in honey.

5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

These recipes make a nice quick dinner or lunch. The sweet and smokey chicken pairs very well with the sweet heat profile of the corn. If you are looking for a full fat version of this recipe, you can use split chicken breasts with the skin on or chicken thighs. Both would result in a great final product, but also increase the fat and calorie counts for the dish. For a completely balanced meal, you could add as baked sweet potato or oven roasted potatoes.

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

This is a quick recipe that I threw together for a nice split pea soup that is both super healthy and rockin tasty. You'll only need about 45 minutes for the whole recipe, so it's a great one to do on a weeknight.

Split Pea Soup

1 lb dried split peas

1 qt vegetable stock

1 large sweet onion

8 oz Cremini Mushrooms

6-8 Sweet Baby Carrots

4 cloves garlic

4 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse split peas in a colander removing any foreign materials

2. Add split peas, roughly chopped onion, carrots, garlic, and mushrooms to a 3 qt sauce pan.

3. Cover with vegetable stock and bring to a boil

4. Boil for 30-40 minutes or until split peas are tender, adding stock as needed

5. Once peas are tender, blend soup until smooth (blend in batches to avoid dangerous splattering)

6. Return blended soup to the sauce pan and stir in the sour cream.

7. Season to taste with salt and fresh black pepper.

As you can see, this is a super healthy and super easy soup to produce. The addition of the mushrooms helps to give a bit of meatiness that is lacking by not using the pork bones traditionally used in split pea soup. This is a great example of how one can replace the umami flavor in a dish without adding meat.

The Cheesecake Factory -Perimeter Mall

Last night, the wife and I had some business to take care of at the mall, so we decided to take advantage of a Cheesecake Factory gift card that we were recently given. Not being a huge fan of casual dinning, I was hesitant to even use the gift card. After working in the casual dining business for several years, I had a strong feeling of what to expect. In a word: mediocrity

To be completely honest, my expectations were slightly off the mark. Entering the restaurant, we were greeted by large crowds, pleasant aromas, and a busy hosting station directing the flow of guests to each table. So far, we are par for the course. Seating was immediate, even though the restaurant was very full. I suppose being a party of two has it's advantages on a Friday night. Once seated, we had a good 30 second wait before being greeted by our server. She delivered her canned speech outlining the evening's specials and then suddenly went silent. There was an odd pause where a "what can I get you to drink this evening" should have gone, but didn't. Assuming she simply forgot to ask us, we gave our drink orders and began to dive into the catalog that they call a menu. The menu is seriously over long. It took us at least 15 minutes to make up our minds. I can't imagine that they really need 20 items under each of their nine or ten menu categories, but they do.

After ordering we were given our complimentary bread basket. The basket held two room temperature loafs, one honey wheat, and the other a decently tart sourdough. The wife proceeded to devour the honey wheat as if it were a gift from the heavens. I found it to be... soft and sweet. Not to entertaining, but sweet none the less. The sourdough was held together with a nice crisp crust that was a pleasure to tear. The flavor was, as I said, decently tart, but nothing to write home about. Soon I received my salad, a plain house salad served with as small sauce boat of blue cheese dressing. The salad was your run of the mill house salad with little of interest. The dressing appeared to be house made with large pieces of mild blue cheese. The dressing also had a nice peppery note to it that helped liven up what was an otherwise boring salad. On to the entree's...

I ordered the Chicken Bellagio special. Two chicken breast fillets, breaded and pan fried severed with basil-garlic pasta, prosciutto and garnished with an arugula salad. The chicken was well cooked with a good ratio of crisp crust to tender chicken. The pasta was flavorful, but quite greasy. It is to be expected, but not entirely pleasant. The prosciutto was bland and unnecessary while the arugula salad offered a much needed counterpoint to the richness of the pasta sauce. As a whole, it wasn't a completely uninspired dish, but I doubt I would ever order it again.

As for dessert, we decided to share a slice of Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake. The cheesecake was merely a canvas for the flavors of caramel, pecans, and chocolate. A massive blob of supremely dense chocolate ganache garnished the cake. Unfortunately, as a restaurant that is so well known for their cheesecake, they were unable to produce a cheesecake recipe that could stand up to the flavors that they decided to pair with it. In this respect, the cheesecake becomes lost in a sea of overpowering flavors, the way white cake can be lost behind a fortress of chocolate icing and sprinkles in a cheap birthday cake. Being judged on it's merits as a cheesecake, it would score fairly low. However, if the name "cheesecake" were to be removed, I might find myself much more forgiving in my critique.

Over all, The Cheesecake Factory did exceed my expectations, but not by much. Slightly above mediocrity is where I would place my experience as a whole. Will I ever return for another dining experience? Maybe with a gift card.

And it begins...

As I start out with this blog, it is going to be my intent to update on a daily basis. This means that I am going to have to find things on a daily basis to write about. There is plenty of food and lots of things going on in this town, so that shouldn't be too difficult.