Back Burner Restaurant & Bar - Hockessin, Delaware

My husband and I had the opportunity to visit a fantastic restaurant – Back Burner in Hockessin, Delaware (http://www.backburner.com/).  The restaurant is in a shopping complex that is outfitted in as an old-style village – wood paneling on the outside, pretty cute.  Inside the restaurant is similar, bluish-gray wood paneling on the walls (on the horizontal), a to-go shop right next door, a horse made out of old toy parts – very unique.  We instantly felt welcomed by the friendly wait-staff.

To start the meal, they gave us a small bucket of bread and dipping sauce – oil, garlic, and a dash of red pepper flakes.  It had a nice kick to it, but not too spicy.  I ordered the Back Burner House Salad – mixed baby field greens, spiced walnuts, dried cranberries, cherry tomatoes, and a house-made balsamic vinaigrette.  I ordered it without bleu cheese as I am definitely not a fan.  The spiced walnuts added a nice crunch to the salad and they were not that spicy, similar to candied pecans. 

After confirming that the Roasted Root Vegetable was prepared with vegetable stock/broth, I ordered the half size (which actually ended up being 2 servings for me).  The risotto is prepared with parsnips, rutabaga, celery root, baby heirloom carrots, and Vermontapplewood smoked cheddar – with a little cheddar shaved on top.  This is one of the most addictive dishes I have ever had!  It’s cheesey goodness envelopes your tastebuds.  The rice was cooked perfectly and all of the vegetables worked in perfect harmony to create a fantastic dish.  There were also some spices – perhaps Thyme – missed in that added to the wonderful dish.  I enjoyed it as leftovers the next day – a delightful way to remember a fantastic meal!

To end this awesome meal, we ordered the Dark & White Chocolate Croissant Pudding.  It was essentially bread pudding with the chocolate mixed in – gooey chocolate chips in every forkful.  It was served with a side of chocolate mousse that was so rich, only a little bit on your tongue was enough to satisfy.  This dish was delicious and decadent – very rich, but not too heavy.

My husband and I are both looking forward to our next trip to Back Burner.

Mexican Pizza

Fantastic!  This dish has a great taste, good consistency, and it looks nice to boot.  


Mexican Pizza (1 deep dish pizza, 6 servings, 45 minutes total time)
(adapted from Allrecipes.com)


Ingredients
1 package Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz.) can refried beans
2 10-inch flour tortillas
1/4 cup salsa
1 cup Taco shredded cheese
1 green onion chopped
1 plum tomato diced
1/8 cup finely chopped jalapeno pepper


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 1 pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place Burger Crumbles, onion, and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until Crumbles are heated through. Season with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Lay one tortilla in pie plate and cover with a layer of refried beans. Spread half of the Crumble mixture over the beans and then cover with the second tortilla. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
4. Remove the plate from the oven and let cool slightly. Spread the salsa over the top of the tortilla. Cover pizza with half of the cheese. Place tomatoes, green onions, and jalapenos on top of cheese.
5. Return the pizza to the oven, and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, and let cool slightly before slicing into 6 pieces.

It is very filling!  The flavors come together very nicely and there is a good mixture of protein carbohydrates.  You can cut back on the cheese to lessen the fat.  As is, depending on the salsa you use, it's not spicy - I might kick it up a notch next time I make it, but my fiancé liked it the way it was.  The only "negative" I have to say is that it is a little difficult to eat with just a fork - you need a knife to get through the top layer without messing it up.

Café Valentina – Pike Creek, Delaware

http://www.cafevalentina.com/

My husband and I have gone on a couple of dates here.  My memory of the garlic bread starter was what took us back this time; unfortunately, it wasn’t as I remember it.  As you enter the restaurant, you can go straight to their small bar area (and grab take-out, which seems to be a  large business for them) or go up a few steps to a seating area.  The tables are close together and the restaurant is pretty loud – not the romantic atmosphere of Valle Cucina. 

I ordered the Ortolana pasta dish – broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms sautéed in olive oil with garlic light marinara sauce - with wheat pasta.  It sounded good – vegetables, pasta, garlic marinara sauce.  Unfortunately, the ingredients did not come together in the dish.  The light marinara sauce was very oily and I think that the only thing marinara about it was the tomatoes in the vegetable portion of the dish.  The vegetables were okay, but they kind of soggy – and the spinach was clumped together.  Maybe it was my misunderstanding of the dish – but it sounded good when I read it.  I had a salad with the dish, but it was just a standard pizzeria one – lettuce, large tomatoes, and a packet of dressing.  The garlic bread that comes with the meal was sitting in olive oil and caked with garlic – even though it didn’t taste very “garlicky”.  Just an odd meal all around.

Chelsea Tavern – Wilmington, DE

http://www.chelseatavern.com/

I have only been to Chelsea once before, for a beer and some pizza, but have wanted to go back for more than a year.  The menu looks so enticing and the selection of beer is fairly good – better than your average restaurant.  As you enter the restaurant, you walk into a welcoming bar area – it is well-lit with nice wooden tables – a good place to eat if you want something slightly more casual.  You then walk back into the dining area, there are both booths and tables – the lighting is slightly dimmed for a slightly romantic ambience. 

We sat at one of the tables in the middle of room – they are close together, so I felt that the couples on either side of us were way too close, but after my beer came, I perked up.  We started out with the House Made Soft Pretzel Crullers, served with Queso Poblano sauce.  The pretzels were just a touch too hard for my liking, but they were not overly buttery and barely salted.  And the Queso dip – delicious.  Perhaps the pretzels had been apart of another batch – I’d be willing to give them a second taste test.

As my main course, I had the Wild Mushroom Soup (which, sadly, is not on their current menu) and the Baby Spinach salad.  The soup was to die for, honestly.  It was mushroomy, but had a touch of cream in the middle and topped with just a hint of pesto.  There were a few mushroom chunks – and all this added up to be so tasty – my mouth is actually watering as I think about it.  If you don’t like mushrooms, then this isn’t the soup for you, but if you even slightly like them, I would recommend trying it (if they add it back to the menu).  I also had the Baby Spinach Salad.  It was very lightly dressed – a little bit more dressing would have done the salad good.  It was okay – not great for a salad.  I thought that I would like the dressing more, but it was nothing spectacular.

For dessert, we attempted to please both of our palettes and ordered the Chocolate Chocolate Cake.  Well, the cake was good, and so was the ice cream, but the spicy caramel sauce – way too much!  And that’s not just me saying it because I don’t like caramel – my husband agreed that it was too spicy for a dessert.  I have definitely learned that spicy desserts are not what I like.  We were able to scrape a lot of the caramel sauce off of the cake so that we could enjoy it, but the taste mostly stayed with us for the rest of the night – kind of a bummer.

Overall, Chelsea has a nice atmosphere and tasty food.  I would recommend it for the vegetarian restaurant-goer.  FYI – They also have a downstairs room with a bar for private events – right beside the wine cellar!

September 2012 Update:
On a recent visit to Chelsea, I enjoyed the Hand Cut Signature Trio Fries appetizer and Veggie Margherita pizza.  The fries consisted of crispy Vidalia Onions, Idaho & Sweet Potatoes and were seasoned with a homemade spice.  They were paired with a house aioli.  The aioli was a tad spicy, perfect for my taste!  All of the fries were crispy, but some were slightly burnt.  I think I’d get the dish again if I went with a group of people to share it with.  I then had the Veggie Margherita pizza that comes out of the brick oven in the back of the dining area (a nice one, made of light-colored stone).  The pizza has a plum tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, wild mushrooms, red onion, and roasted peppers (I opted to nix the olives).  It had a crispy crust and was slightly browned on the top (no burning for this item!).  It was a tasty pizza that I would definitely order again.

May 2013 Update:

My mother and stepdad came to visit over Mother’s Day weekend.  We treated them to dinner at Chelsea Tavern in downtown Wilmington.  My husband and I had ordered the House Made Soft Pretzel Crullers as an appetizer on a previous trip and didn’t much care for them, but he is on a soft pretzel kick, so we ordered them for the four of us.  Boy, am I glad that I gave these a second try!  They were soft and chewy and not drowned in butter like some soft pretzels.  They were served with a  spicy Dog Fish Head 60 Minute I.P.A. cheese sauce – delish!  Not really that spicy, but definitely tasty.  

As my main dish, I ordered the Chelsea Pizza.  It has a shallot and garlic spread and is topped with tomatoes, sautéed spinach, herbed ricotta cheese, and a bit of mozzarella. I love getting pizza at Chelsea because they serve it with your own little tri-bowl of parmesan, Italian herbs, and red pepper flakes.  I also loved this pizza!  Of course, that probably has something to do with all of the cheese on it.  The crust was thin, but not crusty or burnt – cooked just right in their brick oven.  The veggies were soft and chewy and I loved the garlicky taste that the sauce imparted on each bite.  I cannot wait to go back to Chelsea because I will definitely order this again.