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“Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.”
Bobby Flay
I will admit it. I do love shopping at local farmer’s markets and I think the Schenectady Greenmarket is one of my favorite places to go in the summertime but I just can’t get passed the convenience, price and service of Price Chopper (& it is technically local). 
You will see from my PAST BLOG ENTRIES about Price Chopper that I would call that my grocery store and it would be hard for another supermarket to take that place in my heart. Last month, I took part in Price Chopper’s Be Seafood Smart Demonstration at The Century House in Latham and learned a lot about fish and different recipes to do with them.
Price Chopper Executive Chef Dave Hamlin and Vice President of Seafood Lee French demonstrated some really easy recipes with some products you can find at your local Price Chopper. Last year during Lent, Price Chopper sold 133,920 fried fish dinners, 90,131 pounds of fried hot fish and 56,534 pounds of cold fried fish! Wow! I first met Lee French at the #PCHOLIDAYCHEER and he’s so passionate about seafood. He talked to us about how he travels to different countries to make sure Price Chopper has the best products to serve.
To start they cooked Seared Salmon with Maple and Fresh Dill. Oh wow was this delicious, I can’t wait to make it! Using 2-6oz salmon fillets, Price Chopper Olive Oil, fresh shallots, white wine, fresh dill and Price Chopper Syrup. Brush the salmon with some olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper to create a caramelized crust. Saute the salmon until it’s a rich golden brown and remove from pan. 
Add some olive oil to the pan and then add the shallots, the wine and dill and cook until reduced. Add maple syrup to shallots just to heat and pour the mixture over the seared salmon fillet. Sounds delicious, right? It was! One of the most important things I learned from this presentation is that with Price Chopper seafood, fish goes from farm to store in 4 days.
Next we had Baked Swai with Cajun Panko Breadcrumbs. Before this I had no idea what swai was. It’s not too fishy of a fish if that makes any kind of sense, more like a tilapia than a salmon to clarify. They talked about how Price Chopper offers a few different kinds of breadcrumbs other than the Cajun that they were using for this recipe. I was able to grab myself a garlic batch and will be cooking with that as soon as I can! All you need for this recipe is 2 swai fillets, half a lime, a tablespoon of white wine and panko breadcrumbs. Brush the fillets with olive oil, drizzle over white wine and squeeze lime juice, bread and bake. Easy right?
One of my favorite stories to hear was about the Pan Seared Scallops. I learned about the difference between dry (processed) scallops and all natural. Some stores will blow up the scallop with a sodium solution to give you what looks like more scallop for less the price when it’s really mostly full of this solution. I had no idea that was happening! To know if your scallops are the best kind, or any fish for that matter, 
Lee told us the three most important questions to ask ourselves or even the seafood guy to make sure we’re getting the best product: 1. Why is it that cheap? 2. How long of a period of time are these products from farm to store? 3. And of course, has this product been soaked? As Lee said in regards to Price Chopper, “I’m not gonna sell you anything that’s not safe for you.” The most important thing is that their seafood big wigs visit the plants these products are coming from or more important the country itself.
After the demonstration we got to partake in the best part- EATING! Everything was delicious! My favorite would have had to have been the salmon with maple syrup. When I see maple syrup, my first thought is pancakes or waffles but after that meal I’ll also add salmon to that list. Price Chopper offers quite a few of these cooking demonstrations and they’re always enjoyable. Tomorrow will be their Gluten Free Food Festival that I’m attending and I’ll be sure to let you know about it this coming Sunday! I don’t eat Gluten Free but I’m curious to know some recipes because I can’t imagine carbs not being a part of some of my meals = NO PASTA?
Looking for more Price Chopper events? Follow my blog on twitter or on Facebook and I’ll sure to keep you updated! 
“A bath and a tenderloin steak. Those are the high points of a man’s life.”
Curt Siodmak
I love hibachi. What’s more fun than not only NOT having to cook dinner but to be able to watch it being cooked for you and with a show! A new hibachi place I just recently tried out was Hana (1620 Western Ave). 
My boyfriend and I sat at a table with two other groups of people, a party of 3 and a party of 4 with us in the middle. To start we ordered drinks and I saw something called Japanese Marble Soda that I’d never heard before and therefore had to try. The soda arrived in a funny bottle and the waitress showed me how to open it. It comes with a little tool to pop the marble down into a section of the bottle to hold it. It’s hard to explain but the marble is in the bottle so no worries you can’t swallow it.
As for the food, fantastic. The hibachi chef puts on a little show with the food showing his skills balancing an egg and flipping food into our mouths. There’s a whole menu of food to order but I found the best deal to be picking any two proteins and it comes with a starch. I decided on salmon and steak on rice (noodles are also available) with a side of vegetables.
He cooked them beautifully. He asked right at the start how I’d like my steak and cooked it to the perfect medium. I really didn’t notice the other people at our table, I felt that I was sitting at a private table with my boyfriend so it was good for our date. They also give two different types of sauce to dunk in though I don’t know what they were, they were tasty. Everything tasted good and though it was a bit pricey, it was worth it. If I could afford to eat here more often, I would but it was a good place to eat for a special occasion or just a special food related treat. Yumm!
**Edit, based on questions in the comments: As per most restaurants, there are cheaper options on the menu but this meal, the hibachi combination (2 meats, shrimp, vegetables & starch) was $25 and 3 meats for $35. Plus side, my two meats were salmon and steak so you can make a good deal out of the $25 and it’s enough food, at least for me, for dinner. You can add a garden salad for $2 and a miso soup for $1 among other things for under $5. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, I recommend eating during lunch time and taking advantage of their lunch specials from 11am-3pm. Hope this helps! Any other questions are always welcome on the Facebook page or comments section and I’ll answer them as soon as I can!
“Thank God It’s Friday”
TGIFriday’s Motto
I’m glad that I get to write a few blog entries on some very well-known chain restaurants because since these aren’t just in the 518 and you’re someone who’s scared of trying new foods, places like Applebees, Ruby Tuesday’s and in this case TGIFriday‘s are right up your alley (1475 Western Ave, Albany- Stuyvesant Plaza).
I like eating at chain restaurants not only because for everyone, the looking through the menu time is shorter but because they’re informal dining places where you can get great food for a not so great cost. This visit I ordered the Dragonfire Salmon (this is also offered for a few dollars cheaper in a Dragonfire Chicken option if seafood isn’t your thing). 
The menu describes this as “Norwegian salmon fillet fire-grilled and glazed with spicy Chinese Kung Pao sauce. Served over jasmine rice with pineapple pico de gallo, Mandarin oranges and broccoli.”
*I’m sorry for the somewhat blurry picture, I was on a double date and I didn’t want to be rude by taking out my cell phone so I tried to snap the picture quick.
You can see the beautiful colors of the pico de gallo and the jasmine rice with mandarin oranges. I like spicy food so this wasn’t too bad but if you don’t want a burn with each bite I recommend getting something else. I figured the pineapple in the pico de gallo would tone down the spice but I was wrong. There weren’t many pieces of pineapple and they were teeny tiny so I didn’t remember that there was pineapple in there until someone at the table reminded me and I had to go looking for it. The broccoli were beautifully cooked. I love that these chain restaurants (at least the few I have experienced) know how to cook their broccoli. The rice was also cooked well and was still hotter than room temperature when it got to the table. The salmon was good too, there wasn’t as strong as a fishy taste as I expected, it seemed to be mellowed out by the pico de gallo.
For dessert, I didn’t order anything personally but the other couple shared a piece of Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. For the price they paid, the slice of pie was rather small. For future reference, unless you’re really full, good luck sharing that piece of pie. The price may be steep but it’s going to leave you wishing you ordered a personal slice for each person instead.
The service was quick and very attentive. For a Friday night, I was surprised that we were able to get a table right away. They didn’t mind that we sat there for a while after we were done eating, it was almost closing time before we left and I didn’t feel as if we were being pushed out at all. After we paid the bill, the waitress left us alone, filling up water glasses if necessary. All in all I say it was a good meal.
“Life is too short, and I’m Italian. I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.”
Sophia Bush
I’ve found throughout writing this blog just how much Italian food I eat. If you haven’t noticed, I tend to make the titles of my blog entries a quote that has something to do with what I’m writing about with the person who said the quote written in italics below. Each time I write about an Italian restaurant, I type in “Italian food quotes” into Google to find a quote and I’ve almost used all the good ones. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the restaurants which the 518 offers us or the restaurants I tend to find myself, regardless, Italian food is great so I’m happy to offer you many options to fill that Italian food void.
One of my favorite Italian restaurants in the 518, in Schenectady is Pettas (134 Duane Avenue
Schenectady, NY 12307). I’ve been going to this restaurant since I was really little, it’s always been a favorite restaurant of my whole family and the food has always been fantastic. This isn’t your normal Italian restaurant. Many restaurants claim to have that family feel, such as Olive Garden where their tagline is “When you’re here, you’re family.” When was the last time you walked into an Olive Garden or a restaurant like that and felt like you were eating among family? The difference with Petta’s is that when you walk in, you genuinely are part of the family. The waiters as well as the atmosphere help in giving this restaurant a personal dining room feel. This family owned restaurant opened in 1951 has never lost that family style feel (Find the very interesting complete story of the restaurant on their website HERE).
To start off the meal, my Mom, her friend Pete and I got Fried Calamari ($7.95). 
The calamari were very good but the sauce they gave us was a cocktail sauce where I would have preferred to have had a marinara sauce. This was a perfect amount to be shared between the three of us since we had dinner on the way. Sometimes I’ve found that calamari sometimes has too much fried and not enough calamari but I love Petta’s calamari. An Italian classic done beautifully.
For dinner I decided to be a little healthy. As I mentioned, I eat quite a bit of Italian food and sometimes you just have to eat something a little healthy to balance out the pasta. This time, I ordered a Blackened Wild Alaskan Keta Salmon Fillet ($17.95) with a side of Italian Greens and Roasted Potatoes.
I love Salmon but I’ve never had blackened salmon before and it tasted very good. 
There’s a slight taste difference between blackened and what I would expect smoked to taste like in my opinion. This blackened salmon wasn’t very smoky but I liked it that way. This way I had more of an opportunity to focus on the real flavor of the salmon and the seasonings on it instead of it being hidden by the char-grilled flavor.
Paired with it is the option of pasta or Italian greens and various options of ways to have a potato and a salad. I chose the Italian greens and roasted potatoes. With all the food I ate that night, I had to hold off on the sides for the next night. Thankfully, all kept well and though it obviously wasn’t exactly the same the next night it still tasted pretty good!
The Italian greens, as my Mom told me, were supposed to taste like garlic but my taste buds need a lot of garlic to taste garlic and I didn’t really taste anything except for spinach. 
The potatoes were a little dry but ample amounts of butter and salt helped. Though it wasn’t an option, I think I would’ve asked if they could have made a baked potato or mashed potatoes because I don’t like twice baked potatoes (the only other option).
I think next time, even though I was trying to be healthy, I would get the pasta only because I assume it would end up as a left over and if I was to make dinner the next night I’d rather leftover pasta then leftover greens. For the side, think about what you want for dinner the next night because chances are that’s when you’re going to eat it. Make sure you take home the Italian bread too!!!
Petta’s offers difference specials every night, each one fantastic and anything they make “Parmesan” (Eggplant, Chicken, Veal, etc.) is worth a try. Also, while eating you can play Quick Draw and maybe win enough money to pay for your dinner! Good Luck!
“Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible.”
Cantonese Saying
The first thing I think of when I hear PF Changs is Lettuce Wraps. Tofu or Chicken, they’re both fantastic. Don’t leave PF Changs without giving those a try with some of the sauce you just made. You get served a plate of lettuce and another plate with the filling that comes with white crispy noodles that you can eat (I do) or leave as a garnish. It’s hard for me to explain the wonderful taste of the lettuce wraps. They’re not spicy at all, other than that you’re just going to have to try them.
I ordered the Asian Grilled Salmon and this may have been the best salmon I’ve ever had. They left the woody part on the asparagus so I just cut that off but the taste of the salmon was fantastic. What I loved about the salmon was that it wasn’t just a fishy taste but I tasted the seasonings when it was grilled. Just enough of the grill taste and just enough seasoning paired with the taste of the salmon itself with a squirt of lemon and I’d go back any day and order that. It was a bit on the pricey side but completely worth it.
