Eating Across Kansas

Mother’s Day is this Sunday and families everywhere will be descending on restaurants en masse. Smart folks will stay home, but if you are bound and determined to take Mom out for a nice meal, Wilder’s on Bakery and Bistro is offering a special Mother’s Day brunch menu and dinner menu. I called Jillian’s to see if they were doing anything special for Mother’s Day, but as of 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, they were completely booked . So, don’t show up at Jillian’s on Sunday expecting to be seated. Wilder’s has been open about 2 ½ months. The restaurant offers a variety of contemporary American dishes with a focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients. For Mother’s Day, Wilder’s is offering some special items that are not typically on the menu: Tequila-lime gravlax, baked French toast, shrimp linguine and tiramisu. In addition, there will be some favorites from the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus available. Brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner will be serve...

This week the weather has been cooler and I've be craving comfort food. Last night I made a casserole. Actually, I assembled it on my lunch break then baked it when I got home. The concept had been floating around my head for a few days, so I finally put it into action. My version was a little bland, so I increased the amount of salt, pepper and minced onion in the recipe written below. Chicken Veggie Noodle Casserole ‎8 oz egg noodles 1/2 stick butter 1/4 c. flour 2 c skim milk 1 c. chicken broth 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (add more for cheesier casserole) 2 c. broccoli pieces 1 8-oz package of mushrooms, sliced 2 c. chopped cooked chicken 1-2 teaspoons of salt, depending on taste 2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 tablespoon dried minced onion (or 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh onion) Topping: 1 c breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon olive oil Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook egg noodles. Drain. While noodles are cooking, melt butter in a large po...

Since moving to Hutchinson, I have lamented the lack of brunch. There are many places that serve breakfast, and several that serve breakfast all day long, but no one serves brunch - that delightful combination of both breakfast and lunch at a place that typically does not offer one or both of these things. Before I get too far in, let me go ahead and mention my bias. I prefer to order my brunch from a menu rather than cobble it together from a buffet. Buffets tend to be pricer than ordering off a menu and I, like many others, tend to overeat at a buffet so I prefer to order off a menu. For a buffet, Jillian's does well. The price is $12.95 - a bit steep, but cheaper than Flatrock Grill in Wichita ($14.95). They offer a wide variety and most items are well executed. Some items were a litle bland, but since they've only been at the Sunday Brunch game for 4 weeks, I expect some improvement as they work out the kinks. To start, there was a variety of salads - quinoa with cran...

It’s fire season here in Central Kansas. Before moving to Hutchinson, I was not aware of a fire season. I had never heard of a “controlled burn” and I’d never seen hundreds of acres of land purposefully set ablaze. Where I come from, if you see a big column of smoke in the sky, it means a building is on fire. Someone’s home is gone. 300 jobs lost unexpectedly. Local schools evacuated because of haz-mat fumes. Before moving to Kansas, a big column of smoke on the horizon was a weeknight tragedy, in retrospect, an event marking the end of my childhood and the loss of my religion. It was a Thursday evening the summer after my freshman year of High school. Classes had just ended for the year, and I had just gotten my restricted license. Those first hot days of my first summer as “real” teenager were full of promise and temptation. My parents had just gotten home from work, and we decided to go get something quick for dinner. As we drove out towards Woodruff Road – a major comm...

In Hutchinson, Kansas at 13 W. 6th there lies a place where few people go. Well, I assume that few people go there because I’d never been there, and aside from a co-worker and a friend who recently started working there, I’ve never heard anyone say “Hey, you should go to Jackson’s.” What exactly is Jackson’s? I’m not exactly sure. The sign out front says “ Jackson Frozen Food Center ,” as does a Google search for “Jackson Meats” or “13 W. 6th, Hutchinson, KS.” This is part of the reason I never went in. I’m not a huge fan of frozen meat. I keep some in the freezer for times when I’m “in a pinch,” but, like many people, my preference is definitely for fresh meat. I know that a co-worker swears by their hotdogs and has procured them a couple times for cook-outs and retirement lunches. Other than that, I knew nothing else about them until I ran into my friend Ben last Thursday. Over the course of conversation, I found out that Ben had started working for Jackson’s. When I asked...

Last Tuesday, my roommates and I went to Lyons, Kansas for dinner. To you non-Hutchinsonians, it's about a 45 minute drive. Lyons is significantly smaller than Hutchinson and only marginally closer to Hutch than Wichita, so why on earth would we go there for dinner? Empire China Restaurant, 105 West 1st Street is why. I discovered the Chinese place in Lyons several months ago when I went out for a drive with my friend Danielle and we just happened to stumble upon the place. The food was excellent and the service was great. There are two Chinese restaurants in Hutchinson. They both center around dismal buffets with inexcusable amounts of American food. Really, if I wanted to eat ham, I'd go to Sirloin Stockade. Mikaela and David (aforementioned roommates) wanted Asian food, I made the suggestion. It was a sunny daylight-savings-time early evening. We surrendered to wanderlust and the quest for good food and hopped in the car. Once at the restaurant, we started off with egg roll...

The other night I made a run to the grocery store (which, here in Hutchinson, Kansas means Dillons - in this case, 5th Avenue location) to pick up a few things - bread, milk, eggs, fruit, cold medicine. As I was rounding the corner up by the eggs and butter, I happened to glance over at the organic foods section. That's when I saw it. THE juice. I'm talking about R.W. Knudsen Family Organic "Just Tart Cherry Juice." I've been a fan of this juice for about a year and a half. It used to be available only at the 30th Avenue Dillons, then all of a sudden about 6 months ago they stopped carrying it. No more Just Tart Cherry juice. There were other cherry juices, even cherry cider, but they no longer had THE juice. Why all the excitement about a 32 ounce, $6 bottle of juice? The flavor of this stuff is great on its own, but it is also incredibly versatile. It has this great balance of sweet, tart and bitter that is almost reminiscent of a ruby port or a fruity-sweet ba...

I love food. I love food of all varieties - street food, fair food, greasy spoons, ethnic dives, fine dining restaurants, cutesy cupcake bakeries - I love them all. That is not to say that I love all food. There is a great amount of food out there that is runs the gamut from very unpleasant to passably good, but truly great food is a rare find, whether it be in a restaurant, at a friend's house or in your own home. I'll be honest, most of the food I eat on a daily basis is mediocre or good. Actually, unfortunately I eat more bad food than I should. I'm not just talking about unhealthy food, but food that just plain tastes bad. I'd like for you to join me on my quest for good food both in the home, on the road, and at restaurants. Let's eat our way across Kansas and see what flavors we can find.