Home Shrimp

Once again, not a restaurant. Once again, winter weather and on-call. But we decided to make it count. Angel's birthday was coming up, this meal is something we've celebrated things like that for many years. Simple, easy, awfully decadent and satisfying.

We'd planned ahead, the only thing I needed to pick up this weekend was the dessert, which we'd just decided on.

I made the meal.

There was a steak on standby for when Adam got home from work, he doesn't like seafood.

The Food:

Shrimp, salad, garlic toast. Simple.

Of course the shrimp was frozen, this is middle America after all. Fortunately freezing shrimp does not change its taste and texture much. We get the de-veined (it's not really a vein) and shell-on. We picked up a big pot with a strainer and steamer basket a few years ago, this is pretty much the only thing we use it for. We'd let the sea bugs thaw in the lower part of the fridge most of the afternoon, it was thawed nicely by dinnertime.

Step one, turn on the oven and start the pot of water. Into the water I added salt and a heaping helping of Old Bay seasoning. While waiting, not watching, the water to boil, I prepped the toast. A loaf of fresh French bread from our local bakery (Walmart). I sliced half of it in about 3/4 inch slices and laid them out on the sheet pan that had been rubbed down with olive oil. This, I recently found, adds a subtle flavor kick to the finished toast. Using my press, I smashed a few cloves of garlic, sliced a stick of butter and set that in the microwave just long enough for the butter to melt completely. I let it set for a bit to soak up the garlic. This garlic/butter mix serves two purposes.

The first is to butter the bread. applied with a basting brush. Not too much, just a shiny sheen's worth.

The water was starting to boil so I set the steamer basket full of shrimp, which I'd salted and Old Bay'd as well, into it and covered it. The seasoning doesn't actually add a lot of flavor to the shell covered shrimp, but man, does it make the house smell good!

Time to prep the salad. 

The salad bar.

We rarely make family salads, rather we make our own mini salad bar. I chopped, sliced, washed and shaved red bell pepper, onion, cucumber, tomato and carrot. The greens, Romaine lettuce and spinach were chopped, washed and spun in our big salad spinner that we picked up at some sort of kitchen outlet store in southeastern Missouri, while on a drive back from Kentucky.

By this time The shrimp was pinking up nicely. I reduced the heat and let the residual steam finish it off.

The toast went into the oven, I spread the newspaper.

What?

Peeling shrimp is messy, let's not pretend otherwise. Sure, we use plates, but the peels go into a pile on laid out newspaper, it's just the way we've always done it.

I made sure Angel would be done with the current round of dog needs and noticed that this snowfall was piling up heavier than I'd thought it would. the boy was on the road by then. Angel had texted him and let him know that the roads and driveway were starting to get covered, He was driving home from Arnold, it would be a while.

Angel came in, removed about five layers of coats, gloves, scarves and hoodies, took off her fur lined boots while I prepared my plate.

I set the whole pot on a big cork coaster on the table, reheated the garlic butter just a bit and assembled my salad.

She followed soon, doing the same. Yeah, I'd made myself some fresh tea, one Luzianne teabag into my one cup coffee maker filled with bottled water (our tap water is highly mineral rich and clogs coffee makers in just a few months). Fill a big glass with ice and pour the hot brew over the top, done. Dark, tasty, fresh. If you don't make your tea this way, you are doing it wrong.

Then the wonderful messy part. The shrimp in the pot was almost too hot to handle, but we were really ready to start eating so we suffered thought peeling a bunch. I dropped my denuded bugs one at a time into the garlic butter. 

If your mouth is not watering heavily at this point then you are just an ignorant America-hater.

I'll admit that the toast had stayed in the oven for maybe a minute longer than it should have, a little crispier than I'd intended. That was Angel's fault though, she took too long coming in from outside.

It was still delicious though. Not drowning in butter or garlic or olive oil, but a pleasant, aromatic blend of the flavors. I'd topped my salad with a slightly sweet poppy seed dressing, to compliment the buttery, savory shrimp and toast.

We absolutely stuffed ourselves. There was certainly some shrimp left, but we could use that in the upcoming meals, on lighter salad days.

The taste, as you can imagine, was heavenly. 

The pile of shells had Rudy's undivided attention. he didn't get any. I do think he got a little steak later when Adam got home. Whenever he's upstairs and we're preparing a meal he can be found underfoot. He's discovered that Angel and I are somewhat clumsy and tend to drop things. He's an opportunist.

I post a lot of pictures of Rudy on the social media. He's quite expressive and comical. People ask me what kind of dog he is. I'm tired of saying 'it's complicated' or 'I don't know'. He's a mutt, a mix of unknown lineage. He doesn't really look like any one breed, which is fine with us since 'breed' is not a scientific term anyhow, it's just a set of standards voted on by kennel clubs so they can be on a register and can be inbred for a high price. But don't get me started on that soap box. I've decided that he's a Kasehund. Which is, roughly, German for 'cheese hound'. Friends and followers of him on social media will get the cheese reference for Rudy. Why German? Because Queso Pero (Spanish) and Fromage Chien (French) just didn't sound right. 

Dessert:

We didn't have dessert with the meal, that would be for later, after another round of dog stuff. I'd

picked up a pre-made New York cheesecake while at the local bakery (Walmart) earlier. I don't have the patience to learn how to make a consistently good cheesecake at home. Plus there's no real reason to. The ingredients cost nearly as much as a pre-made cake. 

For the topping, I'd also picked up a bag of frozen whole blueberries. This I could do. Put a little butter in a small skillet, toss in blueberries, add just a little sugar, let heat, then smash with a spatula. Done. Serve with a fresh cup of coffee. . .Mmm, mmm good! 

There is very little in this world I love more than blueberry cheesecake. Not even Angel rises to this level. It's okay, Angel's always known this. It gives her a goal. A standard to try to live up to. 

Happy Birthday Dear!

Bobby Munzert’s

Hillsboro, Mo

http://www.bobbymunzerts.com/

It had been nearly a year since we’d been to Munzert’s. We went soon after it  first opened, and again a couple of months later. At the time we discussed new-restaurant concerns and gave them a break since they were just starting up.

Over a year into it, it was time to take the gloves off.

The Place:

Located at the intersection of Highway B and old 21 (Main Street) in Hillsboro. It was early in the evening and the place was less than 1/3 full. We were seated in a back-corner booth immediately. The place had changed a little, but not drastically. It was neat, clean, dark, and lined up with white tablecloths and folded navy-blue napkins enveloped the silverware settings. An oil candle burned on each table, the music was big-band swing and classic crooners, Tony Bennett, et al.

The hostess handed us menus and shortly one of the two or three floor staff asked for drink orders. Tea, unsweetened for me, because I’m already sweet enough, and sweetened for Angel, because, well lets just leave it there. Adam asked for a Coke/Pepsi, got a Coke.

The menu was smaller than I recalled. Sure enough, a couple of the items we’d ordered previously were no longer offered. If there was anything new it wasn’t apparent. They’d pared down the menu some, which is a good thing. It shows they react to customers’ wants. The remaining offerings covered a good deal of ground of the basics. Steak was the headliner, along with high end burgers and some pasta dishes. Picky children might not have a lot to choose from, but for adults the selection was just right. The wait staff moved around smoothly, professionally, smartly dressed in black pants and shirts.

The drinks were delivered in those heavy stemmed glasses I’d noted previously. The tea looked clear and bright, fresh, though not as strong as I would have preferred, but infinitely better than old bitter tea.

The Food:

Myself: 6 oz. Filet Mignon, Baked potato (with bacon, cheese, sour cream) and a Caesar Salad.

Angel: 9 oz New York Strip, Baked potato (sour cream) and Caesar Salad.

Adam: Blackened Chicken sandwich (no tomatoes), fries (non-spicy) and Caesar salad.

Our salads were delivered quickly, small portions (thankfully) along with soft, but not too soft rolls served with foil-wrapped pats of actual butter. The rolls were still warm enough to completely melt the butter, which sounds obvious enough but such a thing is rarer than one might imagine. In many places the butter is kept frozen, rock hard and short a thermonuclear event will never melt completely on even the warmest of rolls. Munzert’s had this right. The butter was not frozen, it wasn’t warm either, but those few degrees between ‘rock-hard’ and ‘soft enough to melt quickly’ are crucial to the enjoyment of buttered rolls.

The salads were simple, a few greens, some red onion and a couple of croutons, with a dressing that was not too strong, but certainly more than just oil and vinegar, just right. Served on clear, square, glass plates, it was small enough that it left room for the heavy meal to come. So far, so good.

The wait for the main courses was not long. Each plate was complete, no omissions, no mess, no mistakes. No steak sauce was offered, a good sign. A good steak doesn’t need A-1, and if A-1 improves your steak, it wasn’t really a good one. I appreciated their optimism. We were asked to check for doneness, we did, and were pleased. The steak-maker was a pro. Seared to crunchy on the outside, the pink line inside was just where it was supposed to be. The knives delivered with the steak were more than suitable for the task of breaking down these tender beauties.

The potatoes were clear of blemishes and cooked perfectly. I actually prefer an over-baked potato, I like the crispy skin, but this was done as perfectly as could be without actually initiating the cremation process. It was not over-topped, which was also good.

The filet melted beneath the knife, it sliced like butter. Each bite was tender, juicy and smoky. Angel made passionate moaning, gnawing sounds. She’d had a busy day and had not eaten much of anything.

Adam was making short work of his sandwich, and when asked, grunted a monosyllabic “Good.” Which if you will recall about as good as it gets. His fries however resulted in “Fine.” Which is still pretty good.  Actually I’d asked him if they were okay, he answered “Yeah”, but I know my son and can confidently translate what he said related into what he meant.

The pitcher ladies kept our drinks topped off, and even brought an extra glass filled with ice. “The tea’s hot when we pour it, there’s some more ice for you in case yours melts too fast.” She said to explain the gift. I appreciated more than she could possibly know. This meant the tea was fresh, very fresh. I was starting to get the notion that maybe they’d read my blog. (Earlier blogs complain of too little ice, and the refills being too seldom.)

I finished the vast majority of my steak, Angel all of hers, the sandwich and fries had disappeared completely.

Angel mentioned that it was good to see bread, the rolls that came with the salad were followed up by one each on the steak plates. I recalled that I’d mentioned a bread shortage in my last Munzert’s blog as well.

I asked Angel about her meal. “One good piece of meat.”

And I agreed. The steaks at Munzert’s are the best I’ve had anywhere around.  A couple of places have good steaks, Ruby Tuesdays’ even had a great one, once. These were obviously very good cuts/grades of meat. All the steaks we’ve had here are very, very good.

Summary:

 The service was spot-on, professional and efficient. The atmosphere was comfortable, causal but classy (considering the location). The price was higher than a quick dinner at Hillsboro’s other places, but in this case, well worth it. The bill was nearly fifty five dollars. I can pay the same at TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, Outback, etc. but the chains, oddly enough, lack consistency. Munzert’s has apparently decided to become a premier steakhouse, it shows in the choice of meat and the attention to detail when preparing it. Most people around Hillsboro can’t afford to pay that much for a meal very often, but at least we know we are going to get our money’s worth when we do.

Highly recommended!