RESTAURANT REVIEW : LAKIS GREEK RESTAURANT – OCALA

Colours Plaza, 3405 SW College Rd #107

http://places.singleplatform.com/lakis-greek-and-italian-restaurant/menu

 Tucked away in a small shopping center

This is a restaurant my wife and I have been visiting since we arrived in Florida way back in 1989. It is one of our favorite places. We have watched all their kids grow up. They are like family.

I am not a guy who tries different things when I go out to eat. I hate to spend money on something I may not like, so I am a bit conservative in my choices. BUT, this place has something for everyone. Their Greek food is top notch, and their PIZZA is about the best in town.

But I go for the BAKED SPAGHETTI with Mushrooms. Man, there is nothing better.

The Sketti comes with a Greek salad that I give to Penny. She orders the GYRO.

But I always go for the sketti and Garlic Bread.

Watch OUT...The plate is HOT !!!!

Words can not convey how good this is. It's the best in town.

Yum yum

Good food and a great atmosphere

When My wife and I were restoring our historic home downtown, we lived on their carry out.

So the next time you get a hankering for some great food, run out State Road 200 and stop by LAKIS. You won't be sorry.

THE DESERT DISASTER - STRAWBERRY BROWNIES

Every once in a while, something will go terribly wrong. I 

mean straight into the bowels of hell. You think you have 

studied the recipe and followed it to the letter. This was the 

case of the famous 'STRAWBERRY BROWNIE DISASTER

OF 2017” I mean, we're talking a full F.U.B.A.R. here. It 

looked so easy to make and was going so well too. I took them 

out of the oven and let them cool for a while then put them on 

a rack to finish cooling. 

LOOK GREAT, RIGHT ?

Thirty minutes later I realized the soft Brownie mix had 

OOZED through the openings in the rack. 

It was one hell of a mess. It was a gooey, gooey mess. Just like 

the blob that ate Los Angeles, only in RED.

It also reminded me of some of my ex wife's cooking. But 

that's another story.

But I learned something. I learned that I should have cooked 

them a little longer AND NOT put them on a rack. (In all 

honestly, the rack was my wife's idea) They should go on a 

plate. Or just leave the little bastards in the pan. Following 

RULE SEVEN, I tried again the other day. I did some more 

research and found a couple of other variations of this theme.

 And I found some good tips that really helped me out. The 

second attempt was a raving success. 

 

With these tips in mind, lets give it another shot.

STRAWBERRY BROWNIES


http://www.familysavvy.com/pinned-it-tried-it-strawberry-brownies/

Here is what you need for the cake part
1 box of strawberry cake mix.
2 eggs.
⅓ cup of oil.


And the GLAZE
1 cup of powdered sugar.
1-2 tbsps of water or milk. (I used water)


In a mixing bowl, combine the strawberry cake mix, eggs and oil and beat until well combined.

Don't panic, this stuff is GOOEY … (I 'pushed' it into the pan with my hands sprayed with oil)
In an 8” square baking pan lined with parchment paper, (I lined the bottom and sprayed the sides with cooking oil) spread the batter and bake in a preheated oven to 350° for 20-25 minutes.

 (Cooking time depends on your OVEN. Keep your eye on things)



 To make the glaze, you need to mix the powdered sugar and water until smooth then spread it over the brownies.

Mix powdered sugar and water until smooth. Add just enough water until thick but spreadable.
Pour glaze over brownies, spreading to edges.
Allow brownies to cool and glaze to set before cutting into squares.

Let cool before cutting and serving. I found it best to LEAVE it in the pan. Let it cool then you can put it in the fridge box.


I served it with Ice Cream and a bit of Whipped Cream. It was good and rich. It had the same texture as a chocolate brownie.

REMEMBER, the moral of the story. When you screw something up, TRY AGAIN !!!!


Enjoy!

PRIME RIB

      I love Prime Rib. It's my favorite thing in the whole wide world.

      That being said, why in the hell would you pay $25.00 to go out and only get ONE slice of this delicious steak ??

     I got this off the LONGHORN web site. Basically fifty bucks for 2 people.  We got a 3 LB prime rib on sale for $15.00.  

      You think it's hard to make ? Well, you are so so wrong my friend.

      This is one of the shortest recipes I have. Seriously. It takes no time at all.

      It is so easy and quick, you have time for some cute kitty pictures.

 “He said something about a mouse?”

“What's a 'bucket list'”

     OK, time to get to work.

     You have your prime rib, right?

     Salt and Pepper it all around. Put in a baking pan along with 2 Table spoons of oil. Or you can use a little butter and some BACON FAT....

     Brown that puppy (or should I say KITTY?) on all sides.

      Now this will sizzle and throw grease all over the stove. Live with it. Or get a really good fan.

     Ours sounds like a 747 on take off, and boy does it SUCK.

     Now that you have browned the meat. You're done. That's all you ask? Yep. That's all folks. Could it be simpler ?  'I don't think so, Tim'.

     Throw that thing in a 350 degree oven and cook for an hour (or until the internal temp is 140 degrees) Time for a beer.

     Let it rest for ten minutes. It's had a hard day.

     After ten minutes or so, cut it up and serve. 

      We served ours with the Baked Potatoes we made. And a beer.

     You won't find a better Prime Rib meal anywhere. For what you would pay at a restaurant, your wasting your hard earned money by eating out. This is one of the quickest meals we make.

     And we have time for another kitty picture. You don't get that when you eat out.

      Enjoy !!!

BAKED POTATOES

LET'S BAKE SOME TATERS

Baked potatoes. Just the words inspire me.  Not only are they 

one of the easiest things to make, you're talking about my

favorite tater. Well, next to fries and mashed. 

But first a word about using a Microwave Oven. 

DON'T DO IT !!!

STEP AWAY FROM THE MICROWAVE !!!!!

There are several reasons for not microwaving potatoes.

Microwaves do not heat evenly. Part of the potato will be at 

the correct temperate while other parts will not. This variance 

can be upwards of 30 degrees.

Micro waves also does funny things to the starch of the potato. 

I will spare you the chemistry lesson.

Micro waves turn the skin into leather and looks like hell. You 

might as well just save the time and eat your shoe.

So leave the microwave for heating water. Period.

SO here's how to properly bake a tater. Trust me on this.

STEP 1 OPEN A BEER – Drink it.

 

PICK OUT THE BIGGEST DAMN TATERS YOU CAN 

FIND. If you don't have any taters, you might want to hold off 

on the beer, and go to the store. BTW, Use only RUSSERT 

POTATOES.

Back from the store ? Good. Now you can drink that beer 

while you wash them little devils.

Place your oven rack in the middle position and pre heat to

400 degrees. If you have a GAS grill that will hold your

temperature at 400 you can use it, but I like the oven method. 

If you are cooking something else that calls for 350 degrees, 

don't despair. You can use that temp as well. You just have to

cook these boys a little longer.  In our case we were also doing

Prime Rib, so we set the oven for 350. All was well.

With a fork, pretend those taters are your ex wife and stab that 

bitch six or seven  times.

Feel better? I know I did. 

Put 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and stir in 2 Tablespoons of 

salt. You may need more water depending on the size of the 

taters. I needed a cup and a half. (Two LARGE taters) Just 

adjust salt based on the water you use.

 

Add potatoes and soak for just a couple of minutes. (Two 

minutes and 5 and a half seconds should do it)

Put potatoes on a wire rack and put rack into a rimmed sheet 

lined with foil. This is so the heat distributes EVENLY around 

the tater, and is the most important step of the day.

Bake until the internal temperature of the tater hits 205 

degrees. Use your handy dandy probe thingy.

Have a beer

When the taters hit 205, remove from the oven and brush each 

one with vegetable oil.

Return to oven and bake for an additional ten minutes.

Remove potatoes from oven and, using paring knife, make 

two slits, forming an “X”, in each potato. Using pot holders, 

hold ends and squeeze slightly to push flesh up and out. 

Or you can do it my way and just slice that puppy down the 

center. 

Put a bunch of butter on top. Season with a little salt and a lot 

of pepper. I'll pass on the sour cream. But if you want to ruin 

it, go ahead. 




Oh, and while you are screwing it up throw on 

some green chives for color. You can serve yours with a 

Cosmopolitan.

I would have included more pictures but taters are taters. Not 

much to look at , but BOY ARE THEY GOOD !!!

Serve with chicken or steak.  In this case, we had PRIME 

RIB!!

CHEATER CHICKEN

     This is my favorite Chicken recipe because it is so simple and easy. It is almost like cheating in the kitchen. Thus the name.

      It all starts with 1 stick of KERRY GOLD GARLIC & HERB butter. It is the heart of the whole recipe.

You will also need:

1 LB OF SMALL RED POTATOES

6 CHICKEN LEGS

      You can use combination of Legs and Thighs. (Just don't crowd the pan) We used 6 legs because that's what we had in the freezer. Normally I would use ALL thighs.

      Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butter into 4 or 5 pieces and put in a 9 x 11 baking dish. Put the dish into the oven until the butter is melted.

      While the butter is melting take your potatoes and cut those puppies in half.

      Now that the butter is melted, put the taters and the chicken in the butter. Roll ever thing around a bit to get them all coated with the butter.

      Add a bit of Salt & Pepper

      Bake 30 minutes, then turn over chicken

      Bake another 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

Doesn't that look great !!

     That's all there is to it !! It's beyond simple, and makes for a great weekday meal. No need to say “I don't have time to cook.” 

I served mine with Lima Beans... and a beer !!

ENJOY !!!

RESTAURANT REVIEW : THE LUNCHBOX

      Since we had to make a trip downtown for the farmers market we decided to have an early Saturday lunch. And the choice today was the Lunchbox.

      Located in downtown Ocala, the Lunchbox has been a staple for breakfast and lunch for several years.

      We lived in the Downtown Historic District for over 25 years and saw many restaurants come and go in this location. The best was Abios's, a wonderful Italian restaurant. We spent many an evening walking downtown to the bars and restaurants. The Lunchbox and Harry's are our favorites. And of course, Marks Steak House when I can afford it. And there are a couple of new places I want to try.

     Now the location at the corner of S.E. 1st Avenue and East Fort King is housed by the Lunchbox, a small but great little place. They are open for breakfast and lunch MON-SAT 7AM to 2:30 PM.

Old lunch boxes on display

      One of the reasons we have not gone more often was the fact that they only served “waffle Fries.” They are not my favorite so we avoided lunch time at the Lunchbox.

     Also known for their great breakfasts we noticed a few months ago they now serve regular fries, so we decided to check out their lunch menu. In my quest for the “Best Burger” in town, I chose the Bacon Cheeseburger while Penny had the Patty Melt.

     Make sure you have plenty of napkins because these burger are JUICY !!!! Mine came with Onion, Lettuce, tomato, and of course BACON.

I was so excited about eating this delight the picture came out a LITTLE out of focus...

      The burger was superb and is definitely in the run for the “Best Burger In Ocala”. Penny thought the onions on her patty melt could have been cooked a bit more. Since I don't care for cooked onions on a burger, I can not comment. 

      I had un sweet tea with my burger and it was some of the best tea I have ever had. Most restaurants dilute their tea as they want to get as much out of a batch as they can. This tea was good.

      The fries were perfect and were NOT over salted. This is a problem in many restaurants. They tend to over season the fries. You can always add salt to your fries, but you can't take any away. (Take note Mr FIVE GUYS)

      With a seating capacity of only 53, you should be prepared to wait awhile for a table. However our short wait was worth the time invested.

     They have a wide assortment of breakfast and lunch dishes. The biscuits and gravy looked delicious. 

  

      Do not expect the servers to fall all over you. They are busy and do their job well. Our server was friendly and attentive. I am not a big fan of servers who want to take up my time 'visiting'. Don't worry, you'll get your tip.

     Lunch aside, they also serve an AWESOME breakfast and some of the best coffee in town.

     All in all, it was a great experience and a great lunch. One of the best places in Ocala.

http://thelunchboxocala.com/ Check out the menu