A Matter Of Taste Café

A Matter Of Taste Café Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from A Matter Of Taste Café, American restaurant, 14121 7th Street, Dade City, FL.
(205)

Lunch at Olio
08/25/2023

Lunch at Olio

Olio‘s Italian restaurant is now taking applications for all positions: front of the house, back of the house, lunchtim...
08/22/2023

Olio‘s Italian restaurant is now taking applications for all positions: front of the house, back of the house, lunchtime, dinner, weekends, part-time, and full-time. I think that about covers it. Come to the restaurant to apply, the windows are covered, but the front door is unlocked during the day. you’re going to be shocked when you step inside. It’s absolutely beautiful. Stay tuned for updates, we are getting very close to opening night.

Poor old, dumb me! I never thought to ask if any of our customers had a picture of the Apollonia. But Jackson Raleigh Ca...
07/03/2023

Poor old, dumb me! I never thought to ask if any of our customers had a picture of the Apollonia. But Jackson Raleigh Campbell came to my rescue. Thanks so much for sharing the favorite photo. It’s in my collection now.

Grilled Fish ApollonianI’ve been wanting to post this recipe for Apollonia for three months, but I couldn’t find a pictu...
07/03/2023

Grilled Fish Apollonian

I’ve been wanting to post this recipe for Apollonia for three months, but I couldn’t find a picture for it. I still can’t! I’ve searched through iPhones, iPads, mini iPads, laptops, and came up with nothing. So I gave up. I will include our recipe for Greek salad dressing , which is a vital part of this dish.
I am going to assume that you know how to make yellow rice… No? OK, we always used Vigo yellow rice coloring. So you start with having your yellow rice prepared.
Grill a fillet of mild white fish, ( cod,pollock, Swie, tilapia, etc.). anything except salmon! I’ve never had a bite of salmon, that I thought was decent… But that’s just me! I have to admit right here that my nephew, Todd Whaley at Whaley‘s Blazin BBQ makes a smoked salmon, hors d’oeuvre platter that everyone says is to die for, and I mean EVERYONE.
When you grill fish, there is a small window that lies between Undercooked Half Raw and Overcooked Dried Out! I’m depending on you to hit that window.
Now lay that perfectly grilled fillet over a bed of yellow rice.
Top that fillet with a mixture of diced tomatoes, chopped red onion, sliced black olives, and crumbled, feta cheese; about 1 to 1 1/2 cups.
 Now for the Coup de Grace. Drizzle about 3 to 4 ounces of our Greek dressing over this now colorful entrée.
So enjoy.

Greek Dressing

 16 ounces red wine vinegar
16 ounces olive oil
1 cup dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon anchovy paste (optional)

The dressing is better if it is prepared the day before to allow the flavors to amalgamate. 

OK I’ve been off for six weeks without a post. I am enjoying retirement, but I didn’t realize I would stay so busy. But ...
06/30/2023

OK I’ve been off for six weeks without a post. I am enjoying retirement, but I didn’t realize I would stay so busy. But it’s a good kind of busy… Busy, but without deadlines or schedules. I remember Sylvia Young was in the restaurant shortly after she retired and I asked her how it was going. She said “Jim, some days I don’t even comb my hair!“ We had a good laugh over that, but now I can truly relate to it. Anyway, we will resume with the recipes this Monday with grilled fish Apollonia. Please forgive me, but I must share one more story. Charlotte Kiefer loved GFA and always ordered it. She would have lunch with a friend who never ordered the Apollonia, but always wondered how it “came together“ since it was a combination of hot and cold ingredients. Charlotte said “I think she wants me to give her some of mine… But that ain’t gonna happen!“ Charlotte always kept us howling.  I have so many wonderful memories from 26 years at AMOT. So many wonderful people. I’ll see you Monday. 

West Indies Bread PuddingCuban Bread (1 -36” loaf)Half gallon whole milk Half pound butter Half cup brown sugar Half cup...
05/15/2023

West Indies Bread Pudding

Cuban Bread (1 -36” loaf)
Half gallon whole milk
Half pound butter
Half cup brown sugar
Half cup sugar
Dash of cinnamon
Six. Eggs.
One can guava shells
One can guava marmalade
One can mixed fruit in heavy syrup
Handful of raisins
Six. Maraschino cherries.

Cut up Cuban bread into cubes and soak overnight with the milk in a covered bowl

Next day mix together the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the cans of fruit, including the juices. Dice up the guava shells. Add the raisins and the diced maraschino cherries. Mix all together then add the melted butter.

Pour  over the bread and mix my hand to ensure the bread is thoroughly soaked.

Pour into a buttered 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake in a Bain Marie (water bath) at 350° and check every 30 minutes.

We serve this with vanilla bean ice cream with hot buttered rum sauce over the top. 

This has been a Lona exclusive for the past 15 years. No one else touches it!

Quiche Quiche has traditionally been a dish of elegance. It carries an aura of richness, and appears at many social gath...
05/08/2023

Quiche

Quiche has traditionally been a dish of elegance. It carries an aura of richness, and appears at many social gatherings of high import. But don’t let that scare you away.  It is so simple, so easy, and absolutely fool proof in its production. Just don’t let your guests know that it didn’t take hours and hours of hard kitchen toil. Let them admire your culinary skills.
We bake our quiche in a Pyrex glass pie dish with frozen puff pastry. But you can use a deep dish pie crust. Both are available in the frozen section of any supermarket.

Ingredients

Five eggs
1 pint of whole milk
Puff pastry or pie shell
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Filling (usually cheese, meat, and vegetables)

1.  preheat your oven to 350°.
2.  in a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and seasonings.
3. Poor mixture into your pie pan and add about 2 cups of filling.
4. Bake approximately 45 minutes.

Fresh vegetables should be blanched, or you can use frozen or canned. Our most popular were:
Spinach & crumbled feta
Broccoli & cheddar
Quiche Lorraine (Swiss, bacon, onion, & a little nutmeg)

Go knock’em dead!

Greek Potato Salad (this recipe was slated for Monday, May 1 but Carole and I will be on a cruise with some of my Jackso...
04/28/2023

Greek Potato Salad

(this recipe was slated for Monday, May 1 but Carole and I will be on a cruise with some of my Jacksonville Paxon high school class of 1966 and who knows what shape I’ll be in on Monday)

I think I’ll start by listing what is not in this recipe.
NO: mayonnaise, boiled egg, mustard, or pickle relish. This will tell you it is not southern potato salad (which I also dearly love).

1. Red bliss, potatoes (halved with skin on and boiled until tender.).

2. Chop finely bell pepper, Spanish, onion, and fresh parsley.

3. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried oregano.

4. Miracle Whip and a wee bit of sugar .

After draining and cooling the potatoes, mash with all the other ingredients. Leave the jackets on the potatoes. I’m sorry I can’t include the amounts as I don’t know how much you are making. Add enough miracle whip to make it creamy. 

This recipe was given to us by original owners, Peter and Helen Panagakis.

Fried Green Tomatoes (In case you’re wondering what this is all about, when we closed the restaurant on March 31 a lot...
04/24/2023

Fried Green Tomatoes 

(In case you’re wondering what this is all about, when we closed the restaurant on March 31 a lot of people asked if we would share some recipes. So every Monday we share a new recipe.)

The first thing you may notice is that we don’t use cornmeal. I like cornmeal on fried catfish but not on FGT. Another thing is we keep our dredge and seasoned flour in a prep cooler at 35°. To me this simulates, the Asian tempura style of deep frying where ice water is added to the dredge and flour. It creates kk a light fluffy texture.

1. Slice green tomato into half inch slices. and hold an ice water.

2. Dip slices, one by one and a dredge of egg, milk, and ranch dressing.

3. Dip slices in seasoned flour (salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Pat by hand to create an even coating.

4. Deep fry at 350° or pan fry in 1/2 inch of oil for about two minutes on each side.

5. Drain on paper towels.

6. Serve with ranch or remoulade sauce.

I hold my age in one hand…He holds my future in His hands.Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes, I am truly too ...
04/22/2023

I hold my age in one hand…He holds my future in His hands.
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes, I am truly too blessed to be stressed. May God continue to bless all of you.

Cuban Roast PorkThis is a family favorite and comes from the dish that is the centerpiece of the Noche Buena Cuban Chr...
04/17/2023

Cuban Roast Pork
This is a family favorite and comes from the dish that is the centerpiece of the Noche Buena Cuban Christmas celebration. However, our method does differ from the traditional recipe. While historically the leg of pork was the cut used, we opt for the pork shoulder butt. And instead of thin slices, we shred our roast.
While the purist may howl it is our most popular hot entrée. This recipe is designed for 8 to 10 pounds of pork. (bone in or boneleas)

1. Cut up the pork into chunks the size of your fist and place in a roaster pan.

2. Pour equal parts of Mojo and sour orange enough to cover the meat. We use La Lechonera brand marinading sauce and their bitter orange. But we have used Goya at times satisfactorily.

3. season with salt and pepper, and a heavy dose of garlic powder and a handful of dried oregano.

4. Get your hands in there and rub and mix everything together!

5. Cover and place in a warm oven (225 to 250°). Cook overnight (we cook ours about 12 hours).

6. Use a potato masher to shred the hot pork.

And that’s exactly how we do it.

Black Bean Soup We have always cooked our black beans in 5 gallon batches and I know that’s probably too much for most o...
04/10/2023

Black Bean Soup

We have always cooked our black beans in 5 gallon batches and I know that’s probably too much for most of you. So I’m trying to reduce our original recipe down to a manageable pot starting with 1 pound of dried black beans.

1. Soak the beans overnight in 2 to 3 quarts of water.

2. Drain the beans, rinse with cold water and place in a soup pot with 2 quarts of chicken stock. Make sure to strain the chicken stock. Cook over medium heat.

3. Add 1 tablespoon each of salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons each of ground cumin and dried oregano.

4. In a side skillet make a Sofrito consisting of: 1/2 cup olive oil, one chopped bell pepper, one small onion, chopped and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic. Sauté for about 8 to 10 minutes.

5. As the the beans are coming to a boil add the sofrito to the pot and cover. Lower the heat.

6. Cook until tender.

Throughout this entire process, the beans need to be stirred often to prevent sticking. 

Enjoy

Address

14121 7th Street
Dade City, FL
33525

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 8pm
Tuesday 11am - 8pm
Thursday 11am - 8pm
Friday 11am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+13525675100

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when A Matter Of Taste Café posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to A Matter Of Taste Café:

Shortcuts

Share

Category