Grain Elevator of Geronimo

At the Grain Bin, the veggies are as good as the meats, and I'm carnivorous.  Above is their German Potato Salad.  This is the place to go for homestyle cooking.  Also look for their squash casserole.  It's not on the menu, but is always listed on the blackboard specials.

The Grain Bin is situated somewhere between Geronimo, San Marcos, and New Braunfels.  I love places that are located somewhere.  T-123 is the easiest rout to the Grain Bin.  TX-123 runs from I-35 in San Marcos to I-10 in Seguin.  You will see the grain bin standing at the corner of TX-123 and Dennis Street.



Fried Mushrooms:

The mushrooms come out piping hot.  Let them sit for a minute or you will scald your tongue.  And once cooled, they are great.



Pork Chop Plate:

Pork chops come grilled or fried with a choice two veggies.  My girlfriend selected mashed potatoes and corn.  My waistline requires something less starchy.

Pork Snitzel Plate:

Here is a classic German plate:  Grilled pork schnitzel with hot German potato salad along with squash casserole to die for.

Chicken Fried Steak:

Texas quality chicken-fried steak, and in Texas, c-f steak better be good.  The sides on this dish include the squash casserole and the German potato salad.

Great Country Food in a Comfortable Country Atmosphere

Inc: Tomatillos Cafe & Cantina, San Antonio

Enchiladas!  That's why I come to Tomatillos in San Antonio.

Tomatillos is located on Broadway which runs parallel to US-281.  Just about any exit will take you to Broadway.  Tomatillos is south of Incarnate Word University.  This is a must stop when my daughter Michelle comes to town.  She has to have her enchilada fix.



Cheese Enchilada Plate:

Two cheese enchiladas are topped with a chili con carne sauce and then with melted cheese.  All dishes come with great refried beans and Mexican rice.  Cheese enchiladas are my favorite.



Fajita Quesadilla: 

Grilled oversize flour tortilla is stuffed with beef fajitas and jack cheese.  This is good stuff.  I can make a meal off of one of these.



Tres Colores Enchiladas:

Three enchiladas on this sampling plate.  The beef enchilada is topped with cheese.  The cheese enchilada is topped with chili con carne.  And the chicken enchilada is topped with tomatillo sauce.  

Ma Harper's Creole Kitchen

Look at that fried shrimp.  Ma Harper knows how to deep fry seafood.  This place is a find.  I heard of it 20 years ago, but it wasn't until 2012 that I first made my way there with a friend Tom.  We both have enjoyed visiting Ma Harpers for lunch.  Ma Harper is from Algiers, Louisiana, and has brought her Creole cooking skills to San Antonio for our delight. 

Ma Harper's is located off East I-410 right outside an entrance to Randolph Brooks Base.  During the week, the place is not crowded for lunch, and service there is excellent.  I prefer the lunch-time visits to the best authentic Creole food in San Antonio.  For years, she operated the New Orleans Cookery before moving this the current location and calling what it should be called: Ma Harpers.



Red Beans & Rice:

The mainstay of the New Orleans diet is Creole red beans and rice.  What makes it different is what is served with it.  The photo above is sausage.  Note: red beans in Louisiana means red kidney beans.

Ma also serves deep fried pork chops with her red beans.  All entrees come with corn bread.

Yes, fried shrimp makes a great accompaniment for Creole red beans as well.  You can get this dish with french fries instead, but why?


Jambalaya:

Jambalaya (pronounced jumbalaya) originated in the Caribbean and made it's way to Creole New Orleans and subsequently to the Cajun community of Southwest Louisiana.  Creole and Cajun jambalayas are different, the primary being that Creole has tomato in it, Cajun doesn't.  Jambalaya is absolutely my favorite dish, Creole or Cajun.  Note: In an earlier post, I explained how to make a Cajun jambalaya.


Gumbo:

Great Creole gumbo here  .... seafood and andouie sausage.   See the red in the sauce -- that's the tomato.  Her corn bread is great with gumbo.


Sunday Brunch:

Ma's Sunday Brunch is on my bucket list.  I heard that her family does some wonderful stuff on Sunday that they don't do the rest of the week.  And my guess is for you the expect a crowd that day.

Centerpoint Station of San Marcus

The bakery at Centerpoint Station opens at 7 a.m. daily which is great for take-outs if you're local or for road food if you're on a trip on I-35.  Look at the size of those Kolaches!

Centerpoint is located on the westside service road for I-35 at Exit 200 where the Centerpoint Outlet Mall is.  The restaurant opens for lunch at 11 a.m.  This is a great roadside stop if you're on a trip between San Antonio and cities north such as Austin, Waco, or Dallas-Fort Worth.  For more information about Centerpoint go to http://www.centerpointstation.com.


Bakery for Breakfast



Ham Kolache:

Nice smooth taste to this Kolache.  Great for lunch as well as breakfast.  Makes great road food.


Sausage Kolache:

This one's spicy and that's why I love it.  Also makes great road food.


Bacon Kolache:

This one's loaded with bacon and will be a mess in the car.  Get it anyway!



Pecan Roll:

Not all of the pecan rolls fit snug in a large to-go box.  Usually I get my to-go pastries after I eat my lunch at Centerpoint, but this roll was twice as large as the others so I purchased it immediately before anyone else grabbed it up.




Lunch in the Restaurant:

Cheese Burger:

What can I say, the burgers are large and the meat is great.  And they give you mayo in a cup instead of one of those horrible squeeze bags that don't open well.



Chicken Salad Croissant:

Usually I don't eat healthy for my blog, but the chicken salad was loaded with mayo and that made it okay.  See how flaky the croissant is ... that's the real thing!



Grilled Chicken Salad:

I would eat this dish for dinner when I'm trying to wind down my fat and carb and calorie intake for the day.  But not for lunch.



Bacon-Turkey Club Sandwich: 

This sandwich is loaded with bacon.  And a great bun as well.  I gave the bacon first billing over the turkey because there was more bacon than turkey on the club.



Sides



Homemade Chips:

If you are getting one of Centerpoint's huge sandwiches, you will be hard pressed to eat half of these wonderful chips.  I just toss a few drops of hot sauce in the ranch for a spicy dip.




Fried Pickles:

Golden fried whole pickles: they're rich so I was able to eat only one and a half of these.  Unfortunately deep fried foods don't nuke well later.

The Reel of Spring Branch

Look at this thick bisque.  The flavor reminds me of a cheese dish my mother made -- Welsh Rabbit.  This is one of many great dishes at the Reel.  Spring Branch is slowly acquiring a cache of really good restaurants and this is one of them.

The Reel Is found on TX-46 about five miles east of US-281.  The owner was in partnership with McAdoos in New Braunfels before taking his act to the west.  And we are grateful.


I like bread and butter:

The Reel bakes its own bread and at times flavors its butter with garlic.  Great starter for a fine meal.



Crawfish Bisque:

This is a cream bisque with cheese, tomato, and (my guess) a hint of Worcestershire Sauce.  The owner-chef can correct me if I'm wrong.



Creole Gumbo:

Nice thick gumbo with shrimp.  Stewed down in tomatoes.  This is really good stuff, and spicy.  Yes, very spicy.  Usually, I add Tabasco or Louisiana Hot sauce to my gumbo, but not here.



Lunch Trios:

This is a fun offering the Reel does.  Pick three items and they serve small portions of each on one plate.  Above is the crawfish bisque, crawfish po-boy, and catfish fillet.

Here's another trio: shrimp po-boy, shrimp taco, and shrimp gumbo.  I was in a shrimp mood.  The Reel calls their trio: Create Your Own Catch.



Seafood Cheese Enchilada:

The picture says it all.  The Reel has been able to combine both Tex-Mex and Louisiana cuisine for a bang-up dish.  This is my favorite!



Blackened Drum New Orleans:

The reel used its Mahi-Mahi dish to make drum.  Whenever Gulf drum is on the special board, I don't look at the menu.  The drum was blackened and topped with a Zydeco butter sauce.  This dish was served with a mixture of jambalaya and crawfish ettoufee.  I love drum any way it's cooked.



Fried Shrimp Plate:

Their fried seafood plates include shrimp, crawfish, oyster, and catfish.  All are perfectly deep fried.



The Po-Boys:

This is a meal.  Either eat it with a fork or as a sandwich.  This is the crawfish po-boy.

Here is my favorite -- the oyster po-boy, and look how big the oysters are.  This was a mess of food and a messy sandwich.  Just order extra napkins and enjoy.

Finally, the shrimp po-boy.  If I leave anything on my plate, it's the fries.  The shrimp is history as soon as the plate is served.



Crawfish Platter:

Here's where it's at if you're a crawfish lover.  Crawfish ettoufee and fried crawfish tails.  If you can't eat the whole thing, finish the fried tails and do takeouts with the ettoufee.  Ettoufee reheats better in the microwave than the fried crawfish.

For more info on the Reel and their menu go to http://www.reelseafoodhouse.com.

Blanco Barbecue, San Antonio

This is a photo of left overs from a great meal at the Blanco Barbecue in San Antonio.  Yes you can take it with you.

There are two loops in San Antonio, and knock on wood, neither have tolls.  Take one of the loops, I-410 or 1604 to Blanco Road.  If on I-410, then go north on Blanco.  If on Loop 1604, then go south on Blanco.  The place is on the west side (south-bound lane) of Blanco Road.

Pecan Smoked Meats:

I have done a lot of smoking over the years and found that pecan is the most available wood that gives a great flavor to meats.   Oak has to be green or the flavor is too harsh.  Mesquite, green or not, puts a strong flavor into the meats.  Hard hardwoods work the best (pecan and hickory) to gently flavor the meats with smoke.  Blanco Barbecue uses pecan to smoke their meats.

Bar-B-Q Meats



Spare Ribs:

The pork ribs are so lean that you wonder if there's any fat at all.  But there is ... just enough to flavor the meat.  Look how perfectly smoked they are.  Something about a pecan smoked flavor on pork.




Brisket:

Blanco only smokes up Angus beef.  And the brisket has just enough fat to flavor the meat without it being greasy.  Some places have too little fat and the brisket tastes bland.



Pulled Pork:

This dish has to be they're best product.  I know people who do not like barbecue and like Blanco's pulled pork cooked down in their homemade sauce.


Smoked Turkey:

I used to smoke meats for a family reunion and smoked turkey was always the first item that we ran out of.  Look at this turkey ... moist, smoke-pink rim, and lean breast meat.  Doesn't get any better than that.

Smoked Sausage:

The smoked sausage at Blanco Barbecue is the deal breaker.  Many barbecue places have great meats, but fall short on the sausage because it's too fatty or the meat is insipid.  Not at Blanco Barbecue.  The sausage has taste and is as lean as sausage gets.    



Smoked Barbecue Chicken:

Look at this:  the picture speaks for itself.  Half a chicken with crisp skin.  I could just eat the skin.  Anybody out there on a fat free diet, I'll eat the skin and you can have the breast meat.  Contact me, I'm serious.  I'll have the wings and thighs as well.



The Sides



Mac-n-Cheese:

This side is the all time favorite of the staff and most of them are under the age of 20.  The cheese sauce is thick, not runny like in other places.  Get an order of Blanco's lean smoked sausage and mac-n-cheese, and you have a great feast.



Steak Fries:

The French fries still have the skin on them and are sliced big and well salted.




Potato Salid:

Next to the mac-n-cheese, I like Blanco's potato salad.  Great stuff and they have all of those green and red things in in the salad to make it taste better.



Stewed Green Beans:

If you're on a low carb diet, this is the way to go.  Meat and beans.  The green beans are cooked in onions, tomato, and bacon.  Really good stuff.

They do large orders & cater:

Here is ten pounds of brisket.  Remember, this is Angus beef.

Their Monster Platter:

Blanco Barbecue calls this their Mixed Platter: I call it the Monster Platter.  Left to right: ham, sausage, pulled pork, brisket, ribs with sides of mac-n-cheese and potato salad.  And no, I didn't clean the platter.  Had to take a rib and the ham home for later.

For more information on Blanco Bar-B-Q go to blancobbq.com.