Splash

I don't normally eat seafood but I went to Splash with the fam. What is a safe dish for a non-seafood eater? Shrimp of course! Actually, I've ordered chicken here before and it didn't taste very good--serves me right for not ordering what the restaurant specializes in.

http://www.splash-seafood.com/pdf/menu.pdf

I went with the Sake Grilled Shrimp. It comes with 4 very large pieces of shrimp, sweet potato mashed potatoes, black bean mango salsa. The seasonal vegetable I chose was the Brussels spouts smothered in some butter and bacon glaze--nice!

The shrimp was pretty big and tasted awesome--easily the best shrimp I've had in my limited shrimp experience. The sweet potato mashed potatoes are awesome as I love sweet potatoes. They are super pureed and definitely loaded with some butter and sugar. The sprouts were decent with the butter and bacon combo splash! The black bean mango salsa wasn't bad. Every single thing on the dish offered a unique flavor!

Many of you have been to Splash before but if you haven't, don't come here unless you plan to spend some cash! It's one of the higher end places in Des Moines. Great for a special occasion or if you really want to impress someone! The restaurant setting is multilevel and pretty awesome--reminds me of the 90s for some reason (that could be a good or a bad thing).

What's your favorite thing to order at Splash?

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

I got this recipe from the 100 days of crock pot recipes list I've previously blogged about. The recipe is at the below link:

http://www.stacymakescents.com/fix-and-forget-friday-crock-pot-chicken-cacciatore

In the recipe, I used corn starch as I didn't have arrowroot starch. I also didn't have garlic powder on me so I used 1 clove of fresh garlic which turned to be just about right for me. I recommend shredding the chicken at the 7 hour mark also so the flavor will get absorbed by the chicken.

I've actually made chicken cacciatore the old fashioned way before and I think this recipe is very solid version of the same thing, but easier since you are using a crock pot. The taste was pretty good, and the thickness isn't too bad. It could be slightly thicker but I don't think most people would complain. I like A LOT of sauce and I like it thick and this sauce met those needs for me for the most part. The ingredients are simple too!

I recommend this if you want to try to make your own pasta sauce. I've only made pasta sauces from scratch a few times and I think this is a pretty solid recipe to dip your toes into. Of course, if you want to be paleo, you don't want to use corn starch and you would want to find something paleo friendly to lay the sauce on.

Royal Mile - Fish n Chips

This is at least the 3rd time I've blogged about the Royal Mile so you should know they are my favorite place for a beer. I keep finding good dishes here as well.

Shane coerced me into trying the Fish and Chips, which I was told by many people are the best in Des Moines. I never order Fish and Chips...or fish for that matter anywhere. This, however, was really good! I generally avoid deep fried foods but these somehow have a lighter deep fried taste than normal deep fried food.

http://royalmilebar.com/menu

Not much for me to say here other than get the fish and chips if you remotely like fish! I would even order it again if I ever have an urge to have something on the deep fried side--hey, it still has fish in it!