Flavor Isle (Smiths Grove, KY)

Bike:  KTM Super Duke R

Route:  Google Maps

I first noticed Flavor Isle while I was passing through Smiths Grove on my way to Porky Pig Diner a few weeks ago. I've occasionally stopped in Smiths Grove for gas, but that's about it. I really didn't know there was any decent place to eat here, and I had no idea there was a burger joint this cool. After asking around, I'm surprised I never heard about Flavor Isle before -- it's been here forever! It has belonged to the current owner for nearly 50 years, and I don't know if it was around before 1964 or not. But it's been around a lot longer than I have.

I really thought I could fit this ride into a normal one-hour lunch break, and I almost did. But two missed turns on the way back turned into 25+ extra miles of fun, so I was a little bit late. No worries. It's hard to get too lost for too long around here, and it's fun to ride new roads even if you don't know where they're heading, or whether they're heading anywhere at all...

It's Spring, but not quite Springtime.

I-65.

Smiths Grove, KY is located at I-65 Exit 38. At the exit, head North past the fast food joints and across the railroad tracks. You'll find Flavor Isle at First & Main, about a mile from the I-65 exit in the center of the Historic District. It really is sad to think about all the people who never make it past McDonalds or Wendy's. Poor people. I used to be one of those people.

Buggy Parking I.

Antiques I.

Antiques II.

First & Main.

Here we are...

Ice cream. You scream. Smiths Grove was featured in Halloween.

Flavor Isle.

You can order & eat outside (two tables), or you can order & eat inside (four tables). You could probably even order inside & eat outside, or order outside & eat inside!

Bacon Cheeseburger, Fries, and a Chocolate Milkshake.

VERDICT:  I talked to another customer who said he'd been visiting for 38 years and that his Mom had been coming for many years before he was born. I can see why Flavor Isle has been in business for so long -- it's a great place to grab a burger and shake.

They are proud of the fact that they make their own patties out of fresh, never frozen, ground beef. It's a friendly place with character, and it might take a few minutes longer than the drive-thrus down the street, but I can't imagine going to those places while I can get a good fresh made-to-order meal for the same price here! And there's nothing wrong with relaxing on the patio with a milkshake while the rest of your meal is prepared.

Flavor Isle reminds me a lot of Berties in Brownsville. Both are small places with bigger menus than you might expect. And like the ladies at Berties, Gail at Flavor Isle wouldn't tell me what their specialty was -- she just said everything was good, and I might as well believe her because she certainly make a mean burger! She also told me that the owner, Joyce, would be having some sort of 50th Anniversary celebration in 2014 where she sells everything at 1964 prices. I do not want to miss that...

Flavor Isle.

Smiths Grove is a neat little town to drive through. It feels like a lot of other old railroad towns that used to be bigger, but as the second-largest town in Warren County it is a healthy community. I'm not sure if the antiques business is still going strong here or if it has seen better days, but the Historic District definitely has some cool old buildings.

Antiques III.

The Victorian House B&B is for sale across the street from Flavor Isle. I almost stopped and bought it, but then I remembered I left that $700,000 at home because I was just running out for a burger.

Antiques IV.

This is about the last place I expected to see a MMA Gym, but there it is... in an old antiques shop, of course.

I-65.

Buggy.

I'm guessing it used to be a school, but school is not in session anymore. Oh, and horse poop.

Horse Shoeing & Saddle Shop.

Whoops.

Now I know that had I taken that second left above, I would have been home a lot sooner. But getting a little turned around in Horse & Buggy territory and riding through some nice farmland I've never seen before wasn't so bad. Anyway, I'll remember that turn next time!

I guessed left...

...and left was most definitely not right.

I had to choose left this time, which would have been right the first time. Technically, left and right were both wrong.

I ended up heading back towards Smiths Grove. It took me a minute to realize that, and now I realize that when it's cloudy and road signs are missing, it's easy for these things to happen.

Yeah, that's the same Horse & Buggy from 30 minutes ago. They've covered some ground since I last saw them, but I covered more.

Buggy Parking II.

The Dam Store's still closed, baby. The Dam Store is still closed...

KTM Super Duke R, cleaner than usual.

Barren River Lake Dam.

If you gotta run into the Po-Po, a stop sign is a good place to do it!

Headin' home, ahead of the storm...

Planned Route.

Route.

UPDATE (6/20/12):  Stopped in for some Ice Cream on the first evening of Summer 2012...

Flavor Isle.

Oreo Blizzard & Small Swirl Ice Cream Cone.

VOICE BEHIND ME:  What are you doing?
ME:  Taking a picture.
VBM:  I know.  But of an ice cream cone?
ME:  OK, I see your point...

I'm telling y'all, this is hard work.

Historic District, Smiths Grove, KY
Summer Solstice 2012
6:50pm

UPDATE (4/4/14):  I learned today that the 50th Anniversary celebration is scheduled for May 3rd (also Kentucky Derby day).  They will be serving items from the 1964 menu at 1964 prices, which means hot dogs for $0.15 and milkshakes for $0.25.  Too cool!

UPDATE (5/3/14):  So the big day arrived, and sure enough they were serving up the 1964 menu items at 1964 prices. We were too late to get any hot dogs, but we had a fine time on 65 cents...

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Three Days of Corned Beef (Recipes)

On Saint Patrick's Day this year it occurred to me that we've never made the traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage. Actually, I've never done anything with corned beef. It had been on my mind because of this post over at Big Red Kitchen -- it was the mention of Horseradish Gravy and Irish Eggs Benedict that caught my attention and got stuck in my head for a few days. So, I went to the grocery that morning and bought a corned beef brisket (surprised they weren't sold out), and all the other stuff to keep this going for a few days.

None of these recipes are original, so I'm not going into a lot of detail, but I'll provide the links to the recipes I did use.



DAY 1:  The first step was cooking the usual corned beef & cabbage. I used this recipe from AllRecipes.com because it looked super simple, and it was. To make it even easier, I used the baby carrots. It turned out great (it's pretty much foolproof), but what made it special was the horseradish gravy. Here's the recipe from Kitchen Klique that BRK provided. As suggested, I tripled the recipe. Next time I'll make even more.

Corned Beef & Cabbage, enhanced by Horseradish Gravy.

Bingo!

No joke, I'll make corned beef again just so I can make the gravy again (the broth from your corned beef is critical). Even if you're like my wife and you don't like corned beef, you'll like this gravy on your vegetables and just about anything else.



DAY 2:  Time to make Corned Beef Hash. The only time I ever eat corned beef hash is for breakfast while camping, usually mixed up with an egg, a bunch of cheese, and a ton of ketchup. Like Dinty Moore Beef Stew, I never particularly liked it, but for some reason I enjoy both while camping in cold weather. I never considered that corned beef hash might actually taste good if you make it fresh instead of eating it out of a can.

I used another recipe from AllRecipes.com that looked really simple, and it was. If you try it, use three potatoes instead of six. I used some reserved broth from the night before.

Corned Beef Hash + Egg & Ketchup.

Bingo!

As expected, it was much better than the store-bought canned version. My assistant even liked it, and I couldn't get him to eat more than one bite of the other stuff while camping. Even though he was sick, he asked for more this time.



DAY 3:  This is what I'd been looking forward to -- Irish Eggs Benedict. I rarely make Eggs Benedict because the Hollandaise Sauce is intimidating. It's really not that hard to get right, but all the recipes I see are replete with warnings about how you have to use a double boiler and even then you'll probably still fail miserably on your first attempt. They really take the fun out of it. But this recipe from BRK looked easy enough, and I already had the corned beef hash and the horseradish gravy ready to go.

Irish Eggs Benedict.

Bingo!

Awesome. I did a couple things different from the recipe -- I poached the eggs and I just used the leftover corned beef hash from the previous day. Of course I screwed up the Hollandaise sauce on the first try -- I got distracted and let the egg yolks scramble a bit and make everything clumpy. On the second try I made sure to remove it from the heat as soon as it was warmed through and it was perfect. It really is easy if you pay attention!

We definitely saved the best for last (logistically, you kinda have to) and it was a fine way to end Three Days of Corned Beef.

The obligatory motorcycle or Corvette pic that has nothing to do with nothing.
Turn 1 Lap 1 of the 2012 Red Bull Indy GP @ IMS.

FUTURE PROJECT:  Next time, we're going to use Meathead's recipe to cure our own corned beef brisket. Meathead has never led me wrong before, and I have no doubt the homemade version will be much better than the store-bought brisket. I've already ordered the Pink Curing Salt, so hopefully we can do this soon.

And I hope to do two -- one to cook traditionally and use for the above recipes again, and a second to smoke and make Pastrami. I've never tried any recipes that take much more than 24 hours (brined smoked turkey, maybe?) or 72 hours at the most (does 3-day pizza dough count?), so anything that takes a week or more will be something new for sure...

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Deep-Fried Wood-Fired Pizza (Recipe)

If you're anything like me, you probably had two thoughts when you saw the title:

1. Huh?
2. I can't even believe that's something that's real!

This idea is not at all original. My Pizza Oven Coach, Double-A-Ron, made me aware of it with this article from Slice that shows how they do it at Forcella, and also this video that shows how they do it at Don Antonio. Apparently it's known as The Montanara. Sounds good to me. If you clicked through to those links, you aren't going to see anything new below. But I thought some of the pictures were cool enough to share, so here we are...


INGREDIENTS:

• Pizza Dough
• Pizza Toppings
• Vegetable Oil (we used Grapeseed Oil)

STEPS:

• Make Pizza Dough.
• Deep-Fry Pizza Dough.
• Build Pizza.
• Cook Pizza.

The dough is pretty simple... just four ingredients.

Mix it up.

Let it rise.

We made two pies.

Stretch & shape the dough before frying it for about a minute in the oil (~350 degrees), flipping it over at some point along the way. Applying pressure with something like this skimmer does help you shape it correctly. Before frying it, you can poke some holes in the middle of the dough to keep it from puffing up.

Pat the fried dough dry with paper towels and build the Pizza. Here we're just using hand-crushed San Marzano Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Basil.

Cook the Pizza for 30-45 seconds. Since the dough is already cooked, it only needs about 1/3 the normal cooking time.

NOTE:  Following the advice from those links above, we did cook the first one in a pan. Presumably that is to keep the crust from burning, but I selected the wrong pan and it was hard to rotate the Pizza. Consequently, I burned one side of that pie pretty bad. Noting that the bottom of the crust didn't seem anywhere near being burned, we skipped the pan for the second one and it cooked better. This one probably could have used a few more seconds, but after burning the first one I erred on the side of caution.

Bingo!

The obligatory motorcycle or Corvette pic that has nothing to do with nothing.
KTM Super Duke R @ Boyce Store.
They make Pizzas there, but I haven't tried one... I'm always too busy eating the Boyce Burger or the Boyce Big Breakfast.

Have your assistant cut the Pizza up and serve it.

We both gave it a solid B. To me it seems like more of a novelty thing than something we'll do regularly. If we do it again anytime soon it'll be because Momma LOVED it -- A+ from her. No doubt it was a fun experiment, so when she requests it we'll make it again.

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