RECIPES BY CHEF BUZ

Country Bacon & Potato Frittata

by Chef Buz Deliere

Good day to all my readers, I just wanted to take a quick minute to introduce myself. My name is Chef Buz Deliere, I graduated from International Culinary Academy Le Cordon Bleu Pittsburgh in 2001, I have a passion for food and making mixed cocktails so after culinary school I spent a lot of time traveling and learning about the various cultures, food, and drinks. From Pittsburgh to the Caribbean, New York, and Canada I am very excited to have the opportunity to share them with you all, so let’s get to it. Now that we are in warmer weather it’s time to start having the Sunday brunch on your back patio. I love nothing more than a hot cup of coffee, the quiet beauty of nature, and something light and delicious. Something great for your Sunday brunch this spring season is my delicious and easy Country Bacon & Potato Frittata. The great thing about this recipe is there are so many different variations and it's super simple to make vegetarian as well. Fresh spinach is another great ingredient to add, as well as sausage, ham, or turkey the possibilities are almost endless. Don’t forget a good mimosa or VOJ (Vodka O.J.) to go with it too. So, let's dive right into this month’s recipe and a mimosa or two.

Country Bacon & Potato Frittata

Yields 4 Cook Time: 35-40 minutes

First, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, making sure the rack is in the center. Now start to cook your bacon in a large ovenproof skillet, I like to cut the bacon in half when cooking it. Cook to your desired preference, I like my bacon a little more on the soft side. 4 Slices Bacon, Chopped ½ Green Pepper, Diced ¼ Onion, Diced ½ Cup Potatoes, Diced and Parboiled 6 Eggs ¼ Cup Milk ¼ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese Salt & Black Pepper to taste *½ Cup Fresh Spinach* (Optional)

Remove the bacon when done and put on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess grease. Once cooled, chop up the bacon and put aside for later. Now in the same skillet add your potatoes, onions, and green peppers to the bacon grease and cook for about 10 minutes, you want the potatoes to be browned and evenly cooked. Now is the time to add the spinach and cook until wilted, once wilted add back the bacon and spread the mixture out evenly on the bottom of the skillet. Whisk the eggs and milk, salt, and pepper together. Make sure the eggs are mixed thoroughly then add in the cheese and mix. Now gently pour the egg mixture over the potato and veggies making sure it's even throughout. In the oven, it goes for about 15-20 minutes, just until the eggs are set. This is a very light and fluffy dish once the eggs are cooked remove from the oven and slice and serve immediately. t's dive right into this month’s recipe and a mimosa or two.

by Kari Huskey and James Frazier

It’s time once again to hit the road and take you along for an Oklahoma Road Trip. This month we took the short drive over to the Town of Okarche. If you have heard of it, it’s probably because of some chicken place they have over there, or the world-renowned cinnamon rolls, or you follow the Oklahoma Craft Beer scene and heard about a new brewery with a quirky name. Well, we went to all of them and then had to take a nap. So, mount up, and let’s go for a ride.

FIRST STOP EISCHEN’S BAR

Six generations of perfectly fried chicken.

Eleven years before Oklahoma became official, a German family decided it needed a bar in the middle of the prairie that would be the town of Okarche. In 1890 the Okarche post office was established and six years later Eischen’s Bar opened its doors making it the oldest bar in Oklahoma. I guess it was as true then as it is now, as soon as the mail runs, you probably need a drink. Eischen’s Bar at that point just sold sandwiches and chili. They didn’t actually start selling Fried Chicken until 1964 when George “Boog” Eischen orchestrated a shuffleboard competition with the grand prize being his delicious fried chicken. Evidently, it was a hit and the legend of Eischen’s fried chicken was born.

Eischen’s bought their first fryer shortly after the competition and put Fried Chicken on the menu. By the 1970s the word was getting out that there was some good fried chicken in Okarche and they had to start frying around 150 chickens on any given Saturday. That seems like a lot until you realize that today, Eischen’s serves 800-1000 Chickens on a regular Saturday. That didn’t happen overnight, well sort of. In 1993 business was moving along nicely until the bar caught on fire. It was devastating, but the Eischen’s family has gumption. Word got around that they would be opening and news spread like wildfire with the Oklahoma City News

Stations and others even coming to report on the re-opening. When they opened the doors again, they were shocked to see a line wrapping around the building. The people of Oklahoma do what they always do, they showed up.

In 2004 is was clear that the family grocery store wasn’t making much profit and the restaurant was needing more tables, so the shut down the IGA and packed it with tables. In 2008 Eischen’s got a visit from the one and only Guy Fieri to shoot an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives after his email inbox kept getting filled up by Eischen-heads. It becomes evident when the episode airs again, because the orders for Frito pies and homemade chili go through the roof. Walking through Eischen’s is like walking through a museum of Oklahoma history with stories and pictures everywhere. You should also check out the maps with pins from all over the world. They keep having to add new maps because they get too full of pins. That’s not a bad problem to have. One family from Germany makes a yearly trip to Oklahoma to visit family, but they can’t leave without coming in for some fried chicken.

The food here speaks for itself and is absolutely amazing. In case you haven’t been, you have a lot of options. You can choose between a whole Fried Chicken, or not to get it. They did recently add a couple options to the menu, you can now choose between getting a large Fried Okra or a small one, get the large, it’s AMAZING. You can also choose between a Large Nacho or a small one. Eischen’s has a couple other favorites on the menu like a couple sandwiches, homemade chili and Frito pie. The menu in reality is the essence of perfectly done simplicity. When you do something right, don’t fix it. We were pleased to see that they had a pretty decent beer selection, including a couple craft beers from the brewery down the street, Expenditure that pair amazingly with Fried Chicken and Okra. Which leads us to our next stop on this road trip.

ON TO EXPEDINTURE

Not quite an Expedition but more than an Adventure…

It all really started 30ish years ago with 3 boys in elementary school. Then, along the way in their teenage years they added another member to their crew and then a little brother. This journey of 5 lifelong friends with Okarche roots became the owners of Expendinture Brewery. After some failed college attempts at brewing, the friends (then nearly in their late 30s) decided to take a class at Learn to Brew and realizing that they could indeed brew a tasty beer, the brewery idea progressed from there.

You can find this hot spot just down Second Street in downtown Okarche. Officially opening in February 2020, the pandemic put a hurt on their storefront but not their

spirits. With the town support they started curbside service and growlers. Before long, the parking lot across the street began to resemble a football tailgate party. People came from all over to responsibly social distance but yet still have the feeling of some type of normalcy.

From the beginning Expendinture’s style has been based on European style beer. Several trips to Germany doing what they later learned was really market research will do that! Their mindset was to brew the best European style beer possible. They really try to focus on tradition and most of their grains are German in origin and their hops are in true style from the county of origin that the beer requires. Occasionally you will find a historical style of beer which is something no one else does.

One of their best sellers is the Irish Red Ale is about as Traditional Irish as you can get and was the first of their beers to win at a competition. With the first recipe being Midnight Black, which was basically made from a bunch of grains they had left over, and it turned out to be most of the owner’s favorite beer!

Thankfully, Expendinture started bottling within the last 6 months using a Stubby Heritage Bottle which gives their bottled beer and old timey feel. Right now, you can pick up an Expendinture beer in Yukon at The local, The Shed in Kingfisher and Social Capital across from Scissortail Park. They do have plans to expand their distribution in the future as well.

Expendinture is not short on fun events. Every 1st Friday you can expect some type of live music, desert style food truck, a boutique type vendor and of course, delivery from Eischen’s. Wednesday night is card night, and they have Pitch tournaments a couple times a week. And don’t forget about their Trivia nights and Singo on Sundays. In the fall they also have a huge Octoberfest block party and bring in Oompah bands, food trucks, and of course a new beer release.

Of course, we had to do some beer sampling, and here are just a few that we would recommend: Pluto is still a Planet is a northwest IPA that has a lighter nice hop that lingers just enough on the backend. Robust W is an experiment beer that went over very well. Special W grain split 50 / 50 with a lighter grain and created this heavy body brown and aged in Jack Daniels Barrels… because of the high alcohol content you will only be able to get a 10 oz pour on this one! Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout … well that is just self-explanatory!

If you are looking for a fun, get out of town for the day trip, we whole heartedly recommend Expendinture Brewery. With the small-town charm, welcoming hosts and a fantastic patio that wraps around the building with TV’s for watching sporting events etc.…you can’t go wrong. You may even run into us there.

Who doesn’t love a hot delicious cinnamon roll? Absolutely no one. On our journey to the town of Okarche, a billboard caught our eye with the words “Best Cinnamon Rolls in the West. ” Now that sounded like a challenge to us for sure so of course, we had to pop in and see what all the fuss was about.

The Tower Café has been in business since 1968 but their amazing cinnamon rolls made their grand entrance several years later. It all started with Ms. Louise, the proprietor of the Tower Café, sending her special cinnamon rolls as a favor for a friend to a Cattlemen’s event. That following Monday, after the event, her friend came back to her and said, “ you have something here, everyone was fighting over these rolls!” And so it began.

The Tower Café’s Cinnamon Rolls are a beacon of your childhood. They remind you of school lunches and breakfast at grandma’s house after spending the night. It makes sense that the special recipe is an “Old grandma’s recipe” and contains all-natural ingredients. You won’t find any preservatives here.

What started as a cinnamon roll making business in a little 12’ x 12’ room eventually morphed into a full-scale retail food service. Although they no longer sell their rolls in grocery stores, you can still purchase them at the restaurant. They also allow fundraisers and work with schools, baseball teams, soccer teams, cheer groups and many more to help them raise money.

We can tell you that it is well worth the trip to The Tower Café to grab a tin or two of these heavenly cinnamon rolls. The café is open Monday – Saturday 7am – 9pm and is closed on Sundays.

Our advice for your day trip to Okarche? Feast on some amazing chicken and absorb the history of the décor at Eishen’s, find a table on the deck at Expendinture, soak up the sun and the atmosphere while you enjoy their fantastic craft beers and then stop by The Tower Café to pick up some of their delectable cinnamon rolls. Maybe they will make it home, maybe they won’t…

Twenty6 Lounge INTIMACY, ELEGANCE, & GREAT MUSIC

B Y K A R I H U S K E Y

Sometimes your lucky number pays off… and in the case of Vic M he has hit the jackpot.

Vic has been in the industry for over 10 years. You may have met him at his place Drinkz downtown or his Blame it Bar and Grill in Norman and/or his Session Hookah lounge. Nowadays you can find him at his crown jewel, the Twenty6 Café Bar and Lounge on North May.

So, what sets Twenty6 apart? According to Vic, you will find a chic atmosphere, a small quaint upscale space with fashionable furniture and aesthetics glowing with a velvet red and gold theme. I’m telling you; this space is amazing and would be a great fit for a bachelor/ bachelorette party, birthday party, or private event. Just go to his website at twenty6lounge.net and fill out the contact form to make reservations for your party. They can also accommodate private events.

Because Twenty6 is locally focused, they like to give local artists a place to display and sell their art. Most of them are for sale and will grace the walls of the establishment for weeks just adding to the posh ambiance of the club.

Looking for a great cocktail? Twenty6 has a fantastic choice of house specialty cocktails and a wide selection of top-shelf spirits. If you are feeling especially jovial, give their signature drink, you guessed it, the Twenty6 a try. According to Vic, it is not for the faint of heart!

Made with Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Southern Comfort, Gin, and Triple Sec. it is bound to kickstart what will definitely be a memorable evening! You can purchase it as a drink or a shot. Twenty6 also offers Hookah. No that isn’t some type of fishing apparatus …Hookahs are water pipes that are used to smoke specially made tobacco that comes in assorted flavors. The selection you will find here ranges from The VJM, a chocolate blend to Berryliscious, a Pomegranate Cranberry Mix. If you’re a Hookah fan this very may well be the nicest Hookah lounge in OKC! Find yourself hungry? You can now order appetizing food with the addition of their new chef, Cory Matthews. You can choose from many different delicious Focaccia Pizzas and oven-baked dips. They also can cater for your private party! Every great place to spend time with your friends includes live music and Twenty6 guarantees just that at least once a week. In April, local artists Kooley High will be performing every other Friday and Adam Aguilar, OKC’s Singer and Songwriter Extraordinaire will be gracing the stage on April 21st. In addition, to live music, you will be able to catch Just Nesh, a talented and hilarious comedian from Chicago with her Laughing in Lingerie Show on April 8th. And if sports are your thing, you can catch all major sporting events on one of their 16 TVs. Thursdays are pretty social around here and they are offering a variety of fun things to do, many by the suggestions of their loyal patrons. You can expect to see events that include Speed dating, Karaoke and Open Mic Nights. Make sure and check the Twenty6 social media for events.

Every time you got to Twenty6 it is different. Your time morphs into what you want your experience to be. The future looks bright for Twenty6 Lounge Bar & Grill you may want to wear shades.

Open Thurs-Sun 4pm daily Happy Hour 4-6 Half Price Hookahs 4-6 Drink Specials change monthly Check out Twenty6 Lounge at 9622 N May Ave, The Village, OK 73120 www.twenty6lounge.net

Twisted Spike Brewery

Every Beer has a story

by James Frazier

My affinity for Twisted Spike Brewery is no secret. It’s one of those places that seemingly does everything right in my books. Bruce Sanchez has created a brand that is unique and has become synonymous with great beer. They have also built a reputation for being a hospitality-first taproom. When you pull up to Twisted Spike, yes parking can be a little tricky, but it’s worth finding a spot in order to sit at the bar and have a great conversation with one of the friendly staff members and patrons. Sitting right next to a railroad track creates an opportunity for branding, which is where the name came from, after a good amount of researching names and brands. It just so happens that Bruce came across a picture of a twisted railroad spike bottle opener and it was an instant connection, and Twisted Spike Brewing Company was born.

The taproom has a very unique style and creative structure. When you walk in you will see three shipping containers, one of which is the taproom, then the other two are custom refrigerators. The walls are full of local art and stickers and other creative elements that have given the space a fantastic feel with a lot of thought-provoking imagery. The style, service, and amazing beer create one-of-a-kind experiences that keep you coming back.

Bruce is a diehard beer enthusiast, which is what has led to his wide selection of beer styles and ever-evolving beer selections. At the beginning of his beer journey, he started in his garage with a few styles and when he couldn’t drink them all, he would have driveway beer reduction parties for his neighbors and friends. This is probably what accounts for the neighborly atmosphere when you visit Twisted Spike. For years Bruce traveled the Country with work and searched for great craft beer, specifically looking for Belgian beers, as it was something that you just couldn’t find in Oklahoma. As a little tidbit, if you are ever in North Carolina, check the gas stations because they have an amazing selection of craft beers.

When it came time to start the path to building Twisted Spike, Bruce focused on a few key beers that would create the base for the Twisted

Spike brand. Obviously, Belgian was going to be at the forefront of the list, with the heavenly Holy Beer that stands up against anything coming out of any monastery in Belgium and is even blessed by a priest before it is brought to your lips. Then you have the amazingly done Russian Imperial Stout, the Black Snake. A Crisp and clean German Kolsch called Crew. An award-winning Belgian Blonde Ale with pear, orange, and clove aromas. An amazingly drinkable West Coast IPA that changed my opinion of IPAs. A smooth and flavorful porter with a robust coffee flavor called Two-Bean or Not Two-Bean. The list goes on, so you will have to come back several times for the Twisted Spike total beer experience of taste, smell, sight, and the feel you get after a few good beers.

One of my favorite features at Twisted Spike is the Blend Board. This is a list of the known blends of Twisted Spike Beers that go really well together. The most well-known of these is the Holy Snake, a blend of the Holy Beer and the Black Snake, creating a smooth, strong, and incredibly tasty life of its own. Trying to list all the options of beers and blends in one story would be a long and arduous process. So, we will just say, go try these beers and blends. Discussing beer with Bruce is more like an author telling stories of their life. At Twisted Spike, according to Bruce Sanchez “Every beer has a story. ” This is so true, from the beginning idea to the development process and onto the naming process and the experience of drinking it. Their story is ever developing by constantly creating new drinkable stories. In the ever-developing story of Twisted Spike, they have recently launched their “Underground” club. An exclusive club to connect the true craft beer fans to a new and exciting experience. This includes members-only beer tap, special releases, members-only events, one-of-akind glassware, discounts, and several other amazing perks.

You can’t talk about the taproom at Twisted Spike without talking about Barley & Bees, the new kitchen in the taproom. This menu is perfectly paired with craft beer. A menu of Southern comfort food featuring amazing biscuit sandwiches, like the beer-braised BBQ, pulled pork sandwich that will literally make you smack your mom, so don’t bring her. The loaded Tot nachos are one of my absolute favorite things on the menu. They have several chicken items that defy understanding as o how they are so good. If sweets are on your mind, they have that too like the Strawberry Shorty with fresh strawberries on a next-level biscuit. Bottom line, get to Twisted Spike, have some beer, eat and drink yourself into bliss, and bring a designated driver.