The Nauerth Greece Diner is owned by Joe Naureth -- an alumnus of Hilton High School where I went to school with his sister Cheryl and brother Dave. As it turned out, Cheryl is working there and was our waitress!
The diner is just a small place with a long counter stretching from one end of the place to the other. It was very clean and I was eager to see if the food was as good as is typical of these little family-owned places. I wasn't disappointed!
I ordered a breakfast sandwich (think McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with Egg -- for content only) and homefries. There is absolutely no way that this breakfast sandwich could be described except delicious and freshly made -- with a real egg, real cheese, a fresh muffin and yummy sausage. Certainly a good choice and one that I would order again without hesitation.
Now the homefries -- this was interesting. Apparently Joe is known for his homefries and the recipe is a well-kept secret. Mary and I both had them and I have to admit, they were probably the best homefries I've ever had. As was typical of breakfast in a diner where they actually make the homefries from scratch, they had a slightly orange color to them and both Mary and I were wondering what is used that gives them that color. Of course we asked and that launched us into the discussion of Joe's famous secret recipe. We both think it's paprika (and I still think it is) but Joe claims there is more to it than that. He never did say whether he uses paprika but I just can't imagine what other ingredient could give homefries that color. He might use some additional spices but they didn't taste like they had a lot of spice or seasoning to them... I think the fact that they were fresh, made from real potatoes, and hot off the griddle probably makes all the difference. Regardless, they were really very good.
Just for grins I did some searching for homefries recipes and found this one on foodnetwork.com -- from Rachael Ray's show. I'm going to give these a try because they sure look good!
Oven Home Fries with Peppers and Onions Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Show: 30 Minute Meals
Episode: After Hours
2 1/2 pounds red skinned potatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning)
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Coarsely chop potatoes and transfer to a nonstick cookie sheet. Toss with oil, peppers, onions and seasonings and place in the oven 25 minutes, turning twice with spatula. Serve hot.
I think Mary enjoyed her omelet as much as I enjoyed my sandwich but I never did get a chance to ask her as we chatted away for a couple hours before finally going off on our merry ways. As it turned out I ran into her as I was heading into Wegmans (she was just leaving and finally heading home after shopping all day!) I'd already been home, putz around, taken a nap (kind of by accident, I was on the couch with the warm sun shining in and it just put me into a trance that I later woke up from!) and had been birthday shopping for Josh for the past couple hours. After a quick stop into Wegs I came home and made up some goulash for dinner and wished Dave a good night of work.
I now have the baby (Rascal) asleep in my arms as I am taking a break from sorting through papers in the office. I'm about ready to call it a night and put on a movie (Broken Bridges with Toby Keith and Kelly Preston) and listen to the wind howl. Lots of snow out there and it's sure blowing.
What a great day off -- but I'm whupped now!
