American Dad’s Food Restaurant

Sometimes, I relate to Roger Smith and his constant need to be someone else, be absolutely crazy and mostly to wear lots and lots of wigs.

Sometimes, I relate to Hailey Smith when I’m being annoyingly leftist and getting in people’s faces about their opinions (knowing full well I’m not able to change their minds).

Sometimes, I relate to Claus the fish, when I’m feeling underappreciated and trapped.

Sometimes, I relate to Steve Smith, when I’m nerding out with my friends and I think that no one else would be getting me at the moment.

The only time I EVER feel like Stan Smith is when he’s in the hot tub with Bullock… and that’s just in my fantasies because of the MAJOR crush I have on Sir Patrick Stewart.

American Dad’s Chocolate Chip Meatballs… ARE ACTUALLY GOOD

But most of the time, I relate to Francine Smith. More often than not, she reminds me of me. I can’t even count the times that my husband has looked over at me with a knowing glance when she says something off-the-wall and kinda ditzy.

I think it’s safe to say, that despite the alien living in the attic, the Fabulous Thunderbirds fan living in the fishbowl and the countless episodes where they’ve died (I think from pretty early on, they’ve all been living out seemingly normal lives in Stan’s version of heaven), American Dad is shockingly relatable.

I knew Fox was going to cancel it. They moved it’s time slot to before the animation block. It wasn’t subtle or unexpected. I was not expecting TBS to pick it up. Granted, I haven’t been watching it since then, but I’m happy to know it exists. I’m one of those people that bitches and moans when a show gets canceled, but I never watch things live.

Having watched the show for years now, I’m kind of shocked I never did a theme recipe for it. It’s about time, right?

One of my favorite food episodes of American Dad (and believe me, there have been a lot) was called Stan’s Food Restaurant. The plot is simply that Stan wanted to open up a restaurant when he was a kid and Roger helps him to achieve that dream as an adult. Granted, his menu is all based off of his ideas he had as a child. I picked a couple of my favorites.

The Captain Crunch Vegetable Tempura actually turned out pretty damn good. Just a bit of sweet and crunch to something already crispy and delicious. I also added honey to the traditional tempura sauce just to add a bit more of sweetness.

The Chocolate Chip Meatballs were a little weirder. They actually aren’t bad by any means. I used sweet italian sausage and turkey breakfast sausage so the flavor profile supports the chocolate. Then I topped it with a pretty legit honey goat cheese sauce that has nutmeg and cinnamon. (I also made some without chocolate chips and I’ll be repeating that recipe. Just omit the chips, if desired.) Definitely serve it up on a pancake plate like Stan requires.

Wait a minute, this is a food restaurant, we don’t serve salad.

Editor’s Note: Below is the recipe as it appeared on Hobotrashcan.com.

Cap’n Crunch Coated Veggies

Captain Crunch Vegetable Tempura
recipe adapted from Epicurious
a variety of veggies (sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions)
1 cup flour
½ cup Captain Crunch, crunched
¾ tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1¼ cup cold water
oil, for frying
ice
for dipping sauce
¼ cup dashi or vegetable stock
½ cup light soy sauce
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
¼ cup mirin
2 tbs honey

Whisk together the sauce ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Trim all veggies and slice/cut into finger food-sized pieces.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop in potatoes, green beans and cauliflower for 3-4 minutes. Remove to a bowl of ice water.

Once veggies have cooled, remove to a paper towel-lined plate to dry.

Pour oil in a sauce pan and heat. (About 325°F.)

Whisk together flour, Captain Crunch, baking powder and iced cold water.

When oil is heated, dip veggies in batter and carefully drop into hot oil. Make sure to turn as needed so all sides cook evenly. Leave in oil until a light golden brown, around 3-4 minutes.

Remove to another paper towel-lined plate.

Serve on pancake plate with sauce.

Hey Chum, you got the eats?

The best chocolate chip meatballs you’ve ever had…

Chocolate Chip Meatballs
1lb sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1lb chicken or turkey breakfast sausage, casings removed
2 eggs
1½ cup oats
½ cup milk
1 onion, diced
⅛ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chocolate chips, semisweet
olive oil

for sauce
6 oz goat cheese
¼ cup cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
½ cup milk
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) and add in onions. Stir until they smell sweet and are a light golden brown (3-5 minutes). Remove from burner to cool.
In a large bowl, place sausage, eggs, oats, milk, cooled onions, chocolate chips and spices. Mix together roughly with hands. (Try not to overmix.)

In the same skillet you cooked the onions in, add in another tbsp of olive oil and return to the medium heat. Begin rolling your meatballs. Place in the oil and frequently flip, browning them on all sides. Remove them to a baking dish.

Once all of the meatballs have been browned, bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes (or until cooked through).

Meanwhile, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to simmer for five minutes. Cover and let set.

Remove meatballs from oven and serve atop a pancake plate. Drizzle with honey goat cheese sauce.

You couldn’t open a French whore’s legs with a wheel of cheese.