A Taste of Virginia Tech

I just received my copy of A Taste of Virginia Tech. Oh.Em.Gee. I LOVE it. The cookbook has thick, glossy pages with fantastic photos and a great mix of recipes from Blacksburg restaurants and from Virginia Tech’s Dining Services. For those of you unfamiliar with Tech, our Dining Services (the group in charge of all food on campus) consistently ranks in the top three to five nationally. The years we don’t win, we tend to place behind small private colleges that are smaller than the Biology department. When I found this cookbook via Pinterest and one of the author’s blogs (Kris, check her out!), I was beyond excited and ordered it as soon as pre-orders started.

Inspired by this collection, I’ve decided to recreate my favorite dishes from college. The recipe index in A Taste of Virginia Tech is pretty extensive, but the on-campus offerings focus on West End Market (the dining hall where you can order London Broil or fresh lobster) and Turner Place (the new dining hall that features a hibachi shop, Jamba Juice, and a Southern home-style shop). I’m not going to duplicate anything already in the cookbook. Also, some of these recipes are how I ordered them, not necessarily how they’re always made, listed with their dining hall.

     Cantina chicken quesadilla (Owens)
     Chicken taco salad (Owens)
     Crispy chicken entree (West End aka Westie)
     Fantastic Frank (Owens)
     Chicken mozzarella sandwich (Au Bon Pain)
     Red skin garlic mashed potatoes (Hokie Grill aka Ho Griz)
     Beamer Sauce (Owens & D2)
     My tasty sandwich creation (D2)
     Classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting (D2)

Anyone else try to recreate restaurant recipes at home?