Apparently I'm not the only one who likes a lot of meat in my mouth. Padma from Top Chef really seems to be enjoying the Western Bacon Thickburger from Hardee's in this commercial.
On a related note, this burger looks pretty good; bacon, onion rings, cheese and hamburger with barbecue sauce. Follow the link for a $1 off coupon.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Create Your Own Donut
Unfortunately, since we don't have a Dunkin' Donuts in KC I would have to travel to taste my donut, a pumpkin dough, maple filled, white icing with graham crumble. I'm sure I'm going to win the $12K. You can enter too, though it will be a waste of your time. I'm sure I can come up with something incorporating raspberry that would be better than this, my first stab at it.
Adam's Rib
After reading JJS' great review of Adam's Rib on their opening day yesterday, I knew I was going to have to go today for my barbecue Thursday. I got there a little after noon and was impressed that the parking lot was almost full. I'll bet the Overland Park City Hall workers have been impatiently waiting for the place to open. When I walked in I noticed that the dining room had a good number of people already seated and eating.
I walked up to the counter to place my order and was greeted by the counter worker raising her arm up as to give me a high five. I was concerned about what my next step was going to be. Was she going to give me a high five because I was the best looking customer so far (not likely), because of my sweet Irish flat hat or because of my Ireland track jacket or simply because that is the way Adam's Rib was going to welcome customers? Any of the 4 was possible but I have a pretty strict no high five rule, leaving people hanging be damned. Luckily, the high five didn't play into my dining experience, she was just raising her arm to direct me to the other register where they take your order. Her register was to take your cash. It's a system used by Oklahoma Joe's in Olathe for reasons that are unclear to me, who has never worked in a restaurant. But the layout of Adam's Rib pretty much directs customers to the wrong register. And the mistake is multiplied by the horrible 2 seconds where I had to comtemplate a high five.
I ordered a regular pulled pork sandwich and fries, my standard barbecue order. They have some compelling sides, notably the cheesy corn bread, but for a first time I stick to the basics. I then went back to the high five lady and paid her my $7.50 (approximately). She told me it would be up in a couple of minutes so I wandered around a bit. I noticed they had Pepsi products in the fountain (clearly an inferior choice), but did have Strawberry soda as a selection. Strawberry or Orange soda is a necessity in a barbecue restaurant's fountain selection.
I ran out of things to walk around and look at so I sat down at the nearest open table (I ordered my food to go). They didn't really have a good place for people waiting on carryout orders to wait. This shouldn't be a problem, but it took an awful long time to put my pulled pork sandwich together, they may have been waiting for the fries. When it was ready, it was not in a to go container and I had to tell them (for the 3rd time mind you, I told the lady who took my order, the lady I paid and again now) that this was to go. They then boxed it up quickly. I had to ask for a couple of extra sauces, they gave them to me and I was on my way.
When I opened the box I was immediately impressed by the amount of meat in the bun. The last time I saw this much meat in some buns, Rocco Siffredi was involved. Also included was a large amount of fries. The fries are the standard potato press kind with a little bit of peel on the corner pieces. They were cooked nicely with a good crisp outside, but they didn't have an abundance of flavor. Nothing wrong with them, but it's probably safe to opt for a different side. The pork was super juicy with very little of the burnt end parts of the pork. It was definitely a lot more juicy than Oklahoma Joe's but doesn't have quite the flavor. Also because of the lack of the burnt parts, the sandwich had a bit of a texture problem, it was a little too soft, like eating wet bread, really great tasting wet bread, but wet bread nonetheless. It was a solid sandwich, texture notwithstanding. The flavor could have been enhanced a little more with a good sauce. Unfortunately, Adam's Rib doesn't have a very good sauce. It's like a sweet version of Bull's Eye (is Bull's Eye even around anymore). A good vinegar based sauce would put the pulled pork sandwich over the top if they would toast the bun a little. I would almost prefer the sandwich without the sauce, with only a sprinkle of the rub over the pulled pork. I don't know, the pork was missing just a little bit of flavor and the sauce wasn't good enough to bail it out.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my lunch. For a little over $7, I got a generous amount of meat that I enjoyed putting in my mouth (a deal that can't be beat in any rest area) and a good amount of fries. I just wish I could have loved one of the items. The service was extremely friendly, almost over the top and their enthusiasm certainly made up for any mistakes they made in preparing my order. You should give it a shot.
I walked up to the counter to place my order and was greeted by the counter worker raising her arm up as to give me a high five. I was concerned about what my next step was going to be. Was she going to give me a high five because I was the best looking customer so far (not likely), because of my sweet Irish flat hat or because of my Ireland track jacket or simply because that is the way Adam's Rib was going to welcome customers? Any of the 4 was possible but I have a pretty strict no high five rule, leaving people hanging be damned. Luckily, the high five didn't play into my dining experience, she was just raising her arm to direct me to the other register where they take your order. Her register was to take your cash. It's a system used by Oklahoma Joe's in Olathe for reasons that are unclear to me, who has never worked in a restaurant. But the layout of Adam's Rib pretty much directs customers to the wrong register. And the mistake is multiplied by the horrible 2 seconds where I had to comtemplate a high five.
I ordered a regular pulled pork sandwich and fries, my standard barbecue order. They have some compelling sides, notably the cheesy corn bread, but for a first time I stick to the basics. I then went back to the high five lady and paid her my $7.50 (approximately). She told me it would be up in a couple of minutes so I wandered around a bit. I noticed they had Pepsi products in the fountain (clearly an inferior choice), but did have Strawberry soda as a selection. Strawberry or Orange soda is a necessity in a barbecue restaurant's fountain selection.
I ran out of things to walk around and look at so I sat down at the nearest open table (I ordered my food to go). They didn't really have a good place for people waiting on carryout orders to wait. This shouldn't be a problem, but it took an awful long time to put my pulled pork sandwich together, they may have been waiting for the fries. When it was ready, it was not in a to go container and I had to tell them (for the 3rd time mind you, I told the lady who took my order, the lady I paid and again now) that this was to go. They then boxed it up quickly. I had to ask for a couple of extra sauces, they gave them to me and I was on my way.
When I opened the box I was immediately impressed by the amount of meat in the bun. The last time I saw this much meat in some buns, Rocco Siffredi was involved. Also included was a large amount of fries. The fries are the standard potato press kind with a little bit of peel on the corner pieces. They were cooked nicely with a good crisp outside, but they didn't have an abundance of flavor. Nothing wrong with them, but it's probably safe to opt for a different side. The pork was super juicy with very little of the burnt end parts of the pork. It was definitely a lot more juicy than Oklahoma Joe's but doesn't have quite the flavor. Also because of the lack of the burnt parts, the sandwich had a bit of a texture problem, it was a little too soft, like eating wet bread, really great tasting wet bread, but wet bread nonetheless. It was a solid sandwich, texture notwithstanding. The flavor could have been enhanced a little more with a good sauce. Unfortunately, Adam's Rib doesn't have a very good sauce. It's like a sweet version of Bull's Eye (is Bull's Eye even around anymore). A good vinegar based sauce would put the pulled pork sandwich over the top if they would toast the bun a little. I would almost prefer the sandwich without the sauce, with only a sprinkle of the rub over the pulled pork. I don't know, the pork was missing just a little bit of flavor and the sauce wasn't good enough to bail it out.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my lunch. For a little over $7, I got a generous amount of meat that I enjoyed putting in my mouth (a deal that can't be beat in any rest area) and a good amount of fries. I just wish I could have loved one of the items. The service was extremely friendly, almost over the top and their enthusiasm certainly made up for any mistakes they made in preparing my order. You should give it a shot.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Bourbon, Bacon and Maple
It looks like I have something to make this week, Maker’s Mark Ice Cream with a Maple Caramel Swirl and Candied Bacon Bits. It seems to have quite a few steps but can easily be broken into small parts. I think it will be worth it, who doesn't want to combine bourbon and bacon with a bit of maple goodness.
Hat tip to Radley Balko.
This is a multi-step, two day process, so be sure to allot enough time!
INGREDIENTS
For the ice cream custard:
3 tablespoons salted butter
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 3/4 cup half-and-half (make sure the kind you get has no added carrageenan)
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup Maker’s Mark bourbon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons molasses
For the maple caramel swirl:
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
7 tablespoons heavy cream (again, no added carrageenan)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For the candied bacon bits:
5 slices thick-cut, applewood smoked bacon (I got mine at Berkeley Bowl, yum)
1/3 cup sugar
Parchment paper (or a brown paper bag)
Day 1:
Make the bacon bits:
1. Cut the raw bacon into 1cm squares — cutting each strip in half lengthwise, and several times crosswise.
2. In a heavy skillet over med-high heat, cook the bacon bits until slightly crisp but still a bit chewy, being careful to not burn or overcook them.
3. While the bacon is cooking, prepare a plate with paper towels on it to drain the bacon, and lay out a piece of parchment paper for the candied bacon.
4. Place bacon bits on paper towel to drain; pat off excess fat. Pour off fat from pan and save it for some other tasty treat.
5. Pour 1/3 cup sugar into a small heavy saucepan. Over low to medium heat, melt the sugar just until all the crystals are dissolved and the sugar syrup looks homogeneous. Be careful as you’re doing this; sugar melts slowly but burns quickly — keep heat lower rather than higher. As soon as sugar has dissolved, immediately add the bacon bits and stir to cover. Place bacon bits on parchment paper and separate from each other. (There may be a better way to do this, like to dip each bacon bit individually, or add them in small batches, or pour the sugar over them, or something. I haven’t tried it.)
6. Allow bacon bits to cool on the parchment.
Make the maple caramel swirl:
1. In a heavy saucepan, boil sugar, maple syrup, and a pinch sea salt over moderate heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture, without stirring, gently swirling pan, until it is a deep golden caramel color. (Note: this is difficult to tell with the maple syrup. A candy thermometer might help, but I couldn’t tell you what temperature to bring it to.*)
2. Remove pan from heat and carefully pour cream and vanilla down side of pan (mixture will vigorously steam and caramel will harden). Simmer mixture, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and cool caramel. Caramel swirl may be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temp before using (heat slightly if too stiff to pour).
*I added the cream too soon, so I just continued boiling the mixture until it was the correct thickness. I tested thickness by dropping a bit of it on a cool plate and letting it cool to room temp. Then I ate it.
Make the ice cream custard:
1. Pour half of the half-and-half (about 1 and a little more than 1/3 cup) into a large bowl and set it in an ice bath.* Set a mesh strainer over the top of the bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk together 5 egg yolks.
3. Melt 3 T butter over low heat in a heavy, medium sized saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and the other half the half-and-half and whisk it till the brown sugar is somewhat dissolved. Heat just to warm, and keep a close eye on it. Too hot, and the half-and-half will curdle and you will have to start over.
4. Gradually add the warm brown sugar mix to the eggs, whisking constantly as you pour. Pour the entire mixture back into the sauce pan.
5. Cook over low to moderate heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
6. Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath until cool.* Add the 1/4 cup bourbon, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 1/2 teaspoon molasses. Stir till well mixed.
7. Place in sealed container and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Overnight is best — it allows the flavors to really mix.
8. Make sure your ice cream maker’s bowl is in the freezer so that it’s frozen by the next day.
*Note: I skipped the ice bath because I didn’t have any ice, and it worked fine.
Day 2
Putting it all together:
1. Pull the caramel swirl out of the fridge and bring it to room temp.
2. Put together the ice cream maker, turn it on, and pour in your ice cream custard. Freeze in the ice cream maker for 1/2 hour, at least, until it’s nearly doubled in volume and seems as frozen as it’ll get. It will still be soft — home made ice cream needs to go into the freezer for a few hours to really set.
3. Working quickly, stir in the bacon bits while the ice cream is still in the frozen bowl. In a few smaller containers (I used margarine containers), put down a layer of ice cream. Add a layer of caramel swirl. Add another layer of ice cream, then another layer of caramel swirl, then another layer of ice cream. Put the lids on and place ice cream in freezer to finish freezing.
YOU’RE DONE! Lick the bowls, if you’re not already sick to your stomach from having done just that for 2 days in a row! ;)
Hat tip to Radley Balko.
Friday, March 20, 2009
John's Big Dud
In order to avoid the NCAA regional crowd today, a coworker and I decided to give the newly reopened John's Big Deck a try for lunch. We thought we could get a good lunch and watch some Friday NCAA regional action without the crowds undoubtedly heading to Willie's based on the KC Beer Blog's recommendation. I wish I had taken my own advice.
When we got there about 11:20 there were about 4 other tables taken as well as 5 or 6 people at the bar. The first thing I noticed was how nice the hardwood floors looked, they used to be real ratty and had no shine. Now, it appears they've been sanded and refinished, it really looks nice. We found a table where we both had good views of a TV or two. With that important work done we were ready for some service. And we waited. And we waited. Welcome to John's! Same-o Same-o. After 5 minutes the waitress (and when I say the waitress, I mean there was only 1 waitress) came by and took our drink order, tea for my coworker and Dr. Pepper for me (why restaurants serve Pepsi, is beyond me, I'm a Coke guy). We got our drinks in a reasonable amount of time, the tea looked like they had brewed 5 gallons with one tea bag.
Something was missing, what could it be? A menu, yeah menus would be great. I actually had to ask the waitress if we could have a menu. She responded, it's around here somewhere, let me get it for you. When she said “it” she meant there was one menu for the whole restaurant. Why would you need more than one if there's only 1 waitress? She located the “menu” and brought it over, it was a sheet of paper with the 10 or so items listed in bold, center justified, Arial 12 point, no prices with the special written in pencil in the bottom margin. I can see why they only had one, you can't beat handwritten menu items.
The first thing we noticed was the absence of any kind of Lent friendly items, which is not a big deal to me, but my Pope loving friend was going to be forced to sin or eat mozzarella sticks for lunch. My motto is “sin before eating mozzarella sticks” and I think my coworker now can say that he's taken that to heart. He got “club sandwich” and I got “burger with fries”.
I've always had a bit of a conundrum when going to John's because I loved their fries and their chips. It was always a tough decision which one to get. With only one option, the choice was much easier, I got the fries. As we were waiting for our food, John's started getting their FoodService delivery. At lunch. At 11:45. Who gets their food shipments at lunch time? As the delivery was coming in through the front door, I noticed boxes of curly Q fries, not boxes of potatoes like a good restaurant would get. I also noticed a lot of people walking out of the restaurant having never been served. I don't think they were all Lent Friday people either as I don't think they ever saw a menu. I think they just got tired of waiting for any kind of service. I've never seen so many people leave a restaurant without being served.
When our food arrived with packets of ketchup and mustard setting atop the fries (seriously, who thought that was a good idea), I asked for some Tabasco sauce. Tabasco, for me, is almost a necessity for a hamburger, especially for a hamburger I'm kind of unsure about. The waitress said sure and went on her way. I was mildly curious if I was the first one to get Tabasco at John's since they reopened since I saw a 3 pack of Tabasco unopened, like if you bought it from Costco, sitting on the service table by the pickup window while we waited for our food. I thought they probably had an open bottle or two somewhere as well. Apparently that is what our waitress was looking for and couldn't find. I was able to hear her ask the bartender if they had any Tabasco. I was unable to hear the bartender's answer and I was never able to point out the unopened bottles to the waitress because she didn't come back by our table until our meal was finished.
Had my burger been accompanied with Tabasco it would have actually been pretty good, but with just ketchup it ended up being a little blah. My friend said his sinful club sandwich wasn't very good. The fries were horrible, nearly inedible. They were of the potato wedge variety and were sprinkled with some sort of flavor salt. Nothing would have helped them, they were just not good and obviously not made from scratch like they used to be. What's more, I only got 3 packets of ketchup for my burger and my fries, it would have taken 7 packets to help me choke down those fries.
It was hard to even enjoy the games going on on the TV's. It was comparable to trying to watch a game and have someone punch you in the nuts every 5 minutes. Every interaction with food, waitresses and drink was painful. I feel like I need to ice my balls after eating there.
Total time in John's was an hour and a half. Total time enjoying myself in John's was 20 seconds (the time spent admiring the newly restored hard wood floors, which was only interesting to me because we just refinished the floors in the Bull E. Vard mansion last year). It's going to be a long time before I trust them for lunch again. Let's just make a quick list of mistakes I've never seen before; one menu for the restaurant, the menu looking extremely unprofessional, condiment packets on top of the food. Then there were the mistakes you often see; understaffed, long wait times, bad food.
I hope this was just new opening pains but the mistakes made were quite glaring. I'll be interested to see if drink service at happy hour is as poor as lunch service was. If it is, John's won't last very long.
When we got there about 11:20 there were about 4 other tables taken as well as 5 or 6 people at the bar. The first thing I noticed was how nice the hardwood floors looked, they used to be real ratty and had no shine. Now, it appears they've been sanded and refinished, it really looks nice. We found a table where we both had good views of a TV or two. With that important work done we were ready for some service. And we waited. And we waited. Welcome to John's! Same-o Same-o. After 5 minutes the waitress (and when I say the waitress, I mean there was only 1 waitress) came by and took our drink order, tea for my coworker and Dr. Pepper for me (why restaurants serve Pepsi, is beyond me, I'm a Coke guy). We got our drinks in a reasonable amount of time, the tea looked like they had brewed 5 gallons with one tea bag.
Something was missing, what could it be? A menu, yeah menus would be great. I actually had to ask the waitress if we could have a menu. She responded, it's around here somewhere, let me get it for you. When she said “it” she meant there was one menu for the whole restaurant. Why would you need more than one if there's only 1 waitress? She located the “menu” and brought it over, it was a sheet of paper with the 10 or so items listed in bold, center justified, Arial 12 point, no prices with the special written in pencil in the bottom margin. I can see why they only had one, you can't beat handwritten menu items.
The first thing we noticed was the absence of any kind of Lent friendly items, which is not a big deal to me, but my Pope loving friend was going to be forced to sin or eat mozzarella sticks for lunch. My motto is “sin before eating mozzarella sticks” and I think my coworker now can say that he's taken that to heart. He got “club sandwich” and I got “burger with fries”.
I've always had a bit of a conundrum when going to John's because I loved their fries and their chips. It was always a tough decision which one to get. With only one option, the choice was much easier, I got the fries. As we were waiting for our food, John's started getting their FoodService delivery. At lunch. At 11:45. Who gets their food shipments at lunch time? As the delivery was coming in through the front door, I noticed boxes of curly Q fries, not boxes of potatoes like a good restaurant would get. I also noticed a lot of people walking out of the restaurant having never been served. I don't think they were all Lent Friday people either as I don't think they ever saw a menu. I think they just got tired of waiting for any kind of service. I've never seen so many people leave a restaurant without being served.
When our food arrived with packets of ketchup and mustard setting atop the fries (seriously, who thought that was a good idea), I asked for some Tabasco sauce. Tabasco, for me, is almost a necessity for a hamburger, especially for a hamburger I'm kind of unsure about. The waitress said sure and went on her way. I was mildly curious if I was the first one to get Tabasco at John's since they reopened since I saw a 3 pack of Tabasco unopened, like if you bought it from Costco, sitting on the service table by the pickup window while we waited for our food. I thought they probably had an open bottle or two somewhere as well. Apparently that is what our waitress was looking for and couldn't find. I was able to hear her ask the bartender if they had any Tabasco. I was unable to hear the bartender's answer and I was never able to point out the unopened bottles to the waitress because she didn't come back by our table until our meal was finished.
Had my burger been accompanied with Tabasco it would have actually been pretty good, but with just ketchup it ended up being a little blah. My friend said his sinful club sandwich wasn't very good. The fries were horrible, nearly inedible. They were of the potato wedge variety and were sprinkled with some sort of flavor salt. Nothing would have helped them, they were just not good and obviously not made from scratch like they used to be. What's more, I only got 3 packets of ketchup for my burger and my fries, it would have taken 7 packets to help me choke down those fries.
It was hard to even enjoy the games going on on the TV's. It was comparable to trying to watch a game and have someone punch you in the nuts every 5 minutes. Every interaction with food, waitresses and drink was painful. I feel like I need to ice my balls after eating there.
Total time in John's was an hour and a half. Total time enjoying myself in John's was 20 seconds (the time spent admiring the newly restored hard wood floors, which was only interesting to me because we just refinished the floors in the Bull E. Vard mansion last year). It's going to be a long time before I trust them for lunch again. Let's just make a quick list of mistakes I've never seen before; one menu for the restaurant, the menu looking extremely unprofessional, condiment packets on top of the food. Then there were the mistakes you often see; understaffed, long wait times, bad food.
I hope this was just new opening pains but the mistakes made were quite glaring. I'll be interested to see if drink service at happy hour is as poor as lunch service was. If it is, John's won't last very long.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Death by Food: The Gaf's Irish Gut Bomb
Death by Food is a running list of the top ten edible items in Kansas City that may possibly kill you during consumption. The higher the rating, the more likely you should throw caution to the wind.
Back in early February, Bull E. Vard watched an episode of No Reservations and got a hard on for a sandwich in Chicago called the Three Little Pigs. Aaron from BBQ Addicts was kind enough to point him towards a sandwich of possible equal magnitude right here in KC at the Gaf. Here is the menu exert for the Irish Gut Bomb:
I took the top down for this photo, and since it may be hard to determine, the anatomy from bottom up is tenderloin, egg, cheese, bacon, onion ring. The first mistake in eating this was likely not ordering a beer to go with it. I also have to question the use of both onion rings and red onion. But what really killed this sandwich for me was the application of barbecue sauce.
Barbecue sauce in and of itself is a wonderful thing. I love it when used during cooking or to spice up something that is smoked/grilled yet lacking in flavor. Barbecue sauce used as a condiment like mustard is the quickest way to ruin a sandwich. It just takes the sandwich in a place it wasn't going before.
In honor of St Patrick's Day though, the Gaf's Irish Gut Bomb will assume the number one spot in the top ten KC foods that can kill you. Three fried items (two of them battered) plus cheese and bacon equals out to a true gut bomb. I don't think Bull even ate the second half of his, which could either speak to the sandwich itself or the width of my ass. Probably both.
Back in early February, Bull E. Vard watched an episode of No Reservations and got a hard on for a sandwich in Chicago called the Three Little Pigs. Aaron from BBQ Addicts was kind enough to point him towards a sandwich of possible equal magnitude right here in KC at the Gaf. Here is the menu exert for the Irish Gut Bomb:
A HUGE hand breaded pork tenderloin topped with onion rings, smoked bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion, 2 fried eggs, & Jameson BBQ SauceSounds delicious. Despite a near egjaculation experience at ChefBurger, I was graciously invited to share in this journey of over-consumption and indigestion. The challenge we were met with looked something like this...
I took the top down for this photo, and since it may be hard to determine, the anatomy from bottom up is tenderloin, egg, cheese, bacon, onion ring. The first mistake in eating this was likely not ordering a beer to go with it. I also have to question the use of both onion rings and red onion. But what really killed this sandwich for me was the application of barbecue sauce.Barbecue sauce in and of itself is a wonderful thing. I love it when used during cooking or to spice up something that is smoked/grilled yet lacking in flavor. Barbecue sauce used as a condiment like mustard is the quickest way to ruin a sandwich. It just takes the sandwich in a place it wasn't going before.
In honor of St Patrick's Day though, the Gaf's Irish Gut Bomb will assume the number one spot in the top ten KC foods that can kill you. Three fried items (two of them battered) plus cheese and bacon equals out to a true gut bomb. I don't think Bull even ate the second half of his, which could either speak to the sandwich itself or the width of my ass. Probably both.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Alice Waters Hates Rainforests
Call me Natalie Imbruglia because I'm torn. I read a couple of weeks ago an article in Mother Jones debunking the environmental hullabaloo around food miles.
It has long been a pet peeve of mine when people talk about food miles as if that is the most accurate measure of the food's carbon footprint. I was glad to see my biases confirmed in a liberal magazine.
Food miles aren't the only consideration that seems to be bunk. The organic movement, in general, seems to be inefficient.
But, lucky for you, the dear reader, I didn't feel like throwing out a blog post pointing out organic and locally grown is actually bad for the environment.
Then Alice Waters put me over the edge on Sunday night's “60 Minutes”. Mind you, I respect Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. I think she's a very important figure in American cuisine. But, quite frankly, I don't think she's much of a fan of cities, rainforests, poor people or the environment.
So how environmentally friendly do you think it is for the average homeowner to cook their food over an open fire in their kitchen? Yet that is what Ms. Waters did on the show (the egg she cooked fabulous, by the way, as did the rest of the breakfast).
Never mind the symbolism of the US turning back into an agrarian society, which would probably make Ms. Waters happy. We don't have enough land to feed all the people on the planet the way Ms. Waters wishes to feed us (mind you, if she wants to feed me in this way, I'm perfectly happy to accept).
The sad thing is people haven't thought through food miles and organic food. I'll leave it to 12th and Main to make the point about urban density that wouldn't be possible if every home had their own garden. We simply can't shit like this in any kind of large scale way. So what I like to do is top my vegetables with a little bit of Ortho which adds great flavor and is good for the environment. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to build a wood fire and put an egg on a spoon so I can cook it over that fire.
Consider our love affair with food miles. In theory, locally grown foods have traveled shorter distances and thus represent less fuel use and lower carbon emissions—their resource footprint is smaller. And yet, for all the benefits of a local diet, eating locally doesn't always translate into more sustainability. Because the typical farmers market is supplied by dozens of different farms, each transporting its crops in a separate van or truck, a 20-pound shopping basket of locally grown produce might actually represent a larger carbon footprint than the same volume of produce purchased at a chain retailer, which gets its produce en masse, via large trucks.
And for all our focus on the cost of moving food, transportation accounts for barely one-tenth of a food product's greenhouse gas emissions. Far more significant is how the food was produced—its so-called resource intensity. Certain foods, like meat and cheese, suck up so many resources regardless of where they're produced (a pound of conventional grain-fed beef requires nearly a gallon of fuel and 5,169 gallons of water) that you can shrink your footprint far more by changing what you eat, rather than where the food came from. According to a 2008 report from Carnegie Mellon University, going meat- and dairyless one day a week is more environmentally beneficial than eating locally every single day.
….
This tendency to replace complexity with checklists is the hallmark of the alternative food sector. Today's federal requirements for organic food, for example, only hint at the richness of the original concept, which encouraged farmers to not only forgo chemical fertilizers but also replenish soils on-site, using livestock manure or crop rotations. The problem is that replenishing on-site is costly and time consuming. As demand for organic has grown and farmers have been pushed to gain the same überefficiencies as their industrial rivals, more of them (particularly those selling to chain groceries) simply import manure from feedlots, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Technically, these farms are still organic—they don't use chemical fertilizers. But is something really sustainable if the natural fertilizer must travel such distances or come from feedlots, the apotheosis of unsafe, unsustainable production? Forget about food miles. What about poop miles?
It has long been a pet peeve of mine when people talk about food miles as if that is the most accurate measure of the food's carbon footprint. I was glad to see my biases confirmed in a liberal magazine.
Food miles aren't the only consideration that seems to be bunk. The organic movement, in general, seems to be inefficient.
In fact, most of the familiar candidates for alternative food would have trouble operating on the kind of scale necessary for a world of 6.7 billion people. Consider what it would take to make our farm system entirely organic. The only reason industrial organic agriculture can get away with replenishing its soils with manure or by planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops is that the industry is so tiny—making up less than 3 percent of the US food supply (and just 5.3 percent even in gung-ho green cultures like Austria's). If we wanted to rid the world of synthetic fertilizer use—and assuming dietary habits remain constant—the extra land we'd need for cover crops or forage (to feed the animals to make the manure) would more than double, possibly triple, the current area of farmland, according to Vaclav Smil, an environmental scientist at the University of Manitoba. Such an expansion, Smil notes, "would require complete elimination of all tropical rainforests, conversion of a large part of tropical and subtropical grasslands to cropland, and the return of a substantial share of the labor force to field farming—making this clearly only a theoretical notion."
But, lucky for you, the dear reader, I didn't feel like throwing out a blog post pointing out organic and locally grown is actually bad for the environment.
Then Alice Waters put me over the edge on Sunday night's “60 Minutes”. Mind you, I respect Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. I think she's a very important figure in American cuisine. But, quite frankly, I don't think she's much of a fan of cities, rainforests, poor people or the environment.
Waters told Stahl she rarely goes into a regular supermarket. "I'm looking for food that's just been picked. And so, I know when I go the farmer's market that you know, they just brought it in that day."
"I have to say, it's just a luxury to be able to do that," Stahl remarked.
…
Her cooking "equipment" includes a fireplace in her kitchen.
Not sure if it was the roaring fire in the kitchen or the "fast and easy" part - is she kidding? But Stahl said it was one of the best breakfasts of her life.
So how environmentally friendly do you think it is for the average homeowner to cook their food over an open fire in their kitchen? Yet that is what Ms. Waters did on the show (the egg she cooked fabulous, by the way, as did the rest of the breakfast).
"You have been pushing for a vegetable garden at the White House for years. Rose garden? Forget that. You want a broccoli garden?" Stahl asked.
"I have been talking nonstop about the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House. I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation," Waters said.
Asked if she thinks she'll achieve such a garden at the White House, Waters told Stahl, "Well, I'm very hopeful. I've always liked the idea of doing press conferences at the compost heap."
Never mind the symbolism of the US turning back into an agrarian society, which would probably make Ms. Waters happy. We don't have enough land to feed all the people on the planet the way Ms. Waters wishes to feed us (mind you, if she wants to feed me in this way, I'm perfectly happy to accept).
The sad thing is people haven't thought through food miles and organic food. I'll leave it to 12th and Main to make the point about urban density that wouldn't be possible if every home had their own garden. We simply can't shit like this in any kind of large scale way. So what I like to do is top my vegetables with a little bit of Ortho which adds great flavor and is good for the environment. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to build a wood fire and put an egg on a spoon so I can cook it over that fire.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Holy Hot Hell
For a couple of years, a friend and I had an event every week at work called Hot Sauce Humpday. We liked hot food and thought it would be fun to have salsas and hot sauces every Wednesday. Eventually it turned into people bringing in sauces they had found around town and on vacations and trying to burn our mouths and o-rings.
After some time, all the salsas started to run together so I started up a spreadsheet to keep track of what we thought of the salsas. As I was digging around in my My Documents folder today I found the Hot Sauce Humpday Rankings.xls spreadsheet having never seen the light of day. I don't remember a lot of these salsas but I'll try to comment on the ones I do. Luckily part of the spreadsheet captured people's comments about each salsa. Also included was the top 5 ingredients listed on the label (which we thought was very indicative of heat and taste). We also had a severity level otherwise known as heat level, with 1 being the highest.
La Victoria Red Salsa Jalapena extra hot - Red jalapeno peppers, water, red california chiles, onions, tomato; Sev 3; Good flavor but pedestrian extra hot, it's a perfect number 3, Good for eating mass quantities not very hot though. I remember this salsa since it can be found in any grocery store in town. It was pretty popular with the people who didn't like really hot salsas. I liked it, but not enough to ever buy it.
Original Juan's Jalapeno con queso Batch 37 - Water, tomatoes, cheese mix (cheddar and blue), whey, reduced lactose whey; Sev 4; Should be called jalapeno con crappo. Who puts blue cheese in a hot sauce? Not fit for a dog, I'll wait for batch 38. Tastes like a bad, waxy cardboard box, I think they dropped in some Bertie Botts earwax beads in the batch, Cheese tastes like toilet waste. This was obviously not a salsa we enjoyed. We actually hated it so much we called Original Juan's and asked if we could exchange it which they agreed to do. They were unsurprised that it was unliked. Of all the salsas we tried, this was by far the worst. It has actually prevented me from buying queso in a jar from any company.
Original Juan's Louisiana Style Batch #218 - Malt vinegar, habanero and cayenne
peppers, water, tomato paste, corn syrup; Sev 3; Best vinegar based sauce I've tried, Too much vinegar, Vinegarry but has nice flavor and a needed twinge of heat, Tastes OK, but it's not hot. I have no recollection of this sauce.
Mrs Renfro's Habanero Salsa - Tomatoes, water, jalapeno peppers, onions, green chile peppers; Sev 2; Looks like glue, there's no taste, Long lasting heat with no taste, Brings some heat but doesn't bring much taste, I am more willing to dip my chip in this because Mrs. Renfro wouldn't make it too hot for her grandchildren. I remember this was did have some good heat as most salsas billing themselves as a habanero salsa. Another common property of most habanero salsas is lack of taste and Mrs. Renfro definitely didn't add much taste.
Original Juan's Pain 100% - habanero peppers, water, natural pepper flavoring, vinegar; Sev 1; Good pain, Starts slow but comes on with a vengeance, 10 minutes of torture, Fiery hot, cured my cough. The cured my cough comment was mine and it did cure my cough. We went over to Original Juan's to get this one in the morning and I coughed the entire way over there and the entire way back. I don't think I coughed all afternoon after eating it. This is a good salsa, you just can't eat a whole bunch of it in one sitting.
Jose Madrid Salsa X Hot - Peeled ground tomatoes, New Mexico chilies, green chili, tomato concentrate, water; Sev 1; Tastes great, would make a good taco sauce, Good taco sauce, I love the smell, Authentic mexican taste, Great flavor, tastes like mexican food; I don't really remember this one other than we liked it.
Jose Madrid Salsa Spanish Verde XX Hot - Tomatillos, chilies (New Mexico), green tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onions; Sev 1; Makes you want to tear your tongue out of your mouth, Worst tasting salsa ever, Tastes like ear wax but is very hot. Stay away from this one, it's horrible.
505 Medium Salsa - Flame roasted green chiles, tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, lime juice; Sev 3; Not hot but tasty. I summarized the 5 comments because they were all the same. I don't remember this one at all.
Senor Stan's Original Salsa Hot - Tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, green onion, cilantro; Sev 3; Tastes like a soupy cilantro salad, Not bad if you like cilantro soup, What's that weird bitter taste?, I thought it was pretty good, Tastes like an old rusty can. This one was kind of divisive I think based on the cilantro. I remember cilantro taste being prominent but it didn't make it bad. This was just kind of an average salsa.
Margarita's Hot Salsa - Tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, tomato puree, salt; Sev 3; I found Jimmy Buffett's lost shaker of salt, What's that weird taste?. This one was salty and not very good.
Three Banditos Salsa Habanero Hot - Tomatoes, water, green chiles, fresh onion, jalapenos; Sev 3; Chunkilicious, Great with a lime chip, not very hot. I remember liking the lime chips on this day. People from all over the building would bring us chips and sometimes they were flavored, we never kept track of the chips. I would bet that I've had every kind of chip available in town.
Baboon Ass Habanero hot sauce - Water, onion, vinegar, habanero mash, jalapeno mash; Sev 2; Brings the heat with an adequate taste. Vinegarry but has good pepper flavor. Generally we liked to stay away from novelty salsas, you know the kind, where they spend more time coming up with the name and label than they probably do on the ingredients. But this one was pretty good. I think this came back from vacation with someone.
Rudy's Aztec Gold hot sauce - Tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, garlic, jalapenos; Sev 3; Muy Blando, Even [guy who couldn't handle hot food] would yawn after eating this. No recollection.
Fiesta Smoked Jalapeno - Diced Tomatoes, water, tomato paste, jalapenos, chipotle; Sev 3; Almost barbeque sauce, That is smoky. As a general rule we didn't like salsas with chipotle peppers. This one was more of a topping for a hamburger or something than it was a salsa.
Tostitos Mild Salsa - Tomato puree, diced tomatoes in tomato juice, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onion; Sev 4; Tastes good, no heat, Who the hell brought mild salsa to hot sauce humpday, candy. This made me mad when I went over to the salsa table to find out what my free meal of the day was going to be. Friggin' mild mass distributed salsa. I would have like to have fired the culprit.
Hell on the Red Mild Salsa - Tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, red pepper, water; Sev 4; Heck on the red, As mild as Pat Boone. I've been pretty disappointed in the entire Hell on the Red oeuvre.
Original Juan's Habanero Garlic - Diced Tomatoes, water, tomato paste, diced yellow onions, bell peppers; Sev 2; Good way to get rid of (internal) worms, I really like this, It has good heat that lasts a while, However the wife won't want to be around because of the garlic. One of the better Original Juan's salsas, but not for everyday eating.
Chi Chi's Fiesta Salsa Hot - Tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, water, tomato paste, onions; Sev 3; Tastes very fresh and has some heat for a national mass market brand. I remember being surprised at this one. We generally didn't like the restaurant salsas especially national chains, but this one was pretty good. Probably a nice one to have around all the time.
The Source – Sev 1; A molecule will do you, I built it up too much thinking it would be out of this world hot, It was very, very hot though, The hottest sauce in the world, made me skeptical of my will to live from the point of tasting on, I truly didn't think I would survive much less want to. This was actually served to us by one of the owners of Original Juan's. He dipped a toothpick in the bottle and dabbed it on a chip. I thought I was going to choke to death after swallowing it (ladies you know the feeling). I won't be eating the Source again but it was worth it for the experience. It reminds me of the time I killed a drifter just to get an erection. Everyone should do these sorts of things at least once.
Da Bomb – Orange juice, habaneros, chipotle peppers, water, natural pepper flavoring; Sev 1; Napalm on a chip, 100% Pain on steroids, Hotter than Dave's Insanity and better tasting too, WhOOh!! That's hot. Da Bomb is a watered down The Source. We bought a bottle of it and I think it's still about three-quarters full even though we ate it every week from the time of purchase. It's nice to add in to chili or some bland salsa.
Wild & Hot Frontier Traders Habanero Salsa - Yellow onions, diced tomatoes, water, green peppers, cider vinegar; Sev 3; Good flavor but not very wild or hot, Tastes good, not very much heat but enough flavor to keep me coming back. No recollection of this one.
Screamin' Mimi's Sweet Hot Salsa - Tomatoes, peppers, onions, jalapenos, vinegar; Sev 3; Why does it say hot? It's definitely sweet but not hot, I don't know what is in there that tastes so bad, but this sucks, f…ing horrible. I guess we didn't like this one that much.
Green Mountain Gringo Salsa Roasted Garlic - Ripe tomatoes, fresh onions, fresh pasilla peppers, fire roasted garlic, fresh jalapeno peppers; Sev 3; Smoky with some flavor, could be hotter. Apparently, pasilla peppers aren't very hot. I don't remember this one either.
Eventually we had had every kind of salsa and the whole event kind of petered out. But it was very popular within the building. I would recommend this for any office setting where there are people who like eating hot foods. You get to try a lot of different salsas for free or like $5 every 2 or 3 months. If you're someone who like really hot salsas, people will bring you chips just to watch you sweat.
I mentioned earlier in the post that we went to Original Juan's which is like the salsa version of Boulevard. I set up a tour with them and they couldn't have been nicer. They don't have regularly scheduled tours, but if you call and ask and have 10 – 15 people, they will guide you around. It was pretty fun. Just be careful if you get to try The Source.
After some time, all the salsas started to run together so I started up a spreadsheet to keep track of what we thought of the salsas. As I was digging around in my My Documents folder today I found the Hot Sauce Humpday Rankings.xls spreadsheet having never seen the light of day. I don't remember a lot of these salsas but I'll try to comment on the ones I do. Luckily part of the spreadsheet captured people's comments about each salsa. Also included was the top 5 ingredients listed on the label (which we thought was very indicative of heat and taste). We also had a severity level otherwise known as heat level, with 1 being the highest.
La Victoria Red Salsa Jalapena extra hot - Red jalapeno peppers, water, red california chiles, onions, tomato; Sev 3; Good flavor but pedestrian extra hot, it's a perfect number 3, Good for eating mass quantities not very hot though. I remember this salsa since it can be found in any grocery store in town. It was pretty popular with the people who didn't like really hot salsas. I liked it, but not enough to ever buy it.
Original Juan's Jalapeno con queso Batch 37 - Water, tomatoes, cheese mix (cheddar and blue), whey, reduced lactose whey; Sev 4; Should be called jalapeno con crappo. Who puts blue cheese in a hot sauce? Not fit for a dog, I'll wait for batch 38. Tastes like a bad, waxy cardboard box, I think they dropped in some Bertie Botts earwax beads in the batch, Cheese tastes like toilet waste. This was obviously not a salsa we enjoyed. We actually hated it so much we called Original Juan's and asked if we could exchange it which they agreed to do. They were unsurprised that it was unliked. Of all the salsas we tried, this was by far the worst. It has actually prevented me from buying queso in a jar from any company.
Original Juan's Louisiana Style Batch #218 - Malt vinegar, habanero and cayenne
peppers, water, tomato paste, corn syrup; Sev 3; Best vinegar based sauce I've tried, Too much vinegar, Vinegarry but has nice flavor and a needed twinge of heat, Tastes OK, but it's not hot. I have no recollection of this sauce.
Mrs Renfro's Habanero Salsa - Tomatoes, water, jalapeno peppers, onions, green chile peppers; Sev 2; Looks like glue, there's no taste, Long lasting heat with no taste, Brings some heat but doesn't bring much taste, I am more willing to dip my chip in this because Mrs. Renfro wouldn't make it too hot for her grandchildren. I remember this was did have some good heat as most salsas billing themselves as a habanero salsa. Another common property of most habanero salsas is lack of taste and Mrs. Renfro definitely didn't add much taste.
Original Juan's Pain 100% - habanero peppers, water, natural pepper flavoring, vinegar; Sev 1; Good pain, Starts slow but comes on with a vengeance, 10 minutes of torture, Fiery hot, cured my cough. The cured my cough comment was mine and it did cure my cough. We went over to Original Juan's to get this one in the morning and I coughed the entire way over there and the entire way back. I don't think I coughed all afternoon after eating it. This is a good salsa, you just can't eat a whole bunch of it in one sitting.
Jose Madrid Salsa X Hot - Peeled ground tomatoes, New Mexico chilies, green chili, tomato concentrate, water; Sev 1; Tastes great, would make a good taco sauce, Good taco sauce, I love the smell, Authentic mexican taste, Great flavor, tastes like mexican food; I don't really remember this one other than we liked it.
Jose Madrid Salsa Spanish Verde XX Hot - Tomatillos, chilies (New Mexico), green tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onions; Sev 1; Makes you want to tear your tongue out of your mouth, Worst tasting salsa ever, Tastes like ear wax but is very hot. Stay away from this one, it's horrible.
505 Medium Salsa - Flame roasted green chiles, tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, lime juice; Sev 3; Not hot but tasty. I summarized the 5 comments because they were all the same. I don't remember this one at all.
Senor Stan's Original Salsa Hot - Tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, green onion, cilantro; Sev 3; Tastes like a soupy cilantro salad, Not bad if you like cilantro soup, What's that weird bitter taste?, I thought it was pretty good, Tastes like an old rusty can. This one was kind of divisive I think based on the cilantro. I remember cilantro taste being prominent but it didn't make it bad. This was just kind of an average salsa.
Margarita's Hot Salsa - Tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, tomato puree, salt; Sev 3; I found Jimmy Buffett's lost shaker of salt, What's that weird taste?. This one was salty and not very good.
Three Banditos Salsa Habanero Hot - Tomatoes, water, green chiles, fresh onion, jalapenos; Sev 3; Chunkilicious, Great with a lime chip, not very hot. I remember liking the lime chips on this day. People from all over the building would bring us chips and sometimes they were flavored, we never kept track of the chips. I would bet that I've had every kind of chip available in town.
Baboon Ass Habanero hot sauce - Water, onion, vinegar, habanero mash, jalapeno mash; Sev 2; Brings the heat with an adequate taste. Vinegarry but has good pepper flavor. Generally we liked to stay away from novelty salsas, you know the kind, where they spend more time coming up with the name and label than they probably do on the ingredients. But this one was pretty good. I think this came back from vacation with someone.
Rudy's Aztec Gold hot sauce - Tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, garlic, jalapenos; Sev 3; Muy Blando, Even [guy who couldn't handle hot food] would yawn after eating this. No recollection.
Fiesta Smoked Jalapeno - Diced Tomatoes, water, tomato paste, jalapenos, chipotle; Sev 3; Almost barbeque sauce, That is smoky. As a general rule we didn't like salsas with chipotle peppers. This one was more of a topping for a hamburger or something than it was a salsa.
Tostitos Mild Salsa - Tomato puree, diced tomatoes in tomato juice, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onion; Sev 4; Tastes good, no heat, Who the hell brought mild salsa to hot sauce humpday, candy. This made me mad when I went over to the salsa table to find out what my free meal of the day was going to be. Friggin' mild mass distributed salsa. I would have like to have fired the culprit.
Hell on the Red Mild Salsa - Tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, red pepper, water; Sev 4; Heck on the red, As mild as Pat Boone. I've been pretty disappointed in the entire Hell on the Red oeuvre.
Original Juan's Habanero Garlic - Diced Tomatoes, water, tomato paste, diced yellow onions, bell peppers; Sev 2; Good way to get rid of (internal) worms, I really like this, It has good heat that lasts a while, However the wife won't want to be around because of the garlic. One of the better Original Juan's salsas, but not for everyday eating.
Chi Chi's Fiesta Salsa Hot - Tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, water, tomato paste, onions; Sev 3; Tastes very fresh and has some heat for a national mass market brand. I remember being surprised at this one. We generally didn't like the restaurant salsas especially national chains, but this one was pretty good. Probably a nice one to have around all the time.
The Source – Sev 1; A molecule will do you, I built it up too much thinking it would be out of this world hot, It was very, very hot though, The hottest sauce in the world, made me skeptical of my will to live from the point of tasting on, I truly didn't think I would survive much less want to. This was actually served to us by one of the owners of Original Juan's. He dipped a toothpick in the bottle and dabbed it on a chip. I thought I was going to choke to death after swallowing it (ladies you know the feeling). I won't be eating the Source again but it was worth it for the experience. It reminds me of the time I killed a drifter just to get an erection. Everyone should do these sorts of things at least once.
Da Bomb – Orange juice, habaneros, chipotle peppers, water, natural pepper flavoring; Sev 1; Napalm on a chip, 100% Pain on steroids, Hotter than Dave's Insanity and better tasting too, WhOOh!! That's hot. Da Bomb is a watered down The Source. We bought a bottle of it and I think it's still about three-quarters full even though we ate it every week from the time of purchase. It's nice to add in to chili or some bland salsa.
Wild & Hot Frontier Traders Habanero Salsa - Yellow onions, diced tomatoes, water, green peppers, cider vinegar; Sev 3; Good flavor but not very wild or hot, Tastes good, not very much heat but enough flavor to keep me coming back. No recollection of this one.
Screamin' Mimi's Sweet Hot Salsa - Tomatoes, peppers, onions, jalapenos, vinegar; Sev 3; Why does it say hot? It's definitely sweet but not hot, I don't know what is in there that tastes so bad, but this sucks, f…ing horrible. I guess we didn't like this one that much.
Green Mountain Gringo Salsa Roasted Garlic - Ripe tomatoes, fresh onions, fresh pasilla peppers, fire roasted garlic, fresh jalapeno peppers; Sev 3; Smoky with some flavor, could be hotter. Apparently, pasilla peppers aren't very hot. I don't remember this one either.
Eventually we had had every kind of salsa and the whole event kind of petered out. But it was very popular within the building. I would recommend this for any office setting where there are people who like eating hot foods. You get to try a lot of different salsas for free or like $5 every 2 or 3 months. If you're someone who like really hot salsas, people will bring you chips just to watch you sweat.
I mentioned earlier in the post that we went to Original Juan's which is like the salsa version of Boulevard. I set up a tour with them and they couldn't have been nicer. They don't have regularly scheduled tours, but if you call and ask and have 10 – 15 people, they will guide you around. It was pretty fun. Just be careful if you get to try The Source.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Royally Screwed
For a town known for its great barbecue, the businessmen making decisions about what barbecue you eat seem out of the loop. First came the Power & Light District downtown. Who wants high quality, local barbecue when you can have something like Famous Dave's in the middle of a brand new entertainment district? It was even slated to be the first restaurant to exit the district before strings were pulled and it was forced back in.
Now we have the Royals. I'm not going to pretend to know the whole situation, but it seems like another ball dropped to me. Prior to the remodeling of Kauffman Stadium, Royals fans were blessed to have the expensive yet tasty option of Gates barbecue in the stands. This season, the stadium will open with an outfield plaza filled with new concession and restaurant options. Two new smokers and what do we get?
No KC barbecue franchise link at all? The cow makes me kind of scared that Zarda may be involved. With something like this coming in, is a place like Gates even going to remain in the stadium at all? Feel free to check out this post from Around the Horn in KC for the other cliche baseball named eating establishments you can enjoy this summer.
Now we have the Royals. I'm not going to pretend to know the whole situation, but it seems like another ball dropped to me. Prior to the remodeling of Kauffman Stadium, Royals fans were blessed to have the expensive yet tasty option of Gates barbecue in the stands. This season, the stadium will open with an outfield plaza filled with new concession and restaurant options. Two new smokers and what do we get?
No KC barbecue franchise link at all? The cow makes me kind of scared that Zarda may be involved. With something like this coming in, is a place like Gates even going to remain in the stadium at all? Feel free to check out this post from Around the Horn in KC for the other cliche baseball named eating establishments you can enjoy this summer.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Fish & Chips Friday
A lot has been made of where you can find the best fish & chips in KC. The topic is pressed into my head even more now that Lent has descended upon us, and co-workers with religion muck up the choices for going out to lunch on Friday.
An email went out this morning with a bad pun regarding battered fish, as in assault and battery. This prompted my desire to find the grossest picture of fish and chips known to man in reply. I feel I've found pretty good success on only the second page of Google Image Search in the form of the fish & chips hotpocket.
FYI, the green is mashed peas. How much money would it take for you to eat this? Who among us would actually pay money for the privilege to eat this?
An email went out this morning with a bad pun regarding battered fish, as in assault and battery. This prompted my desire to find the grossest picture of fish and chips known to man in reply. I feel I've found pretty good success on only the second page of Google Image Search in the form of the fish & chips hotpocket.
FYI, the green is mashed peas. How much money would it take for you to eat this? Who among us would actually pay money for the privilege to eat this?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Desperately Seeking Cauliflower
Like most kids I grew up despising vegetables. Probably because my mother's idea of preparing vegetables was opening a can, pouring in a bowl and microwaving. I don't recall seeing a fresh vegetable (other than potatoes) in the house when I was growing up.
We didn't eat out much either which knocked out another opportunity to eat good vegetables. When we did eat out, we either went to Sirloin Stockade (I'm sure it's as nasty as it sounds), El Mexico (a little Wichita Mexican restaurant that thankfully closed this past year, about 5 years too late) or this little Wichita diner called Livington's (which is still around albeit in a bigger location). When we went to Livingston's my parents always ordered some mystery appetizer. It was fried and golden brown and served with a bowl of cocktail sauce. My parents and brothers wouldn't tell me what it was, I guess it was their way of making me try something new. They just told me I would like it. And like it I did. I craved it all the time even though I had no idea what it was (this could also describe my want of some vagine, but I knew how to sate that desire by myself). I couldn't wait to go back to Livingston's. It was my favorite place to eat in those days (they also had great fries, and still do). Finally after 7 or 8 trips to Livingston's I figured out, by the process of elimination (I studied that menu like XO studies porn), what this wonderful fried delicacy was; french fried cauliflower.
To this day, I can tell you every restaurant I've been to that has fried cauliflower (I always confuse waitresses and counterpeople because I order french fried cauliflower). When I moved to KC, the first place I found it was Zarda, leading me to eat at Zarda a lot more than one theoretically should (I used to eat Gates for lunch and Zarda for dinner). When my work moved downtown I found Antonio's in the City Center Square food court had fried cauliflower. When you order it, the person in the back opens up the freezer and dumps a bunch in the fryer. They then serve it to you with some crappy ranch dressing. I have taken to grabbing cocktail sauce packets when I'm out and about so I can enjoy the Antonio's version the way I want. I get weird looks at Zarda when I ask for cocktail sauce with my cauliflower, but they comply once they find some (it's in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf).
We've tried making fried cauliflower at home of course. It's really pretty easy, you just break the cauliflower up into small chunks, salt and pepper, dip in egg and then flour. The more even the size of the cauliflower the more even it cooks. It's very difficult to get the cauliflower cooked perfectly in every piece, some are cooked well and others have still raw cauliflower. I guess that is why it is such a rare food item to find on menus. It's never quite as satisfying as the Livingston's version was. Maybe fried cauliflower is like heroin, it's never as good as it is the first time.
Sadly, Livingston's in Wichita no longer carries the french fried cauliflower, but they make a wonderful hamburger. But, through their 15 years of serving french fried cauliflower, they've made me a fan of at least one vegetable. I will eat cauliflower in nearly every form now, raw, cooked, cauliflower au gratin (RJ's has this). I'd be interested in finding someplace that makes their own fried cauliflower and doesn't use frozen.
We didn't eat out much either which knocked out another opportunity to eat good vegetables. When we did eat out, we either went to Sirloin Stockade (I'm sure it's as nasty as it sounds), El Mexico (a little Wichita Mexican restaurant that thankfully closed this past year, about 5 years too late) or this little Wichita diner called Livington's (which is still around albeit in a bigger location). When we went to Livingston's my parents always ordered some mystery appetizer. It was fried and golden brown and served with a bowl of cocktail sauce. My parents and brothers wouldn't tell me what it was, I guess it was their way of making me try something new. They just told me I would like it. And like it I did. I craved it all the time even though I had no idea what it was (this could also describe my want of some vagine, but I knew how to sate that desire by myself). I couldn't wait to go back to Livingston's. It was my favorite place to eat in those days (they also had great fries, and still do). Finally after 7 or 8 trips to Livingston's I figured out, by the process of elimination (I studied that menu like XO studies porn), what this wonderful fried delicacy was; french fried cauliflower.
To this day, I can tell you every restaurant I've been to that has fried cauliflower (I always confuse waitresses and counterpeople because I order french fried cauliflower). When I moved to KC, the first place I found it was Zarda, leading me to eat at Zarda a lot more than one theoretically should (I used to eat Gates for lunch and Zarda for dinner). When my work moved downtown I found Antonio's in the City Center Square food court had fried cauliflower. When you order it, the person in the back opens up the freezer and dumps a bunch in the fryer. They then serve it to you with some crappy ranch dressing. I have taken to grabbing cocktail sauce packets when I'm out and about so I can enjoy the Antonio's version the way I want. I get weird looks at Zarda when I ask for cocktail sauce with my cauliflower, but they comply once they find some (it's in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf).
We've tried making fried cauliflower at home of course. It's really pretty easy, you just break the cauliflower up into small chunks, salt and pepper, dip in egg and then flour. The more even the size of the cauliflower the more even it cooks. It's very difficult to get the cauliflower cooked perfectly in every piece, some are cooked well and others have still raw cauliflower. I guess that is why it is such a rare food item to find on menus. It's never quite as satisfying as the Livingston's version was. Maybe fried cauliflower is like heroin, it's never as good as it is the first time.
Sadly, Livingston's in Wichita no longer carries the french fried cauliflower, but they make a wonderful hamburger. But, through their 15 years of serving french fried cauliflower, they've made me a fan of at least one vegetable. I will eat cauliflower in nearly every form now, raw, cooked, cauliflower au gratin (RJ's has this). I'd be interested in finding someplace that makes their own fried cauliflower and doesn't use frozen.
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