0

Nacho Burger

I was checking the homie Matt Sonzala’s photos from Devin The Dude’s European tour when I saw this

now I don’t know who makes this, from the signage it looks like it might be some German Burger King shit. You figure Germans wouldn’t care about putting fucking nachos in a burger and calling in the fucking Pinata. It’s like they put all the bullshit that is Cinco De Mayo into a burger for pasty german youth. Whatever though, I guess it’s not that much of a stretch from chips in your sandwich.

If anyone has ever consumed this let me know how shitty german nacho burgers are because it sounds like a recipe for sucks.

• Good Eats

0

Pig Out

Sunday I spent the afternoon watching this pig lose a battle to man with a knife. Ryan Farr and the folks over at Coffee bar set up this cutesy dinner where for 35 bucks you could watch him work the pig and eat it. I think you got some drinks or some shit too but I don’t fuck with old shitty grape juice. I hollered at some Big Daddy IPAs and watched him do his thing. At some point I told them to save me the eye just because that’s what my grandfather always yelled out when there was fish around. When the head came back from the grill they offered it up, it wasn’t too crazy. I was expecting it to be juicy and salty but it felt like really tender cartilage and flavor wise it was kind of lacking. It wasn’t bad or anything, but the texture was more interesting than the flavor. When Ryan was breaking down the leg he offered up some bits of the skin, super crispy and that was the best thing I’d eaten that day.

The food was served up like a buffet, with a variety of cuts, some salad, cheese, and rolls. I think there was a potato salad in there too but I didn’t fuck with it. I got some pieces of leg, cheek, tenderloin wrapped in pork belly and a bunch of other cuts that I’m not sure what they were. It was dope though because a good opportunity to experience all the different things pigs can do. Fuck some swine flu made for TV bullshit, pork is amazing. The only thing that was kind of lacking was just the set up of the whole thing. It was hard to hear Ryan just because the place has these high ceilings, there was a dj playing down tempo stuff (he dropped some liquid swords on the random though). The acoustics of the spot though aren’t that big of a deal, just get a Sham Wow headset and you’re good. It was totally worth it and I definitely want to take a butchering class now.

pic
tenderloin wrapped in pork belly

pics
home made corndogs, these were the knock

• Rants

0

Pork Chop Sandwiches

Years ago when Sarah and I were dating I was invited to her Dad’s house for Christmas dinner. He and his 3rd or 4th wife (I forget) cooked a pork loin on their rotisserie way too long and that fucking thing was like eating sawdust. Luckily there was some applesauce on the table so I dipped a cut of my pork loin in there before every bite. I looked around and it seemed to catch on because nobody was saying shit except asking people to “pass the applesauce”.

So here I took the classic pork and apples to another level by making a sandwich using pan-seared, thin cut pork chops seasoned with salt, black pepper and minced rosemary- the buns consisted of assorted apple pastries.

1) Pork Chop and Caramel Empanada from Taco Bell
pic1

* First impression: Hello caramel.
* Taste: Lots of caramel upfront, then apple and the pork took the backseat on this one.
* Texture: It was a bit too crumbly for me.

2) Pork Chop and Baked Apple Pie from McDonald’s

pic 2

* First impression: Now this is a good pie.
* Taste: These pies are seasoned so well that it was hard for the pork to make a presence. The balance was def not on the pork chops side though.
* Texture: Much better than the empanada. When I was deciding which pastries to use for this experiment I had in my mind that McDonald’s still fried these hoes up so I was a little disappointed to learn that they are now baked. When at the drive thru I saw double quarter pounders and double filet-o-fish sandwiches on the menu so it’s obvious they are lightening up the menu a bit. More

• Good Eats

0

Winter Pork Tenderloin

There’s something really comforting about hearty foods in the Winter. Last time I was at the farmer’s market I came across a really good deal on a whole pork loin from a regional farm. I decided to go all out and marinate the loin in Anchor Steam Christmas Ale that I had left over and some Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. I divided the loin in two and placed everything in a zip lock bag and put it in the fridge for 24 hours.

The farmer’s market I go to in Dupont Circle has a slew of great artisan cheese makers from regional farms in the PA, MD, and VA area. I found a vendor that had huge blocks of sharp cheddar cheese at about half the cost of what you would find in the supermarket. My grandfather used to make homemade macaroni and cheese, the recipe called for 1lb of shells to 2lbs of cheese, a stick of butter, butter milk and some sour cream. My grandfather died of a heart attack at 58. Not really looking to head down that path, I decided to go 1/1 on the mac and cheese. I bought a 1/2 pound of sharp cheddar and a 1/2 pound of Colby. Not so many people use Colby, which is a milder and softer yellow cheese – which adds to the creaminess of the recipe.

Game time.

I live in the city on the top floor of an apartment building. I don’t own a grill and if I did, I probably wouldn’t be using it in the Winter. I’ve found the next best way to cook meat without a grill is to pan sear it prior to putting it in the oven or broiler. This really locks in the flavors and thickens up the beer/bbq mixture.

pic

A lot of people think you need to cook the shit out of pork and that you can’t do it on the medium side – that’s just wrong. The last thing you want to end up with a dry piece of meat that pulls apart like leftover turkey. Pork needs to be cooked to 145 degrees and will do so quickly in an oven preheated to 325. I give it about 15 minutes per pound.

pic

It’s really convenient that the mac & cheese once assembled cooks at 325 until everything is melted and a little crisp on top.

Peep the end product. I’ve never had a piece of pork so moist and tender.
pic3

• Rants

0

Bulgogi Burger

When I was in Austin last month my dude Papi Babylon told me to hit up Burger Tex by the UT campus for a Korean bulgogi burger. Dude was on point with the other recommendations so we stopped by for a burger and happened to make history.

bulgogicheese

We ordered a couple bulgogi burgers, one with Swiss as recommended by the cashier. After a few minutes the burger arrived and I headed over to the condiment bar to hook up some toppings: pickles, iceberg lettuce, onions, tomato, mayo and jalapeños.

It was great. The bulgogi was crispy, somewhat sweet and slightly salty but well balanced. While enjoying the burger I looked over the menu and realized that there wasn’t any other Korean food offered, just your typical burger and fries type stuff. I then asked the cashier if they had any kimchi and she brought out her father who was cooking in the back. They told us their Grandma made their’s at home and they don’t serve it to the public, but since we asked they would let us have some. As expected it was fantastic so I asked them to make me a new burger topped with their Grandma’s homemade kimchi. Apparently this was their first request and dude was really excited to make one.

pic 2

It was decent. I’d say the regular burger had the advantage with all the condiments but for real I was trying to go authentic. I liked the acidic character that came from the cabbage but at the same time it needed something else to help balance the sourness.

• Rants

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 »