Cast Iron Belly

Dirty Frank’s

2009-07-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Dirty Frank’s is a brand new place downtown on 4th Street just south of Main. I’ve been looking forward to Dirty Franks opening up for a while… I should have known better. Opening up for evening and late night hours two weeks ago this week is the first for lunch service.

Today a coworker and I went to the Dirty for lunch. We arrived shortly after 11:00 and there was plenty of street parking (albeit before the lunch rush.) The decoration is slightly odd with a mix of late 70’s early 80’s rock band paintings and roughly the same period baseball player paintings. All appeared to be done be the same artist who did not waiver in style so everything, while an eclectic mix, seemed to fit.

Here’s where it all went downhill for me. I had two hotdogs, an Ohioana which comes “topped with spicy corn relish (sweet corn, pickle relish & jalapeno blend), & a dash of celery salt” a Chili dog that is served up with “coney sauce, fresh onions, yellow mustard, & sharp cheddar” and an order of fries topped with cheese sauce and bacon bits. The hotdogs were underwhelming to say the least. The Ohioana’s spicy corn relish did not have any spice at all. The coney sauce had a weird flavor to it as well. I’m not sure if they put sugar in it or just an incredible amount of tomato paste but something tasted off to me. While the dogs lacked flavor the fries were over cooked and way over salted. The cheese sauce on the fries was the best part of lunch. My friend had a similar experience, tasteless hotdogs but he ordered the tater tots… which were undercooked and mushy.

On a positive note the service was great. Initially, my fries did not have cheese and bacon bits as ordered. The waitress not only brought me a new order but knocked them off my bill completely. The prices were reasonable, $3 dogs and $2 fries, this was nice to see.

Over all Dirty Frank’s seems to be similar to another crappy downtown lunch spot Cinco, the food is bland and the only saving grace is the cheese sauce.

Why did I do that?

2009-06-19T09:24:00.001-07:00

Sometimes…. a lot of times I don’t know why I do the things I do.

Example: This is a slice of cleverly named Periodic Pizza from the equally cleverly named Atomic Café at COSI. Despite its failing school district lunch appearance the pizza is actually very good. In fact, where this to be served at a bar in a combo meal with a pitcher of beer and jalapeno poppers I would say it was the greatest ever. The only problem is I have never had Periodic Pizza without feeling extremely sick shortly after. Yet, I keep going back.

Today I walked downstairs and actually thought about the pain lunch would cause me and STILL chose to go ahead pound this thing. So here I sit, stomach in knots, it sure did taste good though.

Could I really be this dumb? Ehh, probably.

That's Dumb

2009-05-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I do things just because they are stupid. I touch hot plates, I swim after eating and I make things like White Castle Casserole. My wife was at a wedding this weekend leaving me home alone and that is prime time for putting dumb ideas into action. This weekend I thought it might be fun to make a casserole…. out of Whiteys. It ended up being surprisingly good and certainly classed up the little burger (sort of) into what I feel would be a fun and acceptable party offering.

So here are all my ingredients:
• 16 White Castle burgers
• 1lb. bacon
• 10 eggs
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 onion
• Cheese
• Dry mustard
• Garlic powder

My initial plan was to build this in a 9X13 baking dish but I didn’t have enough Whiteys for such a large container. 16 is plenty but I may or may not have but definitely did eat 5 on the way home. Shifting gears to an 8X8 dish used 9 tightly packed burgers leaving two for the cook’s treat!

The first step was to mix the eggs, cream of mushroom soup, dry mustard and garlic powder. After arranging the bottoms of my burgers in the dish pour about a third of the egg mixture over them and let it sit.

I slow cooked the bacon which rendered off a great deal of fat. Leaving the fat in my pan I tossed in the chopped onion and more or less fried that dude in bacon grease. It smelled AWESOME!

Cover the bottom of the Whiteys with the cooked onion and 2/3 of your chopped bacon. Return the lids and cover with another 1/3 of the egg mixture.

At this point I let it sit in the refrigerator for most of the day. Once you are ready to cook cover with cheese and bake at 350 for about an hour.

You will notice you have left over egg mixture and bacon. I whipped up a pretty mean scrambled egg dish with all of that. Again, cooking it in the bacon grease was insane!

White Castle Casserole baked nicely and I think the egg fluffed it up and made it feel a little lighter… which could be the reason I ate the entire thing. I used both American and cheddar cheese on top, next time I will stick with cheddar only.

Now I know I stated above that it classed the Whitey up. That was a lie. It’s still White Castle. However, I do feel that with a few small adjustments listed below, this absolutely is something fun to take to a party or tailgate.

Things I would do differently:
• Buy more White Castles
• Add peppers and maybe a few other veggies in with the onion. This might make the whole deal more appealing to people other than me
• Add cheese only for the final 20 minutes of cooking... like any other casserole. I don’t know what I was thinking, the cheese cooked far too long here
• Add more pickles and maybe even a little yellow mustard

Grilled Pizza

2009-05-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun things I’ve done lately is grill pizza, it’s easy and you can really go nuts with the combinations. I started with Trader Joe’s pizza dough which came highly recommended from my sister. I cut the dough in half to better fit my grill. I would probably recommend this no matter how large your grill as it makes handling much easier.

Start with a hot, well oiled grill on high heat and just toss your dough directly on the grill. I use my grill more than most people and am very familiar with the hot spots. I like to cook the dough over the hottest place on the grill at first. It only takes a few minutes to cook.

Once flipped, I move the dough to the front of the grill which is much cooler. After dressing your pizza up close the list and let it cook. The slower longer cooking on the flip side make the crust crispier and allows more time for your toppings to heat.

In this case I used things I already had on hand. Pesto base with spinach, broccoli, edamame, black olives and sharp cheddar. My wife loved it! We also made a buffalo chicken pizza. I’m thinking Mexican pizza might be in order for Cinco de Mayo!

Xtreme Garlic Hummus

2009-03-09T18:25:00.001-07:00

The other day I was talking with a friend of mine, he was telling me how he never likes to see food thrown out. Not like a regular person mind you but to such an extreme he will eat expired dairy products as long as they don’t smell. I on the other understand that the expiration date on dairy products is unflinchingly rigid. After our conversation I was feeling a bit wasteful so this post is for you John!

Last week I attempted to make hummus. It’s really not that hard chick peas, tahini, garlic, olive oil, cumin and what ever else you want to put in. I took stock of my ingredients and realize I didn’t have any cumin, I know it’s critical but I decided to march on. In lieu of cumin I opted to double the garlic… yes, I know that is not a substitute but it was Saturday afternoon and I guess I had cracked open the beer a little early.

I went through al the steps and it looked really good, nice color, great texture. The only problem was after a few dips my mouth was on fire with garlic. This taught me two things 1.) there IS such thing as too much garlic and 2.) my wife laughing at me when I ask for a kiss is not fun.

I put what I’ve dubbed Xtreme Garlic Hummus in the fridge and didn’t think about it until the next night when I was making my lunch for work on Monday. Instead of mayo and mustard I used hummus. The overwhelming garlic flavor actually played very well on my sandwich. For the last two weeks hummus is the only thing I’ve used and I’m planning on mixing up another batch this weekend.

I had a huge garlic mess in my hands but I made it work!

Creole Kitchen

2009-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

I heard about this hole in the wall Cajun place, Creole Kitchen, on the radio the other night and decided to check it out. Hole in the wall was an understatement for sure. I drove around for several minutes trying to find it, there is no sign other than the writing in the window and even that is extremely difficult to see but the effort really paid off.

There is no dining area, take out only and is in a less than desirable par to of town. As you can see it’s extremely small but does have a fairly thorough menu. I had the crawfish etouffee which came with two sides, I chose macaroni & cheese and red beans & rice. Every bit of it was awesome! Crawfish etouffee was very spicy bit the heat didn’t overwhelm me and I was still able to enjoy the crawfish of where there was an impressive amount. The red beans & rice was very good and the macaroni & cheese may have been the best I have ever had! Although I am certain it would rival the BigMac for calorie content.

As I said above, Creole Kitchen has a nice menu and I am looking forward to trying a few other things. Check out their menu.

Creole Kitchen

1052 Mt. Vernon Plaza, Columbus, Ohio 43203

Veal Gremolata

2009-01-25T17:00:00.001-08:00

I wanted to try a few new things this week and veal was on the list. Getting my wife to try new things can be difficult, I have to be careful. Veal is one of those things she was very if-y about. She was hesitant at first but came around and actually liked it. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
2 lemons
¼ cup parsley – finely chopped
4 cloves garlic – minced
1 ½ lbs veal scallops
¾ cup white wine
4 tbs butter
3 cups brown rice

Prepare gremolta:
Grate the zest from the lemons and squeeze and strain the juice. In a bowl mix together zest, parsley and garlic, set aside.

Cook veal:
When I ordered the veal at the butcher counter he cut it thin, ¼ inch, but I wanted it thinner. My solution was a 1x4 board which I keep for various uses in the kitchen. I laird out the veal with plastic wrap top and bottom and lightly pounded each slice underneath the board with a hammer. They came out nice and thin! Salt and pepper scallops. In a frying pan add 1 tbs of butter. Add veal in a single layer and cook, turning once, until brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plant. Repeat with butter and remaining veal.

Prepare sauce:
Melt remaining butter in the same frying pan over medium-high heat. Add hal of the gremolata and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir, scraping up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Cook sauce until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Stir in 2 tbs lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return veal to the pan and simmer to 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle remaining gremolata and serve over brown rice.

I had a good bit of veal left over but it made awesome sandwiches for lunch!

Leeky, Creamy Chicken and Dumpling

2009-01-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

There has been snow on the ground for well over a week and I am more than a little tired of it. Since I can’t move to Florida I thought a bowl of soup would warm my belly. I don’t know where I found this recipe but it really looked good. I made this last night and it turned out great, it is now one of my wife’s favorites. This was surprisingly easy, it took about an hour start to finish, including the chicken!

The originator of the recipe I used must have found it somewhere else because they had this to say about the chicken:

"Also, from the recipe, it wasn’t clear what she meant by “chicken tenders” - did she mean already grilled chicken strips? raw chicken tenderloins? chicken nuggets? After reading the recipe and seeing that it wouldn’t cook for long after the addition of them, we decided that she meant chicken nuggets of some sort. I didn’t want to use chopped and formed nuggets, but we did want to use the breaded kind (we figured it would thicken the stew), so we ended up using Trader Joe’s panko-crusted chicken tenders (from their refrigerated section). If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s close to you, try to find something similar in your local grocery."

I chose to use chicken tenderloins. I seasoned the chicken with a little salt and pepper and grilled them. I can see how it’s important to use chicken tenderloins or some other small piece of chicken. Whole chicken breast, even when cut into chunks, would have been far large.

Ingredients:
• 2 tbsp. olive
• 3 leeks, white and tender green parts split lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 5 ribs celery, thinly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• 4 c. chicken broth
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 lb. chicken tenders, cut into small chunks
• 2 packages fresh gnocchi (about 24 ounces)
• 1/3 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tbsp. dry sherry – I did not have sherry so I used 3 tsp vanilla extract, I could not have been happier!
• 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp. turkey base
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustardd
• dill week
• tarragon

In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks, celery, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, cook about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream, lower the heat and simmer until the soup bubbles at the edges. Add the chicken and the gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Add the vanilla and paprika, stir. Add mustard, and dill and tarragon to taste. Stir in parsley and serve hot.

Pimento Cheese

2009-01-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

I really like pimento cheese but I’m not a fan of the over processed pimento cheese “spread” you found in a grocery store. Solution: make my own! It’s much easier than you think.

Ingredients:
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese
½ oz jar pimentos (chopped)
2 tsp garlic powder
3 – 4 tsp horseradish
mayonnaise

First shred the cheese, shred along the short side, smaller pieces are better. Set shredded cheese aside in a mixing bowl and allow it to come up to room temperature (makes mixing easier.)

(This is a terrible picture but it's the best I could do at the time, sorry!)

Once the cheese has warmed slightly mix in garlic powder, horseradish, pimento and just enough mayonnaise to bind things together. Mix evenly. When complete put into a container and refrigerate.

That’s all there is to it!

My dad mixes this up often but does not include horseradish so if you don’t like it leave it out. He also prefers to let his warm up slightly before he eats (makes it softer) where as I just jump right in. Either way it’s much better than anything you will find in the store.

Snack on this!

2008-12-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

So really, what’s better than a snack? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love to snack on something and our snacks are as diverse as the UN. For me, I tend to stick to my favorites, there is little variation in my preference. One of my loyal favorites is Cheeze-Its and Schlotzsky’s sauce! If you have never eaten at a Schlotzsky’s Deli… what’s wrong with you? Find the location nearest you on their website and go there, it’s worth the trip.

Everyone knows and loves Cheese-Its but you may never have tried Schlotzsky’s sauce. More or less it is just another hot sauce but when it comes to flavor by far this is my favorite. It has just the right about of heat and tons of pepper flavor. If I eat enough of it I will sweat a little but the heat is not overpowering at all. I like to spread Cheeze-Its out on a large plate, plate size is key because your Cheeze-Its must be in a single layer to ensure proper coverage with Schlotsky’s sauce. From there I just grab the bottle and shake it until my arm gets tired.

Whenever I fix this snack I think about my friend Mike King. Growing up, he and I consumed more bottles of Schlottzsky’s sauce than I can count. Lately I have been trying to mix up this concoction as often as possible in honor of Mike who is in Tanzania guiding groups up Mount Kilimanjaro. Needless to say there is not a Schlotzsky’s in reasonable driving distance. Check out Mike’s blog and you can follow his adventure.

Good luck Mike! I have a plate of Cheeze-Its and Schlotzsky’s sauce waiting for you!!!

Roasted Tomato Soup

2008-11-30T12:33:00.001-08:00

The best thing about winter is soup! Most nights when I get home from work I do not care to put in the effort to make a large meal. Solution… soup!

Tomato soup, in particular, is one of my wife’s favorites. It seems like one of those things which should be so easy. However, far too often when she orders tomato soup it has little flavor, too much acidity or tons of cream.

This soup takes a while and there is a little more work involved but if you avoid short cuts like using canned tomatoes I promise your extra effort will be rewarded.

Ingredients:
• 8 larger tomatoes - just basic, round red ones, I always have good luck finding beefsteak
• 2 small onions, chop
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 parmesan rind, about 10 square inches
• 2 cups water
• pepper
• salt
• olive oil

Turn your broiler on. Cut the tomatoes in half (widthwise) and squeeze seeds and juice into a bowl (you will need this later.) Arrange tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt and place them under the broiler. Broil them for about 10-15 minutes, or until they are lightly browned with charred edges. This will help cut down on the acidity and caramelize the sugars on the edges, it smells great!

While your tomatoes roast strain the seeds and tomato juice over a fine mesh wire strainer. Discard the seeds and excess pulp, keep the juice. You may need to work the seeds and pulp a bit with you fingers to get the most juice out.

Set the tomatoes aside and allow them to cool. Heat a little olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onions and sweat for a five minutes, and then add the garlic, sweat for another 5 minutes or until the garlic has softened a bit.

Add the reserve tomato juice and the parmesan rind to the onions and garlic. Be sure not to forget the parmesan rind, I think this is what tempers the acidity of the tomatoes. Don’t use regular parmesan either, the flavor can get overpowering and take away from the sweet goodness of the tomatoes and garlic.

Skin the tomatoes and add the bottoms right into the pot, skins will peal off easily. Core the tops and add those as well. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

Puree in a food processor and return to the pot. Add water and continue to simmer for 2 hours on low heat.

Resist the urge to dump in a lot of spices. I know basil seems like a natural, or even a bit of dried Italian Spice, but the truth is, the pure flavor of the garlic and tomatoes is really amazing.

Serve with crackers, grilled cheese or my wife’s favorite… popcorn!!!

Other observations:
I made this today, Sunday, while watching football. If I see that Jane Seymour jewelry commercial one more time I might put my foot through the tv.

GUMBO!!!

2008-11-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

I’m home this week in Marietta, GA for a conference downtown. It’s always nice to be home and spend time with my family. I live nearly 600 miles north so the time we spend together now is more than special to me. Additional bonus – I got to watch my Falcons on TV and didn’t have to spend $40 at B-Duds to do it. While watching the Falcons my dad and I made gumbo. It turned out REALLY well!

While it takes a little time and patients it’s not too hard at all. Here’s how we did it:

First make the roux:

In a cast iron skillet (and it must be cast iron) over low heat add one cup of oil and slowly add one cup of flower. Slowly cook this until it turns to the color of chocolate, about half an hour. Stir constantly! It is important to never walk away from the stove because your roux will burn quickly. Just keep stirring, your patients will be rewarded.

When your roux has a nice brown color add two copped onions and two chopped bell peppers. Cook for 3 – 5 minutes.
Transfer roux and vegetables to a pot.
Add 1lb andouille sausage, sliced (we added hot andouille) and one pound cubed grilled chicken. I like the grilled chicken, it had good flavor and really fell apart during the cooking making the hot andouille the star of the show.
Add 3 bay leaves
Add 48oz. of chicken broth.
Bring to a boil.
While you wait for the pot to boil add the following:

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Once you reach a boil, lower the temperature and simmer for two hours.
After your two hours are up stir in 1 tbs file’ powder
Stir in fresh parsley and several chopped green onions

To serve ladle into a bowl and add a scoop of well cooked rice to the center.

As I stated above, this is a pretty simple recipe but it does take time and patients. It’s well worth the effort!

I think the best part was getting to spend some time with my dad. There aren’t many better ways to spend an afternoon than cooking an incredible meal while watching football. My dad is by far one of the greatest people you will ever meet and I miss him and my mother an awful lot. What a great afternoon.

Danny's Deli

2008-10-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

My wife has been telling me about this place her office really enjoys, Danny’s Deli. Tucked away off Front Street, Danny's is near the southeast corner of Front and Broad. It’s a great location and when you approach you know you are close because it smells so good.

The sign out front announces that Danny’s has the “best Corned Beef in the Town!” Naturally if it’s the best in the city I must try it! I can’t speak to weather Danny makes the best corned beef in the city but it was really good! I asked and Danny does in fact make his own corned beef. Most places just buy their corned beef so I think the "homemade" effort really sets Danny's apart.

I had the corned beef on rye with swiss. As you can see from the photo this is one serious sandwich. Piled high, the corned beef was served warm enough to just begin melting the cheese. The corned beef wasn’t too salty and was surprisingly lean. There were virtually not large chunks of fat, a sign that suggest quality meat is being used. Sliced thin, it was easy to eat despite the size.

Another thing that set’s Danny’s apart... they have stadium mustard! Ironically, I had a disturbingly in-depth discussion on the value and necessity of stadium mustard Sunday. I would say that as an Ohio tradition, stadium mustard is certainly needed in any reputable deli.

The atmosphere is fun but definitely not overdone. It has an easy deli feel and the walls are dressed with posters from I Love Lucy, Hogan’s Heroes, Andy Griffith and others tv classics. My personal favorite was a poster of the Clampett family all holding guns with a caption reading “Homeland Security.”

Overall I was extremely pleased with Danny’s Deli and will most certainly eat there again very soon. They seemed to have a pretty wide variety of sandwiches both hot and cold. Additionally, they are opened for breakfast and have listed on the menu a corned beef omelet. Corned beef omlet... ohhhh, my heart be still.

40 Acres of Fans!

2008-10-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

There are some places that God created for a specific purpose. The Grove on the campus of Ole Miss is one of those places. God shaped that piece of land and knew that families and friends would use it to gather and celebrate.

Over the weekend we went to the Ole Miss v Vandy game in Oxford. I remember going to Ole Miss games when I was younger but I guess I’ve forgotten what an experience it is. NO BODY tailgates like Ole Miss. Each week is like a huge family reunion. There is just something about it I can’t quite explain. All schools tailgate but the fine Ole Miss fans do it on a different level.

The Grove is an enormous 40 acre piece of land settled in the middle of the Ole Miss campus adjacent to the stadium. Every home game weekend, every inch of those 40 acres is covered with tents and fans. It is honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. This past weekend there must have been 100,000 people.

Everywhere you turn there are people offering you something to eat or trying to put a fresh beer in your hand. It really does feel like a huge family.

I have been dragging me feet on this post. I think this one was a little difficult for me to write. This weekend really reminded me how special it is to be around family. I grew up outside of Atlanta and never had the opportunity to spend much time with my extended family. In particular, my cousins and their families are fantastic. Growing up, I really looked up to my cousins Kim and Don. They are a good bit older than I am and every opportunity I had to spend time with them was very special and it still is. Kim is one of the most fun people you will ever be around if she is near you will always have an incredible time. Don is the kindest most genuine person you ever meet.

I suppose this all makes me feel as if I really missed out on something special. However, those same feelings motivate me do a better job visiting them more often in the future. My wife and I are already looking forward to the Vandy v Ole Miss game in Nashville next year as well as another trip to Oxford.

Thank you to my family and all of the Ole Miss fans that gave us an unforgettable weekend! Hotty Toddy!!!

The Rendezvous

2008-10-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago my wife, in-laws and I took on a road trip to Mississippi for the Ole Miss v Vandy game. My family is all from north MS so this was to get together with them and enjoy a great football weekend. Now, onto the food... Friday night we all went to the Rendezvous in Memphis. Opened in 1948, the Rendezvous has arguably the best in the country.

Memphis style ribs are served dry and cooked with a heavy dose of rub. The Rendezvous cooks their ribs a little differently than how most people are accustomed to having them. The meat is moist and tender but does not “fall off the bone.” When you use a lot of steam, or boil your ribs, they tend to have that fall off the bone tenderness and while that’s great, you sacrifice a lot of flavor. The Rendezvous will have nothing to do with that, flavor and quality are by far better than what you will find at your run of the mill BBQ place. My cousin summed it up nicely, when you go to the Rendezvous you have three options, a full order of ribs, a full order of rubs or... a full order of ribs.

Beyond the ribs, the Rendezvous is simply a phenomenal experience. We had a group of 14 and immediately after we were seated the staff showed up with plates of sausage and cheese. The sausage and cheese plate is their most popular starter, slices of smoked sausage and cheddar cheese are served up with a healthy dusting of the Rendezvous’ dry rub. I can’t even begin to describe how good this was. Additionally, the staff seemed to always have one eye on the pitchers of beer, we never had to ask for more and never went dry.

The Rendezvous is a great experience, if you ever have the opportunity you must go. It’s easy to see why the Rendezvous is such a prominent Memphis institution and a legend for their ribs.

Cinco

2008-09-17T10:23:00.001-07:00

I had high hopes for Cinco, the newest lunch spot that opened downtown at Broad and High. Sadly I was completely disappointed. Serving burritos, tacos and salads it’s more of a Chipotle rip off than anything else. A coworker mentioned that she had heard this and while I tried to be objective I would have come to the same conclusion on my own. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some good things about Cinco but overall I’m left feeling quite unfulfilled.

The Good:

Cinco does seem to be a solid lunch time value. My burrito was $5.25 and a 24oz foundation coke was only a dollar more. Tacos were $5.25 and salads were $5.75 so the overall value is there.
Cinco also has a great outdoor patio and which was by far the highlight of our trip.
Location, location, location. At Broad and High it’s only a short walk for most folks working downtown.

The Bad:

The atmosphere is fairly poor. Waiting in line the wall color and assembly line gave me the feel of an elementary school cafeteria.
Initially I was pretty jazzed queso was available, which it is not a Chipotle. I ordered a chicken burrito and just like Chipotle it comes loaded up with rice. The queso really helps bring everything together and adds moisture. The only bad this was the queso wasn’t not very good. In fact it was pretty bad.
The chicken on my burrito was almost rubbery and lacked flavor.
Cinco really is a low budget Chipotle knock off, right down to the signage.

Overall, I was very disappointed. However, I’m not sure if feel let down due to my actual experience and food or if I was just expecting more. At any rate, with a convenient location I’m sure I will end up eating at Cinco again but it won’t be a first choice.

Are You Man Enough?

2008-09-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

Thurman’s Café has been a Columbus institution since 1942 and each year like clockwork is chosen as the best burger in the city. A very good friend and I frequent Thurman’s to the point that the waiter knows our order. We hold Thurman’s with such reverence and value that whenever we make a bet, be it for fantasy football or any other occasion, it is always for a trip to Thurman’s. All of Thurman’s burgers are constructed on a base of ¾ of a pound of beef, and I am certain it is not lean beef either. The “Thurman Burger” includes a huge stack of ham, sautéed onions and mushrooms. While this may be Thurman’s flag ship my favorite is this monster:

This is the blue cheese burger and is no doubt a gift from the Heavens. The burger is topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo… and here’s where it gets good, blue cheese, blue cheese dressing, several pieces of mozzarella and you ALWAYS have to add bacon. I like to hose mine down with Texas Pete (feel the burn!)

For me the bacon is what sets this burger apart. It's always thick and they add plenty of it, not like what you would find at Wendy’s or some place like that. My friend usually orders the Texas Coney. It’s basiclly a 12” smoked sausage in a sub roll covered in what appears to be an entire quart of chili. But that monster deserves its own post.

This gut buster is by any measure a man’s burger. Certainly, it is a challenge to consume but just because you can eat the entire burger doesn’t make you a man. I’ve known plenty of people who have eaten a Thurman burger, returned to work bragging about how much they ate and then proceeded to be completely worthless for the duration of the afternoon. No, the true test of a man, or at least his intestinal fortitude, is how productive he can be after your battle with the Thurman burger.

I’m proud to say my friend and I can take on Thurman’s, return to work and still maintain a high level of efficiency.

Are you man enough?

Another Successful Tailgate!

2008-09-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

What a day! This week’s tailgate was awesome!!!

I don’t know how many people showed up but there were no less than 60 that came pregame and another 30 post. Ohio State – Ohio isn’t a big rivalry but it sure it a big party. I was absolutely astonished at how much beer was consumed and there wasn't a scrap of food left over.

The food this week was a big hit, there wasn’t a scrap left when everyone cleared out for the game. Our menu was as follows:
• pulled pork sandwiches
• baked beans
• buffalo chicken dip
• wings and boneless wings from B-Dubs (compliments of my father in-law)
• marinated peppers
• beer (approximately 10 cases)

I kept the same routine as last week and started preparing on Thursday, as you can seem from my previous post. You saw what I did with the pork below. The peppers were just marinated over night in Italian dressing and the beans were from a can but I dressed them up a little. I used three large cans of Bush’s Original Baked Beans. I purposely drained two of the cans and made up the needed liquid with whiskey and brown sugar. I was extremely pleased with the addition of the whiskey, it provided a very distinct flavor that played well with the beans.

The layout of our tailgate remained the same. I’ll have to come up with a way to change it up for the next game (I’m on the hunt for a chandelier for the tent!)

Once again there are people with more toys but I still believe that we put on the best show in the lot. I noticed a lot of people roll out grills for their tailgates and I just don't see the appeal. I know you can get a better hamburger out of it but someone needs to cook and tend the thing the entire time and that has to get monotonous. You don't even get to enjoy the festivities you worked so hard on. It also seems to me that it would limit your menu options, you’re stuck with brugers and hotdogs every week.

Other Observations:
Whenever you cram thousands of people into one concentrated area, you are bound to get a diverse group. Tailgating is no different. Most tailgaters just hang out and do their own thing without calling attention to themselves. Some tailgaters can’t do that. The “Go Long” Guys are the perfect example.

Every section of the parking lot has these knuckleheads. These tool shacks think the lanes of the parking lot were designed specifically for them to run incredibly slow fly patterns and show off the arm strength that landed them third string QB on the JV. They end up knocking over tables, bouncing footballs off of car hoods and on one occasion I observed thumped a ball off a 4 year old’s gourd. Hey “Go Long” Guys, Uncle Rico called and even he thinks you should give it a rest.

Smokey Goodness

2008-09-05T06:52:00.001-07:00

I love to tailgate!

So yesterday, in preparation for this weekend’s TOSU v OU game, I went all out! I smoked a 7lb pork shoulder to make pulled pork sammys.

I have a pretty cheap vertical smoker, the walls are extremely thin and it’s hard to regulate the temperature when it’s cold or there is any amount of wind. It was a little windy yesterday but after my fire burned for an hour and a half it settled down and stayed between 190 and 220. I used lump charcoal for the first time instead of brickets and was quite pleased. They seemed to burn a little slower and with the larger size I only added additional fuel once. I also did not have any problems with ash building up and clogging the air vents. I let the pork cook down to a little over 8 hours. All in all it was a very successful day.

As you can see from the picture above I had really good smoke penetration, I actually had a much larger smoke ring than I would have ever thought I could get. I was really pleased with the redness of the smoke ring as well…

I think this weekend is going to be a ton of fun. I can’t wait to get out there… and eat!

My First Post!

2008-08-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well… this is my very fist blog post so I guess I’ll just dive right in…

Yesterday was Ohio State’s first game of the 2008 season and there are few things I love more than football. So yesterday I put on the tailgate for my in-laws and I had a ton of fun!

This year we are trying to take TOSU tailgating to the next level. As I am from the South I’ve seem some extremely elaborate tailgates. Not that there aren’t some tricked out tailgates at Ohio State games but it appears to me that their money and time is spent on getting the latest and greatest toys and less on food and presentation. It’s really cool to have a 40” flat screen and a huge stereo but if you’re rockin out with a cheese tray from Kroger, a few bags of potato chips and setting it all out on a dirty table it kind of defeats the purpose.

So as you can see from the pictures we tried to dress things up a bit.

The menu laid out like this:

Italian sausages: sweet and hot
roasted vegetables: peppers, onions and asparagus
buffalo chicken dip: always a standard
blocks of cheese
fresh salsa
homemade cookies

I started cooking Thursday night when I grilled the chicken for the dip. Friday night my wife and I really started working, I prepared the chicken dip and cut up all the vegetables to marinate overnight while my wife baked the cookies. Saturday morning I was up at 6:00. I grilled the sausages while the chicken dip baked. I roasted the vegetables last. Normally I would roast a tray of veggies for close to an hour but this time I cut that in half. Since we would not eat for several hours I thought they would hold up better if they were cooked less. It turned out to be a good decision, even after the game they were still fairly crisp and never got mushy.

I think everyone enjoyed the food and we had more than a few comments on the candle sticks. I looked for nice chaffing dishes but they run around $300 each. My solution was to use the $4 wire chaffers and build decorative boxes to set them in. None of this took a tremendous amount or effort, just some planning and practice (I set up the table during the week to ensure I had space for everything.)

Next week is the OU game… stay tuned for more.

I’m going to try and figure out the focus of this blog as I go along so bare with me.