Eating San Francisco

Proving that there’s nothing more fun than being ever-so-slightly OCD in my vacation planning, I sat down a couple weeks ago with Katie and we planned out all of our meals for the upcoming trip to the west coast. What do we have planned?

Saturday sees us getting into the city at 11 AM, which will be quickly followed by me jumping over the nearest Starbucks counter and emptying all brewed coffee directly into my mouth. Our flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning, and I don’t think I’ve seen 4 AM in years. I’m almost tempted to just stay awake the night before.

The rest of our vacation looks like this:

There will, of course, be some sight seeing while we’re out there. Saturday night we’ll be at the Fillmore for the Dan Deacon/Girl Talk show. Sunday, we’re hoping to hit the Golden Gate Park area, and maybe “The World’s Most Crooked Street.” Monday will see us being REALLY touristy as we make our way through Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf so we can hop onto a ferry to Alcatraz. We’ll probably take a streetcar back to the hotel. If we’re lucky we’ll make it out to Japantown for a bit, but it’s not a necessity.

 

Unfortunately, we’ll also be missing some things while we’re out there. We won’t have the time to go to Berkeley, where we were hoping to check out Chez Panisse, the home of Californian cuisine. We also won’t be getting to San Jose to check out Suedy’s Kooki Sushi or the Winchester Mystery House.

I’m even more disappointed that we’ll be in town, but due to scheduling conflicts we won’t be able to see Shadow Circus Puppet Theater, a show put on by an online friend. They’re doing a show the same night as Girl Talk. But hopefully we’ll be back out there during a time we can actually catch them.

Of course, if anyone has any recommendations on places to visit, or eat, or shop, let us know! We’re fairly open ended with our schedule, which is a nice change from our last few trips down to Orlando.

Sourdough bread, here I come!

Websites for all restaurants mentioned:
Universal Cafe
Burma Superstar
Herbivore
Aziza
Foreign Cinema
Maggie Mudd
Tartine
Lucky Creation
In-N-Out Burger
Citizen Cake
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
The Slanted Door

Pizza Culpa

A while back I wrote up the various pizzas in my area. Pizza is a subjective thing. Where some people love one company’s sauce, others can’t find a good thing to say about it. Katie and I seldom agree on what good pizza is, unless it’s something like Coalfire or Pizza D.O.C. But when it comes to neighborhood pizza, good luck on an agreement.

But, where we can both agree is that if you’re going to say something about a place, at least make sure it’s true. I said in that post about pizza that I was always told that Michael’s Pizza relied, much like McDonald’s with their fries, on added a little beef fat to their pizza sauce for some extra flavor.

Just the other day, a representative from Michael’s Pizza contacted me to set the record straight…

Just wanted to comment on your blog regarding Michael’s Pizza…. I’ve worked here for nearly 20 years, and rest assured, we do not put any beef gravy in the pizza sauce. I promise you.

So, there you go. That’ll learn you to listen to second hand information from a part-time employee who, as history proved, was not always right in the head in the first place. What does this mean? I’ll be ordering some Michael’s Pizza as soon as the pizza craving hits.

Thanks to Charity for pointing out the confusion, and sorry for any undue stress this caused her boss.

Michael’s Pizza
422 N. Weber Road
Romeoville, IL 60446
815– 886-0707

Hours:
MONDAY – THURSDAY – 11 AM to 10PM
FRIDAY – Saturday 11 AM to 11PM
SUNDAY – 12 PM to 10 PM

Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos

Holy sweet hell.  Human evolution and the science of man have finally created the perfect snack food.  All other companies can stop.  There is no need to continue.  When we die, we will be greeted in whatever afterlife you believe in with a comfortable robe, therapeutic slippers and a self-refilling bowl of the new Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos.

I love Cheetos.  I make no excuses for the fact that if you leave a bag of them in front of me, it’s the equivalent of saying goodbye to them.  You won’t see them again.  You can visit their dust.  It’ll be on my fingers.  As I’ve previously written, I’m also addicted to Jalapeno flavored potato chips.  Bringing the two of these flavors together is just cruel, unusual, and delicious.

Originally weary of such an idea, I picked up the chips a couple weeks ago.  I’m no fan of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (or Hot Fries, or any other artificially flavored “hot” chip), so this seemed like another bad idea.  But when I bit into the first few nuggety crunch sticks, I was completely won over.  Unlike the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, the Cheetos flavor is still distinctly there.  There is only a mild Jalapeno flavor that blends so very well with the cheddar that it should be illegal.

I don’t know if these are a limited edition, or a permanent addition to the Cheetos’ brand, but I can only hope that these will find themselves sitting comfortably in the snack food aisle with their cheesy brethren for years to come.

Black Bean Burgers

Sorry I’ve been away for a bit, what with the writing and the blogging. The last couple of weeks have been at times hectic, stressful, and sad. Last Friday one of my coworkers passed away unexpectedly, and while I didn’t know her all that well, she was 3 years younger than me, which didn’t seem fair. Needless to say, my mindset has been completely shot.

Plus, I had some freelance work keeping me busy for a bit. But, now I have what some call “down time.” I wanted to write about some of the food I cooked up over the last two weeks.

I’ve been living off black bean burgers thanks to a recipe I discovered browsing the McDougall program forums. I’m a fan of the McDougall program as far as getting more whole grains, and less whole fat into my diet. It was a program that helped immensely when I moved away from the Interferon injections that normally come with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, and towards a more healthy lifestyle in general.

The black bean burgers come from the Bush Beans website, with a little bit of recipe remixing courtesy of me. Being the garlic whore I am, I didn’t think that garlic salt was nearly enough garlic for one person, so I added 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and 3/4 cup corn to make it a little heartier of a meal. I think I still need to play with the seasoning a bit to get the flavor I’m looking for.

But when compared to buying a pack of 4 frozen Morningstar Farms black bean burgers, this cost a fraction of that for 6 burgers. You can get 2 cans of black beans for 75 cents, and a jar of salsa for 1.50. With everything else being things you probably have sitting around the house, this is a great freeze and reheat meal.

Black Bean Burgers

• 2 cans (15 ounces each) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup chunky salsa
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 3/4 cup frozen or canned corn
• Hamburger buns

Place beans in food processor; process until fairly smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salsa, cumin, garlic and garlic salt. Process until well combined. Fold in corn with a spoon or your hands. Spoon mixture into 6 balls on a large plate and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours before cooking.

Heat barbecue grill or stainless steel pan over medium heat. Coat grill or pan lightly with spray oil. Form each ball into a 4-inch patty about ½-inch thick. Place the patties on the grill or in pan and cook until browned and heated through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Serve on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings

Reader E-mail

I love hate mail. I also love responding to hate mail. So, you’ll have to forgive this rather indulgent post, but I thought I needed to respond to such a well written argument against why I shouldn’t be writing about food.

Blake (who I believe works/worked as a bartender for RA in Arizona) writes:

I am a huge RA Sushi fan and I personally think all of you are idiots! I can actually list 10 reasons why this writer is an idiot:

1. You are a vegetarian. How can you be a fair and balanced food critic.

Holy crap! I AM a vegetarian. All the meat I’ve never tasted. All the chicken stock I’ve never drank. The world is only half complete. What have I been missing?!

It’s a good thing that my girlfriend is a bonafide MEAT EATER. You can ask her. She loves it. She apologizes to me every time she digs into a slab of ribs. She loves it so much that she offers me the occasional bite, so excited by a flavor that she forgets I’m a vegetarian.

So, how can *I* be a fair and balanced food critic? I can’t. But *we* can. She handles the things I don’t eat, much like I go for the more adventurous veggie options that she’s not a big fan of.

But, let’s be honest. If a restaurant, a sushi restaurant no less, can’t handle a simple avocado roll, there’s bigger issues at stake then my life choices.

2. I am almost positive that hostess didn’t ask you for a reservation when the restaurant was completely empty.

Well, almost positive and actually being there when she asked if we had a reservation before looking around to see where she could seat us in the nearly empty restaurant are two different things, aren’t they?

3. Why would you order a potsticker soup if you were a vegetarian. Since you frequent Japanese restaurants, clearly you should know what a potsticker is.

If you actually read my post you’ll notice that I didn’t order the potsticker soup, Katie did. We both know what goes into the potsticker soup because we’re not, as you claim, idiots. And even if I was, I can read the menu.

4. If you a such and amazing critic of food, why aren’t you a chef?

You think I’m amazing? YOU’RE amazing for thinking so highly of me. I never said I was an amazing food critic. I never said I was a food critic, actually. I have said this journal is about discussing the food that the two of us make, discover, and eat; whether it be at home, from the supermarket, or at a restaurant. These are off the cuff thoughts, not critical thinking reviews.

Also, I’m not a chef. I’m a baker. I’m a baker who has some long term goals to open his own bakery. When my place finally opens years from now, you’re welcome to come in and hate on it as much as you’d like.

5. I am sure that you know exactly what goes in the potsticker soup. Why not just say you don’t like it and send it back? Isn’t that what a nice person would do?

That’s a good idea. It’s too bad we never saw our waitress again until she offered us dessert. And to say you know what goes into every restaurants’ soup is just a silly notion. I can go to three different Japanese restaurants and get three different Hot and Sour Soups. The soup at RA! was anemic, and definitely needed either more vegetables or potstickers, or maybe a little less broth.

6. Do you expect that most Japanese restaurants are going to have a WHOLE vegetarian menu. How would they make money. Barely anybody is a vegetarian!

Nope. I don’t expect that at all, at least not from traditional Japanese restaurants. And, you know what, I don’t consider RA! a traditional Japanese restaurant. It’s instead what an American business entity out of Arizona considers Japanese. And the only reason we’re seeing it grow into our area is because the Benihana corporation bought it.

I never said they needed an entire menu dedicated to vegetarianism either. Just a couple more choices. Your statement that a vegetarian restaurant can’t stay in business, though, is just insulting. Real damn insulting. I’m sure that Chicago Diner, Soul Vegetarian, or Alice & Friends up in Chicago would like to have a word with you. They seem to be doing pretty damn good for themselves.

And saying “barely anybody” is a vegetarian doesn’t prove anything. There’s no hard numbers proving how many vegetarians are in America. Some numbers list it at 4% of the population, while others list it at 30% of the population eating meatless items. Vegetarian choices are become more dominant in today’s day and age as people are looking for alternatives to high fat, high chemical products. If “barely anybody” was a vegetarian, there wouldn’t be sections dedicated to them in major grocery stores, like how it was 10 years ago. But, I’d have to say more people are interested in the veggie lifestyle today if I can wander over to Meijer and pick up a full vegetarian meal.

7. It’s the Shops On Butterfield, not the “Streets of Yorkville.” You shouldn’t publish the wrong information if you want people to truly believe your stories!

That one is my mistake. I got Yorktown and Yorkville confused in my writing, as I tend to do. I also get Hillcrest and Crest Hill confused. And I was thinking about “Streets of Woodfield” in the same thought. But, you’re right. It’s “Shops on Butterfield.”

8. “A good sushi chef is like watching an artist with a brush.” Come on, do you really think you are a writer.

Yeah. As did my writing instructors, and resident authors who told me my work was quite good and memorable. Just because I don’t suit YOUR tastes, doesn’t mean I don’t suit other peoples.

9. I have had the Dengaku Tofu before it is tempura sauce and eel sauce not ginger sauce. Since you are a frequent sushi eater you should clearly know what tempura sauce is. It taste nothing like ginger.

From the research I’ve done, which granted hasn’t been much, Dengaku Tofu is usually prepared with sake, mirin sauce (a sweet sake like wine) and dashi soup stock, which is tuna, and not eel.

Not to mention that the RA Menu CLEARLY states: Tofo laced with tempura sauce and finished with a red miso GINGER glaze. Do YOU do YOUR research before commenting on things? Apparenty not.

10. YOU ARE A VEGETARIAN!!!!

I’m sorry that you must have been touched in the “naughty place” or something to have you so worked up about vegetarians, but being a vegetarian has NOTHING to do with the craptastic service delivered to us on our visit there.

Having our sushi rolls fall apart, getting our appetizers after the main course, and having a completely unaware waitress only makes a meal taste worse.

I’d say you got maybe 1 out of 10 in your list proving why I’m an idiot. Some of the other reasons weren’t really reasons so much as statements, which were completely subjective. And others were questions, which can’t be reasons, because they’re not reasons at all.

But, thanks for reading, Blake!

Chicago Foodies Be Ready!

Coming this fall to WTTW:

Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History

You are what you eat goes the old saying. So what can we learn about Chicagoans from the food on our plates? WTTW 11′s Geoffrey Baer plays both taste-tester and tour guide, exploring the little-known stories behind Chicago’s favorite foods in this upcoming new special on Channel 11.

Whet your appetite with Some Food Trivia:

How did the Chicago-style hot dog come to be?
It became popular during the Great Depression, when various ethnic groups added their favorite veggies to a German sausage with the hopes of getting a cheap, well-balanced meal.

Jay’s Potato Chips?
A snack-food junkie named Al Capone developed a taste for the chips while betting on the ponies in New York, and asked his supplier to start making them for his speakeasies.

You probably know…
that Italian Beef and Deep Dish Pizza were invented in Chicago (and we’ll learn the history of those foods) but did you know that flaming saganaki, the cafeteria, the brownie, and Chicken Vesuvio were also invented here? We’ll meet the people who say they can prove it.

Other Highlights Include:

• A tour of Chicago’s New Maxwell Street Market. It’s like a trip to Mexico.
• A Native American prepares the type of meal her ancestors might have eaten. Geoffrey tastes the wild onions for which Chicago is likely named.
• How corned beef is made.
• How the diet of Italian immigrants made them the target of prejudice.
• Two legendary German restaurants, the Berghoff and the Chicago Brauhaus remind us of the days when German food was king in Chicago. (The history of beer brewing in Chicago plays a part in that story too.)
• Chef Steve Chiappetti shows us how a true Chicago steakhouse makes a steak. (He should know, his family owns Chicago’s last slaughterhouse!)
• The owner of a fourth generation fish house remembers the now-defunct Lake Michigan fishing industry that fed New Yorkers’ appetite for fresh fish. (As a boy, he actually worked as a commercial fisherman in Chicago!)
• The foods of Polish Noblemen and rural Polish Highlanders. We learn the peasant origins of many popular Polish foods (pierogis, for example), and how Polish-Americans have developed eating traditions all their own.
• The 16th Century Muslim empire that had a huge impact on the foods you’ll find at Chicago’s Indian restaurants.
• We get a “cheezborger” and chips (“no fries!”) at the Billy Goat, where we learn about the birth of a classic Saturday Night Live routine and the Curse of the Billy Goat.
• We discover how people from one tiny region of China, called Toisan, gave us almost all of our favorite Chinese dishes. That’s because most of Chicago’s Chinese emigrated from that region. We’ll also see how the Toisanese altered their food to appeal to American tastes.

And our feast of Chicago food history continues with:

• Sushi night at an Italian kosher restaurant.
• The birth of the Chicago hot dog, McDonald’s, Jay’s Potato Chips, and the cafeteria in Chicago.
• Soul Food at a West Side church. (We’ll learn how African-American cooking still incorporates ingredients from Africa, as well as slave traditions.)
• You’ll learn the hallmarks of Chicago-style barbecue. And also find out why many African-Americans are now choosing a vegetarian diet.
• A visit to a pita bread factory to learn about the bread’s place in Lebanese culture.
• Chef Dudley Nieto gives us a Mexican food tour of Pilsen, where he goes to get ideas for his upscale restaurant.
• A visit to an Azteca Foods tortilla factory.
• We see the birthplace of the jibarito, a Puerto Rican sandwich made with plantains.
• A rich and flavorful Vietnamese beef noodle soup called Pho.
• And don’t forget dessert: learn how Chicago was once the candy capital of America, visit the Tootsie Roll factory, and see how Chicago’s candy industry is changing with the times.

Coming at you, Bay Area!

It’s finally been finalized.  Katie and I are indeed going out to San Francisco for four days at the end of September.  Between incredible sales prices, and a little bit of musical serendipity, we’ll be seeing the coast on September 29 – October 2.

It turns out that Dan Deacon and Girl Talk are playing the Fillmore that Saturday, and we’d both love to see them in a venue where I’m not about to be crushed by raving hipsters.  At least the Fillmore will have a person limit, making it a little easier to breathe.  We’re also tempted to see TMBG that Sunday, but we’ll probably pass so we can get our other must see events out of the way.

What do we have planned?  Eating!  And some occasional touristy things.

Restaurants
Slanted Door
Chez Panisse
Tartine
Citizen Cake
Koo-ki Sushi

Sights
Golden Gate Nat’l Park
Alcatraz
Winchester House (Maybe)
SFMoma (Maybe)
Ferry Building Marketplace
Chinatown
Fisherman’s Wharf (since we need to be there for Alcatraz anyway)

Those are just the basic plans right now.  I just picked up a cheap copy of the NFT San Francisco, and will be going to the food boards to find some more “must dine” places.

Of course, if we can meet up with bonniegrrl and shadowcircusAnd of course, we can’t forget meeting up with my good friend Phil.  It shall be good times!

Two Favorites That Go Better Together?

I’m still working my way through Harry Potter.  Yes, I’m a slow reader.  It doesn’t help the fact that I also recently purchased a XBOX 360, and now I’m obsessed with earning as many achievement points as possible on the few games I have.

There hasn’t been much baking going on in my house this week either thanks to the above average temperatures, and the fact that potato bread takes an indecent amount of time to rise.

Instead, I’m going to share with everyone a recipe I found flipping through the latest issue of Cooking Light magazine.  The featured food this month is sake, one of my favorite alcoholic beverages.

I was first introduced to sake nearly 10 years ago, when my friend Chris convinced me to try it at the now defunct Hi Ricky’s in Chicago.  The Asian Noodle bar still goes down as some of the best Pad Thai I’ve ever eaten (and the coconut curry wasn’t anything to sneeze at either).  Ordering a glass for both of us, he warned me to drink it while it was still hot, because the colder it got, the more it tasted like rubbing alcohol.  He wasn’t wrong.  Not only did it knock the hell out of my throat, it knocked the hell out of my other senses to.  I was both disgusted, intrigued, and definitely a little tipsy.

Years later, I’ve learned that the stuff we ordered that day was pretty low on the drinkability scale.  I’ve had some amazing sakes since then, even turning more people onto the Japanese alcohol.

Katie, however, still looks at me funny.  But, she tried it.  I have to give her that.  Most people just ask how I can drink it so easily.  She at least tried it before swearing it off permanently.

So, today’s recipe is a Chocolate Sake Cinnamon Cake. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but thought I’d put the recipe out there for any other adventurous bakers to give it a go.  If I’m lucky, this may happen this weekend, but we do have a full weekend of Lollapalooza and Chicago dining planned.

Chocolate Sake Cinnamon Cake

3 Tbsp Sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (approx. 9 oz)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup sake
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray, and sprinkle pan with 3 Tbsp sugar.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup; level with a knife combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a large bowl; stir well.
4. Place 2 cups sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium high speed until well blended (about 3 minutes).  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine milk and sake; stir into egg mixture.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined.  Fold in chocolate.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

   Yield: 16 servings
   Serving Size: 1 slice