154. Bay Area - Tasty Indian Pizza and Wings (Bay Area: Sunnyvale)

Tasty Indian Pizza combines the best of Indian fare and arguably the most cherished American food to bring a unique Indian-American perspective on bar favorites like pizza, wings, and nachos.  I like that the name of the restaurant tells you exactly what you are getting.  But hey, if you don't like the insides of a samosa on top of your pizza, then there is good ol' pepperoni for you too.

My friends and I hit up Tasty Indian Pizza not for the pepperoni but for, well, the tasty Indian pizza.  We ordered half of the 3 Idiots and half the Saagar.  The 3 Idiots half of our pizza was adorned with Indian butter chicken, which is really just the dark meat portion of chicken tikka masala, and garnished with chilies and jalapeños, making for a spicy taste that can be easily washed down with cold beer.  The 3 Idiots, as I have since learned, is a major Indian blockbuster that was the highest grossing Bollywood film when it was released.

The Saagar half of the pizza was mainly a creamy spinach pizza with pineapple, jalapeño, red onion, and cilantro.  The pineapple sounds absolutely bizarre in that mix of ingredients, but once that spiciness creeps up onto your taste buds, you'll be glad that the sweetness of the pineapple is there to put out the fire. 

We also order the spicy tandoori wings.  The outside resembles the glowing red chicken fired up in the tandoori oven, but the inside is even more tender than the traditional version.  The skin is just slightly crisp, not enough to produce a real crunch, but one bite into it, and the meat oozes with juiciness.  It is now one of my favorite ways to have chicken wings.  A fair warning though... the chicken is hot in both temperature and spice.  Be prepared to sweat.


What is cool about Tasty Indian Pizza is that not only does it have seriously delicious food, it is also an ideal spot to gather your friends for football and beer.  Sounds like a perfect spot for Sunday, doesn't it? We have already declared we would return for the other pizzas on the menu.

When football season is over, let's get Tasty Indian Pizza take-out and stream 3 Idiots, yeah? I'll take your silence as consent.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Tasty Indian Pizza (AKA Tasty Subs and Pizza)
528 Lawrence Expressway
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

ML - 20130906

Post 110: Collaboration with Whisks & Ruffles - Pork Belly, Part 2

In my previous post, I shared the first part of my collaboration with Angelina Ang Lee of Whisks & Ruffles.  This post will continue with more pork belly deliciousness.  Rather than braising this time, I grilled some thinner cuts of the pork belly.  And so continues the life of an inner fatty...

I used thin cuts of pork belly strips with beautiful fat on the trim.  The pork belly was marinated with a mixture of gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), a bit of soy, sesame oil, chopped perilla (sesame seed leaves also known as shiso), and sesame seeds.  I added some ground black pepper too, but salt is not needed since the gochujang and soy sauce provide enough of that saltiness.

I faux grilled the pork belly using a Korean stone wok, which works great because it heats up quickly and retains the heat even after the stove is turned off.  The strips were cooked at medium-high heat.  The temperature must be hot enough for the fat to sizzle.  Must... hear... sizzle! Like... cooking bacon! Mmmmm... Flip the meat once only, and cook until it's brown and crisp on both sides.  If the heat is high enough, the meat will be fully cooked through because the cuts are not very thick.

Tiffany, my Chinese-American from Taiwan but also raised in Korea friend, came over for a taste test.  We ate the pork belly wrapped with fresh perilla leaves, raw sliced garlic, jalapeños, and diagonally cut scallions (see instructional clip by yours truly).  We also had sides of kimchi, yellow pickled daikon, and kimbap (Korean sushi or rice rolls) from the supermarket.  See Angelina's post on homemade kimbap to prepare your own.

I have been cutting down on some carbs lately, but the grilled pork belly would also work really well with steamed rice.  No worries, I could never cut carbs out entirely, but for now, meat and greens are good enough for me.  If the jalapeños aren't spicy enough for your taste, an extra dash of Sriracha hot sauce also helps add a spicy yet sweet flavor to your dish.  Or try Angelina's method, which is to add dried hot peppers... Indonesian style. 

Check out what Angelina came up with in the Lee kitchen using pork belly two ways.  Her double recipe storm includes a pork belly braised low and slow, which looks absolutely mouth watering.  Her second recipe is something that her mom used to make in Indonesia called babi kecap, a simmered stew of pork belly, tofu, and hard boiled eggs.  Ah, Mom's home cooking... my mouth is literally drooling right now...

Great job, Angelina.  I truly enjoyed our coast-to-coast collaboration.  Let's do it again soon! Until the next collaboration, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20130221

Post 109: Collaboration with Whisks & Ruffles - Pork Belly, Part 1

I began this year by meeting and collaborating with food bloggers on S.O.F.A.T. posts.  My first official collaboration (Gordon Ramsay BurGR) was with local Vegas food blogger Amber-Rose Kawawehi of Cheer Up With Food.  It was great to meet fellow food lovers from around the country, so I continued meeting more food bloggers on my trip to New York last month.  I met The Girl Who Ate Everything Robyn Lee, one of the inspirations for starting up S.O.F.A.T. Blog.  Also on this trip to the Big Apple, I got a chance to meet up with Angelina Ang Lee.  She creates recipes in her home kitchen, cooks for herself and her super busy doctor husband Brian, and posts her masterpieces on her blog Whisks & Ruffles.  The pictures of her food are ridiculously beautiful.

Since Angelina's posts are primarily of home cooked meals, we decided to do a kitchen collaboration.  With the help of some more bad ass local New Yorkers, we settled on a battle of pork belly.  What would Angelina and I cook with pork belly in our own kitchens? Well, this is the first of what I came up with in my tiny kitchen back in Orange County...

A beer braised pork belly with mango jalapeño salsa and an apple and pear mint salad.  Yum.  The thick cuts of pork belly were marinated in light soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, green onions stalks, sliced jalapeños, and Sriracha.  They were all thrown into a Ziploc freezer bag for a few hours.  Check out this video on how to use green onions made by yours truly.

To braise the pork belly, season them with salt and pepper.  Then they are seared on each side.  An entire bottle of OB, a Korean brand of brown lager, is added to the pot.  To the beer I tossed in the marinade.  It took a good 20 minutes or more for all of the liquid to simmer down.  The result was a spicy, sweet, and flavorful reduction sauce.  So good.

While the beer reduces down to a condensed sauce, chop up some ripe mango and jalapeños for a quick and simple salsa.  Throw in some cilantro and season with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.  It may need a bit of oil to bind together, but I used the mango jalapeño jam from D-Lish Jams.

For simple and refreshing salad, slice up apples and pears, and toss with freshly chopped mint.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice to keep the fruit from oxidizing and turning brown.  Any types of apples and pears will do.  I love Fuji apples and Korean pears because they are fragrant and crisp.  Parsnips can also be used as a substitution for the pears.

After all of the beer simmers down, let the pork belly sit for a few minutes to cool down.  The juices need to redistribute equally throughout the meat before slicing.  I placed the slices of pork belly over strips of scallions for some bite and crunch.  And the final reduced sauce can be drizzled over the top of the meat and around the plate for an extra touch of flavor and presentation.

The dish would have been great with a starch, either rice, noodles or even potatoes or steamed buns, but I decided to go without them this time.  The salad and salsa were both great ways to cut the grease from the pork belly, so that was good enough for me.

I will post Angelina's kitchen creation on the next post (Pork Belly, Part 2).  In the meantime here is a pork belly recipe and a mango salad from the Whisks & Ruffles archive.  Some of my favorite posts by Angelina on Whisks & Ruffles include her seafood cioppino, her master recipe of Japanese ramen, and fancy mac & cheese.  Angelina was born in Indonesia, and her husband Brian is Korean-American, so you may find some Indonesian and Korean influences in her home cooking.  Yum!

Stay tuned for the second part of this blog collaboration.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20130221

Post 108: Jammin' in the Kitchen with D-Lish Jams

Elizabeth Sinanyan of D-Lish Jams in Pasadena approached me recently with a business proposal.  You blog about my jams.  You get free jams.  That was simple enough... done deal.  Well, rather than boast and gloat about the plethroa of unique jams flavors and combinations that Liz has been making for over 20 years, I thought it was a better idea to come up with some interesting uses for the jams.  After all, it is pretty easy to spread this classic condiment on our morning toast.

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Liz provided me with five flavors of fruity fun: lavender strawberry, mango japaleño, mixed berries, low calorie strawberry margarita, and a classic orange marmalade.  I used the five flavors in various ways to show how dynamic this spreadable sweetner can be.  These jams got layered into a yogurt parfait, mixed in with a meat marinade, spread over crostini, drizzled over ice cream, and stirred into hot tea.

Brunch - lavender strawberry jam in Greek yogurt parfait

This is an affordable way to make your own morning parfait rather than buying the yogurt and jam combination at the store.  And it definitely beats the packaged stuff that can be bought from drive-thru windows at the fast food chains.  The floral scent of the lavender goes great with the slightly acidic Greek style yogurt, and the sweetness from the strawberry smooths the flavors out.  Don't forget the cereal or granola for a much needed crunch.

Mealtime - mango jalapeño in marinade for seared pork belly and fresh mango jalapeño salsa

The mango jalapeño jam is both sweet and spicy, which are two smart flavors to add to any meat marinade.  I added that to a Ziploc bag of light soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, green onions stalks, sliced jalapeños, and a bit squeeze of Sriracha hot sauce.  I also added a few spoonfuls of jam to freshly chopped mango and jalapeños to help bind the salsa together.

Cocktails - lo cal strawberry margarita jam over toasted crostini with goat cheese

The happy hour platter only gets more interesting with this alcohol infused fruit spread.  Goat cheese is an ideal base for the jam because it is also sweet and tart at the same time.  A medium bodied red wine pairs great with the buttery toasted crostini.

Dessert - mixed berries jam over vanilla bean ice cream sundae

Instead of adding syrups, chocolate, or other sauces that are high in sugar, why not top off your ice cream with a healthier option instead? Granted the jam does contain sugar, but the D-Lish Jams are all natural and made without adding any perservatives.  Garnish with some toasted almond slices, a cookie, and mint for presentation.

Nightcap - orange marmalade in Earl Grey tea

The Brits have a habit of adding sugar and milk into their afternoon tea to enhance the flavor, but Asian cultures such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean refrain from doing so in order to retain the original essence of the tea.  Well, as an alternative option to both the Western and Eastern habits, may I suggest the essence of orange mamalade to naturally sweeten the tea? Koreans already have a type of tea based on mixing sweetened orange peel and pulp wih hot water, which gives a soothing feeling, especially during the cold winter season.

Ever think about how to finish that Costco sized behemoth jar of Smuckers in the pantry? Well, here are five ideas.  And when that jar is finally finished, think about visiting the D-Lish website to place a few orders of the handmade, artisan jams.  They are freshly made in small batches, come in a variety of solidly unique flavors, and are much more conveniently sized for quick consumption.  They are also sold at your local Greater LA farmers market.

It was fun jammin' in the kitchen with these creative conconctions.  Thank you Liz for the jams and the opportunity to get creative in the kitchen.  Until the next jam session, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML

Post 107: GReat BurGeR by Gordon Ramsay BurGR (Las Vegas: The Strip)

On December 12 of last year (12/12/12), jetBlue held a flash sale for short haul flights to help open the newly remodeled terminal at Long Beach Airport.  Flights from LGB to LAS, SFO, OAK, SAC, PDX, and SEA were only $12 each way with taxes included.  It was cheap enough (less than $24 total for a RT with taxes) to fly to Vegas for dinner and return in time for work the next morning.  Looks like quite a few spontaneous jetsetters had the same idea because the flights to Portland and Seattle sold out instantly... and that is how I ended up in Vegas in the middle of the week.

I met up with Vegas local Amber-Rose Kawewehi, writer of the blog Cheer Up With Food to try out the new Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood.  Chef Ramsay's new burger joint strives to make the classic American burger and shake combination into a classed up version of comfort food in a casual environment.  Amber-Rose (yes, you can call her Amber for short) brought a friend with her, and I brought my roommate.  The four of us ordered just about everything on the menu.

We started off with the Roasted Jalapeño Poppers.  The outside was breaded with panko, and the interior was stuffed with applewood smoked bacon and English cheddar.  They were dunked into a shot glass of English cheddar ranch with chili oil.  In case you can't handle spicy, you're in luck because out of the half dozen poppers, five of them have had their seeds removed.  One of them, described on the menu as the "fiery surprise," still contained the vein of seeds within.  The odds are that you won't be the one to end up with the fiery surprise, but if you didn't have the best of luck with the roulette wheel on the casino floor, I wouldn't take my chances on this one.  After all, this is Vegas.

Next up we ordered a platter of the Fury Chicken Wings, which were a combination of four tangy hellfire bleu cheese wings and four honey wasabi wings.  The hellfire wings definitely had a bit of heat... maybe even more so than the honey wasabi wings.  The second set of wings had a obvious wasabi bite, but the restaurant was careful not to have the volatile condiment overpower the flavor of the wings.  The Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA that I was drinking tasted even better with the spicy fried food.  By the way, we ordered our drinks off a portable iPad that our server whisked to us each time we wanted to quench our thirst.  Very cool.

There were only two salads on the menu, and thankfully neither of them were the typical house or classic Caesar salad.  Amber made a great call by ordering the Kale Granny-Apple Caesar Salad.  I love that the salad section actually had a vegetable that was substantial in nutrients without coming across as way too healthy.  The kale was a smart move on Chef Ramsay's part.  And even smarter was the addition of the crispy and slightly tart Granny Smith apple slices.  The apples added a light and fresh touch to a salad that becomes quite heavy with its eponymous dressing.

Although there were other items on the menu we wanted to try such as the Honey-Pig Bao Buns and the Devil Dawgs, we stuck to the classic burgers and fries combo.  Our highly attentive server Charlie expertly explained that the meat used in the burgers were 100% beef, a blend of beef brisket, chuck, and short rib.  They are all grilled with an English Devonshire butter, but no other seasonings or sauces were added.  Two types of wood were used for creating the fire under the grill... applewood, which created a smoky flavor, and alderwood, which created a sweeter flavor.  After the detailed description, we knew that ordering burgers was the way to go.

I ordered the Farm Burger from under the Stacked section of the menu.  It came with a sizable portion of duck breast bacon and a runny fried egg, which ended up dripping into the sharp English cheddar cheese.  The duck bacon was more tender, more crispy, and even more decadent than the typical breakfast pork bacon.  The bun was more than just buttery.  Biting into the crispy yet pillowy bun was like biting into a soft, buttery crouton.  Absolutely delicious.

Amber ordered the Britannia Burger, which was made with mango chutney, sharp English cheddar and a layer of arugula.  I wasn't quite sure what was so Britannia about this burger... not that it needed a Union Jack to scream Britain or anything.  It could have been the mango chutney, which would have been a nod to the heavy influence of Indian cuisine on English cooking.  The mango chutney was a nice touch, especially since its sweetness contrasted the peppery arugula leaves.  But really, it was simply creative.  When was the last time you had mango in your burger?

Amber's friend Byron ordered the Uber Cheese Burger.  Just from its profile we could tell that it was loaded with cheese.  This cheeseburger had a trifecta of fontina, reclette and goat cheese all melted between the patty and the bun.  It oozed out and covered the circumference of the patty to give it enough more moisture and juiciness.

We couldn't leave without ordering the Hell's Kitchen Burger.  It had a good amount of asadero cheese melted over the patty along with roasted jalapeño peppers, oven roasted tomato, and freshly sliced avocado.  Needless to say, this burger was stacked.  I appreciated the oven roasted tomato, and I liked the creaminess of the Mexican asadero cheese... but what really made this burger good was the spiciness from the peppers.  Angela, by the way, was the lucky one that picked the popper with the seeds still inside it.  Looks like heat followed her in burger form this time.

The four of us split an order of the Just Fries, an order of the Truffle Parmesan Fries and an order of the Sweet Potato Fries.  The truffle fries looked as if it were covered with Parmesan snow.  The truffle salt and truffle aioli made the cheesy fries extra salty and finger licking good.  The sweet potato fries were surprising in that the two accompaniments provided completely different tastes.  One was a vanilla powdered sugar, which made the naturally sweet fries even more sweet.  The other was a honey jalapeño mayo, which was both sweet and spicy at the same time.  The orders of fries were so big that the four of us couldn't finish, so we took them home for the next day to eat.  Usually that isn't a very smart idea, especially for fried foods, but the sweet potato fries held up well and were still tasty the following day.

We could barely finish the big burgers and phenomenal fries, so we chose to pass up on the milkshakes.  The milkshakes, though, looked absolutely intense.  Each of them were served with a pudding (choices included caramel, coconut, butterscot, banana, and chocolate hazlenut) and topped off with a cookie (choices included toffee, chocolate, snicker-doodle, gingersnap, and praline).  What we could eat though were the Sticky Toffee Pudding Push Up Pops.  The interactive dessert was made with layers of sticky toffee pudding, salted peanut ice cream and dusted with cocoa powder.  It brought a sense of nostalgia to those of us who grew up eating Push-Up ice cream pops.  These things were not easy to eat, but that may have been the point... to create the sticky mess that we made as children perhaps brought the nostalgia closer to home.

But mess or no mess, Gordon Ramsay made some great burgers.  They may not have been the best burgers I have ever eaten (what burger can top In-N-Out, really?), but the burgers were definitely worthy of at least one visit... at least.  Thank you to all the local Vegas bloggers that I was in contact with.  But a huge thank you goes out to Amber-Rose for meeting me at PH.  Cheers to more blog collaborations this year, and to meeting many more food bloggers out there.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Cheer up with Amber-Rose's post on Gordon Ramsay BurGR here.

ML - 20130131

Post 94: Pork Belly Tacos and Much More (LA-SFV: North Hollywood)

With all this talk about pork belly, I was hankering for more.  Bow & Truss, a relative newcomer to the LA food scene.  It is self-titled as a modern Spanish taverna, and some of their most popular dishes include the empanadas, paella, and of course, pork belly tacos.  Fellow foodie Angela and I dined here before meeting up with other friends downtown.

Soon after we were seated, our server Nicole dropped by our table with castelvetrano olives on the house.  The firm, green olives were basted in none other than olive oil.  They were sweet at first, slightly salty yet savory olives were a welcoming start to our meal.

The first item on the menu we ordered was the cheese & charcuterie board.  The assortment of meats and cheeses was a playground of jamon, salchichon, chorizo, and Felino sausage.  There was also mahon, a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese and caprichevere, a soft cheese made from goat's milk. The caprichevere was smooth and easy to spread over the crostini.  Although it was made from goat's milk, it was surprisingly milder than the mahon.

Spread around the playful platter were Bow & Truss' house made jams.  The first was a pineapple banana jam with serrano and chili pepper flakes, and the other was a pumpkin peach jam with vanilla bean, all spice, and cinnamon.  Two house mustards complemented the duo of jams (the grain mustard was a favorite), and the remaining cherry tomatoes, carrots, caramelized onions, and spicy sunflower seeds dotted the charcuteriescape.  This charcuterie board was an absolute delight.  It was the one that we continued to pick at throughout the meal of inventive dishes.

We followed the charcuterie with the highly recommended empanadas.  The petite pastries were packed with button mushrooms, red peppers, and cotija cheese.  A tamarind crema and tamarind soy sauce were served alongside the empanadas.  While Angela and I tried one dip at a time, the server suggested that we taste the two sauces together at the same time.  Mushrooms, peppers, cheese.  Savory, sweet, salty.  Crema, tamarind, soy.  Savory, sweet, and salty again.  Smart suggestion, Nicole.

Our third dish was the highly anticipated pork belly tacos.  The tacos were fresh and vibrant in color... and they were stacked high with toppings like Mexican sopes.  The pork belly was shredded, a eyebrow raising change from the typical square cut.  It was a good eyebrow raising change, for the meat was tender and succulent... although I am not quite sure if using shredded pork increased the difficulty of eating the taco or not.  Atop the pork belly were shreds of carrots, cilantro, pickled jicama slaw, all of which helped give the taco a refreshing, citrus taste.  The avocado sauce was a perfect substitute for salsa, which might have overpowered the fresh feel of the tacos.  Oh, and by the way, the pork belly is really good.  Really, really good.

As we were ready to close the meal with some paella, the manager brought out some chicken confit tacos, with handmade tortillas, arugula, anchiote paste, and pickled shallots.  Dennis Christensen, one of the managers of Bow & Truss, warned us that the chicken tasted like pork.  The chicken tasted like pork? It didn't make sense.  But I took one bite, and well, yes, the chicken tasted like pork.  This extremely flavorful chicken was very substantial... like if the chicken, before it was sacrificed for our glee, was a bad ass alpha male chicken that ruled the hen house.  That was the kind of breast pounding poultry that died for these chicken confit tacos... the delicious oxymoron kind.

Next to the pair of chicken confit tacos were two mixed mushrooms tacos (the head chef must really hate odd numbers) piled with cotija cheese, pickled jalapeños, and chives.  They were very juicy.  In fact, the mushroom blood that dripped all over almost made the taco slurpable.  We really enjoyed the tickle of spiciness from the jalapeño and the hint of saltiness from the cotija.  The use of mushrooms in both the tacos and the empanadas were smart meat substitutes.  I didn't even realize the dishes were carne less.

Stuffed to the brim already, Angela and I attempted to dig into a beautiful cast iron dish of seafood paella.  Of the four choices of paella on the menu, the shelled option is cooked with clams, shrimp, mussels, scallops, chorizo, and chicken.  The shrimp was highlight of paella because it was cooked just barely through... still tender and translucent, not tough and overly white.  The clams and mussels pointed skyward so that the freshness of the shellfish was apparent on first glance.  The rice itself was flavorful from absorbing all of its surrounding tastes.  Ah, this dish was beautiful in both taste and appearance.

Finally, the last course of the night was a tequila lime tart that was so, so good.  The texture of the tart itself was more like a buttery, holiday shortbread cookie.  The pool of honey on the side helped the dessert be naturally sweet, and the lime helped cut the sweetness in a balance check.  The honey and lime combination just added to the perfection of the tart.  I almost lost consciousness watching the honey drizzle each time I dripped the tart into it.  It was so good that we took two extra tarts home for our friends.  And each of them agreed that the tequila lime tart was simply delicious... a great way to end the meal.

Thank you to charismatic Dennis and congenial Nicole for taking the time to explain each dish and list each ingredient and method of preparation.  Thanks also to Angela your adept services in lighting and photography.  Of course, a big thank you to Erinn of Platform Media Group for setting me up with Bow & Truss and helping me discover a new way of having pork belly.  It was an awesome from beginning to end.  The charcuterie, tacos and the tequila lime tart really sealed the deal for me.  We are definitely returning in the near future.  Until the next pork belly craving, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20121020

Post 87: More Fried Chicken and Waffles (OC: Costa Mesa)

Continuing with the thought of fried chicken and waffles in honor of National Fried Chicken Day, I now take you down south to a waffle purveyor in Orange County.  Nestled in between boutique shops and an indoor mini mall with food related retail is The Iron Press.  The supposed restaurant seems more to me like a waffle bar or delicatessen rather than just a restaurant.  It is a simple and modern space with an open kitchen where the masters of the presses whip up wondrous waffles while the wistful waiting watch with their wandering eyes. 

The chicken and waffles was quite simple... almost minimalist even.  The buttermilk fried chicken breast was sandwiched between golden brown waffles and served with a jalapeño maple syrup.  The cole slaw that I had thought would come as a side was actually already inside the sandwich.  The chicken was not the least bit greasy, and the cole slaw was prepared without mayonnaise.  And although that may be good news for the health conscious, it may have been too progressive for me.  The maple syrup was neither spicy enough nor sweet enough.  In the world of Real Housewives, this was so very Orange County.  Atlanta Housewives has the drama of untouchable egos, extramarital affairs and extremely low blows.  Like Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, it's a little dirty and such a guilty pleasure.  Beverly Hills Housewives has the drama of mo' money mo' problems... bling, bling, bling.  Like the ad hoc fried chicken from Bouchon, it's elegant, rich, and classy... but when you're immersed in the middle of it, it oozes bits of naughty pleasure as well.  OC Housewives, on the other hand, revolves around unconfirmed dirty looks and eating cake that isn't yours.   And like the chicken from The Iron Press, there's just not enough drama.  I ordered a side of bacon just so I could have that greasy, salty taste that I so desperately desired.

What made more of an impression on me was the burger.  With fresh ground rib eye and the bite of raw red onions, the burger waffle had much more oomph than the chicken.  The combination of juicy meat and ooey gooey cheese helped create the hearty quality of comfort food.  There is more of an emotional attachment that keeps 'em coming back for more... much like a trashy episode of Atlanta or Beverly Hills Housewives.  I wanted oil.  I wanted salt.  I wanted to say ooooh, that's good.  And I got it from the burger and waffle fries.  Oh, the waffle fries and the accompanying garlic aioli were ooooh, so good.

There are many more items on the menu, including the ham and smoked gouda waffle, the bratwurst waffle, the breakfast waffle sandwich, dessert waffles and the Guinness ice cream float... all of which have descriptions that preview a bit of tasty drama for the next visit to The Iron Press.  On the backs of the shirts that the staff wear, the Iron Press proudly exclaims, "WE LIKE BEER & WAFFLES."  Well, so do I.  Until the next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20120828/20120527

Post 55: Dear Uncle Joe

Dear Uncle Joe,

I was very sad to hear that you passed on this week.  You were always a fighter, a tough guy with both your words, your spirit, and your eating habits... someone who I admired very much.  I did not get a chance to speak to you in your final days, but I just wanted to say thank you for all those times you picked me up from school when I got sick.  Thank you for instantly taking me and Emily to Knott's every time wanted to visit Snoopy.  The one thing I really want to thank you for is teaching me to live life with spontaneity and adventure... to live it up.

The best way that I can remember you is by dedicating this post to you and by sharing some of your favorite foods with everyone.  We all know that you loved spicy food, particularly mala spicy hot pot, so my mom and dad accompanied me to have some mala huoguo (麻辣火鍋) in your honor this past week.  I even upped the spiciness to mid-level spiciness (中辣) just to feel the exhilaration of chili-scented sweat dripping down my face.  We ordered thinly sliced beef and fatty pork, and we kept the vegetables to a minimum... just the way that you would have eaten it.

Today I also got a chance to walk through the world renowned company that produces a condiment that you seemed to have used more often than you drank water.  I'm not allowed to mention the specifics of where I visited, but I'm sure you know that there's only one spicy sauce in a squeeze bottle that absolutely cannot be substituted.  As we were driven on the golf cart past tens of thousands of drums of fire red vegetable, I just kept thinking that you would be amazed... and you'd probably start salivating.  The smell of chili and garlic in the air definitely penetrated the depths of my lungs.  It may even have popped a few avioli here and there.  It is absolutely incredible that I got to see what the founder literally built with his bare hands, from the piping to the walls of the warehouse.  Immediately afterward I passed by the supermarket complex that you designed and constructed, and I thought... you both built things from the ground up, and the two of you would have been good friends.

Oh, and last but not least, I'm going to stop by China Islamic Restaurant to have some Chinese Halal food.  I'm sure you remember 清真馬家館... we used to have family gatherings there all the time.  I could never figure out whether we frequented that restaurant because you liked the food there or because the restaurant and your family shared a common name (馬).  Regardless, I'm going to chomp down on their beef noodles and the giant sesame flatbread (芝麻大餅) for old time's sake.

Here's to you, Uncle Joe.  Thank you for everything that you've taught and instilled in me.  Thank you for spreading your love of spicy food to all of us.  Seeing someone overflowing chili sauce in their bowl of pho will definitely remind me of you.  And of course, I'll continue to live my life with spontaneity and adventure.

Your nephew,

Michael

ML - 20110702