Jew C. Loosey

There is a raging debate in Minneapolis/St. Paul over who has the best Jucy Lucy (or is it Juicy) and who was the first. I have no clue and no opinion other than the Jucy Lucy from Matt’s Bar is absolutely delicious. I’m sure the patrons of the 5-8 Club wouldn’t even think of stepping foot in there though.

What I do know is that I do not have the best one OR the original, but I’ll be damned if that didn’t stop me from creating my own glorious cheese volcano of a sandwich. I think everyone should give it a shot at least once. I took some 80/20 Ground Chuck and seasoned it. I used the Unholy Trinity of salt, pepper, and sriracha. Pound out the patties super thin, put a bunch of cheese in the middle of one, slap the other patty on top and cinch the edges. (I decided not to use the Oxford Comma this time, I will not be consistent.)

There is nothing better than biting into a nice juicy hamburger and then watching molten cheese ooze out of the center. This may have been the most fulfilling moment of my cooking career.

This tasted great and made me feel like I was back towards home, basking in burger glory . . . give it a whirl and put your own spin on it. Try shoving other things inside it, it can only get better right!

A Successful Night Out

This is going to be less of a blog or more of a retelling of events, but nonetheless . . .

As a season ticket holder for the Columbus Blue Jackets with a day off work, we decided that we would make a day out of it and grab a bite to eat before the game. On our way to Columbus, my car decided to act crazy but after pulling over a few times to reset the fault code we made it to town.

Barley’s Ale House No. 1

We considered going to one of our favorite staples, PF Changs or Dirty Frank’s, but a brewery sounded good for me. Having been to Gordon Biersch and ruling out Elevator due to our current budget, we decided on Barley’s over the Columbus Brewing Company. I chose it, because I was intrigued by their “real ale.” Unfortunately, it was not a Friday and we could not experience the Firkin fun. Also, the location of this place is great . . . its at the end of the Short North, just behind the market and short walking distance to the Arena District.

I ordered a strong ale called Auld Curiousity, which was delicious. I will go back to this restaurant with my cousin just to enjoy their libations . . . . The old lady and I split a pierogi and sausage plate. We also got some homemade chips with “brew dip.” I though the food was all generally pretty good. The pierogies were good but rather plain. I really enjoyed the sausage, it was charred pretty good but the strong ale and anticipation of bone-crushing hockey brought out the alpha male in the mood for meat and fire. For a dessert we ordered a panna cotta trio. The vanilla and chocolate ones were delicious, the lavender and honey was too flowery and honey-y for me. At this point I decided to go all in and asked for a sampler that was seen going by our table. Asked if I wanted to pick a couple beers or just get a full flight, I obviously decided on the latter . . . thinking I would get six or so beers at a modest price. I was mistaken, eleven 4oz pours were delivered to my table at 75 cents a pop. This would have been a phenomenal idea, had I started with this. After shooting over two pints of beer in order to get done in time we stumbled on toward Nationwide. The food is as expected for a joint of this type, the price is reasonable (our bill was under $50), and the beer was delicious . . .  I will be back. Have I mentioned that our 4 year old hasn’t thrown a fit yet, let alone fussed.

Hockey Game

I love hockey, I’m not going to speak about the team too much here, but get out to a game. Tickets are cheap, you can always get a good deal out front from a scalper too. Anyway, ten minutes into the game and we are already losing to a very bad team . . . this was not looking good. My phone is dying so I can’t keep up on twitter but I get a text message from a friend. Miesha Tate, a women’s MMA champion, posted on twitter that she was at Nationwide. Walking around at intermission, Taysia spotted her and we asked her for a picture. Not only was she happy to oblige, she was nice as hell. Have I mentioned that our 4 year old hasn’t thrown a fit yet . . .

As we’re talking to her, the cannon (which you can see behind my right shoulder) goes off and we are now only down 2-1. We walk back to our seats and the team promptly ties the game at 2-2. During the second intermission, we decide to meander down and commandeer some unused seats in the lower bowl. As Taysia is explaining to the lady next to her that we are actually supposed to be sitting up in the rafters our team scored the go ahead goal. Then to completely round out the day, an old man across the aisle almost dies as we score an empty net goal to put the game away! Some fans were calling for a doctor, as me and Branwen were too concerned about waving at Stinger and getting a stick from a player. Apparently, having a major corporate sponsorship with Ohio Health pays off and the man appeared to “walk it off.” Funny side note, the three stars of the game were all named Derrick (just spelled differently).

After the game, we went to the pro-shop and reward Branwen with a mini hockey stick. She then promptly freaked out because she wanted to play with it when she got home. She said that she could NOT play with it on the walk to the car because she didn’t have a puck. Can’t argue with that logic . . . I told her if she was awake when she got home she could do whatever she wanted . . . she wasn’t. She did come into our bedroom, early in the morning, demanding that we find her puck so that she could play with it. In the end we lost, but the night was successful. Earlier today, I tweeted out the picture and a thanks to Miesha and she responded with a heartfelt thanks and a compliment on my “wife’s” hair. Aaaaaaaaaand, my dealership quick fixed my car for free in a couple hours!

I try to support local when possible, and personal when available. After having a good experience at dinner, supporting the local team, and meeting a bad ass athlete with a great attitude; I recommend that everyone who gets a chance to go out and do the same. Check out Barley’s on a Friday, and hit up a Blue Jacket game. Most importantly, come out to Strikeforce on March 3 at Nationwide to see Miesha Tate defend her belt against Ronda Rousey. There will be plenty of other fights on the card and club seats start at under $35!!!

 

Michelina’s Authentico(r) Stroganoff

Fueled by my passion for stroganoff and a yearning for the taste of the motherland, I could not pass up the opportunity for this cheap ($1) authentic preparation. I have never had authentic stroganoff before, just my grandmothers and my own. I decided to prepare it today for lunch at work.

Traditionally, from what I understand, stroganoff is just mushrooms and onions cooked with beef and sour cream. When I make it, I fry up some onions then add in the beef before stirring in sour cream and some cream of mushroom. I’ll usually serve it over egg noodles and garnish with radish and terragon. I was anxious for some authentic stroganoff this time, and jumped right in.

I was assured by the advertisement on the packaging that there was real sour cream included, and upon browsing the ingredient list I recognized a couple ingredients. There was enriched pasta, beef patty, onion, mushroom, red wine, all accompanied by a string of unrecognizable words in parentheses (disodium insonate and multidextrose sound Russian).

Method

Following the directions to a “T,” I pulled up the corner of the lid and put it in the ‘microwave’ oven for 3.5 minutes. I then took it out, opened the lid and folded all the ingredients (mini lasagna noodles, beef covered in some powdered mixture, and a thin sauce of sorts) together. At this point, it is to be recovered and put back in the microwave for 90 seconds. This was actually quite difficult as the cardboard lid rolled up and wouldn’t fold back down. As any chef will tell you to do with good meat, the directions asked to let it rest for a couple minutes before serving, I didn’t.

Result

My dish did not turn out as well as I had hoped. The noodles were soft and gummy with little flavor, and the ground beef provided little texture. I could taste the quality of meat and if I concentrated hard, I could tell there was sour cream in it. My undistinguished palate was unable to note the other fine ingredients in the meal.

The chef de cuisine, Louigino Poullici, has promised that these are his mothers recipes using only the finest ingredients, and not to be fooled by the low price (its just as good as those that are twice as expensive). I agree at least that this was as good as the two dollar microwave foods.

Learned

Was I able to finish it and feel full? Yes and kinda, but I’d just as soon get some spicy chicken nuggets from Wendy’s, they’re delicious. Perhaps my prep errors with the lid or my impatience to not let it rest hurt, but I was very underwhelmed by the “authentic” version of stroganoff. Bottom line, make your own, it’s easy . . . add some sriracha

Yamato Japanese Steakhouse: Lima, OH

Nothing is more revered as an exotic food experience in White America as a trip to the local Japanese Steakhouse for some teppanyaki. My family and I decided to indulge in Lima, OH’s latest foray into the market on Christmas Eve.

Having been to several standard deviations of this restaurant in the Midwest before, I decided to judge this one accordingly.

The decor was underwhelming but the service was nice. There was a good gap in our drink refills as our original server got cut halfway through, but I’m not snooty enough to care. It’s not like I was at El Bulli (or ever will be, bastards . . .).

They had a typical menu, with the pop3 Japanese beer in bottles: Sapporo, Kirin, and Asahi. Also, the sake menu was small but approachable. I had the Hana Lychee (lychee being my obsession of the year). I found it to be quite delicious, and since the traditional sake flavors were very muted, my sake hating girlfriend really liked it too.  To my disappointment there was no Shochu, but it is nearly impossible to find between the coasts anyway.

The meal itself was very typical. The rice was good but not as much texture as I would have liked. The salad with ginger dressing was good as was the clear soup. The noodles were delicious! As for the proteins, I enjoyed them all with the scallops being the best. Shrimp and steak were good, with the beef maybe being a tad over. Chicken . . I could eat, but wouldn’t order again.

The chef did all the typical routines; made a volcano out of onions, flipped food into your mouth, caught an egg in his hat. This is Lima, you’re not going to get the world class chefs.

All in all, this is the kind of restaurant that I won’t mind visiting occasionally and Lima’s did not do the Hibachi any injustice. For $50 our family of three was miserably full AND Japanese steakhouses are about the only restaurant that I can go to with a young child. They don’t fidget or fit, they stay entertained throughout the entire meal. If you have never been to one, I definitely recommend it . . . especially if you cannot get rid of your kid for the evening.

A Bowl of Brown

After completing the first season of A Game of Thrones, then promptly reading all five completed installments of the series, my northern blood is left wanting.

Inspired by this blog, I decided to cook up some medieval fare. Nothing, other than lemon cakes, is more ubiquitous in the series than venison stew served in a trencher.

Method
I browned up some cubes of shoulder in a Dutch oven, deglazed it with some Dragon’s Milk beer, added some stock, and tossed in some vegetables and millet. After a couple hours in the oven I pulled it out and ladled it into some stale, crusty bread.

Result
It was somewhat successful, fairly tasty, however as my better half pointed out it was “gummy.” It was over reduced, under stocked, or over starched . . . . I’ll go with over reduced being the biggest problem.

Learned
Carryover is a bitch! Get your stuff off the heat quicker. Also, nothing you eat will help the wait for book six.

Beef Stock

In preparation for a meal that I planned to cook requiring beef stock, I decided to go all in and try make my own.

Method
I grabbed a big nasty bone from the butcher at the grocery store and brought it home. I then simply threw it in a Dutch oven with some carrots, onions, peppers, thyme, and olive oil to brown up.

After about an hour at 400° I took out the Dutch oven; scraped up the brown bits; added water, celery, bay leaves, and peppercorns. I let it simmer for about 5 hours on low.

Being as classy and high tech as possible, I strained the stock through a wife beater then refrigerated it over night. In the morning I skimmed off the fat and was left with almost 4 cups of homemade beef stock.

Result
This was ridiculously easy, however it probably turned out to be more expensive than just buying it. Had I been SAVING scraps and bones to do this, I could have had a great tasting, rich, cheap stock.

Learned
Save your scraps and freeze them, this is a great way to use them up, along with some vegetables that are starting to turn.