BBQ on the Road

It has been way too long since I have posted in this blog...I am sharing a review of a local Philadelphia Restaurant that I have visited three times while staying over night for my new job.  This place is fun and sensational.  The time was made perfect by the dialogue I had with the owner, who came out to see how I liked their BBQ.  He did not know - I am sure - that he was in for QUITE A RANT.  But, that is what he got.

The Restaurant is the Q BBQ + Tequila 

and it is on Chestnut Street just at 2nd.

This restaurant not only taunts your taste buds, but it is in a quiet spot in Olde Town.  Once you enter the door you get the sense that you have come home.  With all of the dark, rich wood of an upscale Boston Irish Pub, this place sets you at ease the minute you cross the threshold.  

The staff are prompt to tend to your every need and sensitive to know enough to leave you alone when you take an important call.  You can ask for specific and personal nuances with your meal and you get exactly what you want with no attitude...only attentiveness.  

Once the BBQ arrives that will be the focus of the rest of the evening.  You will try - and fail - to figure out the intricacies of each layer of flavoring.  Go ahead; see if you can figure out the base, the smoke, the rub, the finish.  It is tough.  

What I will tell you is that from the first bite until you hit the pillow you will drift in and out of being able to identify the fancy of the flavors you experienced at Q BBQ.  And still you won't really know, only get faint suggestions of flavor and hints of taste.

You want a real treat?  Ask to talk with Tom Stewart - one of the owners.  See if you can drag out of him any piece of what it is that sets his style apart from others.  You won't stand a chance.  Like a good son of North Carolina he hides his secrets behind the mystery and manners of Southern life and Southern ways.  His momma should be proud...slaw and BBQ recipes still intact.  He won't even share where he buys his fare to fix it all up.

I put a challenge to him that I know he will engage: "Give us something with bourbon and plums in the base; bourbon and prunes.". He can go wild on the rub and smoke, but let's  start with bourbon and plums.  I know he can do it.

Head out to this place and just relish the food, try to decipher the flavors, and get all jacked up on culinary layering.  It is a great place, with great people, and great food...you need to let food be a mystery every once in a while.  This here is a good place to do that.

A Little Greek Tofu

This weekend we have a group at the camp that is from the World Tai Ji Boxing Association (WTBA - http://www.taijiworld.com/).  A fair number of the team are vegetarians.  We are gonna whip up a brown rice with olive oil and garlic (and a hint of lemon juice and sea salt) along with a vegetable medley of green and yellow squash, carrots, mushrooms and broccoli (and of course garlic). The protein will be a tofu slice baked and marinated with a Greek salad dressing.  I am going to make it from scratch with virgin olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, basil and sea salt.  We will serve some kalamata olives and feta in our salad section so there will be the chance to complete the Mediterranean theme.  Non-veggies will have the chance at the same dressing on the baked chicken.

When you are cooking rice and using the dressing in that rice, you always add it after things are finished cooking.  You lose too much of the flavor of the oil and garlic/herbs if you cook it into the food throughout the cooking process.  You can warm things up if you are afraid you will alter the food temp too much.  Just do not heat it too much - only warm it.  I will even add the "marinade" after the baking of the tofu, to retain the flavors.  It will do well in the hotbox at holding temperature - enhancing the tofu even if it is only steeping for 10 - 15 minutes.

Play with the flavors in the dressings until you find a good balance.  You will be surprised how much the dressing for the rice can give it the flavor of a chicken broth being used.

Ciao!

tjm+

Image used with permission of Mollie Katzen

Cross Country Cafe

Carolyn and Dave have struck on the quintessential nature of food and dining. Watching them you could craft a fine definition of all things food: You need good quality ingredients, patient and practiced technique, and a deep desire to be with people and take care of them. They clearly exhibit all of these. Aside from wholesome, tasty meals you get good conversation and heartfelt personal presence when you are at the cafe.

If you are visiting Yosemite you need to come up out of the valley and head into downtown Groveland, CA and eat at the Cross Country Cafe. It is a quaint little place off the main road where locals and travelers from all over the globe come for a good meal, a slice of life, and participation in the better things that being human has to offer: like warm and  pleasant hospitality. If comfort food where an interior place you could visit, the Cafe offers that when you stop in.

We have been vacationing here for four days - so far - and have eaten all our breakfasts and one of our lunches from the fine meals served at the Cross Country Cafe. Whether we eat in or take out, the friendly conversation and the fine food is always the same.  Dave and Carolyn are a wealth of information on the local scene and love to talk about food and all things epicurean.  If there is something you want that you don't see on the menu, a simple request goes a long way with these folks.

Make sure you ask them about their ingredients. They will tell you anything you want to know. You can even find out how they cook the food, either by watching or showing a little interest and asking. You really feel like you have been invited into the whole preparation process as they both saunter back and forth in the conversation and crafting of your meal.

I think this place and this couple is ripe for the making of some fine podcasts on hospitality and wholesome foods.  Keep your eye on them and watch them grow.  Something this good has got to become a rave.  And, when you stop by, make sure you ask to see their fascinating collection of international currency.  Worldwide guests have left behind a piece of their appreciation in the standard of their country.  You'll be amazed at the number of folks who have wandered through their doors that represent countries far and wide.

Ciao!

tjm+

Anticipated Increases of Food Costs - HYPER INFLATION

One of the things that is tough working with in a camp kitchen is the ongoing need for keeping costs per plate low (everybody everywhere can appreciate this dilemma) all of the time.  Now it is even more difficult to contend with.  The prices that are fore-casted and reported on a weekly basis can be just plain harrowing.

Even with a standardized retreat menu - capitalizing on the foods I can get the best deals on - there have been problems lately.

I wanted to take a step away from taste and food play for a minute to share with you a composite guide I found via a special report.  Take a look at this and be prepared for some shocking news.  With all of the federal talk of budgets and debt, the words in this report don't add any fluff to the forecasts.  Things are gonna get tough.

Today I will share the inflation news.  In another blog, we will take a look at crop failures and prices as a result there.  The report is at this link.

http://inflation.us/foodpriceprojections.pdf

Ciao!

TJM+

reprinted with permission of Mollie Katzen

http://www.molliekatzen.com/art.php?painting=blue_teapot

Simple Acorn Squash 2.0

OK so round two of the simple squash recipes is another acorn squash deal.  Halve it and core out the seeds.  Paint the hollow with melted butter. Bake it at 325 until golden brown and smelling a bit roasted (about an hour).  When you take it out, shred some extra sharp New York cheddar cheese into the center and crumble large pieces of apple smoked bacon in as well.

For a real bender of flavor drop in a few cubbed pieces of a Macintosh apple.  Or, you may twist the recipe a bit by filling the hollow with a cream of extra sharp cheddar soup (and still crumbling in the smoked bacon).  With each scoop of soup you scrape a bit of the squash into your mouth as well. Mmmmm.

Ciao!

TJM+

Simple Acorn Squash 1.0

Autumn cannot come and go without a plethora of squash foods and recipes.  So, today we are serving an acorn squash with a roasted onion and sausage filling.

Dice your onions and saute them until they start to brown or roast them in your favorite fashion.  Grind your favorite sausage and add to the sauted onions.  I put in some garlic (duh), a bit of ground rosemary and wine, along with a few spoonfuls of curry powder.

Bake the halfed acorn squash (scoop out seeds with an ice cream scoop) at about 350 for about an hour (or when just starting to get dark brown).  Add a scoop of the stuffing to each squash and return to the over nof 10 more minutes on 250.

Sometimes just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom is a great finishing taste...but just a smidgen.

Ciao!

TJM+

The Pies of Autumns

As the crisping air approaches and the "goldening" and "reddening" of the leaves comes to be, the heart and the mind and belly turn to the pies of autumn.  There is a title for you: "The Pies of Autumn".  Could it be a reality series?  I hope not!

Think about what you will be making this year and step out of form and mold and try a new recipe or two.  Mollie Katzen always has some really thought and taste provoking options for the season - http://www.molliekatzen.com/ so be sure to check her site out.  Her Sunlight Cafe cookbook is sensational.

I have noticed that we do not stray far from our standard menus in life.  It's funny, I hear a lot of grumbling about repetition of menus from folks (keeping the menus the same in the industry is driven by cost and risk factors), but in reality most folks never stray from the same set of dishes on a regular and routine basis.  So, why not take a personal oath to try and mix it up a bit this season.

Moosewood has a great pumpkin pie recipe that calls for NO SUGAR.  It uses maple syrup instead.  A worthy pie.  Or how about adding some dark chocolate squares to that apple pie?  Maybe a few pears.

Whatever the shake up, just give it a try.  Most of the main ingredients that lend themselves to the "pumpkin-pie-ness" of the pie; or the "apple-pie-ness" of the pie, will be the same.  The taste buds will be moored to the dock by cinnamon, butter, nutmeg and the like.  So go a little wild, and expand what you are able to taste, experience and appreciate!

Ciao!

TJM+

Used with Permission of Mollie Katzen