JB Garden (Greenwood). It's OK, acceptable quality for the price, as well as the convenience of having another Chinese place in Greenwood. A baked BBQ pork bao, order of 4 shu mai & a hom sui gok is under $4. The shu mai is possibly made on-site.
JB Garden's chow mein is the minimalist dim sum kind, not the fixins-heavy dinner kind. If you want the latter, you go to Mandarin Gate or Yen Wor anyway.
The one thing that could have been better was that everything -- even the 'hot' tea -- could have been much warmer.
No shrimp items.
Cash only.
Tables: 2 sets of 2.
Plastic utensils (forks).
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Portion Control
O 74th Street Ale House (Phinney). I don't really mind that twice in a row you've served us the delicious goat cheese salad with just one slice of chevre cut in half, instead of two slices.
Nor does it bother me that you still charge the two-slice price of $9. It's that good.
What is really irritating though is when the guy at the table next to us also orders the goat cheese salad -- and gets two big full honking medallions of chevre.
It makes us think we offended the server in some way. Although we're prettay, prettay, prettay, prettay sure we didn't.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Not Diggity
A friendly word to the crew at the 85th Street Deli/Slum City Hot Dogs (Greenwood): Canned chili and old pre-grated cheddar is enough to put one off chili dogs for eternity.
Here's a really good, easy Texas chili recipe that will keep me coming back; feel free to use ground beef instead of cubed chuck roast.
I do give you 4 thumbs up, though, for roasting the 'dogs when they are ordered, instead of letting them sit in hot water for hours.
Update: 85th Street Deli has since shuttered.
Here's a really good, easy Texas chili recipe that will keep me coming back; feel free to use ground beef instead of cubed chuck roast.
Real Texas Chili
(modified from America's Test Kitchen)
3 lbs chuck roast, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
3 strips of bacon (or bacon fat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS chili powder (or toast 3-4 chili pods and grind in food processor, make paste with a little water before adding)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
5-6 cups water
1/4 cup Masa Harina (make paste with some water)
In enameled pot or dutch oven, brown meat in bacon fat; remove. Saute garlic, then add herbs followed by chili powder paste. Add back meat, then add water. Cover and simmer in 250 degree oven for at least 2 hours. Optional: 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes; 14-1/2 oz can of kidney beans. Thicken: Add Masa Harina paste gradually by spoonful; simmer for 30 more minutes.
(modified from America's Test Kitchen)
3 lbs chuck roast, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
3 strips of bacon (or bacon fat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS chili powder (or toast 3-4 chili pods and grind in food processor, make paste with a little water before adding)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
5-6 cups water
1/4 cup Masa Harina (make paste with some water)
In enameled pot or dutch oven, brown meat in bacon fat; remove. Saute garlic, then add herbs followed by chili powder paste. Add back meat, then add water. Cover and simmer in 250 degree oven for at least 2 hours. Optional: 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes; 14-1/2 oz can of kidney beans. Thicken: Add Masa Harina paste gradually by spoonful; simmer for 30 more minutes.
I do give you 4 thumbs up, though, for roasting the 'dogs when they are ordered, instead of letting them sit in hot water for hours.
Update: 85th Street Deli has since shuttered.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Sunday brunch by the park in Georgetown
Do I need to actually say how good The Corson Building (Georgetown) is? Do you actually need reassurance that Matt Dillon's friendly and relaxed slow-food haven is worth a visit, and many more after that? How's this: brunch is only $23 per person, plus libations (e.g., "Bomb-Ass Bloody Mary").
↑Plain and whole wheat-with-nuts baguettes, butter and brie; French press coffee. From the sideboard: plums & blueberries with yogurt; baby turnips and potatoes.
Reservations not required, but a good idea.
↑Plain and whole wheat-with-nuts baguettes, butter and brie; French press coffee. From the sideboard: plums & blueberries with yogurt; baby turnips and potatoes.
↓Fried egg (thank you, chickens) with Pecorino, pickled peppers, pumpkin seeds, and broccoli
Reservations not required, but a good idea.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Not supposed to be sliders
Six Arms (Pike/Pine) is one of my favorite brew pubs, and has been for a long time. I've been going there since ACT moved to 7th and Union, which means it's been more than ten years.
In the last four years life has taken me away from that part of town -- Dad Watson, the McMenamin's outpost in Fremont, is my usual place to enjoy the chain's Hammerhead, nitro stout and Ruby beers -- so upon a recent visit to Six Arms I was shocked at the burgers.
Still fresh tasting, the natural beef patty still amazingly grease-free, the bun still bakery fresh. But it looked like it had been accidentally exposed, briefly, to a shrinking process. Maybe the one from Fantastic Voyage (Fox, 1966).
Everything was proportionally smaller, maybe three fifths the size of a customary hamburger. Worse, I was still hungry after. And they skimped on the fries, much less than Dad Watson or McMenamin's on Roy Street.
My philosophy is, if you can see the plate through the pile of fries there aren't enough.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
In the last four years life has taken me away from that part of town -- Dad Watson, the McMenamin's outpost in Fremont, is my usual place to enjoy the chain's Hammerhead, nitro stout and Ruby beers -- so upon a recent visit to Six Arms I was shocked at the burgers.
Still fresh tasting, the natural beef patty still amazingly grease-free, the bun still bakery fresh. But it looked like it had been accidentally exposed, briefly, to a shrinking process. Maybe the one from Fantastic Voyage (Fox, 1966).
Everything was proportionally smaller, maybe three fifths the size of a customary hamburger. Worse, I was still hungry after. And they skimped on the fries, much less than Dad Watson or McMenamin's on Roy Street.
My philosophy is, if you can see the plate through the pile of fries there aren't enough.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#4 - Food Processor
Yes, they can be expensive. Yes, the potential number of available attachments threatens like baseball cards.
But a good food processor can do certain things that are time consuming when done by hand, which might otherwise be a deterrent.
Here's the thing: you can ignore almost all the attachments.
I use a garage sale special Cuisinart DLC-7, and I only own four attachments: the dough hook, the vegetable chopper, the grater and the metal blade. Of these, I only use the last two with any regularity.
I fear skinning my knuckles, so I would never shred potatoes or grate cheese if not for the Cuisinart. Those also take too long by hand, whereas the Cuisinart is like lightning. I'm not being a baby -- prep time is important if you're making a lot of dishes at once.
The metal blade can handle almost everything else: kneading bread and pasta dough, powdering chili pods, milling smoky tea for barbecue rubs, and pureeing anything.
One thing -- a Cuisinart is only mostly indestructible. Parts will break, so know your model and part numbers when cruising garage sales and the Goodwill.
Yes, they can be expensive. Yes, the potential number of available attachments threatens like baseball cards.
But a good food processor can do certain things that are time consuming when done by hand, which might otherwise be a deterrent.
Here's the thing: you can ignore almost all the attachments.
I use a garage sale special Cuisinart DLC-7, and I only own four attachments: the dough hook, the vegetable chopper, the grater and the metal blade. Of these, I only use the last two with any regularity.
I fear skinning my knuckles, so I would never shred potatoes or grate cheese if not for the Cuisinart. Those also take too long by hand, whereas the Cuisinart is like lightning. I'm not being a baby -- prep time is important if you're making a lot of dishes at once.
The metal blade can handle almost everything else: kneading bread and pasta dough, powdering chili pods, milling smoky tea for barbecue rubs, and pureeing anything.
One thing -- a Cuisinart is only mostly indestructible. Parts will break, so know your model and part numbers when cruising garage sales and the Goodwill.
Friday, March 6, 2009
5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen
#3: Bacon
Don't give me that "Noooo, it's greasy" crap: you love bacon.
If it will help, you can call it American Pancetta, because that's really all it is.
The great thing about bacon is its versatility. Not only can it be cooked to so many different outcomes (soft, medium, crisp, ultra-crisp), and used in so many different dishes (omelets, BLTs, burgers, salads, soups, appetizers -- the list is almost endless), even the leftover liquid fat has uses.
I usually cook up a half-dozen rashers every other week just to have them handy, and refrigerate them wrapped in Saran. The fat from the skillet should be poured into a metal container with a plastic lid and also kept in the fridge.
Then consider using a teaspoon or two of bacon fat when you ordinarily might use corn oil, olive oil or butter -- when browning chunks of beef or chicken, for example. Or massage some into a whole chicken, season and roast.
I like the Niman Ranch applewood-smoked natural bacon, which is raised using humane and sustainable methods. Most supermarkets stock it now, often on sale for under $6.
Don't give me that "Noooo, it's greasy" crap: you love bacon.
If it will help, you can call it American Pancetta, because that's really all it is.
The great thing about bacon is its versatility. Not only can it be cooked to so many different outcomes (soft, medium, crisp, ultra-crisp), and used in so many different dishes (omelets, BLTs, burgers, salads, soups, appetizers -- the list is almost endless), even the leftover liquid fat has uses.
I usually cook up a half-dozen rashers every other week just to have them handy, and refrigerate them wrapped in Saran. The fat from the skillet should be poured into a metal container with a plastic lid and also kept in the fridge.
Then consider using a teaspoon or two of bacon fat when you ordinarily might use corn oil, olive oil or butter -- when browning chunks of beef or chicken, for example. Or massage some into a whole chicken, season and roast.
I like the Niman Ranch applewood-smoked natural bacon, which is raised using humane and sustainable methods. Most supermarkets stock it now, often on sale for under $6.
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