Author Archives: didjaeat
Stoppin’ By The Memphis Tap
One of things I love doing in the spring and summer is stopping by a local bar for happy hour. One place I enjoy going is The Memphis Taproom, which, despite their claims on their website that they are in Kensington (and claims of being in Port Richmond on “Diners, Drive In’s and Dives”), is located in Fishtown on the corner of Memphis and Cumberland Streets. This irritates me. Fishtown is a neighborhood that has gentrified and no one seems to have enough brains to ask the people who live there (and I mean the original inhabitants) what neighborhood it is. Anyway….
We sat outside in their cool yard/beer garden and munched on hot dogs from thier very own truck, served by the very funny Steve Miller-Miller, but it started to get kind of cold so we relocated to the inside bar. We ordered some food and here’s the highlights.
Crawdad Donuts
First off we ordered Crawdad Donuts. They are described with “Jalapenos, green onions, shellfish nage”. A “nage” is a broth flavored with white wine, vegetables, and herbs, in which seafood is poached. The liquid is then reduced and thickened with cream and/or butter. In other words: it’s delicious without being too heavy. This nage hit the mark.
And it also has a ton of little bits of crawdads in it, which it was awesome.
I’m not exactly sure why they call them donuts, as I really thought that the texture was more of a beignet, but whatever, potato, potahto. these things were great.
Inside the Crawdad Donut
As you can see, they have the green onion in the mix, which really gives the dough a nice tang. As I said above, I think the texture is more beignet-ish, and it soaks up the gravy like nobody’s business!
This is definitely not something I would have ordered normally and I’m glad I took a jump to give it a shot! For $9, it was totally worth it!
Crawdad Donut
More of the Crawdad Donuts
Beef and Onion Pasties
The second thing we ordered were Beef and Onion Pasties. A Pastie (pah-stee, not the stripper type pay-stee) is a traditional English food, basically it’s a little fried savory pie. It’s the official food of Cornwall, England and you can stuff them with whatever. These have short ribs in them and sit in a horseradish sauce & parsley sauce.
I have to say, I loved the sauce. It was a little creamy but the horseradish wasn’t ground down so much that you couldn’t taste the texture of the root. It also has a little heat to it, so the horseradish they used to make the sauce wasn’t too old. Here is a tip: you like horseradish but don’t like crazy heat? Let it sit in the fridge for awhile. It tends to lose it’s potency.
Inside the Beef and Onion Pastie
Anyway, onto the pasties themselves. Short ribs are things I can eat everyday for the rest of my life. The pairing of the horseradish and the short ribs was smart, because, at least in my family, we smear horseradish all over meat like that.
For once, I was smart enough to let something sit for a few minutes before taking a bite and burning myself, and I’m glad I did. The dough was nice and crisp, and not very greasy at all. The short rib meat inside was moist and delicious. If I had to pick something to nitpick about, I’d say that the pastie could have been filled more. there seemed to be a lot of empty space in there. Maybe put in some mashed potato, or some peas or something. For $9, maybe bulk it up a bit.
Overall, it’s not cheap but if you are looking for some food that is a little left of center to eat while celebrating the end of the week, hit the Tap. It does get super crowded after about 5:30 but if you can get there early, go for it.
Taco Bell Doritos Locos Taco: Ole!
If you are in any way a regular reader of this blog, you gotta know this was coming. Taco Bell rolled this taco out a little while ago as a test and now it’s out nationwide. What is it?
Side shot of the Doritos Locos Taco
It’s the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme!
It’s a taco made with a shell that is a giant Dorito. If you are a fan of Doritos in any way, you’ll really enjoy this. It’s got the cheese, it’s got the crunch and it’s got the taco insides: seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese and reduced fat sour cream (the only difference between the Supreme and the regular is sour cream).
Another shot of the Doritos Locos Taco
It’s a really simple idea and, frankly, I am kind of surprised they hadn’t come up with it sooner. Doritos are basically just corn ships, and if Tostitos Scoops have taught us anything, it’s that corn chips can be molded to any shape.
The only problem is that if you don’t eat the taco within a few minutes, the heat from the meat kind of makes it a little pliable, which is kind of weird. (Have you ever eaten a wet Dorito? Or one that’s been in dip? That’s what I mean.) So, if you get one, get to it! If you manage to get into it before the heat does, the shell will crumble a little bit, just like a regular taco shell.
The remnants!
The final question people ask me is this: are your hands covered in cheese when you are done? Like after you eat a ton of Doritos (not that I would know anything about that…)? The answer is: just enough cheese ends up on your hands. If you end up with a fist-full of cheese, then you shouldn’t be cuddling with your Doritos Locos Taco.
So is this taco worth a shot? Most definitely! It’s silly cheap too, so get to it. If you are super hungry, there is a $5 Doritos Locos Taco box that comes with the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, a crunchy taco, a Burrito Supreme and a drink.
Wendy’s: The W & Spicy Guacamole Chicken Club
With people either eating no fast food at all or eating it like it’s their job, fast food companies are left trying to do the same stuff for thier usual customers who are accustomed to the same things and also chasing customers who long for something fast but different. Wendy’s is no different.
I have not really been a fan of breaded chicken sandwiches. It seemed like a lot of bread to me and not much anything else, so I stayed away. While I don’t each much fast food, I did kind of lean towards burgers and Wendy’s burgers were always on the top of my list. The franchise by me is pretty on it: clean, fast (for the most part, as opposed to the McDonald’s by me. You could kill a cow, cut it up, cook the meat, digest it and eat another meal as slow as their drive thru is, at any time of the day) and good at getting the food out hot. Lately, Wendy’s had been advertising their new burger, “The W” and it looked interesting. They also had been advertising the “Spicy Guacamole Chicken Club” Sandwich that, well, it had bacon and guac. I was sold.
The W and The Spicy Guacamole Chicken Club
When I took the 2 sandwiches out of the bag, I noticed that the weren’t wrapped in Wendy’s usual foil lined paper, but in a parchment and then in a small box holder. I really like the small box holders and the only other place I have seen them is at Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. They keep the burgers in one spot so they don’t slide apart and keeps them from unraveling. Thumbs up for that! It shows that the Wendy’s people are paying attention.
First up is the “W”. The “W” is Wendy’s attempt at a killer burger with a special sauce that isn’t 5 bucks. It’s $2.99!
The W!
Any person who has half a brain is not expecting their fast food to look like it does in the ads. If you don’t know why this is, go and google “food styling”. This burger didn’t look like it did in the ads but it still looked ok, and most importantly, the burgers were still nice and warm by the time I got it home.
Condiments!
I’m not too into using the word “premium”, but this burger is supposed to have “premium” toppings. I guess this means they are cut bigger, and yeah, this burger has it. The pickles were thicker and crinkle cut (I imagine they did that so the sauce could get all up in the ridges), the red onion was thick cut, and the tomato, well, it was kinda thin. I don’t have too much of a problem with that, but if you were looking for a giant piece of tomato, well, you might be missing out. Altho, it could have been just a weirdly cut batch of tomatoes, who knows.
Sideshot of The W!
The shining star of this burger is new secret sauce. It really is delicious. It’s sort of a thousand island but with red pepper in it too, to give it some texture, along with little bits of pickle. Combined with the burger patties and the rest of the stuff it really comes together. The food scientist guys over at Wendy’s really hit it on this.
The Spicy Guacamole Chicken Club
Next up is the Spicy Guacamole Chicken Sandwich. Like I said above, I am not usually into breaded chicken sandwiches. It’s too much bread and it ends up being a dry mess of a meal. So, when I pulled up into the drivethru and saw this thing on the menu, I had to try it.
The Bacon!
Let’s take a look inside the sandwich. First off, this thing comes with bacon. Yay! Sometimes when a burger comes with bacon, it’s barely there, or unrecognizable. Also, sometimes it’s just dripping with that liquid smoke flavor that makes it taste like crap. This bacon was actually recognizable and delicious. They give you just enough to make a difference in the burger but not too much that it is overpowering.
The chicken patty had a little bit of a kick of spice to it, kind of peppery, and it’s topped with a nice pepper jack cheese. They could have stopped right there and call it a spicy chicken sandwich. Even the buttered buns, which by the way, both the sandwiches have, were a nice touch.
The Guac!
And then they took a big step forward by adding the guacamole! The guac, of which they are not skimpy with, gives the sandwich another texture besides bread, chicken and bacon, and it also has some red pepper in there to give it even more depth of flavor.
Again, I say, I am not really into chicken sandwiches but man, this thing is pretty kickass. I will definitely be ordering this again when I get back to Wendy’s.
I really have to hand it to Wendy’s. The fast food landscape has become littered with all sorts of goofy new products with places trying to sell new things in order to rope in the public. Wendy’s seems to be doing the opposite, they are looking within to see what they are good at: burgers, chicken sandwiches and salads. They are taking these items and beefing them up, giving them new spins and overall boosting up their menu items without gouging you in the pocketbook. In the day and age where the economy stinks, Wendy’s gets it. My hat is off to them.
White House Subs: WTF?
I have to admit, I do not enjoy writing about food I don’t like. Negativity is not something I enjoy spewing all over the internet like a heavy meal after a run at a bottle of Jameson. I genuinely like food and sharing it with all 4 of you who read this blog. But when I go somewhere with a reasonable expectation of awesome, and it only half registers a pulse, I gotta talk about it.
When I was in college up in North Central Jersey, I had a lot of people in my dorm who were very anti-Philly in terms of sandwiches (and anti-Philly in general, which I found hilarious considering that they had never been there and they were all from podunk tiny towns and always referred to NYC as “The City”, like there weren’t any others in the world) and very pro-North Jersey and I heard a lot about this White House place. I even remember Bill Cosby name dropping it a few times on the Cosby Show when I was a kid (side note: I cannot remember my phone number half the time but I can remember a food reference from 25 years ago. Go figure.)
White House Subs
I have a thing for old places. I like some history, some backstory. Smiling old people in pictures on the walls make me order more food. I also like vinyl booths, pop up napkin dispensers and cool signs. I’m a sucker for a place with soul. So, in that part, The White House did not disappoint. It had an old school sign up on the roof and it is pretty no frills, which I can appreciate.
Inside White House Subs
When you see a sign like this, proudly pronouncing that they have been open for 60 years, it’s a cool thing. Nothing these days lasts very long. You think Bobby Flay’s Burger Joints will be around for 60 years? Much like any famous deli/sandwich/steak shop, this place is covered with famous people who have swung by to stuff their face with sandwichy delights. I’d imagine, since this place is literally up the street from the Taj Mahal Casino, it wasn’t too hard to get people to come and eat, but whatever.
But enough about the decor. Let’s get down to the brass tacks. The food. (also, I will be referring to all of the white house offerings as “sandwiches”, not “subs”.)
White House Roll
This place does sandwiches. Not “hoagies” but “subs”. A whole is pretty big, most people get a half. The roll is pretty awesome. They get them from a place up the street, The Formica Brothers Italian Bakery. Nice and fresh. It’s the kind of roll called an “Atlantic City Roll”, just call it a great roll. It’s crusty and chewy but not too much of either of those things. It’s just right and saves both of these things I ordered from me having a fit.
I ordered 2 different sandwiches: 1. The Ham, Cappicola, Genoa Salami & Provolone Cheese and 2. The Chicken Parm Sub.
Another Ham, Cappicola, Genoa Salami & Provolone Cheese Sub Side Shot
The Ham, Cappicola, Genoa Salami & Provolone Cheese was pretty good. The meat was not skimpy, but it also wasn’t really piled on. I did enjoy the fact they they didn’t cheap out on the provolone, sometimes when you get a sandwich the cheese is sort of an afterthought. Really, the only issue I had was my own fault, I forgot to ask for mayo and I got oil. There is a line of thought that italian hoagies always get oil but I am a mayo freak so I like it on everything. In fact, I usually order extra because rolls tend to soak it up and then the sandwich gets dry. That’s not acceptable to me. (oh, I also ordered a side of sweet peppers as well. They give you a nice sized container of them, it made me happy.)
Ham, Cappicola, Genoa Salami & Provolone Cheese
The thing about these sandwiches, and maybe it’s just me, or that’s the way a sub is supposed to be, but these sandwiches are flat. Any good hoagie I have ever seen, and a sub is a hoagie, have been round. I just found that weird. What do you guys think?
Let’s talk a little bit about the Chicken Parm Sub. I ate this thing like 3 weeks ago but I had to wait to actually sit down and write about it because of how angry it made me. Yeah. Angry. A sandwich made me angry (seriously people, I need a life). You might think I am being ridiculous but when you see this thing, you will understand.
Chicken Parm Side Shot
I have eaten hundreds of chicken parm sandwiches over the years. It’s an easy idea: breaded pieces of chicken are put on a roll. You cover in sauce and cheese. Delicious and done. It is almost impossible to screw up. Or so I thought.
Let’s talk about the size of this thing. As in, the lack of filling. If you click on the picture, it actually kind of looks like stacked up chicken cheesesteak meat. That is NOT acceptable.
I started eating this thing, half in shock and half wondering what the hell was going on. Then I took a bite of the dry sandwich. Wait, it’s supposed to be saucy. This thing has about 2 tablespoons of sauce on it. And the sauce was flat and nasty.
Internal Chicken Parm
Like cheese? Cheese takes a vacation on this thing. I do NOT UNDERSTAND what they are doing here. Was this thing made by an intern? Or half the sandwich fell out on the way to my table? Maybe aliens escaped with half the chicken? Maybe they ran out of breaded chicken and had to fill the sandwich with this crap?
I ate half of it and took the other half home. Sometimes, a sandwich tastes better the next day, or even just a hour or two or three later.
I took this thing home and it was even shittier later on that nite. And I was drunk! Everything tastes better when you are drunk!
This whole thing baffles me. I was told by a local that the place isn’t the same as it used to be. I don’t understand how that is possible. A chicken parm sandwich is a simple item of food. Chicken is fairly cheap to buy and you already got the rolls. The sauce can be made in
Chicken Parm Sub Side Shot
huge batches and frozen so it’s not a big deal. You can buy bags of shredded cheese at places like Jetro and Sysco for a song. Whatever the hell they are doing with this sandwich, in the name of all things holy and sandwich related, should be STOPPED.
I am sure someone is going to slam me for writing this post. Trust me, there is no one out there who would love to love a new sandwich shop like me. As someone who has worked in food, loves to eat and loves when people have a small business that is thriving, I was hoping for the best.
So, here are some things I did like: they have nice napkin dispensers that pop up the napkins and it makes it easy to grab when covered with various sandwich accoutrements. The waitress was super nice. They give you a choice between bottled water or water from the soda machine (aka tap). If you are a single person, they have a small booth that is good for one or two people if you don’t want to eat at the counter (the regular sized booths are saved for 3 or more people). Like I said above, I enjoyed the pictures on the wall, especially the Tug McGraw (my favorite Phillie) at the grill picture. I also enjoyed the size of the cups they put the sweet peppers in, it was just enough.
Here was the brightest spot in my visit to The White House. A taste of Philly.
Tastykakes!!
So, if you are headed down to Atlantic City, if I were you, I would avoid this tourist trap and go to Tony Boloney’s (300 Oriental Ave) instead. While I had one ok sandwich, that chicken parm was so horrendously bad, I wouldn’t risk eating anything else there, except for, of course, Tastykakes!
Tony Boloney’s Food Truck: Food Of The Gods
A little while ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Atlantic City Beer Fest. It was pretty awesome. Lots of beers from all over the world, friendly people, beer themed oddities to buy and food to eat.
Wait?…Food to eat? Well, yeah. You can’t have a whole giant convention floor full of beer and not offer food, that would be wrong. Or, more succinctly, it would result in some very drunk people driving their cars into the ocean. That’s not good for anyone.
There were lots of different food vendors selling everything from crabcake sliders to yelp offering pretzel necklaces to kielbasie sandwiches. But I was more interested in the truck with the curly moustaches on it.
Normally, when people start blabbing on their website about how good their sandwiches are, I tend to automatically roll my eyes. I am from sandwich-land, aka Philly, and it is real hard for me to accept boasts from others about these things. Even with pizza, I feel the same way. There is something in the water here that makes for fantastic bread (and, of course, dough. Doh!). I don’t know what it is (nor do I want to know, save your emails), but you can’t find it anywhere else.
I did some research before I went to the Beer Fest and Tony Boloney’s caught my eye. Funny little name. Fun to say is good branding, along with the big fat chef that’s the mascot. They have a pizza & sub (not hoagie, we are outside the Philly area) shop in
The Moustache Truck
AC. They obviously understand branding and food, because the menu for the shop is like 4 pages long and every single thing is a different spin on favorites (Like meat on a pizza? Try the Casino Carnivore with “every animal noah brought on his ark ravaged by mozzarella”) as well as things I never would have even thought to make (Reuben Fries!).
They decided to start a food truck (and bring it to the Beer Fest!): The Moustache Truck! Obviously, these guys are up on trends and understand marketing. It’s nice to come across a food place that understands marketing that isn’t a shitty major chain. I had emailed them and asked if they might be interested in donating a shirt for the giveaway I was doing and they were excited about it! That was cool,
Closeup of Truck Logo
because a lot of the beer vendors and assorted other vendors came with nothing to sell, nevertheless give away (besides, ya know, beer). Another thing I loved about these guys is that they are putting forth the idea that people actually *live and are from* Atlantic City, a fact that a lot of people tend to forget
when they come to empty their pockets and stuff their faces full of famous chef restaurant food (not that there is anything wrong with that, but there is much more to the city then that). Their slogan “Indigenous Atlantic City Grub” hammers that home in a mouth watering way!
Reuben Pizza
When I made my way over to the truck, I was impressed with the smartness of the menu: pizza and the cheesesteal ole’. People who are drinking love pizza and cheesesteaks! They had a bunch of pizza options, but as soon as I heard it, I knew I had to try it. What was it? Reuben Pizza!
Say what? That sounds odd. That sounds weird. That sounds…delicious. And you know what? IT WAS!
The Reuben pizza would have been something terribly simple to totally screw up. How much kraut do you put on? Do you just use a squeeze bottle to put the dressing on all around? Or do you use it like sauce and cover the whole pie?
Beer Infused Pizza Dough
Do you cover the whole pie with corned beef like you do with pepperoni? The questions are endless! (seriously people, I need a life.) I think they nailed it. They used a 2 cheese blend to keep the pizza from tasting flat. under the meat, there is kraut, under that is a glob of the thousand island sauce that ooozes a bit but not too much. So ridiculously good. I had to physically restrain myself from getting another piece.
I also really liked how they were having fun with the crowd. It got a little chaotic, so what did they do? They whipped out a bullhorn. There was no panicking (what I would have done. To the panicking!), no freaking out, just a little louder and they kept on cranking out some awesome pizza!
Cheesesteak Ole'!
I realized, after awhile, that I wanted to try the cheesesteak: The Cheesesteak Ole’. This thing had apparently won some kind of 2010 Guy Fieri Cheesesteak Battle. (An aside: I find it funny that a guy from Northern California can put his name anywhere around something called “cheesestesk” because, um, that’s all that is wrong with the world.).
This thing was awesome. It might be a tad small, length wise, if compared to what we can get in Philly, but make no mistake, this thing si PACKED with meat. Is it more like a cheesesteak hoagie then a cheesesteak because it has lettuce and tomato on it as well as the cheese and steak? Probably. But honesty, I could not care less, because this cheesesteak was fantastic.
Side Shot Cheesesteak Ole'!
Let’s start with the steak. Chopped sirloin. A little different then the usual meat used, which is a thinly sliced ribeye, but it’s cooked tender with a 10 spice mix. It’s a kind of taco spice that works deliciously with the jack and chipotle house sauce. Have no doubt, this thing is cheesy in all the right ways. It sticks with the meat, not like a weird cheese “sauce” you see sometimes, and it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the roll either. I was a little thrown by the lettuce and tomato on the bottom (nice and fresh too), but it gave the cheesesteak a nice bit of texture. Finally, the roll was chewy but not too chewy, and really fresh. Those Atlantic City rolls are no joke!
Wrapping this rambling review up: if you find the Tony Boloney Moustache Truck anywhere you are, go grab some food! If you find yourself in Atlantic City, wander on over to 300 Oriental Avenue (by the new Revel Casino) and go grab some grub. This place is awesome and while I wish I lived closer to them, I’m kind of glad I don’t, because I really can’t afford bigger pants. My hat is off to the Tony Boloney guys! Go now! Go!
Atlantic City Beer Fest & Giveaway!!
There aren’t many things in this world that I really love. Ok, maybe there are. But one of the things I really love in life is…BEER! I’m no beer snob tho, I like cheap beer, expensive beer, mass produced beer and little teeny craft beer. I love supporting local breweries and I find it all pretty fascinating. So, when I got a chance to go to the Atlantic City Beer Fest, I was pretty excited!
The AC Beer Fest is held at the Atlantic City Convention Center, which is pretty nice, for a convention center. The parking was sweet too. When you entered the room, you got to see a great welcome (click any picture to embiggen!):
Welcome To The Atlantic City Beer Fest!
Click the picture for the bigger view. I was super early so I hung out and watched the guys carve this out of a giant pile of sand. It was impressive!
When you go to one of these beer fests, they don’t give you a big solo cup for you to go nuts with, you’d be puking in a half hour. They give you a small glass, so that you’ll be puking in 3 hours instead. Behold!
The Tiny Glass
Don’t let it fool you, it packs a wallop.
I Love You Magic Hat
Next up I ran into the Magic Hat mobile! The guys working the booth were so cool and they offered me some of their new summer beer: Elder Betty; a berry flavored beer. It was delicious and I can’t wait to buy some! I’m a big fan of their Circus Boy as well.
Pyramid Brewers
Next to the Magic Hat booth was Pyramid Brewing. They are based in Northern California and have tons of different kinds of beers, both seasonal and year round. The guys manning the booth were great and their beer was some of the best stuff I have had in a long time. They are currently working on getting into my area, so here’s to hoping!
Dogfish Head!
Some of my favorite beers come from a brewery in Delaware called Dogfish Head Brewery! The 60 minute, the 90 minute and the Punkin’ Ale are 3 of my all time favorites. I measure all Pumpkin Ales against their Punkin’. Sam and the gang really put out some quality stuff. I’m such a huge fan!
One brewer that I didn’t get a picture of but thought they had, hands down, the best beer around, was Anderson Valley Brewing. I had some of their Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale, and it blew me away. Kinda chocolately, and kinda fantastic. I can’t wait for winter again to get my hands on it (if they can get out here to PA).
Here are some pics of a few other brewers that set up shop!
Sierra Nevada
B. Nektar Meadery
Yes! They not only sell Mead, but it’s fantastic. I had a raspberry one that was out of this world. They are based out of Detroit. Go figure.
Blue Point Rastafar Rye
The Woodchuck Cider Peeps!
Flying Dog Peeps
And of course there were beer related wares such as:
Beer In A Carton? Sure!!
This beer in a carton thing is genius! Does it come with a straw?
Awesome Growlers
The growlers were really beautiful. Click the picture to see how lovely the glass really looks.
Whenever you go to any kind of convention, there are always oddball things to see. This place was no different. For instance…
The Sierra Nevada Bottle and the Guinness Pint!
There is the Sierra Nevada Bottle and the dancing Guinness pint. The Guinness pint might have been more of a bust-a-move type of guy but the Sierra Nevada Bottle was just more fun.
Did I just review guys in mascot suits? Yep.
Moving on…
The WZXL Lady and me
I was stuffing my face to try and soak up some of the beer in my stomach (review coming super soon!) when I was approached by the WZXL Girl. Can you guess which one is me? I bet you can’t…
Also, if you look closely, you’ll see a bunch of pretzels around my (or the ZXL girl?) neck. Yelp was there offering you a chance to put pretzels on strings for a necklace after giving them your email address. I do love pretzels…
Awesome Picture
I had to post this.
It pretty much speaks for itself.
Enjoy.
Lucy The Elephant Volunteers!
Lucy the Elephant lives in Margate, NJ. She is a giant building in the shape of an elephant. She is also 3 years older then the Statue Of Liberty and the oldest example of Zoomorphic Architecture. She is also a really cool thing that you never, ever get to see anywhere else. In order to keep Lucy up and operating, they are always looking to raise some money. Feel free to donate, visit or buy some merch to help the cause! It’s the original and outstanding work like this that makes America the Land of Originality!
The (Not) Dapper Dans
I have no idea who these guys were, but they were very friendly and reminded me of the Dapper Dans from Disneyland.
Maybe it was the beer talking but I wanted to give them a hug!
Great T-Shirt
And of course, this shirt, which almost made me shoot beer out of my nose.
And now the moment you have all been waiting for!
The Giveaway!!
I got a ton of cool stuff from the brewers & Tony Boloney’s (review coming soon!!) as well as the awesome guys at Cisco Brewing!
This GIANT GIVEAWAY features:
Cisco Brewing Cotton Tote Bag
Tony Boloney’s XL Tshirt
Anderson Valley Brewing Company License Plate
Pyramid Brewers Bottle Openers & stickers
Beerfest, WZXL & Flying Dog Lanyards
Blue Moon Embroidered Patches
Sierra Nevada carabiners & pens
Chimay pin & bottle opener
As well as stickers & beers mats from:
Yards Brewing
Stone Brewing
Flying Dog Brewing
Tuckahoe Brewing
Arrogant Bastard (Stone Brewing)
Rogue brewing
Carton Brewing
Fshirt.com
Fukit
Blanche de Bruxelles
Angry Orchard (temp tattoos!)
Woodchuck Cider
Blue Point Brewing
How do I enter this awesome giveaway? Just leave a comment below before April 14th for a chance to be picked at random!
Feel free to click on the picture to really see all the great swag you can win!
Enter today!
Ten Questions with Comedy, Food, Sports Host Patrick Dodd
Patrick Dodd- Host of Comedy, Food, Sports
Patrick Dodd is a man with three passions in life: Comedy, Food & Sports. Luckily, he is also hilariously funny, so he balled all that up into a great late nite live show called, suprisingly, “Comedy, Food, Sports“. Patrick brings in local and national comics, food celebrities and sports know-it-alls to talk about the holy trinity of awesome.
Patrick was nice enough to do our very first “10 Questions with…” segment! Please go see his show this Friday Night, March 29th at The Twisted Tail (2nd & South, Phila. PA). The guests are James Hesky (host of the new “The Monthly Hour with James Hesky” at the Philadelphia Improv Theatre) and 97.5FM The Fanatic Radio Host Jason Ashworth.
Food, Sports & Comedy are the three things that more or less run my life. How did you decide to combine those three things into a show instead of, say, just doing standup and talking about food and sports?
It’s my three favorite things in the world. I’m a sports nut and I’m an above average cook and I’ve been doing stand up for about 5 years. In the past couple of years I got married and we had a kid about 9 months ago, so I can’t really hit the open mics and work out new material. I knew I still wanted to utilize my creative side, so I threw some ideas around and thought why don’t I just blog about these three topics. I wrote a couple reviews and op-ed type pieces and I realized I should be interviewing the pros in these three arenas. I reached out to Jim Florentine (I featured for him a few times down in Atlanta so we had somewhat of a relationship) and he turned out to be the perfect person to use as sort of template as to how these interviews should go.
The blog really took off and I knew I wasn’t taking full advantage of the potential here. What is now our production team (The two hosts of the NQAPodcast) and I started talking about the idea of a live version of the blog. It started with the concept of just a live podcast and it eventually developed into “Conan O’Brien-esque” talk show. There is still plenty of tweaking to be done, but the concept is rock solid and we’re really happy with it.
We here at DidjaEat? want to punch people when they use the term “Foodie”. How do you feel about the evolution of that stupid term and the explosion of people being interested in cooking, eating and culinary stuff in general?
I HATE terms like that! Everyone in the US that can afford to be a foodie; is a foodie. You know where there aren’t any foodies? Sudan! Terms like that enrage me. There is just this combination of narcissism and abusing of food combinations that has taken over the culinary world and it’s pretty annoying. Every place is now a “gastropub” and serves up some sort of over the top “pork belly and banana burger with chocolate bacon and a fig and absinthe reduction” that they over charge for, but every trendy “foodie” goes there for brunch and writes some shitty blog about it (of course DidjaEat is not one of those blogs!).
Also, I hate when people use the term “well it takes an educated palate to enjoy that.” So you have to teach your mouth and taste buds to like something that it naturally doesn’t?
That felt pretty liberating…great question!
The previous chef at the Ugly American was originally from Rochester and he made a garbage plate that they still have on their menu. It’s kind of deconstructed, almost “sober” version that is good, but much different that the Rochester version. It’s very tasty, but much smaller and it’s missing some crucial elements. It’s more of a gastropub version of it for lack of a better term.
As a kid, I always remember getting ice cream right around the 7th inning stretch. They would put it in the little batting helmet and that was always my favorite part of the game. I don’t do that now, but I remember almost counting the outs and potential batters to figure out how long it will take until it’s ice cream time. It was usually the Triple-AAA Baltimore affiliate that we would go see in Rochester, so if they weren’t playing the Pawtucket Red Sox, I didn’t really give a shit if they won or not really.
Are you a fan of the tailgate? If so, what sport and what is a favorite thing to eat while there, bought or cooked. If not, how about just while hanging out at home or at a bar to watch a game?
When I interviewed Rory Scovel, he said he wishes he could just tailgate all the time. Even if you’re just grilling and drinking beers behind a car in their driveway with no game associated with it. I always thought that was a hilarious take on it, because tailgating is the best. Everyone is drinking and eating and trying to one up each other by having the most over the top set up. I lived in Atlanta for a couple of years and I had season tickets to their games, because anyone can get season tickets basically anywhere they want there. Anyway, the tailgating was out of control. People would have huge tents, with DJ’s, competition size smokers, huge RV’s decked out with Falcons logos, and the food was unreal! Every type of pork imaginable and legitimately some of the best BBQ in the country. Even though Atlanta fans are pretty fair weather and most people down there aren’t even from Atlanta; it’s kind of a must see. When the Eagles came down a couple of years ago (Vick’s first time back to Atlanta), you would’ve thought you were at an outdoor concert and BBQ competition. It’s hard to even explain to be honest.
At a bar, I’m a major sucker for good nachos. Unfortunately, bars fuck this up all the time. First off, lettuce has no business being in nachos! I can’t stress that enough. I would need a full page to explain the rest of my problems I have with most how most bars in the city, and all cities for that matter, serve nachos. McGillin’s Olde Pub probably makes the best overall nachos I’ve ever had. I can’t say enough good things about their nachos or the place itself. Definitely a great spot to watch the game!
When I’m at home watching a game, I try to make everything from scratch. So I’ll usually make a pizza or two with some nachos or wings or something of that sort, but I try to make sure to create everything from scratch. During the NFL season, I usually make something that’s kind of an all day event. I’ll make my meat gravy or chili or something like and just let it simmer till midway through the first games. Meatball sandwiches or just meatballs in sauce are definitely in my top 3 game time at home foods.
Do the comics you have on lean more towards food or sports in their interests?
I’ve somewhat handpicked the comedians I interviewed that I know are into sports and potentially pretty knowledgeable about food, so it’s not super easy to answer that accurately. Florentine knows tons about sports and not much at all about food, while Nick DiPaolo knows a lot about both and then Dan Levy, literally, knows nothing about sports and is really into crazy types of unique foods.
If I had to guess, comics generally are probably more into food. It seems like a lot of comics grew up a little bit more on the nerdy side and that’s a big reason why they are so funny and successful, but their sports knowledge is usually pretty below average. Philly and Boston are probably excluded from that list, because of how into their local teams they are.
You are a member of Red Sox Nation. What foods would you cast as Bill Buckner and Roger Clemens (pre-jerkoff steroid Clemens).
I hate to be “that guy”, but Buckner was a total scapegoat. There were so many poor coaching decisions that put them in that awful situation. That being said, I’ve give him some sort of acai berry, blueberry, super fruit smoothie so he can wake up his brain to have some hand-eye coordination to make a play on a simple grounder that my fucking 9 month old son could’ve made.
For Clemens, I would give him some steroid infused pulled pork. He’s a redneck, so he loves his BBQ and he supposedly started doing roids after he left the Sox. I think the issue was that no one in Boston was giving him his juice. He won back to back Cy Youngs after he started pumping needles in his ass cheeks. The Sox should’ve been feeding him roids from day one!
What is your favorite thing to cook at home and the thing you loathe the most to cook at home?
I love making anything from scratch. I think it’s just a pretty cool feeling when you create something delicious that came from completely unprocessed, raw items.
I’m really started to love the “low and slow” techniques. Something like braised short ribs that just cook all day in just a cornucopia of tasty juices. A lot can be said about how much flavor and texture can be almost perfected with that “low and slow” method. The comfort level is through the roof if it’s done properly!
I really don’t loathe cooking anything. I hate working with processed items, but that’s pretty easily avoidable. I’m not big fan of baking mostly because every measurement has to be so precise. There isn’t much that you can play around with outside of adding a flavor here and there. I really don’t measure anything, so it’s tough for me to follow a recipe completely but you pretty much have to with baking.
Thanks again to Patrick for being our guinea pig for “Ten Questions with..” and check out his monthly show!
Flyer for the March 29th Comedy, Food, Sports
Pappy’s Awesome Pork and More!
In Ocean City, New Jersey there are 2 bridges to get you onto the island from Marmora: the 9th Street Bridge and the 34th Street Bridge. On the road that leads to the 34th Street Bridge (Roosevelt Blvd) is a BBQ place called Pappy’s. As far as I am concerned, you gotta take the 34th Street Bridge because, well, Pappy’s is a world beater in Pork!
The dinner awaits!
I ordered 2 sandwiches*: a Southern Pulled Pork with a spicy BBQ sauce and a Carolina Pork Sandwich with a spicy vinegar based BBQ sauce. I also ordered 2 sides: applesauce and potato salad. I originally asked for cole slaw, but at that time of the night (around 8), they were sold out. So I asked for a recommendation and the girl on the phone was so enthusiastic about the potato salad, I had to order it. I was told the potato salad was made fresh everyday and it was a huge seller (in a very perky teenage voice). In all of this food: NO DISAPPOINTMENT!
Applesauce
Let’s start with the sides.The applesauce was pretty standard but very consistent. I do not know if they made it themselves but it was cold and worked nicely against the Carolina Pork. Also, they gave me a nice size portion. Sometimes when you order a side, you get a very tiny cup of it. I could have shared this with someone. I wouldn’t, but I could have.
Potato Salad Closeup
The potato salad, after being built up so much by the kid on the phone, had a lot to live up to. The happy verdict is, it did!
The potatoes were cubed kinda large but were cooked slightly al dente, so that they don’t just mush up in your mouth. There was a nice crunchy part with some green onion as well. Nice touch, obviously someone over there is thinking about composition of the potato salad and not just slapping some potatoes and mayo together. The best part? It has bacon in it! *happy bacon dance*. And I don’t mean bacon bits, I mean nice sized pieces of bacon (see it? see it in the picture?), a nice piece in every bite. I want to say I was able to ration the potato salad before I finished the sandwiches, but my pants would be on FIRE.
Now let’s get down to the real order of business here: the pork sandwiches.
I love a good sandwich, as I have blathered on about in the past. But it is hard to get a really good BBQ pork sandwich, mostly because most places are skimpy with the pork. Or skimpy with the sauce. Or the roll sucks. I am happy to say, both of these sandwiches suffer from none of that. NONE.
Southern Pork Sandwich
Let’s start with the Southern Pork. Served on a nice brioche-type bun. The roll was chewy without having to break a tooth to take a bite and stayed together from first bite to the last, absorbing sauce all the way. it was, I can say, a perfect roll. The pork is pretty uniform in the pull too, which I enjoy. It is also obvious that this pork has been marinated in the sauce and these people are not stingy with sharing it. The pork is soft and absorbed the sweet but spicy sauce. I was not covered in the sauce, but would I have minded? Not one bit.
Inside the Southern Pork Sandwich
Here you can see the sauce. It wasn’t just squirted on by some pimply kid (like the squeaky voiced teenager on The Simpson) as he quickly wrapped it up and tossed it in a bag. The sauce is just as important as the pork. You can see the pull of the pork here too, which is also important. The shred is immaculate, and totally consistent throughout the whole sandwich.
Side shot of the Southern Pork Sandwich
Here is your money shot. Enjoy!
Carolina Pork Sandwich
Now let’s talk a little bit about the Carolina Pork Sandwich. This sandwich comes on the same kinda bun as the one above, and again, it works perfectly. A lot of people do not know what Carolina Sauce is vinegar based and not ketchup based. It gets it’s spice from the red pepper flakes throughout the sauce and it is gooooood.
Inside the Carolina Pork Sandwich
Again, the pork is pretty uniformly pulled. The shred is great and keeps it from falling apart. The pork is not as wet as the Southern Pork but it’s not supposed to be. The vinegar sauce permeated the pork and mixed with the flakes, turning it into a hot, tangy delicious sandwich of awesome. That is the technical term. Either way, it was hot but also delicious.
Side shot of the Carolina Pork Sandwich
Now! Enjoy your money shot!
So, as you can tell, I am now a huge fan of this place, I want to put their kids thru college. I would like to buy them nice gifts, or possibly just tithe to them. I have to settle for pimping their goods. I also want to mention that those sandwiches were only 6 bucks each. Anywhere else and it would cost you upwards of 9 bucks for a sandwich like that. Yet another reason to love this place. If you want to eat in, the place is a BYOB, so feel free to bring your favorite booze and stuff your face with the best pork I have had in many, many years. I hear the ribs are awesome too, I think they are next on my list. Check out Pappy’s at http://www.pappyspigroast.com! They also cater! So check it out!
Disappointment is NOT AN OPTION!
*If you were wondering, I did not eat both sandwiches in one sitting. I ate half of each then put them into the fridge. They were even better the next day.
Shore Eats
Last July I finally got to get down to the Jersey Shore. Say what you will about those twits on tv, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the shore, as well as the eats you can find there. Here are a few shots I took on my getaway.
Sausage & Mushroom Pizza from Mack and Manco's in Ocean City, New Jersey
When I get to Ocean City, my car immediately drives to Manco & Manco’s Pizza (formerly Mack and Manco’s). This place has been around since 1956 and as far as I can tell, they haven’t changed a thing. The sauce is sweet, the toppings are plentiful, and you can still watch them make every single one (drooling is optional, but usually happens anyway). The large pies are the size of a buick and the kids who work there are always right on top of things. You might have to wait a bit for a slice or a pie, but the people watching makes the time fly. My dad used to complain about the price, but let’s face it, the days of a 99 cent slice are over. You get what you pay for at Manco and Manco, and I am quite alright with that! I cannot wait to get back down there for a slice of awesome! Hit up Manco and Manco on Twitter at @MancoMancoPizza
Club Deluxe from the Vegas Diner, Wildwood, NJ
I am also a sucker for a great club sandwich. In North Wildwood, there is an old school diner, complete with fun old ladies with a little attitude and a stand when you check out that sells postcards and a full range of lifesavers and gum, called The Vegas Diner. You know a diner has something going on when it was voted Best Diner 12 years running! The breakfast is awesome (and served till 3pm) but I have a soft spot for their Club Deluxe: Turkey, Ham and Swiss Cheese! A lot of times when you get a club sandwich, it’s all lettuce and tomato and slim on the meat. This thing is brimming with turkey, ham and swiss, along with some lovely fresh lettuce & tomato. They throw in some fresh coleslaw, a pickle (yeah, I ordered extra mayo, which you can see on the plate in the corner of the picture) AND a plate of fries! It couldn’t get any better if you made it yourself, and the price is quite reasonable. Quite possibly the best club sandwich I have ever had! I can’t wait to get down there this year! (PS: try the homemade desserts!)
Chocolate and Vanilla Twist from Kohr Brothers, Ocean City, NJ
Back to the Ocean City Boardwalk. After stuffing my face with pizza, I walk off the calories by walking towards Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard. I can take or leave most desserts for the most part. When I was a kid, I used to think water ice and popsicles were a cheap substitute for ice cream (yeah I had kind of an attitude, whatever). A step above ice cream is frozen custard and Kohr Brothers does it just right every single time. I managed to get there twice the last time I was down the shore. The first cone I got was a chocolate and vanilla twist. Smooth, creamy and chocolatey good with vanilla to smooth it out. It’s flat out fantastic!
Chocolate & Mint Twist with Chocolate Jimmies from Kohr Brothers, Ocean City, NJ
I also like to take have a different kind of custard sometimes, beyond the chocolate and vanilla. This time I went with the chocolate and mint twist. Awesome minty flavor and chocolate fantasticness. Of course to take this monstrosity to the next level, I had the thing covered in chocolate jimmies. Some people call them sprinkles. Those people would be wrong. They have always been jimmies and they always will be jimmies. And they will always be the perfect way to top a delicious dessert involving ice cream. Some people go for rainbow jimmies. I can take them or leave them, but chocolate jimmies, well, they rule all.
So now that winter is slowly crawling to the finish line, these tasty summer foods are waiting for me and you, to help your getaway make it’s way to legendary status. Come see them, they will be happy to help out!
Goblaki To The Rescue!
Everybody has a few things in their lives that have always loved. For me, just like baseball, Star Wars and Brad Pitt, I have always loved Goblacki. (say it with me: “gow-ump-gee”). What is it? It’s meat and rice rolled in cabbage and stewed in a tomato gravy. It’s more of a winter food, but I can eat it alllll year long. Serve it up with some potatoes (either in the gravy or mashed), some green beans or peas and rye bread & butter and I am good to go.
My Babci has made them, my Mom has made them and my Cioci Marion has made them. I’ve had others over the years but none that I like as much as my Babci’s, Mom’s & Aunt’s (a notable exception is Syrenka, a Polish cafeteria style joint in Port Richmond here in Philly. Their Goblaki is pretty darn good.). I had never made them and I was wondering how that might be done. So, I roped my Mom into making them with me last Sunday, because if I can make Pierogies, I should be able to handle Goblaki, right? Let’s find out!
Removing cabbage leaves
Ok, so the first thing you need to do is to get a head or two of cabbage. Try and find a decent head, because the more you have to peel off, the less Goblaki you will end up with. You have to cut out the core (note: Take your time! I almost lost many a finger. Cabbage is a pain in the ass.) and try to get the leaves off in one piece. After trying to snap them off and mutilating some of them, my Mom put the whole head in a pot of boiling water. Then the leaves came right off with a pair of tongs! It give them right up! You’d of thought it was French cabbage (yes, a stale WW2 joke.).
Pop them into a colander and move along to mixing your ground meat and cooked rice (you did cook some rice right? Of course you did!) with some salt and pepper to taste. We used around 4 pounds of ground meat. Now we need to wrap our little friends up!
Ready for the pot!
It’s pretty simple. Just take the cabbage in your hand. Put some meat filling in there. Roll that bad boy up. Tuck in the ends. Done! Between me and my Mom, we had 16 done in a snap! I was pretty proud of myself since it was my first time, and I didn’t rip too many leaves. The leaves, since they were boiled, are kind of like damp tissues, so you do have to be kind of careful with them. Luckily, unlike damp tissues, they are not really disgusting. In fact, they are kind of cute…and delicious!
You might think they look odd because they seem translucent, but don’t sweat it, the slow cooking and gravy will take care of it.
Our little friends ready to go!
Now get out your big stock pot (you brought out your big stock pot right?), and line the bottom with cabbage leaves. Why? Well, you don’t have to, but I would then suggest investing in SOS Pads and bulking up your arm because the bottom of your pot will be unbelievably burned. Oh, and the bottom layer of your Goblaki will stick, rip and be ruined. So, you know, the choice is yours.
Don’t they look happy and ready to go? Yeah, I thought so too!
Mix up some tomato soup, some gravy mix and some water and pour it in. Then, let it simmer for about 4 hours.
Our little friends in sauce with some potatoes!
Some people make theirs in lasagna type pans and put them in the oven with butter. Some people use the really dark green leaves, but they get kind of bitter. My Grandmom apparently used to cover them with sauerkraut to keep them moist in the oven. I find that odd, but people like what they like. I prefer the tomato soup gravy and that’s that 🙂
Before the Goblaki are done, feel free to peel and toss a few potatoes in there to cook in the juice.
Stewed Cabbage
So what do you do with all that leftover cabbage? Throwing it away seems wasteful but it’s cabbage, not exactly something that is very, shall we say, versatile. Think about Stewed Cabbage! Chop up the rest of the cabbage, some canned tomoatoes, some onion and toss it in a pot. throw in some water and boil. Later on, make a roux (butter and flour) to thicken it and there ya go! The longer it cooks, the better it is (low heat! stir from the bottom!) It is awesome by itself, or with Kielbasie or hotdogs or as a side dish to almost anything. Cabbage is really good for you, so go for it!
My only suggestion is this: crack a window, because all this cabbage might make you self propelled!
The Finished Product
no flour that’ll be hanging around until the end of time. Just a little bit of Murder, She Wrote on TVLand, some loafing on the sofa and then some serious eating. If you want to try it, also remember that they freeze really well, so it might be nice to put some away for those nights where all you wanna do is eat and veg on the sofa. Goblaki is serious comfort food, so go get comfy with it!
DidjaEat? 