Food Truck Food Court, revisited

The weekly food truck food court in downtown St. Paul is pretty awesome. I've been back a couple times and everything has been delicious! This is a bison burger from Chef Shack. It had guacamole, bacon ketchup, and pepper jack on it. I added some pickles from their well stocked condiment bar, too. The patty was perfectly cooked to medium rare, which was a lovely surprise. I got their Arnie Palmer as well. It's made from jasmine tea and isn't too sweet.
On another trip, I revisited Gastrotruck and got a black bean slider and a BBQ chicken slider with onion marmalade. Super yum! I look forward to trying more of their sliders!

California wrap-up

On my last full day in California, Junior took me to Point Richmond to see a county park and a model train set-up. After that excitement, we were feeling a little peckish. Luckily, Point Richmond has a nice historic downtown with lots of food options. We were drawn to a rugby bar, the Up & Under. It wasn't just a bar with rugby jerseys. It was a true rugby pub with a rugby themed menu. Of course I had to check out the sandwich named after the position I played.
How did they know this is one of my faves? The other position's sandwiches were just as appropriate. The Lock? An Italian sausage grinder. (Beth approves) The Wing? A portabello mushroom sandwich (Tee hee).
The sandwich was lovely. The sauce was not too sweet and the bun was soft enough to hold all the juicy goodness in. The avocado was an especially nice touch.
I also had a chance to get back to Bun Mee for another delicious creation. This one is the Sloppy Bun: red curry ground beef with a fried egg, Thai basil, cilantro, onions and jalapenos. Holy moly! The server slipped me extra napkins before I even started to eat! It was a great banh mit. I'm only sorry I couldn't try more of their fancy sandwiches. I will have to try and make some at home until I can make it back!

Berkeley Sandwich Night!

I'm finishing out my trip to the Bay Area by visiting some old friends, including Sandwich Night originator Angie!
It's Memorial Day weekend, so we had to grill out, of course. Angie simmered bratwurst in beer, with mushrooms and onions. Once the brats were cooked, she reduced the remaining beer, mushroom and onion mixture into a thick yummy gravy. For the sandwiches, we toasted garlic naan, spread mushroom brie on it, then layered on tomatoes, pickles, the mushroom mixture, the brats and greens. Junior made potato salad with green beans to go with the meal.As a bonus, we had perfect weather and Jen made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dessert!

The banh mit is the sandwich of the teens

You know it!
I'm in San Francisco for work this week and I just happened to wander past Bun Mee at supper time. They serve super fancy banh mit. I had to stop, of course. I got the "smoky eggplant" which had roasted eggplant and red curry aioli on it. It was so delicious. The eggplant and curry were a good savory contrast to the slightly sweet pickled onion, cucumber and daikon. They also put really thick cilantro stalks in there and they were fantastic.
I'm still here tomorrow so I might need to return to try another sandwich!For dessert, I ordered this sweet little sandwich cookie-chocolate cookies with coconut filling. So pretty!

Fun with no-knead bread

In a fit of frugality this spring I decided to start baking my own bread. I have been curious to try the various no-knead methods out there. I admit I’m a little late to the party. I mean, no-knead bread is so 2009, isn’t it?
No-knead bread is exactly that. You stir up your ingredients in a big bowl, let the dough rise for a while at room temperature, then store it in the fridge. The gluten develops while the big gloopy mess sits in the cold. The yeast breeds slowly, too, so you don’t get that sweet yeasty taste some homemade breads have. When you feel like fresh bread, you pull off a hunk, shape it quickly and let it rise for a bit. Then you bake it in a hot oven with steam.
It’s been a fun experiment. Other than making sure you have enough time to let the dough rise before baking, there is really no planning involved. The initial recipe makes enough dough for several loaves and it keeps for about 10 days.
That’s fine, you say, but how does it work for sandwiches?
I’ve had my hits and misses. My first attempt at a whole wheat loaf came out about 3 inches tall. Beth and I had to endure some ridicule from our coworkers while eating stubby turkey sandwiches for lunch that week.
I have yet to find the best recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread. One was too sour, the other too heavy. The too heavy whole wheat sandwich loaf was a nice match for my favorite peanut butter and pepper jelly sandwich, though. Even sliced thinly, the bread stood up to the jelly without getting soggy.
I have a feeling I’ll be playing around with no-knead bread for some time to come!

Now there’s a reality show for Sandwich Night!

I’m sort of ambivalent about Blondie, although I read it every day. My lackluster devotion does pay off occasionally. Check out this recent strip.
Nice work, Dagwood!

Food Truck Food Court=Best Thing Ever

The food truck frenzy has kicked it up a notch in downtown St. Paul. This summer, the city is setting aside half a block of metered parking for food trucks on Wednesdays. How awesome is that? Luckily, the weekly Food Truck Food Court is located a block away from my work. Could it get any better?
Of course it could. Many of these fancy trucks feature yummy sounding sandwiches. I had to pick one, so I chose Gastrotruck's Surly Coffee Bender brasied beef short rib sliders. Say that three times fast! The short ribs with delectable--very tender. I didn't pick up the taste of the beer very much but they were beefy and slightly sweet. It was served with blue cheese and what I think were sauteed ramps. The buns were soft and slightly sweet. And perfect. I'll be checking them out again since they had lots of other sliders on the menu.
The other trucks had some promising looking sandwiches, too. Grilled cheese with pulled pork and caramelized onions? Don't mind if I do!