Leftovers for lunch at the UTA archives. Made gringo tacos for the Goodwyns last night. Yes, those are pieces of hatch chiles in the rice. Sharon had the brilliant idea of bringing an avo to throw on top. And the librarians let me use their staff microwave… Yum
Apologies for the long delay since my last post. I haven’t totally figured out how to keep on blogging while traveling for research, but I’m shooting to post at least once each week from here on out. Y’all may have to put up with some Texas cuisine commentary though….
Yes, I am writing about Top Ramen. I know it should be somewhat embarrassing that I still like to eat this stuff, since I am more than five years old, but for some reason it works as comfort food for me. And it works when I’m lazy and need a quick lunch.
As you can see from the picture, this bowl is in fact souped up. First, put about 2.25 cups of water on the stove and splash in sesame oil for flavor. While waiting for it to boil, cut up medium-spicy peppers (I used a mix from the garden, anything spicier than bells should work) and celery, and beat an egg in a separate bowl. At 3 minutes stir and add the veggies for about thirty seconds. Then add another 0.75 cups of water so the noodles don’t overcook and allow the soup to return to a vigorous boil. Add the egg and let boil for another 15-30 seconds, stirring. Turn off the heat and mix in the package of broth seasoning (I used the chicken flavor but anything will work). Add 1/4 teaspoon of dried chicken or beef stock bullion—it’s needed to season the extra cup of water you added to the “recipe” on the Top Ramen package. Splash in a small amount of soy sauce and add a generous helping of Sriracha hot sauce. I prefer eating it with a spoon so I get all the broth, egg, noodles, veggies, and hot sauce in one bite. Total prep time: about 10 minutes. More protein and veggies than most noodle soups. Something like 2000% of your daily value of sodium, but who’s counting?
A more traditional egg dish. We don’t make it every weekend, but we had broccoli to eat before I left town. And Courtney will have awesome leftovers to bring to work this week…
Came home for lunch today. Giant salad nom non nom
Apologies for the delays since the last post. Getting back to work at the day job took a little getting used to. Anyway, we’re back up and running here at Beyond Bacon…
I can’t remember exactly when I first had the famous heirloom breakfast, a meal prepared by every member of Courtney family. They call it simply “egg dish,” but the name is deceivingly simple. The real dish is more like a frittata, except that it is fried over low heat instead of baked. It’s also like a quiche, except that it doesn’t have a crust. Perhaps “Waittata” would be the best name?
Normally the dish includes broccoli, yellow squash, zuchini, onions, garlic, and sometimes potatoes, all spiced with cayenne and other peppers and Italian seasonings and then topped with egg and cheese. It can be modified to include any and all leftovers in your fridge. Or it can be made with just about any other variation—the only key ingredients are eggs, sauteed veggies, and slow cooking in a covered pan over low heat.
This past weekend Courtney decided to make a special variant using some artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes that we had lying around. (Really, we bought enormous Costco jars of both for a pizza a few weeks back.) These specialty items are suitable for toppings but not good for sauteeing, so we planned the dish accordingly. We also had a mixture of green and yellow peppers freshly picked from the garden, so we threw those in. Here’s a recipe of sorts:
First, add some vegetable oil to a pan over medium heat. Add red pepper, black pepper, white pepper, dried oregano and basil (not ground), minced garlic, and a little salt. Let the spices season the oil. Add potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Next add the onions and then the peppers since they don’t require as much cooking time. You want the potatoes to be browned and edible in texture before adding the egg.
Second, scramble about eight eggs in a separate bowl. Add a splash of milk or cream. Pour over the sauteed veggies and tilt the pan to make sure it fills in all the cracks. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Don’t leave it too high or the egg will burn. As it cooks it the egg will begin to poof up, as in the photo:
After about fifteen minutes, test the consistency by poking a raw noodle of spaghetti inside. When you can remove it without it being covered in sticky raw egg material, you’re all set to move on. If it stays jiggly and the lid is dripping wet, try removing it so the dish can dry out.
Third, add toppings of choice. On a traditional egg dish this usually includes cheddar and feta cheeses. On this one, Courtney added the artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta. I think the big hunks are goat cheese, but I can’t remember for sure.
When the cheese is melted the dish is done. Cut carefully with a spatula and work cautiously to remove the first slice without mangling it (eat whatever falls out). Try to make triangular sections. We cut this Waittata into six pieces and ended up eating 1.5 each. You can impress your guests by telling them that each slice has only 1-1/3 eggs and is relatively low-fat. Enjoy:
I’ve been to this place several times and generally enjoyed myself. Courtney was never quite as excited about it, but she agreed to go there with me last night.
The menu at Twisted Noodles is a little overwhelming. It includes a bunch of Thai restaurant traditionals, several house specials, and a bunch of creative noodle dishes. To start we ordered the summer rolls, which were indistinguishable from the spring rolls sold at other Asian restaurants, and the Tom Kha coconut soup with chicken. The rolls were great, full of fresh veggies and cold rice noodles. They didn’t come with peanut sauce, which is kind of a downer. The soup didn’t come as an appetizer but was brought to us with our meal. They did not bring small bowls nor a serving utensil, though we did find one ceramic white soup spoon floating around in the broth. The soup was sub-par—mostly warm coconut milk with some flavorless chicken and rock hard ginger and galanga roots. There was way too much milk/broth, and the $8.50 price tag seemed excessive. It’s a good thing I wasn’t too hungry.
The soup came at the same time as our shared entree of Drunken Noodles, one of the fun unorthodox dishes on the menu. This dish is generally superb—big fat rice noodles lightly fried in the wok and tossed with carrots, green beans, bell peppers, onions, and meat, beef in our case. We ordered it spicy but didn’t taste much spice, and the cooking oil tasted a little old and dirty. We had to ask twice for plates to share. (Sharing isn’t that crazy at most Thai restaurants…) It seemed like an off night overall for both their kitchen and wait staff. When we finished eating we sat for what seemed like an eternity before being visited by our waiter, who didn’t offer us dessert. We waited a while after getting the check before a woman came and picked it up—and then promptly dropped it on the floor, sending my credit card flying across the restaurant. At least the beer was good—it was a 22oz Laobeer, product of the PDR Laos.
The beer got me thinking about the restaurant’s particular niche in the larger world of Asian-American cuisine. I thought to myself, “Could the lousy Tom Kha stem from the fact that these people aren’t really Thai?” The dining room is adorned with large but cheap photos from Thailand’s tourism office, featuring dark-skinned people bathing with elephants or in a market or pale-skinned tourists enjoying kayaks or a beautiful white beach. Otherwise the decor was classy if modern (see photo in previous post), though the shades on the windows didn’t keep Courtney from being blinded by the setting sun. There were no pictures of the royal family of Thailand, just a nationality-free Buddhist shrine in one corner. They did sell Singha beer, a Thai staple. Alas, the restaurant’s website calls itself “authentic Thai,” and far be it for me to question their authenticity. All I know is that the food was overpriced and kinda sucked, and I’ll be hard-pressed to go back there for a while… perhaps I could find a Laotian restaurant, complete with Laobeer and their own PDR Laos Department of Tourism propaganda posters?
If you want great Thai, keep looking. If you want just the noodles, try it out. But don’t try to share the soup! And if you find good Laotian food, let me know
Dinner at Twisted Noodles. More commentary on this coming soon. (No idea who the people in the foreground are—collateral damage I guess)
Handy Kitchen Chinese restaurant by the food lion near my house. Hole in the wall with really good crappy Chinese food at insanely low prices. Even cheaper at lunch—less than five bucks for a combo. For $14 I bought a quart of hot and sour soup and an entree and had enough for dinner for two with leftovers for tomorrow. Yum
Editor’s note: Nachos for dinner tonight using leftover salsa verde and guacamole from last night. Since that’s not particularly newsworthy, tonight we will introduce a new feature on Beyond Bacon: letters from the field. Our correspondent tonight is my dad. His unsolicited report arrived via email in response to my inaugural post. Enjoy!
Hey Max and Courtney,
l took some liberties, creative license, the right to embellish and exaggerate. But, basically, it’s all true, and I’ll stand by it.
No black, yellow, or brown was turned away. BBQ rust colored sauces with spices, the same color for everyone. rubbing elbows with your neighbors. breakin’ bread together. This is America.
Near Dripping Springs, Texas, there is a four way stop with a post office. You’re in Driftwood. Once you’re there you cain’t hardly miss it. It’s called “The Salt Lick.”………..Bar-B-Que….Like No Other!
This could be one of all time great tail-gaters. Driftwood is in a dry county. Ice, water, tea, soda and lemonade are all you can drink. Of course you can bring coolers, anything that will fit into the back of a pickup is cool. Booze, beer, wine………bring it on, bring it in.
The size of two separate field houses, this is the consummate Road-House. Inside, it’s long picnic size tables and benches. Order off a very limited menu or let them do their job. That means platters of everything on the menu served family style. Side dishes of beans, bread, potato salad, cole slaw, onions, great pickles, and two kinds of sauce (hot and mild)……..and they keep coming, bringing everything, until the last man or woman is no longer standing nor sitting. When you’ve cried ‘uncle’ they walk you to the parking lot and help you with your cooler which now weights much less than when you brung it. You won’t (can’t) eat again till lunch the next day.
There is also live entertainment (no boom boxes or canned music) playing country western, swing. This is one great place. Lots of kids, faces dyed burnt orange from BBQ, running around until they eventually drop. Lots of grownups, holding their bellies.
The thing is, the food is great.The ribs, sausage links, and brisket are a gastronomic offering. You don’t stand on line. It ain’t a buffet. Young men and women with long arms and a great attitude bring it all to your table. And they keep the table clean, picking up plates and mountains of used napkins. They offer encouragement to help keep you going. Sort of like a celebratory last supper.
Which it sorta is. It ain’t free. It’s $19.00 for an adult. You eat until you’ve decided you’re done. There’s no rush. When you’re ‘resting’ between platters (which take less than 5 minutes to refill) take a walk to see the two huge pits where the meat is cooked right now, while you watch. Actually, because so much of the meat is slow cooked, you’re seeing the final stages of chopping, trimming, and a final brushing. But tens of dozens of slabs and huge sides of brisket are being cut to size to be finger holding and platter size portions.
Yummmm. And, get this. It’s air conditioned. it was only 100 + degrees outside.“Still grappling with the platform question. I added a comments feature on this site. Your thoughts?”