Earl Cooks Bacon Topped Brussels Sprouts & Mushroom Ravioli

Sometimes is is fascinating to find out where one's food comes from. Sometimes, not. They say you don't want to know how hot dogs are made, but this is about the origins of Brussels Sprouts. From time to time Trader Joe's has the full stalks for sale. I had to pick one up when another shopper said that once you taste them fresh from the stalk, they will seem like another food. We like Brussels Sprouts at our house. I'm not sure when I first tried them, probably after getting married, but we have tried them many ways since. I usually get frozen because they are fine, but this Brussels Sprout Stalk sort of reached out to me. It was about 3 feet long and had the sprouts growing in a somewhat random pattern all along it's length.

 The Stalks grow in fields, mostly upright with broad leaves at their base, as pictured on the right. They have random outcroppings along the length which look like stalks for leaves.

For this dish, I decided I wanted bacon-wrapped Brussels Sprouts, but then decided that was too much work! After cooking the sprouts, maybe I should say a bit overcooking them, I instead plased a half slice of bacon, anchored with a toothpick, in each sprout, which I had halved and then pan-seared.

To accompany the sprouts, I cooked a package (frozen) of Trader Joe's Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Sauce. I thought it was tasty, but my wife, who doesn't care for mushrooms or pasta, was unimpressed. I had hoped it would be similar to my favorite dish at Olive Garden, mushroom ravioli in garlic Alfredo, but it wasn't and I don't think it is still on the menu at Olive Garden either, but it was very tasty, although I doubt I will buy it again, (you know, happy wife, happy life.)

I enjoyed this departure from a meat-centric meal, and not relying on salad to be the only way eat a bit lighter, even though I will never fix this meal again, I will use what I learned for future meals.

Christmas Gifts for A Cook Too Poor to be a FOODIE

Merriam-Webster's definition of a foodie is :foodie noun food·​ie | \ˈfü-dē : a person having an avid interest in the latest food fads. This is not just because I am relatively poor; I love traditional comfort foods. The only thing I would like to do is have some of the equipment and ingredients I see used on the food shows. My wife and I have for years gone Christmas shopping together and we just pick out things as we walk through the store. No surprises, no returns. It has worked well, but this Christmas I started looking for things earlier than usual and found a couple of items I thought we would like and could use. These are not the price or quality used by chefs on TV shows, but practical kitchen items we can use.

❶The first item I bought, is much the same as the one we use and love, so this is a backup with improvements. It happens to be an "as seen on TV" item. What does it do? It cooks EGGS. it is the Copper Chef Perfect Egg Maker. I first discovered this little gem under the name DASH Rapid Egg Cooker on clearance at Wal-Mart and we fell in love with it. In case you are unaware, boiling is not a heat, rather a function of air pressure. At our altitude, 4,488 feet, water boils at 180℉, NOT 212℉ as you were taught. All of this science-y stuff means if I want a boiled egg, it must cook LONGER. Steam, however, carries 5 times the cooking energy of water. These cookers use Steam to cook the eggs! Shown at left, are the 3 ways it cooks eggs. Hard boiled, omelette-like, and poached-like. The improvement over the original is adding a ring and a second tray. It can now cook up to 14 eggs! (my original -  only 6). It was at a reduced price and now we have an improved model. If you get one, 2 things - to cook the eggs properly, you must PIERCE the shell on the wide end, and you will need so experiment to get it to how hard you want your eggs cooked. For my wife's liking, that meant 2 extra minutes in the steam after it shuts off. This may be the most used small appliance we own.

 ❷This may be my favorite gift this year. It is the Hessler Gourmet Series Surgical Stainless Steel Cutlery Set. I watched a demonstration in Sam's Club while shopping and I am a sucker for cutlery, but only when I can get a deal. The deal here is it is GUARANTEED for LIFE. The set included a VERY sharp chef's knife, 2 carving knives, and 2 paring knives.It also came with what they call a Robo Wisk, a small, spring action wisk, which my wife said was "cute".

❸We love fresh ground pepper and salt, however, my wife (a.k.a."Turkey") likes her pepper finely ground and I like coarse grind. For her I bought this gravity activated Salt & Pepper Mill set. Tip it over and it grinds! Fresh pepper makes almost every savory dish complete and is a requirement on egg or potato dishes. 

If you think you may be over doing it with salt, try fresh ground pepper! You may find that you reduce the need for it because of the great flavor added by the fresh ground pepper. Not the pepper ground so fine you can barely see it. Fresh ground pepper and a nice, course salt can add so much. "...but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men". This is from Matthew 5:13 KJV. I think it means bad salt is only good to be used as ice melter.😀The same goes for pre-ground pepper!

 

❹This next item may be the most foodie item, and is a gift from Daughter #1. It is a Brie Cheese Baker Set. We love Brie, but have never baked it. It is just the right size for a small wheel of brie, but I have the warehouse store large economy size wheel. When I bake some, I will keep the blog updated.

❺There was a time when mere mention of "Trader Joe's" evoked thoughts of foodiness. I had never been in one. Finally! One opened nearby! It is just plain fun! The people are great, the prices are reasonable, and they have products hard to find or non-existent in other stores. This year 3 items caught my eye:

• Stroopwafels - a Dutch caramel waffle  cookie. YUM!
  
• Cocoa Batons - much like Piroulines. Creamy and crunchy,
• Taste Test of Caramels - This one intrigued me most. It is a selection of 12 caramels, and the task is to guess which flavor is which. It is a lot of fun and one of the tastiest tests I've ever had. We make a game of it and see who's taste buds are best!

❻This next one is the most thoughtful. My dear mother-in-law, knowing I like to cook, bought me a Veggetti. If you haven't seen the infomercial, a clip of it is on the right. We have a Veggetti Pro, and a Veggetti, but the thought was what made this special.

❼Lastly, we watch a lot of PBS cooking shows and my wife became enamored with the measuring cups Annabel Langbein, a host from New Zealand, uses. I found some quite similar in the Pioneer Woman collection at my local Wal-Mart, and knew she would like them. They have what I call a flea market look, each having a different design and trim. They are porcelain and the measurements are marked on the inside. I gave this to my lovely wife and will never be able to use it, but thought it needed to be included here.

Earl Eats at 3 Polish Dog Places - Reviews and a Comparison

We love hot dogs at our house. In fact my wife and I used to have a standing date at Sonic when they had their hot dogs on sale. We still eat there on occasion, because they have great hot dogs, though not like we once did. Today, I am reviewing not hot dogs but Polish Dogs, because I like the little bit of kick the seasoned meat adds. My wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") not so much, but that's okay because she actually thinks it's okay to put KETCHUP on a hot dog, well, they say there's no accounting for taste! I will start the reviews with my first Polish dog experience -  Wienerschnitzel.

Theirs is not just a Polish Dog, but a Polish sandwich. As a teenager we would go downtown to the only Wienerschnizel in the STATE to buy their mustard dogs, back then using Oscar Meyer hot dogs, for just a quarter. My friends and I would get a dollar's worth and be in heaven! But times change. Now there are more Wienerschnizels, but not near me. I was driving by one and thought it would be a great idea. And while the food was what I expected, the service was absolutely HORRIBLE. I went to the drive-up, so expectations were low to begin with, but this may have been the most rude fast food order taker EVER! The picture above (top right) is their website photo, below that is the sandwich I got and right the polish dog on a slice of Swiss cheese and a nice dill pickle. There is mustard too, but you can't see it here. The rye bread is mild, but the whole sandwich is just what I wanted, without the bad attitude from the man who took my order and my money.

Next, a surprise! Sam's Club sells a Nathan's Polish Dog for only 99￠cents! Add a giant drink for another 60 cents and you have a real deal! We like the prepackaged kraut, (though not the best) and the chopped onion is okay. These are not glowing endorsements of the product, but the quality of the Nathan's dog is as high as there is. As an aside here, Costco offers a similar deal but use their store brand hot dogs. Sam's has taken it up a notch. It is a great way to NOT shop hungry too!

This may not be the best eating experience you will ever have, but it may be the best bargain in all of Sam's club.

The last stop on this "Polish-palooza" is also my first visit to this place. I have heard good things about their food and have waited far too long to eat here. They do just one thing - DAWGS! Polish or all beef. They are grilled and have a great char. They are cross hatched, as their logo shows, and they are quite proud of their "Special Sauce". It is about the consistency of a vinaigrette and very sweet. I ordered mine with the sauce and little else to try it for the first time. While the sauce was tasty, I don't think it added to the almost perfectly cooked "dawg" and buns milled locally and made fresh daily. They have just 2 offerings, and chips and drinks. The price is not cheap, but it is worth it. In fact, it is the most pricey of the 3 offerings, but every bite was was nice.

In Conclusion:
The best Polish Dog was from J.Dawg. Best Quality, Best Cooked, Best Service.
The best deal is Sam's. High quality meat and a variety of condiments.
Sadly, in last place was the first place I ever had a Polish dog...Wienerschnitzel. I love the rye but wish I enjoyed the experience more.

1st⭐⭐⭐⭐ J. Dawg - for the food
2nd⭐⭐ Sam's Club - for the deal
3rd⭐⭐ Wienerschnitzel - because of the bread, in spite of the service

Not Eggsactly Posting As Often As I Should

I have been remiss in my postings for the last few months. I got working for a friend on his food
truck and my cooking with him meant I wasn't cooking for us, at least as much. But I still chronicled what I did cook, but have nolt had the time to properly post it. Now I am going to try to make up for my lax behavior by posting several meals/dishes in this one post

Frying-Pan Steamed Eggs
The first is steamed egss. I placed 3 Pyrex glass prep bowls in a frying pan with about half an inch of water in the pan. I Sprayed the prep bowls with non stick spray and cracked an extra-large egg onto each cup and covered the pan. I heat the water to steaming. Soon I had lovely egg that resembles a poached egg - white set, yolk runny. Perfect for dipping, which is the perfect use of an egg. If you try this, use a paper towel to remove the condensed steam.

 Scrambled Egg Nachos
Yup, eggs again! My wife loves scrambled eggs and it may be my least favorite way to eat eggs. That being said, they are still eggs and I love them! But I do try new ways to prepare them, and this day, I made NACHOS! Simply a layer of corn chips, topped with light fluffy scrambled eggs followed by the nacho toppings of your choice. Today I used salsa and cherry tomatoes. 

Grilled Hot Dogs with Home-Pickled Onions & Tomatoes - CARB FREE
After Eggs, hot dogs may be the most perfect food. These were simply grilled (adter being sliced almost in half then covered with some pickled onions I had just made and garden freesh pear & cherry tomatoes, with a trail of Dijon mustard on the side 

Capt. Len's Smoked Chicken & Root Veggies in a Crock Pot 
As I have mentioned, I have been helping out on a Capt. Len's BBQ food truck since last summer. One of the great benefit's of working on The Captain's food truck is, well, THE FOOD. Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Smoked Brisket, Smoked Pork Butt and Smoked Chicken! I brought home a perfectly smoked chicken and wanted to do include it in a dish at home. I sliced some root veggies (carrots, turnips and onions), and put them in the bottom of a lined crock pot with a can of cream of celery soup, and let them cook until almost tender. I then cut the whole chicken into quarters (my wife gets the white quarters), and placed it on the veggies. When the chicken was heated through, the veggies were tender and everything was delicious. You could do this with a rotisserie chicken, but smoked is SO good, why would you?

Scrambled Eggs for Dinner? - Of Course!
I mentioned earlier in the post that my wife ("Turkey") prefers her eggs scrambled. And unlike me, she does not care for breakfast. How do we make it work? Breakfast becomes dinner! She likes hers with lots of cheese and green onions, and how can you not love that! I top mine with Chili Sauce, which is really just chunky ketchup, but sooo much better! A few garden tomatoes on the side and toast from "Turkey's" homemade bread and dinner is complete and ready to eat.

Earl Cooks Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes & Microwave Pot Roast - A Review

Recently, while shopping at Walmart, I came across two items that I hoped would be tasty building blocks for a quick weeknight meal (1  a "chef inspired" beef pot roast and (2 Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. I was only partly right, and partly very wrong!

It is tough to ruin beef pot roast, but Walmart's own Great Value frozen beef pot roast is horrible! I should have read the label closer...why?

1. It only had microwave instructions. I don't like proteins that are microwaved. They never taste right and the consistency is often ruined. I thought there would be alternate instructions, but there were none.
2. The meat had been injected with a 20% solution of I-don't-know-what but that means it is really 20% less meat and therefore 20% more expensive. That means that roast beef that is $5/lb is really $6/lb! And this solution is probably something to tenderize (bad omen) and flavor (again, bad). Even a lesser cut of beef is good when properly seasoned and cooked.

 Now for the potatoes. They were okay. Anyone who has read my blog know that I think packaged potaoes are fine...usually. Idahoan are consistently the best, so I normally stick with theirs, but the attraction of cheddar AND horseradish made me buy Walmart's premium store brand Sam's Choice™. These I might even buy again, but not soon. I think I could add my own horseradish and cheddar and get a better result. I ended up adding a nice sharp cheddar to the little cheddar they had.

The photo above shows the roast beef on the plate. I used a bit of my own horseradish sauce, which wasn't enough to make the beef good. My wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") couldn't even finish hers. The leftovers of the beef went straight into the trash. A rare thing for me to do. I almost never throw food away, but I couldn't see another answer.

Result & Conclusions
DON'T BUY THE ROAST BEEF! I wish I could find the chef who inspired this. They need to have their chef's hat and coat removed! The potatoes are okay, but I would try a better brand and add my other ingredients to them.

"Turkey's" Turkey Dinner for My Birthday In Honor of My Mom

My recent birthday was spent away from home as most are. We have a small condo at the same time
as Oktoberfest at a Ski resort near our home. We have had it for 40 years and love getting away in the fall. The mountains, the colors, the crystal clear air, and the occasional snow, all make for a lovely week to do almost nothing. We have the kids and grandboys up for the weekend, but by the time my birthday rolls around, they are gone and we are blissfully enjoying the quiet and  time together.

This birthday, was one of those monument numbers that measure where you are in life, and I decided to honor my mother for giving birth to me by eating here favorite meal - Turkey Dinner. She loved Turkey dinner, the WHOLE dinner. I knew this would be hard to do because we have a tiny galley kitchen in our condo, but I had a plan to make it easy...a small (2 to 3 lbs) turkey breast that cooks from frozen, boxed dressing and instant potatoes. I had planned on doing it myself butr my lovey wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") wanted to prepare it for me, for my birthday!

The ingredients were straight forward:
1-Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey breast (frozen and cooks from frozen)
1-3lb. bag of small yams (sweet potatoes)
1-Package of a new item I discovered called Veggie Mash from a company called Idaho Spuds. This was the first time I had heard of this company or product, so I thought I would give it a try. It is potatoes AND cauliflower
1-Can Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. I don't normally eat cranberry sauce with my turkey, but my mom loved it as does my wife...but it must be JELLIED!
1-Box Mrs. Cubbison's  cubed Herb Stuffing

We also needed some diced celery, diced yellow onion, and simple seasonings. For the gravy, the turkey comes with a gravy packet included, which was fine for this. I am going to tell you these few ingredients make for a great weeknight dinner

The turkey is the only item that takes time but once the oven is heated it is simply an hour and 45 minutes in a baking dish or roaster.Here you see it in all it's glory. It tasted SO good was made even better by my lovely wife volunteering to make it for me. So this dinner is no just for me, it is for my mom, who gave me life, and for my wife who has been my life for more than 40 years now. One loved turkey and one is affectionately called "Turkey"! love you both forever!!!

Earl Cooks Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich with Garden Tomatoes

Sometimes a tasty ingredient just SCREAMS to be used in a new and different way, and I had a great smoked chicken quarter from Capt. Len's BBQ that knew I could use in a different way. 

The quarter chicken is a leg and thigh, and my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") does not care for dark meat, so this is ALL for me! It is fully cooked and lovingly smoked. I remove the meat from the bone and roughly chopped it because I want the experience to be more like eating chicken than tuna salad.

 Using a hand crank food chopper that I just bought, I chopped several green onions, tops, and whites, rather finely. I also wanted a bit of a crunch, and I have had a chicken salad with cashews, but I was out. I did have some great extra large Virginia Peanuts, which I also chopped fine. My variation on chicken salad was I substituted Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Cilantro Lime flavored, for mayonnaise. Mix the chicken, onions, peanuts, and ranch dressing thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper as you mix well.

My final addition is fresh-picked cherry and pear tomatoes from our little garden, halved and mixed in gently. With a silicone spatula or large spoon, spread it over a slice of bread, and top with the other slice.

I had no idea at the outset what a great flavor this would have. Smoky, creamy, and crunchy with a great freshness from the tomatoes. The tangy cilantro/lime ranch rounded it all out. Whether you use my exact ingredients, do try this with a smoked chicken quarter.

...I know, making a salad isn't exactly cooking, especially when the the smoked chicken came from Capt. Len's BBQ, but I did come up with it and assemble it, even if no heat was applied!

Birthday Breakfast With Daughter #1 at Penny Ann's Cafe - A Review & Celebration!

You may have noticed by now that I like breakfast. I am not a breakfast snob, it need not be omelettes at a nearby resort, It can be something as simple as a Sausage McMuffin. I credit my mom for my love of breakfast. We always had something good and homemade to start our days off right. I think because of that I have always liked making breakfast for my family. But until recently, I didn't make it for myself very often. My gandboys LOVE dippin' eggs and once told me I should open a restaurant that served only breakfast. I never tire of fixing breakfast for them and the never seem to tire of eating it. They will both request it when they come over and I happily oblige.

But this post is not about me or my grandboys, rather it is about the birthday of our first born, Daughter #1. Somewhere it became a birthday tradition to celebrate family birthdays at places featuring breakfasts. This year I decided to take my Daughter #1 somewhere she had never been Penny Ann's Cafe. A side note here - Daughter #1's middle name is Ann as is the middle name of my #2 sister and my grandmother. Penny is also the name of by youngest sister who lived less than a month. So Penny Ann has a familiar ring to our family.

This nice little restaurant is tucked away in a shopping center and isn't really visible from the street, so you have to know where you are heading to get there. No big, bright signs or marquee. I will say that my first experience at this place was several years ago after hearing rave reviews. I took grandboy #1 and we were unimpressed, so I have not returned. But I mentioned it to my daughter and she seemed game so we headed there.

Penny Ann's is famous for what they call "heavenly" hot cakes. My daughter also ordered their scone and boy was it a giant. I went bor their "big breakfast" and my daughter dis an ala carte thing. We were othe amazed and delighted. I tried my pancakes with both maple syrup and boysenberry syrup (they charge extra for real Vermont Maple Syrup), and they were both just right for their hot cakes.

Daughter #1 Ordered a Sausage patty that was almost as big as her pancakes. My big breakfast included two eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, potatoes and, of course, their heavenly hot cakes.

Because it was her birthday, (which I made sure to mention), they offered my daughter a free slice of their freshly made pie. I don't normally have dessert for breakfast, but I had signed up on their website and and in return they gave me a slice too!

My daughter had the chocolate mouse flavor and I had a childhood favorite, coconut cream. We were too full to eat it there but is was very tasty later that day.

I went in only having tried Penny Ann's once, and not enjoying it, but today they totally won us over. Everything was tasty, the portions were more than ample and the service was excellent all around. My only regret is not having been back sooner, something I will rectify soon!

By the Numbers:
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲 (not cheap but well worth it and you get what you pay for)

Conclusion
This is a great place for for a lovely breakfast. If you go, sign up online and get a free slice of pie, but even if you don't get one free, the pie and everything we had was well worth it.

Earl Rants About Health Inspections which have NOTHING to do with HEALTH

I normally don't do this, but recently I watched an abuse and misuse of government power that has me STEAMED! Let me preface this by saying that while I feel there is generally too much government bureaucracy, one of the more valuable services government offers is the inspection of food and conditions for reasons of safety. It is an imperfect system at best but when health and safety are ignored by the inspector, it is simply atrocious!

Let me preface my comments by saying that my wife and I both contracted hepatitis in the late 70's from a restaurant and later my whole family got food poisoning from another. And while the health department did not prevent our exposure, they did follow up.

Now, the reason I rant...A neighborhood street fair near me takes place annually. It is a gathering of neighbors, booths for politicians and charities, and of course food and merchandise vendors of all types. Of course, there is a fee for booth space, and because it is in a major metropolitan area, government health inspectors. I was standing outside a friends food booth when the inspector arrived. He checked the temp on the ovens (smokers), and the refrigerated products. His booth passed with flying colors. My friend realized that his permits were in his food truck, and soon he would have them in his hands. But the inspector said that would not do. He needed one just for this event booth! And how could he get one, since he already had permits from the same municipality. The inspector would not allow him to pay for and get a permit for his booth!  Many hundreds of dollars of food could not be sold and because of it's nature, would most likely be wasted. People were in line at 9 a.m. to buy some. 

One neighbor asked the inspector if he could give it away to a charity operating a booth there, to benefit children. The inspector said no!

This was not a person simply doing their job and making sure certain health and safety concerns were addressed, nor was this a vendor who failed to be licensed and approved by the municipality, because he was. Was a mistake made by the vendor? Yes and he freely admitted so. What is missing in this whole debacle was a way to make it right, and a public employee who did nothing to serve the public. Everyone lost, even the employee, because he lost the confidence and respect of EVERYONE who knew the situation. He should be relegated to a desk job and never allowed to represent the municipality or it's citizens in a public forum!

Earl Eats Denny's Biscuits & Gravy - Lunching with Len & KC - A Review

I have always thought of Denny's as a breakfast destination and since breakfast is not only an important way to start your day, it turns out to be a good way to lunch at mid-day!

After working to feed others all morning, batteries needed recharging. Burger King was mentioned but both Capt. Len and I were looking for something besides fast/drive-up food. Denny's was the choice.

I have eaten breakfast at Denny's hundreds of times, but never remember having their biscuits and gravy! I don't know why but when Len ordered it, it sounded good to me too!

My Daughter #1 has always loved Biscuits and Gravy, and if I say so myself, I make a very good gravy with lots of sausage, but I usually leave the biscuits to someone named Pillsbury. 

Denny's Biscuits & Gravy is as good as any I have eaten (with less sausage than my own) and I highly recommend it. For under $5, I ate well and had 2 eggs, a pile of hash-browns and biscuits smothered in creamy sausage gravy. 

Another meal with workmates, that was relaxing and filling—a great way to spend some time.

By the numbers:
Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Service  ⭐⭐⭐ 
Price 💲💲 (better than reasonable—it is a great value)

Earl Eats Pork Belly Tacos at Taqueria27 - A Review & Update

Very recently I had the opportunity of joining Capt. Len (of BBQ fame), at a place totally different from the food truck scene, for some Mexican fare. On my first visit here, I tried their Duck Confit Tacos. This time I was looking for something a bit different from my first review/experience at Taqueria27. They offer classic Mexican dishes along with some re-imagined street food in what they call a "casual yet upscale environment". It was exactly as advertised! Everyone on the staff was polite, engaging and SMILING...even though we were in a bit of a hurry, and we let them know it. When I got the menu, I was drawn to a taco I had never heard of, designated simply by the alphabetic abbreviation "P.B.L.T.A." This reminded me of what my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") refer to as "BLAT", or a B.L.T. with Avocado added, so I read on. 

What their taco offered was different. Rather than bacon, it was made of PORK BELLY. For the un-initiated, pork belly is a "boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig, considered a delicacy in many parts of the world", and it is a darling of the foodies and food-TV. It comes from the uncured, un-smoked and un-sliced belly of the pig, and is a bit fattier than bacon. To this they added lettuce, tomato and one of my favorites, avocado. In essence, this was our "BLAT" substituting a tortilla for bread and the father of bacon (pork belly) for bacon.

This was my best tasting experience yet. Everything was flavorful and seasoned just right. Two tacos were served with the order, and the only thing I would change is I wanted more, even though these were stuffed full of goodness. If you live in the Salt Lake Valley, go to this place! Taqueria27 is locally owned by a husband and wife team. They now have 5 locations in the greater Salt Lake City area. I recommend you try them. There are so many good choices, both classic and more modern, and I doubt you will go away hungry OR disappointed.

By the numbers:
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food ⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲
As you can see, the service and food are high and the price is low. A good value! Thanks again Capt. Len!

Smoked Brisket With Chive & Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Few things say "comfort food" like Barbecue, but another thing that does is Mashed Potatoes. For dinner tonight, I thought I would combine them into one quick and easy dinner for the two of us.

I had on hand some of Capt. Len's smoked brisket, some of the best you'll find. I prepared a batch of mashed potatoes with applewood smoked bacon chunks, then added homegrown chives, from my wife's (a.k.a.: "Turkey's") garden, to the potatoes. I then added thickly sliced brisket on top and drizzled a bit of my own Au Jus over the top of everything. I grew up eating and loving Sunday dinners with roast beef cooked low and slow, and this added the smoky deliciousness I never had growing up.

If this post sounds familiar, I did something similar a few months back, and loved it then and love it now. Comfort foods like these never get old, so go buy yourself some smoked brisket and bring back memories...or make some new ones!


My Quick Au Jus Recipe
Ingredients:
2 tsp. Beef Broth base (or bouillon).
1 cup water
¼ tsp. garlic powder (granulated garlic)
¼ tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce (soy sauce an be substituted here)
Salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Steps:

• Boil water.
• Add beef base to boiling water and stir until dissolved. Reduce heat to low.
• Add remaining ingredients dissolving completely.
• If a thicker Au Jus is desired, increase heat to medium and reduce until you get what you want.

Uses: 
Drizzle over any beef. Great for French Dip sandwiches. You can make extra and freeze for later!

—This would also be great made with beef bone broth or canned beef broth, substituting the water and beef base with the broth!

Earl Eats Popeye's $5 Boneless Wing Bash - A Review

There are no Popeye's near us, so this was more of an impromptu decision while shopping in a store near this one. I will start off by saying neither my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") nor I have liked our previous visits. Why then did I decide to eat there? Beside being hungry, I saw the word WINGS. I like wings better than any other chicken piece. Then I saw that it was a $5 BASH and I felt I needed wings...WAIT! What's that small print? BONELESS? I don't know if you know this, but WINGS HAVE BONES! PERIOD! Restaurants who try to sell you these are not delicately removing the delicious meat from the bone for your enjoyment, they are selling some other part of the chicken and renaming it. It is false adverting. If I gave you thighs and called them breasts you would SCREAM! So this is me screaming. Meanwhile, I was now HANGRY and decided to carry on.

This is what I mean. Let's analyze their ad. 

• First: It wasn't $5! Including tax, it was almost $7, and no, I didn't supersize anything.
• Second: IT WASN'T WINGS! Boneless or otherwise. It wasn't even wing-like. THESE ARE NUGGETS, pure and simple. Pictured here they look big. They aren't.
• Lastly: How can it be a BASH when it costs more and isn't what is advertised?

 My photo on the left shows exactly what my to-go looked like as I opened it in my car. I substituted mashed potatoes for fries and they were about what KFC offers these days. The biscuit was quite flat, like it hadn't risen enough. The one nice surprise was their honey mustard dipping sauce which was unlike any I had tried, but hey, this should be about the chicken, right? The chicken was okay, but no better than Wendy's or McDonald's. So this $3 or  $4 dollar meal cost me $7! If you want wings go to Wingers or Buffalo Wild Wings or your favorite wing place. If you want value, this is not the place either. I am still looking for the reasons people go here at all!

By The Numbers
Food ⭐ (nothing special and the ad misrepresented the product)
Price 💲💲💲 (not as advertised and pricey for what you get)
Service ⭐⭐ (it was drive-up...but it was lunch hour and I got my food rather quickly)
Value 👎👎

Earl Cooks Fresh Peach Cobbler

We love fresh fruit! On this day I was lucky enough to get a bunch of freestone peaches from our neighbors of almost 30 years who have just decided to move. They have generously shared their harvests of peaches and cherries with us over the years, so much so that we often have a difficult time eating everything they bring before it turns BAD. Determined to not let that happen to these lovelies, the last batch we will be getting from them, I set my mind to eat half and create something with the other. I knew I had something in the pantry to help me decide...Krusteaz Cobbler Topping Mix. I bought this box to both try and review it some time ago, but didn't have fresh fruit. Everything was coming together now, though.

I understand that some of you are saying "why use a mix, cobbler topping is not difficult," and you would be right, but remember, I am somewhat baking-impaired, and will look for help where I can. Krusteaz products are usually quite good and often quite excellent, so for those of us that need a bit of assistance when it comes to baking, this recipe/review is for you. For those who want to make their own, I will list the cobbler recipe, which is from the Krusteaz box.

Shown right are my ingredients on my trusty bamboo cutting board. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't have enough peaches left after eating our fill, but there were plenty. The ingredients are:

• Peaches (4 cups)
• Butter (6 Tbls)
• Sugar (3 Tbls)
• 1 large egg
• Cornstarch (2 tsp)

The steps are:

1. Heat oven to 350℉ and lightly grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan.
2. Place the full pouch of cobbler topping in a medium sized bowl, add the egg and stir with fork until well combined.
3. After slicing the peaches, add sugar and cornstarch to peaches and mix gently. No need to
   
   remove the skin on these peaches because as it cooks, they become part of the dish. Add the peaches to the greased baking dish.
4. Evenly sprinkle the prepared cobbler topping (step 2). Drizzle melted butter evenly over topping.
5. Place in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes (I chose the longer time to make the topping even more crisp, but check yours after 40 miutes. Ovens vary greatly. Serve WARM topped with Ice Cream. We chose to use Red Button Creameries Harvest Peach and it was marvelous!

Result and Conclusions:
This was delicious! The topping tasted homemade, the peaches were marvelous and the ice cream...what can I say except that is tasted even better than it looks! Not only will I buy the mix again, I bought some the next trip to the grocery store!

This is the cobbler recipe from the box

This is the ice cream we used

Earl Eats McDonald's® Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Strips - A Review

For  some time now McDonald's has been touting their newest chicken addition - Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Tenders. This is not a comparative review, although I will make a few in the CONCLUSION section at the end. I normally would start off talking about the service, but this is McDonald's and they have worked hard to be the same from McDonald's to McDonald's, so nothing to report here, except to say that to my surprise, they took a long time to get my order out, which is a good thing! It meant my food was freshly cooked, which is especially important for crispy chicken.

I ordered a 4 piece to-go from inside the restaurant to watch the process a bit, and to see how really hot they would be, once delivered and taken to my car, where I ate them. I had determined ahead of time that I would not eat them with their dipping sauces, because I wanted the flavors of the chicken to stand on their own. How did they fare?
—They were VERY hot when I got them and remained so even on a rather long trek to my car.
—They were CRISPY as advertised. This is from their seasoned coating which I thought was unremarkable in flavor.
—The meat was not DRY nor was it MOIST. It was about what I have come to expect from McDonald's chicken.

RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS
This is better than their previous chicken strips! It was not the best fast food chicken strip available. For that, Chick-Fil-A is a clear winner but I don't go to burger-centric  restaurants for chicken. If you want fast food chicken, and don't have a Chick-Fil-A nearby, this will work okay, and is better than nuggets any day!

Earl Eats Duck Confit Tacos at Taqueria27 - A Review

Very recently I had the opportunity of joining Capt. Len (of BBQ fame), at a place totally different from the food truck scene for some Mexican fare. We were looking for something quiet, cool (temperature), and totally different. We found it at a place called Taqueria27. They offer classic Mexican dishes along with some re-imagined street food in what they call a "casual yet upscale environment". It was exactly as advertised! The first thing I noticed was the service...everyone was polite, engaging and SMILING...a great way to start! The interior was warm and inviting in a minimalist way and did not scream "in the style of Mexico or Latin America" as national chains often do, which was nice.

Having lived in Mexico in the mid 70s, I take a critical eye to most "Mexican Style" restaurants offerings. When I got the menu, I was pleasantly surprised! They offered some real classics as well as more modern "foodie" options! One of the darlings of the food reality shows these days is DUCK and one of the more popular duck options is "duck confit", which is basically seasoned duck meat cooked at a low temperature. I have eaten duck, though not often. Taqueria27 offers a Duck Confit Taco—succulent duck with fire roasted veggies, chipotle crema and crispy leeks! Since I had never had a DUCK taco and I love leeks, how could I go wrong!

The order included 2 tacos for just six and a half bucks ($6.50). They were bright and light and had everything advertised. The taste was very good, with one exception...the crispy leeks! They were not crispy and were tough. Because of that, they were an interference rather than an enhancement to the tacos. Once I got around the leeks, everything was good. My dining buddy, Capt. Len, had their "Brent" taco which is flame grilled chile marinated Angus beef in flour tortillas with shredded cheese & salsa crudo on the side. It was equally good and a bit more traditional. We also tried the "Tortilla Chips & Cheese" which were good and they make their own chips!

Taqueria27 is locally owned by a husband and wife team. They now have 5 locations in the greater Salt Lake City area. I recommend you try them. There are so many good choices, both classic and more modern, and I doubt you will go away hungry OR disappointed.

By the numbers:
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food ⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲
As you can see, the service and food are High and the price is low. A good value! Thanks Len!