Beyond Burger

Fake, or should I say plant-based, burgers and meat are all the rage these days. Several restaurants are heavily advertising these alternatives to beef. I've also read a few articles that compare plant-based to real. Most of them are quite complementary to the plants. Livestock of all types seems to be the newest enemy in our environmental battles for a variety of reasons including cow farts and burps. 

So I tried to be environmentally correct last tonight. I cooked one of those plant-based burgers. It was a Beyond Burger from the Beyond Meat Company. Spoiler alert, this did not turn out well. 

See that nice pink patty in the above picture. My patties were closer to grey. I cooked the patty in a skillet on the stovetop. I even followed the recommended cooking instructions which were four minutes per side over medium-high heat. This "meat" does not smell that great raw and was even worse during cooking. Not a rancid smell, but not pleasant. It also tended to burn a little, the second side worse than the first. There was almost no juice exuded during the cooking. On the bright side, there were no grease splatters to clean up.

Now for the taste test. The short story, after two bites I threw the patty out. The longer story, it was rather dry and the texture was strange. It even seemed to have some gristle. Do they add artificial gristle for more realism? There was no pink center. In fact, there was no color variation except for the burnt spots on the top and bottom. 

The package states "previously frozen". The ones I bought were not frozen and were in the regular meat case. They are supposed to be eaten within three days of thawing. I did eat it by the "use by" sticker on the package although I have no idea when the store actually thawed the package. These plant burgers are no bargain either. The two ¼ lb. patties, a ½ lb total, cost $5.99. That makes this "meat" about $12/lb. That would buy some mighty special ground beef, more expensive than Wagyu beef.

I did some research and it seems these plant burgers are really no healthier than real beef. It depends on what you are most sensitive to or need in your diet. 

4 oz Beyond Burger →

Calories: 250

Total fat: 18 g

Saturated fat: 6 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 390 mg

Carbohydrate: 3 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 20 g

4 oz Grass-fed beef burger →

Calories: 224

Total fat: 14 g

Saturated fat: 6 g

Cholesterol: 70 mg

Sodium: 77 mg

Carbohydrate: 0 g

Fiber: 0 g

Protein: 22 g

Another issue for me is the ingredient list. Beyond Burgers are truly a man-made manufactured product. Real beef contains one ingredient: cow. A Beyond Burger, however, includes 18 ingredients: water, pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, cocoa butter, mung bean protein, methylcellulose, potato starch, apple extract, salt, potassium chloride, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, sunflower lecithin, pomegranate fruit powder, and beet juice extract (the beet juice gives the burger its meat-like “blood”). I did not detect any "blood". 

Beyond Burgers might be fine for some people, vegetarians or vegans for example. As for me, I'm going to wait for science to get a little better at imitating a cow. 

wjh

Bedford BluesFest 2019

Another Labor Day Weekend and another Bedford Blues Festival. As usual, it did not disappoint. It was hot, but not unbearable. It is summertime in Texas. 

Saturday night we slummed it with general admission tickets. That meant watching from a blanket spread on the hill. We first checked out the craft vendors, nothing exceptional. Amazingly, no jewelry was purchased although it was checked out. We also checked out the food vendors. It is always heavily weighted to BBQ although there are some "fair food" choices too like corn dogs, funnel cakes, even fried Oreos. We stuck with Green's Texas BBQ, a local Euless food trailer and a spinoff of the famous North Main BBQ. I had a pulled pork sandwich that was fine. Nothing special with average sauce. My companion had a brisket plate with beans and potato salad. The brisket was tender, moist, and flavorful. The sides were not great. The potato salad was very bland and the beans were about like canned pork & beans. 

Then it was on to the music. We saw part of Charlie Musselwhite's set.  He is an old-time blues musician, in the Blues Hall of Fame, who sings and plays guitar and harmonica. It was a solid set by an old pro. Charlie has been at BluesFest before and hopefully, he'll come back again. 

The Saturday headliner was JJ Grey & Mofro. This band is from my hometown of

Jacksonville, FL. Their origins go back to the '90s with their first recordings in the early 2000s. JJ is the lead singer and songwriter. He also plays guitar and harmonica. They play a mixture of music, some blues, some southern rock, some soul. The band includes brass which is a change of pace at a blues festival. Many of their songs are about places I am familiar with. One song is about Lochloosa, a small town, and a lake between Ocala and Gainsville. Another was about the St. Johns River which flows right through Jacksonville. JJ has a very powerful voice and the volume was turned up to "11". Probably too loud. He also has a tendency to talk a lot between songs. Cut the volume and cut the talking and the set will be better. They were good, but not outstanding. 

Sunday we got there early because some friends we were meeting were taking part in the BBQ sample/vote event. We passed on that. BTW, Green's won the event. After some food, we migrated to our preferred seats. We were in the first five rows in front of the stage. We watched Nikki Hill's set. She was good, if not exactly the blues. She is a good singer backed by a good band. It was an energetic performance. 

The Sunday and festival headliner was Boz Scaggs. Boz grew up in Plano and attended school in Dallas where he met Steve Miller when he was around 15 years old. Boz was in good voice even hitting the falsetto notes. Of course, he had a good, tight band. He played all the hits except Look What You've Done To Me. What's with that omission? Boz did rely on some prerecorded help on the background orchestration like the horns and the backup singers on some songs. He definitely wasn't lipsyncing. He did about a five-minute version of his big hit Lowdown.  It was a very good performance. Boz still has it after all these years. 

I have been going to this festival for years and have never been disappointed. There is always plenty of good food, cold beverages, and often great music. The price is right too. 16-ounce beers are $5 or $6, food is reasonable. General admission has been $10 for the past few years. That includes eight to ten acts per day on two stages. They always manage to get a name headliner. If you missed the 2019 version, make plans for Labor Day weekend 2020. You won't be disappointed. See you there. 

wjh

Recycling Famous Brands

I've touched on this subject before but the trend just keeps getting more ridiculous. That is the recycling of our famous brands. Apparently, the creative and marketing folks can's come up with new concepts. They now just slightly modify a well-known name or brand. Almost every trip to the grocery store, there is a new version or flavor of an old time product. 

TV and the movies are notorious for doing sequels, spinoffs, and revivals. This coming TV series, we have a new version of Magnum PI. Based on the previews I've seen, it looks like only the Hawiaan location and red Ferrari remain from the original. CBS already has the reboot of Hawaii Five-O. That same network also has the Young Sheldon spinoff of The Big Bang Theory. There are three versions of the NCIS franchise. There used to be several versions of Law and Order and CSI. This is not new, we have had numerous versions of Star Trek for the last 50 years. In the Movies, we have the Star Wars franchise and several other superhero sequels. The Ocean's series has used numbers between 8 and 13 to designate the films. How about The Fast and the Furious movies How many have there been? And all with the same script, just different cars and locales.

It is not just the entertainment industry. Food is a particularly derivative industry. There used to be one flavor of Cheerios, Oreos, Triscuits, Corn Flakes, 3 Musketeers, etc. Buying Triscuits, Wheat Thins or even Cheese-Itz is now a major decision point. They all have multiple flavors, sizes, and textures. Sea Salt, low sodium, gluten-free, no GMO, organic, and a thousand other descriptive adjectives. Some real, many complete marketing BS. Candy is and has always been gluten-free, but now it is trendy to put that on the label. Remember when yogurt was a small section in the dairy aisle? Now it takes up more room than milk. Is it really fair to call two vanilla cookies with a chocolate filling an Oreo? According to Nabisco, now almost every sandwich type cookie is an Oreo. There are dozens of flavors and combinations. While spinoffs and variations have always been around, the changes have come far more quickly of late. Oreos were mostly only available in the original flavor from 1912 until the 1970s when different shapes and sizes emerged. New flavors finally came about after 2000. 

Sometimes the new flavor or shape has absolutely no relationship to the original. It's the same for TV and movies. The current Mission: Impossible movie franchise has very little to do with the original TV series. The original was about a tight team of professionals who worked together to outsmart the adversary. Little or no violence or gunplay was necessary. Tom Cruise is a lone wolf who displays superhuman abilities and has an impressive arsenal of weapons. A low-key, brainy TV original vs an over the top bombastic movie series reboot. I'll take Peter Graves over Tom Cruise. 

There is at least one more disturbing area of this recycling trend. That is the reviving of a once iconic brand name for a new, usually crappy, product. I have seen late night infomercials that tout the Bell & Howell or Polaroid name. It's usually for some $19.99 plus shipping and handling, we'll double it for the next 10 minutes, product. Buyer beware.

I know this trend will continue and probably accelerate. In fact, I may recycle this bitch in the future.

wjh

Cheez-It

I have been a fan of Cheez-Its since I was a kid. They were one of the few snacks that we had in the house when I was growing up. We didn't have potato chips or cookies around very often. Back in my youth there was not the plethora of snack foods that we have available today. Fewer choices was probably a good thing. The one snack choice I almost always had available was a handful of Cheez-Its. They were kept in the biggest of three glass canisters above the stove. The canister was big enough to hold a whole box so there was never an open box in the pantry. That also meant that I couldn't take the box to my room or couch. The canister was too big, heavy and breakable to lug around the house. That meant if you wanted some Cheez-Its you went to the kitchen and grabbed a handful or got a bowl and filled it. I was usually too lazy to do the bowl thing, so I consumed them a handful at a time. There was also another limiting factor and that would be Mom (and sometimes dad). The Cheez-Its were meant to be a treat, like ice cream or cookies or cake, and not a substitute meal. A few to tide you over until mealtime was OK, or a few after dinner and before bedtime. Funny, I have no memory what was in the other two canisters. Of course the picture below is all wrong. Everybody knows the largest jar belongs on the right and the small one on the left. 

In addition to the humans in the family, my dog's favorite treat was Cheez-Its, much preferred over dog biscuits. That glass canister that held the Cheez-Its was ground or sandblasted around the lid and rim of the jar. They were called ground glass canisters. It was almost impossible to remove the top silently. Every time anyone went for a snack my beloved dog was at the kitchen entrance looking very hungry and pleadingly. Believe me, she got her share. Cheez-Its were the reward my dad and I used to train her and teach her tricks. She learned quickly and well. She was my constant companion during my tween and teen years.  

Cheez-Its faded from my life after I left my parents home. They never left theirs. Anytime I went home there was that glass canister above the stove. Even when they finally moved into a retirement apartment the crackers were still there although the glass canister was gone. Both the grandsons had bowls of Cheez-Its served by Nana and Grandpa.

When my father lived with me in the last few years of his life I always had to make sure their were Cheez-Its in the cupboard. He didn't eat very many, but they had to be available when the urge struck. Once he was gone I stopped buying them on a regular basis. Maybe if I had a coupon or saw a new flavor I'd get a box. Often as not they would go stale before I finished the box. I'm not big on snack foods. I usually have some Triscuits and/or Wheat Thins around to eat with cheese dip. Sometimes I'll get a taste for chips and salsa or queso but not very often. The crackers and chips usually go stale before I reach the bottom of the box or bag. Thankfully I didn't inherit much of a snack or sweets gene.

So you ask, what brought this subject to mind? Well, Cheez-It has introduced a new line of snacks that are somewhere between the original cracker and chips. They are Cheez-It Crunch'd, a puffed version of the cracker. I had a coupon and they were on sale (my favorite combination) so I picked up a bag of the Hot & Spicy variety. They are in the chip section, not the cracker aisle. Well, these damn things are delicious. Flavorful, light, puffy, crunchy and just a tad spicy. I'm sure like most snacks I'll eat this bag and maybe buy one more. Then I will lose interest. That's my pattern. I'll see some new flavor of chips or crackers and give them a try. Even if I like them at first I'll grow tired of them or just not remember to buy them again. 

So, while I'm sure the new flavor and style of Cheez-Its will soon be gone from my pantry I'm glad it triggered some old and pleasant memories of that glass canister that sat on the shelf above the stove for all those years. I miss that glass jar full of crackers but mostly I miss the person who kept it full, my Mom.

wjh

Truluck's Seafood Steak & Crab

After spending a few hours Saturday (10/4) in the Oktoberfest crowds on the main Southlake Square we walked a couple of blocks to the much more quiet and elegant Truluck's. Which is located at the back of Town Square near the hotel. We started with a drink in the bar until the hostess came to show us to our table. I had ordered flowers since this was an anniversary of sorts for us. They had already been placed on the table when we were seated. On this visit, Dan was our very knowledgeable, competent and personable waiter. No appetizers this trip, but we shared a delicious Caesar salad. My lovely companion had the Jalapeño Salmon Béarnaise served with parmesan mashed potatoes and topped with blue crab, shrimp and béarnaise sauce. I had the Pan-Seared New England Sea Scallops with crab and tomato salad, Szechuan green beans and sweet tomato butter. I'm not exactly sure what all that description means but it all worked. I also added a side of balsamic-glazed portabellos that we shared. The salmon and scallops were tender, moist and flavorful. The mushrooms were delicious. The surprise hit of the meal was my Szechuan green beans. They were lightly steamed but still very crisp with a wonderful flavorful sauce that had a little kick to it. They were topped with shaved almonds. I shared a couple with my companion and she then dove into my plate for a few more. These green beans are available as a side if they don't come with your entree. I highly recommend adding them or maybe substitute them for the standard side. Even though we required a doggie bag (or is it doggy bag) it is required that a decadent dessert be ordered at a fine restaurant. The choice was the carrot cake which went straight into the doggie bag. It was a huge slice. The disadvantage to being small people is that we often can't finish the whole meal and almost never have room for appetizers or desserts. The advantage is that we often have leftover meals, snacks and dessert for the next few days. 

Truluck's Carrot Cake

As usual the service was impeccable. Dan was not intrusive but we didn't lack for service when needed. The manager stopped by to check on us too. On our last trip to Truluck's, I had a very minor issue with my entree. Our waitress and the manager were very apologetic and he comped our dessert. This trip we had no complaints and gladly paid for dessert.

Speaking of that previous trip, I had the stone crab claws. They were very good as was the mustard dipping sauce. I actually more enjoy stone crab in a casual setting, maybe al fresca, with plenty of cold beer. I prefer to eat with my fork in a nice restaurant. We have never tried the steaks at Truluck's but I'm sure they are excellent. 

Truluck's is a nice space with excellent food and service. The main dining area is mostly dark plush half circle booths. The decor is very nice. The bar seemed to be hopping with a live piano man providing the music. Highly recommended. It is so nice to have excellent food served by professionals. If you are in Southlake at dinner time give Truluck's a try. They have five Texas locations, four in Florida and one in California. I don't think you will be disappointed. Reservations highly recommended. The dining room and bar were both full. 

Truluck's - Southlake, TX

wjh

Gator's Cajun Grill

Here is a review of the fairly new Gator's Cafe in Colleyville. On Thursday, 6/26, my son and I went to Gator's for dinner. We discovered upon arrival that it was Thirsty Thursday and Happy Hour all day. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I assume drinks, wine and beer were sold at a lower than normal price. Thirsty Thursday should in no way be confused with Throwback Thursday, #TBT.

Gator's is a Cajun themed restaurant located on highway 121 between Hall-Johnson and Glade. It is in the building next to La Hacienda Ranch. This particular location has seen numerous incarnations over the years. None have been overly popular or successful. This iteration is owned by longtime restaurateur Johnny Ragland who also owns J.R.'s Steak & Grill just up the road. The space has a dining area with tables and booths, a bar in the middle, some bar tables and an outside deck adjacent to the bar area. The dining area is nothing special but OK. There are eight to ten TVs in the dining room and more in the bar area. There was also a live singer/guitarist performing in the bar. He sounded OK, but thankfully was barely audible in the dinning area. I like to have conversations with my meals.

My son and I are both fans of Cajun & Creole cuisine so we were anxious to try this place. Matt had the shrimp etouffee and I had the blackened red fish. Both were delicious and despite large portions there were no doggy bags this day.

Shrimp Etouffee

The etouffee filled a large round plate with plenty of good size shrimp and some sausage all in a thickened sauce. Matt did add a little Tabasco sauce. The blackened red fish was a large, flaky, tender fillet that was topped with shrimp creole that also included sausage slices. The blackening spices and sauce were both very flavorful. The server warned me when I ordered the red fish that it was spicy. It didn't disappoint. We like our food spicy, but I can see where this dish might be a little too spicy for some. Our entrees were also served with a cornbread muffin that had real corn kernels.

Blackened Red Fish with Shrimp Creole

Now the bad news. The service was less than stellar. Our waitress came shortly after we were seated and took our drink order. Then she disappeared. Matt commented that they must be brewing the beer. Finally another server came by to ask what our drink orders were. She delivered them in a couple of minutes and took our meal orders. To our surprise, our dinners came out fairly quickly but were delivered by yet another server. The waitress who took our meal order came by a minute later to ask how the food was. I was still chewing my first bite. Several minutes later our original server came by to ask how we were doing and to offer excuses about forgetting us. She was busy. Then we were again forgotten for the rest of our meal. Eventually our initial server came by and I asked for the check. Luckily we weren't in a hurry because that step took a long time too. When the waitress came back with the credit card receipt she didn't have a pen. My son pointed out that the waiter taking the order for the table next to us had an apron full of pens. Our server grabbed one and we were able to complete the transaction and be on our way. I noticed that this pattern did not just apply to us. Other tables around us wound up having multiple servers. The booth next to us had one drink delivered by the bartender. I hate having a team of people serving me and in this case that team not doing a very good job.

We are not talking about a huge place that was jam packed. Half of the dining area was empty. So, what's the problem? Did we draw an incompetent waitress? Are they understaffed? Do they have a bad system? Is it bad management? The answer is probably yes to all of the above.

The summation: Food good to very good. Atmosphere OK. Service needs much work.

I may go back when I get a Cajun craving but certainly not when I'm in a hurry. Maybe I'll try lunch some day.  

wjh

Matt's Rancho Martinez - Review

Here's a quick review of Matt's Rancho Martinez, a new restaurant in Colleyville. It's located in the shopping center at the southeast corner of Glade and Colleyville Blvd. (Hwy 26). It is next to the soon to be opened Whole Food Market. A very good spot. This location has been open for a few weeks.

Matt's is a small family owned chain. This is their third store with a fourth scheduled to open this summer. As you may have guessed, Matt's is primarily a Tex-Mex restaurant but there are a few twists on the menu.

My son, Matt (no affiliation), and I went there for a fairly early dinner on Father's Day. We had about a five minute wait for a table. The restaurant has a large dining area, smaller dining room that can probably be used for private affairs, a full bar with seating at the bar plus a few tables and a covered patio. All together there are probably approximately 35-40 tables. The kitchen is visible through a large glass wall. It's all hard surfaces with exposed ducts and lights hanging from an unfinished black ceiling. While it wasn't too loud on our visit, I suspect the main dining area could get a little noisy. 

One of the things that stood out from the minute we walked in was how much staff the place had. There were four people at the host/hostess stand. Once seated we noticed a whole battalion of servers, bus boys, kitchen help and management. Matt (my son, not the owner) did a quick count and figured that no server had more than about three tables. Most of the help was very young. In spite of this apparent service overkill, our waiter was not overly attentive. About average, but not exceptional.

On to the main attraction, the food. There were the required complimentary tortilla chips and salsa which were served as soon as we sat down. The chips were fresh and seemed homemade. The salsa was medium consistency with good flavor and a little heat.   

Matt had the Bob Style Chicken Fried Steak (CFS). That's a CFS topped with chile con queso, sour cream and fresh guacamole, refried beans and rice sides. According to my certified CFS connoisseur son, it was delicious. Minimal breading, good toppings and fork tender. His knife was never used. Now CFS is not a typical Tex-Mex menu staple but it is a Texas delicacy. Somehow Matt's became semi-famous for them. Besides the Bob style, they also have three other variations including the standard Texas style with cream gravy and Texas toast. 

I had the spinach and mushroom enchiladas topped with tomatillo sauce and Monterrey Jack cheese, charro beans and rice for sides. This too was delicious. The enchiladas were made with fresh, bright green, spinach and mushrooms. No canned stuff. The rice was good and the charro beans were very good. These were the best spinach enchiladas I've had since Via Real in Irving. The charro beans were not overcooked and the onion, peppers and herbs in the broth were all fresh. My only minor gripe was that the waiter put my plate on the table backwards. My main item enchiladas were on the far side of the plate and the bowl of charro beans was on the near side. The plate was piping hot and not easy to turn around. That is a sign of an inexperienced and/or nonchalant server. Is it a law, at least in Texas, that Mexican restaurants have to serve food on dangerously hot plates? 

Most of the entrees are between $10 and $15, lunches are $7 to $8. Reasonable prices for a full services, nice restaurant. For all you geezers, the senior discount allows ordering off the lunch menu all day. If you are in the neighborhood, Matt's would be a good choice. The menu is large and diverse so every palate should be able to find something to their liking. There is a kid's menu too and it's family friendly. The full bar has drink specialties and several beers on tap to keep the adults satisfied.

Matt's is Billy recommended. I plan on returning again to work my way through the menu. Maybe I'll see you there.  

wjh

Jibarito's Puerto Rican Restaurant

I ate lunch at a new restaurant today. It is called Jibarito's and serves Puerto Rican and Caribbean style food. It's located in Bedford, Texas in a nondescript shopping center at the corner of Central and Harwood. It is sandwiched (pun intended) between Big Lots and Little Caesars Pizza. For those familiar with Bedford, it is in the old La Bella restaurant location.

The interior has been completely redone. La Bella was an old style white tablecloth Italian restaurant. It was dimly lit by candlelight with paintings of Italy on the walls and a piano player next to the bar. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin or Tony Bennett recordings were playing when the piano player wasn't. Luckily La Bella didn't close until after my father died. It was one of his favorite spots. 

Jibarito's is much brighter and more casual. The tabletops are wood grain formica, no tablecloths. The walls have been covered with corrugated tin siding. There are a few Puerto Rican themed posters on the walls. A Puerto Rican flag hung parallel to the ceiling is in the center of the main dining room. There is a very small private dining area at the front. The piano is gone, but the bar is in the same place at the back of the main dining area. It is a full bar. The room is pleasant enough but I have a feeling it could get pretty noisy with all the hard surfaces. There were only a few other customers when I was there but I could easily hear conversations from other sections of the room. On this particular afternoon there were at least as many employees as customers. Despite the abundance of help and the lack of customers it took an inordinate amount of time for my meal to be served. The delay was with the kitchen, not the server. That might be a problem when the place is busy. The service was friendly although not particularly polished. 

On to the food. I had the signature Jibarito Sandwich which is described as A fried plantain sandwich with Puerto Rican pulled pork, tomatoes, avocados and pickled red onions with a spicy cilantro mayo sauce with rice and beans. It was delicious. The fried plantains take the place of bread in this sandwich. They are fried to a crisp and held up well. They did not get soggy and fall apart. Get an extra napkin or two. Your fingers will get greasy but the sandwich didn't taste greasy. The pork was plentiful, lean, flavorful and had some crispy edges which I like. The tomatoes, avocados and onions added good flavor and additional textures. The spicy cilantro mayo wasn't spicy but it did taste OK. Full disclosure, I like really hot spicy food so the mayo might be spicy to the average palate. The rice and beans were also very good. It was white rice with red beans, some green onions and a good dose of garlic. It was a big sandwich and large portion of rice. I couldn't quite finish it all but still waddled out of the place. I thought the $10 price tag was very fair. Another nice surprise was the Dos Equis draft for $1.75. I don't always drink beer at lunch but when I do I like a reasonably priced one.

The rest of the menu runs the gamut although it all has a Latin slant. Everybody, including the kids, should be able to find something to their liking. This is the kind of restaurant that I like to patronize. Family run and a local business. I'll go back again and if you are in the area I hope you give it a try. It's nice to see a local restaurant with a different cuisine. I love BBQ and Mexican but we have plenty of those. A little taste of the Caribbean for this Florida guy is very welcome. Find Jibarito's on the web or on Facebook.

Fried plantains in place of bread, a good idea. $1.75 Dos Equis, another good idea.

wjh     

The Tale of Five Breasts

by Bill Holmes

Did I get your attention? I know that's an odd number of breasts, but it is not what you think. This is neither a pornographic post not one about freakish mammary abnormalities. It is about the most recent package of chicken breasts I purchased at my local grocery emporium.

I usually buy chicken breasts in packages of four to six per plastic wrapped Styrofoam tray (with absorbent liner) when it is on sale. Let me digress, I know a chicken breast technically consists of a left and right half. That being said, most people, grocery stores and restaurants mean a half breast (left or right) when they say a chicken breast. I too am referring to a half breast when using the term chicken breast. Human breasts come in pairs and I am a human. One left, one right. Clear?

Absorbent Meat Liner

I always trim, optionally marinate, and cook the whole package at one time. Now that I live alone I usually freeze all but one breast after they are cooked. That's the way I've done it for years. Of course the number of breasts frozen depends on the number of other mouths around. The cooked chicken is thawed as I need it for meals. Skin is not welcomed unless it is fried which I never do at home. I am also adverse to any fat on my chicken. That's probably because the majority of it is eaten cold on a salad. Cold fat is not appetizing to me.

No fat or skin allowed means I'm a pretty thorough trimmer. Don't get upset, there is no waste. Every bit of trimmings is saved, frozen and used for  stock or is it broth. I can never remember which is which. Every couple of months I gather all the chicken scraps, some vegetables, herbs, spices and maybe any leftover wine and dump it in a big pot. Sometimes I have to drink a half bottle of wine while I'm preparing the other ingredients so I'll have some leftover wine for the stock. I wholeheartedly recommend making your own stock, chicken, turkey or beef. I even made lamb stock recently. It's cheap, flavored the way you want with spices and veggies and is not full of sodium (unless you want it to be) and unpronounceable chemicals. A crock pot is another good way to prepare stock.

So, back to the breasts in question. I bought a package that had five breasts totaling about 4½ pounds. Good sized breasts. I opened the package, grabbed the first one and began trimming. It was a beautiful breast. A little above average in size, firm, hardly any fat and no wrinkled or saggy skin. I thought to myself, it looks like I have got my hands on a great bunch of breasts. Unfortunately the first breast was the best breast. The next one was a little smaller and more flabby but not bad. The next two were gigantic but had their flaws folded under the firm smooth top center They both had a lot of excess fat and one had a large piece of wrinkly rough skin hidden on the bottom. Maybe it had been out in the sun too long without sunblock. The butcher/packager had hidden the best for last. It was humongous. OK, size isn't everything in breasts. This one had all kinds of fat, gristle, silverskin slime and bad rib meat hanging off it. My first thought was maybe they threw a rooster breast into the package. Once I got through hacking it up, it looked more like a chicken than a rooster. I also wound up with over a half a sandwich bag of scraps for my next batch of stock. All five breasts are now marinating in my fridge. They are destined for the oven tomorrow.

I'm writing this because it is sometimes aggravating the way stuff is packaged. Food is almost always packaged with the good side showing and the bad side hidden. With some products, like fresh beef or fish in the butcher/fish monger case, you can ask to see the other side and even smell it. With other products like chicken or bacon it is almost always hermetically sealed. Something is almost always being hidden. You have to have some trust in your food purveyor and/or your experience.

Today I thought I got a good rack package of breasts at an establishment I often frequent. It just proves that you can't always judge a breast by it's package. Sometimes they are bigger than you think although usually they are a little smaller. People have been working on the packaging of breasts for centuries.

So, until there are more stringent truth in advertising laws it will remain hit and miss. You can never be sure of the size, firmness, makeup (real or enhanced), fat content, etc. of the breasts you get at the supermarket. Even the packaging often states that the breasts are enhanced with up to 15% additives. I'm sure the ones I have in the fridge will turn out fine. I don't think I've ever had a breast I didn't like. You just have to open the packaging and get your hands on them to be sure.

Be careful what you grab.

wjh    

333's Gourmet Taco Shop

by Bill Holmes

I ate lunch at 333's Gourmet Taco Shop in Colleyville on Saturday 1/18. It has been open for six or seven months and I've been meaning to try it. The restaurant is in a small nondescript strip shopping center only a couple of miles from home. It's in a space that has been several different restaurants over the years.

The decor is nothing special. Metal and formica tables and several booths with wooden board tabletops. There are a few TVs hanging from the ceiling that were playing sports. It's bright and kind of industrial. There was generic music playing a little too loudly for my taste. It was not busy, only three other parties already seated and two additional parties while I was there, one of which ordered to-go. There were at least two cooks in the kitchen, one seated me and another brought the food to one of the tables.

The waiter showed up a several minutes after I was seated. I had already read the whole menu and was ready to order so his arrival was a little slow. I ordered iced tea and was informed that it was being brewed and would take a few minutes. No offer to bring a glass of water or another beverage. I would have rather had a cold beer but this is still a BYOB place and I didn't happen to have a beer in my pocket. This is a little bit of a problem to me since I seem to remember reading that they were applying for a liquor permit back when they opened. There is a bar area in the restaurant but it is curtained off. A few minutes later the waiter came back and told me that the tea brewer was broken. I guess they couldn't figure out any other way to brew tea. My home iced tea brewer consists of a pot of boiling water and a big tea bag. The restaurant must have been out of water or pots. I opted for water in place of the tea and was brought a rather small glass that was mostly ice.

On to the food. This place is a fusion of Korean cuisine with Mexican tacos. Interesting but a little confusing. I ordered the Hokey Poke (Po-kay) -

Fresh Market Sashimi (sushi) grade fish, lime juice, avocado, sesame oil soy sauce and our secret Asian cucumber. Resting on a bed of romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado and red onions. A Hawaiian favorite. No tortilla necessary!

Market Price

Let me start out by saying it was delicious and I'm not even Hawiian. The fish was fresh and the garnish/sauce was flavorful and spicy. That's the good news. The bad news is the portion was very small. There was only enough fish and garnish to fill about one and a half very small romaine leaves. The "secret Asian cucumber" was amazingly similar to pickles. The avocado was microscopic and of the four romaine leaves, one was very limp and had a brown top edge. For those of you who know me, I'm not a big guy or a big eater but I was no where near full or satisfied. So, tasted good but not enough and I'll add overpriced. The market price turned out to be about $8.50, over $9 with tax. That's expensive for three or four bites of food, especially for a place with "taco" in the name. 

I would say my opinion is undecided. I hate to judge a place on one dish on one visit. I like the concept and the menu, I'm just not sure of the execution, or lack of, yet. I'll give the place another try and probably order something closer to a standard taco, one with actual tortillas involved. I don't think I've ever had a taco with kimchi as one of the ingredients.   

In summation, food - very good, service - lackadaisical, atmosphere - plain/industrial, portion size - tiny, price - high (for portion). High potential, low execution. I'd give the place about a 6 out of 10.

Stay tuned for further reports.

wjh

Cooking for Two or Fewer

by Bill Holmes

There seems to be a conspiracy by grocers and retailers against those of us who live in a household with one or two people. I've noticed this for several years because I've often lived alone or with only one or two other people. A situation in the last couple of days brought it to mind again so here goes my rant.

Last week, Kroger had crawfish on sale. It was the frozen kind from China (not obvious from the ad) but that's OK for the times Louisiana fresh crawfish aren't available. Seemed like a good time to cook some up. I'm a big fan of Louisiana cooking, both Cajun and Creole. My favorite Louisiana dish is probably etouffee although gumbo ain't bad. I guess you can use almost any shellfish, seafood or mild meat to make etouffee. I'm partial to crawfish and shrimp, either separate or combined. Of course I needed a few more ingredients besides the crawfish. That''s where the problem started.

I'm not a strict follower of recipes but if you're going to make any Creole or Cajun dish you probably are going to start with the trinity. No, not the religious trinity, the Louisiana cooking trinity. Onion, celery and bell peppers. Peppers and onion are not a problem because I use them most days. I tend to eat a salad five or six days a week. Now celery, that's another story. I'm not a big celery fan, except in recipes, and don't have it laying around. I needed about one cup of chopped celery. That's about three trimmed medium stalks. Have you ever tried to buy three stalks of celery? The hermetically sealed washed and trimmed celery packages contain eight or ten trimmed stalks. A fresh bunch of celery is made up of ten or 12 larger stalks plus the leaves and root. If you only need a cup of celery there is going to be a little left over. The fresh bunch is always cheaper and usually better, so that's what I bought.

The next challenge was that I needed some flour. Depending on the recipe, I needed a blond roux or a slurry for thickening. That takes only between one or a very few tablespoons of flour for either choice. No flour in the pantry so that went on the shopping list. The smallest package of flour I found was two pounds. I now have two pounds minus one or two tablespoons of flour. I don't bake and I don't bread stuff to fry. What else can I use flour for? I bought a small bag of flour, probably two pounds, shortly after I moved back to Texas with Dad in 2003. I'm guessing I breaded some veal or pork for Dad. He liked a little breaded and fried meat now and then. I put whatever flour was left over into a glass container to keep the bugs out. Probably about five years later I came across that container. No bugs or mold but I thought it best to dump it, probably two pounds less a few tablespoons. Now ten years later I have another new bag of flour. The original glass flour container has been repurposed and I don't have another airtight container big enough for two pounds (minus a tablespoon) of flour. Need some all purpose flour? I mixed the flour with a cup of white wine (instead of water) for the slurry. Now I have a half bottle of wine left over too. Oh wait, that's not a problem.

These are just my most current gripes. Over the years I've tackled what I thought was a simple recipe only to find out that I needed five new ingredients. Check the bank balance if you need five new spices or herbs. One little jar or tin can set you back more than five dollars. That's five bucks for a pinch if you don't normally use that spice or herb. I'm not talking about truffles or real saffron. That dish you thought you would make with the on sale chicken (or crawfish) suddenly costs $27 per serving because of the other ingredients. Yes, it is sometimes cheaper to go to a restaurant for that food you are craving.

As for the huge packages of food, I have seen some attempts at more reasonable sizes. When in Florida several years ago when Mom and Dad lived in an area with several retirement communities, there were some individual serving sized products tucked away on a high shelf. There were even little jars of ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise, all overpriced. Sometimes you can find the same smaller sizes in a resort/condo area where there is a high turnover, like the Piggly-Wiggly at Coligny Plaza on Hilton Head. The problem is most of the products were neither very healthy nor delicious. In the grocery stores I now shop, I see older people (which I now am) filling their carts with individual servings of frozen and packaged meals. The food companies still make individual serving size prepackaged products. Most of these products are crap. Lean Cuisine, Stouffer's, Healthy Choice, Hormel and a few others occasionally stumble on a dish that is palatable but they still are full of salt, fats and sugars. I know part of the reason folks buy this crap is for convenience. That's OK, I buy convenient crap food too on occasion. When an older person is pushing a cart with a dozen Banquet or store brand frozen meals I know it's not really by choice. It's cheap and convenient. It will also kill you. Some of it is generational culture. Many men of my generation and older never learned to cook and have no desire to learn. My Dad could barely make a simple sandwich, heat up a can of Campell's soup or cook an egg if he was starving. That's it. He either couldn't or wouldn't bother to heat up a jar of Ragu and cook pasta. That's despite the fact that it was one of his very favorite meals. Spaghetti and sauce took two pots. That's at least one too many.

Well as usual, I've wondered all over the original subject and peripheral subjects. Partially attributable to old age, ADD, dementia, derangement, softening of the brain and mental decay.

I wish I could find individual portions or at least more usable portions of some ingredients. I wish those that can't or don't cook could find convenient, nutritious and delicious foods that weren't full of crap. Maybe as we baby boomers become infirm the food producers and sellers will offer alternate product sizes and choices. That will only happen if boomers have enough money and desire for real food to make a difference. I guess the alternative is to live in communes or co-ops. Didn't some of us try that in the 60's and 70's?

So, the etouffee was delicious, the extra celery, onion and bell pepper went into the stock pot along with some chicken scraps I had in the freezer. I also was able to use that wine I had absolutely no use for as stock or broth liquid. Now I have a couple of quarts of delicious stock or broth. I can never tell the difference between the two. I really don't have much to complain about. I use most of my food scraps. I have enough stock/broth in the freezer for several dishes. I haven't had to cooked rice or beans or make soup with plain water in years.

Nevertheless I'll still gripe about food and other packaging. If you go to Costco or Sam's expect to buy two dozen pork ribs or a gross of toilet paper. If you go to a local grocery store, it would be nice to be able to size the purchase to the recipe, family or occasion.

I think my youngest son is coming by this weekend to get this batch of etouffee. I can make more. I even have enough celery and flour for another batch. He loves etouffee and most of my cooking. What good taste he has. He's also very handsome, talented and extremely smart. It must be part of that tree, apple adage.

Anyway, it's hard to shop and cook for one or two. A big freezer helps but eventually somebody has to eat the overflow. 

By the way, I still have almost two pounds of flour for sale. 

wjh