While the American supermarket has every item that I want on a daily basis, sometimes I want to dress up, go to a fancy specialty food store, and make my pantry feel pretty. This was part of the reason LA and I ended up in South Park: I wanted to go to Dean & Deluca. I love Dean & Deluca. Mainly I love to go there and wish I had the money to buy all the things that they sell. I stand at the chocolate counter and stare in amazement like a...well, like a kid in a candy store. Fleur de sel caramel chocolates, strawberry balsamic chocolates, peach caramel chocolates. I want it all. But it's not just the candy.
They have a great selection of sanding sugars for baking, raspberry shallot mustard, a million types of salt. Plus they have a spectacular cheese and charcuterie section. We were looking at the cheeses and were offered some samples. First up, a smoked blue cheese. I can honestly say I'd never had one of those before. Not a creamy blue, it was still very smooth, with a mellowness brought about by the smoking. I didn't think it could get better. Next we had an ashed goat's milk cheese. I was surprised when LA took a piece, since he usually is fairly vocal about his dislike of goat cheese. The middle of the cheese had the slightly chalky consistency typical of a fresh goat's milk cheese, it was very creamy around the edges, similar in texture to a Camembert. LA and I both liked that one, although not as much as the blue. Finally, we were offered a piece of an aged sheep's milk cheese. When LA grabbed it, I knew he hadn't heard what she said. We both bit into it and declared it the best of the three. It was nutty and reminded me of Gruyere. While LA was contemplating buying some of it, I said, "It's sheep's milk", at which point he began to gag and carry on like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever eaten. I reminded him that, only moments before, he'd loved it. Didn't matter. The love affair was over. He continued gagging until I took him to one of the sample stations around the store and he got a piece of bread.
We also considered buying some "Pepper Delights", although the card was laying on its side and I thought they were called "Peter's Delights". I'd hate to think of what those are. The Pepper Delights were small green peppers stuffed with prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella. A couple customers assured me that they were addictive. I asked the quite-attractive counterman if they were spicy at all. He said that they were far too spicy for him, but maybe we'd like them. After the issue 6 feet away at the cheese counter, I decided to forego the Pepper Delights. I didn't have any bread in the car to feed LA if he didn't like those. So far, I had avoided all traps, but I was unable to resist the pastries. My heart was set on a lemon meringue tart, but, at $7, my wallet was against it. My wallet won. I settled for a lemon cupcake. Which I ate the following day. That thing was huge! I ate it in one sitting and regretted it for several hours. I'm not used to having so much sugar in my stomach at one time. I had initially planned on eating the cupcake right away (in front of LA), so I needed a beverage with which to wash it down. Dean & Deluca carries bottled water in the shape of a flask! Was there any way for me not to buy it? I think not. Apparently I got some looks later, in the car, while I was taking a drink from it at a stoplight. I was actually proud of myself and the restraint that I showed in Dean & Deluca. I would've happily walked out of there with my arms (and LA's) full of gourmet delights. That will have to wait until the next trip.
Besides not wanting to torment LA, my other reason for not eating the cupcake right away was that I'd been informed I would be doing some pie testing later. I'm not much of a sugar fiend, so I have to limit myself to a small amount per day. When we got back to LA's, he provided me with slices of two pies. The first pie was a peanut butter pie, whose recipe had been given to him by a non-cooking friend. One cup of peanut butter, one cup of sugar, and two containers of whipped topping, combined and plopped into a graham cracker crust. I'm not a big peanut butter fan. I like it with jelly, and that's about it. I took a small sliver of that and still only ate half of it. If you are a peanut butter fan, then it's a great pie. He served it straight from the freezer, making it incredibly convenient as well. If you want an easy dessert for a hot summer night, that may be the way to go. Unless you don't like peanut butter. That's where the second pie comes in.
The next pie was blueberry yum yum. And it really was yum yum. Blueberry pie filling, sugar, Dream Whip, and cream cheese in a graham cracker crust. I'm not typically a fan of blueberries, but this was so good. LA gave me a small piece and took the larger piece. In retrospect, I should've distracted him and took the larger piece when he wasn't looking. The yum yum can be made with any berry pie filling, and, like the peanut butter pie, can be made and kept in the freezer. Both pies only require assembly. If LA can do it, so can you! (He'd probably tell you that, too.)
As a side note, I'm a little behind on my Saturday Night Live, but I caught an episode in which Zach Galifianakis (who I love), as a gay beauty pageant dad, tells his wife, "You smell like a bunch of stinky ol' Bojangles sausage biscuits." Do they even know what those are in New York? I, for one, love a Bojangles sausage biscuit. With some Bo-rounds. Hmmm, I might be going out for breakfast.
Blueberry Yum Yum
from L.A. Berlyn
1 purchased graham cracker pie crust
2 cans blueberry pie filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 box (2 packets) powdered dessert topping mix
2 16 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
Combine sugar, dessert topping mix, cream cheese and milk. Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the pie crust. Top with the pie filling. Spread with the remaining half of the cream cheese mixture for a marbled look. To have a white cream topping, pipe the remaining cream cheese mixture on top, rather than spreading it.
Showing posts with label South Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Park. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Lunch Counter
Some mornings come earlier than others. Yesterday's didn't come early at all. It came so late, in fact, that I missed the farmers' market. So LA and I had to find something else to do. Hmmm, what to do on a very warm Saturday? We headed on down to South Park. (Cue Les Claypool.) We did have ourselves a time, too.
The food court at the mall wasn't appealing to either of us. We passed on McCormick & Schmick's since they do steak and seafood, and I really don't want to deal with LA going into anaphylactic shock over lunch. He didn't feel like Mexican food, and M5's menu didn't appeal to him. That brought us to The Counter, for "Custom Built Burgers". The Counter is a small, mostly West Coast chain with a menu consisting, unsurprisingly, of mostly burgers. The restaurant is small and industrial, with high ceilings, visible ventilation, and a lot of blue paint. Too much blue paint, in my opinion. Even the staff wears blue t-shirts. While we were waiting for our food, we got to watch the World Cup. If you call periodically glancing at the monitors above the bar "watching the World Cup".
LA went the easy route and ordered the Hobo Pack. The menu describes this as "an assortment of grilled vegetables topped with fresh herbs". While it didn't specify which vegetables, LA was told that it did contain mushrooms and he would not be able to order it without them. He ordered it anyway, deciding that he would just pick them out. What he got was a parchment packet filled with an assortment of grilled vegetables. I saw corn, red peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms. He loved it and said he would start making it at home. Minus the mushrooms.
I like to make things difficult for myself, so I custom built my burger. While options are good, too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. For my burger, did I want beef, chicken, turkey, or veggie? 1/3 pound, 1/2 pound, or 1 full pound (post-cooking weight, not pre)? Did I want it on a bun or on a bed of lettuce? If I wanted a bun, did I want a regular bun, whole wheat, or an English muffin? Those were the easy choices. I was allowed one cheese, but had to pick from among 11 different options. I could have up to four toppings from a selection of 20. I can't imagine picking carrot strings, hard-boiled eggs, and pineapple as toppings for a burger, but obviously someone else can. Mustard and mayo aren't good enough for The Counter's patrons. I still had to choose from among 20 sauces. My mind was spinning by this point, and I wished I'd just picked the BLT from the standard menu. Before the headache kicked in, I settled for a 1/3 pound beef burger with Tillamook cheddar, bacon, dill pickle chips, scallions, and organic mixed greens, with garlic aioli on an English muffin. Oh, and the fries are extra. But what's a burger without fries? So I got those too.
The burger arrived perfectly cooked and one inch thick. Some may say that I have a big mouth, but I encountered some difficulty consuming the burger. I think "nibbled" best described how I ate my burger. The fries were shoestrings, sprinkled with seasoned salt. They were very good. I used the garlic aioli as a dipping sauce. Aioli is really just a fancy word for mayo, so I was expecting garlic-flavored mayo. I didn't detect even a hint of garlic. I also didn't detect a hint of cheddar on the burger, although I could see it was there. The bacon was a little on the undercooked side, but tasted fine. I was most happy with the scallions. They gave the burger an unexpected kick that was lacking from the cheese and the aioli. A tasty burger, yes. Worth the price? Not really.
I know this is South Park, where I should be happy to pay more for the privilege of appearing wealthy or trendy. The waitress told LA that she is a vegetarian. I said that of course she is. All servers in a place like that are vegetarians. It may even be a rule. She was friendly and polite, but more interested in chit-chatting with her friends than taking care of her tables. This also may have been a rule, since only one server spent more time serving customers than talking to coworkers. I wasn't unhappy with the experience at The Counter; just not impressed. The food was good, but not good enough for me to make another trip. I don't need 20 sauces and 11 types of cheese. I can get a burger with much less hassle anywhere, for the same price or less. And not have a headache when I leave.
The food court at the mall wasn't appealing to either of us. We passed on McCormick & Schmick's since they do steak and seafood, and I really don't want to deal with LA going into anaphylactic shock over lunch. He didn't feel like Mexican food, and M5's menu didn't appeal to him. That brought us to The Counter, for "Custom Built Burgers". The Counter is a small, mostly West Coast chain with a menu consisting, unsurprisingly, of mostly burgers. The restaurant is small and industrial, with high ceilings, visible ventilation, and a lot of blue paint. Too much blue paint, in my opinion. Even the staff wears blue t-shirts. While we were waiting for our food, we got to watch the World Cup. If you call periodically glancing at the monitors above the bar "watching the World Cup".
LA went the easy route and ordered the Hobo Pack. The menu describes this as "an assortment of grilled vegetables topped with fresh herbs". While it didn't specify which vegetables, LA was told that it did contain mushrooms and he would not be able to order it without them. He ordered it anyway, deciding that he would just pick them out. What he got was a parchment packet filled with an assortment of grilled vegetables. I saw corn, red peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms. He loved it and said he would start making it at home. Minus the mushrooms.
I like to make things difficult for myself, so I custom built my burger. While options are good, too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. For my burger, did I want beef, chicken, turkey, or veggie? 1/3 pound, 1/2 pound, or 1 full pound (post-cooking weight, not pre)? Did I want it on a bun or on a bed of lettuce? If I wanted a bun, did I want a regular bun, whole wheat, or an English muffin? Those were the easy choices. I was allowed one cheese, but had to pick from among 11 different options. I could have up to four toppings from a selection of 20. I can't imagine picking carrot strings, hard-boiled eggs, and pineapple as toppings for a burger, but obviously someone else can. Mustard and mayo aren't good enough for The Counter's patrons. I still had to choose from among 20 sauces. My mind was spinning by this point, and I wished I'd just picked the BLT from the standard menu. Before the headache kicked in, I settled for a 1/3 pound beef burger with Tillamook cheddar, bacon, dill pickle chips, scallions, and organic mixed greens, with garlic aioli on an English muffin. Oh, and the fries are extra. But what's a burger without fries? So I got those too.
The burger arrived perfectly cooked and one inch thick. Some may say that I have a big mouth, but I encountered some difficulty consuming the burger. I think "nibbled" best described how I ate my burger. The fries were shoestrings, sprinkled with seasoned salt. They were very good. I used the garlic aioli as a dipping sauce. Aioli is really just a fancy word for mayo, so I was expecting garlic-flavored mayo. I didn't detect even a hint of garlic. I also didn't detect a hint of cheddar on the burger, although I could see it was there. The bacon was a little on the undercooked side, but tasted fine. I was most happy with the scallions. They gave the burger an unexpected kick that was lacking from the cheese and the aioli. A tasty burger, yes. Worth the price? Not really.
I know this is South Park, where I should be happy to pay more for the privilege of appearing wealthy or trendy. The waitress told LA that she is a vegetarian. I said that of course she is. All servers in a place like that are vegetarians. It may even be a rule. She was friendly and polite, but more interested in chit-chatting with her friends than taking care of her tables. This also may have been a rule, since only one server spent more time serving customers than talking to coworkers. I wasn't unhappy with the experience at The Counter; just not impressed. The food was good, but not good enough for me to make another trip. I don't need 20 sauces and 11 types of cheese. I can get a burger with much less hassle anywhere, for the same price or less. And not have a headache when I leave.
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