September, 2011 -

by ES Guest

Food Fights: The Difference Between Cheesesteak and BBQ Lovers

Ed. Note: Long-time Simmer favorite Belmontmedina is pretty pissed off about what a certain Washington Post reporter tweeted yesterday. Let the rant begin.

The Washington Post‘s Tim Carman (who I am quite fond of, since his days helming the food coverage at Washington City Paper) ventured this opinion on twitter yesterday, pictured above.

FALSE.

Pizza and burgers I get. I am obsessive about pizza. Everyone has a favorite crust, preferred toppings, feelings about sauce (classic Neapolitan with buffalo mozz for me please). And burgers…well, you’re talking to a girl who stuffs various cuts of meat in her grinder like a mad scientist (chicken burgers are actually quite tasty with ground thighs). But Cheesesteaks? Not igniting the passion of BBQ? Please.

Let’s examine, shall we?

Pizza and burgers are pretty universal, with various regions claiming various styles. So it makes sense that pizza and burgers would inspire strong convictions across the board. But I am under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that no one outside Philly and its immediate environs cares about cheesesteaks. (Except, of course, for those transplants that insist on irritating the rest of us by going on and on about cheesesteaks and the Eagles– sorry gansie).

But I’ll be charitable. Let’s give the cheesesteak-ers the Eastern seaboard from DC to Boston and the entire state of Pennsylvania, although I hear Pittsburgh is more Primanti Bros. than cheesesteak. Done.

Moving on to BBQ. I think we can all agree it inspires great passion. There are books. There are maps. There is an episode of Good Eats. You can immediately tell where someone is from based on their barbecue allegiance.

Dirty Pirate Popsicles

We have thing for getting sideways with classic cocktails and then turning them into poptails. This week the classic rum and coke has been flipped to a Dirty Pirate.

That’s rum and coke with a some Kahlua. While we’d love to take credit for this awesomely name cocktail, we can’t, but we are taking credit for turning it into poptail ,at the suggestion of a co-worker.

Pirates, Coke and booze, yeah, Wednesday is getting better already. And just in case you need a variation, replace the Kahlua with peach schnapps for a Dirty Pirate Hooker.

Play nice and play safe. Happy Pirating this Wednesday.

Dirty Pirate Popsicle

Top 10 New Foods at the 2011 State Fairs

It’s America’s favorite meal — the state fair! Every year, the fairs across this great land compete with each other to invent bigger, badder, greasier fair food. But after Texas stepped up its game last year with deep fried beer, this thing hit a whole ‘nother level. The 2011 state and country fair foods have been more insane — and more amazing — than ever. Here are our top 10 favorite finds.

10. Chocolate Covered Corn Dog – Orange County Fair

Could there be anything more American than dipping a hot dog in batter, deep frying it and eating it off a stick? Why yes, there could be. You could cover it in chocolate and put sprinkles on top, a treat that was found at both the OC Fair and neighboring San Diego County Fair. My Burning Kitchen has more on food at the San Diego fair. (Photo: www.myburningkitchen.com)

9. Deep Fried Kool-Aid – San Diego County Fair

In another strong showing for California’s other great fair — and originator of last year’s hash brown covered hot dog, San Diego debuts what is surely the trashiest food ever conceptualized. It’s just unclear why they didn’t wrap it in bacon. (Photo: Cuttlefish)

8. Deep Fried Butter on a Stick – Iowa State Fair

Texas may have invented deep fried butter at their own fair a few years back, but Iowa thought to put it on a stick. See, America, we can do great things when we work together. Yes, this involves frying an entire stick of butter, and yes, you simply have to watch the video for full effect.

7. Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack – Texas State Fair

The first of several entries from the Lone Star state, this monstrosity is a chicken strip, coated in pancake batter and jalapeño bread crumbs, then deep fried and…you guessed it — eaten on a stick. (Photo: State Fair of Texas)

6. Red Velvet Funnel Cake – Florida State Fair

Funnel cake has fallen behind on the list of outrageous fair foods recently. After fried beer and fried Coke, plain old fried dough starts to look pale by comparison. But this year we saw funnel cake get a new southern fried twist that injects some new life into it…and probably injects all kinds of chemicals too. Why eat fried dough when you can eat red fried dough? (Photo: Bob B. Brown)

Next: The Top 5 state fair foods

in Bacon / Breakfast / Cheese / Desserts / Featured / Food Travel / Fowl / Lists / Pig / Red Meat / Top 10 Lists / Trends 10 comments

by gansie

Food Porn Champions: Uncle Jessie, The Greek

Most of the time sizzling bacon and bleeding yolks find their way to the food porn label. This time though, it’s the sly smile and sexy lean in of John Stamos that ignites my hunger, for um, yogurt. Way to bring it, Uncle Jessie.

in Celebs 0 comments

by BS

Burns My Bacon: Why Only Asiago?

As a born-and-bred New Yorker, I’m predisposed to believe that bagels should be good enough on their own not to need much gussying up. Blueberry bagel? No thank you. Chocolate bagel? Only if you’re in Disneyworld. A good bagel should be fresh, doughy and fluffy enough that all it needs in the way of embellishment is a good schmear.

But I have to admit there is one new-school bagel variety I can get behind: the increasingly omnipresent asiago cheese bagel. Embarrasingly, I believe I first tried this kind 8 years ago at an Einstein Bros. Bagels shop, of all places (I know, I know, but I lived in DC at the time, and ES has already lamented the quality bagel crisis there).

I loved it. That rich, slightly burnt orange-y cheese on top can really take a mediocre bagel and make it great. Since then, I’ve seen asiago bagels all over the country, and I’m not about it. Not mad about it one bit.

But it got me thinking: why is asiago cheese the only kind that seems to ever be baked into a bagel? Why hasn’t this opened up a whole new world of cheesy bagel delights? Where are the parmesan bagels? The brie bagels? The cheddar and havarti bagels?

Is there some physical reason why asiago cheese is the only kind that works baked into a bagel? Does the asiago lobby have the bagel bakers on their payroll? Is their a conspiracy against cheddar? I don’t mean to look a gift horse in the mouth — it’s certainly not asiago bagels’ fault — but what’s the deal here? I want more cheesy bagels! Or at least I want some answers.

(Photo: Orijinal)

in Rants & Raves 5 comments

by gansie

How Rogue Ales Temporarily Cured Me of Swearing

“Can I try the Hazelnut Brown Nectar?” I asked the hairy, inked man behind the bar at Rogue Ales Public House in Porland.

At least that’s what I thought I said. Maybe I threw him some accidental attitude after ramming through a citrusy lemongrass beer at Bridgeport Brewing Company just before. Fine, I also lapped up an amber brew.

Rogue casts an intimidating presence in DC booze stores. I most often spy the 22-oz. bottles; those bottles bully drinkers to down much beer in one sitting, so I was pretty pumped to be able to try a few pints at one of its many Oregon pubs. I specifically asked the bartender for beers that I can’t find across the country.

Right before the man behind the bar turned to pour me a sample of the hazelnut brew, he sent me a quick stare. “I think they call it Nutella where you live.”

“Fuck you,” I shouted back. “We’re not fucking Europe.”

He smiled back, in what I like to think was an appreciation for my East Coast paradigm. Along with the hazelnut taste, he poured me a Double Chocolate Stout.

With the confidence of an assertion, not a suggestion, he told me to order a “Snickers” – the combination of the Double Chocolate Stout and the Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

The end result was a creamy, thick beer, offering hints of bitter coffee, smooth nuts and a chance to stop cursing and sip an excellent drink.

in Drinks / Food Travel 3 comments

by Emily

Wine Heaven in Eastern Washington

When most people think of Washington state, they immediately think of Seattle. So if I asked you to describe the climate and terrain of Washington, you’d probably answer something along the lines of “rainy, grey, misty,” etc… And you’d be right — if we’re talking about western Washington. IF, however, you head east and cross over the Cascade mountain range, something magical happens. The other side of the state is drenched in sunshine! And we all know what sunshine means… wine! (Okay, sunshine means a lot of things, but to my one-track mind, it means a great climate for vineyards.)

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Northwest wines tour, and our first stop was Paterson, a tiny town located on the banks of the Columbia River in southeast Washington. Why Paterson? It’s home to Columbia Crest Estates Vineyard, one of the Northwest’s largest wineries and possibly one of the most well-known wineries in the nation.

September 2011