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by ML

The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats: 5. Live Uni

Being on the east coast, I never really eat uni. Most of my experience with the creature that is the sea urchin came from my freshman year of college, when I was a ~~slave~~ intern to a senior research project, and had to inject urchins with hydrochloric acid to make them…do something (I promptly switched my major after that semester).

On our first day in San Diego it was recommended that we try the fresh, live uni at the Little Italy Farmers Market. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’d sure as hell never bought seafood at a farmers market, let alone eaten it there. Regardless, I was super excited for this. Sign me up. When we spotted Poppa’s Fresh Fish stand I was immediately intimidated. These spiky animals were at least 3 times the size of the urchins from the bio lab. (I’m not sure why I just assumed they’d be the same —-I’m pretty sure my university ordered those urchins from some weird biological animal supply company).

The whole uni stand operation seemed a lot less glamorous than I had hoped. The stand smelled like a fish market (obviously, what else would it smell like?) and I became appalled at the thought of eating there. But ESers don’t back down, and I definitely wasn’t going to say no. After watching the guys behind the stand clean some urchins and shuck some oysters….we ordered. And it began.

First, they put the live urchin in this vice like contraption that cracks its hard shell in half. Then, they pour water into each half of the shell and pick out all of the gooey, brown, inedible bits (the part that freaked me out the most), that are then deposited in that metal bucket After all is said and done, they handed the thing to us (when I say “us” I mean BS, I wasn’t getting near it yet) on a styrofoam plate. It was still moving:

in Food Travel 1 comments

by ML

How to Get Drunk While Feeding Your Kids

If you’re a long-time reader, you know I’m quick to tell everyone what to do all the time, even when I have no leg to stand on. I like to pretend I live in a perfect world, where kids eat whatever we want them to and won’t ask for a chicken nugget if we don’t offer it to them.

That’s where Brett Cohen comes in. Author of the wildly successful Stuff Every Dad Should Know, Brett has created a beautiful guide instructing parents on exactly what to drink when their kid insists on buttered noodles or PB&J for dinner. I’m just upset I didn’t think of it myself.

Chicken Nuggets & a Martini: Fried foods typically soften the taste and take the bite out of cocktails with high levels of alcohol. So, class up those chicken nuggets (or fish sticks) with a dirty martini or a vodka gimlet.

Macaroni and Cheese & Champagne: Generally speaking, pasta takes on the flavor of the sauce. In this case, it’s a cheese-based sauce. And, cheese is a natural pairing with white and sparkling wines. Pop the bubbly and you’re good-to-go.

Read the rest, and check out the infographic here.

in Rants & Raves 0 comments

by ML

The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats: 3. Pacos

To be honest, I went to California with a mission to eat the best and craziest tacos I could find, and I like to think I succeeded. I won’t argue that scrambled eggs and pork belly are both awesome inside a tortilla, but I’ve definitely found the best breakfast tacos, ever.

I’ve already expressed my love for R Gang Eatery after they served me the <best tater tots ever>. But you know, after BS and I consumed an entire basket of fried potatoes and cheese, we just couldn’t resist ordering what sounded like the best breakfast item ever: pacos. That’s right, pancake tacos.

by ML

Opening Ceremonies: The Cookie Dough-lympics!

Yes, it’s that time again! OK, fine — it’s that time for the first time ever. We’re happy to announce, along with our friends at Quirk Books, the first ever Cookie Dough-lympics! The month-long competition is where the Michael Phelps’ of food bloggers will create the craziest and best recipes — all using Lindsay Landis’s egg-free cookie dough from her up-and-coming The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook.

Although there won’t be choreographed dancing or a parade of nations, tomorrow through June 22nd the doughy flame will burn bright, with one blogger showcasing their cookie dough recipe per day. Cookie dough pizza? Cooking dough pie? Cookie dough cocktails? What do you think, ES-ers?

Stay tuned to Quirk Books, @EndlessSimmer, and @QuirkBooks to view the recipes each day.

We’ll be announcing the winner right here on June 25th. Let the games begin!

in Contests / Desserts 4 comments

by ML

The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats 1. Pickle Tater Tots

I’m probably not in the majority when I say I don’t love tater tots. I mean, I don’t dislike them; they are fried potatoes after all. On their own I just find them greasy and kind of boring. They never hold salt the way I want them to and are more often than not soggy; I’d prefer fries or home fries any day.

Imagine my surprise when BS and I sat down at R Gang Eatery in San Diego, the laid-back base of Top Chef’s Rich Sweeney, and were offered a slew of stuffed tater tots. After some debate (do we want foie at 10am?) we ordered the craziest ones (clearly) — tater tots filled with pickles and cheese. They were the first thing to come out of the kitchen, and let’s be honest, we both stared at them for a minute before touching them. Were we really going to eat pickles and cheese as breakfast?

in Breakfast / Cheese / Food Travel / Restaurants 4 comments

by ML

Cocktail O’Clock: The Manmosa

For an unknown reason, I find day drinking more socially acceptable when it’s warm and sunny outside. Given the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having for the past few months, my spring (and end of winter) have seen their fair share of drunk brunches. Even though mimosas and bellinis are synonymous with single 20s girl brunches (or at least that’s what twitter tells me), my weapon of choice is normally beer or bloody marys.

But on one particularly Saturday, after a morning of volunteering and sweating, my favorite brunch bartender suggested he make me a “manmosa.” His story is this: one day a bunch of big guys came in and ordered mimosas….but he figured he could do better, and make something a little better suited to these men. Apparently the real “manmosa” is supposed to be vodka, beer, and orange juice. Even though I love to drink, that is *not* something I can drink before 1pm without some serious consequences, or my “friends” calling me an alcoholic.

The “manmosa” I was served was better (and not modified for me! This is his recipe):

in Drinks / Endless Cocktails / Recipe 4 comments

by ML

Moving Meals: The Stuffed Cabbage Bowl

If you follow me on twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you know I just moved, as evidenced by the endless tweets complaining about packing and lifting boxes up the stairs. Before that happened, I insisted on eating everything left in the fridge, for two reasons: 1) I didn’t want to move a fridge full of food 2) I was poor from all of the moving expenses and couldn’t buy food. Thus, takeout was quickly eliminated, too.

A few days before the move I looked in the fridge and found cabbage. Just cabbage. I don’t even eat cabbage really, but it was leftover from a juice cleanse my roommate and I tried the week before. We’re not talking about that. I was trying to think of what else I eat cabbage in….and I thought about my grandmother’s stuffed cabbage rolls, or galumpkis as we call them. I don’t know how to make them…and I knew I didn’t have the proper ingredients. But could I lazily throw the random ingredients into a bowl? I could. After a few trips to google, the stuffed cabbage bowl was born. This is about as authentic as Mexican from Taco Bell, but you know what? Live outside the box, people. This is genius, and delicious.

Stuffed Cabbage Bowl

in Recipe / Red Meat 1 comments