Fried Food - - Page 6

by BS

Every Year, America Digs a Little Deeper

September is National Deep Fry Everything Month here in the US, better known as state fair season. ML’s batter fried waddle through the Iowa State Fair got my heart racing, and got my stomach remembering the above photo, taken on my travels this summer in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The mystery DFF in question is deep fried pickles, and in true Midwest style, they were light on the pickles, heavy on the fried. Delish.

So as summer state fair season comes to an end, just thought I’d ask — any other ESers make it to the state fair circuit this year? If so, what’s the craziest thing you saw battered and fried? Extra points, of course, if it got placed on a stick.

Update: top 10 new state fair foods of 2010

in Food Travel 1 comments

by forkitude

Grease, Goats and Girth: The Iowa State Fair

After the two-hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa, my taste buds were ready for the greasy foods on a stick and ridiculous fair concoctions that only the Iowa State Fair could deliver. My goal was to attend the fair on an empty stomach so I could report back to you, dear ESer, about how the delicious fried things on a stick tasted. But I have a confession to make: I WAS NOT HUNGRY. After a sweet and greasy fried twinkie that got me all sticky, my body said “no way are you eating any more of this shit.” No, the wasp drowning in the sugary residue around a funnel cake was not appetizing. And last time I checked, hot beef sundaes would make any normal person want to vomit. About eight bottles of water and 500 pictures later, I was exhausted, smelly, tired and grossed out. I never did find those chicken lips on a stick. I feel somewhat cheated.

It was a twilight zone of meat: pork, steak, chicken, turkey, bacon, sausage, meatballs, 1/2 lb tenderloins, hamburgers. And it seemed that every other person I saw was a walking example of what happens if one eats state fair food as one’s daily diet. The people watching just got better and better and more alarming as we made our way around the fair. (Picture the humans in the movie Wall-E.) I couldn’t snap my camera fast enough. In speaking with one seemingly regular gentleman, he asked me what I was doing with the big camera. I told him that I was photographing state fair food. He asked me, “are you taking pictures of all the freaks?” Yes, yes, I was. I couldn’t keep my shutter shut.

We were also lucky enough to catch a few of the animals left in their pens, including a gigantic pig that looked like a hippopotamus, sheep, goats, turkeys, ducks and cows. The smell, oh the smell, can only be described as hot and pungent. And most likely, very soon, these animals would be on a stick somewhere. Gross.

Pop a few antacids before you browse the selection of photos:

by BS

Artsy Photo of the Day

From Bakesale Betty in Oakland, CA — the sandwich that puts the McChicken to shame.

Buttermilk fried chicken topped with a slaw of jalapeno, cabbage, red onion and parsley.

PS — your humble ES editor is exploring San Francisco, Oakland and surrounds this month — mostly with my mouth, of course. Where to eat? Shout it out, ESers!

Update: Officially one of the ten best sandwiches in America.

in Fowl / Photos / Sandwich 5 comments

by BS

Eating on the Edge: City Island

Endless Simmer’s NYC-based tasting team is bypassing the cutesy outer borough neighborhoods and taking the subway to the end of the line, then getting on a bus and taking that to the end of the line, then seeing what we can find to eat.

This week’s destination — City Island — is seriously the edge-edge-edge of New York City. It’s kind of like an adorable New England fishing village, except it’s actually in The Bronx, retains just a smidge of that New York City grime, and you can get there on the MTA bus. Take the 6 train all the way to the end of the line, then hop on the Bx29 bus, which takes you across a bridge onto this amazing little island where they’ll deep-fry anything that swims. Just hope this fish isn’t too local.

Since we came this far, we figured we might as well go all the way to the water’s edge, where Tony’s Pier offers lunch at picnic tables right on the sound. As you can see, inside NYC or not, they’ve got pretty much the whole nine yards when it comes to summer-y fried seafood. Yes, even frog’s legs, which I’m pretty sure I disapprove of eating anywhere outside of Paris, but definitely in The Bronx.

Instead I went with the pretty perfect fried clam strips meal. Most excitedly, it turns out Tony’s has pioneered a new form of serving a five-course meal. I call it the slow reveal. This looks like just a giant pile of fried clams, with a super-sad side salad thrown in for good measure, right? Wrong!

in Restaurants 3 comments

by BS

The Badger State Strikes Again

Back in college, I had the distinct pleasure of spending four years of my life in Wisconsin, a place so American it makes the rest of America look like a Soviet gulag. Nowhere is this more evident than in Wisconsin’s grand culinary traditions, which have only three basic rules:

1) It must be fried

2) It must contain cheese

3) It must contain beer

While these rules have resulted in some questionable practices (cheese-filled beer brats – no thanks), every once in a while they coalesce into a new gastronomic invention so perfect that attention must be paid.

An old college friend recently posted the above photo on facebook and I nearly screamed out loud.

A deviled egg, dipped in cheese-y beer batter and deep fried. As she writes, “this should be on the Wisconsin stage flag.” Amen. Wrap that baby in bacon and it’ll be the new stars and stripes.

in Cheese / Eggs 6 comments

by Roo de Loo

Texas Tuesdays, Part II: Who You Callin’ Trailer Trash?

Photos: Matthew Wexler

I like to sit down at a proper table when I eat. And after closing the door on fifteen years in the restaurant industry, I like to be served. Sometimes I feel the phantom pain in my side when I see a defeated waiter struggling to get through a shift—but for the most part, I’m just happy it’s not me. So the thought of traipsing through sweltering downtown Austin like my ancestors crossing the Egyptian desert with matzoh in their pants made me wary. I imagined when I set off on a food trailer crawl that I might be disappointed with greasy funnel cakes and toxic yellow lemonade. And where would I pee? What I stumbled upon is an entire subculture of dedicated food artisans leaving their tire tracks all over town.

photos: Matthew Wexler

Chasing Chi’Lantro

One of the newest additions to the food trailer scene is Chi’Lantro, a name derived from two cultural staples: kimchi and cilantro. The fusion of Korean and Mexican food had me all a Twitter, which is a good thing because it’s the only way you can track this trailer down. With locations that vary like the changing winds, I have to credit a friend’s i-phone for my spicy pork taco with Korean soy vinaigrette salad and salsa roja. I can’t get too attached though, as this newcomer is already revamping their menu along with their ever-changing locale.

Holding the Torch

Torchy’s Tacos is a benchmark of Austin’s food trailer scene. They are “living the taco dream” by serving up an array of tortilla-stuffed concoctions—from classic breakfast tacos to more daring fare like The Brushfire, filled with Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapeños and diablo sauce. Founder and Executive Chef Michael Rypka mortgaged his house and maxed out a couple of credits cards in pursuit of the perfect taco. And it’s paid off. The homemade salsas were a knockout, and I have to give the guy a hats off for continuing to locally source the majority of their products and meats.

in Food Travel / Trends 5 comments

by BS

Indian Simmer: Ba Da Ba Ba Ba

I’m sorry, but I had to do it.

After about 45 consecutive meals of Indian food, I just wanted a good old American-style gorging. Man can only live without french fries for so long. Plus, who could resist finding out what a hamburger-free McDonald’s is like?

in Food Travel / Veggie 8 comments