Hamburguesas El Gordo

  

 “Hamburgers El Gordo” is new to the corner of 42nd and Cedar. Solid thin diner style burger patty with fresh crunchy veggies. Not pictured are the fries that had the perfect firm, not too greasy, texture. These aren’t your McyD’s crunchy fries. And they have tacos! The al Pastor was flavorful if a little dry and having an odd texture. The Pollo, though, was juicy and flavorful. Both meals came with a generous portion of fried onions and the tacos had some of the house salsa, HOT. 

Super glad to have them in the neighborhood. Will go back. 

7.5/10

Sweet and Sour Pork Riblets

Sweet and sour pork riblets. Rib chunks were simmered for 10 minuets before being marinated overnight. Served with rice and sautéed cabbage and bell peppers. Just a good solid piece of home cooking. The pork was tender and juicy, the cabbage crunchy and warm. 

8.3/10

Snowy Saturday Soup

The ramen noodles are just filler. 

The best thing about weekends is a steaming bowl of whatever we have. Always start with homemade broth that’s sometimes spiked with flavor packets. It’s always spiked with fresh vegetables. Current habit is a small pool of chili oil and soy sauce in the bottom of the bowl before adding some salad type veggies. This rendition included bacon, Brussel sprouts, 7 minute eggs, mushroom, carrot, and cabbage.

9.5/10

KhunNai Thai Cuisine

The lady had a hankering for Pad Thai that wouldn’t be denied so we decided to try a new place. KhunNai Thai Cuisine has gotten some decent press recently from the usual sources so we went for it. She of course went for the Pad Thai and added a side of shrimp spring rolls. I had the Oxtail Penang Curry.

All was good though the Pad Thai might have been on the sweet side. The flavor in the curry was deep and luscious. The spice level, medium, was warming and even but not to hot. The biggest drawback was parking. It appears that they have no off street parking and the neighborhood is getting so popular that street parking can be hard. I also worry that in such a booming area, they seem to have about double the space they need and I don’t know how that’s sustainable.

7/10

Roast Rabbit

We’ve been experimenting with new meats lately and this time she did a marinated rabbit roasted with onions and lemongrass . After the rabbit was done she added reddish greens to the still bubbling juices in the bottom of the pan sautéing them in the pot liquor.

Served up with rice and loaf #17 in the year of the sourdough.

7/10

Love in a Bowl

Starting with home made turkey and smoked ham hock broth I poached a chicken breast for 45 minutes at about 200 F with carrots, celery, leek tops, salt, and pepper. While shredding the chicken the rice noodles went in.

She topped it up at the end with a dash of cracked pepper, flat leaf parsley, and most important, a drizzle of sesame oil. 

Many years ago a wise woman, the mother of a friend, explained to me why she believed that her homemade chicken soup was better than what you could buy. She explained that she, as a scientist, was a little embarrassed because it wasn’t measurable. The important ingredient couldn’t be bought, measured, or added from a jar. As a scientist she desired empirical evidence. Unfortunately love can’t really be measured, only experienced. I'm sure the way she describes it has changed, but her message has stayed with me all these years and this is my bowl of love.

Pork Broth

How you know you got the good stuff. At room temp.

Central - Lima, Peru

We knew that we wanted to go to one of two places and our fixer at Amphibia Travel got us reservations here first.  All that was left was to hang a two week trip around dinner at Central.

ROCK MOLLUSCS - SEA SNAIL · MUSSEL · SARGASSUM · LIMPET - -10m

DESERT PLANTS - HUARANGO · CACTUS · SWEET POTATO LEAF · LOCHE - 180m

LOFTY ANDES - POTATO · TREE TOMATO · ALPACA · MUÑA MINT - 3900m

THICK STEM - OLLUCO · CHINCHO · ONION · FIELD MUSTARD - 3400m

WATERS OF NANAY - PIRANHAS · COCONA · ACHIOTE · HUAMPO BARK - 450m

Yep, those are piranhas.

FOREST COTTON - RIVER SHRIMP · LLANTEN · HUITO · PACAE - 300m

HIGH JUNGLE - MACAMBO · CASSAVA · COPOAZU · AIR POTATO - 1900m

MARINE SOIL - SEA URCHIN · PEPINO MELON · RAZOR CLAM · SEAWEED - 0m

TREE POINTS - AVOCADO · KIWICHA · ARRACACHA · LAKE ALGAE - 1200m

LAND OF CORN - KCULLI · PURPLE · CHULPI · PISCORUNTO - 2010m

AMAZONIAN PLAIN - CHURO · CECINA · BLACK CHILI PEPPER · BELLACO - 600m

COASTAL HARVEST - SCALLOPS · YELLOW CHILI PEPPER · MILK · TUMBO - 20m

SEA CORAL - OCTOPUS · CRAB · SQUID · SEA LETTUCE - -10m

HIGH ANDES MOUNTAINS - PORK · BLACK MASHWA · MACRE · KAÑIWA - 4100m

HUMID GREEN - CAIGUA · CUSHURO · SWEET LEMON · CHACO CLAY - 3700m

AMAZONIAN WHITE - CACAO · CHIRIMOYA · BAHUAJA NUT · TAPERIBA - 400m

MEDICINALS AND PLANT DYES - CONGONA · MATICO · MALVA · PILIPILI - 3050m

A singular experience. We went into the evening actually a little nervous. The trip had, to this point, been essentially perfection and this was the moment that we had hung the entire thing on. What if we didn't enjoy it? If the concept fell flat? It didn't. each round moved smoothly into the next. Each course telling another chapter in a story.

I never would have believed that this was an experience that I could ever have. People look at me sideways when I say we went to Peru to eat. But the truth is, what better way to meet a place? I mean we saw Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, weaving, salt pans, and the rest - but every day, multiple times, we had to eat. It astonishes that people can travel all the way to a place so foreign to them and not just not emphasize, but often actively shun the local food. We could have, for most of the trip, eaten at places familiar to any mall or suburb in America. I know people who would. But I don't think you've visited a place if you haven't tasted it.