Homemade Chili Justice!

It’s been nagging at me for months, a strong desire to make chili. Having never made chili before I had no clue where to start with this “project.” Determination set in and an instant message to a friend across the country got me a chili recipe that didn’t need beans and would go great on top of hot dogs and french fries. Beef and canned tomatoes would do for content so a quick visit to the store was all I needed to get started.

Only the chili is from scratch, with onions, garlic, a heavy amount of chili powder, and looooooooooove. It tasted “OK” but I wished I had used even more garlic and onion. Even worse was the thick consistency it picked up as I kept it warm long after it was ready to serve. Because of those errors I was initially pretty bummed about my chili endeavor, but the next day it reheated into the most delicious Sloppy Joe I’ve ever had and all was forgiven.

Christmas pig?

I’ve always known my Christmas is a little different from everyone else. Turkey? Turkey is for Thanksgiving. Cubans <3 pork, so a redundant turkey holiday will not do.

I’ve had BBQed pig every Christmas Eve of my life. For my family Christmas Eve is the big day for celebrating, we’re a little different. My dad says back in Cuba the 3 wise men bring presents instead of Santa Clause, but just like Santa Clause they look suspiciously like your father.

Welcome Back Burritos and Mojitos

New posts, more writers, Today is a good day for Burritos and Mojitos.

First up is Wayne, he loves lunch trucks and cheetahs.

Frysmith

On my lunch break, I spotted a new lunch truck on the block called Frysmith.

The truck runs on fry oil and their specialty is fries. Currently, their menu consists of trays of french fries with various toppings and even has a vegan item! I ordered Kimchi fries, which is topped with Kurobuta pork belly, onions and cheddar cheese, with a Filbert’s, on their recommendation.

The fries are great–none of the Smart and Final frozen stuff here.  Hand-sliced, freshly fried, crispy, crunchy, with a great “bite.” The smaller pieces were nice, golden and crunchy. According to their website, Frysmith uses fresh kennebec potatos specifically to get this effect. My only gripe with the fries was that it had a tendency to hide the pork, which by itself was very tasty, juicy, and tender.

I was a bit skeptical of cheese and kimchi together and having a tray of fries for lunch. After a couple bites, I’d forgotten about how weird cheese and kimchi might be together. The cheese was used sparingly and went surprisingly well with the kimchi and onions.  Thankfully they’ve somehow toned down the kimchi’s usual pungent smell (probably with the cheese) and I was able carry it into the office without someone mistaking it for a sphincter malfunction.

The serving size turned out to be good for me. It’s quite starchy and filling and the topping has quite a bit of content.  As with many fried or salty foods, it left me thirsty, even after finishing off the Filbert Cola I got with it.

They have a great selection of unique soft drinks with prices on par with other trucks. Next time around, I’ll try either their Rajas fries (fire-roasted poblano chiles, caramelized onions and shawarma-marinated steak with Jack cheese) or their vegan chili fries (Organic tomato and mixed beans with soy chorizo and smoked paprika, with or without cheese). For curious readers, take a peek at their menu and tell me what you want me to try next.

• Kimchi fries $5.47
• Filbert’s Cola: $2.28
• Tax $0.76
• Total: $8.51

• The Good: The fries (fans of fat steak fries look elsewhere), the kurobuta pork, the kimchi, soft drink selection, truck runs on veggie oil.
• The Bad: Texture and seasoning of fries overwhelms the pork at times.
• The Ugly: The napkin I used to wipe my mouth off

Find them at:

http://www.eatfrysmith.com/

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/frysmith

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Frysmith/69856653747

Ocean Park Pizza

I’ve found it extremely difficult to find pizza by the slice that is exceptional. Unfortunately this place ended up being another unimpressive pizza joint providing me with a par of a lunch. I don’t have a particular problem with thin crust, I just don’t understand why restaurants are unwilling to make thin crust with flavor, it’s like eating cardboard. I guess that’s why I’ve always preferred a thicker crust, because I actually care about the crusts flavor.

As I get older deciding on topings for pizza has proven more and more difficult. It’s no surprise that my expanding tastes would correlate with a broader preference for pizza topping, but more recently I’m struggling to find places with desired toppings. The benefit of getting slices from a place like this is limited selection, but it also means there will be very little available that strikes my fancy. I went with Hawaiian and Pepperoni at this place just because they were my favorites from the limited options.

Casa Blanca

The main reason I wanted to visit this place is its got the same name as an area of my hometown. It wasn’t the nicest part of Riverside, but I had a couple friends that lived there and I figured I had to try this restaurant that shared a name with that community. I roped my roommate Tree into it when we found some favorable reviews on yelp and off we went.

I made my choice of a wet burrito however because a different piece of hometown nostalgia, the wet carne asada burrito from Templo Del Sol. ultimately the burrito was underwhelming, with both me and my roommate voicing our dissapointment at its medicority. The red sauce is so red but has so little flavor, it was an overall bummer to the whole experience. It seems I never put a Templo Del Sol post up however so I’ll haveto dig around and try to find some pictures. If not, theres always an excuse to go take more.

15922 Gale Ave
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745-1603

(626) 330-9549‎

Banana Bite

Did this with my teeth, way clean cut.

Merkato

So you eat Ethiopian food with your hands, and I think I was always nervous about going to an Ethiopian restaurant because I figured I’d make a mess of myself. Finally, I stopped being a bitch and can say the food is incredible(and I didn’t make a mess). My first bite had so much flavor it caught me off-guard, and my Yedoro Tibbs was the best thing I had eaten in weeks, prompting me to ask nearly every person Iv’e encountered since if they had enjoyed Ethiopian food before, and encouraged them to if they hadn’t. I’m already arranging future trips with as many friends as possible just so I can try more things off their very wallet friendly menu.

I was pretty overwhelmed with hunger by the time we got our food, and I hope that’s the only reason I sucked up these pictures so bad. That platter in the background looks tiny but it was actually large enough to fill both Me, Wayne, and Wayne’s to go box completely. If I could just get better at taking those shots in low light I’d be pretty content with myself.

The Yedoro Tibbs was chicken heavily marinated in a delicious garlic sauce, served on top of Injera, something I can only describe as a sourdough pancake. There was a lot of this bread brought to the table, its also used to pick up the food. The best was still the Injera under the chicken since it soaked up all its flavor  for a very delicious bonus. I really should try making all of this at home, I’ve just been so lazy about cooking lately. Whatever, Can’t wait to go back

http://www.ethiopianmerkato.com/

Miyako

This is not the first sushi restaurant I’ve eaten at named Miyako, this isn’t even the 2nd. Surprisingly however they all 3 are of a similar quality and price, although this one lacks the yellow tail cheek I favored at the last Miyako I would frequent. Santa Monica is full of sushi bars however and if not for the fact that this one was in walking distance I’d most likely choose another.

This baked salmon roll was exactly what I needed on a day that I wasn’t too hungry. I could really go for high quality sushi at lunch, but this doesn’t do too bad a job of sating the craving, even if it’s a bit of a compromise. Their eel with rice bento will probably be my next lunch, it’ll hopefully hit the spot.

Miyako Restaurant
2829 Ocean Park Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 396-5588

Foo Foo Tei

I finally found someone I could drag to my favorite Ramen place: Foo Foo Tei. Eagerly I drove my roomate to the restaurant, my excitement being misunderstood for drug use. Upon our arrival worry set in. The parking lot was packed and they had only just opened on a mellow saturday morning. I quickly put my name down so we could get to the long wait. The wait payed off with deliciousness though, and thankfully my roomate enjoyed it as much as I always do.

There was much discussion about appetizers, but we ended up ordering simply 2 bowls of ramen. Once again I went with the negi ramen, although I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the last time I order it since I just dont feal the giant bowl of green onions as much anymore. The eggs will always be a fixture of my ramen, they are probably why I dont just warm up some cup o noodles at home.