Comestibles

I met a friend down at Working Draft Beer earlier this week. My neighbor was there behind the bar doing his thing - I think he's a taproom manager - and he came over as I was sitting at the bar to offer his expertise. I was perusing the maltier side of of the beer menu and he helpfully remarked that the German pils, Hindsight, was freshly tapped. Well, within the last 24 hours.

That settled it.

Oh, it was tasty! A delicate crackery malt with a gentle spicy hoppiness. Working Draft has become the go-to lager spot in town. They're also the go-to smoke beer joint as well. It hasn't been too long since their smoked hefeweizen was on tap and now they've got a rauch Dortmunder Export available for my delectation. Madison is not Bamberg but thanks to Clint and company, there is fresh rauchbier to be had a few times (or more) a year for those of us with refined, smoky tastes.

The next day my ladyfriend and I went to Chicken Licks (née Lips) to satisfy her craving for Buffalo wings. I think my visit there a couple weeks back triggered a spicy, fowl desire in her brain. Because it is her way, she ordered for me and about 15 minutes later I was presented with a basket of chicken wings at Original Sexy Level 3 hotness.

I think that, had they been any spicier, I may have suffered a medical incident. A couple wings in, my right eye began to tear up which, of course, caused my nose to run. Oddly enough, my left eye never watered at all.  Was this due to the angle at which the wings entered my mouth? Perhaps I favor my right side when eating them and a chili miasma crept up to my eye.

Very, very hot yet I could still taste the chicken and the chili flavor.

I think that the kitchen offers yet further levels of fiery goodness for chiliheaded gluttony.

Yesterday at the grocery store I saw more autumnal flavors on the shelves. This time they were accompanied by those generally associated with Christmastime.

Apple season hasn't even started yet the pepperminty flavor of Christmas is here. Uff da!

Ice cream fit for a king

I cannot recall what we had for dinner the evening my ladyfriend and I went to Ice Cream Social but I do remember that it was blazing hot outside. Either dinner was an average meal overshadowed by ice cream or it was a good meal and Ice Cream Social makes some really damn good treats.

A gentleman was making the waffle cones as we stepped up to the display case and perused the flavors on offer. My ladyfriend had browned butter and I, unsurprisingly, ordered chocolate buttermilk.

Both flavors were excellent and I must admit that ICS makes the richest ice cream I've ever put into my maw. For sheer chocolate flavor, Zanzibar retains its title but this stuff was simply decadent. I worried that I might come down with gout on the way home.

Why yes, Madison does have a street named Sirloin Strip.

And on Sirloin Strip is a fine Columbian restaurant, El Pollo Rumbero. Google Translate says that it means, The Chicken Party-Goer. I like The Chicken Party Animal, personally. The name alone throws the gauntlet down before La Pollera Columbiana. Personally I think the more Columbian chicken places, the merrier.

I recall this place having been a hookah joint in the recent past but cannot recall what business was there prior to that. After searching, I see that it was Hanna's 77 Sirloin Strip at some point. The exterior definitely has a rural Wisconsin supper club thing going on. The El Pollo Rumbero folks have painted the walls with lovely bright colors with some serious Día de los Muertos vibes.

My ladyfriend ordered chicken wings and fries along with a salad while I had half a roasted chicken with fries, rice, and salad. We shared some fried calamari.

Both the calamari and the fries suffered the same fate of being undercooked. By that I mean that they were cooked to an edible degree but a bit of browning was in order. Flaccid fries are a sad thing to have on one's plate.

I think my ladyfriend misordered as the wings were just plain ones and not sauced like a large plate of them that mistakenly came to us before quickly being whisked away to a nearby table amidst a chorus of apologies. The salad was excellent with a nicely seasoned vinaigrette. My ladyfriend's salad was on the large side and she was unable to finish it. However, I did so the next day.

My roasted chicken was excellent. The skin was well-charred while the meat was tender and moist. What really made it super-delicious was the seasoning. It tasted peppery-herbal with just the right amount of salt for my taste. This chicken was so good that it now really stands out for me amongst all restaurant meals in town.

Thick cut pork chops grilled up fine have become a staple of my diet lately.

As has homemade cabbage salad of some ilk. A simple meal, I grant you, yet highly tasty. I am getting the grilled dialed in and I don't have to heat my kitchen with the stove/oven.

Last week I took my youngest stepson out for dinner to Guimo's Mexican Restaurant in Sun Prairie. Part of my motivation was to simply throw some business their way now that there was neither road nor sidewalk out front. We walked in after traversing some highly unlevel packed gravel and found that there were a fair number of people who apparently felt the same way as we were far from the only patrons. This was our second time there and my first experience featured some solid Mexican grub. The same held this time.

One thing I've been doing lately at Central & South American restaurants is trying out their soups. The ones that aren't pozole or menudo, that is. That night I had some of their chicken tortilla soup which came in that orange Fiestaware bowl. They did not skimp on the chicken. Tomato, chili - this was tasty stuff.

Last week my ladyfriend fried up some cabbage and onions and then served it with some meat pelmeni procured somewhere in the Chicago area on top.

I whipped up some spicy sour cream for the occasion. Again, simple but very tasty.

Last Saturday I took my ladyfriend to meet my family in Chicago. A cousin from out west was in town to celebrate his retirement and so we had a modest family gathering in honor of his milestone. Before we hit the road we stopped in at Cottage Cafe to break our fasts. I had walleye and eggs.

This seems to be an Upper Midwestern breakfast. Cottage Cafe did it well as the breading on the fish was applied with a light hand. When paired with rye toast, it is truly a delightful way to start my day.

I am a prepper. But not for the fall of our government and the ensuing anarchy nor for the end of days. I prepare for 90+ degree temps when I dare not cook in the apartment and am reluctant to be outside. And so on Sunday I prepped.

The first thing I made was pico de gallo.

I used one of the two serranos that I harvested early from my plant. Tasty but it could have used both of the chilies. And I forgot to get cilantro. D'oh!

Next was corn salad.

Normally I have black beans in there but, like the cilantro, I completely forgot to buy any at the store so I threw in a couple tomatoes that didn't become pico, avocado, and onion. This was all tossed in a vinaigrette that was given a large dose of coriander. The corn was actually rather sweet instead of bland and starchy so this salat turned out well.

Also on Sunday I found myself with a pound of ground beef to use up and didn't want to make burgers and so it ended up being used in stuffed green peppers cooked on the grill. I had no rice but I did have buckwheat groats so this ostensibly Italian type dish ended up with a Slavic complexion. Once I had the filling mixed up, I stood there contemplating a binding agent. What to use? Then it occurred to me that I had some tomato-basil cheese left and it was quickly shredded.

I had never attempted stuffed peppers on the grill before so I winged it. They spent a little time directly over the coals in an attempt to char their bottoms. This was moderately successful. Once this phase was done, I moved them away from the heat and let them cook for about 20 minutes.

They turned out alright. Tasty but next time I want to cook the peppers a bit longer all around. More char and a little less crunchiness to them. I only had 2 peppers so I had a crap ton of filling leftover and have been eating it on its own since. I think the nutty flavor of the buckwheat went well with the green bell pepper, though I can imagine that rice would better complement a sweeter yellow or red one.

Today I am feeling ground beef & buckwheated out and am contemplating what to have for dinner. I do need to run an errand after work so perhaps I can let someone else do the cooking this evening.

One final thought: the service at all of the above restaurants was good. The servers were all quite friendly, each and every one.

New Hmong market

Sun Prairie is now to home to a Nolan's Hmong Market. I believe it opened a couple months ago, ish. I stopped in last week on the strength of the sign not knowing it was a Hmong store.

I walked out with some sausage as well as a bag of meatballs.

I believe I've had sausage from Mekong previously though I don't recall if it was the pork ginger variety. Now that I look at this blog's archives, I find that I indeed had the pork ginger stuff a few years back. Probably from Viet Hoa. My plan is to put the meatballs, at least half of them, into a big bowl of ramen.

What is the difference between Norwegian meatballs and Swedish ones?

Somehow I have found myself at restaurants rather a lot this month. This is partly due to a dance card that has been more full than I could imagine until very recently. Although I am looking forward to my social life slowing down a bit so I can catch up on things, having a busy and rewarding social life is a problem I gladly take on.

When the cold settled in at the beginning of the month, a friend and I took our dinner at Fratelli's Trattoria. Not our first choice nor our second nor our third, we settled on it as our initial choices were all closed on a Monday night and Monona Drive threatened to become the Donner Pass if we didn't get food into our bellies soon. I'd been to Fratelli's once before while this would be my companion's first time.

The minestrone was tasty with a lovely tomato flavor despite missing an ingredient I've had in every previous take on the soup that has crossed my lips. Alas, I cannot recall what it was. Beans? Gah!

My salad was very tasty with the dressing adding a nice herbal accent. I.e. - no iceberg lettuce and a nice Italian dressing. I missed having freshly ground black pepper sprinkled on it straight from the mill, though.

My fellow eater had a hankering for fried calamari and it proved to be delicious. I appreciated the lemon wedges and enjoyed the bright flavor the juice added.

The pizza was mighty fine. High marks for the generous application of pepperoni and I only wished that it was been a bit more well-done. Brown that cheese! I take that back. Brown the cheese and sprinkle some herbs on there.

The oil-vinegar combo for dipping ended up being a culinary Rorschach test. What do you see?

My previous visit had been with my wife and I found that my dinner there with someone different made new and happy memories. 

I spied some ghost pepper caramels from Madison Chocolate Company at the co-op. 

While they were tempting, I was just not a big enough fan of caramel to make the purchase. Still, my curiosity remains as to just how spicy these treats are.

Last month I chronicled my venture to Stoughton and the Sons of Norway lodge there which was having their annual Christmas bake and craft sale. I bought a bag of Norwegian meatballs and they remained in my freezer for a couple two tree weeks until finally becoming dinner.

The nutmeg was just the right strength and they made for a fine, hearty meal that kept the cold at bay.

There was a fellow of Norwegian extraction at the Historical Society when I worked there. He knew many an Ole and Lena joke, lived in Stoughton, and visited family in Norway every year. One day not long after having had Swedish meatballs I approached him with a query of some import.

"So Jim, what's the difference between Norwegian meatballs and Swedish ones?"

He replied with characteristic Nordic seriousness, "Norwegian meatballs taste better."

A couple weeks back I did my duty and made sure that Ahan's tom yum soup was still delicious. 

I can assure you it was and it almost makes me stop longing for Wah Kee's soups in the winter. Almost.

Not too long ago I made my second stop at Molten Monkey for some of their fine Detroit-style pizza but I think I accidentally deleted the photos of that fine pie whose only defect was that it was missing garlic. This was my failing.

Also missing was a stop at Tipsy Cow in Sun Prairie with my stepson. There I had some delectable cheese curds and finally noticed that their burgers contain about half a cow. A multi-patty delight.

I took stepson out more recently before a stop at the supermarket so he wouldn't deplete my bank account by merely grocery shopping. We went to Fin Sushi at his request.

My salad was fine and the cucumber-avacado roll I ordered proved a fine vehicle for large doses of wasabi. The kid enjoyed the King roll and another type that was all decked out.

I do believe that I ate all of his julienned cucumber.

Last night a co-worker and I dined together to celebrate the holidays and send him off on an extended vacation. He was in the mood for pho. We made a last minute audible and so, instead of our usual meal at Saigon Noodles we ended up at Viet Town.

I revisited the spring rolls which were excellent. They still had that stick of rolled and fried rice paper wrapper which gives you a surprising crunch on your first bite. Ingenious.

I called the spring rolls with the crispy egg rolls. Here the crunch was on the outside.

Delicious.

My companion's pho:

He commended it highly saying that the broth was even more flavorful than that of Saigon Noodles.

For my part, I tried the Quang-Style Noodles. 

They were very tasty indeed. Quail eggs? I think it was chicken broth with a nice dose of turmeric plus other seasonings. It had a nice mellow taste which was soaked up by the noodles. There was much slurping at our table, I will confess.

I shall conclude with a photograph of the Westworld pizza guy at Woodman's in Sun Prairie just biding its time before springing to life and going on a rampage.

Who run Viet Town?

I don't know but the waitress was really friendly.

A friend and I stopped in at this fairly new restaurant over by East Towne the other day. Flagging your server down is easy peasy as they have a button above the generously filled condiment basket to get their attention. Being able to summon someone to serve me made me feel like something of an aristocrat.

My companion ordered wings and when asked how spicy she wanted them replied, "White people hot."

I went with a bánh mì. Upon asking for extra jalapenos, our server said, "Oh, you like it brown people spicy."

"I am white on the outside but brown on the inside," I replied.

"You're funny. I like you." I am glad she had a good sense of humor in addition to being very friendly. The spring rolls were tasty. 

I appreciated the crunchy thing inside which provided a nice contrast in texture.

Speaking of things crunchy, the toasted baguette that hosted the grilled beef of my bánh mì was perfectly toasted.

Those Maillard reactions lent the perfect, well, toastiness to complement the beef and pate just right. A most toothsome sandwich.

The chicken wings look extremely appetizing. 

The sauce was too sweet but I very much enjoyed the punch of umami from a nice dose of fish sauce.

Before going to see Sisu: Road to Revenge, which was great - I hadn't laughed at the movies like that in ages - my friends and I stopped at Gus's Diner for dinner. The chicken noodle soup was delicious.

I haven't been totally remiss in cooking at home. However, I haven't cooked anything particularly grandiose or labor intensive. The chicken curry was good despite the sauce coming from a jar.

Also from a jar was the jerk paste. Still, the jerk chicken was good. I fried up some cole slaw mix to got with it. This reminds me that I should go check out David's Jamaican at their new location.

Despite not everything being made from scratch, I am at least throwing some ingredients together and seasoning things instead of simply heating up TV dinners. Life is oddly busy at the moment.

A friend and I made our inaugural visits to El Sabor De Puebla - the one on Northport. A former Benvenuto's, the place is ginormous. It was sadly under populated but hope that this was simply because we were taking our dinner at an early hour.

Our table was adorned with flowers painted on the top. The backs of the benches were similarly decorated so get a booth by the windows if you go.

My dining companion ordered a sope with chicken that was simple yet tasty.

I had fajitas with poblanos, corn, and cheese. A gooey, sticky mess but delicious. The portion was, as you can see, most generous so it made for a couple meals.

Their salsas were very good and distinguished themselves from those of other Mexican joints around town with their seasoning. Less cumin, maybe? The red stuff had less of a smoky taste while the green tasted less verde than expected.

A friend and I took lunch at the Tip Top Tavern yesterday. He lives just a couple blocks from me and so we hoofed it over there in the cold and driving snow. He raved about his mac & cheese. Not only was the sauce delicious but it also came in the perfect proportion to the pasta.

"Their sandwiches are mediocre but this is excellent," he opined with a rare burst of éclat. 

My fried walleye really hit the spot on that chilly, snowy afternoon. They also get bonus points for including three lemon wedges thus obviating the need for me to ask for more.

Lastly I'll note that I am making cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving at a friend's place. I'll be using orange juice and sugar but want to try including maple syrup someday. 

Scenes From a Cat Café

Recently I made my inaugural visit to The Cat's Brew, a cat café. The café portion is out front while the felines live and play in a couple rooms in the back, one of which is bedecked with cat trees, plush cat homes, etc. as well as places for humans to sit. Cat toys were littered about for us to tempt the felines into jumping, batting, and other cute activities.

I forget the names but this fellow was sleepy during my entire visit. So tired that he neglected treats. Cats need naps, after all. 

Beware the naughty look in those eyes!

"Hooman!" 

There is a wall separating the hooman interaction area from the other room where the cats can escape our clutches as well as use the litter box. A couple of the 9 cats availed themselves of the opportunity to sit atop the wall and look down on us in what I presume was the harshest judgement.

I think this is Ringo. He's taking a break from jumping at cat toys and being hounded by the little boy who was there. 

And I believe this is Evelyn. The staff pronounced it ev-e-lin though I kept hearing the Sixth Doctor saying it as eev-e-lin in my head. She received a lot of pets from me and we had a good time playing.

"You shall limit your pets to my head, hooman." 

Look at those blue eyes! 

"Give me that hand!"

I believe that all feline residents of The Cat's Brew are available for adoption and I certainly wanted to take more than one home with me.

In addition to the interminably cute cats, the coffee was tasty too.