I find nothing more relaxing than slow cooking on the weekends. Up until recently I would use my crock-pot and either search for recipes on the internet or just throw items in that worked well together. I’d set it on low, walk away, and 4-8 hours later I had dinner. All in all, not too shabby.

A friend of mine turned me on to the dutch oven and the wonders it can do. She boasts about how you can cook almost anything in it because of it’s enamel covered cast-iron. I’ve had it for a few weeks and also purchased the William-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking (of which another friend has a copy). Today I had my first smashing success.

I don’t think I can post the recipe due to copyright laws but to get the idea, you braise a 3lb pork shoulder in beer, onions, garlic, lime, and orange for a few hours. The key to this all was browning the pork shoulder in my cast-iron skillet prior to braising in the oven.

You’ll see my two favorite kitchen tools above. 12″ cast-iron skillet and 5qt. dutch oven. Truly a match made in heaven.

The finished product was extremely tender and juicy with the best part being the citrus hints from the orange and lime. More or less the flavors were infused with the meat which created a tasty fiesta worth repeating.

The cookbook has dozens and dozens of other recipes which I now can’t wait to try out but, the big revelation today was that a dutch oven blows the crock-pot out of the water.

Dutch Oven: Time Saver. Flavor Enhancer. All Around Bad-Ass.

I’ve been laying off the food trucks as of late. The new year brought a renewed self sense of worth which included exercise, less booze, and a healthy diet. BORING. Looking for nearly any excuse to break my diet I came across a wonderful tweet today from @PiTruckDC

“We’ll be in Penn Quarter, near F & 9th, around 5! We’ll have 36 free whole pizzas. Each Pi feeds 2. Hope to see you & sorry if we run out!”

Free pizza 3 blocks from my office?!?!?! On it.

I arrived shortly after 5 with the line roughly 15 people deep. Roughly 10 minutes later I was loaded up with an entire deep dish pepperoni pizza gratis.

Well what do we have here? A delicious pizza built for two. For the record, that’s not grease on the bottom of the box. Since it was 20 degrees out I had to hop on the train home to enjoy (deep dish pizza is messy, right?). 20 minutes of steam later and the bottom of the box was a tad soggy but, it didn’t harm the pizza.

The crust was exactly what I like in a deep dish pizza. Crisp and sturdy to support the ingredients with a subtle sweetness. The sauce delivered a tangy kick with a sweet undertone and the spices were well balanced. At the base you had layers of gooey cheese and a generous portion of pepperoni.

I also did a couple of tests to see how sturdy an individual slice was (this is street food after all!). The slice held up well and can be consumed while standing without fear of a mess landing on your shirt. What’s even better, the box converts into 4 paper plates and then can fold into a carrier for leftovers. You’ll notice perforated lines on the box with a set of instructions for folding near the top in the image below.

In short, this is an excellent pizza. They will be offering several options including some for vegetarians. It’s also the perfect amount of pizza for two people. If you can’t catch the food truck, try and hit their restaurant, District of Pi, coming to Penn Quarter soon.

Now that I’ve had my momentary lapse in diet-reason, it’s back to the regularly scheduled program.

]]> http://chewbrew.com/2011/02/10/pi-in-the-sky/feed/ 1 http://chewbrew.com/2010/12/05/my-graceland/ http://chewbrew.com/2010/12/05/my-graceland/#comments Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:08:26 +0000 bobby g http://chewbrew.com/2010/12/05/my-graceland/ Here are a few photos of Comerica Park along with some other sights in Detroit.

The original Detroit establishment (circa 1917) is American Coney Island. There is a rich history you can read on Wikipedia if you want but, basically the original owners got into a fight and split the restaurant in two a la King Solomon (see Lafayette Coney Island next door). Many argue which is the best, however; I chose American Coney Island as it is the original.

Above is a plate consisting of the classic coney hot dog and one loose coney. A loose coney is made with ground beef instead of a hot dog but has the same toppings as the regular coney hot dog. They are each served on soft buns and topped with an all meat chili, yellow mustard, and diced onion. The dog is in a natural skin casing  that has an incredible flavor and a distinct snap when you bite into it. The chili is meaty and it blends perfectly with the onion and mustard. Oh. So. Good.

My friend Winnie was in town for Thanksgiving and curiously I had never taken her to have a coney before. We decided to get chili fries as well and she put up with me snapping photos of her while she ate.

The giddy smile above is the delight of one having their first coney. It is something you’ll never forget.  Many cities have their version of the coney but to truly experience one you have to head to Detroit Rock City.

There is a new Chicago-style hotodog place in DC you say? It’s not a food truck? What’s it called? Chi-what-o? Ohhhh. ChiDogO’s!!

Today marked the opening of an actual brick and mortar restaurant serving a regional cuisine not of DC origin. One would expect a food truck dispensing such items, however; ChiDogO’s has opened up at 14th & U St. NW. Their tagline is: ‘Brining Chicago Style Hot Dogs and Italian Style Beef Sandwiches to The District!” If they’re brining it, I brought my appetite.

Reminiscent of a 50s diner, ChiDogO’s has a diamond cut steel counter with aluminum high top tables. You order your food at one end and pick it up at the other. The menu consists of two main items. Obviously the hot dog and the Italian beef sandwich. There are a variety of sides and combinations along with the ability to order two Goose Island Beers (312 or seasonal variety).

I went for dinner (apologies for the dark photos) therefore I was in need of a lot of food and a beer. None of the combos include beer so I ordered a la carte. One ChiDogO with the works, one Italian Beef Sandwich with hot peppers, and a 312 Goose Island Beer.

First up was the ChiDogO and it was excellent. The poppy seed bun was super soft. The sport peppers were hot. The tomato was crisp and flavorful. Most importantly, the Vienna Beef hot dog gave a perfect snap when biting. All the other standard toppings were there (mustard, relish, onion, pickle spear, and celery salt). While I haven’t been to DC-3 yet, this is a great benchmark.

Next up was the Italian Beef Sandwich and overall, I was not a huge fan. I found the beef to be chewy and there was not a great meat to bun ratio. I made a mental note that the larger bun used was probably to absorb the au jus in the ‘Dipped’ option. I went with ‘Juicy’ (a little extra gravy) so it seemed like too much bun. The hot peppers were good but to make this a great sandwich, the beef should be tender and the bun shouldn’t consume the meat.

Overall, I really enjoyed the hot dog and, having a Goose Island 312 was a nice touch. Next time, I would pass on the beef sandwich and get an extra hot dog or a side of fries. Something fun to offer in the future would be a happy hour combo that includes a beer as well.

Check it out next time you are at 14th and U St and let me know what you think in the comments.

DC’s ever expanding food truck scene received a new addition this week in the name of CapMac. While this week is considered their soft opening, you can count on them very soon to get you through the upcoming Winter season with their menu of creative comfort foods. I happened upon their Twitter account this afternoon and was fortunate enough to have them serving in my neighborhood.

While their menu will be rotating several items (click image above for readable menu), I decided to go with the namesake dish of CapMac’n Cheese. For $6 you get a medium sized container which after inhaling, is more than enough for lunch.  Other items were Chicken Parm Meat Balls and Beef Bolognese both served over Rigatoni for $8 a piece. Creatively, those two items were served in Chinese-style takeout containers.

Without a doubt, CapMac serves up a well balanced Macaroni and Cheese. The cheddar offers just the right amount of sharpness while the pimento provides the extra dimension to make it stand out on your palate.  The pasta is appropriately cooked to al dente which avoids the most common disaster in mac ‘n’ cheese. Adding crumble cheese-it as the crust is a nice touch to make the experience reminiscent of being a kid again.

With so many food trucks in the DC area, it’s getting harder and harder to make a decision about lunch. With CapMac now on the streets, I will likely be returning all Winter long when they’re in my neighborhood to shake off the Winter blues.

I was fortunate enough to be able to take a quick trip to LA last weekend. Sure my work trip got canceled but, that didn’t mean I shouldn’t go to LA, right? Premium Shih flew in from Boise and we got to hang in LA just like old times. In-N-Out, Father’s Office, Neptune’s Net, and Barney’s Beanery were just some of the fun places we got to visit.

I got my first Thai Massage. No, there was not a ‘Happy Ending’ but I did get to have a 100 pound Thai woman grind her feet into my back for roughly an hour. Surprisingly not bad.

We saw a biker gang take over the Pacific Coastal Highway in Malibu outside of Neptune’s Net. It was truly something to see nearly 100 Harley Davidson motorcycles, all driven by hardcore bikers, completely stop traffic on one of the most famous highways in the world.

We even got to see Vampire Weekend at the Hollywood Bowl which turned out to be quite an experience and not in a good way. Picture thousands of screaming teenage girls acting like they just saw The Beatles. Generally we see great shows here so we’ll let this one slide.

Los Angeles is one of those places that’s hard to like on the surface but, once you get to know it a little, it becomes just like an old friend. It always makes me happy to visit, even if it’s only for a few days.

Here They Are. Enjoy.