Judging Grilled Cheeses
It’s unfortunate that grilled cheese sandwiches have been shortened to the simplified term of “grilled cheese”, because grilled cheese is a thing. And if you haven’t tried halloumi yet, you should really get on that. It’s delicious.
But so are grilled cheese sandwiches.
Now I can’t remember how this came to be, so I don’t know which hat I’ll be wearing, but I do know that on Saturday, November 18 at the Takk House, I’ll be judging the Capital Region’s first grilled cheese festival.
While I do judge food competitions fairly regularly in the service of the FLB, I’m pretty sure this opportunity was the result of Yelp being one of the sponsors of the event. All Over Albany is another sponsor, and I love being on the same ticket as my favorite local website.
So here’s the question. What do you look for in a great grilled cheese sandwich?
An Oreo Mystery
There is no real mystery as to why Oreo cookies are so popular. Those dark, crisp, chocolatey cookies have a great snap to them. And that sweet, white, creamy center is a great foil in texture and flavor to the cookies that contain it. They are fun to eat. They go well with milk. And while two is a perfect snack, it’s easy to chow down on a mass quantity of these delightful rounds.
When it comes to cookies, I like them crispy. I know that I’m an outlier on this. But that’s okay.
Still, I don’t really eat Oreos. My sweet tooth is satisfied with the malty backbone of an IPA, the fruitiness of a syrah, or the juiciness of a crisp apple. If I am going to eat a cookie, I prefer one made by human hands, and with plenty of high quality butter.
That said, one thing that I cannot resist is a good marketing gimmick. Ask the folks at Nine Pin Cider. They got me to go out 26 times over the course of the year and try a different cider every two weeks, just so I could get a sweet card that said I did it.
So when I saw that Nabisco had made a batch of Mystery Oreos, where if you could guess the flavor you could win a big cash prize, I had to give it a go.
Births, Deaths, and Many Happy Returns
Man, there is a lot going on these days on the local food scene. It’s hard to keep track. And if you throw in what’s happening with the local craft beverage sector, it gets even harder. I almost missed out on the new beer from Indian Ladder Farms that was made with KCBC.
Sadly, not all of the news is good. We’ve recently lost some places that I hold dear. But we won’t linger on the sadness, because there are joyful things to celebrate, like a big anniversary and the return of a local legend. Well, legendary to some. Others just call him Chef. It’s not like he’s a household name… yet.
The below is far from an all inclusive list. For example, the new hours at The Hollow which finally expand service to a weekend brunch and Monday lunch are absent. But if I put in everything, we would be here all day.
Okay. Let’s begin.
Old School Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches
Eric Schlosser posited in his book Fast Food Nation that the all-American meal was a burger, an order of fries, and a milkshake. And he’s got a point. However, these days burgers are so ubiquitous, they hardly feel special.
Sure, you can get a specialty burger, and not all burgers are created equal. Some are truly excellent. But it’s hard to find a corner of the country without a burger shop on every corner. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not turning against burgers. My last meal would still be a deep fried buffalo burger from Swifty’s.
It’s just that I’m coming off of a hot roast beef sandwich high, and I’m feeling the need to share my love for Mr. B’s Best in Queensbury.
Montreal, Kids, and Chinatown
Mrs. Fussy was going to Montreal for work, so I decided to pack up the car, grab the kids, and crash in her hotel room for the weekend.
We had a similar trip to the city a few months ago in the summer. For some reason, the kids really enjoyed it and wanted to return. I don’t know if it was getting to stay in a hotel, breaking out of the usual routine, or eating all the delicious food. But whatever it was, we were all hoping to get lightning to strike a second time.
Getting both kids to enjoy anything is a minor miracle.
Mostly, they wanted a repeat of the last trip, but I was able to convince them to try a few new things. Still, this entire weekend was pretty much just a series of outings to Chinatown. Sure, they loved it. Me? I worked on the edge of San Francisco’s Chinatown for years, so I’m a little spoiled. Or maybe I’m just jaded.
Whatever the case, there were still a few standouts.
When Wings Don’t Fly
This is not about what is happening at The Ruck. I love The Ruck. But the return of Wing Night to The Ruck highlights a larger trend which Deanna Fox wrote about recently. Chicken wing prices are on the rise.
Yawn. Prices are rising. What else is new. Is water still wet?
Which is why I want to bring The Ruck into this, because here is a place in Troy that has built a significant reputation on the strength of its wings. Of course these days it’s also an amazing craft beer bar, and the kitchen will indulge your over-the-top gluttonous food fantasies with its “Fat Kid Style” add ons.
You can follow how the newest iteration of The Ruck’s Wing Night was received on its Facebook page. But one thing that’s revealed deep in the comments was that Wing Night at The Ruck used to mean free wings on Fridays. For those who remember the glory days of the past, the $1 a wing special on Wednesdays seems far less special.
So what I wanted to discuss today is what happens next?
The Diet vs The CSA
I’m drowning in cabbage. But I love cabbage, so that’s not entirely a bad thing. Fortunately, the point of cabbage is that it keeps. Winter storage crops are amazing, and we grow some mighty fine versions of these vegetables in New York. I’m thrilled by the abundance we get in our share from Roxbury Farm every other week.
Yes, we share our share. The CSA program is every week, but for the past few years the Fussy Family has split the share with a partner. That means instead of getting fresh vegetables from the farm every week, we leap frog with the other family, so we each get a pick up every other week.
Even still, that’s a lot of vegetables to go through every two weeks. Even with a family of four. What’s making matters more difficult these days is my current diet, which is funny because part of the new cruelty is all about eating more vegetables.
Let me give you a little peek under the hood of the madness du jour.
Throw Into Can D
Five candy bags.
Two doorbell rings.
Three happy kids served.
If only I had known, we would have given each kid a pound of candy. Luckily, we have children in our lives. And an orthodontist who is buying back candy at $2 a pound. And there are always graduate students. They’ll eat anything.
But not everyone has easy access to starving students, so I shudder to think about the waste that holidays like Halloween produce.
Although, I’m not sure the candy is even fit for those toiling away in the halls of higher ed. Last night, I decided to sample some of the wares, and was horrified. Well, that might be too strong of a word, especially since there was an unexpected bit of good news.
The 2017 Candy Bowl
Do you want to hear a Halloween horror story? The candy companies have won. They have finally broken my resolve. Like a crunchy peanut coating, my will has been crushed to bits.
In the past I’ve tried rallying against child labor in cocoa harvesting, chocolate that’s not really chocolate, high fructose corn syrup, GMO sourced ingredients from both corn and sugar beets, PGPR, artificial colors, and who knows what else.
It’s exhausting.
Recently, someone sent me an interesting link to a story about processed foods. There was one line that really stood out for me. The poison is in the dosage. But none of my concerns are really about health and wellness. They are more about the integrity of food, and the sacrifices we’re willing to accept for the sake of a corporation’s balance sheet.
But of all the things I care about, candy is at the bottom. And at some point you’ve got to choose your battles. So this year I gave up and just let Little Miss Fussy go to town. At least I’ve trained her well enough to put together a well balanced candy bowl.
Stupid Food Fights: Burger Building
Far be it from me to argue with the Internet. Sure, some people may talk about “winning the Internet.” But there is no winning the Internet. The Internet always wins.
Apparently, right now the Internet is arguing about burgers. More specifically, the burger emoji. Now, the burger emoji isn’t a burger at all, it’s a cheeseburger. And yes, that’s clearly a form of burger. You might even claim it’s an elevated form of burger. But if I ordered a burger and received a cheeseburger, I’d be sending that sandwich back. Actually, that tragically happened a while ago.
On its face, this is a stupid food fight. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to make it a little bit more meaningful. Because when it comes to idealized forms of the cheeseburger, I have a few things to say on the matter.
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