Well Done
Before we talk about burgers, we should probably talk about cooking temperatures, and how we order food.
The food safety people will tell you that hamburgers should be cooked to 160 degrees. That’s what they think is the minimum safe temperature, and it’s widely regarded as being well done. Me? I like living dangerously.
However, these days, well done burgers aren’t necessarily the hockey pucks they’ve been in the past. Grind in enough fat, include cuts in the grind from beefier flavored parts of the steer, and sear on a magnificent crust, and you’ve got a pretty tasty patty. Especially if your burger has two of them and a layer of cheese melting in between.
Five Guys may have been the first place to convince me that well done burgers can be a thing of beauty, but now other restaurants and chefs are hopping aboard the smashed diner-style burger wagon. Beyond being delicious, it also saves them the heartache of having to remake orders that are returned to the kitchen for being cooked to the wrong internal temperature. And I suppose there is always the food safety angle too.
But I’m not here to talk burgers. We’ll get into that soon. However, we’ve just begun to scratch the well done surface.
Little Beer / Big Festival
It’s almost beer o’clock on Friday! I think that means it’s okay if I write one of my periodic beer posts. Tomorrow, is the Saratoga Brewfest and Yelp is a promotional partner. As such, not only will I be there, but a bunch of people from the Yelp community will be too.
Just so you know, tickets are still available, and the weather at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds is looking beautiful for Saturday!
It wasn’t too long ago that I attended my first beer festival. I had heard them criticized for pouring big supermarket brands, and being little more than glorified fraternity parties where people drink to get drunk. But over the years, I’ve come to love these celebrations of beer, with their small sampling glasses, and the ability to take little tastes of a wide variety of brews. Including some from smaller breweries closer to home.
In fact, that’s exactly my plan for tomorrow. And while I do enjoy IPAs, New England IPAs, and Double IPAs, I am even more interested in trying some other styles. Tomorrow’s festival has a lot to offer, but instead of telling you, maybe it would be better to show you.
May Flowers
It’s supposed to be April showers, not May showers. The past few weeks have been rainy ones in the Capital Region, but today it’s lovely. Looking into the future, it seems like we’ll have good weather for Saturday’s Saratoga Brewfest!
But enjoying a beer festival in the rain is all about coming prepared for the weather. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy an occasional shower beer?
Still, the rain has dampened people’s spirits about spring. But the Fussies are loving that we actually have a transitional season this year. Sometimes the leap from winter to summer is far too fast. Personally, I love being able to mow the lawn in jeans without becoming a sweaty mess.
Right. So April showers bring May flowers. We still have flowers despite the extended rain and mud season. In fact, they seem extra happy. Since flowers are on the mind, and this is a food blog, I thought I would share a quick story about cooking and eating these beautiful springtime gems.
Burnt My Fingers on Oatmeal
Yes, I owe you a story about New York’s Best Burger. It’s coming. But things have been a little crazy lately. In part, because of my recent doctor’s visit that resulted in me finally succumbing to medication in order to control my high blood pressure. Mostly, I didn’t want to die at the judges table earlier this week. That would have been embarrassing.
I’m pleased to report that I’m still alive and kicking, even after having sampled eight burgers, most topped with ingredients that are a cardiologist nightmare.
However, I have also made some major changes in my diet, at least for the short term. Coffee is out. I’ve put a hard stop on that and replace my daily habit with a vastly lower quantity of green tea. Surprisingly that wasn’t as hard as I feared. Booze is out, and I’m limiting beer and wine to an occasional glass.
Walking is in. Yesterday, I took a lovely one in the rain for about an hour. But oatmeal is also in. I put a reminder on the refrigerator to eat more oats. The thing is the steel cut oats I love either take a long time on the stovetop, or advanced planning by setting up the slow cooker overnight.
Fortunately, my friend Otis over at Burnt My Fingers had a third way involving the Instant Pot.
Emily L Eats Dessert
Yesterday I was in Syracuse on a tasting panel to find New York’s Best Burger. And I can’t wait to tell you about it. But when I came home I was still in a little bit of a burger haze. Anyway, it was far too late to try and write any kind of proper blog post.
Miracle of miracles, I got an email from Emily L with her latest blog post. No, it’s not about eggs benedict. It’s not even about brunch. This time she notes a service feature from a bygone era at a place her boyfriend had driven by a lot and never visited. Now it sounds like they are are regulars there, and Emily recently discovered a cake that was entirely off my radar.
I’ll let Emily take it from here.
They Sent Me Waffles
Hopefully you all had a delicious Mother’s Day. Do you know one way of telling I married the right woman?
On Mother’s Day, we could go anywhere for brunch. But Mrs. Fussy only wanted to go to Dan’s Place Two. For those who aren’t familiar with the grittier side of Albany’s old school diners, this may be the grittiest of the bunch. While there are some who dismiss the joint as “Dirty Dan’s”, and most affectionate stories for this postage stamp sized eatery involve late night drunken shenanigans, this classic diner is good stone cold sober in the light of day.
As it turns out, we were the only family celebrating Mother’s Day at one of their few tables. Do you know what that makes us? Smart!
Crowds. Lines. Waits. Who needs that on a day of celebration? Instead, the kids shared a house-made blueberry muffin that was split and “toasted” in butter, served with more butter on the side. Mrs. Fussy had eggs, potatoes, bacon, toast, and lots and lots of coffee. I ordered light with over easy eggs, potatoes, and a small grapefruit juice. Little Miss Fussy went for chocolate chip pancakes, which had some delightfully crisp edges. The Young Man chose french toast with sausage.
There were no waffles. But there would be waffles later in the day, because back at home we received a special delivery from a place called Send Me Waffles. You can imagine where it goes from here.
Lessons from Leaving
Thank you for all your kind words and thoughts yesterday. I’m going to miss you too. For what it’s worth, I think I’m getting better at leaving. After all, I’ve got a lot of experience.
The first big move I remember was when I was six years old and the family was leaving Brooklyn and relocating to Miami. Going off to college is also a big move, and not everyone goes out of state, so let’s count the move to Philadelphia as number two. Then once college was over, I went back to Miami for a hot minute before packing up my worldly possessions and driving to Berkeley for move number three. By big move number four I picked up a wife and a son, and the three of us drove from Berkeley to Albany.
If you don’t count the several month sabbatical in New Jersey, that makes our pending Albany to Ann Arbor relocation, big move number five.
Today, I want to talk about the preparations I made for move number four. Because while it may have sounded good to eat all the foods I was going to miss one last time before leaving the Bay Area, it had disastrous consequences. And it’s a mistake that I won’t be repeating.
The Next Chapter
When there is good news and bad news, which one do you like to hear first?
Really, news is news. The same piece of information is going to be good for some and bad for others. I think we’ve talked about this before on the blog. Very little is black and white. Most things are varying shades of gray.
The one thing I regret is not being able to reach out to everyone who is near and dear to me, and tell them this news in person. And at last night’s Yelp event I did not want to draw attention away from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que nor spoil the fun of the festive occasion.
For such a cranky old man, I’ve got a bigger heart than one might expect. And there are so many of you that mean a lot to me. However, as an old man, I don’t tend to talk about feelings much. Still, at some point one just has to rip off the bandage tape, and it’s better to do it quickly in one clean yank.
So here it goes. The Fussies are leaving Albany and moving to Ann Arbor.
How To Steam Your Tortilla
Want to get me fired up? Let’s talk about wraps. Yesterday’s post about burritos, included a mention of making sure to steam your tortillas if you are making them at home. Today’s follow up post was originally going to be called “Cold Tortillas: A Crime Against Humanity”
As I started writing, it all felt very familiar. That’s when I remembered, we covered this subject before. The original post was called Bad Wraps and if you haven’t read it, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with why this is such an important issue.
But if you’re at home and want a wrap, you probably don’t have the stand alone tortilla steamer that is pretty much standard issue at every taqueria on the west coast. Sure, some places will warm up the tortillas on the griddle. Heck, one of my favorite tacos gets dipped in a cauldron of simmering fat before being griddle warmed. But at home, it’s unlikely you have the griddle space for a large flour tortilla.
And I can’t think of anyone besides Mr. Dave who might have a pot of simmering fat in which to dip tortillas. Actually, my friends at Field Notes might. Actually, I could see a bunch of my chef buddies doing something like this. Josh, if you’re reading this, maybe there’s hope for a tacos al pastor night?
Anyway, if you’re not a chef, here are a couple simple tricks to up your wrap game at home.
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