Categories
chinese sandwich

Happy Star Bakery’s Chicken Sandwich and Almond Cookies

Uncle Marce wanted to pick up some of his favorite Almond Cookies. I just wanted to pick up a beer. We went to Happy Star Bakery in Chinatown/LES, formerly named Sun Light Bakery, where I once got a Chinese Sausage Bun.

I saw a Chicken Cutlet Sandwich and really wanted it. So Uncle Marce bought it for me. It had the baked style bun that they use for a lot of stuff –slightly sweet bread. I think it was around $1.75. Pretty good for sitting around in the little heating cabinet.

The Almond Cookies were pretty good too. Crumbly and chalk, like how I think Chinese people like it. I think Uncle Marce likes to treat himself sometimes.

We also picked up some Steamed Pork Buns. They were soggy and wet. Not good.

Happy Star Bakery - 160 E Broadway (@ Pike St) New York, NY 10002

Categories
homemade tio wally

Tio Wally Eats America: New Year’s Feast

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Galena, Missouri.

Greetings from Galena, Missouri
N 36° 47.079’ W 093° 30.350’ Elev. 885 ft.

Having worked through the holidays the crew of the SS Me So Hungry was primed and ready for a little shore leave. And a fine one it is: It’s the Soul Food Shore Leave.

We always have great foods when we dock in Galena. The crew is able to request things and, more often than not, those wishes are fulfilled with great alacrity.

We’d heard that the Duke and Duchess of Earl had baked a ham for New Year’s Day. Naturally, we requested that they save the crew some ham. Unfortunately, the estate had been invaded by Chubb, Cam and Corty, three 15- to 18-year-old boys with teenaged appetites who will forever more be known collectively as The Three Mouthketeers.

I don’t know exactly how big the ham was but I’m guessing it was about 15-23 pounds. But by the time the SS Me So Hungry sailed in three days later the ham was all but gone. All was not lost however: The Three Mouthketeers hadn’t eaten the bone. So the Duchess made her famous Pinto Beans and Cornbread. And they were fabulous and soulful.

The beans are a simple preparation. First she brings the beans to a boil in water and baking soda and then, after removing them from the heat, lets them soak for an hour. This is known as two things: a quick soak (otherwise you have to soak the beans overnight) and — to use her technical term — “de-farting the beans.”

After rinsing the beans, you bring them back to a boil, adding a little salt, about a half-tablespoon of sugar and half a chopped onion. After they boil a bit, add the ham bone and let them boil until the beans are tender. After the beans are tender, remove the ham bone and remove the meat from the bone. After putting the meat back in, let the beans simmer while you — and this is a very important step — make cornbread.

After the cornbread is done, enjoy the beans with a dash of Tobasco® or your favorite salsa. I like to toss a piece of cornbread in the bowl and cover it with beans. I’m telling you, this is soul food!

The next day the Duke made Oxtail Soup. Oxtail Soup is impossible to find out in the real world. The only places you’ll find is the odd soul food restaurant. It’s understandable, though. Oxtails cost a small fortune — $4.99 a pound! But it’s so simple to make and so awesome to eat.

The Oxtail Soup was made with oxtails, carrot, onion, bell pepper, potatoes, celery, a can of diced tomatoes, and then stewed in chicken broth and the juice of the tomatoes. It was seasoned very simply with salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and garlic powder. Simply braise the oxtails and then throw the whole kit and kaboodle in a crackpot and let it simmer until the meat falls off the bone.

It, too, turned out seriously great and there was plenty to go around; the Duchess and The Three Mouthketeers were afraid of the oxtails. Sissies!

For the coup de grace, that night I made a sandwich of grilled ham and fresh pineapple with the few ham remnants the Duchess was somehow able to miraculously save for me.

When I was a kid my mom would make us both pineapple (canned) and banana sandwiches. Using only mayonnaise on the bread, they were seriously good. Heck, they still are.

Which reminds me of two things: First is that there are fingerling bananas here and, second, that life is pretty freakin’ good.

Here’s wishing y’all a Happy, Healthy and Lucrative New Year.

And so we roll.

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
bar/drinking sandwich

Smithfield’s Chip Butty (French Fry Sandwich)

After our successful UCB improv graduation class show yesterday, we headed over to Smithfield bar for drinks and food. I ordered the Chip Butty ($8) which was french fries over buttery bread. I asked the waitress what that was and she said it was a french fry sandwich. Okay.

It came out and it really was a french fry sandwich. It was actually pretty good though. I think it was the buttery bread that made it. I haven’t had buttered white bread in so long. I was sort of impressed and it wasn’t as dry as I thought it would be. Again, it was probably the butter that kept it from being too dry. Ketchup also helped, but I don’t know if it made it taste any better.

I never heard of this Chip Butty, but there is a wikipedia page.

Smithfield - 215 W 28th St (btwn 7th & 8th Ave) New York, NY 10001

I’m proud of my classmates. We put on an awesome show for a 101 level. One of my classmates found this on Twitter right after our show. It’s Vinny from Jersey Shore. I’m confused. Did he think he was in our class?


…he probably had his show right after ours. That’d be cool if he’s in my 201 class.

Categories
sandwich tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Chompie’s

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Tempe, Arizona.

Greetings from Tempe, Arizona
N 33° 25.384’  W 111° 55.198’  Elev. 1132 ft.

There I was, chomping at the bit, just wanting to get there. It was Sunday so traffic in greater Phoenix was light. I was sailing along with no impediments. I was just a few miles away, stomach growling, and there they were: Orange traffic cones as far as the eye could see, rerouting me, in circles.

Had I known there was going to be a triathlon in Tempe that day I would’ve entered … providing, of course, I could be motor-boated, rickshawed, and then electric wheel-chaired to the finish line.

Thankfully, I was bobtailing (land yachting without a trailer/sail) otherwise it could’ve gotten very ugly, very quickly. But after getting alternate directions from one of Tempe’s finest, I eventually made it. To Chompie’s.

New Yorkers, especially New York City-zens, are spoiled. With little effort they can find this kind of food. But in the rest of the country, even much of Florida — Go figure! — it’s hard. That’s why Chompie’s is such a treat.

Founded in Phoenix in 1979 by the Borenstein family, formerly of Queens, Chompie’s is a taste of New York and then some. Originally a bagel factory, it’s grown to become a full-blown deli and bakery with four locations that’s truly a tasty slice of New York Jewish soul food. And they have an incredibly extensive menu, from breakfast to dinner and everything in between.

I first asked for the garnish plate. If you ask, they’ll serve you a heaping dish of delicious home-cured pickles. Judging by the color, there are two kinds. I’ve never figured out the difference other than the light green ones are perhaps “younger” and taste more cucumbery; the darker ones more of a mild kosher dill.

I started my meal with the Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ($12.95), which came with two sides. These cabbage rolls are indescribably delicious. Overly stuffed with ground beef filling, the cabbage is as tender as can be and smothered in a sweet tomato sauce. I’m not sure why they call it Sweet and Sour. I think it’s mostly sweet. In fact, I could see it being too sweet for many people.

For the sides I first ordered a spinach latke but they didn’t have them that day. So I settled for the next best thing: a potato pancake and sautéed spinach, served with applesauce and sour cream, respectively. While they were both good, they didn’t measure up to a spinach latke. Still, they were awfully good.

Knowing I was going to get a sandwich to go I only ate one of the two cabbage rolls. Plus I also wanted to get some of their great soup.

I noticed on the menu they had The Rueben Combo ($9.99) which included a cup of soup (your choice) and a “cole slaw gnosh.” Supposedly it’s a dine-in only thing, but I told my most excellent server, Shula, that I was going to eat the soup there and run away with the rest, providing she’d give me a to-go box. I also told her that, if she were going to chase me, I wanted to take a nap first.

For the soup I got the Chicken with Kreplach. It’s a great soup, with nice pieces of tender celery and carrot and a single kreplach — a minced chicken-filled dumpling — in a savory chicken broth. However, there was no chicken.

One time I ordered the Mish Mosh, a big bowl of chicken soup with noodles, matzos and kreplachs. If I remember correctly it had chunks of chicken in it. But the Chicken with Kreplach that I had that day had no discernible chunks of chicken. That can only mean one thing: The Borensteins owe me a Chompie’s hat.

As I was packing up my booty Shula asked if I wanted anything else. “Maybe dessert?” she suggested. It sounds dangerous, I replied. “Yeah. Dangerously good,” she said. She was right.

Chompie’s has a dessert case that would kill a diabetic on sight. So I ordered both a Mini German Chocolate Cake and a Mini Chocolate Mousse Cake ($2.25 each) to go.

The German Chocolate cake was pretty good. But the Chocolate Mousse Cake was really spectacular, really creamy.

But I learned an important lesson afterward. While the Rueben, with its half-mile-high stack of delicious pastrami served between slices of really great double-baked Jewish rye bread was awesome cold, and the cole slaw equally so, the Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls aren’t very good cold. Not at all.

It’s just more proof, land yachters, it’s always something.

And so we roll.

Chompies, locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler and Tempe, Arizona

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
sandwich tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Jersey Mike’s Subs

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Asheville, North Carolina.

Greetings from Asheville, North Carolina
N 35° 34.936’  W 082° 36.237’  Elev. 2208 ft.

It’s funny what you can find when you leave the land yacht and wander around. Such was the case recently when I was parked in one of my “secret spots” in Asheville — okay, West Asheville.

I awoke early on a Sunday morning and, knowing that my favorite Sunday Brunch spot had stopped serving Sunday brunch for the season, went looking for something to eat. Although I’d parked in this spot many times I’d never wandered into the little strip mall that adjoined the little side street I called home.

Much to my surprise the place is a goldmine of foods. There is a little Mexican market with a deli/cafe in it; a tiny Chinese take-out place; an American burrito place; and a sandwich place called Jersey Mike’s Subs.

Jersey Mike’s caught my eye because they had a Grilled Pastrami Rueben on the menu. But it seemed kind of pricey; $6.55 for a regular. I don’t know why that seemed like a lot at the time, but it did.

Nevertheless, I bit the bullet and ordered the Rueben (pastrami, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on a French roll) and … good gawd y’all, the thing felt like it weighed about two pounds. I lugged my booty back to the yacht and, geez Louise, it was absolutely awesome.

So good was it, in fact, that I promised myself I’d get another one next time I was there, regardless of whether I was hungry at the time or not. I knew they are as good cold as they are hot because, at nearly 8” long, I couldn’t finish it all in one sitting.

So keeping my promise, I went back to Jersey Mike’s in Asheville to get another Grilled Pastrami Rueben and was soon faced with a real dilemma: I wanted another Rueben but the special that day — they have a different one every day — was a Jersey Mike’s Famous Philly with chips and a 22 oz. drink for $6.99, only 4¢ more than the cost of the regular sandwich.

Who could possibly pass up a deal like that? Not me. But I also wanted the Reuben. So I did the only thing a quick-witted, logical sailor would do: I got both.

The Philly (grilled steak, American cheese, onions and peppers) was great, too. The steak was really tender and generously piled on. It was all I could do to finish it.

While I was waiting for the sandwiches I noticed how fresh the vegetables in the cold station were, and that the tomatoes were actually red and ripe. I mentioned this and was told that they get their veggies from the Asheville Farmer’s Market, which is truly the real deal, a world class Farmer’s Market. It’s amazing what a huge difference ripe, farm fresh veggies make flavor-wise, especially when compared to a certain ubiquitious sub-par sub chain; I think that particular chain busses its produce in on a phantom, once-monthly Wolverine.

And so we roll.

Jersey Mike’s Subs, 1341 Parkwood Road, Asheville, North Carolina, with locations scatted nationwide

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

Categories
pizza sandwich

Homemade Crusty Pie

Rusty made this faux chicken pizza sandwich –Two Jeno’s Pizzas, Three-pack of Boca vegetarian Chicken Patties, slices of fresh jalapeno and homemade fancy sauce. It was pretty good. Now that I try to watch what I eat, it’s kind of ridiculous that I’d probably eat a whole one of these back in the day. It’s not too big or seem too unhealthy (because there’s not a whole lot of cheese on it), but I’m sure it’ll give me a heart attack if I ate this every day.

Categories
concert/event sandwich

The Lovin’ Cup Cafe – The Goddess Sandwich

Had this a few weeks back when Justice of the Unicorns played at Cameo Gallery, in the back of the Lovin’ Cup. I don’t think they have those awesome happy hour wings like they used to, but the still have tator tots.

I got the Goddess Sandwich (avocado, hummus, apple & basil on honey multigrain with balsamic vinaigrette $9) with tators. It seemed like the healthiest thing on there. Pretty decent sandwich.

The Lovin’ Cup Cafe - 93 N 6th St (btwn Wythe & Berry) Brooklyn, NY 11211

I finally pulled out a keytar at a show for the first time.  I bought so many. It was time to play them. I’ll play one again this Thursday (10/11/2012) at Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick with Leamers.

Categories
tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: 96 Truck Stop

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Winchester, Kentucky.

Greetings from Winchester, Kentucky
N 38° 00.829’  W 084° 10.646’  Elev. 1077 ft.

If you want funky in Kentucky, this is the place.

I first found the 96 Truck Stop in Winchester through the miracle of the Garmin GPS. I was looking for a place to park, one that I hoped had InterTube access. Sailing along, I called this place and, lo and behold, they had free Tubes. All I had to do then was find it.

This place is in kind of a weird location. It’s very old place that, I suspect, was originally located just off the highway long before the interstate was built, but who knows? To get here you have to go north up Hwy. 627 and then double back on Rolling Hills Lane. Being kind of hidden, it isn’t a place you would spot from the freeway and pop into.

I arrived just before lunch on my last visit, having sailed all night. I went in hoping they’d have some special that I couldn’t resist but all they were offering at the time was an Open-faced Roast Beef (see pic) and BBQ Pulled Pork, neither of which rocked my boat.

Instead I opted for a Egg and Bologna sandwich ($3.50), and one of the “New Items”, Fried Green Tomatoes ($2.99), along with a Sweet Tea ($1.99).

Whenever I’m in these kinds of places and presented with various choices, I always ask the server what they would get, and usually order that. The waitress suggested I get the sandwich on white bread with mayo and tomato. It came with two thick slices of fried bologna and it was awesome. Had it not been so filling I would’ve ordered another one. It was that good! (Just looking at the picture has me salivating!)

The six slices of Fried Green Tomatoes served with Ranch Dressing and were okay, I guess. They were prepared nicely but were kind of bland, with a slightly fishy taste. I suspect they use the same cornmeal that they use for the Catfish. They also seemed kind of overpriced. I mean, it’s a tomato — a green tomato! — for chris’sake. But then again, fried green tomatoes are always pricey for some unknown reason.

The Sweet Tea ($1.99) was everything it was billed as: Sweet! Too sweet, I thought.

Still, that sandwich was so good I’ll definitely be stopping back just for that. Hell, it was every bit as good if not better than Uncle Joe’s Famous Fried Bologna sandwich.

Total bill for this portion of my culinary adventure was $8.99. In retrospect, I should’ve just got the sandwich.

After a long nap I woke up hungry again and went back in to see if they had changed the specials. They still had the previous two offerings but had added Stuffed Bell Peppers ($6.99), which I ordered.

I love Stuffed Bell Peppers and thought I’d hit pay dirt. “Wow, two stuffed peppers and two sides for seven bucks!” I thought. So I ordered it with Cottage Cheese and Macaroni and Cheese as the sides. Then the plate came.

Now I don’t want to argue with anyone armed with a felt-tip marker and a dry-erase board but … if you put an “S” after the word pepper, it makes it plural. If I’m not mistaken, the meaning of “plural” is “more than one in number.” So where the hell is my other pepper. I need my other stuffed bell pepper, damn it! I want it. Now.

I was going to ask my waitress about this roadside restaurant robbery but she was busy. Knowing that she’s dealt with plenty of mildly disgruntled land-yacht skippers in the past, I knew I would get nowhere with my linguistic argument. Indeed, I suspected that even if I presented her with my First Place Award for Opinion Writing from the Northwest Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists I wasn’t going to get another pepper. I really hate it when my coveted SPJ Award fails to get me more stuff[ed bell peppers].

Despite my apparent trauma from being shorted, the Stuffed Bell Pepper, after a dash of salt, was really good. Instead of a green pepper, it was fairly large red one, generously stuffed with a rice and ground beef filling, topped with a tomato sauce.

The Macaroni and Cheese was homemade, but it too was kind of bland. But with the addition of salt and pepper it easily filled the bill.

In all it was a pretty decent deal for the price. Plus, I’d found a dollar bill in the parking lot on the way in. A whole dollar! Bonus.

If you’re still hungry after dining at the 96 Truck Stop there is a place right across the street called Alltech. It grows algae — actually it’s more akin to a brewing process — in giant vats before sending it through a dryer and packaging it up in 50-kilo bags. The dried algae is then shipped off and used as a high-protein additive to cattle feed. This could conceivably make for an organic, alternative “dessert” for the health-conscious, if you’re so inclined. Or, like me, you can just wander over and be mesmerized by the giant acrylic tubes of bubbling algae.

The 96 Truck Stop is open 24/7, located about 20 miles east of Lexington off I-64 at Exit 96 (Hwy. 627 North). They have free InterTubes but only one power strip if you need to plug in.

And so we roll.

96 Truck Stop, 510 Rolling Hills Lane, Winchester, Kentucky

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.