Wacky Weekend Eats

On one of my favorite blogs the other day I spied a "Mexican Cheeseburger Dip." The thing looked hideous, but it also looked... kind of good. I decided in honor of that I would take this three-day weekend to make things for no other reason than that they sounded good. Or sort of good. Or, I guess, just funny. Here is a rundown.

 The Liz Lemon

"Did anyone cheer me? Or name a sandwich after me that would maybe be turkey, pastrami, Swiss, Russian dressing, coleslaw and potato chips?"

I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a joke, but all I could think was: Wow... that sounds good.

It was. 

An Overdose Of Dill Pickles

Archer Farms "Dill Pickle Dip" and Pringles "Screamin' Dill Pickle" chips.

This, on the other hand, was a bit over the top. Either one is fine, but the combination was intense. 

 Chipotle Mini Corn Dog Sliders

Mini corn dogs tossed in chipotle sauce with cabbage on slider buns. I'll be honest - I'm not sure where I got the idea for this. Corn dog sliders? They were fine, but I don't see myself making them again.

 BLFC

Bacon. Lettuce. Fried Cheese. 

 Guy Fieri & Begrudging Respect

I am not what you would call a Guy Fieri fan. I don't hate the guy like, say, my brother hates Bobby Flay, but I find his whole shtick annoying to no end. Let's just leave it at that. (But I have to admit, I still watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives because I love the format and what the show represents. Although I can't help but think how much superior it would be in the hands of someone like Alton Brown or another host who doesn't feel the need to try and upstage the guests.)

But I have to say, I freaking love this "Carolina #6" sauce.  The main ingredients are vinegar, sugar, tomato paste and pepper. There are only a few restaurants I have eaten at outside of North Carolina that have served me a barbecue sauce this good, and I have never found it in a bottled sauce. I've used it on carnitas, chicken nuggets, as a base for cole slaw, and, on this occasion, poured over a slaw-and-mustard hot dog.

I had some leftover chopped pork from a lunch the day before, so I heated the pork with Guy's sauce and placed it over cheese and tortillas chips for my own take on pulled pork nachos, a dish my friends and I fell in love with at Silky O'Sullivan's in the French Quarter many years ago. 

 Happy Hour With Murph

Murph: What do you want, red or white sangria?

Me: Whatever you're having.

Murph: I always get the red.

Me: Then I'll have the red.

Murph: But... I always have them put a splash of vodka in mine.

Me: I do not want a splash of vodka in mine.

Zankou Taco

Slow cooked beef, crispy garlic-pepper onions, Rudy's BBQ sauce, and a generous amount of Zankou sauce.

Del Taco Mole Chicken Soft Taco - Sort Of

More than three years ago I wrote about Del Taco's spicy mole chicken soft taco - which itself was several months after I had eaten it. Not surprisingly, it was an awesome promotion that Del Taco had released. After years of hoping they would re-release it, I finally decided to make my own. I got a jar of mole sauce at Baja Ranch Market and mixed it with some water and hot sauce, then spooned it over the taco. It was merely average. The mole wasn't great, nowhere near as good as Del Taco's was all those years ago.

I hope you had a nice weekend.

Del Taco Crispy Shrimp Tacos

My favorite fast food promotion, you will not be surprised to learn, is Popeyes Crawfish Festival every autumn. I write about it every year as I fall in love with their crawfish all over again. But close to that is Del Taco's crispy shrimp that return every February. I have written before and I will again: most seafood restaurants do not cook fried shrimp as well as Del Taco does in their two dollar tacos.

At lunch time on Saturday, Elizabeth announced that she wanted shrimp tacos. No problem, I said. I left her on the couch watching The Walking Dead (I didn't care if I missed it - at this point in the series, every episode contains 30 seconds of action enveloped by 40 minutes of plaintive whining) and headed up to Del Taco.

A couple years back the shrimp tacos were $1.89, now they're $2.19. The way of the world, I suppose. I ordered some of the regular crispy shrimp tacos and some of the "Baja" shrimp tacos.

I started with the regular shrimp taco. Like last year, I felt the taco could have used a couple more shrimp. However, the shrimp that were there were delicious. Golden brown, crunchy, meaty little morsels of crustacean. I squirted some of the provided lime on them and ate the taco in a remarkably short time.

Next up was the Baja shrimp taco. Like last year, the Baja sauce had a citrusy, tangy flavor to it. I thought it was delicious. Could they have done with using a little bit less sauce? No doubt. (Actually, they could have used much less.) But it was still tasty. Elizabeth liked the regular version more, but I preferred the Baja taco, especially with the lime.

So it's another good year for Del Taco's shrimp tacos. If they had these on their menu year-round, they would be legendary. But there are many things I've never understood about Del Taco, particularly why it isn't more popular: there are only around five hundred locations. I know that seems like a lot, but Taco Bell has sixty-five hundred, and Del Taco's tacos are better. Then again, McDonald's has 33,000 locations, and everything about Del Taco's burgers are much better. And we won't even get into how great their crinkle-cut fries are when done right.

I guess I just have to appreciate these tacos when they come back into my life every February. 

Radhika

Many years ago I ate at Radhika a couple of times when it was on Shopper's Lane in Pasadena (where The Counter currently stands). I thought that overall it was the best Indian restaurant in town, though I went to the Old Town Indian restaurants much more frequently. Then it closed and disappeared for a bit, reopening a year and a half ago on Mission Street in South Pasadena.

The other night, my parents invited Elizabeth and I to join them for dinner. We thought about going to Shogun but they were booked pretty solid; the only reservations were at 5 or 9:30. My brother and his friend Nick came along, too, and my brother suggested trying Radhika.

We sat at a table for six in the corner of the restaurant. It was very busy that night - South Pasadena's Art Walk was going on right outside on the street - but it was not too unpleasant. The noise level never got uncomfortably high and, though the tables were packed tightly together, it wasn't terrible. (The servers did an impressive job of maneuvering between the tables - perhaps they're used to it like this.)

The Gold Line tracks run by right outside the window.

The menu is relatively compact when compared with other Indian restaurants at which I've dined lately, the kind of places with menus that go on for several pages. Radhika's menu is front and back and not repetitive.

I've had all of these before, and knew what I wanted this evening. (Actually, I only wanted water, but when my parents announced that they were going to split a 650ml bottle of beer, Elizabeth suggested that we do the same.)

My parents shared a Taj Mahal, Elizabeth and I shared a Flying Horse, and Travis and Nick each had a Xingu, a Brazilian lager. 

I had suggested ordering two baskets of pappadams and the chutney sampler. The first basket came out in just a minute; we had to wait a few more minutes for the other basket and the chutneys. I liked all of them: the spicy one on the left, the sweet, tangy one in the middle, and the yogurt chutney on the right. (The favorite of mine was the middle, but I'm not sure anyone else really liked it.)

I thought I'd heard my brother order an appetizer and when I inquired what, he told me "vegetable tempura." I thought that was a joke; I'm not sure I've ever heard something referred to as "tempura" before at an Indian restaurant... but sure enough there it was on the menu. And he gave me a piece. It was delicious, as good as any pakora I have eaten in the last year.

Garlic naan is as necessary to me when it comes to Indian food as hot mustard is with spring rolls rolls or cilantro on carnitas. We placed two orders. I'm not sure if my dad had eaten garlic naan before, but he loved the intense garlic flavor of it almost as much as I do.

My dad ordered the "Lamb Shank Kashmiri" - spiced with asofoetida (a spice that is charmingly known as "Devil's Dung"), cinnamon, fennel and dry ginger.

"How spicy is that?" my dad asked the waiter.

"Not very spicy, maybe only a 4 out of 10."

"Could you make it like a 1 out of 10?"

My dad liked the lamb fine although, predictably, he said he thought it was still too spicy.

My brother and I both ordered the chicken vindaloo. The menu describes it as being cooked in a "fiery red hot" curry sauce. The sauce was wonderful, full of spice, but it wasn't really very hot. Regardless, it was delicious. The chicken and potatoes were tender and, as I mentioned, the spices were plentiful and tasty.

My mom had the lamb vindaloo, which she enjoyed. She offered me some but I declined.

Elizabeth and Nick both had chicken tikka masala. They liked it - as did I, I had several pieces of Elizabeth's - but we all wished it had been a little spicier.

I liked Radhika, but I did not love it, and I certainly did not enjoy it as much as I did at the old location. The prices are a little on the high side and the portions are not large enough to share family-style. I would go back with Elizabeth if it were just the two of us, but I would never again go with a group larger than four. Those kind of dinners will be at Mezbaan, which has not only been my favorite Indian restaurant for group dinners in Pasadena, but my favorite restaurant of any kind.