Yay for noodles! The rise of noodles in America.

    I grew up eating ramen even to this day it is a common thing around the house. Ramen in a cup, a package and really what ever form we can find. Seriously, my 13 year old if she could get away with it would eat noodles everyday!

   I have had noodles when I went to Japanese resaturant but it was not until we moved to Spokane,Washington that I had PHO. I noticed there were quite a few PHO joints and they always quite busy.

   The days of ramen being connected to broke college kids has almost gone the way of the buffalo so to speak. The truth is the way people view noodle in general seems to have changed.

    When it comes to noodles at home people seem to be finding to ways to eat there noodles differently, preparing them with other ingredients then just the broth and noodles. In our house we actually own the "Momofuku" book by David Chang and we will make our own broth ad other ingredients to have with our noodles. We love going out for PHO as a family and turns out this is the case of a lot of people.

#26 seafood PHO!!

   The fact is people just love noodles. I hit up Eddie Huang of BaoHaus in New York city and asked the question "Why do you think ramen has become so popular in the U,S, lately?" and this is what he had to say...."It's been popular but I'm not the biggest fan... Would rather a bowl of soba, kalbi tang, pho, or beef noodle soup any day"

     I think the only real point I have to make is go eat a bowl of noodles...trust me!! If you have never had noodles outside of a packet of dry noodles from the store you do not know what you are missing!!

Tako Tuesday!!

on Twitter @Takobbq

    So today instead of sitting around the house I rolled into Fresno,Ca with the wife and hooked up with the kid over at Fresno City College to check out the newest food truck to hit the scene here in the area. The truck is called Tako Bbq.

    Before I really get into the food of the Tako truck I want to kind of say that the food truck culture is really new to this city. This is not LA or San Francisco, but this is a town that kind of seems to not be the most supportive of a scene that really wants to grow it's legs and run.

   So if you are looking for a decked out truck with cool graphics wtapped around it you are going to miss it. This looks just like any taco truck in Fresno. They have there logo on it but really other then that it is not anything special looking. But do not judge the truck by it apperance.

Facebook: Takobbq truck

      So I was not sure what to order so we ordered one of each taco and the kimchee quesadilla. Lindsee ordered the Kogi burger. So I started with the Kimchee quesadilla that had colby jack cheese and the truth is I would never of thought of putting kimchee and cheese together.

   They had 4 kinds of tacos and the truth is they were all really good. next time I will be ordering the Tako dog!!!

    Support local food trucks. Follew them all on twitter and facebook becuase the more the trucks get support from us as consumers then hopefully we will see more trucks hit the pavement. I look forward to the day that we see a food truck meet up in  Fresno!!

FOODxCORE.....Sweet Chili Pulled Pork

Sweet Chili Pulled Pork is a working title.So when getting ready to prepare this unless your neighborhood market has a real meat counter find a real meat market who actually know something about meat. I personally visit Glick;s in Visalia,,CA or The Meat Market in Fresno,CA. There is something about going to a meat market that has a staff that knows about what cuts of meat are what but more importantly selling meat that has been cut there in house....Enjoy!!

After cooking for almost 12 hours...There were no leftovers!

 
Ingredients:
1 T oil
2 chopped onions
6 minced garlic cloves
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
12 oz chili sauce (1 small bottle)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire
3 lb. pork shoulder






Supplies:
Crockpot
Small Sauce Pan

Saute the onions in the oil until soft. Add garlic, chili powder, and pepper and cook another minute or so. Add chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Heat till boiling stirring constantly.

Put the pork shoulder in the crockpot and pour the sauce over it. Cover and cook on low 12 hours or on high 6 hours, until pork is basically falling apart.(Leave it in a little longer, it will not hurt anything). Shred the meat with a pair of forks and return to the pot and keep warm in the sauce. Serve over buns on a pile of steamed rice.

This makes a LOT of pork but I have found that if I am making it for a show there is not going to be anything left. In the off chance you have leftover you can freeze it for later!

6 lbs. of pork shoulder at 7 am!!

Now hipsters have there own little corner of the planet!

To all you guys still wearing your sisters pants, eyeglasses that I wore when I was in the 4th (I had to wear em and it was not to be cool), ya flat iron your hair more then not and you just kind of look like you asking for a butt kicking. Girls wearing leggings and cardigan sweats that belonged to your grandpa and for some reason the exact same glasses. Do not forget the fixed gear bikes that crowd around the the local starbucks.

So Travel + Leisure recently released a list of Hipster friendly cities. First here is Tavel + Leisure's definition of a hipster "A smirking attitude toward mainstream institutions means they tend to frequent cool, often idiosyncratic restaurants, shops, and bars—the same kinds of venues that appeal to travelers looking for what they can't find at home." My definition are just people that annoy the crap out me at shows.

So here is the top 10 Hipster friendly towns cities:
1. Seattle, WA
2. Portland, OR
3. San Francisco, CA
4. New Orleans, LA
5. Portland, ME
6. Providence, RI
7. Austin, TX
8. San Juan, PR
9. Philadelphia, PA
10. Denver, CO

Frankie The Barber presents....FOODxCORE

I am really happy to be doing this show because anytime I can do a show to get kids in our community to think about something other then themselves it is a good thing!!

Leaders (Facedown Records)
Darasuum (Riverside, CA)
Farooq (Fresno)
Hands On Deck (Visalia)
special guest

Cost is 7 bucks (5 bucks with donation of 2 or more non perishable food items). Below is a list of food items we are looking for.

Dinuba Youth Center
214 South L St.
Dinuba,Ca 93618

Meals in a can (stew, chili, soup)
Tuna and canned meat
Peanut butter
Canned foods with pop-top lids
Low-sugar cereals
100% fruit juices in single serving boxes
Canned fruit packed in juice

I like beer, but this one had me scratching my head!! Voodoo Doughnut Ale

As a kid I grew up watching to movie "Strange Brew" and there were always jokes about beer and doughnuts. When I heard about the Voodoo Doughnuts Ale I had to try it. I started sending out e-mails on Facebook to anyone I knew up in the Portland area figuring there had to be one person who could get me a bottle of this strange concoction.

On St.Patrick's Day I walked into a the local Whole Foods and as I am purchasing my pack of Murphy's Irish Ale I turn around to see this pepto-pink bottle labeled  ROGUE Voodoo Doughnuts Ale.

So today I went back to pick up some stuff for dinner and it was calling my name and this time I could not pass it up. The problem was that I put it in the fridge to get a chill on it and more importantly to get the guts up to crack it open.

Pulled it out of the fridge cracked it open and  and poured some in a glass for my wife and all I got was this sweet scent of maple. I finally take a drink and swish it around in my mouth like some snooty beer connoisseur.

I am a fan of many of the beers that ROGUE puts out, but this is one that has left me scratching my head. I went into this beer with an open mind but unfortunately left with a weird taste in my mouth. You can tastte the maple, the smoke from the hops and the hint of bacon.

As I was reading up on Voodoo Doughnuts Ale they obviously encourage pairing with pork and doughnuts. I got to thinking about how this works with pancakes or waffles.

I am glad I got my hands on a bottle of this and gave it a try but unfortunately the more I had to drink the more I have found it as a beer that I will not have again.

I do have to thank ROGUE for thinking out of the box!!

Pizza Night At The House

Today was one of those days that all of a sudden we looked at the clock and it was 4:30 so we are trying to figure out what to do for dinner (this is a common occurrence on Sundays). I suggest I run over to Pappa Murphys or I can run to the market and get stuff for us to make out own pizza.What do we do? Head to the store!!

Our store of choice is Fresh and Easy in Reedley because we have found that compared to buying groceries in Dinuba,CA (where we live) we get better quality products. Before leaving the house first thing I did was throw a pizza stone into the over and turn it on to 450 degrees (yeah I own a pizza stone).

Some meat, chees and veggies

So here is what we picked up from the store...basil, heirloom tomatoes, uncured pepperoni and Daisy picked out a Sopressata salami. The cheese we used was a whole fresh mozzarella

We were trying to decide if we were going to make our own pizza dough and when I looked at the clock I knew there was not going to be enough time so the store has a pre-made pizza dough that turned out to be really good. Please know that I would always at least try to make your own dough. It is worth it!!

So I get the dough rolled out and the first pie get olive oil, fresh basil, mozzarella and both the pepperoni and salami.I also put slices of green heirloom tomato slices. Got it on the pizza stone and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes. Pulled it out and the crust was down and the cheese was nice and melted all over and you can smell the basil. Totally happy with the way it came out!! 

The second pie we did had a tomato and garlic topping instead of pizza sauce (imagine something you would put on a crustini). The wife put the peperoni, salami cheese and tomatoes on it. this was a little heavier of a pizza but I think I ate 3 slices of it.

This is the kind of dinner that can get the whole family involved where it is in prepping and rolling out the dough or just putting the ingredients together. Yay pizza!!!