The Mad Greek - Baker Ca

100 Miles outside of Las Vegas and it's 116 degrees. Off in the distance is the town of Baker California. I have spent a week in Las Vegas and am tired, hot and hungry as I drive back to San Diego. This town is in the middle of nowhere and you have to drive past it. no other way around it. The first thing you see of the town as you approach it from a distance is this large outdoor thermometer, in fact it is the largest outdoor thermometer in the world. It thrusts out of the sand like a huge phallic mirage from a dream that Larry Flint would have. jutting towards the sky proclaiming itself as indeed the largest in the world. I felt a stirring of pride build within myself and at the same time a feeling of inadequacy.

The sign at the bottom of this beast states that Baker is the gateway to Death Valley. I don't know about you but I really have no interest in going to any destination that has the word " death" in its name. Ironically this monument is located right next to the Bun Boy Motel.

Wow, what a name for a place. I know that years ago I used to stop at a diner here that was named Bun Boy, But I really can't figure out why anyone would choose to stay at this aptly named place. This is a very eccentric little town, not only is there a mad Greek here but everyone else seems that way as well.

Driving through the town I spotted the Alien Fresh Jerky Stand. OK, We have Phallic monuments, a Motel named Bun Boy, oh the little bun boy is holding a rather large red arrow towards the Motel. Oh yeah and the alien jerky store. Nice. What they say about the desert heat driving people mad must definitely be true.

I drove on through to my destination, The Mad Greek at the same time keeping an eye out for creepy old guys sitting on porches and playing banjos.

And there it was, I have actually eaten here a few times before on my way through. From the outside of the place you can immediately tell that it looks like a Greek rendition of the It's a small world ride at Disneyland, only a much smaller world of course. this boat only goes through Greece. The decor actually looks like what would happen if Bobby Trendy and Liberace got together, smoked crack and then designed a restaurant. I only wish my brother George were here to see it.

This place is usually extremely busy and I mean very busy. It is the consummate tourist trap. there is nothing around you for miles. It was featured recently on the Food Network show Diners Drive-ins and Dives. I know they make they're own shawarma , I had it the last time I ate here. Nothing to write home about. This time I ordered the classic Gyros plate. $9.95 a bit steep I thought for what you get. The plate consists of a scoop of mild flavored fluffy rice, Pita bread, veggies and the must have classic condiment, Tzatziki sauce. Tzatziki sauce is usually made from yogurt, dill and cucumbers and this one at The Mad Greeks is quite good.

The bread was very fresh and moist. The Gyros meat was typical. I mean I don't think anyone really makes this stuff from scratch anymore. It would be a daunting task, especially at a busy place like this. Nice lamb taste. The tomatoes that were on the plate were actually rancid and not edible.

Had to have a cold $4.50 Budweiser to wash the taste out of my mouth. But I knew that I would have to have a Sam Adams later to wash the Bud taste away as well.

This place is actually known for its strawberry shakes. I have never had one. But I will next time I'm on my way through this dusty little town. I will have dessert here in the desert, but will try the Mexican place next door for lunch.

So with a loud shout of Opa! we bid farewell to this eccentric little town.

72112 Baker Blvd

Baker, CA 92309

Phone: (760) 733-4354

Harbor Fish Cafe

Feels great to be writing about food again. been awhile. Over the past few months I have had more Pâté de foie gras in France that I thought possible. I knew one more bite was going to get me picketed by an animal rights group. I ate so much in fact that flocks of geese started to change the direction of their migratory flight to avoid flying over me. Even had the best lobster I have ever had anywhere in New York City. And of course took no pictures and blogged none of it. Needed to relax and enjoy the food, after all, to eat is the greatest luxury we have as humans, to enjoy with our friends and family and just relax.

And that is just what we did at one of my favorite haunts, The Harbor Fish Cafe in Carlsbad California. You can't really call this place a dive in my opinion a dive must have an air of some eccentricity to it. This place reeks of tourist trap if you just happen to stroll by. Located in the Carlsbad village area and perched on a cliff by the ocean and if you grab your food and are lucky enough to find parking in the rear of the place. You will have a spectacular view of the beach below.

I absolutely detest fried foods of any kind, But I have to say that I have a weakness for fish & chips, must be from all the times my mom dragged us to Long John Silvers every Friday night. when I was a kid. She was a devout Catholic and that meant no meat on that night. Just wish she had mastered the art of cooking fish at home. She was a wonderful cook, just not with fish.

This place has been here for almost 30 years and despite it being a tourist Mecca restaurant it still draws in the locals who know what the food is all about. The Fish & Chips are the best I have had anywhere on this planet.

Extremely large portions of fresh cod that are hand dipped in a traditional batter of rice flour, soda water and egg. This stuff is truly remarkable, light and flaky and not greasy at all. Frying foods generally takes away from the texture and taste, often times resulting in a overly heavy and soggy lump of something that was once a shrimp or a cod fish. Not at this place. you can taste the freshness of the fish and cracking one open you can see the flakiness of the cod.

The rice flour makes it. it comes through without compromising the foods natural flavor and unlike regular flour, where you have to season it and after frying with it, is too thick. Rice flour just makes a nice light coating. I use the stuff almost exclusively when I have a request for some onion rings or fried zucchini. The homemade tartar sauce is wonderful as well. Not to heavy and mayonnaise driven. a very light concoction with a perfect amount of diced pickles in it. The cocktail sauce on the other hand was a bit sweet for me. I never have really tasted a cocktail sauce that I particularly liked. Don't get the stuff really. A squeeze of fresh lemon and a heavy dash of good malt vinegar and you are in heaven with this dish. The chips are more French fries than the traditional English chips, which are thicker cuts. But these are a great alternative. Very light and crisp.

We also ordered up a plate of fried clams. Sue grew up on the East Coast and always had them back home growing up. I was really apprehensive about these as they are not only fried but are heavily coated with batter. But was very surprised with the light texture of them and the very nice and refreshing sweet briny taste of the fresh clams. Very well done with homemade coleslaw that had a light dressing on it. This place I believe has mastered the art of frying to perfection.

This is definitely on my top 10 haunts in San Diego. Not a dive, but definitely on the edge, of a cliff that is.

HARBOR CAFE

3179 Carlsbad Blvd Carlsbad, CA

Chow

Michael

Aloha for now

Hello to all my fellow foodies out there. We have had a blast on this blog over the past few months. But sadly that day job thing has kept me so busy. I have undertaken a few huge projects that have been keeping me away from blogging and updating the site. I must have 15 - 20 stories that I have photo's and notes on. We will return to updating first quarter 2008.
Aloha for now my friends.


Chow

Michael

Ode to a friend

I awoke out of a sound sleep last night in a cold sweat having had a dark premonition Sue told me I had sat up in bed and mumbled about it and then went back to sleep. In the morning when we both awoke at our normal time I remembered who that dream was about. It was my friend Murphy, known to all as Tardo. I dreamed that he had passed on during the night and I knew it to be a fact. It was so strong a feeling. I knew he had gone. I later found him cuddled up under one of his favorite bushes to lay beneath in the backyard. When I first saw him I thought him to be sleeping. he looked so peaceful. He lay there on his side with his hands crossed and his bushy tail curled around him. I gazed at him for a few moments waiting and hoping to see the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. But his breath was no more. He had left this planet. He looked so peaceful and calm.
I am not a cat guy to be sure, but this curmudgeon had become my friend and confidant. I would bounce ideas off of him and he would just stare back at me while he lay on my desk and give me that look that only cats can give. you know the one. The one that says don't bother me. I'm licking myself. This cat was my culinary equivalent. He liked his food rustic and honest, Fresh and plentiful. No fancy Feast canned stuff. No way, only Meow mix, dry, straight up. Like me we both where picky eaters.

Tard was only 5 years old when he passed last night. He had survived so much. last year he tangled with a speeding car and lost. the doctor told us he would have to amputate his front leg or he would die. We said no way. we knew that the man of cats would never want to be a tripod. we asked the doctor to clean him up and give us antibiotics with which we hand gave him 3 times a day for a month, while he hibernated in the hall closest waiting for death. he beat that rap and lived another year and had regained 95% use of his bad leg. He was our Lance Armstrong.
He liked to be around the family and would we would allow him to sit on the table when we had dinner. He never begged for food, that would be beneath him. He was the feline equivalent to James Brown. He was cool, calm and totally a man cat. This was no pussy cat. He would back our 80lb retriever into a corner and then strut by and shake his tail as to try to make the big dog blink.
He was a companion to the whole family, He was our cat and our pet, but most of all he was my friend.
I will miss him

My City

Not a food related post. Just wanted to post a few pics that I snapped over the last few days and to thank everyone in San Diego for coming together and helping others in need during the fires that have raged and are still raging on in our city. Keep up the fight. We have shown the world what we are capable of and more important we have shown our neighbors what we are made of.

Michael

Sopa de Nopales y Hongos

So the other day as I strolled through one of my favorite produce stores I spotted some nopales and thought I haven't had a good cactus soup in a very long time. You know the cactus plants we see growing all over Southern California, the fruit when ripe are not only excellent to eat and make margaritas from, but the actual large cactus paddles, or nopales in Spanish are very edible as well. So I quickly grab a couple of them and some Shitake mushrooms and went home to conjure up this recipe for your approval.

I had some left over chicken stock that I had made, you can use a good store bought brand of stock if you wish.

Ingredients.

6 Small to Medium Tomatillos husks removed and rinsed

5-6 Medium Roma tomatoes

4 Large Garlic cloves, peeled

1 Large Jalapeno

1 Medium White Onion, Sliced in half

1 Bunch, Cilantro

1 tsp fresh roasted anise seed, roasted and then ground

4 cups chicken stock

3 tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms, remove stems and slice caps

2 large Nopales ( cactus paddles)

1 Dried chile of your choice. Optional

Place the Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Jalapeno and Garlic on a foil lined baking dish. Pour some of the Olive Oil on top and slightly sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Put under a very hot broiler to roast. Turning after about 5-6 minutes to make sure they are roasted evenly. Make sure you remove the stem and seeds from the Jalapeno after roasting. When finished roasting place in a blender with the pan drippings and a cup of the chicken stock. Add a medium handful of the Cilantro along with the Anise and Puree.
Puree to a nice but still semi chunky consistency. taste but don't adjust seasoning at this time. This will be your soups base. We can readjust the seasoning later if desired.

At this time you want to trim the Nopale by first cutting 1/4inch all the way around the cactus. Then placing it and the onion on the same pan that you roasted the first batch of veggies on. Make sure you lightly coat with Olive Oil and then pop it into the broiler and roast until slightly brown, turning once to make sure both sides are done.
Add the Mixture from the blender into at least a 4 quart stock pot that has the remainder Olive Oil heated in it. You want to actually start to fry this base quickly in a very small amount of oil for at least 5 minutes.
Then add the Chicken Stock. set heat to low and let slowly simmer without boiling.

When the Nopales and onions are finished roasting. remove them from the pan and place on a cutting board. remember to add the pan juices to the simmering soup. Roughly chop the onion and slice the Nopale in half lengthwise and then julienne crosswise.

Add the Nopales and the onion to the soup. Chop the dried Chili and add as well. Simmer slowly for another 5 minutes or so to let all the flavors mingle together. At this time you can adjust the seasoning by adding a little more salt or pepper.

Pour it into a bowl and top with a little chopped fresh Cilantro. I also like to add some fresh grated Aged Mexican cheese. I like to use the Buena Comida Brand of the Cotija Anejo. Or aged cheese. Slightly salty and tastes very similar to a Pecorino Romano cheese. Aged for at least 60 days and can be found anywhere nowadays.

So here we have for your approval our version of a Mexican classic. Sopa de Nopales y Hongos. We hope you enjoy it on a cold winters night in front of the fireplace. It will keep you nice and warm.

Chow

Michael

La Mesa Farmers Market

Every Friday from 3:00PM - 6:00PM you can
stroll through the various vendors of whole food products. This little outdoor market has been growing in popularity and increasing in size since it began a few years ago. All of the agricultural vendors are certified organic and all are from local family farms around San Diego. You can find great little gems here that are very hard to find anywhere else and even if you did, it would cost you an arm and a leg. Here, only a leg. I usually stroll through for the heirloom tomatoes a farm in Vista grows and a baguette from the Bread & Cie table. The Heirloom tomato's are by far the best tasting tomato anywhere and I would bet my can of San Marzano's on them being, well, better than the stuff from San Marzano. Just really fresh and bursting with flavor. Check these pictures out of a box of heirlooms. Ugly little buggers, but they make up for it with there taste and texture. Firm and smooth, not to much acid and not as strong in flavor as a San Marzano. Kinda medium taste and a little tart. I love them.
Little ugly pumpkin looking tomatoes. But worth seeking out. You can find everything here from Thai chili plants to flowers. Lots of flowers.Olive Oil from Temecula. And tons of fresh seasonal locally grown fruits and vegetables. The selection is always at it's peek when I go to the market. Here are a few more picks of the pickings.Let's hope that the city of La Mesa doesn't ruin this great little farmers market like they did with the Oktoberfest that is held here every year. They took a German beer drinking festival and turned it into a craft fair. Lot's of crochet pot holders and tie dye, but very little lederhosen. Not to crowded yet and a nice European feel to it, And by the way, after strolling through the market you can always go across the street and have a bite at All' Italiana or maybe a brew at that classic little and I mean little dive bar, Joe & Andy's.

Fresh picked peppers and unusual zucchini, some large

And some baby ones with blossoms still attached. I brought some of these back to the foodopolis test kitchen and they were outstanding. So skip out of work early next Friday and stroll through the La Mesa Village. You know some times it ain't so bad having your office in East County. You just have to know where to look for the cool stuff.

La Mesa Farmers Market

Every Friday from 3pm-6pm

Chow

Michael