Philly Steak Factory, a review

Each and every time I return to the triangle, the first place I try to get to is the Philly Steak Factory in Durham. I also think to myself, that it will be good like I remember.... and then I take a bite, and it is never like I remember. It is always 100% better, and I try to figure out why I don't go more often.
I have recently moved to Raleigh, and thus don't get over to Durham as easily anymore. However, this past Friday, I was planning on heading over to the campus at UNC, for the annual Carolina Comedy Festival with headliner Lewis Black. This particular night featured Keenan Thompson, who did a fine job, although, I am looking forward to Rory Albanese of the Daily Show, returning to his role as Emcee.
My friend Joel accompanied me and suggested our favorite restaurant so we hit it up on the way.
My order always seems to be taken by the same guy each time (the owner) which gives it a great community feel. We got 2 whole (Philly Steaks) with fries and a drink. They have other items from salads, to Pitas, but I've never bothered to try anything else. I'm sure they are amazing but, if it isn't broke, don't fix it.
As noted in my previous posts on my short Philly Steak Tour, It's all about the little things. The fact that the marinated (hot) meat juice is poured over the hand-chopped meat to melt the cheese, the cajun seasoning for the fries on every table, the fresh brewed sweet tea, you just can't find these things in PA. Above is some great hand chopping going on.
As Joel and I tasted our fresh made sandwiches, we both remarked out loud how it was better than we remembered. I vow to be back, soon, very soon.
As I brought along my camera this time, and we had some time to kill before the comedy show, we walked by Time Out for a Vanilla Chipper. Basically, it is 2 pints of Vanilla Ice Cream sandwiched between two enormous chocolate chip cookies.
Although it takes awhile to eat, as you can see from the pictures, it isn't possible for this to a bad tasting dessert. Enjoy.

Philly Steak Factory
(919) 490-9753

5410 New Hope Commons Dr
Durham, NC 27707

Time Out (open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
133 W Franklin St # D
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 929-2425

Random Picture #3: Alice's Egg Sandwich, Mayview Style

One of the local restaurants (you could say favorite for many) in Los Feliz is Fred 62. A diner, known for slightly overpriced American fare that may or may not fill you up. Consequently, it is also the place known for a few celebrity sitings. I am terrible with names and faces, but was able to recognize Glenn Fitzgerald from Dirty Sexy Money. I wasn't like, "ooh, I am stalking him and have to meet him." It was more of an, "I think I have seen him before, oh yeah, Dirty Sexy Money, have no idea what is name is, glad to see he gets out and about and eats like the rest of us."
Long story short, Fred 62 does make one delicious Alice's Egg Sandwich. Which happened to be the first thing I had when I arrived in Los Angeles my first night. Goat Cheese, Avocado, Tomato, Eggs, and Hash Brown, served on a buttery bun sounds great. It was, even though it was tiny. When the bill came at $7.85 per, The Food Monster was grumpy.A few months later, we set out to make our own. Thus, we come across Random Picture #3, from my photo archives. I remember John David made the hashbrowns, and we all helped out to make a better sandwich, for way cheaper.From the looks of things, the ingredient list included:
Tomato
Basil
Avocado
Hashbrowns
A Cheese (probably goat)
English Muffins
Scrambled Egg

a review: Momoyama Japanese Restaurant

I don't have an official review of Momoyama, or as we refer to it Yoyo Mama. Particularly, due to the lack of pictures. Lauren and I just went there on Tuesday this week and it was good. A little bit on the pricey side for what you get but good. The hibachi was ok, I would probably get sushi next time. The sushi was above average. I still think across the board, Akai Hana is cheaper and just as good, but Momoyama now holds my #2 roll over all, the Crunchy Spicy Tuna Roll. And #1 roll in the triangle, narrowly beating out the Crunchy Shrimp roll over at Akai Hana. I still think Akai Hana is the go to place until Momoyama drops their prices a little bit, but glad to have it in the neighborhood. Go and check it out!

Chili, Red Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Dill, Salad, and Smoothies!

I was talking to my girlfriend one evening. She mentioned that for dinner, she was planning on making Turkey Chili. That sounded good to me, so I got her recipe, went to the store, got some ingredients, then whipped up some Red Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Dill (per Joe's request), made some fruit smoothies, and toasted some lavash bread.

Turkey Chili, Lauren style:
Ground Turkey,
Tomato Paste
Tomato Sauce (I used one can, and one can of Indian Curry Simmer Sauce from Trader Joe's)
Spices
Tomatoes
Onions
GarlicRed Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Dill. Turned out to be one of the best parts of the meal. It truly complemented the overly cayenned chili.
I believe that I used a bunch of Strawberries. I don't remember the other ingredients.
Our friend, Derrick, threw together some Lettuce, Tomato and a light drizzle of some type of dressing for the salad.
The meal was fantastic, lots of food, balanced, soothing and comforting. Make up some Chili and enjoy in the fall or winter!

5,000 Hits at The Food Monster

Hi Everybody,

During my brief Food Blogging hiatus, The Food Monster Blog reached another benchmark, 5,000 hits! (hits from the former address, http://reviewsandrecipes.blogspot.com don't count). In order to celebrate, I will leave you with some photos of our best looking posts.

-The Food Monster


Panqueques


Dark Chocolate Almonds
Asian Themed Night Part 3: Sushi, Crab and Crunchy Shrimp Roll
Good Morning Beach Breakfast Biscuits
Mango Smoothies

Sweet Fr î tes! (Sweet Potato Fries Part 2, Still to come)
What were your favorite posts/photos?

Brautwurst

The best thing about going to a MLB game is definitely the food. Now while I haven't been since I was around 14, I can always pretend, in doing so, Stadium style brautwurst is what I bring you today. I like to simmer mine in beer, saurkraut and onions. To start things off I sliced a whole white onion and added 2 TBS of minced garlic. Then I sauteed the mixture and split it up into a baby pot for the vegan brautwurst (you can find them in Von's), and real brauts. I had two different kinds of Brauts, stadium-style, which I assume means untouched and normal, and then brauts with pieces of cheddar inside, so when they are fully heated up, you have gooey melted cheese flavoring it from the inside.

I used a cheap beer in Foster's, which isn't actually anywhere close to Australian for beer, and an Oatmeal Stockyard which was in my fridge and Joe hadn't consumed yet. I added the beer and saurkraut and simmered the brauts for about 20 minutes,then I removed the brauts with tongues and put them in a pan on high heat to sear in the goodness and brown the outside.Seared Vegan Brauts

Then I drained most of the beer out of the saurkraut and onion mixture, and returned the brauts to keep warm until they were served. Vegan Brauts, returned to saurkraut

I love them with mustard, mayo, ketchup, and some cheese sprinkled on top. Here, one is shown with mustard, cheese, and homemade pickeld cucumbers and onions. Which my girlfriend taught me how to make and I will share in a future post.
Get out there and pretend you are at a game, and enjoy!

Mushroom Basil Goat Cheese Pizza

Mushroom Basil Goat Cheese Pizza

We got the hankering for some pizza one night. I will tell this story through pictures, the final products being from two different nights. The Pizza sauce made two pizzas, we used 2 crusts. . Ingredients came from Trader Joe's.

Mushrooms, cleaned, sliced, sauteed with minced Garlic
Basil, cleaned, ripped
TJ's Whole Wheat Crust, rolled out according to directions
TJ's pizza sauce Mushrooms and Garlic
Herb Crusted Goat Cheese from TJ's
Shredded Whole Milk Mozzarella

1/4 of the pizza was made without the cheeses for the Vegan that ate with us.

For an a little something extra,
rub a drizzle of Olive Oil into the crust, then a few drops of Honey, and a sprinkle of Cinnamon, which gives a slight sweetness to the crust and balances out any savory pizza.


Enjoy!

- The Food Monster

En Sushi - Review

Von Scrumptious' Mom came to visit her, partially out of vacation and if I were to guess, partly because Kirby recently had a birthday. She treated us to a delightful sushi meal at En Sushi. This was the first time I met the foodie's mother, and I can see where Kirby gets her kindness from. If you were ever in a bind, they would do anything for you.
This time, they were kind enough to share a meal with me. Kirby did all the ordering, but I think we have a Crunch Shrimp Roll, a Spider Roll (Soft-Shell Crab), Philadelphia Roll, Yellow tail, Salmon Skin, and Avocado and Eel roll. My favorite by far was the Crunchy Shrimp Roll, but you guy's probably already knew that. I really enjoyed the Philadelphia Roll as I love my sushi with avocado or Cream Cheese or both. The Eel and Avocado was ok, as well as the Salmon Skin. The Yellow tail was a surprise hit for me. I reminded myself, that eating Soft-Shell Crab doesn't do it for me.

I don't know whether it was the atmosphere, or the waiters, or what, but something was severely lacking for me. I loved the company (Kirby, Kirby's Mom, Joe) but I would never rank this place higher than Niko Niko Sushi which is about a block away. I will leave this as an average Sushi place, if you usually find bad places to eat, go here, otherwise be adventurous and try one of the other thousand sushi places in the city.

Yai Fine Thai

Von Scrumptious, was startled one night, by the fact that on some food rating website, probably yelp.com, there happened to be a cheap Thai restaurant in the top ten of Los Angeles Thai Joints. Better than that, it is located on Vermont, which in my book, is considered East of Vermont (EOV). You bet your bottom dollar we went there that very night.

Yai Fine Thai
A newly renovated restaurant, that is nestled behind Fatburger, in between Rite Aid and Jons Supermarket on Vermont. This is the new local Thai powerhouse for my food group. But plastic diners beware, cash only.

We started off with some Seafood Cakes, a mixture of Crab and other seafoods.
They were pretty good, especially the sweet and slightly spicy dipping sauce. Von Scrumptious ordered Ginger Chicken (the top dish above), which wasn't my favorite but I would definitely eat it. (I am partial to Curries and Pad Thai or See Ew)

I ordered yellow curry I believe (above), which was a little on the warm side. Joe, a Green curry, which at Medium was HOT!!!!, too much for my tongue to handle. It was great reheated, with a little of John David's Pad See Ew (Tofu).
I of course had a Thai Iced Tea, which was great. Since all of the photos were taken on Joe's Iphone, I think he got tired of sending them to me, so no photos of the 4 Iced Teas that were ordered.

I have since returned and tried the Pad Thai, and more Iced Tea, real consistent, and from what I know, authentic Thai cuisine. Hit it up if you are ever EOV in Los Angeles, just beware the heat, they don't play around, I would suggest starting at Mild.

Enjoy!


Yai Thai
1627 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Guest Blog: Momma Fran, Green Tomato Sauce

To start off the week, I have a story and recipe from one of my favorite guest bloggers, my Mother. Last time, she left you with a recipe for simple Fried Green Tomatoes. She continues to give you something to do with the unripe tomatoes as she recalled this story and recipe one night.

If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Food Monster, email me at TheFoodMonsterBlog@gmail.com

Enjoy!

-The Food MonsterPhoto: Courtesy of ExploreAsheville.com


While eating my fried green tomatoes last night, another memory came to mind and since it involves green tomatoes, I thought it might be timely to share. My husband was definitely born a hundred years too late as he was of a pioneering persuasion. To fulfill a dream of his,
off we went to Alaska for one year, and ended up staying six. His ski patrol leader was a real estate agent who described the merits of owning a duplex in a less-than-booming town 13 miles outside of Anchorage.
Attached to one end of this one-story, three-bedroom, concrete block long rectangle, was a two-bedroom, mother-in-law apt; on the other end, a green house.

Since only one day that summer beckoned to us to swim, it was easy to understand why the tomatoes did not ripen. There they sat in the green house, a zillion little green tomatoes hanging on the vines.

Never wasteful with food, I picked them all, the night before the first frost, sometime in the first week in Sept., washed them, quartered them, then froze them. A short time later,
I put them in a very large soup pot and cooked them to make spaghetti sauce, with lots of chopped onions and garlic. I was flabbergasted!! It was the BEST tasting spaghetti sauce I had ever had! So good, that thirty years later I still remember it.

Recipe:
Quarter Green Tomatoes

In a cast iron skillet as the iron is added to one's diet, or non-stick pan if that
is what one uses, Saute:
Several large onions
Many cloves of garlic

Add sauteed onions and garlic to soup kettle along with quartered green tomatoes
and a small can of tomato paste and or tomato sauce

Cook until tomatoes are the consistency of a sauce

Add whatever spices you like in terms of chili powder or fresh chilies
1 TBS Old Bay Seasoning (always kicks any recipe up a notch, especially, turkey soup)

This is the basis of a basic tomato sauce to which one may add whatever
ingredients, protein-wise, one may like for spaghetti recipies, lasagne, chili, buritoes,
chicken, beef or seafood.



There you have it, another great recipe for Green Tomatoes. Thanks again Momma Fran!

Malo - a malo review

My friends and I went to Malo one night for Chips and Margaritas. I was expecting the Mexican restaurants of the East Coast, all you can eat delicious, warm, salty chips, and cheap meals ($5.00-$8.95). What I got, was completely a surprise. The chips, while delicious were charged per basket. They had dry chips, and then chewy chips, which tasted a bit like they had been left in the oil too long. However, they were also delicious.
My housemate Joe got a Margarita or two, I think they were somewhere between $10.00 and $14.00 per glass, and not that great from what I gathered.
I ordered Carnitas ($6.00) and Guacamole ($7.00) for dinner. I was expecting a little bit more guacamole. The Carnitas were average and oh so tiny. The meat on them (pork) was kind of disgusting and poorly cooked, with tons of flavorless fat. The guacamole was super great. That might have been because it was really fresh and good, or because it sat next to my Carnitas. I believe it was because of the fresh Avocados Cilantro, and Olives for a garnish. Next time though, I would rather hit up a Taco Cart. At least there, I can get some kind of service and a refill on water when I am desperate.

I usually leave the contact info and address for a restaurant that I review, but don't bother going, the prices were a bit on the upside and normally that is ok if you get great food in return. This wasn't worth the investment of time or money.