Category: food

Humperdinks — Border Burger

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

I stopped by Super Target on the way home from the gym last night and, by the time I got back to the apartment, it was almost 10pm. I didn’t feel like making dinner at that point, so I asked Mike whether he had already eaten dinner (he hadn’t) and suggested that we head off to Quizno’s (there’s one less than a mile from here). My recollection was that Quizno’s closed at 10:30, so it looked like we had enough time.

But, we got there and quickly realized that their closing time was actually 10:00 (doh!). But, Humperdinks was just across the street, so we decided to give that a try (out of curiosity, what other restaurants are open past 10pm in the Lovers & Greenville area?).

Humperdinks has its own brewery and we both wanted to make use of that. Their “Total Disorder Porter” caught my eye and we both ordered one. It was also the special of the day, which was a pleasant surprise. While it wasn’t quite at the level of a Fuller’s Porter, it still very well done (and if it were sold in stores, I’d probably buy it from time to time).

Both Mike and I had a hard time deciding on the menu, but I settled on a Border Burger (a 1/2 pound burger with guacamole, bacon, Pepperjack cheese, jalapeños and salsa) while Mike went for a Ranch Chicken sandwich (a chicken sandiwch with Monterey Jack, ranch dressing, bacon strips, lettuce and tomato).

I noticed on the menu that the Humperdinks Melt was actually served on rye bread (along with Swiss cheese). And considering how ordinary most buns are, I got to thinking that perhaps the Border Burger might be even better on rye. And even though I’ve had a Border Burger previously, I wasn’t sure about those “spicy jalapeños”. So, when I ordered the burger, I asked whether I could get it on rye (and without jalapeños). The server didn’t seem to mind that substitution.

Once the food arrived, I was pleased that the rye bread was thickly cut (about half an inch) and toasted as well. Border Burgers are already tasty, but the rye bread just made it even better. The slight tartness of the rye along with the salsa and guacamole was a great combination.

It helped that the beer was the day’s special ($3.50 for 20oz or so), but the burger was still $9. It was delicious, but I’m still not sure if it was worth $9 (maybe $7-8 would have been more fair). So, once again, rye saves the day. Now if only they’d make a rye pizza :).

Low Carb Snacks

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

I setup a Google News Alert for “Atkins” and I discovered this Time magazine article on low carb snacks. I’m not on Atkins, as I find The Zone to be more well-rounded, but I’m still interested in upcoming lower-carb snacks.

Catering to adherents of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, foodmakers are filling out the $40 billion diet industry with alternative versions of their favorite sins, from marshmallows and margarita mix to biscotti and beer. And thanks to increasingly successful formulations of sugar substitutes, many members of this new generation of munchie killers are downright delicious. […]

The second page from the article also lists several low carbs products and how they comapre to their high-carb couterparts. For instance, Michelob Ultra has 2.6g carbs (compared with 13.3g in regular Michelob). But, Michelob Ultra isn't the tastiest of beers, either (it’s at the 0.1 percentile at RateBeer.com).

Katie’s Party

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

I went to Katie’s party on Saturday night and I had a good time — it was just what I needed after moving things all day (I helped Leia move in the morning and my new roommate Mike move in the afternoon).

Katie lives in a large house in Highland Park — she doesn’t own the house, but she’s staying there to fulfill some insurance requirements for one of her friends (somone had to stay in the house, apparently).

Each room was decorated in a theme based on a country. For instance, the foryer had a Japanese theme (complete with a giant kimono encased in glass hanging on the wall). That room scared me a bit, but some of the other rooms were more tasteful. As I headed out for the evening, Katie suggested that I blog about the food. Sure, I can accommodate that :).

I first had some mini double-chocolate Oreos. Yeah, both the cookie and the creme-filling were chocolate. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a a chocolate nut, but chocolate-filled Oreos didn’t quite have the same creamy essence as the original vanilla creme. Perhaps if the filling was dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate, they might be even better.

There were also some iced sugar cookies. Yeah these were the regular sugar cookies with thick pink icing that you can find at any grocery store. But, they were very tasty (as always). I think I had two of these.

In the freezer were some Blue Bell ice cream sandwiches (the small kind). These were obviously fresh from the creamery, as the cookie was still crisp. I didn’t mind that, though I suppose I’m more used to having ice cream sandwiches with more of a soggy cookie. Fresh ice cream sandwiches have more of a crisp cookie because the cookie is completely dry and crisp when ice cream sandwiches are made (like a graham cracker). But, over time, it absorbs some of the moisture from the ice cream and softens. (I learned all this from Unwrapped on the Food Network.)

This party was well-stocked with snacks. It’s not often that you’re offered iced sugar cookies, and you can’t go wrong with ice cream sandwiches either. It seems that the major snack-categories were all covered. Snackarific.

Tuna Cones?

Ashley Bischoff5 Comments

I’m on various recipe mailing lists, and I got this one from WhatsInTheFridge. I’m usually fairly open to new foods, but this one just didn’t sound particularly appetizing to me.

Tuna Cones
by Derek Knight

  • 1 can (6 1 /2-oz.) chunk light tuna
  • 1 /4 C. mayonnaise
  • 1 small dill pickle
  • 4 ice cream cones (flat bottomed)
  • 4 black olives

Open tuna and drain off liquid. Put tuna into bowl and add mayonnaise. Chop up the pickle and put in bowl too. Stir it all up. Fill the cones with scoops of your tuna mixture and top with the olives. Serves 4.

from Judi Leaming’s newsletter

I like tuna, and I like ice cream cones, but I’m hesitant to combine them. It’s not the texture, but I think it’s the sweet nature of the cones mixed with the savory tuna — perhaps if the “cones” were made out of toasted pita bread, that might work better :-/.

More on Sugar Free Bread

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

I bought some Mrs Baird’s Sugar Free Wheat Bread yesterday. At the time of that entry, I hadn’t tasted it yet, so I couldn’t comment on that aspect of it. Well, I tried it today and I&rsuo;m pleased to say that it’s very much like regular bread.

I wanted to be sure to write about how it compared to regular bread (since the target audience presumably already likes regular bread but is just looking for something with fewer carbs). However, I found that comparison more difficult that I expected since I haven’t had regular loaf-bread since sometime last year (not counting the occasional bread or roll served at a restaurant).

I was really jonesing for a tuna sandwich this afternoon, so that was the sandwich du jour. I removed two slices from the bag and prepared the tuna. However, before applying the tuna to the bread, I made sure to take a bite out of one slice (plain) just to get an idea of the bread’s flavor and texture without the tuna influencing my perception.

As I chewed the bread, I noticed that it might have been just slightly chewier than regular bread. If anything, it wasn’t overtly chewy. And on the chance that I wasn’t remembering regular bread correctly, perhaps it was no more chewy in the first place.

Texture aside, it tasted very much like regular wheat bread. At the time, it seemed to have an elevated wheat flavor, but maybe that was just because I was eating that bite as plain bread. I was also concerned that the Aprartame (Nutrasweet) might get in the way (since that’s one of the ingredients), but I detected no Aspartame taste.

I then proceeded to apply the tuna to create the sandwich. It was a rather pleasant afternoon as I ate the sandwich while watching some Wimbledon (ahh, Sundays). Perhaps the tuna moistened the bread or maybe I was imagining it all in the first place, but the chewiness wasn’t an issue in the context of a sandwich. And the bread still had a distinct wheat flavor but that was definitely a Good Thing (there’s no point in flavorless bread, after all).

I bought two loaves of this Sugar Free bread on a lark, but I’m glad I did. It costs about the same as regular bread ($1.87/loaf - 18 slices) and it tastes about the same as well. I think it’ll be a part of many tasty tuna sandwiches to come.