Category: food

Angelo’s BBQ

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

I went out for lunch with some guys from work to Angelo’s — apparently one of the best places for BBQ in Fort Worth. Of course, my coworkers kept insisting that Angelo’s was inferior to Railhead, but I thought the two were very similar (that is to say, both excellent).

I ordered their “chop beef plate” which included a heaping portion of bbq beef, along with potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and two slices of white bread. The beef was moist, juicy, and full of flavor; I added a touch of the included sauce and that only improved the taste even more.

I was quite proud of myself for not eating the potato salad, as I really didn’t need all those carbs (I didn’t eat the baked beans either, for the same reason). I did give in and eat the white bread to accompany the beef. And, not having eaten white bread in many months, it tasted almost biscuit-sweet compared to the rye bread that usually have.

Including the drink, it was only about $7, which was very reasonable. I enjoyed the food, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again.

Omelette Success

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

I made an omelette on Sunday morning and, unlike my last attempt, this one turned out much better. I used four eggs (well, two whole eggs and two egg whites) and they were very fresh as I had bought them only a day or two before (last time, the eggs may have been a couple weeks old).

To start, I placed a small amount of butter in the pan and then turned up the heat (instead of turning up the heat and then putting in the butter, which only resulted in a fizzled brown mess last time). The butter didn’t seem to coat evenly, so I added a touch of olive oil for good measure.

Just as the directions had said, I had previously mixed the eggs and I was careful not to overmix. I also added about a handful of shredded cheese that I found in the fridge (don’t worry, Jason, I’ve bought some more shredded cheese).

The pan may have been a bit on the small side, so the egg-mix filled it easily. I resisted the urge to stir the eggs — which would have made scrambled eggs instead — and I just lifted the edges of the omelette with a spoon to allow the liquid portion to run to the center.

As it became more firm, I added some freshly diced tomatoes. And, once it was done, I folded the omelette over with a spatula and slid it onto my plate. Quite unlike last time, this was rather tasty. It was very eggy, of course, but moist and almost spongey.

The cheese that I had added earlier wasn’t very prominent, and it was tough to recognize the cheese taste through the overall egginess. Next time, I may just have to add extra cheese. Or maybe I’ll add the cheese into the fold at the end (like the tomatoes) instead of pre-blending the cheese into the egg-mix.

Overall, this omelette experience was a pleasant one. Still, I may have to give the edge to pancakes in terms of general breakfast deliciousness ;).

Slashdot Meetup – September

Ashley Bischoff5 Comments

Last night, I went to the Slashdot Meetup for Dallas. It was held at the Dave & Buster’s just down Walnut Hill (not the one near Walnut Hill and 75).

The plan, from e-mail discussions with people from the last Slashdot Meetup was to meet at Dave & Buster’s, but then to go somewhere (cheaper) from there.

It was scheduled to start at 7pm, and I actually got there around 7:07pm (oops). I was concerned that maybe the group had left for the new-restaurant without me, but they hadn’t. Oddly enough, instead of the about-ten people from last time, there were just three people this time around (myself included).

We waited in the entrance-area just in case there were any more late-comers. By around 7:30pm, I suggested that we head-out to the new-restaurant. For some reason, one guy (Dave, I think his name was) was reluctant to do so. I believe his words were “I’d be real hesitant to leave, in case anyone were to still show up”.

Firstly, I thought it was a bit odd that he thought more people may be showing up, even though it was 7:30pm at that point. Secondly, though, I thought it was especially odd that he used the phrasing “real hesitant” instead of the more straight-forward “I would prefer…”.

The three of us had no interest in the arcades, but agreed that some food would be good. So, we found a table for ourselves. Chad (the non-Dave guy of the three) had some chicken nuggets before coming to the Meetup, so he just ordered a Bass. As it turned out, Dave and I also ordered a Bass each.

For food, Dave ordered a Double-Double Cheesburger-Cheeseburger (or something equally cheesily named) which was described as having two beef patties and a slice of American cheese on each. I ordered their Cheese Buster Burger — esentially the single-patty version of Dave’s order. As written in the menu, it included American cheese, which I generally despise (I consider American cheese to be the Microsoft of cheeses).

I asked our waitress whether I could get a different cheese, and she confirmed that I could get jack, swiss, blue cheese, and a few others. I elected for the blue cheese (especially as it was crumbled blue cheese). I asked whether the burger came with fries and, sure enough, it did. I’m trying to reduce (though not eliminate) my carb intake, so I asked whether I could substitute the fries for something else; but all the alternatives were high-carb items as well (rice, baked potato, and so on). So, I just stuck with the fries with the compromise that I’d eat about half of them.

Our food arrived shortly, and my blue cheese was conveniently on-the-side in a small aluminum shot-sized cup. From there, I proceeded to dump all of it onto the patty, along with the tomato slice that was also on the side. With a dollop of ketchup, my burger was compete.

I wish I could say that it was a great burger, but it actually wasn’t. Unlike an ideal burger with loosely packed ground-beef, this burger was very dense. It was almost as if the chef-droid in the kitchen had been flattening and compressing my burger with his spatula at every opportunity. On top of that, the burger wasn’t all that hot either. A good burger should just be on the cusp of burning one’s mouth, but this one was merely extra-warm.

Don’t get me wrong — the burger was tasty enough such that I would accept it if someone were to buy one for me. However, I don’t think I’d order one again from Dave & Buster’s.

Frito-Lay to Make Snacks without Trans Fat

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I first heard about this on NPR news during my drive to work yesterday, but I've finally been able to find an online citation as well. From MSNBC, “Frito-Lay to make reduced-fat snacks”:

Frito-Lay said that in early 2003 it will eliminate hydrogenated oils and convert to trans fat-free corn oil in Doritos, Tostitos and Cheetos. The company said the change will not compromise the taste of the snacks. […]

The company, the largest unit of Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo Inc., said it will launch Lay’s Reduced Fat chips and Cheetos Reduced Fat snacks in the near future. […]

The coming-addition of reduced-fat Lays and Cheetos is a nice bonus, though I’m especially pleased about their decision to switch to non-trans-fat oils. Maybe it’s becauase it’ll soon be required to list trans-fat on labels? ;)

Super Breakfast

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

A couple weeks ago, Julie and I came up with the idea of a “Super Breakfast“ — like a potluck dinner, but with breakfast instead. Someone would bring pancakes, someone would bring sausages, and so on.

Since Julie and Leia were having a slumber party Friday night, they figured that the following morning could be a good opportunity for a Super Breakfast. Though the slumber party was girls-only, the Super Breakfast would be co-ed. In her invitation for Saturday morning, Julie phrased it that the scummy-boys would be making breakfast for the girls — I realize that she only meant it in jest, but I thought that was a bit odd. I would have preferred if the plan was for everyone to help with breakfast (and in practice, it worked out that way anyhow).

Since he’s car-less, I gave Bryan a ride to the house. He brought along his waffle iron and I brought along pancake-mix and a ladle (so that we could make waffles and pancakes, respectively).

Once at the house, everyone began making the breakfast. I combined the ingredients for the pancake mix, and began preparing those. Meanwhile, croissants and biscuits (the “with gravy” kind) warmed in the oven, someone made scrambled eggs, and someone else made bacon and sausage links. It was a very busy kitchen ;).

It worked out to be a very thorough breakfast. I had a couple pancakes, a waffle, some sausage links, and a croissant. I enjoyed the pancakes and the croissant with some butter-spread and sugar free blackberry jam. I also tried some blackberry (?) sauce with the waffle. It was very convenient in sauce-form (as opposed to a jam) as it nicely filled the square crevices of the waffle.

After breakfast (brunch?), I discovered some double-chocolate bundt cake in the fridge, which I quickly put to use. The chocolate icing was thin in texture and melted easily, so it was full of flavor. And, the cake itself was moist and chocolately. It was very tasty, and I always enjoy a good chocolate cake.

Earlier in the morning, I had placed the package of Ding-Dongs in the freezer, as I had read somewhere that they become even more tasty once frozen. And, post-bundt, I was ready to try one. At that point, it had been several hours since I had put them in the freezer, so they were mostly chilled.

Sure enough, they were pretty good. The cake-portion of the Ding Dong changed little from the freezing process. However, the chocolate coating gathered a pleasantly crispy texture. Best of all, the creme center of the Ding Dong took on a semi-solid state such that it almost resembled a fluffy version of the ice cream found in an ice cream sandwich. Hopefully, someone will bring Twinkies to the next Super Breakfast, as I imagine that those too may improve with the freezing process.

In all, I had a great time, and I really look forward to the next one.