The Boiling Crab..........Another Spicy Crustation Adventure

I remember first hearing about The Boiling Crab when i was looking up information about Hot and Juicy Crawfish in Las Vegas.  Many people wrote a review on Yelp.com saying it was very good but not as good as The Boiling Crab.  So naturally I looked it up and discovered it was located in LA at 4 different locations.  As luck would have it, I was not far from one Last night.  The problem was I had to resist going for Korean Food instead.   But I stayed strong, that is after I walked in and out of a specialty Korean restaurant.

Ok, so I'll first say the reasons why you shouldn't go to The Boiling Crab.

Don't go to the Boiling Crab IF:

1) You don't like Shellfish
2) You don't like Garlic
3) You don't like to get messy
4) You don't like using your hands
5) You are on a first date (unless he or she really loves garlic so much that they don't care how it will make them reek.  if that is the case, never let them go.  that person is a keeper)

Now the reasons that you should go.

The menu is made up mostly of market priced shellfish.  Clams, 4 different types of Crab, Shrimp, Oysters and Crawfish.  Your first task is to choose which shellfish you want.  Then you choose the sauce.  There are 4 sauces to choose from.  Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter or The Whole She-Bang which is a combination of all three.  then you choose non-spicy, mild, medium or XXX spice level.    They also have baskets of fried versions of the shellfish as well as corn on the cob and french fries.  They also serve Gumbo which many of you know, I'm a sucker for.

So I decided the table next to me had a great idea with 1/2 a dozen oysters raw on the 1/2 shell.
They tasted as good as they looked.

As it was at the place in Las Vegas, the food comes in bags but delivered in tin buckets.  I ordered 2 lbs. of Crawfish and 1 lbs of clams.  The clams came in the butter garlic sauce medium temp and the crawfish came in the Whole She-bang sauce Medium also.  

The clams were great.  so great, I ordered another pound after.  Now before you all start calling me a pig after you have done the math and said I ate 4 lbs of shellfish, remember that the shells make up over 3/4 the weight in the shellfish.  The clams all sat in the silky buttery sauce and they all just popped right out of their shells.  I could have drank the liquid it was sitting in.

The crawfish came at the same time as the clams so after quickly eating the clams, I moved onto the Crawfish.   They were very tasty but I have to admit, they were a bit dry and the meat was difficult to pull out.  Normally when you eat crawfish, you rip the tail from the head and suck out the juice in the head. Yes, you're sucking out the guts.   But when they are filled with juice, it's really tasty.  These were all really dry.  either they sat to long in the cooker (which is what I think it did) or they didn't use enough sauce.  The tails required work to get them out of the shell.  When cooked properly, you squeeze the tip of the tail, and the meat pops out.  These required ripping the shells apart to get a small nibble of meat.  After doing that for 30 min, it does get a little old.  it was spicy which is what I like, but not juicy.  one of the best parts was that there was a 1/2 piece of corn that sat in the liquid in the bottom soaking up all that juice.  If I didn't have to see customers, or other people in general the next day, I would have taken a spoon to the garlic that was floating around in the sauce. They probably had 5 heads of chopped garlic in this bag.   Not 5 cloves, but 5 heads of garlic.  I probably ate a head of garlic myself, so I'm sure I had some stink floating around me when I left.  But it was good stink.  

After getting the additional pound of clams, I had to try the gumbo. I love Gumbo and have a hard time not ordering it when I see it being served.  I have to admit, I still like mine best.  Many of you have tried mine and have mentioned how good it is.  This place had a good batch.  It was crab, sausage and Okra Gumbo.  We don't get a lot of Okra by us, so it was a real treat to have this much. Plus I really love the stuff.  

All in all, the boiling crab is a fun place to eat.  Every table was filled with people and I left at 9:00 and there was still a line out the door.  I think the bigger the crowd you go with, the better.  

The Boiling Crab has 4 locations in LA and you can see where they are as well as the menu online at  www.theboilingcrab.com/index.php

The Bazaar by Jose Andres in LA.........It's a restaurant, it's a store, it's a show!!!

I had a great opportunity last night.  I got to spend an evening with a very good friend of mine over a fabulous meal.  My friend Roger lives here in LA and fills me in on all the off beat hot spots in area here.  He is a big fan of the craze in the Food Truck industry in the area and fills me in on all his adventures.  Business has taken me to LA so I asked Roger to join me for a meal at a place I have been wanting to go for a long time.

Jose Andres hails from Spain and is mostly based in Washington DC.  In 2008 he opened The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in LA and has been going strong since the doors opened.  When we arrived, we accidentally walked into the SLS hotel area and it is bustling with a high end well to do scene.  Beautiful people emerging from beautiful cars lined the sidewalks going into the Hotel and Restaurant.  You could set up a chair on the side and spend hours watching the people.

We got into the restaurant with about 10 minutes till our reservation.  With time to kill we walked around to check out the scene.  To the right were glass cases filled with anything from Stuffed Bears to Baccarat Glass.  Everything in this area is for sale.  The coolest thing about this area is while your looking around shopping or window Shopping as it was for us, there are tables for two or four people set up all over.  So you could be looking at a set of dishes for sale and a couple is next to the display having dessert.  They are both part of the scene and watching the scene.

We checked in and were advised our table was not ready yet and we should wait in the bar.  I didn't need an excuse to get a drink and people watch, so we went to the back of the bar.  The bar mise-on-place had some fun things at the bartender's disposal to make the most intricate libation.  The item that caught my eye were the Jalapeño and Serrano peppers.  I mentioned to the bartender that I love peppers and Vodka.   She proceeded to make me a drink that I hope to enjoy back home.  She muddled sliced Jalapeños and sliced cucumbers in glass.  After they were good and macerated, she added Vodka, lime juice and simple syrup.  put it all in another glass with ice and shook it all up.   Strained it in a glass of ice and topped it off with a splash of club soda.  Really Great drink.

We were seated towards the back of the restaurant so we got to pass lots of tables and saw lots of great food.  The decor is really cool and every table and chair is different.  It's set up like your seated in a living room of a house.  Our chairs were so comfortable.  If they didn't have the pillow behind you, you would be forced to sit back and sink into them.   Our server explained to us that the restaurant is all Tapas style so we were encouraged to share.  Not an issue with me at all.  She explained that some of the dishes were priced per piece and those we were not to share so if you wanted one each, you had to order two. Two of our dishes were per piece and she was right.

What I loved most about the experience is that it was a non rushed one.  We ordered our dishes a few at a time.  I love that.  It doesn't make you committed at the beginning of the meal and it gives you the opportunity to see what others are ordering around you.

We started with the Olives, both modern and traditional, Jicama wrapped Guacamole and Cotton Candy Foie Gras.

The Olives were a very popular dish in the restaurant as well as at our table.  They come two ways.  The traditional olives are split, pitted and stuffed with anchovies and topped with Basil.  Olives in general are full of flavor to begin with, but the addition of the Anchovies added a twist to this normally salty bite.   It was served in small fish tin as well and held together with and easy to grab toothpick.

So as you can guess, this was the traditional version of the dish. The modern version is really wild.  They take the olive, pit it and liquefy it.  Then the way they described it to us, the drop tablespoon of the liquid into a calcium bath that makes a gelatin like coating around the briny liquid.  So when it is served to you, you see a very elegant looking green sphere that looks very much like an olive.  Served on small spoons these morsels are meant to be eaten with the spoon.  Picture a water balloon but the balloon is made of a softer geletin like substance that would resemble a soft capsule you'd find in a vitamin E pill.  But it's much more pliable.  when it bursts in your mouth, it's as if a small water balloon as exploded and the liquid olive spreads all over your mouth allowing all your tongue senses to be bathed in olive flavor.  The gelatin dissolves as soon as it bursts.  Exciting in both experience and flavor.

Our next starter was the Jicama wrapped Guacamole.  When the dish comes, the plate looks so good you don't want eat it.  5 elegantly wrapped presents sit on a plate.  The Jicama is thinly sliced and topped with creamy guacamole mixed with ginger, cucumber, mint and corn chips.  Yes, corn chips.  The first surprise was when you look at it, you think the Jicama is going to be crisp but it's actually very soft.  The texture is both soft and crunchy as the corn chips adds a great crunchy contrast to the smooth guacamole.

 The third starter we got was really a popular item.  You saw these being served all over the restaurant.  Now normally Roger is a very conservative eater and he had a lot of faith and trust in me that I wouldn't steer him wrong.  I don't think you can get more obscure here than this dish.  Vanilla cotton candy surrounded a skewer of corn nut crusted foie gras.  The contrast of sweet and salty with the texture of soft and crunchy makes this part of the meal a course on it's own.

Next came the cheese plate.  We ordered three but accidentally got two of the same and she brought us the third that we were looking for.  The cheese that we got two servings of was the Manchego.  I know.  Shame we got two of those.  The Sheep's milk cheese was firm and buttery.  Idiazabal is also a sheep's milk cheese and is very similar to the Manchego with a smoky flavor.  The last one that was left out, and also left out of photos was the Valdeon.  It is a mix of Cow and Goat milk cheese that is a very strong Blue Cheese.

The best part about the Cheese plate which as you can see is served with nuts and quince paste, is that it is also served with Tomato bread.  I took a class on Spanish cooking last year at the Culinary Institute of America.  The instructor talked a lot about this tomato bread.  Its amazing that something so simple could taste so good.  It's literally toasted crusty bread with fresh tomato spread on it.  I'm told that this bread is very commonly served at breakfast but is also eaten at many different times in the day with other dishes.  As is the case with us for the Cheese plate.  The tomato is skinned and macerated but not to a puree.  It is then spread onto the toasted bread.  Again, something so simple.   I was eating this alone without the cheese and could eat an entire baguette this way.

The dishes just keep on coming.  This is why I really enjoy Tapas.  Lots of little bites to try and share and many are so different from the next.  Our next dish was called Japanese Taco.  cooked eel sat upon thinly sliced cucumber that acted like the taco shell.   It had wasabi to add more Japanese flavor but ground up Chicharron on top to add crunch and a salty flavor.  For those of you who don't know what Chicharron is, it's pork rinds.

Three vegetable dishes came next.  Carrot Fritters laid in a pistachio sauce came first.  The carrot fritters has a sweetness to it that came from apricots that were mixed in with the batter.  Keeping with another Japanese theme, Asparagus tempura was an other vegetable dish.  Instead of salt or ponzu that comes with traditional tempura, Romesco sauce was served.  This tomato based sauced was slightly peppery and went really great with the asparagus.

The third and final vegetable was one that took a bit of pushing on my part to get Roger to accept.  Beets have been a favorite of mine for the past few years and I always get a dish with them when I see it on the menu.  Roger has only been introduced to beets of the canned variety.  While there are some canned versions that are good, fresh is always best.  These small tri color beets were served with grapefruit selections, pistachios and goat cheese.  While Roger was skeptical when the dish arrived, he enjoyed the dish as much as I did.  Again, sweet and salty come into play here with a little sour from the grapefruit.

Our final dish is a specialty of the house.  Jose Andres' "Philly Cheesesteak".  Air bread is served with Cheddar cheese and thinly sliced Wagyu beef is topped above the bread.  When we first looked, it was like nothing we have seen before.  Where was the cheese?  As you bit into it, the football shaped bread is hollow and layered on the bottom is melted sharp cheddar cheese.  This dish was a bit messy as the cheese is hot and melted inside.  But so delicious.  There was some miscommunication as after we paid the bill, another two of these came out.  when the server brought them to us, we said we didn't order more and have just paid.  He said, do you want them anyway?  Who are we to turn down another order of these unique dishes.

This restaurant is not for dinner.  It is for an evening. We got there at 7:30 and left at 11:00.  If we both, mainly me, weren't so tired, we would have stayed for 2-3 more hours.  We left very satisfied.  Most people would have tried the desserts and we had thought about finding one of Rogers dessert trucks but it was just too late.

If you would like to follow Roger on Twitter to hear about all things happening in LA with food trucks and anything else that is on his mind, follow him here: http://twitter.com/#!/roger_meyers  I think that is the link.

If you have the chance to go to any of Jose Andres' restaurants, I highly suggest it. I would love to try more of them in Washington DC.

The Bazaar is located on 465 La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310-246-5555 and online at http://www.thebazaar.com/

In N Out Burger..............review of a fast food place?

Yes, review of a fast food place.  I have been coming to LA for many years now. Everyone is always talking about the best burgers are In N Out.  I have never gotten one as I thought I would always want something better than just a fast food burger.  Well an opportunity had come up where a fast food burger was just what I needed.

I called my good friend Roger for some advice on what to get as I was about to pop my cherry.  Roger recommended the Double Double with onions.  For you folks not familiar with that order, it is basically a double cheeseburger.  Roger said to me that he does not recommend that I eat this in the car as it is a messy burger and the 5 min. I am taking to eat it there is well worth it.

Roger is a wise man.

The burger is a griddled burger with melted cheese and smothered fried onions.  Topped with crispy cool lettuce, a dressing that is similar to thousand island and buttery bun.  Messy it is and delicious is not doing the burger justice.  We tend to go to the mainstream McDonalds and Burger King back home and I'm now seeing a real appreciation for some of the upper end fast food burger joints. This is fast food, but it's fast food to order.  so you don't have a stack of stuff sitting drying up under heat lamps.  The other popular item they have are fresh cut potato fires.  You see them peeling them and shoe string cutting them in the back before they bathe in hot oil and dressed in some light salt.  I noticed that some people had cheese and chili on their fries but I didn't see it on the menu.  Roger said there are a few secrets to the well informed that the novice like myself would miss out on.  There is always next time.

I ate outside because being from New England, we have had a heck of a winter so dining Al Fresco is a real treat for me these days.  I actually sat near where people put their orders in for drive through.  It's great to hear how everyone takes their burger.  I think about 15 people ordered while i was sitting there and each were different.  But one of the cool things that the order takers ask is if they are planning to eat in the car.  so I'm sure they have rigged up something to catch the potential mess that these juicy burgers can make.

If you see an In N Out burger and you are looking for a bad for you meal, go and enjoy.  But remember to work out before or after.

http://www.in-n-out.com/

McKoy's Smokehouse and Saloon.........BBQ in the south

As many of you know, I do quite a bit of traveling which gives me the great opportunity to try so many places to eat.  It's a wonderful part of my business that I really embrace.

So you also know, I'm a huge fan of BBQ.  When I heard I had to go to North Carolina on business, BBQ immediately popped into my head.  After doing a bit of research, I located a place not far from my hotel near the airport.  Now, traditionally, the best places for BBQ are shacks or dives.  I was pleasantly satisfied when I discovered McKoy's.  I use trip advisor and Yelp for my research when I don't know much about an area and they both listed McKoy's very high.

When I got there and stepped out of the car, I was immediately drunk with hickory smoke.  It bellowed from stacks above the roof line and filled the air surrounding the restaurant.

McKoy's is really a big bar.  There is no major separation of bar and restaurant.  The menu had all the things you would want in a BBQ Joint.  Ribs, pulled pork, Chopped meat, Chicken and all the fixins.

One of the negatives with eating alone is the fact that you can only really order for you.  When you are with others, you can try other dishes to get a feel for the place without ordering 2 or 3 meals for yourself.  as much as you want to do that sometimes, it's just not economical.

So I like to search for the dishes that have a little bit of everything.  And thank goodness, McKoy's had one.   The called it LTD (Living The Dream)  and dreamy it was.  The dish had 4 Ribs, Pulled Pork, Pit Pot Roast (similar to brisket), Smoked BBQ Chicken and your choice of two sides.  I had read that the Mac and Cheese was awesome, so that was easy.  Up in New England, Okra isn't very popular so you don't see it a lot on menu's or in main stream supermarkets.  So selection fried Okra was another easy choice.

The ribs were smokey and fell right off the bone the way a good smoke should make ribs.  Pulled pork and the pit pot roast were tender and with the addition to the house BBQ sauce, it was southern BBQ at it's finest.  But it scares me to say the Chicken was the best thing on that plate.  It is rare that I order chicken when I eat out.  I make a lot of it at home so it's not as much fun for me to order it when I go out.  But this bird was so juicy that it needed no sauce at all.  Pretty impressive for a smoked Chicken that it was a Juicy as it was.  Must be the brine.  The Sides I have to say were very disappointing.  The mac and cheese was mushy and mealy and the cheese was goopier than melted Velveeta.  The Fried Okra was very salty and took away from the vegetable.

McKoy's was very good.  The staff was also very good.  For you guys, the servers are very well endowed and real easy on the eyes.  (sorry ladies, you got to be blind not to notice them).  It's just a bonus.  But by all means go there for the food.  If you need a good BBQ place near the airport, this is a great one.

McKoy's can be found outside of the Charlotte NC airport.  For more information please visit their website at http://www.mckoys.net/

Layla's Falafel.............A touch of Lebanon in Fairfield County

For years now we have been going to Layla's for some great middle eastern cuisine and they continue to keep the great food coming.

The Layla's that I go to is located in a small strip mall on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield.  The place is very small with only enough seating for about 15.  You don't go there for the ambiance.  You go there for the Shwarma.

Layla's has all the great middle eastern treats.  Falafel, Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh and of course, Shwarma.  For those of you who don't know Shwarma, basically either marinated Chicken or Lamb is set on a long skewer and place vertically infront of two heating elements that char the outside of the meat as it is rotating.  Using a long knife, you cut down the charred meat and it is added to a piece of flat bread.  There, lettuce, pickles and a garlic spread that my sister says you can eat like soup is all rolled up into rolled up sandwich.

I do have to admit that I got their Hummus and it really wasn't that great.  Many of their items have a great amount of garlic.  The Hummus lacked the rich flavor that I love in a good Hummus.  It needed more garlic, salt and maybe some more olive oil.  But please don't let this stop you from going there for the many other items.

If you need your middle eastern fix, this is the place.  And there is not just this place. They have 2 locations in Stamford as well as Fairfield.

Layla's can be found online here: http://www.laylasfalafel.com/

Just for the PHO of it........PHO Saigon in Bridgeport

I work in Bridgeport.   My regular day job takes me to the east side of the city where a long time ago, I would read the Monday paper about all the stabbings and robberies and homicides that took place over the weekend.  So of course I would never venture out of my way from the highway and back.  Since then, the city has gotten safer and I have realized that the city really isn't all that bad.  Its actually quite a melting pot of ethnic variety that has much to explore.

About a year ago a friend of mine was visiting from Phoenix and he asked me if I have been to Pho Saigon.  I told him I never heard of it and he said if I like the Vietnamese soup Pho, then I will love this.  Pho is basically a Vietnamese noodle soup.  Served in a big steaming bowl, you will find noodles, and some sort of protein.  The Most popular is a beef variety.

I found the address and made my way to Iranistan rd in Bridgeport.  On the corner of Iranistan and Wood Rd is a house with small restaurant on the main floor.  It's a simple place really that is basically one room with a kitchen off in the back.  There are maybe 20 tables inside each with a stack of chopstick and Siracha chili sauce.

I have enjoyed Pho before but don't know all the ins and out of it.  So I just ordered the first one on the list which was the beef Pho.  Unfortunately I had to take it to go so I walked out with a square Styrofoam container and a quart size container of broth.

When I got back to my office I poured the broth into a big bowl and opened the Styrofoam. Inside was a large amount of rice noodles, bean sprouts and thinly sliced raw beef.  In addition to that was scallions, licorice  basil and another thin leaf.  I threw it all into the broth to let it cook.  I also got a side container of Siracha and chili paste and added a generous amount.

After only a few minutes, the beef had been cooked and the noodles were all warm and soft.  The broth was very aromatic with hints of 5 spice and garlic.  But the flavors went much deeper with the layers of chili paste and basil.

It's a huge amount of food and I said I can have this for lunch and dinner but my inner pig took over and I ate the whole thing.

I can't wait to go there again and eat there.  While we were waiting there was one woman in the restaurant who was eating a dish that was very colorful with many different colorful vegetables. Looked awesome.

PHO Saigon is located at 1275 Iranistan rd in Bridgeport CT.  I highly recommend it.

Diet Shmiet, I Gotta Eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Salad, Salad, Salad.  How much roughage can a person eat.

Don't get me wrong, I love salad. Nothing like a crisp refreshing crunch salad for lunch or even for dinner.  How many times have you had a nice seared Tuna over crisp fresh greens with a full bodied soy based sesame dressing and felt so content that it was a good meal. Many times I'm sure.  I know I have.  But every extra that you throw on adds calories.  When your trying to lower your calories, less is obviously more.  

The craziest thing when dieting is the word Salad itself.  You're out to a meal with some friends and everyone is ordering a burger, or a big sandwich and you say, I'm going to have a salad.  "I'm watching myself".  Ah the magic words.  "I'm watching myself, I'll have a salad".   Then you order a cobb salad.  You might be having more calories than your friends with the burger.  But its a salad right?  I see all that lettuce right there.  It's a big bowl of lettuce right?  see it?  It's right under the two whole eggs, mound of chopped bacon and pile of blue cheese.  Looks a little dry, better add that Ranch dressing.

For three months now, my main meal for lunch and dinner has been a salad that consists of just lettuce, tomato and cucumber and a protein.  That protein could be grilled chicken breast, grilled or baked fish, or even a can of Tuna.  Plus a serving of dressing.  Having that for lunch and dinner for months on end can wear on you.  So you gotta change it up a bit.  But I want to really get to my goal so how do I eat sensibly and get filled up on something other than cold salad?  It's all in educating yourself on what to have and what not to have.

I've always loved fish and this recent changing in eating has enabled me to embrace fish again.   I probably eat 5 portions of fish a week minimum.  Mostly over salad.   Now that it's getting cold here in the Northeast, having a warm meal is something I want to have more when I sit down for dinner.

One of my favorite pieces of fish is Cod.  It's mild, flaky, meaty and just plain good.  I like to have full tasting food and nothing is ever too spicy for me.  The key is how to control the fatty lubricant so the meat doesn't stick to the vessel it's cooked on.  Grilling is always great because when anything reaches it's optimal seared exterior, it just flips easily.  But Cod is not good for the grill. So I prefer to bake it. I have discovered that oil, whether it be olive, canola or vegetable, it's still about 125 calories per tablespoon.  That's a lot.  Especially when I'm used to pouring on about 10 tablespoons on anything before I season it.  So I've embraced the spray not stick solution.   PAM.  So here is my recipe for you.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Spray your baking dish with some PAM or any other non stick spray.
Mix up 1 tablespoon of minced garlic with 1 tablespoon or Sriracha sauce.
Squeeze the juice of one lemon onto the piece of fish.  Coat both sides of the fish with the garlic paste.
Bake for about 7-9 minutes until the fish flakes.
When it's done, add another splash of lemon and add with steamed Brussell Sprouts.  ( I just split and steamed them)

Then you have this:

That meal right there was probably 400 calories total.  And it was delicious.  Yes, there is no starch and no bread.  And the spouts serving is rather large.  Personally I love Brussell Sprout so that is no big deal for me.  But it was hot and fulfilling.

It's very easy and you can put a spin on it any way you want with spices.  Experiment and let me know how you like to prepare this dish.