Smithy
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Posts posted by Smithy
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Over here I've told the story of finding a Cuisinart Panini Press / Grill / Griddle at a thrift shop for $8. I've always wanted a panini press. I love paninis, but have been too cheap to shell out $70 - $100 for something that could be (almost) duplicated with a griddle pan, a hot stove and a weight.
Last night I tried mine out for the first time, to comic effect. I made a frightful mess, but we both thought the results were delicious. Now I'm eager to learn how to use it properly. Shredded cheese vs. sliced. Monitor the operation so nothing gets overcooked.
I have access to panini recipes. Several people have reported using their presses for things like roasting peppers, or making quesadillas. I'm sure burgers could be cooked on this thing to great effect. But I'll also bet there are loads of recipes and procedures from experienced panini press users that I haven't thought of. We have a very old topic on what type/brand to buy but no discussion that I can find about actually using one.
So...those of you who have a panini press / grill: what are your favorite things to do with it? Got any special tips or precautions? I already have one cautionary tale: don't fire yours up until you're sure there are no papers or tools stored between the plates. 🙂
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I got a couple of heads of red cabbage so I could start experimenting with salt levels in making sauerkraut. Pursuant to a conversation with @FauxPas, I opted to use 1.5%, 2.0% and 3.0% by weight. The 3.0% is what I'd done last time. How well will I like it with a lower salt content? She reported a preference for 1.75%, and I'm bracketing. (In truth, the difference for 365g of shredded cabbage was only 4g salt. We're talking small differences here.)
Yesterday I mixed up a batch using 3%, my previous number, to see how repeatable it was. I expected it all to fit into a 1-quart jar. It didn't, quite, so I put the excess into a pint jar and topped it off with shredded carrots and 3% by weight salt. Here's yesterday's work:
That was one head of cabbage. Today was the second. I think this stuff is beautiful!
One refinement I've come up with is a better way to fill the jar cleanly. I don't have a canning funnel big enough to accommodate that shredded cabbage. Until now I've made a collar / liner for the jar with clear plastic wrap. It was difficult to get out, and messy once it was out. Today I sacrificed part of a flexible cutting board to make a stiffer, more manageable and adjustable funnel.
Somewhere along the way I got distracted -- I should know better than to try multiple formulas at the same time, rather than finishing one before starting another -- so I *think* I have the 2% vs. 1.5% batches straight, but I'm not sure. At any rate, one batch -- I think the 2% -- all went into a quart jar and the other batch went into two pint jars.
Somewhere uptopic we've talked about ways to keep the vegetables submerged. Saving a large cabbage leaf to top it all is a start, because that gives something to push on. (FauxPas talked about a stiff cheesemaking screen, and eventually I may go that way.) Then there are the lightweight glass fermenting "weights" that are really pretty darned light. The pickle pipes help hold them down, maybe, but the other day I found a couple of fermenting springs at a thrift store:
These are designed to put pressure on the contents, and might work better. The pair I found are built for wide-mouth jars, and I happened to be using one for my pint-sized ferments. After I had everything in place, I noticed a strange bulge under that pickle pipe top:
I'm concerned about how well that will hold up. I replaced the pickle pipe with a standard canning top, but the lid is only on tightly enough to hold the top in place -- not tightly enough to seal.
They're all in secondary containment devices now. Let the fermenting begin!
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1 hour ago, Porthos said:
Do you carry a vacuum sealer for portioning/storing?
Each time I see the peanut butter whiskey I say to myself, "um, no." It has less than zero appeal, and I love peanut butter.
Yes. It's a handheld pump with reusable bags, intended for sous vide although I've just used it for freezer package. This is the one I have (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). It's no longer available but there are lots of sets like it. I carried a FoodSaver with us one year, but decided it wasn't worth the real estate in our situation.
I love peanut butter too, but I simply can't imagine peanut butter and whiskey. If there were free samples, given out with plenty of water, I might try it.
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One more post for now, and I hope there'll be more commentary about panini press usage as the day goes on.
Yesterday I finally got (re)started on sauerkraut making. I've had 2 heads of red cabbage waiting to be treated. Thanks to @FauxPas's comments on the issue I want to experiment with different salt levels. Yesterday I more or less duplicated my previous efforts (3% salt by weight) in the interest of repeatability. Today I'm going to do batches at lower salt levels. I'll write in more detail in the Preservation topic.
Here, I wish to point out why it's so difficult for me to get rid of things. Way back in 2019 I bought this pan at a thrift store, thinking it looked perfect for a mini-lasagna or a terrine. @Porthos recognized it as an insert for the buffet pan adaptor for a turkey roaster.
Well, it hasn't been put to any such use. It's been holding a plastic storage container of spices in some upper cupboard. It was slated for removal and donation to a local garage sale coming up.
...Until yesterday, when I realized it's the perfect size to hold 3 jars of potentially bubbling, overflowing, mess-making kraut or other fermentation projects.
When I removed the jars to photograph them separately, I poured beautiful indigo juice out of the bottom of the pan. It's already earned its keep!
In other news: a local group of motorized parachute fliers came out yesterday. They used to camp nearby and stay for a weekend. They've only come out for the day in the last two years, but they seem to remember that we love to see them and love a good aerial show. (We told them so, last time we had the chance.) I ran out and waved and jumped around like a maniac, and one of them was good enough to come right overhead.
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@Pete Fred the cows may have been incurious, but I'd say they look pretty good!
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The same day we did the haircut and thrift shop, we went to Fry's "to get a few things" as usual. We actually had a list and stayed true to it -- for the most part -- but as usual I went overboard on the produce and we got meat at good prices to fill the empty spaces in the refrigerator and freezer.
I still haven't done much of a grocery-store tour for y'all this trip, but I snapped a few photos this time. In the collage below, you can see:
- a very small part of the ever-expanding selection of Asian food goods in this little Southwestern town;
- the good cheap price on my preferred tortilla chips -- they're great for nachos, which we had a few nights ago, and they're also great snacks when I'm prepping dinner and already hangry;
- the astronomic "sale" price of butter -- dairy prices seem to be skyrocketing more than anything else I see;
- the bunch of green I brought home and simply couldn't fit in the refrigerator.
The cooler in the lower right corner of that collage has parsley, cilantro and asparagus, each in its own container of water. I move the cooler around to keep it out of the sun. I think I'll be cooking the asparagus tonight. I got all that parsley because I want tabbouleh soon, although there may not be any bulgur in the Princessmobile (I'll have to look). Also, I use parsley and cilantro A LOT.
The reason it wouldn't fit in the refrigerator is all the other stuff we bought: eggplant, lemons, 2 bunches of spinach, a large head of romaine, brussels sprouts, green beans, boneless skinless chicken thighs, ground chicken, pork chops and steaks, an assortment of chiles. Those filled the previously existing gaps in the refrigerator. Today I'll get around to repackaging and freezing the meat, but I was too tired when we got home and too busy yesterday.
This mural is not on the outside of our Fry's, but we pass it every time we leave town and I adore it. I've been in that store a few times. It's pretty good, but doesn't offer a good selection of the things we usually eat. Still...that mural! I think she must be some sort of Sonoran Desert goddess, or Sea of Cortez mermaid. Every animal and plant in that mural belongs to the Sonoran Desert.
And in a note of incongruity, but I wanted to save the punchline for...well, the punchline spot: I saw this at Fry's.
I cannot imagine what would induce me to try that, if I had to pay any money for the privilege.
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I'd like more information from those of you who've used a grill press like this. I love the idea of quesadillas, which I had considered, and roasted peppers, which I hadn't. Those of you who've done it, please give me specifics or suggestions.
For instance:
-- shredded cheese inside quesadillas and sandwiches, instead of sliced as I did last night?
-- if I put slices of eggplant in that grill pan and press them, should I at least squirt them with a little olive oil?
-- what about on the quesadillas-- @Shelby, do you really mean no oil at all?
-- what about roasting peppers? Slice and seed them, or put them on whole? What about oil?
And @rotuts, I'm picking up some sliced meats tomorrow for something like Cubanos. I'll tell him that if he wants one it's HIS turn to wash the windows.
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It looks like there'll be a learning curve on my new gadget.
First lesson: don't start warming it up until checking to make sure nothing is stored inside! I know there are lots of cases of people doing that with their ovens and forgetting about having used it as storage. Down the road from us at home there was an exciting Fire Department visit because Mama started the oven without realizing that her daughter's Barbie doll was resting in there. Still...who'd think to look inside a pair of flat grates clamped together? Fortunately, I caught it before the scraper and the printed "quick start" sheet had begun to scorch.
Second lesson: monitor the cooking and the grease content, and consider using less cheese. 🙄
I tell you, it was an intimidating mess when I checked those sandwiches for the second time. (The first time I checked, they hadn't begun to brown.) As you can see, the cheese was running all over the plate and out the sides, down the dial face. I hadn't noticed it running out before I opened the lid.
I was pleased and surprised when I went to pick up the sandwiches, though. The cheese (Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar) hung together quite nicely and lifted right off the grill plate. It hung together so well I had to cut it (with scissors) to separate the sandwich servings.
I piled the stuff on our plates, perhaps not artistically, but so that we could eat it. I found the concentrated, melted cheese a bit too salty. He thought it excellent.
We both loved the texture of the sandwiches: very crisp crust, that extra cheese, nicely crisped bread on both sides of the sandwich. Soft, gooey interior. It hadn't all leaked out. 🙂
We had to laugh, though: we'd thought that a panini press would be easier than a skillet, and I'd be able to crank out these great sandwiches on it with minimal cleanup. Based on last night's dinner, we were dead wrong...and we really did think it was funny.
The cleanup was easier than I expected. Despite the melted cheese flowing down the sides, most of it really did go down the sides instead of down into the works. This is a very well constructed machine.
And then there was the delicious result. All in all, we figure we already got $8 worth* of entertainment from it. 🙂
*(He adds that it really makes his haircut $28 instead of $20)
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That looks wonderful, @Ronniebisme! I wouldn't complain if served that. In fact, if somebody else were to complain I'd demand they do the cleanup and forgo any leftovers!
Thanks for reporting back.
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25 minutes ago, rotuts said:
@rotuts, that's a fine suggestion and I thank you for it. I just opened it up and plugged it in. It started warming up, and judging by the smell I'd say it's never been used! Reminds me of the smell of a clothes iron (remember those?) heating up. I played around with the controls a bit, then read the instructions.
The instructions say clearly that the metal cover gets very hot, and not to touch it until it cools down! I looked at the wooden cutting board holding the panini press...and turned it off. I'll use it atop a less scorchable surface.
All the instructions as well as the cleaning tool came with it. I especially like the instruction book, which has operating instructions at the front end and, if you flip it over, recipes at the back end.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I also spotted and purchased these canning springs. $0.50 for the pair! I'll post more about them in the Preservation topic, when I get around to using them.
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I went back to the above-mentioned store yesterday, and found a Cuisinart Panini Press / griddler. $8. All parts there; looks lightly used. I wrote more about the entire adventure here. I've always been too cheap to buy one of these presses; cheapest I've ever seen them was on there order of $70, and a similar item on Amazon right now runs more nearly $100. Score!
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It looks as though all the ATVers are out riding, so I may be able to get in another post or two....
Yesterday we went to town for fuel, groceries and my darling's haircut. The barber shop he likes is next door to a thrift store I like, and he was good enough to time our visit so I could go shop. Foolish man! I can do a LOT of shopping in 15 minutes!
I focused on their kitchen goods, of course. The last time I went, I passed up a lovely set of serving platters and a Descoware enameled cast iron baking pan. I went back later and they were gone, of course. The Descoware I'd have passed up again anyway, but I rather regretted not getting the platters. Even though I didn't need them. But getting back to yesterday's offerings, they had a generous offering of still-in-the-box bakeware and serve ware...
some beautiful dishes and silverware...
and a goodly assortment of pots, pans, waffle irons, and the like.
I checked out the aluminum pot on the bottom rack. It was big. Could it possible be Club? No, it was iMusa, a much more recent brand, but it was in good condition. It was large, probably 6 quarts. See the glass lid on the next shelf up? It fit. Perfectly.
I love helping other people shop. I didn't have any victims nearby, so I went to one of the sales clerks who was busying herself at an Easter decoration / toy display. I pointed out the pot and the lid.
"Hey, if you see anyone interested in that pot, you need to point out that the glass lid fits it PERFECTLY." She went over and looked. Each was priced separately: $3, I think, for the pot; $1 for the lid.
She put the lid atop the pot, then countered, "You should get those!" She loves to help people shop, too. I responded that i already have a bunch of pots, that size and larger and smaller, and can't use another. "Yes," she said, "but that would be perfect for camping, too! You could set that right on top of the campfire!"
"No," I said, "I already have that too! And we're already camping!"
The coaxing continued. "You know, when I see something like that that I like, and I decide to walk away and think about it, I'm always sorry when I come back to find it gone. You should take that pot and lid!" She went on to tell the story of some craft items she'd passed up and then needed later. I thought about the serving platters...she couldn't possibly know that story!...but remained firm.
Instead, this is what I brought home:
I have always wanted a panini press. I can't tell you how many times I've considered buying one of the Cuisinart panini presses from Crate and Barrel, or now Amazon (here's a similar model) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I've always been too cheap, and too practical. I have a grill pan. I have a weight. I have perfectly good cast iron pans, and nonstick pans, and non-nonstick pans. I don't need no stinkin' panini press to take up space, either here or at home.
Still. An apparently new, or very lightly used, Cuisinart panini press for $8. How could I pass it up?
I didn't. I'm looking forward to seeing whether it manages grilled eggplant better than my sheet-pan-in-the-oven method. I'm looking forward to grilled sandwiches with those press marks. I wonder whether this will make more satisfying potato pancakes than those I made the other night?
Stay tuned, and feel free to suggest your favorite grilled sandwiches or griddler ideas!
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12 hours ago, FauxPas said:
What do you two use for a toaster in the PM? If you have discussed it before, I don't remember. (and if so, I apologize) 🙂
But since your travelling partner is a toast aficionado, I wonder about his thoughts on perfect toast.
We have a venerable 2-slot long-slice Oster electric toaster that's been around the block, literally, more times than I can count. Its base is partly melted due to its proximity to the stove. I insist on long slots so I can toast boule slices without cutting them in half. For a time we had a single-slot long-slot toaster (which, come to think of it, we have at home) but that's inconvenient when we both want toast.
A slight diversion: I know there are stovetop nonelectric toasters, but we strongly prefer not to bother with that. We need to run the generator for an hour or two in the morning and evening, to recharge batteries so that the lights, water pump, furnace and refrigerator will work. We time the generator use to coincide with our wanting morning coffee or dinnertime toast. The microwave / vent fan often also go into play when I'm making dinner, and the generator is necessary then as well.
He isn't really very fussy about toast, as long as it's crisp on the outside. He prefers it warm. He rarely bothers to butter it. We both prefer it golden - to medium brown, but it can be almost charred before he won't eat his. He likes the grocery store whole wheat bread, which is too sweet for me, so his toast automatically browns more than mine (sourdough, no sugar) if I bother to have any.
In the process of going around the block many times, the poor toaster has also suffered abuse due to its proximity to the stove. No place else to put it, though! Here's what that corner looks like, in real life -- no gussying up by moving things to get them out of the frame. 😉
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27 minutes ago, FauxPas said:
@Smithy, really hope you are feeling better!
Looking at the photo right above, I keep looking for the toast. 😄
Thanks! I'm better today.
I'm pretty sure the toast was in his hand just then! 😄
Had a good shopping trip today with a new toy, but the holiday revelers* are rolling in and competing for internet access. It may take a while to show off my finds.
*It's Presidents' Day Weekend here in The States, and a beautiful time for RVers and ATVers to come out and camp...party...ride...use the cell phone towers....
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@lindag, are these (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) the peppers in question? They look darned good. I may have to try them too...after I've worked my way through some of my backlog of pickles, commercial and otherwise. 🙂
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48 minutes ago, lindag said:
Thanks.
It's a pickling liquid. The pickles are just eaten out of hand.
The label says it's a mild brine but I find them quite spicy and delicious.
Then I stand by my earlier suggestion: add the liquid where an acidic kick would be welcome. Tuna salad, potato salad, salad dressing, that sort of thing. In addition, I've been using the brine from dill pickles to pickle chopped spinach stems as an addition to my salads (and as a way to use spinach stems). In the pickling discussion, @FauxPas mentioned pickling garlic scapes. You might try something like that.
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28 minutes ago, liuzhou said:
Of course, we also get regular oranges. When I lived in Hunan, oranges were almost free. 7 cents (USD) a kilo. I was said to be the world's largest orange producing area.
These are a bit more expensive and grown locally.
Those have such a high polish on them! Out here, that would be associated with a run through a packing plant (with food-grade wax finishing the process) but then they wouldn't have the leaves. How is the fruit handled there, to give it such a shine?
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Well. That all worked out rather well!
The oven temperature may have been slightly higher: 300F, rather than the usual 275F, because I didn't try to lower the oven setting below its lowest mark and make the flames gutter. Aside from that the treatment was as described above and the time was about the same as always: 3 hours. At 2-1/2 hours the ends of the ribs were beginning to show, and I squirted some barbecue sauce onto one end because that's the way my darling prefers it. If I'd been feeling less perfunctory I'd have brushed it on in a smooth coating, but the heck with that noise. So... the meat doesn't look pretty in the photo below. Trust me, it was already tender and only became more so by the time I served it.
While the ribs finished cooking and we watched a couple of episodes of M*A*S*H to help him stay awake, I grated some russet potatoes I'd bought in the bargain bin ($0.49 for 3 large Irish spuds!) and squeezed out the moisture, then cooked them in melted butter and oil. I'm sure there's supposed to be more to making potato pancakes...but again, I couldn't be bothered.
Yet more of the cucumber/onion relish from the Deep Run Roots recipe served as a side salad. That's a dish that keeps on giving.
Dinner: more than either of us could quite eat, but it wasn't for want of trying. He LOVED the seasonings on the pork!
There are more potato pancakes and ribs (and salad!) in the refrigerator. The main lesson from this dinner is that it isn't necessary to thaw the ribs before cooking them the way we do. That probably means we'll stock up even more!
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Strange things happen when one gets sick. I've come down with something...just a cold, I think...but it really took the wind out of my sails. (I've tested twice over 35 hours. It isn't Covid.) Right now I'm losing track of things...of time, of ideas....
Some time in the past couple of days we eyeballed the remaining half of a rack of pork ribs. My darling wants 'em, he does. But Tuesday was the first day I was sick (and cancelled a social engagement) and yesterday we had to move the Princessmobile briefly to go to a dump station, then return and set camp back up. On one of those days, I pulled the rack of ribs out, announced the we didn't have time to thaw and cook it that day, and we'd let it thaw in the refrigerator. We ate other things for dinner. Today, as I'm feeling better, I went to pull of the ribs and get them ready to cook.
I looked and looked...and finally found them back in the freezer. I guess today is the day we find out about cooking ribs from frozen!
At least, I said, I have the nice spice mix from the Deep Run Roots Flank Steak I told you about. I'll use that. And I looked. And I looked....and finally decided to use instead this combination of rubs:
The ribs are in the oven now, at 4:30 pm, the time I'd normally have put thawed ribs in. Low temperature. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. The photo below doesn't show it clearly, but the ribs were quite solid.
And then, as I was typing this, I remembered one more place to look for that spice mix. It has cumin. I looked in the freezer, and there it is. 😁
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17 minutes ago, gulfporter said:
Found another Portugal cellar's vino verte today at liquor store here in Ajijic Mexico. Refreshing and an artistic label, too!
I'd buy that for the label alone! Once, at least. 🙂
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3 hours ago, lindag said:
I've been buying Matiz Piparras, Basque Guindilla Peppers for a few months now and I love them. My question is: what can I do with the liquid in the jar?
It has to be good added to a spicy dish somewhere.
Got any suggestions?
I just realized that I'd jumped to a wild conclusion that might be wrong. What is the liquid? Acid? Salt water? Oil? What do you do with the peppers themselves? That might help some of us make better suggestions for you.
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1 hour ago, lindag said:
I've been buying Matiz Piparras, Basque Guindilla Peppers for a few months now and I love them. My question is: what can I do with the liquid in the jar?
It has to be good added to a spicy dish somewhere.
Got any suggestions?
I've never had them, so this is a wild guess: could you put the juice into a mix where a spicy pickle juice would be welcome? Tuna salad, potato salad? Mix a little into a salad dressing for green salad?
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24 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:
On the pricing, I rarely go out to restaurants so I'm no judge but I think everything has gotten really expensive, especially for small places that can't take advantage of big corporate purchasing contracts.
I think you're probably right about everything getting expensive, and the small-business disadvantage makes sense. When 2 burgers and fries, without drinks, cost $22 at a fast-food chain that's quite an indication of price hikes. We've also been noticing it at the grocery store.
Thanks for the link to the Korean place! You're right -- those are wildly high prices. Fun to look, though. "K-Fried" chicken made me do a double take. Does the "K" stand for Korean, or are they trying to suggest the Kentucky Colonel without copyright infringement?
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And now for something completely different: I went to a restaurant yesterday! (No, it wasn't Monster Tacos although I may make time to try that place too.)
I spent the day in town and had a gap between appointments, so decided to check out this new restaurant. Shawarma Vibes caught my eye when we arrived in Yuma last November. It turns out they've been open since last August.
I love Middle Eastern food, but in most places we hang out I have to make it myself if I'm going to have it. There was a Middle Eastern market and deli here a few years ago, but they didn't last long. I was sorry to see them go, partly because they were a good source for the boxed Egyptian feta cheese we like but also because of their food...when they could be bothered to serve it. Whether the place failed due to its spectacularly poor service or due to a lack of market in Yuma I never learned. I hope that it was the poor service, and that Shawarma Vibes fares better.
The place offers takeout or dine-in, and offers both indoor and outdoor dining. I opted to eat indoors, and was promptly brought a menu, a cup of lentil soup, and pita chips.
Let me tell you: I'm not usually one to rave about lentil soup, but this was marvelous. Smooth, warm, quite delicious. I forgot to ask what the broth base was. While I enjoyed that, and ignored the fact that it would have been quite enough lunch for me, I perused the menu.
So many delicious-sounding options! While I dithered, the waitress pointed out the day's special: chicken or beef shawarma wrap with fries and a fountain drink. The whole shebang was $8. I ordered the chicken wrap.
This was a very generous plate! I was a little surprised at the chicken chunks rather than shavings from a gyro, as I normally see chicken shawarma. That's probably a safer bet for a fairly small operation than having the rotating stuff waiting to be shaved.
I was also a bit surprised at the pita wrapped around the lot and grilled. I think I prefer a thinner wrap (Babylon Market in Tucson uses tortillas and grills them) for its tenderness, but I'm not going to quibble. The flavors were good, and there was a lot. In fact, I brought most of it home. I also ordered a large serving (about a pint) of lentil soup to bring home.
If you've looked at the prices on the menu, you can see that the place isn't really cheap...but all that food, and a tip, ran me $23. My darling and I spend about that much buying 2 Whoppers and fries at Carl's Jr. I'd say this is a much better deal.
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Camping, Princess Style
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Let the discussions begin!