Chris Hennes

Iron Starr (Norman location) (ironstarrbbq.com, 575 South University Boulevard, Norman, OK‎) The Iron Starr folks recently opened up a Norman location just off the OU campus. The space is great: high ceilings, tasteful, understated decor, and decent parking options. I think the menu is the same as the original location in OKC, but don't quote me on that. I've eaten at the Norman location a half dozen times since they opened, and there are some clear winners and losers. I'll start with the losers so I can end this review on a positive note. Holy jebus their ribs are terrible. Like, absolutely awful, why did you let this leave the kitchen? kind of terrible. Maybe it's just a style choice and it turns out I hate this style of ribs, coated with a very thick, soft layer of... something. The meat is beyond tender and into soggy territory. Bad stuff. If I was you I'd stay FAR away from the ribs. Next up, while their pulled pork tastes pretty good, it looks like it's been through a food processor: all finely chopped, and looking a bit like sauced canned tuna. So, while the flavor is OK, the texture is bad enough to warrant a big thumbs down. On the plus side, the brisket and sausage are tasty, if not exactly the best in town. Both of their burgers are quite good, among the better in Norman. Among the sides their fries and onion/jalapeno mix are the best, IMO, but my wife likes their slaw. Overall, it's hard to beat the convenience of the location (if you are on campus), and as long as you choose carefully you can have a very good meal. Bonus points for a drinkable wine that runs $20/bottle. Makes everything taste better...

Pho Hoa (901 NW 23rd St, Oklahoma City, OK 73106) Oklahoma City actually has a very large (percentage-wise) Vietnamese population, and a ton of Pho restaurants to match. This is the one most frequently recommended, and having been there a few times, I think I agree with that. The broth is a bit richer and more flavorful than the other restaurants I've been to here, and the meat higher quality. In addition, their fried egg rolls are very good. One word of warning, however: they are cash-only, and I didn't see an ATM on the premises. The food is inexpensive, under $10 per person, so that shouldn't be too big an issue.

How do you get the filling in there? Just basically layer it?

robirdstx - does that BBA white loaf use one of Reinhart's standard pre-ferments? Or is it a straightforward one-day-in-the-making sort of loaf?

Do you add the oil while they are still hot? Or does it not matter?

I can't recall where I got this idea (Alton Brown, maybe?) but sandwiching them between two cheap furnace filters and the strapping that to a box fan does the job fairly quickly, too.

Oh, good call, I just ground up a batch of dried Thai bird chiles, I'll have to give that a go. I wonder what else it would be great on with chiles added?

I haven't deliberately put in any worms, but I have added some leftover compost from last year's garden. Will the worms survive the high temperatures? I think I read somewhere that the middle of a healthy pile is supposed to be around 150°F (but that could be wrong!).

I started up a few varieties of peppers this past weekend, at my wife's request, which will be nice to have. I have a question for the tomato-growers out there. I'm following the seed-starting instructions in Male's 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, which have you start the seeds in a tray, and then basically pluck them out when the first set of true leaves begins to emerge and transplant into individual containers. So, this is done, for most of my seedlings. I have five that didn't fit in the trays, so I just left them in their little seed-starting pellets. The ones I left alone are probably 5-10 times the size of the ones I transplanted, two weeks later. Is this normal? Did the transplanted ones just put all their energy into roots instead of leaves?

It's my understanding that Carl's Jr. purchased Hardees at some point in the recent past, and that the trend is to make Hardees more like Carl's Jr, rather than the reverse. That said, it's interesting to me that you are a fan of Carl's Jr.'s burgers: they get a pretty bad rap over at A Hamburger Today.

Oh, interesting idea, sadistick. Do I need to punch holes in it to keep good airflow, or is a just a plain sheet of plywood (probably treated, I guess) good enough?

I admit it, from time to time I make frozen fish sticks. Sometimes I turn them into a pseudo-Filet-o-Fish, and sometimes (like tonight), I just serve them on a plate with rice and peas. I'm particular: the store brand generic ones around here are TERRIBLE. Soggy, greasy, nasty. But I actually like the Gorton's. I think we ate Van de Kamps growing up, but I haven't had them since, and can't remember what they were like. Do you eat fish sticks? Or do you view them as an abomination? What brands do you like?

Easter is coming up again, and the Peeps are on the shelves. Where they can stay, as far as I am concerned. Sugar coated marshmallow-like substance? Mmm... no. But so many people love them!! What gives?

We don't have Burger Street here, but we do have Braum's and Whataburger (neither of which I've tried). I've read some good things about Wendy's, too, but I've never been there, either. I'm suspicious of square hamburgers, though. I don't have a rational reason for that.

Has anyone tried the english muffin recipe in Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice? I almost gave it a shot this afternoon until work intervened, but I may yet have a go at it later this week. It's one of the only recipes in the book that can be made in a single day!

I have some asparagus, and some fresh eggs, so I thought I'd make an asparagus souffle for dinner one night this week. But the only souffles I've ever made have been just cheese, or chocolate. How do you add the vegetable? Do I need to blanch it first? Will the asparagus be too watery and make the souffle heavy?

It seems like every time I drive down the street a new fast food place is opening in my town. Of course, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. And Carl's Jr, and now Jack in the Box, and a couple others I can't even remember the names of. Back on the East Coast I was fond of Backyard Burgers and Five Guys, but we don't have either of those here. Which places should I try for the best fast food burger?

Great, thanks for the update. Do you have a preference for one recipe versus the other (e.g. the dark versus the light)? Or is it pure economics?

Have you tasted it yet? How does it compare to a Spanish or Hungarian paprika? Is it smoked?

Also, where'd you get the Pistachio Cream? I've never heard of such a thing, it sounds great.

I've made a number of different styles of bratwurst: starting from the recipe in Charcuterie of course, but I personally like the various recipes in Garde Manger better. They have three in there, from three different regions, and they are all very distinctive. The Bavarian is the one I think most Americans think of when we think of brats, so that one probably wins on nostalgia alone. It's a pure pork sausage, no veal at all.

Wow, that's the highest-class use of Schlitz I've ever seen. Very nice, and no doubt those veg. do taste fantastic. I haven't really extensively studied the benefits of poaching the brats in anything with flavor, I mostly do it as a matter of habit. Has anyone done a side-by-side comparison?

How in-depth is the gardening coverage in the book? Is it a single chapter, of does it address each vegetable in turn (you mention "the onion chapter" for example)?

The advantage of the water/beer bath is the precise temperature control it affords (imagine a sausage as a meat blend in an edible sous vide bag). I can cook the sausage to exactly 150°F and then finish on a very hot grill, pan, or with a torch, without risking overheating the exterior while trying to get the interior to temperature. I make my own sausage, and after going through all the trouble of ensuring a good bind during the construction, it pains me to just toss them on the grill and hope for the best.

Growing up we always boiled our brats in beer before grilling them. The beer of choice was Leinenkugel to start, then changed to Pig's Eye Pilsner when that arrived in town (I grew up in Minnesota, dontchaknow?). Now that I am older and wiser, I prefer to poach my brats gently at 150°F before searing them off to finish. But, what beer to use?! Suggestions? They don't sell Pig's Eye in Oklahoma, alas...