The Blue Door - Breakfast Blucy

In my search to find the best Juicy Lucy (cheese stuffed burger,  native to the MN area), I journeyed to The Blue Door in St. Paul, MN. The Blue Door has only been around a couple years but has become pretty popular within the area (especially amongst the hipsters) and has been on multiple food shows.The Blue Door calls their Juicies, "Blucy's". 
http://www.thebluedoorpubmn.com/pdfs/STP-menu.pdf

I ordered the Breakfast Blucy, egg, cheese and really awesome bacon on top while it was stuffed with cheddar? cheese. It was a great burger,. I wouldn't say it was a better Juicy Lucy than The Nook's but it is probably the 2nd best Juicy I've had (better than Matt's Bar in MN and all the places I've tried in DSM).

Probably not the best pic ever but it's dark in there and the burger is huge.

The differences between this Juicy to The Nook's are the Blue Door: used a bigger bun, had a bigger burger and less cheese oozing out. They do have some nice options that The Nook doesn't have: add an egg on top, they have a unique burger combos that Nook doesn't have and their most famous burger is a regular burger with Peanut Butter on it (Jiffy Burger) which is pretty good.

The verdict: The Blue Door has amazing burgers and apparently cheap beer ($2 Draws at Saturday at 4pm). They are in an incredibly small location so plan to wait but if you are in the area, you should check them out if you like burgers and America (OK that's redundant). I still think the best Juicy lies at The Nook (see previous blog posts) but this is closest next best thing. I definitely want to go back to try some of their unique combos.

Mad Meatball

I saw a Groupon for a new restaurant in the neighborhood, Mad Meatball. I like trying new restaurants downtown and good deals with them so I scooped it up. They don't have a website so this link isn't that useful:

https://plus.google.com/109404905576284732292/about?gl=us&hl=en
Mad Meatball is located next to Capital Pub and Hot Dog and I believe is under the same management/ownership. Basically, it is a dive bar that serves bar food. Meatballs apparently are their specialty but I ordered one of their pizzas that had a lot of toppings (don't remember which one but the only one with banana peppers on it). The menu isn't very big but contains a couple different pizza combinations and a few different types of traditional bar sandwiches.

Pretty much a bar pizza

The pizza wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't anything amazing. Anything that combines meat, cheese and banana peppers will be good in my book. Two people can polish off their large pizza since it is pretty thin. I believe the Groupon was $10 for $20 so a pizza and a beer pretty much covers that.

Not much really to say other than I wouldn't go out of my way to go here and I definitely wouldn't go here without a Groupon (I believe they've already offered it a 2nd time and they haven't been open more than 2 or 3 months?). The food seems more like,"hey I'm 5 beers deep and kind of hungry now, oh here's a food menu" type of food.  Check it out and let me know if you found something worth going for.

Best of Chicago Edition

I was in Chicago for the Men's Health Urbanathlon with some friends. We may or may not have went out to eat...a lot! On this trip, I had some of the best food I've ever had including the best hot dog, cupcake, bacon and pasta. Now those aren't things that I eat a lot anyways but I also might have had possibly the best cheeseburger (close between them and The Nook's Juicy Lucy) ever.


Restaurant: Au Cheval

City: Chicago

Ordered: Single Cheeseburger (which ironically has 2 patties on it)
Website: http://auchevalchicago.com/#
Recommendation: If you like cheeseburgers, bacon and America. Go there RIGHT NOW!

We stopped here for a late lunch. The recommendation we've heard is the BEST burger in Chicago. You know how that goes when you hear that...but whoever said that was serious. The burger tasted great but the meltiness of the cheese was perfect. The bun was big enough to hold the burger but its taste didn't get in the way of the burger. I ordered with bacon on top of it and that only things more perfect. My 2nd picture doesn't do the bacon justice but we all agreed it was the best bacon we've ever had. It was as thick as any slice of bacon you've ever seen and cooked to perfection --small amount of crisp on the outside and chewy and meaty when you bite into it. The restaurant is small, hipstery and dark. It seemed like a cool place to hang out though and I definitely plan to stop by again.

Restaurant: Hot Doug's

City: Chicago

Ordered: Steve Swisher -Sante Fe (Chicken Sausage dog)

Website: http://www.hotdougs.com/menu.htm 
Recommendation: Definitely check it out once before you die and if you enjoy a good hot dog. Don't come starving because there will probably be a wait.

 With all the hot dog places popping up in DM, it only made sense to try out a classic gem to see the standard. We had to wait in line an hour but to say I've been here, it was worth it. You could tell when every person left with a smile on their face, it was going to be good. One person even walked out sayin "it was like sex, but a hot dog." What else needs to be said?

This place has been around for a while and with how popular it was, it isn't going anywhere. You wait in line, you order one of the various options for a hot dog/sausage from Doug himself (who is hilarious), you wait a few minutes for it to and devour happiness. I ordered the chicken sausage and you can see in the 3rd picture how much flavor is inside of it. It has a nice zest to it. The toppings taste fresh and are prepared well. It's still a hot dog, but definitely the best hot dog I've had. Come here and order one or two of them.

Restaurant: Molly's Cupcakes

City: Chicago

Ordered:Choco-ccino (chocolate cappucino)

Website: http://www.mollyscupcakes.com/chicago/cupcakes.aspx
Recommendation: Go there if you are in the area and love cupcakes.

I don't go crazy for cupcakes but this was worth the hype that my friends were giving it. Molly's is a small cupcake shop that is only in a few locations around the world. They have several unique flavors and combinations so you can go back several times and have a new cupcake. This isn't something I usually cover in the blog but the presentation was amazing (see above). The cupcake itself tastes great and I loved that it came with chocolate covered coffee beans which I love. I am guessing these might be one of the best cupcakes in the world....but I am no expert on that. If you are in the area, check them out.


Restaurant: XOCO

City: Chicago

Ordered: Carnitas Salad? with Avocado lime dressing

Website: http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html

Recommendation: Go there if you are in the area!

  


















 
I would describe XOCO as an upscale latin/mexican restaurant. They seem to have a good reputation around their desserts (especially their churros). The churro is crispy enough on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside. It was light but flavorful. Not pictured was the Tres Leche cake which I shared with everyone- phenomenal! It was presented well (not overly wet) and was a light consistency still with a lot of flavor--not too sweet, just right! They definitely take desserts seriously.

I ordered the Carnitas salad which had avocado, tortilla strips and pork on it as well as a Avocado Lime dressing (recipe can be found at the link above) which just sounded awesome. The salad was good, everything was fresh and I liked the unique dressing. It was still just a salad but it was the right amount of hearty and light which is just what I wanted. Myself, I wouldn't go out of my way to go here but it was good and if you are looking for a place for an upscale dessert, this would be a great place to check out.

Restaurant: Paesano's

City: Richmond, IL

Ordered: Gnocci Vodka Cream w/ chicken

Website:http://www.paisanosonbroadway.com/Pages/OurMenu.aspxRecommendation: Go there if you are in the area!

As you know, I am on a no-wheat kick so I thought potato pasta might be a good step to satisfy (kind of) that, plus I've never ordered restaurant Gnocchi. This was phenomenal! The pasta was perfect textured/softness and the Vodka cream sauce is now my favorite sauce; it's a great mix of tomato acidity with a creaminess that everyone loves. The restaurant is pretty popular in this small town but definitely worth swinging by if you are in the area. Think Latin King type atmosphere.

Restaurant: Lou Malnati's
City: Elmhurst, IL

Ordered: Sausage Chicago Style

Website:http://www.loumalnatis.com/Menu/restaurant-bar.aspx
Recommendation: Solid but don't go too far out of your way.
 

I love Chicago Style pizza and heard great things about Lou Malnati's. I've seen him various times on food shows so I HAD to try the pizza. We ordered a sausage pizza which is uniquely cut and flavored. The sausage was great, the crust was decent, the sauce tasted great and the cheese was good. On paper, this was a good pizza but I had really high (probably too high) of expectations and it just didn't quite live up to them. Because the sauce is so juicy, the bottom crust gets wet when the pizza is cut which a small mark against it. Other than that, it's hard to find things that I didn't like, there was just nothing that I LOVED about it. I feel like Felix and Oscar's is about as good as them. So I say, still check the pizza (recommend Sausage) out but don't put your expectations too high like I did.

What is your favorite Chicago dish? Which one of these places do you want to check out the most? How do you like the format of this post?

Tacopocalypse

For those of you that love the DSM downtown Farmer's Market, you've probably come across Tacopocalypse which was a popular vendor for their unique tacos. I believe they also sell their tacos at Cumming Tap for the Tuesday Taco ride. Now they've decided to open up a small restaurant in the East Village. After a long day of working on a house with HYP (Habitat Young Professionals), it was time to check this place out. http://tacopocalypse.com/carryout-menu/

So trying to stick with the "no wheat" diet, I thought I would try their shell-less taco. This essentially is meat with toppings on it. At face value, that sounds awesome but it isn't much food. Normally, a taco is $3 and 2 of $5. People were talking up the Korean chicken so I went with that. It was pretty tasty. Nice acidity/crunch with the cabbage and good flavor from the chicken (if I recall, there was a peanut buttery flavor to the chicken).

Korean Chicken Taco (w/out the shell)

Any normal human being would need at least 2 tacos to sustain them more than 45 minutes. A taco without a shell and having done manual labor all day (yes, very rare occurrence for me). It wasn't going to be enough for me so I decided to order a burrito.

Bacon Chicken Ranch Burrito

The burrito was very good and very filling. The ingredients tasted pretty fresh and the bacon chorizo was a nice flavor within the healthier chicken/veggies. This burrito actually tasted better than a typical chicken burrito you might get at a normal sports bar/restaurant but not quite Panchero's level. Still, it looks good and tastes the same. The fresh made tortilla chips were actually pretty good and unique. They were a little oily for my liking but very crisp and fresh.

I've always thought Tacopocalypse was a little overrated for all the hype they've received within Juice and amongst all the hipsters. The food here (especially the burrito) was pretty solid though. I definitely recommend checking them out. What's your favorite taco/item there?

Almond Flour Pizza

I've been trying a new element to my daily food routine: avoiding wheat. It hasn't been as difficult as I thought but I still eat it here and there. You eventually get sick of ordering chicken salads when you go to restaurants.

To eat foods that traditionally contain wheat, you have to find new ingredients to make breads/tortillas and pizza crusts. I recently purchased Bob's Almond Flour (10.99/lb) and Bob's Coconut Flour (9.99lb) from Hy-Vee's organic section. I rarely bake but I thought I would try to see how realistic it is for me to live a wheat free life. It is certainly more expensive up front but to feel better and be in better health (and avoiding medical bills later in life?) it could be worth it.

My first experiment with this endeavor was making Almond Flour Pizza Crust. The recipe is simple...even for someone like me that never makes any bread/crust from scratch.

Almond Flour Pizza Crust

Here are the results of the crust. Note this is a DOUBLE batch.

Another similar recipe: http://ditchthewheat.com/paleo-almond-flour-pizza/

A Tortilla recipe I will likely try next: https://www.facebook.com/notes/civilized-caveman-cooking-creations/paleo-tortillas-or-chips-bread-pizza-crust/121102277964562?ref=nf

So as I said, I'm not experienced with making crusts but this wasn't too difficult. Of course, it doesn't look like a normal crust and I used a rolling pin to flatten it out. The crust probably was 1/8" thick so pretty thin. I made a double batch because I was feeding two and I wanted leftovers. Plus, a single batch looked pretty pathetic.

With some added toppings (2 cups of shredded cheese, crushed red pepper and 1 serving of turkey pepperoni):

Crispy and chewy at the same time

So everything tasted OK but the almond flour crust is very dense in texture and flavor. I don't think I could have made the crust much thinner though. To balance the flavor of the crust, you really need to add a lot of toppings and probably add some seasonings to the crust itself. I takes about $5.50 worth of flour to make this crust which is a lot relative to white flour or buying an already made crust (2 Mama Mary's crusts for about $5). Nonetheless, it was fun to experiment and I still want to try other Almond Flour/Coconut flour recipes. Next is the Almond Flour Tortillas linked above.

Anyone make a lot of non-wheat breads/crusts/tortillas/goodies? Throw some recipes/advice my way.

Wellman's West - Juicy Lucy

As you know, I have an unhealthy obsession for The Juicy Lucy (cheese-stuffed burgers native to the Twin Cities area). The Nook in St. Paul does them the best (see my previous posts on them or on Diner's Drive-Inns and Dives: DDD The Nook) but it's expensive to drive 240 miles for a burger so I am on a mission to find one comparable in the Des Moines area. I heard about Wellman's Juicy so I ventured west.

http://wellmanspub.com/

First of all, if you haven't been to Wellman's West, it's a pretty cool place and probably the best patio space that I've been to in DSM. That's tough for me to say since I don't like to travel further west than MLK.

So the burger.... it wasn't great. It was a little too crispy on the outside which is a problem since Juicies should be cooked to medium. The cheese was already gooing out the side so you can tell they didn't seal the burger well. I couldn't tell which cheese they used but it wasn't too bad. It seemed almost Velvetta quality instead of a real cheese. Despite all that, it didn't taste too bad. I would say it isn't a great replacement for a real Juicy but I've had worse. In their defense, I am holding to a very high standard since I am a snob when it comes to these burgers. Anyone heard of another place that serves these that I should check out?

Something Italian - Papa Luigi

One of my favorite spots to eat in the skywalk for lunch is "Something Italian." I usually go for the pizza, although the sandwiches are good (very bready though). My favorite slice is the one shown below, the Papa Luigi, which pretty much has everything on it.

Their slices are large, thin and have great quality ingredients (especially the veggies). I wish I still worked in the skywalk so I could stop there more often If you love Caesar salad, SI has the best! You get a nice deal if you get a slice and a salad.

Check out their menu. They also come to the Saturday Farmer's market with some breakfast pizza selections. What's your favorite thing from SI?

http://www.somethingitaliandsm.com/menu.asp

Yeah, not the best picture but this goes to show you their slices are so big, they don't fit in vertical camera shots.