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Shameless Plugs

So did anyone catch this week on the penultimate episode of Heroes the reference to my favorite on hiatus NYC restaurant, Shopsin's? How cool was that?
It was mentioned by the character Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg who currently graces to cover of Geek Monthly published and edited by some friends of mine.

Visit my New Blog

So, I have decided to expand myself into the blogging world and started a second blog with my cousin, This Is Gonna Be Good
. The focus is just food and eating. I'm still going to post about the rest of my nerdy life here, but I am moving the restauranting and food experimentation over there. Please feel free to check it out.
Pictured here are Rippers from Rutt's Hut in Jersey. They are deep fried hot dogs! My cousin went there last week.

I Love My Shopsin's T-Shirt!

Thanks Melinda!

White Trasherole Night

My cousin is a guest blogger here today:

So after months of smack-talking about who could make the best white trash casserole, the showdown was finally held.

Four entrants:

1) I made a casserole version of the classic Frito pie, opening two bagged ingredients and not one, not two, not even three, but four canned goods -- ground beef was mixed with cream of mushroom soup, refried beans, canned tomatoes, and canned chiles -- topped over Fritos, topped with shredded cheese.

2) Nick went with the classic tater tot casserole - layers of cream of mushroom soup, shredded cheese, ground beef, and taters on top crisped to deliciousness

3) Steph and Pete's started with hashbrowns from a bag, ground beef with a can of something mexican, cheese whiz mixed with the requisite cream of mushroom, tater tots on top, and the finishing touch of cheetos artfully arranged and expertly browned.

4) James was the late arrival with mac and cheese mixed in with whole strips of bacon, sausage that was deep-fried in a beer waffle batter, taters on top, and slices of Velveeta.

Dinesh was called in as the non-biased judge. I will note that I successfully convinced everyone to dress up. Steph and Pete brought 40s from Tren'on. Ho-hos were had for dessert.

D. was asked to judge on the following three criteria: flavor (not "taste" mind you), creativity, and trash value. He very diplomatically awarded 3 prizes: Nick's classic won for flavor, Steph and Pete's for creativity, and mine for trashiness. James took home the saltlick prize for having the most inedibly salty dish.

Five Guys Burger & Fries

In my commuting to Alexandria, I discovered Five Guys, a burger joint to topple my love of the west coast's In-N-Out Burger
. The burgers were made to order and huge, and the fries were done boardwalk style - cooked in peanut oil. Looking at their website, they are planning to invade the east coast!

Steamed Crabs at Obrycki's

Had dinner last night at Obrycki's in Baltimore- we split 10 large steamed crabs - instead of Old Bay, they used a pepper-mustard seasoning that was not as hard in the lips and hands as Old Bay can be sometimes.

Honfest 2006

Yesterday, my cousin and I went to beautiful Hampden in Baltimore for Honfest 2006, a celebration of all things "Hon". Highlights were the Lil' Miss Hon contest, the Hampden Charm School with Trixie Little and Evil Hate Monkey, the delicious potato stacks with old bay and spritzed vinegar, and raspberry jello cupcakes from Rose's.

#113 at Huong Que

Thanks to another DCist post, after work last night I went to Falls Church's Eden Center, the mecca of the Vietnamese community, to a restaurant called Four Sisters (Houng Que). Had the #113, grilled beef wrapped in grape leaves. You would take these morsels and wrap them up in rice paper with vermicelle, mint, and vegetables, and then dip them in a sweet sauce I jazzed up with hot sauce.

Lengua Tacos at Tortilleria and Tacos, Baltimore

Since this blog is called Kushi Tan, thought I'd post a pic of my favorite taco, the lengua, or "tongue", taco at Tortilleria and Tacos on Eastern Ave. Simple joint- simple food - tacos and soup, both served with warm fresh corn tortillas. Yum.

Gelato from The Bent Spoon, Princeton, NJ

Over the weekend, I was up in Princeton and had some gelato at The Bent Spoon. My flavors in front were strawberry mint lemonade and bartlett blue ginger. Delicious. My cousin and fellow foodie said that the gelato here was better than Capogiro's, a joint in Philly that gets a lot more press. The prices were better here as well $2.75 for this would be about $4.25 in Philly.

Philly Cheesesteak

Before the Walkmen show in Philly last night, went to the famous Jim's Steaks (since 1937) for a delicious cheesesteak hoagie. I loved how the line cook was rude and insisted the passive whiteys to speak up and be clear when ordering. Mine was a cheesesteak with cheese whiz, mushrooms, onions, and hot peppers- surprisingly not greasy or oily at all. The whiz is the best part.

The "Bosnian Burger" at Cosmopolitan Cafe

As I happened to be in Alexandria, VA, and inspired by recent posts in DCist and Suburban Tasteland, I grabbed lunch at the Cosmopolitan Cafe, a Bosnian carryout place. I ate ordered the pljeskavica, a burger of sorts, enormous with spiced ground beef, onion, and sour cream on a homemade bun. Delicious. Cockta, a Slovenian soda reminded me of Dr. Pepper. I need to return to try more items, but truly a delicious burger.

Coca-Cola BlaK

I'm always up for a new soda or snack item, so I finally got around to trying Coca-Cola BlaK, the coffee infused cola. Impressions? Sweet with a definite coffee flavor. I might drink it again, but not sure if it is worth trying beyond that. I still prefer the birch beer.

What would Tony Bourdain do?

This week on No Reservations, my culinary hero Tony Bourdain went to Quebec's Au Pied Cochon and had a 13 course French meal with delicious foie gras in practically every dish. It looked simply delicious - the poutine (so wrong yet so right), the "hot dog" and "hamburger", the ducked stuffed with foie gras, the duck in a can, and the pig heads.
Sad news for people who love food this week though as Chicago banned the serving of foie gras in its retaurants. I understand the process of making foie gras, "gavage", is considered cruel by some, but I see it more existentially. Since, it's all coming to an end, we need to take advantage of the simple pleasures in life, food being one of them. I just don't feel government should legislate what we eat, especially something like foie gras which most people haven't eaten anyways. Oh no- lobsters scream when thrown alive in a pot, veal is torture for baby calves - what next?
I imagine Mr. Bourdain lighting up his cigarette in a restaurant after eating his 7th course of fois gras and saying, "Life's too short anyways. Enjoy."

The Phillip's Crabcake Eating Contest with Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas

This afternoon, the IFOCE brought in some competitors for the Phillip's crabcake eating contest. Included were "Crazy Legs" Conti, Tim "Eater X" Janus, and the favorite Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas. The competitors had 10 minutes to eat as many crabcakes as possible. Sonya set the world record, beating her previous number, by eating 46 crabcakes in 10 minutes. Amazing.


Here is a vid of her eating technique, "chipmunking".

Martick's, Baltimore French Food

Wednesday night, I went to dinner with my friends, Larry and Kwan. They took me to Martick's, a French restaurant downtown.
When you drive up, it looks like a condemned building. To get in, there is a doorbell, and the maitre'd lets you in. Apparently, the place was a former speakeasy with a large bar inside. The owner/chef was sitting inside and welcomed us in.
The food was good- definite French, but imagine larger portions served at home. We tried the sweet potato soup which was like dessert. I had the lambchops which were really yummy and fatty. I had wanted sweetbreads, but they were out of them. Larry had a yummy Beef Bourgignon, and Kwan had a veal dish. Dessert was porfiteroles - sweet and delicious.

Shad Roe

With Galactica now finished until the fall, what am I going to blog on about. Well- this week it's food. I have now had shad roe two times in the last 7 days. I first heard about this from my cousin's friend, who used to eat it whenever she was ill. I researched some more on this local dish. The shad is a type of herring, and it's roe is considered a specialty on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It's seasonal- mostly harking the return of spring time. Preparation of the dish is simple - grilled with salt and pepper- some lemon sprayed on top. It has the texture of a ground chuck steak, but the flavor is much lighter.

Ben's Chili Bowl

Before the Pogues show at 9:30, my cousin and I went to DC institution, Ben's Chili Bowl. Opened in 1958, it's your classic chili hot dog and burger joint. Supposedly, Bill Cosby proposed to his wife there. Sue and I ordered their specialty, the Chili Half-Smoke, a half smoke dog with onions, mustard, and chili - delicious!
We also got a heaping order of chesse fries- yum. The jukebox played great old school joints by Run D.M.C., James Brown, and Jackson 5, and the guys behind the counter clearly have been enjoying their own food. I need to get back to try their milkshakes sometime.

Eating Brooklyn

So this weekend, I was up in Brooklyn visiting Len, Melissa, Andy and Melinda, fellow food obsessed friends, 3 out of 4 with a St. Louis connection. Saturday for lunch, Andy drove us in the Shopsin's minivan to Defonte's in Red Hook. Andy said the place was a sandwich haven for truckers in the area. When we pulled up, we saw a few parked cabs and trucks, a good sign. The sandwiches were delicious.
Len and Melissa split the roast beef, mozarella and eggplant. Andy and I got the proscuitto, eggplant, mozarella, and hot pepper relish (pictured). We ate in the van, and it was great.
Later in the evening, plans for Korean BBQ fell through due to someone's gastrointestinal distress, but instead we found Rapfogel, and drove out to Brighton to Cafe Kashkar, an Uzbek restaurant. The cuisine was an interesting mix of afghani food with some Korean and Chinese elements. The waiter only spoke Russian, so we had to point at the menu. We started with a julienned carrot salad and an eggplant, pepper, and garlic salad in addition to several lamb dumplings. This was followed by several fantastic kabobs - we split lamb, ground beef, liver (tastiest liver i've had), lamb ribs, and veal (the best). All accompanied by rice, bread, and Uzbek music videos playing on the TV. Jed also had a bowl of noodle soup reminiscent of Chinese noodles with meat.