Fun Playing With Freddie's Polish Boy

As many of you know, one of Cleveland's favorite culinary sons has "made good" with a starring role on daily national television - Michael Symon, who appears on ABC's The Chew. The Chew debuted about a month ago, replacing the long running soap opera All My Children. The DVR has allowed me to see many of Michael's exploits (and you can watch complete episodes via The Chew's website). On Wednesday October 19, 2011, Michael demonstrated a Cleveland classic: the Polish Boy. The Polish Boy consists of grilled sausage or kielbasa on a hotdog bun and topped with coleslaw, french fries and BBQ sauce. Symon said that sometimes pulled pork is added - I've been told that such an addition turns the sandwich into a Polish Girl.

Who would tell me such a thing? The fine folks at Freddie's Rib House, which opened in April 2011 at  5361 Mayfield Road, Lydhurst OH, that's who. You can reach Freddie's at (440) 449-9400 (no website). Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, noon to 1 a.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

I've eaten there a number of times, but held off posting about them. The people are really nice, but they had some early kinks to work out. Things seem well in hand now. Except for the fries, which I'll get to shortly. Owner Andre Wheeler is the son of the restaurant's late namesake Freddie Wheeler, and he was working the order counter my first two visits. The original incarnations of Freddie's served for years downtown, but the urban location closed shortly after the Lyndhurst spot opened. Take out or eat in at one of four four-tops.

After watching The Chew Crew devour Symon's Polish Boys Wednesday night, I had a hankering to eat one myself yesterday. And I knew where I could satisfy that craving - Freddie's! Here it is - a "deal" for lunch at $4, including a can of pop (regular price is $5 just for the sandwich). A larger size is available for a dollar more.

Usually, I would eat something this messy with a fork - but inspired by Chef Symon, I tucked the foil back into the bottom end of the package, picked it up, and just dove in. Crunchy from the grill, the sausage skin gave way to tender, juicy saltiness that was complimented by the slightly sweet, yet tart (and obviously housemade) cole slaw. The fries, which are cut in-house from whole potatoes, were a bit limp, but full of potato flavor. The BBQ sauce was reasonably well balanced between heat and sweet, but applied perhaps a bit too robustly. My hands and face were a mess after eating this, but oh was my tummy happy!

Here's a Polish Girl I sampled on April 15; it was also messily delicious:

 Other items I've enjoyed at Freddie's since April are below:

Fried Perch Lunch, April 13, 2011

My first meal from Freddie's consisted of a generous portion of frozen perch that was hand-breaded to order and perfectly deep-fried, accompanied by the house made french fries. Everything Freddie's serves is prepared to order - either call ahead, or expect to wait at least ten minutes.

This bag, one of several in the restaurant, could be seen from the ordering counter - a sign of the authenticity of the fries. I believe that they store the raw, cut fries in water to prevent oxidation, then fry them to order. As Chef Symon explained on the The Chew, the better technique is to blanch the fries in 300 degree oil (which would also solve the oxidation problem) and THEN fry to order at 360 degrees. The single-fry method explains why the fries don't get very crisp. But they do taste delicious, and contain no artificial ingredients or processing.

Andre told me that I had to try the wings, and so went my third meal:

Meaty wings, fried to exquisite crispness. The Wing Dinner contains a generous portion for $6.25.

Plus house-made cole slaw.

Plus fries, and two slices of bread (which you can sort of see in the upper left corner), together with a cup of Andre's BBQ sauce.

A friend joined me on my next visit, and we started by sharing an order of onion rings:

Though clearly not made from scratch, the rings were fried to hot crispiness and were most enjoyable.

My friend had a fried tilapia sandwich (all of the sandwiches come with fries):

I opted for the Rib Tips:

Both lunches satisfied and offered good value for the price. The rib tips were melt-in-your-mouth tender and not overly sauced.

One of the kinks I was hoping they'd work out, though, concerns the sides - priced at $3 each. When last I ordered any, in May 2011, the portions were very small for the price point. For example, the cole slaw:

That cup didn't hold more than 2 ounces of product. Yes it is house made and delicious, but for $3, I wish they'd move up to the next cup size. Same issue with the mac and cheese side order:

This cup didn't hold more than 3 ounces, I'd guess. It tasted nice, but wasn't anything special and didn't go very far. I do not know whether anything has changed in regard to this issue in the intervening months.

At first, the baked stuffed potato seems pricey ($8-10). But the portion is huge (chicken, steak or shrimp, plus chopped broccoli, onion, cheese, mushrooms and green pepper), especially for lunch. More important - it was one of the best tasting items I've had at Freddie's (hold the mushrooms on mine, please):

You can see bits of seasoning atop the cheese; I have no doubt that this sprinkle added to my enjoyment of the dish. 

Freddie's seems to have solved it's early issues with utensilry, nakpins and beverages. So - if you are in the Lyndhurst area and are in the mood for a Polish Boy or Girl, or ribs, or fried chicken or fish (and yes, they offer grilled chicken also) - Freddie's can be a fun choice to play with Southern-inspired comfort food. It certainly slaked my Symon-induced Polish Boy craving!

More Fun Playing With Burgers and Drinking Lemonade at Michael Symon's B Spot

Another three visits means another blog post about B Spot, located in Woodmere Ohio. This would be the fifth such post. First. Second. Third. Why so many posts, you may ask? It's simple. When I upload my photos to Flickr - nothing gets so many hits or comments as my photos from B Spot. Is it the food? Is it the photos? Is it Michael Symon? Beats me. All I know is that so long as it continues to be good - and so long as there are menu items I haven't written about yet - I'll be posting.

I wrote the above paragraph several B Spot visits ago, and it is still true. Though I don't want to overload a single post (which means I'm saving photos from my most recent visits for later), I do want to share some "breaking" news.

About two weeks ago, B Spot started serving made-from-scratch lemonade. Now, this is not just any made-from-scratch lemonade. This lemonade is sweetened with Ohio Honey instead of sugar. Ohio Honey is pure, raw honey harvested with love by local Slow-Food members Lucy and Charlie Wellhausen. And - it tastes delicious!



Sorry for the fuzzy photo. This one is better:

My dining companion and I really loved this lemonade. Now, since it is made from scratch from primo ingredients, it costs a little more than a soda ($3.50). And, when I sampled it a week and a half ago, I was told that there are no free refills. Please do not let this deter you from trying it. After all, you expect to pay this much (or more) for a craft beer, and you don't expect free refills there. This is a fabulous, refreshing, unique lemonade (you really can taste the honey). So - enjoy!

Returning to my exploration of the B Spot menu, I had sampled two out of the three types of wings - the sriracha and the lime & cilantro. There was one left to try, and a recent visit with my husband and  our friend Tom provided the perfect opportunity.


Roasted Garlic & Parm Wings

 

While these wings were mighty in size, texture and tenderness, they were our least favorite of the three varieties offered (I am evenly split in loving the other two). While I love garlic, especially when it is all caramelized and creamy as here, we all agreed that it did overwhelm the other flavors and textures a bit. Which isn't to say that we didn't devour them, because we did. The chicken meat is so plump and flavorful; I've never seen so much meat on a wing.

Tom also tried this Symon staple:


Tomato Blue Cheese Soup 


He was expecting something a little spicier - but reported the flavors were spot on. Since he had a cold, we didn't share!


My burger was the only one at this lunch that was new - as I predicted when Michael first told me about the weekly one-offs - the Smasher's Specials are making it impossible to complete my self-assigned task of tasting and photographing the entire menu!


Loaded Potato Skin Burger 

 

The burger patty sat atop sour cream and chives, and under half a baked potato stuffed with bits of real bacon, cheese. More sour cream was drizzled on top.

 

Thought the flavors were good, I felt that the sandwich needed a little more moisture. To the rescue came the Coffee BBQ sauce. Yes mom, you read that correctly. Coffee BBQ sauce. Me, who despises all things coffee, loves the Coffee BBQ sauce at B Spot.

Next visit to B Spot - even though I've shown you this one before, I really liked this photo of my dining companion's burger:


Thin Lizzy - burger with caramelized onions, cheddar, pickles (hold the mayo)

I was again seduced by the Smasher's Special:


Chicago Beef



Jus 


As it happened, another dining companion ordered the same, and his was a tad more photogenic:





This fabulous combination of tastes and smells had me totally channeling my favorite Chicago purveyor of this classic: Al's #1 Italian Beef. The perfectly spiced and cooked roast beef was piled on the burger, then topped with house-made giardiniera - a pickle of sweet peppers, hot peppers, and carrot. And provolone cheese, which isn't on a real Italian Beef, but which worked very nicely on the burger, oozed and goozed it's way down the sandwich. After a dip in the jus - it was heaven in my hand!



And from the last visit to B Spot for this post - yet another Smasher's Special, which did not have a catchy name, but damn did it taste good:

 
Burger atop cole slaw, topped with BBQ Beef, Cheeze Whiz and Onion Ring 

Let me start by saying that I am an absolute sucker for the B Spot cole slaw - I really wish they'd offer it as a free-standing side. So even though whiz isn't real food, I decided that I had to try this combo. I was not disappointed.

 

Though the BBQ beef could have easily overwhelmed the burger - it didn't - it merely complimented and moistened it from the top.





This one was finger-licking good.

Those darn specials! How will I ever get through the rest of the menu? Jamie - to the rescue!


Cheeseburger with Swiss

Though I think that by the end of this meal, Jamie was wishing he'd followed my lead! Not that he didn't love his burger (he did) - he just saw how amazing mine was!

And so, another round of playing with B Spot Burgers comes to an end. Though, my hairdresser is located two doors down from B Spot, and I seem to have another haircut coming up in my near future . . . .

Fun Playing With Food at the West Side Market

Saffron Linguine - Ohio City Pasta

Last Friday, I was informed that I had won a Facebook contest run by Cleveland's Ohio City Pasta. As the winner of the  "Dinner for Two" contest, I became entitled to select one pound of pasta product and one of their  sauces or butters, once a month, every month, until April 15th, 2011. There was only one small catch. To claim my prize, I would need to visit Ohio City Pasta's "home" location at Cleveland's venerable West Side Market at the corner of West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue. 

I love the West Side Market - it was one of the first Cleveland places I visited when I started dating Bob. The market houses a number of produce stands (which vary widely in quality) around its perimeter, and inside the building, an amazing array of vendors selling meats of every description, freshly baked goods, fish and seafood, and lots of other great foodstuffs. But it is a good 30 minute drive from my home. I'm ashamed to admit that, before claiming the first installment of my prize last weekend, it had been well over two years since I'd visited the market. Shame on me - a lot has changed there, and mostly for the better.

Instead of stand after stand selling essentially the same cuts of meat, more and more of the stands are now stocked with either ready-to-eat (or hot and really ready to eat on the spot) food, or "quick meal" products. Most of this stuff looks to be of first quality, made from scratch, and it is all reasonably priced, so it seems like a win-win.

I'm going to hold off a bit in showing you the first installment of my prize and what became of it, so I can first share a few photos from our visit. I didn't photograph many of the "old faithfuls" - just a few of the newer arrivals.

After carefully shopping the produce section (and scoring some lovely snap peas, peas, and broccoli), we headed into the main market. Jazzy sounds greeted us. I looked up on to the balcony, and saw

Slap

 

Slap's bright, smooth sound was a lovely counterpoint to our shopping. Three newer stands (well, new to me) looked to offer some tasty goodies. Right below Slap was Dohar Meats, which has been there for years. I don't recall ever trying any of their meats before. Well, that was about to change.

Paprika Bacon

My Hungarian blood burned to sample this delicacy, so we got some to enjoy with our pasta.

I don't know if this Southeast Asian-inspired stand is related to the Cambodian stand that used to be in the corner (though their listing on the WSM website indicates it is also Cambodian), but their stuffed chicken wing is just as yummy. Everything they had looked good enough to eat!

Samosas

This is the stuffed chicken wing of which I spoke above - I insisted that we get one, and Bob was later glad that I'd insisted!

The Flip Side

Anyway, I digress. This next stand was just a few feet from Kim Se, but it's offerings were from a completely different part of the world:

Yes - Irish specialties. These savory meat-stuffed pies looked fabulous. Sweeney Todd was British, not Irish, right?

And it was a pleasure seeing that the former Ohio Fudge has moved indoors:

Locals Sam and Debbie make the most melt-in-you-mouth fudge you've ever tasted, in more flavors than you can imagine.

This next item is from one of our favorite stands:

Cayenne Smokies

 

This ready-to-eat product, and its less fiery siblings with Jalapeno, Cheese, Turkey, or Plain Pork, is sold from two stands in the market that are owned by the same people - Czuchraj Meats and J&J Meats, Stands B-6 and B-10. I'd never even heard of a smokie the first time that I visited the WSM with Bob, but one bite and I was hooked. And I'm in good company - Cleveland's own Iron Chef, Michael Symon, featured J&J's beef jerky on the Food Network Show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." While I'm not a big jerky fan (though I'll probably try theirs sooner or later) - I have to admire Michael's taste in J&J's products - their other smoked sausage products have also been among our favorites. Czuchraj/J&J's recent fame has resulted in a mail-order business, which they run from their brand-new website. Couldn't happen to nicer folks! But be warned - I think that their smokies are addictive, and Michael Symon says the same about their jerky!

Our final stop before collecting from Ohio City Pasta was at Kate's Fish. Most of my food-loving friends have sung the praises of Kate's on food boards and blogs, so I had determined to get some seafood and maybe a bit of fish and do a seafood risotto, since we'd been gifted with a large bag of ramps earlier in the week. I don't know why I didn't take photos of the goods - it all looked lovely (and smelled not at all, which is lovely in itself). Everyone working there - from owners Tom and Kate through their younger help - was knowledgable about the products. Everyone knew when things had come in and where they'd come from. I was impressed - and Cleveland fish and seafood does not impress me very often.

We took a half pound of Opah (hawaiian moonfish) - a pink-fleshed steak that looked a little like tuna, and was highly recommended by our friend Steve, who we ran into as we shopped. I was going to get clams for the risotto, but then we started talking shrimp. I am extremely sensitive to the chemicals that are widely used on seafood, and especially shrimp, to preserve and "enhance" them. I usually only eat shrimp when visiting the Gulf of Mexico, or other locales where they are fresh and local (and even then, it can be hard to obtain truly pristine shrimp). So, I was a little skeptical of the promises being made about Kate's shrimp. Still, I was impressed enough to, as my late friend Harry Chapin would say, give it one good try. And Lord, Lord, Lord, it was worth the try!

Allow me to introduce you to Laughing Bird™ Caribbean White Shrimp. A sustainably raised, chemical free, truly fresh shrimp. The shrimps that we were offered came in fresh, but were then frozen by Kate's, after they recieved a larger order than they needed. Though the texture suffered a little from the freeze/thaw (as any seafood inevitably does) - the taste was out of this world!

Dinner that night began with the ramps we'd been gifted with a few days earlier, and the snap peas we'd acquired at the WSM:

Arborio rice, olive oil, white wine and homemade chicken-turkey stock worked their magic together in the pan:

The above photo was right after I added the shrimp; the rice was al dente but still not fully cooked at this point. Note the white-grey color of the shrimp.

After a few short minutes, the shrimp transmuted to it's more traditional red color, and the dish came together. Following a generous addition of butter, milk (I was out of cream), grated cheese and fresh parsley, the risotto looked like this:

Finally, the risotto was topped by the seasoned (salt and pepper) and seared Opah filet - I couldn't bring myself to chop it up and put it into the risotto:

A simply delicious end to a day full of playing with food in so many wonderful ways (I haven't told you about lunch yet, either). Thank you, Ohio City Pasta, for getting me back to the West Side Market. If you haven't been in a while - what are you waiting for??? Next up - our first two Ohio City Pasta Dinners for Two.