Even More Fun Playing With Burgers etc. at Michael Symon's B Spot

The above image, I hope, conveys why I am writing about B Spot for the third time in a little over a month. Since B Spot is so convenient to my office, it has become my new "go to" lunch spot! And I have yet to eat a bad morsel of food or to experience anything less than stellar service there. And so - the latest goodies sampled:

Sriracha Wings

We enjoyed these spicy treats on Bob's birthday. These wings are probably the spiciest item on the B Spot menu - but there is flavor and texture in addition to the heat. Though the skin is crispy, is it not at all greasy.

Chili Cheese Fries - scallions, cheddar

 

The chili is very tasty, with a lot of seasoning and a very modest chile bite. The portion is enough appetizer/side for 3-4 people. After sharing it with my dining companion, the leftovers made a complete lunch for me the next day!

I remain addicted to the B Spot onion rings - they actually stay together when you bite into them!

Onion Ring Cross Section

And you haven't had too many bourbons - there was an extra strip of onion ring across the middle of this one - but it cut so nicely and showed the inside of the ring so well, I decided to use the photo anyway.

Lime & Cilantro Wings

 

The perfume and taste of fresh garlic complimented the gently Southeast Asian flavors of these wings. The incredibly moist, tender chicken meat inside contrasted beautifully with the crispy-crunchy skin.  I can't wait to try the third wing variety (roasted garlic & parm).

And now - the burgers:

Bacon Cheeseburger lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, cheddar cheese

Bob's birthday dinner - and he loved it! Here's one of the same flavor that I enjoyed for lunch:

I am becoming more enamored of this bun the more I eat it. As I understand it, it is custom made for B Spot by Cleveland's Orlando Baking Company. It is lightly toasted, and stands up well to most of the burger toppings (lets face it, some of them are going to make any bread mushy - hello, cole slaw). The bun is a fine supporting cast member, holding its own, but allowing the burger to remain the star of the sandwich.

Going back to Bob's birthday dinner - I opted for the Thin Lizzy, sans pickles.


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





Note that the meat was cooked to a perfect medium-rare. Loved the caramelized onions! Here is a dining companion's Thin Lizzy with the pickles, but without the mayo:

 


Red Hot burger with pulled pork, pickled tomato, hot peppers, pepperjack cheese, sriracha mayo 

 

 

This is one of only two burgers on the menu that is intended to be spicy, and it is modest on the heat scale. But that's fine with me - there are lots of incendiary options available on the pickle bar and the condiment rack for the ultra-spice heads among us - IMHO, too much fire would drown out that lovely meat. I found the heat level just right, so I could get a Scoville tingle, but still appreciate the flavors of the pulled pork and medium-rare beef.

Today's burger was the Fat Doug:


Fat Doug burger with coleslaw, pastrami, swiss, mustard 

  

 

Though I was craving the cole slaw (which I'd sampled on my first visit, atop the Symon Says burger), and I was intrigued to taste the pastrami, I had my doubts about ordering this. I'm not usually a big fan of Swiss Cheese, and I usually despise mustard on a hamburger (though I'd normally put mustard on pastrami). I couldn't see changing or leaving off the cheese, or taking off the mustard, though - I wanted to taste Michael Symon's vision of this sandwich without messing with it. So, I took my chances. I was rewarded.

I just love it when a chef takes an ingredient I usually don't care for and makes it yummy. The Swiss cheese definitely imparted a more noticeable flavor twang than another cheese might have - but it combined nicely with the creamy cole slaw and the zippy pastrami and it wasn't overly strong. The pastrami tasted wonderful, and added some smooth mouth feel to the sandwich - and the mustard did indeed compliment it. A dab of Lola Ketchup on the underside of the burger - and dang if it didn't all work together just nicely for me. It was the kind of food that makes me go "uhmmmmmmm" - and I like that.

And so, the third B Spot post comes to an end. Thank you for indulging me. My dining companion today liked his brat better than his burger, so the praise for B Spot is certainly not universal. But I'll be back, and I'll be packing (the camera) until I've played my way through at least most of the menu (you can click here if you want to see someone crazier than I (just kidding Dave!) cooking his way through Michael Symon's entire cookbook, Live to Cook; I'm just  hoping to eat my way through the B Spot menu). So far, to my palate, it's all been fun.

May the New Year bring you wonderful food to play with!

Fun Playing with Borscht

Yes folks, you read that correctly. Borscht. Beet soup. A very gross food memory from my childhood, now reinvented. As I wrote on this blog in April 2008:

Most of my memories of borscht, or beet soup, are of disgusting looking glop in a jar that my mother would buy around the holiday [Passover]; not the kind of food I normally play with.

That post celebrated the lovely borscht made by the late, great Antalya Red Square Restaurant in Lyndhurst.

 
 
Jack's Deli, in University Heights, also makes a lovely beef-based borscht.

 

But a recent post on the Cleveland.com Food & Wine Forum gave me a hankering to try and make it myself. Thanks for the inspiration "Foodhead1000".

Of course, the first thing you need to make borscht are beets. Fortunately, we have an ample supply in the backyard garden. Bob ventured out in the snow to retrieve some:

 





Of course, after cleaning and peeling them, I forgot to photograph them - oh well!

Anyway, the next thing I did was simmer a beef stock from bones and flesh overnight in a 180 degree-ish oven:




On Sunday, Mister Brisket Flanken (did I mention they are stilll "sending a salami to your boy in the army" - call 216-932-8620 to join the party!) joined the stock and some shortrib for a "double stock" bath. After all the meat was happy, I added the diced beets, together with chopped onion, garden garlic, farmers' market cabbage, salt and pepper, vinegar and sugar.







After a low and slow simmer - borscht was born!
 
 





After a night in the fridge - dinner was served, with Bob's freshly baked rye bread:

 





Non-Jewish Europeans favor a bit of sour cream in their borscht - even Bob, who usually skips the sour cream, wanted some in his. I broke down and tried it, too, even though the look of it reminded me of the jarred abomination from my youth (parve borscht, meaning without meat or dairy, would always be served with sour cream in a Jewish home; the jarred stuff was parve).







Rye bread:



Prior to the oven.

 




Yum!

Fun playing with Borscht - who'd have thunk it? A delicious way to play with winter food!

Cheesy Fun Playing With Slow Food at the Baricelli Inn, Cleveland Ohio

On Saturday, December 19, Chef Paul Minillo and his Baricelli Inn hosted the Third Annual Slow Food Cheese Tasting, (links to my accounts of the first and second) which benefited the Northern Ohio Slow Food Convivium. Over forty people gathered to hear Chef Paul discuss and serve six artisanal cheeses (all available for retail sale at the Baricelli, as are many other hard-to-find cheese varietals). 

Our afternoon began with a choice of red or white wine:

I actually tasted both, and both (available for retail sale at very modest prices) paired wonderfully with the cheeses.

Chef Paul began by noting that we would be tasting fewer cheeses this year than in the past, because, as with wine tasting, too many varieties in a short period overwhelms the palate. The first four cheeses were, as last year, set out for sampling on cutting boards, with walnuts and sliced pears, and crackers and fresh On the Rise bread were in baskets to accompany the goodness.

Returning to Board 1, we tasted the cheeses in pairs (as Chef Paul had suggested):

And then, board #2:

Chef Paul explained that the last two cheeses would be brought out after we'd sampled the first four, because they were both "runny" cheeses, and one was so young that it would "turn to soup" if allowed to remain too long at room temperature. The first four tastes follow:

Jaquin Pointe de Bique & Isigny Camembert

 

Amazingly (since I'm not a big lover of Bleu cheeses), the Jaquin turned out to be my favorite of the day - especially when paired with pear.

Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam & Pleasant Ridge Reserve Raw Cow's Milk

As the only non-creamy cheese, the Pleasant Ridge was, well, very pleasant. Mild yet distinctive, it was a nice taste and textural break from the soft, rinded, stronger flavored cheeses. The Mt. Tam was especially tasty paired with the walnuts.

About a half hour into the tasting, the last two cheeses were brought out on individual plates:

Left to right, they were:

While some people felt the Grayson was too strong (some used the term "ammonia" to describe the sensation) - I liked it, provided it had an accompaniment (and the red wine - white didn't stand up to either of these last two cheeses). I liked the Epoisse even better than the Grayson. Despite the Epoisse's assertive flavor, I really enjoyed it.

As Chef Paul predicted - it was easier to enjoy and distinguish the cheeses with a smaller number of tastes. And I enjoyed every one, right down to the rinds (which again are not usually my favorite part of the cheese course). Once again, Slow Food and the Baricelli Inn combined to provide an educational and tasty two hours of playing with our food.

As we did last year, a bunch of us continued the festivities at the nearby L'Albatros Brasserie after we finished the cheese tasting. Unfortunately, the light and brickwork at that venue did not co-operate with my camera very well, so I cannot share the food we played with there - but I can tell you that it was a wonderful end to a tasty day full of food, drink and friends.