WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DEEP FRIED ASPARAGUS

Ten minutes seemed like an eternity.This is the amount of time it took Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut to consume eight pounds, 5 ounces of deep fried asparagus. Matt 'Megaload' Stonie took second with 7 pounds, 14 ounces.It was a beautiful day for a competition. The 'Stoction Asparagus Festival' was the venue for this gallant battle of the Major League of Eating. I think I will have some asparagus with dinner.

BOILED BACON

Boiled bacon? This will be a Mad Meat Genius first. The inspiration for this madness is Guy Fieri making an over the top burger on his show. Bacon is boiled for two hours. It is drained and formed into patties. It is then fried and used as a garnishment for a hamburger. How could I resist? We will be using some generic bacon purchased at our local Wally-Mart. The hamburger will be made with ‘pink-slime free’ ground beef procured from our friend Angelo. We did have to make a special bacon press for this procedure.

The first step is to boil your bacon. A whole pound of bacon will be put into a large pot of cold water. Bring to a low simmer and cook for two hours. The first thing we noticed is the smell. Boiling bacon emits a putrid smell. Is it the chemical preservatives in this no name bacon? We had to open a window. After 2 hours remove and drain your rashers. Let bacon cool and then form in to two patties. Yes, you read correctly, two patties. Place your formed patties on a hot griddle and place your bacon press on top.

Our special bacon press was created with a brick from the back yard. It was brushed free of dirt and wrapped in aluminum foil. Place your shiny brick on top of your bacon patties. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. Our special bacon press worked like a charm.

I will spare you the details of cooking the actual hamburger. We did use 8 ounces of meat seasoned only with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Assemble your burger with all the usual accompaniments including your bacon patty.  This was one large hamburger. The beef was juicy and tasty. The bacon patty was crispy but not very flavorful. In fact it was a little disappointing. The salt had been removed from the boiling process. We never re-seasoned this patty. I am not sure salt could have rescued this bacon puck. Not all cooking endeavors are a success. This is one.

POINT END ROAST

We love to take a road trip to the ‘U. C. Davis Animal Science’ meat sale. It is only held on Thursday’s and Friday’s for limited hours. Today we picked up a small three and one half pound brisket roast. This cute little bundle of beef was from the point end of the brisket. This end has more layered fat hence more flavor. With proper cooking this raw, fatty meat can be transformed into meat heaven. This roast was going to take a sauna in our smoker.

The preparation was simple. We sprinkled our roast with dry rub. It was left out of the refrigerator and brought to room temperature. Our smoker was brought to 230 degrees. A combination of hickory and apple wood chunks would be the flavor of our smoke. It took a little under 5 hours to cook our roast. It was rested for 20 minutes before serving.

There was room on the smoker for accompaniments. Asparagus, whole fava beans freshly picked from our garden, whole garlic bulbs and onions were scattered around our roast the last 45 minutes of cooking. These vegetables soaked up the smoke and softened to perfection. The roast was sliced and served with our vegetables. This was one smoky delight. The point end of the brisket has so much flavor. The smoky crust has a caramelized candy like texture. This is meat candy that we love.

EXTREME MOOSE TRACKS

I do not always eat ice cream, but when I do, I prefer 'Extreme Moose Tracks'. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate shavings and chocoalate chips make for a chocolate treat. Now, that is what I am talking about.

PEAS PASS THE ASPARAGUS

As some of you may know Ms. Goofy and I have started a new journey in life. We have both officially retired from our  places of employment. Ms. Goofy worked 35 years and I 32 years in our respective jobs. Ms. Goofy is learning to sleep in and I have stopped shaving. We now have a lot of time on our hands for our hobbies and hope to share them with you.
   Pizza was on the menu tonight. The fresh peas and asparagus was harvested from the Richmond's farmers market. The dough was proofed with Zoomie sour dough starter and fortified with whole wheat flour from 'Green String' farms. Five different cheeses from Ms. Goofy's cheese vault was the yummy glue for the peas and asparagus. Home made sauce completed this 'Spring' pie. A kiss of fire from our wood burning oven made this a wonderful meal. Peas pass the asparagus.

FIREFLY HOT SAUCE ‘GARLIC FIRE’

My latest review on 'Peppers & More' can be viewed here. Happy Asparagus!

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LOS PINOS

The quest for the ultimate plate of Chile Verde brings us to a small taqueria located in Concord, California called ‘Los Pinos’. Walking through the doors of ‘Los Pinos’, a feeling of déjà vu occurred. The brightly colored Mexican themed mural, the large menu board, the open griddle and the salsa bar could place us at almost any tacqueria in Northern California. Like preprogrammed robots we marched to the counter and went through the motions of the quest that we are committed to.

A trip to the salsa bar is always a ritual that must be completed. This salsa bar was clean and tidy. Verde/tomatilla, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, sliced radish, crushed tomato salsa, and roasted peppers & tomato salsa were scooped into small plastic cups. These were all sampled at our table with complimentary tortilla chips. The roasted peppers & tomato salsa was our favorite. The only heat at this salsa bar was the pickled jalapenos.


Our meal was prepared promptly and delivered to our table. We received two nice looking plates of our two favorite Mexican dishes. The Chile Verde had a generous pile of cubed pork. This pork was tender and flavorful. The green gravy was thick with vegetables and satisfying. This plate was devoured with the help of two warm corn tortillas. Ms. Goofy’s enchiladas were warm and comforting. A dollop of avocado and crema was like the topping of a cake.


This is a routine that we love to repeat. The quest will continue. While we thoroughly enjoyed our meal today it was not the ‘Ultimate Chile Verde’ plate. This green sauce did not have the fire and warmth that could of ended our journey. ‘Los Pinos’ is a very satisfying and comforting Mexican restaurant. We would be happy to return if it was not for our quest.

Los Pinos

3375 Port Chicago Highway

Concord, Ca. 94520

925 825-2085