My Dogs Ate Better Than I Did (⊙.☉)7

HI Flexies,

I have a bit of a confession to make. Prior to starting the paleo diet I was mainly obsessed with the health of my dogs and as a result they ate far better quality ingredients then I did. They depend on me for their nutritional wellbeing as I supply the nourishment in the form of kibble, steaks, chicken breasts or whatever. I took their nutrition very seriously, I have been known to spend hours inside the pet store or online reading and comparing ingredient labels, pet food ratings and emailing companies to ask about their latest recalls in order to source out the very best food for my buddies.

It’s a little ironic that I was so worried about making my dogs diets grain, soy, gluten and diary free that I didn’t think to consider myself or my own digestive track. While I stressed over Jake’s inability to eat corn, soy or gluten I still ate sandwiches, corn and Mc Donalds almost every other day.

Because of Caroline’s advanced age and health conditions feeding soft food is her favorite and preferred food type. Unfortunately I’m a poor college student and 2.50- 3.00 a can is a lot when your dog has to eat 2-3 cans a day depending on the day. The remedy to this situation was to feed her a small amount of kibble and a home-made dog food mix.

As you can see this looks like something you or I would eat and it is. This bowl contains about 1 cup of boiled chicken breast, 1/3 a cup of frozen peas and carrots mix defrosted in the boiled chicken water and 1 potato cubed and mashed . These are also the ingredients one uses to make delicious and mouth-watering chicken pot pie filing :).

This is the typical meal Caroline and my other dogs eat on a given day.

The black bowl belongs to Jake, He’ll eat his kibble with a spooned serving of this chicken mixture.

The red bowl is Sweet Caroline’s and she’ll eat 1/3-1/2 a cup of kibble mixed in with this chicken mixture and 1 whole turkey neck or two chicken paws. Raw animal bones when fed under close supervision are perfectly safe. I have yet to have a choking incident involving raw meaty bones like turkey necks, chicken feet or even chicken legs or thighs.

The last bowl belongs to Jackie, my dogs good friend whom often comes over and eats with them. The contents of her bowl are the same as Caroline’s.
(Before considering a raw diet consult your veterinarian. This is not a feeding plan designed to replace dog food for any dog but Caroline. I’m not responsible if you choose to feed your dog raw food. That decision can only be made after much deliberations and research on your own.)

My coworkers often joked with me that my dogs ate better than I did and honestly until I started Paleo I would have had to agree. I mean look at the quality in that chicken mixture, all human grade ingredients cooked fresh for them to eat and stored in the fridge.  I saw first hand in Caroline how fresh food had restorative properties and assisted her in feeling better and living a more full life, but I never seemed to make a connection until now.
After starting my 95% Paleo Diet after completing a full 30 days of 100% paleo I saw the benefits fresh food had on me. The stomach and intestinal cramps that had kept me home from work and sent me to the emergency room twice in less than 15 days had finally cleared with no signs of returning. I was drinking more water then probably ever before in my life and I had a craving for healthy foods.  For the first time in my life I was driving down the street and looking for something to eat and stopping at a 7/11 to pick up a salad and bottle of water instead of jumping into a fast food drive thru to order a burger, fries and a large coke.  I had finally made the fresh food conversion I had forced onto my dogs so long before. And I’m so happy I did.

Now a days my coworkers still tease that my dogs eat better than I do but I can say now that it’s probably more equal. They eat food that helps them sustain natural healthy lives and I eat biologically appropriate foods that allow me to live a fulfilling and healthy life too.

Do any of you feel your pets eat better than you do? Or do you know someone where that’s the case?

This flexitarian would love to know.

Till next time,

Jordan Lynn 🙂

Paleo Changed My Life after IBS Diagnosis

Hi Flexies :),

I’m back. My doctors were unable to find a single allergy. So my strange internal flareups were attributed to IBS and food intolerances. To manage my symptoms and keep me living a relatively healthy and happy life my doctors and I have struck a compromise. I eat a 95% Paleo diet. During my testing period I was strictly 100% Paleo and while it was not difficult I’m a flexible person and don’t do well with restrictions. So Living 95% Paleo was the compromise I decided on.

Doctor Recommendations for living with IBS: (And my commentary)
> Limit Intake of Lactose Products (NO ICE CREAM!!!! 😦 )
> Limit Intake of Gluten (BUT THE BREAD!!!!!!!! 😦 )
> Limit Amounts of Processed Foods ( o.O?!! THEN WHAT AM I TO EAT?!!!)
> Limit High Fructose Corn Syrup ( o.o!! What Am I to DRINK?!!!!)
> Limit Foods That Seem to Cause Intestinal Distress (Well that’s specific huh?)

While I had been on a strict paleo diet for 30 days I found it too restricted for my often busy and rather hectic city to suburb lifestyle (and I was a bit lazy and discouraged by failures). During the first 30 days I was 100% paleo and while it was satisfying and I ate often I was craving items like bread and milk (which i rarely ever drink). While I used paleo staples like coconut or almond milk to calm cravings I had a hard time giving up on things I loved. So I struck the 95% compromise.

What is the 95% Compromise?

The doctor recommended I limit the amount of processed foods I ate. My response was the purchase all my produce fresh from the produce section or freezer section. (yeah yeah freezer isn’t fresh but its better then canned). I limit my canned food purchases, not I only stock them for emergencies like earthquakes and don’t eat them every day.

I do keep lactose pills and purchase lactose free dairy products but nearly 98% of dairy has been eliminated from my home diet. I mostly run into it in the world outside my home. This holds true for gluten. I go weeks without eating any bread and if I eat a sandwich every once in a while I’m not dying. (The doctors say I’m not celiacs so bread shouldn’t hurt me).

The Death of HFC (High Fructose Corn Syrup) was the hardest thing for me. I was a soda junkie. What normal 24 year old isn’t? I grew up in a home were soda was ever present and it just tastes so delicious right? It’s sweet and fizzy and when its a fresh bottle you just can’t get a more refreshing taste. Or can you?

With the loss of HFC I was forced albeit begrudgingly to drink water. Water (H2O) is one of the most amazing substances found on this planet ( I appreciated it always from a science standpoint) but from a drinking stand point it was always sodas. Now a days I drink upwards to 90oz of water a day. The cool crisp taste of fresh ice cold water from the fridge is just refreshing. Once I was used to it I found sodas to be too strong in flavor. Now a days I may order 1 soda if I’m out with friends at a bar but otherwise you’re more likely to find my reusable glass water bottle in my hand then a bottle of coke (something a year ago would have been the opposite).

Limiting intake of grains/gluten, dairy, and HFC and following the paleo diet closely but not restrictively has assisted me with living a happy and healthy life. These simple steps have allowed me to go back to the foodie world :)!! And that means I’ll have more amazing things to share with you soon.

Thanks for reading,

Jordan Lynn

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* PS: Look for changes to come soon to the site 🙂

Quick Check In: Medical Issues & A New Out Look on Life

Hello Flexies, 

I know it has been such a long time. Your lovely Flexitarian host had become quite ill and had a terrible flare up in her GI tract. This put me out of the eating just about anything category for almost 3 weeks. @.@ How does a foodie survive? By eating lots and lots of soup and vitamins.  While I’m still undergoing tests for allergens my doctors have advised me to cut out certain foods from my diet due to intolerance.  They also recommend I start to workout or get myself fit. 

So starting today my blog is going to focus on me, myself and I learning to cope with food intolerance instead of ignoring it, eating healthier, exercises and following some new diet styles I’ve researched. I will post recipes I like, do reviews of books I found useful and continue to find restaurants that will help cater to my causes. 

 

Thank you to everyone still hanging on for the ride, 

 

Jordan Lynn

 

PS: stay tuned for a more in depth post about my new diet choices and how I plan to make this work. 

A Heatwave Inspires: Meat Pies & Mild Japanese Curry

Hey Flexies,

This past week in CA temps were in the high 90s in my area. The heat made me do two things, crave curry and watch the movie “Sweeny Todd”. Aside from cringing every time we are shown the first shots of the pie shop complete with roaches and moldy bread, I find myself thinking, “Hm… Meat pies sound good…” So I decided why not and dedicated to try to make meat pies from scratch this week.  In my desire to become more at one with my inner Otaku, I decided to make some curry since I had a box of Golden Curry (R) sauce mix and a fridge full of curry worthy ingredients.

Recipe to follow in the coming weeks for the meat pie. I’m still working on perfecting it.

Recipe for “Kitchen Sink” Japanese Style Curry to follow later this week.

Till next time,

Jordan Lynn

My take on Japanese Curry made with “Kitchen Sink” ingredients and Golden Curry Brand Curry Sauce mix.

 

Ground beef, onion and tomato filled homemade meat pies (hand-held).

Open shot of ground beef, tomato and onion filled handheld homemade meat pies with a honey yogurt sauce.

I’m Going to Continue :)

Hello  All, 

I’ve been busy these days. Still chugging along with school and learning how key flexibility is to maintaining sanity, happiness and apparently a waistline. I have decided to continue my blog after this short hiatus.  

I look forward to sharing my new adventures with you all as I travel around the IE trying delicious seafood, steaks and just about anything else that looks delicious (and doesn’t have pork in it). 

I will also be doing some product reviews of amazing kitchen appliances that are not just for families but can be useful for single people too 🙂 My current kitchen counter favorite is an amazing device known as a food saver 🙂 (look forward to that article soon) 

I am also going to be trying something a little different. I am a huge fan of Japanese comic books called “manga” and it just so happens I ran across a rather fantastic manga that doubles as a cook book/ frugal person’s guide to shopping. I’m going to cook my way through the series and blog my exploits here. Some of these foods from the book are Japanese specific and I will try to make an “American” or western version if I feel it really needs it. 

 

Please continue to enjoy this wild ride with me 🙂 

See you guys soon, 

Jordan 🙂 

Welcome to the IE! A food crawl along two major freeways :)

Welcome to the IE!!

 Today we are going to go through a fun food filled trip through the Inland Empire referred to as the IE by those who live here. We will cover some of my favorite eateries that are must stops even if you’re only on a drive through on your way to Vegas or on your way to the beach. Today we’ll cover my favorite steakhouse, two breakfast brunch places with awesome selections and a bakery that makes amazing cupcakes. These are all locally owned owed establishments that give you bang for your buck and of course serve delicious food with flexible options!

 Great steak located just off the 60 freeway in Diamond Bar, CA. The Ranch House Cafe & Grill, home of the $8.99 Prime Rib dinner that isn’t crap! The steaks are thick cut to order and are juicy and delicious. They also have an assortment of burgers and serve breakfast. I’ve never come for breakfast since I don’t rise from bed on the weekends if I’m not working before 12 pm. 

 

Prime Rib Dinner for $8.99 and it is delicious 🙂

Continuing down the 60 freeway you should merge onto the 57 and make your way towards the 10 freeway heading east along this stretch of highway is some amazing finds.

 

If you’re in the breakfast mood and it’s not after 2pm I recommend you hit up Kickback Jack’s/ BC Cafe to enjoy the world’s best (at least in my humble opinion) pancakes and Belgium waffles they are made fresh in house to order. This place is only open for breakfast and lunch and there is always a wait because the food is so amazing.

 

Waffle with eggs, turkey sausage and avocado. Enough to feed two people.

 

 

Heading North on Indian Hill Blvd will take you to my favorite bakery in down were you can indulge yourself in gourmet freshly baked cupcakes, these are to die for and simply scrumptious. Some Crust Bakery also makes fresh baked breads, cookies, fresh roast coffee, wedding cakes and dog treats. Selections vary by day and are all delicious.

 

 

Decedent gourmet cupcakes baked fresh in shop 🙂

 

Lastly is a place very dear to my heart because it is one of the few places I can take my dogs with me to eat. This place is located in Downtown Upland just off Euclid and is known as Molly’s Souper. This is a restaurant that even features a doggy menu. If you’re an optimistic pet parent and own a well behaved fur kid then Molly’s Souper is a must stop for breakfast or brunch with your K-9 wonder after a morning jog or agility class.

 

Feel free to experience any of these places. They each offer a robust menu with delicious options and everything tastes fantastic.

 

Till next time,

 

Jordan

 

 

 

 

The Blue Truck

Profile in Food: The Blue Truck

The sky is overcast and the early morning is cold as I stand outside checking my cell phone to get a glance at the time, 7:17 AM. I sigh and continue to wait only a few more minutes. I use this time to reflect how my life has changed in the last few months. I had recently changed jobs and worked at a place that had a lunch truck. Not to say my previous employers did not contract a truck as well, but this truck was distinctly different from the last.  I check my phone again looking at the time, 7:19 AM, like clockwork the blue lunch truck pulls into the parking lot.

I stand at the order window, surveying the food behind the glass. Today is Friday and that makes it a special day. I look for the weekly special spotting the delicious morsels easily.

“Buenos días, mija.” Comes a cheery voice from the front of the truck as Gloria finishes setting up the blue canopy over the display side of the truck. “How are you this morning?” She asks flashing a kind smile my way.

I’m still a bit groggy as I’m not a morning person and I arrive early almost everyday and especially fridays to eat breakfast from this truck.  I reply back with poor Spanish skills that would make my high school Spanish teacher cringe, “Cansado y hambre,” as I yawn and move forward. I have come a long way from previous visits when I would just point at the food I wanted and had a hard time even answering any questions in Spanish.

Gloria smiles and asks if I’ll be getting a coffee today. I nod and proceed to pour myself a cup, filling it with a generous amount of sugar and milk, before heading towards the back of the truck. This is where all the magic happens.

Juanita smiles as she looks out the order window. “Morning.” She says in a rehearsed fashion through her thick accent. “Ready order?”  

I nod and point, “Una pupusa con queso porfavor (I’m aware it’s por favor but I don’t really pause too well, so it comes out porfavor when spoken)…” I say in my abhorred spanish. It is really embarrassing for me to speak in spanish but I know both Gloria and Juanita appreciate the fact that I try and they both know I’m not very good at it but am trying to improve.

Juanita smiles and sets to work pulling one pupusa from the racks. She places it down on the hot cook top to heat it up. As the pupusa heats up I think back to when I first started working at my current job and heard about the truck.

I remember my coworker’s surprised when I literally gasped when he said he bought his lunch off of a truck. My old job had a lunch truck too, it was a man who had a truck and would offer prepackaged sandwiches and bottled sodas for exuberant prices, a sandwich that is pre packed ham and cheese sandwich should never cost more than $5. I would sooner drive to 7-11 and buy a sandwich and soda from there, it was about the same quality. My coworker said that the truck that came to our job didn’t have pre packed sandwiches on it, but instead had food that was prepared fresh that day and some of it right on the truck. He pulled out the lunch, he had bought that morning and showed it to me, a styrofoam plate packed with spanish rice, refried beans and three delicious looking beef tacos with pico de gallo and a lime wedge. Needless to say I was floored.  

I’m drawn from my musings as Juanita calls out to me, “Mija,” then begins to make a motion for “Do you want me to wrap this in plastic wrap?” It is a sweeping motion with her arm around the tray. I nod and smile thanking her for my pupusa.  

Pupusas are the most amazing little sandwich/cake type entree. They are masa cakes stuffed with cheese and or meat and cooked on a griddle until slightly browned. The cheese inside melts deliciously so and the dough itself has that signature masa taste similar to that found in tamales, only to me it tastes better.

After paying Gloria, I sit back on a bench in the parking lot watching as more workers file out of the factory to order from the truck. People order all types of food ranging from fried potatoes and eggs to tacos and taquitos. I watch Juanita moving about in the small space which is barely wider than 5 feet across and navigate with an expert ease between the two hot cook tops, the dressing area and the display window were fresh warm food is waiting.  

I wait for the line to die down than approach the truck, it’s now 7:40, I’ll have just enough time to speak with them before I have to get to work myself. I place my pupusa on the truck counter and call my coworker over to help me translate my questions.

“So why open a food truck?” I ask curiously, “I bet your days are really long.”

Gloria nods and answers that their days start at 5am and end around 4pm with an hour for lunch for themselves and half an hour for breakfasts. She also explains that they wanted to run a lunch truck because it was a reliable way to bring the food they love to people. They felt they were unique since they served El Salvadorian food despite what I assumed was just Mexican food at the start.  

Gloria goes on to explain that she and Juanita are from El Salvador and that they came to the USA about fifteen years ago and decided to start their own business after working in restaurants for several years in the states. In El Salvador they also worked in restaurants as waitresses.  

I nod at her explanation as Juanita continues cleaning the cook tops in the back and preparing everything for when they move off to the next location. My job is only their second stop of many they will make today as they travel around the area to all their customer locations.

See unlike the fancier dare I say fad inspired food truck pop ups all over LA County in recent years, Gloria and Juanita run a catering service run out of a truck. Unlike the newer trucks that require apps and websites so they can be found.Gloria and Juanita have contracted customers and make the same routine stops day after day often bringing the same staple foods and different “daily specials”. Unlike the “roach coaches” I had been previously introduced to that served food that was always eaten with caution and the prayer you did not have to spend the rest of your day in the john. The type of roach coaches, I would never eat off of. The truck run by Gloria and served by Juanita is wholesome and serves delicious fresh food.

After Juanita places the last of her items away I have my coworker ask her, “How come we only get pupusas on Friday? They seem very popular and sell out fast.” Needless to say I love them and always get the cheese filled ones on Fridays. She also makes chicharon and cheese pupusas but I don’t eat pork so those are lost on me.  

Juanita explains to my coworker who tells me, pupusas are very time consuming to make and prepare so she limits them only to Fridays. To make make the sheer number she has to have prepared (over 150) so that each work site will have some she spends hours rolling out little masa balls and stuffing them with chicharron and cheese, and some with just cheese. She also explains making the spicy pickled cabbage mixture takes some time as well she she makes almost 6 pounds of it to accompany the pupusas as they are served. She explains that making pupusas reminds her of when she was young and still living in El Salvador and so she really enjoys the work she puts into them.

My phone beeps, it’s 7:55 am and I have to go clock in for work. I express my thanks to both Gloria and Juanita as they prepare to leave for their next location. I’m happy I did not let my prior prejudice against food trucks stop me from eating off this one. As I open the door to the front office, I see the blue truck heading down the street towards it’s next stop. I smile and go clock in, my pupusa can wait until my first break today.

Pupusa fresh off the griddle

 

A shot of the selection window.

Any One Can Cook- Ratatouille Movie Review

Ratatouille was a 2007 Pixar film starring a culinary inclined rodent named Remy whom becomes a head chef of a famous French Restaurant by controlling a young, clumsy and culinary dunce kitchen worker named, Alredo Linguini. This film is an instant Disney classic and teaches children as well as adults never to judge a book by its cover. This movie is a great exercise in flexibility for its audience.

Remy and Linguini meet after Linguini charged with becoming a cleaning boy messed up a batch of soup. This soup is fixed by Remy’s keen nose and a bowl is served to a food critic before the head chef can stop it from leaving the kitchen. The soup is believed to be a disaster since it has been tampered with by Linguini which leads one to wonder, “How bad are you at cooking that you mess up soup?” Much to everyone’s surprise the soup is a raving success.

The title dish Ratatouille is a dish of garden vegetables layered and baked until complete. It is a dish clearly unworthy of the 5 star restaurant, Remy serves it in. The former head chef scoffs when he sees the dish leave the kitchen and head towards Anton Ego’s table (a strict food critic). Ego examines the dish for a moment before taking a bite. That bite of food takes Ego back to his childhood days of coming home to his mother preparing the same dish with such love and dedication. Ratatouille is shown as a dish that can bridge one’s past to the present. Ratatouille is used as an example of food, even if prepared at a mainstream restaurant, is prepared with love and dedication it has the capacity to take someone back to a comfortable place where they felt loved and appreciated.

This movie does a good job showing “Any one can cook” and that if food is prepared with distinct care and love even your hardest critics cannot help but love it.

I was inspired by this movie to make a dish from my childhood with my little cousins. The dish we made was chicken pot pie. A dish for me is reminiscent of Ego’s flashback in the movie. It is a dish my mother used to make for me from scratch  that you can taste the love in each bite. I will showcase this recipe later in the week.

 

Till Next Time,

J. Lynn

I was inspired to make a dish from my childhood by this movie.

A cut piece of my dish. It’s Chicken pot pie.

Recipe to follow later this week 🙂

Fond Memories of French Onion Soup :)

I love onions, they are an important part of my life. Onions are one ingredient that can be found in almost every dish from my childhood, without onions a very critical portion of my food heritage would be lost. I cannot imagine my life without them. My favorite onion dish that reaches far back into my childhood is French Onion Soup from the can.

French Onion soup is delicious. It is a warm bowl of caramelized onions cooked with a bit of salt and pinch of sugar and simmered in beef broth and wine to the perfect sweet and savory tang, then finally topped with a slice of bread covered in a delicious melted ooze of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese. I approach french onion soup with a definitive shyness. It was the first dish I had ever prepared from scratch to serve at a family event. French Onion Soup has since become my signature dish. It is a dish I make upon request for any family event. It is a dish I serve as a way to express my love and gratitude to people I care for.

My love affair with French Onion soup began with a can of Campbell’s’ French Onion Soup. I often pick the can from the soup aisle at the grocery store when my mother and I shopped. I would throw the can into the cart and go about cruising the other foods at my eye level, blissfully unaware French onion soup could have a richer flavor than that from a can opened and put on the stove under the careful supervision of my parents. Even into early adulthood when I wanted a warm bowl of familiarity on a dreary day I would find myself reaching for a can of Campbell’s French Onion.

During my sophomore year of high school, I decided it was time to learn to make “something” to take to family events like Christmas and Easter. This was quite the challenge since I was younger then and learning my way about the kitchen, a domain that had always belonged to my mother. My skills were limited at best and my recipe list was short. I wanted to make a dish that was unique to me and did not copy anyone else’s dishes. I did not want to compete with anyone else, I wanted a dish unique to me to have as a signature. Our holidays are an organized potluck deal where everyone brings what they’re known for, my mother always made the ham, my aunties dominated the desserts and sides, my grandfather handled the turkey and beef, my numerous cousins would bring fruit and sides. What did that really leave for me to specialize in? There was nothing I could think of.  😦

Inspiration hit as inspiration often does when I was watching The Food Network desperate for an idea. The show that would inspire and rule my fearlessness in the kitchen was about to show me something that “spoke” to me. Alton Brown made French Onion Soup on an episode of Good Eats. I remember watching the episode entranced. I could taste the sweetness of the freshly caramelized onions and the savoriness of the broth. I remember being instantly inspired to try it for myself, ‘It seems easy enough’ I had thought.

Alton’s show combines pop culture, science and food to make recipes or topics he covers relative and fun. Watching his show, even reruns has inspired me to grow my recipe catalogues and try recipes that prior I would have found far too complex. His show over others, because it combines science with cooking really engaged me and made me want to try new foods or recipes for myself unlike other shows on the air like Rachel Ray or Barefoot Contessa.

Being a sophomore in college meant I lacked my own wheels (>.<) and as a result my mother had to take me to the store to gather my ingredients for my first kitchen battle. Though I could not directly copy the list Alton gave in the episode I had the basic ingredients I would need and modified the list to suit my tastes a bit. I purchased four large brown onions, a box of beef bouillon cubes, a small jar of minced garlic and a little bottle of cooking wine.  It had looked so easy on TV. I thought it would be a breeze.

I was unfortunately not a patient person and I was very easily irritated. It is a little known fact (to me) that onions cause sulfuric acid to form in your eyes when you cut them and as a result you cry a lot. The eye irritation plus my impatiences resulted in a horrifically burned the first set of  poorly coarse-chopped onions (of varying sizes, shapes and thickness) I had thrown into the pot. My mother laughed at my efforts and asked if I would like some help. Since I had been so stubborn about doing it just like I had seen on TV. I was rather disheartened. My mother taught me how to properly slice onions.

Since that initial batch of soup, inspired by my deep desire to bring a heart warming dish to a family gathering, I have perfected my personal touch to this classic. This dish is one of the few that survived during the years I was a strict vegetarian and resurfaced again as I now eat anything but pork. I approach this dish with a basic scientific understanding of onion gases + water =sulfuric acid tears, a fond appreciation for ugly green OSHA approved safety goggles, which break the horrific cycle of onion gas + water = sulfuric acid, and freshly sharpened kitchen knife on a bamboo cutting board.

I have learned to balance the healthy crave of olive oil and the additional decadence a spoonful of unsalted butter can bring. I have contemplated the importance of homemade croutons compared to store bought croutons which is sometimes preferred to store bought baked bread.b And best of all I have learned my onions and which onions in the right combination makes a batch of soup my family loves and has come to expect.

No matter how many times I make my french onion soup I still find myself thinking back to when I was a kid sipping the freshly heated canned soup out of a mug on cold days. Innocent to the fact that the soup could carry with it so much heart and could be satisfying to more than just my flavor profile. I cringe at the memory of that initial burned batch of onions in the bottom of my mother’s stock pot and me not understanding why high heat was not the answer to caramelizing onions quicker as I was forced to scrub the pot clean. Most importantly I clearly  remember when I made the soup for Christmas, my sophomore year in high school as I hesitantly handed the bowl of soup to my grandfather, the head of our family, to see what he would say. Those tense moments of apprehension and doubt when I let him take the bowl away from me and taste it, never forgetting the eruption of happiness I felt when he told me, “Jordan, it’s very good.”

 

3 Onion French Onion Soup

(My choice of Onions is always a mix of red,white and brown)

 

Ingredients:

 

1 loaf french bread

64 oz beef broth (pre made or from bouillon cubes)

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2-1/3 cup of cornstarch

1 cup of white wine

2 medium brown onions

2 medium red onions

2 medium yellow onions

5 tablespoons of butter (unsalted) if you use salted don’t add 1/4 teaspoon of salt

3-5 cup of mozzarella cheese

Olive oil for brushing bread

Broiler safe serving dishes

 

Optional Equipment:

Safety Goggles to prevent sulfuric acid development in eyes 🙂

Kitchen Timer

Tasting Spoon

 

Cooking Instructions:

 

• Cut onions into uniform slices and set aside in a bowl.

• In a large stock pot melt butter and garlic over medium flame.

• After 3 minutes add onions to stock pot. Sweat onions down until almost translucent stirring occasionally.  (20-35 minutes)

•  Once onions are translucent add sugar and salt (if using unsalted butter). Mix and allow onions to caramelize. (10 – 25 minutes).  You may see some burning at the bottom of the pan, this is expected as the onions should turn a dark brown color. You should not smell any foul or off odors typical of burnt food. The onions should workable as they caramelize and not be stuck to the bottom of the pot.

• Once onions have caramelized and carry a sweet aroma you add the cornstarch to the mixture and mix it in until you have a sticky ball of onions in the middle of the pot.

• Then pour in the beef stock, reduce the heat to low and stir in the wine. Make sure you have enough liquid in the pan to cover onions. Cover pan and let simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes (or until all alcohol has burned off).  Typically the alcohol burns off after 30 minutes. If not turn up heat slightly and monitor. The broth should have a sweet and savory aroma and flavor profile without any underlying bitterness from the wine once all the alcohol has burned off.

• While you wait for the alcohol to burn off slice your loaf of french bread into 2-3 in thick slices  depending on your broiler safe cookware.

• Brush bread slices with olive oil and place into broiler to toast. (If no broiler place into oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 2-3 minutes. Monitor bread for browning.

  • Turn bread slices to toast both sides.

• Once the alcohol has burned off the soup and the bread has been toasted it’s time to assemble.

 

Assembly

 

• Place some of your shredded cheese into each broiler safe serving dish.

• Using a ladle or spoon filled dish 2/3 of the way with soup.

• Place toasted bread on top of the soup.

• Liberally cover bread slice and soup with cheese.

 

After assembling your dishes place in broiler on high until the cheese is melting bubbly cheesy mass with a crispy edge around the edges of the dish. (2-4 minutes)

 

Remember you want the cheese to be melted and slightly browned but not black.

 

Serve hot and with a smile. 🙂

All Aboard for The Sushi Cruise

 All you can eat Sashimi plate #1, served with fresh ginger, wasabi & hot tea.

I’m a former pescatarian and now as a flexitarian I find myself eating a lot of fish. The Sushi Cruise is a nice little sushi joint located inside of a building modeled after a shrimp boat. It is home to all you can eat Sushi for $22, all you can eat sashimi & Sushi for $30 or all you can eat menu for $50 a person. I personally love this restaurant because I am a sushi addict. I could and would eat it everyday if it was cost effective. What I love most about the Sushi Cruise (besides the fact it’s shaped like a boat and I can watch boxing there) is the fact that it offers so many choices for everyone.  There is steak on the menu, teriyaki chicken (the only thing my friend eats she dislikes fish), and even vegetarian sushi options in the form of avocado or veggie “sushi” rolls.

I enjoy eating the sushi from this restaurant because the guys at the sushi bar are great. I enjoy sitting at the sushi bar when I go to a sushi restaurant. The sushi chefs are always engaged with you despite how busy the restaurant maybe and even offer you samples of different dishes. They are a very flexible bunch. They will make special arrangements and modifications to your dishes based on you (if you go to this restaurant more then a few times). The chefs have a good memory about dishes you like.

The sushi here is fresh, does not have a fishy odor and has a crisp, clean flavor. The rice is just the right amount of stick and fluff. The fish to rice ratio is some of the best I have ever seen for an all-you-can-eat establishment. If you enjoy good sushi and want to have a great time then I would recommend a dinner date at aboard The Sushi Cruise.

Till my next endeavor,

Jordan Lynn

** This review is unsolicited and I received no compensation for it. I just really love this restaurant and wanted to share it with others. 🙂