Best damn burger joint in San Diego

I've been wanting to go to Hodad's for quite some time now. Ever since I saw it on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" I've been wanting to try it. For some reason (I hate OB parking) I've just never gotten over there. When Lupe got home this evening she was hungry and wanted something to eat. I wanted to oblige her, but all the proteins in the house were frozen in the icebox. What to do? Go to Hodad's. Good answer.

Hodad's is exactly what you're looking for in a great burger joint; small, loud, crazy eclectic surroundings and crowded with people gettin' their grub on. We had to stand in line outside for about 30 minutes waiting for a seat. It was well worth the wait. We had plenty of time to stare at the awesome burgers making their way out of the kitchen. For a time it looked like Lupe and I would be in the VW bus booth, but they cleared a spot on the big communal surf board table first. Fortunately, we got seats at the end of the table. Being our first visit to Hodad's, Lupe and I went big. She had a single bacon cheeseburger and fries and I got the double bacon cheeseburger with a half order of onion rings. We also shared a vanilla shake. The shake came first. We probably could have had the shake and left satisfied. That was best damn shake I've ever had. There was a giant, face-sized scoop of ice cream perched precariously on the top of the cup. We had to eat that in a hurry to keep it from melting all over the table. Melting disaster averted, we set the shake aside as the onion rings arrived. I thought a half order would be something other than a ridiculously large heaping basket of rings with ranch dressing. Stupid me. They were perfect onion rings. The onions were sweet and large and were perfectly cooked; soft, but still with some texture. The breading was also perfect; not too thick, not too thin and not at all oily. By the time were had finished the onion rings we both realized that we had just had a completely filling and fantastic meal. With more than a little alarm I started to think about the burger to come. I had been watching these towering meat masterpieces fly out of the kitchen for almost an hour. I knew they were going to be big. I tried to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming challenge. Like that skinny, little Japanese guy that always wins the Coney Island hot dog eating competition, I knew I had to psych myself up for the challenge. I kept telling myself that I had been stranded on a dessert island for five weeks with nothing to eat. I tried to mentally picture my stomach blissfully empty. I was still working on my little mind game when our server calls out, "Who had the double bacon cheeseburger?" Snapped back into reality, my eyes tried to focus on what he was holding just inches from my face. IT WAS TOO BIG! I couldn't make out the entire burger. The leading edge was fuzzy and the rest just disappeared off into the distance. I tried to look up high enough to see the top bun, but I got a crick in my neck. Oh shit! This ain't gonna end well. I mean, its a burger. I can't pass up a burger. And there's no way I'm going to walk out without eating the whole thing. I'm a guy and we don't do that sort of thing. All I could do was loosen the drawstring on my elastic-waist shorts (at least I planned ahead), dig in and hope for the best.

Hodad's make a helluva burger (didn't Rick James say something like that?) It is just the perfect example of a good old-fashioned burger. Good bun, just the right amount of shredded lettuce, fantastic pickle slices and onions and just enough dressing to make it juicy, but not detract from the flavor of the meat. Burgery goodness is the only way I can describe it. I've made better burgers (the meat and cheese part), but never the complete package like this. This was just the perfect assemblage of meat, bun, cheese and produce. One very nice touch is that the burger patties were not overcooked as you find at most restaurants. Mine were a lovely pink in the middle; just the way I make mine at home. Oh man, burger nirvana. After the first bite I forgot that I really wasn't that hungry. I knew I was going to finish every last bite of that bad boy. Slow and steady wins the race....and gets the burger down. Still, the first bite was a little intimidating. I knew it was going to be messy. When I brought the burger to my mouth I couldn't see the top bun and the bottom bun seemed to be somewhere down by my neck. I squeezed it together as much as I dared, opened wide and took a chomp. I was rewarded with, not only a mouthful of tasty burger, but a new design on my Hawaiian shirt. Oh well. I got that out of the way quickly. Now I can concentrate on eating this behemoth without worrying about dripping on myself anymore. I had a stack of napkins close at hand. After each bite I had to wipe off my chin (and neck and face and hands......). That how a burger should be eaten. Carl's Jr. ad agency has done some screwy ad campaigns (featuring Miss Wonk Eye, Miss Wonk Ass and Miss Wonk Boobs) over the last few years, but they at least got the slogan right: "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face."

I can't believe that Lupe actually finished her burger too. When Lupe is too full to finish a meal, she has no problem asking for a doggy bag. That she actually finished her burger is a testament to just how good they were. Now that's some dedication.

Lesson learned:
1. Hodad's is the best damn burger joint in San Diego.
2. Hodad's is the best burger joint I've ever eaten at.
3. Next time I'll do without the bacon on the burger. It is like adding an extra meat patty to an already enormous burger. I liked the taste, but the straight cheeseburger would have been just fine.
4. Next time we don't order fries with the burger. A half order of onion rings or fries would definitely be enough.
5. Next time I go there I will fast for at least two days ahead of time.

Another romantic desert idea

It isn't hard to come up with a nice little treat for your sweetie-pie. Last night after dinner I wanted to make something sweet for Lupe. I had a little time, as she had gone to take a dip in the hot tub after dinner. I had an idea brewing in my little brain. I bought some giant apricots at North Gate the other day and it turned out that they weren't quite ripe. They weren't really soft and they were somewhat tart. Not bad; just not the juicy, fresh apricot that you'd want to eat raw. I didn't want them to spoil so I had to come up with something to do with them. I got the idea to pop them in the oven for a few minutes to soften them up and concentrate the flavor. I cut up several and set them in Lupe's handy dandy mini muffin tray. I sprinkled each half with a little cinnamon and some cane sugar and put them in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. While they were roasting I made a port wine reduction on the stove top. I added a little cane sugar and a squeeze of orange juice to the reduction to liven it up. When the apricot halves had started to soften I removed them from the oven and placed them on some cute heart-shaped desert plates that Lupe loves. In the center of each apricot half I dropped a dollop of chocolate ganache. I finished the dish with a splattering of the port wine reduction (no points for presentation-I didn't think to use my squeeze bottles to make it all foo-foo artistic). What it lacked in presentation, it made up in taste. Sorry, no pics. We ate it too fast.

Pupusa and Hot Wings

Lupe had to go to LA last week to get some paperwork for her passport. After dealing with the cubicle drones at the State hive in downtown LA, Lupe and I went for a little lunch. We wandered around the Grand Central Market looking for grub. I quickly spotted a pupuseria that I recognized from Food TV's show; "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Mary Sue Milliken had recommended the pupusas from Sarita's Pupuseria. We ordered a sampler assortment of pupusas; chicharron, carne asada and pollo asada. I must say they were very tasty. I've only had pupusas once before, so I don't have much to compare them to. Lupe used to get them frequently back in Long Beach. There were a lot of Salvadorans at the company we worked for and they always wanted pupusas for lunch. Lupe thought that Sarita's pupusas compared very favorably to others she has tried.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

All during the Stanley Cup finals I felt like I was missing something. I hadn't been doing much cooking during that time so there was no memorable food to go along with the great hockey action. I think I ate a salami sandwich the night of game 6. That was not worthy of the great hockey that was on TV. What I really needed was a good deep dish pizza or a Philly cheese-steak sandwich. A few days later I was mulling over ideas for good hockey-watching food and I decided that I needed to make some Buffalo wings. I have fond memories of sitting at Seau's, eating hot wings and watching Colorado skate the cup. My mind was made up.....Buffalo wings. After separating the wings I dusted them with Cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. I drizzled a little chicken fat over the wings and then tossed the wings. Once the wings were completely coated I covered them and let them sit in the fridge for a couple hours. In the interim I made both bleu cheese and ranch dips. I cut a bunch of carrot, celery and jicama sticks to go with the wings. I also prepped some asparagus to go with the wings. The wings went onto a broiler rack and into a 375 degree oven. I flipped the wings a couple of times during the hour they spent in the oven. As the wings cooked I gave the asparagus a quick sauté. After I got a little color on the asparagus I deglazed the pan with some sherry. I added some beef stock to finish cooking the asparagus. When the wings were done I took them out and tossed them with some Frank's hot wing sauce. After turning off the oven, I put the wings back in to help set the sauce. This gives a nice finish and makes the wings a little less messy. This was definitely a finger food dinner. Lots of napkins on standby as we dug in. The wings were great and slightly healthier than if they had been fried. Aw hell.....who cares. They were just good. I would have fried them if I had enough oil. Either way, hot wings are always good. Like pizza, they aren't something you'd want to eat every day, but they are good occasionally.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Romantic leftovers

So what do you do if you have some strawberries that you left in the fridge over the weekend? The ones in the back were a little frozen, but the others were still good (or at least acceptable for a proof of concept recipe). Alright, so I've got some strawberries and I wanted to see if I could make a romantic little treat for Lupe when she got home from her class. What else is available? There is still some ganache left over from the puff pastry debacle. I also have a little caramel sauce and some white cake frosting....that's a dead end. Ganache it is.

I washed and cored the strawberries and then tossed them with some vanilla sugar and a healthy dash of Grand Marnier. After a short soak, I removed the strawberries from the Grand Marnier. I stuffed each strawberry with a nice little chunk of ganache. After all the strawberries were stuffed I splashed them with a little sweetened strawberry juice and Grand Marnier.

The verdict......MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'll have to make these for Valentine's Day. When I make these for a special occasion there are a few things that I will do.
1. Make fresh ganache. I will pipe soft ganache into the cored strawberries. That will be a lot easier and not nearly as messy as shoving chunks of ganache into the berries.
2. Dip berries in chocolate or drizzle with white or dark choclate
3. Make some green frosting and pipe onto the top to resemble the stem.

I think I'm onto something here. I'll take some pictures when I do this with fresh strawberries.

Catching up again

OK, so I suck at this blogging crap. I've been preoccupied with hunting and shooting of late and I'm only capable of managing one hobby at a time.

I just made the best damn chicken sandwich EVER! It was simple, it was basic, and it was gooooooood. I pounded out a couple of chicken breasts, seasoned them with a special mix of Cayenne and black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and Kosher salt. I cut the breasts in half and dredged them in a seasoned flour mixture. After an egg wash, the breast pieces went into a mix of seasoned (Italian) bread crumbs and the seasoned flour. These got a quick dunk in the oil jacuzzi to achieve that Zen state of golden-brown and delicious. A quick dry on some paper towels and then the cooling rack. As they were cooling on the rack I topped them with sliced Provolone cheese. I got some crusty buns and slathered them with some ranch dressing and mustard. A few pieces of lettuce and some sliced ripe tomatoes and I had myself one damn good sammich. I know you're thinking that you could get something similar at Wendy's. That may be, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good. Fact. OK....that's my opinion, but it was really good. No pictures ( I ate it too fast). I'll make Lupe a sandwich and get some pictures.

Here are a few other goodies that have come out of the kitchen recently.

Pastastravaganza

I made a stromboli with leftover pizza dough and a meat sauce that I whipped up. I learned a few lessons about stromboli making. Structurally it wasn't perfect, but it was really damn tasty.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As if one pasta entree wasn't enough, I used up some leftover fettuccini and the rest of the meat sauce. This is the first time I've used my little All-Clad oval bakers since I bought them 8 years ago. I'm glad I got those things on sale.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lamb Kebabs

I cut up a leg a lamb and threw it in a spicy yogurt mixture for a few hours. The lamb went on bamboo skewers with onion, bell and poblano peppers and some par cooked carrots and cauliflower. Bamboo skewers suck. I need to get a bunch of stainless skewers someday. Half the carrots and cauliflower fell off while cooking. The lamb was nice, but not as spicy as I was aiming for. The kebabs were served with a spicy couscous. I know that the couscous looks like it has chicken pox; that's just sriracha sauce. I don't like those squeeze bottle sauce zig-zags that real chefs use on their food. I prefer polka dots. I am confidant that sauce polka dots will be the next big thing in food presentation. Remember.....you saw it here first.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Burgers!

I love burgers, but I just don't make them very often. Von's had 93% lean ground beef on sale so I got about 10 pounds. That's enough to make a couple of burgers....right? I mixed in a little pork Italian sausage and a ton of seasoning (Cayenne & black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley flakes and salt). I think I got an even dozen burgers out of it. Half of the burgers were stuffed with a mix of cheddar and jack cheese. Before heading out to the grill I caramelized some onions and sauteed crimini mushrooms. This mixture went on some of the burgers before I topped them with cheese. As Jules would say: "Hmmm-hhhhhhh! This is a tasty burger."

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Needless to say, we had burgers for the rest of the week.

Comfort food

After the burgers, I had a yearning for some comfort food. And what is more comforting than meatloaf with mac and cheese? So I made some tasty meatloaf and some homemade mac and cheese. The mac n cheese was especially tasty. I used white cheddar and gruyere cheese mixed into a seasoned bechamel sauce. Along with the mac and loaf I also made some asparagus. I did a few wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven and steamed the rest.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images