Monday, November 22, 2010

public service announcement

Pangaea got the St Louis gueuze on draft. It's around nine bucks. It's a good kind of everyday gueuze, nothing phenomenal. Gueuze is always pretty pricy, so this isn't that shocking. BTW, I was not able to get any details, even after really trying, but Pangaea is now serving Temple coffee (isn't that cool?!) and they are having some event to launch it on the 27th. Good luck figuring out when the event is or what's happening!
I ventured into DeVere's for the first time and was really pleasantly surprised. The brunch there was very tasty, as was the Firestone Walker porter I had with my breakfast. I got the farmer's breakfast, which was two nicely fried over medium eggs resting on a pillow of mashed potatoes, with a delicate sprinkling (ha) of house made bacon and bangers. Boing! Note to peeps with kids: there were a ton of kids there, including a newborn. I think it's the lack of crowds and lots of space that makes it kid friendly? And the beer.
I am going to help you out here by cluing you in on something you may not know. These knobby things pictured below are sunchokes, or Jerusalem artichokes. Stay with me, you're probably like, "duh, I know!"
I've used them sliced raw in salads before. I got these at the farmer's market and they were a bit overgrown. Raw, they tasted a lot like dirt and lacked the nuttiness that they usually had. So, I consulted a cookbook and decided to fry 'em up in olive oil with a little onion. I sliced them thin and sauteed for about 15 minutes, then added onion and went for five minutes more.
They were quite delicious, almost like a perfect cross between a fried potato and an artichoke stem. So where does the warning come in?
Let's just say that our sheets were sailing last night, which, coming from a feminine flower like myself, is highly unusual. The room resounded with barking frogs and stepped-on ducks. In the morning we consulted the internet to see if this was normal, and smiller found this local post from Hank Shaw's blog, and more like them.

Was it worth it? I'm not sure.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

from Pangea:

""I just wanted to introduce my self and invite you to our Temple Coffee launch celebration this Saturday [November 27] from 9am-12pm. We have had great success with our beer program thus far and very excited about our coffee program as well (hence "Two brews")!""

I've never been to the Hmong party at Cal Expo. Which day is best to go, what should I look for, is there beer/stuff to do?

nick

Anonymous said...

First & foremost at the Hmong New Year is the grub (no brew btw). After you're full go walk around the booths until you find the perfect spot where every kind of Hmong music from the last 100 years is blasting equally loud, close your eyes & hold on.

-miller

beckler said...

DUDE! thank you for making me check the website because I see that the honorable General Vang Pao (GVP!) is going to give the keynote address on Thanksgiving at 11:30 am. I may try to catch that although maybe it won't be in English.

I think almost anytime is a good time to go, but go HUNGRY and try lots of food. You can scarcely go wrong. There is everything from super spicy fishy papaya salad to Hmong sausage (with lemongrass!) to less challenging roasted fish and chicken to pork ribs with sticky rice. Kao poon (a soup that is spelled a billion different ways) is good to try, especially if it's chilly. It's a spicy chicken noodle soup. Man, I'm getting hungry.

Looks like Friday has a lot of dancing, but there are always dances and bands and pageants going on. Mrs. Hmong California will be crowned Sunday at 2:00 pm.

I would go during the day, just wander around and catch the sights. You will probably end up buying a CD or video.

beckler said...

it wouldn't hurt to blaze before you get there, although it could make it too intense

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I'll ask my local budtender which strain complements Hmong New Year festivities.

Skipper said...

Pickled sunchokes. I'm there. I'll stop some at half-pickle to save some of the fartichoke flavor.

beckler said...

I'm not getting back on that windy steed for a while.

Liv Moe said...

@ Skipper. Grody.

Anonymous said...

What's the other beer in the background?

-DB

beckler said...

Pliny, brah

Tiny Pliny rant: the other day at Magpie EVERY TABLE (just about) had a bottle of Pliny and it still DRIVES ME INSANE that people are so willing to get into a kind of insane (albeit delicious) beer like Pliny but then don't extend that experimentation out to any other kind of beer. And then it's kind of a circular situation because no one carries any other challenging beer for them to try even if they wanted to!!

I swear that I heard a guy at the next table say to the server "Who makes that Pliny beer? The Elmer."

Anonymous said...

Pliny by Elmer.


-miller

Anonymous said...

I am open to experimentation, let's go nuts. Pangaea has a nice happy hour - 2-6pm Monday through Friday, and most beers are $5. That's a little pricey for a happy hour, but 1 Pangaea brew typically carries the alcoholic punch of 2 or 3 cheap beers.

Anonymous said...

Elmer's glue is made in Louisiana. They have their own island.

This week's Louisiana fact brought to you by gbomb