Saturday, January 26, 2019

BURGER IM


There is a new kid on the block of burger joints and we paid them a visit. Burgerim is the name of this new franchise. They just recently opened a location at the El Cerrito mall. We were curious of this new competitor to the fast food burger arena. Let me explain their concept with words straight from the Burgerim website;


“Burgerim is an international fast casual franchise with a shiny new concept. Bursting with flavor, our gourmet burgers apply a unique approach to kicking all of your cravings in one meal. Choose from an uno, duo, trio, or 16 pack of our gourmet 3 oz. patties and customize each one. With a variety of buns, signature sauces, mouthwatering patties, and flavorful toppings, your Burgerim order is custom tailored to satisfy all that you crave.”


No parking karma needed today because we are in a mall parking lot. The interior is modern with bright lights and hip lettering and sayings on the wall. A large lit signboard menu is above the cash register where your order is placed. This is our first visit and it does take a little figuring out of what to order. Here is the rub. You have so many choices and combinations of burgers that it can be a little overwhelming. There is a two and three burger option. You need to choose your beef patty which is a whopping 3 ounces; beef, merguez beef, dry-aged beef, Spanish beef, Wagyu beef, turkey, lamb, chicken breast and falafel. You then choose a style of toppings. The ‘Classic’ is American cheese, lettuce tomato, pickles, onions and house sauce. The ‘California’ is; Swiss cheese, mixed greens, tomato, avocado and chipotle mayonnaise. There are several other styles. So you see the combinations can be endless. I do have to disclose some of these toppings and burger have added costs that will be added to your total bill.


Burgerim has a lot of other sides which are fairly standard fair for a burger joint. Ms. Goofy ordered fries and I a salad. I know you may ask; salad? Maybe it is a New Year’s resolution? (NOT). I ordered a trio of beef, Wagyu beef and Dry Aged beef with three different styles of toppings. Our order was delivered promptly. These little burgers were so ‘Cute”.  When I use a descriptor as cute a red flag should be raised. These were tiny 3 ounce burgers. This translates to maybe four bites if I am lucky. It was a little confusing of what I had ordered because I had so many flavor combinations. I referred to my cash register receipt for reference.  First of all I would like to say all of my burgers tasted fine. The beef patties were cooked to a medium well but were on the dry side.  I really wanted to experience the different flavors of the different beefs. If there were any differences they were all washed out with all the flavor combinations of the toppings. This was disappointing.


Ms. Goofy had the two burger combination of Wagyu and Dry Aged beef. She said there was not a whole lot of flavor difference but there was a textural difference between the two beefs. Her fries came with a garlic aioli which she said was very rich. The fries were also cut into a non-traditional round shape. She liked them.


Overall Burgerim is a modern burger joint with so many menu options that one needs to be prepared. I would like to go back to my reference cash receipt and tell you the total was forty three dollars. WoW. The burgers and sides were decent enough. Burgerim is a restaurant with a gimmick of options. My option is to not return.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

BUDDHA"S HAND CANDY


We have a local network called 'Nextdoor" which allows people in your immediate neighborhood to share information and interact on the internet. A women asked what to do with her citron tree?. The citron tree is more commonly known as a Buddha's Hand. I have tried numerous times to grow this unusual fruited tree with no success. The fruit looks like a lumpy lemon with fingers. It is very fragrant. There is no juice and is very solid. The zest is used like any other lemon and I have made it into candy before. I contacted my neighbor and she was more than happy to sell me a couple. In fact when she found out I was making candy she gave me a couple more with the promise to return with candy.


Making Buddha's Hand candy could not be simpler. The fruit is washed and cut into small quarter size pieces. It is then boiled in sugar water until temperature reaches 230 degrees and the fruit is translucent. Let the candy cool and then place on parchment paper. I let the candy sit for several days to harden and then sprinkled with more sugar.


This candy may be an acquired taste. It is sweet and lemony. It also can be a little bitter too. I find it addicting. The sweet/tart combination is fantastic in my book. I am off to deliver my promised candy to my neighbor.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

SAUSAGE QUEEN


Today we reflect back to 1955's National Hot Dog week and the Zion Meat Company Sausage Queen. What a fun time.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

MAPLE BACON HOT CHOCOLATE


It is a cold rainy Saturday morning. What better way to warm up but a cup of hot chocolate with the added promise of maple bacon flavor too ? This is a product of Gourmet Village which I believe is from Canada. Luckily the ingredient list is in French so we will be spared today. Mix package with 6 ounces of piping hot water (or milk) and we are ready to go. It is rich and chocolaty like it should be. I do detect a wonderful maple nuance. The only hint of bacon is the suggestion on the label. It still tastes good and is warming my soul. 

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

BACON BITS MILK CHOCOLATE



I love bacon and I love chocolate. Combine the two for a tasty treat that cannot me beat; maybe. Today we are peeling back the wrapper and indulging in a chocolate bar with bacon bits. So much for New Year's resolutions. This particular chocolate bar is made by World Market. It promises on the label; "A tempting blend of smooth, milk chocolate with smokey, hickory bacon notes.". Against my better judgement I went straight to the ingredients list. Bacon bits, the treat that I used to love as a teenager found at most salad bars was on the list. Bacon bits are made of textured soy flour and hydrogenated soybean oil. In the name of Mad Meat Genius research we shall dig in.


The actual chocolate is sweet and smooth with wonderful milk chocolate. This is a texture and flavor that we love. There is a crunch factor to this bar. It is from the familiar crunch of bacon bits. It has a rice crispy type of crunch that is kind of nice. This crunch also has a salty and smoky element that makes this bar pretty darn decent. I am a little perplexed if I should love this bar. I definitely like it. I have to admit I liked bacon bits as a child. Maybe I still am a child. I just have to get past the fact I am eating Fake Bacon. I need to stop reading ingredient lists.