Burger 101 is a burger place thats opened up at my local shopping centre. Its a chain I believe, there is at least one more in Perth.
Its…pretty good. I had the Double Cheeseburger, it had 2 thick, nicely cooked burger patties, a good sauce, more than enough cheese and also lettuce , tomato, pickles. Would go there again, they had a fair range of different burgers on the menu.
Making some Kvass.
Making kvass, based on a few recipes online and in this book
First recipe was about 3 litres, it was a loaf of rye bread and a small (half?) loaf of pumpernickle that a I dried/toasted, about a cup of sugar and some bread yeast and a touch of S04 dregs i had a round. I added some hops as dry-hopping but not enough as it didnt do anything for flavour or aroma and then I carbonated it in a mini keg.
Its…ok? Even though its cold it tastes like a warm beer, if that makes sense? Has a certain viscocity to it, but a nice tartness as well. I think hops would really help. Looks pretty good, though.
Kvass 2.0…. Bigger, about 9 litres, using a loaf of toasted light rye, a loaf of toasted sourbough, a small loaf of toasted pumpernickle and a loaf of toasted dark rye bread.
After straining the liquid off I only had about 4 litres and it wasnt very dark or flavourful. I then re-baked/dried/toasted the left over bread mush in batches for extra colour and flavour and re-soaked this to make up the difference in liquid. I also added 2 tbspn of coffee grounds and 1 tbspn of cocoa to add a bit more depth,
Also added a few grams of El Dorado and Cluster hops that i boiled for 15 minutes in 1litre of water that was added to the fermenter. 500g of raw sugar boiled down to a dark amber colour was also added along with a slug of molasses and a slug of maple syrup to add some depth,
Using Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes yeast this time.
its murky as hell right now as I re-used the bread-mush, and didnt filter any of it. Hopefully a lot will drop out and the floculating yeast may help. Ill probably cold crash it and add some gelatine to clarify before final bottling,
Update – NOPE! – About a week or so later I had kegged some and bottled some. I chilled it down, The bottles had great carb and what came from the keg did to…It was….not good. It had a very strange charcater to it that made me concerned it was off (it wasnt as I didnt get sick from drinking some). I believe the Belgian yeast had set off some bizarre notes during fermentation and it was very off-putting.
Im not the biggest fan of the breaddy character of kvass, so trying a different yeast and adding hops to offset this some how sounded like a good idea, but maybe simplicity is the key here.
I think i’ll try again another time but mayeb add some fruit juice or some such, and use a very neutral yeast.
quattro formaggi burger – mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan, stracchino with a thicc sugo, basil, beef.
pretty good.
I found out there is a Kakulas near me, after however long not even knowing for some reason. Its actually pretty good, lot of interesting stock.
One thing it did have that Im not sure I have ever seen before is Yerba Mate, and its in big 1kg bags.
Yerba Mate @ Wikipedia
Its pretty good, tastes like a green tea, a bit more grassy, herbal and can be quite bitter if brewed too hot. Brewed colder it has more depth of flavour and even and interesting mouthfeel.
Caffeine levels seem to be similar to strong green tea, though a lot more mate is used per brewing so it can be quite strong.
BUFALO CHIPOTLE
EL YUCATECO JALAPENO
EL YUCATECO PICANTE NEGRA
FLYING GOOSE GREEN SRIRACHA SAUCE
LOUISIANA CHIPOTLE SAUCE
REVIEWS (In order of liked-most)
Bufalo – Salsa Chipotle: Very awesome, very little heat, maybe a pinch more then Tabasco levels. The flavor is excelent, very vinegary, tart, kind of like a salty lime, a nice smoky chipotle smell. This is very excelent.
El Yucateca – Salsa Picante de Chile Jalapeno: Salty, a little vinegary, nice “fresh” green pepper taste. This has a bit more heat to it, probably right at my limit for enjoyment. very good jalapeno taste. Smells a little funky/green capsicum.
Flying Goose – Green Sriracha Sauce: This is much better than the red stuff. Sweet, savory, salty, a touch garlicy, with a nice light heat to it. A lot of MSG at work that could get a bit much after a while. Very different to the Huy Fong brand red stuff, a lot more flavour going on.
Louisiana – Chipotle Hot Sauce: Vinegary, this is heavy on the vinegar. A little heat, a nice hint of chipotle comes through though. Like Tabasco on steroid. Smells vinegary and fermenty more than smoky. Nice but not the best today.
El Yucateca – Salsa Negra de Chile Habanero: This is over my heat limit. Very hot, very weird. Has a strange woody ash taste to it, a strange smoky ash smell to it. looks like ash floating in a viscous clear liquid. Slightly vinegary, but the heat dominates everything. This is very bizarre.
Serrabanero Green Hot Sauce
This is a great sauce, probably one of the tastiest hot sauces I have tried, but really on the limit for me as far as heat. Actually has a lot of lavour for a sauce this hot, garlicy, green tomatoes and tomatillos, slightly vinegary, and the taste comes through when used in very small amounts. The chili is mainly serranos which already pretty much my limit, but it also has some habanero in it, which pushes it over into damn hot territory so I use it sparingly, which works well. It really is great stuff though, most things this hot are just overpowering heat and little noticeable flavor at all, or just vinegar. Highly recommended.
I purchased mine online from Chile Mojo
from the official site:
” Serrabanero Green Hot Sauce combines serrano and habanero chili with tomatillos, green tomatoes, and spices to get the mythical flavor of Serrabanero. It is a tad spicier than you might expect for a green hot sauce but not at the expense of flavor. Serrabanero is not a verde sauce. We call it an American green. “
Tepache is a fermented drink made with pineapple.
The idea is the pineapple contains natural yeasts and nutrients, you add water, some sugar as yeast food, maybe spices, and leave it for a few days. The result should be a tart-sour lightly carbonated and very slightly alcoholic beverage.
Recipe I used (made up):
1x Pineapple
3litres of water (actually a bit less due to displacement from the pineapple)
500g of raw sugar
a nob of ginger, half a cinnamon stick and a small bit of habanero chili
I sliced the pineapple, cutting away a lot of the flesh and adding the core and skin to my container. I disolved the sugar in 500ml of water and when cooled added it to the container, threw in the spices and toped it up with the water. I put a cloth over the top secured with an elastic band as I do for my kombucha. To create more fizz/carbonation I intend to secondary ferment some in a sealed container)
Will update if anythings happens…
UPDATE: I decided to bottle this on 21/1, 5 days of fermenting, and I kept some to taste. It was very sweet, very fruity and pineappley, with a hint of gingery spicyness. Not as tart as I would have liked.
I took some of the bottled stuff to work the next day, and after bottling it was a little less sweet with a very nice mild but compact fizz.
I think next time I will find a fresher pineapple, use less sugar, and possibly add more ginger.
Tepache @ Wikipedia
Video of Tepache being made @ Bon Apetit
So for Xmas (in a hamper of food items) I got 2 cans of sardines and a can of smoked herrings, all 3 were very good, the two sardines both different but nice in their own ways. All were brands I have never seen before.
Marco Polo , sardines with hot peppers – (images 1 and 2) These were good, and yes they were very hot (for a change). Nice oil, good fish with a moist soft quality.
Delicius, sardines in olive oil – (images 3 to 6) These were big boys, a bit dryer, oil was still nice and no bad bones for their size.
Rugen Fisch, smoked herring fillets – (images 7 to 9) Big solid actual fillets, very firm, a little dry, Nice smokeyness in the fish and the oil.
EDIT – I have had another Mc Rib and the review from 10/12/2020 is HERE
Yeah, the McRib, its back and I finally had one (2 actually). I’m sure at some point in its existence it was slightly more than what it is today, though probably not too much more. Like most burgers, the exception being HJ’s The Whopper, fast food burgers have become smaller and more barren in content.
The McRib is essentially a standard McDonalds or Hungry Jacks Cheeseburger, minus the mustard, with a meat patty that is 2 or so times more dense or compressed than normal, and pressed into a weird “rib” shape, and smothered in a thick and slightly spicy BBQ sauce. The bun is also longer.
It was moderate at best. The sauce was pretty nice.
