Brian's Bitchin' Breakfast Burritos

    It’s a common story among undergrads:  you were up late with the booze and the sex, and the morning has come and its time to get to class; the stomach starts to turn in emptiness, but there isn’t enough time to make a solid breakfast.  Well I have the cure.  Next time Sunday rolls around and you’re lying on your lazy ass, get to the store then get in the kitchen.  I’m gonna’ show you how to make some bomb breakfast burritos that you can save, then simply reheat in the morning for a solid breakfast that will leave you satisfied and ready to make the day your bitch.

            What you’ll need:

           

-       Tortillas (bigger is better)

-       Bacon (DUH)

-       Ground Beef (this one is my preference; I feel it makes it more of a Mexican dish)

-       Taco seasoning

-       Eggs

-       Green Peppers

-       Jalapeños (leave out if you’re not into the heat)

-       Cheese

-       Hash Browns

-       Butter/Margarine

You will also want to use a George Forman style grill.  This gets that hard outer shell that really kicks the burritos up a notch

           So first you are going to want to cook up your taco meat.  Break up the ground beef and cook it while stirring it around until all the meat is brown (pink=sick=dead).  Then I like to remove all the grease before adding the taco seasoning and water.  While this is cooking, fry up your bacon and hash browns.  After the bacon is all cooked up, take it out of the pan and throw the eggs on (I’ll leave the decision of whether or not to remove this grease up to you).  The eggs will cook fast.  When they are all done, start throwing your other ingredients into this pan.  Put as much of each as you see fit.  This will leave you with a colorful mix that will be hard to resist eating on the spot.  Now for the burritos.  Spread a thin layer of butter or margarine on the outside of your tortilla and then fill it with the good stuff.  The art of rolling a burrito is just that, and I’ve seen some pretty horrible rolls in my day.  Be sure to fold in the top and bottom edges before going in for the big roll.  Get it tight then throw it on the grill.  The Foreman style grill is perfect because it grills both top and bottom.  Get all the burritos on there and cook them to golden brown perfection.  Now you have five awesome burritos, one for every morning of that stressful workweek.  Wrap those suckers up and throw them in the fridge.  When the morning comes around, just toss them in a toaster oven or even the microwave and enjoy.  Get some sour cream and salsa and a shit ton of hot sauce on there if you know what’s good for you.  Now you can grab some food on the go and tell the day to suck it!

       

Loco Grinz: A Review of the Hawaiian BBQ

Loco Grinz

113 N. Main St

Mosocw, ID

(208) 883-4463

locogrinz.com

Restaurant Type: Casual

Hours: Thurs-Sat 11:00-9:00 Sun-Mon 11:00-8:00

Bar: None, but many close by

Credit Cards: Visa, MC, Discover

reservations: No Need

After four years spent in the quaint town of Moscow, Idaho, I was finally about to eat at what I had understood to be a town favorite.  Loco Grinz does not look like much from the outside, but once you walk through the door… its just as unimpressive.  A lavish dining area and low lighting just isn’t this place’s style.  The food is that of traditional the Hawaiian   barbeque meals and I thought it best to go with the most famous of the dishes, the BBQ Beef. 

            Just about all the dishes are fairly inexpensive at just around eight dollars.  Each entrée comes with two sides of your choosing.  I went with the chow mien noodles and some sautéed vegetables.  The drink selection keeps things family friendly, and right at the cash registered I spied what looked like a local Hawaiian treat.  It’s called Hawaiian Sun and it comes in three flavors.  The mango orange was superb.  I felt the warmth of the sun and knew this had to be some quality nectar.  I should have noticed that it called itself “drink” as opposed to “juice.”  In the ingredients I found all the usual suspects: high fructose corn syrup, ascorbic acid, sugar—you get the idea.  But dammit if it wasn’t one of the best combinations of processed corn I have tasted in years.

            Soon, it was time to eat.  The beef was smothered in that famous sweet barbeque sauce, as were the noodles.  In this place, the barbeque sauce is king.  Having a bite of noodles, I felt the sauce engulfing all my taste buds.  The sautéed vegetables seemed quite obviously steamed and unimpressive. The portion of meat was more than satisfactory.  It was sweet, charred just enough and dripping with sauce.  This stuff will fill you up fast

            Keeping in mind that this place is a humble one and one who caters primarily to hungry college students, I’d have to say it is satisfactory.  A lot of meat for a decent price.  It may not be the first place I’d ever recommend for a nice sit down meal.  This feels more like the kind of place you order to go.  Though one may enjoy some of the photos of old Hawaii adorning the walls; I just wish they were bigger. The variation of flavor I imagine is minimal.  The menu is short and sweet and the staff is ever friendly. 

            While the meal was not one for the record books, I may find myself coming back for crates of that high sugar mango smoothie…drink.  And if a real drink is what you need, there are several bars within walking distance including the original local sports bar, The Corner Club.

Some Like it Hot

           This week on the Food Blog, the meal I’ve been perfecting for the last four years of my college career: the TOP Top Ramen Dish.

            I currently reside with three of my fraternity brothers in a quaint little duplex atop a hill, and if there is one thing we have plenty of in our humble home, it’s Top Ramen.  We have crates upon crates.  It’s the meal that happens a hell of a lot towards the end of the month, when money is scarce and a random assortment of leftovers offer themselves into the mixing pot that is the Top Ramen Meal. For this particular creation, I made very few pickups from the store.  I knew I wanted my noodles to have a Thai peanut vibe so I got a bottle of the sauce from the store along with some chow mien hard noodles (those things that look like little sticks).  The sauce just about busted my budget at five dollars and change, but remember that I live in a household of four dudes and two full sized refrigerators.  I’m going to be just fine. 

            I call my usual lovely assistant and tell her to hustle over, because this kitchen is about to blow up.  First, let’s get some meat.  I have a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer that I nearly forgot existed and then, because this is America, I’ll grab some of my roommate’s bacon and get to fryin’.  As the chicken and bacon sizzle in their respective pans, I’ll scour the fridge and pantry. 

            We need some vegetables.  When it comes to my grocery shopping, there are three veggies I always have fully stocked: fresh baby spinach, bell pepper, and jale-f*#@in-peño.  What else does the body really need? 

            I chop everything up and get it in the big salad bowl, and I even throw some diced almonds in there (class it up a little).  It looks like a nice salad doesn’t it?  Well this ain't no salad recipe.  We’re moving forward.  It needs some meat and noodles.  I throw the main ingredients on top and now we just need the sauce.  I never added the artificial powder flavoring that ramen comes with; this dish was better than that. 

            The peanut sauce is one of my favorites when going for more of an Asian noodle dish, and with the jalapeños, I would get most of my fix for spiciness.

            No.  I don’t think it’s going to make me sweat yet.  It needs something else.  The one sauce that should always be used heavily with any ramen dish (or any dish in a fraternity house): Sriracha.  Yes!  The cock sauce!  Now let’s mix it all up!

            The dish is complete…and yes it makes us both sweat.  That’s when you know you’ve done something right.  With our sinuses clear and our stomachs full, we bask in the glory that was the finest Top Ramen creation I have ever made. 

The leftovers will be awesome.