Timmy the Tooth

There's one beer style that continues to hook us, even while we dabble with farmhouse ales and schwarzbiers on the side: the American IPA. Here are nine excellent lesser-known examples you really should be drinking. Read More

Pork belly has been enjoying its 15 minutes of fame for the last, what, 7 years or so? And no wonder: pork fat tastes good, and as every bacon-lover knows, pork belly is wonderfully fatty. This recipe, from Tom Mylan's The Meat Hook Meat Book, couldn't be easier, and lands you with luscious, wobbly, sweet-and-savory hunks of pork that are as good as any in Chinatown. Read More

As Paris Pastry Club author Fanny Zanotti herself remarks, there's not much to say about crème brûlée that hasn't already been said. Its mild, creamy sweetness is a true delight; it's rare to find a person who doesn't like it. The recipe simple, but this preparation remains unique: a single serving of crème brûlée, served in its very own ramekin. Read More

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Translated into glowing orbs of light with a rainbow of colors representing signal strength, these visualizations of wi-fi signals are like Victorian spirit photography for the modern age. Luis Hernan of Newcastle University makes the invisible not only visible but also vaguely eerie with his project, Digital Ethereal.

Hernan developed a homemade gadget called a Kirlian Device that, appropriately enough, looks like a piece of ghost hunting equipment. The instrument “scans continuously for wireless networks, and transforms the signal strength to colour LEDs.”

The effect is captured in a series of long-exposure photographs akin to light painting, the results a mass of swirling colored light showing the movement of the signals across a space.

In another segment of the Digital Ethereal project, a gallery demonstration of a ‘chandelier’ running on the accompanying Kirlian Device Android App, which “explores the interaction of visitors with Hertzian Space.” Visitors interact with the electromagnetic waves around dangling cell phones, producing different lighting effects on the screens.

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[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

Now with two locations, Blue Star has emerged as the place to get sugary rounds of deep-fried dough in Portland. We went behind the scenes with pastry chef Stephanie Donlan to see how Blue Star's butter-rich brioche dough is made. Read More

Topped with tender, miso-glazed roasted eggplant and fresh Asian cucumber pickles, these burgers strike a sweet-savory balance that's hard to resist. Read More

“Why didn’t my bread rise?”

Here at King Arthur Flour, we field hundreds of questions each week from people all over the world. A steady stream of puzzled, challenged, and sometimes frustrated bakers call our telephone baker’s hotline, access our online chat, email us (customercare@kingarthurflour.com), and connect with us via social media and our blog – all with problems that need solving.

Most common question? Anything to do with sourdough. Feeding it (“Why do I have to throw some away? Seems wasteful…); baking with it (“How can I make my bread taste more sour?”), and resuscitating it (“Help, I think I killed my starter!”).

Most common area of concern? Yeast baking. And beyond sourdough, the most frequently asked question is this:

“Why didn’t my bread rise?”

Talk about loaded…

There are soooo many reasons for bread rising poorly, it’s impossible to address every one of them here. But let’s just look at a few of the more common causes.

1) Your bread did rise. You simply baked it in the wrong pan.

See these two pans? The one on the left is a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan, most commonly used for “quick” breads: batter breads that rely on baking powder or baking soda for leavening. Think banana bread, zucchini, pumpkin… you get the picture.

The loaf pan on the right measures 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″. It’s most commonly used for yeast breads. Think sandwich loaves.

So, what’s a mere 1/2″ difference among friends, right?

Believe it or not, that 9″ x 5″ pan has a 30% greater capacity than the 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ pan.

So what happens when your sandwich bread recipe calls for an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ pan, and you decide, “Ah, the 9″ x 5″ is close enough”?

Same recipe; same rise; same oven; same everything – except the pan.

That’s a 9″ x 5″ loaf on the left; an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf on the right. Both rose just fine; it’s simply that the loaf on the left rose sideways, rather than up.

Lesson learned: when the recipe calls for an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ pan, use it.

And what if your recipe simply calls for a “loaf pan,” without specifying size?

The basic rule is, if the recipe uses 3 cups of flour, choose the smaller pan. If it uses 4 cups of flour, choose the larger pan. For any amount in between 3 and 4 cups, use either pan – understanding that you’ll get a taller (though possibly mushroom-shaped) loaf in the smaller pan.

2) Your bread did rise; but then it fell.

My fellow blogger MaryJane recently posted a great guide on determining when your rising loaf has reached its optimal level (which is NOT “as high as possible”), and is ready to go into the oven. Read The Bread Also Rises for some nifty tips.

3) Your dough was too dry.

See that dough on the left? Here in the King Arthur Flour test kitchen, we’d call that dough “gnarly.” It’s fairly soft, and doesn’t feel particularly dry, but during kneading it doesn’t come together in a ball. Instead, it twists and turns itself into a bunch of separate pieces that keep slapping against one another; it’s gnarly.

See that dough on the right? It’s soft, but not overly sticky; e.g., it doesn’t cling to your hands when you pick it up. Instead, it just barely “kisses” the side of the bowl, if you’re kneading in a stand mixer. If you’re kneading by hand, it will stick to your kneading surface in a “tacky” way, rather than viscously, like glue.

This degree of stickiness shows that the dough’s flour/liquid balance is right on.

So does it really matter that much?

Sure does. A loaf made with too much flour (or not enough liquid – same thing) will be dry, dense, and heavy. Yeast is happiest in a moist environment, feeding happily when it’s got enough to drink. Likewise, gluten (the network of protein strands that allows your loaf to expand and hold its shape) stretches more readily when there’s more liquid present.

Think of trying to blow bubbles out of thick, viscous soap. Now think of the ultra-thin soap/water you dip your wand in to make those backyard bubbles. Get the picture?

Two loaves. Same recipe, same pan, same rise time, same oven, same bake time.

The loaf on the left was made with 2 tablespoons less water than the loaf on the right. That translates to a 12% difference.

Not a lot, right? But look not only at the rise, but the shape. You can see that the loaf on the left struggled to rise, crowning only at the top, while the sides sluggishly resisted. The loaf on the right rose more evenly, side to side.

Takeaway: yes, measuring your ingredients carefully is important (which is why I always use a scale).

Also, if you’re kneading dough by hand, resist the urge to add more flour as you knead; if the dough is perfectly balanced (flour/liquid) to begin with, every extra tablespoon of flour you throw down on your kneading surface and pick up with your dough is upsetting that balance.

Hint: Knead on a lightly greased surface, rather than one that’s floured. A silicone kneading mat is very handy.

4) The more whole grains in the loaf, the harder it is for it to rise.

Loaves, left to right: 100% all-purpose flour; 50% all purpose/50% whole wheat; 100% whole wheat flour.

Look at the difference between the white flour loaf on the left, and the whole wheat loaf on the right. Pretty significant, eh?

Don’t get me wrong; it’s possible to make a lovely, high-rising 100% whole wheat loaf. But you need to follow a recipe written for especially for whole wheat flour.

Many of you love to take a favorite yeast bread recipe and make it more nutritious by adding whole wheat (or rye, or oats, or bran, or…) That’s fine; but those flours and grains don’t provide the stretchy network of gluten all-purpose flour does, and thus these whole grain loaves won’t rise as well.

Still, adding whole wheat to a favorite white bread recipe is a laudable goal, health-wise. Want to learn more about converting your favorite yeast recipes from white flour to whole wheat? Read Yeast Bread: From White to Wheat, a Baker’s Guide.

5) Your loaf had trouble rising because its top crust was dry.

A little thing like that can make a difference? You bet.

Maestro, the metaphor, please!

Think about blowing up a balloon. Usually it’s pretty easy, right?

But what would happen if you painted that balloon with a thick layer of hard-drying paint, and then tried to blow it up?

You’d huff, and you’d puff, and… well, you wouldn’t blow the balloon up very easily, would you? You’d have to crack that layer of paint first.

Same with yeast bread. If its top surface has dried out and hardened while rising, it’ll struggle in the oven.

Covering your rising loaf with a dish towel protects it from dust and flying insects, it’s true; but it doesn’t keep it moist. Plastic wrap keeps it moist – but it can stick, too, even when it’s greased. How many of you have tried to remove sticky plastic from your risen loaf, only to see it tear and deflate? I sure have.

The solution? An inexpensive shower cap (pictured above).

Use a clear plastic cap, if you can; you get a better view of what’s going on inside. The elastic keeps the cap firmly anchored to the pan, while the plastic on top “poofs” nicely, sheltering your rising loaf without actually touching it.

Where do you find these clear shower caps? Well, every time one of my co-workers goes on a trip, I ask him or her to bring me back a souvenir: a shower cap from the motel room.

Don’t have any traveling pals? The dollar store usually stocks packs of these inexpensive caps.

OK, I know I’ve covered the promised five reasons for low-rising bread, but here’s a bonus I can’t resist, one of the most common reasons for poorly risen bread –

You’ve added too much sugar to the dough.

Any loaf where the weight of the sugar is 10% or more of the flour weight* is going to rise sloooowly. Add too much sugar, and your bread will stop rising entirely.

*Example: Make a loaf with 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) flour and 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar, and the weight of the sugar will be 14% (1 3/4 divided by 12 3/4) of the weight of the flour.

Why the problem? It’s that liquid balance again. Sugar is hygroscopic; it absorbs as much liquid as it can. The result? Thirsty yeast is left high and dry, and simply goes dormant.

The solution? “Osmotolerant” yeast, a type developed especially for high-sugar doughs, e.g., SAF Gold. This yeast is like a camel; it simply doesn’t need as much water as normal yeast, and thus performs better under dry (read: high-sugar) conditions.

Well, class, have you learned something today? I hope so. Our goal here at King Arthur Flour is to teach the world to bake – and share. We’re happy to do both regularly, here in our blog.

Happy baking!

These soft rolls are great for sandwiches, like the Steak Bomb we're re-working this week. They have a moist, tender crumb and thin, crisp exterior. Bonus: A slice of crispy salami set into the bottom of each one. Read More

The big surprise in Michael Moss’s tough look at health claims on coconut water in today’s New York Times—worth looking at online for the terrific video—is this:

One Last Comparison

These days, coconut water’s big rival may be plain old water. How do they compare? Scientists are still wrestling with the question, and while their findings vary, water is starting to look just fine for most people. A 2012 study (funded by Vita Coco) in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that neither coconut water nor sports drinks were better than water in hydrating young men after hourlong workouts.

Really?  An industry-funded study that comes to a conclusion against the interest of the funder?

This requires a look at the original paper.

So a round of applause please for the authors who did this funded study, “Comparison of coconut water and a carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drink on measures of hydration and physical performance in exercise-trained men,” and nevertheless came to this conclusion:

Our data indicate that both coconut water (natural, concentrated and not from concentrate) and bottled water provide similar rehydrating effects as compared to a carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink.  Moreover, none of the beverages impacted treadmill exercise performance differently during the rehydration period.

Lest there be any ambiguity about what this means, their data clearly show that VitaCoco, a sports drink (not named but I’d bet on Gatorade), and coconut water from concentrate all rehydrated men who spent 60 minutes on a treadmill to the same extent.

In other words: for rehydration, water works just as well as coconut water or sports drinks.   No surprise, really.

VitaCoco must be disappointed, but it still has one thing going for it: coconut water tastes really good.

If you want to know about honey, you have to know about bees: their life cycle, their environment, and how their surprisingly complex society functions. Here's what life is like inside the hive. Read More

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Ranging from minimalist elevated meditation cabins to complex climate-controlled company meeting spaces, the many treehouse creations of German company Baumraum offer unconventional and often strikingly modern silhouettes in natural settings. Custom-designed and costing anywhere from $25,000 to nearly $200,000, these treehouses and treehouse hotels are places for adventure and retreat amongst the foliage.

Treehouse Halle

Stairs ascend through a hole in the roof of a garage on a German property, spiraling around an oak tree to reach the Treehouse Halle. Baumraum set this zinc and wood structure 11 meters above the ground as a sleeping and relaxation space, supported by two steel stilts anchored to the lower part of the tree. A double-sized bed peeks out a large window onto the surrounding landscape.

Almke Treehouse

A lucky scout group in Wolfsburg, Germany gets to meet at this elevated clubhouse constructed around a pine tree, with two almost-identical wooden volumes set at staggered heights within the forest canopy. The Almke Treehouse provides a place to gather, eat and sleep, with the lower volume full of bunk beds for eight.

Treehouse Djuren

An elliptical volume with egg-like sides seems to float above a wooded family property in Northern Germany, supported on a series of four stilts around two are oak trees. Sleeping benches covered in gray felt offer a comfortable perch from which to look out onto the trees.

Treehouse Solling

Treehouse Solling hovers above a pond like something out of a fairytale, an unusual two-story structure with a rounded roof punctured by a skylight. The treehouse serves as a sleeping place and observation point connected to a nearby forester’s cabin via a cable-suspended bridge. Like most of Baumraum’s structures, the outside is covered in zinc plating and the inside is lined with timber.

Treehouse in Belgium

This treehouse was envisioned as the perfect place for a paper company to brainstorm about sustainability among nature. Located in a forest in Belgium, the climate-controlled space is a lot more like a conventional building than most treehouses, containing a kitchen, lounge and restroom as well as a ventilation system and motion-sensor LED lights. It offers all the comforts of a meeting space within an office, but in an environment that’s a lot more conducive to creative thinking.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
13 Modern Tree Houses By Baumraum

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[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Old Trafford want former midfielder involved behind the scenes despite his recent outspoken comments about Wayne Rooney and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward

This is review No. 12 of 16 in the first round of our competition. Each review will compare four burritos, with my favorite advancing to Round 2.

I’m rating the burritos on five attributes, each worth 20 points. The scoring will resemble a standard bell curve; the very highest totals will be reserved for exceptional burritos, while a score of 60 is still a burrito I would want to eat regularly.

This week, I make a final sweep through the Northeast region of the Burrito Bracket — starting in Buffalo, New York, and ending in Boston — and turn up some surprisingly delicious burritos in unexpected and out of the way locations.

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Although it was parked in a construction-filled plaza, the Lloyd taco truck had an incredibly long line the day I visited. Nearly 30 minutes passed between the time I got in line and received my food; a long queue of office workers had waited patiently in front of me. Since it opened in 2010, Lloyd has grown to a three-truck (OG Lloyd, Lloyd Dos and Lloyd III) operation. I opted to eat at the OG truck because 1) it’s the original and 2) it was near downtown Buffalo that day, between the Sabres’ arena and an enormous office building. I wanted to see what all the online fuss from workers was about.

I ordered slow-roasted pork, which was surprisingly rich and tender, even if it didn’t have the broad flavor or historic quality of many of the Southern burrito-selling establishments. Lloyd’s crowning achievement is the use of thinly sliced, crunchy cabbage in lieu of lettuce. What makes this switcharoo so powerful is that, though the cabbage is a key feature, it is still treated as a supplemental ingredient, meaning it isn’t piled on so high it diminishes other flavors or dries out the burrito.

From there, straightforward white rice and black beans combined with thin and subtle sour cream and orange shredded cheddar. The tortilla was served just as it had been purchased that morning from Father Sam’s bakery in Buffalo: fresh, with no steaming or griddling. I stripped away folds of tortilla on one side of the burrito to balance out the ingredient/wheat flour ratio. Lloyd’s handmade Rocket Sauce, available for purchase in bulk, has a hint of heat and is superior to most store-bought brands.

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Kittery, Maine, seemed a strange place to find California-style Mexican food. During the Burrito Selection Committee meeting, I pushed for its inclusion because so many online reviews expressed what seemed to be genuine glee and surprise at the quality of Loco Coco’s Tacos’ food. A healthy amount of skepticism accompanied my hopefulness when I visited.

I was expecting a small shack, but Loco Coco’s is a veritable structure: You enter a large room with seating and a takeout counter. The next room holds an oversized bar, which opens to an informal dining room, which has doors to an outdoor patio. Each room has brightly colored walls, miscellaneous dancing skeletons and Mexican crafts. Speakers play the familiar timbre of mariachi trumpets.

The sum of the parts is far superior to the tasty individual ingredients in Loco Coco’s California burrito. The carne asada was the color of molasses, the French fries cut thick and fried until crisp and golden. Of the array of sauces on order, the cream of avocado and green chile fuego (I can confirm the accuracy of the name) spoke most to me. The tortilla was surprisingly thin and delicious, with a pliability and variation in color that would suggest it was handmade. Add lettuce and cheese to the aforementioned, and you have a luscious burrito,  juicy yet crunchy, simple yet bountiful in flavor.

As an aside, it was at Loco Coco’s that I realized I am essentially a burrito assassin. Everywhere I go, I buy an extra burrito, slice it open and take its picture. Although I try to take most of the dissected burritos home for breakfast, I am often forced to leave behind a perfectly harmless burrito, severed in two, the mark of some sort of deranged burrito serial killer. I can only imagine what the wait staff thinks.

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Before heading to Boston, I checked in with friends who live or have lived in the Bean. Everyone knew of Anna’s Taqueria, had a soft spot for it, and agreed that it was of the utmost importance that I go to the right Anna’s. Unfortunately, they all had a different idea of which location that was. And so I ended up in Brookline, at the most popular of the locations, according to Yelp.

Anna’s is on a busy corner, in a fairly nondescript pair of rooms with pale yellow walls. One room houses the assembly line, the other seating for orders to stay. A lone cactus in the corner breathes life into the space.

On the assembly line, you start by choosing between a regular-size burrito (with a 10-inch tortilla) and super (12 inches). What’s impressive is that the size doesn’t dictate the number or quality of ingredients. I chose the smaller tortilla and found that it contained the full flavor profile.

Once you’ve ordered, a worker places cheese on a tortilla and the tortilla on a griddle. I ordered my petite bundle with chicken, black beans, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamole. I was informed that “el pico no pica,” meaning the pico de gallo wasn’t spicy, so I added hot sauce (available by request for no charge). The tortilla was piled high, folded in half, tucked in on either end, and then cinched and rolled until the ingredients were packed tight with no breathing room. It was a masterful rolling technique.

A reader sent me a note just days after I visited Anna’s to let me know that, because I prefer a griddled tortilla, I might want to try the quesadilla at Anna’s, which is rolled and prepared just like the burritos, only it’s griddled. Had I known!

The burrito doesn’t have many defining characteristics, but in a city such as Boston, that might be what makes it work. See, Anna’s makes a perfect starter burrito suited to all palates — fun for the whole family, even if a little devoid of personality. I will be back for the burritos and the quesadilla.

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I promised myself I wouldn’t eat the whole burrito at El Pelón Taqueria. It was my second burrito of the day, and late that night I was flying to California to begin the last region of the Burrito Bracket. But who was I to leave behind even a single piece of the sweet, fried plantain embedded throughout the bundle?

El Pelón (which means “the Baldy”) is a couple of blocks from Fenway Park. I’d never been to that part of Boston and expected a looming structure with a moat of shops selling sports paraphernalia and hot dogs, like near Yankee Stadium. But the area around Fenway is actually a gentrifying urban center, with mixed-use buildings, a school and an older housing project in the blocks between the Taqueria and the baseball field.

I arrived at El Pelón with some expectation, because the Burrito Selection Committee had seeded it No. 2 in the region. I ordered the El Guapo (“the Handsome Man”) with guacamole. Inside, Mexican rice, black beans, jack cheese, fire-roasted salsa, crema, lettuce and steak were packed tightly, bound by a standard tortilla. Buried like hidden treasure were the crispy, sweet plantains. The steak was tough, but every bite featured a variation of the ingredients that made me keep going back for more. I had no choice but to eat the whole thing.

My only real concerns with El Pelón are that it uses romaine lettuce and that my burrito was made exclusively using the ribs — filling it with large, excessively crunchy bits that distracted from the other flavors.

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Another tough call: A California burrito so far from home, and yet so full of love for its origin; a simple burrito rolled to perfection; burrito salvation in a town so desperate that people will spend 30 minutes of their lunch hour waiting in line. But in the end, the golden plantains and all-around solid ingredients in El Pelón Taqueria’s El Guapo won by a single point.

Wondering how to make better coffee in a French press? Technique and tips, plus the science behind why this brewing method is a bit different from the rest. Read More

This is review No. 11 of 16 in the first round of our competition. Each review will compare four burritos, with my favorite advancing to Round 2.

I’m rating the burritos on five attributes, each worth 20 points. The scoring will resemble a standard bell curve; the very highest totals will be reserved for exceptional burritos, while a score of 60 is still a burrito I would want to eat regularly.

This week, my third in what we’ve defined as the Northeast, I head north from the outskirts of the nation’s capital to Philadelphia to eat two burrito anomalies, as well as a couple of classics.

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I’d been off the burrito trail for a few days when I set out for Tortacos, and I was anxious to get my burrito on. I drove north from D.C. during rush hour, witnessing multiple accidents and a plethora of roadkill amid bumper-to-bumper traffic. When I arrived (safely) at my destination, I found a small strip mall among strip malls featuring an El Salvadoran pupuseria, a Peruvian barbecue restaurant and Tortacos, a Mexican taqueria. The owners of Tortacos came to D.C. from California and were shocked by the lack of good Mexican food in the nation’s capital. They decided it was time that those inside and outside the Beltway had a taste of the Golden State.

A handful of tables stand in a room with bright marigold- and lime-colored walls. A small menu offers the traditional taqueria suspects: tacos, tortas, sopes, quesadillas and burritos with carne asada, pollo, lengua or carnitas. And then there is the star that rises above all the other meats.

Tortacos serves masterful al pastor, sweet and slightly tart from pineapple marinade, while also charred from the spit with deep, earthy chile flavors. It’s shaved off in pieces, then layered on the tortilla with pinto beans, a thin sour cream, gooey white cheese, lettuce, corn and rice. After I ordered, one of the owners told me that pineapple freaks out some of the D.C.-ites who are new to al pastor, so Tortacos employees usually ask before they put it in (I wasn’t asked, so there was none in my burrito). I had to pull folds of tortilla off one side of the burrito (at this stage in the bracket, I don’t have any room left for extraneous tortilla), and the burrito was a little dry, but a wide-ranging salsa bar helped sort that out.

The chips were exceptional, thick and intensely crunchy with large crystals of salt. The horchata was aromatic and slightly sweet, yet refreshing — a difficult balance to achieve.

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Atlantic City is both seaside town and casino alley. The boardwalk is flanked by the beauty of the seemingly infinite ocean on one side and enormous, cheesy buildings referencing architecture from the Wild West and the Taj Mahal on the other. The most famous culinary landmark is a submarine shop called White House, just a few blocks from the boardwalk. Next door to White House is Pancho’s, a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with a lunch counter and a few tables that has mostly flown under the radar. The Burrito Selection Committee learned of its wonders from chef David Chang, who worked a brief stint in Atlantic City while preparing to open his first Momofuku restaurant.

The entire experience of eating at Pancho’s was strange. I somehow become entwined in an internal family feud that meant one man was incredibly nice and chatted with me while I ate, while another was grumpy and angry when I pointed out that I was given a bill that wasn’t mine. I asked for the avocado and cilantro that are supposed to come with every burrito and was curtly told there were none, a major disappointment for my first order. Then they miraculously appeared with the second. It was the kind of uncomfortable dining experience that could have sent me home to write a scathing review on Yelp. The trouble is, the food at Pancho’s is delicious.

Let’s start with the tortilla. It’s made by hand, and it’s made of corn. At a small stove in the middle of the open kitchen, a woman shapes masa and sets it to cook when you order.

When I asked what the best meat in the house was, I was encouraged to get a combination of meats (I ordered goat and carnitas), which produced a burrito with depth and abundant flavor. I ultimately selected plain carnitas as my favorite (they were smoky and juicy), but there’s no wrong choice. Inside, “mozzarella” cheese oozes around bits of jalapeno and lettuce, melding them together as it cooled. The burrito was topped with crumbled farmer’s cheese and avocado.

By Burrito Bracket standards, the food at Pancho’s is not cheap — each burrito rings up at $10. But that’s a small price to pay for all that TLC.

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Los Gallos (the No. 3 seed in our Northeast region) is on the corner of a residential street in South Philly. Stand on the front porch, and you’ll see row houses in every direction. In the evening, cars crawl through the narrow one-way streets, hoping a parking space will open up.

Inside, the restaurant is warm and charming. Two windows at the front feature elaborate displays of the Virgin Mary and lights that change from red to green to blue, bathing La Virgincita in technicolor. Colorful paper cutouts hang the width of the ceiling, and murals cover the east wall. A stone serpent and a woman with beckoning eyes and a molcajete stare down at patrons.

My research hadn’t revealed a particular burrito of interest, so I asked the waitress; she suggested carne asada or chicken. I went with the carne asada and al pastor. A few bites in, I realized that I should also give the chicken a try, and it turned out to be the winner. The carne asada and al pastor were fine, the latter laden with fresh pineapple, but all three meats bore the distinct scent and flavor of soy sauce, which was better suited to the chicken.

The cheese is unmistakably fresh mozzarella, soft and chunky inside the burrito, firming up in a thin layer into the seams. Inside there was also yellow rice, porridgelike and dense, red and green peppers sliced and sautéed, onions and corn. Each burrito was served with a side of avocado.

Los Gallos is BYOB, but enormous glass vessels at the front display an array of house-made nonalcoholic items, all of which are worth a try.

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On a dead-end alley behind a handful of Drexel University buildings, food trucks gather each weekday at lunchtime. Students, university employees, construction workers and others wait at the dozen or so vehicles, but truck has a line at least twice the length of the others combined: Cucina Zapata. The truck is graffitied in bright colors, and cardboard stuck in the front windows reads “Zapata Cucina.” The truck’s Twitter bio says it all: “Remember when you were like, Damn, I could go for some thai food…in a taco. Well, here it is. You’re welcome.” And if its Twitter feed is accurate, the truck often sells out of everything. The Cap’n Crunch tilapia burritos go first.

Inside the burrito are two enormous filets of tilapia, “breaded” and flash-fried like a Japanese katsu. However, this “bread” is mostly composed of Cap’n Crunch cereal, giving it a kick of sweetness (and the potential to invoke flashbacks to childhood).

A spicy Sriracha mayonnaise was spread thick amid red cabbage, lettuce, and tomato. Although the tortilla was unremarkable, it didn’t distract from the flavors, and it held together the flaky fish and oodles of sauce. The heavy dose of mayonnaise may be better suited to an undergrad’s stomach of steel than my aging belly, but anything doused in a sauce this tasty is obligated to taste good.

Do yourself a favor and order the peanuts, which are infused with lime and chili, and topped with garlicky crunch. Order the sickly sweet Thai iced tea only if you plan to save room for dessert.

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Despite the puzzling service and tough competition from Tortacos, Pancho’s and its corn tortillas will be heading to the next round.

If you’re going to take the ideas from this blog and make them your own, I’ll make it easy for you. The Arsenal-Khedira links are real, regardless of what the agent is saying publicly....

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One is a sportsman known for his drug abuse, his mullet, and his big mouth, and the other is Kenny Powers. Instead of debating “Maradona v. Messi”, which is a ridiculous debate because...

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In this recipe from Kimberly Hasselbrink's new cookbook, Vibrant Food, she tosses roasted cauliflower with fresh parsley, Kalamata olives, sweet currants and a lemony, earthy tahini dressing. While this is a recipe from the book's 'Winter' chapter, it's light and accessible enough to work year-round. Read More

Bake rye bread – in July?

You’re kidding.

Baking rye bread has a certain feel to it – a snowing-outside, spend-the-day-in-your-warm-kitchen aura.

Unlike baking, say, bright and sunny English Muffin Toasting Bread, baking rye bread, with its heavy, dark demeanor, feels like a primal experience – like winter itself.

So, why am I baking rye bread in July?

Because speaking of primal, I had a sudden urge for a patty melt.

Inspired perhaps by all those burgers on the grill over the 4th of July, I remembered one of my first “Ah-ha!” food moments: the time I realized “Hmmm, there’s a big world of food out there beyond what Mom puts on the table.”

Picture a cold, late-fall afternoon. I’m in high school. Field hockey practice over, the sun setting in a brilliant deep-purple and gold sky, the team starts to disperse – the younger girls to the “late bus,” the older ones with whoever was lucky enough to nab the family car that morning.

Feeling smug – “We’re so cool, we don’t take the bus anymore” – we head to Friendly’s, the local ice cream/burger chain, for a pre-dinner snack.

Banana split at 5:30 – dinner at 6 p.m.? No problem.

But frankly, much as I love ice cream, it doesn’t sound very comforting on this frosty late-fall evening.

How about a hot burger and fries? Just right.

I glance at the menu. There’s the regular burger (with cheese, if you want to pay the extra 10¢). But there’s also something called a “patty melt” – a burger on sliced grilled rye bread.

Rye bread instead of a hamburger bun? With Swiss cheese, not yellow American? And fried onions to boot? Now THAT’S over the top. Ever the culinary daredevil, I decide to try it.

And am immediately won over. The sweet caramelized onion, nutty melted Swiss, juicy burger, and buttered/grilled rye are the ideal combination of crisp bread, soft cheese, and a range of perfectly matched flavors.

I wolf down my first patty melt – then go home and devour the pork chops and mashed potatoes my mom sets in front of me. Remember those days before calorie counting? Sigh…

Anyway, enough with the trip down Memory Lane. Even though rye feels like a cold-weather bread, the prospect of patty melts is one very good reason to bake rye in July.

You’ve got the grill going anyway, right? Once you’ve baked your rye bread, you’re only a few simple steps away from this wonderfully comforting (and all-season) sandwich.

Let’s make some patty melts; and while we’re at it, I’ve got five rye/patty melt “tricks” to show you.

We’ll start with my favorite Sandwich Rye Bread recipe – but feel free to try the following suggestions with the sandwich rye recipe of your choice.

TRY THIS: Substitute dill pickle juice for half the water in the recipe.

WHY? The signature flavor so many of us identify as rye is usually a combination of other flavors: chiefly caraway, dill, mustard, and a hint of sour. Pickle juice adds a bit of sour and a touch of dill.

Hint: for even more rye taste, try our Deli Rye Flavor.

ADJUSTMENT: If the pickle juice tastes noticeably salty, reduce the salt in your recipe; in the recipe I use, with half-sour pickle juice, I reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.

This will be a “taste and see” proposition for you, with your own recipe and pickle juice; add less salt than you think the dough needs, then more to taste.

TRY THIS: Substitute sourdough starter (fed or unfed) for some of the flour and water in the recipe.

WHY? Because it’s a good way to use up that discard sourdough you end up with during the feeding process. And it adds flavor. Plus if you use fed sourdough, it gives the loaf a lift, to boot.

ADJUSTMENT: Since sourdough starter is basically equal parts flour/water by weight, reduce the amount of flour and liquid in your recipe as follows: If you use 8 ounces (1 cup) starter, reduce the flour in your recipe by 1 cup (approx. 4 ounces); and the liquid by 1/2 cup (4 ounces).

Tip: If your starter is liquid enough to be pourable, like heavy cream or pancake batter, don’t reduce the flour in your recipe as much.

In this particular recipe, I substitute 6 ounces starter for 3 ounces (3/4 cup) bread flour and 3 ounces water – see how the formula works?

Which flour should you substitute for: rye, or all-purpose/bread? Since sourdough starter is usually made with all-purpose flour, substitute for the AP or bread flour, rather than the rye.

TRY THIS: Knead rye dough in your bread machine, then take it out and bake it in a pan (see next tip).

WHY? Rye dough, with its lower gluten content, can be a challenge to knead. It’s inherently sticky. And if you’re kneading by hand (or even using a mixer), the tendency is to add more flour – which will make your bread dense and dry.

Instead, throw all the ingredients into the bucket of your bread machine, press start, and check the dough about 10 minutes into the kneading cycle; adjust its consistency with additional flour or liquid, as necessary. And come back in an hour for your effortlessly kneaded and perfectly risen dough.

ADJUSTMENT: None needed. Kneading dough in a bread machine is super-simple.

“Can I bake the bread right in my machine?” Totally depends on your recipe. The only way to find out is to give it a try. That worst that’ll happen is you end up with a treat for the birds and squirrels.

Next, consider your pan –

TRY THIS: Bake your rye loaf in a lidded 9″ pain de mie pan, instead of a regular 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ or 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.

WHY? Because the resulting loaf, confined as it rises by the pan’s lid, will have a wonderfully dense/close-grained/moist texture.

Think easy “sliceability,” perfect for hors d’oeuvres (smoked salmon), toast, and sandwiches.

The loaf will also have square corners – very nice for stacking ham-on-rye sandwiches into plastic containers prior to packing into the picnic basket.

ADJUSTMENT: This pan is a fit for recipes using between 3 and 4 cups of flour.

TRY THIS: When making a patty melt (or grilled cheese, or panini, or any kind of grilled sandwich), spread the outside (the grilling side) of the sliced bread with mayo, instead of butter or oil.

WHY? Mayonnaise gives grilled bread added flavor, and just as much crunch as butter or oil. Plus there’s no need to soften or melt mayo; it’s wonderfully spreadable right from the jar.

ADJUSTMENT: None needed. Spread mayo on the bread just as you would softened butter.

OK, we’ve got the bread and cheese.

And the onions, which I sautéed out on my deck, to avoid a grease-spattered kitchen counter.

And the grilled burgers.

Let’s build some patty melts!

Assembly is easy.

For two patty melts, spread mayonnaise on one side of each of four slices of rye bread. Layer all four slices with Swiss cheese.

Spread sautéed onions on two of the slices; lay a hamburger patty atop the onions. Top with the remaining bread/cheese – cheese side in, mayo side out.

Sauté over medium heat until the cheese is melted, and the sandwiches are golden brown on both sides.

See how evenly golden brown the crust is? That’s the mayo doing its thing.

Enjoy…

…to the last delicious bite!

And THAT, my friends, is the “why” behind rye in July!

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