Golden Harvest - Brunch

 

I had heard about Golden Harvest for many years.  I heard that the food was great with large servings, they take no reservations and are cash only, it's very different, and they don't do mean.  Because of all of this, it sounded interesting to me and tried to make plans to go there.  As it is outside Chicago, it also involved planning a trip which had logistical problems the first few times I tried, but once I was able to get Lansing, it was fairly easy.  Located in an out of the way corner in Old Town Lansing, it's pretty small and pretty off beat.  I had to laugh when I got there and saw the large, rusted plate metal "boulder" with the top corner made from a No Passing Zone sign.  The boulder sat on one side of the bike rack and the Golden Harvest sat on the other.  It was not easy to get my bike into the rack because of the way that it was made, but I was able to do it and then came to the line.  I was told to take a look at the door when I got there, but I had to get through the line first.  It seemed that they sat people in groups of four because all of the tables are four tops.  If you were not a group of four you could possibly be made into a group of four with another person or group or sat at the counter.  Before that happened though, you had to wait in line.  Living in Chicago and having experienced the line at Hot Doug's, this was easy.  The people in line were friendly and there was a lot of stuff attached to the building to look at.  There was a wide variety of stuff that seemed to really have no order.  There were several street signs, styrofoam skulls, toys, mannequins, motherboards, and the Incredible Hulk.  The pairing of things were sometimes pretty funny (a spray painted mannequin on a dirt bike or Kermit the Frog riding a stage coach) and there is always something new to look at if for no other reason than to try to figure out where it may have come from.

 

 

 

When the line got short, the hostess let about 7 of us in at once, so I didn't get a chance to look at the door, so I was going to have to make a point to look at it when I left.  I was seated at the counter in front of the grill, so I saw all of the action.  There were Home Fries on one side of the grill, and there were a lot because I think they came with every dish.  The Pancakes were prepared in front of me and they were enormous.  There were also pans on the right for omelettes and several waffle irons.  There was also a lot of interesting stuff on the walls inside although many of those were wall hangings.  Several things that I liked were the They Live movie poster, the rebus that translates to Be Nice or Leave, the Exotic Girlie Photos, 80 for $2.00, and the Alice cast photo.

 

The regular menu was a single fold paper menu with items on 3 pages, so there is a pretty extensive selection.  There were several things that caught my interest, but the always changing Specials Board is where the good stuff is.  Looking at everything, I see why a friend of mine will frequently order two breakfasts.

 

I started out with Coffee because it came from a local roaster and it's a good place to start breakfast.  Presented to me in a Hair Stylist mug, I had to laugh because at this stage, my hair doesn't take much maintenance, and I really couldn't do it for someone else.  Made by Paramount Coffee Roasters, it was a medium roast, but it was very mild.  I've had far worse coffee and it would do the job that it's supposed to, but the flavor left something to be desired.  For my breakfast, I went for something off of the Specials Board, the Baked Potato Omelette.  It was a 4 Egg Omelette with Cheddar, Bacon, Broccoli, (Peruvian) Purple Potatoes, Onions, Sour Cream, and Chives, served with Home Fries, Toast, and a slice of Pineapple.  I also ordered a side of Bacon which, while it was only 4 slices, was still almost too much.  It was crisp and flavorful and made from Berkshire hogs. There were lots of flavors and textures and a lot to eat.  It was one of the best omelettes that I have ever had.

After I ate, paid and tipped, this is a cash-only establishment and uses a cashier with the tip jar next to the cash register, I took a look at the door.  The door states the rules letting people know that it's a cash-only establishment, the line starts on the outside of the door, groups of two will be paired up at four tops when busy and they are always busy, and if you are not nice, they don't want your business.  Their Jolly Roger logo using a fork and spoon instead of crossbones, is also on the door.  It was a lot of fun to come here.  The people, both staff and diners were friendly, the food was great, there was a lot to look at, and the soundtrack was literally all over the place, from disco, to punk, to oldies.  I will definitely return, I just wish I could figure out a way to introduce some of my friends to it.          

The Dawson - Brunch

My monthly brunch tour took me to The Dawson in October.  I had been to The Dawson for dinner and really liked it.  They have a vintage look and serve seasonal gastropub fare.  I noticed, when I came for dinner, that they had a pretty extensive cocktail list and having tried a few then, I saw that they were well versed in cocktail making.  At many places I have dined at for brunch, there are usually two or three, Bloody Marys and Mimosas being the standard with the occasional Bellini thrown in.  The Dawson had about 10 cocktails specifically for brunch plus a menu page for there house cocktails.  While I started things off with a very good cup of coffee, I decided to order a cocktail because it seemed that they put some effort in their creation and were not simply an afterthought.  I ordered a drink called a Ten & Six which came in a teacup with a "teabag label" tied to the handle.  The drink had a reddish tea color with an ice cube floating in it and was composed of Death's Door Gin, Tariquet Armagnac, Cocchi Rosa, Oloroso Sherry, Cranberry Apple Tea, and Lemon.  This was a great brunch drink even if it offered all day.  It very much has the style and flavor characteristics of tea.  It is very herbal and bitter, with some fruitiness and tart flavor and was very nice for sipping with breakfast.

As I make my own bacon, I am always interested in what other people/venues do with theirs.  The Dawson makes their own bacon and they had four types on their list.  Luckily, they also offered a flight, so all could be tried (and shared if so desired).  I ordered a flight for the table and saw, when it arrived, that it was a beautiful thing.  The four bacons were arranged on a wooden cutting board and there was more than enough to share.  All of the bacons were well cooked and at least had a crispy crust.  The bacons presented were an Allspice Jowl Bacon, Blackstrap Molasses Bacon, Maple Bacon served slab style, and Hungarian Bacon.  I tried all of the bacons on their own so I was sure I could get a good sense of their flavor.  Having said that, it probably made a difference in what order they were eaten and I may have eaten them in the wrong order.  The first bacon I tried was the Allspice Jowl Bacon.  It was cut into the smallest pieces and was very crispy.  It also had a nice spicy flavor as well as a definite pork flavor.  I next tried the Hungarian Bacon, which was cut into large thick slices.  It had a crisp exterior, but was still chewy and it had a very spicy flavor centered on Paprika and Garlic.  This was probably my favorite bacon after I tried it because its flavor was so emphatic.  I next tried the Blackstrap Molasses Bacon and this is where I may have erred.  This bacon was also sliced and had a crispy exterior, but it wasn't as thick as big or thick as the Hungarian Bacon.  This bacon did taste of molasses, but it was subtle, and after the flavors of the jowl bacon and the Hungarian Bacon, it was kind of lacking.  I wanted to like it, but it didn't stand up to either of the bacons I had just tried.  The last piece was the slab of Maple Bacon, and for this one, the flavor and texture were there.  It also had a crispy exterior, but the interior was tender and meaty.  It also had a very good maple flavor.  Overall, all of the bacons were made well, but my favorites were the Hungarian Bacon followed by the Jowl, the Maple Slab, and the Molasses Bacons.

For my main course, as I had already gone savory with the bacon, I decided to go to the sweet side.  I ordered the French Toast Terrine which was made with Figs, Pistachios, and Breakfast Sausage.  It was served with a Fig and Bitter Green Salad, Whipped Ricotta, sprinkled with Powdered Sugar, and Blis Maple Syrup on the side.  I liked every part of this, but I don't know if it completely came together.  the French toast was very good and flavorful and I thought that the figs and pistachios went well together with it.  The breakfast sausage was pressed into the French Toast and when it was encountered, it was good, but it generally played no part in the dish because I didn't encounter it in most bites.  The whipped Ricotta took the place of butter and while it was good and well prepared, there may have been a little too much.  The maple syrup and the salad were both very good as they were.  Overall, while this was good, it may have been better if there was a little less ricotta and more breakfast sausage.

I did enjoy myself here.  The space is vintage and classic, the service was good, they very definitely have a handle on their cocktail program, and despite my picking, the food was good.  Between The Dawson and its sister restaurant, The Gage, I like both, but I may still prefer The Gage.  The Gage, though, also has the advantage of location.  Given an opportunity to return to The Dawson for a meal, I would surely return.             

Paddy Long's

Bacon makes everything better. Generally though, it makes things better by being added to a dish. Paddy Longs, an Irish themed bar keeps things simple making beer better by pairing it with various bacons. Four days a week, it pairs five different beers with five different bacons. The bacons, if not housemade, come from local purveyors and are all very good. For the most part the bacons remain constant but the beers with which they are paired with change seasonally. In addition to the beer and bacon tastings, the menu at Paddy Longs serves bar fare featuring their various bacons. A major item on their menu is the bacon bomb, a 5 pound mixture of pork sausage and pepper bacon wrapped in brown sugar bacon, smoked, and served with a housemade barbecue sauce. This is obviously something that one sane person won't eat and is made for a group but you can get a bacon bomb burger. They do have items on the menu that do not have bacon but if you are going to go to a beer and bacon themed bar/restaurant why would you?

The beer and bacon tasting went from lightest to heaviest like a good tasting should proceed so that everything can actually be tasted. We started with Irish Bacon which was paired with Summit Hefe Weizen. Irish Bacon is a back bacon as opposed to regular bacon which comes from pork belly. It isn't smoked and it actually tastes like ham (which was grilled). Summit Hefe Weizen is a wheat beer from Minneapolis with a cloudy light amber color and flavors of pineapple, banana and cloves. The beer brought the sweetness of the bacon out and the bacon enhanced the banana and pineapple flavors.

The second pairing was Pepper Bacon (housemade) paired with O' Fallon 5-Day IPA. The pepper bacon was very good bacon and covered with cracked peppercorns. It's like bacon au poivre. The 5-Day IPA uses seven grains and four hops, two of which are added to the finishing tanks for a hoppy beer that really went with the pepper of the bacon.

Pairing number three was Danish bacon with Trumer Pils. Danish Bacon is a thick cut bacon that is less salty and actually a little sweet. It went very well with the Trumer Pils which is a Czech-style pilsner actually made in Berkeley, CA. The second and third pairings could have actually been interchangeable for their "flavor density" but they were both pretty good.

The servers called the fourth pairing a fairly standard pairing. It was Hickory Smoked Bacon served with Three Floyds Alpha King. The Hickory Smoked Bacon was like very good breakfast bacon. It was very good breakfast bacon, but it was like breakfast bacon. Three Floyds is a local brewery in Hammond, IN that specializes in hoppy beers. Alpha King is their best selling beer. It is an American-style IPA that is pretty hoppy and has a nice citrusy finish. It went very well with the smoke of the bacon.

The last pairing was dessert. It paired a brown sugar bacon with Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The bacon was very sweet and the porter was very bitter. It had a very robust roast malt/chocolate/coffee flavor and it was a great end to a great series. Paddy Longs is a great beer bar and it's always fun to see what beers that they pair with their bacons.


Three Floyds Alpha King APA with Hickory Smoked Bacon
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter with Brown Sugar Bacon

Bacon, Revisited

The last time I made some bacon, I commented on the fact that while it was really good, because I didn't have a smoker, the bacon tasted like Canadian bacon. Both American and Canadian bacon are made from pork belly, but only American bacon is smoked so what I made in my last attempt was Canadian bacon. My father has a smoker which he really enjoys using so this time around, I decided to do a joint operation with him. I would cure the meat and then send it to him to smoke. The recipe I used was the same as last time: sugar salt, brown sugar, and a tiny bit of pink salt, and the curing time in the refrigerator was the same, a week with a flip every other day. I did, however, put the bag in a baking pan to allow the meat more contact with the liquid that it lost. The last time I finished the cure, I rinsed it and threw it in the oven at a low heat for two hours. Because I wanted it smoked this time, I rinsed, rebagged, and froze it for transport.My Dad smoked it for a couple of hours with apple and cherry wood and I have to say that it looks really good. Hopefully there is some left when I come for a visit in a few weeks. Bacon is really easy to do and it was fun to make but I think the next time I do something, I will do pancetta and/or guanciale. They both look fairly easy to do as well and neither require smoking but they do take more time.

Bacon

I got a charcuterie cookbook for Christmas (called Charcuterie) so I decided to make bacon. What, you may ask, is charcuterie? It is the craft of curing meat through salting, smoking, and drying. The recipe for bacon looked easy enough. The most difficult part seemed like it would be finding the different ingredients. I was going to need to find some pork belly, some kosher salt, and curing salt. Luckily, living in Chicago, the population is high enough that stores can carry specialty materials. The kosher salt was easy, the curing salt I found in The Spice House, and the pork belly I found in a meat packing house in the warehouse district which is where restaurants get their meats and vegetables. The packing house was enormous, the storage area was refrigerated, and the bellies were in piles. I picked a relatively small one because this was going to be my first try. It ended up being six pounds. The recipe called for a belly of about three to five pounds so I cut the one I bought in half. I didn't notice it nor did I think about it when I bought it but when I was cutting the belly in half, the fact that it came from an animal became more real to me because the belly had nipples. I salted half of the belly and froze the other half for use later. I bagged it and threw it in the refrigerator for a week flipping it every other day. I was surprised at how much liquid it lost. After the week was up, I took it out, rinsed it, and cooked it at a low heat for about two hours. If I had had a smoker this is where I would have used it. I then cut the skin off and had to fry a little up immediately. It was great! While most American bacon is smoked, Canadian bacon is not so this tasted like Canadian bacon. I will have to explore more of the recipes in the cookbook. It is very cool to create something like this on your own and have it turn out well. I do need a smoker though.