Chiu on This

Morale boosting with chili

As a passenger, I'm not happy with the current level of service on airlines, but it clearly could be worse.  I could be an airline employee.  On the way out to Harlingen airport, I had to change flights in Houston.  Walking between terminals, I spotted a sign for a chili cook-off, with a list of menu items: chili + fritos, chili w/ rice, chili dogs, chili samplers, and more for under $3 a piece.  A Continental Airlines employee was trying was hawking the wares, but I didn't need much convincing after my paltry meal on board.  Turns out they were trying to raise money for a company picnic, which, I was informed, the airline no longer anted up for post-9/11 (what's the connection?).

Unfortunately for me, I didn't have enough time between flights to fully enjoy the offerings.  There were about 10 different types of chili; I was only able to sample two.  The Colorado green chili was very good but didn't taste like a New Mexico green chili; I need to find out what was in it and how to replicate it.  I also had a chili made with bacon - good concept and flavor, but it needed tinkering with as the extra grease from the bacon sort of diluted the chili, making it less than hearty.  Also available were chilis w/ or w/o beans, with more veggies (although no 100% veggie chili was available), and some made with beer.

The organizers clearly knew what they were doing b/c they had pretty much every chili-related condiment on hand that you could think of.  There were also official judges, but I couldn't stick around to find out who they selected as the winner.

I suppose it would be selfish of me to wish that Continental still won't pay for a company picnic next year.  That way I might encounter this chili fest once more.  Yeah, that would be pretty selfish...maybe they'll come out with a recipe book for another fundraiser.

Upstate sandwich treat

Thanks to Claire and Mike L. for submitting these comments from their recent trip upstate for a YJP multicounty meeting.

Claire: They [the Red Osier] have a new stand (opened in May) in the Rochester Airport where they sell hot roast beef sandwiches on a roll with or without a cheese-wiz like topping. They’re really, really good. The have three condiments: horseradish, a creamy horseradish spread, and a horseradish infused hot sauce. Mike and I were very happy.

Mike: No doubt – best airport sammich I’ve had in memory. And a friendly person behind the counter with a firsthand account of the Monroe Co. PINS system!

The other Buffalo delicacy

A day after Wing Fest 2006, Claire and I sat at the Landmark Bar and Carvery* in the Buffalo airport to wait for our flight and get some grub.  Claire brought out her leftovers, but, as a sucker for regional fare, I was intrigued by the "beef on weck" listed at the top of the bar's menu under "Buffalo traditions."  The "weck" was really the question mark in this whole thing - the rest of the sandwich was straightforward: thinly sliced roast beef with horseradish sauce.  All I knew was that the weck was not a hard roll, as that was the other vehicle available for sandwiching the meat.

Turns out that the weck tasted like an onion roll studded with large salt crystals, kind of like a roll version of an everything bagel.  The sandwich as a whole was tasty, particularly when doused with all the grated horseradish and accompanied with a cold brewski.  The roast beef reminded me, however, of what you'd get at Arby's, i.e., nothing special.

On the whole, I liked the beef on weck and now want to get my hands on a real (vs. airport) version of it, especially after googling the phrase and seeing lots of lore about and praise for the sandwich and particular venues that specialize in it.  I also got an explanation of what the heck a weck is:

Made only in the Buffalo-Rochester area, the kummelweck—often alternatively spelled kimmelweck—is basically a Kaiser roll topped with lots of pretzel salt and caraway seeds. Kummelweck is simply shortened to “weck.”

* The landmarks referred to in the name of the bar are local Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, none of which I got to see this go-around.

Slowpoke

I'm upset that it takes me forever to post items to the blog (seems like I do it just slightly more often than going to the gym), so I'm just going to do a quick and dirty one.

Folks in the Youth Justice Program will probably be heading out to lovely Portland, Oregon, for a site visit in the next few months.  I doubt that I will be asked to join them, nevertheless, I'll be a good sport and start recommending some enjoyable spots.

Good Dog / Bad Dog at 708 SW Alder (and in the Portland Airport!) is a sweet little place with a nice assortment of dogs and an amusingly decorated interior.  Their motto - Sausages for all - pretty much says it.  Another good spot is Fido's Frankfurters, a hot dog truck at SW Park and Taylor.  The owners are friendly folks who will discount your meal or supersize it gratis near the end of the day.  Makes for a hearty snack or meal before catching a movie at the nearby multiplex.

I will leave it for another time to speculate as to why Portland is, for its size, a remarkable food city; why it has such an interesting variety of food vendors, all set up in their own parking spaces in municipal lots; and why it seems to have a great sausage culture given the common stereotypes of west coast tree huggers (perhaps it has to do with their fantastic microbrew culture?).

More Portland recommendations will be coming up.  There, that wasn't so hard to do!

Dogged pursuits

Midway Airport on the South Side of Chicago has an outpost of Gold Coast Dogs, as I found out happily this September.  As far as I know, you can't get a good Chicago-style dog in NYC, and I've done a fair bit of research with my co-workers who hail from the Chicagoland area.  So in three trips to Chicago this year, I've tried to pick up a dog at the airport on either the inbound or outbound leg of the trip, if not both.  Recommendation: get a hot dog, take it over to one of the many bars in the food court, and savor it over a pint (or two or three) of Honkers Ale from Goose Island Beer Company.  It'll make the trip back home a whole lot easier.

Don't know what a Chicago hot dog is?  Check out the recipe at the Vienna Beef site and an explanation/tribute from a Chicago Tribune article (click on the link and scroll down the page to get reviews of other hot dog stands in the city):

"Not much in this world is perfect.

The Chicago hot dog is perfect.

Boiled or steamed, not grilled, it lies regally in a lightly steamed poppy-seed bun and is annointed with:

• Diced onion
• Tomato wedges
• Pickle relish the color of Kryptonite
• Yellow mustard
• A few sport peppers
• A dill pickle spear
• A shake of celery salt

There's your classic Chicago style dog, a perfect teaming of tastes and colors and textures. Also there's a bonus, the "snap" as your teeth sink through the casing -- like Chicagoans themselves, a little resistant at first, and then so welcoming.

We don't have to mention, no ketchup! None! Ever! Do we?"