Food Archives - Cephas365

359 – Christmas Brunch

Dec 252013

Bacon, eggs, bacon fat hashbrowns with sriracha, all washed down with a mimosa. Is festive, no?

Christmas Day is a funny thing, as a married adult with no kids. Just about everything is closed, and our families typically get together before or after the day. Katie and I usually end up with the day to ourselves, which is never a bad thing, but it’s not as if we have much reason to gather around a tree and open presents, either. After church, we usually just spend the day watching movies and relaxing, enjoying eachothers’ company with an uncharacteristic and refreshing leisure.

One year we went to Waffle House for brunch, for lack of a better option, but this year we decided to make our own greasy spoon meal at home. Our house may lack the distinct atmosphere of Awful Waffle, but the food was several times better.

This is one Christmas tradition I wouldn’t mind continuing.

351 – An Appropriate Brew

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Dec 172013

This might just be the IPA that gets me to like IPAs.

Given how this winter has started, it would seem that New Belgium has picked an appropriate name for this year’s winter seasonal.

I don’t prefer IPAs, as a general rule. I like all beers to some extent, but the smack-you-in-the-face bitterness of most craft IPAs has never really appealed to me. But lately, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling several labels that take a step back from the ledge of ultra-bitter, and instead focus on the dimension and flavor that the right amount of hops — rather than the maximum — can lend to a beer. Accumulation is one great example, a White IPA that I found crisp and refreshing. White IPAs blend the strengths of a Belgian Witbier with the hop profile of an IPA, adding equal measures of bitterness and tartness.

The result is delicious, and endlessly drinkable. As a winter seasonal, Accumulation is a departure from the accepted norm of heavy stouts, porters, and other beers you can’t see through. New Belgium chose to buck the trend of heavy beers for the cold season, and I think it was a winning decision.

348 – Expectation Management

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Dec 142013

There’s a new submarine sandwich place in town, perched on a prime corner lot by Wright State. DiBella’s is a small, regional chain sandwich shop based out of New York. And as you can see, they have a rather high opinion of their product.

Ever since Subway decided to become the WalMart of sandwiches, there has been a bit of a void in my culinary life. Quizno’s is okay, but a little bit heavy, and disappointingly inconsistent. There are a few local sub sandwich places that are excellent, but I seldom find myself near one. The new DiBella’s location is along a route I travel with some frequency, so I stopped in the other day to try them out.

I was back the next day. And the next day. I’ve eaten lunch from DiBella’s more times in the past couple weeks than I really care to disclose.

It’s good. It’s really, really good. They have a fun and friendly staff, sure, and the décor is pleasing enough, but the sandwiches are delicious enough to stand on their own. DiBella’s is short on gimmick and heavy on quality and flavor, and their staff actually pays attention to what they’re doing, which is a nice change (I’m looking at you, Subway).

But there’s a problem. You can see it just over the sandwich in the picture. DiBella’s decided to use a rather lofty slogan, and in doing so, set the bar impossibly high. As most men, I consider myself something of a connoisseur of big, sloppy sub sandwiches. I’ve had a lot of them from a lot of places, big and small, and there have been a handful that changed my life. The Super Italian from Submarine House comes to mind.

So when I read a slogan like that on the wrapper, my expectations are high. Felix Baumgartner high. And while the sandwiches I have sampled from DiBella’s (the Godfather, the Italian, the Tuna and the Old Fashioned, so far) have been totally acceptable, they haven’t blown me away. At least, they haven’t risen to the level set by their catchphrase.

Hey, maybe it doesn’t matter. I’ll certainly be back, and I’m happy to recommend them if you’re looking for a great sub. But I can’t help but feel a little let down, after getting my hopes so high, based on their marketing. Perhaps a wiser choice of slogans would let their sandwiches do the talking.

347 – Welcome, New Belgium!

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Dec 132013

*Angels singing*

One of my favorite craft breweries has finally started distributing to Ohio! I fell in love with New Belgium a few years ago, during a trip to Texas. Their Fat Tire and 1554 labels have been on my top-10 every day beers list since, but I’ve only been able to sample them when out of town! A friend and I would actually take turns importing cases of the stuff ourselves, whenever we ran across it on our travels.

But no more! New Belgium announced their expansion into the Ohio market earlier this year, and it came to fruition yesterday, courtesy of a bicycle-powered debut. I wasn’t able to attend, unfortunately, but I was still happy to see a delightful variety of their brews hitting local store shelves in short order. I picked up this assortment of Fort Collins’ finest from Dorothy Lane Market, and was especially excited about the two limited-run, collaborative brews. Both the Paardebloem (made with peach juice and dandelion greens!) and Heavenly Feijoa (brewed with feijoa and hibiscus) were delicious, complicated beers with unique flavor profiles. Not every day drinkers, but certainly fascinating to try.

328 – Dalwhinnie

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Nov 242013

Mmmm, scotch scotchy scotch…

During a recent restocking trip to the Class Six, I had a hankering to try a new Scotch. I selected Dalwhinnie 15 year, a Highland single malt from one of the coldest and highest regions in all of Scotland. Highlands aren’t my favorite variety as a general rule, but I do maintain a certain affinity for them, since they were how I was introduced to the wonders of Single Malt all those years ago.

It might sound funny, but the best way I can describe Dalwhinnie is that it’s a very Scotchy Scotch. It’s not particularly smooth or polite up front (like The Balvenie), but it maintains its character throughout, not falling on its face in any one area. I will say that, as Highlands go, this one is gentler than most, although the finish maintains a smoky intensity for what seems like a long time. It lacks the fascinating complexity of Royal Lochnagar, but that’s a rather high bar to meet, now isn’t it?

It’s not an every day whisky by any stretch, but when the mood calls for a dram of a solid Highlands spirit, Dalwhinnie fits the bill.

323 – Breakfast Loaves

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Nov 192013

After a nine month run, I was finally starting to get a little bored with the breakfast burritos Katie and I have been making and freezing. Looking for a quick and tasty alternative, we turned to the Feed Zone Portables cookbook for inspiration. We settled on an adaptation of the recipe for a mushroom and swiss frittata, baking them in a mini loaf pan instead of the prescribed muffin tins to give them the bump from “snack” to “meal.” We also added some diced ham for extra protein. The result is a smoky, savory little loaf of breakfast goodness, that takes minimal time to make and is perfect for munching on the way to work in the morning, and packed with healthy macronutrients to get your day started off right! This one’s a winner. Next round, we’ll probably substitute basmati rice for the plain white long grain we used this time, and bacon instead of ham.

Slicing mushrooms. Surprisingly cathartic.

Dicing onions. Not cathartic at all.

Shredded swiss cheese. We shredded it extra coarse to help preserve the flavor through the mixing and baking process.

I mean, how many times in your life do you have the chance to crack open an entire carton of eggs?

Happy little savory loaves!

315 – Old Friend

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Nov 112013

After finishing the OSU 4-miler, we headed over to Fado Irish Pub at Easton for a celebratory meal. On their tap list, I was surprised to find Kilkenny, an Irish cream ale I last had in Scotland in 2004, returning from a deployment. I fell in love with it then, but was saddened to come home and not be able to find it anywhere. I’ve looked high and low, but haven’t had a pint of it since.

I ordered several pints of it at Fado, and fell in love all over again. Its flavor profile is reminiscent of Guinness (who owns the Irish brewery), thanks to its nitrogenated, creamy head. But it also has a bit less weight to it and a low-ish ABV, making it immensely drinkable and a quintessential session beer. Hopefully it catches on, and I’ll be able to find it again, closer to home!

312 – One Pound Steak

Food, Life in General No Responses »

Nov 082013

Kerry (seated) poses on the Birthday Saddle. And some other dude makes it even funnier.

Today was another hill climb workout, for me. I went alone this time, and was surprised at how much less motivation I had, without Katie there. I rode almost 17 miles and set a PR on one of the hills, but I still just didn’t feel the urge to attack and hammer like I did when she was there. I guess part of me still likes to show off for my girl!

After I was done pedaling and Katie was done at CrossFit, we headed over to Texas Roadhouse for a surprise birthday party for Kerry, one of the owners of Katie’s gym. It was a lively time with a bunch of cool people, and Kerry seemed genuinely surprised and moved at the turnout. I got to meet a couple of Katie’s CF friends, which was nice, and one of them even bought our table shots of tequila!

I was ravenous by the time we finally got seated and ready to order, so I called for a 16 oz sirloin. It was cooked and seasoned well enough, and in fact was impressive for a national chain. But I’ve grown accustomed to the beef from Innisfree, so I thought it lacked some flavor. After the dinner rolls, margaritas and appetizers, I put down the whole steak and left happily stuffed. More of my post workout meals should follow this pattern!

Yep. That’s a pound of steak.

305 – Travel Press

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Nov 012013

This is my Bodum Travel Press, and it is one of my life’s little joys. I love my regular French Press, but often I find that I don’t have time to drink a whole press, or even to wait for it to steep before running out the door.

Enter this little guy. It’s about a half-press worth of coffee, and it makes fresh coffee on the go that much more convenient. I got it as a present from my mom awhile back, and I find myself using it more and more, lately. And not just because of the convenience, but also because it’s super easy to clean, and isn’t so much coffee that I’m pinging off the walls for hours afterward.

282 – Big and Simple

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Oct 092013

Not every meal for an athlete needs to be an extravagant affair. Sometimes you wake up in the morning, and you just want a pile of eggs (six, to be exact) and black coffee. So this morning, that’s what was on the menu. Balanced? No, but I’ll get that later in the day.

280 – Sunday Brunch

Food, Life in General No Responses »

Oct 072013

With the race cancelled yesterday, I had an unexpected free morning. After church, we headed to The Meadowlark for brunch. I felt strange within myself, like I had walked into the wrong party. I had been mentally gearing up for the final MTB race of the season, trying to harness all of my aggression and readying it to be unleashed on Sunday afternoon. Instead, I found myself in a rather posh and hipster brunch joint, sipping a coffee cocktail and exchanging polite conversation with the sort of people who regularly eat Sunday brunch in posh and hipster brunch joints, most of whom were twice my age and several brackets above my income. It’s not a situation in which I would normally find myself uncomfortable, but it was such a departure from the way I had expected to spend my day — drenched in mud, sweat and adrenaline — that everything else seemed a little surreal.

Existential crises aside, the meal was actually pretty good. My mushroom and Gruyère omlette was well cooked and supremely tasty, and the quality of the mushrooms used was apparent. I paired it with a cocktail they call a Grasshound, which is coffee, rum, cream and mint. It was interesting, if a little earthy, but worth ordering again.

Katie’s French Toast, on the other hand, was a disappointment. They tried to use some sort of artisan bread for the toast, and it ended up just being a mushy mess. The toppings were cold, which made the whole dish cold, and they finished the trainwreck by adding a cheese that Katie found entirely too strong for the dish. One wouldn’t think that French Toast would be easy to screw up, but I guess this is what can happen when you try to get too fancy. For a restaurant with such a sterling reputation in the local foodie community, we were surprised that they’d mess up something so evidently easy.

So no race, and brunch on a rainy Sunday was 1 for 2. Not exactly the roaring Sunday we had hoped for.

277 – Food Truck Rally

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Oct 042013

For the last several months, downtown Dayton has played host to a food truck rally on the first Friday of each month. We tried to go to the very first one months ago, but the crowds were absolutely insane, and we had a baseball game to get to. We tried again tonight, and found the crowds to be steady, but much more reasonable.

We sampled the fare from two trucks. From Hunger Paynes, I had an order of Reuben Croquettes (which were average) and fresh-made chips (which were far better than average). Then I did something a little different, and had food from a truck that was from a restaurant I’ve eaten at before. I found the fare offered by El Meson‘s truck to be nearly as good as that offered in their brick-and-mortar location. I had a Cuban sandwich and Katie had an empanada, and we were both happy with our meals.

In all, the First Friday food truck rally has been a success, and is giving the downtown area more of the life it needs to continue its renaissance. More people were arriving as we were leaving, and we were impressed with the number of businesses on the east end of downtown that were open, versus what we witnessed last year. If a comeback is in the works for downtown Dayton, it will be on the foundation of fun, innovative events like this.

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