Good Eats LIVE!- sorta

Okay, so maybe it wasn't just like Good Eats, but at least the same funny and interesting Alton Brown was at the Fox on this past ugly and icy Saturday night.  I love the show Good Eats and I have even compared it to my favorite cooking show of all time :The Frugal Gourmet.

My Saturdays were all the same when I was young.  My parents wanted us to go outside and play for the most part of the day.  But at the same time, they allowed us some tv time.  So, what my 3 other brothers and I did, was watch cartoons until the cartoons stopped, around 11:00.  Now, at 11:00 on the local PBS station, there was this show called The Frugal Gourmet hosted by Jeff Smith.  I think the show was actually the first cooking show that Elmo, of Sesame Street, was on.  Now, what you had in the 90's here, was a cooking show where this older man would not only talk about the food he was cooking, but throw in some reasoning as to why things were happening.  He didn't get as much into the science, but at least he gave an explanation of how yeast works and why we make bread that way and so forth.  I remembered it being my favorite show and it certainly was fun to watch Victory Garden right afterwards.

Alton Brown, as the audience got to see him on Saturday night, is exactly like his Good Eats personality.  Like any good teacher, he mixes some real world information into the science and learning part.  His experiments reminded me of items created by Jamie and Adam of Mythbusters.  His up-beat and educational music reminded me of They Might Be Giants as they sing songs about the sun or photosynthesis. His cooking though, reminds me Jeff Smith in his calm and patient manner, with a lot of wit and humor thrown in.

Songs about Caffeine, which is my favorite drug, and pork chops seemed to fit with the giant pizza cooker using 54 lights.  The stories that he used as examples about his life and his family seem to resonate with everyone, or most people or at least me, when it comes to family and children.  And while there was a large portion of the show that was scripted and rehearsed, there was some that was not.  For instance; I have never been to a concert, in any other city, that has ever had a person doing the interpretation into sign language.  When you live in St. Louis and you do St. Louis things, the signer is forgotten or even over-looked because there is one everywhere.  But it appeared that this may have actually been the first time that Alton Brown has ever had one for his show.  As one of his volunteers had put it: "you talk a lot".  As fast and with as much information as Alton Brown gives people, I would feel bad about those who have to sign it. Alton got her to do the sign for 'pole dancer', which I think kept him happy for the night, and even threw him off track once or twice.

I thought the show was great as everything that was explained before the show, did actually happen.  He also suggested that the show was done for him, and not us, and there was some complaining about there being only 2 cooking demonstrations, however since the show was filled with many things, it was a variety show and not just a cooking show.  I liked the show very much and even bought a hat at the end, considering that my other hat, with a red circle and silver fork on the top, is the only chef's hat I had.

I also have to give full marks for bravery, just like the kind that Wesley got after making it through the fire swamp, to Alton Brown.  For not only did he ride on his tour bus through the cold and ice and snow, but he also performed in it.  Albeit, he was inside the Fabulous Fox theater.  But as his show warmed the minds and hearts of the people, outside it only grew more and more like planet Hoth.

So, to Alton Brown, thanks for putting on a great show in St. Louis.

A secret food truck feast

There was a food truck feast this past Saturday, but you would never have known it.  First off, it was announced in a small ad in the RFT magazine.  Secondly, it could have been a better arranged event.  Here is the thing: it was held partially be the Four Hands Brewery, which was on 8th street downtown.  The brewery has parking places in back of the building; about 8.  So, this event, was to have about 10 food trucks, live music and food and beer and all sorts of goodies, as well as the first fashion truck.  This is a good idea, but could have been a billion times better, had there been parking.  The closest parking, was on 8th street, but after those two blocks of parking filled up, the only answer left was more street parking.  Parking was done on the streets as far West as near St. Raymond's church.  Parking doesn't seem like an issue at first, but there was something gnawing at me: the vacant "event parking" lots nearby.  There was three, large empty lots within a shotput's throw of the event.

This meant that just a quick forethought on the event organizers, could have had those spots not only available, but for rent for just a few bucks.  Even if they charged a single $1, per car, they would have cleaned up with their 50-60 spots, versus not having them open at all.  Now, besides the parking and the tables setup for 50 people when there was over 200 people there at any one time, I'd say everything else was good.

My family and I tried as much as we could.  It was also important to see that some of the foods we ordered, were not only child friendly, but were inhaled by those same children.  We ordered a grilled cheese sandwich from Sarah's Meltdown: https://www.facebook.com/sarahsmeltdown .  We had ordered a grilled cheese in which my boys inhaled.  I think my wife was able to get a single bite of it before each boy grabbed half of it, and ate all they could.  It was definitely cheesy and I'd say as far as child friendly things, that was an easy 3 and 1/2 out of 5.

Next, my son ordered a dish from the Completely Sauced truck.  They say that they serve Creole Cuisine.  So, my son orders their nachos, which I wasn't happy about because I was expecting chips and cheese which sound great to a 6 year old, but isn't really note-worthy from a food truck.  These nachos were not nachos. They were $7.50 and it was this huge paper basket of sweet potato chips with what seemed like beef, green onions, and this amazing sauce.  So, I sat there, after having a sample and watched my 6 year old, take a fork and eat and eat and eat.  My skinny little 6 year old, ate the whole thing, which was probably 2 pounds of food!  The flavor of the sauce, reminded me a lot of the flavor of a sauce that Guerrilla Street food had on one of their dishes.  It was fantastic at an easy 4 out of 5 stars.

There was a Greek truck there called "My Big Fat Greek Food Truck" and I had to ask and order from them.  First off, I found out that they do everything there and even the woman, whom I spoke with, makes the yogurt fresh and then the woman makes the Tzatziki sauce from scratch, using that home-made yogurt.  They cook the meats, they spice and make the herb mix for pita bread.  I ordered the gyro and some baklava.  The baklava was made from scratch and made extra sweet with what tasted like honey.  It was so good and so moist and the woman said that everything, but the phyllo dough, was done by them. The baklava was a 4 out of 5 as in, you have to order it.  The gyro was huge and was great with the raw onions and tomatoes.  The sauce was great and the beef/lamb was delicious.  The woman there actually told me that at one time, they offered a pork gyro, but  no one liked it.  Weird.  So, the gyro was huge and was enough that I had to save it a few hours later and eat it again for dinner.  The meat was perfectly spiced and the first half of the sandwich was perfect and making me happy.  I think it wasn't until I got to the second half that I thought that the meat was getting salty and spicy.  I think there was actually a chili rub or spicy paprika or something that lent some heat, on the pita bread.  All in all, it was very good and I'd give both of these items a 4 out of 5 as you have to order them.

There was a truck that was called "The Sweet Divine".  The side of the truck mentioned that they had won Cupcake Wars.

What they specialized in, was cupcakes and they had this clever stand out front with what each cupcake looked like along with a description.  They had some interesting flavors and out of the 6 available, we had chosen 4.  Our four flavors were a Salted Caramel, which had an overly salty cake and a smooth and rich caramel sauce.  The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough one had a very rich chocolate cake with a small spot in the bottom with some cake that tasted like cookie dough.  There was a simple icing on top and some small chocolate chips also.  The Neapolitan had flavors of chocolate and vanilla and strawberry that tasted just like a scoop of the ice cream.  It was right every-way. The best they had was one called "The Drunken Pig".  It was a beer flavored cake with a simple vanilla icing and pieces of crumbled cooked bacon on top.  The thing was awesome.  The cake part tasted like a really, really yeast-y, like a good beer and then the bacon on top worked with everything.  Now, there were four cupcakes, but every one was worth getting.  It was an easy 4 out of 5 and each was awesome.

Now we also picked up a Nutella crepe' from Rooster:

It was as good as a Nutella crepe' can get at a 3 and 1/2 out of 5.

We also got a large sushi burrito wrapped type thing that my wife got and thought was delicious.  It was from Chop Shop and I forget which one it was, but it was huge and perfectly done.  It also came with some Wasabi spiced popcorn.  I'd say that it was a 4 out of 5.

There you have it.  This was a quick run through of about 6 food places and what I thought of them.  If you see any of these driving around, I suggest that you flag them down and give them your money,.