Category: Food

Broken Yolk Cafe

On our first visit to Broken Yolk Cafe, we started out with the BYC Bloody Mary. Served with a slice of bacon, it’s a very tasty Bloody Mary but there was a unique flavor in it that I did not recognize. I think that the “vodka spirit” is not actually vodka but rather a wine-based spirit that simulates the vodka flavor profile and I think wine was the flavor I was picking up. Their Bloody Mary mix and Tajin rim is banging! It’s worth ordering as long as you don’t feel like it must be real vodka.

I enjoy a good corned beef hash, so I wanted to try the Hash Skillet. Unfortunately, the waitress said that they don’t prepare the hash fresh on the premises. I’m not a fan of canned hash, so I decided to order the Ranchero Skillet instead. It was very flavorful, although I would have liked the chorizo more prominent. I ordered the eggs over-medium but they were slightly overcooked (i.e. most of the yolk was not runny). Nonetheless, it was a satisfying dish overall.

My companion ordered the Chilaquiles Bowl with the green sauce. The eggs on her bowl were cooked perfectly over-medium. She said that salsa was very good and, as a Mexican, she knows how an authentic salsa verde should taste. They also managed to find that balance where the chips are well smothered with the salsa but still have some crispiness. This plate is definitely worth ordering.

For my fellow wheelchair users, this restaurant is very accessible. There’s plenty of room to maneuver between the tables through the room. Getting my lap fully under a table in my electric wheelchair is challenging in most tables I encounter at restaurants but there were a few of them at this cafe that would accommodate my wheelchair. One of the tables is designed and designated for the use of a person in a wheelchair. This is the one that we used and it was very open for maneuvering my chair around and under it.

Broken Yolk Cafe is a great place to go for brunch since they also have a full lunch menu. The portions were generous on both plates, so we left full and satisfied. I’ll definitely return because there are a few other dishes that caught my eye.

Sabroso!

I was bingeing on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives one day when I saw Guy visit a Mexican joint in my neighborhood. Mexican food is my favorite cuisine, so I decided to visit the place myself. On Día de los Muertes, a Mexican friend and I headed to Sabroso! Mexican Grill for dinner. “Sabroso” is the Spanish word for “tasty” and this restaurant is aptly named! Their food was so delicious that we’ve been back a couple more times and I’ll tell you why.

Everything on the menu is made completely from scratch right down to the tortillas and you can really taste that it is. The chef is a maestro of Mexican salsas (i.e. sauces) and caldos (i.e. broths). His use of chiles has a harmonious balance of spiciness and flavor that perfectly complements the protein in whichever dish he’s preparing. The menu has a wide variety of traditional Mexican dishes—even menudo on the weekend.

I love a good chile verde and it’s one of the most commended dish in Sabroso!’s Yelp reviews, so I ordered it on my first visit. I was not disappointed. It had plenty of pork and the green sauce was the best I’ve had (don’t tell my mami). It’s made with green tomatillos and enough chiles to be spicy but not so much as to overpower the other flavors.

Chile verde dish and the house margarita
Chile verde and the house margarita

My Mexican friend ordered the chamorro and gave it her stamp of approval for authenticity. It’s a slow-cooked, fall-off-the-bone beef chuck in a mild, smoky guajillo sauce. She shared a piece with me and I too thought it was delicious. She also ordered a mango margarita rimmed with spicy salt and she said it was very good.

Chamorro dish and a mango margarita
Chamorro and a mango margarita

Perhaps my favorite Mexican dish is pollo en mole but it’s absent from many Mexican restaurants’ menu. Since it’s one of Sabroso!’s house specialties, I ordered the red chicken mole on my next visit. It’s spicy and has all the complex flavors you would expect from mole poblano. The generous portion of chicken was enough for me to take some home and get a second meal out of the dish.

Red chicken mole dish with Peruvian beans
Red chicken mole with Peruvian beans

On another occasion, I was passing by Sabroso! on my way home. So I stopped in and ordered a bowl of pozole to go. They offer it with pork or chicken and I tried the pork. It had a wonderfully flavorful broth. On the side, it had all the traditional fresh toppings, including shredded cabbage, onions, and lime. It reminded me that I would have to try their menudo the next time I’m there on a weekend.

Most of Sabroso!’s plates come with Mexican rice and beans. Rather than the more common pintos, they offer a choice of black beans or refried frijoles peruanos, which I had never eaten before but enjoyed thoroughly. They offer a choice of flour or corn tortillas made fresh to order and I found the corn tortillas to be excellent. Of course they include the obligatory chips (made from their corn tortillas) and salsa.

I discovered Sabroso! during the pandemic, so I dined under the outdoor pavilion they erected for safety but the state now allows them to serve their guests indoors at limited capacity. The waitresses are friendly and hospitable. If you’re a fan of Mexican food and you’re anywhere in the area of Garden Grove, California, pay Sabroso! a visit. You will not be disappointed.

Garlic bread

I used to cook occasionally and could make a few things that taste pretty good. I was pretty good with a barbecue too. But I never considered myself much better than an average cook.

My brother, Daniel, on the other hand, is probably the best cook I’ve ever encountered. And he does it from raw instinct—he was never formally trained in the culinary arts. But he just seems to have a great intuition for how things will taste when he puts them together, even if the items are things he never put together before.

So here’s a sample of what I mean. Listen to the list of ingredients Daniel includes in his garlic bread:

I hope you took notes. Daniel rarely writes out recipes of what he makes. In fact, he rarely makes anything quite the same way twice. So his recitation of the ingredients is a rare gem.

Yes, it’s a relatively simple food but it’s the only video I have of Daniel cooking. And is simple as it is, you can still imagine the genius he has for flavors in a more complex dish. If you think you could do this, give it a try and post a comment to share with everyone how it went.

Masala chai

My brother makes a spiced tea (“masala chai” is the Indian term for “spiced tea”) that is unrivaled anywhere around here, in spite of the fact that there’s a substantial Indian population in the neighborhood. It’s not only delicious but also has an energy kick that belies the fact that it’s just tea. I suspect that there must be some extra caffeine hiding out in one of the spices he grinds fresh for this drink.

I watched Daniel making chai this weekend so I could get his recipe. Note that these ingredients are all whole spices when he makes the chai and grinding them fresh is probably half the secret to what makes it so delicious. So get your mortar and pestle out if you want it to be the best it can be and let’s make some chai.

Ingredients (per cup):

  • 5 allspice corns
  • 6 cardomom seed pods
  • 1 clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg seed
  • 1 grind black pepper corn
  • 1 tablespoon orange pekoe Indian tea
  • 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
  • 10 ounces 2%-fat milk

Pour the milk into a sauce pan. Pull the seeds out of the cardomom pods and put them into the mortar with the other spices, including just one grind from the pepper grinder. Grind the spices course with the pestle then add the tea and grind it fine. Add the contents of the mortar to the milk then put the sugar into the mortar. Grind the sugar with the pestle enough to pull the spices’ oils off of it and the wall of the mortar and incorporate the oils into the sugar. Then add the sugar to the milk and turn it on medium heat. Stir constantly to prevent the milk from scorching on the pan. As soon as it comes to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and strain the drink into a cup.

An Epic ale

No, that’s not a typo—I didn’t mean an epic “tale.” It was truly an epic ale I drank last night: the Stone Vertical Epic ale. As epic as this ale is, I’d never heard of it until last night.

Eric, the owner of Addison Homebrew Provisions, brought a bottle of the 10.10.10 bottling of the series to my home. The series of Vertical Epic is brewed over the course of ten years and designed to be cellared for a vertical beer tasting sometime after December 12th, 2012. I was very fortunate to be there when Eric prematurely popped the cap.

Photo of a bottle of Stone Vertical Epic ale
Stone Vertical Epic

I’m a big fan of Stone Brewing Co., the brewer of what is in my opinion the best commercial pale ale on the market. Nonetheless, the 10.10.10 Vertical Epic exceeded even this high bar. In fact, it’s probably the best beer commercially brewed in the United States that I’ve drank in years.

It pours slightly opaque with an almost golden color. The head had dissipated almost completely by the time I got the glass but the ale still had a pleasant nose to it. I’ll spare you the comparisons to all of the foods that aren’t put into beer which connoisseurs claim to smell—I’m pretty sure I smelled malt, hops, yeast and some other stuff. The aroma was mild enough that it wasn’t a spoiler for what I was in for when I tasted the Vertical Epic.

Stone says they brewed the beer to fit the strong Belgian golden ale style. This boded well for me since Belgian ales are my favorite styles of beer. The Vertical Epic did have the essence of a Belgian ale but there was something else going on that I couldn’t quite place at first. Whatever it was, it was delicious from the first swig, while the ale was still cold.

So what “else” was there? For one, Stone says they added chamomile during the whirlpool stage. I can’t say that I tasted it but I could faintly smell it once I was made aware of it. But what “else” was probably most significant about the 10.10.10 Vertical Epic is that Stone added a juice blend of Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc grape varietals in secondary fermentation. When I was told this, I realized that ironically the flavor that really makes this beer great is wine. The reason I couldn’t initially peg the Epic style is because it’s essentially…a wine beer (if you never heard of a “wine beer,” it’s because I just coined the term).

I normally take my time drinking a fine ale—particularly when it’s upwards of ten percent alcohol, like the Vertical Epic—but I found myself drinking it like a session beer simply because it was so good. I had to refill my glass to be able to taste it after it warmed some and, yes, it was every bit as enjoyable and perhaps more complex as when it was cold.

While you can let the 10.10.10 Vertical Epic warm, I recommend against letting it age ‘til 12/12/2012. In my opinion, it lacks the foundation that makes an ale age well that much longer. The flip side of that coin is that it will likely be the best beer you’ll drink this year, so don’t pass up the opportunity to drink the Stone Vertical Epic ale if you can find it.

Maredsous Blonde

Normally I prefer brunettes but tonight I’m making an exception for a delectable Belgian blonde. This blonde comes from a monastery in Belgium called Maredsous. She’s a true abbey ale, with 6% alcohol by volume.

The Maredsous Blonde pours up with a thick, foamy head, proudly displaying a few pockmarks from the bigger bubbles popping. She leaves a heavy lacing on the glass as I drink her down. The head releases a sweet, grassy bouquet with a hint of sharp cheddar. She also creates a great sensory experience as the foam carries the ale across the tongue.

The ale is golden in color with a faint murkiness. As I drink her in, the distinctive flavor of the Belgian yeast steps out at me. But it’s well balanced with the malting and bitterness of the hops. The malt leaves a slightly waxy mouthfeel. The mild European hops linger on the palette.  Maredsous reminds me of a Belgian wit I cut my teeth on but without the spiciness. This allows the four flavors of a basic beer to shine in this blonde.

And shine they do! The Maredsous Blonde is one of the most enjoyable beers I have drunk in quite a while. As she warms, she is smoother than ever. Now I’m done with her—all that’s left is the traces of her white head lacing the glass.