16. Mattie's Southern Kitchen

 Better than snuff, ain't half as dusty. 

Although they have only been around for less than a month, I have been as anxious as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, for what feels like eternity, to try Mattie’s Southern Kitchen. My friend, Yvonne, is a friend of Chris, the owner, and got me all geeked about it in the first place. And, in case I have not mentioned it this week yet, I am from the south and am always looking for edible nostalgia.

I called my friend, Heather - whom I have known since high school. I thought she’d appreciate the theme of this truck. Plus, it was her first food truck! So, with mounting excitement, I drove to meet her at Miracle Mile to give Mattie’s their day in court.

As they say on their blog, “We don't serve soul food. We don't sell comfort food. We sell southern food.” I for one appreciate identifying that distinction, as the three are disparate.

Here is a list of what their menu offered up this past week:

Fried chicken
Barbecue (Eastern Carolina pulled pork)
Shrimp & Grits
Vegetable Gumbo
Collard Greens
Mac & Cheese
Creamed Corn
Hoppin' John (veggie) Wrap
Blackened Catfish Po Boy
Fried Shrimp Po Boy
Buttermilk Biscuits

Although the woman taking my order suggested the Shrimp Po Boy (“because they only had one roll left”), I went for the fried chicken plate with creamed corn, collards and a biscuit ($8). Heather got the fried chicken sandwich ($5). I wish she had ordered something wildly different than me but c’est la vie. The line was thin and the food came out lightning fast. Upon my compliment regarding the pace the guy in the truck simply said, “That’s the name of the game”. Cute.

And so I grabbed my spork (who doesn’t love a spork?!) and some napkins, and Heather and I scurried to a little wall to sit on to enjoy lunch.

Fried Chicken Plate

Fried Chicken Sandwich

First off, this was a gracious plenty of food for $8. It reminded me of the classic meat and threes I used to love when I lived in Atlanta, and it looked just right. I was impressed. I immediately dug into the collards, which I had seasoned with a bottle of peppery vinegar they offered at the truck along with some hot sauces. Spot on. Cooked down long enough, but not too much, with a perfect salty brine. The creamed corn was not exactly creamed, but was still really tasty. I’m used to unrecognizable kernels swimming in butter and cream. This side still retained its status as vegetable, which is smart. It had a nice sweet and smoky flavor and still was as buttery as I wanted. The chicken was good. The crispety skin was plentiful and seemed to be the result of nicely rendered oil, which I always appreciate. The meat was cooked perfectly, retaining its moisture. My only misgiving would be that I prefer a little more kick to my fried chicken skin - use a bit more pepper, perhaps? It’s a minor beef, actually. Everyone thinks their mom makes the BEST fried chicken – even if it’s exactly the same as, say, Mattie’s. Welcome to the south. Hell, we still think we’re fighting the Civil War down there.

Interestingly, the piéce de résistance turned out to be the biscuit. Both Heather and I were flabbergasted over how moist, flaky, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, perfect these were. If available, I would have added butter (hey, I’m from the south), but these needed none. Recipe please!

I deeply regret not trying the sweet tea about which Zagat wrote, “essentially a glass of sugar moistened with tea, a demi-beverage to gladden the heart of anyone from south of Mason-Dixon.” I also was sad to not see the fried pickles on the menu. But I shall return. I NEED to try the shrimp & grits and the mac & cheese.

So to Chris and the rest of the gang, from the bottom of my stomach, thanks y’all! 

 

15. The Gastrobus

It seems like it’s been awhile since my last food truck. I realized though, that I had better hop back into it as I have less than two months (with holidays sprinkled throughout) to complete my mission. I have been extremely fortunate in the past 24 hours; two of the trucks I have been pining away for have both been in my hood! Yesterday I was able to try the Gastrobus for lunch, and today I finally checked out Mattie’s Southern Kitchen (review coming very soon). Happy days, I tell you.

The Gastrobus was set up on Sunset at Cole, yesterday for lunch. Perfect. I can park in the Staples parking lot, recycle my old ink cartridges and grab lunch. A friend met me so I could try a few different things, which is always appreciated.

The Gastrobus hit the streets this past July, run by husband and wife, Antonio (former chef for Wolfgang Puck) and Lana Medina. They serve up classic gastropub fare (obviously, minus the booze), pulled pork, skirt steak and BLT sandwiches, sweet potato (which are rumored to be phenomenal) and regular fries with homemade aioli, along with a constantly changing menu of specials. And they do something very impressive in my opinion - all of their produce is from the Sunday, Los Feliz farmer’s market and they do a special Sunday menu at the market, as well.

I sidled up to the bright yellow bus, all a flutter, to order the wild mushroom soup ($4) advertised via tweet. Yep - no asking for suggestions today, folks. I also ordered another special, the roasted turkey and cranberry chutney sandwich ($6). Had I ordered the special soup and grilled cheese together it would have only totaled $6, just so you know.

Okay. This soup was FANTASTIC. I consider myself somewhat of a soup aficionado (and I make a super mushroom soup as well) and really, this was a show-stopper. Served in a Styrofoam cup, with a plastic spoon and a drizzle of basil oil on top, this piping hot, rich, elegant soup was probably the best thing I have ordered from a truck to date, and would rival most soups I’ve had in a bowl with linens, in the finer establishments in town. I thought there was sherry in it, but apparently no (I asked). They used milk instead of cream and beyond that perhaps we can thank the market-fresh, wild mushrooms. I actually wanted to race home with it to pour into a bowl, dip crusty bread into it, and pour a glass of Margeaux.

The sandwich was pretty impressive as well. The turkey was plentiful and cooked perfectly, retaining its moisture. Their homemade cranberry chutney was a beautiful, and timely, accompaniment, but I found its ratio to other elements in the sandwich a bit much. That being said, I am normally not one to order things with jams, chutneys or really, with any gooey, fruit related items involved. So I can’t really speak to that. The caramelized onions were a wonderful surprise and the warm brioche was a perfect choice for the bread. And it was all Thanksgiving-y!

My friend ordered the BLT ($6), which was damn good, and sizeable considering it’s a BLT. The bacon was nice, thick, smokey, and soft-cooked. The stand out element, though, was the homemade herb aioli. God is in the details in this beautifully simple sandwich classic. Nicely played, Gastrobus.

Fantastic fare, enormous portions, good prices, and big smiles from the Medinas in the van… The Gastrobus gets mad accolades from F for Food. I will, without a doubt, return. Hopefully they will share that soup recipe with me… 

Jogging

It’s an exciting day here at F for Food. A wonderful bakery, Sweet Square Dessert Bars, has recently contacted me to review their sweets – so flattering! While I do enjoy the occasional nugget of chocolate, I would be fooling you all if I claimed to have the most refined dessert palate.

So I have called in the troops.

I have wanted to bring my foodasaurus friends into the fold for some time now, and have finally found the perfect platform to do just that.

Yes, of course, I did taste a few of these scrumptious bars made by the lovely Samantha Page and Camilla Yates, owners of Sweet Square. But I knew to give them a fair trial I would need to pass the baton to my favorite dessert expert, Yvonne. 

So read on, my friends...

-Elliott

Love their look!

My favorite food blogger, F for Food, knew about my incurable sweet tooth and was kind enough to ask me to sample and review an entire box of dessert bars from Sweet Square. What joy! Days like this, where my tastes buds are called into dessert action, are what I live for.

As I walk up to Elliott’s house I’m already anticipating the dessert heaven that awaits me to devour. I am handed this little brown box which when opened reveals an assortment of sparkling dessert bars sitting there staring up at me. I thank Elliott and tell her that I need to go home and do some much needed jogging. I think Elliott might have been impressed with my jogging determination and now thinks that I have discipline and control in my life.

But when I got those lovely little dessert bars into my car, I stuffed one into my mouth at the first stoplight. It happened to be the S’mores Bar – a chocolate chip base lined with soft squishy marshmallows and topped with a graham cracker crust - not bad, actually pretty good.

 S'Mores Bar

Now I’m at the second stoplight and the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar gets eaten – I really enjoyed this one; the peanut butter contrasted the sweet jelly and I loved the additional peanut butter crumble - a must get and yes, a big glass of ice cold milk would go lovely here.

 Peanut Butter & Jelly Bar

I wasn’t even half way home when the Toffee Brownie fell victim to my dessert binge – a rich chocolate punch with bits of crunchy toffee bits mixed throughout (I think I’ll run an extra mile today). 

Toffee Brownie

At Hollywood and Highland I thought someone was honking at me but no it was just those bars calling my name again. This time I went in for the Oatmeal Fruit Square – it was OK. I couldn’t tell what kind of fruit was in it although the buttery crumble on top was the real highlight of this sweet treat.

Oatmeal Fruit Square 

At this point I have the entire box sitting on my lap as I’m driving. I realize I’m in full dessert gluttony and make a conscious decision to just go with it. So I eye this little blond number sitting amongst the rest of the bars, and I’m thinking it’s a Blondie Brownie of some sort. But when I bite into this little treat I’m taken on an unexpected flavor ride when bacon pieces start exploding in my mouth! It was definitely a salty and sweet combination –The Makin’ Bacon Bar was interesting but not my favorite. 

Makin' Bacon Bar

Now I’m a block away from my home and the Magic Cookie Bar was the last man standing and needed some affection. Well, it found all the love it would ever need in my stomach. I liked the balance of white and dark chocolate that went well with the shredded coconut. (***Another sign of a good day is when you eat dessert for dinner.)

Magic Cookie Bar

Considering I ate the entire box of dessert bars before I even made it home, I have to give Sweet Square 2 thumbs up. The first thing I did when I got home was not immediately go jogging but instead I went straight to Sweet Square’s website, and discovered that they had even more dessert bars to try. (Note: All of the brownies look like a chocoholics dream.)

Today I may have skipped out on exercise but instead I was able to flex my dessert muscle. I am proud to report that muscle is now well toned and ready to take on anything that the Sweet Square ladies throw at me, and yes, I will definitely go jogging tomorrow.

P.S. If you have been tempted here, don’t fret. You can find these geometric delectables here.

Going down the only road I've ever known.

Each time I return home I can expect an entirely different experience than the time before. I can always count on the familiarity and comfort factors, but I never really know what, or who, I will stumble into when I’m here. Sometimes I seek out old friends and sometimes I hide. Sometimes when I seek out old friends I don’t find them, and sometimes when I hide my old friends stumble across me. Sometimes there are even tiny, unexpected romantic dalliances with mysterious people from random chapters of my past. Returning home is always interesting, as I can rarely control how my visits will unfold. I like this.

My previous visit featured a surprise reunion with a very old and very dear friend with whom I had not had contact for over 5 years. Her absence in my life was not my choice and I was always bemused about it. But when we bumped into each another on the street one afternoon, it all felt fine, good - familiar. There seemed to be no need to discuss anything about the past. A couple of hugs and the promise for a glass of wine later was more than sufficient.

That glass of wine was lovely. Seeing her again felt like a thought being picked up after an ellipsis. When she left, I stayed behind to have a moment and finish my glass of wine. Then, surprisingly, I was approached by someone with whom I attended both elementary and middle schools. We shared mutual friends throughout high school and beyond. Apparently we were even in the same crowd that met up each year, on Christmas night, at our old watering hole (aptly called “Hole in the Wall”). I suppose it was our “St. Elmo’s Fire.” Honestly, I didn’t remember him very well. So it was wonderful to spend some time with him throughout that week, reminiscing, and learning about who and what we have become over the years.

And here I go again. Back in Richmond.

Yesterday, as I was staring blankly into the cheese section at Kroger, debating whether or not to buy my favorite packaged pimiento cheese, someone touches my hand and, both literally and figuratively, shocks me. It was an old friend from my very early youth.

I remember a Halloween slumber party at her house when we were about 9 or 10-years old. We watched “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” (her parents wouldn’t let us rent a real horror movie), which seemed dorky at the time, but completely scared the life out of me (and it is a great film, by the way). I made the mistake of falling asleep before the other girls and awakened to Tootsie Rolls stuffed in the back of my underpants. I learned a valuable lesson, and never fell asleep before anyone else at a slumber party again.

I actually recall quite a few Halloweens with Kelly. She was also the person who approached me in our middle school hallway to advise me that maybe I should start considering wearing a bra (I was mortified!).

And so there we were, with our shopping carts parallel, in the cheese aisle of Kroger, all grown up. As she was talking about motherhood and I, rainbow chard from my garden, I could see a fly-on-the-wall perspective, still image of us. It all seemed surreal, and slightly scary, like a shot from “The Stepford Wives”. As she guided me to another aisle to look for hazelnuts, I suddenly wanted to go have 23 kids OR go to a bar and have 23 shots of tequila.

I did neither. I went home, put on my pine-cone jammies and dad’s slippers, put some John Lee Hooker & Miles Davis on the stereo, and made this dish while I contemplated the trajectory of my life.

Scallops With Wild Mushroom Risotto and Rosé Fonduta

2 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup minced shallots, divided

3/4 cup rosé wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup brie cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup dry, white wine

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup chopped wild mushrooms

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

12 ounces sea scallops

In a saucepan over high heat, combine half the shallots with rosé and reduce until rosé is almost completely evaporated. Add cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add brie and gently stir with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, cover and set aside and keep warm.

In a saucepan, heat broth and keep warm.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the rice, mushrooms and remaining shallots and sauté without browning. Add 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and increase heat to high and stir constantly. When broth is completely absorbed, add the next 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and reduce until absorbed, stirring constantly. Add final 1/3 of the broth, 1/3 of the wine, and cook until absorbed. Remove from heat, allowing the risotto to remain soft. Add 1 tablespoon butter, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Cover and set aside.

In a large saucepan over high heat, combine remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Allow butter to become slightly browned. Spread scallops evenly over the bottom of the pan, but don't stir. Add additional butter if necessary to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until brown on one side. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the dish, divide risotto onto two plates. Divide and arrange scallops over the risotto. With a spoon, drizzle cheese fonduta over scallops and risotto as desired.

Fondle my sweaters? No, I said fondue the cheddar.

I’m headed back to Richmond to help my dad in recovering from his second back surgery. Actually, I am currently in the Cleveland airport having a glass of sauvignon blanc to make the most of my layover. I hope there’s time for a second glass. I haven’t quite recovered from the medical emergency someone had mid-flight from LA. It was the first time I had ever heard someone say, “is there a doctor on board”, in any context. But I feel like hearing it over a loud speaker, 14 zillion miles above the ground, while I am sandwiched in the middle seat with my knees touching the seat back in front of me, is probably the worst time. Additionally, you should know that - for me - the period of time between the plane landing and my feet carrying me off the plane, is by far, the most agonizing 74962 minutes of travel. So imagine how we all had to stay in our seats an additional 28465 years as the paramedics met us on the tarmac to assist the ailing flyer. Not happy times.

So yes. Maybe even 3 glasses of wine.

Tonight Dad and I are staying in for dinner. I’d rather go out. But he is feeling a little scared about his surgery tomorrow and wants to keep it local (comfy and snuggly). He tells me it’s really rainy and cold there. We will make beef stew.

We all throw the term comfort food around quite a bit (and certainly in the autumn and winter months) but usually to reference something filling and hearty. Fried chicken, meatloaf, chili, mac and cheese, potatoes and stews are a few standard comfort foods. But we all have our own dishes that literally make us feel comfortable, safe, and warm. Food that feels like Mom tucking you into bed at night. These also usually need to be dishes that you can prepare fairly easily, or at least, that you know how to make. Something that you’re comfortable with.

April came over for dinner the other night and, as you may recall, she is a vegetarian. I am often stumped with menu planning for her because vegetarian meals don’t usually feel like they have a main course. And no, I am not going to make a faux meat, football-shaped concoction. 

In reverence to Gourmet’s demise I dug up a recipe from their November, 2008 issue and did some re-working. It is a beautiful centerpiece to any meal and also works well as a shared side dish. I kept it pretty standard for April - but gave it a major overhaul after, using chicken stock rather than vegetable, and adding a number of my own touches.

What I am referring to are individual, roasted sugar pumpkins stuffed with a strata of toasted baguette, aged gruyere and Emmental, and a creamy mixture of chicken stock, allspice and a dry rosé. What you get is a fondue-soufflé-like, bread pudding-ness inside of that roasted pumpkin. Each spoonful has a bite of the rich cheesiness with the roasted pumpkin scraped from the sides. It’s pretty amazing, totally comforting, snuggly, warm, substantial and delicious. It’s like a bear hug. It’s also surprisingly easy to prepare. I will serve this lovable, hug of a dish for my dad during his recovery in beautiful, chilly Virginia.

You can substitute the sugar pumpkin here with an acorn or kabocha squash. You could even use one large pumpkin that everyone can be served from, which is more in the style of traditional fondue. This recipe doubles or triples very easily.

Roast Pumpkin with Cheese “Fondue”

Serves 2 (as main course) or 4 (as a side dish)

Ingredients:

1/2 (7-inch) baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 small sugar pumpkins
3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon grated allspice
2 tbsp dry rosé wine
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 1/4 cups coarsely grated Gruyère
1 1/4 cups coarsely grated Emmental
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste


Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.
• Toast baguette slices in 1 layer on a baking sheet in oven until tops are crisp (bread will still be pale), about 7 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; reserve seeds for another use if desired). Season inside of pumpkin with 1/2 tsp salt.
• Whisk together cream, broth, rosé & allspice, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl. Mix together cheeses, shallot, garlice and sage in another bowl.
• Put a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkin, then cover with about 1/2 cup cheese and about 1/4 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top, using all of cream mixture. (You may have some bread and cheese left over.)
• Cover pumpkin with top and put in an oiled small roasting pan. Brush outside of pumpkin all over with olive oil. Bake until pumpkin is tender and filling is puffed, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Cooks’ note: Pumpkins can be filled 2 hours before baking and chilled.