Lemon Sea Salt Flakes

Once in a while I discover something that is just too great to keep a secret. The other day while browsing in Kroger I spotted a container of Lemon Sea Salt. I had never seen this before and decided to purchase it. WOW am I glad I did. This salt is amazing. Now you may be thinking that this is just regular sea salt with lemon zest or lemon powder mixed in. You would be oh so wrong. This is crispy crunchy flakes of sea salt that have been infused with lemon juice. The flakes are absolutely delightful on a variety of foods. I have tried them on French green beans (Costco) and on baked salmon. I was too lazy to get up and get the regular salt for my steak the other night so I just used the lemon salt. I sprinkled some on my NY Strip - fantastic!! It comes from Cyprus. Yum!!

French Fries

I love French Fries. Baked potatoes are OK, home fried potatoes are OK and potato pancakes will do in a pinch. French Fries on the other hand are fantastic!!

I have discovered a place on Chamberlayne Avenue that has perfect fat fast food French Fries. Not the skinny wimpy fries so many places have these days. Definitely not the fries coated with 'stuff'!! These are not fresh cut fries. They are frozen.

I was on my way home from Five Guys a few nights ago and was craving French Fries. Five Guys was closed for some type of employee gathering. It was 9 PM. I needed French Fries!! Heading to Ginter Park from the VCU area we were driving down Chamberlayne Avenue when I saw a little place which I believe is called "Park's Combo" or "Triangle". It is right next to the Military Retirees Club in an old Bullets building. Surely you remember Bullets the "Bang you are fed" hamburger chain which was so popular in Richmond for a minute.

I had never been to this place before and had no idea weather they sold French Fries or not. We stopped and I went to the window and ordered French Fries. Only French Fries nothing else. I asked the woman to make them nice and done - GBD - Golden, Brown and Delicious!! (Well maybe not brown but most assuredly golden) She said OK. I waited about 10 minutes and she handed me a brown paper bag with a medium size white wax paper bag inside with my golden fries. I immediately dumped the potatoes into the brown paper bag and asked her to shake some salt on the golden lovelies. I opened the small container of ketchup and poured the entire thing onto my fries and closed the bag and shook like mad. I asked for a fork and began to eat - before I got back into the truck I knew I had found potato nirvana!!!

If I ever have a French Fry attack again I will head over to Chamberlayne Avenue and get 'fixed'. Yummy!!!

Fresh Pork ?? Not always......

The Tan-A Market in the Little Saigon sometimes has a great fresh pork and fresh fish selection. Problem is sometimes their pork is 'ripe' and you can tell by looking that some of the fish is way past prime. A few weeks ago however they had some of the freshest pork 'knuckles' I have seen. I was able to make a long time fav of mine 'souse'. Some folks call it head cheese because it can be made with the meat from a hog's head. I however use pig knuckles and chop the meat and skin to make my loaf.

Souse is really easy to make.

Rinse the knuckles well and put in large dutch oven type pot - cover with cold water and bring to boil.
Season with salt and and boil until tender.
When meat and skin are tender take the pot off stove and let cool until meat can be handled comfortably.
Remove all the bones and leave the meat in as large pieces as possible.
Place the meat and cut up skin in a mold (loaf pan works).
Add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar to the broth and boil until reduced by about 1/2.
Pour the broth over the meat in loaf pan.
Put in refrigerator until cold and congealed.

To serve slice about 1/4 inch thick and serve with saltine crackers

Or you could buy it from the deli at Ukrops. Not all Ukrops have it but some still do.

Need Mint ?? Need Basil??

There are some recipes that call for large amounts of mint. There are also recipes that call for large amounts of basil. If it is the height of the summer gardening season you can go in to your herb garden and pick gallons or either. However, what will you do if it is February or March and you want a cup or two of either herb??

If you are in Richmond, VA just drive over to Little Saigon (Hermitage & Broad) to the Tan-A Market and buy a nice size bag of either herb for $1.00 !! Yes folks you read about it here. This market sells a sandwich size plastic bag of mint and/or basil for One Dollar!! Of course you could always go over to Ukrops, Fresh Market or El Thom and pay around $2 for a tiny, tiny plastic carton of either. You will have to ask the employees which bag contains which (if your sniffer is not up to snuff).

Bread at Target

Yes fellow foodies I said it - there is bread at Target. The brand name is Archer Farms and the stuff is a delightful change from the "HFCS" laden bread in every market in town. (HFCS = high fructose corn syrup)

Now if you prefer super soft squishy bread then this is not for you. The ingredient list is quite short - not as short as the drool worthy bread from Weiman's and Flour Garden but MUCH shorter than your standard supermarket bread. What sweetner do they use?? Just plain old fashioned sugar!! Can you believe it?? What a novel thought - using sugar instead of HFCS!!

My old favourite bread bakery 'Montana Gold' on Cary street has started adding HFCS to their breads in place of the more expensive honey they originally used so I no longer shop there for bread.

If I could have home delivery of Weiman's or Flour Garden I would only eat their breads but alas they do not deliver!!

Perhaps soon we will have a Whole Foods grocery market in Richmond then we will have access to real bread and not sliced chemicals.

My favourite Archer farms bread is the Whole Wheat but the Buttermilk bread makes a slamming grilled cheddar and mozzarella cheese sandwich............