You Say Dog Food, I Say Woof!

July 16, 2010

I wish I had a t-shirt that said, “Real Foodies Eat McNuggets (Too)”.

Maybe I’m opening a can of worms, and several of you are recoiling in horror, interjecting with protests about the questionable meat in the “chicken” of McNuggets, the hormones in the “chicken”, the weird unreadable chemicals, the malpractice of the company, the importance of sustainability, blah…blah…blah.

Frankly, I think it’s rather insulting for someone to sniff their noses and say, “That stuff is for the dogs” when so many people happily chow down that “dog food” all across the world. While I do admit fast food isn’t exactly nutritionally or environmentally friendly, I see no harm in acknowledging that hey, sometimes, we just need some grub.

That’s why one of the blogs I subscribe to is GrubGrade, a blog about all things…well, grubby—the kind of food that you grab on-the-go, the kind of sustenance in which we all guiltily, yet delightfully, indulge. That includes fast food, snacks, chain restaurants, and other casual gruberies. It’s got reviews, behind-the-scene interviews, updates, and news, and I find it a rather refreshing change from most other blogs that proudly tout organic butter and homemade artisan bread.

I’ve actually been in constant contact with one of the regular bloggers there, Adam. You might recognize him as the sole participator of Sweet Treat Wednesday and Fried Food Thursday. It turns out that he lives on about 30 miles away from me, so when Ameena contacted me about a small DC Bloggers meet-up, I invited him right away.

Yes, I know. It would have made such a strong statement if we had met at Burger King, or even a low-key chili place in DC. But Ameena has severe allergy issues, and the other blogger, Danielle, is a vegetarian/vegan. That of course, eliminates practically all grubby places.

We still found a pretty popular chain restaurant that would fit all our diets, though. I’m sure most of you have heard of it. It’s Le Pain Quotidien:
I got a bit lost navigating my way to this place in DC, and felt like a fool asking for directions, because I know I totally butchered the French pronunciation and sounded like an idiot. If I were ever to wander around the streets of Paris, I’ll be chased after with rock-hard week-old baguettes and smelly unshaved armpits.
Haha, I kid. Anyway. I was so happy to meet Ameena again. I’ve met her a couple times in LA, and we had plans to meet up again, but who knew we would be meeting all the way across the country instead? This time, she brought her darling little 5-year-old daughter Maya along. I wish I had taken a picture of Maya, but just visit Ameena’s blog to take a peek at her adorable face.

Maya is this hyper little bird that flies about here and there; she never sits still, and I could tell by the way she talks that she is incredibly intelligent and bright. Ameena, you’ve got a young woman full of potential in your hands. But watch it— this pretty girl has got the best features of both her parents, and will grow up to break tons of hearts.

I was also pleased to meet Danielle, whose blog I have not visited before until now. She’s the co-blogger of the blog Beltway to Bay, and I thought it was really cool how she kept in contact with her friend at San Francisco through sharing a common blog about healthy living.

And of course, it was awesome finally meeting the dude behind the GrubGrade team, Adam. Adam doesn’t just write about food. He also is a pretty esteemed sports writer at Utah State. No, he is not Mormon (He’s Catholic, actually), and I think he’s crazy to want to move to frigid Utah, but damn is he a great writer!!

In fact, a recent piece he wrote on a Navy football player Andre Byrd really touched me to tears…but it seemed to hit the writer Adam himself the most, and he even did an honest, personal account on how that interview with Byrd inspired him. Please do check both articles out. I promise you it’s worth every minute of your time…enough to get the attention of a ESPN writer, Bruce Feldman, who also wrote a piece on both Adam and Byrd.
Anyway. I don’t share the same love for sports as Adam, but we both share the same passion for faith, and obviously, food. And apparently we have the same tastes (and budget), because we both ordered the same thing, the Ricotta Tartine:
Organic whole wheat bread with mission figs, black pepper and organic acacia honey.
This tiny open-faced sandwich cost me about $9, minus tip and taxes. That is equal to four Supersize McDonald french fries! I mean come on, this is a snack, not a meal. I was also expecting fresh figs, so was rather nonplussed to find dried figs instead. I almost teared up at the sight of this blatant daylight robbery.

But thankfully, I also almost teared up when I bit into this skinny sandwich. Holy…freaking…OMG! So freaking good!
It was the ricotta that was the star of this dish—it was utterly creamy, luscious, rich…the great thing about ricotta is that even though it can be considered bland, it marries so well with other ingredients. The touch of acacia honey brought out the natural sweetness of the cheese, and the sprinkle of fresh-cracked pepper gave it some ummph, some depth.

Maya couldn’t finish her Roast Beef Tartine, so I stole a piece from her:
Roast Beef with caper mayonnaise, diced tomatoes & scallions. It was good, and I think I need to recreate that caper mayonnaise. That was a crappy picture, so here’s a more professional one:
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The waiter messed up Danielle’s order though, so she got her meal for free (woo hoo!) and he also gave us a complimentary dessert:

I think it’s a hazelnut chocolate mousse cake. I dislike chocolatey desserts, but I had several bites because hey, it’s free and it’s organic and all that good jazz. And it wasn’t too bad. Intensely chocolatey, and not too sweet. Not my kind of dessert, but I’m sure many chocolate-lovers would swoon over it.

The lunch was definitely expensive. But hey, meeting and hanging out with great people like Ameena, Danielle, and Adam is priceless.

But the tartine was constantly on my mind, even when I got home. It was just too fabulous, but I refuse to pay $12 for that small a portion. So I decided to make my own at home, but with a few twists, of course:
I used my favorite bread, Honey Whole Wheat from Great Harvest. On one side, I slathered a mixture of cottage cheese and mayo, and topped it with sliced figs and black pepper.
On the other, I slathered a creamy blue cheese spread (from Laughing Cow), thin slices of fresh Fuji apple, and 3 slices of crisp bacon:
All together now:
Ooooh. Not to be snotty, but I think my sandwich kicks tartine ass. It probably took less than $2 to make it, but it tasted…dare I say it…much better? I mean, wow, is anything more mouth-watering than fried bacon? I think not.
Now that’s what I like about grub food. Affordable, delicious, easy, simple, and fast. Sometimes, that can be a fresh-made sandwich like this. And sometimes, it can be a packet of potato chips, or McNuggets from the Dollar Menu.