Walking Tacos, Ludington-Style
Posted on 13 May 2008 under Food Destinations, Michigan Cuisine, Picnics, Recipes | 10 Comments
Click on this image for a larger version.
Back a couple months ago, Dawn Shock retired as librarian at the Rasey Memorial Library here in Luna Pier. She’d been here for quite some time, and was an incredibly hard worker. She set up the hours at the Rasey Library in such a way that it mirrored the hours at the library over in Erie. That way, she could operate both libraries at separate times! She was also Luna Pier’s official historian, and had things stashed and catalogued all the way back to the Prohibition era and before. Her retirement has left a huge space in how things work in those areas.
So it was a pleasant surprise last week to run into her again! Of course she and I talk food on occasion, and she had a good one this time.
It seems up in Ludington, Michigan, and places near there, they offer a thing called a “Walking Taco“. (In looking into this thing, I even found it on the lunch menu for the Catholic school in Ludington.) The way she described it, Fritos are crushed into a lunch sack, taco meat is dumped on top, then lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese … you then just grab a fork and eat it out of the bag. Dawn said she’s had others and there’s nothing as good as the ones in Ludington.
I looked into this thing, and it’s real easy. I did find a few variations on the theme depending on the target eaters, but really, there’s nothing to it.
Basically, you make a Walking Taco it the way Dawn described. That’s all, plain and simple.
Another method is to crush the Fritos withing their own individual serving bag, leave ‘m in there, and pile everything on top.
Just use a commercial taco seasoning such as Old El Paso or whatever. I make it a bit drier, only adding 1/4 cup water vs. the 1 cup of water the package calls for. But for this batch I used the bulk mild taco seasoning from GFS Marketplace, mixing 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup taco seasoning for each pound of browned ground beef. I also added mild banana pepper rings and sliced black olives to mine, along with a bit of chopped onion.
This is a good mix-and-match meal that would make a great little taco bar for a picnic buffet, particularly for kids. And one of these days, we’ll get up to Ludington for what retired librarian Dawn Shock calls “the good stuff”.
Fish Market: Fresh Salmon Cakes!
Posted on 3 May 2008 under Fish, Michigan Cuisine, Shopping | No Comments
Click on any of these three photos for a larger version.
Oh yeah, these were tasty!
While shopping with my son this morning we almost drove past The Fish Market on Telegraph just south of the state line … again. I say “again” because I drive by the darn place all the time without stopping in. And “almost” because this time, I didn’t get that far.
And really, I should be stopping in more. Our friends Steve and Denise own the place, and Steve was in there today. The Fish Market has by far the best, the freshest seafood and seafood creations in all of SE Michigan and NW Ohio combined. And since Steve and Denise live right here in Luna Pier, we should certainly support their business much more than we do.
I decided to browse for something for lunch for Aaron and I. There were all kinds of crab cakes, lobster-stuffed salmon pinwheels, oysters on the half shell, Alaskan king crab (yeah, that Deadliest Catch stuff from the Bering Sea) … Lots of good choices in Steve’s shop today.
What caught my eye were these salmon cakes. At 99 cents each for about a 1/4 lb patty, getting ten of them was easy. They just needed to be sautéed in a pan with a little olive oil and with a bit of rice, they’d be a good lunch for Aaron and I.
And man, were they ever good! They have a rich salmon flavor that only comes out when they’re sautéed like this for a bit until the surface is a golden-brown. They hold together amazingly well, and are perfect by themselves … no bun, definitely no tarter sauce … not even a touch of lemon. These are just damn good.
There’s six more in the freezer. I know what I’m having for lunch this week.
I know I posted this recipe recently, but because of these nice salmon cakes I just have to post it again. Enjoy!
Barb’s Salmon Patties
Makes 4 salmon patties
Ingredients
1 lb fresh salmon, baked or grilled, cooled
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup low-salt saltine crackers, crushed
1/3 cup green onions, thinly-sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
olive oil (for cooking)
Flake the salmon. With the exception of the olive oil, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mixing well. Divide into four portions and make patties 3/4″ thick.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons olive oil and allow to get hot without the oil smoking. Add the patties; cook for three minutes on each side. Serve as desired.
Michigan Product Review: Baffo’s ‘Meals in Bread Rolls’
Posted on 2 May 2008 under Michigan Cuisine, Reviews: Products | No Comments
Michigan-made products. For some reason I tend to gravitate toward Michigan-made products more than others. It could simply be so I can get blog posts written that are relevant, but really, having lived on the east coast for a while I missed some of the products here. So that could be part of it as well.
I found these Baffo’s sandwich rolls at the market here in Luna Pier. John told me the high school used to sell the pizza version of these sandwiches for 50 cents each, which really isn’t a bad deal for the kids. At the market they average $2 each, which is doable for a lot of folks.
The package says, “For best results, open one end of package. Heat for approx. 15 seconds.” I did this, cut the end off, felt inside … put it back in the package and heated it another 30 seconds. I’m wondering if the “15 seconds” is a typo, as 45 seconds worked fine.
I gotta tell ya, after I heated this breakfast roll and pulled it out of its package and put it on this plate for photographing, I was a little bit leary of it. You can see the outside of the roll toward the middle is still a bit doughy. (You can even see this in the upper photo through the packaging.) This is definitely a manufacturing and quality issue that should be looked into.
Inside was interesting. The egg is shaped like a miniature omelet, with chunks of bacon. I’m guessing the brownish material is the cheddar, which doesn’t appear to have faired well.
Still, the flavor was fairly good. Dissolved cheddar aside, I could taste both the egg and the bacon. The bread roll itself was like a well-made sub roll, soft and flavorful.
Mary’s told me the ham & cheese version was alright, but there were only two small pieces of ham inside the bread roll. She said the cheese was ok, but that the best part was the bread.
We both agreed, however, that we like Baffo’s better than Hot Pockets, especially for the price, and are planning to try the pizza version when we get the chance.
Now all they need is a good liverwurst and meunster version …
Eat This Blog: Zingerman’s Sourdough and Farmhouse Breads
Posted on 24 April 2008 under Baking, Eat This Blog, Michigan Cuisine | 3 Comments
World-famous Zingerman’s, mentioned by Chef Mario Batali on multiple shows over the years and written-up on Serious Eats out of NYC as well, isn’t all that far away. The bakery and store are about an hour’s drive to the north in Ann Arbor. But there’s no need to go that far if you live in NE Ohio or SE Michigan. The Zingerman’s delivery truck makes the drive to The Anderson’s Market in Toledo each morning, delivering all kinds of tasty goodies to go into the display cases next to The Andersons’ own handmade baked goods.
The top image is of Zingerman’s Sourdough Bread. Soft on the inside with a mildly-hard crust, this is a great bread for sandwiches, from coldcuts to BBQ pulled pork.
The image below is of their Farmhouse Bread. This loaf has quite a hard crust, with the softness of the sourdough inside combined with the flavor and extra density of a wheat bread. I like to just slather this with real butter, but it’s also amazing toasted for a fried egg sandwich.
Nope, neither of these loaves are going to last long around here.
Click on either of these images for a larger version.
Tecumseh’s Boulevard Market in This Morning’s Toledo Blade
Posted on 22 April 2008 under Food In The News, Michigan Cuisine | 2 Comments
This morning Toledo Blade Food Editor Kathie Smith has published a rather nice article on our good friends John and Erica Aylward of the Boulevard Market over in Tecumseh, Michigan. Ms. Smith’s article focuses on the artisnal cheeses John makes in his Four Corners Creamery. At one point she mentions John “… also makes Northern Lights, a fresh spreadable cheese like a Boursin cheese from cow’s milk.” Adam and I both kinda recall John or Erica saying they’re selling about 26 pounds of their Northern Lights cheese each week! This is interesting, as the Northern Lights cheese, a soft cow milk cheese with garlic, peppercorns and paprika, was intended by John to be a “Christmas Holiday-only” cheese! Its popularity has just gotten a bit out-of-hand, and there is always a fresh tub of it in the store. In the image to the left you can see some freshly-ladled curdled milk for Camembert cheese in their “cheesemoulds” back in the pasteurizing room at the Market. This cheese will be available about three weeks after John pours it.
We have all kinds of connections with the Boulevard Market, including my daughter and their daughter being close friends, and one of Mary’s cousins renting one of John and Erica’s three upstairs apartments. They’re just a great family to get to know.
Oh and by the way … as I know Erica reads this blog on occasion … yeah, very nice that you allowed the Blade photographer to take a picture of you and publish it. Did you give them the same kind of hard time about that as you give me?? 
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