Luna Pier Dog House: First Customers
Posted on 3 June 2008 under Beachhouse, Michigan Cuisine | 10 Comments
These pics are of our first two customers at the Luna Pier Dog House at the beach on Lake Erie. Above is first customer, City Administrator and, basically, our landlord, Greg Stewart. I’d decided early-on the first customer wouldn’t pay for their coffee … Greg did come back later for a Flint-style Coney Dog for lunch.
Below is the second customer, my son Aaron. I know, I know, he shouldn’t have had ice cream for breakfast, but he’s 18 now …
‘Luna Pier Dog House’: Almost There …
Posted on 28 May 2008 under Beachhouse, Michigan Cuisine | 5 Comments
Luna Pier Cook to Cook at Luna Pier, plus Why Wysocs is Bad Juju
Posted on 24 May 2008 under Beachhouse, Michigan Cuisine | 13 Comments
Unemployment in Michigan sucks. Constantly being the highest rate in the country, it just always seems to get worse instead of better. Now with the American auto industry sucking worse than ever, foreclosures happening all around, gas prices going through the roof and food prices skyrocketing, there’s no telling where or when it will all end. That the people in Washington can’t see past the end of their snobby noses is a real indicator that they need to be out of office so people who will actually do what’s needed can get in there and give this country the serious help it needs,
For now, I have to make my own way.
When the beachhouse concession at Luna Pier on Lake Erie became available for rent a couple months ago, I gave it some serious thought. It comes with literally nothing, and to even do a simple hot dog becomes an expensive venture when everything has to be inspectable. So I dropped the idea.
When Mary’s stepson started arranging to come home from college in Colorado he started talking about him and I running the beachhouse concession. With him helping to pay 50% of the startup costs, it started looking a bit better.
After two other proposals dropped out, he and I ended up being the concessionaires by default. We’ll have the concession open June 2nd, offering Flint-style coneys with fresh-made sauce, nachos, ice cream novelties, and pop and such. We’ll even open early (maybe 6 a.m.) so the fishermen can get coffee, breakfast sandwiches, hooks and live bait.
Come on out starting June 2nd and enjoy what we’ll have to offer, particularly since we don’t plan on marking things up like most tourist stops do.
So what does this have to do with Wysocs Subs & Deli? It’s a matter of a lack of ethics on their part, i.e., why I have to supply my own refrigerator.
Wysocs was the concessionaire at the Luna Pier beachhouse the past couple years. There are two refrigerators within the concession, both donated by residents of the city, a “freezer-on-top” unit for bait and an Amana side-by-side for food. (We know it was an Amana as we have photos from earlier. Note my use of the word “was” …)
Earlier this year before the locks were changed on the building, Jack Campbell’s folks from Wysocs were seen loading the Amana fridge into a truck. They told Luna Pier city DPW they had permission from council members, which wasn’t true. A police report was filed and they were told to bring it back. While they were putting it back they were asked if it was just as difficult to get it out of the building. They said it was. They then tried to take the bait fridge and were stopped from doing so. That they said, “Oh, we’ll just let you keep it”, is more than ridiculous.
The side-by-side they brought back is a Kenmore that doesn’t work at all. Jack Campbell claims it’s the right one, that there was an error on the city’s inventory.
Sure … like there were a dozen side-by-side fridges in that room … ok, whatever doode, we have photos.
This isn’t just a misunderstanding, as I’m skipping over parts of other conversations. This was an intentional act on their part.
So because of Jack Campbell and his lack of ethics, I have to supply my own fridge when I shouldn’t have to, when I’m already scrounging to make this work.
I understand from others in Monroe County that, “You can’t tell Jack Campbell anything”. I’ll tell you what, if I ever meet the guy he’ll get an earful he’ll never forget.
We’ll figure out the fridge situation. We’ll make it work, and we’ll do our damnest to keep our patrons happy.
But Jack Campbell sure as spit won’t be welcome as one of my customers.
Walking Tacos, Ludington-Style
Posted on 13 May 2008 under Food Destinations, Michigan Cuisine, Picnics, Recipes | 13 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?? 
Review: GFS Sweet Corn Bake
Posted on 21 April 2008 under Michigan Cuisine, Reviews: Products | 1 Comment
No, you’re not having some weird feeling of deja vu.
You’re right … two days ago I blogged about Mary Jewett’s wonderful Kentucky Corn Pudding and included her recipe. It looked different than this. Scroll down a bit … see? It’s still there. Looks pretty good, doesn’t it? Lots of good kernels of corn, with just a little bit of a binder in there. Yeah, it’s pretty darn tasty, too! So much so that there wasn’t any left.
So when I spotted this Sweet Corn Bake at GFS Marketplace in Toledo this afternoon I had hopes it would be something maybe, possibly, could be close to what Mary Jewett’s Kentucky Corn Pudding is. The ingredient list was promising … corn, flour, cornmeal, some cream … sounded pretty darn good that way.
Looking at the picture on the insert on top of the tray I thought, “Well maybe it doesn’t quite look like that … maybe there’s more corn and less cornbready stuff.”
Frankly, this is one of the few times I recall where the picture on the package actually matches what comes out when you’re done.
Nope, it’s not Mary Jewett’s Kentucky Corn Pudding. Not by a long shot.
Ok so this stuff’s not bad. It’s kind of an extra-sweet cornbread with some kernels of corn in it.
But ya’ see I’m catering a Mayoral dinner in early June and the Mayor now wants Mary Jewett’s Kentucky Corn Pudding. I thought the GFS Sweet Corn Bake might fit the bill.
It doesn’t. It might fit other menus, that’s for sure.
It just won’t work for this one.
Onward and upward. Gotta get to finding that Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque she wants. Yeah, that’s next.
Eat This Blog & Recipe: Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon
Posted on 15 April 2008 under Eat This Blog, Fish, Grilling, Michigan Cuisine, Recipes | 11 Comments
Salmon grilled on a cedar plank. I’ve never done this before, but man is it good!
(Click on any of these three images for a larger version.)
I’ve been meaning to try this for almost a year now. Mary had bought me these cedar planks for grilling fish and such, but as she doesn’t really like fish I’ve held off using them.
Until this evening.
I happened to have this two-pound slab of salmon and decided it was time to go ahead and do this. I’ll tell you what, this is about the easiest grilled fish there is. The fish ends up tender, flaky, moist and flavorful … just right to make for someone like Mary who’s never really liked fish even though she’s grown up right here in a fishing community.
The planks come with instructions, which I promptly read through. There are basic concepts about the plank that are simple. I only modified the seasoning for the fish but it seems the rest is rather straightforward …
Soak the plank in cold water for about 90 minutes. Preheat the closed grill to a temp of 350 degrees F. On my gas grill this was rather close to the lowest-possible setting on all four burners. Don’t go hot just to get it done! You want it to cook slow. Place the oiled-and-seasoned fish skin-side down on the wet plank, put it on the grill and close the lid.
Get some water and place it on standby. If that plank dries out and catches fire, you’ll be ready.
Let the fish cook. Really, don’t open the lid for at least 15 minutes. Start checking the flakiness of the fish at that point. You’ll get a feel for how much longer it will take after a while, so keep an eye on both the fish and the temperature of the closed grill.
Once the fish is able to flake apart easily across the entire filet, use a couple metal spatulas to remove the board and the fish together from the grill. Don’t you dare remove it with your hands … you’ll burn off your fingerprints! Metal … spatulas … get some …
This fish was brushed with olive oil (another part of the basic concepts), then seasoned with Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, granulated garlic, fresh chopped parsley and dill weed. That’s all … nothing else. Use your imagination and you’ll come up with your own combination.
I served this salmon with a pile of cooked brown and wild rices. I’m sure some grilled asparagus with some salt and pepper would have gone well with it as well. Too bad I didn’t have any asparagus or I’d have done just that.
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