Month: February 2021

2021 Week 9 – Indy Tacos

Finally stopped in to check out Indy Tacos (2196 E 54th St, Indianapolis) this last week. I’ve driven by several times & keep seeing it brought up on the Indianapolis Reddit page & decided now was the time. They have a nice selection of items and the prices are very reasonable for the quality. I opted for 1 Chorizo and 2 El Pastor tacos. I thought I might as well try out their chips and salsa while I waited.

No sooner did I grab a seat and take my coat off the food came out. I was not expecting that! You’ll need to be the judge yourself but I thought the tacos were perfect and the chips/salsa was some of the best I’ve had in a long time. The salsa was nice and cold and the chips were super fresh. They also provided some green and red squeeze bottle salsas. I’ll warn you, the red is HOT! If you’re in the area and want a quick bite it’s worth a little detour off Keystone to try this place out! Their Instagram page is here.

If you’re looking for a new local podcast you should check out the series from the Indy Chamber CEO Michael Huber. The Michael Loves Indy podcast has interviews from area influencers, such as Aaron Renn, former Mayor Greg Ballard and Michael Kaufmann. 10 episodes are currently available.

And finally, I’ve been a Mac user for quite a while now & thought I’d seen it all. The following video has some tips and tricks I never knew existed. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/ofJPRZcBhwA

2021 Week 8 – MORE SNOW!

Well the snow arrived last week and it actually matched the forecasters predictions! We ended up with about 9 inches in central Indiana and it brought the region to a halt for about 24-hours. This is one of the first big snowfalls we’ve had in several years. In fact this system was so big they got snow and sub-zero temps in TEXAS!

Clancy’s is BACK! – I grew up in Noblesville and we had at least one Clancy’s hamburger joints in town, I remember going there for a tasty burger every once in a while. That same family is back with a new location at the Garage Food Hall in the Bottleworks District downtown. I’ve eaten there a few times and it’s as good as I remember as a kid!

Classic Clancy “Topper” with their delicious crinkle cut fries.

Speaking of food (shocker I know) I’m planning on checking out a place called Indy Tacos this week. I see them mentioned all the time on the Indianapolis sub-reddit as a legit option when looking for delicious Mexican food. More to some next week!

Finally, it looks like Alton Brown is getting ready to release another season of his Good Eats reboot. Food Network practically taught me how to cook and Alton is one of my all time favorite cooking celebrities. I’m looking forward to the new season!

2021 Week 6/7 – Test Kitchen Troubles

Another Cold week and more chances for snow, oh boy! It’s been a while since Indy has been above the freezing mark and I think we have another week before we have a chance of making it there.

Issues at the Bon Appetite Test Kitchen as detailed on the /reply-all/ Podcast episode #172 (part 1 of 2). I used to LOVE watching the Bon Appetite test kitchen on YouTube as well as reading the monthly magazine. But a lot of things have come out this past year about racism and unfair treatment of minority employees. It was so bad they’ve all but disbanded the original cast and tried to reboot the show with an all new cast. It’s not the same & it’s a shame things happened the way it did. The podcast is an interesting report of how things transpired for the past 10 years up until things started coming to light in 2020.

Ammo prices are crazy right now! If you like to shoot you probably already know about this. There was a time not so long ago that a single round of 9mm would average about $0.15 when you purchased in bulk. These days that same round is closer to $0.90. That has a lot of people shooting less and no doubt putting pressure on the area firing ranges. I know I sure can’t justify throwing a dollar down range with every shot. I think Chris Rock was onto something years ago.

Well the Super Bowl was a little disappointing this year. Not only the outcome but the actual game. The oddsmakers had it listed as a 3-point spread so everyone was anticipating a shootout to the very end. Reports released this week indicated it was was one of the least viewed games in 14 years. Maybe next year will be better, don’t think it can get any worse!

Prior to the Super Bowl DraftKings presented their Big Game Snackdown on their YouTube channel. This was a competitive eating competition featuring the top people in the sport such as Joey Chestnut. They had 8 minutes to eat a variety of foods one might find at a Super Bowl party. It was a LOT of food and several of the contestants didn’t make it to the end.

For the food portion of this weeks entry I’d like to give some props to the A 2 Z Cafe on 96th St in Indianapolis. This place is right down the street from the office and I’ve only been twice. Once for breakfast pre-Covid and once this week for lunch. It’s a small family run business with a lot of character and a great menu featuring all the diner classics along with several Hawaiian classics.

Shoyu Chicken and Coconut rice with Pasta Salad

And finally, there was a time when the Boston Dynamic robots were wobbly and not so sure on their feet. Now we have this. Technology has come a LONG way!

Scalloped Potato Gratin

I’ve made this dish around the holidays for years and brought it out last weekend to go with a baked ham we were eating for dinner. It’s a pretty straight forward potato dish but the flavors and textures are really incredible. You can use as much, or as little, thyme and garlic as you like. I think it’s better on the more side.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more to finish
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Unsalted butter
  • 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices*
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a saucepan, heat up the heavy cream with the thyme, garlic, and nutmeg

While the cream is heating up, butter a 9×13″ casserole dish. Place a layer of potatoes in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the cream from the heat and ladle a little over the potatoes and top with some of the Parmesian. Make 2-3 more layers, bake uncovered, for 45 minutes.

Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese browns.

*A mandolin slicer (or a food processor with a slicing disk) is the best way to get uniform slices that will cook evenly.