The ChaCha...Text Message?

You are at a barbeque at a friend’s house, where hot dogs are served. You’ve always wanted to know what is in a hot dog, but not one person at the party has a cell phone with internet access. You’ll just have to remember to Google it when you get home, right?

Not anymore. As long as you have a text messaging plan, you can text all of your culinary questions to CHACHA at 242242. Within a minute, you’ll have your answer.

Hanging out one night, my friend Big Ry and I are wondering just that – What is in a hot dog, anyway? We are not eating hot dogs, but drinking wine. Still, we need to know the answer. Enter CHACHA. We text “What are hot dogs made of?” to 242242, and the response takes seconds:

Hotdogs [sic] are generally made of meat, meat fat, a ‘cereal filler’ (bread crumbs, oatmeal, or flour), egg white, and spices.

Cereal filler, huh? We hadn’t realized. But this question was too easy for CHACHA. We want to stump the system. What to ask? Sea salt is on my mind, as I had just sampled several varieties at Boordy Vineyards…Aha!

“Where is Himalayan sea salt cultivated?” we type wickedly.

This time we receive several ‘We are working on your answer’ texts. Finally, the consensus arrives:

This unique form of Himalayan salt is harvested as a pink crystal in the Himalayas under the earths [sic] surface. It is cultivated in its pure geometric form.

Then a follow-up text: “Gr8 Question,” they say! Ah, CHACHA stumping success!

Later, I’m wondering who these CHACHA answer gurus are. I’m picturing a room full of people and computers, the Google homepage continually flickering on and off every screen. I decide to Google our hot dog question to see what I find.

The information on HowStuffWorks is nearly identical to the answer we received.

Still, CHACHA is a fun party trick – Big Ry and I were entertained for a good ten minutes – and a valuable resource for those who need to know what is in their hot dog now.

Standard text messaging rates apply, according to Big Ry.

Vegetable Frittata

When I was young, it was important to my mom that I ate eggs. Maybe that’s because eggs are the perfect food, an ideal combination of protein, fat, and a few carbohydrates. Or it could be because they were inexpensive sources of nutrition. Whatever the reason, she would always make them “really special this time”, i.e. adding a squirt of ketchup on the side.

But I have always hated eggs.

With one exception. I enjoyed eggs when I was 7. Having spent the night at a friend’s house, I didn’t want to be rude when her mom made eggs for breakfast the next morning. I ate them and clearly remember enjoying them. But then I got sick. I couldn’t keep those eggs in my stomach.

For the next 23 years, whenever I have been near eggs, the smell and texture trigger that sick feeling in my throat, exactly like that feeling I had in childhood. I refuse to clean pots that eggs have been cooked in. It’s that bad.

But as I become more interested in food, my dislike for eggs is upsetting me. My breakfast options are cut in half. I can never be a judge on Top Chef; they often top their food with eggs.

To get past this, I decide to treat myself like a toddler – introduce eggs into my diet ten times. But, unlike a three-year-old who might wait until the tenth serving to try a bite, I will take a few tastes of each dish.

Jeffrey Steingarten overcame his food phobias when he became the food critic of Vogue:

“I feared that I could be no more objective than an art critic who detests the color yellow or suffers from red-green color blindness,” Steingarten says in The Man Who Ate Everything.

This is my inspiration. I can at least try to like eggs. If I’m successful, I will have expanded my meal choices.

So it seemed like the culinary Dalai Lama was pointing me to The New York Times Dining & Wine section a couple of weeks ago, where Mark Bittman’s recipe for More-Vegetable-Than-Egg Frittata sat, patiently waiting for a non-believer like me to join, in baby steps, the followers of Those-Who-Love-Eggs.

With this recipe in hand, I am ready to take a couple of bites of an egg dish that, really, is mostly vegetables.

I take three bites of my finished frittata (a success, I think!). Bite one, all I can taste is vegetables. Bite two, I get a bit of egg taste. Not so bad. The third bite? All mushy texture. My throat jumps to attention, remembering its role. I am done.

But this is a good start. I will rip the Band-Aid already and prepare ten egg dishes for ten toddler tastes of my most challenging food phobia. One down. Nine to go (or maybe four to go, because 10 egg dishes…well, that’s a lot).

Baltimore Restaurant Week – August 7-16

Just in!  Baltimore Restaurant Week extended to August 23.

Restaurant Week is my football season. I look forward to it all year. When it arrives, my life that week revolves around my reservations.

But this year, being new to Baltimore and in the process of learning the community, I found out about Restaurant Week later than usual. Looking at the event's website, some restaurants are already fully booked (or the Restauarnt Week list is inclusive of every food establishment that has ever participated in the event and many of them aren't involved this summer).

No matter! There are still reservations to be had. Here's a couple of important tips when planning your Restaurant Week dining experience(s):

• Check Open Table to see how much it would normally cost to eat at your favorite restaurants. Restaurant Week is a great time to try out three or four star establishments that might normally be too expensive.
• On the event website, most restaurants link to their special Restaurant Week menus. If you read a menu or two and start to get hungry, these are the places you should visit.
• The thought of finding parking in the city has kept me at home many times. Luckily, some parking garages offer Restaurant Week specials starting at $3 (I think. Although the Restaurant Week website links to this parking garage discount page, the dates are July 26 to August 3).

Reservations can be made through Open Table. Happy Eating!

Baltimore Restaurant Week runs from August 7 to 16, 2009. Special menus offer three courses for $30.09.

High Grounds Coffee Roasters – Baltimore Artists Blend

Fair Trade Coffee that Supports Local Artists

Kenny and I met friends Thursday night at the Boordy Vineyards Sustainable Happy Hour in Hydes, Maryland to sample Boordy’s delicious wines (their Riesling is my favorite), eat some good local food (salmon burgers, bison sausages, chips and salsa, and more were available for purchase), and listen to music.

I left without having a sip of wine or a full dinner (I did manage to snag some bites from my generous friends!). But my bag was full with smoked salmon and two kinds of salt (more on these later), and the fair trade Baltimore Artists Blend coffee from the Baltimore coffee company High Grounds Coffee Roasters.

High Grounds Coffee Roasters supports local artists with their Baltimore Artists Blend, described on the bag as a “medium to dark roast blend designed to bring creativity, passion, and inspiration to your life.” Each bag of Baltimore Artists Blend highlights one piece of work from a Baltimore artist and includes the artist’s website.

Artists affiliated with High Grounds Coffee Roasters also get exposure on the company’s website – today, the Baltimore Artists Blend page includes links to the websites of seven new artists.

High Grounds currently works with 18 artists, but would love to add more to their network (Kenny is a painter and was told to send High Grounds jpgs of his work). Staff members like to have a personal relationship with the artists they work with; therefore, face-to-face meetings are encouraged.

Sounds like a great way to get exposure. Contact High Grounds Coffee Roasters if interested. There isn't a phone number or email address on their website (which will make it tough for Kenny to send those jpgs!), but you can visit them at their store or Boordy Vineyards on Thursdays. .

High Grounds Coffee Roasters is located at 3201 Eastern Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, across the street from the Creative Alliance.

YogaFresh Frozen Yogurt in Bel Air

"Ice Cream Taste, Yogurt Waste!"

European and Vanilla Twist with Mango

Until June, I lived in New York, where it is difficult to walk a few blocks without passing by a frozen yogurt chain like Pinkberry or Red Mango. Frozen yogurt is a craze for good reason – it’s refreshing, creamy, and sweet, but also healthy thanks to live and active yogurt cultures.

Shortly after moving to Maryland, I couldn’t have been happier to run into a young woman holding a sign for the new frozen yogurt store, YogaFresh, located at 308 Main Street in Bel Air. Thankfully, I was walking down Main Street at the time. Had I been driving, I might never have discovered this place – YogaFresh is run out of a small blue house and the sign outside is easy to miss (passing by another day, there was a second, more visible sign - "Ice Cream Taste, Yogurt Waste!").

Just five weeks old, YogaFresh reminds me of the New York frozen yogurt chains I loved. The menu offers three flavors – European, Vanilla, and Twist – and a variety of toppings from fruit (like blueberries and mango) to candies (sprinkles, gummy bears, nonpareils, 86 percent Ghirardelli chocolate squares, and more).

The staff couldn’t be more helpful. I ask what the European flavor tastes like, but learn much more. The European tastes like Greek Yogurt with a bit of tartness, while vanilla is sweet like vanilla ice cream, but fat-free. The Twist combines European and Vanilla – tart and sweet. Two sizes are offered; the smallest, Slim, has just 100 calories and costs $2.75 (the larger size costs $3.50).

I order the twist, fearing the European will be like plain Greek yogurt, which is much too tart for me on its own. But European doesn’t need help from Vanilla. It is still sweet with an extra tart kick that adds a depth of flavor.

For those like my Mom who are more moved by presentation than flavor, YogaFresh offers more than yummy summer dessert goodness. "These are nice little spoons!" she says about her serving.

The Lodge Restaurant in Bel Air

"A Fish Even a Fat Boy Could Like"

Like Michael Scott’s That’s What She Said, my friend Big Ry can find a way to work Is That a Fat Joke? into any conversation. If I say I like your shirt or Do you want something to eat?, Big Ry is quick with his line. His body is stiff. He sounds defensive. And he looks pissed. Then he is laughing. This is his humor. It’s all part of the Big Ry shtick.

The shtick comes to dinner with us at the relatively new Bel Air restaurant The Lodge. I ask him what he thinks of our appetizer, rockfish bites with spicy aioli.

This is a fish even a fat boy could like, he says.

I know what he’s trying to say. Big Ry has been to The Lodge many times and eaten many rockfish bites. Big Ry really likes this fish.

That’s good for him because rockfish is the superstar of the seafood offerings at The Lodge. In addition to the rockfish bites, there is a rockfish wrap and an entrée of basil rockfish with diced tomatoes. Rockfish is also paired with crab in two entrees and one quesadilla.

The kitchen also offers inexpensive bar food – wraps, sandwiches, burgers, quesadillas – in addition to their moderately priced list of steak and seafood entrees served with rice pilaf or smashed red bliss potatoes.

Many of the menu items seem heavy with rich sauces or dips. Looking for a healthier option, I order the grilled tuna and mango salsa appetizer as my entree.

Satisfied with rockfish for the night, Big Ry goes for the Texan Salad – mixed field greens topped with corn, lightly fried chicken tenders, smoked applewood bacon, diced tomatoes, cheddar and jack cheese.

It’s a cool July night and we are seated in the outdoor dining area. We must have done a good deed that day because karma has given us a table next to the miniature waterfall and one of The Lodge’s fire pits. A row of trees separates us – respectable dinner patrons – from the outdoor bar, which is crowded for the Thursday Night Deck Party. The whole outdoor space feels upbeat, thanks in part to the party’s three $5 drinks (Orange Crush, Grapefruit Crush, and Caribbean Crush are offered.).

My tuna hits all of the flavor and texture points – salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy . Big Ry likes his salad but disappoints, eating only half.

You aren’t going to finish?, I ask. I don’t know why I bothered. I already know his response.

The Lodge, located at 2119 Conowingo Road in Bel Air, MD, offers a lively atmosphere and at least three satisfying dishes. Phone: 410-838-2240. The restaurant doesn’t have a website, but a map and other reviews can be found here.

The Lodge: Dining on the Left, Bar on the Right

Big Ry enjoys a pint of water

The Shark Restaurant in Ocean City

Amazing Food and Great Lunch Deals Across the Route 50 Bridge

For me, eating in Ocean City, Maryland is about convenience. After living in New York City for five years, I hate driving and rarely go anywhere that can’t be reached on foot. But I would travel to the ends of the earth to eat at The Shark restaurant (which, in Ocean City geography, means crossing the Route 50 bridge).

To get there, Kenny, my parents, and I travel south on Coastal Highway, the only road in Ocean City. We pass several miniature golf courses, all with a different theme; hotels and condos on every block; and the crowded Boardwalk area, which runs from 27^th Street to the Inlet. When we near the end of Ocean City we make a right, crossing that Route 50 Bridge to West Ocean City, driving past a handful of fishermen and rows of cast lines along the way. After exiting the bridge, making a couple of turns, and crossing a frustrating two-way stop sign intersection, we arrive at a harbor.

A few boats sit, parked between their designated wooden posts and, across the water, another handful of fisherman (not to be confused with the first handful on the bridge) are unloading the day’s catch. It is quiet and the air smells like fish and salt. The drive takes 15 minutes on a good day. The reward: the Shark Restaurant’s delicious $5 lunch.

The Shark has wonderful dinners (starting with an amuse bouche and warm bread with a thick cheese spread), but it’s hard to beat their $5 lunch deal, especially during these tough economic times. We sit down to a menu that offers a tuna sandwich, a flounder sandwich, and a burger made with mako shark and swordfish. As a side, we choose between organic mixed greens or thick-cut house-made potato chips.

I get the last mako burger available, served with Creole mustard. The mustard has an extra kick, which my family and I decide must be horseradish. It’s a thick, messy sandwich. I struggle to wrap my mouth around it and, after every bite, must wipe away the mustard or piece of lettuce that gets stuck to my chin. But I am happy to sacrifice sophistication for this filling burger.

The flounder, ordered by Kenny and my parents, has a light, crisp crust with a fresh lemon flavor. This sandwich is thinner, leaving my face cleaner when I take a bite. Both meals are amazing – hearty, flavorful and worth much more than their $5 price (to see the daily $5 lunch specials, visit In the Kitchen).

Another reason I am in love with the Shark: its commitment to natural and/or local products. The first page of The Shark's menu proudly proclaims their participation in the local/natural food movement. Most of the seafood dishes come from “the Southern Connection dock located right here in the commercial harbor” (the harbor is pictured above). Angus beef, pork, and chicken come from animals who are fed a natural diet with no antibiotics or hormones. Produce, butter, cheese, and ice cream are sourced locally.

For other great Ocean City dining experiences, Elizabeth Large of The Baltimore Sun has some ideas including the Sunset Grille, located right across the street from the Shark. Their food may be delicious, but my loyalty to the Shark is strong. I can’t imagine driving for anyone else.

Visit the The Shark at 12924 Sunset Avenue in West Ocean City, Maryland. Directions can be found here.