SMTXtreme: Burgers In San Marcos, Texas!

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San Marcos Like a Local

SMTXtreme: Burgers In San Marcos

August 3, 2017

 

San Marcos is a city that embraces the extreme – we like our SUP boards big, our water clear and cold, and our football on unicycles. With that said, we decided to charge ourselves with the task of finding the city’s most extreme burgers. A task of herculean proportions, and portions… Without further ado, and in no particular order, we’d like to introduce some of our favorite SMTXtreme burgers in San Marcos.

 

Ultimate Gordo Burger

Gordo’s Burger and Stuff is the stuff of burger legends. A late-night favorite, Gordo’s always hits the spot. We selected the Ultimate Gordo Burger, as one does when taking on a list of SMTXtreme burgers. A word to the wise, the Ultimate Gordo Burger comes in a two-patty version or a four-patty version – the four-patty version comes with avocado. Knowing we had a sizable to-do list to conquer after lunch and no time for a nap, we went for the two-patty version with fried pickles and French fries on the side to share. Two patties, two slices of cheese, bacon, onion, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, mayo, chili, mushrooms and jalapenos – the Ultimate Gordo Burger truly had it all. Every bite full of flavor, our favorite part of the Gordo’s experience was the way the hamburger meat, perfectly cooked and handcrafted, crumbled in your mouth with every bite.

Border-War Burger

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Mona Lisa, the Border-War Burger – too beautiful to accurately describe in words, but we will try our best. When you order the Border-War Burger at Showdown, nobody warns you that your life is about to be changed, so heed our warning. It is a truly majestic and life changing meal and you will never look at a cheeseburger the same way. Who looks at a cheeseburger and thinks, “what if I replace the buns with bacon and cheese quesadillas?” The geniuses at Showdown, that’s who! The half-pound of beef, smothered in diced jalapenos, tomatoes and red onions, topped with cheese, mustard, mayo and pickles comes nestled inside two bacon and cheese quesadillas (pause here to give that idea the consideration it deserves) and served with hash-browns. Yes, hash-browns! We decided to take it an extra step and get our hash-browns served with red onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, mushrooms and melted cheese because we don’t back down from a challenge, we embrace it. We could go on about how perfectly grilled the quesadilla “buns” were, or how the bacon gave it a smoky flavor. We could elaborate on how the cheese soaked into every nook and cranny and the jalapenos left you with a lingering memory of the deliciousness you just consumed. But we think you should just try it for yourself.

Frito Pie Burger & The De-Railer

We tried to limit ourselves to one SMTXtreme burger per establishment, but when asked what we wanted to order at Railyard Bar and Grill, we simply couldn’t help ourselves. How could we choose between the Frito Pie Burger, 1/3 pounds of grilled beef with chili, queso, Fritos, lettuce, tomatoes and chipotle mayo, or The De-Railer, ½ pounds of grilled beef topped with queso, melted jack cheese, fried jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes and chipotle mayo? We didn’t, we got both. Both burgers were delicious in their own right. Crunchy Fritos, flavor-filled chili, spicy fried jalapenos, queso and chipotle mayo – we were in taste bud nirvana! An added bonus to our burger bonanza was getting to enjoy them on the Railyard Bar and Grill patio. With several fun yard games set up, it is the perfect place to bring your family or competitive friends and enjoy an afternoon of good fun and great eats.

Hell Burger & Mac & Cheese Burger

Taproom Pub and Grub is known for their wide selection of beers on tap and award winning specialty burgers. We went in with our minds set on trying the Hell Burger, but found ourselves drooling on our menu when we saw that you can get a burger topped with mac & cheese – sold! We ordered both and put them to the taste test. Where the grilled jalapenos, pepper jack cheese and legendary hot wing sauce brings the heat for the Hell Burger, the Mac & Cheese Burger was a soft, pillowy sandwich of cheesy, carbohydrate goodness. An angel and devil situation if ever we saw, complete with an internal Hallelujah chorus with every bite. The perfect ending to the meal was using our French fries, which are magnificent, to sop up the flavorful sauces left behind.

Gil-A-Monster

We should have known what we were in for when the man taking our order looked at us like we were crazy when we said, “yeah, we’ll just split it.” But we didn’t, we didn’t even see it coming. Then our order was up and we spent a few moments just taking it all in. We had seen photos, but we didn’t believe it. Two pounds of beef! So gargantuan you need a battle plan for taking your first bite. We tried a couple of ways, but we found a continual smooshing strategy worked best. Two people against four half-pound patties? This was a fight we weren’t going to walk away from easily. Casualties included a white shirt that didn’t stand a chance, the buttons on both our pants and any hope of feeling comfortable at all for the remainder of the day. Will we be brave enough to face this formidable opponent again? Of course, but next time we will bring our stretchy pants.

 

What’s your favorite SMTXtreme burger? Are there any you think we should try next time? Let us know in the comments!

http://www.toursanmarcos.com/like-a-local/2017/08/smtxtreme-burgers-in-san-marcos.html

 

POSH SNACK Victoria Beckham’s recipe for gluten-free jalapeno crackers costs fans £20 to make

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POSH SNACK 

Victoria Beckham’s recipe for gluten-free jalapeno crackers costs fans £20 to make

  • From Simon Boyle’s Bizarre Column
  • 11 Feb 2020, 21:30

AFTER revealing a selection of her favourite recipes on her website, it’s no wonder Victoria Beckham maintains such a svelte figure.

The former Spice Girl has followed in the footsteps of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who has quirky lifestyle blog Goop, with her World Of Victoria Beckham website.

 

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Victoria Beckham has been posting recipes on her lifestyle siteCredit: AFP or licensors

She has been posting recipes, as well as beauty and fashion tips and book and restaurant recommendations.

But her dishes need obscure and pricey ingredients and most people who attempt to make them would probably give up on the idea of eating altogether.

Ingred­ients include basic products we all have in our cupboards such as you know, tapioca flour, cassava flour, linseed and hemp seeds and avocado oil spray.

And the cheapest of the dishes — her VB jalapeno crackers — will cost £20.10 to create. For a snack.

Victoria's jalapeno crackers will cost £20.10 to create

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Victoria’s jalapeno crackers will cost £20.10 to createCredit: worldof.victoriabeckham.com

Posh this week posted a video of her making the spicy nibbles with daughter Harper and helpfully posted an online link to the recipe for vegan, gluten-free and more than likely taste-free nibbles on her website.

Victoria said: “Harper is making them into a nice little cracker shape.

“These are so good, I am honestly totally addicted to them.

“Really crunchy when they come out.” But if you do knock up the snacks and are still left feeling hungry you could always try Victoria’s “vitamin-rich grilled octopus”.

 

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Posh’s nibbles are vegan, gluten-free… and more than likely taste-freeCredit: Getty – Contributor

It’s hailed as being “as delicious as it is healthy” but will set you back £50 — that is, if you managed to find one of the creatures down your local supermarket, of course.

Thankfully, the mum of four reassures us on her website, it’s “easy to make”.

Another “simplified and decoded” meal of black cod encourages the reader to go for two fillets.

Though you will struggle to get hold of them for less than £60.

She also has alternative recipes for the traditional apple crumble which is gluten, sugar and dairy-free and contains something called Xanthum gum.

I think I’ll stick to my Tesco meal deal, Vic.

What the Heck is a Texas Twinkie?

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What the Heck is a Texas Twinkie?

This dish is quickly becoming a barbecue joint staple, especially at Hurtado’s Barbecue in Arlington
Written by:Kimya Kavehkar

Photos by:Hurtado Barbecue

Published: February 2, 2020 at 12:00 am

Texas Twinkies are a staple at Hurtado’s Barbecue in Arlington.

Despite its name, a Texas Twinkie is not a delicious spongy dessert—but it is stuffed with all the good things in life.

Customer demand for the grilled jalapeño treats—sometimes also called Texas torpedoes—prompted Brandon Hurtado to put them on his menu at Hurtado’s Barbecue in Arlington.

“People kept asking us to make them,” says Hurtado, the owner and pitmaster of the eatery, which will open its first brick-and-mortar location on Feb. 22.

Texas Twinkies start as a hollowed-out jumbo jalapeño. The cook then stuffs them with chopped brisket and cream cheese, wraps the pepper in bacon, and glazes it in barbecue sauce. Hurtado uses pimento cheese instead of cream cheese and mixes beef rub into the stuffing. Of course, they’re finished on a smoker until the applewood bacon is just crispy.

Hurtado first tried Texas Twinkies at Hutchins Barbecue, a restaurant in McKinney known for serving them. You can also find them at a few other restaurants around the state.

While Texas Twinkies are a popular offering on Hurtado’s menu, Brandon is most proud of his smoked quail dish. Served butterflied and semi-boneless, the quail is marinated in garlic butter, smoked, and flash-grilled for a nice sear. Hurtado’s offers quail regularly, which is unique among craft barbecue joints.

Hurtado’s started two years ago as a pop-up stand that would set up shop selling brisket and pork tacos at breweries. With the restaurant opening soon at the Urban Union development in Arlington, Hurtado attributes his success to dedicated fans who patiently wait an hour to an hour-and-a-half to order. “I’m surprised every weekend that customers wait in line,” Brandon says of his quick success. “The craft barbecue market is saturated, but very diverse. No one does it just like we do it.”

Brandon, an Irving native, describes his style as Tex-Mex barbecue. His spice rubs and sides (like spicy charro beans and smoked elotes) are heavily influenced by his Mexican father. “We grew up eating food with tortillas instead of forks.” He first became interested in cooking barbecue by watching his dad work the backyard pit as a kid. And although Brandon doesn’t have culinary training, he worked on his barbecue skills as a “weekend warrior” while running his own digital marketing firm.

Now, in addition to becoming an expert in brisket and pork belly burnt ends, Brandon has perfected the trendy Texas Twinkie.

Restaurant replaces bread with pickles for its sandwiches

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Restaurant replaces bread with pickles for its sandwiches

Why keep the pickle on the side when you can keep it on top — and bottom?
 / Source: TODAY
By Drew Weisholtz

Never has being in a pickle been such a good thing.

Elsie’s, a sandwich shop located about 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia in Haddon Township, New Jersey, uses pickles instead of bread for its sandwiches.

Its website boasts that the restaurant, which has only been open for nine weeks, is the “home of the pickle sandwich.”

Pickle sandwiches at Elsie's
Elsie’s Italian sandwichCourtesy of Katherine Cohen and Chad Jordan

“There is no bread in the house at all,” Katherine Cohen, who co-owns Elsie’s with husband Chad Jordan, told TODAY Food.

The pickle, which is scooped out, operates the same way bread does in a sandwich, placed on either side of the meats and toppings.

Cohen, who estimated they go through about 300 pickles per day, said they use kosher dill pickles, although they do offer spicy ones on occasion. “On average, our pickles are about 7 inches,” she said, while noting they come from a “proprietary recipe.”

Pickle sandwiches at Elsie's
Get a load of the Homage to Katz.Courtesy of Katherine Cohen and Chad Jordan

“My husband and I created the sandwich,” Cohen said, adding the idea dates back to 2015 at a different eatery operated by the family. “We resurrected a family pickle sandwich recipe,” she said.

“We started at pop-up events and the response was good. We’d sell out in about 30 minutes, so we decided to open a brick-and-mortar store,” she said.

Cohen said two sandwiches in particular have proven to be crowd favorites. The Italian, which features ham, capicola, salami and provolone, is joined by the Homage to Katz — a nod to the famous New York City deli — which comes with turkey breast, corned beef, Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing and coleslaw, as the restaurant’s popular items.

Pickle sandwiches at Elsie's
Elsie’s turkey sandwichCourtesy of Katherine Cohen and Chad Jordan

If the pickle sandwiches aren’t your thing, you can also try Elsie’s roll-ups, which feature pickles or cucumbers rolled up around the meats.

Pickles have recently enjoyed a healthy second life free from its traditional role as a side item. They have been placed on pizza, served as a substitute for jelly in the traditional PB&J sandwich, made as a slush flavor, reinvented as a fried chicken flavor, and even turned into beer and soda.

The pickle renaissance is in full swing at Elsie’s, where business is booming, thanks in part to loyal fans who have taken to the unique take on sandwiches. “We have a very solid social media following on Facebook,” Cohen said.

Pickle sandwiches at Elsie's
Elsie’s also offers a wide range of roll-ups.Courtesy of Katherine Cohen and Chad Jordan

If you want to go to Elsie’s, mark your calendar — it’s only open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. “We currently have a limited amount of pickles available to the public. And we’re a lunch spot,” Cohen said about the condensed hours of operation.

Despite the limited hours, Cohen said customers have been coming out in droves. Sometimes Elsie’s will even open the doors around 10 a.m. to let in people who frequent the establishment.

“The locals know to come in early to avoid the line before it gets mobbed,” she said.

Barkhamsted’s Simply Jam is simply delicious

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Barkhamsted’s Simply Jam is simply delicious

By John Torsiello

BARKHAMSTED — There’s a strong, spicy, tear-producing aroma in the air of the kitchen at the Colebrook Senior Center, that makes a visitor cough a little and head back to the entry door. Mike and Julia Stewart chuckle a bit and follow.

“It does hit you a little,” says Julia Stewart, one of the masterminds, along with her husband, of Simply Jam, which have as their key ingredients, jalapeno and bell peppers. Fruit and peppers, you might ask? Well, yes — the combination has developed a strong (pun intended) following among foodies. In fact, Simply Jam is doing a hot business selling several varieties of their jam — more than 18,000 jars in 2018 — quite an increase from when the Stewarts first began their cottage business in 2011. The number of jars is increasing exponentially each year.

“It’s the combination of tasting the fruit at first and then the little kick of the jalapeno and bell pepper that comes afterward,” said Julia Stewart, explaining the reason for the jam’s popularity. “You get the sweet and that spicy crunch at the end bite.”

She herself wasn’t a believer at first, before being introduced to pepper jam by a friend, Carol Parent of Winchester. But, as the couple says on their website, “It was love at first bite.” Soon, they were making their own pepper jams and gifting them to neighbors and family, who repeatedly asked for more, more, more.

The Stewarts began selling their jams at local holiday craft fairs and orchards in 2011. After becoming fully licensed in 2016, started selling direct to local farms and stores in the area.

“We got immediate positive feedback to our jam,” said Mike Stewart. “We’ve actually had people come up to us and even visit us at our home to say how much they enjoy the jams and that they can’t get enough of them.”

The first store the Stewarts’ jams appeared in was, of course, the venerable Colebrook General Store, which sits just across from the Senior Center. Simply Jams can now be found in 80 stores around the region, including big retailers like Big Y, Stop and Shop, Adams Hometown IGA’s and La Bonne’s Market. The jams have been shipped to more than 30 states as a result of online orders, according to Mike Stewart. “We could ship overseas but that gets quite expensive and a bit complicated.”

Says Julia, “We believe what makes our jams special is that we hand make all of them and hand pour each jar. We even hand label each jar. They are not mass produced and we don’t add any ingredient that would make the jams gel too quickly.” That’s why when viewed inside the individual jars, the pieces of peppers are suspended in the fruity liquid and when held to the light appear almost as stained glass.

“We try and source as many of the products that go into the jams as possible in season, from local sources, such as Jillybeans Farmstand in Bristol, Gresczyk Farm in Barkhamsted and March Farms in Bethlehem,” offers Mike, who helps out in the kitchen, setting up venues and delivering the jam to the various locations.

The couple, who live in Barkhamsted, make their jam at the Colebrook Senior Center kitchen because it is larger than the one at their home. They are fully licensed to produce and store the jam.

“We would love to have a large professional home kitchen so we wouldn’t have to rent the space here,” says Mike, “but this has worked nicely thus far.”

If one is hesitant about trying the jams because of the kick of the jalapenos, Mike explains that it is nowhere near the hottest pepper known to man. “There’s a scale (the Scoville Scale) to measure the hotness factor and this jalapeno is at the lower end, nowhere near the ghost pepper and other very hot peppers. It is a sweet heat, gentle warmth,” he explains.

Simply Jam products have several basic hotness levels, a mild variety consisting of fruit with 70 percent bell and 30 percent jalapeno peppers, up to the hottest, which contains 10 percent bell and 90 percent jalapeno peppers.

Simply Jam comes in seven varieties: Mild; Raspberry Jalapeno; Cranberry Jalapeno; Garlic Jalapeno; Mint Jalapeno; Hot, and Extra Hot. The company also offers summer seasonal specials: Strawberry Jalapeno; Peach Jalapeno, and Blueberry Jalapeno.

The couple even offers up some tasty recipes on their well-composed website. How about “Jalapeno Jam Glazed Salmon,” “Raspberry Jalapeno Jam Chicken Salad Sandwiches,” “Jalapeno Jam Loaded Cheesy Nachos,” or “Sticky Jalapeno Jam Chicken with a Green Salad,” all made with, of course, Simply Jam.

“It also goes well as a dip dish on an appetizer board,” said Julia, who hails from England. “Really, it can be used on any meat and is great as a glaze if barbecuing.”

The couple gets assistance from their son-in-law Russ Clay, who helps out in the kitchen, handles website design, accounting and marketing.

“Where do we go now?” said Mike when asked how he and his wife would like to grow their business. “We are self-sustaining and very happy with how we have progressed. The next step would be ramping up production and getting into more stores on a greater scale, but we haven’t quite made a decision on that yet. But we are at that point where it is possible.”

In the meantime, the customers of Simply Jam are getting their taste buds all worked up and asking for more. Julia and Mike Stewart will keep working hard to meet their cravings.

Visit www.SimplyJam.net for more information.

Pineapple on pizza is actually good — you’ve just been eating it wrong

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Pineapple on pizza is actually good — you’ve just been eating it wrong

Pineapples on pizza makes the best slice, but it is supernal when you add this one magic ingredient

AMANDA MARCOTTE
JULY 18, 2019 11:00PM (UTC)
Of the many pizza debates in America, by far the most divisive, the kind that turns brother on brother and starts ugly fights in otherwise happy marriages, is the struggle over whether pineapple on pizza is good. The pineapple haters have memes, Facebook pages and lengthy forum threads dedicated to denying the tastiness of this canned tropical fruit atop a bed of mozzarella and tomato sauce. Searching “pineapple pizza” on Twitter results in thousands of tweets, coming out daily, in which pineapple pizza is both rabidly denounced and cheekily defended as pineapple fans troll the haters by displaying pleasure at this cheese-and-fruit combination.

Beyond the gentle pineapple trolls on social media, there have been robust defenses of pineapple on pizza from people who are paid for their opinions. In February, Allison Shoemaker of The Takeout proudly declared, “The Hawaiian Pizza is a thing of beauty,” and praising the Australians for pairing pineapple with ham on pizza. And Tim Carman of the Washington Post gathered a group of friends, some diehard Hawaiian Pizza haters, and forced them to eat the loathed concoction. It turns out that no one “actually hated” the pizza, though Carman allowed that it might have been a better preparation at We the Pizza in Washington, D.C. than one might get from, say, Domino’s.

I step into this fraught debate only to say this: Everyone is wrong. Pineapple haters are wrong for all the reasons that have been carefully laid out, such as how perfect the saltiness of the cheese and acidic sweetness of the pineapple hang together. But the defenders are also wrong in focusing on the classic combination of ham and pineapple on a pizza. That’s fine, no doubt, but is far from the best way to eat pineapple on a pizza.

No, the true rock star topping combination of the pizza takeout world is pineapples and jalapeños. That way you get the salt and fat from the cheese, the acid and sweet from the pineapple, and — critically — the bite from the jalapeños, thereby proving the old Texas maxim that there are few, if any, foods that can’t be improved by dumping some jalapeños on it.

I learned of this combination during my wayward youth, from a friend who used to deliver pizzas for a local chain that peddled the cheapest kind of pizza in Austin, TX. He jokingly called it the “stoner special”, but I can assure readers that while all pizza tastes better with THC in the veins, there is no need for chemical enhancement to enjoy this particular set of pizza toppings.

Pineapple and jalapeños work on all kinds of pizza, but are, as the name “stoner special suggests”, especially ideal for cheap takeout pizza. These ingredients do a lot of work of covering up for the inadequacies of the sauce or dough by hitting your tongue with all their acidic, biting glory. And while we all might love pretending we only eat pizza in some of your nicer brick oven locales, if you have a sports-viewing event or gaming night at your house, and thus need big boxes of cheap delivery pizza, then I highly recommend getting at least one pineapple-and-jalapeño pie. People will wrinkle their noses, but, inevitably, it’s the pie that gets eaten up the fastest.

No doubt this combination would work great with fresh pineapple and jalapeños straight from the garden, for those who want to do a food snobby take on a beloved takeout item. But for my money, you can’t beat the version you’ll get from the takeout joints, which features canned pineapple and pickled jalapeños.

Are there any two foods that are more suited to the canning process than these two? Jalapeños, in particular, may even be improved by being pickled and canned, which tends to take just enough edge off the heat that you can eat even more jalapeños, which is, of course, what any sensible person who eats food wishes to do.

The closest thing I’ve found to this combination in the higher end pizza market is the “green” pizza at Emily in Brooklyn, which uses a tomatillo sauce to capture that same mix of spice and sweet that makes the stoner special so much fun to eat. I remember distinctly the first time I got this pizza at Emily, and the sense of vindication watching food snob friends house it, enjoying the same combination that has dominated my cheap pizza eating habits for a couple decades now.

So, do yourself a favor and next time you need to order pizza from one of your fast-and-cheap local delivery services — and no use pretending that’s not going to happen at some point in the next year — get yourself a pineapple and jalapeño pizza. It’s the perfect pie for the hot summer months, when cravings for both spicy food and fruit are at their highest. It’s absolutely worth the grief you’ll get from the prigs who don’t think pineapple belongs on a pizza.

Here’s what makes a winning burger at 2019 Burger Brawl in Philadelphia

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by Michael Klein, Updated: September 16, 2019

Here’s what makes a winning burger at 2019 Burger Brawl in Philadelphia

COURTESY BURGER BRAWL

Chris Barnes and his crew at Lucky’s Last Chance must be feeling like big dills after capturing first place among the judges and third place among attendees at the 2019 edition of Burger Brawl, a grilling competition that drew a record 3,900 people and 50-plus restaurants and chefs to the Marine Parade Grounds at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia last Sunday.

It’s a fund-raiser, headed by Center City restaurateur Rob Wasserman, for the School District of Philadelphia.

Lucky’s Pickle Monster burger is a tribute to pickles. It has two quarter-pound beef patties, American cheese, pickles, fried pickles, dill-flavor potato chips, pickle relish, and pickle aioli on a butter-toasted Liscio’s pub roll.

The bar-restaurant, with locations in Queen Village and Manayunk, has won the contest previously with its PB & Bacon burger, which tops a patty with creamy peanut butter, American cheese, and bacon; there’s grape jelly on the side.

The Pickle Monster will be available only at the Queen Village location, starting Sept. 19.

Pickles also figured into the second-favorite among judges: the Wagyu Burger Bao from The Bercy in Ardmore, which had pickled vegetables on top.

Also capturing two categories Sept. 15 was Bainbridge Street Barrel House in Queen Village, which took first place in the People’s Choice voting and was awarded “best stack” by a panel of Instagrammers. Chef Eric Paraskevas said the burger will be added to the menu.

Moonshine Philly in Pennsport, whose Italian-style Pennsport burger took second place among judges, was awarded most photogenic.

Chef Eric Paraskevas and Eleni Fetfatzes of Bainbridge Street Barrel House get that winning feeling at the 2019 Burger Brawl at the Navy Yard.
COURTESY BURGER BRAWL

Chef Eric Paraskevas and Eleni Fetfatzes of Bainbridge Street Barrel House get that winning feeling at the 2019 Burger Brawl at the Navy Yard.

Other winners included Hard Rock Cafe in Center City and Steam Pub in Southampton.

Now in its ninth year (the first at the Navy Yard), Burger Brawl acknowledged the rise of social media by inviting Instragrammers to judge.

The list of winners and descriptions follows.

Judge’s Choice

1st Place: Lucky’s Last Chance’s pickle monster: two quarter-pound beef patties, American cheese, pickles, fried pickles, dill-flavor potato chips, pickle relish, and pickle aioli on a butter-toasted Liscio’s pub roll.

2nd Place: The Bercy’s wagyu burger bao: pickled cucumber, spicy aioli, pickled vegetables, beef wagyu patty, sesame seeds & bao bun.

The Pennsport from Moonshine was topped with crispy prosciutto, mozzarella, caramelized onions, basil aioli, arugula, and tomato jam on a garlic-toasted bun.
MICHAEL KLEIN / STAFF

The Pennsport from Moonshine was topped with crispy prosciutto, mozzarella, caramelized onions, basil aioli, arugula, and tomato jam on a garlic-toasted bun.

3rd Place: Moonshine Philly’s Pennsport: Crispy prosciutto, mozzarella, caramelized onions, basil aioli, arugula, tomato jam on a garlic-toasted bun.

People’s Choice

The Home Grown burger from Bainbridge Street Barrel House is an 8-ounce brisket burger blend, Green Meadow Farm horseradish cheddar, fig aioli, shredded lettuce, plum shishito bacon jam, and fried shallots.
COURTESY BURGER BRAWL

The Home Grown burger from Bainbridge Street Barrel House is an 8-ounce brisket burger blend, Green Meadow Farm horseradish cheddar, fig aioli, shredded lettuce, plum shishito bacon jam, and fried shallots.

1st Place: Bainbridge Street Barrel House’s Home Grown: an 8-ounce brisket burger blend, Green Meadow Farm horseradish cheddar, fig aioli, shredded lettuce, plum shishito bacon jam, and fried shallots.

2nd Place: Hard Rock Cafe’s Guinness burger sliders: Signature steak-burger blend, whiskey bacon jam with Guinness cheese sauce, leaf lettuce, and tomato.

3rd Place: Lucky’s Last Chance’s Pickle Monster.

Instagram-Worthy

Burger Brawl judges photograph the Ultimate Breakfast Burger from Steam Pub in Southampton, which won the Sauce Boss category.
MICHAEL KLEIN / STAFF

Burger Brawl judges photograph the Ultimate Breakfast Burger from Steam Pub in Southampton, which won the Sauce Boss category.

The Sauce Boss: Southampton’s Steam Pub Ultimate Breakfast Burger: 8-ounce chuck burger, slow-cooked candied chili bacon and American cheese in between French toast topped with a fried egg and maple syrup. (This burger is on Steam Pub’s menu.)

Best Stack: Bainbridge Street Barrel House’s Home Grown

The Most Photogenic: Moonshine Philly’s Pennsport.

3rd Place: Brick & Brew (Media, Havertown, and Malvern)

Honorable Mention: Harper’s Garden (Rittenhouse)

45,000 and growing. Pickle Parade in Mansfield sweet success with legion of fans

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By:By Nicholas Sakelaris

Fort Worth Star- Telegram

 

(photo By: Nicholas Sakelaris Special to the Star-Telegram )

It’s a pickle that looks like a rocket. Or a rocket that looks like a pickle. Either way, this dill garnered a lot of attention in the Pickle Parade.

 

The Pickle Queens were barely finished throwing their beads to finish the 8th annual World’s Only St. Paddy’s Pickle Parade & Palooza and people were already clamoring to be part of next year’s parade.
John Pressley, president of the Pickled Mansfield Society, said they averaged 45,000 people over the two-day event March 15-16 and the exposure has more people wanting to get involved.
Construction on South Main Street did change this year’s the parade route and limited this year’s event to 75 floats. But next year, the construction will be a distant memory and they’ll be able to accommodate 100 floats again, Pressley said.

“There are vendors and parade entries already applying,” Pressley said. “It will be beautiful next year when they get it finished.”

When complete, the new South Main Street in front of The LOT Downtown and Twisted Root will have  room for food vendors on both sides while leaving room for the parade to go down the middle, Pressley said.

There was a late entry to this year’s parade, as the Timberview boys basketball team won the school’s second Class 5A state championship in three years on March 9.
“If you win a championship, they usually throw a parade for them,” Pressley said. “We were actually able to get Timberview’s basketball team into the parade just like the pros.”
The team rode in the back of a white pickup truck and soaked in all the cheering from the crowd.

The second annual beer keg races on Friday night had more entries this year and they got to show off their driving skills in the parade on Saturday.
“It turned out to be a huge success, everyone had a magnificent time watching the homemade golf carts with kegs on them racing up and down main street,” Pressley said.

 

The baby parade was four times bigger than last year.

Russell LaBouve and his 7-month-old daughter, Cade, won the grand prize for the baby parade with their moon rover float. Building the converted wagon meant many sleepless nights for the LaBouves, who traveled from Louisiana for the parade.

Being from Mardi Gras country, they’re serious about their floats. LaBouve is a welder by trade so he originally envisioned a moon lander with legs but the project evolved.
“Let’s turn it into a rover if we can, put some wheels on it, put some fake solar panels, i call them our ‘fauxler panels,” LaBouve said.
He bolted her high chair to the wagon and attached wood and then painted it to look like a rover.
The new cornhole tournament on Friday was also “received tremendously,” Pressley said.

 

 

Grillo’s Pickles New Shoe, “The Pickle,” Is A Limited Edition Collab With Ewing Athletics

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By

Bustle

Photo by:  Grillo’s Pickles

Grillo’s limited edition pickle shoes.

Ah, the struggle as old as time: knowing in your heart that pickles are the superior snack to end all other snacks, but not having a way to properly communicate that belief in a nonverbal way to strangers on the street. Well, friends, that’s all about to change. Grillo’s Pickles is releasing a sneaker called “The Pickle” with Ewing Athletics, making it that much easier to go about your day while reminding everyone within a 360 degree radius of you that pickles exist, and that human existence only has two true states: enjoying pickles, and the rest of your boring regular life.

The limited edition shoes, which drop on the Ewing Athletics website on March 4 and will retail for $140 a pair, are every bit as much a labor of love as Grillo’s actual pickles; in fact, there’s not a single square inch of the shoe that hasn’t been specifically branded to the pickle lover’s lifestyle. Per a press release from Grillo’s Pickles, “The clear soles and plastic lining of the laces represent the brand’s farmer’s market-styled jar filled with seven natural ingredients — cucumbers, salt, dill, garlic, water, grape leaves & vinegar. The green suede represents the organic dill, while the green leather is a nod to the crisp, crunchy cucumbers used to make each handpicked jar. The white laces represent the fresh California-grown garlic.”

The back of the shoe also displays an image of Grillo’s iconic mascot, Sam, Sam the Pickle Man — plus, if you look inside the sole, you’ll see an image of the OG Grillo’s Pickles cart. That image, as it turns out, has a bit of an ~origin story~ more linked to the new sneakers than you might expect. The cart, which originally opened in Boston in 2008 selling two pickles for a buck, was founder and CEO Travis Grillo’s new pursuit after Nike turned him down for a job as a sneaker designer. So basically, this full circle pickle moment is a pretty big dill.

Since that launch in 2008, Grillo’s has not only taken up so much space in the pickle market that they’ve not only solidified their place on the sides of all our sandwiches and in our actual legit human hearts — they’ve also launched a whole slew of pickle merch, designed by founder Travis Grillo. You officially live in a world where you can rep pickles on your shirts, your hats, your water bottles, and even your beach pong paddles, all of which are available on the Grillo’s online shop.

That said, I doubt anything beats the pure unadulterated and ridiculous joy of skipping in a pair of pickle sneakers down the sidewalk, a specific kind of joy Grillo’s and Ewing Athletics are bestowing on us with this collab. “Ewing Athletics is always looking to collaborate with companies that would typically be outside of the box for a sneaker brand and Grillo’s is a perfect partner,” Ewing Athletics President, David Goldberg, said in a press release. “Premium Pete made the connection and we were able to come up with a great design with a fresh look to match the pickles. We have done other food related projects in the past and we try to make each one better than the last.”

Just know that if you want to snag a pair of these, you’ll have to act fast — they go on sale on March 4 exclusively on the Ewing Athletics site.

These Lay’s Creamy Jalapeno Poppables Are A New Spicy Snack With A Crispy Crunch

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By: Rachel Murphy

Elite Daily

Photo by:Courtesy of Lay’s

Try Lay’s new flavor : Creamy Jalapeño .

When it comes to the sweet versus salty debate, I’m always team salt. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good bowl of ice cream or a fudgy brownie. But when it comes to everyday snacks, I’m always going to reach for a bag of chips before I go for a cookie. So, when I found out that Lay’s Creamy Jalapeño Poppables are hitting store shelves in early February, I knew I had to learn more about them. Any snack that combines heat, salt, and a good crunch is A-OK in my book.

Lay’s new Creamy Jalapeño Poppables are coming soon and are going to be a permanent addition to the snack aisle, according to Lay’s. The company took to Instagram to announce the launch of the new flavor. According to Jan. 16 post, Lay’s plans to roll out the new Creamy Jalapeño Poppables starting on Monday, Feb. 4. Mondays are always such a drag, but this gives my palate something to look forward to. My guess is that you should be able to find this flavor anywhere Lay’s products are sold such as Target, Walmart, and your favorite local grocery store. This flavor of Poppables will be sold in 2-ounce and 5-ounce bags, according to Lay’s.

If you aren’t one to indulge in spicy foods, I invite you to reconsider. While I haven’t taste-tested this flavor for myself, the good people over at SnackGator have. SnackGator is quick to point out that you “get an instant whiff of zesty jalapeño,” but that the cream flavor kicks in and overpowers the spicy flavor of the pepper.

 

Remember, jalapeño isn’t the only flavor these crisps possess. There’s also the creamy aspect, which should help cut back on the jalapeño spice for those who don’t like to play with fire. I’m a fan of jalapeños. I like to eat them pickled, raw, and in my guac and other dips. Also, jalapeño poppers were a staple food of my childhood and I still love the friend snack. Really, any way is fine by me. I’ve never met a jalapeño that I didn’t like.

The packaging for the new snack touts “perfectly poppable crispy potato bites.” As I said, I haven’t been privy to trying this yummy snack just yet so I can’t confirm or deny the validity of the bag’s claim. If I’m going based off of images of the Creamy Jalapeño Poppables, the small oval-shaped chips look perfectly crisp and well seasoned with specks of spicy green flavor. You may have noticed the airy design of the Poppable. The unique criss-cross pattern helps to give the snack an extra big crunch with every bite. I’m already drooling.