Tag Archives: bacon

Mo’s

Posted on by
Reply

meter-greatThere a lot of words to describe Mo’s, and most of them begin with ‘B’. There’s burgers, breakfast, beer, and, most of all, big. This new-ish joint in Campbell prides themselves on going large, but it’s not just the portions that are supersized. The creativity and quality of the food is outstanding, and any place that officially serves breakfast for dinner gets high marks in my book.

To get things started, here is a picture of some fries. Everyone likes fries.

To get things started, here is a picture of some fries. Everyone likes fries.

” It will set your nose hairs on fire, no joke “

The evening started like any other, with me circling around downtown Campbell while muttering a steady stream of obscenities to no one in particular. After finally parking my car in a questionably legal spot, I headed down the block to meet up with my better half for dinner. Our eatery of choice for the evening, as you may have already guessed, was Mo’s. This self-proclaimed breakfast and burger joint is perched right in the middle of South Bay Hipster Central, aka East Campbell Avenue.

Shawn and I secured a spot on Mo’s cozy patio and took a look through the menu. In addition to traditional burger and breakfast options, there are tons of crazy and awesome menu choices. Steak and egg tacos, colossal carrot cake waffles, and The French Connection (a breakfast “sammo” served on a baguette) are just a few examples of Mo’s wackier fare, and all of it is darned tasty. I opted for a Sriracha cheese melt and Shawn ordered… wait for it, the name is pure awesome… a mother cluckin’ waffle.

Win.

This mother cluckin' thing was mother cluckin' tasty.

This mother cluckin’ thing was mother cluckin’ tasty.

What is a mother cluckin’ waffle you ask? It’s a “regular” cluckin’ waffle with Frosted Flakes added. Yep, those Frosted Flakes. Cereal. It’s a piece of fried chicken on a waffle and covered in cereal. (A very good piece of fried chicken, I might add, and a very good waffle.) The crazy bastards running the kitchen at Mo’s are officially out of their minds, and I love ’em for it. Keep up the good work guys and gals, you’ve got me grinning from ear to ear.

This was one spicy sandwich. It still burns.

This was one spicy sandwich. It still burns.

I almost forgot about the Sriracha cheese melt. Like it sounds, it’s essentially a patty melt with Sriracha involved… in every possible way. There’s Sriracha pretty much everywhere, including in the ketchup and in the patty. It was fantastically delicious, and fantastically face-melting. If you don’t like hot stuff, stay far far away. If you enjoy hot stuff, you should still probably take a few steps back. If you LOVE hot stuff, brush your teeth with Tabasco sauce, and think ghost peppers are for weenies, then you should order the Sriracha cheese melt. It’s really, really incredibly good, but make sure you are prepared. It will set your nose hairs on fire, no joke.

Simply put, Mo’s is my kind of place. This restaurant offers high quality comfort-style food with a creative twist, and that’s all I really need to say. This kind of eatery is my own personal holy grail, so of course I’m going to rate it highly. Looking at things objectively and without my own bias, however, it still gets a pretty good score. I rate Mo’s 140 out of 151 Frosted Flakes, which puts it squarely in the upper echelon of all restaurants in the Bay Area. Well done, Mo’s. Well done.

      Pros
+ The menu is way crazy
+ The “normal” food is awesome too
++ They serve breakfast for dinner!		       Cons
– Parking in Campbell SUCKS
– Can’t think of another con, which is annoying

Mo’s
278 East Campbell Avenue
Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 871-1300
www.moscampbell.com

Click to add a blog post for Mo's Breakfast and Burger Joint on Zomato

Cheesy bacon ranch dip

Posted on by
Reply

This past Sunday was one of my favorite holidays of the year: National Party Food Day. Friends and family gather together to eat until they are sick and share their trashy recipes with one another. Some people refer to this holiday as “Super Bowl” but to be honest I’m not sure why. I guess there must be some sort of football game being played in honor of the holiday.

Skip to the short version

Did I mention that there's bacon in this recipe?

Did I mention that there’s bacon in this recipe?

” Attack viciously with chips and veggies “

My go-to recipe for this sort of thing is usually Ro*Tel sausage dip, but this year I wanted to try something new. After hours of scavenging around on Pinterest, my ever-resourceful spouse discovered something called “warm crack dip“. I knew immediately that the name had to go, but the ingredient list looked promising. I modified the recipe slightly, renamed it, and the result was a resounding success. And now I present it to you.


Ingredients

  • 1 package cream cheese, softened (8oz)
  • 1 large tub sour cream (16oz)
  • 1 package ranch dressing mix (1oz)
  • 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 to 1 lb diced bacon, cooked
  • chips or veggies for dipping


Other stuff you’ll need

  • an 8×8 casserole dish
  • aluminum foil


Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and start dicing the raw bacon. If you like salty stuff with lots and lots of bacon flavor, add the whole pound of bacon. If you are feeling less awesome but more reasonable, go with a half pound. You can fry it up in a pan if you like, but my favorite way to cook bacon is in the oven. Simply line a cookie sheet (one that has sides) with foil, spread out the diced bacon, and bake at 400 for around 20 minutes – you can do this while the oven is preheating as well.

Bacon + cookie sheet + oven = easy peasy

Bacon + cookie sheet + oven = easy peasy

Yes, you can use bacon bits instead of doing all this work, but you will then be forced to hang your head in shame at the greatness you could have attained but threw away.

In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix. Stir in the grated cheese and cooked bacon.

Look at all the BACONNNNNNN

Look at all the BACONNNNNNN

Spread the mixture into your 8×8 casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

The final countdown has begun.

The final countdown has begun.

When the dip is heated through and bubbly, it’s ready. Attack viciously with chips and veggies (bell peppers are my personal favorite).

Fritos are the trashiest of all snack chips. Love 'em.

Fritos are the trashiest of all snack chips. Love ’em.




tl;dr

Cheesy bacon ranch dip

Ingredients

  • 1 package cream cheese, softened (8oz)
  • 1 large tub sour cream (16oz)
  • 1 package ranch dressing mix (1oz)
  • 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 to 1 lb diced bacon, cooked
  • chips or veggies for dipping


Other stuff you’ll need

  • an 8×8 casserole dish
  • aluminum foil


Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix. Stir in grated cheese and cooked bacon. Spread mixture into 8×8 casserole dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with chips and veggies.



See also


Standard Recipe Disclaimer
I don’t come up with a lot of my own recipes (unless you count my own personal milk-to-Grape-Nuts ratio), and chances are the recipe posted above belongs to or was inspired by a person other than me. So if you’re wondering whether or not I ripped somebody off, I probably did. Don’t get out the pitchforks and torches just yet though! I want to make absolutely sure I give credit where it’s due, so if you think someone deserves recognition for something that I haven’t already called out FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LET ME KNOW. Thanks, I appreciate it. Here’s a cookie.


Bacon jam

Posted on by
Reply

Bacon is all the rage these days, and for good reason. For one, it’s freaking delicious. It’s also quite healthy and… No, wait. Not healthy. I meant delicious. So it’s delicious, delicious, and… Ok fine, you get the idea. One of the more unique ways I’ve found to enjoy this piggy delicacy is by means of bacon jam.

Skip to the short version

The bacon, it calls to you.

The bacon, it calls to you.

Yeah, bacon jam. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Well get over it, because this stuff rules.

” Greatness is upon us “

If you want to be the talk of the next office potluck and/or the envy of your friends and neighbors, whip up a batch of bacon jam, stand back, and watch the magic happen. It’s very slightly sweet, intensely bacon-y, and marvelously satisfying. Bacon jam is good on crackers, toast, salads, eggs, pizza… The list is endless. It might even be good on ice cream, but I haven’t quite worked up the nerve to try that yet. This particular recipe is a slight variant of Chef John’s creation as posted on allrecipes.com.


Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs raw bacon
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 or 3 large yellow onions
  • a pinch or two of salt
  • 1/4 cup sherry or wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1.5 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • a pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp olive oil


Other stuff you’ll need

  • a large pot or Dutch oven
  • paper towels
  • sufficient willpower not to eat all the bacon before making it into jam


Directions

Fry up the bacon in whatever way you are most comfortable with, being careful not to overcook it. Crispy bacon good, blackened bacon bad. Blot the cooked bacon with paper towels and set aside; reserve a couple teaspoons of bacon grease for later use.

Hmmm, what to do with a spare 1.5 lbs of home-cured bacon? Oh I know.

Hmmm, what to do with a spare 1.5 lbs of home-cured bacon? Oh I know.

Preheat your pot or Dutch oven on medium heat while you finely dice the onions. The “standard” recipe calls for 3 onions, but if you want your bacon jam to be extra super bacon-tastic use only 2 onions. Add the reserved bacon grease to the bottom of your pot along with the butter and saute the onions until translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.

This is about what we're going for.

This is about what we’re going for.

While the onions cook, finely dice the bacon. You can use a food processor if you want, but I don’t like the bacon “paste” it creates in the process – I prefer to chop by hand.

Must... not... eat... bacon.... *convulses uncontrollably*

Must… not… eat… bacon…. *convulses uncontrollably*

When the onions are done, add the brown sugar, sherry/wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of thyme (save 1/2 teaspoon for later), cayenne, black pepper, and mix well. Add the bacon and water and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until a jam-like consistency is achieved, stirring often.

Greatness is upon us.

Greatness is upon us.

Remove from heat and stir in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and remaining half teaspoon of thyme. And that’s all there is to it. Serve the jam warm with whatever you have handy to eat it with, be it bread or crackers or just a spoon. You’re welcome.

Why bacon jam? Why in the heck not?

Why bacon jam? Why in the heck not?




tl;dr

Bacon jam

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs raw bacon
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 or 3 large yellow onions
  • a pinch or two of salt
  • 1/4 cup sherry or wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1.5 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • a pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp olive oil


Other stuff you’ll need

  • a large pot or Dutch oven
  • paper towels


Directions

Cook bacon, drain, and set aside. Saute finely diced onion in butter and 2 tsp bacon grease for 8-10 minutes or until translucent. Add brown sugar, sherry/wine vinegar, 1 tsp thyme (saving .5 tsp for later), cayenne, black pepper, finely diced bacon, and water, stir well. Cook over medium heat 10-15 minutes or until a jam-like consistency is achieved. Remove from heat, add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and remaining thyme, stir until mixed through. Serve warm.



See also


Standard Recipe Disclaimer
I don’t come up with a lot of my own recipes (unless you count my own personal milk-to-Grape-Nuts ratio), and chances are the recipe posted above belongs to or was inspired by a person other than me. So if you’re wondering whether or not I ripped somebody off, I probably did. Don’t get out the pitchforks and torches just yet though! I want to make absolutely sure I give credit where it’s due, so if you think someone deserves recognition for something that I haven’t already called out FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LET ME KNOW. Thanks, I appreciate it. Here’s a cookie.


St. John’s Bar & Grill

Posted on by
2

meter-great-St. John’s Bar & Grill is one of those places you’d never go into unless a trusted friend told you to do so. It’s equal parts dive, sports bar, burger joint, and 1980s time capsule. St. John’s has a lengthy menu full of greasy spoon delicacies, an awesome collection of flatscreen TVs, and some of the worst decor in the entire Silicon Valley. In other words, it’s pretty much the most perfect happy hour venue you could ever hope to find.

It's even uglier in person.

It’s even uglier in person.

” I beheld the full glory of the bacon & cheese fries “

If you live within twenty miles of Sunnyvale and have even a vague interest in sports, you are required by law to be at St. John’s anytime there’s a televised sporting event… which is pretty much every night. If the televised sporting event in question happens to be a championship game of some sort, it’s an absolute guarantee that the place will be PACKED. St. John’s is normally closed on Sundays, but because 87.2%* of all football games are broadcast on Sundays, the restaurant is open seven days a week during football season. The folks running St. John’s certainly know what side their bread is buttered on.

*All statistics are made up and therefore wildly inaccurate.

The bacon in this picture alone speaks for how good the burger is.

The bacon in this picture alone speaks for how good the burger is.

So what about the food? To be perfectly honest, I have only sampled a small portion of St. John’s menu, but that portion has been excellent. The burgers are very, very good. They are just exactly greasy enough to be decadent without being gross, and they are served in plastic baskets with red and white wax paper, just as they should be. The restaurant’s website claims that they are the “Best Burgers in Silicon Valley”, a statement I disagree with both philosophically and grammatically. St. John’s also claims to make the “Best French Fries in the Universe!”, an absurd declaration further reduced in effectiveness due to unnecessary quotation marks.

With that said, I can respect any restaurant with the cojones to make either of the above statements, accurate or otherwise. The fact still remains that grub at St. John’s is exceptionally tasty, so ignore my grammar nitpicks and order yourself a cheesesteak already.

Thanks to winstonwanders.com for letting me use this picture. I didn't exactly ask for permission first, however, so they may still have me killed.

Thanks to winstonwanders.com for letting me use this picture. I didn’t exactly ask for permission first, however, so Winston may still have me killed.

Oh, I didn’t mention the cheesesteaks? Well, allow me to do so now. I wouldn’t say that St. John’s cheesesteaks are truly Philadelphically accurate (an adjective I made up just now), but my California-raised palate thinks they taste just fine and dandy. There’s lots of cheese, lots of nicely grilled steak, and a good, fresh bun. No complaints here.

Probably the ideal football season bar food.

Probably the ideal football season bar food.

On my most recent visit, I had the opportunity to feast on an order of aptly-named bacon & cheese fries. I waited patiently in the odd, cramped walkway that doubles as the food pickup area and did my best not to get in the way. I failed. After narrowly dodging a pair of chicken sandwiches and a basket of fried zucchini, I finally managed to grab my order of fries and escape with a minimal amount of elbowing people in the face. It wasn’t until I was seated that I beheld the full glory of the bacon & cheese fries; they are a thing of true beauty. They taste pretty much exactly how they look: Like a baked potato that is halfway through turning itself into a pile of french fries. The bacon was crisp, the cheese was plentiful, and the sour cream was a genius garnish on this kingly mountain of cholesterol. Two huge thumbs up for this one.

To wrap this review up, I have to admit to myself that I’d be darned happy to visit St. John’s Bar & Grill any day of the week. The burgers are very good indeed, but not quite in that elusive “crazy awesome” range that restaurants like this aspire to achieve. The cheese steaks and fries are solid though, and that alone is worth 187 out of 200 square yards of horrid wood paneling. St. John’s is an easy recommendation, especially if you’re looking for a half-decent place to catch the next big game on TV.

St. John’s Bar & Grill
510 Lawrence Expressway
Suite 110
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
(408) 738-8515
www.stjohnsgrill.com

St. John's Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon


I told you it was dive-y.

I told you it was dive-y.


Standard Restaurant Review Disclaimer
The ambiguous and illogical rating system used in this review is not intended to be pinpoint accurate. It’s only there to give you a general idea of how much I like or dislike an establishment, and it also gives me an excuse to write silly things. If my rating system angers and distracts you, there’s a good chance you have control issues. I would also like to point out that I am not a highly qualified restaurant reviewer person, nor do I particularly care what that job is called. If you were under the impression that perhaps I was one of those people, consider your hopes dashed. Lastly, wow! You read the entire disclaimer. You get a gold star on your chart today.


Napa Valley Burger Company

Posted on by
2

meter-great-haThis is a story about pickle fries. Other things happen in this story, but none of them are as noteworthy as the pickle fries. There is a restaurant, a town, some weather, a couple of dogs, and even some other remarkable food, but all of these things revolve around that one, single most important dish: Those dreamy, crispy, pickle fries. Holy smoley. Before I spend too much more time worshiping those fries, I should probably take a step back and explain how it was that I had the opportunity to eat them.

” The pickle fries did eventually run out, and that made us sad “

It was a ridiculously glorious day in Sausalito, one of those days that are so excruciatingly perfect that you can’t help but to post a picture of the cloudless blue sky on Facebook and say “neener neener” to all of the unfortunate people who don’t live in California. My wife Shawn, fellow dog wrangler and honorary food blog enabler, and I were strolling the streets of Sausalito, enjoying the 75 degree weather and looking for a place to eat. We passed a couple of somewhat promising establishments, but then we spotted the Napa Valley Burger Company. One glance at the menu and we knew this was the place to eat.

Everyone who walks by this place says to themselves, 'Damn, I should have eaten here.'

Everyone who walks by this place says to themselves, ‘Damn, I should have eaten here.’

The limited outdoor seating was completely full, but we got lucky and nabbed a table within about five minutes. We were basically sitting right in the middle of a crowded Sausalito sidewalk, but it made for good people watching and kept our two fluffy little dogs occupied as well. Our attentive waitperson stopped by immediately to take our drink orders and fawn over the dogs, much to the satisfaction of all parties involved.

We were all settled in a few minutes later with drinks and a bowl water for the pups. We ordered some pickle fries, a Stinson Beach BBQ Burger, and a Yountville Burger, our waitperson nodding with approval as she scribbled on her notepad. “That’s the three most popular items on the menu, in order” she said. “The pickle fries are my favorite.”

Oh. My. GAWDUH.

Oh. My. GAWDUH.

In just a few minutes the pickle fries arrived. It had been bothering me to this point that they were called “pickle fries” instead of the obviously much more grammatically accurate “fried pickles”, because that’s what they are. Pickles that are fried. Right? When I saw them in person, though, I understood the subtle genius of it all. They are fries that have pickles in them. Thin, julienne strips of pickle are thickly coated in the most wonderful cornmeal batter concoction and fried to crispy, crunchy, salty perfection. Heaven. If you don’t like fried pickles, these still might not change your mind all that much, but if you enjoy this sort of thing you will be stunned at how good they are. At this point Shawn said, “You know you have to rate this place 10-out-of-10 no matter what else happens, right?” That’s certainly the direction we’re trending here, no doubt about it.

There was a giant wafer of fried cheese stuck in the top of my burger as a garnish. Epic win.

There was a giant wafer of fried cheese stuck in the top of my burger as a garnish. Epic win.

Next up the burgers arrived, and we were not disappointed. They were piled high, cooked just so, and were absolutely amazing. The applewood bacon on my burger was thick, layered, and deliciously smoky underneath a blanket of garlic aioli and oozy, melted Gruyere. The accompanying burger across the table (from which I stole many bites) was equally superb; the stars of that particular show being the crispy onion ring and generously applied bourbon barbecue sauce. Accompanying each of the burgers were artsy-looking side salads, the kind I am usually not impressed with. Just to be thorough, I went ahead and ate some of mine… and it was excellent! I don’t know what they put in the dressing – I guess perhaps heroin – but it was just hands-down plain old delicious. I can’t believe this place, even the stupid salads are awesome.

This has to be one of the top ten burgers in the Bay Area.

This has to be one of the top ten burgers in the Bay Area.

As incredible as the burgers were, however, we found ourselves constantly going back to the basket of pickle fries, desperately scraping the bottom of the container that once held heavenly dill ranch dipping sauce. We boxed up the leftover halves of our burgers and sat in contentment a while, enjoying the warm sun and jealous stares of passers by. Our only dislike of the entire meal was that the pickle fries did eventually run out, and that made us sad. We paid our bill, left a healthy 25% tip for the top notch service we received, and walked away as extremely satisfied customers. I am always reluctant to hand out perfect ratings, but I’ll still give Napa Valley Burger Company 199 out of 200 delicious, delicious pickle fries. We’ll be back soon. Oh yes, we will.

Napa Valley Burger Company
670 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-1454
www.napavalleyburgercompany.com

Napa Valley Burger Company on Urbanspoon


I can has?

I can has?


Standard Restaurant Review Disclaimer
The ambiguous and illogical rating system used in this review is not intended to be pinpoint accurate. It’s only there to give you a general idea of how much I like or dislike an establishment, and it also gives me an excuse to write silly things. If my rating system angers and distracts you, there’s a good chance you have control issues. I would also like to point out that I am not a highly qualified restaurant reviewer person, nor do I particularly care what that job is called. If you were under the impression that perhaps I was one of those people, consider your hopes dashed. Lastly, wow! You read the entire disclaimer. You get a gold star on your chart today.