Luckily for me, Lobby lost.

Lobby’s cow friend didn’t even have the chance to argue his case….Eckerlin’s (or their supplier) took care of that one for me…

And that is how you treat yourself to a once-in-a-blue-moon surf & turf dinner.

Anyway….

It’s been so long since I wrote a food post, I thought, what better for blogging depression than pictures of delicious food! Even if I haven’t been posting, I can assure I’ve still been taking plenty of pics.

Right now I’m on a shroom kick with these amazing, super flavorful creminis from Daisy Mae’s Market.

They hold up so much better than their baby white counterparts, and they’re damn tasty…especially with peppers and onions.

Add that rice and chicken korma all of a sudden dinner and heaven become synonymous.

And for desert? How about Skirtz & Johnson’s decadent brownies and macaroons…

…with some moose tracks….

…and chocolate sauce…

….and perhaps some whipped cream….

….topped with chocolate chips!

Ok, I feel a lot better now.

And worst of all, I rarely go out to eat anymore, the dollars just adds up too fast.

A year ago today I made my first trip to Cafe de Wheels, and man was it good. They were giving out chicken sandwiches and chili, and my boss and I bought burgers and fries as well. I never did blog about it, by the time I thought to post it everyone and their brother had already done so.

But I sit here now with little interesting to post other than long winded articles that are still ranting drafts IMO, and with the unwillingness to post them, I’m reaching into the picture archives.

At this point you’ve had the burger truck, it’s damn good. I’m glad the food truck thing has stuck around for the past year, and I hope it’s not going anywhere soon. In honor of that, I’m gonna go get myself a Wheels Burger…

All work and no play wouldn’t be any fun though, and we were sure to reward ourselves at Neon’s Saturday night, complete with the company of my friend’s goldendoodle that joined him for the trip down.

Then Sunday morning comes and your heads a little fuzzy while your stomach is asking for something other Jameson and IPAs.

With all of the new burgeoning food options in OTR, Sunday brunch isn’t something I have to travel for anymore. I had given MOTR a shot when they first opened, and it was good, but not without plenty of room for improvement. Fast forward to this past weekend and I suggested we give it another shot, especially since the line down the block for forkheartknife was a bit long for some seriously hungry folks.

Three of us got the Migas tacos, which I had tried before, and they really improved this time around. Chorizo was awesome, they had cheese in them, and they were huge. My other buddy got the BLT which looked pretty good, and we all split some loaded hash browns…nothing to complain about there either. All in all, a really good meal, and the order-at-the-bar method seemed fitting for the pub.

MOTR is obviously carving out a good niche for themselves as a live music venue, evidenced by the posters plastered on the windows. One such poster advertised a Bear Hands concert coming up on the 27th of this month, and upon spying it my buddy G was already planning his next trip down for that show.

I had never heard of Bear Hands, and after  breakfast he clued me in to an awesome track with an equally stellar video. Without further ado I bring you What A Drag:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7G_sQ5aOZA

This was so good, and I’ll pat myself on the back for grilling the fish perfectly (grilled at medium ~400F, 5 minutes a side). As far as billfish goes, sword is one of the cheaper ones right now, going at Luken’s for $11.99 a pound.

Cooking fresh pasta is also a joy, it literally takes 1-2 minutes as opposed to 5-7. Not to mention the fact that after eating all these seasoned pastas I’m not sure I can go back to just regular noodles.

The only downside to the meal? The guy on twitter who started giving me shit for swordfish being “almost endangered.”

Sir, if it’s on sale for way less than chilean sea bass, than it can’t be “almost endangered” enough for me not to eat it. Besides, this is a special once-a-year treat, I’m not out there depleting the world’s supply (although as delicious as it was I might start).

One last thing to Simon’s eat local comment above…yes, part of why I shop at Findlay market is to eat locally sourced food and support local business. However I also like Findlay because I can shop for things that aren’t local (Saigon Market anyone?).

As many a rapper has said: Hater’s keep hatin’….and missin’…out on swordfish dinners….

I shaved 1:13 off my time last year, which I thought was pretty incredible until I remembered that this time last year was about 6 weeks after I had my appendix taken out. Still, there were points on that course I thought ‘Man I am dragging ass,’ only to cross the finish line well before I thought I would.

It probably helped that Doug was on my ass the whole time…this is the first race I’ve known someone at the starting line who was running at the same pace with me. See you at Run Like Hell Doug….

Like last year it was misty, but it cleared up for the race itself, and then cooled us off at the party. Although I remember being a bit warmer at the party last year. But hey, there’s plenty of food to warm yourself up with!

Goetta sliders have become my favorite post race food. I first had them last year at this very race, and then again this year at the Fox and Hounds 5k. Good and good for you….

Not to be confined to simply goetta on a bun, I ate myself stupid. The final tally came out like this: 3 Goetta sliders, 1 pulled chicken sandwich, 1 cheeseburger, 1 cup of jambalaya, 2 chicken wings, 1 salad, 1 granola bar, and because all that wasn’t enough, one chocolate cupcake.

And a bunch of bud light….good thing I just hauled ass on what might be the toughest 5k course in Cincy…..

The Ark Band kept people dancing like they always do, and most people seemed to have a great time with no mind being paid to the weather.

And everyone wants a pic with everyone else’s goofy hats!

One last thing that is so awesome about this run…..it always gets me back in touch with one of my favorite Reggae/Roots/Dub/Soul/whatever-you-call-a-7-piece-band-out-of New-Zealand….Fat Freddy’s Drop. Works for both pre and post race pump up and cool down…and general good times. Wandering Eye put them on the map back in 2005, but they already had a huge international following from putting on amazing live shows.

Midnight Marauders

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBztXpMSgE

Wandering Eye

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCJg63SziL4

Read my post on last year.

Anyway, terrible word play aside, I love a good milkshake. I used to treat myself to a once-a-month ice cream happy hour shake on Fountain Square with a good friend of mine. Generally spurred by one of us needing advice from the other, it was always a great excuse to take a little walk, enjoy something cold and sweet, and chill (there I go with the puns) with good company.

She moved a few months ago, and ever since there has been a void in my life/stomach….one that rich, creamy milkshakes used to fill.

A few weeks ago I had the aha moment…I own a blender.

With the heavy machinery at the ready I purchased the other necessities: mint chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate milk, and whipped cream. Liquefy the first two, top with the third and enjoy.

Despite the title some stirring may be involved once imbibing has begun.

This would also be 1000% better with something like Dojo Gelato and that awesome chocolate milk someone at Findlay sells. But when the craving strikes at 10:30 pm you take what you can get.

The replies were “no, but we’re working on it.” Then voila, a few days later the emails are flying and the Rampage is a go.

So to everyone that put it together and was kind enough to invite me, thanks!

In case you didn’t read Bob or Maureen’s take on things, the concept is fast food sushi. All the ingredients are at the ready, waiting for rice and wrap to be passed down the line. Pick your fillings and sauces, pay, and walk away before you would normally get a glass of water at a sit down restaurant.

Here is my take:

For starters, the rice machine that spits out flat layers of sushi rice ready for a seawead (or apparently a soy) wrap at up to 1200 sheets an hour….that rocks….and I want one….

Also a mechanized plus to the sushi world, the cutter, insuring 10 evenly cut pieces every time.

In between those steps are all the fillings. Only two raw fish are available–tuna and salmon–and both are already marinated in some pretty tasty sauce. Everything else is hot…baked salmon, grilled steak, fried calamari, tempura chicken, etc… It’s most certainly a new twist on a traditional food form.

I went for a steak roll, dressed with their choice of toppings (except asparagus, I couldn’t bring myself to do that in sushi just yet). It was pretty tasty, but more of a novelty for me. I also did a raw salmon and tuna roll with my favorite accoutrements–avocado, green onion, and cream cheese, topped with tempura flakes and spicy mayo. I’m good at making healthy things bad for you….and it was delicious!

The sushi really was good, and I will certainly be going back. It’s not gonna be my number one spot…I like too many crazy fish options and weird stuff that Soho doesn’t have to make it my go to….but they are after a different segment of the market, and from what I saw/tasted they’re doing a great job at it. That’s what is cool about Soho, they are doing something different, something you can’t get at just any sushi joint.

As far as value, this place has it. Every roll is 10 pieces, which means two is plenty for me and anyone that wants to try a roll off my plate.

So to Zach and Stephan: great job fellas, and thanks for hosting our group. I can’t wait to come back.

The overall highlight for me? Being in great company at a fun/tasty new spot downtown on a stellar Tuesday night.

Night 1

My first stop is always at Andy's for Shish Tawook

Fish and Chips: ok, but not good enough to remember where it was from

I feel bad for people that can't tolerate gluten because this cookie was pretty weak.

So the winner of night 1, hands down, was Andy’s Mediterranean

Night 2

Ribs from The Inn

Mac n' Cheese from Bella Luna was pretty good, but the Buffalo Mac was awesome

Beer for desert...always a winner

I love The Inn, but damn that Buffalo Mac n’ Cheese was good. Dare I say it was Mackin’ Cheese….so it wins night 2.

Night 3

Vicious Voodoo Chicken

I also got the Shrimp Scampi from somewhere…wasn’t that good and I forgot to take a picture.

That leaves the awesome and perfectly spicy Voodoo Chicken from J. Gumbo’s as the night 3 winner.

Overall the Voodoo chicken was the best thing I ate all weekend. Tthat chicken and sauce had so much flavor and spice I ended up going back for another bowl. Located downtown on Walnut between 4th and 5th, I’ll be heading to J. Gumbo’s for lunch often……especially on the other side of summer when I need something to heat me up.

Once again we met in front of Park+Vine at 12:30 on a bright Saturday afternoon. This year Reser had some shirts (rolled as bike tires) sitting on the check in table, and I had a little fun waiting for everyone to check in and pump up.

The OTR/Gateway Summer Celebration was taking place right up the block, and had I not been working on Race St I would have run the 5k and partied a bit before our food trek. Instead I caught a glimpse of the action as ~50 of us pulled away from P+V.

We cruised up Vine St through the heart of OTR (and past the park that will be my new backyard) on our way to Take The Cake in Northside. I’ve heard so many great things about TtC that I was a bit embarrassed I had never been there before.

My garage is on the other side of the park

The cruise to Northside was a good 5 miler, enough to work up a sweat, only to have it cooled by TtC’s awesome Gazpacho. Which then heated you back up with its spicy kick!

I may have purchased a brownie as well...

Not an official stop, but right next door was Cluxton Alley Coffee roasters. I’m not a coffee guy, but I poked my head in with a few other people to check it out.

Back on our rides we pedaled the longest single length of our journey, a 10 mile and at times not-so-flat (hey it’s Cincy) route over to Pleasant Ridge to Loving Cafe. The only repeat so far in the B+D series, they changed up from the veggie rolls and peanuts sauce we got last time (which was awesome) and went with fresh fruit and a salad, accompanied by two phenomenal homemade dressings.

With only six miles left to cover two stops, we took a short cruise over to Lucky John Slow Food where we filed through a buffet of pasta and vegan pizza awesomeness.

Seeking shade

After a nice boost of energy from all those carbs most people cruised (and some of us hauled ass) through Eden Park into Mt. Adams to The Rookwood. They served up some awesome chocolate on chocolate dessert and some “Yellow Bicycles” which were something, something, St. Germain and Proseco.

Each Bike+Dine has been a different experience for me, so I can’t say any one was better than the other. They have all been a blast though, and I can’t wait for the fall 2010 ride.

Turning+Sneezing....now that's talent

A little help from the popo in walnut hills

Cheers!

Thing is, even with work being the primary objective of this particular trip, when 3 gentlemen who went to university together reunite, especially under such spectacular weather conditions, they must immediately celebrate with glorious amounts of food and alcoholic libations. Upon my friends arrival we immediately made our way to La Mexicana, and I was able to creep them out a little bit by parking in back and walking in through the cash only mexican grocery store.

Dinner was as great as it always is and I determined once and for all that the green salsa in the bottle (as opposed to the one that comes out with the first basket of chips) is my favorite. A little red for some extra kick is ok, but not always necessary.

After a feast that included barbacoa and chicken tacos as well a big order of flautas we hopped back across the river to my place to drop the car off and walk to Arnold’s. There in lies a bit of the problem–by dropping the car off, we took the limit on the intake of alcohol and pushed it into different territory (let’s forget about that time at the Jacob’s house….thanks for the ride). For three guys who enjoy the company of one John Jameson, that can be somewhat detrimental to accomplishing a full days work (keeping in mind the weekend before I worked 7:30 am to 6 pm).

Two thirds of our party started with Cumberland Pale Ales while the crazy SOB in our group said fuck it and went Jameson and ginger. “Oh yeah, and a three shots of Jameson,” accidentally flowed from my lips–we were off. Bowl of peanuts in hand we moved to the patio, 3 stooges out drinking and generally being goofballs. A step away from their normal Friday night genre, Arnold’s was featuring a pretty funky little jazz band on the patio. I’m pretty sure they had a deal with Rhonda to play music that convinced people they need more booze, because even our one friend who didn’t normally like straight shots of Jame was DEMANDING them!

*                    *                    *

Soooooo we made it to Findlay market by noon on Saturday. Have I mentioned how nice it is to have a garage directly across from the market? The place was slammed and we just parked at my spot and walked over. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Ms. Helen’s Grill (best $3 breakfast sandwich around) and then walked back across the street to start working. Greasy food and powerade gave us energy, while at the same time our natural male desire to break things using big tools took over, and we started tearing apart drywall and plaster.

In a solid five hours we managed to expose the entire wall of brick in what will be an upstairs office/den. I had already removed the commercial-style drop ceiling, and while we were chipping away at the plaster we were also pulling down parts of the old furred out plaster ceiling, exposing copious amounts of coal dust from the rafters above. The good news was that the joists themselves look great, and so far there are no signs of water leaking; lets hope the same holds true in the back of the building as well.

We accomplished well more than I could have in a whole weekend by myself, and for that I am very thankful. I’m lucky to have good friends who will come down and help out (even in potentially hazardous conditions). Of course I treated them to breakfast and plenty of those drinks the night before, but they would have come and helped me out regardless (hell we played 3-way Rock, Paper, Scissors for the tab at La Mexicana).  I’m sure the chance to break stuff with the 10 lb sledge didn’t hurt either.

The awesome G&M wrecking crew

One of my friends commented that out of almost any one of our acquaintances in college, he never would have picked me to be living in Cincinnati. I’ve been thinking about what has made me stay here these past three years, and why I’m committing myself to this area for the foreseeable future with the purchase of a building–of my first home. At the end of the day a lot of it comes down to the local friends that I keep in contact with-it has made this a very comfortable area to be in (and I’m really speaking about here to Columbus, where half of my friends reside). Not only have I met awesome new people, but I’ve been able to sustain long term friendships with close college friends. Add to that a job I really enjoy in a city where the cost of living is low–it’s pretty hard to complain. With the progress I have witnessed in the last three years I think Cincinnati is going nowhere but up. That extends beyond downtown and OTR (which I do love) to places like Northside, another community that does a great job of being, well, a community. I’m excited to be part of a location people are so passionate about and its renaissance.

Anyone in my family can tell you, one of my favorite sandwiches growing up was a Peanut Butter+Mint Jelly sandwich.

At some point (holiday) we were having lamb for dinner, and we had mint jelly as a condiment for it. I liked mint, I liked jelly, and I like PB+Js, so naturally I threw together a PB+MJ one day, and it turned out to be awesome!

I had kinda forgotten about mint jelly until my most recent trip to the grocery store. In an effort to rid my diet of products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup, I stood in the jelly aisle looking for something that was just fruit based. Then, on the top shelf at the edge of the section, I spotted the green glory. Yes, it is cheap, and most certainly contains HFCS. At that moment I didn’t care, I wanted it. So I bought some “all-natural” strawberry preserves (so says Smuckers) and a little jar of MJ.

After 5 days of being with my mom and sister, I was feeling nostalgic for the days of yore, and it was great to bring this childhood treasure of mine back for a taste. It’s got me thinking about some of the other staples of my childhood (many not as simple as a PB+MJ) that I want to bring back into my life. Arroz con pollo watch out, you’re next…

Now I’ve been alive a hair over 25 years–in that time I have heard, read, and uttered more than my share of viral language. But the number of times I’ve heard the words “shit” and “fuck” were doubled on Monday when I went to Park Chili in Northside for lunch.

I get to Northside a few times a month, and I’m always game to try something new. Having eaten at the Blue Jay Diner, my boss and I thought we would give a similar establishment, only a few doors down, a chance at feeding us. Located on the southeast corner of Hamilton and Knowlton, Park Chili holds a prime piece of restaurant real estate. So when we walked in to NO customers and the staff sitting around the diner bar, alarm #1 went of in my head. I think had either my boss or I turned around the other would have followed without question. But being a family owned and operated business since 1937, we thought we owed it to the legacy to take a chance.

Alarm #2 rang as I sat down and heard a woman in the back utter “So-and-so put the fucking lid from the boiled potatoes on top of my clean lids!” That was followed by our waitress who brought us two glasses of water, muttering “I think these are clean,” as she set them on our table. Alarm #3 began to ring over #2.

But c’mon, this is a greasy spoon if I’ve ever been in one, and if everything was spotless the food would probably suck. So we stuck around, albeit with a keen eye on every bit of silverware placed at the table.

My boss got a coney and a 4-way and said the chili was decent, better on the coney than the pasta. I got the Phil Burger, a diner-sized double decker that was on par with what I remember having at the Blue Jay, but not as good as Red Fox (Editor’s note: Although I’ve eaten there more times than I can count, I have yet to try The Big Tucker at Tucker’s on Vine, which I expect to be pretty solid as far as diner burgers go).

The food is not why I’m writing about this place. I eat out all the time, but I leave the restaurant reviews to the foodies. But fuck me if this wasn’t the most fucking fucked up speech pattern I’ve ever fucking heard during a meal. I wish I had one of those admissions counters they use at events to count the swear words. Honestly, I don’t think 10 seconds went by without hearing one, which puts our half hour meal in the 180 curse word territory…and frankly it could have gone over 200.

We were treated to conversations about how so-and-so fucked this up, or how some other asshole was a total piece of shit. Or how so-and-so had to be making money because “That son of a bitch is selling sandwiches for $10!”

It was really unbefuckinglievable, and I hope you give it a chance so you can (audibly) witness it for yourself. And when your meal is done, don’t fuck around and wait for the fucking check, just walked up to the register and pay for your shit.

Part of what made this last weekend so phenomenal was eating one of my favorite sandwiches, the egg-in-a-grilled-cheese basket. It all starts by building a grilled cheese to your own specs. In my case it was two slices of wheat bread, one slice of muenster and one slice of swiss. Acceptable add-ons include but are not limited to: tomato, onions, smoked salmon, salsa, and damn near anything else that goes with bread, cheese, and eggs.

This next step is critical. Locate a cup around your house that will cut a hole in the sandwich large enough to allow a nice egg layer, but small enough that there is still cheese involved–you don’t want to eat eggs wrapped in crust. In my case I use a tasting glass from the Great American Beer Festival.

Next butter up your pan (mmmmm, real butter) and throw in the sandwiches. Notice the cut-outs are still used as baby grilled cheeses.

Crack 1 or 2 eggs in the middle of each sandwich and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. If you use 2 eggs, might I suggest you crack one, sprinkle some shredded cheese on it, and then add the second egg.

Next up, flip ‘em.

I’ve found that if I follow my normal grilled cheese cooking times I get a nice easy/medium egg. If you want it super runny turn the heat up a bit to cook the bread faster (and thus a faster flip) while leaving the insides pretty mushy. I’ve also pulled the sandwiches off and wrapped them in tin foil to take for a breakfast on the run, although the eggs will normally cook the rest of the way through.

In this case, however, I pulled these straight outta the pan and dove right in. A damn good meal if you ask me.

Eggtacular

Eggceptional

Egg-a-rific

The other night, however, brought about rumblings in my stomach that wouldn’t be quelled by any ordinary breakfast sandwich. No, after a grueling circuit workout of body and free weight exercises I needed something more substantial. Raiding my bare cupboard turned up the usual; bread, cans of soups, pasta and peanut butter. The fridge wasn’t any better, not holding much more than eggs, bread, cheese, and OJ. Like a word problem on the SAT’s I was left trying to figure out the best combination of pieces, knowing not every foodstuff was going to be thrown into the mix (if all those cooking shows taught me one thing it was KISS!–keep it simple stupid!).

Ok, tomato-basil soup, cheese, and bread–that’s an easy option. But I didn’t want to make three grilled cheeses, requiring my continued attention at the stove, eating one sandwich as a made another. No, I was looking to cook, eat, and be done.

Thus I bring you the smothered and covered (I don’t think waffle house has that trademarked) over-medium triple decker, served bloody.

Don’t be fooled, there is no meat in this.

It all starts with four pieces of bread and cheese (I’m going muenster and swiss) in the toaster oven. Crisping bread and melting cheese, keys to a good start.

While that’s toasting it’s time to turn our attention to the eggs. Fried eggs aren’t that difficult. Normally I like mine over-easy, and for me that means cooking them on one side, flipping them over for about 30 seconds and then pulling them off the stove for that phenomenal runny yoke. But for this adventure I wanted over-medium, with a gooey center that stayed in place upon dissection. Instead of pulling my eggs off at the over-easy phase, I just kill the heat and let them finish up while the toast/cheese is in it’s final stages of toastymeltification.

At this point it’s time I turn to my friends at Progresso, heating up their tomato-basil soup in the microwave.

Now, for the construction (click on the pic below to see the GIF, sometimes it doesn’t load on this page).

I call it the stack n’ smash, because the next step is….

Now, for the awesome inside reveal shot:

So that’s the triple decker over-medium, but where’s the blood? Remember the tomato soup that is still sitting in the microwave…lay it on…thick.

Truth be told I ladled some soup on so I could take that picture, but then I just dumped the rest of the bowl over it.

The final step, clean your plate, as best you can.

That took about 5 minutes, then I was in the shower. Fast forward 15 minutes, I’m out of the shower and the rice is almost done. Then I started cooking the eggs–6 six scrambled eggs minimum, although 8 leaves you with egg to the last bite. By the time those are done the rice is about there as well. I pile the eggs onto the rice, add some sriracha sauce, and mix it all together.

Shitty iPhone photo, but you get the idea

You can add any shredded cheese you like to the mix, although I didn’t have any. Instead, I went for some of the best sour cream around, from Gibb’s at Findlay Market. Made fresh on Thursdays, delivered on Friday mornings, this stuff is incredible, and it stays good for about a month!

I took some of the egg/rice mix and threw it on some Frito’s Scoops, and topped that with a little sour cream.

I’m normally left with a nice one pound container to use for any of the three meals today. I can wrap it up in a tortilla or fork it right from the container. I also like to throw it on toast with cheese–a rice and egg melt.

Naturally you can add meat to this, but again, I was working with what I had. Overall the version above costs about $10, and I’m including the sour cream, the entire bag of Fritos, the other half dozen eggs, and the bottle of sriracha sauce in that.

When situation C arises, there is only one option, and that is using the awesome Chipotle Mobile Ordering App on my iPhone.

So Many Choices

I love the ease with which I can order and pay from my office (note: you can do all of this online if you don’t have an iPhone). As soon as I get the confirmation email I start walking down to Fountain Square. Upon arrival I bypass the line and walk up to the online order window. I give them my name and *viola* they pull out my order from the warmer (note: this is why I go right when I order, because it is always ready before they say it is in the confirmation email, and no one likes their food to sit in a warmer for an extended period of time).

Your credit card information is stored with your account, but you can pay at the store if you don’t feel comfortable keeping your plastic on file. However, you have to type in your password when you order, so if I lose my phone whoever finds it won’t be ordering tacos on my dime.

My only suggestion is that if you plan on ordering a side of salsa or guacamole, add that and pay for it when you get to the register. Otherwise it will end up with your order in the warmer, not the ideal conditions for a cold side.

My basic sushi set up

5chw4r7z‘s post on sushi inspired me to finish/publish a post about making sushi. I love the stuff, and it’s an integral part of my diet. It has it all, carbs from the rice, protein from the fish, and all the benefits of whatever veggies you throw in the mix.

However there is one downside to going out and eating sushi, as evidenced by 5chw4r7′s photos…it can get a bit pricey.

Fear the tab no more, I am going to show you that making sushi is easy, delicious, and wayyyyyy cheaper.

Let’s start with the basics:

Step one is go to the asian market on the south side of Findlay Market and pick up the following: Sushi rice, Nori (seaweed), and the powdered vinegar/salt/sugar mix you need for the rice. You will also want to get a sushi rolling mat, and perhaps some chopsticks. There are other great accoutrements you will find there as well, but the basics will get you started and shouldn’t cost more than about $15-$20.

Next walk through the market and find the innards of your rolls. This includes you fish, veggies, fruit, cream cheese, or whatever your heart desires. You begin to realize that making sushi is just like making a sandwich, the possibilities are endless.

The hardest part is cooking the rice. If you have a rice cooker, sweet, you’re cooler than I am. [Editor's Note: In the months since I first published this, I have bought a rice cooker. It really is worth the $20 I spent on one at Kroger] If you don’t follow these simple instructions:

1. Rinse the rice. I put the rice in muslin bags that I have for homebrewing, but cheesecloth works as well. I generally soak the rice for 10 minutes, after which time the water is a murky white. I then remove the bag and run water through it until it comes out clear.

2. I then put the rice in a pot on the stove with 1 1/2 cups of water for every cup of rice. 1 cup of rice should make about 3-4 rolls depending on how big/thick you make them.

3. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to simmer. Stir occasionally for the next 15 minutes to ensure it doesn’t stick. Then kill the heat and let sit covered for another 10-15 minutes.

4. At this point you will want to mix in your vinegar/sugar/salt mix. I buy the powdered stuff from the store, but you can also mix rice vinegar, sugar and salt and add that. The powder makes things easy. You will add about a tablespoon per cup of rice directly after the rice is done cooking. Be sure to fold in the mixture with a rubber spatula, too much stirring and your delicate rice kernals will turn to mush.

5. I then take my rice and spread it out on a tray to allow it to cool to room temp. Do NOT put it in the fridge, it will cool in 30-40 minutes.

Ok, the hard part is over. Now it’s as easy as putting rice onto seaweed, adding your fillings, and rolling with the bamboo roller (techniques can be found on youtube). Oh, and remember to cover your roller in saran wrap, it makes cleanup so much easier.

You can add rice to the inside, outside, or both sides of your roll, depending on what you like. Then start throwing in the fillings. Note that sticky rice is, as the name implies, sticky! Keep a bowl of cold water to dip your fingers in before you handle the rice to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

Get creative!

Then get your roll on!

When your roll comes out, be sure to use a sharp knife to cut it. Again, this is sticky rice. Take a cloth and dampen it with cold water, then wipe down your knife. Doing this before each cut will prevent the knife from sticking (and make cleaning it that much easier).

That may seem like a long process, but I promise it is easy. Plus it is a great activity to get everyone you are eating with involved in the kitchen. It’s a very difficult dish to mess up (except for the rice, and even that isn’t so bad).

Advanced Technique: Tempura Fried Sushi

Pick up real peanut oil, tempura batter mix, and japanese bread crumbs (optional) and you can make your own tempura rolls, or tempura pieces to go into your rolls.

Finally, grab a good beer and enjoy on your roof deck.

Oh, and the spicy mayo is just mayo with sriracha sauce. Add wasabi for some extra flavor.