Playground - Brunch Eddition

My dear friend Paul and I went to brunch today at The Playground DTSA. This place seems to be the only thing I blog about anymore. I promise I've been cooking and eating my own stuff, I've just been busy with other adventures. I'll get back into it... I promise.

Brunch starts with coffee. Good, single origin, coffee. This is an Ethiopian Bean roasted locally by Portola Coffee Lab. It was very good. A little brighter than I drink on a daily basis, but not acidic. It was like just right.

First came the cheesy eggs (we go a plate of bacon too, its not pictured). These are the prefect scrambled eggs. Creamy, light, and packed with cheddar cheese. The Playground has ruined me on eggs. Now that I've had their eggs, every time I see any other scrambled eggs all I can think of is how overcooked they are. If they're dry in the pan, they're over cooked.

Being a good southern boy (Southern California counts right?) I love biscuits and gravy. This biscuit and this gravy take it to another level. I make a good biscuit, let me tell you. This was better. Crispy edges with a fluffy soft center. They would have stood on their own with a pat of butter, but no. The Playground tops them with more scrambled eggs, and the fanciest gravy in the world. I don't know whats in this stuff, but it is savory, sweet, spicy, and good.

If you go to The Playground and you don't get Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken... shame on you. If you go to their brunch and don't get the Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken and Waffles. They were good, the Uncle Lou's sauce paired well with the sweetness of the maple. But they used chicken breast pieces instead of a chicken. There were no flavorful dark bits, no crispy skin bits, no freakin' bones to hold on to. On top of that, the waffle was kinda soggy. If I had to forgo one item from this brunch, it was this. 

Beer is good. I like beer. This is sour beer. It was good. I liked it.

We had to finish the meal strong. We were a little too full, but we couldn't end on the chicken and waffle. And for our diligence we were dutifully rewarded. We were between getting a Crab Cake Benedict, and Huevos Rancheros; we ordered the Huevos Rancheros and it was astounding. Black beans, a crispy tortilla, fried eggs, pico de gallo, some green stuff, and a gangbuster of the best ranchero salsa in the universe. I swear Paul and I ate the sauce off the plate it was that good. Food of this caliber is the reason I blog food. Thanks The Playground. 

Jason Quinn is a Bad Man - Playground 9.4.2012

I'm sorry Jason, but you are a bad man. You take food to new places where food simply should not go. You do things with fish sauce and other parts of other food-things that you should be ashamed of. You create mouth pleasure meal-time experiences that are un-natural, and simply un-godly. You've poisoned me, and I can't wait to go back and do it all again.

Brussels Sprouts, Benton's Bacon, and baby potatoes. These savory little greens tossed in a wonderfully mustard vinegary perfection carry the smokiness of the Benton's Bacon just perfectly. If you did not like Brussels Sprouts as a child, you should try these, and you might find that you like them now.

Risotto, Benton's Bacon, Manila Clams, and Chives. Lets be honest about this dish, Manila Clams are awesome. Benton's Bacon is awesome. Risotto is awesome. Chives are green and make stuff look good (I guess they awesome too). What is better than savory ocean stuffs. I'll tell you what.

Taglialini, Lamb Meatballs, San Marzano. This food is stupid. I don't know what a San Marzano (I think its a tomato) is, but this is the pasta and meatballs that I wish my grandmother made so that I could tell people that their pasta and meatballs is good, but that my grandmother's is better. My grandmothers is not better. This is better. The lamby meat balls, the sweet tomatoes, the fresh made pasta... this is better. I'll say it again.

This burger looking thing... its Nothing You'd Be Interested in (Hot Hatch Chili BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger with Avocado on house made bun, no big deal).

 

Fish Sauce Caramel Glazed Half Salmon Head. The Coup de Grace. The salty fish sauce caramel glaze on the fatty savory soft bits of salmon face, they will change your life. Some people might be squeamish about eating a salmon face, I am not. The variety of textures in the meat, the chared extra carmel bits of salmon skin, the especially savory cheek meat, every bit of this food was the best bite. 

Pork for Dessert - Birthday 28.4

What birthday meal would be complete without dessert? Certainly not my own. There were however no cakes to be seen. Instead pork infused ambrosia, the pork of the gods.

The first desert was candied bacon coffee iced cream. Rich creamy espresso ice cream with flavorful bursts of salty sweet candied bacon. The "caffeinated hog".

The second dessert was a bacon grease infused beinget, served with a bacon infused white Russian, the "dirty southern doughnut with a money shot". The sweet and savory adventure was coming quickly to a climax.

The final dessert course, and really the best last thing that anyone could want to taste, candied bacon creme brule. The coup de grace of this meal, and honestly, the perfect dessert. This food is perfectly balanced, sweet vanilla custard, crackly caramelized sugar, and salty savory candied bacon. You have not lived until you have known the mouth pleasure of this food. 

Piggy Surf and Turf - Birthday 28.5

Sometimes you invent a food that breaks the rules. Sometimes you bring pork to a place on the flavor landscape that might get you in trouble. Sometimes you stay up late at night, sleepless, because something like this happens in your mind and you cannot wait until it happens in your mouth. 

We started with slices of pork belly confit. Yes we set a few aside from earlier. Pan seared salty, crispy and golden brown. Then we topped that with a sliver of serrano chili and a touch of grape fruit zest. This is already an interesting place for pork belly to be.

What really breaks the pig rules here, the ingredient that brings this dish to a new level, Hamahi Sashimi. Sushi grade yellow-tail. We topped the pork belly with a slice of sushi grade yellow-tail and then drizzled it with a touch of grapefruit juice. 

The flavors in this dish are absolutely inspired. The freshness from the hamachi, the salty fat from the pork belly, and the spicy kick of the chili followed by the sharpness of the citrus zest, it was just bold enough to be unbelievably complex without being noisy. It was perfectly balanced. We had some sashimi left so we fixed it up and ate that too. Hamachi Sashimi Grapefruit Zest and Serrano Chili, smothered in grapefruit juice. This food was truly delicious. 

Porcine-Flavor-Fest 28.4

The next dish we served, "inside out", deconstructed bacon and shrimp tamales. Salty steamy fluffy masa, savory bacon and shrimps with sauteed mushrooms and peppers, then topped with a creamy avocado lime sauce. If you've ever had a tamale and wished that there was more filling, this is the solution.

The next course in this unforgettable meal, Piggy Roll, was a porchetta, pork loin, wrapped in pork belly and spices with a layer of citrus in between. Roasted crispy and sliced, to be served between bread. This savory spiced layered pork creation tickled the taste buds with its contrast in flavor between the orange and spices mixed with salty savory fat in the porks.

This Little Piggy Went in my Belly 28.3

"Jelly Belly", the next dish is pork belly confit. Pork belly, cooked low and slow in pork fat, then carefully chilled, pressed, cleaned, seasoned, and pan fried crispy. This is the most pork dish of all the pork dishes you have ever imagined, condense the porkiness of a thousand bacons into a cube of savory mouth coating crispy salty jelly, and you will have a cube the cubes of mouthpleasure found below. Pork Belly Confit.

This is the belly after it has been cooked the first time, pressed and cleaned. Next we peel back the skin the reveal the sweet sweet fat. Cut that into bites, and pan fry to perfection.

Below you see the final product, layers of belly meat, fat, and crispy salty perfection. This is bacon on steroids. This is why God's chosen people couldn't eat pork until the spirit of the Lord came down to Peter in a vision. This is Pork Belly Confit.

After such a savory and mouth coating it was prudent to cleanse the palette. After the "Jelly Belly" came a "Hana Medows" sorbet, Rangpur Lime Gin and Ruby Red Vodka with fresh grapefruit juice made this  sweet and tart sorbet a perfect intermezzo, a wonderful sweet and tart mouth pause between pork another course of sweet sweet pork.

After the sorbet gave us a fresh start we hit the ground running with these legendary pork ribs. Black Berry Brandy Bar Be Que Baby Back Ribs. That's a whole lot of B. These sweet, tender, fall off the bone pork ribs are literally the best ribs anyone has ever had. For many years I have personally tried every known method of making ribs to only approach the goodness of these ribs. These are a work of art, these are a practice in perfection. These are ribs that pigs happily give their lives for.

We served the ribs with cornbread, cornbread filled with bacon.

Birthday 28.2 Swinelust Porkapalooza

First another shot of the "Sunburn" Iberico De Bellota Lardo with Strawberry and Fig on crispy cracklin. It I found this shot in among the others and decided that it must be posted. The way it coats your mouth with sweet tart fatty goodness is truly inspired.

The next dish was "Timothy's Vietnamese Balls", a ball of white rice with a dash of pickled daikon raddish and carrots, topped with a lemongrass seasoned pork chop and a generous drizzle of fish sauce. These were a mouthful of Vietnamese porky goodness. Really, they were tasty.

The third dish of the day, "Mexican Lettuce" was a Mexican Cesar salad, [in hindsight I should have called it a Cesar Chavez Salad]. This was a savory Cesar topped with corn, black beans, savory carnitas and a creamy avocado Cesar dressing. This was the third course of many. It was a great start to a wonderful day filled with food and friends, and more food.

Birthday 28.1 Courses 0-1

This past Saturday I gathered together my friends for a meal of incredible proportions. 11 courses, 2 intermezzos, and more pork on pork action than a healthy heart can handle. Below you will find the begining of what was a wonderful day of friends and food.

First (off menu [to be published later]) Ndujla, a soft salami spread on crispy pork cracklings. This spicy pork on pork combo was a wonderful creamy crunchy beginning to a day filled with sweet salty pig meats.

Next, another tasty treat served on crispy pigskin, the "sunburn" was a bitesized Lardo de Iberico de Bellota served with fresh figs and strawberries. The sweetness of the fig, the tart of the strawberry, and the creamy richness of the lardo all came together on the crispy mouth coating cracklin to form a wonder bite of sweet and savory goodness.

Standing Rib Roast

For my mother's birthday I made her dinner, savory Brussels Sprouts and a Standing Rib Roast. I love this food, I never understood why as a child nobody ever made Brussels Sprouts well. They were always mushy, smelly, and kinda sulfurous: not these. These savory miniature cabbages, slightly caramelized and tossed with caramelized onions, these are delicious.

Oh and standing Rib Roasts are delicious.