I am Legend

Cool. But is he old enough? I’d heard that the baddies were more campy than scary so I figured he’d be okay with it. Idea: Let’s watch the free preview… that didn’t go so well… “Um, maybe we shouldn’t watch this.” Actually, I guess it did go well, because he did the responsible thing and wave off (unlike his father). We ended up sticking The Fellowship of the Ring into the DVD player.

Saturday morning, we decided that I am Legend would be more palatable in daylight with a whole day before bedtime. I like Will Smith, but he plays pretty much the same character in all his movies. And I haven’t read Matheson’s book, but my understanding is that there’s a bit of deviation from it, especially around the happy ending of the movie. But that’s not the point….

I remember seeing The Big Red One with my dad when I was like 10 or 11. It was a bit of a father-son moment. It was the point in time where my dad said, “Hey, you’re getting old enough that we can enjoy some of the guy things like war movies together.” It was something I didn’t really realize at the time, but after Hays was born it clicked, and I’ve been waiting almost 10 years for it to happen.

And then on Saturday night, we were once again out and about and decided to catch a discount showing of National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I had taken both kids to see it during its original theatrical release, but for less than a fiver I had blocked out two hours of entertainment. It’s flashier than the original, but the “puzzles” in this one are framed much more obviously as plot devices, which makes them predictable (eye-rolling). Nick Cage is a damn fine actor, but he’s not aging very gracefully. The pancake makeup and (assumed) hairpiece were noticeable. But it’s an entertaining story and Hays enjoyed it — nine-year-olds aren’t nearly as critical of movies.

After the movie (10pm), we went and got burgers and I learned that I’m getting old. Eating a grease bomb at 10:30 at night is a sure path to night-long indigestion and heartburn nowadays. Damn.

Yes, that’s correct. I have not always been such a culinary daredevil. Before 2000, I think the most exploratory I would get is mole on my enchiladas. Every once in a while, I might’ve been excited by jalapenos in the queso, but my most outrageous experiences tended to my tex-mex heritage. That’s not to say that I wasn’t schooled in spice a few times during my tenure in New Orleans. In fact, there were probably a few times at a few festivals in good ol’ Looozyana when the crawfish boil brought tears to my eyes. But the people that I met in Austin taught me just a thing or two of the esculent arts. And of worldly cuisine. Turns out we Texans, while perhaps a little more culinarily brazen than your average Rhode-Islander, are still pretty humdrum when put against Thai or Afrikan or Morrocan fare. I have been to plenty of establishments where I never could have conceived of going before…

But this one place… Oh, I remember it fondly. Most of my coworkers at the time were only too happy (or too ambivalent) to agree to going there. Especially on Wednesdays. Massamun curry day! It was deee-vine. Back then, we were a two-income household, and Hays — well, he didn’t drink 4 gallons of milk a week and so I had a little more disposable income. And I was all too happy to go to lunch with the crowd. And we went to places I’d never been before.

Well, that is except for Thai Spice. We went there all the time. This one guy didn’t really believe there were any other restaurants than this. And it was close. But mostly I loved it on Wednesday for the reason stated earlier. I had never really gotten into curries before — especially Thai curries. And being a good Texan who grew up on carrots and potatoes, well Damn! This was some good stuff. And throw in peanuts to boot!

But then, one day, we went and it wasn’t Wednesday. And I was stumped. I’d already had the Pad Thai and a few other curries and I just wasn’t all that impressed. But another good friend of mine… he introduced me to a whole new level of yum. He’s gone now — not dead, but moved to a different plane of existence. New Zealand. And a different life. Same family, but all mellow and free-spirited. I admire that “up-and-gone” idea but I’m too much the coward. Anyway, back to his fave dish at Thai Spice….

It had a very simple name. It was Basil Fried Rice. And it was all of about $6. Me, I’m a bumpkin, so I don’t really know much about Thai food, but, hell, I knew this was good. So did Meredith. Mainly because every time I would have it, she could tell. We’d go to bed at night, and after lying there for about 2.8 seconds, she’d announce (not query, but ANNOUNCE) “You went to Thai Spice and had Basil Fried Rice today.”

She was never wrong.

You see, BFR is loaded with garlic. And basil. And cilantro. All are very pungent. And apparently, I exude them from my pores when I have consumed even less than two or three grams. Of course, I always consumed more than two or three grams, which made it quite obvious. But still… it was amazing. It was all basilly and garlicky and chili-ey. That’s Thai chilis. An insidious and delicious culprit if ever there was.

But it has all changed.

It is true that Thai Spice is still there. And BFR is still on the menu. But it’s not the same. It’s damn near $11 now. And the serving size is about half what it was. And there’s nowhere near the broccoli or chicken. Not to mention that the place has gone all “mod” and stuff.

I’m baffled why I never thought to find out more about BFR, but within the last couple years, I’ve started exploring in the kitchen…. I could always whip up a good stir-fry or dash together some yummy casserole, but I’ve been looking for more diverse fare lately. And somehow I stumbled across the fact that BFR wasn’t just a one-time-thing. Plenty of Thai places had it on the menu.

NO WAY!

It’s true. But still, somehow I managed to always skip over this recipe when contemplating dinner preparations.

Until tonight.

This afternoon, I found an interesting video (with an incredible wok/burner combo!) that demonstrated the simplicity of the BFR recipe. And I took it to heart. I improvised a little, as I’m wont to do — I replaced the bell pepper with a bit of celery. And maybe used less chili (so everyone else would like it). And (at present) there’s no way I could generate that kind of heat on my stove, so I had to batch things up a bit to get it all done. And I made quite a mess of the kitchen. But the results…

Let’s put it this way: I made what I thought was enough for me to have some extra for lunch on Monday. Well, that’s just not going to happen. The recipe was a hit. And the real kicker is that I can’t really believe how simple it was. No really. I’ll show you:

We went to La Margarita for her birthday. The waitstaff comes out and sings a humiliating song and dresses you in a giant sombrero. Oh, and did I mention the fried ice cream?

So, yeah.

11.

It shouldn’t take too long. There are only 18 steps in the assembly instructions. Of course step 9 is:

First, remove the two screws and lock washers factory attached to the sideburner valve bracket. Position sideburner valve bracket beneath sideburner shelf fascia so that valve stem comes through larger center hole in fascia. Align the holes on valve bracket with left and right holes on fascia. Secure using lock washers and screws that were removed from bracket. Next, place sideburner bezel over valve stem on front side of fascia. Align small holes on bezel with upper and lower holes on fascia. Attach using two #8-32×3/8″ screws and 4mm lock washers. Press sideburner control knob onto valve stem.

There are 3 illustrations with two “Notes” and 8 callouts for this one step.

I love putting stuff together. Really. I do.

Update: Well, 4 hours later and it is done. I know I could buy one of the pre-assembled ones from the hardware store, but now I know that every screw, nut and bolt are on there exactly the way they’re supposed to be. Complaints? I had to practically re-tap every one of the receiver holes for all the bolts, and there is quite a bit of the enamel chipped off of the small rack that sits over the main grill (at the back). I’ll be calling CharBroil and letting them know about both of these.

But, the thing is, I haven’t blogged in, like, forever. And yesterday I got an e-mail from a friend about some good places to eat. Well, I love a) finding good places to eat and b) eating. So, here’s a recap of my reply to her. With some embellishment and maybe a few modifications. Although the title has “Round Rock”, it’s probably more apt to be “far-north Austin and beyond” so without further ado…

Pizza: Saccone’s Jersey Style on RR ave (620) next to the high school.

Burgers: We ate at The Railyard Bar & Grill a few weeks ago and I had a “Red Caboose” burger or something like that. It was basically a blackened (spices) burger. Yummy cajun seasonings! It’s up at, um, The Railyard, which is 1431 east of Hwy 183 (okay, yes, technically, that’s Cedar Park). A buddy has also told me that Riata Bar and Grill has excellent burgers as well — almost as good as his personal favorite, Casino’s, which is in downtown Austin.

Speaking of cajun, Louisiana Longhorn Cafe in downtown Round Rock was fabulous. I got a real oyster poboy on real french bread and it was dressed and I got some yellow cheese on it and everything. Totally fabulous. Takes me back to New Orleans (to steal a line from a Fred LeBlanc song). The kids had the shrimp poboy and Mer had catfish that was damn good. And the owner was fabulous and even custom-made some bell-peppers, onion-ring-style for us (just like Frankie and Johnnie’s down by Tulane where we had our rehearsal dinner!).

For ubiquitous tex-mex, Jardin Corona‘s is on Pond Springs just off 183, and it’s as good as it comes. There used to be this place in downtown RR, but they’ve changed hands a few times and the last time I was in there, the servers were not 60-year-old hispanic grandmothers (the true sign of a good joint), but underpaid high-school teenie-boppers. Ick. Not going back.

Vietnamese Vermicelli: Kim Phung opened up another shop on Lakeline Mall Blvd, in the same center as the new SupermegaTarget. Their chicken with spicy lemongrass noodle bowl is absolutely awesome. And it’s quite a bit closer than the original down on Lamar near 183.

There is apparently an underground food revolution going on in Pflugerville, because we’ve had great luck there in the past few months. First we found European Bistro, down off Pecan St, which is just awesome. It serves all kinds of Eastern Euro dishes (Hungarian, Bavarian, Czech, etc). Including Pilsner Urckel.

Secondly, there’s a wonderful and spirited carribbean place on 1825 roughly opposite the gigantotheater on I-35 called Cafe Mangu. They do fried plantain chips and ropa vieja and jerked just-about-anything.

And for mediterranean fare, Tino‘s is great. It’s at 183 and Anderson Mill. They serve cafeteria style, and standing there in front of their spit roasters (do those things have a name?) is daunting, but once you’ve got your order placed (entree, salad-or-soup, three sides / gyro) it’s good stuff. And you know, you really can’t go wrong with spiced, ground lamb.

Now, if I could only find a place like Veggie Heaven (down by t.u. on the drag) up here. I’m also on the lookout for a good Central/South American dive. And a good Chinese-American place that isn’t into the whole “nouveau-fusion-stirfrybowl” thing. Suggestions?