Vegetarian / Vegan Cooking Club

For some time now, I've been trying to find a casual group of people that I can get together with and learn to cook. Of course, I have a basic need that other cooking groups may only partially fill: I want to cook and eat exclusively vegetarian food. I found a couple Yahoo groups with general San Diego Cooking themes...but they only had about 10-30 people in them and were decidedly defunct looking (no messages in the past couple months). So I decided to start my own group.

We met for the first time this past weekend and though there was only a couple people that attended, we were pretty enthused about the idea of a group that focused on vegetarian cooking. A couple of the people that showed up still "cheated" with meat now and then for different reasons, but they were about 90% vegetarian. I decided not to promote the group too much for fear of too many people coming, but that fear was apparently not very well founded ;^) Now that I have a clearer idea of how many people will come based on how many people SAID they would come (a percentage) I can know how many to invite to get the actual number I want (8-12).

I'll post a few flyers in strategic places (Rancho's, Whole Foods, etc.) and see if I can hit my magic number for the next meeting. Next meeting is slated for Saturday, January 12th @ 4pm at my place in North Park. If you're interested in attending, join the Yahoo group (I'll send out more info, address, etc. via that group): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sdveggiecooks

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European Market and Deli

4135 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92103

619-298-8661

Daily 10 am-5:30 pm

The wife and I were in the mood for something new this weekend but we didn't want to venture too far outside of North Park. We were going to drop by Henry's and pick up some stuff to make sandwiches. Right next to Henry's is this place that I've wanted to check out for some time now. They were small and quaint and I had a feeling they had some good imported cheese and possibly some bread. By the way, I'm still on my quest for bread. I've been to a number of places and found a few recommendations, but I have a few other bakeries I need to check out before writing my complete review. So be patient, it's coming...eventually.

Okay back to the deli. We walked in and it was about as small as it looked from the outside. There's about 5 tables (seating for about 16) inside and a patio with another couple tables. The walls are lined with imported goods (pastas, oils, sauces, etc.) and about half of them are predominantly covered with Greek lettering. Very many of them have no English written on them at all. That's a good sign. To date, I had been going down to Little Italy to get imported goods from the Mona Lisa restaurant. But there's no quick way to get down to Little Italy from North Park and I'm walking more these days, so finding a closer imports place is a huge benefit to me.

As soon as we walked in, a large lady with a thick Greek accent greeted us. I knew we were in the right place. The display case at the front counter had spanikopita, two types of Feta (a French and a Greek...I'd never heard of French feta before) as well as some enormous beans (thought they were Fava since they were so large, but they're a form of mild butter bean). In another case there were trays full of bakalava and other assorted pastries. The first thing I was afraid of was that we would be breaking the bank on what I wanted to be a light lunch. It wasn't obvious where the menus were, but there were two people cooking. We found the menus and were shocked to see that the prices were so reasonable. We got a vegetarian sampler plate for $6 and a veggie pita for $5. That would be pretty good if the serving size were the same as most places, but the sampler plate ended up being about twice as much food as other places' samplers. There was a generous serving of hummus, these giants butter beans, tziziki sauce, a piece of spanikopita, two domales (stuffed grape leaves) and pita. There was too much hummus and not enough pita, but the whole plate was about a pound of food.

The wife didn't like the hummus, but I did. It's a light fluffy bean whip...whereas many places spike it with a lot of garlic and lemon and many leave it a bit chunky. This one was silky smooth and just light and airy. So if you've had a bad experience with hummus in the past, this would be a great place to give it a second shot. The flavor is mild and there's no beanie (or tahini) aftertaste. The spanikopita was about perfect (they charge $1.50 per piece at the case and it's a decent size). Kyla (the wife...have I formally introduced her?) was particularly in love with the tziziki sauce. It was much richer and creamier than any we've had before.

My pita wrap was also quite good and pretty much what you'd find at any Greek cafe: tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and lettuce...but there were two things that made it above average they put a spicy feta mix on top (they call it Feta Diablou) and I'm pretty sure the vinaigrette Was made in house. The second (okay third...who's counting?) thing that made it great was the pita. I'm pretty sure they make their own pita on site. It was very fresh and there was still flour on the outside of it that you could feel on your hands. They have piles of pita bread stacked up at the front of the display case and it's better than any other store-bought pita I've had before, so if you're planning a Greek night and don't want the hassle of making your own pita (it's a good deal of work) this is the only substitute I've found worth buying.

There's also lamb and many other traditional meat dishes. But I was pleased to find a few choices for vegetarian on their very very small menu. They also cater (I think that's where they do most of their business) and their menu mentions you can go "off menu" when making a catering order. I wonder if I can convince my employer to hook that up...probably not...

The service was also top notch. The place is family owned and operated and you know it as soon as you step in the door as you're greeted warmly. The lady there might as well be the Greek mother you never had but always wanted (why can't I be from an ethnic family dammit?).

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Yves - Chicken and Beef Skewers

This is a quick review of a newish product offered by Yves (I think it's pronounced like EE-veez). You may be familiar with the Yves brand for their mock meats in the deli section (refrigerator case, NOT freezer case like most mock meats). They have a nice variety of cold cuts (ham, bologna, turkey, salami, pepperoni) as well as some other items (on their website but that I have yet to find in stores). But their latest creation are called skewers. They're kabobs, really: pre-seasoned, lumpy (in a good way) and hearty.

So far, I've only found the skewers at Whole Foods. They were on sale until this weekend but they're still pretty affordable at $3.79. Now you only get two skewers per package, but these things are hearty and flavorful. What you'll want to do is stretch them a bit by throwing them in a nice pita (you can get some great pita at the European Market and Deli) and maybe throw some tziziki sauce on there too. The chciken comes flavored in a lemon pepper sauce (no messy sauce in the package, it's just baked right in there) and the beef is in a pretty normal BBQ flavor (again, no sauce. if you want sauce, get those GardenBurger ribs).

Preparation could be any kind of grill really. The wife put these on the Foreman Grill (our favorite household appliance) and they work out really well. They have a very strong flavor to them so no additional flavor is needed. You could put some fresh cracked pepper on them if you really wanted to. One of these will fill up a hungry person. They're a continuous stick of mock meat, so after grilling, you may want to pull it off the skewer and break it into chunks, if you're going to serve it with something. It pulls apart beautifully, and that's why I mostly recommend these items. The texture is better than any other mock meat I've had (and I've had a lot). I like the Quorn brand specifically for their texture and they use egg and mushroom components to get that texture just right, but their flavor is often a bit off. These excel in flavor and texture. If I can complain about anything, I think it's that they overdid it on the spices. It's just a little too concentrated and doesn't allow the room for people to add any of their own flavor to the meat. The trade off, of course, is that they're super easy to prepare. They're not froxen, just refrigerated, so that means you have the option to take them off the skewers, break them up into chunks (something I think they should do for you) and insert onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc. between the pieces.

For more info (and some recipes) check out the Yves site.

NOTE TO VEGANS the chicken skewers contain egg components and both packages mention that they are produced in a facility that uses eggs, so the chicken will probably be out for you. Depending on how strict you are in your diet, the beef may also be a little too likely to have trace eggs amounts in them.

Crispy Fried Chicken

Crispy Fried Chicken
4919 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
(619) 582-3938

As previously mentioned, a friend of mine had mentioned this place to me. What's the point of Crispy Fried Chicken for a vegetarian? The sides of course! I grew up in Richmond, Virginia which isn't geographically very southern, but culturally it's entrenched. My family often went down to North Carolina to visit friends and I have distinct memories of the BBQ there. I should mention that I'm a vegetarian for ethical and land usage reasons, not because I think "meat is icky." On the contrary, I think meat can be really tasty, but I choose to abstain for the same reason we humans abstain from going around shooting people in the face. No matter how much fun it is, it's just wrong.

Okay, enough soapboxing, time for the food. Kyla (the wife) and I definitely miss fried chicken and we lamented a bit about that while taking in the scents of the shop.

My friend had described this place as uber sketchy, but I want to tell you that it's not so bad. It's deep in the City Heights area and for some people that gives them the heebie jeebies, but I actually used to live in the area and it doesn't scare me much. The area of El Cajon Blvd. is dominated by Asian cuisine (predominantly Vietnamese, I think) and neon. Crispy Fried Chicken sticks out culturally and building-wise. It's a very well-lit (important for the area), non-descript place with lots of glass on the front. No bars or otherwise "paranoid" looking security measures. My friend mentioned that he saw someone sleeping in there once, and I was expecting it to be grubby and busy, but it was quite clean and very NOT busy. There were about 4 people that came in and out while we were waiting for our food. Upon entering, we were a bit surprised to find that the proprietors were actually Asian. Their English isn't amazing, but communication wasn't too hard. But honestly...this is Black food and 95% of the clientèle is Black... so where are the Black cooks? We have a strong Ethiopian contingent in San Diego, but beyond that, it's as if Black culture is wholly absent here and that makes me sad.

If you know of any other Black cuisine (Cajun or otherwise) actually MADE by African Americans please loop me in.

For the record, I will generally use the term "Black" rather than "African American." I'm sorry if that offends anyone but "African American" just feels too stuffy and artificially politically correct. I'm a "White" guy (I've never referred to myself as an "Anglo-American"). For some reason it's impossible to say there is a White culture...but there certainly is a "Black" culture. We White people are dry, boring and only have culture when broken down into historical, ethnic fragments (French, German, etc.) which many of us have completely lost touch with. So...my reasoning for using "Black" is because I associate it with a culture (and thus food) more than I associate "African American" with a culture. Sorry for the tangent...

On to the food: We got hush puppies, cole slaw, fried okra and mashed potatoes.

The mashed potatoes were the low point of the meal. They just didn't offer anything beyond what you might find at any diner (like Chicken Pie Shop, another story for another time). The okra was a bit small and dry but not bad. Battered and deep fried...just a bit skimpy. I'm betting that the okra was frozen...but then again it's not easy to find great okra in San Diego, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh. The cole slaw was top-notch. The ratio of mayo to vinegar was right on with a nice zing to it. Many places mess up cole slaw by leaving in big chunks of cabbage and making it way too mayo heavy. My only complaint is that the slaw was a bit too liquidy. You could drain off the extra "sauce" and be just fine. The hush puppies were the highlight for me. I really should have ordered a large side of them. They were extremely crispy on the outside. Think donut hole made of corn meal, and you pretty much have a hush puppy. I've had a bunch of types of hush puppies over the years and some are super sweet and others are very mealy and have a strong cornmeal taste which can be a bit bitter. These had a slightly bitter aftertaste, but weren't too sweet. They were a bit on the small side (hush puppies in Richmond are about golf ball size and these were more quarter-sized).

I have a lead on a couple other places for hush puppies so I'll provide more info as I hunt them down.

We spent $7 and it was enough to fill us up. The food is greasy (duh) so just expect it. This is an indulgence we won't often partake in, but now and then a little grease is a good thing...even for vegetarians.

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