Food Truckery in the Little Apple

Kite's Bar Marquee in Aggieville

Finally, my foodie prayers were answered! The Food Network came to our town, ate our food, mingled with our people, and shot a full episode of "The Great Food Truck Race: Season 2" in our streets. The show consists of food trucks from all over the country competing in a six-week, cross-country cooking and sales competition where the winner is awarded $100,000 and some serious publicity. This year they started with eight teams, traveling eastbound and down across the country and on their fourth stop, guess where they screeched those brakes? The Little Apple. Manhappiness.  Manhattan, Kansas. Let the food truckery begin!

In the days the food trucks were here, let's call them "frucks", I had prior engagements out of town and could only stalk -- ahem, I mean visit -- them on Friday and Sunday. Frucks rolled in on Thursday and host, Chef Tyler Florence, and the Food Network crew started filming Friday morning. I'd heard rumors of where the crews might settle in so, naturally, over lunch I had to head down to the rumored epicenter of fruck engagement to creep on some foodies and snap some pics. I walked up and down and all around but found nothing much to report. Picture me walking distractedly and a little dejectedly down the sidewalk, crossing alleys, dodging puddles and sending pics from my phone to my email, when low and behold four dudes pop out from behind a building and ask, "Excuse me. Can you recommend a place to eat?" I KNOW it has to be a truck or Food Network crew and ecstatically answer "YES!! What sounds good?" One guys says "Anything!", another says "Something that says Manhattan, KS" while making a grandious gesture and gazing meaningfully into the middle distance. Bingo! I point emphatically just across the street to my favorite local spot, the So Long Saloon. It's the best burger in town, I told them. They high-fived me and headed over to get their names on the list. This is So Long at 2:00 on a Thursday afternoon. The place is dynamite! But enough about them, I'll do a full review soon so I can give them the proper focus. (But seriously, the fish tacos there...wow!) Anyway, long story short, the guys turned out to be the crew from the HodgePodge Truck (grill/burger truck) and I'm dying to hear what they thought of it!

Friday rolls around and filming began. Out of respect for the integrity of the game, I will not give out any specifics which may compromise the secrecy of the show before it is aired. I will; however, give you some detailed reviews of the food from two of the trucks and the experience of procuring it. Fast forward to Friday, through Saturday, to Sunday lunch time. I'm on Twitter like it's my source of oxygen, finding out where the frucks will be and what time. My husband and I head where three are said to be parked and preparing to serve, not fully convinced we should wait in the two to four hour lines after all. I mean, it's kinda cold out...and we already ate (So Long Saloon, actually)...and we could just take pictures for the blog and go home, right? Ha! No way!! We came, we saw, we got in line. When we arrived, there were two trucks with forming lines, the HodgePodge Truck from Ohio and the Lime Truck out of southern California. I'd had a bit of communication with some of the Lime Truck's supporters so we chose their line first. We didn't even bother to look at the menu (which turned out to be half mistake and half fun surprise). We waited for awhile when Korilla BBQ from New York appeared and started setting up shop. I'm lucky to be married to someone who is just as curious and adventurous as I am, so we split up and covered both lines. Communicating by text and hand signals, we waited in our respective lines for two and a half hours as it got colder outside and we got hungrier inside. We were waiting for a novelty, for an experience, and to give back to the Food Network and all the competitors for bringing the nations’ eye to Manhattan, KS…not necessarily for a couple tacos. For all you haters who stayed home because you thought it was stupid to wait in line for hours, you missed out! I got a chance to hang out with some awesome people in line for the Lime Truck, ate some great food, and seized the opportunity to take part in a unique community experience. Manhattan city officials called it "economic development", we called it tasty.

The Lime Truck

Southern California

My view after two hours in line.

My Order:

(2) Chorizo and Egg Tacos

(2) Roasted Corn with Truffle Mayo

(1) Mac Attack

(1) Fried Swiss Cake

(1) Cranberry Limeade

Review:



My overall impression is favorable; however, the lack of cohesiveness in the menu and consistency in execution of the dishes makes it difficult to average my reaction. For instance, the chorizo and egg tacos failed. Although the chorizo itself had a good flavor, J. Edgar Hoover couldn't have found a recognizable morsel of egg in the dish, the tortillas fell apart in my hands, and the overall dish was very dry with no sauce or salsa used. The roasted corn with truffle mayo was another story entirely. The corn, left on the cob and zigzagged with a creamy truffle mayo, had a beautiful char and roasted flavor. I could've eaten an acre's worth! The Mac Attack is the Lime Truck's version of macaroni and cheese. When I bit into it I got first sweet then savory and a confusing flavor profile coupled with typical mac and cheese texture. We suspect the illicut usage of peanut butter in this recipe. It was slightly mind-boggling but yeah, I'd order it again if for no other reason than to try to figure out what the heck is in it. Next, the fried swiss cake...oh....the fried swiss cake. It was like a funnel cake and a chocolate cake had a baby, then the Lime Truck spanked it, and sprinkled it with powdered sugar. It was dessertastic. Of course, who isn't a sucker for something that's delicious already then battered and fried? The cranberry limeade was a cranberry limeade and I was glad to have it after two hours of chatting with the cool people in my line. My opinion based on this single experience is that the menu is a bit hit-and-miss but, I suspect, they adjusted their menu items based on what they thought would be the lcoal preferences. I opted not to try their baked beans, mashed potatoes, and biscuits and gravy based on this assumption and tried to order dishes specific to the home flavor of the Lime Truck.



Korilla BBQ

New York City

View from KBBQ's line after 2 hours

My Order:

(5) Beef Tacos

(5) Pork Tacos

 

Review: Holy Taste Explosion, Batman! These teensy tacos packed so many bold flavors, I can't even list them all. Thin but strong tortillas wrapped around well-cooked meat and paired with big chunks of super-sour kimchi, greens, and a vinegar-based red sauce that knocked our socks off. The beef tacos were sweeter with a little lighter flavor while the pork packed a punch. We gave them four very enthusiastic, orange-stained thumbs up!



Come Monday, they filmed their elimination and left Manhattanites full and happy. The next stop on the tour was Memphis, TN and it sounds like Atlanta is next up. Tune into Food Network in August for the airing of the full season and don't miss the episode filmed in Manhappiness. If you're interested in keeping up with the frucks in realtime, you can find information on Twitter using the hashtag #greatfoodtruckrace. The teams themselves are prohibited from posting any information but that doesn't stop the communities and each truck's street teams and fans from doing so!

Thanks to Food Network, Chef Tyler Florence, all the crews and producers, and the awesome food truck crews for a great weekend. Now who knows how to make truffle mayo?? Tweet me. ;)





Shaking Hands & Strawberry Salads

Just to begin, thank you to all the people out there still practicing common decency. You don't wear white to weddings. You say you love your Christmas gift, even if you don't. You call if you're going to be late. Chances are, the person on the receiving end of these polite concessions will be so appreciative and receptive it will actually work out better for you than if there wasn't ever a known possibility of a faux pas. Keep things simple. When did we switch our focus from learning to shake hands, look people in the eye, and be on time (all things my dad coached me on at a very young age) to focusing on things like making more money, reaching some unreachable physical goal, or raking in the most Facebook friends (aka Bookface or the Book of Faces, as we like to call it). Tonight, my husband and I were invited to a barbeque after he and his friends had worked all day pouring concrete for a landscaping project for one of the guys. So in the spirit of keeping things simple, and with some incredible inspiration from my mom and my friend Kyra (Holla!), here is a clean, fresh, and supereasy recipe. This will be a huge hit at any barbeque; I certainly can't get enough!

Strawberry Salad

Don't let the name fool you, I know green salads with fruit can be scary. Although sweet, this salad is also savory and surprisingly satisfying. It can also be easily modified to suit your tastes. She's a blank slate, play with her! Although, I will say, I've had strawberry salads with other dressings and the levels of flavor do not compare to this one.

Selection of spring greens (whatever is in season), chopped

Fresh spinach, chopped

Red Onion, sliced thinly and diced

Strawberries, halved and sliced

Parmesan Cheese

Salted Sunflower Seeds

Lemon

EVOO

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Honey Mustard Dressing (feel free to make your own)



Chop your greens, onion, and strawberries and let them all mingle in your salad bowl (remember, if your strawberries are very juicy and ripe, they will be very sweet so you may want to use fewer). Pour in some parmesan cheese, I suggest using the shaved variety so you get more bang for your bite. (The next time I make this I'm going to forego the salted seeds for unsalted and add some bacon or pancetta for the salty element. If it's the earthshaking improvement I expect it to be, expect a Part II!) Sprinkle the entire mixture with fresh lemon juice, careful not to let the seeds fall in. Drizzle EVOO and grind black pepper over the bowl, mix well. I'm not a food snob but when it comes to black pepper, fresh ground is the only way to go. Did you ever hear that good quality black pepper shouldn't make you sneeze? True story! Anyway, mix this together, then add your Honey Mustard Dressing. Go easy at first, mix it in, and taste. The biggest sin a salad-maker can commit is to overdress. Mix it, taste it, if necessary add more, but in all honesty, you probably won't need it. And that's it. Enjoy!

This summer, my goal is to remember two things, 1) Keep it simple and 2) Be brave. I'm told the two aren't mutually exclusive. I guess we'll find out! But for now, here's to shaking hands and strawberry salads! Cheers!