Five Guys

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

In one simple word: delectable.

This burger joint is comparable to the West Coast's In-N-Out Burger which is also a delicious burger joint.  Many claim that the burgers at Five Guys are "better" than those of In-N-Out, so naturally, when Five Guys opened in Tucson, our curious foodie palates had to make the judgment for themselves!

And away we went!

So the picture to the left is the burger heaven I entered upon.  A simple order: Bacon Cheeseburger All the Way.  A double-patty cheeseburger with bacon, sauteed onions and mushrooms, mayo, pickles, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard.

This is perhaps what sets their burgers aside from In-N-Out, being the offer of so many toppings.  And the best part?  All toppings are FREE.  That's right.  You don't have to pay a dollar per extra topping like some other burger joints. 

Down to the nitty gritty:  What sets this burger apart from their competitor?  Toppings.  That's it.  I stand decided that if you were to take all of the extra toppings (such as bacon, mushrooms, etc.) out of the picture and serve this burger with the exact same toppings of In-N-Out, you would end up with two incredibly similar burgers.  Hence, I will not say that one is better than the other based solely on the burger factor, but rather on the toppings factor.  Yes, Five Guys beats In-N-Out on Variety. 

 Now for the fry-factor.  There is a huge difference in the french fries of both places.  Is one better than the other?  Once again, I may have to come to a stand still at this point.

As I chomped down on some fries with Heather, we decided that we liked the cut (much thicker than the competitor fries), but that perhaps the potato quality was not on par.  We had quite a few fries left-over simply because they were black and fried beyond eatability.  Also, we had a allergy-infested man with us at the time and since they fry all of their fries in 100% peanut oil, he was unable to partake in the fry-adventure with us (so he scored Five Guys as a zero in this category).

 The overall atmosphere was enjoyable and inviting (much like In-N-Out).  Very busy with a constant line almost out the door, but fun.  I did like that they used 50lb bags of potatoes as a barricade to keep the line in check so it doesn't spill into the sitting area.  They also offer free peanuts in the line to snack while waiting.  So I guess they win the line category.  Food categories?  I guess each have their pros and cons.  I might give Five Guys the upper-hand simply for variety's sake (I mean, they even sell hot dogs), but for the burger fiend, I think each place offers a quality experience for your palate.

Minty Peach Bread Pudding

Okay, I'm just going to have to get this out of the way:  I don't understand how anyone can enjoy the flavor of mint when eating dessert....  I mean seriously, its like you are brushing your teeth with your sugar-filled dessert and to me it doesn't make sense.  Perhaps I just haven't found the correct dessert with minty-deliciousness, but even I haven't been able to make something to please myself with a mint dessert.

Though I hate mint, yes, I had to try this recipe for those of you who may like mint.  Mint+Peach+Bread Pudding.  First of all, bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts because I almost always have everything on-hand.  It is a great, homey and comforting dessert and is also pretty much fool-proof (I love these mix-and-bake delicacies that require no real hard work).  I would have been in heaven had I left out the mint...  I liked it, but I would have loved it more without having to think about my toothbrush.  Anyway, everyone else seemed quite pleased:

Take some stale bread (I used left-over french bread from dinner) and load it into a 9x13.  If you don't have dried crusty bread, chop up whatever you do have and put it in the oven on broil for a few minutes to dry it out really well.  You want the bread to be as dry as possible without falling to crumbs so that it will soak up your liquid-goodness.

Alright, now mix together:
2 cups of fat free milk,
2 eggs,
1 cup of white sugar,
.25 cup of brown sugar,
.5 cup of melted butter,  
1 tbsp cinammon,
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg,
1 tsp dried mint (optional).

Okay, for the real delicious heart-attack version you may substitute the fat-free milk for one cup of heavy whipping cream and one cup of whole milk... yes, definitely going to be a more dense, heavy and creamy pudding, but also loaded with more than double the calories...

Mix a can of diced peaches into the bread in the baking dish, add some of juice if you wish, but not too much.  You could substitute about half a cup of the milk if you really want to add all of the peach juice for a sweeter pudding.  Now pour the milk mixture over all the bread pieces and squish down any bread pieces that are sticking too far out of the liquid.  Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, then bake on 350 for about 30 minutes or until it is bubbling and the top is a golden brown.  Bring it out of the oven and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving  :)

Not Chunky Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Alright, so it has been over a month since my last entry--I am ashamed.  However, I will say that I have been student teaching and thus working a full-time job (for no pay!) so my free time has greatly decreased as of late.  I know, it may not be the best excuse, but it is an excuse none-the-less.

So I woke up at 6:40 this morning (way too early for a Saturday), and I rolled out of bed because Virgil was up watching TV.  Why?  Who on earth knows, but I am glad I did because it gave me the extra time I needed for a food adventure.  Of course, during this month I've been away, I have definitely cooked some delicious meals, it has just been more rare and with less time.  It takes time to really think and document each step of my food-life... Okay... no more excuses!  I'm back in the game:

Banana-Chocolate-Chip Muffins.  Muffins are super delicious and almost too easy.  No, they aren't a cop-out... ;)  So over the past month, my breakfasts have ranged from waffles, to omelets to breakfast sandwiches, and I will have to say that muffins just might be the easiest of them all.  They are so simple; mix your dry ingredients, mix your wets, mix together and bake!

The Dry Team 

(Yes, I stole this from my hero Alton):

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

.5 tsp salt

The Wet Team:

3 lg or 4 sm overripe bananas

.75 cups white sugar

.75 cup melted butter

1 egg

Blend the teams in seperate bowls.  Make sure you really mash up those bananas for a smoother consistency, or, if you want banana-chunk, leave 'em chunky!  I actually like the sound of that... Chunky-Banana-Chocolate-Chip Muffins!  Anyway... I blended mine pretty fine even though as I write this I now regret that decision because I can't call mine chunky...

Okay, now, add your dries into your wets.  Add about .5 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips at this point, and of course, this can be left out or substituted for any other flavored chip.  At this point, DO NOT overmix.  As you can see in my picture, there is still dry flour spots here and there throughout the batter.  THIS IS FINE.  It is better this way, because you will end up with better, more moist and soft muffins.  Yes, this is also a trick well-explained by my dear friend Alton.

Okay, so dollop your batter into your muffin tins and bake away at 350 degrees farenheit.  It should take anywhere from 20-30 minutes.  Pull them out, and let them sit for about 5 minutes and them remove from the muffin tin, then cover them in some wonderful butter.  Don't try to pull them out too early because they will fall apart (they need time to set).  Now you can sit back with your coffee and yummy muffins and enjoy the rest of your morning (or afternoon if you slept in like you should on a Saturday morning).  We love the muffin!