Carpe Diem Eating: The Travis Scott Meal

During a recent visit to the drive-through at McDonald's, I asked my son if he wanted his usual order of a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium cola. Instead, he asked for a Travis Scott meal. I assumed he meant that he wanted to hear Travis Scott on the radio, and ordered what he usually eats. While he did eat his lunch, my son was annoyed that it wasn't what he asked for and bemoaned that his father wasn't as knowledgeable and cool as his 9-year-old self. I knew that the restaurant still associated with a clown as its mascot, rebranding be damned, didn't name their sandwiches after people like a New York deli would. Until that moment, I only knew Travis Scott as the rapper who lip-synced his hit "Sicko Mode" during an awful Superbowl halftime show. But Kylie Jenner's baby daddy is also a big deal in the fast-food world. Last month, Scott teamed with McDonald's to market the way he levels up his order of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and the Cactus Jack meal was born for a limited time offer. What does this combo have to do with Mick Foley's hardcore wrestling persona? Who the hell knows, but it apparently led to some McDonald's locations running out of ingredients for this meal. This promotion somehow slipped under my radar, but it's still possible to have this celebrity-endorsed meal if you want to appear with it even when it sounds strange and weird. Who knows, maybe it can be a secret menu item if enough people ask for it.

THE TRAVIS SCOTT / CACTUS JACK MEAL

• Order a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and ask for it to be topped with bacon and lettuce (I forgot that you can add toppings to hamburgers now).
• Ask for BBQ sauce for your French fries instead of ketchup (Travis likes the tanginess).
• To properly wash down a meal of this magnitude, order a Sprite with extra ice. 
• Bonus cool points if you substitute the Sprite for "Blueberry Faygo", the title of Scott contemporary Lil Mosey's biggest hit. As you can't get Faygo of any flavour at McDonald's, head to the nearest Dollar King in your area for a bottle.

Better Steaks With Meaty Food Hacks

After a winter that refuses to let go of its grip on the city, grillmasters are chomping at the bit to fire up their barbeques. With the chance of snow or rain constantly looming in the forecast, you may want to treat yourself to a dry-aged steak when you finally do get to cook outside.  Dry-aging removes moisture from a piece of meat and causes a breakdown of the muscle tissue - basically, this process causes your steak to decompose. As disgusting as this process may sound, it also tenderizes the meat, and gives it an amazing flavour. Aged steaks can be bought, or be made at home, but while you're waiting for the snow to melt, or the backyard to dry out in order to get to your grill, you can experiment with these cheaper and faster food hacks.

Mushrooms
Chefs who don't have the time to wait 30+ days for that extra burst of umami suggest you season your steak with mushroom powder. Get some dried porcinis or shiitakes and grind them up using a food processor or blender, then season your steak with it, along with some salt and black pepper. Wrap everything in plastic wrap and let the steak sit in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook it.

Koji
Koji is a rice grain that has been introduced with a live culture and is used in the making soy sauce and miso paste. When koji is added, the live culture helps break down the carbohydrates, amino acids, simple sugars, and proteins.  If the live culture is used to break down beans, it stands to reason it can be used to break down the connective tissue in your steak. As with the dried mushrooms, you will need to turn the koji (check your favourite Asian supermarket or order some online) into a powder and rub it all over your steak. Once that's done, put the steak on a plate and place it in your refrigerator for three days. This will cause your meat to become fuzzy in appearance, and leave a pungent smell in your fridge so you may want to place your steak in the crisper if you don't want to deal with the smell, or in a separate refrigerator like your beer fridge (give the fridge good cleaning while you're at it). After three days, rinse all the koji from the meat, pat it dry, and then season it with salt and pepper as normal.

Fish Sauce
This hack takes longer than the others but is one used by Nathan Myhrvold of "Modernist Cuisine" fame, so you know it's legit.  Place your steak in a Ziploc bag, pour in about 15 mL of fish sauce per steak to coat the meat, then seal the bag as tightly as possible, getting out as much air as you can; if you have access to a vacuum sealer, now would be the time to use it. Put the meat in the refrigerator for three days. Take the steak out of the bag, wrap it tightly in cheesecloth, then put it back in the fridge for another three days. Season the meat all over with salt and pepper when it's time to cook.

Blue Cheese
As good as fish sauce is for replicating the rich funky flavour of an aged steak, blue cheese can also be used. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on a baking sheet, then place an equal-sized piece of cheesecloth on top. Place your steak on the cheesecloth. Fold a thin layer of the cheesecloth over the steaks, then top with some crumbled blue cheese. Fold over the plastic wrap to secure the cheese on top, then refrigerate the wrapped steaks overnight. When it's time to cook,  unwrap the steaks, take off the blue cheese, and pat the steaks dry with paper towels before seasoning both sides of the steak with salt and pepper. You now have steak that is ready for cooking and some blue cheese to use in a sauce for them when it's time to eat.

Ingredients: Blue Cheese Sauce

180 mL heavy cream
35 mL Worcestershire sauce
140 g blue cheese
15 g unsalted butter
1 shallot, sliced
3 g kosher salt
3 g coarsely ground black pepper

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the cream and Worcestershire sauce and cook for another minute. Add the salt, pepper and blue cheese and stir well. Just as the cheese begins to melt, remove from the heat.
   
   To serve, spoon the sauce over the steaks or whatever else needs blue cheese added to it.

Carpe Diem Eating: Coffee Treat Yo' Self

Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised.
Capt. Janeway, "Star Trek: Voyager"

Because it's been a while since I've posted something, now is as good of a time as any for another edition of Carpe Diem Eating. This is the part of my blog where the focus is on seizing the day food-wise; making the most out of the time and the food you eat, by doing something extraordinary with food combinations that shouldn't work but do; food creations that work so well, you're amazed they haven't been done before; and food creations so extravagant and extreme that you owe it to yourself to try it.

Do you enjoy going out for a leisurely cup of coffee? Have you received a gift card for a popular coffeehouse? Are you already a member of the cult of Seattle's most famous coffee franchise and want to try something different? If you answered in the affirmative to any of those questions, try these coffee hacks the next time you need a caffeine fix:

• Save on an iced latte by ordering an iced Americano with no water, then add the milk yourself from the communal pitcher. 
• Just like a martini, a shaken iced drink makes all the difference. Request that your drink is shaken because baristas won't do it if you don't ask.
• Want a cheap version of a chai latte? Ask for a  two teabags chai tea misto, half a pump of cinnamon syrup, and half a pump of vanilla syrup, with lots of foam, then sprinkle a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla on the foam. 
• A penny saved is a penny earned, and you can save a few of those pennies by using your own cup, no matter the drink size. You are charged for every add-on to your coffee order if you go through the drive-thru, so get your extras at no cost, and save a few more of your coins by placing your order face-to-face with the barista.
• If it's available, use coconut milk for your drink, as it can double as both a sweetener and a creamer. 
• Contrary to what you see at the counter, the tall is not the smallest available cup size. A smaller cup, the short, is available if you ask for one (an extra-large cup size, the Trenta, also exists).
• Stand out from the other muggles, and order a Hot Butterbeer Latte: ask for a whole milk steamer and add some caramel syrup, toffee nut syrup and cinnamon dolce syrup (two shots each for a tall order, three shots for a grande, and four shots for venti). Complete the drink with some whipped cream and salted caramel bits on top (or creme brulee topping if you prefer), and a shot or two of espresso for some coffee flavour.
• Get the most out of your gift cards and Starbucks Rewards points, and use them at the Starbucks at the airport, where the drinks are more expensive.
• Because it's brewed very strong, Starbucks waters down your cup of tea before serving it to you; request no water with your tea if you want more flavour in your cup. If your tea is too strong, you can ask for some water in a cup if you need to water it down.
• For the ultimate pick-me-up, ask for four shots of espresso and four pumps White Chocolate Syrup in a Grande cup filled with ice and milk. For even more of a kick, order it without the milk; they don't call this drink Liquid Cocaine for nothing.

Carpe Diem Eating - The Land Sea and Air Burger

"Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."

Mark Twain

Carpe Diem Eating is about food combinations that shouldn't work but do; food creations that work so well, you're amazed they haven't been done before; and food creations so extravagant and extreme that you owe it to yourself to at least try it once. Today, the focus is on the various customer-created food hacks of the posted menu offerings at certain restaurants, such as...

The Land Sea and Air Burger

Description: This burger is comprised of every McDonald's protein - beef (the Land), fish (the Sea), and chicken (the Air).

Creation: Order a Big Mac, a Filet-O-Fish, and a McChicken. Put the McChicken and Filet-O-Fish patties inside the Big Mac along with however many buns you want, depending on how wide your mouth can open.

Cost: $14.87, plus tax; extra if you order fries with all that.

Comments: Thirty minutes afterward, I felt stuffed and slightly queasy from the tartar sauce - yes, I'm blaming the tartar sauce. Recommended for anyone needing to satisfy a large craving for Mickey D's.