Drake Family Farms Goat Cheese and Scotty B's Hot Sauce - Two Fantastic Farmers' Market Finds

Drake Family Farms Goat Cheese and Scotty B's Hot Sauce are two products that I have recently stumbled across while wandering the local Orange County Farmers' Markets. Both of these products are locally made and available mostly through the Farmers' Markets.


Drake Family Farms is a goat farm in Ontario, CA. They originally started in Utah. They opened up their operation in Southern California in September of 2010. They sell a variety of plain and flavored goat cheeses. My two favorite flavors are Apricot Honey and Jalapeno (pictured above). This goat cheese is creamy and rich. Spreading a tiny bit on a cracker or mini toast is a decadent treat. I'm pretty sure that this is the best goat cheese I have ever had. A 4 oz. tub will set you back $6 or you can buy four for $20.

Drake Family Farms Goat Cheese is currently available at the following OC Farmers' Markets:

Sunday-Irvine Great Park Farmers' Market and Laguna Niguel Farmers' Market
Wednesday-Tustin Farmers' Market
Thursday-Costa Mesa Farmers' Market and Orange/Chapman Farmers' Market
Friday-Laguna Hills Farmers' Market

For more info:
Drake Family Farms
7255 Schaefer Ave.
Ontario, CA 91762
www.drakefamilyfarms.com



Scotty B's makes a line of hot sauce that is full of heat without sacrificing the flavor. They produce six different hot sauces that come in large 12.75 oz. bottles, instead of the small 5 oz. bottles that we are so used to seeing hot sauce come in. The price for a 12.75 oz. bottle is $8. My favorite hot sauce of the ones I have tried so far is the "Berries in Heat." This is a hot sauce that is made with fresh blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. It has a nice kick to it and isn't overly sweet. I was afraid that all those berries would make a really sweet hot sauce, but it is really perfectly balanced. In looking at their website, I have found that one of the foods they recommend putting their hot sauce on is Arby's Roast Beef Sandwiches......ok....

The Scotty B's booth also sells something called Jalapeno Chips. These chips seems to be made by a company in Vermont though. The chips are freeze-dried jalapeno slices that have been tossed in either cheddar cheese powder or ranch dressing flavored powder. They are light and crispy and have some great heat. Each 2.25 oz. bag is $4.

Scotty B's Hot Sauce is currently available at the following OC Farmers' Markets:

Wednesday-Tustin Farmers' Market
Thursday-Costa Mesa Farmers' Market
Friday-Laguna Hills Farmers' Market
Saturday-Irvine Famrers' Market
Sunday-Garden Grove Farmers' Market

For more info:
Scotty B's Hot Sauce
Good Eatz Gourmet, LLC
P.O. Box 2235
Capistrano Beach, CA 92624
(888)-9-SCOTTY
http://www.scottybhotsauces.com

Taco Asylum - Costa Mesa

Taco Asylum
2937 S. Bristol St, B102
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
phone 714.922.6010
www.tacoasylum.com

Are you crazy about tacos? If so, the newly opened Taco Asylum in The CAMP in Costa Mesa may be just the place for you. Taco Asylum was opened by the trio behind Haven Gastropub in Orange. The restaurant specializes in unique gourmet tacos that include ingredients such as grilled baby octopus and confit beef heart. They also have a selection of small craft beers in both cans and on tap. Non-beer drinkers can enjoy a variety of all-natural sodas including sarsaparilla.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend a special preview event a couple of days before the official grand opening. I was able to try most of the tacos. The tacos I got to sample were:

Grilled octopus – flour tortilla, kalamata olives, oregano, feta, tomatoes $5

Pork belly – flour tortilla, carrots, daikon, onions, cilantro $5

Short rib – flour tortilla, pickled red onion, salsa verde, cotija cheese, cilantro $5

Curried paneer (Indian Cheese) – naan tortilla, raita, tomato chutney $5

Lamb – flour tortilla, olive tapenade, ratatouille, mâché $6

Corazon – flour tortilla, confit beef heart, pickled turnips and peppers, harissa $5

and Wild mushroom – herbed tortilla, mushrooms, garbanzo puree, parsley salad, fried chickpeas $5(FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE)

All of the tacos come prepared on fresh handmade tortillas. My favorite taco of the night was probably the curried paneer taco. The naan tortilla went perfectly with the authentic Indian flavor of the curried paneer. The wild mushroom taco was also very good. The fried chickpeas added a nice crunch that complemented the tender, meaty mushrooms. The Corazon taco was my first experience eating beef heart. It was surprisingly tender and tasty.

Unfortunately I had to leave before they sampled the ghost chili pork (flour tortilla, chili threads, pork cracklins $5) and duck (flour tortilla, camembert, dijon crème fraîche $6) tacos. I heard that these turned out to be two of the favorites for the night.

I'm sure you must be thinking that these tacos are extremely expensive. Well you're right. When you see and taste the high quality ingredients though, you understand why they demand a higher price than your average taco stand. For a better value, you can get a flight of 8 mini tacos for $18. If you're still scoffing at the idea of paying $5 for a single taco, just think of it as a chance to try some gourmet treats that happen to come served in an edible wrapper.

Overall, I think this is a place that people should try at least once. It's nice to go here to sample these tasty gourmet delights, but due to the high price tag, I don't think it will be making my list of "usuals." I also found it surprising that their menu states "changes and substitutions politely declined." I can understand not allowing certain substitutions, but I think if a restaurant is going to serve $5 tacos from behind a counter, they should be a little more willing to let the customer alter the taco to their liking. It's kind of shocking that you can customize your 49¢ taco at Del Taco, but not your $5-$6 taco from Taco Asylum....

Tustin Pizza Company

Tustin Pizza Co.
13842 Newport Ave # B
Tustin, CA 92780-7802
(714) 838-1944

I recently had a craving for pizza and I had a coupon for Tustin Pizza Company, so I decided to give it a shot. I ordered one large pizza with pepperoni and garlic on one half and bacon and jalapeno on the other half ($10.50 for pizza + $1.75 for each topping-$14.00 total). I also decided to get a bavarian cream dessert pizza that they call a "sweetzah pie" for $3. I got a free order of toasted ravioli for checking in on Facebook.


The toasted ravioli weren't bad. They were just your basic frozen appetizer, served with a side of marinara.

The pizza was of a decent size and had plenty of toppings. The bacon was actually large pieces of bacon instead of bacon bits. There was also a generous helping of garlic on the pepperoni side. The pizza was very good. The crust was of medium thickness and was chewy on the inside, but crusty on the outside. I thought the crust was nearly perfect, but V thought it was a little too chewy. The sauce had a nice tangy flavor and was not overly sweet like a lot of pizza places. The cheese was the perfect texture as well.

The dessert pizza was not as good as I expected it to be. It was basically pizza dough with a thick pudding on top that tasted really artificial. I might try their raspberry flavor sometime since they are only $3, but I will not get this bavarian cream one again

Overall I really enjoyed the pizza from Tustin Pizza Co. I will definitely be getting pizza from here in the future. I think I will stick to just the pizza though and pass on the appetizers and dessert.

Kappa Ramen - Anaheim

Kappa Ramen
3024 W Ball Road,
Anaheim, CA 92804
(714) 828-2210
www.kapparamen.com

The winter coats are coming out and the heaters are being cranked up. People are busting out their scarves and opting for the hot lattes instead of the frappucinos. Yup, that's right, it's that time of year where it drops down into the freezing 60's here in the OC. This also means that it is the perfect time for a steaming hot bowl of perfectly made ramen. Luckily for me, I got just that opportunity recently when I was invited down to the newly opened Kappa Ramen by the PR rep. I battled traffic for over an hour to get to the restaurant, but in the end, it was totally worth it.

Kappa Ramen is in the back corner of a tiny strip mall off Beach and Ball in Anaheim. It's the kind of parking lot where you double check your car doors to make sure they are securely locked. When you enter the restaurant though, you are greeted by a friendly, very brightly lit interior. I was happy that the restaurant was so brightly lit because I knew my pictures would come out so much better. Therefore, I will be posting a few extra pictures to this review.

I decided to start my meal with an order of Gyoza Potstickers ($6 for 8 or $3.45 for 4) and the Chashu appetizer ($4.50). For the main course I ordered the Kyoto Ramen ($7.45) and the fried rice ($6.95 full/$3.95 half). V decided to get the Kappa Signature Ramen ($9.95).


The gyoza is available "potsticker" style as pictured or deep fried if you prefer. The gyoza was very good and cooked just right. The exterior was crispy, but not too greasy and the interior was a nice mix of pork and vegetables.


The chashu was very tender and full of flavor. We both enjoyed this a lot. It seemed to have more flavor than chashu at most ramen places.


The fried rice was the only disappointing part of the meal. The rice was very bland. It could have benefited from a lot more soy sauce and maybe some sesame oil or something. It really almost tasted like plain rice with a few vegetables thrown in. V also didn't care for the fried rice.


The Kyoto Ramen was a basic tonkotsu ramen. This is not to be confused with "tonkatsu" ramen. Tonkatsu is a breaded pork cutlet and tonkotsu means pork bones. This broth is made fresh daily by simmering chicken and pork bones for a very long time to create a milky tan broth that is bursting with pork flavor. The tonkotsu broth at Kappa Ramen is one of the best I have ever had. I think it had more flavor than some of the most popular ramen shops in Orange County including Santouka Ramen and Daikokuya Ramen. I loved this broth. The ramen was served with half of a marinated hard-boiled egg, green onions and pickled ginger.


The Kappa Signature Ramen started with the same tonkotsu broth and added organic kimchee, avocado, bean sprouts and corn. It also had the hard-boiled egg, green onions and pickled ginger. V really liked how they cut the wavy pattern into the egg. V really enjoyed her ramen as well. She thought that it was nice and spicy and had a great flavor.

Throughout the entire meal there was a small sign on the table advertising potato croquettes for only $1. After my ramen I decided I had to try one.

The potato croquette was lightly flavored with curry and contained some corn and I think carrot. I can't really remember right now. I do however remember that the croquette was very good and a fantastic deal at only $1. I highly recommend that you get one of these to complement your meal.

Overall I was extremely happy with my meal. Even though the restaurant is a bit of a drive for me from Irvine, I can definitely see myself returning. In fact, this might be my new favorite ramen shop. Now if only they could do something to improve their fried rice, they'd be perfect.

Digg's Restaurant & Bar Huntington Beach

Digg's Huntington Beach
8052 Adams Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 960-3670
www.diggsrestaurant.com

Digg's Restaurant & Bar in Huntington Beach opened their doors about six weeks ago, but just had their grand opening celebration this past weekend. They said that they were using this time to fine tune their skills to make sure that everything was perfect for their opening weekend. I think they should have taken more time. I battled traffic for about an hour and a half to get to the restaurant and was extremely disappointed with my experience.

Digg's invited the media down during their grand opening celebration to sample their food and check out the place. I was one of only four media people that showed up. The four of us were brought out three plates with four bites each for all of us to share, so I was only able to taste one bite of three of their appetizers. I got to try a beef skewer($8), a small egg roll($6) and one bacon wrapped shrimp($14). (Prices are for a full order)



The food that I tried wasn't bad, but it wasn't really anything special either. The skewers were generic, the shrimp were plain and I think that Jack in The Box has better egg rolls, and they're much bigger too. I was pretty disappointed that I only got to sample these three appetizers. The entrees at Digg's sound very good and I look forward to trying them if I ever return.

The service at Digg's was pretty awful as well. It took them almost two hours to bring out these three small samples and their knowledge of them was limited. I asked how many pieces came in a full sized order and the waitress had no idea. She said she would check with someone, but I never saw her again for the rest of the night. In fact, I think I only saw my waitress twice the entire night. She took our drink order when we first arrived and dropped off one of the samples and took a second drink order. Only half of our second drink order made it to the table. The other items were just dropped off by food runners. Throughout the night various staff members stopped by the table and said "Is this your food?" I told them that I was doing the media tasting so I hadn't actually ordered anything. They would then walk off to ask everyone else in the restaurant if it was their food.

Overall I think that Digg's has a long way to go in their service and product knowledge. They should really consider doing a hardcore training session with their staff so that everyone knows about the menu and what they are serving. Digg's is even advertising specials like "Sushi Night Tuesday", but no one seemed to know what it was. The PR rep said she would ask the owner about it, but came back and said that even the owner wasn't sure. I think these things should be thought out and planned before they are advertised.

The dinner menu at Digg's looks like it has a lot of good sounding entrees. When I first looked at their menu I even thought it sounded like a restaurant that I would not mind driving 20+ miles for. They serve a variety of steaks, acai bowls, seafood and pasta. Unfortunately I don't think I was really given the opportunity to sample enough of their food to determine whether or not it is good. If I had to judge the restaurant on the three small bites I was given, I would not recommend it. Since their menu looks so good though, I may try Digg's again someday when they have had time to work out their kinks. If they don't do it soon though, I can't see how they will survive.

Orange County Food Trucks-The Lime Truck, Dos Chinos, Short Stop BBQ, Chomp Chomp Nation, The Burnt Truck

Like most of you, I have been hitting up the OC food trucks whenever I can. However, I don't seem to love them as much as a lot of people do. Now don't get me wrong, some of the trucks have pretty good food, but more often than not you end up paying a lot of money to awkwardly eat a meal standing up. It just doesn't seem that fun to me. Nevertheless, I have visited a few trucks and I have decided to post some pictures and a brief write up on some of them. Also, for those of you that don't know, since these food trucks are mobile, they are usually in different places. You need to follow their feed on twitter or visit their website to get their current location. At the bottom of this article I will post all the food truck meetups I know about, where numerous trucks get together on a regular basis.

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The Lime Truck
www.thelimetruck.com
www.twitter.com/thelimetruck

The Lime Truck seems to be a favorite in Orange County. They even won Best in Show at the first annual OC Foodie Fest earlier this year. I went down to the truck with one of my buddies when it was at the Harbor Justice Center and stood in a really long line. The line at Lime Truck can be pretty long due to their popularity. I don't think it's uncommon to wait for 30-45 minutes to order and get your food.

One thing about The Lime Truck is that they are constantly changing their menu. If you go to the truck and love something, there is a good chance that it will not be there during your next visit. One of the things that they almost always seem to have though is Carnitas Fries ($7). This is also one of their most popular items. My buddy and I each ordered one. We also decided to get one steak taco ($3) one order of hatch chile fritters ($4) and two of their freshly muddled juice drinks ($3). This brought our grand total to $27.


(Carnitas Fries: Fries, carnitas, guacamole, sour cream, chipotle-honey slaw and cotija cheese)


(Hatch Chile Fritters and Steak Taco)


(Tangerine Limeade)

All of the food was really good. The fries had a nice spicy kick to them and my friend said his steak taco was fantastic. Neither one of us really liked the drink though. The only problem I have with The Lime Truck is their prices. If I'm going to spend $27 on lunch for two people, I want to sit at a table and relax, not try and balance all of my food and drink while standing up in a hot parking lot.

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Dos Chinos Truck
www.doschinosfood.com
www.twitter.com/doschinos
www.facebook.com/doschinos

Dos Chinos serves a fusion of Mexican and Asian food. Popular items include Korean shortrib tacos and Vietnamese pork belly burritos. Most of their items are available as a burrito for $5 or a taco for $2.

One interesting item I had heard about is the Dos Chinos Breakfast Burrito. The burrito contains a cooked to order egg, chorizo fried rice, filet mignon and sweet & sour guacamole. V and I each ordered one of these and an order of Dos Chinos fries ($4). Their fries are tossed in clarified garlic butter and topped with cotija cheese.

(Breakfast Burrito)

(Dos Chinos Fries)

The Breakfast Burrito was fantastic. Both V and I thought it was delicious and scarfed down the whole thing. I highly recommend that you get this burrito and have your egg done sunny side up or over easy. This way the yolk breaks and creates a yummy sauce inside the burrito. The Dos Chinos fries were also amazing. The pungent flavor of fresh garlic combined with the saltiness of the cotija cheese was the perfect addition to french fries. These fries were definitely worth the money.

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Short Stop BBQ
www.shortstopbbq.com
www.twitter.com/shortstopbbq
www.facebook.com/shortstopbbq

Short Stop BBQ claims to serve real food for real people. Their goal is to bring you delicious "dirty" BBQ with a clean, California appeal. I visited the truck on their third day in operation. I ordered two sliders, one portabello mushroom and the other was tri-tip ($2 each). I also ordered french fries ($2).

(Portobello mushroom sider, BBQ Tri-tip slider)

(French Fries)

Of the two sliders, the mushroom was my favorite. The tri-tip slider had very little flavor. I liked the bleu cheese cole slaw on top, but the meat was pretty bland. The french fries were boring, generic fries that didn't even taste like they had salt on them. I ate a few of them, wished I had gotten Dos Chinos Fries instead and then threw them away. I have heard that the truck has been getting better with experience, so I may try it again in the future.

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Chomp Chomp Nation Truck
www.chompchompnation.com
www.twitter.com/chompchomptruck
www.facebook.com/chompchompnation

Chomp chomp nation says that they serve Singapore Street Hawker Favorites with an American Twist. They serve items like coconut french toast and tofu satay. I recently had the chance to try their Kaya Coconut French Toast ($5.50).

V and I both tried their French Toast and really liked it. The brioche French Toast was stuffed with coconut jam and topped with fresh mango, pineapple and fresh mint. I thought the mint would be kind of weird but it actually went really well with the dish. V really liked what the mint did to this dish as well. She thought it was what made the dish stand out. I believe the description for the french toast said there was supposed to be some kind of passion fruit element to this dish, but neither one of us could taste it. I'm looking forward to trying more of their food.

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The Burnt Truck
www.theburnttruck.com
www.twitter.com/theburnttruck
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Burnt-Truck/116838601694370

At first when you hear the name "Burnt Truck" you might be a little confused. Does this truck burn all their food? Is it cajun? Well, The Burnt Truck is actually just a weird name. They actually specialize in gourmet sliders that they sell for $2 each. They have a few that they serve on a regular basis and then some rotating chef specials that change periodically. They also recently had a contest where they asked for customers to submit their favorite slider idea for a chance to be immortalized on their menu with a slider named after them. Unfortunately, I didn't get my entry in on time. Oh well.....I guess I'll just have to wait for another opportunity to get a sandwich named after me....

I decided to try one of their Fried Chicken sliders, which seems to be very popular, and one of their Peanut Butter and Jelly sliders.

(PBJ Slider-Homemade pretzel peanut butter, blueberry jelly, sliced bananas)

(Fried Chicken Slider-Buttermilk fried chicken, garlic potato spread, country gravy)

The fried chicken slider was pretty good. It was really cold on the evening I got the sandwich though, so the gravy quickly cooled and became thick. Make sure to eat this sandwich quickly if you get it. I was also wishing it were just a little more salty. Maybe they should add some ground sausage into the gravy......mmmmmmmm......

The PBJ slider was absolutely delicious. The thing that made it stand out was the pretzel peanut butter. The pretzels added a fantastic crunch and a little bit of saltiness. I absolutely loved this little sandwich.

The Burnt Truck is a truck that I really look forward to trying again. Since they serve sliders, it's pretty easy to eat while you're standing up. They also have so many other varieties that I want to try, like the Chicken Katsu and the Fried Bologna.

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Known Orange County Food Truck Meetups aka roundups (If you know of others, let me know and I will add to the list)

Sunday-
Irvine Great Park Farmers Market 10AM-2PM

Monday-

Tuesday-
Lake Forest Lanes 5PM-9PM

Wednesday-
Irvine Teller Lot (near Teller and Michelson in Irvine) 11AM-2PM
OC Din Din a Go Go, Irvine Lanes 5:30PM-9PM

Thursday-
OC Fairgrounds 11AM-2PM
AMF Carter Lanes, Fullerton 5PM-9PM

Friday-

Saturday-

DG Burger (Damn Good)

3333 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 361-4264

I was invited down to the media tasting of Charlie Palmer's newest restaurant today. DG Burger is a small, fast casual restaurant that occupies the private dining room of Charlie Palmer restaurant by day. The usual hours of DG Burger are 11:30 AM-4:00 PM. At night, the room is transformed back into a private dining venue for Charlie Palmer. If there are no events booked in the room though, they may choose to randomly keep DG Burger open for dinner as well.

When you enter the small DG Burger space that seats 40, you will order your food at a front counter. You will then be given a number and directed to the dining room. You place your number on the table and wait for your food to be delivered. You have the option of getting your food to go as well.

Chef Charlie Palmer spoke to us about how it took him months to perfect his burger. He worked closely with a local bakery to produce a bun that he was happy with. He then tried several blends of ground beef until he found a blend of ground chuck, shortrib and hangar steak that he was happy with.


The menu at DG Burger is small, with the burger obviously being the main item. The burger comes simply dressed with cabbage, tomato, red onion and "DG Sauce" for $7.95. Additional toppings of fried egg, bacon, aged cheddar and avocado are available for $2 each. Get all four and you're looking at a $16 burger. The burger is served on a buttered and toasted Potato Bun.

I was pretty surprised when I wasn't impressed by the burger. While the meat was juicy and cooked to a perfect medium rare, it seemed to lack a little flavor. The patty itself was pretty average. It might be because Chef Charlie Palmer hyped it up so much, but I expected this burger to be magical. Instead I feel it fell a little flat. I'm sure the burger is a lot better with bacon and cheese, but again, this makes the burger much more expensive. The burger was also pretty small.

The fries here are not really anything special by themselves. DG Burger offers four different dipping sauces for the fries. You get your choice of Curry Ketchup, Bacon Mayo, Roasted Garlic Sour Cream or Chipotle Aioli. My favorite was the roasted garlic sour cream. I want to carry around a container of this with me so I can have it whenever I get french fries somewhere.

Other items on the menu include Citrus Glazed Skewers (beef, chicken, veggie $7.95), Sausage Sandwich ($6.75), Fries ($5), Salads ($5) and Milkshakes (strawberry or malted chocolate $5). Soft drink, beer and wine are also available.