Breakfast Sandwich #135 - Caracas Empanadas aka Are You Ready For Indoctrination?

Sandwich: Breakfast Empanada
Location: Caracas Empanadas
Date: May 11, 2019
Cost: $3

A trip to the Capitol Square for the Farmers Market means you will have breakfast options out the wazoo and even if you narrow it down to sandwiches you'll still have some tough choices to make. My initial thought was to hit Gotham Bagels again, but I just went there in March and they are already in the Top 25 from both visits. 

We stopped an Ancora Coffee so I would have a coffee to occupy my attention while shuffling around the square at a pace more suited to an octogenarian. As tempting as the Sausage Jalapeño Egg Sandwich was, I had to keep moving. I tucked that morsel away in case I needed a post-shuffle sandwich. That sandwich sounds worthy of a focused return trip so don't be surprised if it shows up here in the coming weeks.

Just as we prepared to join the masses I saw the Caracas Empanadas cart at the corner of King and Main Streets. Wrap that potential in pastry dough and fry it cause I'm interested!

The Caracas Empanadas cart doesn't have a proper web site but I did snap a photo of the menu board, for once.

There they are, nestled side by each. The sauce on the left is the guasacaca sauce that everyone is going bonkers over if you look up the Yelp reviews. It's also really fun to say guasacaca.  On the right is the pique sauce which I preferred.

At the heart of the matter are chicken eggs. 

The Sandwich - Breakfast Empanada. These are premade and ready to go so there are no options. Organic scrambled eggs, Nueske's bacon and cheese. I didn't know about the cult following the guasacaca sauce has until I started doing research for this review but it's a real thing. I tried both sauces and ended up using more of the pique. It's a habanero sauce listed as a medium heat but it's a bit deceptive. It starts off mild, builds quickly and then trails off. I thought it paired with the eggs perfectly but there is something about chicken eggs and hot sauce that really works for me. It's downright magical but go ahead and get all looney for the guasacaca if that's your scene, man. The eggs are scrambled and fluffy and are the predominant flavor here, other than the fried dough. The bacon and cheese get a bit lost among everything else. I'm not even sure what cheese was in here, it was probably a white cheese?

The Result - 3.8 Sauce Cults out of 5 Sauce Cults. This was wonderfully delicious little pocket of flavor and for $3 it's a damn good deal. It's enough to give you some fuel for the market but leaves for room for additional snacking, which is important. The dough held a bit too much of the fried grease flavor and that kept me from falling in love with. I also would have liked more bacon and cheese but for $3 this is a nice little grab and go sandwich. No, an empanada is not a sandwich. Nobody cares.

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Breakfast Sandwich #96 - Tavernakaya aka Nice Buns!

Sandwich: Egg & Cheese Brunch Buns
Location: Tavernakaya
Date: July 2, 2017
Cost: $12

I had never been to Tavernakaya. I hadn't even considered it as a possible location for a breakfast sandwich or bun, as it were. A mantou bun is not technically a sandwich, it depends on if you consider steamed buns to be bread. If you define bread as requiring baking then these buns aren't going to qualify. I don't know and don't much care. I'm getting fast and loose with the rules around here since I passed the benchmark of 52 sandwiches long ago and there have already been reviews of crepes and open-faced sandwiches. One day a review of a breakfast burrito will appear here and all manner of outrage will be flung in my general direction and it still won't matter a lick. So what.

When I sat down at Tavernakaya it felt like it had been months since I had had a breakfast sandwich at a proper restaurant. If you don't count the bullshit sandwich I had at Panera (I don't) you have to go back to May 28 to find a decent sandwich arepa. That isn't very long ago, but it felt like an eternity. That's what happens when you eat a breakfast sandwich while standing in a parking lot (#94) or sitting in a car (#95).

If I hadn't snapped this photo I'd be hard pressed to remember what was in these.

Three little pigs - chorizo, ham, bacon. Also, sometimes you order a greyhound and you're expecting white grapefruit juice but it comes with pink and if it weren't for your delicious sandwiches you'd probably be sad. 

The real reason I took this is to bring back the memory of the tactile sensation that is the squeezing of the bun. 

The Sandwiches (Buns) - This would have been a hell of a lot easier if I had ordered three of the same but that wasn't going to happen. First, let's be clear that I did NOT order the House-Smoked Tofu option. I'm sure it's delicious but that isn't how we do things around here. You know this.

I could, and may, go on at length about the mantou buns 馒头 alone. You've had them. You know how wonderful they feel in your fingers. These had the perfect amount of taut-squishiness that feels oh so right in your hands. A gentle squeeze yields to the pressure, and when you release a light imprint is left for just a split second and then the bun snaps back to it's original form. I could squeeze these buns all day. I may take some into work and have them at my desk instead of one of those stress relieving balls that nobody actually uses.

The eggs are scrambled on all of these. A runny egg wouldn't really work here and I'm not even going to hold that against them.

OK, let's get down to business.

House-Made Chorizo. The only previous chorizo based breakfast sandwich I reviewed was back in February of 2015. Is that possible? Maybe I missed one. This chorizo was excellent for this situation. Not too greasy or cinnamony, it was suited for these buns. At a taqueria I could see wanting a greasier version, but for these, it was perfect. The avocado crema gave this bun a cool viscosity and blended well with the eggs. Cilantro was a crucial touch on this one. I give it a 4.55 overall.

Nueske's Ham. You've heard me praise Nueske's Ham at length so I won't do it again here. It's always fantastic. Here is where my skills as a reviewer are exposed for the fraud that they are. At the time I thought they had mistakingly put the spicy mayo from the bacon bun on this bun, instead of the togarashi maple. They look the same in the photo above. When I tasted a pepper spice I thought that was what happened but now I'm sitting here with a search engine and I find that togarashi 唐辛子 is chili pepper. I think I got hung up on the spiciness and didn't take into account the subtle maple. At this point I can't be sure. What I can say is that this bun had a richness and heavenly salty flavor that was delightful and made this my favorite. I give it a solid 4.85 even though I didn't know the word for chili pepper in Mandarin or even Cantonese.

Bacon. This one had bacon on it, hence it's clever name. This was a solid bun but I feel it is included simply because they have to have a bacon version on the menu. People think of brunch, they think of bacon, here is that bacon. There was nothing wrong with this bun, the spicy mayo and scallions gave it that extra touch. Although it was my least favorite (one of them had to be) it's still a good 4.31 on the sandwich scale.

If I had to do this all over again and I were me I would order two of the Nueske's Ham and one of the Chorizo and I think I'd be happy as a pig in...a bun.

Finally, I feel compelled to comment on the house salad. It was very lightly dressed mixed greens and if you're up to speed on my reviews you know I appreciate these as a side during breakfast. I find them to be refreshing alternative to potatoes.

The Result(s) - 4.57 Bun Averages out of 5 Bun Averages. I did the math and that seems like a good rating. These buns were excellent. Nice buns! $12 might seem a touch expensive for these but you aren't going to get this level of quality for much less than that.

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Breakfast Sandwiches #89 & #90 - Hot Tips aka I Swear This Isn't A Cooking Blog

Sandwich #89: Nueske's ham, smoked gouda, chicken egg, Cholula original hot sauce, Bay's multi-grain English Muffin
Location: The Laboratory
Date: April 24, 2017

Sandwich #90: Nueske's ham, American cheese, chicken egg, Cholula green pepper hot sauce, Bay's multi-grain English Muffin
Location: The Laboratory
Date: April 25, 2017

I've been getting a lot of hot tips lately on the sandwich front and I appreciate all of them. The first was regarding Bay's Multi-Grain English Muffins. I'm already a fan of Bay's but I hadn't tried the multi-grain so I knew I had to get on that. Then I heard that my local neighborhood market had Nueske's ham on sale for about half of the normal cost. (If you aren't familiar with Nueske's ham and bacon I'm not sure what you're doing here and it makes me feel a little bit like I've failed you). After that I stumbled across info on cooking an egg in a Mason jar lid to give it that fast food puck-like appearance. I knew I had to try that. Finally, I learned of the newest addition to the Cholula hot sauce family (and they are like family to me), the green pepper variety. Specifically, it was mentioned that the green pepper sauce is great on eggs.

On top of all that I cleaned my toaster oven on Sunday. After a trip to the grocery store(s), some time in the lab was clearly in order.

Although this is most definitely not a cooking blog the majority of the info that follows pertains more to cooking than simply enjoying delicious sandwiches. If that idea enrages you (which would be understandable) then it's best that you leave now or just skip ahead to the photos.

Let's talk about cooking those eggs. The larger, wide mouth jar lids are about the same diameter as an English Muffin and are clearly the right choice for this. The first time I tried it I didn't use enough cooking spray and I overcooked the egg a bit. This resulted in egg bits getting stuck to the edges of the lid. You can see these egg edge bits in the photo of #89 below, I peeled some off and plopped them on the ham. They look a little sad. I also waited too long before flipping the egg - I was waiting for the egg whites to set up before I flipped it and as a result the bottom was overcooked a bit. You can also see this in photos of #89 below. The egg is somewhat covered with Cholula original hot sauce but it's apparent that it is a touch overdone, at least for my tastes. I cooked the other side only for a minute or so but the yolk was mostly cooked through. Not bad, but not my intention.

When cooking the egg for #90 I used a lot more cooking spray, focusing on the edges of the jar lid. I flipped it when the whites were mostly set up. I used tongs on the edges of the jar lid and had a spatula ready to try to contain the egg should it try to escape. It held in the lid well but I flipped it a little aggressively and the yolk took a beating. You can see in photos of #90 below that I had broken the yolk as soon as I cracked the egg. They don't call me The Incompetent Chef (TM) for nothing. As with the last egg, I only cooked it on this side for a minute or so.

Aside from the broken yolk, egg #90 turned out much better than #89. You can see there is still some runny yolk. Overall I'm in favor of the jar lid cooking method. I'm not sure how often I'll do it but it makes for a beautifully stacked sandwich. Just look at those photos of #90 and tell me this research wasn't worth it. Even #89 looked good with the top on.

#89 Egg. My first attempt at cooking an egg in a jar lid. I have to admit I was a little bit excited about this.

#89. Egg bits that stuck to the jar lid evident in upper right.

#89. The top hides my egg flaws. That gouda melted nicely.

#89. The egg wasn't totally cooked through, but almost. 

#90 Egg. I broke the yolk right out of the gate.

#90. That turned out much better.

#90. Just look at it. LOOK! AT! IT!

#90. You can't beat Kraft American Singles for that gooey cheese effect. 

The Sandwich - Breakfast Sandwich #89. Nueske's ham, smoked gouda, chicken egg, Cholula original hot sauce, Bay's multi-grain English Muffin. I was worried that the smoked gouda would be too much with that delicious smokey Nueske's ham flavor. My concerns were unfounded, it blended nicely and had a good melt to it. As noted the egg was a bit overcooked. I like the multi-grain English Muffins, they have a slight nutty flavor to them and give the impression that perhaps this sandwich might be somewhat healthy.

The Sandwich - Breakfast Sandwich #90. Nueske's ham, American cheese, chicken egg, Cholula green pepper hot sauce, Bay's multi-grain English Muffin. The real goal here was to do a better job of cooking the egg. Mission Accomplished. However, I didn't want to make the same sandwich again, so I picked up some Kraft Singles and a bottle of the green Cholula. Those slices of American cheese melt so well and add a wonderful viscosity to a sandwich. They may not exactly be cheese but you can't beat the functionality and that salty flavor. They taste like a happy childhood. The green Cholula is also a winner - it has a bit more of a tangy, raw bite than the Original. I'll probably keep both on hand from here on out.

Results - These were damn fine sandwiches. That's all I have to say. This was an unprecedented amount of work in the lab for a Monday and Tuesday morning but the results speak for themselves.

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