Jones Apple Pie

So...I'm no fan of Jones...but their apple pie? Yum.





Their apple pie is redonkulicious. It is served in a hot skillet, with some kind of sexy buttery cinnamony goodness melted around it. The pie itself is exploding with apples. They pour out of the crust, and that crust...pretty tasty. The recipe changed at some point the last two years, and the current crust is, well, crusted with sugar. I think the old crust was maybe a bit better, but this one is pretty good as well. After all, I'm not gonna bitch about some added sugar. :) I think the pie itself as a little rosemary in it, but I could be wrong. It is also served with some tasty vanilla ice cream, which always melts too quickly because it's on the skillet (albeit, in a little dish), but still...absolutely tasty.

I don't really love any of the food at Jones, except for this. This pie...totally worth the trip.

The Comme Ca Burger

And on the eighth day, the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the Comme Ca burger.




Comme Ca is a French place on Melrose, near La Cienega, and it has various French dishes and whatnot. But the only thing I bother to order while there is the burger.

This is a burger that can make me drool on command. One thought of it...and I'm salivating.

It's very simple. There is some kind of slaw that comes on it, but I always have them hold it. The fries are perfect--some crispy, some crunchy, right amount of salt, good width/length. The burger itself is large, with just the right amount of seasoning (which is to say, not so much that you wonder what they're trying to cover up). It's juicy. It's topped with yummy cheddar cheese. It's on a brioche bun.

One of the things I love about this burger is that it isn't junked up with a bunch of shit like a lot of other designer burgers (i.e. The Father's Office Burger, which everyone raves about, but which I find just okay). It relies on the quality of the meat, the cheese, the bun...which means that it doesn't have the luxury of sucking.

I will say that you should order it closer to medium rare, just for the juiciness factor. I ordered mine medium today, and it came out more well-done than I'd have liked (like medium-well), especially compared to previous visits.

The only other items I've had on the menu are the creme brulee (good--but it's hard to fuck that up, and I love it anyway) and these little, fresh baguettes that they used to give out as pre-meal bread. I didn't get a baguette today, which bummed me out--not sure if they stopped that practice or not, since it's been a while since I've eaten there.

So, having eaten this ridiculously filling burger, I am now going to sit on my couch like Jabba the Hutt and enjoy my AC on this insanely hot LA day. Because I won't be hungry again for the rest of the day, kind of like how a boa constrictor can eat a small child and live off of it for a week.

(Oh, and price? Around $15.)

(Oh, and my computer doesn't have a way to use the actual French letters needed for the actual name of the restaurant, or if it does, I don't know how to do it. And don't care enough to learn.)

Out of LA: Mackinac Island Fudge

So, my favorite ice cream ever is called Mackinac Island Fudge, and it can only be found in the Michigan area (as well as some parts of Wisconsin, and one store in Illinois, where it is seasonal).

I love it.

There was a point in time where I went two years without having it. Those two years were sad.

At any rate, when I was home visiting Chicago in July, I took a short trip to Upper Michigan (where my family has a small house), and I was able to indulge. I think I had Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream three times in five days.

And the thing about Michigan...is that a single dip there is equivalent to a triple dip anywhere else:



Yum.

It's a very simple mix--vanilla ice cream, with ripples of chocolate fudge and chunks of chocolate fudge--but it's just so effing good.

Someone on Twitter just introduced me to the Wisconsin Made website, which actually sells pints of Mackinac Island Fudge from a company called Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream. Their ice cream is INCREDIBLE, although I'm not sure I've ever had their MIF. The ice cream is so good that their logo says, "You want nutrition, eat carrots." Amen.

Ordering their pints of ice cream and shipping them to LA isn't cheap (approx. $60+ to ship 4 pints to LA), but it might be worth it...I'm thinking about it. :)