Royal Rooster, chicken thigh sandwich, three chicken thighs, the interior, people

I walked 3/4 block, then a full block, then 3/4 block, and that's what, two and a half blocks. I spoke with two indigents, one mentally/emotionally challenged, an old man digging up bugs with his grandson presumably, regular people out on Sunday, and workers, and I must say, you Earthlings are very pleasant. One stranger warned me in passing, "be careful."

?

About what? I realize I look like a mess, but come on. Imagine it: A large heavy young black man half my age says to me on approaching, "be careful."

Bless his heart.

He had just passed the scrawny white dude dressed deplorably and mumbling to himself. Maybe the black dude was warning me about him.

The place is a mess.

This is not Utopia.

There is a bit of trash outside my own apartment building. People eat things to-go then leave the packaging strewn. I notice a couple of people do not care for pepperoni on their pizza. Bottles, tins, paper plates with partially eaten bread, spilled catsup. The trash bins at the bus stop outside of Torchy's is over flowed and spilled onto the sidewalk; broken egg shells, and restaurant tickets, and smeared goo all over the sidewalk. The city is relatively clean but the owners and staffs must return on Monday to clean it all up. As always, people are very easy to talk to.

The woman at Royal Rooster was working the counter and cooking, and preparing the packages. I told her the last time I was here I considered $4.00 for each chicken thigh a bit high, but, they are larger than the thighs that I can buy at the grocery store and they are the best thighs I've ever tasted and they are tender. The buttermilk marinade is apparent. 

She told me they marinade for forty-eight hours, first in tarragon-brine then in buttermilk. 

Ding.

I now have the secret to Royal Rooster chicken. From here on it will be 48 hours marinade. 

There is nothing else like it.

Maki sushi, rolled, cucumber, miso, shrimp

The original idea was simple cucumber rolled up into rice and wrapped with nori. Then I thought, "Hey! Why not add miso?" And then I thought, "Hey! Why not add shrimp?"

And then I thought, "Hey! Why not just steam the rice with sugar and vinegar instead of making a sauce with those two things and spreading it all over the outside of steamed rice?"

And then I thought, "Hey! Why not use apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar? It's sweet and more fruity."

And then I thought, "Hey! Why not just put the powdered wasabi onto the rice spread out onto the nori sheet instead of making it into a paste?"

And then I thought, "Hey! Stop thinking already, it's dangerous."

Water in the bowl is brought to a boil in the microwave. Then the shrimp bits are added and left a few minutes to denature. That's it. No actual boiling of the shrimp.

ARTS!

Handmade spaghetti in olive oil, butter and garlic

The king of all the hard cheeses with a few cloves of common garlic. It is a strange marriage between classes that united in estate olive oil and butter handled so carefully it wasn't even salted to protect it along with water heavily affected by starch from cooking the noodles that caused the whole kingdom to rejoice. 

The people were all, "Holy cow, Man, how did you even know how to do this?" 

And the royal cook  answered, "I saw it on television a long time ago." 

3 carrots

With pecans, raisins and grapes. In water and butter and brown sugar with corn starch and clove.

The carrots aren't even peeled. 

Because peeled carrots are for wimps. 

Such an odd breakfast. 

16 meatballs

* Two eggs are beaten into a bowl

* Worcestershire sauce is added to that

* Chile flakes

* Tomato sauce from a tin

* Salt and pepper

* Bread crumbs to turn all that to thick sludge

   (My breadcrumbs had bacon and cheese added to them. I don't recall where that came from, but it had to be used sometime.)

* A white onion is diced and cooked in olive oil so they shrink

* Two garlic cloves are smashed into the onions

* The onions and garlic are added to the breadcrumb and egg mixture

* Ground beef is added and thoroughly mixed and formed into balls.

* Baked for 30 minutes at 375℉

I ate two for lunch and a few hours later two more for dinner, like they aren't even nuth'n. 

No bread, no pasta, no salad, no accompaniment at all. Because they already have vegetables and egg in them.